Single Sermonarticles 3
Content
1) Easter: God's Plan is Best
2) God Understands, Even if Nobody Else Does
3) Surpassing Solomon
Easter: God’s Plan is Best
I want God’s plan. I want to know there is something I can trust in, something I can have confidence in, somebody behind the scenes that has a plan for my life and for this world. Do you think Jesus is excited by the way you are living? Or is He pained by your life and the frustration and hurt you are causing yourself? “Will you listen to my plan,” He pleads? “Will you look and see that I am here, that I want to help you?” God’s plan centers on the resurrection. God’s plan is all about Him and His love for us. It is about God invading history with the promise of redemption and salvation. From the beginning of time to the very end of time, history’s outcome hinges on the cross and the resurrection. Without understanding this major point, you cannot understand God’s plan. God loved us enough to come into our world, a world filled with pain and tragedy, and die the death that we deserve. And by His resurrection He shows us that He has the power over death.
God’s plan is real to those people who want Him to be real to them. His plan says, “I will fix those who want to be fixed.” And His plan also says, “Those who want to have nothing to do with me, do not have to.” God has a plan. And He invites you to be part of it. God has given you the freedom to choose whether to be part of His plan or not. But to be part of His plan, you have to choose to willingly surrender part of your freedom so that He can transform your heart, so that He can change you. You have to surrender to His plan.
Your plan may be good for you, but I am not sure if I like your plan because I am not sure what your plan has in store for me. In God’s plan He has your best interest in view. “I want you and your life to matter and for your heart to be fulfilled.” Think about this. If you are living next door to an angry, arrogant man or an impulsive thief, sooner or later that person will compromise your happiness. This world is filled with ‘land mines’ that will destroy your good feelings. And so God says, “For you to be happy, I am going to have to transform his heart so he will not be so angry, so he will not want what you have, so he will not be a bully. I have to change him. Otherwise, your happiness, your safety, your security, your fulfillment will be compromised. I have to step in. But actually, your fulfillment and happiness is also compromised by what you do, also. To be honest, it is not just him. I have to step into your life, too. Sometimes you are careless. Sometimes you are willful. Sometimes you are selfish. And so, if I am going to make a secure, safe, fulfilling place, I have to change him and I have to change you, too. But I will not do it without your or his invitation.”
God has given us the freedom to live and act as we feel. Think about why we have so many problems in this world. Yes, there are natural problems. Hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes are problems our environment throws at us. But most of our problems, most of your problems at work, at home, in society are a matter of the selfish and willful human heart--selfishness, greed, rage, revenge, scheming--things that build up in your life that work together to destroy you. God says, “Well, let me dissolve those for you. Let me take away that bitterness, that resentment, that rage, that selfishness, that greed. Let me take those things away from you.” This world would be a pretty nice place if we let Him do it. It would be for our best and it would be for this world’s best. But He says, “I have given you free will in this area and I will respect that all the way to your grave. And until you invite me in, I am not free to get involved.” He will not intrude on our freedom, on our capacity to do good or our capacity to do evil. He will knock, He will put barriers in our way, He will lead people into our lives but He will not come in without a personal invitation.
Easter shows us that He has the power to work in our lives, that He has the power over life and death. The Easter message is really about God’s power to invade history and change sinners into saints, rebels into grateful followers. Turn to Ephesians chapter one. Let me paraphrase: “Long ago, even before He made the world. You see His plan. He started planning before He made the world. God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us. He decided then to transform our hearts and lives to make us faultless and stand before Him covered with His love.” These verses describe God’s desire to transform us and shape our hearts. God did not say, “Oh, I did not think of that. Oh, now we have this problem, I did not know he was going to do that.” God has had an unchanging plan from the beginning of time. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. That is the God of love that wants to reach to you, wants to have a relationship with you. That is why He has given us the freedom to choose Him or not. Without that freedom, love cannot exist. Love is a choice--to choose to give of yourself, to choose to submit yourself, to choose to do what is best for someone else. I am not talking about a feeling. I am talking about an action of love, compelled by our hearts.
And then down in verse 13 it says, “When you heard the good news about salvation, you chose to believe and trust in Christ.” You have the freedom of choice and you will bear the consequences of those choices. He put man and woman in the Garden of Eden to have a relationship with them. We were created for relationship with God, but they made a choice to choose against what God had to say. “I will be my own man, my own woman. I will do what I want.” A need for forgiveness was created. Violation of God’s laws and directives is serious. There are consequences. There has to be! Knowing this, the Son said, “I will pay the consequences for your rebellion,” before the first act of creation was set in motion.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are going to be in heaven and God is going to transform you. He will remake you because that is what you want Him to do. That transformation is going to be instantaneous. But its time is not yet. God will transform His sons and daughters. Seeking to enter by merit will not force God’s hand. Unless we are adopted into His family, He will not redeem us.
Turn over to 1 Peter 1:3. Peter echoes the joy we have because of the resurrection of Christ. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus.” He has given us new birth. He has given us a fresh start. He has given us power to work through the problems that have plagued our lives. If you are a born-again Christian what are you doing with your new birth? Are you dragging all your old clothes, your old ways, around with you? Put a lid on that stuff and let it go! Jesus died for those things, do not keep giving them life! That is the power of His resurrection working in us now.
God has a plan and He has the power to carry that plan through if you are willing to say, “I want to be a part of that plan, a plan that says I have a choice and I want to choose You and I want to choose Your standards. I want Your ways imprinted on my heart.” God will forgive any of you, any of us, anyone who calls upon His grace and forgiveness. Ephesians 2:10 says that “we are His workmanship.” This is talking about rebirth and transformation. Paul says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” He wants to bless your life and your family and make it fulfilling. Not just provide a safe and secure place that you can do whatever you want, but to give you the equipment, the power to make a difference in the lives of others.
Look at Ephesians 1:18. Paul’s prays: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the rich and glorious inheritance that he has for you and also know his incredible power to affect life. He demonstrated that power when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heaven, conveying all authority to him over everything now and forever.” Do you understand what that means? It means that Jesus has inherited us. God the Father granted Him all authority, all respect, all power with us. It is like the Father saying, “Hey, if my Son will do this for these guys, He deserves them. He has shown that He will do whatever is in their best interest. He loves and cares for them so much I turn all authority, all power over to him that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord.” That is the Easter message. That is the resurrection message.
Are you living in light of God’s plan? Or do you have your own plans and kind of watch for God to fit in with them? God has given you the freedom to choose your plan. But who is a better planner when you really think about it? Who really knows what is best for you and for all those you say you love? Every time you choose your plan over God’s plan, you are hurting yourself and those you affect with your selfishness.
God has blessed you with another day to choose differently, to follow His plan. God wants to have a relationship with you. You do not deserve it, but He has paid a heavy price for your heart. He will be glorified by our lives as our lives are changed. It is not that we will be all white and shining but that we will be better people, more like Jesus Christ. If you are indeed a child of God, then your life should show it. Your priorities, your preferences, your choices and deeds should show it. If your life gives no evidence that you are God’s child then perhaps you are not. Second Corinthians 13:5 tells us to “examine [ourselves] to see if [our] faith is really genuine.” Is there new life in you? If not, then you need to repent and turn to God through Jesus Christ. That is what Easter is all about!
God Understands Even If Nobody Else Does
Do you ever feel like you are alone in the dark trying to navigate life through a dismal storm? That the winds are blowing, the waves are reeling and you are trying to figure out which way to go and what is right and what is wrong and you just feel lost? You may be in a crowd, you may be with friends, you may be with family and you just feel they do not quite get it. They do not understand what you are going through. You feel like screaming, “You just don’t understand!” And if they say, “Well, tell me. Explain it to me. What don’t I understand?” You feel like words just cannot describe how you feel.
Maybe you are part of a bunch of guys that play basketball. You are good friends, but you feel like they do not have a clue what is going on in your life. Maybe you are part of a women’s Bible study and you are sharing and studying God’s Word and talking about things, but you feel like they really do not know the trials and the temptations you are facing in your world. Maybe you are a kid going to school and you feel like mom and dad have no clue the pressures, the distresses, the temptations that you face in the school world. And parents, you know your kids do not understand. They have no idea about your world of bills, of mortgages, of schedules, of chores, of a life so full that by the end of the day you still have more things to do. Or you may be sitting next to your wife or husband of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years and feel that sometimes, even though you love them, they cannot help you in some significant ways. They really do not know quite everything that is in your heart.
Look at John 12. In verse one we read the story of Mary’s anointing of Jesus. This story comes right before the triumphal entry. And John chooses to put this event right in front of that one because it makes a transition in Jesus’ ministry. John 12:1: “Six days before the Passover Jesus arrived at Bethany where Lazarus lived whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served while Lazarus was among those who were planning at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, which is an expensive perfume, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and then wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot who was later to betray him objected, 'why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a years’ wages.' He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and as the keeper of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 'Leave her alone,' replied Jesus. 'It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.'” Her love, her gratitude showed in her freewill gift, giving something that was worth $20,000 by today’s standards. How long did it take her to save the money she used to buy this burial perfume? A long time! This is a big thing, a big sacrifice. But she was criticized for it. She was misunderstood.
