Address—Bill Prost
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Could we sing together #166?
166.
Lord, thou hast drawn us after thee. Now let us run and never tire.
I'll probably get in trouble for making this remark, but this hymn has a special significance to me and to my wife, who has sung at our wedding year or two ago.
166.
Lord, thou has strong.
Screen.
Flowers.
Nsnoise.
Assess the Lords help.
I'd like to turn this afternoon to a passage in the Old Testament in Second Chronicles.
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I believe we have the mind of the Lord in turning there.
And I can assure you with reference to yesterday's young people's meeting, that in no way did Don Rule and I collaborate ahead of time.
But I'd like to turn to a passage that, at least in part, brings some of the same truths before us as we had before us in the meeting yesterday.
Turn with me, please, to Second Chronicles Chapter 14.
Second Chronicles, chapter 14.
And we're going to read.
In the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of second Chronicles, concerning a king by the name of ASA.
We have often remarked before that.
You young people in these last days are living in a difficult time.
And I say that advisedly because some of us who are older.
I'm not suggesting in any way that we can coast. Oh no.
But at the same time, you young people are being made an object of special attack in these last days.
Satan's efforts are to snuff out if he can.
Any testimony to the name of Christ, anything in this world that honors and glorifies that blessed man?
He knows that some of us.
If the Lord leaves us here a few years.
Are not going to be around anymore.
And if the Lord should leave us here, it is to you, young brothers and young sisters.
That the testimony will fall.
In the words of that well known poem by Doctor McCray, in Flanders Fields, there will come a time in the very new, in the very near future, when some of us will have, as it were, to say to you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high.
We find that ASA lived in difficult days.
If you take.
The years into consideration.
When ASA came to the throne, I believe as a very young man, although his age is not given.
It had been exactly 20 years since the awful division occurred that split Israel into a northern and a southern Kingdom.
That awful division when Jeroboam took the 10 tribes one way and left Rehoboam with Judah and Benjamin.
Had been only 20 years before.
And although ASA was probably too young to remember any of the details yet, I am sure.
That awful thing.
Was very fresh in the memory of many and he was keenly aware of it. And yet we find in Asa's life that the Lord gives him every encouragement. And I say to you, beloved young people, the Lord would give you every encouragement today because no matter how difficult the days are.
Nothing can touch the spring of God's love and grace.
Toward you.
I say it advisedly.
There at no time, even in the earliest days of the Church's history.
When everything was new and pristine, if we could use that word.
They had no advantage over you in the personal enjoyment of Christ.
Let's see what happened.
Second Chronicles 14, verse one. So have I just slept with his father's, and they buried him in the city of David. And ASA his son reigned in his stead, and in his days it says the land was quiet 10 years. And they said to that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he took away the altars of the strange gods into the high places.
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And breakdown the images, and cut down the Groves, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images, and of the Kingdom was quiet before him.
And he built fenced cities in Judah, for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls and towers and gates and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side.
So they built and prospered, and ASA had an army of men that bear targets and Spears out of Judah 300,000 and out of Benjamin that bare Shields and drew bows 204 score thousand. All these were mighty men of valor.
Oh, how wonderful it is to see that God gave Ace a rest.
No doubt there was a reason for that, because if we were to go back just a couple of years or less before ASA took the throne, we would find that Jeroboam, the king of the 10 tribes, had decided that he would wage war with Ace's father Abijah, who was king of the two tribes. And it looked as if it would be an easy battle for Jeroboam.
Because Jeroboam, it is recorded, had 800,000 men to put in the field.
And Abijah had only 400,000.
But we find that because and those in Judah relied on the Lord God of their fathers.
There was a tremendous victory, and of those under Jeroboam in the 10 tribes, it is recorded there fell in that battle 500,000 chosen men.
On the one hand, it was a mighty victory for Abijah because he trusted in the Lord.
On the other hand.
I have read.
Those words and I can honestly say I have wept over it.
And those who know me well know that I don't weep easily.
But I have wept over it, thinking that one of the greatest slaughters of men in the Old Testament.
