Self-Reliance or Reliance on God

You know what’s coming, right? Seems that Dr. Viljoen and I are always paired up.

Well, Brethren, thirty-five years, thirty-five years. For some of you who are young, it’s almost incomprehensible, the younger ones, how long thirty-five years is. They’re probably thinking, “Wow, that’s old,” and then they think Mr. Houck might be that age, and I say, “Good, keep thinking that way.” But that represents an extremely important amount of time for someone.

However, there are a number of years, months, weeks, and days even more important to you and me. And I will tell you the importance of those numbers a little bit later. Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. And it was a time of learning, of fellowship, of joy as we obeyed God’s commands. It was truly, for me, the best Feast ever. And I’ve heard that time and time again and that’s not just something we throw around.

We strive to make it the best every single year, and that certainly is no exception this year. For most of us, it was a wonderful experience of unity, of learning, of growth. And what we did, Brethren, was good and right in the eyes of God. What we did, gathering as he commanded, seeking him, obeying his laws to keep the feast, that was right and good in God’s eyes. It was amazing how God, every year, year after year, watches over us as we travel and journey from and to the place that God has placed his name.

And sometimes we hear miraculous stories about it. And who would disagree that each and every day of our lives should be marked by those characteristics of obeying God, seeking him, learning each and every day. No one would argue against that. And these are just a few ingredients that contribute to our success as God’s people, but that’s not the focus of my message. But these actions, the things that I just mentioned, what we just did, keeping God’s feast make evident a characteristic we all have, and it’s not faith.

Certainly, it takes faith to do the things that I just mentioned, but it’s not that. Today, we’re going to look at the life of a certain king. His reign for many years pleased God. This characteristic, one we all absolutely need, we could not live without it. It was apparent in his early years. He showed forth this characteristic that we all have. And it resulted in remarkable victories, and we’re going to look at some of those. And it resulted in many blessings in his life, and we’re going to look at what contributed to that.

But his story also is a cautionary tale. There’s two sides to the coin. As we examine his life, we’ll also see three major missteps in a very short period of time that he made. That transformed it from a life of blessings and victories and everything that we could wish for, even in our personal lives, a life of triumph to almost immediate failure. Hopefully, learning from these missteps will help us avoid a similar fate. So let’s look at his story today and see what could cause any of us to go from a life of success, and joy, and blessings to potentially one of failure and death.

Let’s turn to Second Chronicles chapter nine to begin, Second Chronicles chapter nine. Now this man we’re about to read was King Solomon’s great-grandson and King David’s great-great-grandson. He was part of a great heritage, a great lineage. He had a promising future in store for him, amazing prophecies about his lineage. And in Second Chronicles chapter nine, we’ll build up to who that is. We’ll just, for context and background, we’ll go to verse thirty. Second Chronicles nine, verse thirty, “And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem,” this is his great-grandfather.

“Over all Israel forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.” Now King Solomon who reigned for forty years was the father of Rehoboam. Easy to read here and follow the lineage. Of course, you know that King David was Solomon’s father. And shortly after Solomon’s death, Rehoboam faced a tremendous choice. Some of you are familiar with the story. He could alleviate the heavy burden that his father placed on Israel for forty years, and he faced that choice.

Let’s go to chapter ten and verse two. Because all of what we’re laying out here, snippets of the history of this individual, this certain king’s ancestry, was something that he was learning. Something he would have learned, obviously. Chapter ten, verse two, “And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon,” one of his officials, and an Ephraimite, he was an Ephraimite, heard that Rehoboam went to Shechem to be made king by all of Israel.

“Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel,” the entire nation of Israel, “…came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease you somewhat,’ just a little bit, make some adjustments, go a little easier on it. We’re not asking you to pull back entirely from what your father was doing, but if you just pull back a little bit. “This grievous servitude of your father, and the heavy yoke that he put upon us and we will serve you.”

That was their promise. That was the deal that this entire nation was willing to make with Rehoboam. And it’s not an unreasonable request from the entire unified nation of Israel. And so Rehoboam wisely asked for three days to consider the request. And so he was going to seek counsel and he sought counsel from the men that the wise men that actually Solomon used on many occasions. And this is what the wise men they told him to lighten the load and secure the people as his servants and they will serve him forever.

But he followed the young people’s advice, who told him to add even more to their burden. And that decision led to the kingdom being torn even to this day. Just look at verse nineteen. Look at Israel today. They don’t even know who they are as a result of this action. “And Israel rebelled against the house of David,” Judah, “…unto this day.” You could even say unto today. Then in chapter eleven and verse four, God reveals through the prophet Shemaiah that he caused all of this to happen for his purpose.

And after Jeroboam and his sons threw the sons of Levi out of the northern kingdom, including the Levitical priesthood, he then ordains priests from, I imagine, other tribes to establish high places for demons and idols. Chapter eleven, verse thirteen. We’re building to this individual. “And the priests and the Levites and all Israel resorted to Rehoboam out of all of their coasts.” In other words, they came out to Rehoboam. “For the Levites left their suburbs, their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem for Jeroboam cast them from executing the priest’s office to the Lord. And he ordained priests for the high places for demons and for the calves he made.”

