Holy Spirit Come Home Series

Turn Your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 15:2

Title: Holy Spirit Come Home

Theme: Praying for a True Revival in the Church

Series: Grasping the Foundational Truths of Prayer

2 Chronicles 15:2 says, “…Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2) Pray!

Introduction: 2 Chronicles chapters 14-16 record very powerful truths that must be taken notice of by the Body of Christ if she is going to enjoy God’s presence and power in His work.

Proposition: I would propose to you that the history revealed in 2 Chronicles 14-16 gives a lesson on revival (Thru the Bible) and shows us the danger of not surrendering to God’s Word and perfect will. The forty-one year reign of King Asa, shows us the success that can be enjoyed by walking in step with the Holy Spirit as He reveals the truths of God’s Word to us. Asa’s life also reflects the consequences of letting the spiritual heart grow cold to the Word of the Lord.

Interrogative Sentence: How did King Asa approach the Lord? What are the benefits and warnings?

Transitional Sentence: The first step to enjoying and experiencing all that God has for His church is to approach the Lord in heartfelt prayer. 2 Chronicles 14:11 says, “Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "…Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you." (2 Chronicles 14:11)

The Bible says that King “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” (2 Chronicle 14:2) He was a great leader for he exhorted Judah to “…seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands.” (2 Chronicles 14:4) Their life of faith in the Lord opened the door for the people of Judah to build and prosper in the land where God had placed them. (2 Chronicles 14:7) When King Asa made his petition in 2 Chronicles 14:11 Judah was facing the approach of a great powerful army. King Asa had seen the Lord God bless them often as they sought Him and depended upon Him.

Christians who have the greatest peace in times of trouble are those who are aware of and have enjoyed the Lord’s presence in times of blessings and trials in everyday living. The Holy Spirit has revealed to them what the Apostle Paul prayed for the church, “[they] may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19)

It is imperative that the Body of Christ understand that this was a holy war and victory could only be assured if God intervened because Asa’s enemy was massive. Asa could count his three hundred thousand men equipped with large shields and spears. He knew he had two hundred and eighty thousand brave fighting men from Benjamin, yet the army he faced was massive, much larger than his armed forces. (2 Chronicles 8)

The church can count her buildings, pastors, deacons, elders and members. The church has more tools today for evangelizing and making disciples than ever before, but she must have a Biblical perspective of her real enemy, just as Asa’s, which caused him to cry out to God.

This enemy, Satan and his demons are real and they are not to be taken lightly. They are the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12; Wuest Word Studies) Revelations 12:7-9 says, “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Revelations 12:7-9) Satan and his company of fallen angels are free to carry out evil purposes only as God allows. Satan’s army includes one third of the heavenly host.

Revelation 12:4 reveals to us that Satan drew one third of the angels to him and they followed him in his rebellion. When Christians fully understand what happened in heaven and become aware of Satan’s power, they will approach their everyday battles by constantly beseeching God for the victory that only He can bring about. The Greek Word for “drew” (suro) in the King James Bible means, “to draw, or pull away, whether things or persons. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary; New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries; Dictionary of Bible Languages with Semantic Domains) This word implies Satan’s ability to cause apostasy by intriguing angels and humans to become earthly or carnal in reasoning and actions. (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown; Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testament) The church of Jesus Christ has a massive enemy who can cause apostasy.