Was Israelite against Israelite?
Oh, sad.
But as a result of that, we find that ASA has 10 years of quietness and four times over in the verses that we have read, it says there was quietness in the land, there was rest. And I say to you, beloved young people, there may be times when God gives you rest individually in your life and perhaps collectively among the people of God. And we find, and we don't need to belabor the point because it was gone over pretty thoroughly yesterday.
But ASA used that time wisely.
He didn't just say, isn't this wonderful?
To use the common terminology, he didn't say let us eat and drink and be merry.
Let us kick up our heels, so to speak.
There were two things that ASA did. Number one, and remember there are priorities here. ASA got rid of all the idols in the land. Sad to say, under his father Abijah and under his grandfather rehabilitation and even under his great grandfather Solomon, idolatry had entered the land of Israel.
And it was not only among the 10 tribes. And so we find ASA gets rid of those idols.
And I say to your heart and mine as much as to my own heart as to you young people, first of all, there is a need before I can build could to get rid of those things that are in the way. Those idols were things that took the place of the true God. And ASA had to purge Judah, and it's recorded here that he took away not only the idols but the high places.
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Now remember that we're going to refer to that again. What were the high places anyway? They were places where the Canaanites had offered their sacrifices to false gods, and somehow they had the idea that if a place were elevated, perhaps on the side of a mountain or something like that, that it had an advantage.
And men still do that.
Some of us here have had the opportunity to visit the little country of Bhutan in northern India, or north of India I should say.
And if they are going to build a Buddhist temple there, they build it up on the side of a mountain so that everyone can see it. The high places we find that all those were taken away. Evidently they had not been taken away before.
So then we find that ASA uses that time to build. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to build. And I say to your heart and mind.
Let us use the time of quietness to build. And we're not going to say a lot about building because, again, it was covered pretty thoroughly yesterday. But building consists of immersing myself in this precious book and not only getting up and getting it up in my head here, but getting it down in my feet.
You know, five times over in the Gospels, with minor variations, the Lord Jesus reminds those to whom He spoke to take heed to what they heard, because He said to him that half shall be given, but unto Him that hath not.
Even that he seemeth to have shall be taken away from him.
And that simply means this, that if you and I hear something, we in one sense have it, but in another sense it is not really ours until we live and walk in the good of it. And God will not allow you and me to have the theory of the truth of God in our heads without the practice of it in our walk.
And so we find that ASA was diligent. Why? Oh, because as was pointed out yesterday, the Christian life is a life of conflict. And as was pointed out in the reading meetings, while there is much that God has given us to enjoy, and while God delights to give us rest.
We cannot expect.
Uninterrupted rest down here.
It's nice to want rest, isn't it?
I can remember well talking to a dear brother about.
The figure is significant, isn't it? About 20 years ago, when many of us can remember terrible turmoil in our lives?
And one brother gave up some of the truth of God and he admitted it. And when I talked to him about it, he said, Bill, he said I just wanted some peace and quiet. I want some peace and quiet.
Oh, did that ring a bell in my own heart? Did it strike a cord and beat it did. I don't know what strikes a chord in the heart of you young people. And you say I'd like peace and quiet too. But you know, God doesn't promise us that down here. He says the rest is in eternity. And what happens here when we get to verse 9?
And there came out against them zero, the Ethiopian with a host of 1000 thousand.
300 Chariots and came under.
Oh, what a host. A million men, tremendous army.
No, ASA had a pretty decent army too, and if you take the numbers there, he had an army of 580,000. And that's pretty significant because his grandfather Rehoboam could only muster 180,000 and a budget. A budget could only muster 400,000.
Excuse me?
The Lord was good.
But the odds were pretty formidable, almost 2 to one.
It almost reminds us of what we read in Luke chapter 14 where we find one king coming against another king.
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And the one has 10,000 and the other has 20,000. And the implication of the scripture is that the one with 10,000 would be good. He would be smart to try and negotiate conditions of peace.
What happens here? It says in verse 11. And ASA cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power, help us, O Lord our God.
For we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God, and let not man prevail against thee.
Oh, how beautiful to see that here was ASA with a pretty formidable army by human terms.
But he realized that, humanly speaking, he was up against odds that were too much for him. And I say to each one of us here in every age bracket, but particularly to the young people, you are going to find that if you go out in the world today, do not be surprised if the conflict looks so difficult that you say there is no way I can't face those odds I cannot face.
These difficulties Now I hasten to say that you and I don't face the same difficulties that are faced by some of our brethren in foreign lands.
Many here are aware that in many countries of the world today.
Often one's life is at stake if you name the name of Christ boldly. And among some of us that are known in, known to, or among some that are known to us. In India, within the last few months, there have been two at least, who have given up their lives for the Lord rather than bow down and worship idols. You and I for the moment don't face that. But the devil comes at us in other ways, and he causes so many difficulties, so many problems.
As to make us throw up our hands and say I can't go on.
But ASA says, we rest on thee, and in thy name we go.
I know quoting poetry in an address is a bit rough for those that are translating.
But I love the poem that has been written about this. We rest on thee, our shield, and our defender, we going up forth alone against the foe.
Strong in thy strength, safe in thy keeping, tender we rest on thee, and in thy name we go.
The last verse goes We rest on thee, our shield and our defender. Thine is the battle. Thine shall be the praise when passing through those gates of pearly splendor. Victors, we rest with thee through endless days.
Some here in my age bracket will remember that that hymn was sung by those five missionaries in Ecuador 55 years ago now.
Who were murdered as they sought to reach the Alka Indians.
ASA won a victory, and I might mention, and I stand corrected on this, so that as far as a pure victory in numbers, I believe this is the biggest victory ever recorded in the Word of God.
Because if you read the Darby translation.
It says in verse 13.
The end of verse 13 For they were destroyed before the Lord and before his hosts.
In the Darby translation it says there was not one of them left alive. I can scarcely imagine that. A million men, all of them.
Oh, what a wonderful victory that was. Not that ASA took any pleasure in seeing a million men dead on the battlefield, but they were coming against the Lord and against His host. Oh, what a wonderful thing that is.
That is.
And I say again, beloved young people, if you will use.
Times of quiet, on the one hand to get rid of those things which hinder your progress in the spiritual things of the Lord, and on the other hand to use the time in building you will be prepared when there is conflict.
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And I may say that humbly, I trust, because some of us have had experiences in our lives when there was real conflict and, sad to say, we found ourselves unprepared.
But you don't have to be that way.
Well, our time is going. Let's go on to the next chapter.
We find that this is in the end of things. There's encouragement. Verse one of chapter 15.
And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oh Dad, and he went out to meet ASA, and said unto him, Hear ye me, ASA, and all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you, while ye be with him.
And if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
And then he gives reference here to what I believe goes back to the times of the judges.
When Israel had forsaken the Lord, and noticed the picture, verse three. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble to turn under the Lord God of Israel and Sodom, he was found of them. And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the country's.
And a nation was destroyed of nation and city of city, for God that vexed them with all adversity.
Be strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.
All I say to our own hearts that if you and I forsake the Lord, we will not have any times of quiet. We may think that in compromise we're going to get quietness, and we may at least to some extent. But we will find here that as with Israel in the times of the judges, so it will be in our lives that there will be no peace, as it says here, either to him that went out or to him that came in. There will be great vexations. There will be nation destroyed of city. There will be all kinds of adversity.
And so the Lord reminds ASA through the mouth of the prophet, that on the one hand, God was willing.
But on the other hand, there was responsibility with him.
Christianity.
Is meant to consist of live fish.
You know what that means?
Everyone here knows that a dead fish floats down the stream, but I'm sure you have all seen it, maybe even in actual real life. Or perhaps you've seen a video of it.
Of some of those fish like salmon and others that swim upstream to spawn.
In the spring and the tremendous energy which they have not only to swim upstream, but to negotiate an actual fall where they get up speed and up those falls they go.
And if they don't make it the first time they try, try, try again.
