Warnings to The Spiritual Man - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2018)

If you have your Bibles, open up with me to second Chronicles chapter 15 verse seven. But you take courage, do not let your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded. Father, we come before you this morning with the little strength that we have and we ask that you would give us the strength necessary to receive this word. We pray, Lord, that your spirit would energize our hearts and minds to be engaged, not just in hearing but in obeying. And Lord we thank you for what you've done this weekend.

We believe you used to have something to say to us and we come with expectation. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. How the Lord wants our hands to be strong. How the Lord so desires that we would be unwavering in our zeal and commitment to him.

And this verse has been the theme of this weekend about how he encourages us, how he tells us to take courage and not to fear, not to let our hands be weak because it is up to us whether or not these hands will be remained strong. And he has given us everything necessary to remain strong. And so he longs for our hands to remain on that plow, does he not? And there are different reasons and different ways that these hands can be loosened concerning their grip. And it's different for every single person.

That's exactly what this weekend was about. The different threats to our hands and the different ways we can overcome those threats. Whether it's discouragement for seeing a lack of fruit in our efforts or whether it's the persuasion of the world to take our hands off of this plow and to give our hands to the things of this world. It could be a besetting sin that's always reoccurring, and we seem to be moving one step forward and two step back. No matter what it is, God has given us the necessary prescription to overcome it.

But we've now come to the final message of this weekend, and we're coming to the original context in which God had given this command. And out of all the reasons and all the ways our hands can lose our grip personally, if there is one that would make me tremble out of all of them it is this one right here. If there is one that brings me to my knees, though all of them do, this one brings me to my knees. Because this command to take courage and not to lose strength and hands is given in a context and given in a circumstance that most of us would not see as a threat, that most of us would not see as a potential danger. And so let's read here together.

If you go to verse nine of chapter 14 to get the background on what's going on concerning this king named Asa in which a prophet was sent by God to warn him, to warn him. Zera the Ethiopian came out against them, being king Asa and Judah, with an army of a million men and 300 chariots and came as far as Marasheh. And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley, Azaphatha at Marasheh. Now look at this in verse 11. And Asa cried to the Lord his God, oh Lord, there is none like you to help.

Between the mighty and the weak, help us, oh Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. Oh Lord, you are our God. Let no man prevail against you. So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people who were with them pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell under.

None remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. And after this chapter, it tells us that the Spirit of God comes upon a prophet named Azariah. He comes to King Asa and says, Take courage. Don't let your hands be weak. Why would he say that?

Because the Bible wants to tell us here that there is a great possibility for a man or a woman of God to lose strength and to have droopy hands after the greatest victories. That it is possible for someone who is just used by God in such a marvelous way to lose strength after witnessing an intervention from God on his behalf or her behalf. The Lord in his wisdom is showing us in this text not after a moment of moral failure, not after a tide of temptation, not after discouragement, but after being an instrument and a vessel for God to advance his purposes does this warning come. There are genuine dangers here that come with victories in a Christian's life. God in his wisdom wants to show us that there are risks that face us as a result of being used by the Lord or witnessing the Lord doing something in our midst.

And those dangers are the same for us. This is for the faithful. This is for those that are fruitful. This is for somebody that has the fragrance of Christ on his life. And one of the dangers is here, the danger of remaining content.

Let's look at the let's look at the context in which Asa finds himself. Who was this man? Was this a man that was just flippantly living his life and now he saw a problem so he calls upon God and God intervenes by his grace? No. He was a faithful man.

He was a righteous man. Look at your bibles in two Chronicles fourteen two. And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the ashram and commanded look at this man and commanded Judah to seek the Lord the God of their fathers and to keep the law and the commandment. This is not a random figure.

This is not a compromising fellow. This is a person who was a spearhead for spiritual reform. This is a person who, through his prayer, was the channel for God's intervention to come in and to bring a mighty deliverance. This was a man who longed to obey God. And we see here that Asa comes and he says, don't let your hands be weak.

What what what else does he need to do? What's Why is that command given in light of every How much more does he need to do? He's taking care of the idols, he's taking care of the altars, he's seen a victory over a million men, and he says, don't let your hands be You know what he's saying there? Asa, men of God, you've seen many things. You've seen mighty things.

You've seen glorious things, but there's still more to be done. There's still more to be done. There are still things that need to happen through your life, and you can't let go of that. You can't stop believing that. Don't get lazy.

Don't get relaxing. Don't be content in your current affairs. This is what he's saying. Because that's where we can come to at a point in which we feel like we've seen everything that God could do. And a Christian a Christian, a genuine, fruitful, faithful believer can lose ambition, can lose hunger, can lose vision.

