How You Finish Matters

Go ahead and take your Bibles tonight and go over to the book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 16.

2 Chronicles 16 · chapter mention

And teenagers can head on up to their class here tonight.

I apologize, you're going to have to find your own note card.

There's some paper in the back if you'd like tonight.

We didn't have a chance to get that all worked out here with the short week.

When it comes to coming to Wednesday, you know, Wednesdays come pretty fast anyways.

Then you take a day away and it comes even faster.

So we're going to look at continuing our series here, looking at the kings here tonight.

We're going to be looking at the last acts of Asa.

You know, and we're going to look here because Asa has a lot of application even for our lives.

And to remember as we walk through life because Asa definitely began well in his reign in the sight of God and of the people.

You know, Asa, as we learned a few weeks ago, literally transformed the spiritual dynamic within the nation that had plagued them for many years.

Because his reforms as a leader of what he put in impacted the nation as a whole.

Because remember he removed the idols from out of the land.

He did away with the abominations that were within the land.

He had reinstated wanting people to come and to worship the Lord in that.

It also, he directed the people to that.

And we saw great victories early on.

If you remember, he went out to face the Ethiopian army.

That was almost twice his size.

And as he trusted the Lord that God gave a great victory in all that.

And we see all this taking place.

But, you know, Asa also stands as a great reminder to us that to start well does not guarantee you end well.

Because how you start is important.

But how you end is even more important.

You know, because the dynamic is this.

If you think about it, what would you rather do?

Begin poorly and end well.

Or to begin good and end poorly.

You know?

The end really makes a bigger impact, doesn't it?

And we're going to see here in Asa's life.

Because just because somebody starts well is not a guarantee they're going to end well.

And we see that throughout life, even today.

Because how many times have you witnessed good starts in life?

Whether it be a school or career or excited about the future.

Only to see those dreams diminish and dissolve because of poor choices.

You know?

Along the way.

You know, how many times have you seen couples excited about getting married.

And they get married and they get together and then things taper off.

You know?

Those things happen because of choices that people make.

And we need to guard our choices.

And Asa's one that stands.

Very stark reminder about our choices.

Not only at the beginning, but at the end to make a difference.

And we're going to look at some of those tonight.

And understand those choices that he made along the way.

Because even tonight we find many like Asa who started off well to serve the Lord.

They were excited about the opportunity only to slip away from the commitment they made to the Lord.

And I think there's some reasons we're going to look at here tonight.

Why people let things slide sometimes when it comes to their service even to the Lord.

And the priority that he has in their life.

Because, you know, causes are varied.

You know, I want you to understand there's not just one thing that causes somebody not to end well.

Sometimes it might be peer pressure that they fold to.

You know, you could have cultural pressures.

You know, sometimes just people will make choices for expediency that gets them in trouble.

You know?

Have you ever seen somebody get in trouble because they take a shortcut?

Or what they thought was a shortcut?

Not really understanding where it leads them?

You know, things like that can get us in trouble along the way.

You know, sometimes there's issues of integrity.

You know, there's lots of things.

A list could go on of reasons that impact.

It's not just guard for one.

You need to be paying attention to our relationship with the Lord.

Because in the life of Asa, we can see his strong commitment to the Lord wane to the point.

And we're going to see here, which is really a difficult commentary,

because it waned from total trust in God to not wanting to listen to God.

And even trusting in men more than God.

And Asa here, we see those dangers, because as we examine this, what took place,

I want you to remember that Judah had experienced a great revival under Asa.

You know, followed by a season that we talked about, you know, that peace and prosperity.

The blessing that lasted for a whole decade.

You know?

Even the thing that had been dedicated to the house of the Lord.

If you remember, look here in 1 Kings, back in 1 Kings chapter 15.

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

Because make sure to keep a ribbon there in 2 Chronicles 16, but 1 Kings chapter 15.

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

And you'll find here in 1 Kings where this same account is accounted something interesting

that we can make note of, because here in chapter 15 and verse 15,

in 1 Kings, there we go.

All right, down here in verse 15.

Notice what Asa did right before this, as he brought in the things which his father had dedicated.

