WHOLE-HEARTED PERSEVERANCE
Fourth in Series – “Peace That Expands & Lasts: Lessons from Asa”
2 Chronicles 15:1-19
Rev. Todd G. Leupold, Perth Bible Church, Sunday 8/24/2008 AM
INTRODUCTION:
So far, in examining the lessons from King Asa regarding revival and turning a state of chaos into one of peace that expands and lasts, we have discovered together: (1) We must destroy the obstacles to peace; (2) We must build-up and fortify (strengthen) ourselves, our families, and our community for continued victory and preservation of peace; and (3) in all things we must depend utterly upon the LORD and His power to achieve these things in His way and His time as His people turn and submit to Him.
This morning we will examine the fourth, and perhaps most neglected and failed step.
SCRIPTURE: 2 Chronicles 15:1-19
- Even if we successfully and rightly destroy the obstacles, fortify, and depend on the LORD for revival and peace, what is gained will be shallow and short-lived without an active commitment to Whole-Hearted Perseverance!
PRAYER
A pastor, physically not unlike our own Pastor E, one day decided it must be time to retire. That Sunday he explained to his congregation: “I wear two hearing aids and tri-focal glasses; I have a partial plate and I sometimes walk with a cane. It seems to me,” he concluded, “that the Lord is telling me it’s time to retire.” After the service, a spirited and white-haired lady of even greater age told him, “Reverend, you have misinterpreted what the Lord has been saying to you. He’s not telling you it’s time to retire; he’s telling you that if you keep going, he’ll keep you patched up.”
(Ivan P. Downing, Humor For Preaching & Teaching from Leadership Journal & Christian Reader, pg. 133.)
In one of his most famous sermons titled “Go Back? Never!” the ’Prince of Preachers,’ C.H. Spurgeon proclaimed: “The proof of faith lies in perseverance. There is a sort of faith which
doth run well for a while, but it is soon ended, and it doth not obey the truth.”
WHOLE-HEARTED PERSEVERANCE MEANS PERPETUALLY:
I.) SEEKING THE LORD (vv. 1-7)
verse 2.
Keep in mind, these words given to Asa from the Spirit of God are for people who already know Him and – at some point at least – have made a commitment to be His people. Even so, says the Spirit of God, even committed believers must actively persevere in perpetually seeking the Lord and His will!
To underline this truth, vv. 3-6 starkly illustrate how this Truth is easily seen in Israel’s own history. Forgetting to continually seek the Lord – His Sovereignty in their lives, His teachers, and His Word - results in a people forsaken by God, full of conflict and chaos, attacked from without and within, and full of distress.
Israel, throughout this time, continued to worship “God,” but not “the True God.” They had “teaching priests” but not ones who taught and lived according to the True God’s direction or written revelation. They had the appearance of a people of God, they undoubtedly considered themselves people of God, but the less they continued to actively seek Him, the more they degenerated into people of godlessness, strife, confusion and even civil war.
Please, be careful to note who both here and what we earlier saw in Chapter 14, the stark example from God’s Word that His people’s rest and peace are directly related to the degree to which they revere and adhere to community worship and His revealed Word.
Might, dare I ask, this same principle (and our failures to uphold it) be related to much of the unrest and conflict we see throughout God’s people in America in our day? Just a thought.
Well, bugger, that’s all a pretty depressing realization, huh? Just what are God’s people to do when they wake up one day and realize ’that’s us, ’our community,’ ’our time’?
v. 7
In other words, it’s not over and it doesn’t have to be this way. Getting discouraged, giving up and continuing to argue and fight amongst yourselves is NOT the answer. Rather, be strong, continue to press on in seeking the Lord, joining Him together with one another in communal worship, and in studying and living out His Word. Persevere in these works, according to the Spirit of God who has been given you, and in time you WILL see the reward!
II.) EXPERIENCING SPIRITUAL RENOVATION (vv. 8, 16)
In v. 8, we see Asa immediately taking these words and challenge from God seriously and boldly leading himself and the people to seek and achieve spiritual renovation.
Not only do Asa and the people accomplish this themselves, but they show us what we too must do to experience spiritual revival! Together, we must do so . . .
A.) Directed by the Prophetic Word
8a. “When Asa heard theses words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he...”
Put simply: God revealed, Asa followed. Asa stepped out in obedience and faith, the people followed.
