Mt. Zion Church of the Holy Spirit - Sermons
Asa’s Resolve
2 Chronicles 14:2-4 — "And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment."
King Asa was a man who had resolved in his heart to be a seeker of God. I used the word “resolved”, because King Asa knew that if he was going to be a seeker of God then there were some things that needed to be put in order. Asa did not just say, “I am going to seek the Lord.” He understood that there were some things that needed to be made right.
BEING A MAN OR A WOMAN WHO IS A SEEKER OF GOD STARTS WITH A RESOLUTION IN THE HEART: “The Holy Spirit indwells me, and through the Holy Spirit I have all the power and strength that I need to be a seeker of God. Within me are all the resources I need to put in order that which needs to be put in order.”
LOOKING AT ASA’S RESOLVE, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE PUT IN ORDER IF WE ARE GOING TO BE A SINCERE SEEKER OF GOD’S HEART?
2 Chronicles 14:3 — "For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves."
It begins with a true searching of the heart. In our story, Asa began to remove the idols from Judah. This symbolizes to me searching the heart and allowing the Holy Spirit to expose anything that sits upon the throne of our heart other than Christ. Being a sincere seeker of God begins with a question, “Is Christ truly the highest love and affection of my heart? Is Jesus truly number one in my life?”
This is where it has to start! It would be easy to say, “Yes, He certainly is.” However, I see an idol that Christ is constantly having to compete with in the body of Christ, and this idol is the flesh. More than anything else, if we are not careful, we can find ourselves constantly appeasing our flesh. We can deafen ourselves to the voice of the Holy Spirit, because He is requiring us to do something that is very uncomfortable for the flesh. How many times do we ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit because our flesh just does not want to obey?
Let us ask a few questions regarding obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. Let us keep this in the practical sense, because it is in the practical that we can find ourselves constantly appeasing the flesh.
- How many times do we find ourselves constantly complaining, day after day, because it is so ingrained in us? The Holy Spirit comes to our hearts and speaks, “You have so much to be grateful for; what are you complaining about? Give God the praise.” But we ignore His voice and keep complaining.
- How many times do we sit in a church service, or in a prayer meeting, harboring an attitude in our heart because our flesh just does not want to be there? The Holy Spirit speaks, “Give this attitude over to me, and I will lift it from your heart.” We ignore His voice and continue to harbor it anyway.
- How many times does our spiritual leadership ask us to be somewhere, to do something or another, but we find an excuse not to go simply because our flesh just did not want to go?
My point is that if we are constantly giving into the flesh to appease it, it is an idol! If we are going to be a sincere seeker of Christ, then we have to resolve in our heart that the Holy Spirit is going to have pre-eminence in our life and not the voice of the flesh.
WE ARE ASKING THE QUESTION, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE AS GOD’S PEOPLE MUST PUT IN ORDER TO BE A SINCERE SEEKER OF GOD’S HEART?
2 Chronicles 14:4 — "And (Asa) commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment."
Asa resolved in his heart to live a life of obedience.
In Romans 8, Paul says that as children of God, we are to be led by the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit has everything to do with obedience. Obedience has everything to do with making choices, knowing in your heart what is the right thing to do, and doing it.
One thing I see a lot in many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is that so many people think that being filled with the Spirit has everything to do with loudness and energy. We say things like, “We had a move of God, tonight. Everyone clapped. Everyone shouted. Everyone danced in the Spirit. What a move of God we had tonight in our service.” I know people who get loud and energetic when they come to church, but they are not very obedient! Beloved, I know when we are filled with the Holy Ghost we do receive an unction, but the true evidence that one is filled with the Spirit is a life of obedience. Being led by the Spirit simply means that every day of my life, when I hear the Holy Spirit speak clearly to my heart, I obey. I make no excuses why I cannot obey, because within me is all the power I need to obey.
In the area of obedience here is a question we have to ask ourselves: “Lord, is there anything you have been speaking to my heart about, but I have not obeyed because it seems like such a small thing?” Beloved, if the Spirit of God is continually speaking about something to our hearts, it is not a small thing, and it is disobedience not to obey.
AGAIN, LOOKING AT ASA’S RESOLVE, WE ARE ASKING THE QUESTION, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE AS GOD’S PEOPLE MUST PUT IN ORDER IF WE ARE GOING TO BE A SINCERE SEEKER OF GOD?
2 Chronicles 15:16a — "And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she made an idol in a grove..."
I want to bring out two truths from this scripture:
First, Asa removed his mother from the throne of Judah because she had made an idol. With removing his own mother, I am sure there were people in his inner circle who must have thought, “This is a very drastic measure. This is a very drastic action. He took his own mother off of the throne.” For many in the body of Christ, if we are going to be a sincere seeker of God’s heart, it is going to require a drastic change. What is this drastic change? It is a life of discipline! It is a life of crucifying the flesh in order to seek the Lord!