Now in verse twenty-two, King Rehoboam shifting back to Judah begins grooming his son Abijah to be king by making him a ruler. And in the very last verse of chapter twelve, it says Abijah begins reigning after his father’s death. Let’s read it, verse sixteen. “And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.” Now by this time Jeroboam, you can read, had been reigning over the northern kingdom of Israel for about eighteen years. And we come to chapter thirteen.

Let’s turn there. In verse one, “Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah.” And in verse two, “…and Abijah and Jeroboam went to war against each other.” This is the first time that now Judah and all of Israel are going to go to war against one another. And as Abijah, again we’re going to just spot through this account, he “raised four-hundred-thousand valiant men against Jeroboam’s eight-hundred-thousand chosen men, double the forces, Israel against Judah, one tribe.

And Abijah in boldness stands up and begins shouting in verse four. He’s down by nearly half the military force. And he declares all the evil acts of their leader. So now he’s really sticking it in their eye. I have half the forces and now I’m going to get a little bit too bold, maybe if you will. And he tells them how they rebelled against King David and forsook God by casting out the priests, by replacing them with demon-worshiping and idol-worshipping ones.

But little did Abijah, as he’s shouting and screaming against this massive army, he doesn’t realize that they were planning an ambush from the rearward. Continuing in verse thirteen, “But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come out from behind.” So they were before Judah and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was at the front and behind. And it says, “They cried to the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Judah shouted: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah and God delivered them into their hand.”

Verse seventeen, “And Abijah and his people slew them with great slaughter.” So, there were slain of Israel five-hundred-thousand of those eight-hundred thousand died, chosen men. And here it reveals, brethren, why Abijah and Judah were victorious despite Israel outnumbering them nearly by two, two times. And they also had the advantage of surprise in their favor. Verse eighteen, “Thus, the children of Israel were brought under,” and that means in the Hebrew, defeated, brought to their knees, humbled, subdued at that time.

“And the children of Judah prevailed,” here it is, “…because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.” What a contrast we see there. On the one hand, a man and a people who were overpowered and tactically inferior were victorious. And on the other hand, a man and a people of far greater numbers and tactical superiority were defeated. Why? Because that is what happens when people, small or great, rely on God. Some of the greatest examples, of what I just described in my life, have come from you all. Think about what’s going on in the world today.

I’ve spoken to people that it can feel like everything is going wrong in their life, hit with a trowel, sometimes hit with multiple trowels at the same time. You’ve heard the old adage, “When it rains, it pours.” And sometimes in your lives, in my life, it can feel like it’s pouring, not just raining. Think about hurricanes recently. The brethren down in Florida, Hurricane Helene and Milton, one after the other. Not that they just had to overcome the first one, but then they had to face and watch on television and radar as the next one comes by, wondering what’s going to happen with them.

We were praying for them, hoping for them. Think about food and energy costs, not getting increases on our salaries and our paychecks, but the increases of food, another trowel thrown at us. Complicating family issues, losing a job in the midst of this inflationary period. I could go on and on about the number of trowels that I have seen brethren go through. I’ve been through my own. Now that phrase, relied on, brethren, is probably one of the most important in the Bible. It’s sha’an.

Phonetically, you spell it S-H-A-W, dash, A-N, sha’an. And it means to support oneself. To help oneself by leaning on, relying on, and resting upon something or someone. Let me say that again. To support oneself or to help oneself by leaning on, relying on, and resting upon something or someone else. What it tells us is that they prevailed because they supported themselves. They helped themselves. And how did they help themselves? By leaning on, resting on, and relying on God.

Now, I know all of you can identify with some of the examples I gave, and you can come up with even more examples. But think about going up against an army of eight hundred thousand mighty men. Sure death is what you’re looking at, right? Not in this case. And I could dedicate the rest of the message to this one point about relying on God. And I’m going to spend a significant time on that. But we need to look also at Abijah’s son, Asa. This will allow us to also see what missteps cause someone to go from victory, from blessings, to overcoming through trials, through reliance on God to utter failure.

Let’s go to chapter fourteen. What can cause brethren us to go from victory in the midst of trials and trial after trial after trial, because you’re all still sitting here, to what could be potentially a failure? Well, we need again, look at Asa, Abijah’s son’s life. Verse number one in chapter fourteen. All hear very close, “Abijah just slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days, the land was quiet for ten years.” Wonder why?

Asa, Abijah’s son was again King Rehoboam’s grandson, King Solomon’s great-grandson, and King David’s great-great-grandson. This man knew about ruling. He knew what it took to be an effective ruler over a nation. He was part of Judah’s royal line. He did initially what was right in the eyes of the Lord. If you see it in verse two there something I alluded to at the beginning of my message. He removed alters of strange gods, broke down pillars, cut down wooden images, obeyed God’s law, and built cities.

He was certainly found doing the things that please God. And it says in the very last sentence to kind of sum it all up of verse seven, “So they built and prospered.” Brethren, that’s what we can experience when we rely on God, prosperity. In verse eight, “And Asa had an army of men that carries targets.” That means hooks and spears. “Out of Judah, three hundred thousand men.” Experienced, I would imagine, from the previous war. “And out of Benjamin, who carried shields and bows, two hundred and eighty thousand.” All these five hundred and eighty thousand.

