MINISTER, Rev. Thomas
Scarborough.
2 Chronicles 25. King
Amaziah.
Sermon Outline.
King Amaziah. 2
Chronicles 25.
A. King Amaziah shows
no respect of persons (v. 4)
1. The Lord Himself shows no partiality with men (Mark 12:14)2. Man's sinful heart is naturally partial3. Christians should know no partiality -- for two reasons
i. Every Christian is God's praise (Ephesians 1:6)ii. Every one is important to God's eternal purpose
B. King Amaziah
dismisses 100,000 troops with full pay (v. 10)
1. The obedience of faith seems illogical2. The obedience of faith has the blessing of God3. God's blessing is not a principle, but personal4. The motive for obedience -- it pleases God (Romans 16:26)5. Areas of obedience: righteousness, trust, stewardship
We
have been dealing with a lot of big names in the book of 2 Chronicles
-- Johoahaz and Jehoshaphat and Jeroboam and so on -- and it doesn't
matter so much that we remember
them as that we remember the spiritual
lessons of this book.
* * * * * * * * * *
Today
we have come to a man named Amaziah
-- King Amaziah.
And for the first time in a long
time, this Amaziah is again a good
king. The Bible tells us in Chapter 25 verse 2: “Amaziah did what
was right
in the eyes of the Lord -- but
not wholeheartedly."
And
basically, that seems to mean that he wanted
to serve the Lord -- he had a willing heart
-- but he wasn’t always paying attention.
He wasn’t focused
on it -- and we’ll see at least one example of that this morning.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now
the first important thing that King Amaziah did
was to execute
the officials who murdered his father. But the interesting thing is
that he made sure that he did this in accordance
with Biblical law.
That
wasn’t the common practice
in those days -- not even in Israel
-- and so the Bible makes a special note
of this.
Let
us read verse 3: "After the kingdom was firmly in his control,
Amaziah executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.
Yet he did not put their sons
to death, but
acted in accordance with what is written in the Law in the Book of
Moses, where the Lord commanded: 'Fathers shall not be put to death
for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each
is to die for his own sins.'" (Deuteronomy 24:16).
What
usually
happened in those days was for a king to kill the entire family of
those who had been involved in an assassination. But King Amaziah
didn't do
that -- because of the Biblical command.
Now
this commandment is actually part of a much wider principle
in the Bible -- and I’d like to begin this morning by taking a look
at this principle.
In
these verses before us -- if there is something seriously wrong
with someone, because of their sin
-- then don’t pick on their children,
and don’t pick on their parents.
Deal only with the person who has sinned, for
their sin.
And
if we widen
this principle -- namely, do not pick on the people who are related
to you -- then it also shouldn’t matter what country
you come from -- what social class
you come from -- whether you are rich or poor -- whether you are
important
or a nobody -- none
of those things should ever be held against
you, in any way.
The
Bible
makes it clear, in fact, that what matters to God
-- is the individual as
individual.
The Bible says: "God shows no favouritism." (Acts 10:34).
"He shows no partiality to princes, and does not favour the rich
over the poor." (Job 34:19, 2 Chronicles 19:7).
And
when the Pharisees came to Jesus, they said to Him: "Teacher,
You
are not swayed by men, because You pay no attention to who they are."
(Mark 12:14).
And
although the Pharisees hated
Jesus, they still gave Him this compliment -- that He paid no
attention to who people were -- whether they were rich or poor, or
great or small, or Jewish or Roman.
God
shows no partiality.
God
is no repecter of persons.
And
so Amaziah -- as a king who did what was right
in the sight of God -- did not look at people's family history -- he
didn't look at what their fathers had done -- he didn’t take out
revenge on the children
-- but he looked only at the individual before God
-- as the Law of Moses commanded.
It’s
possible that this passage is referring also to nationality
-- because it was non-Jews
who had killed a Jewish king
-- a descendant of David. And yet again,
Amaziah didn’t take any revenge except on the people who committed
the murder.
This
kind of impartiality
is mentioned in at least ten different books of the Bible -- and so
it has to be a very important teaching. We need to look at the
individual before God
-- and not
look at where they come from, or who they have been with,
or what they look like on the outside.
God
Himself
shows no favouritism. God is no respecter of persons. God doesn't
see what people look like on the outside. Unfortunately people
do.
They just can't get past that. And we see that all around us --
with special treatment for powerful people, or hatred towards this
group or that group, and so on. It is something deep in man's sinful
heart.
As
long as you have sinful people, who have not been saved -- you will
never get rid of partiality
-- in all its many forms. But someone whose heart has been made new,
through the Holy Spirit,
will learn a new love and new respect -- for people they might never
have dreamed
they would love and respect.