The late J. Vernon McGee cautioned:
“...There has never been a revival without a return to the Word of God. There is no detour
around the Bible. There is no substitute for it. . . We need more than just a superficial
familiarity with the Word of God. We need more than an artificial vocabulary of the right
words. Revival does not depend on an activity, nor on a service, nor on a method. It
requires a real knowledge and love of the Word of God. . . My friend, you cannot have a real
revival unless it is based on a thorough knowledge of the Bible.” (Thru The Bible, Vol. II, pg. 434).
B.) With Courage
8b. “he took courage and...”
Asa was afraid and uncertain. He didn’t know for sure if this would really help or work, if the people would follow him or blame and stone him. In spite of these feelings, he ’sucked it up,’ testing the Lord more than his own feelings, fears and faulty reasoning, and did as God directed!
That’s a courageous man and people of God. What about us? What do we desire to be?
C.) Deeper and More Complete Removal of Sin
As we have examined in previous weeks, Asa began his reign by leading himself and the people to re-commit to the Lord and destroy the obstacles to their peace. Yet, here we see them seeming to be doing the same thing all over again. What happened?
As we saw before they did destroy much that was interfering in their relationship with the Lord and they did experience peace and prosperity because of it. However, what is now obvious, is that too many of their weeds were ripped out of the soil while the roots remained. They didn’t dig down deep enough and they didn’t recognize all of the weeds that infested them. Some they labeled as ’too pretty’ or ’harmless’ and left alone.
How serious was Asa about removing sin from himself and the people? v. 16
Sin, especially that which publicly dishonors our Lord, cannot be tolerated or ignored in anyone. I’m sure Asa, or even some among the people, easily could have instead suggested such excuses as: “She’s just an old woman, leave her alone,” “That’s the Queen Mother, who is anyone else to judge her,” OR “Maybe this one thing she’s done is wrong, but this is the same woman who has served God faithfully for so many years, who was my spiritual mentor, and taught me about God and His Word – surely we can just remember that and overlook this.”
It would be easy, but it would also be destructive. It might please certain people or make others feel better, but it would be wrong before the Mighty God!
III.) RESTORING COMMUNAL COVENANT (vv. 8-16)
Then, they necessarily went even further. Not only did they go broader and deeper in ridding themselves of that which hindered their relationship with the Lord and each other, but they then put themselves toward rebuilding that which most honors God!
In this particular place, they “renovated the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the LORD’s temple. Then gathered all Judah . . .”
That is they returned to the place of highest priority and honor, their commitment to serve and sacrifice together, as a unified worship community.
They restored their communal covenant to the Lord and one another . . .
With:
A.) Sacrifice
Henry Blackaby, co-author of the best-selling Experiencing God, once said in an interview:
“It’s pretty difficult to find any examples in Scripture of people whom God used mightily without it costing them something . . . But in our generation the average Christian moves to the comfort zone. We assume God will never ask us to do something that isn’t what we want to do. That’s foreign to what you see in Scripture. I think we have a generation that does not take its answers concerning God from the Bible but from the books of men or human reasoning – and that’s deadly.”
(Discipleship Journal, Issue 96, 1996, pg. 60.)
B.) Unity of Mind and Heart
C.) Joy
IV.) GIVING TO GOD (vv. 17-18)
Asa didn’t find, act on or achieve ALL that God desired. For reasons we are not given, the ’high places’ remained in Israel. Yet, it is Asa’s heart and not his perfection that the LORD judges!
“... nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted his entire life.”
And the sign of that heart is clearly seen in the example of verse 18 that Asa continued to sacrificially give to God from all that he possessed or had ’right’ to.
What characterizes our heart?
How does our giving reflect this?
WHOLE-HEARTED PERSEVERANCE RESULTS IN:
I.) PEACE (v. 19)
A.) With God
B.) Within the Community
C.) With the Surrounding Communities
THE WHOLE-HEARTED CHRISTIAN LIFE:
In the same sermon I referenced earlier, C.H. Spurgeon presents an illustration that remains poignant to us today. He explains:
“Two men are going along a road, and they have got a dog behind them. I do not know to whom that dog belongs, but I’ll tell you directly. They are coming to a cross road. One goes to the right, and the other goes to the left. Now which man does the dog follow? That is his master. Now when Christ and the world go together, you cannot tell which a man is following, but when there is a separation, and Christ goes one way, and your interest, your pleasure seems to go the other way, if you can part with the world, and keep with Christ, then you are one of his. So that these opportunities to return may serve us a good purpose by trying our faith, and helping us to see whether we are, indeed, the Lord’s or no.”
Galatians 6:7-10
INVITATION/ALTAR CALL