Back in Luke 10 Martha confronts Jesus about Mary’s behavior by saying, “Jesus, tell my sister to help me. Can’t she see I have things to do?” Martha could not understand how Mary could just sit there listening to Jesus talk when there was stuff to do. There were rolls to cook, meat to cut, things to do. Martha is serving while Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet. It is interesting to note that Martha is serving and it is not even Martha’s house. Martha is Martha and she is going to be busy wherever she is. Matthew and Mark tell us this is in Simon the leper’s house. Lazarus, Mary, Martha, and Simon wanted to do something special for Jesus. And so, effectively, Simon says, “Martha, I will have the feast if you and Mary will cook and do the preparation.” And so, Martha is still doing what Martha does and that is fine, that is good. But what Mary does is very misunderstood. First of all, the disciples said, “What a waste this is. How could you do this? This money could have been used for good purposes.” And it could have. And Jesus cares about those things. He cares about the poor. But He says, “This has been designed by God. This was intended by God for something special.” Matthew and Mark tell us what Jesus said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you truly, wherever this gospel is preached through the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” This stands out because she was obedient to God in what she did.
Look back at John 11. “Now a man named Lazarus was sick and he was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary whose brother Lazarus is now sick is the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.” That is how John remembers Mary. That is how the people know Mary. This is her moniker. This is the event that defines her life. This is the story that has been passed down through generations. Jesus tells her critics, “Leave her alone.” Mary finally had somebody that understood her. Her family did not. Her friends did not. But Jesus did!
In this passage there is a second person who probably felt like screaming, “You just do not understand.” Can you spot this person? Is it Martha? Martha is very misunderstood. She is a good lady. Is it Judas? Because Judas is called by many a misguided, misunderstood martyr. No, it is not Judas. It is Jesus. Jesus is misunderstood. He has been walking with these disciples. He has been telling them time and time again, “I go to Jerusalem and I will be killed. I go to lay down my life.” And every time He tells His disciples, “I go to Jerusalem and I will be killed,” what do His disciples say? “No way, we are going to fight for you. That is never going to happen. We are going to make the difference. We are going to stand there before you. We will give our lives to prevent your death. We will give our lives to save your life.” Jesus told them, “Guys, you just do not get it, do you? I am going to give my life for your lives. I am the Passover Lamb. I am going to die for you and for your eternal salvation. Do not try to stop that. Do not try and stop God’s plan.” They did not understand the Scriptures. They did not understand His heart. And in a few days He would be hanging on a cross. He declared, “It is finished” and the disciples responded, “Ok? Now what?” They did not understand until Easter morning. And then finally it started to make sense.
I admire the patience of Jesus telling them over and over again. The Father inspires Mary in this passage to do the strangest thing. They are having a party, they are having a celebration and Mary takes funeral oil, mortuary material, something everybody associates with death, weeping, and mourning and anoints Jesus with it. Talk about a party killer. And it is so fragrant, the whole household smells of it. Everybody walking by the home could smell it. “Oh, who died here?” It was Mary who was open enough to God to follow through on something God told her to do. Nobody understood, but Jesus did. And that is the good news for us. If you feel like you are all alone, feel like there are things in your heart, your mind, and your life, that nobody understands, He does. He understands. And not just some things, He understands everything. He wants to calm the storms in your life. He wants to get rid of the darkness and bring light to your life, the light of His truth.
You have a God and Savior who knows exactly how you are wired and He wants to help you function effectively, fruitfully, joyfully. He wants you to listen to Him. He wants to communicate with you. His Holy Spirit speaks. His Word speaks. As you pray, He speaks to you. He wants to connect with you. Many times people read the Bible as if it were a geometry book or a physics book or a history book. They are reading it for information rather than for life transformation. When you read Scripture, read it as if God wrote something just for you and let the Holy Spirit guide your heart and thoughts as you read. There may only be one or two key things, things that come from the Word of God that you may hear, but if you allow them to change you, you will grow closer to God.
If you read through the Psalms, notice what David writes. David often feels alone and shut out, unfairly persecuted. Many of his psalms start off, “God, where are you? What is going on? This stinks! I do not even know if you are around anymore. In fact, I am not sure if you were ever around.” He is honest with his heart. As you read through these Psalms, by the time you get to the end he says, “Oh, will my soul magnify the Lord. I will glorify him for his is faithful and just and his love endures forever.” By the time he gets done spouting off and talking to God, God has softened his heart. He has vented enough and God connects with him in a vital, real way. God wants to speak to your heart. When you pray, it is not just to get an answer from God. It is not just to tell God what you need. It is to let God work in your spirit, to cut into your life. It is not so much that prayer changes things, but prayer changes you and that changes everything.
The rains will come down, the bills may still be piling up, but you are not alone in it anymore. You have a friend, you have a partner, you have someone who cares about you. You are not going through it all by yourself. David says, “Search my heart O Lord and know me. See if there be any way of iniquity in me. Test me and lead me into your way everlasting.” The Lord knows your heart. If you invite God to search your heart, to look inside and see and sense what is going on, to get a grip on your life, He will point out what needs to change, what needs to happen. The Lord knows your heart and He is the one that can reveal it to you.
