Participants: Charissa Fong
Series Code: 11GYC
Program Code: 11GYC000002
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00:24 I cannot tell why He,
00:30 whom angels worship 00:36 Should set His love 00:41 upon the souls of men 00:48 Or why, as Shepherd, 00:53 He should seek the wanderers 01:00 To bring them back, 01:04 they know not how or when 01:10 But this I know, 01:17 that He was born of Mary 01:24 When Bethlehem's manger 01:29 was His only home 01:35 And that He lived 01:40 at Nazareth and labored 01:48 And so the Savior, 01:51 Savior of the world has come 01:59 I cannot tell how silently 02:07 He suffered 02:11 As with His peace 02:16 He graced this place of tears 02:23 Nor how His heart upon 02:29 the Cross was broken 02:34 The crown of pain 02:38 to three and thirty years 02:46 But this I know, 02:51 He heals the broken-hearted 02:58 And stays our sin, 03:03 and calms our lurking fear 03:10 And lifts the burden 03:15 from the heavy laden 03:21 For still the Savior, 03:25 Savior of the world is here 03:33 I cannot tell how 03:38 He will win the nations 03:44 How He will claim 03:49 His earthly heritage 03:56 How satisfy 04:00 the needs and aspirations 04:07 Of east and west, 04:11 of sinner and of sage 04:19 But this I know, 04:24 all flesh shall see His glory 04:31 And He shall reap 04:36 the harvest He has sown 04:42 And some glad day 04:46 His sun will shine in splendor 04:54 When He the Savior, 04:57 Savior of the world is known 05:07 I cannot tell 05:11 how all the lands shall worship 05:19 When at His bidding, 05:25 every storm is stilled 05:32 Or who can say 05:36 how great the jubilation 05:44 When all the hearts 05:48 with love for Him are filled 05:56 But this I know, 06:02 the sky shall soon his presence 06:08 Tens and thousands 06:14 human voices sing 06:20 And earth to heaven 06:26 and heaven to earth will answer 06:35 At last the Savior, 06:40 Savior of the world 06:46 is King 07:01 Amen. Oh, good morning everyone. 07:06 Good morning. It's great to be here with you 07:08 from Australia and in Houston. 07:11 And I'm very much excited to be here, this is my first GYC. 07:15 And I don't think I've ever seen so many young people 07:18 excited to hear the word of God, amen. Amen. 07:22 I'd just like to open with an added word of prayer 07:25 myself before we go any further. 07:26 Father in heaven, I thank you for bring us here 07:29 so early this morning. 07:30 I just pray now that you would speak 07:32 through me that you would take away 07:34 any self and any nerves 07:36 and may Jesus shine forth is my prayer 07:38 today in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 07:42 The story is told of two brothers' ages eight and ten. 07:47 And they were giving their mother quite a lot of trouble. 07:51 So she decided that she would take them down 07:54 to the local pastor to see if he could help 07:56 straighten them out. 07:58 And when she took them to the pastor, 07:59 he was very happy to help her. 08:02 And he took the younger brother into his office. 08:05 The elder boy sat outside. 08:07 He sat him down in front of his desk 08:09 and he looked at him and he said, "Where is God?" 08:14 At this the young man's eyes opened wide, 08:17 but he didn't answer. 08:19 And so the pastor raised his voice a little 08:21 and he said, "Young man, where is God?" 08:27 This time the boy began to squirm in his sit. 08:30 But still he didn't answer. 08:33 And so the third time the pastor 08:35 asked him a little more forcefully, 08:37 "Young man answer me, where is God?" 08:41 At this the eight year old jumped up out of his sit, 08:44 took off out of the office and down the hall. 08:47 And when his elder brother 08:49 saw him take off he ran after him. 08:51 When he finally caught up with him, he said, 08:53 "What's the matter with you? 08:56 Why are you running?" 08:58 And when he could catch his breath, 08:59 the little boy said, "Oh, we are in big trouble this time. 09:03 God is missing and they think we did it." 09:08 Friends the good news this morning is this. 09:11 God isn't missing, amen. Amen. 09:13 The Bible tells us from the creation of the world 09:16 that His invisible attributes have been clearly seen. 09:20 And yet right throughout scripture, 09:23 we find that God calls us to seek him over and over again, 09:29 not because He is lost, 09:32 but because without Him, we are, amen. Amen. 09:35 And it reminds of the text in the Book of Jeremiah. 09:38 Jeremiah Chapter 29 and verse 13. 09:42 Jeremiah 29, verse 13, 09:50 Jeremiah 29 verse 13, 09:53 it's the words of God. 09:56 Jeremiah 29 verse 13. 10:05 The Bible says, God says, "He says and you will seek me 10:10 and find me when you search for me 10:14 with part of your heart, 10:17 with all your heart, that's what God's promise is". 10:20 And friends, once upon a time, 10:22 there was a man who sought God 10:25 who set his heart to seek God 10:28 and as promised, he found Him. 10:30 He was the great, great grandson of King David, 10:34 the great grandson of Solomon. 10:37 Asa had the blood of mighty men coursing in his veins. 