The Pride of Kings — 2 Chronicles 14-17

0:00 It's so important to come together on Sundays and open up the word of God. Power of the word of God being taught is so important. It sets the foundations of our life and brings conviction and transforms us. Last week, a week ago already, I was in a camp in Georgia. And when the kids were first arriving, those are siblings, three of them.

0:28 And the older one, 12 years old, she came to me directly and some of the leaders and said, I'm here, but I'm just here to play and enjoy myself, but I'm not going to listen to the word of God. We said, Okay, that's cool. That was Sunday night. Her dad had gone when he was younger, and he said that God let him down. Consequently, he doesn't care about God anymore.

0:55 If you want to go to camp, go ahead. I'll let you go. And the siblings themselves told me that the Bibles were up high in a shelf and they had never read them. So this girl, her name is Melody, an avid reader, she picked up the Bible for the first time and started reading and could not put it down the whole time we were there for the whole week. And by Thursday night, she got up.

1:18 It was testimony night. She got up and said, I'm not a Christian yet, but I have the Bible in my hand and I've been reading it and I'm really close. So we're like, wow, what a change. And she was beaming and smiling, and and like, wow, the power of the word of God is is amazing. Alright, we're going to continue on this theme of our humanity and pride.

1:38 And what we're going do is we're going to focus on five kings and their experience, the decisions they made, and what happened. So we're going to do like a conclusion at the end. So let's go to two Chronicles and chapter 14. Two Chronicles and 14. Second Chronicles chapter 14.

1:58 Do a little bit of Old Testament teaching. And we're going to look at, first of all, King Asa or Asa. What sounds better? Asa? Asa?

2:12 Okay. King Asa. Because in Spanish, it's different. I have to pronounce it in English. Asa.

2:17 Asa. Okay. So second Chronicles fourteen:two-seven. What I'm going to do is I'm going to just going to read little portions, and then I'm trusting if you wanted the the details in between, go home and read all the details. So trust me when I give you details that we're not going to read.

2:37 And if you don't think it's true, go home and read it and you'll see. I try to be as as true to the text as possible. Second Chronicles 14 and verse two, and Asa did good in and right in the sight of the Lord his God. For he removed the four foreign altars and the high places. He tore down sacred pillars.

2:58 He cut down the Ashram which is a bunch of idols that they had and he commanded Judah to seek the lord, god of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandments and he also removed the high places from and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah and the kingdom was undisturbed under him And he built fortified cities in Judah. Let's go to seven. And he and he said to Judah, let us build cities and surround them, surround them with walls and towers, and gates and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the lord our god. We have sought him and he has given us rest on every side so he built and prospered.

3:43 So, we can see then that King Asa started out well great beginning. They're seeking god. Look at verse nine. Now, Zera, the Ethiopian, came out against them with an army. Listen, of 1,000,000 men.

3:59 Wow. Would you agree with me that that's a massive army? A million men even today would be intimidating. So then, King Asa is confronted with his massive army coming at him and let let's go to verse 11. Look at look at his prayer.

4:16 Look at his prayer. Then Asa called to the lord, his god and he said, lord, there's no one besides thee to help him battle between the powerful and those who have no strength. So, help us, oh lord, our god, for we trust in thee and in thy name we have come against the multitude. Oh Lord, thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee. So the Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

4:50 Who who routed this million man army? Who do you... You can say something. Who did it? The Lord.

4:56 So it didn't say it was Asa and his ability and and his his army, cause they were outnumbered two to one. God did it. So it was supernatural. God did it. And then look what else he did.

5:59 I think that's how you pronounce it. His mother of... The mother of king Asa from the position of queen mother because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah, and Asa cut down the horrid image and crushed it and burned it at the Brook Kidron. Wow. So this guy was on the right track.

6:20 He was doing great things for God. He even got to the point where his mom who was sitting on the throne right there by by the sun had had made this big image, and it was gross. And he said, hey, what is that, mom? We're seeking God. And so from now on, you don't sit on the throne.

6:37 Wow. So I guess mama wasn't bossing him around, was he? Was she? So he removed her, cut down that... Those idols that she made, and so this guy was was on the right track.

6:51 He was following the Lord with all of his heart. He was doing great things. And then something happens. The Bible doesn't tell us what happened but there's a gap of time and if you look at we're going we're going to go ahead and and just real quick 16. In the thirty sixth year of Aces, Asa, I'm sorry.

7:10 I'm thinking in Spain, Asa's reign. Bashar king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Rama in order to prevent anyone from going in or out to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the lord and the king's house and he sent them to Ben Hadad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus. And so we're not going to read too much more right there. But basically what he did was he had another threat.

