God’s Power in Your Life
Notes
Transcript
The book of Chronicles covers a 400-year period of time, called “The Kingdom Period,” because from 1000 B.C. to 600 B.C., Israel was ruled by kings.
Saul was its first king. He didn’t do so well. Ezra doesn’t spend much time on him.
David comes next. David was human in his sins, and amazing in his heart. The author of Hebrews calls him, “A man after God’s own heart.” Two weeks ago, we saw God ask David to build Him and altar. So he built the altar. But first, he bought the field for the altar, and the animals for the sacrifice, and the field in which he built the altar. He said, “I will not offer to the Lord my God that which cost me nothing.”
Next in the line of kings was Solomon. Last week we learned how his gift of wisdom endowed an entire nation.
2 Chronicles 10-13 tell the story of Solomon’s son, whose name was Rehoboam. Rehoboam was not a wise king. When the people asked him to lower their taxes, he raised them instead, which split the kingdom forever.
From that time on, Israel was a divided kingdom. The ten tribes in the north were known as “Israel.” And the two tribes in the south were called “Judah.”
Throughout its history, 19 kings ruled the kingdom of Israel, and not one of them followed the Lord.
And 20 kings ruled in the kingdom of Judah, and many of them tried to follow the Lord.
After David, Solomon, and Rehoboam, come two kings whose names both start with A. The first one is Abijah. Abijah reigned for three years, so we’re going to skip him and go on to the second king whose name starts with A. His name is Asa.
Asa was not perfect, but he was one of the good kings.
Asa’s story spans three chapters of 2 Chronicles. Chapters 14, 15, and 16.
The first chapter is a lesson in Faith.
The second chapter is a lesson in Faithfulness.
And the third chapter is a lesson in Failure
2 Chronicles 14:2–7 (CSB)
2 Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.
3 He removed the pagan altars and the high places. He shattered their sacred pillars and chopped down their Asherah poles.
4 He told the people of Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands.
5 He also removed the high places and the shrines from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom experienced peace under him.
6 Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the Lord gave him rest.
7 So he said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God. We sought him and he gave us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded.
A Lesson in Faith
A Lesson in Faith
8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin bearing regular shields and drawing the bow. All these were valiant warriors.
9 Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots. They came as far as Mareshah.
10 So Asa marched out against him and lined up in battle formation in Zephathah Valley at Mareshah.
11 Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “Lord, there is no one besides you to help the mighty and those without strength. Help us, Lord our God, for we depend on you, and in your name we have come against this large army. Lord, you are our God. Do not let a mere mortal hinder you.”
12 So the Lord routed the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.
13 Then Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until they had no survivors, for they were crushed before the Lord and his army. So the people of Judah carried off a great supply of loot.
Around 900 B.C., the king of “Cush,” which is modern day Ethiopia, was powerful enough to conquer the kingdom of Egypt. The country north of Egypt was Judah, which happened to be ruled by young king Asa.
Imagine yourself as a young king. Maybe 30 years old. You get wind that a million-man army is coming against you. Everyone under your care, every person you love, every thing, every animal, every building, every field in your kingdom is about to be overrun, broken, killed, ravaged, or stolen.
What do you do? You do what every person of faith does: . You call on the Lord. “Lord,” Asa says, “there is no one besides you to help us. Help us, Lord, because we depend on you.”
Ezra is teaching a lesson to a people who are insecure and unsure. They’ve been away from home for 70 years. They’ve just moved back into their land. When you read the book of Nehemiah, you find that other people had moved into the neighborhood while Israel was away in exile, and they’re not happy the Israelites are back. Ezra is writing to a people who feel insecure and unsure. – Like many of us do right now.
Ezra is teaching us a lesson in our faith and God’s faithfulness.
Listen: when you work, you get what you can do.
But when you pray, you get what God can do. And God can do anything.
- He can route a million-man army.
- He can supply all your needs, according to His riches in Christ Jesus.
- He can supply your financial needs. Your physical needs.
- He can give you a job.
- He can give you a friend.
- He can encourage you.
- He can keep you from falling.
- He can lead you not into temptation but deliver you from evil.
Sometimes He will let you feel outnumbered… so you can know that you count on Him.
when you’re in a mess, be faithful to pray, so that God can be faithful to answer.
APPLICATION
So what are you going to do first thing tomorrow morning? – Pray.
And what are you going to do as soon as this sermon is over? – Ask a prayer partner to pray with you.
TRANSITION
Ezra’s second lesson comes in chapter 15.
The fight is over, and Asa and his men are returning to their homes and families.
On their way home, the Lord sends them a prophet named Azariah to encourage them.
A Lesson in Faithfulness
A Lesson in Faithfulness
1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded.
2 So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
3 For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction,
4 but when they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress and sought him, he was found by them.
5 In those times there was no peace for those who went about their daily activities because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
6 Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every possible distress.
7 But as for you, be strong; don’t give up, for your work has a reward.”
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the abhorrent idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
On the way home from a great victory, God asks Asa to make it even greater. During the reigns of his father and grandfather, people had begun worshiping other gods. The gods of the Canaanites. People built places of worship to Baal all over the land.
Asa thinks about the First Commandment, “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.” Asa sends wrecking crews out to tear down the pagan worship centers. And he commissions the Levites to refurbish the Temple.
The people are so inspired by Asa’s leadership that they all flock to Jerusalem for a great celebration. People from the northern tribes start moving south, just to be under Asa’s leadership.
10 They were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from all the plunder they had brought.
The third month of the Jewish calendar is late May or early June. They’ve come together to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.
Leviticus 23 says that at Pentecost, the nation was to sacrifice a bull, 7 lambs, and 2 rams.