Now, I want you to understand, what Asa did is his father had dedicated things to the Lord,

but never took them to the temple.

Asa picks up all the things his dad dedicated, and then dedicated things of his own,

and brings it to the temple of God, to say these belong to God.

These are dedicated unto the Lord.

Now, this is an important step in realizing where Asa made some decisions that are contrary.

Because he was trying to fulfill all the things, all the things that he would to honor the Lord.

But, you know, if we're not careful, we can fall into the same thing I think that Asa did.

And one of the things I think we see here in Asa's life that we'll talk about as we go through

is two things that get us when we have prosperity and everything's going well

is complacency and self-reliance.

We think what we have is because of who we are.

Now, I want you to understand that we don't have anything because of who we are.

We have it because God gives it to us.

Now, we're going to see how this plays out here because he had this complacency.

You know, everything's going good and self-sufficiency.

Our eyes begin to focus on the expectation of blessing instead of obedience.

You know, God doesn't call us to be blessed.

God says, be obedient and enjoy my blessings.

But obedience is important when sometimes,

have you ever caught yourself almost expecting God to bless something?

You're almost like an expectation like, God, I just expect you to do this.

You know, that's contrary to obedience.

God doesn't call us to blessing.

He calls us to obedience and then he blesses.

Those blessings come from obedience.

And we see here that he had been enjoying that and he got caught in those things.

And I think we can very easily take a good lesson from that

because of all these things we're going to see in his life.

But what came about after he had had this season of peace,

we find that God allows Asa to face a challenge.

You know, one of the things you'll find within the scripture is oftentimes God sends something to test your life.

Because, you know, it's easy to say you trust God when things are going well.

You know, if everything's coasting along without a glitch,

it's easy for people to say, I trust God, praise God.

But, you know, it's a real test of whether you trust God is when the time are difficult,

when the challenges come,

when you have to make a decision,

do I really trust God?

Am I really trusting God or am I not?

You know, if you read through the book of Job,

you'll see that played out in Job's life, isn't it?

Because what did they accuse Job of?

Oh, you just serve God because he blesses you.

Look at all the great things God did.

You know, that's the only reason you do that.

Now, we know as we go through the book of Job,

did Job just worship God because of all the blessings?

No, he truly wanted to honor the Lord.

And some of the struggles that come sometimes through that are not comfortable.

But we find here that God raises up Basha,

king of the northern kingdom here.

And after he takes up the kingdom from Nadab,

the son of Jeroboam, by force,

his aspirations are not just for the northern kingdom,

but he sought also to bring Judah and Benjamin back,

gathered under that authority.

And so in the middle of Asa's reign,

Basha moves to restrict the trade and access to Jerusalem.

And we're going to see this tension build here and Asa's response

because he accomplished,

Basha accomplishes this by taking Ramah.

And now this city, you know,

oftentimes one of the things I encourage you to do

is get yourself a good map

that's associated with the time that you're reading in the Bible

because you'll hear a lot of cities mentioned.

And you're like, okay, how does that correlate?

Well, let me put it this way.

Jerusalem sits here and Ramah sits here right on the trade route.

So to plug this up impacts the city.

Now the distance was four miles.

That's not very far, is it?

Basically, Asa's facing the enemy taking a city,

blockading a city within four miles.

And conflicting trade and issues.

You know, we see here this dynamic taking place.

So let's look back here in 1 Kings chapter 15 for a moment.

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

Then we'll come over here into Chronicles.

But I want you to see here 1 Kings chapter 15.

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

Look down at verse 17.

And it says,

And Basha, king of Israel, went up against Judah

and built up Ramah,

that he might not suffer any to go out

or come in to Asa, king of Judah.

So we see here Basha's intent was first to restrict the resources,

but also to prevent people from going.

Because remember what had been happening?

All the blessing that God had been given to Judah,

there was an impact upon Israel, the northern tribes.

We understand 1 Kings chapter 15.

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

Look down in verse 9.

Because I think Basha's response to this is,

if I get the right,

I got the wrong,

just a second here.

Pat fingered something,

got in the wrong one.

