Good and Right with a Perfect Heart

Turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 14 and:es 1-5. We're going to continue our series titled King Me. Looking at the kings of the Old Testament, what we can learn from their lives and apply them to our lives as well. In 2 Chronicles chapter 14, beginning verse number one, it says it says, "So Abagiah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David and Assau his son reigned in his instead. in his days uh that the the uh land was quiet 10 years. And Assa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. For he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment.

Also, he took away out of all the cities of Judah, the high places and the images, and the kingdom was quiet before him. So, we're going to look at Assa today. We're going to skip over one of the kings, and that's King Abbaja. Uh he only reigned for three years and uh and and really that he seemed like two different people. in se in first kings chapter 15 and verse number three and it says he walked in all the sins of his fathers which he had done before him and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God so as the heart of David his father. So he was not a good king. He walked in the wicked ways of his father.

His heart was not perfect towards God. And yet if you look at 2 Chronicles chap 13 and I want you to look at verse number 10. 2 Chronicles chapter 13 and verse number 10. It says, "But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him, and the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron and the Levites upon their business." Let's go down to verse number 12. It says, "Behold, God himself is our is with us for our captain, and his priests were sounding trumpets in the city around alarm against you, oh children of Israel. Fight ye not against the Lord, God of your fathers, where you shall not prosper."

And then down to verse number 18. Thus the children of Israel were brought under uh at the time the children of Judah prevailed because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. Now this was Abagiah who in first kings it says that he was wicked and done evil like his fathers whose heart was not perfect towards God. But yet here he tells Israel to obey the Lord and to follow the Lord. Now they were going into battle and he wanted to win that battle and so he kind of rallied people around the things of God and yet he was not a follower of God and what that shows us is you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons.

He wanted to win the battle and so he rallied the people around God but he was not doing it for the right thing reasons. In Ephesians 1 and verse number three, it says, "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." And it's God that blesses us, but sometimes you can do the right thing and for the wrong reasons. And we need to realize that we need to do what's right for the right reasons. You see in 2 Chronicles 14, it tells us about Assa that his heart was good and right and perfect towards God. In Deuteronomy 12 and verse 28, it says, "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God."

You see all the kings as you go through and study their lives, they either did that which was evil or they did that which was good. And uh but and 10 out of 21 kings of Judah did good before God. But there was only two kings that did that which was good and right. We have King Assa here and then Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles chapter 21. If you'll turn over there, 2 Chronicles 21 and look at verses 20 and 21. 2 Chronicles 21 and:es 20 and 21. It says, "They rose early in the morning, went forth into the wilderness of Tioa. And as they went forth, Joseph stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah, and you have Jerusalem.

Believe in the Lord your God." Uh, that's not the right passage there. Let me see if I'm in the right place here. 2 Chronicles chapter 31. I'm sorry. 2 Chronicles chapter 31. I'll get in the right place here. 2 Chronicles chapter 31 and:es 20 and 21. The Bible says, "And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God and in every work that he began in the service of the house of the God of God and in the law and in the commandments in which to was seek the Lord his God and he did that with all his heart and prospered." So you have Assa and you have Hezekiah who both did that which was good and right before God.

You see folks, you can be good and not be right. And you can be right and still not be good. The important thing is be both good and right. To be both good and right. See, it's good to be in church, but some people don't come to church for the right reasons. And some people come to the church for the right reason, but they don't come for good. You've got to do both. You got to be good and you've got to be right. The word good means benefit or results. It's good for you. In Titus chapter 3 and verse number 8, it says this is a faithful saying, "And these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believe in God might be careful to maintain good works.

These things are good and profitable unto men." When you do that which is good, it's good for you. It's good and profitable to us. We need to be careful to maintain good works. And goodness comes from the heart. In Matthew 12 and verse number 35, a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasures bringeth forth evil things. And so being good comes from your heart to do that which is good before God. Now it's it's interesting that both Assa and Hezekiah, the Bible also says they had a perfect heart. In first Kings chapter 15 and verse 14 it says, "But the high places were not removed.

Nevertheless, Assa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." So he had a good and he was good and he was right and he had a perfect heart. In 2 Kings 20:3, I beseech thee, oh Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart. And Hezekiah sore. Uh they had a good and a perfect heart. Now I want you to compare that to 2 Chronicles 25:2 where it says that he talking about the King Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart. So my question for you this morning is do you do that which is good and do you do it for the right reasons and do you have a perfect heart towards God?

