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2 Kings 14 (Part 1) Bible Study (Amaziah Reigns in Judah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Second Kings chapter 14. And I know that our brother
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  beautifully prayed, but I would love for us to pray once more
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  before we unpack this precious text together.
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  Lord, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you've
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  allowed us to gather on this evening to seek your face in
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  your word. And Lord, we know that this word
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  carries so much power. And so we do pray that you would
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  sustain the weary heart through your word.
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  And we ask, O God of peace, the one who brought again from the
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  dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, that you
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  would equip us with everything that is good, that we may do
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  your will, that which is pleasing in your sight, through
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  Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory forever and ever.
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  Amen. This Bible study tonight will
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  focus on one main thing. We will be looking at a
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  particular man who had so much potential, who had incredible
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  opportunities in his lifetime to bring glory to God, but was
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  unfortunately ruined because of his pride.
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  There are many things that the Scripture tells us that can lead
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  someone to becoming proud. There is physical beauty.
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  There is one's ethnic heritage. There is the accumulation of
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  wealth, there is the accumulation of knowledge and
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  many areas, including spiritual truths that can inflate the
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  heart and cause and create self adulation.
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  But if there is one more category that we can add to
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  these familiar pitfalls concerning pride, it is the
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  wrong response to our success. And I'm not speaking primarily
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  about financial success. Any achievement, whether it's
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  sudden or gradual, that feeds our egos and causes us to feel a
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  sense of superiority. And this success, which is
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  something most of us strive for in our unique context, led to
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  the undoing of a man who was a king named Amaziah.
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  And this is going to be our case study tonight.
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  Amaziah is going to help us because when we are introduced
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  to him, we don't find a blatant idolater.
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  We don't find a man who is committed to despicable
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  practices. No, no, no, no, no.
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  The first few verses actually present him as a decent man, a
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  good man in fact. And we should take the time to
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  identify some of these noble characteristics, because I'm
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  persuaded that doing so will reinforce the sobering truth
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  that any of us can be infected with pride.
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  There is not one person in this room.
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  There is not one person in this world, for that matter, who is
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  naturally immune to pride. It is a parasite always ready to
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  latch on the heart and suck the life out of it to our own
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  destruction. So the Bible says much about
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  pride and we have a real life example of how it destroyed a
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  man again who had so much promise to do the will of God
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  and bring him much praise. And so let's begin here by
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  looking at the 1st 4 verses. In the second year of Joash the
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  son of Joy as King of Israel and Messiah, the son of Joash, King
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  of Judah, began to reign. He was 25 years old when he
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  began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
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  His mother's name was Johadan of Jerusalem.
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  And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
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  Yet not like David his father, he did in all things as Joash
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  his father had done. But the high places were not
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  removed. The people still sacrifice and
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  made offerings on the high places.
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  So let me remind you what we're doing here with the first few
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  verses of this chapter. We're looking at specific
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  characteristics that are praiseworthy in a Messiah.
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  And the reason why we're doing this is so that by the end of
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  it, we can realize that if a man like this can become proud, who
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  am I to think that it it can never tempt me?
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  Who am I to think that it's not a potential problem for me?
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  And the first thing to note here from these first 4 verses is
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  that a Messiah was a man who had genuine concern for the House of
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  God. Look here again, we're told here
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  in verse three that I am Isaiah. He did what was right in the
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  eyes of the Lord. However, he was not like King
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  David. David was a consistent standard
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  in the Book of Kings for other kings to measure up to.
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  Why is that? Because the Bible testifies that
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  David was a man after God's own heart.
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  Imperfect, yes, but the direction of his heart was
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  something to strive after. And in Acts 1322, you don't have
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  to turn there. But we're told what qualifies a
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  man or a woman who is after God's own heart.
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  And it is this that they do all that God has revealed concerning
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  His will. Not necessarily that they
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  perform it perfectly, but they long to achieve all that God has
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  revealed concerning what pleases Him.
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  And that could not be said of a Messiah.
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  However, He was not a flagrant Sinner.
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  He was not somebody who was out there creating havoc.
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  No, we're told here that He did what was right in the eyes of
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  the Lord. And there is a particular part
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  that tells us how He walked and pleasing God.
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  Look again at verse three. He did in all things as Joash's
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  father had done. Hopefully you remember who Joash
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  was. I know there's a lot of names
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  with the letter J here in in the Book of Kings a couple of
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  chapters ago, we studied how Joash was spared from this
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  bloody massacre that targeted his family.
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  There was a priest and his wife who rescued him as an infant.
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  Do you remember this? And he was kept in the temple of
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  the Lord. At the ripe age of seven, he was
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  made king in the Kingdom of Judah, and when he got a little
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  bit older, he took on the passionate role of revitalizing
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  the temple in Jerusalem that was desecrated for so long.
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  That's who Joash is. And this concern that he had for
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  the House of God was a badge of honor that he was recognized
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  for. And when we come down to chapter
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  14 and realize that his Son did the things that his Father did,
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  then we can assume that he shared in a similar conviction
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  that he actually had a heart for the House of God.
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  Now, if that's true, then we have our first lesson about
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  pride, that it's possible to be preoccupied with God's house, to
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  contribute to corporate worship, to be invested in many
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  ministries, and still allow pride to gain a foothold.
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  Listen very carefully. Spiritual activity does not
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  shield you from pride. Fact, if you're not careful it
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  can be the cause for pride. What keeps us for from being
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  arrogant is not what we do for God, it's how you view God.
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  Big difference. What you do for God will not
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  protect you from pride. It's a proper view of God that
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  will keep you grounded, that will keep you low, that will
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  keep you humble, because as you view God the way he wants you to
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  see him, you will see yourself the way you're supposed to see
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  yourself. And we're going to find out very
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  soon that Amazon did not have a strength, at least a complete
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  strength in his relationship with the Word of God.
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  So #1 he had a concern for the House of God, but #2 as a king,
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  he did not allow his position to corrupt him.
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  Let's look at verse 5 and 6. And as soon as the royal power
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  was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants, who
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  had struck down the king, his father.
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  But he did not put to death the children of the murderers.
