(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, so we're in first Kings chapter 15 and the King that we're going to focus on tonight is King Asa. Now, if you remember last week, we kind of switched the study from doing overviews of books of the Bible to, uh, going over the Kings and Chronicles because the better understanding you have of all the different Kings, the easier it is when you read through this stuff. Cause like I said last week, man, by the time you get done reading Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and you get to, you know, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, a lot of times if you haven't read this enough, it can be confusing. Like, wait a minute, what profit were, you know, what profit was, uh, you know, or what King was to this profit, what profit was to this King and you know what, what exactly was going on. And so, um, my hope is that this will, we'll just break this down for you so that when you do get to, you know, that point, you know, some, some of this stuff will actually sink in and just help you get more of a chronological view. Now, last week we talked about King Rehoboam because you remember we're dealing with a divided kingdom. So Israel as a nation of 12 tribes is no more, right? Remember, uh, 10 tribes went and followed Jeroboam and uh, three tribes, uh, Judah, Benjamin and Levi followed the Rehoboam and that became the kingdom of Judah. So from here on out, you're basically just flip flopping different Kings. You know, the Bible will start talking about, uh, Kings of Judah and then it'll go over and talk about the Kings of Israel and stuff. And so we just want to focus today on King Asa. So just remember the King Asa was King in Judah. So while Asa is reigning in Israel, eight Kings are going to go by. So Asa has a good reign, 41 years he reigned. And meanwhile in Israel, they go through King Nadab all the way to Ahab. And we'll talk about those eight Kings next week. Uh, some of them just have short mentions in the Bible, so it'll be quick. And we're also going to come up with a chart to give everyone to kind of help through so that you can keep that in your Bible. And as you go through, you know, Oh yeah. You know, because unless you've read this tens of times, it can be very difficult. Like by the time you get to Ezekiel, you're like, wait, where was Israel? Oh yeah, Israel was in captivity and you know, Judah was halfway carried away. And so we want to just kind of clear up some of that for you. So like I said, we're going to talk about Asa tonight. So you're there in first Kings 15 look down at verse number nine and says, and in the 20th year of Jeroboam, King of Israel reigned Asa over Judah. So Asa takes over while Jeroboam comes in the final stages of his reign over in Israel. Verse 10 it says in 40 and one years reigned, he in Jerusalem and his mother's name was Mayoka, the daughter of Abishalem. Verse 11 says, and Asa did that, which was right in the eyes of the Lord as did David his father. And of course, Asa is a household favorite because of what he did to the Sodomites. You know, it's here, we got to talk about it. You know, a little bit being pride month, you know, they want to talk about their pride. So Hey, you know, we're going to talk about what their pride does to them. So verse 12, you know the verse and he took away the Sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. Now I think it's interesting when you're reading through first Kings, they primarily focuses on the Kings of Israel, the kingdom of Israel, right? And so it's just going to give us a brief overview of Asa, but the first thing that it mentions is what he did to the Sodomites and how he took them out of the land. Then it says and removed all the idols that his father had made. And if that may seem stranger or confusing, what do you mean by he took them away? Did he put them on a boat and ship them to another continent? Well, how did God take them out of Sodom and Gomorrah, right? Through fire and brimstone brimstone through extermination, through killing them. They didn't have the economic capacity during this time to actually round all these people up and float them down the river and send them to another nation. So they took them out, they killed them. They got rid of them. Asa expelled them from the land is what it's saying there. Now, the reason why the sodomites were there, if you remember in first Kings chapter 14, Ray of Boam did that, which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And anytime a nation goes and does evil and they enact different laws, they allow drugs, prostitution, abortion, things like that, the more sodomites are going to spring up because that is their business. It's straight evil. And so they flock to those places and you know, it's just, just the thing it's taught all throughout the entire Bible. So look down to verse number 13 said, and also, uh, Myakka, his mother, even her, he removed from being queen because she had made an idol in a Grove and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the Brook Kidron. So he takes a page out of Gideon's book here. You know, he's so zealous at this point in his life. He's not even going to allow his own mother to go into idolatry or do anything that's in right. I mean, this guy is on fire. I mean, King Asa is a perfect example of somebody who defied the odds. I mean, think about who his dad was. His dad was a bijam. Remember a bijam was Ray of Boam son. He was the second King in the kingdom of Judah. And the Bible says that he reigned for three years. Now I think it's interesting that he grew up in a wicked nation, right? His dad did that, which was evil inside of Lord. His grandfather Ray of Boam did that, which was evil. And of course he knows, you know, the story about Solomon and how he lusted after all the worldly women. But nonetheless, he winds up being on fire for God. So just because somebody comes from a bad background or they have a bad upbringing doesn't necessarily mean that they can't get right with God because they can. And that's exactly what Asa did here. Now obviously he's going to take a turn for the worst later on in his life. And we'll take a look at that. Now look at verse number 14. We talked about this last week as well. It says, but the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. Now if man wrote the Bible, right, we probably wouldn't put this in here. We would just leave it at, you know, he did a great job, you know, human achievement, you know, great for him. But you could tell that God wrote the Bible cause God's like, he didn't do quite like David. He didn't, wasn't completely all in, but nonetheless, you know, his heart was perfect all of his days. And so God gives us that insight there. Now to read the rest of the story of Asa, we're going to go to second Chronicles. So turn to second Chronicles chapter 14. The second Chronicles chapter number 14. So in second Chronicles, that's where you're going to get more of the details of the Kings that reigned in Judah. And remember that the kingdom of Judah lasted longer before they went into captivity than the kingdom of Israel did. So second Chronicles 14, look at verse number one, it says, so Abi just slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David and Asa's son reigned in his stead. In his days, the land was quiet 10 years. So now we're starting to learn that Asa did have a period where there was peace, where there wasn't any war. Now look at verse number two, he said, and Asa did that, which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, his God. And so what we can learn here when you compare this passage with first Kings 15 is that taking the sodomites and the idols out of the land is not only just right, but it's also good in the eyes of the Lord. So you got to understand that people think today, well, you know, God's not against that. You know, Jesus never said anything about the sodomites. Well, the Bible says right here that what Asa did, that was not only right, but that was a good thing. So if our country got right with God and said, you know what, we're going to take the sodomites out of our land, guess what? God will look down on our nation and say, Hey, that's a good thing. That's a right thing. That's a righteous thing. That is something that pleases him. That's what the Bible says here. And like I said, that is taught throughout the entire book. There's no way around it. There's no debating it. The only way you can debate it is to pull, put your head in the sand basically, or maybe, you know, bring up an NIV or an ESV or something like that. But it's very clear here that what Asa did was not only right, but it was good in the eyes of the Lord. So look at verse three, it says he took away the altars of the strange gods. So not only did he take away the idols, but he took away their altars of the strange gods, and the high places and broke down the images and cut down the groves. And that's not a contradiction in the Bible. He didn't get rid of all the high places is what it's talking about. Because remember, there were people that set up high places to worship strange gods, we learned about last week. And there were people that set up high places to worship God in their own way. And so that's what is being referred to here. So look at verse number four, it says, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. So, oh, good King, I wish we really did have Asa as our president. You know, I've got that shirt that brother Scott Dunn sent me in the mail, you know, it says Asa for president, and then it quotes that verse in 1 Kings about how he took the sodomites on the land. I mean, we need an Asa today in America, you know, that's about the only way we're going to get right with God. But going down to verse number five, it says, also, he took away out of all the cities of Judah, the high places in the images, and the kingdom was quiet before him. And remember, that's referring to the high places that were devoted to the evil, you know, the wicked false gods. That's what it's talking about there. It's not a contradiction. And now we're going to learn about Asa's economic and his military defense. In verse six, look, it says, and he built fence cities in Judah, for the land had rest and he had no war in those years because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore, he said unto Judah, let us build these cities and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. And so the nation right now, they understand that this rest is a result of God. They know that they're not just like, wow, I think that we're at rest now because of God. They know that. Remember, there are prophets during this time, you know, and Asa is seeking after the Lord. He's commanding Judah to go and worship the Lord and to follow the commandments and follow the statutes. And they understand this, you know, so it always just blows my mind when we realize that God has blessed us, that God has done great things for us. And then we go get complacent and then we go say, you know what? I think God's just going to let this thing slide. And before you know it, you know, we just reap chastisement and all sorts of punishment and trouble on us. And that's what this nation does here. Look at verse number seven says, I'm sorry, look at verse, jump down to verse number eight. It says, and Asa had an army of men that bear targets and spears out of Judah, 300,000 and out of Benjamin that bear shields and drew bows, 204 score thousand. All these were mighty men of valor. And then now the Bible is saying that his, his, his rest is about over. He's going to get under attack here. Look at verse number nine, it says, and there came out against them, Zara the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand and 300 chariots and came to Marasha. And so verse number 10, it says, then Asa went out against him and they set the battle in array in the Valley of Zephitha at Marasha. And so just because we have rest, remember, like we talked about last Sunday, you know, that success, right? What usually happens after success is some sort of a battle, some sort of attack and they handle it well. They do a good job here. Look at verse 11 and says, and Asa cried unto the Lord is God and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them to have no power. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God. Let not man prevail against thee. You see a lot of politicians today, they'll say stuff like this, but they really don't mean it. Or they'll say that stuff to their false gods. You know, they'll get on the news and be like, Oh God, God bless us. You know, God bless America and stuff like this. The difference between obviously our politicians and this guy here, King Asa, he actually meant it. He lived it and he commanded it. And that's how you can tell that these people are lying. That's how you can tell when someone's blowing smoke. You know, when they say, Oh, you know, praise God. Oh bless God. Oh, I'm a Christian. I've heard Trump say that. I'm a Christian. Have people all the time tell me, Hey, are you a Christian? Oh yeah. You know, maybe they can just tell because my man, I don't know. You know, Oh, me too. And did you vote for Trump? You know, that's a common question I get asked when I go into people's houses. You know, people just have Donald Trump on their mind for some reason, especially lately. You know, they're like, what do you think about Iran? Don't you think we should blow them up? Don't you think it's about time? And I'm just like, I just want to get back to work. But it's like, look, how, how do you not know the Bible? How do you not understand it? This guy is wicked. I mean, he didn't he not surround himself with a bunch of false prophets and women preachers and have them pray over him. Look, the guy is not a Christian. He's not saved. He doesn't care about the things of God, right? There's a big difference between somebody like Asa and somebody like Donald Trump or even Obama, you know, who, Oh, I'm a Christian too. And I go to church. You know, these people are wicked devils and they're liars that, you know, and that's why it's so important that we understand these things because God gives us the attributes of what a real leader is, what a real godly Christian, a righteous person is and what they actually do. You know, the Bible says from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, you know, and they speaketh lies. But you know, what you read about Asa here is he not only speaks the truth, but he actually does it in, he commands it. So look down at verse number 14 says, and he smote all the cities, a roundabout Garar for the fear of the Lord came upon them and they spoiled all the cities for there was exceeding much spoil in them. They smote also the tents of the cattle and carried away sheep and camels in abundance and returned to Jerusalem. It's important there to remember this because later on in chapter 16, we're going to see Asa backslide here and it's just, it just, just blows my mind. You know, every time I read this, it's like, wow. I mean, you know, if you would just read first Kings chapter 15 about Asa, you know, you would just go on being like, okay, he was a great King. He did good, but you know, we're going to see a different side of him here momentarily. So turn over to chapter 15, turn over to second Chronicles chapter 15 and we'll take a look at his prophet that comes and delivers him a message. This prophet named Azariah son of Oded, he delivers a message to King Asa in verse two here. And he says this, he says, the Lord is with you while you be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you. But if he forsake him, he will forsake you. You see, what are we taught today in other churches and in the media about Israel? Well, God's never going to forsake them. God's never going to leave them no matter what they do, no matter what the atrocities that they've done, no matter that if they worship God or not, you know, they just tell us that, well, God's never going to leave them. God's never going to forsake them. But nonetheless, God's telling a righteous King, a King of Judah, who is an Israelite born, you know, a blood born Jew, you know, here he's saying, Hey, God is with you as long as you're with him. But if you forsake God, God will forsake you. Now that doesn't mean he's going to take away his salvation. He's simply saying the blessings, the rest, the deliverance, that's going to be wiped away and I will no longer help you in these matters. Now look at verse number nine. It says that he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh and out of Simeon for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord, his God was with him. And so remember Israel never turned back to God. Remember they had the two golden calves. They had one in Dan, one in Bethel. And so if you really wanted to worship God, God's way, you had to go down to Judah to do that. And so that's what verse nine is talking about. You know, they hear about the deliverance that God's given them. You know, that testimony goes throughout the land and they say, okay, we're out of here. We're going to leave Jeroboam. We're going to leave Nadab and all the Kings that are over in Israel. And we're going to go down and worship the Lord. Now look at verse 10 says, so they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month in the 15th year of the reign of Asa. And they offered unto the Lord the same time of the spoil, which they had brought 700 oxygen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their spoil. Now this covenant gets pretty serious here. Look at verse 13 says that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. So these guys are so zealous that they actually make a covenant. They make an oath and say, Hey, whoever is not going to seek the Lord, whoever is not going to worship God, we're going to kill them. We're going to put that person to death. I mean, these people really mean business and it's too bad they didn't keep on with that. So go over to chapter 16 here. What we're going to do is we're going to take a look at the backsliding of Asa, the backslide of Asa. You're looking at verse number one. It's a short chapter. It's 14 verses. So we're going to go ahead and read it. Chapter number 16 verse one. It says in the sixth and 30th year of the reign of Asa, Basha, king of Israel came up against Judah and built Rama to the intent that he might let none go out or come into Asa, king of Judah. And so like I said, God often will test us. He'll often let us get into trials, into tribulation so that he can show himself strong amongst his people. And so right now Asa is still reigning. Now he's been reigning 36 years of his 41. Think about that. This guy's been zealous. He's been on fire. He's been motivated for 36 years, right? So now all of a sudden the enemy, the kingdom of Israel, the king at this time is now Basha or Basha. And he says, you know what? I'm sick and tired of these guys. I'm sick and tired of losing my church members to Judah. So I'm going to go attack them. And so he comes up with a strategy to basically to hold people and to prevent them. He's basically building a Trump wall is what he's doing. Look at verse number two. It says, then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house and sent to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus saying, there is a 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 made depart from me. You notice what's missing here? There's no going to God first. He goes immediately to the, to his money, right? To his treasures. And he says, you know what? I've got this. I'm going to go hire the Syrians to help me deliver or to help deliver us out of, out of the hand of, of Basha. That's wrong. He didn't do that when the Ethiopians came, right? He prayed and asked God to help him. So at this point in his life, he's allowed himself to become complacent and it's going to wind up killing him and destroying his entire life. Look at verse number three. There's a league between me and thee as there was between my father and thy father. Behold, I have sent thee silver and gold. Go break that league with Basha, king of Israel, that he made depart from me. In verse four, then Ben-Hadad hearkened unto king Asa and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. And they smote I, John and Dan and Abel, ma'am, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it says, and it came to pass when Basha heard it, that he left off building Rama and let his work cease. Look, you know, if you want to go to the world and hire them to help you with your problems, you know, sometimes they are going to give you some help, right? They will deliver you temporarily out of your problems, but you know what? It doesn't mean that it makes God happy. This is actually going to anger God. Now look at verse number five. It says, and it came to pass when Basha heard it, that he left off building a of Rama and let his work cease. Then Asa took all Judah and they carried away the stones of Rama in the timber there of where with Basha was building and he built there with Geba and Mizpah. And at that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah and said unto him, because thou has relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is this host of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. And look at verse eight. He reminds him of his victories. He reminds him of his past and he's basically like, Hey, what are you doing? Why didn't you just go to God? You know, you were doing so good your whole reign, your whole life. And now what's changed? You know, what's changed? Asa, look at verse eight. We're not the Ethiopians and the Lubens 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 in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Now that that should speak volumes to all of us. You know, if you're on fire for God, you're reading your Bible, you're praying, you're going to church, you're doing the things you're zealous. You know, I mean, you can pretty much bet that you're going to go through trials, you're going to go through hard times, you're going to go through tribulations. Why? So that God can show himself strong in your life. But it's not just for you, it's for everybody, right? There's a reason why we have this prayer list every Wednesday so that we can go through and pray for these things, right? So that we can expose the hardships that we all go through and then we can also remind everyone of the praises, right? I mean, it's a praise. We've been praying for a building for a long time. Now we've got one. I mean, all a lot of you have had prayer requests on there that have been answered and they've been turned into praises and that's edifying to the whole church. That's what builds believers up. That's a very important vital component that's missing today in a lot of churches. And the whole point is because of this verse right here for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Why? To show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. Just because you have your heart perfect towards God doesn't mean you're never going to go through any kind of a hardship. But one thing that you can bank on is that God will deliver you out of that hardship if you keep trusting in him. If you realize that, hey, this is a test, God's got me, he's built a net, he's built safety into your life and he's not going to allow you to go into captivity. Looking for verse number 10, it says, then Asa was wroth with the seer and put him in a prison house for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. You see how this bitterness, what it did, it basically started infecting all the people of the land. I mean, he went from taking the sodomites out of the land. He went from commanding his people to follow the statutes, the commandments. I mean, did they not all just take a covenant a few years ago? They, they, they entered into a covenant and they swore on earth and said, Hey, if any man's not going to follow God, let him be put to death. Now all of a sudden he's locking up God's prophets because they told him the truth. That should be a sobering story to every single one of us. Just because you're zealous today does not necessarily mean you're going to be zealous tomorrow. Look, this thing is a work. It's free to get saved. Amen. Praise God for that. But you know what? The Christian life takes effort. It takes work. It takes guarding and it takes a lot of prayer and all the things that we talk about here. Now look at verse number 11. It says, and behold the acts of Asa first and last low. They are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel and Asa and the 30 and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease was exceeding great. Yet his, I'm sorry, yet in his disease, he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. Now I'm not going to stand here before you today and say, Hey, don't ever go to a doctor. I think that's what the Jehovah witnesses teach. Isn't that, isn't that one of the things they teach? Don't ever go to the doctor or at least they did it. Maybe