But 1 Kings chapter 15,

1 Kings 15 · chapter mention

that's not the one I wanted, is it?

I'll figure it out there.

The verse I'm looking for,

it talks about it fell out,

the people fell out in abundance

from the northern tribes.

I apologize for that.

Got the wrong verse there.

But we understand that all of Israel,

the priests and those that wanted to serve the Lord,

what were they doing?

They were coming down into Judah.

And they were there.

And the pressure from this dynamic of Basha

wanting to stop those leaving Israel

to go down into Judah

and block off all this.

And we find the pressure from the intrusion

into his territory

really marks a turn in Asa's life

regarding the Lord.

because you'll find either the account here

in 1 Kings or 2 Chronicles,

neither one reveals the details

that are there,

both Basha and Israel

and to Asa.

We understand all the things

of taking place there.

Ah, that's where it is.

2 Chronicles chapter 15.

2 Chronicles 15 · chapter mention

That's...

I told you I fat fingered something.

I don't know about you,

but sometimes swinging between both of these,

1 Kings and 2 Chronicles,

and you get the wrong spot.

I had the right verse

and the wrong book here.

But in 2 Chronicles chapter 15

2 Chronicles 15 · chapter mention

and verse 9,

And gathered all Judah and Benjamin

and the strangers with them

out of Ephraim and Asa

and the Lord of Simeon.

For they fell to him out of Israel

in abundance

when they saw the Lord his God

was with him.

And so, in verse 10,

So they gathered themselves together

in Jerusalem in the third month

in the 15th year of the reign of Asa.

And so, in other words,

we see this gathering

of the people come together

and Basha wanted to hinder that

by taking the city.

Now, we see this being laid out here

and the pressure that was coming

upon Asa from Basha's pressure

he was putting upon him.

I want you to,

we're going to look tonight

at the response of Asa.

Because we know that Basha and Israel

were all evil.

They had turned and rejected God.

They turned away from God.

But here we have Asa

who started out well

and was accomplishing much

but we find something happened.

Because Asa here turns

from trusting God

to trusting himself

and trusting others

more than God.

And we might ask ourselves,

how does that happen?

You know?

Because we see the first thing

that he does here.

Look over here in chapter 16.

Let's look

in verse 2 here of chapter 16.

It says,

Then Asa brought out silver and gold

out of the treasures

of the house of the Lord

and the king's house

and sent to Ben-Hadad,

king of Syria,

that dwelt at Damascus,

saying,

There's a league between me and thee

and there was between,

as there was between my father

and thy father.

Behold,

I have sent thee silver and gold.

Go break thy league

with Basha,

king of Israel,

that he may depart from me.

Now notice what Asa does here.

I want you to see here

because in response

to Basha's taking of Ramah,

we find here

that Asa's response is,

I'm going to gather up

all the things

I dedicated to the Lord.

He takes the gold

and the silver

and the things

dedicated to the Lord

and sends them

to Damascus

to buy relief.

Now we need to think

about that for a moment.

What would cause

an individual

that said

they trusted the Lord

and not that much time

before this,

he had gathered

all those things

that were dedicated

to the Lord

and set them aside

for God,

suddenly goes

and robs the temple

to pay off

a foreign adversary

to come and relief

the pressure

that the other adversary

was putting on him.

It's an interesting

plot twist,

isn't it?

You know,

I want you to understand

it's more than just

a plot that was happening.

It was a reality.

Daryl,

did you have a...

Yeah,

I think

you might have

been nervous

but

very often

in the relationship.

Yeah,

we're going to talk

about that

in just a moment too.

But,

you know,

he was trying

to buy those things off.

But,

you know,

sometimes

I think

one of the things

we'll find

from Asa here

who was feeling

isolated

and cut off.

You know,

one of the things

even in our life

because remember

the Old Testament

was written

for our learning

and for our instruction.

Have you ever noticed

that when the devil

gets you isolated

you don't make good choices?

When the devil

tries to isolate you,

if you don't keep

your eyes on the Lord,

it's easy to start

making bad choices.

Asa was feeling isolated

and so what do you do?

He goes and makes

evil associations.