Proverbs 4:23, the Bible says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." And we need to have a heart that is right with God. A heart that is perfect towards God, because God is looking for people with a perfect heart. Look at first uh 2 Chronicles chapter 16 and look at verse number nine. 2 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse number nine. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the whole earth to show him so strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly. Therefore from henceforth thou shalt have um to to have wars.

You see looking for somebody with a perfect heart towards God. You see both Assa and Hezekiah they both messed up. When you read about their lives they both made mistakes. They weren't perfect in everything that they did, but they had a perfect heart towards God. And a perfect heart towards God is talking about uh having a heart that is right with God. Even when we sin, we confess that sin. We get it right with God. In First Kings 15 verse number three, it says, "And he walked in all the sins of his fathers, which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of David his father."

Now, we know David's sin. We know that he messed up, but he got that sin right with God. He confessed it and got right with the Lord. And that's what God is looking for, a heart that is right with him. You know, Noah, he was a man of great faith, but he got drunk. And it says in Genesis 6 and verse number N, there are the generations of Noah, Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. You know, the the Bible talks about these men that were not perfect in that they never sinned, but these were men that had a perfect heart towards God. Now, it's not saying it's okay to commit adultery or it's okay to get drunk or anything else.

But what he's saying is that when you do sin that you get it right with God and God in his grace and his mercy will forgive you. And so, he's looking for those that have a perfect heart towards God. You see, there were kings that were smarter. There were kings that were better warriors. That Assa's dad was probably a better warrior than Assa was. There was kings even better looking. But he had a heart that was right with God. And we need to have a heart that is good and right before the Lord. You see, but you cannot be good without God. Turn over to the book of Romans, chapter 3, if you would. Romans, chapter 3.

Goodbye. Romans chapter 3 and look at verses 10-2. It says in as is written, there's none righteous, know not one. There's none that understand. There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. Know not one. In verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You and I cannot be good enough without God. If you take God out of good, you have nothing left. And and you can never be good enough without God. Only Jesus is good enough. Look at Luke 18. Luke 18 and verses 18- 21. Luke 18 and beginning with verse number 18.

The Bible says a certain rule asked him, saying, "Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus saith unto him, "Why callst thou me good? There is none good. Uh, none is good, say one that is God." He said, "If I'm not God, I'm not good. I'm a liar." Because he claimed to be God. And he could only be good if he was God. In verse 20, thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing.

Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. You see, this young man thought he was good enough to go to heaven. But even in all his goodness, he was not good enough because Jesus said, "Well, you willing to sell everything you have?" And he said, "No, I'm not willing to do that." You see, we need to understand that no matter how good you are, you are not good enough to go to heaven. And the only one that is good is God. And Jesus is either God or he is not good.

And we need to realize that we need the goodness of God. In Ephesians 2:8:9, it says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, then not of yourselves." It's the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. You see, it's the gift of God for salvation. It's not our good works that get us into heaven. We need Jesus Christ as our savior. You see, God's goodness should lead you to salvation. In Romans chapter 2 and verse number four, it says, "Or despise thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadth thee to repentance." God's goodness is calling you to salvation.

is calling you to Jesus Christ to put your faith and trust in him. Not in your religion, not in your rituals like baptism or catechism or church membership. Not in your own righteousness, but in a relationship with Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:es 9 and 10, it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. In Romans 10:13, it says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

And what we need to realize, we need to come to that point say, "I cannot be good enough to go to heaven. I need the goodness of God through Jesus Christ as my savior. I need to put my faith and trust in him." You and I cannot be good enough to go to heaven. But God wants us to do that which is good and he wants us to do that which is right. In Romans 12 and:es 1 and two, it says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto him, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

And so, God wants us to do that which is good. But also God wants us to do that which is right. You see you need you need to do the right things for the right reasons. You can do the right thing for the wrong reason. But we need to do the right things for the right reasons. You've got to be right in order to do right. In 2 Chronicles 25 and verse number two, it said he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart. Here was a king that did the right thing, but not for the right reasons. He didn't do it with a perfect heart. You've often heard me quote this statement, and that is, you can do all the right things and not be the right person, but you cannot be the right person and not do the right things.