An increase of a hundred and eighty thousand from the previous account was now at his charge. “These were mighty men of valor.” But then along comes Zerah, the Ethiopian. Just when things were getting good, ten years of peace, I have five hundred and eighty thousand, I’ve increased in terms of the mighty men, many of them experienced from the previous war. And what happens? With him, the Ethiopian, it’s a host of a million men and three hundred thousand chariots. Can you imagine that scene?

I looked at some images back when Martin Luther King gave his I Have a Dream speech, I think it was two hundred and fifty thousand. It was like a sea of people down the Washington Mall. From the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument onto the Capitol building. And then I saw a nineteen ninety-five, I think, picture of the Million Man March. How many of you remember that? That was a massive sea of people. Now that’s what a million people look like when they’re coming at you. And they were mighty men. And can you imagine the thunder of those chariots coming at you?

Verse ten, what did Asa do and how did it turn out for him and God’s people. “Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the Valley of Zephathah in Mareshah. And Asa cried to the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing where you to help, whether with many or with them that have no power: help us O Lord our God; for we rest on you.” You know what that word is, sha’an. “And in your name, we go against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let no man prevail against... who? against “…you.”

Not against me, not against us, but against you. They have no idea who they’re going up against. They think they’re coming up against five hundred and eighty thousand. They’re going up against an army of one. Brethren, Asa prayed what he believed in his heart. He and Judah relied on God. His words were expression of what he believed here and here. And because Asa and Judah relied on God, it says that God smoked the Ethiopians and they fled giving Asa and Judah great victory.

And King Asa continues showing a willingness to rely on God and do good and right. More than a decade into his reign, things are rolling around along quite nicely. Brethren, for many relying on God is hard, and that’s what we’re going to look at today. Some of us find it easier to rely on ourselves and others. We’ve been brought up that way since we were children. We had to rely on our parents. We had to rely on our school teachers. We relied on friends.

We lived a life of relying on a lot of people, and then all of a sudden God introduces himself into my life and I got to learn to rely on him. What a shift that can be. What a challenge I know it can be for anyone. Psalm sixty-two. We may find it difficult, brethren, to rely solely on God, but King David understood that reliance on God only and continuously was crucial. And complete and total reliance on God begins with the following. It begins with believing who God is and what he alone can do. Let me say that again.

Complete reliance on God starts with believing who he is and what he alone can do, and what he can provide in every situation. Sometimes we must remind ourselves of that, brethren. Particularly in those tough moments, we have to remind ourselves again and again. We’ll see God places an emphasis on that. Psalm sixty-two verse one, “Truly my soul waits upon God: from him comes my salvation.” No one else can provide that. “He only...” probably the most important word in this portion of scripture. “He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.”

My soul weighs only upon God, for my expectation is from him. “He only, repeats again, “…is my rock and my salvation; he’s my defense; I shall not be moved.” He said it two times. He’s reminding himself again and again of the attributes that God has and only the attributes that God has. “In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; you people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.”

Brethren, let’s just do a quick list here. Salvation comes from God. God alone is our rock. God is our defense. We wait and place every expectation on him. That encapsulated, if you could put it into a little pill, reliance. Wait, and it says this is a multivitamin we’re describing here. Does it say God is our glory? Yes. Does it say he’s our strength? That too. Is he our refuge when we need it? Yes. That is why David instructs us to trust in, rely on him. We see here, sometimes or all the time.

Now that couldn’t be more clear. Think about it. Even human existence, people who don’t know God, who never knew God, who lived on this planet and never knew the true God, were relying upon him. Every man, woman, and child that has ever lived, good or evil, relies on his goodwill. Air, water, food, the essentials of life, only God provides that. It is a foundational piece of knowledge, brethren, that even our existence, our physical existence, is relying upon God. And it may be easy for us to recognize our need to rely on him for those things, but what about other areas?

Which leads me to my next point. Brethren, you do not have to convince me that you rely on God. And I don’t have to convince you that I rely entirely on God. Each one of us have a responsibility to convince God of that. And how does it say we can do that? By pouring our hearts out before him. By telling him every day that we rely on him. It’s that simple. That’s how it begins. Philippians chapter four. Philippians four. And verse four. “Rejoice in the Lord always,” just like we did at the Feast of Tabernacles. And again, oh, a reminder. “I say rejoice.”

That would mean after the Feast of Tabernacles. Our rejoicing isn’t just at the Feast. “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say,” he’s repeating himself. Brethren, that’s what we need to do in our lives. We need to repeat certain things again and again. How often? Daily. Let your moderation be known unto all men at and after the Feast. That would certainly apply. The Lord is at hand. How much truer now? Be careful for, worried about nothing, but in everything. Not in some things, in everything. Thinking that that was only the Old Testament suggested that.

“In everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And God’s peace, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Brethren, we must all do our very best to convince God that we rely solely on him for everything. That’s your responsibility. That’s my responsibility. I can’t convince you and you can’t convince me. But we all need to convince God. And the first way is through prayer and supplication.