Many times you do not know why you act and why you feel the way you do. And many times it is often not a matter of psychology, it is a matter of letting God speak to your heart and give you understanding. He knows your world. He knows the tests and the trials and frustrations you are going through. He invites you to confess instead of giving excuses. He wants to encourage us to say, “Lord, your standards are right. I agree with those standards and I have not lived up to those. Lord, forgive me and help me do better this next week.” Hebrews 4:15 says, “We have a high priest Jesus who understands our every weakness, tempted in every way just as we are yet he was without sin.” You think Jesus does not understand sexual temptation, does not understand jealousy, does not understand envy, does not understand betrayal, does not understand frustration? Jesus understands them. He knows the world we face, the temptations and invites us not to be satisfied with living with impurity, living with bitterness and resentment and anger because He knows these kinds of things will damage our lives. Every temptation that comes your way, not that He is bringing the temptation, but every temptation that comes your way He will provide a way of escape.
I used to enjoy driving in the Sierras. In the Sierras there are a lot of rolling mountains and as truckers drive these mountains they have to contend with steep 10% declines. There are signs that read, “Trucks use lower gears.” And about two miles down the hill you will see the first sign that says, “Escape road ahead.” For trucks that lose their breaks about every five miles there is an “escape road ahead sign.” As the driver is rolling down the road and notices brake power has been lost, seeing a sign that reads “escape road ahead” is a welcome sight. But you have to turn off into it for it to do you any good. How many times do we see where the road is leading in your life but refuse to get off. We know what is most likely to happen, but we think that somehow we might escape the negative consequences. If I could just make the next couple corners, I will have it made. But, your sin will find you out. You are going to crash and God keeps providing the escape route. These escape roads are uphill inclines filled with gravel that will take a while to dig out from. You are going to lose all your momentum. But when your momentum is going in the wrong direction, isn’t it time to stop! Take the escape roads God gives you. He will help you dig out. He will keep you on track. He will keep you on schedule. A tipped-over rig on the side of the highway is going to take you a lot longer to get out than when you are stuck in the sand.
He understands the things you go through. You have a God and Father who understands your heart, your world and your life because He has made you. He has watched you and He wants to guide you. So, watch for the unique direction He may give you in your life. Ephesians 3:20 says, “He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that works in us.”
God has a plan and you can be a part of it. Your uniqueness can be used in special ways. Within the bounds of His holiness and plan, you can be used in special ways if you submit your heart to do His will. He and you can be a great team, if you want it. He has already said He wants you, but the question you have to wrestle with is, Do you want Him?!
Surpassing Solomon
What comes to mind when you think of Solomon? I think of five things--wisdom, wealth, wives, worship, and winner. Solomon had it all. Solomon has been heralded for centuries as a great man. And if you use the world’s definition of a great man, he was. The world sees men who have almost unlimited power and wealth and command of those under them as great. They are considered great because of their ability to do as they please. They either were superior military leaders or they undertook great building projects—think of the Rome Caesars and the pyramid building of the pharaohs. They are above the crowd. They are towering figures in history. When someone says their name they are recognizable and something extraordinary comes to mind. Solomon fits this description. He was the king of an influential kingdom. He was wealthy. He undertook and completed great building projects. But what happens when we take a closer look at Solomon the man? Is he someone you would want your son or daughter to emulate? Let us shine the light of God’s Word on Solomon and see what we find.
He has all these wives. He has everything, experienced everything that a man could ever want. It says, “I restrain nothing from my desires. Anything I wanted, I took it. Anything I wanted to do, I did it.” A man totally without restraint. Does that not sound great, guys? I mean, do we not want that? Do we not really crave that? "Lord, just, well ok, I do not really want to be wealthy. That would be kind of self-serving, but just a little bit more. And just a little more smarts and just a little more power, a little more authority, a little more control of my life. I just want more of everything in my life."
Solomon is known as the one who composed and gathered the wise sayings we find in Proverbs. Proverbs begins by stating the purpose behind the book. “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.” These are good objectives for any author. And as thousands of years of faithful reading and applying the wisdom found in Proverbs can testify, Solomon created a masterpiece of literature. If someone followed diligently the wisdom found in Proverbs, his or her life and relationship with God would be greatly benefited.
The first two things Solomon wants his readers to gain from Proverbs are wisdom and discipline. So as we study the life of Solomon we are going to look for wisdom and discipline. When we look at Solomon’s life we are looking at history as recorded in Scripture. Scripture is not a tabloid magazine filled with rumor, innuendo, and juicy gossip for personal titillation. God’s Word is given to us to teach us about God and life. And sometimes what we see is messy and unsettling. I am going to say some things about Solomon that may surprise you and may seem a little irreverent and I do not do it capriciously. I do not want to criticize or judge anybody else because I know I am also subject to judgment. And as a pastor I want to be discerning so that what I teach will best represent God’s truth to those who hear me. That is my responsibility and I take it seriously. If after we study Solomon we find he did not please God, then I do not want to go down the same path he did. After all, I follow my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not Solomon.
Some things in Scripture were written for us to warn us, to keep us out of trouble (1 Corinthians 10:11). These things are written down so that we can read them and learn from them so we do not make the same stupid mistakes or commit the same sins that brought trouble and hardship to others.
