Mayor Gerardo Balmori
The Salvation Army
Introduction: King Solomon started well but finished poorly and toward the end of his life he had
married many foreign women and he had built many foreign places to worship and his heart had
been turned from God. As Solomon, King Asa started well, but finished poorly. (We preached
just recently about it. Remember?)"Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life." Nine
times the Bible says that King Asa "sought the Lord," and seeking the Lord is not something you
can do with a divided heart. So the question is, what does it mean to have a heart fully committed
to the Lord? King Asa tells us by his actions.
I. FULL COMMITMENT RELIES ON GOD’S POWER FOR VICTORY
A. Asa became king when he was young and for the first 10 years of his reign he has a pretty
peaceful rule. He started some reform in Judah by tearing down some of the idols and pulling
down some of the high places and the Bible tells us that God was pleased by all this. But in his
tenth year King Asa faced his first major test and it was this test that lit the fire for revival.
1. II Chronicles 14:9-13. Now that’s the first thing we learn about commitment – it relies upon
the power of God for victory. See Asa confessed his own weakness and them he acknowledged
the limitless power of God. He realized that the strength of man on either side was no the issue.
The issue was God. God’s the determining factor.
2. Brothers and sisters of the cell group, God is ready and able to do far more than we are ever
able to accomplish when we are ready to rely upon Him for victory and not trust in our own
flesh. Please Read Deuteronomy 20:4 Ephesians 3:20,21
3. Revival never comes through the power of human strength, but through audacious faith and
the power of God. We must be fully committed to the idea that God has limitless power and can
anything He pleases when He is trusted and asked.
Revival will come when we are fully committed to His power.
II. FULL COMMITMENT TAKES BOLD ACTION TO PLEASE GOD
A. We have already noticed that King Asa went through a period where he did some cleanup
work in his nation. He removed some of the idols and tore down some of the idolatrous places
dedicated to idol worship and that was a good start. But after God gave him the victory against
the Cushites, Asa too the final steps to reform God’s people.
1. II Chronicles 15:1,2,8. These were bold steps to take in a land where idolatry and idol worship
had become popular. You see Asa knew that he could not expect God to give him continued
victory as long ad the nation harbored sin and sinful things.
2. But Asa did not stop there. In verse 16 he took his boldest step of all. READ. The two hardest
places to remove sin is when sin is in high places and when it is in the home. Asa tackled both in
one swift, courageous move.
B. Revival will come to God’s people when someone will step out in a committed faith and take
bold action in His name to get rid of whatever hinders God’s return and God’s blessings.
Galatians 2:11-13 III John 9,10
III. FULL COMMITMENT REPAIRS THE BROKEN THINGS THAT MATTER TO GOD
A. Revival just doesn’t tear down and remove it builds up and restores.. Back in II Chronicles
15:8 the Bible says that Asa took courage and not only tore down the detestable idols but that he
"repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the Lord’s Temple." For decades the altar had
lain in ruins and no sacrifice, no worship was offered to God. But when revival same to Judah,
not only did Asa tear down the things that dishonored God, he built back the things that brought
honor to God.
B. This got me to thinking about what things does God want us to repair that brings honor to His
name. The list could be quite long, but I only have time to share a couple that stand at the top of
the list.
1. A return to total commitment to the teaching of Scripture. The church has to decide that
culture, popular opinion, nor those in high places are not going to tell us how to interpret or
apply the teachings of God. Instead we are going to study it, all of it, we are going to apply it as
God gave it and we are going to proclaim it to the world as the truth it is. Jesus said, "You shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free."
2. The unity of the church, God wants that repaired. It never fails to amaze me how we can all
know that when our favorite sports team, plays as a team they win, but when they play like a
bunch of players they loose, yet we cannot apply that to our relationship with one another. Jesus
said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." This applies both to the church-to-church
relationships and the person-to-person relationships. It is a crying shame when individuals who
call themselves Christians and Churches who claim to belong to Christ will not take the
necessary steps to get along and bring honor to God. God wants to send revival to His Church,
but he is going to wait to send it until something as basic as "love one another" gets taken
seriously.
C. God will send revival to His people when they are fully committed to repairing the broken
things that matter to Him and bring him honor and glory.
CONCLUSION: God’s commitment to renewal is related to our renewal to commitment. Revival
came to Judah because one man was fully committed to the Lord and sought Him all his life.
Never underestimate the power of one person seeking God with all their heart, because if
someone does, we just might see revival. Please join me in this holy war,