10:42 But the bratty bunch wasn't perfect and neither 10:45 was everyone in Asa's family tree. 10:48 The Bible's final verdict on his grandpa Rehoboam 10:52 was an epitaph that effectively read, 10:54 God was not important to him. 10:57 And his own father hardly the picture of a godly father, 11:01 he married 14 women and reigned 11:04 just three short years. 11:07 But friends, God is never left helpless 11:09 among the ruins of our lives. 11:12 And God's grace was still at work in Asa's life. 11:16 And the Bible begins his three chapter biography 11:19 in the Book of Second Chronicles, Chapter 14. 11:22 So come with me to Second Chronicles, Chapter 14. 11:29 Second Chronicles, Chapter 14 and we'll pick up 11:35 reading his story in verse 2. 11:40 Second Chronicles, Chapter 14, verse 2. 11:50 The Bible says, "And Asa did what was good and right 11:55 in the eyes of the Lord his God. 11:58 For he removed the altars of the foreign gods 12:01 and the high places and broke down the sacred pillars 12:04 and cut down the wooden images. 12:07 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, God of their fathers, 12:11 and to observe the law and the command. 12:13 He also removed the high places and incense altars 12:17 from all the cities of Judah, 12:19 and the kingdom was quiet under him." 12:23 You know, in the Spirit of Prophecy, 12:25 there's a wonderful quote, March 22, 12:28 1887 from the Review and Herald that says, 12:31 "A revival of true godliness 12:33 among us is the greatest and most urgent 12:37 of all our needs to seek this." 12:40 Shouldn't be our second work, it should be our first work. 12:45 And friends, Asa made seeking of revival of true godliness, 12:50 his first work. 12:52 It was a dawning of a new day in Judah, 12:55 an exciting time to be alive. 12:58 Rising to the throne in 911 BC, get it 911. 13:04 It is almost as if God raised Asa up 13:07 for the spiritual emergency of the times. 13:11 I have no doubts that Asa's commitment 13:14 to godly leadership put people offside. 13:17 But friends, Asa wasn't trying to in a popularity contest. 13:21 Opinion polls didn't faze him. 13:24 Under the power of the Holy Spirit, 13:27 Asa chose to surrender 13:29 all that he was to all that God is. 13:32 And he chose as a young man to do what was good and right 13:37 in the eyes of God, not in the eyes of the world, 13:39 in the eyes of God. 13:41 And He called others to do the same. 13:44 The land was perched of adultery. 13:47 People turned to the word of God. 13:50 And obedience was the fruit of this activity. 13:54 It was the work of the spirit. 13:56 And you say hold on a minute Charissa, 13:58 don't go putting things into the text that aren't there. 14:02 I read no mention of the Holy Spirit here in this passage. 14:06 So how can you say that this is the work 14:08 of the Holy Spirit. 14:09 I'm so glad you brought that up, because friends 14:12 I reminded of a verse in the Book of Proverbs. 14:16 Proverbs Chapter 14, verse 12 that says, 14:20 "There is a way that seems right to a man, 14:23 but its end is the way of what? 14:26 Is the way of death". 14:27 And friends, you don't have to be Einstein 14:29 to know that this is true. 14:31 I've just finished studying to be a high school teacher 14:35 of English and History. 14:37 And in my short time in prac on prac 14:40 in certain schools in Australia. 14:42 I know that you just have to leave a classroom 14:45 for three or four minutes and then come back 14:47 to know that it is dangerous for us to be left to ourselves 14:52 which is why friends the first work of the Holy Spirit 14:56 is the work of conviction. 14:58 He works to convince us, to convince the world of sin. 15:03 The second work of the spirit is the work of conversion. 15:08 Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus He said, 15:11 "You can't even see the kingdom of God 15:12 unless you've been born again." 15:14 And that work of being born again 15:16 that's the Holy Spirit's job. 15:18 He converts us, amen. 15:20 The third work of the spirit is the work of cleansing. 15:24 It's the process of sanctification 15:27 which lasts not just for a day or for a week, 15:30 but for a lifetime. 15:33 Under the work of cleansing the fruits of the spirit 15:36 are developed in our lives. 15:38 We have here too the gradual feeling of the spirit. 15:42 And so friends, as we look at the work of the Holy Spirit 15:45 and look at Asa's life, it is very clear to me that Asa 15:49 was a man who know Holy Spirit was working through, 15:53 because the fruit of the first ten years 15:55 of his life proved this to us. 15:58 But friends, every path has some pot holes. 16:02 And Asa's life was not different. 16:04 Notice what happens, verse 9, Second Chronicles 14, 16:09 verse 9, the Bible says, "Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out 16:15 against them with an army of a million men 16:19 and 300 chariots, and he came to Mareshah." 16:24 The news hit everybody like a sonic boom. 16:28 For 10 years, the sirens hadn't sounded that to hear 16:32 the approach of an enemy 16:34 and now they screamed from every corner. 16:37 This was more than just a disastrous wickedly. 16:41 Zerah's army was the largest army 16:44 that had ever been assembled in human history at that time. 16:48 Nearly twice the size of Asa's army 16:51 and stopping just six kilometer short 16:54 of the capital of Judah, Jerusalem in Mareshah. 16:57 Friend Zerah wasn't playing games. 17:00 He was threatening Judah with obliteration. 17:05 Now a year ago, my parents decided to go out 17:08 one night with some friends of theirs from church 17:11 to go out to dinner. 17:13 And the good thing about that 17:15 was that all my parent's friends had kids. 17:17 They were around the same age as my sister and I. 17:20 And so the parents all decided 17:21 that they would get a babysitter to look after us 17:25 and we thought that was great. 17:26 And so that night, we had a fantastic time. 17:28 We ate lots of food, played game together, 17:32 and as the time was going on and they still weren't home, 17:35 we decided we'd watch a video to relax. 17:38 And as we're watching this video, 17:40 we heard footsteps coming around the back of the house. 17:46 And when we heard the footsteps, we froze. 17:49 And we looked at our babysitter. 17:51 She was to be our defender. 17:54 She was the one that our parents had entrusted 17:58 the privilege of protecting our lives 18:00 and she was even going to be paid for it. 18:04 But do you know what happened when she heard 18:07 the march of those footsteps coming around 18:10 the back of the house, she froze and got scared too. 18:15 Let me tell you, when the babysitter get scared, 18:17 when the leader get scared, it's very, very scaring. 18:21 Thankfully, it was just my parents returning to get us 18:25 from the back of the house. 18:26 I don't know why they came around the back. 18:28 But listen, did Asa freeze like my babysitter 18:33 when he heard the march of a million men 18:35 coming towards his kingdom? 18:38 Let's see what happens, 18:39 somebody already knows the answer. 18:40 Notice with me verse 10, "So Asa went out against him, 18:46 and they set the troops in battle in array 18:49 in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah." 18:52 And verse 11, "And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, 18:56 and said, Lord, it is nothing for you to help, 19:00 whether with many, or with those who have no power. 19:04 Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on you, 19:09 and in Your name we go against this multitude. 19:13 Oh Lord, You are our God. 19:16 Do not let men prevail against You." 19:20 Verse 12, "So the Lord struck the Ethiopians 19:23 before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled." 19:28 Friends, when life knocks you 19:31 to your knees, pray there, amen. 19:35 Amen. Asa had a computer, 19:37 sorry he had an army like you and I have a computer 19:39 like you and I might have a watch. 19:41 And the Bible tells us that his army 19:44 they were all mighty men of valor equipped 19:47 with the finest weaponry, 19:49 trained in the most skilled military tactics. 19:52 Asa could have trusted in his army. 19:56 But instead the Bible tells us that Asa 19:59 was on his face before God crying out saying, 20:03 "Army is a not the decisive thing oh God, You are." 20:08 And friends, when you rely upon organization, 20:11 you get what organization can do. 20:15 When you rely upon eloquence, 20:17 you get what eloquence can do. 20:20 When you rely upon education, you get what education can do. 20:26 And there's nothing wrong with those things. 20:29 But friends, let me tell you, when you rely upon God 20:32 through prayer, you get what God can do, amen. 20:37 Amen. How do you explain it? 20:39 Someone once--once I asked a lady 20:41 after she had shed and answered to prayer, 20:44 she said, "I don't, it doesn't need explaining. 20:47 I just took God at His word and He took me at mine." 20:51 That's why there's power in prayer friends. 20:54 There's power because of relationship. 20:59 And Asa, he says, "Oh Lord, You are our God." 21:02 The Bible says, "He called out on the Lord his God, 21:05 power because of relationship." 21:07 There's power because of dependence. 21:10 He says, "Oh Lord, we rest on you." 21:14 Asa was depending on God. 21:17 And there's power because God's desire 21:20 is always to preserve His honor 21:22 and Asa appealed to this in his prayer. 21:25 He says, "In Your name, 21:28 we go against this multitude." 21:32 In the Spirit of Prophecy, Mrs. White says, 21:35 "His petitions showed that he was not a stranger 21:39 to God's wonderful power." 21:43 I'd the privilege of traveling to the state 21:45 to the state below mine in Australia, Melbourne, 21:48 you may not have ever heard of that place, 21:50 but it's in Australia, I promise you that. 21:52 I went to Melbourne and I spent a week 21:55 with a church there, we had a week of revival. 21:59 And during that week, I got to meet some wonderful people, 22:02 but there was one story that stood out to me. 22:04 A lady she came and she told me the story of her son 22:08 who was coming to the meetings. 