7:40 This time, the army was much smaller. It wasn't the million man army, but instead of going to God, he took money and he went to the king of Aram, which today would be Syria, and he paid him. He goes, look, defend me against the enemy. Okay, after he did that, look at look at verse seven. At that time, Hananiah, the seer, seer means prophet, the preacher if you will, came to Asa, king of Judah and said to him, because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the lord your god, therefore, the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand.

8:18 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubom? An immense army and a very many with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his. You have acted foolishly in this.

8:41 Indeed, from now on, you will surely have wars. Now, you would think that at this point, Asa would respond like, oh, you know what? Preacher, you're right. I I I repent. I shouldn't have done it but look at how he responds.

8:56 Verse 10, then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison for he was enraged at him for this and Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. Okay. So, he didn't trust god with the army anymore. I don't know what happened when he got a little older but he stopped trusting god and when they came to correct him, he got mad and then he didn't trust god with his sickness. He's in verse 12.

9:25 You can read that. He had a problem with his feet and instead of going to god and praying, he went right to the doctors. So, here's a little application. There's a connection between pride and anger. Anger is triggered by expecting to be treated in certain respectful ways.

9:43 And if you are not, you become offended. The problem is pride and a sense of entitlement. A humble man will not give way to sinful anger because anger is rooted in a desire for control. When a man desires something and cannot have it, he will give into the impulse to acquire that thing by brute force. Asa didn't like that he was corrected by the preacher.

10:11 So pride and anger destroyed him. Started out so well but then pride got a hold of him and it showed up in anger. So, in other words, anger has a root and the root of it is pride. Now, King Jehoshaphat, next king, chapter 17. The same thing with Jehoshaphat, we're going we're going start in verse three and the lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father, David's earlier days and did not seek the bells but he saw the god of his father and followed his commandments and did not act as Israel did.

11:28 Now, the dread of the lord was on all the kings of the land which were around Judah so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. So, Jehoshaphat, what he did was he got men, priests that went to all the little towns and they taught them the word of god and so, wow, he was doing great things. Now, I'm going to cut this real short because otherwise, we'll be here too long. I don't want to linger with this one But Jehoshaphat did three things that basically ruined him. Because every decision we make has a consequence.

12:03 Every choice we make has a consequence. And we're constantly making choices. Now, I want you to draw your eyes to this text right here, chapter 19 and verse two. 19 and verse two. Then I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna show you the three things that he did.

12:24 Jehu, the son of Hananiah, here comes another preacher, the seer. Now, again, the Old Testament right here, seer is the preacher, the priest, the the the whatever, right? The prophet went out to meet him and he said to King Jehoshaphat, now watch. Mark it in your Bibles. Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the lord and so bring wrath on yourself from the lord.

12:49 And so Asa's fall was pride and anger. Jehoshaphat's fall was that he kept compromising or getting into relationships with non believers. Now, I want you to notice three things that he did. First of all, he made an alliance with apostate Israel. Jehoshaphat went with Ahaz and Jezebel.

13:13 Everybody know who Jezebel is, right? If you've been saved even a couple of years, you know that Jezebel was a very wicked woman. So was her husband. They were completely sold out to idolatry. They were evil, wicked people.

13:24 They did a lot of bad. They would murder and such. Jehoshaphat went up there and met him and they started a relationship, and his son Jehoram married Ahab's daughter. What was Ahab's daughter's name? Anybody know?

13:44 Starts with an a. Starts with an a. Ata. Atalaya. That's right.

13:50 Atalaya. Atalaya. Atalaya. Wow. And so Joseph Jehoshaphat, what on earth are you thinking marrying your son to Atalaya?

14:03 This was king queen Jezebel's look alike if you will. Totally evil. So, that's the first thing he did wrong. Married a Christian with a non Christian. And the Bible addressed that strongly in second Corinthians six.

14:21 The second thing he did wrong was they went into a commercial alliance. Look at 20 and verse 35. After this, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Hezeiah, king of Israel, that the the the the son of Jezebel. He acted wickedly in doing so. So, he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish and they made ships Izion Gerber.

14:48 So, they did it because they were going to go look for gold. They did a commercial alliance and god destroyed the ships. He did evil when he did that. The third thing he did and we're not going read it. First Kings twenty two three and four, a military alliance.

15:06 And so, you reap what you sow. Now watch this. His son followed the religion of his wife, Atalaya. Instead of her becoming a Christian, he became an idolater. Atalaya, the daughter-in-law of Jehoshaphat, in a thirst for power position, had her grandchildren murdered, and she became queen.

15:32 See, Jehoshaphat's decision affected even the great grandchildren. Every decision we make doesn't just affect us now but it affects our children. So, his decisions destroyed him. King Amaziah chapter 25, Saint Chronicles 25. I told you we're going to go fast.

16:22 Know? He's one of those guys, half committed, half committed. Now, suddenly, there was a war. They were going to go out to war, and here comes here comes the preacher again. The preacher comes and says to him, verse six, he had hired also...