For example, for many it will require getting up earlier in the morning to spend time with God. It will require setting our alarm clocks earlier and telling our flesh we are going to get up and spend time with God. Some would say, “My flesh does not ‘feel’ like it.” You have to understand, seeking God is not about your flesh always “feeling” like it; it is about commitment. If we live by feelings and not commitment, we will never truly be a seeker of God, because there are just going to be times the flesh just does not “feel” like seeking the Lord.
For others, if we are going to be a sincere seeker of God, it is going to require a drastic change in some of our habits. Some are going to have to start turning off the television, getting off of the couch and spending time with the Lord. Some are going to have to spend less time on the telephone and going out with friends, and instead use that time to spend with Jesus in the prayer closet. Some are going to have to lay down “pet” sins that we know are absolutely displeasing to the Lord, knowing that by the Holy Spirit, we can crucify the deeds of the flesh.
Beloved, let us ask ourselves a question: Do I have a daily devotional life with God? Do I spend quality time with Him on a daily basis? If my answer is “no,” then what changes do I have to make in order to be one who sincerely seeks God’s heart? It will require some changes.
The second thing I see in this scripture is this: Asa removed his mother from off the throne, and his mother’s name was Maacah. In the Hebrew her name means Depression. I see a spiritual truth here: In walking with Christ, I have experienced that one of the biggest weapons the enemy will try to use to crush your devotional life is oppression and heaviness. Ephesians 6:12 — "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The word "wrestle" implies a close conflict. This scripture tells me that there is an oppression and a heaviness from the enemy that comes against every believer. It can be so easy to slump down in that oppression and eventually sink into self-pity. When the enemy comes with his oppression, we need to realize what the enemy is trying to do and in the power of the Holy Ghost, rise up! There should be a cry coming from our hearts: “I am not going to stay in this place! I am not going to let the enemy rob me of my inheritance, which is intimacy with God! Even if I have to make a sacrifice of praise, I am going to rise up in the power of the Holy Ghost and bless the Lord!”
In Acts 16, we see two people who offered the sacrifice of praise. I know their flesh did not feel like it, because their flesh was bound in the stocks and had been thrashed with a whip. The Bible says that Paul and Silas sang praises unto God simply because He was worthy of praise. In the middle of their praise service, an earthquake came, shook the prison doors open and broke all their bands. The great truth we learn from this is simply, God will always reward praise with deliverance. Our flesh may not feel like it, but when we make the choice to offer the sacrifice of praise, the power of God will move in our lives, open our prison doors and set our hearts free. Praise the Name of the Lord!
HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS WHEN IT COMES TO RESOLVING IN OUR HEARTS TO BE A SINCERE SEEKER OF GOD:
2 Chronicles 14:6 — "And he (Asa) built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest."
The word “rest” in this scripture has a wonderful meaning in the Hebrew; it means to cease. The implication is, “You are resting because you have ceased from doing something strenuous.”
The good news is, God is not requiring us to put in order those things that need to be put in order by our own strength. It is God who gives us the strength to rise up to do the things that we need to do in order to be a seeker of His heart. We cease from our strength, and we walk in His strength. His grace is wonderfully sufficient for us.
I WANT TO END THIS MESSAGE WITH 2 CHRONICLES 14:9, BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING HERE THAT WE MUST UNDERSTAND.
2 Chronicles 14:9 — "And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots."
Zerah’s name means, to appear; to rise up; used as a symptom of leprosy. This word is used whenever leprosy would rise up and appear on one's flesh in the Old Testament. Leprosy is an affliction on the flesh, and it is also an Old Testament typology of sin. When we truly set our hearts to seek the Lord, the enemy is going to try to rise up and use our flesh against us. The enemy knows that his greatest and most effective weapon against the believer is the flesh, because the flesh hates to be uncomfortable. The flesh hates to be crucified, and the flesh hates to suffer. We need to realize that when we get serious about seeking the Lord and start pressing in to seek Him, we are going to find ourselves in a battle with the flesh like we have never known before. This is what I want us to understand: We should not be surprised by our flesh and it’s impulses; the flesh is going to be the flesh. Here is what we must realize: vs. 12 — “the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa,” and on the cross Jesus smote the devil and destroyed his power over the believer. Romans 6:14 — "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." We have the power within us to live victoriously over the flesh!
HERE IS THE THING WE MUST REALIZE: WE DO HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN WALKING IN VICTORY.
James 4:7 — "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
James, the apostle, tells us that in times of great temptation we need to submit to God. Beloved, it goes right back to making a choice, “In this great temptation, I know what the right thing to do is, and I choose to stay under the authority of the Holy Spirit. I choose not to fulfill the lust of the flesh, but to stay under submission to the Spirit of Christ.” James goes on to say that we need to resist the devil. When we make the choice to do the right thing in our time of temptation, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to stand firm in our choice and to resist the devil. Finally James says that when we do this, the devil will flee. In other words, the devil will run away in fear. Why? Because when we make the choice to do the right thing in our time of temptation, the Holy Spirit Himself rises up and raises a standard against the enemy. The devil trembles at the Spirit of God, because he knows the awesome power that God possesses. All praise and glory to the Lord!