Our efforts to convince God that we really, truly, totally rely on him begins with simply telling him that. Plain and simple. “God, I rely on you.” It’s a great way to start out your prayers when you’re going through a trial. Boy, that will have an impact. Because everything flows from there. Do we pray about our marriages? Of course, we do. But do we pray in a way that we’re really complaining about our spouse or are we saying, “I rely on you to get through this and to do it the way you want me to do it?” Are we praying about our children in what’s going on in their lives.

Because I rely on you to help me guide them, be an example to them. Are we praying about our friendships, our effectiveness at work, our finances, our health, in a way that demonstrates to God that we’re relying entirely on him? And we heard in the sermonette, work as if it all depends on us. There is an action in how we demonstrate to God that we rely on him. But pray as if it all depends on God, and we didn’t combine. We didn’t get together and say that he was going to talk about this, or I was going to talk about that. It was inspiring to hear that in the previous message.

Brethren, when we pour out our hearts before God about anything, we tell him that we rely on him for answers and help in every area of our lives. And as we do, we’re reminding ourselves. We’re studying Psalm sixty-two, and telling him through prayer that we rely solely on him. And here’s what happens when we do that. When we remind ourselves of who this God is, that we want to rely on. And when we tell him through prayer and supplication that we rely on him, this is what happens.

Psalm twenty-seven and verse one, “The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life,” there’s no qualifiers in here, “…of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me,” something that Asa would have known and read, “…my heart shall not fear: though war would rise against me, in this will I be confident in God.”

Like King Asa, reminding ourselves why we rely on God and telling him through prayer, even singing. And we were singing the hymns at the beginning of services, and we came to hymn seventeen, Psalm twenty-five, “Mine eyes upon the Lord continually are set.” Many of the hymns that we sing talk about our reliance on God. And it explains why we should be relying on God, because all of the attributes that he has. Brethren, when you sing to God, you are singing out that you rely on him.

Think about that. Doing so will make us unafraid. When we sing to God in the middle of trials and tribulations, we will be telling God that we rely on him. And we will become unafraid and more confident in that situation, no matter the circumstances and no matter the outcome. And this is critical, brethren. Think about three men. Let’s go to Daniel three. When I got to this part and I was thinking about meditating on it, these three men came to mind. Daniel three. I’m going to read some language in here.

We’ve probably read countless times, but it hopefully impacts in a slightly different way or in a more powerful way. Daniel three and verse twelve. We know that some of the evil servants of the king, Nebuchadnezzar, had seen Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego doing some good things. And they were a little jealous, and they wanted to trap them. And trap them by them having to, because they knew their commitment to this God they were serving, would violate Nebuchadnezzar’s decree that they had to worship him, and him only, and also worship the idol.

We know the account. And then it says here in verse twelve, this is what they do. Chaldeans who approached Nebuchadnezzar to accuse Daniel’s friends. And, “There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” They were targeting three specific men. “These men, O king, have not regarded you: they serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you set up. And then Nebuchadnezzar,” someone who could use anger management classes becomes enraged and furious.

And he orders them to be brought before him to ask if they were indeed serving his gods or worshiping his golden image. Verse sixteen. All three answered, not just one, not two, but all three, and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. If it is so, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.”

Eighteen, here’s the key, “But if not,” and you could probably hear a pin drop before this mighty king and all the people are listening in with the power that he could wield, “But if not, O king, we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image you set up.” And if it was a staring match, I know the three who didn’t blink. No one can face that kind of demise, that kind of death, burned alive with fearlessness and confidence unless they rely on God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego relied on the God of light, our God of salvation, our God of strength, our rock, our defense, our refuge, and their hearts did not fear. And I could easily argue that these men regularly reminded themselves and each other, one another, that they relied solely on God. And I have no doubt they prayed as though they relied entirely on God. Brethren, if we remind ourselves to rely on God and we convince him through prayer and supplication that we do, if we simply tell him that.

In all circumstances, whatever trial you’re facing, doing these two things will make us less and less fearful and more and more confident. To the extent, death matters nothing. We would prefer it under whatever circumstance and no matter the kind of death, if living brethren to us, if living meant we had to pledge our reliance to someone else, we’d rather face death. Wow. We wouldn’t have to fear intimidation, resistance from anyone, our family, our friends, work colleagues.

Any danger or threat to our lives in any way, shape or form, as big as a hurricane or as small as a flu or a cold, pick your enemy. We would be less susceptible if we did this to being seduced by men, women, children, friends, foes, bosses or employees to rely on them rather than on God,

Brethren, there’s not a deal, a job offer, a promotion, or relationship that should interfere with our complete reliance on God. Nothing.

Verse nineteen, “Then Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage changed,” it’s as if he was possessed at this point, “…against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: he commanded that the furnace’s heat be increased seven times. And that the mightiest men of his army bind and cast them into the fiery furnace.” A little bit of overkill in my mind for three Jews. And they’re coming at them and I can see the three of them calm them as cucumbers.

