Asa's reign exemplifies a life dedicated to pleasing God, marked by courageous reforms and a reliance on divine strength. The sermon highlights Asa's removal of idolatry and his initial trust in the Lord, even against overwhelming odds like the Ethiopian army. However, it also points to his later reliance on human alliances and silver, leading to rebuke and a decline in his later years. The core lesson emphasizes that true righteousness is found in a heart wholly committed to God, not in outward actions or human wisdom, and that consistent obedience is key to experiencing God's enduring favor and rest.
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We're going to look this morning at the lesson which you had, your Bible class lesson. I think we'll just read the portion of the words, and first of all, so we'll have it in our minds. We'll read First Kings chapter fifteen, beginning with verse nine. And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned ace over Judah, and forty and one years reigned in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Mahekah, the daughter of Abishalam. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. And he took away the Sodomite out of the land and removed all the idols that his father had made. And said, Makea his mother, and also Makea his mother, even her, removed from being queen because she had made an idol in the grove.
And Asa destroyed her idol and burned it by the brook Kedron. But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. And he brought in the things which his father dedicated and the things which himself had dedicated into the house of the Lord, silver and gold and vessels. And there was war between Asa and Baisha, king of Israel, all their days. Baisha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Rehmer that he might not suffer any to go out or to come in to Asa, king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house and delivered them. in the hand of his servants, and King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, the son of Tabriman, the son of Ezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father.
Behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold, come and break thy league with the Asa, king of Israel, that he may depart from me. So Ben-Hadon harkened unto King Asa and sent the captains of the host, which he had against the cities of Israel, both Aijan and Dan, and Abel, Bethma, Eka, and all Sinoroth, and with all the land of Naphtali. And it came to pass in Beishe, and heard thereof, that he left off building of Reimah and dwelt in Persia. Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah. None was accepted, and they took away the stones of Reimah and the timber thereof were where Beis had built, and King Asa built with them Giba, Benjamin, and Misfa. The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did in the cities which he built, Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
Nevertheless, in the time of his old age, he was diseased in his feet. And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead. And then in Second Chronicles chapter fourteen, and we'll read beginning with verse two. And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. For he took away the altars of the strange gods. and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment. Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images and the kingdom was quiet before him.
And he built fenced cities in Judah for the land had rest and he had no war in those years because the Lord had given him rest. Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities and make about them walls and towers gates and bars while the land is yet before us. Because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. And they said an army of men that bear targets and spears out of Judah, three hundred thousand, out of Benjamin, that bear shields and drew bows, two hundred and four score thousand. All these were mighty men of valor. And they came out against them Zira, the Ethiopian, with a host of a thousand thousand, one million.
and three hundred chariots and came unto Marisha. And Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in a ray in the valley of Zephatha at Marisha. And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many or with them that have no power. Help us, O Lord, our God, for we rest on thee. And in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God. Let not man prevail against thee. So the Lord spoke to Ethiopians before Asia. Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them under Gerar, and the Ethiopians were overthrown that they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before the Lord and before his host.
And they carried away very much spoil. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. And they spoiled all the cities, for there was exceeding much spoil in them. And finally, in Second Corinthians chapter sixteen... And verse one, in the sixth and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, the Asa king of Israel, came up against Judah and built Ramah to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and sent to Ben-Hadah and king of Syria that dwelt in Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father.
The old I have sent thee silver and gold. Go break thy league with Baesh, a king of Israel, and he may depart from me. And then Hayden harkened unto King Aethan, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. And they smote Aethan, and Dan, and Abel Mayan, and all the stores cities of Natsali. And it came to pass when Baeshah heard it, that he left off building of Raima, and let his works cease. Then Aethan the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Raima, and the timber thereof, where Baeshah was building. And he built there with Giba and Misfa. And at that time, Anani, the seer, came to haste the king of Judah and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God.
Therefore, as the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand, were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim's a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly. Therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. Then Asa was wrought with the seer and put him in a prison house, for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. And behold, the acts of Asa first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and of Israel.
