The Danger of Spiritual Pride Shown Through King Amaziah of Judah’s Life – Finishing Well – Part III

The danger of spiritual pride is shown well through the disappointing life of Amaziah, King of Judah in 2 Chronicles 25 (also 2 Kings 14). When Amaziah had his victory over the Edomites, he became very proud. Success can be dangerous because it can lead to pride. Sometimes it’s God’s grace that we’re not more successful. https://youtu.be/AXwikhvm1vo The danger of spiritual pride is shown well through the disappointing life of Amaziah, King of Judah in 2 Chronicles 25 (also 2 Kings 14). Table of ContentsLessons for The Danger of Spiritual Pride Family Worship Guide for The Danger of Spiritual Pride Sermon Notes for The Danger of Spiritual PrideLesson 1: These kings reveal it’s hard to finish well: (example 1) Solomon (example 2) Saul (example 3) Hezekiah (example 4) Asa (example 5) Joash (example 6) UzziahLesson 1: These kings reveal it’s hard to finish well: (example 7) AmaziahLesson 2: wise people trust God with their finances.Lesson 3: prosperity and suffering are not always evidence of obedience.Lesson 4: pride blinds us to (part 1) correction.Lesson 4: pride blinds us to (part 2) reality. Lessons for The Danger of Spiritual Pride Lesson 1: These kings reveal it’s hard to finish well:Example 1: Solomon (1 Kings 11:4, Job 12:12).Example 2: Saul (1 Samuel 31).Example 3: Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:12-19).Example 4: Asa (2 Chronicles 14:8-15, 16:1-12).Example 5: Joash (2 Chronicles 24).Example 6: Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26).Example 7: ______________ (2 Chronicles 25).Lesson 2: ________ ___________ trust God with their finances (2 Chronicles 25:9).Lesson 3: ____________________ and __________________ are not always evidence of obedience (2 Chronicles 25:10 cf. 25:13).Lesson 4: pride blinds us to:(Part one) ____________________ (2 Chronicles 25:16, Proverbs 13:18, 15:10, 16:18, 29:1).(Part two) ______________ (2 Chronicles 25:17-19). Family Worship Guide for The Danger of Spiritual Pride Day 1: Read 2 Chronicles 25:1-4 and discuss: who was Amaziah’s father and what happened to him? Why was it a sign of faith when Amaziah didn’t execute the sons of the men who murdered his father? What do you think it means that Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a whole heart? What application does this have for us?Day 2: Read 2 Chronicles 25:5-13 and discuss: why did the prophet tell Amaziah not to use the mercenaries from Israel? What was Amaziah’s greatest concern when the prophet told him to send the mercenaries home? What does it mean to trust God with our finances? How do we leave our finances in his hands? Why aren’t prosperity and suffering evidence of obedience or disobedience? Day 3: Read 2 Chronicles 25:14-29 and discuss: why did Amaziah become proud? What terribly foolish thing did Amaziah do? Why does pride blind us to correction, or at least cause us to respond poorly to it? How does pride blind us to reality? Can you think of other examples in Scripture of people who suffered because of their pride? Sermon Notes for The Danger of Spiritual Pride We have been in a series called, “Pursuing Wisdom.” Go ahead and open your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 25. The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Wisdom Needed to Finish Well – Part III.” We’ve been looking at examples of kings who started well but finished poorly, and we’ll look at our last king this morning. The previous examples are still on your handout… Lesson 1: These kings reveal it’s hard to finish well: (example 1) Solomon (example 2) Saul (example 3) Hezekiah (example 4) Asa (example 5) Joash (example 6) Uzziah And our last king… Lesson 1: These kings reveal it’s hard to finish well: (example 7) Amaziah 2 Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.  Amaziah is a picture of half-hearted devotion. The problem with half of your heart being devoted to God is the other half can be devoted to something else. We will see this play out in his life. Let me remind you about something from last Sunday’s sermon so the following verses make sense… Amaziah’s father was Joash. He was the king who was raised in the temple as a child. When he got older he turned from the Lord. Zechariah, who was like a brother to him because they grew up together, rebuked him, and Joash murdered him. Some of Joash’s people were so disgusted with him they murdered him. Now Amaziah needs to deal with the men who murdered his father… 2 Chronicles 25:3 And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4 But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.” The standard practice in the Old Testament involved executing the children too to prevent them from later taking revenge. God strictly forbid that though and to Amaziah’s credit he obeyed. Now he wants to organize his army for battle… 2 Chronicles 25:5 Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver.  Amaziah decided he needed an additional 100,000 soldiers, or mercenaries, and he hired them from the northern kingdom of Israel for about 7,500 pounds of silver. Quite a bit of money! But something happened… 2 Chronicles 25:7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.”  Ephraim was the largest tribe in the northern kingdom of Israel, so sometimes it was called Ephraim. A prophet told Amaziah he shouldn’t take the Israelite mercenaries with them, and you can see why in the words the Lord is not with Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel was an apostate nation that turned from God, so God didn’t want the southern kingdom of Judah working with them. It could look like Judah would be stronger if they had the Israelite mercenaries w/ them, but they would actually be weaker because their real strength came from God…not the number of mercenaries they hired. It’s better to have less and do things right w/ God’s help, then have more, but do things wrong w/o God’s help. And look at the end of the verse… For God has power to help or to cast down. God wants His people depending on Him so He’s shown to be the One who helped. There’s application for us in the New Testament… 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? If we’ve got the opportunity to accomplish something with ungodly people, it might look like we’re increasing our chances of success, but w/o God we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Amaziah can send these mercenaries home but he is going to be out 7,500 pounds of silver. Look what he says… 2 Chronicles 25:9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”  His immediate concern was the money he would lose. This verse gives us a window into Amaziah’s halfhearted devotion to God. Understandably this was a large amount, but if he was wholeheartedly devoted to God it would’ve seemed like a small amount to him. We might be quick to judge Amaziah, but I remember feeling this way after I became a Christian and I had to throw out a lot of compromising things I had, such as movies, music, and clothing…and sadly my concern was, “I paid so much for all this.” I try to give you resources to put in your toolbox for counseling others, and yourself, and we reached a powerful one. This verse contains a wonderful financial truth, and it brings us to lesson two… Lesson 2: wise people trust God with their finances. The prophet told Amaziah that God was able to give him much more than he would lose. You might circle or highlight his words. If you’re ever tempted to compromise with money, go to this verse. I have used this during counseling to encourage people to do what’s right with their finances and leave them in God’s hands. Don’t worry about the money; God isn’t broke. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. When you honor God with your money he can honor you in return. What does this look like practically? Let’s say you’re at work and you’ve got the opportunity to make more money, but it involves something immoral, such as: Being deceitful…Shortchanging someoneStepping on others to make progress… You might be tempted to say: I’ve already invested so much…There have been all these expenses…We created this partnership…What will they think of me… It would be better to suffer the financial loss and trust God. Maybe you will: Lose moneyLose friendsLose your jobLose a relationship w/ a child…or a spouse could leave you.In some countries, missionaries and Christians obey God and lose their lives. But it means being in a better place b/c it means being in God’s will. To Amaziah’s credit look what he did… 2 Chronicles 25:10 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce