2024-06-02- Sunday School- The Reign of Asa

The speaker apologizes for not being present in Sunday school and mentions listening to Brother Anthony's teachings. They discuss the importance of praying for one another and being there for each other. They then introduce the new literature focusing on the reign of Asa in the Old Testament. The theme emphasizes the importance of maintaining a right relationship with God. The speaker also mentions studying the history of Israel and Judah under the kings, as well as the judgment of God that comes upon Judah for their sin and idolatry. They discuss the life of Paul and his example of a strong finish. They read from 2 Timothy 4 and emphasize the need to be faithful and endure afflictions. They mention the importance of teaching the truth and not being swayed by watered-down gospels. They then talk about the Israelites' desire for a king and the rise and fall of Saul, David, and Solomon. Solomon's love for women led to idol worship. The speaker emphasizes that knowledge without applying i Well, good morning, everybody. Good morning. Good to be back in Sunday school. Yes, sir. I apologize for my hiatus the last couple of weeks. I know it was a struggle for y'all. I did listen. I told y'all I listened to Brother Anthony last time, and I'll listen to him again this time, of course, and it was really good. I think we do need each other. I'm thankful that he followed the Lord and taught what he taught on. We need to be praying for one another. We need to lean on one another for help and be able to lean on one another. Brother Tim, when I call you and ask you to pray for something, I know that you're going to, and it's a comfort. It's a luxury to have in a small church. There might be some cons of having a small church, but I think we can be in one mind and one accord, and we all know each other's needs, and that can be a good thing. I was, like I said, listening to Brother Anthony, and he was teaching on praying for one another and being there for one another. He got on talking about his time at Sebring. He said he wasn't complaining. He was maybe the preacher, the song leader, the Sunday school teacher, and I thought, oh, they must have started late every service. But no, I appreciate Brother Anthony. He's a help to me. I'm thankful for him taking my place. But today we're going to be in our new literature, getting back into the Old Testament. The title this morning, if you turn to your lesson one there, it is The Reign of Asa, one of many kings in Judah, one of the better ones, comparably speaking. We'll try to get an example from him. The theme says, The Reign of Asa is an illustration of the importance of maintaining a right relationship with God. When we fail spiritually, we fail in every part of our life, every part. The golden text comes from Revelation 2 and 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Our introduction this morning says, We have studied quite a bit of the history of Israel and Judah under the kings in a previous quarter. In this quarter, we will study the reigns of Asa, Joash, and Hezekiah. We will also take a look at the judgment of God that comes upon Judah for her continued sin and idolatry. In this lesson, we learn how Asa began his reign by doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. Sadly, however, he failed to maintain his right relationship with God, and success became failure. How important it is that each of us realize that a good beginning is not sufficient. A good finish is imperative. Let us learn to be faithful unto death. As I said, the next series of Sunday School lessons will lead us back into the Old Testament, Brother Quentin, and the divided kingdom of the Israelites. And I want to do a little bit, since we're going to be in it for a while, I'm going to do just a little bit of a refresher of the geography and time and what was going on back there. We won't do it every Sunday, but we've been studying the book of Paul. Or, not the book of Paul, we've been studying the book of Acts and 1 and 2 Corinthians and the life of Paul. And I hope you all got as much out of it as I did. I really enjoyed it. I know there's limitations of, you know, your teacher, but I really enjoyed studying Paul and probably didn't do it. The justice that it deserves, we could have stayed in Paul for a long time, the life of Paul. But if you didn't get anything out of it, I blame myself, Brother Ronnie. But his life is a great example of what God can do for a person if you're completely sold out to him and give your life totally for the gospel's sake. He didn't have a great start, but he had a great finish. I think it would be fitting to close that series by reading the words that he wrote Timothy. And I believe God preserved these words because it's not just profitable for Timothy, but us as well. If you turn to 2 Timothy 4 and 1 real quick, I feel like if he could have officiated his own funeral, this is probably about what he would have said. 2 Timothy 4 and 1, he says, But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. We are definitely at a time where people have turned their ears from the truth. They've found watered-down gospels at different churches, and men that will preach