Well, we learned first of all in this lesson that Asa reigned for a very long time. He reigned for forty-one years and we're told that he did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord. God has made a promise to us in his word that those that honor him he will honor. Here was a man who took a strong stand for righteousness in his nation and God honored him for that. David says, you remember that the king should be just or righteous ruling in the fear of God. Whenever you have a government that takes a strong stand for righteousness and for the Lord's sake, the result will be that God will honor that nation and that people. Remember, he says that righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach to any people.
Generally speaking, no nation gets any better government than it deserves because the government is a reflection of the people. You know, it says in the Old Testament, as the priest were, so were the people. As the people were, so were the priests. And what we see in government is generally a reflection of the character, the spiritual character or lack of it in the people on the day in which we live. Now you notice it calls attention particularly to his mother's name. In fact, this is true of the kings in general. And in general, you will find that where the person had a godly mother or a godly father, the result was seen in the lives of their children.
And I think this tells us something. It tells us the tremendous importance of the mother in the home. After all, the mother is the first teacher of the child. I think it was F.W. Grant that said in one of his notes that God made no mistake when he put the child on his mother's breast and not on his father's. Because the essential lesson that God wants man to learn right from the very outset that there is someone who cares. Unfortunately, we live in a day when oftentimes children are farmed out. You know, many children go home today and they have a key to their home and hundreds of thousands, nobody's at home. Neither is a father or mother at home. And the child is what we call a latch key child.
That's a very unfortunate thing, it seems to me. You know, the Bible says concerning the woman that she is to be a keeper at home. Her primary responsibility is to her child. And of course, this is true of the father as well. You know, it's a tremendous privilege and a tremendous responsibility and how important it is to realize that the only thing that we have or ever will have that's eternal is the children that God entrusts to us. Everything else, we brought nothing into this world. It's certain we can carry nothing out. But that child that comes into our home, that boy, that girl is going to live forever.
The question of where they're going to live is largely influenced by the character of the home in which they're raised. You know, the Bible, first of all, calls attention not to Moses' faith in Hebrews eleven, but to the faith of his parents. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was in three months of his parents. And that's essentially what parents are doing in the home with their child. They're hiding him. You know, that child comes into your home and you're hiding him from the world. That home is sort of like a refuge from the world about. We know that in the world about there is much to draw that child away from God. So we try to throw a protective blanket around him through the teaching of the Word so that when he launches out into life and meets the world as it is, he'll be able to do like Moses did.
His mother only had him for a very few years and so do we. We only have our children for a relatively few years and how flippily they go by. And we think in retrospect what we would have liked to have done or what we should have done and didn't do. But the Bible says by faith Moses when he was come to years. Though he had spent the greatest part of his life, almost better than three quarters of his life in the palace of Pharaoh when he was come to years, he refused. He called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But all of that meant the greatest empire in the world of that day. He turned his back on the treasures and pleasures of Egypt, choosing rather the scripture says, to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin which are first seized.
We have the privilege in our home of so instructing our children that they will make that choice rather than the pleasures of the world that are so soon to pass away. I like what Anna says concerning her childhood. The one she promised as the Lord gave her a child, she would loan him back to the Lord forever. And when she named her boy, she named him Samuel, it means ask of God. She said to Eli, for this child, I pray. This is the result of my prayer. And every time she called him, she reminded herself that he was the result of her prayer. She said, ask of God, time to wake up. Ask of God, it's time to eat breakfast. Ask of God, you can go out and play for a while. Ask of God, it's time to come in every time she called his name.
She reminded herself that this was the result of her prayer. Those that we ask of God, that we receive from God, we are to give back to Him. It was Catherine Booth, the wife of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, who said, By the grace of God, I will not be the mother of a wicked child. So the Bible calls attention to the Mother's name. It's interesting what the word of God has to say about another man whose name means one who pleases God. Timothy, that's what the name means, one who pleases God.