● When David was asked to build an altar to the Lord, he did more than he was asked.
● When Solomon was seeking God’s favor, he sacrificed more than was expected.
● When Asa and his people make a sacrifice, they do 1,000 times more than they were asked.
When people love God deeply, they give to Him lavishly.
12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and all their soul.
13 Whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be put to death, young or old, man or woman.
14 They took an oath to the Lord in a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams’ horns.
15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They had sought him with all sincerity, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
These people were serious, weren’t they?
Their covenant said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We will serve Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And… “Whoever won’t seek the Lord, well, off with his head.” Zeal for the Lord was consuming them.
They took an oath. And not a quiet one. There was shouting, and trumpets, and ram’s horns.
This was a revival! – Everyone rejoiced, because everyone was all in for God.
Oh, how we need revival today. I hope you’re praying for a revival these days.
NEED
How many people during these pandemic days do you suppose are feeling lost and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd? In April of 2020, the number of Google searches for “Is God Real?” doubled around the world.
People are seeking. We need a revival, and we need to gather as God’s people.
Remember the promise of:
2 So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
This principle, this promise, is for every man, woman, boy and girl alive today.
How many people do you know who need to know this promise?
How many people do you think you can share this promise with this week?
TRANSITION
Here’s an interesting bit of trivia for you. Do you know where the concept of Revival comes from?
It comes from right here: the book of 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles is the book of Revivals. It has five of them in it, and this is the first.
Revival happens under Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah – and we’re going to look at all of them.
Ezra is teaching us that the renewal of a nation comes when its people seek the Lord together. People are fearful and frustrated because of a virus and because of inequality. The solution to this frustration is a Savior who loves them. Only God can change a human heart.
TRANSITION
So Asa assembles the people for Pentecost, and it’s so powerful that people come from outside the nation – from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon. And they get serious about God.
The chapter ends with this comment: There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign. 2 Chronicles 15:19
For 25 years, there was peace. When you find God, you find peace.
Will you pray with me for revival in our land?
Will you pray with me for revival in our city?
Revival has to start somewhere. Why couldn’t it start with us?
TRANS
Well, Ezra has a third lesson for us.
A Lesson in Failure
A Lesson in Failure
Because even though Asa was fervent for God in chapter 15, he let his temperature cool down.
25 years after the Revival, the Northern Kingdom, under a king named Baasha, begins to threaten the Southern Kingdom.
In order to stop the migration of his people into Judah, Baasha starts to build a border wall. His wall isn’t to keep people out, it’s to fence people in.
1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa, Israel’s King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to keep anyone from leaving or coming to King Asa of Judah.
2 So Asa brought out the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and sent it to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, who lived in Damascus, saying,
3 “There’s a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go break your treaty with Israel’s King Baasha so that he will withdraw from me.”
Ramah was just 5 miles north of Jerusalem. It was on the main road that everyone had to travel if they wanted to get into the Kingdom of Judah.
If you’ll remember, years earlier, when the Cushites came against Judah, Asa turned to God and prayed for His help. This time he doesn’t. Instead…
Where once Asa was filled with fervor, now he’s lulled by leisure. Instead of trusting God and leading his people in battle, he pays somebody else to do his fighting for him.
And it worked. Baasha withdrew his forces from Ramah. And you’d like to say, “And Asa lived happily ever after.” But he didn’t. Instead, God sent another prophet to him. This prophet says…
7 At that time, the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from you.
8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen? When you depended on the Lord, he handed them over to you.
9 For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him. You have been foolish in this matter. Therefore, you will have wars from now on.”
“Asa, when you’re in trouble, call on me, and I’ll fight for you.”
Asa, what happened to your commitment to me?”
Asa, what happened to that covenant you signed? I was ready to rescue you. But you turned your head away from Me.”
“Asa, what happened to your faith?”
Friends, without a doubt, one of the greatest promises in all of Scripture is 2 Chronicles 16:9 - The eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to show himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Church, renew your faithfulness in the One who has always been faithful to you. – For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who are wholeheartedly devoted to Him.
CONCLUSION
Before we close, I have to ask:
How’s your heart these days? ● Is it fully on fire? ● Are you praying for God’s leadership in your life every day? ● Are you praying for God’s power to use you to further His kingdom? ● If God is asking you for a bull and some rams and sheep, are you giving him seven hundred and seven thousand of them?
How’s your heart these days? ● Is it fully on fire? ● Are you praying for God’s leadership in your life every day? ● Are you praying for God’s power to use you to further His kingdom? ● If God is asking you for a bull and some rams and sheep, are you giving him seven hundred and seven thousand of them?
Bow your head with me.
PRAYER
Lord, God, like Asa, there are times when we have been on fire for You. And we are lighting that fire again. When You look around the world, we want You to see us.
Friends, pray these words out loud after me:
Lord, if there is an assignment you want fulfilled, Choose me. Call me. Nudge me. Lord, revive me again. Lord, light Your fire in me again. Lord, use our church to bring many to Christ. Revive our community. Revive our State. Revive our country. Revive our world. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Lord, if there is an assignment you want fulfilled, Choose me. Call me. Nudge me. Lord, revive me again. Lord, light Your fire in me again. Lord, use our church to bring many to Christ. Revive our community. Revive our State. Revive our country. Revive our world. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Just before I close my prayer, if you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, today could be your day. If you’d like to give Him your life, be forgiven of your sins, and become a follower of Him, would you pray this prayer after me right now?
Lord Jesus, I admit, I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and I invite You to be mine. Come into my heart. And live Your life through me. And I will live for You for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen!