Asa Series

You know … there are so many familiar characters in the Bible. There’s God, of course … and Jesus. There’s Adam and Eve … Noah … Moses ... Samson … David … Solomon … Peter … John … Paul. But there are many, many others in the Bible we never hear of who have a lot to teach us … people like Asa.

I know … who? Asa. As you are about to discover, we can lean a lot from Asa. Honestly, any study of Biblical biographies can help us in our spiritual walk by giving us examples that we can emulate … or serve as a warning or a cautionary tale. Many times, people like Asa can serve as both example and warning.

I had a pastor friend who had been trying to get a church member’s husband to come to church for over a year. After one invitation, the husband said, “Listen, Preacher … I appreciate all your effort and what you’re trying to do but you wouldn’t want someone like me going to your church.” My friend came back: “Why not? We can always use another bad example.” The man went to church that Sunday.

What can we learn this morning from a king who reigned in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago? A lot more than you think. King Asa is going to teach us a thing or two about God and about ourselves this morning.

Now … this is another one of those sermons where you’re going to have to participate. This morning you are going to rate Asa’s performance as a king and as a subject of God … and the rating system that I’ve come up with is quite simple. Your assignment this morning is to decide if Asa was on fire [hold up picture of a burning match] or did he fizzle out [hold up picture of a burnt-out match]. Okay?

Now, before we begin, let me give you a little background on Asa. The land of “Israel” was named after a man whom God named “Israel.” His name used to be Jacob. Israel had 12 sons whose descendants became the 12 tribes of Israel. When the Israelites settled down in the Promised Land, each tribe got their own region or area.

The first kings … Saul, David, and Solomon … ruled over what was called the “United Kingdom” … called that because the 12 tribes were united under one king. After King Solomon’s death, the United Kingdom split into two kingdoms … the “Northern Kingdom” … made up of 10 tribes … which kept the name of “Israel.” The “Southern Kingdom” … made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin … became known as “Judah.”

The first king of the Southern Kingdom was Rehoboam. When he died, his son Abijah ruled … but only for three years. And then his son, Asa, became king and ruled the Southern Kingdom for 41 years.

So … if you had to guess, would you say that Asa started out on “fire” [burning match]? Let’s find out.

His great-great-grandfather, King Solomon, had fizzed out, which led to the split of the United Kingdom into north and south. According to 2nd Chronicles 14:2, Asa started out his reign as king on fire for the lord … “Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.”

Asa’s primary concern in the beginning of his reign was to be fully consecrated to God because he was conscious of the fact that the Lord’s eyes were on him. He not only wanted to be consecrated to the Lord himself but he wanted all the people and the land of Judah to be consecrated to God as well. “Consecrated” means to be set aside … to be designated to one purpose only – serving God. Verse 3 tells us that Asa “removed the foreign altars, and the high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles.”

What do you think so far? On fire [burn match]? How about you, hum? To what degree are you completely consecrated to the Lord? Anything you need to smash … remove … cut down? Anything you need to stop doing? Anything you need to start doing?

Asa not only stopped the negative things they had been doing but started doing positive things. He not only removed the foreign altars, smash the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles … he also urged his people to renew their relationship with God. Verse 4 tells us that King Asa “commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and obey [God’s] laws and commands.” When you give your life to Christ, the Apostle Paul says that you are not only to “put off” your old fallen nature but to “put on” Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24).