Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. Asa was a righteous king of Judah, known for significant reforms, removing idols, and promoting the worship of God.
However, his later reliance on Syria instead of God led to conflict and divine judgment. Today, more on commitment and making sure we understand what God seeks. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line.
Pastor Lutzer, you're teaching about the high price of commitment to Christ. The story of King Asa reminds us that we need to end the race of life well and not falter at the finish line. Dave, that is so critical. I tell people all the time, nobody is going to remember how you began. But everyone is going to remember how you end.
And we know so many people who ran the race of life but they stumbled at the finish line. And I pray that by God's grace, and it is His grace, that all of us together will not stumble at the finish line. I'm holding in my hands a book, and by the way, this is the last week we're making this book available for you. It's entitled Grace Awakening by Chuck Swindall.
Now, what this book does is, it shows us how grace enables us to run the race of life successfully all the way to the end. We're making it available for you and at the end of this message I'm going to be giving you some contact info and I want to emphasize this.
So often grace is misunderstood. Grace is not a license to sin. Grace actually is a deterrent. to sin. Stay tuned.
and have a pencil ready to write down the info. Yeah. Uh I think it's true to say that the extent of our faith Or the object of our faith is oftentimes determined. In a crisis. Where you turn to when the bottom falls out of life, and where you turn to when things aren't going well, says much about who you are and what you really believe in.
Some people turn to alcohol, others turn to their friends, which may not all be bad. Others turn to themselves. They look within and they think that they are going to have the resources to cope, and they become angry, bitter, self-serving. And then there are those who may turn to various compromises that they might justify in their minds because, after all, they were in difficulty, and somehow difficulty. Is used as an excuse to do things that they know right well or wrong.
To do. Where do we turn?
Well, I know where I would like you to turn today, and that is to the 16th chapter in the Old Testament to the book of 2 Chronicles. Second Chronicles chapter 16. 1st and 2 Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles.
Now, you know that the Book of Chronicles is not one that you may have read recently, but it covers the same history basically. as the history of First and Second Kings. And what I'd like us to do in 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, rather, 2 Chronicles 16, is introduce you to a few people.
So, just give me two or three minutes to paint a little bit of history, and then I'll show you what the text is for today. First of all, I'd like to introduce you to a man by the name of Asa, ASA. Asa was a king who ruled in Jerusalem over a territory called Judah. This was 900 years BC, and remember that during that period of time, the land that we call Israel today was actually two. separate lands, two separate countries, and it had a border between it.
And there was a man who ruled in the northern part, the northern part was called Israel, the southern part was called Judah, and in the northern part, What you had there was a man by the name of Baisha. Basha was king of Israel. And Asa was king in the southern part in Judah.
Now here's what happened: the text says, chapter 16, verse 1: In the thirty-sixth year of Esa's reign, Basha, king of Israel, came up against Judah and fortified Ramah. In order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. Here's what the northern king by the name of Basha decided to do. He said, I'm going to fortify the border because I'm tired of having all these people come from the north, which is my territory, and go to the south, and I'm going to make sure it isn't going to happen. He put up what is sort of an Old Testament Berlin Wall.
Well, Asa felt threatened by this, and that's why I introduce you to a third person, and that is Ben-Hadad, who is king of Syria. And Esau said, I don't think that I can handle this situation alone. What I'm going to do is ask Esa, or rather, ask Ben-Hadad, king of Israel, I'm going to bribe him to become my ally so that he might be able to help me stand against this threat. What is so wrong with that?
Well, I'll tell you what was wrong with it. God had told the people in the Old Testament. That they should never make a league with pagan kings. Here's what God actually said. He said in effect, why don't you just trust me alone?
Why don't you just believe that I will be your defender, I will be your military might, and then if you believe that, I'm going to prove that I'm stronger than any alliance, any compromise that you might be tempted to make. And so what Asa did was Was really wrong in the sight of the Lord. I introduce you to another man now. Hanani. Who was he?
He was a prophet. And now we're in verse 7 of 2 Chronicles chapter 16. At that time, Hanani, the seer, came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand. He said, you're going to be in trouble because of this agreement you made. And then he says, were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen?
Yet because you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. He's saying, Asa, you used to trust God. Why didn't you trust him this time? And then in that context, the prophet makes the statement that is the text of my message today. Verse 9, For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.
You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on, you will surely have wars. Notice what the prophet said.
Now, God is spoken of here in verse 9 as having eyes. We know that God doesn't have eyes. Theologians call this an anthropomorphism. I was always hoping for a chance to use that word. It doesn't come up very often.
That means anthropos and morphae. God is spoken of in terms of having the attributes of a man, the eyes of the Lord, search.
Now we know that God doesn't have eyes, and God doesn't really search, because searching implies that we are seeking for something and we don't know where it is. But God knows where everything is. God has accurate knowledge of everything, so He's not searching like we are. This is imagery to help us to understand the heart. of God.
So having explained it that way, what I'd like to do now is to give you three characteristics of the search that God has undertaken. It is indeed one of the greatest person hunts in history. God is undertaking a search. And here are the characteristics. of the search.
First, The search is extensive. It is extensive. The eyes of the Lord, said the prophet, move to and fro throughout the earth. God is constantly monitoring the hearts of every living human being. constantly 24 hours a day.
This search is so extensive, first of all, it is extensive geographically. God sees the people of the United States of America. God sees the people of Canada, the people of Great Britain, the people of Europe, and certainly the people of China, and all the islands of the sea, and all the countries of the earth. God sees them all in all of the time zones, and he sees them simultaneously. And what is he looking for?
He's seeking someone whose heart is completely his. It is extensive geographically. It is extensive vocationally. God is seeking for plumbers and for factory workers and for corporate executives and for servants. He is seeking for health care workers, for doctors, for nurses, for policemen and firemen.
He's even going into the hospitals where people are confined, and he is seeking hearts there. And he goes into the mental institutions and into the jails all throughout the whole earth. God says, I am on a search. It is extensive vocationally as well as geographically. It is extensive economically.
He goes into the poor places of the city of Chicago, and he goes from Cabrini Green along the Gold Coast, and he's constantly searching, searching, searching. It is also a search that is extensive racially because it is an interracial search. One day, Jesus came to a woman who was at the well, and she had had five husbands. She had a very bad experience in terms of marriages. Five, and now she was living with someone that she wasn't even married to.
After you've had five, why bother with the ceremony? And Jesus said to this woman, He says, The hour is coming when the Father seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such worshipers. Here is an immoral, outcast woman because she was of mixed race. She was a Samaritan, despised, thought of as a dog, as the people in those days were affectionately called if they were Samaritans. And here she is, and Jesus said to this woman, You can delight the heart of Almighty God.
You can delight His heart by being His worshiper. No matter how bad your past has been, because God is seeking worshipers. He seeks continually. He began with Adam and Eve, and then He sought people throughout all of the centuries. And He seeks in this generation, and He will seek in the generations to come until the earth fades away.
God is on.
Okay. A search. And no search draws on as many resources, no search is as complete as the search and the mission. Of Almighty God. It is.
Extensive. Secondly, It is purposeful. It is purposeful.
Now, if you may take a moment, just put yourself in God's shoes. We know that He doesn't wear shoes, but then He doesn't have eyes either. You put yourself in God's shoes and you think about it a little bit. You are the Creator, the one who just spoke the worlds into existence.
Some stars that are multiplied millions of times bigger than our sun. You just spoke and it was all there. You've got infinite, unbelievable resources. And then you have this little planet called Earth, and there are some people on planet Earth whom you would like to help. You would like to strongly support them, to be specific.
And what you're doing is you're looking for people who would be able to accept such strong support. And you're God. Think of all the strong support The middle of verse 9 would indicate that God wants to do on behalf of some people. First of all, we know that he would want to support them politically. That's what he wanted to do with Asa.
He said, Isa, why do you make unhealthy compromises? Why do you compromise with making a treaty with a pagan king? Pizza. I will be your commander-in-chief. I will be your military person.
I will strongly support you if you trust only me.
So he wants to give political support. He wants to give moral support. There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you might be able to bear it. God says, I'm going to help you through the moral temptation. I will support you morally.
I will support you. Emotionally. For the text of Scripture tells us, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. God says, if you have a heart that is completely mine, I will keep you in peace in the midst of the storm. I will come to your rescue and be your support.
God says that he wants to support us financially. Financially. But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God says, I want to support you. I want to support you spiritually so that you might be able to encounter those spiritual battles, and I will help fight your battles against Satan.
Because I've got the resources and I'm looking for people whom I can strongly support. We, as Christians, are often upset not because of what is happening to other people, but because somehow we fear that our personal peace and security is going to be jeopardized. And that makes us concerned. And one of the reasons we are uneasy is because we know that there are days ahead in which we are going to have to trust God in ways with which we are presently unfamiliar. And we're not used to having God.
There's our support, and trusting Him and Him alone. And that's why it is that even though we may sing and talk about us standing on the solid rock, Sometimes, when difficulty comes, you would think that we were grasping our last bit of driftwood before we are taken under. Notice what the text says. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth, that He may strongly support those. These hearts are fully his.
The search is extensive, relentless, continuous. It is also a search. That is purposeful. God wants to help. People.
God wants to help people. But thirdly, And sadly, the search. is seldom. Rewarded. Sheldon.