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  According to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses,
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  where the Lord commanded, fathers shall not be put to
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  death because of their children, nor shall children be put to
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  death because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his
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  own sin. So remember, Joash is the father
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  of Amaziah. And though Joash had this
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  passion for God's house, he did not finish well.
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  He became corrupt himself. And the main reason for that is
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  because Jehoiada, the priest who raised him and who counseled
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  them and who guided him, passed away, proving that Joash did not
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  own his faith. And so he was easily let into
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  idolatry. And because of his persistent
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  rebellion and the constant rejection of prophetic warnings,
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  and the sin in his life got so heinous that he actually killed
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  the son of his mentor. God allowed something to happen
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  to Joash. He himself was murdered by
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  betrayal. Go to chapter 12 of Second
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  Kings. And let's just remind ourselves
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  here in verse 20, it says here his servants arose and made a
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  conspiracy and struck down Josh in the House of Milo on the way
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  that goes down to Sila. Josh was an evil man.
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  He brought a lot of trouble into the Kingdom, but it was not
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  allowed for anyone to take it into their own hands to deal
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  with him. That's God's prerogative.
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  So these servants murdered the king, and though they might have
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  had righteous ambition, it was evil.
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  Therefore they would be punished for it.
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  And as soon as the son of Josh MSI came into power, one of his
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  top priorities was to kill and to punish these murders.
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  Question for you, is this an act of vengeance?
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  It is. Is it an act of vengeance for
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  somebody who has killed another unjustly to be killed by the
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  government? It's not.
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  This is justice. This is in complete accordance
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  to the will of God. This is capital punishment, and
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  it was wrong for the king to enact enact it.
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  He had the right, if anybody had the right to do so.
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  But this man's executive order is not mentioned for us to just
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  see how justice was served. It's the righteous restraint
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  that he had that's highlighted. Because what we're told here is
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  that although he found and he punished the murders of his
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  father, he did not go above and beyond what the law demanded.
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  Go back to verse 6 again of Second Kings 14.
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  But he did not put to death the children of the murderers,
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  according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses.
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  And then the historian quotes Deuteronomy 2416.
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  How tempting it must have been for a man who lost his father
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  and who had unlimited power and even the power to pardon
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  himself, to not go above and beyond to send a message to
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  those who took something so precious from him.
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  This is so commendable. This is so unlikely.
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  This is unexpected, especially in a culture with neighboring
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  nations that would have easily slaughtered the entire household
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  of those that took away somebody so valuable to you.
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  But he did not allow himself to go to that point.
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  Now what does that tell you about Amaziah?
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  If Deuteronomy is quoted in this passage showing how he honored
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  this law, what does that say about this man in relationship
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  to the law? He knew it, he read it, he
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  studied it. He was governed by it to some
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  measure. And this is one of the rare
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  occasions in our study of kings where you have a royal dignitary
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  honoring one of the foundations being a king in Israel.
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  Remember what God demanded of his kings in Deuteronomy 17,
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  that they were to write a copy of the law, that it was to be
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  reviewed and approved by the priest.
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  And let me read to you what the king was to do with the law in
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  Deuteronomy 1719. And it shall be with him.
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  You know how you carry your Bible around when you come to
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  church. I hope you do.
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  At least that's what a king was to do with the Word of God.
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  It was to be with him, it was to be on his night stand, it was to
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  be in his office. It was to be with them.
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  And he shall read it in all the days of his life.
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  This is a a wonderful text to advocate the discipline of
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  reading your Bible every day. The kings would do it.
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  He shall read it in all the days of his life, that he may learn
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  to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this
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  law and the statutes and doing them.
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  This is impressive because we have a king here who is informed
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  by God's Word and chose not to manipulate it, chose not to
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  ignore a particular law that he could have easily ignored in
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  order to satisfy his flesh. Instead, he submits to it and
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  it's becoming increasingly more difficult to digest how this man
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  is going to ruin his life because of pride.
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  And we're only really getting started.
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  But it's important to have this careful evaluation because it
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  will help us again see the power of pride.
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  It can sabotage anyone. So it's one thing to say a
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  Messiah became proud. What I want us to be able to say
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  is a man like a Messiah became proud.
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  So how much more do I need to be depended on His daily grace?
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  So what do we learn at this point?
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  I know we haven't seen how He became proud just yet, but we're
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  getting there. What can we learn here?
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  It's simple. You and I can't rely on
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  yesterday's obedience to keep us grounded against tomorrow's
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  temptations. It requires a humble daily walk
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  with the Lord, moment by moment. You can't even rely.
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  Listen, please. You can't even rely on a rich
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  history with God's Word. You can't Once Upon a time have
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  memorized Scripture, have been devoted to Scripture.
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  You must love it today. You must love it tomorrow.
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  You must abide by it day by day and allow the life in it to
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  surge into your soul and for all the nutrients of it to keep you
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  where God wants you to be. And so although this man did
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  honor God's word at one time, you get the sense if you're
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  reading carefully, that he maybe didn't have a holistic embracing
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  of the Word of God. Because yes, he did honor God in
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  this particular manner, but what did we read earlier that he did
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  not remove the high places. So even under a messiah's reign,
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  he did not allow reform to go to that extent, just like his
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  father. So we're thinking, OK, this is
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  this is a crack in his foundation.
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  That being said, there's still things that are good about him.
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  He had a relationship with God's Word.
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  It is commendable, but it was not consistent.
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  It was not complete. And that's going to lead to
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  greater dangers. Here's a Third Point concerning
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  a Messiah's commendable character.
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  This is probably the most shocking.
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  He was willing to receive correction.
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  He was willing to receive correction.
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  Look at verse 7 of chapter 14. He struck down 10,000 Edomites
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  in the valley of Salt and took Selah by storm and called it
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  Jock Theal, which in its name, which is its name to this day.
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  Now you read this and you think, OK, how do you get humility from
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  a verse like this? Well, it helps to know that this
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  is a summary of a much larger account found in a different
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  part of our Bibles. And when you go to Second
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  Chronicles 25, you get the whole back story to this particular
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  war that Amazon engaged in with the Edomites.