At the beginning I listed five things that we usually associate with Solomon. But after studying his life I come to negative conclusions in each of these areas of his life.
I see Solomon as a wise … fool
I see Solomon as a wealthy … pauper.
I see Solomon as a romantic … philanderer.
I see Solomon as a spiritual … compromiser.
I see Solomon as a successful … failure.
Before Israel entered the land promised to them, God instructed them in how both to avoid trouble and gain blessing and prosperity. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 His instruction centers on the behavior of a king. He knew there was coming a time when they would want a king, like the surrounding nations and against God’s best plan for them, so he told them how they could avoid the usual pitfalls associated with having the power of a nation centered in one person—the king. Basically, He told them it is best to not have an earthly king rule over them but if they insisted on doing it this is how they can avoid the usual troubles associated with kingships. “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,’ be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, ‘You are not to go back that way again.’ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 will be the blueprint we hold up next to Solomon to see how good of a king, and man, he really was. Moses recorded these instructions 500 years before Solomon was born. So Solomon was aware of them. He was not ignorant of God’s commands concerning his role as king. The advice contains specific examples of what God wanted from the king of His nation, Israel. These examples are types indicative of the attitude and disposition he wants in His king. God instructs His king to not:
acquire great numbers of horses
return to Egypt for any reason
take many wives for they will lead him astray
accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
But what did Solomon do? Have you heard of King Solomon’s stables? He had so many horses it became legendary. I would like to think he got them from Arabia or somewhere else but he got many of them from … Egypt. Scripture also tells us he married Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 3:1). Solomon not only returned to Egypt for horses but his first wife as well. Before he was done he had “700 wives and 300 concubines.” And many were foreign women who brought with them their love for their native gods and immoral worship practices. Many of these marriages were for political gain. And of course many for sex. He was focused on politics and sex instead of relationships with his first wife, his nation, and God. Instead of trusting God for peace and prosperity he made alliances with pagan nations to acquire peace by compromise. And Scripture tells us the result. First Kings 11:1-6: “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” Astereth was the fertility god of the Sidonians and immoral sexual practices were associated and encouraged with her worship. The worship of Molech included sacrificing living children by burning them on an altar.
How did Solomon get so far away from God? Was not Solomon the one who built the temple his father, David, envisioned? He himself dedicated that temple when it was finished. Read 1 Kings 8:54-66. “When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying: ‘Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.’ Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD. Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD : twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD. On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel.”
How did Solomon go from praising God and acknowledging His faithfulness to violating everything God told the king not to do? First Kings 11:4-5 tell us that Solomon did not fall into gross sin but slid into it. The foreign wives “turned his heart after other gods, and [then] his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” When David saw Bathsheba on that rooftop bathing that day he was not planning to sin—he fell. Solomon started on a path that eventually led to immoral behavior and religious practices that we amazingly shake our heads at. He was like that frog that is placed into a kettle of water. At first the water is cool and all is well. But as the temperature of the water is turned up ever so gradually the frog remains not sensing the heat of the water. That frog will literally let himself be cooked to death without attempting to leave the water because the change happens so slow he cannot detect the temperature rise, even when it becomes life threatening. Solomon boiled in his own unbelief. His long history of trusting his own opinions and the worldly practices of the nations surrounding him instead of God’s clear instructions led him to the point where his foreign wives could actually get him to worship immoral gods such as Astereth and Molech.
When God told Solomon to ask for any answer to prayer he wanted, Solomon asked for the wisdom to rule the nation. First Kings 3:4-14: “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ Solomon answered, ‘You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?’ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.’”
Ironically, although God gave Solomon the wisdom to make wise administrative decisions for Israel’s benefit, Solomon never learned to control himself. He did exactly what God told the king not to do in Deuteronomy. 17:20—“not consider himself better than his brothers.” He did not think it worthy to follow the exact same advice he gave others. Solomon was not a murderer or thief nor did he bear false witness against another, as far as we know, and he did honor his father, David, but he did chase after the wind when he allowed himself to satisfy his carnal desires by coveting women, things, gold and silver, and exciting, although immoral, religious practices. Solomon is the perfect example of someone who followed his innate carnal desires into immoral and idolatrous practices. The mantra of carnal living is--“because it feels so good and is so exciting I will use it as a guide for my living.” Concerning carnality, Solomon withheld nothing from himself (Eccl. 2:10).