And sure enough, verse twenty-four, “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished.” What? What’s going on here? “He rose up in haste, and he takes a look and he spoke, and he said to his counselors, ‘Didn’t we cast three into that fiery furnace in the midst of the fire?’ “They answered and said, ‘True, O king.’ “Absolutely. That’s all we threw in. We didn’t throw in four. Nor did we throw in two because we don’t want to go in after them.” “And he answered and said, ‘Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, they are unharmed, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” How did the Apostle Paul put it, if we were standing in that fiery furnace? “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. Sometimes, brethren, you just have to let the verses speak for themselves. As you’re turning there, I remember Christ telling the disciples at the Great Commission, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Romans eight, verse thirty-one, “What shall we then say to these things?” Everything we’ve talked about so far, brethren. What shall we say? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Paul tells the church in Rome, he tells us, different words, the Bible in its entirety, brethren, explains why mankind must rely solely on God. That’s what the Bible is about. It tells you why. It also tells you how. But the Bible explains why mankind must rely on God.

Let’s go back to Daniel three. Go back to Daniel. Verse twenty-eight, “Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel,” Christ, we know, “...and delivered his servants that trusted in him,” relied on him, “...and have changed the king,” even he recognized it. “…and have changed the king’s word,” his opinion, his thought, his decree, “...and yielded their bodies, that they may not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” Why? Because they relied on Him.

Brethren, we grow to be so reliant on God that death, getting to the kingdom, is far better than ever giving up our reliance on God. And if that is true, if we truly believe that, there’s not a difficulty or success, a thing or a person, a foe or a friend in our lives that could cause us to fear or weaken our confidence in God through Christ. Not one. And with this kind of knowledge… Oh, you want to share it, right? You want to shout it from the rooftops. I’d love to share it with my mom and dad at this late stage in their lives. You would like to share this knowledge, about how they must understand that they have to rely on God, and only him.

Verse twenty-nine. I want to share this amazing knowledge, brethren, with everyone, family, friends, loved ones. “Therefore, I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses made of dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver like this. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”

Brethren, let others be astonished, like Nebuchadnezzar, when we rely on God by giving up a job opportunity, a promotion, or not accepting one, or a pay raise, because doing any of those would be an ask for us to violate God’s service in holy days. Let them be astonished because you know what, obedience is tied to reliance. People obey whom they ultimately rely on. Let unconverted doctors praise the great God. I heard an account recently. I was shocked. Some of you knew it before I did. Let unconverted doctors praise the great God we serve when stage four cancer disappears. I don’t have to say anything to that doctor, that unconverted doctor because we relied on God to heal us by asking for going to the elders to be anointed or receive an anointing cloth. Faith is tied to reliance on God. People believe in those whom they rely on. Let our families then, brethren, be silenced, and let their criticisms of the true God be quashed when they see our unwavering reliance on God. The changes we have made in our lives, and we’re not going back. The way we conducted ourselves in the past versus how we conduct ourselves now.

Like King Asa. These are the many ways, brethren, we can convince not only God, but others that we rely completely on God. Second Chronicles fifteen. Let’s go back. Second Chronicles fifteen and verse one. “And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, and he went out to Asa and said, ‘Hear me, Asa, all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, while you be with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.’” And then verse three, a curious thing.

He says, now I want to tell you something. I want to point something out to you. For a long season, Israel has been without the true God, a teaching priest, and a law. That certainly reflects where modern Israel is today. A long time without the true God, without true ministers, full of lawlessness. But there appears to be something off with Asa as well. Something’s off. Was Asa’s prayer a reaction, that previous prayer that he prayed? Was it just a reaction to the insurmountable challenge that he was facing?

Well, to his credit, when he hears the prophet about making changes, you know what he did? He acted. You know what the name of Azariah means? It means whom the Lord helps. Servant of God was there to help him. Continuing, verse seven, “Be strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your walk shall be rewarded.” And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy, he took courage, put away the abominable idols out of all the land and Judah and Benjamin and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the order of the Lord.

Think about us. We hear messages prepared by God’s servants. You receive counseling from your minister. Those are words. That’s what it says here. These words. We have knowledge of prophecy. Unparalleled in church history. We must finish strong, therefore, with whatever time remains. We must take courage. We must be sure at coming off the Feast, energized to remove any sin in our lives. And it says here, our efforts will be rewarded. Not only did King Asa clean up his act, after hearing from God’s servant, his example led the people to do the same.

When we do this, brethren, and each one of us see it, it encourages us to do the same thing. Verse nine, “And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon, for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.” Verse twelve, “And they entered a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul, that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.”

No one would be an exception under this vow they all made. Right? Even his mother. Let’s continue here in verse sixteen. It says, “He removed her,” did not stone her, quite curiously, because that was the vow they made. He just “...removed her from being queen because she made an idol in a grove. So Asa cut down her idol, stamped it and burned it,” but didn’t do anything to her. Maybe an early indicator. “...but the high places were not taken away from Israel.” Oh, wait a second. “Nevertheless, it says the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. And he brought to the house of God, that the things that his father had dedicated to the house of God and that he himself had dedicated, silver and gold and vessels.” He took from his own treasure and put it into the house of God. And there were no more wars to the fifth and thirtieth year, thirty-five years Asa reigned. Now consider Asa as a perfect example of us training to become kings and priests. Of course, we’ve seen God bless our lives despite not being perfect, nor are we perfect, nor will we be perfect until perfection comes.

