When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did. Source Unknown.
You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee. John H. Holcomb, The Militant Moderate (Rafter).
The title of my message today: Wholly Devoted. In II Chronicles 25, the story of King Amaziah is told that speaks to our title. Verse two says, “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.” How many of you know that there is a difference in doing right and loving God with your whole heart? We learn a valuable lesson from Amaziah’s half-heartedness. I want to begin by telling you his story.
Story of Amaziah in Brief
If you read a biography of a political figure today, the account will start with their younger days, go through all the events chronologically, and then maybe end by summing up their character and accomplishments.
But the Bible turns that upside down. When the Bible introduces a King, it starts right off by telling the condition of that person’s heart. And in this case, the King had a LUKEWARM HEART.
After the reigns of King David and King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel divided into two separate Kingdoms called Judah and Israel. It’s a little tricky to keep straight because the southern Kingdom of Judah had all the things we associate with Israel: Jerusalem is there, the Temple is there, and the Kings are the descendants of David. The northern Kingdom had none of these things, but retained the name of Israel.
The Kingdom of Judah had been through rocky times. King Amaziah took the throne after his father was assassinated. In fact, the last 3 rulers before Amaziah were all murdered … so he had good reason to be looking over his shoulder as he took the throne. According to the text, Amaziah had his father’s murderers executed, but he did not execute the sons of those assassins. That was a tactic used by most monarchs as a “security measure.” But Amaziah was obeying the Law of Moses, which said that sons were not to be punished for their fathers’ sins. In other words, so far Amaziah did what was right in God’s eyes.
Next we see Amaziah preparing to attack the bordering nation of Edom. In order to “beef up” the army, he hired 100,000 mercenaries from Israel. These were big, tough professional warriors. But the problem was that Israel had become unfaithful to God. God’s favor was no longer with them. And to make an alliance with an ungodly nation was against God’s law. So, a prophet came and reminded Amaziah, “It’s God who has the power to help you or overthrow you. Get rid of those mercenaries or you will lose God’s favor.”
Amaziah paid attention, but he couldn’t help hedging a bit. After all, he’d paid those mercenaries up-front and he didn’t want to lose his investment. Verse 9 tells us: Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” This is the first hint we get that Amaziah was not whole-hearted in his desire to obey God. Now, it’s true that Amaziah was talking about a lot of money. 100 talents would be about 4 tons of precious metal. At current silver prices that would be well over $500,000 dollars.
Amaziah’s heart was set on earthly, material concerns. But the prophet re-directed his mind to focus on God and his power: The man of God replied, “The LORD can give you much more than that.”
So Amaziah obeyed God. He dismissed the mercenaries (about 25% of his entire army). And … with God’s blessing … he won a decisive military victory. But then Amaziah does something that jolts us. Verse 14 tells us that he takes the idols from Edom and sets them up. And worse than that, he worships them! He has just won a great victory … obviously from God’s hand. He has every reason in the world to be praising God, and God alone. But instead he turns to idols. He appeared to be running the good race — then he made a sudden U-turn. It’s obvious that his heart has suddenly gone from LUKEWARM to downright COOL.
God’s prophet points out to Amaziah that what he’s done is not only wrong, it’s flat-out STUPID. If your army beat their army, isn’t that proof positive that your God is better than their gods?
But Amaziah’s heart was not turned toward God. Amaziah had been influenced by the godless culture around him. In those times, people believed that when a nation won a battle it was not because their gods were stronger but because the losers’ gods abandoned them and moved to the other side. By worshipping the idols, Amaziah was thanking them for “helping out” with his victory… as if the one true God could not have done it without them.
What is most disturbing about this account is that one minute Amaziah appeared to be serving God and the next minute he was blatantly bowing down to foreign idols.
Remember how the scripture summed up the condition of Amaziah’s heart: He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. II Chronicles 25:2
Obedience is important, but it is not enough. God is after a heart that is fully devoted to Him. Amaziah did what was right, but he never put his whole heart into it. He started out with faith, but it was a flabby, lukewarm faith. Even after he sinned by worshipping idols, God … in his mercy … gave him another chance. But look at how he responded to the prophet’s warning:
While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” II Chronicles 25:16a
In other words, I don’t want to hear anything from God. If you don’t stop talking, I’ll have you executed. No small threat from a King. So the prophet summed up where Amaziah’s STONE COLD heart was going to take him.
So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” II Chronicles 25:16b
The rest of the story goes down hill fast. The COLD-HEARTED King lurches from one disaster to another. First he attacks the northern nation of Israel and gets trounced. The Israelites capture him, then plunder the temple and the palace. After 10 years, Amaziah is released and returns to his ruined country of Judah. But, after a while, he is chased from his own palace and assassinated by his own people.
I Corinthians 10:6 tells us that these Old Testament accounts were recorded examples for us. So we need to ask: What can we learn from Amaziah’s example?
If nothing else, Amaziah teaches us that a lukewarm heart is a dangerous thing. If left unattended, it will ultimately grow stone cold.
When we talk about the heart, we usually just think of our feelings. But when the Old Testament talks about the heart it includes not just our feelings, but our mind, our will, our entire spiritual nature. It embodies the whole life of a person. Jesus said this was the greatest commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5 http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33615&Sermon%20Legacy%20of%20a%20Lukewarm%20Heart%20by%20Mary%20Lewis
What this means to us?
What areas of our lives should be wholly devoted to God?
Life: Matthew 22:37, Isaiah 26:3 and Philippians 4:7-8
Actions: Ec. 9:10, Col 3:17
Decisions: Joshua 24:15
Giving: Widows mite Mark 12:41-44 41 And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury: 44 for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Luke 21:1-4 1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men that were casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all: 4 for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had.
Love: I Cor. 13 Love must be wholly devoted to God in order to love the unlovable. Remember we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Conclusion:
A heart wholly devoted to God is a believer whose life, actions, decisions, giving and love are resting in the grace of God. We cannot live a devoted life without God’s help. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of which I am chief. He came to live in us to empower us for victory in this life. And by His power, by His authority, we can do all things well and unto victory.
Terry Dashner www.ffcba.org
