Bible Study - Living (4) - Worship Continually - 2 Chronicles 15:10-19 - August 11, 2019

Bible Study – Living (4) – Worship Continually – August 11, 2019


This is lesson four (4) in our series entitled “Living A Godly Life in An Ungodly World.”


Our focus scripture is 2 Chronicles 15:10-19.


Live your life as an act of worship.


Often, most Christians think of worship as something we attend. But do we have to attend a worship service in a church to worship GOD/JESUS? NO!

Do you recall the scripture in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20?


¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.^[a]


As Christians, we have our place of worship within us 24/7. Since that is true, when and where can we worship GOD/JESUS?


Worship is not something Christians attend but something we do. We truly worship when we partake of the LORD’S Supper. When worship is external, it matters only that we appear to be Holy, whereas genuine worship is where the rubber hits the road and takes place in the “eyes of our hearts” where truth prevails.


Christians live under the new covenant of “GOD’S Grace,” where as under the old covenant, GOD’S people lived under the “Law.” The “Law” is external with internal application.


King Solomon built a magnificent temple for the Jews to worship but a magnificent external temple is not enough to hold in check a wandering heart. When GOD is magnificent to us internally and we walk with HIM through faith in JESUS, the power of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome that which lures us away from GOD. When temptation comes knocking on the doors of our hearts, that is when our hearts need to turn to GOD in honest, true worship. Let’s continue with our focus scripture ----


Let’s read 2 Chronicles 15:10-15:

¹⁰ They were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep from all the plunder they had brought. ¹² Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their mind and all their heart. ¹³ Whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be put to death, young or old,^[b] man or woman. ¹⁴ They took an oath to the Lord in a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams’ horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their mind. They had sought Him with all their heart, and He was found by them. So, the Lord gave them rest on every side.

Five years after King Asa and his army had defeated Zerah. During these five years, King Asa had cleared the land of foreign shrines and repaired the temple. King Asa extended an invitation to Israel and their Jewish neighbors the opportunity to enter into this time of repentance, worship and celebration of GOD. Plus, they planned to make a new covenant with GOD. This event was carefully planned.

First, those attending this event should be prepared to confess their sins and be cleansed from their sins by the shedding of the animal sacrifices. They had obtained these animals as the spoils of war. The sacrifices would reflect their gratitude to GOD by the large proportion of sacrifices they would make to GOD. They had gathered seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats for sacrifice.

The timing of this event was important.

Let’s consider “¹⁰ They were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.” The “third month” coincided with the Feasts of Weeks which is the time of Pentecost or fifty days after the Passover. This was the time when many people made a pilgrimage to Israel. King Asa invited all Jews in the surrounding area to Jerusalem and to the temple. King Asa was led to choose a holy day to call GOD’S people together and worship in a renewed land (cleansed of all pagan shrines) and a renovated temple.   

They wanted all who were serious about repenting and renewing their relationship with GOD to come or else face the consequence of death. Unity in purpose was vital. It was not a time to party but a time to earnestly seek the right relationship with GOD because GOD had delivered them from their physical enemy.

Certainly, coming with the right Spirit, under the penalty of death, would get your attention and encourage all to be prepared to confess their sins and renew their covenant with GOD for the right purpose.

A true worshiper is a person who seeks to have the right relationship with GOD. The time had come for GOD to teach the people to again worship HIM in Spirit and Truth. All the people “took an oath to the LORD.”

When we rededicate ourselves to the LORD, the burden of guilt and shame resulting from sin and its consequence is lifted, there is great joy. They found the LORD and The LORD found them. There was no sin barrier between GOD and those who had come with the right purpose.

The term “The LORD found them” can lead one to think that GOD abandoned them but in fact GOD never moved. They removed the obstacles and barriers, mainly the sin of worshiping false gods. This is true today, when we confess our sins, repent, meaning to stop doing them and walk away from them, acknowledge JESUS as the ONE WHO fills our lives our relationship with GOD through faith is restored.

JESUS stated in John 4:24 - ^24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

As Christians, we can come into the very presence of GOD anytime we choose. We should come boldly. How can we come boldly? In 1 John 1:5-10:

⁵ Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. ⁶ If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing^[c] the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Yes, Christians have been washed clean of all sin by the shed blood of the Lamb, JESUS, but we are to confess our sins to maintain fellowship with GOD. As I was led to write in last weeks lesson, confession is open to us 24/7. A good time for us to reflect, ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and confess our sins is before we take the sacraments of the LORD’S Supper.

Let’s read 2 Chronicles 15:16-19:

¹⁶ King Asa also removed Maacah, his grandmother,^[c] from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image, then crushed it and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ The high places were not taken away from Israel; nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted his entire life.^{[d] 18} He brought his father’s consecrated gifts and his own consecrated gifts into God’s temple: silver, gold, and utensils.

¹⁹ There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Often, family members are stumbling blocks to obediently serving GOD. King Asa faced such a dilemma. His grandmother, Maacah, the queen mother had made “an obscene image of Asherah.” Asa chopped it down, chopped it up and burned it.

Often, those we love most do things which do not allow them to be in right relationship with the One True GOD. They may need our help to do the right things e.g. we need to pray with or for them. We may need to seek GOD’S help and guidance for the action we need to take.

King Asa was passionate about keeping clean these high places of pagan worship from the land.

He also took back to the temple the consecrated things that his father had accumulated from the victories the LORD had given him. These consecrated things rightfully belonged to GOD and were to be displayed in the temple for all to know that GOD give them victory.

King Asa had also brought “his own consecrated gifts into the temple.”

That is what we, as Christians, need to do, as led by the Holy Spirit. We need to return to GOD that which we have claimed for ourselves withheld from HIM.

GOD has given us life which is our kingdom. We are to make certain that we keep the pagan shrines torn down and cleaned out of our lives. When the Holy Spirit reveals areas where we have compromised, we must take action. What action? Ask the LORD JESUS to reveal the action needed. You may need help such as: Christian counseling or dropping certain relationships, stop going to certain places, or stop looking at certain things and the list goes on.

In our scripture, we read that King Asa continued to bring things to the LORD. When we are obedient to GOD, we have peace. Ask the Holy Spirit to examine our lives and reveal areas where we are compromising our walk with our LORD JESUS.

King Asa was obedient to GOD and what was the result? Here, we read that ¹⁹ There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Christians must keep and maintain their focus upon GOD through their faith in JESUS. We all encounter things in life that tempt us to compromise that relationship. Christians are to come before the LORD with hearts that earnestly seek HIM in all honesty, truth, fully confessed, no hidden issues that can compromise their relationship with HIM. Keep in mind GOD already knows it all, so don’t try to hide any thing from HIM. Do not try to con GOD with hidden agendas of why you are coming to HIM. GOD cannot not be conned. HE is truth and knows all; even the things hidden in our hearts. Continually keep a close eye upon the high place in your life and be careful not build an altar to a false god. Seek truth as GOD is truth and ask HIM to reveal truth to you as you study HIS Word and obediently serve HIM.

Christians must keep in mind that worship in not something we attend but something we do. Live your life as an act of worship.

Allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead and guide your life, especially your decision making. All Christians are under construction until the instant we meet JESUS face to face. Blessings!!!