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  And it's worth looking into if we're going to dig deeper into
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  this fascinating case study. So let's turn to Second
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  Chronicles chapter 25 and begin in verse 5.
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  The beginning of Second Chronicles 25 reads similar to
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  what we read in Second Kings 14, but when we look at verse 5, it
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  expands what we read in verse 7. Second Chronicles 25, verse 5.
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  Then Amazon assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers
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  houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for
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  all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those 20 years old
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  and upward and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for
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  war, able to handle spear and shield.
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  He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100
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  talents of silver. But a man of God came to him and
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  said, O King, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for
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  the Lord is not with Israel with all these Ephraimites, but go,
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  act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God
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  will cast you down before the enemy?
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  For God has power to help or to cast down.
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  Oh, so much can be said from this one passage.
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  Let's just touch on a few things.
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  Number one, it's evident here that Amaziah in this great plan,
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  did not seek the Lord for it. He'd not take the time to
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  approach the Lord in prayer and to inquire, should I go to war
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  with Edom Now? Why is he going to war with Edom
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  anyway? Well, here's just a reference.
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  You don't have to turn the second kings. 8/20.
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  At one point Edom, who was under the rule of Judah, broke free
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  and they came up with their own Kingdom.
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  And so MSI wants to bring them back under their rule and their
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  dominion. That's the political reason.
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  But our focus here is on his approach.
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  He did not seek the Lord, and we know that because God sends a
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  prophet. This was his first mistake, his
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  first major mistake at least. And it's a mistake that many
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  Christians make. We'll soon discover that Amazon
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  could have spared himself a lot of headache and trouble if he
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  had just taken the time to get before his God.
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  And that's something you and I have to keep in mind.
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  It's no different. It will cost you and I much more
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  if we move ahead of the Lord than if we delay and pray before
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  we pay or respond or execute or move or build.
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  Develop the discipline to inquire of God, to invite God,
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  to seek God. Our tendencies to just do things
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  in our own wisdom, especially when we think we're experts in
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  something. A Messiah should have sought
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  God, and we're going to see how he's going to pay a price for
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  that. But secondly, a Messiah's folly
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  is not just seen in his independence, it's also seen in
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  his distrust of the clear will of God.
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  So look back at verse 6. It says here that he hired
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  100,000 mercenaries from Israel to join him in this war.
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  Why is that wrong? Well, the prophet tells us why
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  it's wrong. God wasn't with Israel being the
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  Northern Kingdom, He wasn't with them, and Amazon didn't need a
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  prophet to enlighten him about it.
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  History testifies on what happens when the people of God
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  yoked themselves with those who are opposed to God.
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  I mean, didn't he not think of Jehoshaphat?
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  Remember Jehoshaphat who married into the family of Ahab?
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  All the generational problems that came with that.
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  And God's word from the beginning of this book tells us,
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  He warns us about partnering with those who hate him, who
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  don't honor him. And so, and as I should have
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  known, he should have understood that from the beginning, but he
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  assumed, he thought that he can move ahead.
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  He was under the impression that the more numbers I have, the
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  more likely I will be successful.
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  That's not how God works, though.
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  We're told here that he is the one who enables somebody to
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  succeed or to fail, and he should have understood that from
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  the beginning. So here's the truth about how
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  God works. His empowerment rests on
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  obedience, not on numbers, not on resources that's accessed by
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  compromise. Here's another thought.
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  Do you see the grace of God in this passage?
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  I do. Where do we see it?
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  Does a Messiah make a last second call to a prophet to make
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  sure that what he's doing is God's will?
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  No, he doesn't. God sends a prophet to a Messiah
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  even though he failed to seek him.
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  What do you call that? Grace, Grace, God's grace.
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  That's what you call it. And the Lord love this man
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  enough to intervene and to give him a final warning before he
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  makes this decision. I want you and I to consider a
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  gift from God when a man or a woman of God love you enough to
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  approach you when they see that you're about to make a wrong
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  choice and rebuke you, redirect you, and encourage you to go
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  back to God's Word, to trust God's Word on the matter.
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  Don't silence such people. Don't allow offense to creep
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  into your heart because of such people.
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  See them as an extension of the mercy of God.
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  No matter how inconvenient it is, no matter how painful it may
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  be, if it aligns with God's Word, don't shut it down.
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  Don't ignore it. Don't you dare see God in it.
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  That's what a Messiah does, though initially it's met with a
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  hesitancy that's very common to you and I when it comes to
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  obedience. Look what he says here in verse
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  9. And a Messiah said to the man of
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  God, But what shall we do about the 100 talents that I have
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  given to the army of Israel? The man of God answered.
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  The Lord is able to give you much more than this.
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  Then MSI discharged the army that had come to him from
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  Ephraim to go home again, and they became very angry with
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  Judah and returned home and fierce anger.
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  There are a lot of reasons why people remain in disobedience
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  and MSI gives us a very common reaction.
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  People often feel like they are too invested in something to
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  back out and make a change. That can be seen in so many
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  avenues of life. You know, there's some people
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  who are in an ungodly relationship.
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  You know why they're an ungodly relationship, even as a
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  Christian? Because they didn't pray about
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  it to begin with. And God's now convicting them.
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  But what are they wrestling with?
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  Why? I'm so caught up in this.
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  I'm so tied to this person. I'm so invested.
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  I can't even fathom ending something that God's telling me.
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  The end. You have others also who are so
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  entrenched in a particular sin. I've talked to them after
• 24:38
  hearing a message that points out that very sin that they're
• 24:42
  engulfed in. And here's how they've reasoned
• 24:45
  with themselves. Well, I've already tainted my
• 24:48
  body. I've already damaged my mind.
• 24:50
  I'm already steeped in this. So what's the point of changing
• 24:53
  now? I'm scarred.
• 24:56
  That's how Amaziah is thinking. I've already paid a price for
• 24:59
  this, so why change now? And here's how you and I have to
• 25:05
  understand this. Whatever the price tag obedience
• 25:08
  may be, to remain disobedient is always, always, always more
• 25:12
  expensive. Always.