what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear, and the truth. But I thought, did Paul say, when that time comes, Timothy, you're excused? You've noticed that they're not listening, you don't have to do it no more, you've done all you can do. No, he didn't say that. He said, but watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, even at that time, make full proof of thy ministry. Stand for God, even when it seems no one is listening. Double down on the truth, Brother Austin, when they don't want to hear it. Paul said he has fought a good fight. He said, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith. Henceforth, or because I have done that, henceforth means because I've done those things, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. So why should that matter to us? Because he went on to say, and not me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. God didn't just pick Paul out. He will do this for everyone that keeps the faith, that watches and waits for his second coming, endures afflictions, does the work of an evangelist, makes full proof of their ministry, fights the good fight and loves his appearing, Brother Joseph. If you love him, keep his commandments and teach the world to do the same. I love the life of Paul and I'm thankful for his example. And as I said, he had a bad start, Brother Quentin, but he had a strong finish. That's really what matters. Now we're getting ready to read about a man that did just the opposite, unfortunately. It's not important to just read about great godly examples, but we can also learn from men's mistakes. And I'm glad that God in his wisdom gave us both. There's a lot of times I can relate to some men's mistakes, and if those weren't in there, I would think, well, it's over for me. But God wants us to know that, hey, I've used people just like you, and I'm thankful for that. So you might remember our study in Kings after Moses died, the Jewish people or the Israelites conquer and settle in Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. This was the land that God had promised for his people when Moses led them out of Egypt's bondage. All the 12 tribes settled in their own areas, and the only government they had for a time was God's law and some spiritual-led judges that were in place to uphold these laws. But the Israelites, Brother Ronnie, looked around, they saw their neighbors who had kings, and they desired to have a king themselves. And God had a man named David, we know, in mind for that position in his time, but the Israelites got in a hurry, as they often did, Brother Joseph. They wanted a king right now. So the prophet Samuel anointed Saul, and Saul was another one that starts out pretty good. For a couple years there, it seemed like he might have been the man for the job. But things go south for Saul and those people pretty quickly. And then David does succeed him. David has a great start, and then he has a few failures, but he brings it back together at the end, thankfully. And we can learn a lot from that life. And then his son Solomon was his successor. Solomon did many great things and some not so great things. He built the temple for God, but that's not all that he built, unfortunately. 1 Kings 1, if you want to start turning back towards the Old Testament, we've taught out of here before. 1 Kings 1, we learn that one of Solomon's greatest downfalls was his love for women. It says, But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, the women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidianites, and Hittites. So he had a love for women, many strange women. Most of the men in here would agree that one strange woman is enough. That was God's plan. I'm thankful for my woman, my helpmate. But these women had turned Solomon's heart from God. 1 Kings 11 and 6, if you want to turn there just a little bit forward. And Solomon, 1 Kings 11 and 6, And Solomon did evil on the side of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. So Solomon introduced idol worship and idols to God's great promised land. But we're told in 1 Kings 4 and 31, For he was wiser than all men. So Solomon was so smart, Brother Quentin, why would he do such a thing? Why would he, in his wisdom, why would he do this for these women? It's because education doesn't equate to a clean heart. You can be extremely intelligent, but have a very, very stupid heart. I've felt that before. Most likely, King Solomon wrote Proverbs 9 and 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. You can know God's words frontwards and backwards, Brother Quentin, It will take all that knowledge to hell if you don't apply it to your heart and to your life. What did Jesus say in John 14 and 15? If you love me, know my commandments. No, he said if you love me, keep my commandments. It's not enough just to know about it. You have to keep those commandments. Knowing and keeping are two different things altogether. Experiencing the love of God and not keeping that relationship is the worst mistake that a man can make. 2 Peter 2 and 20 says, For after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned into his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. But Solomon dies, and his son Rehoboam succeeds him as king. You're probably starting to remember these names. Most of you are Bible readers, you already know. But just as a refresher, Solomon dies, and his son Rehoboam succeeds him as a king. So the men came to Rehoboam at that time, Brother Ronnie, and asked him to lighten the heavy yoke that Solomon had put on him. They'd built a temple, and the taxation was probably high, and he worked them hard, and they said, Listen, Rehoboam, if your dad was real grievous on us, if you would lighten that load, we'll serve you, we'll happily serve you. But Rehoboam, he said, Come back in three days, I'll give you my answer. And he went to some wise men, and they said, Yeah. He said, Serve the people, and they'll serve you. We hear that type of statement nowadays. But then he went to the younger people, and they said, No, just make a name for yourself. In my words, I'm paraphrasing, and make it harder on them. And a lot of people like to do that. It seems like in a workplace, you've probably been at some job, and a new manager comes in, and they really want to make a name for themselves, and they make it harder than it was before. But this is when Israel becomes divided. Rehoboam controls the southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and a man named Jeroboam becomes king of the north, which is made up of the other ten. And I'm rehashing this very quickly, probably leaving a whole lot out, but the north will be known as simply Israel, while the south will be named Judah. Israel existed as an independent state until about 722 B.C., when it was conquered by the Assyrian Empire. And then Judah remained as an independent state until around 586 B.C., when they were conquered by the Babylonian Empire. Israel will go through about 19 bad, evil kings. Judah will see 20, and most of them will be bad, with a few highlights there. We won't go through all that every time, like I said, but I think it's important to lay a little bit of groundwork, because it can be confusing there. And 2 Chronicles is a whole lot like 1 and 2. It's a lot like 1 Kings, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Samuel. Thank you, but it's a lot like it. More focused on Judah and the southern kingdom and the life of David, and it almost seems like it leaves out some of the bad things that David had went through as we're moving on. But for the remainder of this lesson, we focus on Judah's third king, Asa, Rehoboam's grandson and son of Abijah, who reigned king between the two. Abijah reigned for three years, and the Bible tells us in 1 Kings 15 and 3, and he walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem. And that gets us here to King Asa, our subject and example for this morning. So let's turn to 2 Chronicles 14 and 1. We'll read the first two verses here in chapter 14, then we're going to move quickly on to chapter 15. But 2 Chronicles 14 and 1 says, Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. Asa, his son, reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. So as we mentioned, Abijah only had a three-year reign. During that time he went to war with Jeroboam, king of Israel, and came away with a mighty victory because he'd called on God for help. And I think there's a lesson in that for us. Many times we call on God when we're faced with trouble and God sees us through it. It could be a financial loss. It could be a sickness or a great many of things. But as soon as God gets us through those troublesome times, we forget about the promises that we've made him. We stop praying so much. We stop reading God's Word and go about our business. But I feel like it's important, and I know it's important, to live a life pleasing to God even in the good times or when life just seems mundane. If we know anything about this life, Brother Tim, we've surely learned that it's unpredictable. We should also be keeping the Lord's commandments because we simply do not know when he's coming back. That's a great reason to keep his commandments. I remember Brother Tim testifying probably more than 20 years ago, I believe at Liberty Homeless, talking about the importance of prayer, and he said that if we pray every other day, Brother Quentin, every other day, we say a prayer every other day, that seems like a lot to this world. I mean, there's a lot of people in this world that don't do that. It seems like quite a bit. But if we only pray every other day, we only have a 50% chance of praying the day that the Lord comes back. I thought that was very simple, very wise. That's my favorite type of message. It really hit home to me, and I think about it a lot. Jesus speaks of his returning in Matthew 24 and 36. You can turn with me there, Matthew 24 and 36. It says, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore, for ye know not the hour your Lord doth come. This lets us know, it paints a picture that yes, there will be signs of the times, but Jesus will come like a thief in the night. People will be marrying one another with hopes of a long life together. People will be going to work. If I knew, if I had a really good sign that Jesus was coming back that day, I probably ain't going to spend much time at Manicou Funeral Home. I'm not going to go to work. But people will be working. People will be running errands, filling up the refrigerator for the next foreseeable future, and things like that, paying bills. Are you going to pay your bill? Does it matter if the Lord is coming back that day? Probably not. I'm not saying you shouldn't pay your bills, but we are to be watching for his coming. As Paul said, he's coming back for those that love his appearing. I thought Robby, and the other day I said Robby, and it put everybody in mind of Brother Joseph's Robby, but Robby, the man from Oklahoma that my daughter Kelsey is talking to, he was coming down this last time in hopes of surprising her. He told me that he was coming and told me not to say anything. It was kind of a last-minute deal. But I don't know nothing about this stuff, but boyfriend and girlfriends are now like tracking each other's phone, like they can see each other's location. I don't know anything about that. But somehow he would text her, and she'd seen where he was at. He wasn't smart enough to figure it out. So it makes me a little bit worried about him. But he was trying to surprise her, and she had his location the whole time. And I wasn't mentioning nothing about it and trying to keep it a secret for his sake. But then after a while she finally told me that she had his locations on, and she said, I think he's coming this way. And I was like, what? And I was like, he better not. We ain't even ready for a visit. And she said, no, I think he is. She said his car is, I think, at WK Parkway. And she was getting excited for his appearing. She was looking for his appearing. And abruptly I told him, I said, hey, you got your locations on. She knows you're coming. I felt sorry for him. He's making this effort to surprise her. And so he goes and turns his locations off. And Kelsey was like, he just turned his location off. I was like, what? And she said, yeah. And she said, obviously you told him. He knows. And I was like, well, I don't know. So Robbie wasn't able to come like a thief in the night. But he made his appearance known. But she was loving his appearance. She was waiting for him to come. But the only warning we have is this very Bible. That's the signs of the times. We know by reading this Bible. And we need to be ready at all times. Let's turn back to 2 Corinthians 15 and 1. 2 Corinthians 15 and 1 reads on, The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. The Spirit of God moved on this man Azariah to give King Asa some sound advice, some wonderful advice. Let's not forget that God is on our side. He wants us to make it. He's made every provision for us to make it, to make communication with him, to have that fervent, effectual prayer with him that we read about, that Brother Jonathan spoke so well about this morning that Brother Tim had shared. He wants communication with us. He said, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you. That's the promise. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. I'm reminded of the Psalm in 37 and 4, Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. God will ultimately give you what you want. His hope is that you will delight yourself in him and that he will give you life and life more abundantly. But if you continue to push him away, you're giving him a sign and he will give you what you want. If you want to run your own life, do things your own way, he will give you the opportunity to do so. Paul tells the Colossians in 3 and 15, And let the peace of God rule in your heart, to the which also you are called in one body, and be you thankful. Notice it says, Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Allow it. We have a choice whether or not to allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts. Why would we ever turn that away? Azariah also tells Asa, And if you seek him, he will be found of you. This echoes the words of Moses to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 4 and 29, But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. The reason people find God when they're in trouble, and I mentioned this a while back in my message, is because they're desperate. This goes along with Brother Jonathan's text this morning. Their usual half-hearted petitions turn into effectual, fervent prayers that moves God. Let's seek God all the time like that. Not wait for our desperate need. Let's always be effectual, fervent prayers. 2 Chronicles 15 and 3, reading on, Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them. And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in. But great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was the story of nation, and city of city. For God did vex them with all adversity. Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. Azariah tells them that when Israel turned to God and sought him, he was found of them. The Hebrew word for sought is valkash, which means to search out, strive after, and beg, especially through worship or prayer. One-minute devotions won't win battles. Simply reading that devotion that pops up on your phone every morning when you wake up and reading that and calling it a day, that's not going to win a battle for you. That's good, but that should not be your devotions towards God. Last Sunday the lesson was supposed to be, and I wasn't here, the lesson was on the blessing of giving. And as I said, Brother Anthony was led somewhere else, and it was terrific. I prepared that lesson, but unfortunately I wasn't in any shape to teach. But a small part of it spoke about tithing. And in my opinion, I don't know how you all feel about it, but in my opinion, tithing isn't giving. You can't give God what is already his. That's his. That's not a gift. And I won't attempt to teach that this morning, but we believe that tithing is 10%, right? I mean, that's our tithe. That's what tithe means, 10. Well, if God is concerned about us tithing 10% of our income, how much more should we tithe our time to God? 10% of our day is 144 minutes, if I got my math correct. Are we giving him at least 144 minutes of our day? I'll be the first to admit, sometimes I fail at that. And I'm not just talking about prayer. Praying, worshiping, singing, reading, family devotions, witnessing, does all that add up? It should be easy to say that we've given him at least 10% of our day, at least. Are we doing that? Some of us have apps, Brother Joseph, that tracks our phone usage, our sleep time, the steps that we take. Are we being mindful of the time we give God? Moving on, he tells them in verse 7, Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your weak shall be rewarded. The writer of Hebrews tells us in 11 and 6 that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And Paul reminds the Galatians in 6 and 9, And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. I thought, Brother Ronnie, every year I say that I'm not going to worry about putting out a garden. I say that every year. I'm not going to fool with it. It does get smaller every year, but spring rolls around, and I just get that itch. That tiller starts speaking my name, and I start having these dreams of big tomatoes and cucumbers and all this great stuff and all this time that I want to put in the garden. And you get that feeling. Spring comes around. But about the time it's getting close to harvest, I get tired of pulling weeds, and I don't feel like fooling with it, and I get tired of messing with it. But a harvest doesn't come overnight. It takes some work. Don't get discouraged with that lost loved one if your words seem to fall flat and your prayers aren't getting answered. Keep going back and watering that thing and talking to them about it. Don't get weary with well-doing. We just need to trust the process. God has a process laid out here. Stick to God's plan and trust in his words. 2 Chronicles 15 and 8 says, I'd like to read in the Holiness Heritage 11, Idolatry Removed. I thought it was really good, and I couldn't write it better. It says Roman numeral II, Idolatry Removed. Notice verse 8. It says, Receiving God's instructions requires action. When people say they are receiving God's word but show no evidence of change in their life, they are not receiving God's word. How many times people say to the preacher, My, that was great preaching, just what we needed. Then they go out the door, do not apply it to their everyday life. God is not interested in your compliment of his message. He wants you to implement it, act upon it, and obey it. Asa took immediate steps to do God's will. He promptly began removing the idols from the land. He began to tear down the altars for strange gods. He broke the images and cut down the groves that were used for idol worship. We read in 1 Kings 15 and 12 that he took away the sodomites out of the land. It is a sad commentary on our beloved nation that strong forces are making headway in seeking to legalize same-sex marriages when such behavior is so explicitly condemned in the scriptures. When revival came to Judah, the sodomites, the homosexuals, were not allowed to continue living their perverted lifestyles. The farewell address of Joshua to Israel in Shechem still rings true today. Choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served or the gods of the Amorites. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. No one can serve two masters. We must remove every idol, every worldly passion, every imagination that would lift itself up against the knowledge of God. If we truly receive God's instructions, we must remove all other idols. And I like how the Bible puts it. This prophet speaks boldly to King Asa because the spirit of God came upon him to do so. To Asa's credit, it says, and when Asa heard these words, he took courage, brother Joseph. The language here to me hints at the fact that Asa already knew what he needed to do but was hesitant. But the mere mention of it from someone else is all that he needed to take courage. He took courage is, in fact, one Hebrew word. He took courage is one Hebrew word, kozak, and it means to conquer, fasten up, seize, behave self-valiantly, or mend, repair, and recover. Oftentimes we come to church with something in our lives that we know isn't supposed to be there. We're good about pushing it to the back of our minds, but then the spirit of God lays it on the man's heart to say something that brings it right back to the front of your mind. It's possible that that's happening here this morning. Can I encourage you to take courage, repair