16:44 Twenty five six. He had hired also a 100,000 valiant warriors out of Israel for 100 of silver. So in other words, they were gonna go to war. He goes to Israel. He takes a 100 talents of silver, which is a lot of money, and he pays a hon...

17:00 He pays a 100,000 warriors to come and help him fight. But a man of god came to him saying, oh king, do not let the army of Israel go with you for the lord is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim because they were idolaters. But if you do go do it, be strong in battle, yet God will bring you down before the enemy. For God has power to help and to bring down. And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for the 100 talents which I have given the troops of Israel?

17:38 Now, watch this. Mark this in your Bibles. The man of God answered, the lord has much more to give you than this. Whoo. When have you ever heard that one preached on?

17:50 So, in other words, the the preacher came and said to Amaziah, Amaziah, what you did is wrong? Okay. Go ahead. Go to battle, but you're gonna lose. Tell those 100,000 soldiers to go back, but I paid them.

18:03 So what? Take a loss. Take a loss of money. Take a loss of money, and and he did it. Wow.

18:13 He did it. Why? Because he believed the word. The lord has much more to give you than this. If you do what god wants you to do, he'll provide for your needs.

18:24 And so, William Wilberforce stepped down from a very high position because he realized that he wasn't spending time with his children. He took a huge financial loss, not only that, but as far as prestige. But he goes, I don't care. I'm so busy. I don't even know my own kids.

18:45 He came home one day and picked up his his little one year old infant, and the kid started crying. He didn't even know his dad. He goes, that's it. That's it. I don't care what position I have in England.

18:56 I'm I'm take... I'm leaving it, and I'm gonna take a lower position. Why? Because I don't have time for God nor my children. He took a loss, but God had much more to give him.

19:09 Doctor Jacob, I don't want to tell you who he is because it was between me. He and I, we were talking. And he goes, you know Ray, when I was in my late 20s, doctor, I was offered a position in another hospital, and I was going to get double the pay. It was like a massive amount of money. And I went to my wife, and I said, look, look at this opportunity.

19:31 And she said, absolutely not. Because if you take that, you won't have time to go to church, and you won't be able to serve and be a blessing because all you're to do is you're going have that position and the money but what about god? And so we decided right there. We called him and said, nope, I don't accept that that position and he go, you know, I I never lacked his house. He's retired.

19:55 The Lord provided for him. Never lacked a penny. Because God had more to give him. What a decision he made. Now, look at twenty five and nineteen.

20:42 Just because you won one battle doesn't mean you're going to win the next one. Why don't you just go home? You're just full of pride right now. That was a non Christian telling them that. Of course, Amaziah didn't listen and they got defeated.

20:57 But what happened to him? What transformed him? Pride. Pride destroyed him. Pride destroyed him.

21:06 And 27, 25, 27 said that he his he turned his heart away from the lord. Okay, the next king, King Uzziah, twenty five twenty six and one, verse one. Twenty six and one. Then here comes Uzziah. Now, I'm not going to read a lot because I'll run out of time.

21:25 Just believe me. He was a tremendous man of god. He was doing so much for god. He he he built up an army. The the nation was prospering.

21:33 They were seeking god. They were doing great things and and Uzziah was being used by god but now turn your eyes to verse 16, twenty six and sixteen. But when he became strong, okay. So, he started out humble like all the other ones and god blessed him. God was with him.

21:53 God made him strong financially, militarily. He became strong and when he became strong, something happened. Look at this. His heart was so what? What does it say?

22:05 Proud. Proud. His heart was so proud that he acted corruptly and he was unfaithful to the lord his god for he entered the temple of the lord to burn incense on the altar of the incense. Then, Azariah, the priest entered after him and with him, 80 priests of the lord, valiant men, and they opposed Uzziah, king, and said to him, it is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the lord, but for the priest and sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense, get out of the sanctuary, for you have not been, you have been unfaithful, and you will have no honor from the lord god. But Uzziah, with a censor in his hand for burning incense was enraged.

22:51 Uh-oh. Pride and anger go together. Don't miss that. Pride and anger go together. And while he was enraged with the priest, leprosy broke out on his forehead.

23:06 Before the priest in the house of the lord besides the altar. And '21 and King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death. And he lived in a separate house being a leper. For he was cut off from the house of the lord. So, what was Uzziah what was his downfall?

23:27 What was his downfall? Pride. Pride and anger. You notice how they're always linked? Pride and anger.

23:36 So if you have an anger problem, the root of that is you have a pride problem, really. And then Hezekiah, let's go to the next king, chapter 29. Now, Hezekiah, you can read chapters and chapters about him and I recommend that you do so. In Isaiah, in first Kings, and in Chronicles, there's a lot of details with Hezekiah. He was a he was a great king.

