THE LURE OF POPULARITY
2 Chron. 28:22-23
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Three men went into a greasy spoon restaurant in England and each ordered a bowl of soup. When they got their soup, each had a fly in their soup.
2. The first man, an Irishman, just picked it out, threw it away, and kept eating. The second man, an Englishman, called the waiter over, “I say, old man, there’s a fly in my soup. Could you bring me a new bowl please?”
3. The third man, a stingy Scotsman, picked the fly out, shook it over the bowl, and yelled, “Spit it out; spit it out!” [Told to me by a Scotsman!]
4. Hopefully we won’t need the extra drop that badly!
B. TEXT
1. 22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” 2Chron. 28:22-23
10 “Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 14 As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” 2 Kgs. 16:10,14-15
“But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.” 2 Chron. 28:23D
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to look tonight at a man who was like many immature American Christians, who see the lure of the world and want to be a part of its deceptive prosperity, not knowing
their decision will bring about their downfall.
2. The title of tonight’s message is “The Lure of Popularity.”
I. AHAZ DECIDES TO PRAISE THE GOD WHO DEFEATED HIM
A. WRONG INTERPRETATION OF GOD’S DEALINGS
1. If we’re in disobedience to God, God is forced to withdraw His protection of us. Then bad things can happen to us. Not that God wants this; He only wants us blessed. But God can’t bless disobedience or there won’t be any incentive for us to do right.
2. This is what happened to Ahaz; he disobeyed God and was defeated. The problem is that Ahaz misinterpreted the whole situation. Instead of seeing his defeat as a punishment for his unfaithfulness to God, Ahaz thinks it proves his opponent’s deity is stronger than his own!
3. So Ahaz decides to start worshipping whichever god appears to win the battles; in this case, the god of Tiglath-Pileser.
4. But in doing this he ticks off the only True God, so his situation goes from bad to worse.
B. PEOPLE FREQUENTLY THINK GOD’S CORRECTION SHOWS HE DOESN’T LOVE THEM; BUT THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.
1. The Bible teaches that if a parent loves their child, they’ll correct them – to save the kids from the bad things that will happen to them if they keep going on that course.
2. “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in” Prov. 3:11-12.
3. So it’s actually because God loves us that He let’s us get caught when we do bad things. When my family was still lost, I remember my mother telling me, “God always makes sure we get caught. Others may get away with it, but God loves us enough to deal with us.”
C. AHAZ DECIDED TO SERVE THE GOD WHO WAS DESTROYING HIM!
1. If someone is destroying you, you sure don’t want to get closer to them! Like wanting to hug a shark or an alligator.
2. Anything you’re DOING that’s harming you, you should get away from. Any PEOPLE who are leading you into trouble, you need to get away from them.
3. Ahaz’s choice reminds me of the Kurdu, a hill tribe in India of some 98,000 people, who had as their supreme desire and objective in life to be filled with demons.
4. When filled, they believe, their lives will be immune to attack or harm from the evil forces. Oh yes, they believed in God, but they feared the evil spirits more than they feared God.
5. It’s ALWAYS a mistake to put yourself under the domination of an evil power or person. Twisted people can’t help but torment those around them. Many people make themselves feel bigger by belittling those around them.
6. If we’re going to be filled, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit: God is only wanting to do us good!
II. AHAZ ENVIED TIGLATH-PILESER
A. TIGLATH-PILESER “MY FRIEND”
1. Ahaz admired Tiglath as someone to look up to. He was cool. He was smart. He was the Conqueror.
2. Ahaz wanted to be popular with Tiglath-Pileser.
3. It’s like a kid who wants to be friends with the school bully. But the kid who has a “Bully” nature, won’t be “friendly” by nature.
4. Beware of making lost people your best friends. Your lost friends don’t care about your eternal welfare or character development.
5. Tiglath-Pileser’s name means “Bind & take away captive.” What dummy would think a guy with a name like that would be your friend?
6. Satan is no friend of yours, but your worst enemy. John 10:10, he comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He’s bent on harming you!
7. Ahaz fell into the trap of imitating Tiglath-Pileser. He admired one of his new altars & sketched a plan to have it reproduced in the Temple at Jerusalem.
B. IMITATING THE UNGODLY
1. Ahaz’s root motivation was that he envied the prosperity of the wicked. In Psalm 73, the psalmist was temporarily blinded. He perceived that the wicked ‘have no trouble’ it seems. They’re popular. They’re the center of attention. They have success. They have material things – all the things the flesh wants to have.