22:09 And when you looked at him, 22:10 you could see that he'd been through some accident. 22:14 Jerry she told me, that's her son. 22:16 He's 31, last year in August, 22:18 he was in a very bad car accident. 22:22 And she received the phone call the next day to tell her 22:25 that her son was in hospital, he was in a comma, 22:28 it wasn't looking good. 22:30 He was on life support, could you please come in. 22:32 she went in with the family rallied around that bed, 22:35 they prayed for six days. 22:38 And after six days, the doctors told her 22:41 they said, "Look, you may as well just, 22:44 I think we have to turn the life support off. 22:46 It's too expensive and Jerry is not improving, 22:49 he hasn't improved at all." 22:51 But his mother is a lady of prayer. 22:54 And she told me in her word, she said, 22:57 "I didn't let that happened." 22:58 She said, "I fought Him and I fought Him." 23:01 And she's a quite a big lady. 23:02 So I imagined that she would have fought Him 23:04 and she fought Him. 23:06 And she made the doctors keep Jerry 23:09 on life support for six weeks. 23:13 After they told her to turn it off after six days, 23:16 because it was too expensive. 23:17 And friends, she kept praying and guess what? 23:20 Jerry walked out of that hospital. Amen. 23:22 So God answers prayer. 23:24 And friends, an answer to the prayer of Asa, 23:27 the power of Ethiopia was broken 23:30 before the Lord and His army. 23:33 And Asa rejoicing troops were returning home, 23:36 laden with spoil, with the spoils of war. 23:39 The Bible tells us in the next chapter that he was met 23:44 and the army said, "We're all met by another man 23:47 filled with the Holy Spirit." 23:49 Let's see who it was. 23:50 Chapter 15 verses 1 and 2 of Second Chronicles. 23:53 Second Chronicles 15 verses 1 and 2. 23:58 The Bible says, "Now the Spirit of God 24:00 came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. 24:04 And he went out to meet Asa and said to him, 24:07 "Hear me Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. 24:10 The Lord is with you while you are with him. 24:16 If you seek him, he will be found by you, 24:19 but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." 24:24 Verse 7 and 8, "But you, be strong 24:28 and do not let your hands be weak 24:30 for your work shall be rewarded." 24:34 When Asa heard these words 24:35 in the Prophecy of Oded the prophet, 24:37 he took courage and removed the abominable idols 24:41 from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities 24:45 which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim 24:47 and he restored the altar of the Lord 24:50 that was before vestibule of the Lord." 24:54 Azariah whose name means Yahweh has helped, 24:59 comes and tells Asa that because he had made it, 25:03 his lifestyle to seek God. 25:07 God had been able to bless him, amen. 25:12 God had fought and God had won. 25:16 The glory was all God's. 25:18 And by the way friends, the glory is still all God's. 25:23 There has never been nor will there ever be 25:26 room for the glory of God in the work. 25:28 So for the glory of man in the work of the gospels 25:31 its all God's glory. 25:34 But another parts of this message 25:36 was be strong and do not be weak. 25:39 Question, how was Asa meant to be strong? 25:43 By doing pushups, by running around the block everyday. 25:47 No, friends the secret lay in the same message. 25:51 The Christian's strength 25:53 lies always in seeking and clinging to God. 25:59 The story is told of a student 26:01 who had a teacher, spiritual teacher. 26:03 And he went to him one day with this question. 26:06 He said, "Teacher, how can I truly find God?" 26:12 The teacher looked at his student, 26:13 smiled, and said, "Follow me." 26:16 And he led him out and he led him down to a river. 26:20 And when they got to the river, 26:21 the teacher walked into the river. 26:24 When he got to the middle, he looked back at his student 26:26 and he said, "Come, follow me, come into the river." 26:29 So the student followed him into the river 26:32 and when they got to the middle, 26:34 they stood side by side and the teacher said, 26:36 "Now please emerge yourself beneath the water." 26:40 Student looked at teacher and he said, "Okay." 26:42 So he merged himself beneath the water in that river 26:45 and as soon as he was beneath the water in that river, 26:49 the teacher placed his hands on his head 26:52 and he held him there. 26:53 And as the moments began to pass, 26:56 the student began to struggle, 26:58 but still the teacher held him there. 27:00 You got to watch this teaches. 27:02 Still the teacher held him there. 27:04 And the arms were flying 27:06 and the legs were trying to pushup, 27:07 but still this teacher held the student there. 27:11 And after a few long what seemed painful 27:14 moments for the student. 