Now, of course, we know that there is danger involved sometimes the grizzly bears waiting at the top of the falls with his mouth wide open, but that doesn't take away from the fact that those fish have energy. And God looks for believers that are willing to say yes. By God's grace, I'm going to build with the Lord's help. I'm going to be with him and walk with him, and you will find that he will be with you. But it's going to be more and more an individual pathway.
It's nice to be part of an assembly where there is tremendous encouragement.
It's nice to be able to come to meetings where there is food on the table. It's nice to be able to be where there is plenty of encouragement, where there is effort in the gospel.
But all I say to your heart and mind, do we feel our own responsibility, the need to think in terms of what are we doing, what are our hearts and how are they responding to the Lord's call?
If you forsake him, he also will forsake you.
Well, let's go on verse 8. And when ASA heard these words on the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, out of the cities which he had taken.
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From Maudie free and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord.
Always say I thought you did that before.
I thought you did that 10 or more years back at the beginning of your reign, where the idols come from.
I have no doubt that ASA did take the idols away.
But you know, they never stopped reappearing, do they? It's not a one time thing.
In your life, in my life, it's going to be continuous because Satan, if you can't get at us with one kind of an idol, he'll get at us with another kind. And if he can't tempt you with one thing, he'll tempt you with another.
The idols continually have to be taken away.
What we notice here that ASA had influence beyond Judah and Benjamin, and that went back to the days of his father Abijah, because when Abijah won that tremendous victory over Jeroboam.
The result of that victory was that abides his Kingdom was extended over certain cities.
That previously had belonged to the 10 tribes.
So we find that Aces sphere of influence is extending. After all he was the rightful king and he was the rightful king as the son of David over all Israel. So he was not usurping to have influence over part of that Kingdom of the 10 tribes. He takes the idols away out of them too. Wonderful. And what's the result in verse 9?
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with them out of E Freeman Manasseh and out of Simeon, for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance.
When they saw that the Lord was with him.
This is a real test to our own hearts, both individually and collectively, isn't it?
Because here were those 10 tribes that had turned away to idolatry and they had gone into a kind of mixed up religion. Because Jeroboam had corrupted what God had given, made priests, it says of the lowest of the people, put golden calves in Bethel. And Dan made a kind of a hodgepodge of religion that had something of what God had given and mixed it up with idolatry and human thoughts.
And thank God, there were those who when they saw what was going on in Judah.
There was exercise in their hearts, they said. Ah.
This man, this king ASA, the Lord is with him. Look at the victory he won. He couldn't do that in his own strength. And I say to your heart and mind, if we're walking with the Lord, it won't be a matter of conscious effort to go out and try and influence others. We are going to speak far more loudly by our walk and our ways. And we find here that many came from those 10 tribes back to the worship of the true God.
When they saw that the Lord was with ASA.
Well, there are many things we could talk about here, but we only have time to hit the high points. But I want to say at this juncture something to each one here.
I hope this comes through in the right way.
I want to make it clear that when I talk about building, I'm not talking just about young brothers.
Your young sisters, you can be just as much involved in building. It's true that God does not commit public testimony to you in the same way that He does to the brothers. But that doesn't mean that you can't immerse yourselves in the Word of God. It doesn't mean that you can't read it diligently every day. And as I say again, if you're old enough to have your own Bible, you're old enough to read it for yourself.
Maybe your parents read it wonderful, but have your own Bible reading. Have it for yourself even if you don't understand it all.
And if you're a little older, get a hold of some of our good written ministry. There was plenty of it here.
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If you don't know what to read, ask some older brother where to start, because some of it can be a bit heavy going, I freely admit. But nevertheless, it's worth the effort and I suggest that you young sisters should read it just as much as the brothers.
When God gave the woman to the man and created the woman, he said I will make him an help.
Neat or suitable for him?
And a young brother that has been building.
He would like to relate to a young sister that also has been building.
It's nice to be able to be able to talk intelligently about the things of God. And I say to you.
Don't hesitate to read the Old Testament. Don't hesitate to read the lives of these kings of Israel.
There is much instruction for us in the way they live their lives.