From the very outset of our calling, our conversion, we learn to turn from sin and make changes regardless of the size. Whatever the ministry asks us, we will do. I remember when I was first early in the Church and a young ministerial assistant, I think it was a ministerial assistant at the time, no longer here, came up to me and saying, “Mr. Houck, may I talk to you?” And I said, “Certainly, of course.” I was learning about God’s government. You know, God’s ministry, you’re about to speak. I’m wide-eyed. And ears are pointed towards him.

And he says, “Your hair’s cut a little too short. You need to let it grow longer.” And then he described what an ambassador for Christ looks like. You know what I did? I made sure that I told the person that was cutting my hair the next time exactly what the ministerial assistant told me, and I haven’t had a problem since. Thanks to him I found a new haircutter. Whatever the size, that shows that you rely on God. Some of us over time, we come to feel that we’ve reached a point where nearly everything appears to be in place.

We’ve got this. This whole Christianity thing I’ve been through. I’ve received my bumps and lumps and that, but I think I got this thing down. Well, the same with Asa for the first fifteen years of his reign. You could say he was a model Christian for the first fifteen years and then another twenty years, thirty-five years. Remember at the beginning of my message, what was one of the keys to his success? He was a shining example of someone who relied entirely on God, brethren.

Now the question becomes, will that continue to be the case? And if not, what could have changed for Asa? Thirty-five years. What about us? What could, after whatever number of years you have been in the church, erase everything that you’ve done up until this point? Even if our hearts, like it says Asa head, are in the right place. Remember I said at the beginning, certain number of years, months, weeks, and days was even more important to you and me than the thirty-five years of Asa.

Well, that is the number of years, months, weeks, and days you have relied on God and will rely on God for whatever number of days, weeks, months, and we know not years remain. Today, tomorrow, and the days following, brethren, count as much as the years, weeks, and days, however many you can say, came before us. It’s today and tomorrow that counts when it comes to relying on God. Continuing verse two here. I’m sorry, Chapter sixteen. Chapter sixteen and verse one.

Here it is. “In the sixth and thirtieth year of Asa’s reign,” not the thirty-fifth or the thirty-forth. “...in the thirty-sixth year. Baasha, king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah with the intent that he might let none go out or come into Asa King of Judah.” You know what I would be thinking? No problem. My father and I have been here and done that. What is another enemy that tries to do battle against God? We know what happened to a million Ethiopians and their chariots. And what about the eight hundred thousand, if you recall, of Jeroboam’s army? And the fact that Jeroboam never recovered from the defeat during Asa father’s reign, because he relied on God, remember? We read that. Brethren, for any of us, it could begin tomorrow or the day after, or the day after that. We could begin down a path of failure, which leads us to mistake number one. Verse two, “Then Asa brought silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord,” oh, that’s interesting. To do what? To put more in the house of the Lord? To put it in his house? No.

And he took treasures out of his own treasure, gold, and silver, to do what? To put it into the house of the Lord? No. To add more to his? No. Now, there’s something different about Asa than we’ve read about so far for thirty-five years. What’s going on? “...and he sent Benhadad, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ‘There is a league between us as was between our fathers. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold.” That’s what he did with it.

He not only took of his own treasure, he took from the house of the Lord what belonged to God and gave it to a Syrian king that, I can assure you, did not care anything about God and much less relied on Him in any way shape, or form. Verse four, “And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa,” why wouldn’t he? Of course, he would. “And sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass when Baasha heard it, he stopped building Ramah.

Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building, and used it to build Geba and Mizpah.” Brethren, after relying entirely on God for thirty-five years, Asa, in the thirty-sixth year, began to rely on himself and others. And as he abandoned his reliance on God to rely on his own resources and even help from people who are enemies of God, truly enemies of God, here’s the most dangerous element of not relying on God and relying on ourselves or others.

You know what the most dangerous element of that is? To give up relying on God to rely on ourselves or others? Success. Asa’s enemies were defeated. Asa took the spoil and built other locations. Success by anyone’s standards, right? Proverbs three. Success can impair our ability to see that we were wrong relying on anyone or anything other than God. A verse we read all the time, Proverbs three verse five. “Trust in the Lord,” that’s one word. That’s trust. It’s not the same as the word we’re about to read.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding.” That word lean, that word lean, is the same word we’ve been looking at, sha’an. The word “trust” is bâṭach, bâṭach, and it means to trust, to be confident, or to be sure in the Lord. It is not sha’an, it does not mean to support yourself or to help yourself by leaning on or relying on or resting on or just relaxing in the midst of difficulties or tense situations. Be still and know I am God is what that word means.

Trust gets you to that point, but relying is an outward action, a work, a demonstration that everything will be just fine regardless of the outcome. Brethren, we should not rely on our understanding, not through trials and not ever. We must rely on God. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be thinking. We’re thinking individuals. We’re creative individuals. We come up with ideas. We try and solve problems, but we rely on God to help us think through issues, how we think, what we determine, what we come up with in terms of solutions.