Now I
have already mentioned -- very briefly -- that one reason
for being impartial
is that God Himself
is impartial. God Himself deals with the individual.
But
let’s take this one step further
this morning, and look at some special
ways that thus applies in the Christian Church.
I’ll take a look at two things that I think stand at the top of
the list.
* * * * * * * * * *
The
first is simply that once we are saved
-- once we enter into Christ’s Church
-- the Bible says we have been chosen
by God, to His glory -- to bring glory to Him. The Bible says that
you have been chosen to the praise of God's glorious grace.
(Ephesians 1:6).
What
God has made
you is to the praise of His glorious grace
-- what He has made me
is to the praise of His glorious grace. And there can be nothing
more important than that. You and I are the proof in this world of
God's glorious grace.
What
you are
is something that praises God. Just the fact that God has saved you
out of this world praises Him. You have been saved by His grace, and
filled by His Spirit, you have been raised from spiritual death, you
have received spiritual sight, and you have eternal life
-- and you have a day-to-day fellowship
with Him.
All
of that makes you precious to God -- and precious to His Church
-- and somebody precious in this world.
And this is something that far outshines anything else
about you.
Secondly,
we learn from the Bible that each of us has been sovereignly
gifted
by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says, “We have different gifts according to the grace
given
us” (Romans 12:6). Or as another verse says: “as He
determines”
(1 Corinthians 12:11).
God
has given each of us a special
significance in His Kingdom.
If you take some
of us out
of God’s family, it’s not all the same
-- because God has gifted
us in different ways.
We are a Body
that functions together.
The Bible makes that clear.
If I
were taken out of the picture -- and one or two others -- we probably
would not have the gift of exhortation or teaching.
If some others
were taken out of the picture, we’d be in an administrative
mess -- and we’d be stuck
as to how to carry on.
Or if all our worship
people were pulled out, what would this Church be without worship?
And
even then, that is not all
-- because each one
of us is important to God’s Body and God’s plan.
In
the Congregational Church, both of the points I have just mentioned
are particularly important.
You
will know that in the Congregational Church -- and some other
Churches, like the Baptist Church -- we are all equal
when it comes to the government
of our Church.
When we meet at our Church Meeting,
we can’t say that any one
of us is more important than the next.
Whether
you are rich or poor or famous or humble -- or hungry or full -- or
sleep on the floor, or sleep in a king-size bed -- you are important
to God because you are a new creation to the praise of His glorious
grace, and you have been sovereignly chosen
by Him for an important place in His Kingdom.
So to
return again to our text,
"God
shows no favouritism." (Acts 10:34). "He shows no
partiality to princes, and does not favour the rich over the poor."
(Job 34:19, 2 Chronicles 19:7). That is why King Amaziah
showed no favouritism, and that is why we
should show no favouritism either.
Or maybe one could say, we should
show favouritism to everyone.
* * * * * * * * * *
Next
on the Sermon Outline, we deal with a very important subject for us
as Christians -- namely the obedience of faith.
Notice that I haven’t
just put there: “Obedience”,
but “The obedience of faith”.
Let's
begin by reading about King Amaziah's
obedience to the word of God through the prophet -- in verse 6. It
is an amazing story, because Amaziah, through
his obedience, throws away about a thousand million rands
-- or as the Americans
say, a billion
rands.
Reading
from
verse 6:
"King Amaziah hired
a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of
silver. But -- in verse 7 -- a man of God came to him and said: 'O
King, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord
is not with Israel -- not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if
we go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before
the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.'"
"Amaziah
asked the man of God: 'But what
about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?'"
"The
man of God replied: 'The Lord
can give you much more
than that.'"
Now
one hundred thousand troops are a lot of men. And those one hundred
talents of silver would again amount to about one thousand million
rands -- a billion,
in U.S. reckoning.
But
-- King Amaziah believed
the man of God -- and he sent the one hundred thousand troops home.
Let's notice straight
away some important things that we learn here about obedience to God.
Firstly,
it is by faith.
This means that it is an obedience that might seem completely
illogical
in the eyes of men
-- but it is the way that is blessed by God.
In
the case of King Amaziah -- to fight a battle with one hundred
thousand troops less
-- and to write off one thousand million rands into the bargain --
seems completely illogical. But this is the way that pleases God.
So Amaziah is obedient, because he walks by faith.
Secondly,
let us notice that this obedience to the Lord receives the blessing
of the Lord.
Amaziah
is obedient -- he sends the troops home -- and he writes off a
massive amount of money -- because he believes that this is the way
to God's blessing.
It might seem
to be a loss in human terms -- but in God's design it is the only way
to true blessing.
And
just the same applies to us today. When we are obedient to God, it
might seem from a common-sensical point of view that we are the
losers
-- but in God's scheme of things, we are blessed.
We shall see God’s favour
for our obedience of faith.
Thirdly,
let’s think for a moment what God’s blessing is.
Blessing is something that comes
from
God. It is something personal between a living God and us.
Sometimes
people don't understand this. They tend to see blessing as a
mechanical reward, like the automatic
result of following a certain way. For many people it's just a
principle of life, such as: "An honest man will make better
business," or “You reap what you sow.” But that is not
what Biblical blessing is -- it's important to understand this.
Biblical
blessing is the personal
blessing of God, when we are obedient to Him.
So
the Bible is not saying that if you do this,
you will automatically receive this.
Or if you live like this, this is the natural result. We all know
that those principles often don't work, anyway.
The
Bible is saying that if you follow God's way, you will receive God's
personal
blessing. In other words, Almighty God will intervene in your life
with a personally tailored
blessing. And that blessing is by His grace -- by His wonderful,
undeserved favour.
The Christian walk is
really very simple. It is, in a way, a simple matter of obedience,
and reward. But it is not the reward of effort, or the reward of
hard work. That's very important.
I
don't receive a reward because I tried hard in the sight of God. I
don't receive a reward because I put in a lot of work for the Lord.
I don't receive a reward because I succeeded in following a list of
rules. I receive a reward because I believed God -- and acted on
faith.
The
apostle Paul says that the gospel brings us into "the obedience
of faith".
(Romans 16:26). Not the obedience of effort. Not the obedience of
sincerity. Not the obedience of habit. Not the obedience of
rule-keeping. Not obedience simply because it is the right thing to
do.
I
obey God through faith.
I obey Him because I believe
that this pleases Him, or I believe
that He has power
here, or I believe
in His Word.
King
Amaziah believed that God was mighty.
He believed that He didn’t need
hired troops. He believed that it was an insult
to God to hire foreign troops. And so he acted in faith.
And
as in the case of Amaziah -- we don't worry about the personal cost
of obedience. We know that the Lord can give me so much more.
* * * * * * * * * *
What does this mean in
practice?
When
by faith we obey Him, for instance, in the area of morals, He blesses
us beyond anything we would ordinarily experience by living
self-centred, sinful lives.
When
by faith we obey Him in the sense of trusting
Him as we deal with the various situations in our life -- He blesses
us for our faith.
When
we obey Him by supporting the work of His kingdom -- when we are
generous towards His work on earth -- he blesses us for giving
in faith, believing His Word.
(Malachi 3:10).
Whenever
we enter into the obedience of faith
the Lord releases a blessing.
And
many Christians miss great blessing in their lives because they do
not understand the importance of this "obedience of faith".
The
Bible tells us: "Without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists, and that
He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6).
* * * * * * * * * * *
Let
us return to King Amaziah. Did
the Lord reward King Amaziah for his faith?
Well,
at first the answer looks rather confusing.
An immediate reward was that Amaziah won the battle
that he fought. The Lord blessed him with victory against his
enemies.
But
at the same
time, when he dismissed those one hundred thousand troops that he
hired
-- we read that they ran riot,
and caused a great tragedy in Judah. Those troops he sent home, went
home in anger
-- at the end of verse 10 -- and they killed three thousand citizens
of Judah on the way, and caused havoc in the Judean towns.
Where was the blessing
there?
Once
again, let’s remember that God’s blessing is personal
-- it doesn’t operate according to rules
that have
to happen.
God's blessing may not come exactly when and where we expect it.
God’s blessing is not something mechanical, but personal.
And
what this incident shows us is that sometimes we obey God in faith --
but there isn't
an immediate payback.
Or there is some
reward, but where is the rest?
There’s
a rather strange truth about King Amaziah, and that is that the full
blessing of his actions only came after he was gone.
The full
blessing fell on his descendants.
If we
look ahead in 2 Chronicles, just two chapters ahead -- in chapter 27
verse 5 -- we read that the Ammonites gave to the Kingdom of Judah
one hundred talents of silver -- precisely the same amount -- that
one billion
-- that King Amaziah gave up -- and not only that, but they gave in
addition
to that around twenty million kilos of wheat and barley.
So
not only did the Lord return what King Amaziah had given up in faith
-- but as
the man of God had said to him -- “The Lord can give you much more
than that.”
Live
by the obedience of faith,
and you will find a blessing far beyond what you had before. Maybe
not as you expected
-- which seems to be one of the lessons of this story -- but God will
reward your obedience of faith.
* * * * * * * * * * *
And
the most basic
step of obedience -- the obedience of faith -- as I have said many
times from this pulpit -- is to accept Jesus as your Saviour and
Lord. That is where every other blessing of God starts.
If
you have never taken that step of obedience, please take a booklet
from me at the door as you leave, which explains just how you may do
that.
AMEN.
