Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-03-31
LESSON FOR APRIL z
ASA RELIES ON GOD

ASA RELIES ON GOD E.
| LESSON TExT-I Chronicles 14:1-1z.
| GOLDEN TExT-Help us, o Lord our
God; for we rest on Thee.-II Chron. 14:ll.
| REFERENCE MATERIAL-II Chron.
l4:l3-16; lisa. A:10-13.
PRIMARY ToP1c-A King who Trusted
God
| Z JUNIOR TOPIC-God Helping Asa
| INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
| "A Ruler Who Relied on God
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
The Source of Personal and National
Power. s4tsirF4ta 4+i.i '7aeaia
!. Asa's Reformation tvv. 1-5). .nas 3.
| Asa was the grandson of Rehoboam.
Both his grandfather and father
favored idolatry. but in spite Of this
record of his ancestors, Asa had ia
will Of his own, am though young
when he came to the throne. inagurat-
ed a campaign Of reform which
brought great good. He not only had
the handicap of the idolatry and i'm
mortality fostered by the two former
kings, but he had to contend against
the influence Of his mother who had
encouraged immoral worship Il Kings
ID: :13). In order to carry out his re-
,formatory measures he had 10 wrest
authority from her by deposing her.
Asa did that, which was good and right
in the eyes Of the Lord (v. p.
| l.. Cleared the land of idolatrOus
emblems and images (vv. 8, 81. u)s
Strange affairs. These were the altars~
devoted to other gods. (2) High
places. These were places where un-
lawful sacrifices were offered. (3y
Broke down the images. These were
upright stones connected with idola-.
trous worship. (4) Cut down the,
groves. These were trees or poles
connected with tree worship. He had
all these relics OF idolatry destroyed
In Jerusalem and other cities through
out his kingdom.
2, Commahded judah to seek the
Lord (v. ~. He knew that II. the ref
ormation was to be effective it must
be by the positive seeking after and
worshiping of God, accompanied by
obedience to His commandments, De-
structive work avails little unless fol-.
lowed by constructive a..... a.
u. Asa's Defensive Preparations
wv. 6-S). Best,a ~ni'a@ e,.l
|, 1. Built fortified cities ". 81. The
cities are not named, but the meaning.
doubtless, is that it was a general sys- !
tenn of defense which involved the
cities at strategic points.
2, He erected walls about the
cities w. ~. These were usually Of
stone. Upon the walls were observa-
tion towers from which the position
and movements Of the enemy could be
seen, and from which defensive war
fare could be waged.
/, 3. Made gates and barred them
". y. The reason he assigns for
these defensive preparations was that
they had sought the Lord God Those
who really trust God will make every
effort to provide defense.
4. Had an army Of spearmen (v. 3D..
These spearmen were also protected
with large shields The army was
made up of 100000 brave men. They
were prepared to wage an offensive
as well as a defensive war.
III. Asa's Victory over zerah, the
Ethiopian (vv. 9-12). a $50
1. Asa set the battle in array ".
10y. He went out to meet the enemy
de first made a disposition of his
means Of defense This was wisdom
on his part Intelligent faith moves
the possessor to do first that which
is within his power. a,ff,s
2. Asa's prayer (vv. IL, 12). He
cried unto the Lord He sought the
source of national power. In this
prayer note (1) his conscious helpless
ness. As he faced the Egyptian army
two to one against him, he was clearly
conscious OF his impotency. The first
requisite In obtaining help from God
Is conscious weakness. The Christian
conquers not BY self-relinn ees but ~
self-distrnst and faith Id God f2) ApSj
pealss to, God for helps He knew that
though they were helpless before the
mighty enemy. WITH Gods help they
could win the. victory. . One man IwitfK
God is a majorityep(D Repeses faith
In God. The word rest meansi to
lean upon--to cast the entire weight
upon. IN the measure that we renlizeo
our heed Of support VIII we, lean
hard upon God 10 Advanced coula
rageously. He went, forth depending
upon God to fight for him Real faith !;
does. not wait until it sees lita WAY
clear, but goes forth expecting Goxists
clear the way. (5l Flung himself i
upon Gods arms 70 Lord tkou ait
our God.Yp His cause was God scnuSgE
II God has taken ps for m rsopI =
and ifwe hava tak.n Him fdR O. c. a
no enemy can prevail against d. MO-
we erperimentslly san 1hSua 4 ttznxK1
God. and hear Hin. al r an thx..