27:15 Finally his teacher removed the hands 27:17 and up he shot with aching lungs gasping for air. 27:23 When he finally caught his breath again, 27:25 the teacher just looked at his student and said, 27:28 "When you desire God 27:31 as truly as you desired to breath 27:34 the air you just breathed, 27:36 then you shall find Him." 27:40 The key to revival and blessing in the time 27:44 of Asa is the same as the key to revival and blessing today. 27:49 We need to set our hearts to seeking God. 27:54 And I believe that's why you're here. 27:56 We're here to pray Lord 27:58 fill me, this is our earnest plea. 28:03 Every morning when you wake up, 28:05 are you setting your heart to seek the Lord? 28:08 Do you look up before you look out? 28:13 Some people go a long way on a good comment 28:16 and it appears that Asa was such a person. 28:19 Encouraged by the preaching of God's prophet, 28:22 he threw himself into the work of revival 28:25 again and the formal revival took on new life. 28:29 Notice again with me, 28:30 verses 9 through 11 of Chapter 15, 28:35 "Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin 28:38 and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, 28:40 Manasseh and Simeon for they came over to him 28:44 in great numbers from Israel 28:46 when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 28:50 So they gathered together at Jerusalem 28:52 in the third month in the fifteenth year 28:55 of the reign of Asa. 28:57 And they offered to the Lord 28:58 at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep 29:03 from the spoil they had brought." 29:08 George Whitfield was the 22-year-old 29:11 boy preacher from London who took the world by storm. 29:15 He shook much of Great Britain and this country right here, 29:18 the United States of America. 29:21 And he had every reason to fear popularity and success. 29:26 Whenever he took the pulpit, 29:28 people would crowd to hear him by the thousands. 29:31 And as a result of this, thousands of people 29:34 were converted to faith in Jesus Christ 29:38 which is why one night as a 22-year-old, 29:41 George Whitfield found himself kneeling beside his bed. 29:45 And he prayed, "Oh, heavenly Father, 29:48 for thy dear son's sake keep me from climbing." 29:53 Asa might well have needed to pray this prayer 29:56 for his popularity too was climbing. 29:59 He was soaring and headed for the stars. 30:03 You see a revival was taking place. 30:06 Judah was praying at seven in the morning 30:09 and seven in the evening 30:10 and they were doing it seven days a week. 30:14 Israelites in the northern kingdom 30:16 was flocking to the south, craving for godly leadership. 30:20 Church membership was up, pews were packed, 30:23 tithe was up, the prayer meetings were full. 30:27 And I'd like you to notice something. 30:28 Did you notice that it says in verse 10 30:32 that they gathered in the third month 30:34 of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 30:38 This is quite interesting to me, because did you know, 30:42 do you know what happened in the third month. 30:44 No, that's why I'm gonna tell you. 30:46 In the first month on the fourteenth day 30:49 of the first month according to the Bible 30:51 that was the time of pass over, 30:54 50 days after that or whenever the barley and wheat harvests 30:58 were ripe, they would have a feast 31:01 called the feast of weeks, okay? 31:05 Which means that the occasion 31:07 for this great national assembly 31:09 that we read here in Second Chronicles, 31:11 in the third month was most probably 31:13 the occasion for the feast of weeks, 31:16 that would explain why they're all together. 31:19 And in the Greek, the feast of weeks 31:21 is also known as Pentecost meaning 50. 31:27 Now friends, when you and I think of Pentecost, 31:29 we immediately throw our minds back to Acts Chapter 2 31:32 and we imagine a room full of believers, 31:35 120 in the upper room on their knees 31:37 with tongues of fire above their heads. 31:40 But friends, the last Pentecost 31:42 wasn't quite like the first Pentecost. 31:46 The very first Pentecost happened when God 31:50 brought His people out of Egypt. 31:52 And they're around the base of Mount Sinai 31:55 and God gave to them the Ten Commandments. 31:57 If you want to check me up on that, you can see, 32:00 that happened in the third month, 32:02 Exodus Chapter 19 verse 1, that's where you'll find it. 32:05 And when God gave to His people the Ten Commandments 32:08 at this first Pentecost. 32:11 His law was proclaimed 32:12 to make clear three key ideas. 32:17 Number one, the nature of sin. 32:20 Sin is transgression of the law. 32:23 Number two, the qualities of the law of righteousness. 32:27 That's from Romans 9 verse 31, if you want to check that up. 32:30 And number three, the inescapability of the judgment 32:34 that we will be judged by the perfect law of liberty. 32:39 That was what was proclaimed back at Sinai. 32:42 And it's interesting because when we cast our minds 32:45 now to Acts Chapter 2, we find that when the Holy Spirit 32:49 was poured out on the day of Pentecost, 32:52 he simply reinforced what happened at Sinai? 32:56 Because He came to convict the world of sin, 33:00 and of righteousness, and of judgment. 