Sunday Morning January 31, 2010
Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: “Royalty” [#6]
THE DEVIL’S KITCHEN
2 Chronicles 21:4-24:16
Introduction:
As we are preparing for our Church’s 50th Anniversary with all of the dinners and lunches and fellowships; I thought I would give you a recipe that I have given to you a time or two before- How to boil a frog.
The way you boil a frog, is you take a large pot of water and you begin to heat it up on the stove. Once the water reaches about a 100 degrees F, (which is lukewarm) then take the live frog and place it in the water. (Note: If the water is too cold or too hot the frog will jump out, but if it is just right the frog will stay in the enjoyable water.) Once the live frog is in the pot, turn up the heat about every 4 or 5 minutes by 10 degrees. After a while, the water will begin to boil, but the frog will never jump out of the pot because you have slowly got the frog accustomed to the higher temperatures. Eventually the frog will be boiled and ready to eat.
As I look at my own life, I have to wonder if I have become the frog in the devil’s pot. How do we slowly fall away from God and more importantly; how do we get back? This morning we are going to look at several Kings of Judah from 2 Chronicles 21-24 and see how they just got farther and farther away from God; and then we are going to see how a King of Judah brought the Nation to restoration.
1. How do you know when you are in the devil’s kitchen?
> Sign #1: Selfishness.
As soon Jehoram established his kingdom, he killed the competition, (his brothers). He married one of King Ahab’s daughters and he ran his kingdom similar to the way his deceased father-in-law had run Israel. It was all about Jehoram and doing things his way.
> Sign #2: Always on the run.
Not long after, Edom and Libnah revolted against Judah and they begin to fight them. The text says this happened because Jehoram had forsaken God. He should have been killed by the Edomites but he was able to sneak away. When we are out of God’s will, we are always running from the enemy instead of standing firm.
> Sign #3: Ignore God’s warnings.
Elijah sent Jehoram a letter telling him because of what he had done that he was getting ready to be struck with a disease of the bowels and his family and kingdom was going to be hit hard. Now Jehoram could have sought out the Lord for forgiveness and got it right; but he didn’t. Because of his refusal to change, the Philistines and Arabs attacked Judah and took everything out of the palace including all of his children for the exception of his youngest son Ahaziah. He was then struck with an incurable disease of the bowels and died in great pain.
2. How do you know when you are being boiled alive by the devil?
> Sign #1: You follow the wrong people.
Since Ahaziah was the only survivor to the throne, he was made King of Judah. He followed the ways of his parents and his mother Athaliah encouraged him in doing wrong.
Who do you follow? Who do you seek advice from? Who do you hang out with?
> Sign #2: You fight alongside of God’s enemy.
Ahaziah fought alongside Joram, who was the son of Ahab. Joram was an enemy of God, yet Ahaziah sided with him.
Compromise with the world will always put you in a precarious position. We must be careful that we don’t allow the world to draw us in.
> Sign #3: You are defeated alongside God’s enemy.
Ahaziah was destroyed just like the family of Ahab. When we work with the enemy we will fall with the enemy- “Guilt by association”.
3. How do you know when your end is near?
> Sign #1: You become unconcerned about others.
When Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she immediately began to kill his family. She had already decided that she was taking over and no one was going to be able to stop her.
We can become so hardened that we don’t care about anyone except ourselves. We don’t care who we have to trample as long as we get our way.
> Sign #2: You become unconcerned about God.
Not only did Athaliah not care about others, but she didn’t care what God thought.
When we become hardened, we don’t listen to anyone; including God.
> Sign #3: You become unconcerned about truth.
We can get to the point that we could care less about right and wrong, truth and lies, etc…
We could stop here and be done, but there is hope. Do you want to walk in the ways of the Lord and experience the joy and peace that He has to offer? Do you want to experience victory in Jesus all of the time?
4. How do you get out of the devil’s kitchen?
> Sign #1: Rid yourself of sin and repent.
God always provides a way for victory. Athaliah thought she had won, but Joash, (a son of Ahaziah) had been hidden in the Temple. When Joash was 7, Jehoida the priest went through Judah and gathered up the Levites and heads of the Israelite families. They were assembled together in Jerusalem and were assigned to guard the Temple. Once everyone was put into place, Joash was presented as the King of Judah and when Athaliah came to protest, was put to death.
We need to be rid of sin and walk in the ways of the Lord.
> Sign #2: Serve the Lord.
Joash decided to restore the Temple. There was a chest made and placed at the Temple Gate for people to bring their tithes and offerings for the restoration of the Temple because some of Athaliah’s sons had robbed things from the Temple for Baal worship. Men were hired to begin fixing things in the Temple.
Why did Joash do this? When we are following the Lord, we will want to serve Him and worship Him. We will want to do these things because of our love for Him.
> Sign #3: Worship the Lord.
When we are in close fellowship with the Lord we want to worship Him. We want to serve Him. We want to lift Him up. We want to stay in constant communication with Him.
Conclusion:
Are you in the devil’s pot being boiled or are you walking with the Lord?
James 4:7-10 (NIV)
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