they've gotten sued. They probably gotten sued over that. I know that was a thing when I was a kid cause I knew a Jehovah witness and he had some ailments. He could never go to the doctor. You know what? We should go to God first. Amen. You got a headache. You know, before you pop that Advil, you should probably pray first. You know, if you've got some kind of ailment, pray to God first because he may just deliver you of that thing. Are you having any kind of health issues? Bring it before the Lord because why? His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth to show himself strong among his people. You know, and Asa just completely blows this stuff away. He's got no regard for God. He doesn't trust on him anymore and he's just like, you know what? I'm just going to go to the doctors. I'm going to rely on big pharma to take care of me and I'm not going to basically commend my care to God. Look at verse 13 and Asa slept with his fathers and died in the one and 40th year of his reign and they buried him in his own supplicurs, which he had made for himself in the city of David and laid him in the bed, which was filled with sweet odors and diverse kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries art. And they made a very great burning for him. I mean, that's sad. He was so close to the end of his life. I mean, in the 30th and 6th year, he's made it 36 years in his reign, right? And he decides to get complacent. He decides to let the world influence him and you know what? That affects the entire nation of Judah and he winds up getting a disease in his feet and then he dies as a result of his poor health. Now we're going to, we're, we're done right now with Asa. Turn to revelation chapter two because what I want to do is I want to give you some tips that are in the Bible on how to combat complacency. Complacency is a Christian killer. We all need to understand that complacency is a Christian killer. And you say, well, what is complacency? Well, complacency is a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities, um, or, or, or a situation that prevents you from trying harder. So basically, you know the story. You're like, I've got this, right? You're at your job, whatever your job is, you get really good at it. You don't need help from the boss. You don't need help from the trainers anymore. And instead of seeking to improve, instead of seeking to maybe learn one step higher, you just ride the fence and you say, you know what? That's okay. I'm good here. I don't need any more education. I don't need any more progress. I'm just going to get complacent. Well, the problem with that is you're never going to grow. You're never going to advance. It's the same thing in the Christian life. You have to, you say, okay, well I've read the Bible twice. I've got, I go to church three times a week. I'm good. No, you're not. You need to keep reading the Bible. You need to start meditating on these things. You need to learn how to study and rightly divide the word of truth, right? Because it's not just enough to read. It's not enough to come to church three times a week. There's a whole list of things that we ought to do if we want to be successful. If you want to make it that 41 years and you don't want to get diseased in your feet, right? Because we're supposed to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, you know? So when we get complacent, guess what? You're not going to be going out soul winning anymore. You're not going to be going out doing the works that God wants us to do. You're going to wind up killing yourself as a result of complacency. So I've got three quick points for you this evening. And point number one is how do we combat complacency? And number one is caring for the vision. Real simple, caring for the vision. Look, this church has a vision to not only reach Boise, but Meridian, the entire treasure valley in anywhere that God will allow us to go. We have a vision to not only reach people with the gospel, but to also disciple them, bring them to church, train them up so that we can send more laborers out into God's harvest. I hope that you never lose sight of that and never, never quit caring about that because that is God's vision as well, right? Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. I mean, this stuff is very important. So revelation chapter two here, we're going to see the Lord Jesus Christ addressing the church at Ephesus. Look at verse number one says unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, right? These things say, if he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them, which are evil. So all good things so far, right? It says, and thou has tried them, which say they are apostles and are not and has found them live. So they have a good apologetics ministry. So if you want to call it that, right, they can, they can read the word. They can discern when someone's bad, you know, and the Lord's like, Hey, these are good things, but continue reading. Look at verse three. It says in has born and has patience and for my namesake has labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love. You see that complacency has settled into the church at Ephesus. And what did Paul tell the Ephesians, right? Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Anytime you go out and start a new church, I mean the first works are what marketing, right? Knocking on doors, trying to get people to gospel, trying to get people saved in, in the church. And they've gotten complacent. They've gotten satisfied with the amount of people that they've had in their church perhaps. And God's like, Hey, you know, you allowed that to basically make you complacent. And now you've left your first works. You're not going out and to the community, you're not preaching the gospel anymore. And that I have somewhat against thee. Look at verse five. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen in and repent and do the first works or else I will come into thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent. He's not saying I'm going to send you guys to hell. He's simply saying, Hey, I'm going to take your blessings. I'm going to take your power. I'm going to take your people away from you unless you get back to doing the first works. Now look, I'm sure we can all raise our hands and list Baptist churches where basically this is them, right there. Hey, we're King James only, you know, and they may say soul winning, but really what they mean is they just go out and hang door hangers every week. You know, that's not solely hanging door hangers and slipping invites in the doors. You know, that's not doing, that's not doing the great commission, you know, and they, and I've been to these churches before where they're like, well, we have a soul winning ministry. We're, we're actually in the community, but they're really not, they're not going out there and telling people that they're on their way to health. They don't get saved because that's offensive, you know, and they say, well, you know, we've got hundreds of people, of course we're doing the works of God. No, you've got hundreds of lost people that have no idea what the hell is going on. That's what you have. And that's the result of being complacent. Look, I'm telling you complacency kills Christians. That's what it does. You know what? Show me a church that doesn't have a soul winning program and I will show you a church that is in decline, that has no candlestick. And you could say, well, they've got 10,000 people. Well, they've got 10,000 unsafe people. Well, they've got 10,000 people that aren't doing anything, right? The number of people inside the church isn't what matters. It's what they do. It's the light that is projected forth. It's what they go out into the community and preach. That's what's, that's what matters. You know, do they stand for the truth? Do they have a zeal for God? Are there feet disease? I mean, what is it? You know, and that's what Jesus is saying to these guys here. Hey, unless you change, unless you get back to doing those first works, unless you get that complacency out of your life. And remember the way to do that is to get zeal according to knowledge. Zeal is the opposite of complacency. If you don't have zeal, you're complacent. Look at verse six, but this thou has that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches to him that overcometh. Will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Now go to Matthew chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25. So how do we combat complacency? I said, point number one is we care for the vision, right? You say, well, I'm just not motivated. I just don't have the zeal. Well, you need to pray and ask God to give it to you and he will give it to you. I mean, you know, do you think that God wouldn't give that to you? Do you think that, you know, like, like Jesus said, you know, you guys, you know, if you're, if your kids asked for a piece of bread, you know, would you give him a scorpion? You know, I'm paraphrasing, but he's better than that. You know, we give evil gifts. God gives righteous gifts and we need to remember that and understand that's a point of one is we need to care about the vision. Look, you need to care about the vision that this church has to go out into the community and reach the lost. That needs to be a care that's on every single person in this room's mind, heart and soul every single day. And if it's not, you will get complacent and God will take your candlestick from you and you're going to wind up in the 30 and sixth year of your spiritual life going into bondage. So how do we combat complacency? I said point number one, we care for the vision. Point number two, learn to be content, not complacent. Learn to be content, not complacent. At some point in Asa's life, he learned how to be complacent. It is a learned behavior. It is something that you fall into. It's a trap, it's a snare and that's what happened to him. Let's take a look at a story here in the Bible, uh, about somebody who got complacent, who learned that behavior. Look at a Matthew 25 looking for summer 24 and says, then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou has not sown in gathering where thou has not strawed. And I was afraid and went and hid my or hid thy talent in the earth. Lo there thou hast, that is thine. Now you know the story of the towns. We read it not too long ago. Uh, you understand it. This is sin. This was wrong. He was supposed to go out and multiply and use these things, but instead he didn't. He's complacent. He's lazy. He hid it in the earth. He buries it in verse, uh, look at verse 26 says his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant, thou newest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed verse 27 thou oddest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. And then am I coming? I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath 10 talents. Now turn to Philippians chapter four. And so Jesus gives us that parable to teach us a lesson. Every single person in here has a talent. Every single person in here has some kind of a gift from God. And the only way you're going to draw that out is to become zealous about the things of God, to become motivated about the things of God, to read your Bible, to pray, memorize scripture, you know, get all in like Asa was. I mean, I'm not saying you have to make a covenant to kill yourself if you backslide. You know, I wouldn't go doing that because we are all human. Nonetheless, that is key. That's important. That's what Jesus is telling us here throughout that parable is like, Hey, you know, you need to learn, you need to learn how to be content with what you have not learned. The bad behaviors of people that are complacent and that guy who buried his talent in the earth was complacent. The Bible says he was slothful and you know what? That's a wicked thing. That is not good. Look at, uh, you're there in Philippians chapter four, look at verse number 11. It says, not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. So this is the learned behavior that we need to have. We need to learn how to be content with the things that we have. Not always desiring what the world has, not always desiring what our neighbors have, what our coworkers have, you know, forgetting those things which are past and moving forward. That's the attitude that we need to have. But you know what? The Bible says it doesn't happen overnight. It is a learned behavior. You can learn to do good or you can learn to do bad. And you know what? I would