He makes

partnership

with those

that he shouldn't

looking for support

from places

that he shouldn't

have been looking.

Because we're going to talk

how God deals

with him through this.

Because he doesn't go

without God

rebuking him

as we're going to find.

But I want you

to understand

that isolation

is one of the

primary tools

that the devil

loves to use

against us.

Think about

Elijah the prophet.

He called down

fire from heaven

and the feeling

of isolation

and you say

well how would you

think he was isolated?

Lord only I

only I am left.

I'll know about you

but that's a pretty

isolated statement.

I'm all alone.

There's nobody

with me.

It's a reality

we can feel

like that sometimes.

The devil loves

to make us

feel isolated.

You know

you can read

about David.

Did David

as you read

through the Psalms

did you ever

see where David

felt isolated?

You know

everybody's against me

and all the

everybody's forsaken me.

But the decisions

we make in those

moments are important.

The decisions

that we make

because when we

feel alone

I want you

to understand

that if you're

saved you're

not alone.

God has promised

to never leave you

or forsake you.

if you feel

isolated from God

it's because we

have moved

God hasn't

and we need to

grab a hold

of that reality

even in Asa's life

he got his eyes

on the wrong things.

You know

the problem is

we can look

for acceptance

and help

in the wrong places

and make unwise

choices

in life.

And we're going

to see that

play out

in Asa's life

because consider

remember Asa

was a fearless

one in the face

of even overwhelming

things for the Lord.

Earlier in his

reign he had

went out to face

the Ethiopian

army that had

come up

from overwhelming

forces

and now he

faces Basha

on his doorstep

and instead of

turning to the Lord

for direction

and relief

he turns to

logic and

expediency.

You know

let's look at

his attempt

of what we're

going to call

his own self

rescue

instead of

turning to God

when the

Ethiopians

came up

we're going

to see here

that he cried

unto the Lord

but this time

instead of

praying unto

the Lord

he makes a

choice to say

I'm going to

be expedient

in what I do.

Look back over

in 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

for a moment.

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

look here

in verse 11

because this is

where we find

Asa

going out

and he faces

this large

Ethiopian army

with overwhelming

numbers

and notice

his response

look there

at verse 11

and Asa

cried unto

the Lord

his God

and said

Lord

it is nothing

with thee

to help

whether with

many or

with them

that have

no power

help us

O Lord

our God

for we

rest on

thee

and in

thy name

we go

against

the multitude

O Lord

thou art

our God

let no

man prevail

against thee

you know

when you're

in trouble

that's

pretty good

prayer

Lord

I'm in

trouble

but it's

not too

big a

trouble

you can't

handle

Asa

goes from

that

to his

response

now

of self

sufficiency

and complacency

as he

presents

these things

the time

of peace

and prosperity

led Asa

to trusting

his resources

instead of

trusting upon

God

you know

today

we can

fall into

that same

category

very easily

when God

blesses

we can

sometimes

rest upon

God's

blessing

instead of

saying

no matter

what God

has blessed

me with

I still

need to

trust him

and be

obedient

God

desires

those things

to keep

the right

mindset

you know

think about

what David

wrote over

in Psalm

33

for a moment

Psalm

33

in verse

16

you'll find

that King

David

understood

something

that was

always very

important

because he

said this

he says

there is no

king

saved by

the multitude

of a host

a mighty

man

is not

delivered

by much

strength

you know

he understood

that God

is the one

that's going

to deliver

us

and to

keep our

eyes on

the right

thing

so

Asa here

turns

in his own

self-help

methodology

to an evil

association

he turns

to the king

of Syria

he sends

a messenger

to Damascus

and tries

to purchase

the protection

of Benadad

the king

of Syria

do you

notice

something

here

that when

he starts

down this

road of

self-reliance

that the

sacred

takes second

place

the things

he had

dedicated

unto God

take second

place in

his life

he took

the very

things he

had given

to the

Lord

and took

them back

to try

to be

self-sufficient

to remove

those things

and we see

here that he

sends it

to try to

buy help

you know

he sends

them there

to Benadad

the king

of Syria

that dwelt

in Damascus

and notice

verse 3

here of

chapter 16

of 2nd

chronicles

and there

is league

between me

and thee

as there

was between

my father

and thy

father

behold I

have sent

thee silver

and gold

go break

thy league

with Basha

king of

Israel

that he

may depart

from me

you know

we find

here

we see

here as

he

fears he

couldn't

overcome

he sends

money

up to

Syria

knowing

that Syria

is in

league

with Israel

Basha

and Benadad

were in

league

together

and you

know

over here

in chronicles

we find

a little

statement

as we get

into this

that the

prophet

brings out

that God

was using

this

what looked

like a

terrible

situation

God was

using it

to provide

a victory

Asa had

an opportunity

for a great

victory

that he

missed

in his

life

as king

and ruler

for Israel

because he

got his

eyes on

the wrong

things

and we're

going to

look at

that here

in just a

little bit

but I

want you

to see

here

this

dynamic

but you

know

let's look

on down

here

look at

chapter 16

look down

at verse 7

we'll skip

ahead here

just a moment

because after

all this

happens

look at

verse 7

and at that

time

Hanai the

seer

came to

Asa king

of Judah

and said

unto him

because thou

hast relied

on the

king of

Syria

not relied

on the

Lord thy

God

therefore

is the

host of

the king

of Syria

escaped

out of

thine

hand

what's

Hanai the

prophet

saying to

him

he says

God was

waiting for

Syria to

join Israel

because he

was going to

put them

together and

take care of

it

you know

it's a

good lesson

for us

too

to realize

that sometimes

we miss

blessings

because we're

not obeying

what God

told us

to do

because we're

not trusting

him

that God

has things

ready to

go for a

blessing and

we can get

in the way

you know I

want you to

remember that

no matter how

rough it

looks that

we're not

supposed to

try to use

evil to do

good

matter of fact

we're supposed

to overcome

evil with

good

and these

unfruitful

connections

because he

went and

made league

with evil

if you want

to study a

little history

you can find

out the

kings of

Syria and

what they

they were

just as

pagan and

wicked and

evil

as Israel

was

matter of

fact you

probably

couldn't tell

the difference

between the

two

but Judah

stood out

in that they

had separated

themselves under

the Lord

you know let's

look into the

New Testament

for a moment

because this

principle applies

to us too

look over here

to Ephesians

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 for

a moment

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

5 and verse

11 it says

this and have

no fellowship

with the

unfruitful works

of darkness

but rather

reprove them

you know

that dynamic

of no fellowship

with those

things that are

wicked

you know that's

to separate

ourselves from

them

you know

turn over to

2nd Corinthians

chapter 6 for

a moment

2nd Corinthians

chapter 6 we

see here in

verse 14 and

15

here Paul's

telling the

church at

Corinth this

same principle

that we see