• 25:19
  Some are convinced that obedience is more costly than
• 25:21
  disobedience. You're dead wrong.
• 25:24
  Dead wrong. Yes, to obey God is going to ask
• 25:28
  you to surrender something. But as the man of God said, the
• 25:30
  Lord will give you much more than this.
• 25:35
  That's not just for Amazon, that's for all of us.
• 25:37
  And that's one of the reasons why repentance is a joyful
• 25:41
  thing, because it's an invitation into something
• 25:43
  greater. To turn from this to God is not
• 25:48
  you really sacrificing anything. You're letting go of something
• 25:52
  inferior for something superior, something impure for something
• 25:55
  pure, something that lies to you, something that will
• 25:57
  guarantee you. That's what repentance is all
• 26:00
  about. That's why I love to say, I love
• 26:03
  to preach it. Repent.
• 26:07
  People think that those who preach repentance are just
• 26:11
  people who can't figure out how to enjoy life, so they want to
• 26:14
  make other people miserable. You know, John the Baptist, as
• 26:19
  much as he was a fiery preacher, yes, he preached repentance, But
• 26:22
  one of the first things that we know about him is while he was
• 26:24
  in his mother's womb, he leapt for joy.
• 26:29
  Those who really understand what true repentance is, they'll be
• 26:31
  joyful people, and they call people to repent so that they
• 26:34
  can share in that joy. Yeah, I know that there is
• 26:37
  legalistic people out there who love to bash people with that
• 26:40
  word repent. I'm not one of them.
• 26:41
  God forbid. Now, when you understand that
• 26:44
  it's an invitation into something greater, something
• 26:47
  that will deliver you and save you and preserve you, He
• 26:51
  responds to this correction. That's the main point.
• 26:53
  He actually says OK fine, I paid, I paid a lot for this, but
• 26:58
  he looks through these 100,000 soldiers and he says go back
• 27:01
  home. I love how realistic the Bible
• 27:05
  is. I'm so happy the Bible doesn't
• 27:08
  sugarcoat anything because something's about to happen now
• 27:12
  he obeys God. He initially disobeyed, he
• 27:16
  learned his fault. He makes a change, he sends them
• 27:19
  home, but something happens. Scroll down to verse 13.
• 27:23
  But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting
• 27:28
  them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah from
• 27:33
  Samaria to Beth Horon and struck down 3000 people in them and
• 27:38
  took much spoil. How's that?
• 27:47
  This man obeyed God. God told him, send them away,
• 27:50
  send them back home, and he complies.
• 27:53
  So how is it then that as these men make their way back to their
• 27:57
  Kingdom, they're so angry, they feel so cheated that in rage now
• 28:03
  they destroy some of the cities of Judah and actually kill 3000
• 28:06
  people and take spoil. Here's a lesson.
• 28:12
  Sometimes there are consequences even for forgiven sin.
• 28:18
  We have to be realistic here. I love to preach the message of
• 28:23
  God's grace. I love to sing about it.
• 28:26
  I love to counsel with it. I need to preach it to my own
• 28:30
  heart. And we should never hesitate to
• 28:34
  help those who are heavy laden and broken hearted for them to
• 28:38
  learn God is a God of many chances and for them to
• 28:42
  understand that He is able to rewrite your story.
• 28:46
  That being said, we have to be honest.
• 28:48
  There are consequences for sin, and as eager as we might be to
• 28:54
  preach about God's grace, you and I also have to be just as
• 28:57
  eager to tell people to not sin, to not sin, because to preach
• 29:04
  the grace of God to the degree that people hearing it think
• 29:06
  that there are no problems in sin, it's problematic, it's
• 29:11
  dangerous. Some consequences for sin
• 29:15
  linger. It reminds me of one of the
• 29:18
  plagues in Egypt where the frogs were everywhere, in pots and
• 29:22
  beds and shoes, and after Pharaoh wanted reprieve, he
• 29:25
  asked Moses. Moses provides it after
• 29:27
  interceding. And we read there an interesting
• 29:29
  commentary that the frogs were remained and they were piling
• 29:33
  together, cleaning up the land, and the land stank for some
• 29:37
  time. What does that teach us?
• 29:39
  That sometimes the consequences to our sin linger, and it's no
• 29:44
  different here. So just don't sin to begin with.
• 29:48
  And if you do, there is grace. But sometimes there are scars
• 29:52
  that remain. Heard a testimony from a beloved
• 29:56
  brother at a state who was testifying to that when he was
• 29:58
  getting baptized. And he said something that
• 30:00
  struck me because he was honest with his story.
• 30:02
  He was excited that God had changed him, that he made a
• 30:06
  decision not to fully commit to the Lord.
• 30:08
  But in the same testimony, he realized that he's later in life
• 30:12
  and that he will never be able to get his younger years.
• 30:14
  Now all those years he lived in compromise, he will never be
• 30:16
  able to regain. That's a man who understands the
• 30:20
  consequences of sin. God will forgive you.
• 30:23
  God can rewrite your future, but He's not going to rewind time
• 30:27
  for you. And that's just one of the
• 30:29
  consequences of sin. So shut it, avoid it, be fearful
• 30:35
  of it because it does have ramifications even if it's
• 30:40
  forgiven. Let's come to our last thought
• 30:45
  about Amazon before we get into the turning point of his life.
• 30:49
  Second Kings 14 verse 7 again. He struck down 10,000 Edomites
• 30:55
  in the Valley of Salt and took Sila by storm and called it
• 30:58
  Jokthiel, which is its name to this day.
• 31:03
  So we get this impression that after this victory, God blesses
• 31:06
  him for his obedience, he does gain victory over the Edomites.
• 31:10
  He decides to pay tribute to the Lord and he decides to actually
• 31:16
  name this region of his conquest, something that's quite
• 31:19
  telling about his heart posture, that word there.
• 31:23
  There's this, there's debate about what it really means, but
• 31:25
  a common definition that is agreed upon is that Jock, the Al
• 31:28
  means the blessedness of God. So what does that tell you about
• 31:34
  a Messiah? It tells me, at least initially.