And I believe that a Christian that loses hunger, ambition, vision, desire for God to do greater things as a Christian to be pitied. There's something interesting in the book of Romans chapter 15 and verse 18. I'll just read it, but I want us to consider this in light of the New Testament concerning one of the most persistent believers in church history. We know this man, the Apostle Paul. And he says in Romans fifteen eighteen as he describes his work.

He says, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around Illyrium, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. He's describing his resume to some degree, and he's saying, you know, I've seen God work through me, I've seen miracles, I've seen all these different things. This gospel has covered so much land. I fulfilled the ministry that Christ has called me to. And you know what it doesn't say in the next verse?

So I decided to retire on the beaches of Greece with Titus and Luke and just wait for the rapture. You would think so, right? I have fulfilled the ministry that Christ has given me. I have fulfilled my call here to some degree. And you know what?

I think Luke and Titus and I are just gonna take a break because, you know, our bones are getting tired and what else could we do? No. There is no such thing as a retirement plan for the Christian. Maybe I just stepped on some toes right there. Our retirement plan is eternal.

Look what the apostle Paul says. This is so encouraging no matter where you are in your faith, if you're 50 or 15. Look what he says in verse 20. After all this, after all that he's seen, after all that he's experienced, he goes, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel not where Christ has already been named.' There's still more ground to cover. There are still hills that have not received the banners of Christ to be planted on them.

There are still souls. No matter how many souls you see come to Christ, there are still people that need to be touched. There are still prayers that are waiting to be answered not just to change your church, not just to change your family, to change history. Do we believe this? And so this prophet comes to this man who has seen so much and says, Don't give up.

Don't get content. Don't lose sight of what's possible. That can happen so easily with us, can it not? Depending on your context, perhaps you are in a church that has steady growth, perhaps you're in a ministry that's seeing faithfulness and seeing people that really love God. And you know, you look around and you say, We have good people here.

We have consistent meetings here. We have good fellowship here. And then all for a sudden, you begin to see the prayer meeting losing attendance. And all for a sudden people lose that intensity and that that dreamlike state of believing God for greater things because things are just good. All your family members know Jesus Christ.

They're all saved. Not everybody, but you know, our family is good. We love God. Yeah. And there's no desire to see your family do things for God together.

Do you see how this can be dangerous? Do you see how we can lose sight of greater things because of what we see already? And what you and I need to believe is that no matter what we've seen God do, there's still greater things to come. The temptation is to look around us and and say, this is good enough. And we might not admit that, but it's shown in our hearts.

It's shown in the way we see God. It's shown in the way we plan our lives. And I believe this is true of Asa. You say, how do you know? Because after he says this in verse eight of second Chronicles 15 Look at verse Sorry, verse eight.

He says here, As soon as Asa heard these words What? Take courage and don't let your hands be weak. The prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities they had taken in the hill country and it goes on to describe what? A second reform. In second Chronicles 14, he was the one that led the charge for a first remore, a first cleansing, a first reformation.

And this prophet comes and he goes, Don't lose heart. And he goes, You know what? You're right. And he goes out and he does even greater things. He cleanses out more idols.

He draws more people to God. What if that prophet did not come and say something? What would have happened to the rest of the land? What would have happened to the different souls? There was a second reform in light of this command.

Take courage, and don't let your hands be weak. But there's another danger. It's fascinating. It's terrifying. It should make us all tremble in holy fear.

The danger is not just remaining content in victory. There's also a danger in the person who sees great things done for God to forsake the Lord in the process. Go back to verse one and two of second Chronicles 15. The spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Odad, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, hear me, Asa. Hear me, Asa.

And all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Now think about this. Imagine a believer imagine a believer that's being used by God today.

He's seeing souls come to Christ. He is involved in every ministry of his local church. He has not missed one day of his devotional time with the Lord. You ask him anything, he'll do it. He's the one that prays with fervency.

He's the one that loves to worship. And all of a sudden as he's leaving church one day, one of the leaders comes up to him Thank you. One of the leaders comes up to him and says, Brother, don't forsake the Lord. I mean, that would take you back, probably even offend you. Do you not see my life?

Do you not see the fruit in my days? Do you not see my efforts? And you're asking me, you're telling me, you're warning me that I should not forsake the Lord? Why? Again, because the fruitful and fragrant believer, though he will see many testimonies in God, he will also simultaneously experience unique temptations as a faithful servant.

In other words, there are seeds of seductive suggestions that are reserved more or less for those that are actually living wholeheartedly for God. There's a sphere of temptation that is unique to such a person. And you say, how? How does a person come to a place where they can forsake the Lord after doing so much for the Lord and seeing God do so many things? Go to second Chronicles 16 verse one.