because he

tells us here

he says be

not what

unequally yoked

together with

unbelievers

that word

unequally yoked

means bound

together

we can see

very clearly

that was

Asa's

connection

with Ben

Hadad

was it a

equally yoked

or unequally yoked

connection

extremely unequal

wasn't it

now we

want you to

understand

because notice

what it

continues

says

for what

fellowship

hath righteousness

with unrighteousness

and what

communion

hath light

with darkness

and what

concord

hath Christ

with Belial

or what

part

hath he

that

believeth

with an

infidel

now I want

you to

understand

this applies

to a lot

of things

in life

everything

from our

relationships

I want

you to

understand

you need

to be

friends

with

you can

be

friends

with

people

but

not

but

if an

unsaved

person

or somebody

is going

to bring

you to

evil

you have

to make

in that

relationship

that doesn't

draw you

away

and that

connection

you know

you hear a lot

of things

today

you know

I want

you to

understand

that people

get a

you know

we talk

about

relationships

and marriage

today

a lot

of people

get in

trouble

with marriage

because they're

unequally yoked

now that goes

beyond just

salvation

unequally yoked

is to have a

different understanding

about what God

says

that's a problem

because you're

moving different

directions

you're opening

the door

for a big

problem

you know

when you're

yoked

with somebody

you know

it's kind of

have you ever

had a three-legged

race

this is the

picture that you

have of being

yoked together

you know

if you watch

a three-legged

race

who wins

the race

the two

that do

what

work together

what happens

if they both

want to do

their own

thing

you know

we can laugh

about them

falling and

stumbling

but you know

what

oftentimes

in life

when we're

unequally yoked

I think in

God's eyes

we look like

the two people

that are tied

together

trying to

do different

things

God says

don't do it

because what

will happen

is they will

bring you

to evil

you will not

bring them

to do good

it will draw

you away

notice what

Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 2 · chapter mention

2 tells us

Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 2 · chapter mention

2 and verse

20

says this

that thou

must walk

in the way

of good men

and keep

the paths

of righteousness

for the upright

shall dwell in the land

and the perfect man

shall remain in it

but the wicked

shall be cut off

from the earth

and the transgressors

shall be rooted

out of it

you know

think about the psalmist

in Psalm 119

Psalms 119:63

verse 63

he says

I am a companion

of all them

that fear thee

and of them

that keep thy precepts

you know

that's a pretty good

way to find a friend

if they're going to

honor God

that's a friend

you want to hang out with

because that's going to be

an encouragement to you

to hang out

with the right ones

and so we see here

why his

Asa's scheme

was effective

in turning

Basha's attention

to defending

his kingdom

the means

by which

Asa chose

would cause

his faith

to continue

to falter

you know

today we live

in an age

that sometimes

expediency

supersedes

everything else

there's some things

you cannot

take a shortcut to

some things

have to be

meticulously

step by step

we need to keep

those in the right

order

because notice

here we find

that God

sends a prophet

to Asa

to rebuke him

for not trusting

him

now let's look

back over to

2nd Chronicles

chapter 16

here

and we already

read verse 7

there

where he talked

where Hanai the

seer came to

Asa the king

of Judah

and said unto him

because thou

hast relied

on the king

of Syria

and not relied

on the Lord

thy God

therefore as the

host of the

king of Syria

escaped out of

thine hand

look at verse 8

were not the

Ethiopians

and the

Lubim

a huge host

with very many

chariots and

horsemen

yet because thou

didst rely on

the Lord

he delivered

them into

thine hand

for the eyes

of the Lord

run to and

fro throughout

the whole earth

to show himself

strong on behalf

of them whose

heart is perfect

toward him

herein thou

hast done

foolishly

therefore from

henceforth thou

shall have

wars

they've had

peace and

prosperity

the enemy

was putting

a pinch

on them

in the midst

of this

peace and

prosperity

it seemed

like things

were spooling

up there

you might

say

of conflict

and what

does the

prophet tell

him

he says

hey

if you

had trusted

the Lord

there would

have been

a great

victory

but he

says instead

of trusting

him like

he did

before

you did

what

that's

the important

word there

how does

he describe

his actions

how does

the prophet

describe

Asa's actions

there in

chapter 16

what's that

word

foolishly

is it hard

to do

something foolish

foolishness

happens pretty

easily

doesn't it

I want you

to understand

that he's

telling him

here that

Hanai the

seer comes

to him

with a

rebuke

and whenever

we get a

rebuke like

this there's

only two

things that

can happen

you know

the Lord

sends

correction

the question

is how do

you respond

to correction

because I

want you to

see a contrast

here think

about David

King David

he committed

an atrocious

sin with

Bathsheba

Nathan the

prophet shows

up and

rebukes

David

can you

imagine

David with