• 31:37
  And here's our final point about his character.
• 31:40
  He was willing to give God glory.
• 31:43
  He was willing to give God praise for his success.
• 31:51
  How different is this? And Saul?
• 31:54
  Remember when Saul was told to go and eradicate the Amalekites
• 31:57
  in First Samuel 15? He thinks he did obey God.
• 32:01
  He actually didn't completely obey the Lord, but he is so
• 32:04
  puffed up in his success. Then in First Samuel 1512, we're
• 32:07
  told there that he built a monument unto himself, not unto
• 32:13
  the Lord, but with his name on it.
• 32:18
  So let's recap here. Amazon was a man who had a
• 32:20
  concern for God's house. He was a man who didn't allow
• 32:24
  his position of power to corrupt him.
• 32:27
  He was somebody who was willing to receive correction and he
• 32:30
  even initially gave God glory for some of his greatest
• 32:35
  achievements. So then how do you explain verse
• 32:39
  8 down to verse 12? Let's read it together.
• 32:44
  Then Amaziah sent messengers to Joash the son of Joash, son of
• 32:50
  Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in
• 32:55
  the face. And Josh king of Israel, sent
• 32:59
  word to Amazon, king of Judah, a Thistle on Lebanon, sent to a
• 33:03
  cedar on Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a
• 33:07
  wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon pass
• 33:11
  by and trampled down the Thistle.
• 33:14
  You have indeed struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted
• 33:18
  you up. Be content with your glory and
• 33:22
  stay at home. For why should you provoke
• 33:25
  trouble, so that you fall, you and Judah with you?
• 33:30
  But Amaziah would not listen. So Jayash, king of Israel, went
• 33:34
  up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in
• 33:37
  battle at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
• 33:41
  And Judah was defeated by Israel and every man fled to his home.
• 33:50
  It's like reading about a completely different person.
• 33:53
  Same in and then the verses that we just read and a little bit
• 33:59
  beyond. I believe there are 5 truths
• 34:04
  related to pride that will help us know its potential danger and
• 34:12
  its potential devastation. So we looked at 4 things
• 34:16
  concerning Amaziah the person. Now let's look at 5 things
• 34:21
  concerning pride #1 The temptation of pride greets us
• 34:30
  after success. And where does it greet you
• 34:35
  first in your heart? Jesus tells us in Mark 721 and
• 34:40
  22 that pride, among other vices, come from within, from
• 34:47
  our own hearts. And our flesh is very capable of
• 34:53
  taking credit away from God and attributing it to yourself,
• 34:58
  robbing Him of the glory and convincing you that you were
• 35:03
  able to achieve something that really was a blessing and a gift
• 35:06
  from above. So the heart, the heart lies to
• 35:12
  us. The heart persuades us.
• 35:15
  But more than just your heart, there is the danger of outside
• 35:19
  voices that fuel the pride in our hearts.
• 35:24
  And if we're not guarded, if we're not careful, that can
• 35:28
  create a forest fire in our souls that cannot be contained.
• 35:34
  So we read here that Amaziah mustered up the courage now to
• 35:38
  actually approach the northern Kingdom of Israel and say, hey,
• 35:42
  want to fight. But when you look at the
• 35:46
  parallel account, you get a different vantage point.
• 35:49
  So go to Second Chronicles 25 and look at this commentary in
• 35:53
  verse 17. Then a Messiah, king of Judah,
• 36:01
  took counsel and sent to Josh, the son of Jehoiah, son of Jehu,
• 36:05
  king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the
• 36:08
  face. What's different from second
• 36:10
  kings? The first part, a Messiah king
• 36:13
  of Judah took counsel. So this tells me that a
• 36:18
  messiah's foolish ambition was affirmed by flattering men.
• 36:27
  They should have told them. Messiah, you have no idea what
• 36:29
  you're up against. Edom is one thing.
• 36:31
  The Kingdom of Israel. If you're going to do this, you
• 36:35
  got to see God and you got to ask yourself why you want to do
• 36:39
  this. There's none of that.
• 36:41
  I can only imagine what they told a Messiah.
• 36:45
  Go for it. There's no king like you.
• 36:50
  Oh, I'm sure that they are shaking in their sandals,
• 36:53
  realizing that you overtook the Edomites.
• 36:57
  And so whatever these men said I'm sure was exaggerated, only
• 37:02
  added gasoline to the arrogance of this man.
• 37:06
  A man is tested by his praise. Proverbs tells us be very
• 37:11
  careful what you do with the compliments and the
• 37:15
  appreciations and the flowers that are placed at your feet,
• 37:21
  because it can make all the difference.
• 37:23
  And accepting how men flatter you can lead to God flattening
• 37:27
  you and me. The temptation of pride greets
• 37:33
  us after success, and it's usually just around the corner.
• 37:38
  For some preachers, it's as they make their way after their
• 37:40
  sermon to the Pew that they sat at before they preached #2 Pride
• 37:47
  is easily discerned by others and rarely by the one who
• 37:50
  possesses it. Let's go back to 2nd Kings 14
• 37:54
  and verse 9. Jeremiah, king of Israel, sent
• 38:00
  word to Amazon, king of Judah. So he's going to respond to this
• 38:03
  challenge. And he provides a parable.
• 38:04
  And this parable essentially diagnosis what's really going on
• 38:07
  here. He talks about this Thistle in
• 38:10
  Lebanon and how it speaks to the cedar in Lebanon.
• 38:12
  And then he goes on to say how this Thistle will ultimately
• 38:15
  trampled by a wild beast. But notice here what he says in
• 38:19
  verse 10, what the king of Israel says to the king of
• 38:22
  Judah. You have indeed struck down
• 38:25
  Edom, and your heart has lifted you up.
• 38:31
  So the king of Israel was able to recognize that this man is
• 38:35
  challenging him in pride. And it's so fascinating to me
• 38:42
  how a wicked king was able to discern that and MSI's own
• 38:46
  counselors couldn't. But such is the nature of pride.
• 38:53
  Those who have it usually fail to see that they do.