In the thirty sixth year of the reign of Asa, Basha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah that he might permit no one to go out or come to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria who lived in Damascus saying And he goes on to make a covenant with a non believer. Hold on for a second. I just read and we just read together in two Chronicles fourteen, two Chronicles 15 that this man was faithful. This man knew how to cry out to God.

And all for a sudden in chapter 16, northern tribe that came down, the northern part of Israel that came down and built a little city. And instead of crying out to God, he takes it upon himself and partners with a pagan. How did you get there, Asa? What brought you to the place where you forsook the Lord, when before you knew with a reflex, Oh God, you are our help. Deliver us from this multitude.

I would like to argue it's two things. You read this in verse one, but you got to go back to the last verse of chapter 15. After this second reform, look what it says about Asa. And there was no more war until the thirty fifth year of the reign of Asa. Then in verse one, the thirty sixth year, there comes a threat and he doesn't pray.

There is something dangerous about a time of peace in a believer's life. There is something dangerous when the Lord brings you into a place of great comfort and great blessing and great consistent victory where you feel as though you can be relaxant in your desperation and dependency upon Him. Oh, believer, be careful when things are going well in your life. Oh, if there's any time that you and I need to protect our prayer lives is when there is a time of peace. And God in his wisdom knows how to shake things up to bring us back to our knees.

But here, God has been leading this man up to this point, and now he finds himself somewhat confident in his own endeavors. The dangers that come when finances are going well. The dangers that come when health is going well. The dangers that come when ministry seems to be going smoothly. The dangers that come when everything seems to be going right.

And it's not just that. Perhaps it's even his understanding of the size of the problem. When it was a million man army, we pray. When it's the northern tribes here and it's Israel coming against us and it's a small thing, we'll take care of ourselves. Thank you, Lord.

You're the God of the big things, not the little things. You know what God wants? He wants to be involved in big and little things. He wants testimonies not just in the big things. God wants testimony in the small things.

But sometimes we feel like we know how to figure out when it's a big problems, we got a big God. Small things, thank you Lord. We'll do it ourselves. God says, no. If you're willing to invite me, I'm willing to make a testimony out of anything.

If you're willing to inquire of me, just wait and see what I'm willing to do through your situations. Let us be like children that know how to call upon our heavenly father in all matters. In all matters, big or small, the Lord longs for this. And we see here the scariest part of this story as a result of this man's prayerlessness is found in verse five as he chooses to partner with Syria and forsake God's power. You wanna know the scariest part of this story?

I was reading this and I had to keep rereading it and rereading it and rereading it because what I see here is that once he chooses to go with Syria and not do it the way he did it in chapter 15, you would think something catastrophic would happen, but in fact, he got results. Look at verse five here. And when Bashar heard of it This is when Syria came in. And when Bashar, the king of Israel, heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. Hold on for a second.

This is not a good message for wanting to know the importance of prayer and seeking the Lord and being dependent upon him. That should not be in the story. He didn't seek the Lord. He goes and gets the help from Syria and it actually, to some degree, had some favorable effects. So I don't need to pray.

I shouldn't seek God. I shouldn't invite him in all matters. Maybe this is why so many people don't take it upon themselves to pray and seek God because they look at their lives and they see that things are intact. Seems seems to be going pretty smoothly in my life. I'm not desperately seeking God.

Why take time to call upon him? Why take time to wait upon the Lord? Things are going well. But we see here that although things seem to look fine, the scriptures show us the scriptures show us that there was a greater loss than any sense of victory that seems to be apparent here. Look at verse two of second Chronicles 16.

When he made that partnership with Syria, it says that Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben Hadad, king of Syria who lived in Damascus, saying In order for him to come into that allegiance with this king, he had to remove the things that were dedicated to the temple of the Lord and give it to someone that it did not belong to. In other words, even though things may look fine in your life and mine when we don't seek God especially when it comes to decisions that we make, there is always a price that is paid. There is always a cost that comes with that. It's amazing. It's amazing how much energy and time and resources and our peace, all these things that we give over to certain things that we want to choose without God's counsel.

It's amazing when you see people, especially young people, when they are coming to transitional moments in their lives. They want to just do it on their own and you see them lacking peace. You see them running around frantically. Why? Because they have not taken that time to say, God, what do you want me to do?

And there's always a price with that. Never forget it. There's always a price when you choose to do things on your own and you don't ask God to come. You don't ask God to help you. You don't ask God to intervene in your situation.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't give us wisdom to make decisions for ourselves. That doesn't mean that every single step you take you pray. The idea is that you include him in all matters. And if not, there is always a price to pay. Always a price to pay.