33:05 So friends, what are we looking at right 33:07 here in the Book of Second Chronicles 33:09 is very exciting, amen. 33:11 It's just mean that I get excited about these things. 33:13 But this is could very well be and I believe it is, 33:16 a celebration of Pentecost in Old Testament example 33:20 and what happens here? 33:21 Notice verses 12 and 13, it says, 33:24 "Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, 33:29 God of their fathers, 33:30 with all their heart with all their soul. 33:34 And whoever would not seek the Lord, 33:35 God of Israel, was to be put to death, 33:38 whether small or great, whether man or woman." 33:43 Talk about having an effective revival, 33:47 they were not half images than this one. 33:49 You're either seeking God or you weren't. 33:52 And if you weren't, you were just taken right out. 33:55 Do not seek God during the time of Asa friends 33:59 was to commit a crime worthy of capital punishment. 34:03 Read on verse 14, "Then they took an oath 34:07 before the Lord with a loud voice, 34:09 with shouting and trumpets and rams horns. 34:12 And all Judah rejoiced that the oath 34:14 for they had sworn with all their heart. 34:17 And sought Him with all their soul, 34:19 and he was found by them. 34:21 And the Lord gave them rest all around." 34:26 And you know what? 34:27 For 20 years after this God blessed Asa. 34:31 God's sunny providence shone upon him in every direction. 34:37 And for 35 years all up Asa enjoyed the blessings of God, 34:42 the blessings that come from an abiding 34:44 relationship with Him. 34:47 But a faith that isn't tested can't be trusted. 34:51 And so read on Chapter 16 34:53 verse 1, this is the final chapter. 34:55 Chapter 16 verse 1, "In the thirty-sixth year 34:59 of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel 35:02 came up against Judah and built Ramah 35:05 but he might let none go out 35:07 or come in to Asa king of Judah." 35:11 Well, suddenly the plot thickens. 35:16 Baasha king of Israel barricades Judah 35:19 by fortifying Ramah, a city just 12 kilometers 35:23 north of Jerusalem and the move spelt one word 35:27 to be inhabitance of Judah, invasion. 35:31 This had the potential of crippling their economy 35:35 like the dead crisis or even worse. 35:38 Something had to be done or else the people might 35:42 starve to death, because Ramah was sitting 35:44 right on their trade root and so Asa, 35:48 he's always the man of action. 35:49 He quickly moves into action in verse 2, 35:53 "Then Asa brought silver and gold 35:55 from the treasuries of the house of the Lord 35:56 and the king's house and he sent to Ben-Hadad 35:59 king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus saying, 36:02 "Let there be a treaty between you and me 36:05 as it was between my father and your father. 36:08 See, I have sent you silver and gold. 36:11 Come break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel 36:14 so that he will withdraw from me." 36:19 There was no prayer meeting this time. 36:22 Instead, Asa emails the king of Syria 36:26 who happened to an enemy of God. 36:29 He calls him, he bribes him to come and help him. 36:32 And he bribes him using God's money. 36:35 He didn't even ask God to come and attack Israel 36:38 and therefore get Israel off his back, did it work? 36:42 Verse 5, "Now it happened when Baasha heard it 36:46 that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work." 36:51 Worked the treat. 36:53 Strategically, politically, militarily, 36:57 this had been one of the most brilliant moves 36:59 that had ever been made in Judah's history. 37:02 Resting on his own genius, Asa's true front war plan 37:07 had enabled him to gain piece avoid war, 37:11 makes strategic allies and established 37:14 himself as a great leader, 37:16 and he'd done it all by himself. 37:20 I can see him having his own little 37:22 Nebuchadnezzar moment right now. 37:24 Is this not great Judah that I have saved? 37:28 But friends, even stopped clock, 37:30 a clock with dead battery in it. 37:32 Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. 37:36 And Asa's decision right here had been one of the most 37:39 dangerous decisions he would ever make. 37:44 The story is told of a farmer 37:47 who even in death tried to mock God. 37:51 And so when he died, he willed his farm to the devil. 37:56 And as you can imagine this cause the courts 37:59 quite a lot of trouble and great deliberation 38:02 until finally they came to this conclusion. 38:05 They said, "It is decided that the best way to carry out 38:10 the wish of the deceased is to allow the farm to grow weeds, 38:15 the soil to erode and the house in the barn to rot." 38:19 In our opinion, the best way to leave 38:23 something to the devil is to do nothing. 38:29 And friends, evidently Asa somewhere, 38:31 somehow has stopped seeking God. 38:35 And that's how Satan gets a hold of good people. 