Jump Start # 1309

2 Chronicles 24:4 “Now it came about after this that Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord.”

  We have been marching through the kings of Judah. The last king we looked at was Ahaziah, who was influenced by his mother and others to continue the wicked, godless spiral that his father had started. Ahaziah reigned one year. At his death, his mother took over. She put to death other royal males who may have been a threat to her reign. She reigned six years. Nothing is said about what she did. One child of her son was hidden. He was the next in line to be king. A revolt took place and Athaliah was murdered. The child in hiding, Joash, becomes the rightful heir to the throne.

Joash was a fairly good king. He reigned forty years. One of the great things that he accomplished was restoring the temple. It had fallen in near ruins and he set about to restore it.

Restoration is something God’s people ought to be interested in. We understand the concept. If a person has an old car and he wants to restore it, he will try to get parts similar to the originals. He will work long and hard at making the old car look like it did originally. Today, people restore furniture, art work, old historic houses and relationships. The concept of “reconciliation” involves restoration. Two parties have a falling out. They may not even talk to one another. One “defriends” the other. Someone comes and brings the two parties together. They talk. Tears are shed. Issues are discussed. Restoration takes place when they forgive each other, shake hands or hug and the relationship returns to the healthy way it once was. This happens in marriage. It happens among friends. It happens among brethren. And it is exactly what happens between us and God. Our sins have caused a separation. Things are not the same any more. Jesus came. He paid the price or cost to redeem us. He was the bridge that allowed a relationship to be restored. God forgives through His grace. We become reconciled to God. Our relationship has been restored.

One thing about restoration is that it takes times. If you are restoring an old car, it takes time. If you are restoring a relationship, it takes time. There is no fast track here. Those in a hurry will be disappointed. People need time to think, process, get over the hurt and then come together. Restoration is an important aspect of our wellbeing in a church family.

We hate to admit it but we do bump and bruise each other’s feelings. We say things in the wrong way and they are taken in the wrong way. People feel slighted and neglected. Sometimes we even get mad at one another. This is the time for restoration. This is the time for bridge building. Forgiving each other. Loving each other. Trusting each other. Restoring things.

There is also another type of restoration that takes place in our spiritual lives. It is the restoration of God’s pattern and order for things. God has left us a blueprint to follow. The Bible is a pattern. Paul told the Philippians to practice the things that they have seen, learned and heard from him. It’s follow the leader. It’s looking backward as we move forward. The church is not to be progressive, evolving, changing with the times, developing new doctrine, new thoughts. If it does, then it no longer sticks to the ancient ways. The Thessalonians were praised for imitating the churches in Judea. We must understand the authority of Christ and see the examples left by the apostles and imitate those. There was a certain way the church raised and used money. We need to get back to that. There was a certain way the church worshipped God. We need to get back to that. There was a certain way the church was organized and functioned. We need to get back to that. This is restoration. This is the greatest restoration.

Nearly two hundred years ago, right here in my area, various people, with differing reasons started looking at the Bible in a fresh and new way from what they had been taught. They dropped all the names and doctrines that they could not find in the Bible. They started worshipping each Sunday with the Lord’s Supper. Preachers dropped titles that made them stand out. Immersion for baptism was practiced. Across the Ohio Valley and eventually sweeping the country was this spirit of simply going by the Bible and the Bible alone. This movement became known as The Restoration Movement. What they were restoring was the way things were first done as taught in the Bible. Some of these folks did a pretty good job getting back to the original. Others started and then they seemed to stop.