Verse 11. And they offered unto the Lord the same time of the spoil which they had brought.
700 oxen and 7000 sheep, and they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.
04.
People of every age, but especially young people.
Who will have this desire in these last days?
But then the testing wasn't over. Notice verse 16.
And also concerning Mayaka, the mother of Ace of the King. Actually this was his grandmother.
He removed her from being queen because she had made an idol in a Grove.
And they used to cut down her idol and stamped it and burned it at the brook Kedron.
Might sound simple.
But how many times do family ties have an influence on our faithfulness to the Lord?
And how often times if we're not careful and I speak to my own heart.
We will perhaps dishonor the Lord in order not to offend.
A close family member.
It can be a snare to us.
Because if we do it once, we're liable to do it again and we find ASA here was faithful and it must have been very difficult for him.
Probably as a relatively young man to have to remove his grandmother, to whom he doubtless looked up, and who was.
A revered member of his family.
But because she had been involved and was involved with idolatry, he not only gets rid of her idol.
Burns stamps it out, makes no question about it.
But he removes her from her position to show that he would not allow her to have any further influence in the country. How good?
You know, I wish we could close the meeting right here. I'd like to.
I'd like to stop and sing a hymn and say what an encouragement we get from the life of ASA.
But you know when God records things in His Word, He records them faithfully.
And I may say this because some of you and I used to raise the question when I was young.
May wonder why you get, as it were, the history of the Kings of Israel gone over once in First and 2nd Kings and then it seems all over again in First and Second Chronicles.
Well, there's a reason.
In First Kings, the emphasis tends to be on the 10 tribes.
With the history of Judah and Benjamin only brought in to round out the history.
In First and Second Chronicles you get the emphasis on Judah and Benjamin.
With the Kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes brought in only to round it out.
In First and 2nd Kings you get largely man's responsibility.
And his failure under it.
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In First and Second Chronicles you get God in his sovereignty and grace.
Working out His purposes in spite of man's failure. And so you find that much of the failure that is recorded in Kings is left out of Chronicles because we see God's side of things and God working in spite of man's failure. But God doesn't leave all the failure out because He wants us to learn something. And here we find something to which I would like to draw your attention. And it seems but a little thing in verse 17.
Of Chapter 15.
But.
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel.
Nevertheless, the heart of ASA was perfect all his days.
This seems like a very small thing.
Here ASA had authority and dominion not over due to and Benjamin, but also over a certain amount of territory among the 12 tribes.
He faithfully gets rid of all the idolatry and Judah and Benjamin.
And the high places.
But when it comes to that territory in the land of Israel.
It seems, and scripture is accurate, that he gets rid of the idols.
But not the high places.
Why was that?
I don't know and I don't want to say why it was when scripture doesn't tell us.
But I rather think that perhaps ASA felt, let's not go too far too quickly. Let's not push things and cause an uprising or a rebellion. Let's not go too far. We'll get rid of the idols, but for now, we'll let the high places go.
And while it might seem like a small thing.
I suggest.
That it was the beginning of failure in Asa's life.
The point I want to make to your heart and mind is this.
And trust me, I have felt it in my own life. I am not pointing the finger.
It's very often a very little thing in our lives that we allow.
That Satan is able to use.
To get, as we would say.
A wedge in the door.
And very often we find that when we have allowed some little thing.
But it is the route.
If you're an American to bigger things.
The bigger problems.
God holds us responsible for what we know.
And that's why you may see another Christian out there who seems to be doing things that are contrary to the Word of God.
And who seems to be connected with that which is unscriptural? And yet the Lord seems to be.
Using them in a remarkable way and bringing wonderful blessing into their lives.
And Satan says, see that? Why don't you go that way? Look what you're doing and it's not working as well.
Go where things are working.
Pragmatism.
You young people know that word, pragmatism.
In simple terms, if it works, go for it. Go for what works.
Young people.
Go for what the Word of God says and we're going to find that that same pragmatism overtook poor ASA.
Let's read on here and see what happened.