24:04 Now, first of all, he brought tremendous revival and you can look at almost three chapters in the texture of the revival. It goes into all kinds of details that they started doing the the Passover again and all kinds of things and so, he was doing great things for god. The whole nation, he was like, come on. Let's let's get right with god and people were repenting and and getting right with god and so he did so many great things. Then, the army of Assyria came and that army had destroyed everybody and they came, they surrounded Jerusalem and they're basically mocking Hezekiah.

24:43 Oh, Hezekiah, you entrusting God and trust God. God's gonna help us. Your God's not gonna help you. And in the next morning, a 185,000 soldiers of the sinners were dead outside. Now you can read commentators that mice came and they got infected.

25:01 No, no, mice nothing. It says the angel of Lord came and killed them. Boom. And so would think right there like, wow, look what God did. It was supernatural.

25:14 It was miraculous. They were crying to god. Please, lord, look at this massive army. And god supernaturally killed that many men and then the army left. And so they were saved.

25:42 Would you heal me? And and god like, what was really moved by that prayer and then he tells Isaiah, the prophet, go back and go talk to him and tell him I'm going to heal him and so he heals him. Now, if if god supernaturally saved you from a massive army and then he heals you from dying from a tumor and he extended him fifteen years, what would the natural response be? What would the natural response be? Thankfulness, praising, alright?

26:14 So that's that's what you would think. Right? That that's what I thought. Now, look at chapter 32. And look at verse 24.

26:29 Thirty two twenty four. In those days, Hezekiah became mortally ill and he prayed to the lord and the lord spoke to him and gave him a sign. So, he healed them in other words. Now, watch 25. Mark this in your Bible.

26:43 I don't know about you but I always mark the the key verses but Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received because his heart was, what was it? Come on now. His heart was what? Wrath. Wow.

27:00 Therefore, wrath came upon him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Now, they had no reason. Follow me. They had no reason to be proud. What did they do to defeat the Assyrian army?

27:17 Absolutely nothing. They just cried. They got, god, we're scared. They're gonna kill us. We don't know what to do.

27:21 Blah blah blah. Okay. Boom. Supernatural. I healed.

27:24 They didn't do anything. They just cried out to god and then when he was gonna die of the tumor, what did he do? He cried out to god. He prayed, god, please heal me. Please, I don't wanna die.

27:35 And so god said, okay, I'm gonna give fifteen more years and what was the response? Have we defeated the Assyrians? Yeah, they thought they were tough and you know, they're all dead. Look at him now. And hey, I've got fifteen more years, full of pride, full of pride.

27:52 Man, you would think that they'd be grateful. So his heart became proud. I'm looking at these guys, and I'm thinking, man, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that's like that. Every time I was reading this guy, my word, why do we have so much trouble with pride, Lord? You do everything for us.

28:24 Here's a couple of observations. They totally depended on god and they sought him and as soon as god prospered him, they became proud. As soon as god prospered him, they became proud Ain't that amazing? You know what? What I've what I've noticed is when when I go to poor neighborhoods, when I go to Mexico and preach to poor people, the people are humble and broken and they want to hear from god But as soon as they get an education, as soon as they get a couple of dollars in their pocket, it's like, God?

29:00 I don't need God. What for? I I worked hard. I got my degree and I made this money and and look at what I've done and wow. Soon as god prospered him and made him strong, the moment that happened, they became proud.

29:19 We have we have no reason to be proud. But we have every reason to be grateful. Oh god, did I earn my salvation? No, it was a gift of god. Jesus earned it for me and he gave me salvation.

29:34 It was a total gift based on the grace of god, undeserved, unmerited. Lord, why would I not praise you and worship you and seek you? Where's the pride in that? And and and did I prosper because I was wise and astute? What if I would have been born in a poor neighborhood in in India with no chance to get educated?

29:58 Then what? What if I would be in North Korea? A slave. And then what? By the grace of god, you're in The US and you're able to be educated and you have what you have because god gave it to you.

30:13 I'll put it to you this way. James one seventeen, every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, from the coming down from the father of lights. We serve a gracious and giving god and we have every reason to be thankful. In fact, god is so gracious and so good that it says in in Matthew that god gives to to the evil and the good. Even the evil have food and cars and houses and and are blessed.

30:51 And so has the grace of god gotten a hold of you? Then we should be the most grateful people. Humble and broken and just full of praise and giving glory to god. Pride is what destroyed these men. Just pray that it doesn't destroy us.

31:41 Just, Lord, it doesn't make sense. Thank you that you're so patient with us and so gracious. Thank you. And we do acknowledge that every good gift and everything we have comes from above. And we graciously receive it.

31:58 And we bless your name, and we're full of gratitude. Father, help us to think of this the rest of this day in Christ's name.