that relationship with God? There's been times that I've needed to put brake pads on my car, and that tells on you pretty quickly. I just had the slightest squeak at first, Brother Ronnie, and I didn't feel like fixing it or putting the money out for it, and I thought it could last maybe until the next payday. I could still get around. I could still get to town. But before long, it just gets more and more noticeable until everybody knew I needed to stop right where I was at and repair that thing. It wasn't safe to go another mile until the problem was repaired. Somebody would say, you need to get some brakes and rotors on that thing. And a lot of times, I don't know what it is, but when somebody tells you you need to fix something about your car or something, you kind of get maybe instead of taking courage, your pride wells up, and you push it off even longer. That's the way I would do it. But if you've got something to repair, just stop and get it fixed. Don't let pride get in the way. You've already promised that thing to give it up to God. You need to repair it. You need to repair your relationship with the Lord. Don't push it off. It's not worth it. Whatever it is, it's not worth it. Let's finish reading the rest of this chapter, starting in 15 and 10. It says, So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asam. And they offered unto the Lord the same time of the spool which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul, that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, and whether small or great, whether man or woman. And they swear unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with cornets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire. And Jesus founded them, and the Lord gave them rest round about. And also concerning Maka, the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove. And Asa cut down her idol and stamped it and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and he himself had dedicated silver and gold and vessels. And there was no more war until the fifth and thirteenth year of the reign of Asa. I'd like again to read in the Holiness Heritage some commentary on these scriptures. I don't think this is in your book. It's not. Just listen here. It's really good. Talking about courage. When Asa took a stand against idolatry and for righteousness, he had no idea how difficult his decision would become. Asa's grandfather had married Absalom's daughter, Maka. When Asa became the king of Judah, Maka was the queen mother. She was called Asa's mother, but by reading the earlier text, we understand that she was Abijah's mother and Asa's grandmother. At any rate, she was still the queen mother when Asa was king. When Asa was stirred up by God's message and began removing idolatry from the land, he found himself in a predicament. His own grandmother would not obey his decree to remove all idols and idolatrous altars. Now Asa was in a spot. Would he change the rules of righteousness for his grandmother? How many parents have we seen that changed their beliefs and convictions for their children? How many preachers have we known that preached holiness for years and then changed their tune when it came to the lives and actions of a family member or a prominent member of the church? What a reproach it is to the truth and to the holy calling of God for a man to allow his family to do the very things he has preached against while they are under his authority and in his house, or to change his beliefs because of what his grown children do and still allow them to participate in the ministry of the church. Asa removed his own grandmother from being the queen of Judah because she would not do right. Think about what a difficult action it was to remove her from being queen. Some won't even hold offenders off of the platform or out of the Sunday school teacher position. Asa broke down her idol, stamped on it, and burned it to the brook Kidron. Why should the one standing for truth be the one forced to change? It's not right. Someone says if you love your child, you will let them do what they want and just overlook it. I think we should tell the offender if you love your dad and respect his leadership, you'll stop doing that and do what is right. Then if the offender refuses, he or she must be dealt with. If Maka would have repented and destroyed her idol, she could have remained queen and would have been well. I say hurrah for Asa. Give us men who will stand for the right without respect of persons. The devil will try to trick our hearts because we just can't fathom our loved ones going to hell. They'll be going through something, and they'll make a change in their life. We know it's not right, and our heart tempts us to just be like, well, maybe it isn't that important. I've felt that in my own life. But we have to make a stand for God. He tells us that they're never going to change, so we think, well, they can't go to heaven like that. We all probably know people that have children. They're good people, and their children are homosexuals. And I just can't imagine the hopelessness of something like that. But it's still not right. You still can't let that relationship come into your house. You still have to make a