Before us and each generation, is the choice of doing things God’s way or our way. God’s way never changes. God’s way is set forth in the New Testament. Man’s way is influenced by society. This is why some religious groups have accepted homosexuality because society has. The modern church has soften and changed the way it feels about modesty, divorce, church discipline, and church organization. Models from the business world and government have been used to shape the modern church. Social agendas and the wellness and wholeness of man has become the main message for the modern churches. They will march against racism. They will speak out about police brutality. They become a shelter for the homeless, the hungry and a haven for teenagers to hang out and play games. The modern church has become less and less spiritual and more and more social. Sermons about sin have been tossed out. One would never hear the word “Hell” in a sermon. Preachers look more like sit-com comedians. Hawaiian shirts have replaced suits and ties. Flip flops have replaced wing tipped shoes. The modern preacher stands before an audience, with no Bible in hand, giving his monolog. The audience laughs. They applaud. They have such a great time. The music is loud and competes with rock and roll. The church serves food. During the week, it becomes a school. There are all kinds of fun activities in the modern church. And sadly, if one was to dare open his Bible, he wouldn’t find any similarities between what the modern church is doing and what the original church did. The modern church has come a long way and in the process it has cut it’s ties to being like the original church.

Restoration—that’s the key. Get the Bible out and see what was done and then get about doing that. Toss out the things that do not help us fulfill God’s pattern. Get the church back to being what it was supposed to be—a community of saved people who walked, talked and praised the Lord. Restoration is not a thing of the past, it must be repeated with every generation. But in the process of restoring, the church must not become a museum that houses old stuff. The church is not to be stuffy, stale and old. It is alive. It is fresh. It is growing. It is moving. It does these things God’s way. It is constantly looking to the book, God’s book.

A person could have an old car. He has a choice in how he will fix it. He can restore it to look like it did originally, or he can make it look like a hot rod. A hot rod is cool. It’s fast. It will grab the attention of others. But a hot rod is not the way the car looked originally.

Restoration or change…

Roger

Jump Start # 1308

2 Chronicles 22:4 “He did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.”

  Our look at the kings of Judah continues. We started with Asa, the first good king of Judah. We now look at Ahaziah, the fourth generation. His father, Jehoram was wicked and died with no one regretting that. Ahaziah, his surviving son, takes the throne at the age of 22. He reigns only one year. He is assassinated by a messenger sent from God who is on a mission to wipe out the bloodline of Ahab.

Although there isn’t much said about this king, we find a disturbing truth and trend that even continues today. Ahaziah was influenced to do evil. The previous verse tells us that even his mother, Athaliah, counselled him to do evil. Our verse today shows that his counselors were to his destruction.

Influences. They are all around us. Folks telling us what we need to do. From facebook, to friends, to the television, to blogs, we are bombarded every day with advice. How to sleep better. What we ought to be eating. How to raise our children. How to save money. How to get out of debt. How to have better sex. How to live longer. How to have peace of mind. So much advice. So many experts. Some of it is very confusing. One day, eating lettuce is the way to go. The next day, lettuce causes cancer. Then it’s organic lettuce is the way to go. Then it’s not. Then chocolate is good for you. Then it’s not. A person can become dizzy with all of this conflicting advice.

For someone who is young, like Ahaziah was, it is difficult to know who to trust and what to believe. It is especially hard when his own mother was giving him bad advice. However, he was grown up. He was a man. He could have stood for himself. The advice that he listened to was to his destruction. It led to his early death. He was like a meteor that flashes across the sky. He was gone as fast as he came and he didn’t do anything worthwhile. He added to the sins of the nation. He term was so brief that little was done.

But what a powerful lesson for us about influences. Who are we listening to and what turns our head and what grabs our attention? Ahaziah reminds us that even within our family, there can be wrong advice, and evil influences. People just love to tell others what to do. The young, the naïve, the gullible are especially likely to be influenced when older family members pressure them to do things.

There are two things a person ought to keep in mind here.

First, the Bible is always right. It’s infallibly written by the Holy God of Heaven. Any advice, any, even coming from parents, preachers, the pulpit that takes us away from what the Bible teaches is wrong. Nothing trumps what God says. Nothing. When someone tells you that you don’t have to do what you read in your Bible, you are getting bum advice. Be careful. It may lead to you destruction.

Second, the credibility of the person telling you what to do is extremely important. Getting financial advice from a family member who has mountains of debt and is going no where financially is wrong and dumb. Getting advice for your marriage from someone who has been in and out of multiple marriages is wrong and dumb. Listening to someone dispute what the Bible says, who has never read it nor lives a righteous life is wrong and dumb. Listening to someone who doesn’t take inspiration of the Bible seriously, nor grasps basic Bible doctrines is wrong and dumb.