No doubt that was the name his mother gave him. We read in the Acts of the Apostles his father was a Greek. We don't even know he was a believer, but we do know that his mother was a believer and that his grandmother was a believer. The faith which dwelt first in thy grandmother loathed And in thy mother units, and I am persuaded, Paul, to have said in zeal. They didn't pass it on by heredity, but they passed on by teaching. Paul in Second Timothy three says, Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child. And the word there means a sucking baby. When that baby was on his mother's breast, perhaps she was singing some of the songs of Israel. I don't know. But that's what it says. From a sucking baby thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation.
And when we pass on the Word of God to our children, either through seeing that they're here to hear the Word of God or in our homes, that's our primary responsibility, then we can count on God's blessing. You know, a child is not going to mysteriously come into faith when they're sixteen years of age if the first years of their life are neglected. I believe at the time before a child ever goes to school are the most critical day of their life until their attention is called to a mother's name. Some years ago I ran across this little poem which illustrates for us the fact that there are tremendous potentialities. The child can go in this direction. It can go away from God or it can go in the way that pleases the Lord.
Long, long ago so legends relate, two mothers once met in an old city gate. By the look of your eyes said the one to the other, I see that you too must have once been a mother. And by the blue-tenant veil in your hair, you two have known sorrow and deepest despair. Ah, yes, she replied. I once had a son, a sweet little lad full of laughter and fun. But tell of your child. Oh, I knew he was blessed from the moment I first held him close to my breast. And my heart almost burst with the joy of that day. Ah, yes, said the other.
I felt the same way. The former continued, the first step that he took so eager and breathless, the sweet startled look which came over his face. He trusted me so. Ah, yes, said the other, I felt the same glow. How often I shielded and spared him from pain. And when he, for others, was so cruelly slain, when they crucified him and spat in his face, how gladly I would have unbeared in his place. A moment of silence. Oh, then, you must be the mother of Christ. And she fell on one knee, but the Blessed One raised her up, drawing her near, and kissed from the cheek of the woman that teared. Tell me the name of the Son you love so, that I may share with you your grief and your woe.
She lifted her eyes, looked straight at the other. He was cutest as carrying it. I am his mother. Oh, the tremendous potentiality. That child can be a blessing for God, or can bring dishonor to his name. What a favorite position God has put the parents in the home. Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, not right in the eyes of men. Paul said, If I please men, then am I not the servant of Christ. Now one objective of the Christian life would be to please the Lord. Now it's true that the book of Proverbs says, When a man's ways please the Lord, he make it even his enemies to be at peace with him.
But the objective of the Christian life is a very simple objective. You don't have to please everybody under the sun. The objective of life is to please the Lord. He did that which was right. It says, In the eyes of the Lord. Paul writing to the Colossians says that we're to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleases. And wouldn't it be wonderful, fellow believer here today, if when life is over you could have him scribed on your tombstone what God said of Enoch in Hebrews chapter eleven. Just three words. Before his translation in this Testament on here it is, he pleased God. Did you have anything better than that?
He says he did that was good. And right in the eyes of the Lord. Asa did some things which took some spiritual courage and moral courage. It says he took away the sodomites out of the land. Nothing new under the sun. We have the same thing today. We hear constantly about homosexuality and they tell us today that it's a viable way of life. God has said it in his word and it's true and we see it today. Those that step out of God's order pay a price. In Hebrews chapter thirteen, God has put his blessing on the marriage relationship. He says marriage is honorable in all. That's the honorable way to go. But it says fornicators and adulterers, God will judge whether men judge them or not.
There is a price to be paid when men step out of God's order. Today we hear all about herpes and AIDS and all of these diseases that are common and that are frightened many of these people are involved in these acts of immorality. It was for the reason of the Sodomites in the land that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. It was for that reason that he pronounced his judgment upon the Canaanites. He told Abraham that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. When God gave orders to his people when they went into that land, that all of them were to be destroyed out of the land. In all sexual relationships outside of the bond of matrimony, God says he will judge.
Men may try to escape and imagine that they can escape the consequences of their act. Men can do as they please within limits. But no one can escape the consequences of his acts.Whatever man soweth, that shall he also reap. It's written large in Scripture. And we see illustration after illustration of that principle. He that soweth to the flesh and of the flesh reap corruption. And he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. It says that he removed all the idols out of the land. I like that. He removed all the idols out of the land. And oftentimes we have to ask ourselves, is there some little corner that I've had reserved in my life?
The Bible warns us in the Epistle of John, keep yourselves from idols. And the implication is this can be a very real problem. You remember James says a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. The Lord Jesus said you cannot serve God in mammon. You can't have a little idolatry and a little of God. You cannot. He doesn't say you do not. He says you cannot serve God in battle. What a wonderful thing it is to have a single eye. The Lord Jesus says, if I and I be single, if and I be single, thy old body shall be full of life. I think of two men in Scripture, one in the Old Testament and one in the New. In Psalm twenty-seven, David says, this one thing have I desired of the Lord.
That will I seek after. As I may behold the beauty of the Lord, that I may inquire in his temple. Paul says in Philippians, This one thing I do. Forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark. Those men were men after God's own heart. Why? Because they lie single to the glory of God. Paul doesn't say these forty things I dabble in. He says, This one thing I do. It says he took all of the idols out of the land. And then in verse three, it's thirteen of that chapter, he says, it also removed his own mother from being queen. Now that took a little bit of courage. Imagine you're going along and you're a policeman and you pull over somebody's going sixty-five miles an hour, you know, in the fifty-five mile zone.
And then you discover it's your mother or your mother-in-law. Do you give them a ticket or don't you? It requires a little bit of courage. This man... was willing to take a stand even against his own mother when she got off into idolatry. I think that takes some courage. Sometimes we just sort of go along. And it tells me something else, that it's possible for even a person that had a godly influence on their child to get off the track and actually become a hindrance or a stumbling block to their children. You know, perhaps the children are going a little further ahead in the things of God than the father and mother are willing to go.
And they can actually hold them back. It was like that with Abraham and Tira. You remember in the Old Testament. Tira kept Abraham back from doing, going all the way. God told him to leave his country and his kindred. Well, he left his country, all right, but not all of his kindred. And Tira and Lot sort of held Abraham back. Maybe unconscious to themselves. I heard a story one time about a little boy came home from Sunday school and his memory verse was, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for if such is the kingdom of heaven. That was his memory verse, only he didn't remember it, but he sort of paraphrases. He said, the Lord Jesus said, let the little children come unto me and don't any of you big folks get in the way.
Well, that certainly has a lesson for us, isn't it? We can actually become a stumbling block. Many a child, for instance, that thought before the Lord they should go out to serve the Lord perhaps on a mission field and mother and father kind of hold them back I'm not saying that they should or they shouldn't but sometimes it's possible for us to hold people back from doing the will of God then it says an interesting thing it says nevertheless Ace's heart was perfect with the Lord all of his days some of his ways weren't perfect but his heart was right and it's interesting to know that God looks Not on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Yes, it was failed. And there's failure in our lives.
The Lord Jesus could see the failure that was in Peter's life. He says, Simon, Satan has desired to have, and he may shift me as we. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith failed. Not did Peter's faith fail? No. His courage failed. But not his faith. And in that very moment when he had denied the Lord with oaths and curses, he was so conscious of his need of Christ at that moment. And the scripture says, he went out and he wept better. Then we read that Asa brought in the things that his father had dedicated and that he had dedicated to the Lord. That was a lovely touch, wasn't it? You know, perhaps God has entrusted us with certain things which we have dedicated to him.
And it's possible to hold back that which we have dedicated to him. We say, well, this is the Lord, but somehow we don't get around to giving the Lord, really. Well, we felt obliged in which we have committed to him. God says, bring me all the time into the storehouse. Remember what it says of Ananias? It's a sad in the New Testament. He kept back part of the price. He kept back part of it. And it's possible for us to be sort of halfway with the Lord. He kept back part of the price. We read that he commanded Judah to seek the Lord, God of their fathers, to do the law and the commandments.
