Reform In A Nation Which Has Rebelled Against God

I Kings 15.9-14

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done. He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 

Asa was a good king. He did what was right.

Judah needed a reformer, a leader who would stand for what is right and rid what is wrong and godless from the land. They had that in Asa.

The nation of Judah was in big trouble. It was in rebellion. Since the temple and palace were completed by Solomon things began a slow slide.  It is interesting to me how often this happens even today. Many churches enjoy blessings from heaven, then the building program seems to distract from the focus that was once on the LORD. How many times have I been to a new church building where the congregation can look back on better days, in cramped quarters and insufficient parking.

Solomon's marriage to women of other nations who brought their idols into the land led to a proliferation that he could never have imagined. By the time Asa, his great grandson, came to be king the nation had split into two separate kingdoms. Under his grandfather Rehoboam and his father, Abijah,  the nation of Judah went further into idolatry. 

I Kings 14.22-24

Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD.  By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

The nation was in deep spiritual need. Having kings proved to be disastrous. God gave the people what they wanted, instead of the people seeking what the LORD wanted. His will was for Him to be their king with a spiritual leader like Moses or Joshua. But they went their own with everyone doing what was right in their own eyes which was in the time of the Judges, then finally in that low spiritual time they asked for a king. The Word of the LORD was exchanged for their own opinions. Instead of closely adhering to the Book of the Law, they began to be influenced by the other nations around them as they drifted further and further away from God. 

The last three kings had led the nation into idolatry and some other wicked things that were heart breaking. They were in great need of reform.

When Asa became king he went to work to restore moral sanity in the land, among the people.

1. A Reformer Is One Whose Heart Is Right With the LORD.

His heart is right.

Luther

Law School to be a lawyer. Caught in a lightening storm, cried out to God to save him. A a result he felt the best way to serve God was to go into the monastery. He wanted to be sure God forgave his sins. He walked from Germany to Rome to please the LORD. He saw the indulgences and abuses in Rome. He had no peace. He went to the superior. He told him, "Keep you eyes totally on Christ." He earned a doctorate in Hebrew and Greek. As he began to read the scriptures, particularly Romans, he said the heavens opened up for him and the God he saw as an angry judge became his savior. 

In his 95 Thesis he was calling for a scholarly discussion and the reformation was born. At the end there was the Lutherans, the Lutheran Church.

Calvin and the Presbyterians

Wesley and the Methodists

Felt his heart strangely warmed at Aldersgate while reading Martin Luther's preface to the book of Romans.

All reformers see what is wrong and seek to correct it. They don't seek to break away. They are usually thrown out.

In their lifetime they are often misunderstood.

But their heart is troubled by things that are wrong in God's government on earth due to man's sin.

American history:

Independence was not our first goal. Representation was.

Hobby Lobby decision among other things shows there is still some good left in America. But it also showed our sins in the anger and hatred toward Christians.

You think the  founding fathers were reformers? Of course they were. They didn't try to start a new country. They tried to work with England, no taxation without representation. Thus New England, New London, New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York.

But we saw their hearts when the reformation turned into revolution:

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” -George Washington

We have this day [Fourth of July] restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.

- Samuel Adams

The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.

- Samuel Adams

The rights of the colonists as Christians…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament. SA

Congress printed a Bible for America and said:

“The United States in Congress assembled … recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States … a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.”

- United States Congress 1782

Congress passed this resolution:

“The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.”

- United States Congress 1782

By Law the United States Congress adds to US coinage:

“In God We Trust”

- United States Congress 1864

Israel 

The Church

Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD as his father David was.

2. A Reformer Takes Action.

Sometime drastic action

A reformer is upset with the current and upsets many by his actions.

Asa turned Jerusalem upside down (nearly).

He had his grandmother disposed from her position. Sometimes a reformer upsets family members! He doesn't stop. The zeal of the LORD consumes him.

3. A Reformer Brings Hope And Leaves Better What He Found.

Asa ridded Judah and particularly Jerusalem of idol worship and immorality. He brought the nation back close to the time when David ruled during his lifetime.

We need a reformer today in America and in the Church in America. It could be the same person. Wesley was that kind of man.

Elijah was a prophet of God in Israel.  We'll read about him this week in our Bible  reading. He came, as Asa did, to a time of national crisis in the land. Asa in Judah, Elijah in Israel. Both of these men took on the organized wickedness of their day in a nation once under God. God spoke through them and worked through them.

We need a man like that today! Let's pray for that!

Pray God Bless America with a Reformer, with a prophet who will proclaim, "The Bible says..."