Welcome to this week's edition of the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone had a nice New Year's Day. Lately, I have been posting the sermon on Saturday, but the weather here is predicted to be terrible tomorrow, so I am posting today like I used to do.
I did not stay up this year to see 2015 in. I was just to tired after I got home from work. I am looking forward to the middle of the month when I start my new job. I would like you to pray that I will know what to do with a situation. I am considering staying with the job I have on a very part-time basis, if they will let me, as well as working the new job. I don't know if this will leave me any time for writing though. Please pray that I will know what to do in this matter. I would also ask for your prayers about a health matter. I have had arthritis since I was in my early 20's. In the last few weeks, the arthritis has become very bad in my left foot and ankle, and I have been in excruciating pain and having difficulty walking. Please pray with me that this situation might be relieved by the Lord. Also, please pray that the weather isn't really bad tomorrow.
In other matters, let us pray this week for peace. Iraq and Syria are a mess right now. Let there be peace. Also pray for peace in Afghanistan and Libya. Wherever there is war, violence and oppression let us pray for peace and justice.
Over the last few weeks, we have been doing a series of messages about some of the kings in the Bible. We took a break for Christmas and New Year's sermons, but we are resuming our king's series today.
Today, I want to focus on two kings who were separated by quite a few years, but they had one thing in common. These two kings are Rehoboam and Joash.
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and the grandson of David. As we saw a few weeks back, Solomon didn't end his reign on a high note. Jeroboam was on the point of revolt when Rehoboam assumed the throne. The people came to Rehoboam and asked him to remove the heavy yoke that had been placed upon them by Solomon. At this point, Rehoboam took counsel as to how to answer the people. The older men who had been advisers to Solomon counseled Rehoboam to tell the people that he would be kind to them. Then they would not revolt against his rule. Rehoboam then turned to those his own age to ask their advice. They told the king to come down heavily on the people.
Rehoboam forsook the advice of the elders and listened to his contemporaries. The result was a massive rebellion in which Jeroboam split the kingdom taking the ten northern tribes and forming a new nation. Rehoboam retained the loyalty of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin only.
During the course of his reign, Rehoboam would not follow the laws of God, and he did not turn his heart to the Lord as his grandfather David did. Rehoboam and David were polar opposites. It's hard to believe that they were even related.
Joash had a rough start in life. When he was just a baby his father was killed. At this point, Joash's grandmother, Athaliah assumed the throne and killed all of the other contenders to the throne. She tried to find her grandson and kill him, but Joash was hidden by his aunt Jehoshabeath and her husband Jehoiada who was a priest.
When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada led a successful revolt against the very wicked queen, and Joash was placed on the throne as the rightful heir. During the time that Jehoiada lived and counseled Joash, the king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and was a very good ruler. He restored the worship in the temple.
However, Jehoiada died at the advanced age of 130. He was so respected by the people, that he was buried in the tomb of the kings. It wasn't long after this that Joash went astray. 2 Chronicles 24:17-18 says, "Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols..."
In other words, Joash did not remember the good teaching and advice he had received from his uncle. He listened to bad advice, and he turned from the True and Living God to false gods.
Not long after this, Jehoiada's son Zechariah confronted the wickedness of the king. Joash had become so evil that he had Zechariah stoned to death.
Eventually, Joash would be assassinated. He was so unpopular, that he was not even allowed to be buried in the tomb of the kings.
Rehoboam and Joash had this in common. They would not listen to Godly counsel, and they suffered the consequences. This should be a lesson to all of us.
Rehoboam received good advice, but he would not listen. This should teach us to surround ourselves with wise people who will give us the right advice. For instance, as Christians, we should be seeking counsel from believers in the Lord Jesus and not from those who follow the way of the world. So many Christians will listen to financial advice or personal advice from this world, and they do not heed Godly counsel. This will only end in run. As the Bible says, what fellowship hath light with darkness. If we take counsel from the spiritually blind, we, like them, will end up falling in the ditch.
The same principle holds true as far as Joash was concerned. He did not keep in mind the memory of the good counsel he received from Jehoiada. If he would have remembered what Jehoiada had taught him, Joash would have had a successful reign. Instead, he listened to bad advice.
One thing that I have tried to do since my Dad passed away is to remember the things that he told me. My Dad didn't have a college education, but he was a very wise man. When he was alive, I would always ask his advice on the decisions I faced.
Since my Dad has been gone, I try to image what he would tell me now. This helps me to act and make better decisions.
As followers of Jesus, our source of counsel and decision making should be the Lord. He lived a perfect, holy and sinless life to be our example of how to act in any given situation. We should always ask the question, What would Jesus do? before we act.
The way we learn about what Jesus would do is by reading the Gospels and learning about the Lord. We can also discern the will and way of Jesus through prayer and meditation. We should also be diligent students of the Bible. In the pages of God's Holy Word, we will find the answers to the questions and problems we will encounter in this life. We must follow Godly wisdom and not the way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof is the way of death.
The best counsel that I can give to anyone is to turn your life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ if you have not done so already. Trust in His saving, forgiving and transforming power.
Next week, I will post the verse on Monday and a review on Wednesday. Look for the Weekend Sermon on Saturday, unless the weather dictates a change. May God bless you. Amen.
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