That certainly was a lovely thing to do. He built fenced cities in Judah. And the scripture says the land had rest. And there was no war in those years because the Lord had given them rest. That's why there was rest. In whatever rest we enjoy, as believers, it's because the Lord has given it to us. Do you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ? You have rest, eternal rest? Well, he's given it to you. You have internal rest, the peace of God which passed with all understanding, keeping your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, he's given it to you. Do you have external rest? Do we have peace in this land in spite of the fact that there's war? Well, the reason that we have peace and other people are fighting over in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world is because God has given it to us.
And God exhorts us in his word that we should pray. He says, I exhort therefore, first of all, that prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks, and so forth be made for all men, that we may lead a peaceable life. And if we do, it's because God has given it to us. They had rest in that land because God had given it to them. But we read in Acts of Bill Thence Cities. He had three hundred thousand men in Judah. Benjamin, two hundred eighty thousand. That's five hundred eighty thousand. But they're coming up against the Ethiopian Zira. And he had a million men, a thousand, thousand. Nathan cried unto the Lord in his extremity. And he said, Well, Lord, this isn't really our battle.
Notice what he says. Oh, Lord, our God, we rest on thee. He says, Let not man prevail against thee. He didn't say let not man prevail against us. He says, Lord, it's you and him fighting. Wasn't a question of Ace fighting him. He says, Lord, let not man prevail against me, but let not man prevail against me. You know, it's a difference when you say, Lord, it's your battle. That's what he did. And the Lord wrought a great victory. It says, so the Lord smote the Ethiopian. Reminds me of David. You know, went up against Goliath, this great big man. Who is Goliath, David, to take on Goliath?
And he says, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that has defied the armies of the living God? He doesn't say it defied me. Who does he think taking God on? God gave David the victory. That's a wonderful thing when we're strong in the Lord, as it says in Ephesians six, and in the power of his might. It's not a question of what we can do. It's a question of what he's able to do. Asa was reminded that the source of his victory in Second Chronicles fifteen was the Lord. The prophet came to him and says, the Lord is with you. And why do you be with him?
If you seek him, he will be found of you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. And Asa took courage from these words. He put away the isles out of the land. They offered him to the Lord. They entered into a covenant with God that they would be true to him. And it says there was peace for the first thirty-five years of his reign. God honored him. There was peace until the thirty-sixth year of his reign. And then here comes this fellow of Asa, you know, the king of Israel. You know, the ten tribes were with Israel, and the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, they were allied, and he was, Asa was the king, as we know, of Judah. But rather than going to the Lord, as he had done before, when he went against these million Ethiopians, He says, Asa took all the silver and gold, treasures in the house of the Lord.
He's using the Lord's money to finance his battle. He didn't call upon the Lord, but he called upon that which had been dedicated to the Lord. He took all of the money out of his own house, it says. And then he made an unholy alliance. You know, imagine, well, if we get lined up, you know, with this fellow over here, you know, he's got a mighty army. If I pay him to fight for me, then we'll be okay. But the scripture says, put not confidence in princes. We have seen in our time that back before or during World War II, there were two nations that were aligned together, Germany and Russia.
Germany signed a covenant with Russia. They were going to fight the Allies. And then Germany turned on Russia and invaded Russia. And then when Russia is hanging on the ropes, we very unwisely, I think, nationally, we sign an alliance with Russia. And we're still paying that price today for that unholy alliance. You know, history repeats itself. Men never seem to learn. We say, in God we trust, but then we lean on our armor. We put our confidence in princes. Well, God allowed them to win the victory anyway. But you know, the Word of God...
says it's I think it's in Psalm a hundred and eighteen it says it is better to trust in the Lord and to put confidence in men it is better to trust in the Lord and to put confidence in princes you know we say on our coin in God we trust but somebody has said that what actually we're saying as we look at our coin in this God we trust we trust in what our money can buy rather than the living God that's what he did He took all the trades out of the household. He didn't trust in the Lord. He trusted in men. He trusted in what money can buy. The Bible says the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
History abounds with examples of how God has allowed the weakest nation to prevail. How important it is that we recognize that it is not our armaments that keeps us sane. It's not how many jet planes we have. It's not our larger navy. All of those things can be lost in a moment. But I've learned to put our confidence in God. I will therefore then pray everywhere, the scripture says. Well, Asa is rebuked. Ananiah the seer comes to him and says, Because thou had relied on the king of Syria, not on the Lord. Thou had allowed the host of the Ethiopians to escape out of your hand.