We rely on God to bring that knowledge to us. We can think five ideas, and it may be the sixth one that God reveals is the one that helps. We may think of ten ideas and it may be one of those ten that God reveals is the solution. He may use any one of us to help on any one of us to figure out what we need to do. Second Corinthians chapter one. So there is a difference between trust and reliance on God. Second Corinthians verse one, you’re going to see it play out exactly in the scriptures.

I’m just so amazed when you read the New Testament and you dig into the Greek and you go back to the Hebrew and you see these differences between trust and reliance, and you notice in the Greek that they’re doing the same thing. It’s one of those instances again where the translators didn’t do us any favors. Second Corinthians chapter one verse eight, “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure.” I mean we were beyond what we could handle, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life….” We’ve all felt that, “…even of life, “…but we had the sentence of death in ourselves.”

Why? Why did God allow a sentence of death to come upon Paul to that extreme? Well, let’s think about Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, “…that we should not trust in ourselves,” that’s what trials and obstacles that we encounter, if God allows it, are meant to teach us. And that word trust is peithō. “...but in God which raises the dead and we’ll get to that definition in a minute. Who delivers from so great of death that does deliver us in whom we trust.

That’s elpizō. Different words, same translation that He will yet deliver us. Brethren, peithō means to convince, to rely on. By inwards certainty, to have confidence in, to make friends. There’s another word that the translators use for this word but I’m not going to tell you yet, to not rely on ourselves. We should not lean on ourselves, not to lean on our own understanding. We’re not going to put confidence in ourselves, Paul said, we’re not going to yield to ourselves, we’re not going to demonstrate self-will even if it’s under sentence of death.

We are not going to run. We are not going to compromise. We’re not going to renounce, we’re not going to give up. That’s what Paul was saying. I will really rely on God to resurrect me. That’s the context here. If it means death, whether I decide to rely on others or rely on my own ability to escape certain trials and tribulations or whatever the case may be, I’ll take death because I trust which is the other word in the God of resurrection.

The greatest degree of reliance, once again, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is not to fear dying in Christ because God promises to raise us from the dead like he did Christ and my apologies if I’ve oversimplified Christianity. If I’ve made it too simple, but I’ll take that because that’s all my mind can handle. The second trust here differs like in Proverbs three. Philippians chapter three and verse four.

“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh or in myself, if any man thinks he has a reason to trust,” same word peithō, “...I more.” Why would Paul say that? Because God is his salvation and God is ours. God alone was his rock. God was his defense. God was his glory. God was his strength. God was his refuge, and he’s the same for us, brethren, no difference. After thirty-five years, Asa stopped relying on God for these attributes. He began relying on himself and his riches, and God had to do something about it because God will not give up on us if we get to that point.

Let’s go back to Second Chronicles sixteen and verse seven. “And at that time, Hanani, the seer, came to Asa, the king of Judah, another servant of God,” Second Chronicles sixteen, seven. “...because you have relied on,” sha’an, “...because you supported yourself by leaning on, by relying on and resting upon the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord, your God, therefore, as the host of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.” Verse eight, “Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubins, a huge host with many chariots and horsemen.”

What was the servant of God doing that we should do ourselves? Reminding him. If we remind ourselves that we must rely totally on God, we won’t need someone to come along and remind us of something we already know and we remember. And reminding ourselves. Yet, because you relied on sha’an, supported yourself, helped yourself by leaning on, relying on, and resting upon the Lord, he delivered them into your hands. See what happened when you relied on God? For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.

He’s tying perfectness of heart to reliance on him. “Hearing you have done foolishly. Therefore, from henceforth, you shall have wars.” You think you had trials before, get ready. Now you’re going to see trials. God teaches us, brethren, through trials. Verse ten, “Then Asa was rocked with the seer and put him in a prison house for he was in a rage with him because of this thing.” Because he told him what he had been telling himself already. He wasn’t telling him anything different than he didn’t know.

Like Asa in his thirty-sixth year, we could stop relying on God in any of our lives tomorrow, but we won’t. God will find a way to remind us. If we forget that, just don’t get angry when he does and how he does it. Hebrews thirteen. Remember I said there was another word in the English translation that matches peithō, to rely on in the Greek. Hebrews thirteen. Hanani’s job was simple. All he had to do. That’s all he has to do is remind Asa that he had forgotten and that he should be reminding himself of what happens when you rely on God versus what happens when you don’t.

And that’s what we do, brethren, as ministers. We’re just reminding you to rely on God completely. Hebrews thirteen verse seventeen, obey. You know what that word is? It’s not the word that you often find throughout all the New Testament, which means to obey, to do what is commanded. That’s not the word here. “Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourself for they watch for your souls as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief,” I was shocked to read what this word was. “...and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you.”