stand for God, not to be rude or mean, but with love. You can't allow things like that. It doesn't matter if it's your own family or not. God's standards have never changed, and they never will. Don't be tempted to believe that lie, to believe your own heart. Your heart will lie. Your only hope is to stand for the truth and live it for yourself. That's the only hope that they have. When I was out in sin, Brother Ronnie, it wasn't the watered-down gospel that won me back. It wasn't the church that was allowing things that I was doing. I knew it wasn't right. And these sinners, these backsliders, they know that they're not living right. And you know what helped me more than anything is when I would go back to church, and I would see people still standing for the truth. And I realized that I can. This is possible. I can live that way, that people can uphold God's standards, that I can live free from sin, that I don't have to have these addictions in my life. It's those men that would testify, Hey, I went through that too, but God has helped me, and I've moved on. And here they are, year after year, service after service, day after day, they're standing for God and testifying to the victory of God. They don't live that way no more. That was what helped me come back. I knew that it was possible because of people like that, because of Sister Wanda, you know, consistent. I remember when I was 15 years old, and I went to church, I went to the Highway of Holiness, and I seen Sister Wanda, didn't have a clue who she was or what the Holy Ghost was, but it made an impression on my life. And what she did months before she died in church, she was doing back when I was 15 or 14 visiting that church. She never changed. And those were the things that helped me, that won me back. And just dropping the standard for that lost loved one is not going to help them or you. We need to uphold the standard of God. In 2 Corinthians 15 and 8, it said, Asa not only took courage and put away the abominable idols, he also renewed the altar of the Lord. And I feel like that's the key this morning. Removing the wrong is only part of it, Brother Joseph. We then have to implement the right, replace it for the right. James 4 and 17 says, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. We've got to sanctify ourselves, sure, separate ourselves from sin, but once we've done that, we've got to do the good that we know to do. I struggled for years. Everybody in here knows that, up and down, in and out, on a high one day, and then the next you might be hearing something bad about me. A lot of people have asked me, What's the difference this time? What made the difference this time? And it's the Lord. I didn't just make a resolution, Brother Austin, to not sin no more. I did that a thousand times. I made promises to my kids and my wife and to God and my loved ones. I'm not going to do that no more. And I said it, but I had no control over it. But it wasn't just a resolution. It was God's mercy and making a stand for God and getting on my knees until he then not only took the bad away, he gave me some good to do. And I can focus on that, doing a work for God, not just getting the bad out of my life but putting the good in my life. If you're just going from week to week not sinning, barely not sinning, you better look out. Ask God what you can do for him. There's a job for you to do this morning. A couple Sundays ago, the lesson was that we are all servants, not just the preacher, not just the Sunday school teacher. We are all servants. We all have a job to do. And not to end on a bad note, but we've got to wrap this up, but it's part of the lesson this morning. Asa reigned king of Judah for 41 years. Comparably speaking, he had a pretty good run. But in chapter 16, we find out that he didn't finish quite so strong. Israel now has a king named Basha that is trying to put like a Trump-like wall up between Judah and Israel. And Asa doesn't like it. And he goes, instead of going to God like he'd done before and got help from the Lord, he decides to go to the king Ben-Hadad in Syria and ask them for help and ask him to come down and fight these Israelites on his behalf. And he goes so far, Brother Quentin, to pay them some silver and gold from the temple treasury. And then a seer, we're introduced to a seer, which is just a prophet named Hanani, rebukes Asa for seeking help from Syria instead of the Lord. And then Asa gets mad and throws Hanani in prison and grows cold on God in his later years. And 2 Chronicles 16 and 12 says, And Asa in the thirty-and-ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease was exceeding great. Yet in his disease he sought not the Lord but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers and died in the one-and-fortieth year of his reign. So let that be a warning that we need to hold on to God until the end. Remember our holiness heritage quote in the Bible says, A good finish is imperative. Let us learn to be faithful unto death. And I'll close this morning by reading Paul's words to Timothy once again. 2 Timothy 4 and 7 says, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Hence, therefore, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love is appearing.