He says, They'll be back to fight you someday. You've let them get out of your hand. You allied yourself with them. And they were with you then. But there's coming a day when you're going to have to fight them. Or either that or your heirs will have to fight them. So often in history men have made unwise alliance and had to pay for it thereafter. Psalm twenty says, some trusted chariots, some trusted horse. but we will remember the name of our God. And I love this verse in Psalm hundred eighteen. The psalmist says, All nations compass me about in the name of the Lord.
What in the name of the Lord will I try? Samson is asked, Where in does thy great strength lie? He didn't even know where his strength came from. He thought it was from his hair. But the scripture says that when that hair was cut, the spirit of the Lord departed from him. God was his strength and he didn't know it. Scripture says if God be for him, who could be against him? Well, in First Kings chapter fifteen it says, in the time of his old age he was a disease on both his feet. I think that's a sad commentary. He was a man who had gone on well for God and how we've seen this oftentimes among God's people. A man who went on well for God, a testimony for God, was used of God perhaps to start various assemblies And at the close of his life, sort of a cloud comes over his life.
And the man who once walked for God is eased on both his feet. The last two years of his life, unable to walk. What a sad thing that is. In contrast to that, I think of Jacob. There was a man who, he began very poorly. But the Bible says by faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning on his side. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter forty-nine that Jacob gathered both of his feet up into the bed. He had walked for God for the last mile of the way, and then he gathered his feet up into the bed.
both his feet there's a lovely passage in first Samuel chapter seventeen David had just come back you remember from the victory over Goliath all he had said when he was asked by Saul whose son are thou he said I am the son of David he said I'm the son of Jesse rather the Bethlehemite and Jesse means the living Lord he says I am the son of the living Lord I am the son of the living God And it says Jonathan fell in love with David and he loved him as his own soul. He says he stripped himself of his garments, his robe, he took his sword, everything that he had and he gave it to David.
Four times over the Bible says that he loved him as his own soul. And David said after Jonathan died, by love to me was wonderful. Pasting, he said, the love of women. who was a loyal friend of David. The man next in line to the throne, but he said, David, it doesn't belong to me. You're the man that has the right to reign, and I'm going to be with you when you reign. But Jonathan gave David everything except his shoes. And the very last mention that we have of Jonathan was this, that David went into the wood. He was a despised and rejected one. And Jonathan didn't follow him in his rejection.
He went back to the palace. The last scene we have of Jonathan is not sharing the throne with David, but hung in chain from Bashan, on the walls of Bashan. He gave him everything but his feet. The Lord Jesus says to you and to me, follow me, because I want your feet. Jesus calls us for the tumult of life while rest was seen. day by day his sweet voice found us. Now we say, Christian, follow me. Oh, that we may follow him to the very end of life's way. That we will not be deceived on both our feet and the dark shadow of our life.
May God grant us for his name's sake. Shall we pray? Blessed God, our Father, we thank thee for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank that he was the one who was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. We thank that he has given us an example that we should follow his steps. We remember he did say, on the very eve of his going to the cross, whosoever will deny himself, let him take up his cross and follow me. And we pray, Father, as we have thought over thy word this morning in this character study of Asa, the kick of Judah, the one who did that was right in thine eyes, and yet at the end of the way, he strayed and faltered.
We pray, Lord, it may not be so with each of us to keep us cleaving to thyself, Lord, and still believing till the hour of our receiving promised joys with thee. We ask these favors as we commend us each to thee, and thank thee for thy holy word in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen. When we walk with the Lord, In the might of His word, Our glory he sheds on our way. But we do his goodwill, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy is Jesus, but to trust and obey.