The word obey is not what we normally see. The translator should have said, rely on. Rely on your ministers, rely on God’s government. It’s peithō. If we ever stopped relying on God, hope and pray that God will use his ministers to show us or remind us to rely on Him. And that’s really my purpose today. If I could distill it down, what we teach, instruct, counsel, correct, exhort, will help you as intended to help you rely more on God and less on yourself and others. Even on us. I don’t want you relying on me, I want you relying on God because if you’re relying on me, you’re setting yourself up for failure, surely. But if you put into practice what we say, or what we’ve learned, or what we’ve exemplified, you’re on your way to success, continued success, for the next how many days, weeks, maybe months that remain. Let’s go back to Second Chronicles sixteen. Second Chronicles sixteen. Because here’s the final mistake that he committed.

Number three. Number one, he stopped relying on God and began relying on himself, his own resources, and others. Mistake number two, he didn’t allow God’s servants to do their job. He rejected them, got angry at them. Just simply reminding them, or him, to rely on God. That was mistake strike number two. Here’s strike number three. Verse twelve. “And Asa in the thirty-ninth year,” it’s four years later, from that time of just wonderful blessings, victories, “...of his reign was disease in his feet until his disease was exceeding great.”

He waited until it got really bad. And he kept waiting. And he kept waiting. Yet in his disease, he sought not the Lord. He didn’t depend on Him. And he sought, what? Physicians and others. Let me say a qualifier. We have doctors. I’ve been to doctors. They have their place. God will use them in powerful ways with the technology we have today. My family has used doctors. I know many of you have used doctors. Nothing wrong with going to doctors.

There’s something else going on here that I want to point out. “And Asa slept with his fathers and died in the forty-first year of his reign.” Asa, brethren, his other mistake was he became stubborn. Just plain stubborn. Once a person stops relying on God and rejects God’s servants, the reminders that we give, stubbornness will set in. And he would not listen to Azariah anymore, nor Hanani anymore. And you know what? I didn’t read anywhere. There’s no indication that God sent him any reminders at that point. He gave up on God.

Once this happens, spiritual death, brethren, approaches quickly. Jeremiah seven. These are some final scriptures here. Jeremiah seven, verse twenty-four. “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels in the imagination of their evil heart,” began relying on themselves and we know what that is. We know what the heart is like. And here it says, “...and went backward, not forward.” Their trail was not leading them to success, to the kingdom, to becoming God beings. Quite the contrary.

“Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent you all my servants and prophets,” what to remind you to rely solely on me. “...daily rising up early and sending them,” because I care about you. I want you to rely on me. “...yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear,” why? “...but hardened their neck.” They did worse than their fathers. A clear symptom of stubbornness is spiritual deafness. A refusal to listen. And when you get to that point, it’s dangerous. And as it says, that prevents us from moving forward. If someone, as the Apostle Peter says, is overcome by the world, by the pulls of this world, by saying society herself, the latter end is worse with us than the beginning and rightfully so look at what we’ve been given. The God of light, the God of our defense, the God of salvation. I could go on and on and on. We’ve given such a precious gift. Reliance on God and his commitment to show that He will when we rely on Him.

Brethren, reliance on God or self-reliance. That’s our choice. Hebrews chapter three and verse fourteen. “For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence,” you could say reliance, “...steadfast unto the end.” Not the first year, not the second year, not the tenth, twentieth, or twenty-fifth, or the thirty-fifth, like in the case of Asa. It is until the end, brethren. While it is said today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

Don’t become stubborn as in the provocation, as the children of Israel, as Asa I would add. A stiff-necked Israel fell into the wilderness, never reached the promised land. Asa fell, too, and his fall only took six years. He raced thirty-five years with a series of mistakes, not relying on God anymore and beginning to rely on himself and others, refusing to hear the reminders that were given to him by God’s servants. Not one which produced a good result, not two which the latter produced a bad result. And then he became stubborn about it.

Became stiff-necked. He hardened his heart. Thirty-five years, he raced. Second Chronicles sixteen one more time. For a final time. This kind of sums it up. I didn’t notice this until this morning. Oftentimes, think about how do we summarize? How do we bring to a close message? We have looked at two distinct chapters in the life of King Asa. The first chapter longer and wonderful because of total reliance on God. The second chapter of life much shorter, disastrous, and it was about total reliance on himself and man, and his rejection of the reminders that God sent him in his effort to get him to rely on him once again, and stubbornness.

Verse eleven. I think it sums it up fairly nicely. “And behold the acts of Asa,” we’ve looked at them. We looked at what he’s done over thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty years. First thirty-five years, it says, and last. Six years. Interesting how he put that. “And behold the acts of Asa, first and last.” Almost as you can summarize it. The first was the thirty-five years and the last the six years. “Lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel for us.” For us, brethren.

Today, tomorrow, and for however many years, months, and days, really days, weeks, maybe months to go, we must rely entirely, completely, totally, wholly on God. I can’t find enough adverbs to put in there. Reminding ourselves and convincing God through prayer that we do rely on Him. We must avoid the missteps of Asa, who relied on himself. He relied on his own understanding and his resources.

Brethren, we must lean on God’s counsel through the ministry when God reminds us to depend on Him. We can’t become spiritually deaf. And certainly, if we do we will avoid falling into stubbornness, which was the final and fatal misstep of Asa. And, brethren, those three things, if you think about it, are the three missteps of those who ultimately left God’s way. But let it not be so with us. Let us rely on God.