Reboarding. There are not few, there are only few, I should say, there are only few whose hearts are completely. Here is, what does God see in this extensive search? What does God see as his eyes roam to and fro throughout the whole earth? What is there that he sees as he monitors every single human heart?
24 hours a day.
Well first of all, oftentimes he sees a rebellious heart, a rebellious heart. He sees people who, in effect, say, God, I want you to stay out of my life. I'll draw the line in the sand, you stay over there, you don't bother me, I won't bother you, and let's just have this agreement that you, oh God, are never going to get me. a rebellious heart. Then, of course, he may also see that there are indifferent hearts, indifferent hearts.
It's not so much that the people are against God, it's just that he is perceived to be irrelevant. He is of no particular moment. There's no direct application as to who God is and to what the situation requires. It is a matter of keen studied. Indifference.
Who cares about God? Then he sees partial hearts. A partial heart is one that says, I really do love God and wish that God would strongly support me. And he's got a part of me, but there are some things in my life that I believe I do not want God to touch. I just don't want him to touch.
There are issues that I don't want to deal with. There are situations that I don't want to face. And there are some things that I will not give up. I will keep my fist clenched. not in anger and defiance but I will hold to these things tightly, and not let go a partial heart.
Now let me ask you a question of what would it look like to have a heart that was wholly God's? As the text says, He goes throughout the whole earth seeking those whom he may strongly support whose heart is completely his. What would a heart like that look like? What is God looking for?
Well, first of all, God is looking for a clean heart, a clean heart. A heart that says, so far as sin is concerned, every single sin that God brings to our attention is a sin that we confess and by his grace forsake. A kind heart. A heart that has used 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every single unrighteousness. That's what kind of a heart God wants.
is a clean heart. Secondly, A yielded heart, a yielded heart. Let's just talk about some of the idols of our age. These idols that grow up within us and like a vine wrap themselves around our very being and hang on for all that they are worth. Why is it that we do not find it easy at all?
I do not find it easy at all to have a heart that is completely God's. Why didn't people tell us when we were growing up that to have a heart that was completely God's is a tremendous battle because all of the idols that are so deeply ingrained hang on. And once the heart is completely God's, it has to let go and say, God, whatever you want, whatever you want. I think, for example, of the idol of sensuality sensuality which takes so many different forms. We may think of immorality or pornography, but it also includes alcoholism and drugs, all of the things that are debilitating even though on the surface they grant a certain amount of pleasure.
Now what if God says to you, I want you to give those up, as you know right well that He does? Are you this morning listening, if that is your idol? Are you saying no? I will not give that up. I will not separate.
I will not. And God is saying to you and to me that I will deal in your heart, and I can never strongly support you until, even if it kills you, you say yes. Yes. I will give it up. Remember, Bruce Wilkinson during Founders Week said that another idol was money, and he said, Oh, what a beast, what a beast that is.
Because if we love money with even the slightest bit of love, even if there is that twinge of love in our hearts for money, God cannot strongly support us because we are not completely His. Because the love of money is the source of all kinds of different evils. And therefore, we have to wrestle with God so that if God says empty your bank account, you say, Yes, yes, yes, it's yours, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. All but the struggles of the soul. All the rationalizations of the heart, all the deep roots of that idol that has been so firmly cemented into the very fabric of our soul.
And now to have God rooted out, what screams and what rationalizations and haulering takes place. And yet God says, I cannot strongly support you because unless you take care of that idol, You're not. completely mine.
Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I'm reminded of a little rhyme I learned many years ago. The dearest idols I have known, whate'er those idols be. Help me to tear them from the throne. and worship.
Only thee. And you know, my friend, we can't do that apart from God's grace. Grace not only liberates us from the legal consequences of our sins, but it also brings us spiritual power. Once we understand that the grace of God was given to us so that we might live differently, I'm holding in my hands a book entitled Grace Awakening by Chuck Swindall. It will help you to understand grace in balance.
It not only saves us, it keeps us, and it helps us as we run the race of life. I want you to have this resource. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because this is what you can do. You can go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com.
Or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-1. 9337. This book will free you from legalism on the one hand. and it will show you that license to sin is evil. and that grace properly understood keeps us on the righteous path.
Once again, go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-888. 218 9337. As you think about this book entitled Grace Awakening, It will show you that it helps us when it comes to our marriages, when it comes to giving, when it comes to living, when it comes to our relationships. All of that should be motivated by grace. Once again, go to rtwoffer.com.
or call us at 1-888-218. ninety three thirty seven. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. In Erwin Lutzer's series on commitment to Christ, we're learning that we need to see our commitments all the way to the finish line and not falter as King Asa did.
Next time, more on the judgment exacted on King Asa for his failure. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church. I'm going to use a bottle of the same method.