• 38:57
  And everybody else has and recognizes you got it, at least
• 39:01
  honest people. And you would think that such an
• 39:04
  honest assessment would have caused Amazon to think and to
• 39:10
  reflect. It doesn't.
• 39:12
  But here's what we can learn from this.
• 39:14
  One of the most terrifying features of pride is, again, it
• 39:17
  blinds us. There are many sins that are
• 39:20
  obvious to us as we participate in them, as we keep it a secret.
• 39:24
  But pride is one of those sins that actually convince you, you
• 39:27
  don't really struggle with it. So what's the antidote?
• 39:30
  At least one antidote is to invite people into your life who
• 39:34
  are willing to speak into your life.
• 39:37
  Don't just get anybody but people who love you enough to
• 39:39
  say, I'm noticing this in your attitude.
• 39:41
  I see how you're acting in this way and it concerns me.
• 39:44
  And I'd love you enough to say what's going on.
• 39:47
  Let's talk about this. Such people are wonderful
• 39:52
  assets. They are gifts from the Lord.
• 39:54
  And we should be at this point, while our hearts are tender,
• 39:57
  open and invite people and give them a license to speak to us in
• 40:00
  such a way. Because if we're not quick to do
• 40:03
  so, pride is a way of callousing our hearts and leading us to 1/3
• 40:08
  troubling ingredient about it #3 pride refuses to consider
• 40:14
  warnings or correction, at least over time.
• 40:17
  But back at verse 11 of chapter 14, but Amaziah would not
• 40:24
  listen. You know you've crotched crossed
• 40:28
  the dangerous line when you are unable to listen to others
• 40:34
  advices. And that was this man.
• 40:37
  He did not listen. And it wasn't just the
• 40:40
  criticisms of others, it was also the counsel that comes from
• 40:44
  God's Word. I'm persuaded that the same
• 40:47
  Amaziah who saw God's law and how to deal with murderers
• 40:52
  honoring it down the road deviated from the Scriptures,
• 40:57
  which was a contribution to where he is today.
• 41:03
  How am I convinced of that? Go back to Deuteronomy 17 and
• 41:07
  notice what a regular interaction with God's Word for
• 41:11
  kings offered them. Not just guidance, not just how
• 41:16
  to orchestrate and execute justice, but Deuteronomy 1719.
• 41:21
  And it shall be with him, and he shall read in all the days of
• 41:24
  his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God.
• 41:28
  Pause. How do you learn to fear God,
• 41:30
  which is synonymous with standing in awe of God?
• 41:33
  You have to have God's Word. It can't come from your own
• 41:35
  imagination. You leave your view of God to
• 41:39
  your own imagination. You're going to be making idols.
• 41:42
  It's God's Word that accurately portrays Him, and if you honor
• 41:47
  it for what it is, will inspire and awe in your heart for Him.
• 41:52
  And here's one of the byproducts of fearing God.
• 41:57
  Learn to fear the Lord His God by keeping all the words of this
• 41:59
  law and the statutes and doing them.
• 42:01
  Look at verse 20, that his heart may not be lifted up above his
• 42:04
  brothers. What did the king of Israel say
• 42:08
  to Amaziah? Clearly your heart has been
• 42:10
  lifted up. It has lifted you up.
• 42:14
  But what is a regular engagement with God's word?
• 42:16
  Promise that you would fear him so that your heart would not be
• 42:21
  lifted up against your brothers. So let's do the equation.
• 42:24
  If this word promises such a purifying effect.
• 42:28
  And MSI, who was supposed to engage with God's Word, is not
• 42:35
  humble but proud. It tells me that he stopped
• 42:37
  interacting with God's Word. And that's a dangerous thing
• 42:44
  because this book will keep you from becoming proud.
• 42:48
  And if you're not careful, pride will keep you from this book.
• 42:53
  So this man was confronted for his heart being lifted up.
• 42:59
  And I think the problem started long before the king of Israel
• 43:02
  pointing it out. He stopped meeting with God.
• 43:06
  His view of God got fuzzy, and because he stopped hearing from
• 43:11
  God's Word, he stopped God's Word from speaking into his
• 43:14
  heart, His own heart and the counts of others were louder and
• 43:20
  they deceived him. And now he is picking fights
• 43:25
  that he shouldn't be picking and entertaining things that he
• 43:28
  shouldn't be entertaining. What you're about to discover.
• 43:32
  This man stopped inquiring of the Word and it led to something
• 43:35
  dangerous. His downfall #4 Pride will lead
• 43:41
  to yours and my downfall. Verse 12 What do we read?
• 43:46
  And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to
• 43:51
  his home. James tells us that God opposes
• 43:56
  the proud. He gives grace to the humble,
• 44:00
  but he opposes the proud. That word oppose in the Greek is
• 44:02
  actually a military term. It means to set up rank against.
• 44:07
  So here's how you translate that.
• 44:09
  God goes to war with the proud. Doesn't matter what you're proud
• 44:13
  about. If you persist in it, if you
• 44:18
  refuse to reject it, if you're deceived by it, after people
• 44:21
  have warned you, God will go to war with such a person.
• 44:25
  He will find a way to humble them.
• 44:27
  And nobody can be God. Nobody can win against God.
• 44:29
  Yeah, we see here that Israel defeated Judah, but in reality
• 44:32
  it was God who defeated Judah. And he uses different means to
• 44:36
  do it, and that's what we find here.
• 44:40
  But the arrogant being humbled, right?
• 44:42
  The conceited being brought low is not always because God
• 44:48
  directly involving himself in that person's life.
• 44:51
  Here's what I mean. Pride can lead to other sins,
• 44:55
  and those sins can be the means of bringing somebody low.
• 44:58
  Does that make sense? And what you find in Second
• 45:02
  Chronicles 25 is that a Messiah chooses to do something after
• 45:05
  his victory over the Edomites. That's just mind boggling.
• 45:09
  I'll be honest, when I read it, I didn't get it for for a while
• 45:14
  I could not understand why he chose to adopt A certain habit.
• 45:20
  I want you to see it for yourself.
• 45:22
  Go to Second Chronicles 25 and look at verse 14.