Walter Kaiser Jr. said that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes near the end of his life. “Ecclesiastes is best placed after his apostasy, when both his recent turmoil and repentance were still fresh in his mind.” Solomon gives testimony to the lack of real value the things of this world have when taken out of their proper context. In and of themselves they are empty. Ecclesiastes 2:10-11: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” He goes on to teach us about the inherent emptiness of living for only the things of this world as ends in themselves. He has held nothing back for himself and it brought him and his nation ruin. After learning the hard way, he finally says at the end of the book, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
So what became of Solomon? What was his legacy? Solomon had many wives but was a husband to none. Solomon had many children but was a father to none. In all of Scripture we do not read anything good about any of Solomon’s children. Solomon had 1,000 women with whom he could have had children. He probably had at least 1,000 children. Odds are at least 500 of those were boys. Can you name them? The Bible only names one and names him because he happens to be the next king. Rehoboam. Only one is worth mentioning in the Bible. Solomon knew how to sire children, but did not know how to be a dad. Solomon lamented the fact he had to leave his kingdom to an unworthy son. “Like a fool, the wise also dies and I hated life. All I had toiled for I must leave to another who comes after me whether he is wise or a fool.” Solomon leaves his kingdom to the only one, the only son, the pick of his sons, the one who has the most going for him, and he destroys the kingdom in less than a year. He defies the people, takes terrible advice, and is even more selfish and egotistical than Solomon himself.
Before I go on, let me remind you who Solomon’s father was. And what Solomon learned from his father. What did Solomon learn from his dad? “Man, kids are trouble.” David’s sons ended up killing each other or causing rebellion in the kingdom. Solomon himself has one of his brothers put to death in the first week of his rule because he is untrustworthy and is trying to usurp the throne. Family is trouble. That is what he learns.
What is David busy doing? Is he busy being a father to Absalom or Solomon or his many other children? I am sure he was there some of the time. They had Passover and they had some fun things to do now and then. They probably played ball and did sword fights or work in wars or something, but he did not pour his heart and life and values into his children. What did Solomon see? What is important in building a kingdom? More land, more property, more wives. David, although he had a heart for God as it concerned uniting the kingdom, solidifying the government, getting organized, getting his kingdom together, gaining peace for the nation, his personal life was often in turmoil. Solomon saw this up close and personal and it had a profound effect on his life.
The end result of Solomon’s self-indulgence and unbelief is recorded for us in 1 Kings 11 and 12. First Kings 11:26-40: “Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon's officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah. Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph. About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did. But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who observed my commands and statutes. I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever.' Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon's death.”
And 1 Kings 12:6-17: “Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. 'How would you advise me to answer these people?' he asked. They replied, ‘If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.’ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, ‘What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?’ The young men who had grown up with him replied, ‘Tell these people who have said to you, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter”-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, ‘Come back to me in three days.’ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, ‘My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: ‘What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!’ So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.”
The people simply left Rehoboam. The kingdom was split in two. All that David and Solomon worked to achieve was gone. The kingdom was set on the road to spiritual and moral decline that would result in the Assyrian and Babylonians captivities. And why? The self-indulgence of the king—primarily Solomon, but also David. When persons with great responsibility stray from the truth great harm comes to the people of the kingdom. Are we not seeing that truth fulfilled in our own time? It is tragic. Ecclesiastes records for us that Solomon finally learned his lesson and repented but 1 Kings 11 and 12 tell us it was too late to save the kingdom—the harm had already been done.
Men, Solomon is your anti-example. Do not do what he did. How tragic is that? The man requested that wisdom to rule his nation be given him by God and instead of being a positive example for us to follow he became the anti-example of what we should not do. How do we become a better man, husband, and father than Solomon? How do we live a life that is pleasing to God rather than one that causes Him to voice His displeasure at what we have done? “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel.” How do we become a man to whom our Lord says, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” It sure seems clear he could not say that to Solomon!
Solomon was a successful failure. He knew how to sire children like a bull in a pasture and then saunter away, “I did my part.” But he did not know how to be a dad. He knew how to father children, but not how to father people. He knew how to have kids but not raise men and women. He knew how to have sex, but not how to be a lover. True wisdom is not just knowing but also doing. Remember the beginning of Proverbs? “The wisdom of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel, for wisdom and discipline.” Does that sound different than knowing? Discipline is different than what I know. How many of you know what the right thing is to do and sometimes do not do it? What is the difference? What is the missing ingredient? Discipline. Self-discipline; self-control! The missing ingredient for Solomon is self-control. One of his own Proverbs (25:28) said, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
At this point I want to remind us what I said in a previous message in 1 Peter 1:13 about self-control and Spirit-control. I will reproduce what I said into this message:
“How many of you have someone in your family that needs more self-control? How many of you want more self-control? Can I fill your wildest dreams by telling you that you have all the self-control you need? You have every bit of self-control you need. I know that because my three-year old granddaughter, Natalie, has all the self-control she needs. She is totally self-controlled. Mom is telling her what to do, Grandma is telling her what to do, I am trying to get her to do things, but she knows that she is in control and she lets us know it. She does not have to obey us. We can try to bribe her, we can try to force her, we can discipline her, but she is in control of her. The same way you are in control of you. See, what you need is not more self-control. You have all the self-control you need. You are in charge of you. You are the boss and you can say, “No, I am not going to do that.” What you need is a better system of government, not more government. Not more self-control. You need a better governor for the self.