like to exhort you and I would just like to just keep praying that we learn to do right. We learn to be content. Just like Paul said here, look at a backup for a moment. Look at verse number 10 he says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last, your care of me have flourished again wherein you were also careful, but she lacked opportunity. And then we read verse 11, but just read it again. It says, not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned and whatsoever state I am there with to be content. Verse 12 I know both how to be a based and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Do you see the, do you see the vast areas of life that Paul's talking about? Sometimes we have more than we need. Sometimes we have less than we need, but either way, you know, you need to learn to be content. That's the lesson that Asa never learned. You remember what the prophet told him? He said, you know what? God wanted to show himself strong in front of the people and you failed. Basically you didn't do right. You just went up and trusted on your money. You trusted on your riches. You trusted on your own abilities and you forgot about the victories of past with the Ethiopians and all these other things. And you know what? It's just, it ruined his life and it will ruin your life as well. Look at verse 13 real famous verse here. It says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. And that's a good verse there. So turn to second Peter chapter one, second Peter chapter one. So real quick, how do we combat complacency? I said, number one, we care for the vision. We have to have a church full of people that actually care about the vision and the direction that this church is going into. And you know what? It's going in the direction that God wants it to because we are biblicists. We follow the Bible. We believe in going out and preaching the gospel. We believe in just, you know, pouring energy out and trying to disciple those that want to be discipled. And we're going to continue to do that. We're going to stand for what's right. We'll never compromise. Point number two, I said, learn to be content, not to be complacent. You see, there's a lot of instruction in the world. Some is good, some is bad. And you need to learn how to be content no matter what state God has you in in your life. Now, point number three, I need to learn to confirm your calling and election. Let's learn what that means here. So number three, you need to confirm your calling and your election. Second Peter chapter one, look at verse three says, according as his divine power have given unto us all things that pertaineth unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that have called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these, he might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Verse five says, and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue into virtue knowledge. I just want you to notice that, uh, that phrase there where it says, add to your faith. Like I said earlier, your faith is obviously free. You know, it costs you nothing to get saved, but you know what? It is something we all need to add to. We all need to continuously add to our faith. Why? Because if you're not adding, you're stagnant, you're complacent, you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. And that's what happened in ACEs life. That's why he became diseased in his feet. That's why he lost his battles and that's why he died. Look at verse six, it says into knowledge, temperance, into temperance, patience, into patience, godliness. You see it just because you're saved doesn't mean you necessarily understand all that there is to know about godliness and patience. It definitely is a work in progress. Look at verse seven into godliness, brotherly kindness, into brotherly kindness, charity for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's important to understand that, right? We need to focus on these things so that we can abound in the works that we do. You know what? Maybe you feel like, Oh man, you know, I'm going so in, I'm just not getting anybody safe. You know what? You should read this chapter and ask yourself, you know, are you doing these things? Are you willing? Do you have a willing heart to get better at brotherly kindness, at patience, at temperance, at knowledge, at virtue, at all of these things. Because when you do, when you take a step forward, God's going to say, okay, you know what? This guy is serious. This person is serious. I'm going to use them mightily in my field. He's going to give you those victories. Look at verse eight for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look, it's a promise that you will not be unfruitful if you follow these things that are written here. Look at verse nine, but he, the lack of these things is blind and cannot see a far off and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Verse 10 wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election. Sure. For if you do these things, ye shall never fall. Now when it says make your calling and election sure, he's not talking about, Oh, you know, make sure that you don't lose your salvation. Don't, don't ever think that. He's basically saying, Hey look, if you do these things, you can be sure that you're not going to fall. You can be sure that you're not going to go down the same road that Asa did. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10 real quick. Hebrews chapter 10 because in Hebrews chapter 10, you know, the writer gives us some good insight on how to accomplish this, how to make our calling and election sure, how to make sure that we don't get complacent. It basically adds onto this. So Hebrews chapter 10 look at verse number 14 Hebrews 10, 14 that says for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So it's important before I start reading this to understand it's very clear in the Bible. It says by one offering hath he perfected us, right? Meaning that every time I sin, I don't have to go do an offering or go to some priests and confess my sins or anything like that. It's a one and done deal. It's a done deal. And that's what he's saying here. Look at verse 15 this is where of the Holy ghost also is a witness to us for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with him after those days, sayeth the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and into their minds will I write them and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now that's a very powerful statement there that's found in the Old Testament. Remember the Bible says that our sins are forgiven as far as the East is from the West. That's what he's basically saying here. And then verse 18 look at this, it says now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. So remember remission is the cancellation of a debt or a charge or a penalty. That's what the word remission is. So once you're saved, when you read through the Bible, we're going to take a look at a couple examples here in a minute of the word remission in scripture. It means cancellation done, wiped out, never to be brought up again. That's what it's talking about. He says, now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Then look at verse 19 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. So when we really understand this, right, if you understand it, you have remission of sins. You can boldly go before the throne of God and ask him for support, ask him for help, ask him for deliverance. You have to realize that you have to trust that and you have to always be about in that way. Otherwise you will get complacent. Look at verse 20 by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the veil. That is to say his flesh and having an high priest over the house of God. Look at this next part. Verse 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now isn't that what Asa did at the beginning of his life? That's exactly what he did, right? But look what it says next. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience in our bodies washed with pure water says, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. So the Bible is saying here, Hey, we need to consider one another and we need to provoke each other to good works. Well, how do you do that? If you're not in church, you're not going to be able to do that. Look at verse 25. That's why he says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching, look, do you want to come back complacency? You know what you need to learn to be content, not complacent. Go to Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10. So going to church, provoking one another to be a zealous is a good thing. The Bible says that is a key doctrine there in combating complacency. And so I said, I was going to show you some verses about remission real quick and I just want to go over this. So we're just going to look, look at two verses. We're gonna look at Acts chapter 10 and then we're going to go to Romans chapter three. So Acts chapter 10, look at verse number 43 real quick. It says to him, give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. So the Bible is saying there that, Hey, look, if you believe in him, you have that remission. You have that cancellation and you know what? Now what you should do is add to your faith. Now what you should do is make sure that you don't go backsliding and get into a bunch of sin and getting, get out of church where God's people are going to provoke you to do good works. Right? You know, that's what he's saying here because a lot of people will take you here and say, well, you know, remission doesn't mean that. It means basically like he basically puts it on whole like with cancer and then you can always come out of remission. That's not what the word means. That's not what the definition means because we read in Hebrews that Jesus Christ is the offering that was made once and for all. It's not a continuous thing. I don't have to continue to have offerings for sin. So real quick, go over to Romans chapter three. We'll take a look at one more quick example here. This word remission, Romans chapter three. Remember, you're not going to be able to confirm your calling and your election if you're not in church. If you're part of the house church movement and obviously we're in a house, but you know, this is different. We were sent here. We're doing things God's way. You know, these house church people, they have no regards for authority. They're not going out and reaching the world. They're not sending missionaries to Africa and the Philippines. They're not doing anything for God. Look at verse 25 Romans chapter 25. It says, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. So there's another verse for you to keep in your, uh, in your tool bag about remission. It means one and done. It's a complete and total cancellation of debt. And you know what? Realizing that the Bible says, Hey, that's how you can confirm your election, right? Realize that you have that remission of sins and realize that you can now boldly enter the throne of God and ask for help in anything you need. And when you stop doing that, look, when you give up prayer, you're backslidden. You're, you're, you're on your way out. You're going to wind up like Asa. I'm telling you, I'm just, I'm just trying to be honest with you. It's a very important thing. We need to pray for each other. We need to pray for things in our life and always abounding because you know what? When you're praying, what's going on? You're asking God. God is on your mind. He's in your thoughts. He's in your, you know, he's, he's in everything that you do. And so you're going to wind up being more zealous, more motivated for the things of God. So we're done right here. So just a real quick review. We just talked about Asa. Asa was a King in the kingdom of Judah and while Asa reign, there were eight Kings. So meanwhile in Israel, while Asa is reigning, they go through eight Kings, Nadab all the way to Ahab. And if you're familiar with Jezebel and that whole story, that's a, what we're going to kind of talk about next week. Next week we'll review briefly seven of those Kings and we'll talk about Ahab, King of Israel. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for the, for your word. I thank you for these Kings and that these lessons Lord that they went through, that they were preserved for us so that we might learn Lord not to make the same mistakes Lord, but to build upon these things and to be zealous and motivated for you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.