• 45:32
  After Amazon came from striking down the Edomites, he brought
• 45:35
  the gods of the men of Sere and set them up as his gods and
• 45:39
  worship them, making offerings to them that shock anybody else.
• 45:44
  Or is it just me? So you defeat these people, the
• 45:47
  Edomites. Clearly their gods could not
• 45:49
  help them. And here's how you respond.
• 45:51
  I want to worship those gods. Hello.
• 45:56
  They could not deliver the Edomites.
• 45:57
  Why do you want to worship them? That's a reasonable question,
• 46:02
  isn't it? And that's one that a prophet
• 46:03
  asked. Look at verse 15.
• 46:05
  Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent him a
• 46:08
  prophet who said to him, Why have you sought the gods of the
• 46:11
  people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?
• 46:16
  Anybody home, Amaziah? Pride is scary.
• 46:24
  Are we any wiser? Here's how this becomes
• 46:28
  relatable. Is it possible that we have
• 46:31
  committed the same sins that we've seen destroy other
• 46:35
  people's lives? Now it's resonating, isn't it?
• 46:41
  Because here's how we see it. He took these statues and he
• 46:43
  brought them to Jerusalem and he worship them.
• 46:45
  No, idols are not just statues. Anything that you love more,
• 46:49
  anything that you're devoted more to than God is an idol.
• 46:54
  So ask yourself this. Have you ever indulge in
• 46:58
  anything, pursued anything? Have I ever, even after seeing
• 47:03
  it, fail to deliver somebody else?
• 47:08
  How many people have we seen, especially online, especially
• 47:12
  with celebrities and people of power who have, who have
• 47:15
  sacrificed so much for fame and money and sex?
• 47:21
  Are they happy people? How many of them have killed
• 47:24
  themselves? How many of these people in the
• 47:26
  rock industry, in the hip hop industry die early?
• 47:31
  Why? Because their idols could not
• 47:33
  deliver them. And yet how many people even in
• 47:35
  the church make money their God? Still, it's no different than a
• 47:40
  Messiah. You're taking the idols that
• 47:42
  fail to deliver these people and bring them into your own heart.
• 47:45
  What about sexual immorality? OK, what about things like like
• 47:49
  gossip, adultery, pornography, lying, slander?
• 47:56
  We've seen how it's ruined marriages.
• 47:57
  We've seen how it's ruined friendships.
• 47:58
  We've seen how it's toppled ministries.
• 48:00
  And what do we still do? We adopt them.
• 48:05
  We still pursue them. And Amazon gives US1 reason why
• 48:11
  we do that. Pride.
• 48:15
  Pride in what sense? Well, for some people, they
• 48:17
  don't think what these pursuits are really idols.
• 48:21
  I'm just a hard working man. I don't know for you to abandon
• 48:27
  serving God, loving God, meeting with God, that's an idol my
• 48:31
  friend. I'm just a very caring person.
• 48:39
  No, you just want to find out dirt on people so you have
• 48:41
  something to talk about at lunch tomorrow with your girlfriends.
• 48:46
  All these different examples that we can use.
• 48:48
  Pride tells us this isn't really sin or if it is sin, we convince
• 48:53
  ourselves those they went too far.
• 48:57
  They went too far with alcohol. I, I, I know how to clearly you
• 49:01
  don't have control. Now it's an idol.
• 49:06
  And so we say I can, I can handle this in moderation.
• 49:10
  I don't know what went through Amazon's mind to think that he
• 49:12
  can bring these gods and worship them without any problem.
• 49:17
  But we do the same with sin. God help us.
• 49:22
  So sometimes the downfall that comes from pride is not
• 49:25
  necessarily God humbling us directly, but allowing what
• 49:29
  pride leads us to, and that's further sin to destroy us.
• 49:37
  Last point, pride not only harms us, but others.
• 49:44
  Second, Kings 14. Let's look at verse 13.
• 49:51
  And Joash king of Israel, captured and Messiah king of
• 49:55
  Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Isaiah Ebechemesh, and came
• 50:00
  to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits
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  from Ephraim gate to the corner gate.
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  And he sees all the gold and silver and all the vessels that
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  were found in the House of the Lord and in the treasuries of
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  the King's house, also hostages. And he returned to Samaria.
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  And Messiah's pride didn't just hurt him, it hurt Judah and
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  Jerusalem. The wall was breached, spoil was
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  taken. There's vulnerability now.
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  There's greater insecurity than ever in this time.
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  Depending on who you are, pride promises collateral damage.
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  Think about Pharaoh and how much destruction he allowed in Egypt
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  because he refused to submit to God's call to repent.
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  Now let's bring it to our world. How many homes have been
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  ravished because a father stubborn, proud?
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  What happens to spouses? What happens to children who
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  live under such abuse and selfishness?
• 51:10
  Well, apart from the grace of God, they don't turn out too
• 51:12
  well. What about ministries that have
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  proud leaders in it? Does the pride of those leaders
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  only affect the leaders? No, it impacts that church.
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  It affects the community. Pride is atomic and it's power
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  not just in the person's heart, but in the persons that are
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  around that person. And one way that we can
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  recognize, if we still have the ability to discern that pride
• 51:42
  has overtaken us, is that people, Not just some people,
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  but most people gradually want nothing to do with us.
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  They don't want a fellowship. They surely don't want to serve
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  with you in ministry. They avoid you.
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  And that's illustrated in Amazon his life as we read the final
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  verses of this section. Let's Scroll down to verse 18.
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  Now the rest of the deeds of Amazon, are they not written in
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  the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
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  And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he
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  fled to Lahish. But they sent after him to
• 52:20
  Lahish and put him to death there.
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  And they brought him on horses. And he was buried in Jerusalem
• 52:26
  with his father's in the city of David.
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  And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was 16 years old,
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  and made him king instead of his father, a Messiah.
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  He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept
• 52:38
  with his father's. So when this man was restored to
• 52:44
  the throne, we don't know who they were who conspired against
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  them, but it's likely that there were people who were under his
• 52:50
  administration and they thought themselves, we're not going to
• 52:53
  deal with this man. And it's ironic, isn't it, that
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  the same king who brought justice to those who conspired
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  against his father was also murdered by betrayal.