38:38 When we stop hanging on to Jesus, 38:41 the enemy looks at us and he just rubs 38:42 his hands and he says, "You will be eventually mine." 38:47 But friends, God had a message for Asa. 38:50 Notice it, verse 7, "At that time Hanani the seer 38:55 came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, 38:58 "Because you have relied on the king of Syria 39:01 and have not relied on the Lord your God, 39:04 therefore the army of the king of Syria 39:06 has escaped from your hand." 39:08 Verse 9, "For the eyes of the Lord 39:10 run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 39:13 to show Himself strong on behalf of those 39:16 whose heart is loyal to Him. 39:18 In this you have done a foolishly, 39:21 therefore from now on you shall have wars." 39:27 While everybody thought that Asa 39:28 was the most brilliant person in the world. 39:31 It appears that God's prophet 39:33 assessed the situation quite differently. 39:36 And God's prophet whose name here means my grace. 39:40 He tells him, "Listen Asa, nothing is hidden from God. 39:45 God sees through high price and low rent walls. 39:49 God had a glance. 39:51 He looks at this world and in a glance, 39:53 He takes in your position. 39:55 He knows your name, He knows whatever crisis you face, 39:58 not a sorrow, not a trial, not a temptation 40:01 comes your way without His notice, 40:02 without exciting His sympathy for you. 40:06 And whenever God looks at this world 40:07 evidently according to scripture, 40:09 He is always looking for the same kind of people. 40:13 They may not have charisma, education, 40:15 style, culture, education, whatever in common 40:20 but what they share is a heart 40:22 that is totally surrendered, committed to God 40:26 and that's what He is looking for. 40:28 I think if people like Caleb, like Daniel, 40:31 like Abraham who was able to climb that mountain 40:34 in absolute surrender 40:35 and still be willing to offer his son. 40:38 Friends owe that you and I would trust God fully, 40:43 so that we could allow Him to work on our behalf, amen. 40:48 It is for lack of this that we remain unhelped 40:51 and live our lives in the midst of wars. 40:55 But friends if you notice what happens in verse 10. 40:59 Watch what he did to God's prophet, 41:01 "Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison 41:04 for he was enraged at him because of this 41:07 Asa oppressed some of the people at that time." 41:11 Friends the trouble with lot of us 41:13 is that we would rather be ruined by praise 41:16 than saved by criticism. 41:18 Asa didn't just get angry at God's prophet, 41:21 he was fuming mad at him. 41:23 He just clouded up and rained all over him. 41:26 Who is this guy, and where did he come from? 41:29 Who asked this man for his opinion anyway? 41:33 Sometimes God's prophets 41:35 aren't popular with God's people. 41:38 But friends, you can't get rid of the message 41:41 by getting rid of the messenger, amen. Amen. 41:45 And I'm reminded of the quote Mrs. White made in 1873. 41:49 She said, "I have been shown that the greatest reason 41:52 why the people of God 41:54 are now found in the state of spiritual blindness 41:58 is this that they will not receive correction." 42:03 And then she made another comment in Testimonies 42:05 volume 4 page 87. 42:06 She said, "The only hope for the Laodiceans 42:09 is a clear view of their standing before God, 42:12 a knowledge of the nature of their disease." 42:17 Sometimes I know we don't like correction. 42:19 But sometimes that's exactly what we need. 42:22 Well, friends it was all downhill from there. 42:25 And you say, "Well, Charissa, you know, 42:28 maybe it was just the bad day, maybe he just woke up 42:30 on the wrong side of the bed." 42:31 And I wish that that was true. 42:34 But if you notice with me verses 12 and 13 42:38 indicate that this became a characteristic of his life. 42:41 Verse 12, "And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign 42:44 Asa became diseased in his feet. 42:47 And his malady was severe yet in his disease. 42:51 He did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. 42:55 So Asa rested with his fathers and died 42:57 in the forty-first year of his reign." 43:02 I've never been one for fairy tales. 43:04 But with all my heart, that I could stand 43:07 here in front of you today and tell you 43:08 that Asa lived happily ever after. 43:11 But the Bible doesn't read that way. 43:14 His feet diseased told the story of his heart. 43:20 This once mighty monarch walked away 43:24 from God never to walk again. 43:28 Friends nothing is worse than loosing God. 43:31 Is God missing in your life and mine? 43:35 Asa reminds us this morning that starting well spiritually 43:40 is not a guarantee of finishing well spiritually. 43:45 He was not the first general 43:46 to win the battle and then afterwards loose the war. 43:51 Oh, yes, I'm sure you know many people 43:53 when they come to Jesus, 43:55 they're so excited and it's wonderful. 43:57 They enjoy Jesus, they enjoy spending time with Him, 44:00 talking of Him, sharing everything. 44:02 But then as time goes on that experience 44:05 begins to die and they walk away from Jesus. 44:09 The reasons are many and varied. 44:11 Satan has a thousand ways in which he seeks 44:14 to drown our faith. 