Verse one of chapter 16. And in the 6th and 30th year of the reign of ASA, Biasha, king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Rhema to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to ASA king of Judah.
Have you heard that phrase before? Coming out and going in? Yes, in the previous chapter, in the times of the judges, when there was no peace to anyone that came out or went in.
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You know, I think rather be Asha, who was then the king of Israel, the 10 tribes, he wasn't too pleased at the way things were going. Look at that, that king ASA.
As a result of his winning a mighty victory, not only has some of my Kingdom fallen into His hands, but my people are deserting my Kingdom and going over to be with Him.
And he knew full well, from the way things had gone, that mounting.
A military offensive against ISA was probably not a good idea.
In the first place, Ace's father had.
Wiped out 2/3 of his army not that long before.
That is the army of the 10 tribes, and furthermore, ASA had wiped out an army of a million men belonging to The Ethiopians, no doubt, Biasha felt.
I can't make war with that man. It's not smart.
But something has to be done. So he's going to build a city there on the border.
As it were, to prevent any further moving back and forth between the two kingdoms.
Poor ASA.
What does he do?
Oh, instead of there being that trust in the Lord that had been there before.
Things had gone downhill. He had had another period of rest, it says in the end of the last chapter, chapter 15, and there was number more war.
Under the five and 30th year of the reign of ASA.
He had another 20 years of wonderful peace.
But now when another challenge comes.
Things didn't go so well.
If we could say it, that pragmatism.
That the devil had sowed.
Of which the devil had sowed the seed in his heart.
Now translates into a wrong course, verse 2. Then ASA brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the House of the Lord and of the King's house, and sent to Ben Haydad, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying.
There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father.
Behold, I have sent thee silver and gold, Go break thy league with the Asha King of Israel, that he may depart from me.
And then he had hearkened unto King ASA, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel.
And they smote Ijon and Dan and Abel Mame, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass, when Biasha heard it, that he left off building of Raymond and let his work cease.
Then he said the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Raymond. The timber thereof were up by Asha was building, and he built therewith Giba and Misbah.
It looked as if it worked, didn't it?
It looked as if it worked.
ASA takes all the treasures of the House of the Lord and of the King's house.
What does he do? He goes to the king of Syria and says come and help me go after that king of Israel.
Get him off my back, so to speak.
And then he'd had no doubt was only too glad to get involved.
He had no special love for either the King of Judah or the King of Israel, and if there was a chance to get involved to his own advantage, he would.
And as a result.
Has to leave off building.
An ASA goes and gets all the material that Vyasha had collected, takes it away and he builds some more.
Oh, you say ASA, perhaps good for you. You're building again.
Young people, there's a right way and a wrong way to build.
And if I may say so, as Dawn brought before us yesterday, there's a right foundation and a wrong one on which to build.
ASA built on the right foundation the first time, but now he's building on a shaky foundation. He does three things wrong. First of all, he goes to the king of Syria.
Secondly, he buys him with all the treasures that God had given him to collect.
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And thirdly, he persuades him to break an agreement that he had evidently made with the king of.
Israel, the 10 tribes, none of which I believe were of God.
Oh, Satan can persuade us that it's all right to do something wrong in order to gain the right end. He can persuade us at the end justifies the means.
You and I are in a world that is filled with what might be called situational ethics.
We are in a world when the whole pattern and fabric of things.
Has made moral principles so blurred.
That eventually Satan says you just have to do what works. You just have to look after things in your own way.
All I say to each one here.
In these last days, it is all the more necessary to have the word of God before you.
Because all around us we are seeing these things happening and if we are not careful, we fall under the influences ASA did.
But God was not going to let him off. Verse seven. And at that time Hanani the seer came to ASA, king of Judah, and said to him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God. Now notice this therefore is the host of the king. Syria escaped out of thy hand. What?
ASA could say, but I was in fighting with the king of Syria.
Who were the true enemies?
Who was the true enemy? Oh, the king of Syria was subtle.
He knew how to play both ends against the middle, as we say in the common term.
He knew how to work through his own ends. He had no love for the King of Judah or for God's things or anything.