You see, Assa did that which was good and right because he had a perfect heart towards God. He was the right person. And we can come to church. We can read our Bible. We can do all the right things, but not for the right reasons. And so, are you here today with a good and a right heart for God? Are you here with a perfect heart towards God? Are you right in the eyes of the Lord? In Judges 21, in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. You see, we want to do what's right, what we think is right, but God says, "You need to do what I say is right.

We need to do what's right before God. It's not what seems right. It's what is right." In Proverb in Proverbs chapter 14 and verse number 12, it says, "There is a way which seemth right unto man, but the end thereof the ways of death." You see, Assa, he will ask not my way, but God's way. He said, "I want to do what's right before the Lord. I want to do with that which is good and I want to do that which is right. There are some of you here today that you are you're good but not for the right reasons. And there's others doing the right things but not from a good heart. And we need a heart that is perfect towards God.

Look at Proverbs chap 21. Proverbs chapter 21 and verses 1-3. Proverbs chapter 21 and verses 1 through3. It says the king heart, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it with he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponderth the hearts to do justice and judgment more acceptable to the Lord to sacrifice. You see, we need this morning to ask ourself, am I doing that which is good? But am I also doing it for the right reasons? And is my heart perfect towards God? Not that I never have done anything wrong, but that I've got a heart that wants to do what's right.

I've got a heart that wants to obey the Lord. I've got a heart that wants to do the right thing. And so, we need a heart that is good and right. We need a heart that is perfect towards God. Now, go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 14, if you would. 2 Chronicles chapter 14. Look at verse number three. It says, "For he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves." When I preach to you, every time I preach in my mind, I've got something I want you to take away with you. My goal is that when the sermon is all done and you walk out those doors, that you have something to take away, some thought, some idea, some perspective to take away with you when you go.

Now you see Assa had a heart that was good and right towards God. A heart that was perfect towards God. And there were certain takeaways we see here. And now as you look at these things, what you need to understand is that look again in verse number three. Says he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves. Now when you study through all the kings of the Old Testament, you need to understand these four terms. It says first of all he took away the altars of the strange gods. In second in first kingsap 11:4 it says for it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not perfect towards the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father.

See Solomon did not have a perfect heart towards the Lord. Why? Because he had turned away to altars of the strange gods. You see, an altar is a place of sacrifice. In 1st Samuel 15 and verse 22, it says, "And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fath rams." You see, we need to be willing to sacrifice our hearts towards God. You know, I wonder today, what are you sacrificing your time to? Some of you here, your time doesn't go to God. It goes to sports.

It goes to entertainment. It goes to other things. What are you sacrificing your talents to? What are you sacrificing your money to? You see, an altar is something that you bring a sacrifice to. And what happens too often is we have given ourselves to something else besides God. And we've built an altar. a a sacrifice to other things. You see in Joshua chapter 24 and verse1 15 Joshua said, "And if it seem evil unto you, serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers serve, which are on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites whose land you dwell.

But as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord." Now, when he said that, all the people said, "Yeah, we're going to serve God." And Joshua says, "You can't do it." and he discourages them. You know, I'm thinking here's a preacher discouraging his people from living for God. But he understood how hard it is to keep God as the center of your life to obey him and to give yourself to him as a living sacrifice. And what happens is over and over again we get away from the Lord and we go back to those old altars or we build new altars and we sacrifice our time and our talent and our money and our self to other gods besides God.

We don't have a perfect heart towards God. And so he took away he it says he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places. Now the high places is the idea of high ground. You know in battle you always want to have the high ground. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number four the Bible says for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. You see when we if we're going to defeat the devil in our lives then we've got to have the higher ground. We can't give place to the devil. When you give the devil a place topography is the word in the Bible.

when you give him a place in your life, then he's going to use that as a stronghold to attack every other area of your life. And what you've got to do is you got to tear down those high places. And the the high places in the Bible is anything that's in a higher place in your life than God. Anything that's in a higher place in your life than God. You see, the high places were places of convenience. In 2 Kings chapter 23 and verse number nine, it says, "Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord at Jerusalem, but they did eat of the they eat of the unleaven bread among their brethren."