2. Meanwhile the Righteous have to walk the straight and narrow road. They have to sacrifice doing many things and having some things – in order to be right with God, to please God.
3. In the natural, it’s easy to begin to say, “I’ve suffered for God and WHAT HAS IT BENEFITTED ME?”
4. The Bible points out that the prosperity of the ungodly is deceptive. Very few actually get all that (and there are many godly who are blessed materially – Job, Abraham, David, etc.).
5. But many of the wealthy ungodly end up being destroyed by their bad lifestyles.
C. THE CURSE OF THE LOTTERY WINNER
1. If you win the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot, you may not be as lucky as you may think. Many winners befall the so-called “Curse of the lottery” – they squander their fortunes and many of them meet tragic ends.
2. Don McNay, 56, a financial consultant to lottery winners, says, “People commit suicide. People run though their money. Easy come, easy go. They go through divorce or people die.”
3. About 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Examples?
4. Jack Whittaker won a $315 million in a lottery in West Virginia in 2002. He went broke about four years later and due to his winnings, his daughter and granddaughter died by drug overdoses. He said, “I wish that we had torn the ticket up.”
5. OTHER WINNERS COMPLAIN. Abraham Shakespeare: “I’d have been better off broke.” Sandra Hayes said that the people she thought loved her became “vampires trying to suck the life out of me.” Donna Mikkin, “My life was hijacked by the lottery.”
[“Here’s How Winning the Lottery Makes You Miserable,” Melissa Chan, 1/12/16].
6. Prov. 15:16 says, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble with it.”
7. HUMOR. Who is more content? The man with $1million, or the man with twelve children? The answer is, the man with twelve children, because he doesn't want any more.
III. OUTCOME OF CHOOSING SIN
A. AHAZ’S PATH OF DESTRUCTION
1. He desecrated God’s Temple.
2. His Kingdom was destroyed.
3. He died at 36 years old. “God will cut short the wicked;” “their days will be few.”
4. VALUE OF KNOWING THERE’S AN ENEMY
a. Rob Chaffart tells the story of discovering "there was a puma who had been living in our neighborhood for the past several years. Three years ago he nearly killed a neighborhood horse, and there are occasional reports of missing pets.
b. We didn't know of this threat until this year, but we were happy to learn of it. After all, when you have something as potentially dangerous as a wild puma roaming your neighborhood, it's really good to know about it!"
3. Isn't it strange that we can begin to think of the world as our friend and that the things it offers are desirable!
B. OUTCOME IF WE CHOOSE SIN
1. God says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." -- 1 John 2:15
2. God’s plans of blessing for Ahaz were wrecked because he chose popularity and prosperity over God.
3. The end for those who reject God’s atonement for their sins will be Judgment and they’ll be shut out from the presence of the Lord forever. It will mean the loss of all things.
4. Better than this world is to be content with what we have.
C. WANTING THE WRONG THING
1. A certain airline pilot had a peculiar habit. Whenever he took off from his hometown of Minneapolis, he would ask the copilot to take the controls. Then he would stare intently out the window for a few moments.
2. Finally the copilot’s curiosity got the best of him, so he asked, “What do you always look at down there?”
3. “See that boy fishing on that riverbank?” the pilot asked. “I used to fish from that same spot when I was a kid. Whenever a plane flew over, I would watch it until it disappeared and wish that I could be the pilot.”
4. With a sigh he added, “Now I wish I could be back down there fishing.” God’s best blessings don’t come with dollar signs on them!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: THE INDIAN CHIEF’S CHOICE
1. King George VI of England, a born-again believer, once came to Canada and his official visit took him to British Columbia.
2. Canadian officials thought King George might like to meet a native-born Indian chief. The one chosen for the honor was a well-known and influential Indian known as Chief Whitefeather.
3. Chief Whitefeather was told to sing something for the king and, needless to say, the officials supposed he would sing a native war song, but the Chief was a Christian and had something else in mind.
4. Imagine the surprise of the officials, when Chief Whitefeather began to sing: “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather be His than have riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land, I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand— Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.”
5. The stunned officials waited to see what King George VI would do. They did not have long to wait. The king went over, took Chief Whitefeather by the hand and said: “I’d rather have Jesus, too.” —John Phillips, Exploring the Psalms
B. THE CALL
1. How many of us have put value on the things that are going to pass away? Don’t you think it’s time we acknowledge that all the worldly things we crave will never satisfy the hunger inside us for relationship with God?
2. Let’s go to God and ask Him to give us the blessings of His Spirit, to give us contentment in what we have, and say with David, “In His presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore!” Ps. 16:11.
3. Prayer.