”There are four things that may adversely affect my self-control. The first one is my head. The way I think, what I think. We have seen how important right thinking is. I can reason what the right thing to do is, what I should do at a particular time, but the trouble is that I can talk myself into just about anything or out of just about anything. ‘Katie, I really think we need to do this because I want it, I need it.’ Anybody ever rationalize yourself into doing something you know you should not have done? The problem is that you are using your head to justify something you know is wrong. You can out think yourself and rationalize to make almost anything sound ok. ‘Well, I need to do this because …, and I know it is not normally right but in this situation there are extenuating circumstances that justify me doing it.’ So your head votes to go ahead and do something wrong.
”Secondly, my heart may adversely affect my decisions. Your feelings can lead you astray. Your feelings can have a tremendously powerful effect on your life. ‘It feels so good it just cannot be wrong.’ We see our feelings as the real us. ‘So why should I not just be me. If it is acceptable to me, then you cannot tell me to not do it.’ We not only say this to people but to God. After all, we see our feelings as the real us. Doing it just validates who we are. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that in many ways we are not incorrect when we say this. As we think in our hearts so are we. The problem is that the real me can be opposed to God and His ways. And by expressing that we set ourselves against Him. Can you trust your feelings to guide and control your life? Without self-examination, no! But does it cast its vote on controlling you? Does it sometimes cast a vote in some pretty dangerous directions? Oh, yeah. So, you have self-control, but what direction are you going in? Just because you want it does not make it right. That is why it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ before it is done or spoken.
”Thirdly, my stomach can lead me astray. My stomach represents my basic desires and appetites. I am not just talking about food. I am talking about sexuality and all the other basic desires I have as a human. These desires can, however, take me in the wrong direction if I do not control them. Being ‘brainless’ they can take me in extreme directions. Too much food, bad, unhealthy food, too much sex, sex with the wrong people (not your spouse), sex for pleasure alone, detached from relationship, or a lust for adventure, thrills and excitement to the point where you will risk your very life, health or family to have it--in other words, greed and excess in many areas of our lives. If we choose to indulge them, they will lead us astray. If we keep them within the bounds God has provided for them, they can enhance our lives.
”Fourthly, my spirit can lead me astray. The main problem is pride. Listen to two passages. Isaiah 25:10b-12: ‘Moab will be crushed like trampled straw and left to rot. God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. The high walls of Moab will be demolished and ground to dust.’ Obadiah 2-4: ‘The Lord says, I will cut you down to size among the nations, Edom, you will be small and despised. You are proud because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’ you ask boastfully. Do not fool yourselves! Though you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down. I, the Lord, have spoken!’ Three things we need to be aware of concerning pride. One, we think too highly of ourselves. Two, we think too highly of what we have done. Three, we think too highly of what we can make ourselves to be. It leads us into foolishness (Obadiah 3), destruction (Proverbs 16:18), arrogance (Proverbs 8:13), stubbornness (Isaiah 9:9), contention (Proverbs 13:10), and a lack of humility (see Eve’s fall, Genesis 2). James 4:6-10 tell us that the cure for pride is humility. ‘But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.’ First Peter 5:5-6 tell us the same thing. ‘Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.’
”When Scripture tells us to have self-control, it is not telling us to have me-control. It is literally talking about Spirit-control. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23). It is listed last because this is the one that ties all the others together and helps them to operate effectively. The fruit of the Spirit includes patience and kindness. Does it take self-control to be patient and kind? Oh, yeah. I can say I feel very patient. But then I have to control myself when she or he is late and it has happened again and again. I need self-control to exercise patience so that anger does not control me. I have to have self-control to exercise kindness, as well. Being kind may take effort. Being kind may be contrary to how I feel. We may feel pity or disgust but self-control gives us the opportunity to show kindness to someone instead.
”The good news is God does not leave you to your spirit alone. He says, “I will plant my Spirit in you to help your spirit do what you need to do.” For it is God who ‘works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose’ (Romans 8:28). We sometimes misunderstand that verse. It is not just to do the right thing but to want to do the right thing. God works in you to move your spirit to do the right thing, to make the hard choice, the non-feeling choice, the choice to deprive yourself of something you crave in order to do what is right and pleasing to God. God works in you to will to do the right thing. It is work for God to change your will, to shift your desires. He does not make us do something. He entices and encourages us to make the right choice. “God [exerts effort] in [us] to [want to do the right thing] and [then] to [actually] do [the right thing] according to His good purpose.’ Do not let the world squeeze you into its mold. Let God remold you from the inside out. Let God’s Spirit work in you to change, to motivate, to move you. Be self-controlled. Deliberately take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus. To say, ‘this thinking is not right. This desire is not right. I know what I feel I want to do, but I know what the right thing to do is and that is letting your Spirit take me through it.’”