You see, they didn't want to go all the way to Jerusalem. So, they built their own places of worship, these high places to their God because it wasn't convenient going down to the to Jerusalem. It wasn't convenient to go to the temple. And often our lives, what happens is we we begin to live our Christian life based on convenience. It's more convenient to stay home and watch church on the internet than it is to come to church. It's more convenient to stay home and not come back on Sunday night. You see, we built these high places of convenience in our lives where we're not willing to pay the price in order to serve the Lord.

And and the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 11, turn over there if you would. 2 Chronicles 11 and look at verse number 15. 2 Chronicles 11:15. And he ordained him priests for the high places and for the devils and for the calves which they had made. Now, this was talking about uh Jeroboam who had split the kingdom and uh and he and he didn't want people going to Jerusalem which was in the other half of the kingdom. And so he began to build his own high places and and the high places became places of of compromise to keep the people from going to the temple. And I wonder what's the high place in your life?

What is it that keeps you from reading your Bible? What is it that keeps you from going to church? Is it sports? Is it TV? Is it the beach? Is it work? Is it your bed? You see, what started out as a convenience became an excuse. I remember back in CO, we had to go to online services. And I'm thankful that we had that ability to put the services on the internet and people were able to watch online. But, you know, after CO, a lot of people didn't come back to church. Why? Because it was more convenient to stay home. And and that's what happens so often. The high places are places that are higher have taken a higher place in our lives than God.

And the high places become places of convenience because it's easier than serving the Lord. And then it goes on to say back in 2 Chronicles 14 that in verse three and they break down the images and cut down the groves. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number five, it says, "Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." We've got to break down those bad habits in our lives. We got to break down those those things in our lives that we've allowed to take control like bitterness and depression and anger and these kind of things.

So often what what takes control in our lives is things like entertainment. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 7, neither be idolattors as were some of them. As is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. They were more interested in being entertained than they were in learning about God and serving the Lord. There are places of covetousness. In Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5, it says, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupisence and I and covetous, which is idolatry. These are the things that covetousness is idolatry."

And these images that we build up in our lives, these things that that we we allow to take that place of God in our lives. But then he says also that he cut down the groves and the groves were places of of of sinful wickedness. They were places of sexual immorality. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 it says, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committh fornication sinnth against his own body." Sexual immorality. And this was a problem back then as is a problem today. And these groves were places of wickedness and immorality and and the groves and the high places were the hardest places to get rid of.

Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Immorality, sexual sin, has a special consequence in our life. It affects us different than any other sin. And when we allow that in our lives, whether it's through internet or through the TV or wherever else it might be, when we allow immorality our lives, it affects us in ways that everything else more than everything else does. And he warned against this in in 1 Corinthians uh sec 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 17. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 17. The Bible says my page was sticking together. Here we got it.

So the uh Levites appointee the No, it is 2 Corinthians. I I was right the first time. 2 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 17. That's it. 2 Corinthians 15:17. But the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Assa was perfect all his days. Now it tells us earlier he took away the high places. But you know what happens when you confess a sin and you decide I'm not going to do it anymore. What happens? It comes back again. Many of you in this room during revivals are doing during some sermon you got convicted maybe about sexual immorality or some other sin in your life and and you said, "God, I'm going to stop this.

I'm not going to do it anymore." And you did it for a while, but then it came back again. It's that besetting sin you struggle with. And these are the ones that are hard to get victory over and they keep coming back over and over again. And and they're things that we struggle with in our lives and and so they're hard to get rid of. You'll find that as you go through the book of Kings, every king, this was the hardest thing to get rid of the groves, to get rid of the high places. And and you know in Jeremiah chapter 12 and verse number two it says while their children remembers uh their altars and their groves by uh the grow the green trees upon the high he high hills.

You see our children are affected by these high places that we allow in our lives. Some of you in your home your kids are watching things on TV because you won't control it. Your kids are looking up things on the internet because you're not controlling it. the there that many kids their first exposure to pornography was their dad's stash away and and these are areas we struggle with in 2 Chronicles chapter 15 look at verse number 16 and also concerning Makai the mother of Assa the king he removed her from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove and Assa cut down her idol stamped it and burnt it at the brook Cedran this was his mother and she was having struggles in this area and and also realize that I have to deal with this because if you don't deal with it drastically, if you're struggling with sexual immorality, if you don't deal with it drastically, it's just going to keep coming back and keep coming back and you're going to struggle with that.