Nathan standing

there because

remember this

David was

even more

his kingdom

was even

more glorious

than what

they have

at the

moment

and Nathan

standing there

before David

and say you

are the man

but I want

you to see

here if you

remember the

contrast between

David's

response

and Asa's

response

because they

show you the

two directions

you can go

from correction

you'll either

accept it

or you'll

reject it

David accepted

God's correction

you can read

Psalm 51

it does a pretty

good job of

describing David

accepting God's

correction

Psalm 51

gives a great

picture of what

repentance really

looks like

because repentance

isn't just crying

in tears

repentance isn't

sad because you

got caught

repentance is

remorse

because you have

violated God's

law

it's important to

realize here that

while David

repented and

turned to the

Lord we find

Asa's response

was opposite

you know the

prophet made

very clear he

says because you

relied on the

king of Syria

and not the

Lord

you know the

Lord would have

delivered you

but notice here

verse 9 this is

an important part

of the lesson

for us tonight

because notice

this for the

eyes of the

Lord run to

and fro throughout

the whole earth

to show himself

strong on behalf

of them whose

heart is perfect

towards him

in other words

he's reminding

Asa what

if you're right

with God

if you're obedient

to God

if you're following

God

God says I'm

watching I'm

paying attention

and my heart

is bent towards

having you

protected and

successful

God desires for

us to understand

this principle

instead of doing

foolishly

now notice here

his foolishness

that was going to

rescue him from

wars caused

what more

conflict

more wars

in other words

he escalated

his own problem

in disobedience

as a believer

we need to be

careful that we

make choices

of obedience

to God

and don't

escalate our

problems

from disobedience

because I want

you to understand

what God was

telling him is

here's the outcome

of your choice

God says I

wanted to give

you victory

but instead

you didn't

choose to be

obedient so I

could give you

victory

we see here

that this

principle

plays out

in the New

Testament

let's go to

1st Peter

chapter 3

for a moment

1st Peter

chapter 3

look here in

verse 12

1st Peter

gives us a

great promise

here notice

the promise

given here

it says

for the eyes

of the Lord

are over

who

the righteous

and his ears

are open

unto their

prayers

but the face

of the Lord

is against

them that do

evil

this same

promise

applies to

us today

that if

you're saved

if you ought

to be serving

the Lord

desiring

God says

that he's

there

he's paying

attention

and he

hears

our prayers

but notice

the response

to this

look down

at verse

10

and Asa

was wroth

with the

seer

and put

him in

the prison

house

for he

was in

a rage

with him

because

of this

thing

so what

was

Asa's

response

he got

upset

you know

what the

one thing

I found

that's true

just as true

today as it

was then

when people

are confronted

with sin

they respond

one of two

ways

they either

get mad

and upset

or they

turn to

the Lord

we have

the same

two choices

today

it's no

different

he gets

upset

with the

seer

with the

prophet

of God

he throws

him in

jail

but notice

it didn't

just

his anger

didn't

just affect

him

and the

seer

look at

the next

part of

that verse

for a

moment

notice

what it

says

and Asa

oppressed

some of

the people

at the

same time

in other

words

him being

upset

of God

correcting

him

made him

upset

with other

people

also

now you

can probably

think

in your

life

have you

ever seen

somebody

that God

comes and

corrects

and they

get upset

and they

get upset

a lot of

people at

the same

time

same thing

today

you see it

play out

in lives

because

notice what

happens here

we see this

progression

we've seen

this progression

of the trusting

himself and

trusting in

men

trusting in

the things

of this

world

rejecting

the word

of the

Lord

I mean

that's

really what

happened

here

when he

rejected

the seer

that God

sent

the prophet

that God

sent to him

he rejected

the word

of the

Lord

you know

oftentimes

people when

they get upset

with God

and what

God's

correcting

them

they don't

like what

God said

about it

and they

get upset

and they

start taking

it out

on other

people

that's a

great

perspective

to keep

and understand

also

that sometimes

people's

response to

you has

nothing to

do with

you

you know

if you're

going to

serve the

Lord

you better

understand

that

because

you're

going to

live for

God

there's

going to

be people

who get

upset

with you

you might

not even

know

maybe

find out

you're

a

Christian

and they're

mad at

you

let it

next

look here

at verse

11

and behold

the acts

of Asa

first and

last

lo there

are written

in the

books of

the kings

of Judah

in Israel

and Asa

in his

thirty and

ninth year

remember

he only

reigned

forty-one

years

was diseased

in his

feet

until his

disease

was exceedingly

great

now notice

this last

phrase again

this is

important

yet in

his disease

he sought

not

the Lord

you know

the final

step of

this is a

hard heart

towards

God

people's

heart

gets

hardened

towards

God

Asa's

heart

at the

end of

his

life