44:16 Starting is easy is what I'm trying to say. 44:19 It's the finishing well that test us. 44:23 Why did I come here to this story 44:25 because what happened to Asa 44:27 could very well happen to us too. 44:30 If our hearts are not set in the right direction. 44:33 So question, how can we avoid 44:36 the disaster that came to Asa? 44:40 We have to turn our lives to Jesus. 44:42 We have to look to Jesus, 44:43 because one of the defining characteristics of God's 44:47 people at the end of time is this, 44:49 that they will have the testimony 44:51 of Jesus Christ, amen. 44:53 What was that testimony? 44:54 Well, part of it we find in John Chapter 5 and verse 30, 44:57 come with me to the Book of John Chapter 5 verse 30. 45:02 Jesus says, He says, 45:07 "I can of myself do how much?" How much? 45:13 "Nothing, as I hear, I judge. 45:16 And my judgment is righteous 45:18 because I do not seek my own will, 45:20 but the will of my Father, the Father who sent me." 45:26 Friends, God is not lost. 45:29 But He is begging for us to find Him 45:32 because many of us have lost 45:33 our connection with Jesus Christ. 45:37 Friends, we don't want a dial up connection with God. 45:40 We want a broadband connection, amen. 45:43 Enoch had a broadband connection with heaven. 45:46 He walked with God all his life 45:48 and he walked straight into heaven. 45:51 The great need of our church today, 45:54 the great need of us today 45:55 is the same as the churches need in the time of Judah. 45:59 In the Book of Amos Chapter 5 and verse 4, 46:02 the Bible says, God says, "Seek me and live." Amen. 46:07 But sometimes like Paul. 46:09 We feel like Paul in Romans Chapter 7 and verse 18, 46:13 "When He said for I know that in me, 46:15 that is in my flesh, 46:17 nothing could dwells to will is present with me. 46:21 But how to perform I do not find." 46:25 Friends we need to find ourselves with Paul 46:28 at the foot of the cross. 46:30 Looking up to Jesus and begging 46:32 and pleading with Him for the grace 46:35 that comes from above to help us walk with God, amen. 46:39 This is what Pentecost is all about. 46:41 This is what seeking God is all about. 46:45 And by the way friends, we can't afford to be diseased 46:48 in our feet like Asa. 46:49 The Bible tells us that our feet ought to be shod 46:52 with a preparation of the gospel of peace. 46:56 And do you remember how I told you 46:58 the first three works of the Holy Spirit was conviction, 47:02 conversion, and cleansing. 47:04 The fourth work of the spirit is the work of commission. 47:08 The Holy Spirit always comes to make us useful, amen. 47:12 And by the way when we seek God, 47:15 we become involved in the seeking save His work. 47:18 The Bible tells us that for a son of man 47:21 did not come to, sorry he came to seek 47:24 and to save that which was lost, amen. 47:28 And I'm winding up now because my clock 47:29 is telling me I'm out of time. 47:31 But the Holy Spirit is present wherever there's action. 47:35 When He fell on that New Testament Church, 47:38 we didn't get the book of new ideas, 47:41 we got the book of Acts. 47:43 And I believe that God's desire 47:45 for this church is to finish well. 47:47 Someone once said that the wind of God's spirit 47:50 is always blowing, but it's up to us to set the sails. 47:54 Friends, at this GYC, it's time for you 47:57 and I to set our sails to seek God and to seek His faith. 48:02 If we have walked away from Him, 48:04 it's time for us to walk with Him and walk with Him 48:08 till He comes to walk us home, amen. 48:12 At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, 48:16 there were many highlights. 48:19 But there was one that stands out. 48:20 It happened during the marathon race, 48:24 and it wasn't memorable 48:25 because this person finished--come. 48:28 This person finished first, second, or third, 48:32 actually this person finished last. 48:35 And this is what happened. 48:37 When the race began, John Steven Akhwari 48:39 from Tanzania started off with everybody else. 48:42 There were 72 runners in this race. 48:44 But surely after he started he fell and he hurt himself, 48:49 but instead of giving up, he bandaged himself up 48:52 and he kept running. 48:54 Well, and hour went by and all the runners 48:57 had started probably more than, 48:58 all the runners came back. 49:00 And after an hour, after everybody 49:02 had received their medals 49:03 and people were packing up to go home. 49:07 Camera crews were shutting down, 49:09 John Steven Akhwari of Tanzania entered the stadium 49:12 to finish the race and he crossed the finish line. 49:15 And someone went up to him and asked him 49:17 at the end of at all why did you keep running? 49:20 It was over. Everybody had, 49:21 you know, the medals were done. 49:23 And this is what he said, he said, 49:25 "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to stop the race. 49:31 My country sent me 5,000 miles 49:34 to finish the race." 49:37 Friends, Asa didn't finish well but by God's grace, 49:41 we can and we will. |
Revised 2014-12-17