Syria was the real enemy.
Syria is the real enemy, the Lord, says ASA. You let him go. You worked out an alliance with him and looked as if it worked.
You let the real enemy go.
And I say to your heart and mind that the minute we start working with worldly principles, the minute we begin to compromise even a little, we're on a slippery slope. And just as poor ASA decided that he let the high places go down there in Israel, so you and I.
Maybe in a very small thing.
And let something go. But the point is, we know better. And if God has revealed something to your heart and mind, if God has brought His precious truth to bear on your soul and mind.
As Dawn mentioned yesterday, he is going to make us accountable for it.
And the scripture uses those terms by number and by weight.
I think that scripture is in the 9th chapter of Ezra if I remember rightly, but you can look it up. They had to account at the end of the journey for those vessels that were committed to them.
By number and by weight.
And So what happens for A in Ace's life?
Verse eight Were not The Ethiopians and the Lubans a huge host?
And with very many Chariots and horsemen, yet because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Herein thou hast done foolishly. Therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
Oh, how very sad.
For a man.
The greater part of whose reign had been characterized by peace and rest, because when there was conflict, God came in for him in a wonderful way when he relied on the Lord. But now the prophet has to say, ASA, you've done foolishly, and from now on there will not be rest, there will be wars.
And I say to your heart and mind, let's not look for a temporary piece. Let's not look for the easy way out. Let's remember, as we had before us this morning, that there is one, as it were, who would hold out his pierced hands, and it would say to your heart and mine.
00:55:10
What about my claim over you?
Are you going to deny my name or are you going to walk with me in these last days?
And to me, it's almost unbelievable.
What did? Because here it's recorded that when the prophet faithfully brought this message to him, it says in verse 10 then ASA was wroth with the seer.
And put them in a prison house.
Oh, how sad. There's no limit to the extent that your flesh and mind can go. Remember, this was a godly king, and the Spirit of God witnesses to the fact that his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.
But there was.
Fly in the ointment.
There was something.
That caused a problem.
And poor ASA, he doesn't want to hear that kind of thing anymore. He puts the profit in a prison house. And you and I can do that today. When someone comes to us and speaks faithfully, we can, as it were, put them in the prison house. We can say get out of here. I don't want to hear that anymore. I don't want to listen to you.
And worse still, it says at the end of the verse. And they oppressed some of the people.
Same time, no doubt there were those who felt the situation, who agreed with the prophet, Asus says. I don't want to hear from you either. Very, very sad.
We won't read the last few verses.
But it tells us that as a result of all this, the hand of God was on poor ASA. He was diseased in his feet, and it says his disease was exceeding great. It doesn't tell us what it was.
Was there anything wrong with his going to the physicians? No, that wasn't a problem. We find physicians mentioned throughout the Word of God, and we don't find that God speaks against their use in the proper way and at the right time.
But the fact of the matter was that ASA was away from the Lord, and he didn't take the whole thing from the Lord. He didn't recognize the Lord's hand in it. And as a result we find that he died from that disease. And as far as we know, there was not his making right with the Lord that which had caused his failure. Well, we say that we trust with all humility because we don't want to be occupied with failure. We want to be occupied with that which is positive.
We want to be occupied with the things that ASA did that were right and we say to each one here, but especially to you young people that there is no reason why you and I in a day of ruin in a day. Shall we say it, when they're likewise have been divisions among the people of God and when perhaps there is the feeling at least in the hearts of some of saying how can you find any kind of a path? You just have to.
Muddle along, as it were, as best you can.
Until the Lord comes.
No, there is a path that the Lord has marked out.
The Lord will be with us in it.
And there is tremendous blessing in that path.
If you and I will walk in it.
In closing.
Could we sing together the last two verses of #168?
168 The last two verses, O kindle within us. That's the fifth verse, A holy desire.
Like that which was found in thy people of old, who tasted thy love, and whose hearts were on fire, while they waited in patience thy face to behold. 168 verses 4:00 and 5:00.
Small correction before we pray. The reference by number and by weight is Ezra 8, not 9.