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  It's quite heavy of a Bible study, isn't it?
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  So let me end on a more cheerful note.
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  Is there any way that we can know that we can remain a
• 53:19
  perpetual humility? Is there any way we can know
• 53:21
  that we can secure ourselves from this, this Slytherin poison
• 53:27
  of pride? Yes, it's in the New Testament.
• 53:30
  Let's go to John chapter 3. And this is where we'll end
• 53:32
  tonight. I mentioned John the Baptist.
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  Let's end with John the Baptist. John 325 Now a discussion arose
• 53:52
  between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification, And
• 53:56
  they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who is with you
• 53:58
  across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is
• 54:01
  baptizing, and all are going to him.
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  So pause. Here you have students of John
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  the Baptist, the fiery revivalist, who didn't just
• 54:12
  preach repentance, by the way, clearly when the disciples
• 54:15
  asked, Jesus, Lord, can you teach us how to pray like John
• 54:17
  taught his own disciples? John had his own little school.
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  So yes, he told the Pharisees and everybody else, you better
• 54:23
  repent. But with his own disciples, he
• 54:26
  taught them different things, including how to pray, how to
• 54:28
  fast. And people were now going to a
• 54:33
  new Bible study on Friday nights.
• 54:38
  Jesus is Bible study and the disciples were concerned
• 54:44
  everybody's going to Jesus now and this concerned them and they
• 54:48
  thought John was unaware of it. So they wanted to bring it to
• 54:52
  his attention. Brother John, if if you've been
• 54:55
  wondering why there's less and less people at our meetings,
• 54:58
  it's because everybody's going to the one that you bore witness
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  to. And notice how John responds.
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  John answered in verse 27. A person cannot receive even one
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  thing unless it is given him from heaven.
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  You yourself bear me witness that I said, I am not the
• 55:13
  Christ, but I have been sent before Him.
• 55:15
  The one who has the bride is the bridegroom, the friend of the
• 55:17
  bridegroom who stands and hears and rejoices greatly at the
• 55:20
  bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is
• 55:24
  now complete. What a response.
• 55:28
  But this response was possible because of a revelation John
• 55:32
  had. What is it?
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  There is not one thing I have that wasn't given to me from
• 55:38
  heaven. My preaching, my success in
• 55:42
  ministry, the audience that I had, the life that I have, the
• 55:47
  abilities that I have, Anything and everything I realize came
• 55:54
  from God. And so if it came from Him and
• 55:58
  He wants to take it, He has every right.
• 55:59
  It doesn't belong to me anyway. It's not mine.
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  And I'll tell you what that will unlock in your life.
• 56:05
  Not only will it protect your heart from becoming proud, it
• 56:09
  will encourage you to rejoice at other people's success.
• 56:13
  So more people are now flocking to Jesus.
• 56:14
  And what does he say? I rejoice greatly because Christ
• 56:19
  is being glorified. He's being honored.
• 56:24
  So if you want to avoid Amaziah's mistakes, I think John
• 56:32
  the Baptist gives us the secret, at least a major one.
• 56:37
  Believing that all that I have, from how I look to what I know,
• 56:42
  to what I have, what I'm able to do, to how people are blessed,
• 56:46
  all of that has been given by God.
• 56:50
  And you stay there in the way you're reminded us this word you
• 56:55
  regularly confronted on a daily basis of who God is and who you
• 56:58
  are, what He has done and what you need from Him, what He can
• 57:02
  do and what you can't do apart from Him.
• 57:05
  And you will be more than safe. You will know a life of joy and
• 57:09
  success in that joy, perpetual victory even over something as
• 57:14
  vicious as pride. Unfortunately, a Messiah did not
• 57:19
  have this revelation. We do.
• 57:24
  God is for us, and He loves us enough to warn us with stories
• 57:27
  like this so that we can avoid it for ourselves.
• 57:31
  Let's pray. Father, our response to this
• 57:48
  Bible study is that we acknowledge that everything we
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  have, all that we are, is because of you.
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  You permitted it, You fashioned it, You provided it, and we give
• 58:08
  you all the glory for it. Lord, if there's any area in our
• 58:13
  lives, whether that be a skill or a unique feature, could even
• 58:20
  be a personality, if there's anything in our lives that we
• 58:24
  think has something to do with us, Lord, may it die tonight.
• 58:29
  May that lie, shrivel up and die in the sanctuary.
• 58:34
  In light of these truths that we heard, Lord, we don't want to be
• 58:41
  like MSI, who had so much potential but wasted it, spoiled
• 58:44
  it because success got to his head.
• 58:48
  If you so choose to use any of us in a way that blesses others,
• 58:54
  help us be like this man. John the Baptist always
• 58:57
  reminded, fresh at the top of his thinking and meditation,
• 59:02
  It's because of God. It's because of the Lord.
• 59:07
  We want to live in that truth, Lord.
• 59:10
  So tonight we take our time to sit in your presence to allow
• 59:15
  these truths to wash away anything that is collected in
• 59:18
  our hearts. I shouldn't be there.
• 59:24
  Give us ears to hear. Always help us trust you, Lord.
• 59:30
  Help us be sensitive even to correction when it's right.
• 59:35
  We want to be successful the way you want us to be successful.
• 59:40
  In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
• 59:44
  Praise him can come help us worship the Lord.
• 59:46
  Can I encourage you to do some Let's not rush and stand up and
• 59:48
  sing right away. They'll come and they'll they'll
• 59:51
  set things up in a minute here, but just respond to this Bible
• 59:53
  study tonight. Ask the Lord to renew a sense of
• 59:56
  awe of him. Ask him to always keep you in
• 59:59
  that place of viewing him as your boast and that everything
• 1:00:06
  around you, everything before you, you're not greater than
• 1:00:10
  that. If there's any greatness, if
• 1:00:13
  there's any goodness, again, it's because of a good God.
• 1:00:16
  May the Lord help us, and then we'll stand together and sing
• 1:00:20
  because He loved us enough to speak to our hearts and to keep
• 1:00:24
  us in His will.