And us understood if I'm going to outdo that which is good, if I'm going to do that which is right, that I I I've got to take care of these things. He said, "I've got to take away the altars and the things that I've I've given myself to, and I've got to take away the the high places because there's things that are higher in my life than God is, and and I've got to take down the break down the images and take down the groves." You got to deal with these things in your life. Then go to 2 Chronicles 15 again. I want you to look at verses 8-12. 2 Chronicles 15 and:es 8-12. And when also heard these words, and the prophecy of Ode Adb the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out of the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which had taken from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with him out of Ephraim and Manasseh and out of Simeon. For they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw the Lord his God was with him. So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month in the 15 year of the reign of Assa. And they offered unto the Lord the same uh time of the spoil which they had brought 700 men and 7,000 sheep, 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord of God of the thy fathers with all their heart, with all their soul. You see, they they sought out God.

There was a revival that happened. Now remember, the Bible's already told us that also had a good and he did that which was good and he did that was right and he had a heart that was perfect towards God. But even then, he still needed to get them things right with the Lord. He still needed that revival in his life. Look at chapter 2 Chronicles chapter 14 and verse number four. 2 Chronicles 14:4. And commanded Judah seek the Lord God of their fathers and do the law and the commandments. Look at chapter 15 and look at verse number two. And he went out to meet Assa. He said unto him, "Hear me, Assa, and all Judah and Benjamin.

The Lord is with you while he be with him. And if you seek him, he will be found of you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." And then verse number 12 again, "And they enter into covenant seek the Lord uh of their fathers with all their heart, with all their souls." Here was these people that had seen what Assa was doing and they said, "I want that." And I wonder when people look at your life, do they see someone that does that which is good? Do they see someone that does that which is right? Do they someone that's trying to have a perfect heart towards God? Do they see someone and they look at your life and say, "I want what he's got.

I want what she's got. I want what they have in their marriage. I want what they have in their family." You see, you need to seek the Lord with all your heart. In Jeremiah 29:13, it says, "And you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me with all your heart." Matthew 6:33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." We need to seek out the Lord in our lives. You see in for 2 Chronicles chapter 13, Osa's father had a great speech about how we need to follow the Lord, but he did the right thing for the wrong reason. He was more interested in winning the battle than he really was in serving the Lord.

But then I want you to look at 2 Chronicles chapter 14. Look at verse number 11. The Zenasa cried unto the Lord his God and said,"Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether they're with many or with them that have no power. Help us, oh Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude, oh Lord, thou art our God. Let not man prevail against us." You see, he didn't make a great speech. He made a great prayer. He sought out the Lord and that's where he got the victory. In 2 Chronicles 15 and verse number 14, it says, "They smoed all the cities around Gir for the fear of the Lord came upon them and they spoiled all the cities for there was exceeding much spoil in them."

And and then go down to I'm sorry in First Kings 15:14, "But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Assa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. And that's my prayer. My prayer is that I be like Assa, one of only two kings out of all 21 kings. These were the two, Assa and Hezekiah, who had a heart that was perfect towards the Lord. That they did that which was good and right. You see, you can be good and not be right. And you can be right and not be good. And here was Assa. It didn't just half halfway. You will look at some other kings that they started out well, but they ended bad.

But Assa, he followed the Lord. He was right with God, a perfect heart all his days. You see, God wants to give us that victory. God wants to work in our lives, and we need to trust in him. And I want to challenge this morning. Did you come this morning to think, "Well, I'm a good Christian." But are you a good Christian for the right reasons? Maybe you came this morning because it's the right thing to do. But are you doing the right things to do because it's good? Look at your heart. Are there high places, things that have become more important to you than God that have come to a higher place than God in your life?

You can tell that by where you put your time, your talent, and your money. You see, are there altars that you need to tear down because you've given so much of yourself to those things you're not don't have any left to give to God? Are there things in your life that have taken over? Is there sin that you need to get right with God? I want to close by turning to 2 Chronicles chapter 21. 2 Chronicles chapter 21 and [clears throat] verse number 12. 2 Chronicles 21:12. And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Thus sayeth the Lord God of David, thy father, because thou has not walked in the ways of Jehoff thy father, nor in the ways of king, the of Assa, king of Judah." To walk in the ways of Assa, the king of Judah. He's there to help us to realize that we need to do that which is good. We need to do that which is right for the right reasons, and have a heart that's perfect towards God.