Ahaz, king of Judah, was one of the most wicked kings of the
twenty who reigned in the south. Here is a man who lived a life for
himself, not concerned about the true and living God. The Bible says he, “did not that which was right” (II
Chro28:1). That is dangerous ground for any believer to be on. He
suffered a tremendous lost to the Syrians (5,6).
After losing out militarily and spiritually, what would you do
in Ahaz’s situation? Go deeper into sin and rebellion, or humbly repent
and return to God? As a leader he kept sinking and the whole nation,
unfortunately, suffered with him (19a). None of us is an island unto
himself. If we go down more than likely we will take others with us.
But here is where Ahaz really gets into trouble. Notice
his thinking process. “In the time
of his distress,” (22) he said, “Because
the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them,
that they may help me” (23). In other words he is saying, if it works
for those in the world, it will work for me!
Haven’t you see things being done in the Lord’s work and among
Christians who are trying to copy the world, only to have things fall out to
their own destruction? Churches want to look and act like the world.
Families want to act and live like some of the Hollywood actors and live
selfish lives, without consideration for their spouses or children (or God).
NOW
NOTICE
The result of being and acting like others in the world, and
doing things their way (calling on and sacrificing to the gods of Syria), the
Bible says, “They were the ruin of him,
and of all Israel” (II Chron 28:23). Ahaz’s life was wrecked, ruined,
and rendered ineffective. Why? Because he chose the way of the
world. Instead of looking upward for answers to life’s difficulties and
stresses, he looked outward and fell.
What is the Devil doing to get your eyes off of the Lord and His
Word, in order to ruin your life? May I suggest the following things we
all need to be careful of:
1.
People today are getting ruined right and left by following the god of SELF. I promise you,
anyone pursing self will ultimately end up being nominated for the most
miserable person in town.
2.
Not only will following self bring destruction, but SILVER will be the ruin of some.
Just as it ruined Judas, it can ruin any of us. We must be careful
to not always be wanting more. Worshiping the god of materialism has
distracted many good Christians from following Him. Let us be careful
that we are not becoming more obedient to our employer than we are to God.
Work and money is not everything.
3.
Obviously, illicit SEX will be the ruin of many as well.
Actually, one’s ruin is really with their character, or lack of it.
Character is the issue: purity, honesty, integrity, faithfulness to vows
and God’s Word. Married couples must work at keeping your love-levels
high for each other. Deal with problems as they arise and let nothing go
unresolved.
They were the ruin of him. Could what was said of Ahaz be
said of you? We could add to this list ambition, drugs, mouth, pride,
idleness, pleasure, and a myriad of other things that could be the ruin of any
of us. Next question, have any of these things started an in-road into
your life?
My
suggestion for all of us as to how to not let anything be our ruin is to follow
the leadership of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, one of the finest kings of the nation
of Israel.
1. Resolve to do right! "And
he did that which was right..."(29:2).
2. Fear God "They bowed their
heads and worshiped..."(29:30).
3. Yield your all to Him "Now
be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the
Lord..."(30:8a).
4. Serve Him :...and serve the
Lord your God..."(30:8b).
Please,
one bad Ahaz is enough. Let us learn from his failures and not repeat
them for ourselves!
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