This ties into another important topic--accountability. Self-control is good but there are times in my life when my self does not control me as well as it should and that is when someone else can be a blessing in my life and come alongside and say, “Hey. How about? What if?” Now, I usually do not like it because I want to be the one in charge. I do not want critics coming into my life but Scripture gives us one another to encourage and strengthen each other when we do not have the self-control that we need to do it ourselves. Let us consider how we can spur each other on to love and good deeds. Why? Because by ourselves we settle back down into our lounger, kick up and watch TV all day. And sometimes we need to get spurred to go ahead and do something more, to be more. Do you have someone in your life that can come alongside you to help and encourage you to be the kind of man or woman God wants you to be? Solomon was not the man God intended. Solomon was the man Solomon wanted to be. He was accountable to nobody and failed miserably.
Men, Solomon has a reputation for being a great king but as we have seen he was not a great man. His personal failures and excesses brought down a kingdom. Men, if you heed the words of Proverbs, have Spirit-empowered self-control and are accountable for your behavior to someone who cares about you and your walk with Christ, then you can be a greater man, leader, husband, father, and what I call faith-er than Solomon.
Men, you can be a better leader than King Solomon was. Do you recognize where Solomon got all his money? All his gold? All his wealth? Do you know where it came from? From his people. He taxed them. He taxed other lands and he did not use all the taxes for a great health program. He did not use it for building infrastructure. Do you think Solomon felt like he was the people’s servant? That his job was to make the lives of his people better? Saddam Hussein, was his role to make the lives of his people better? You see, public servant is a brand new concept in leadership and do you recognize where it came from? The night in which Jesus was betrayed He sat down with His disciples and He washed their feet. He said (Luke 22:26-27), "he who should be greatest among you should become their servant. Let the one who leads among you be as a servant as I have served you." Servant leadership. The leader is put in his position to make the lives of people better, not to glorify himself and to store up wealth and pleasures for himself. It is not about him. It is about his people. Solomon lost track of this truth. As an employer, as a manager, as a friend, as a father, you can be a better leader than Solomon. Solomon did not lead his sons. Solomon did not lead his wives. Solomon did not lead his family. Solomon did not lead his kingdom. He managed it to get as much out of it as he could. You may not have a kingdom to lead but if whatever you lead is more positively effected than Solomon was to Israel then you can be a better leader than Solomon.
Men, you also have the capacity to surpass Solomon as a husband, to truly love your wife. Husband, it says in 1 Peter 3:7 that you are to live kindly and considerately with your wife. And if you do this you are a better husband than Solomon. Solomon did not even live with his wives. He put them all together in a house ‘over there’. They were just commodities to be used for personal pleasure or political gain. Husbands, be considerate and caring toward that woman God brought into your life and if you do that you will be a better husband than Solomon.
Men, you can also be a better father than Solomon. As God instructed Israel (Deuteronomy 11:19), “teach my words to your children. Talk about them at home and on the road and when you go to bed and when you get up.” Do you know where Solomon’s kids were? Where Solomon’s kids were raised? In the harem with all the women. Raised by women. I am not making that a slight. I am saying these men, Solomon’s sons, never learned how to be a father, never learned from their father because they were entrusted to the care of all these women. These boys needed to learn from their father how to live, how to be a man, what values should guide their lives. Not just seeing him out the window and saying, “When I grow up, I am going to be just like him. I am going to get the kingdom. I am going to be rich and powerful. I am going to have all these things.”
“Teach my words to your children. Talk with them at home.” Do you think Solomon talked with these kids? Do you think he walked along the road with them, took them to the park and played on the seesaw with them, had time with them, took them for drives? Solomon did none of these things with these kids. The only child of Solomon’s we read about in Scripture is Rehoboam and within just a few months under his leadership the nation was divided into two and if not for the guidance of a prophet into civil war. The so-called wise man did not pass wisdom onto his children. If you live your life showing your children that you care about what God says and honor His ways, then you will be a better father than Solomon.
Men, you can also be a better faith-er than Solomon. Notice what 1 Kings 11:9 says. “The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” Solomon saw how God worked through his father David and the Lord personally appeared to him twice and yet unbelief still ruled his live. Solomon had the opportunity to have God speak to him twice in a clear, decisive manner. Most of you have not had that. I have not had that. I have not had a vision from heaven. And as Jesus told Thomas (John 20:29), “you believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe without seeing.” You believe by faith and trust and Gods says, “This is a great blessing and you will be rewarded for it.”
How many of you believe I am here? Do you have faith that I am here? Huh? Do you really have faith that I am here? No, you do not. There is no faith involved. You can throw something at me and hit me. You can hear me talk. There is no faith involved in this. This is reality. This is presence. When you get to heaven, there is going to be no faith involved in your relationship with God. You are going to see Him face to face. No faith because there can be no doubt. He will be there right before your eyes. Now is the only time we have opportunity to choose freely and say, “Lord, I want you. I believe with all my heart. I have faith with all my heart. I trust that you are there and you have great things planned for me.” And that is what God honors.
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