I have witnessed those who were about the age of Ahaziah, buying books from a religious bookstore and swallowing the contents as if God wrote that book and then expressing the craziest ideas that destroys their faith. I have seen those leave the truth of God’s word to worship in ways the Bible does not approve of because they were influenced by what they read in a religious book. I am a lover of religious books. I have literally thousands. I read them all the time. I also recognize that many, if not most, do not speak the same thing the Bible does. If one is not very careful, they can be influenced away from God.

Getting advice to ditch a marriage because you are unhappy can lead to your destruction. Parents can be more interested in their grown children’s happiness than their righteousness. They hate to see their little princess miserable. So they jump on the complaining band wagon. “I never did like him.” “I thought to myself, that you should never have married him.” He isn’t this, and he isn’t that. Complain and gripe and make the misery worse than what it is and before long, that daughter decides to move back home and end the marriage. She is not listening to what God says. She is being influenced by parents who are more interested in her personal happiness than the holiness of their marriage and the promises that were made to God.

The lessons of Ahaziah are repeated over and over every day. Good people are led down the wrong path by folks who do not know the Bible and who are only interested in pleasing self. We are influenced by opening the doors of our mind and hearts to others. I grew up at the tail end of the British Invasion. The Beatles, Dave Clark Five—loved them. Loved the way they looked. Loved the they way they sang. Loved the accents. I wanted to move to England. I wanted to be a formula one race car driver who raced in Europe. What a dopey idea that was. But we are influenced. TV influences us if we let it. Some shows are very negative and loose with language. Before long, one can find themselves having a negative attitude and being very loose with their own language. Influences. Magazines do that. Books do that. Music does that. People do that. Families do that.

The key is to always keep your spiritual radar on. Saturate yourself with the word of God. Recognize when something doesn’t sound right. Be sensitive to wrong. Notice wrong behavior. Recognize those things. Don’t drift off in slumber spiritually. Don’t turn off your radar. If you do, you’ll be influenced. You’ll say words that you thought you never would. You’ll think things that you never thought you would. All because you allowed yourself to be influenced.

The old story of the pied piper illustrates the power of influence. Help your kids. They come home from school or playing with others and you catch them saying words that you do not allow in your house. How did that happen? They were influenced. They want to be like others. They don’t know how to keep their radar turned on. You must help them. You must be the mute button for them. You must be the guide for them.

Poor Ahaziah didn’t have a mom like that. She was part of his problem. She encouraged him to do wrong. Her wicked influences led to the death of her son.

Spiritual radar—that’s the key. Knowing the word of God—that’s the key. Without those two things, we’ll be right behind Ahaziah, heading to the land of destruction.

Roger

Jump Start # 1307

2 Chronicles 21:20 “He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.”

  We have been looking at the kings of Judah in our Jump Starts. What a fascinating and lesson packed journey this has been. So far we have looked at Asa, the first good king of Judah. His son, Jehoshaphat, was also a good king. Now we come to the next generation, the oldest son of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram was made king of Judah. Our verse today tells us much, but not everything. This one wasn’t good. He wasn’t like his father or his grandfather. He was wicked, violent, suspicious and died a horrible death at the young age of forty. He only reigned eight years. It was indeed, eight long years.

Jehoram married the king of Israel’s daughter. This happened to be the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. It’s hard to imagine more terrible in-laws than those two. They were a living nightmare. Jezebel forged her husband’s signature, executed the prophets of God and lived without a heart and a soul. Jehoram married into this family. I can only imagine what his parents must have thought.

Once Jehoram became king, he had his six brothers executed. He killed his own family. He built idols throughout the land and led the nation away from God. The Lord was so angry with Jehoram that He led the Philistines to invade Judah. They captured Jehoram’s children and wives and led them all away, except for the youngest. Had it not been for a promise God made to David, this blood line would have ended. God keeps his promises. The Philistines ransacked the palace and carried away many valuables. Finally, God smote this wicked king with an intestinal disease. He was afflicted for two years. He was in great pain. His bowels came out. UGH! Then he died.

Our passage adds two huge explanation points to the end of this wicked reign. First, he was not buried in the tombs of the kings. He wasn’t allowed where David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat were resting. He didn’t belong in the hall of fame. He didn’t get a star on the sidewalk of honor. He was buried elsewhere. The writer doesn’t even tell us where. And that leads to the second explanation point.

He departed with no one’s regret. That’s what the text says. Finally, he’s gone. No one regretted his death. No one missed him. The crowds would have sung, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead…” What a terrible finality to his life, no one cared. He reaped what he had sown. He’s was gone and no one missed him.

I expect that Jehoram wasn’t the only one to die without regret. A person who lives to themselves, is mean, cruel, abusive and without mercy or compassion, will not have a line standing outside the funeral home waiting to come in to show their respects. No one will show up. What a terrible end to a terrible person. I have a friend who is now just about finished with his journey here. I had a prayer with him today. I looked into his eyes thinking that this may be the last time until we are both on the other side. There are many things I wanted to say, but he was tired and it wasn’t the right situation with others there. I believe he knows. I will miss him. There will be regrets. I do not want to see him go. This is so different than the situation with the wicked Jehoram.

Jehoram got me thinking about different situations. Regrets or no regrets.

Sometimes people can enter our lives and depart without regret. There are some people who are just like sandpaper. No matter what’s going on, they just have a way of rubbing things raw. They can stir up things on a calm day. They pester, pick, prod, and bug a person to death. They wear you out with all their questions. They are experts at handing out guilt. They can take a perfect day and ruin it. They can take a good mood and make is sour. When they leave, I generally have a headache. They depart without any regret.

There are some situations in life that can be very stressful and hard on us. These things strain us and tug on our hearts. They consume a ton of energy and we find the bulk of our prayers being directed to this situation. Finally, things get better. Finally, it’s over. What a relief. No regrets that it’s over. No wishing to return to that situation again.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul described a repentance that is without regret. It is a repentance according to the will of God. There is no bragging about “the good ole’ days,” of sin and looseness. There is no telling tall tales about adventures of drinking, running around and being godless. No sir. Not here. This repentance doesn’t have regret. Those days were sinful, shameful and wrong. It is embarrassing to bring those things up. If we could do it all over, we’d choose better, wiser and godlier. Without regret.

Jehoram reminds us in the opposite way of how important it is to make a difference in the lives of others. Jehoram destroyed most people in his life. He was bad, cruel and mean. How fitting that his bowels fell out. A disgusting end to a disgusting person. On the other hand, we need to mean something to others. We need to allow others into our hearts. We need to make them feel comfortable calling us, asking us, or bouncing things off of us. People shouldn’t feel threatened by us. They shouldn’t feel like we are going to judge them. Most of us can look into our past and see incredible people who were there for us. They gave us a chance. They believed in us. They stood with us. They supported us. Today, we are better because of what others have done for us in the past. Now, it’s our turn. It’s our opportunity to be there for the teenager, the widow, the new family, those that are struggling. It’s our turn to make a difference and to help others on their journey.

I don’t think anyone ever said to Jehoram, ‘I couldn’t have made it without you.’ Not to Jehoram. I doubt anyone ever referred to him as a BFF. Not Jehoram. Most ran from him. Most did not want to get in his way. He left a trail of misery and finally died in misery. He crushed people with his thumb and the God of Heaven, in turn, put Jehoram under His divine thumb.

Would anyone miss you if you were no longer around? Would your church family miss you? Would the people at work miss you? Obviously, your family ought to miss you, but beyond your family, are you leaving footprints for others to follow? Are you helping others out. Are you being useful in the kingdom?

Some day we all will depart. What then? Jehoram wasn’t missed. Will you be missed? Are you doing what you can for others? Are you holding up your end of things?

We need to think about these things. We can start making changes, even today.

Roger