There is something that we lose in that. And God wants to reserve. God wants to protect. God wants us to have the fullness. That's not even the scariest part because we might not be convinced of that, but this next part should bring us all to our knees this morning.

A prophet, another prophet comes after this whole thing happens. And in verse seven of second Chronicles 16, it says, at that time, Hanani, the seer, came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. What does that mean? Without him seeking the Lord, he conquered. He conquered over Israel to some degree.

And he thought he was okay. You know, it's amazing when a person is used by God mightily, they feel like this is scary. Anybody in here in ministry, anybody in here that has a specific gift over their lives, remember this. God is not a respecter of persons. Some people can get to such a state in their spiritual life where they feel like they are the exception to certain rules.

That they don't need to pray. That they don't need to seek God. That they don't need to obey the because God needs me. Look how much I've done for the Lord. Look how many invitations I get.

Look how many people look up to me. Surely God will not put me on this shelf. God will put us all on the shelf and do it himself. God will make rocks cry out to him if nobody else will. And then this prophet comes.

It says, because you did not seek the Lord, you've allowed Syria to escape you. What did he mean by that? He meant this. He meant this and please never forget it. You did not seek the Lord and you got Israel.

But if you would have sought the Lord, I would have given you Israel and Syria. If you sought me, I would have given you not just Israel, I would have given you Syria. But because you did it on your own, maybe you saw some results, but not what I could have given you. And you allowed it to slip out of your hands. Should this not make us feel, oh God, I want you in all things.

Oh God, I don't want to miss out on anything because of my lack of dependency upon you. Oh, God. Make me feel weak in the small things and the big things because I want all that you have. What a terrifying thing. Imagine doing all these things for the for the Lord and at the end finding out that so much more could have been done if we just sought him, if we just included him in our plans, if we just said, Lord, have your way.

I don't want to do it my way. I don't want to rely on my wisdom. Do it how you want to do it. And he says, you've allowed it to slip out of your hands. There could have been so much more for this man, but he trusted in his own strength.

And that's why in Jeremiah seventeen five, it says, thus says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. And this is where we get that famous verse in second Chronicles sixteen nine as we close. This is what the prophet says. He says here, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless or whole or complete toward him. That is where this verse finds itself.

What is he trying to say? God, Asa. Asa. God is eager and longing to manifest his power in its fullness, but he's looking for a vessel that will completely trust in him. He's looking for an instrument that will completely be dependent upon him.

And he's looking for that vessel today that will not in some things ask of the Lord, but in all things call upon him because he's eager to make his name known through such a person. He is longing to show off his glory through weak vessels. All of this because a man thought that he can do it on his own. All of this because he did not see the necessity of inquiring of the king. Oh, he saw some things, but he did not see all things.

And That's what God wants to do through you and me. How do we close this conference together? There's so much more that can be said about Asa. In light of this conference, every person here represents a different ministry and a different church, but in light of this conference, just as an example as we celebrate the twenty years, let's believe that God has so much more. And for your life, that God has so much more.

Never believe. Never believe that this is it. You know Paul, when he was in that contemplative state in Philippians one, he said, you know, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I love that. Every time I see that, I can't help but smile.

And he's like, you know, I think I want to die. I think that's better. I'll be in the presence of God. But as long as I'm here, there's fruitful labor for me. As long as I'm here, there's something for me to do.

What a wonderful revelation that if you wake up the next morning, you wake up tomorrow morning after you sleep in a little bit. I know we all need it. You wake up tomorrow morning, it means that God still has something for your life. Don't get complacent. Don't think that God can't use you.

Don't think that this is it. Take courage and do not let your hands be weak. And when you see God do something through your life, whether it's recorded on YouTube or not, stay on your face before God. Stay on your face before God and say, Lord, I'm always weak. You're not a respecter of persons.

Do it all, Lord. I wanna see it in everything, not in just some things. Second Chronicles fifteen two. Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him.

But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Let's pray. With the little strength that you have, would you just call upon the Lord and declare your dependency on him and give him your hands. Father in heaven, in light of all that we've experienced this weekend, marvelous things, glorious things, testimonies that we'll never forget, Lord, we take heed to the warning given in your word. Help us believe that there is so much more.

Help each of us never think that we can come to a place where the rules don't apply to us. That just because things have happened in the past does not mean necessarily they will continue unless we stay on our face before God. Keep us there, Lord. We pray. After this conference, give us the grace to remember that you are looking for a heart that is completely yours, that knows how to call upon you in all things so that you can, through that channel, manifest your power and glory.

Help us believe that in our own strength, we could see Israel, but with you, we can see Israel and Syria. We want it all, Lord. And so we lean upon you, and we worship you. We worship you in light of all that you've done, and we will worship you even now for what you will continue to do. We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.