Meet me in First Kings Chapter 11, please.
In your Bibles, First things Chapter 11.
We all knew that this time would come, the time when we would
have to take a good, hard look at the downfall of one of
Israel's most influential and greatest among the rosters of
their leaders. And as we approach this text, I
just want to pray briefly and ask the Lord's help for this
time. Father, our prayer is simple as
we now come to your word. Give us understanding that we
may keep your Word and enlarge our hearts, that we may run in
the way of your commandments. We pray for the help of the
precious Holy Spirit to guide us through these verses to
eliminate any distraction or any obstruction to these truths
settling in our hearts. Lord, help us hide these truths
down deep inside that they may be with us for the rest of our
pilgrimage here on earth. And we pray that the power of
the Spirit would be known along with the knowledge and the
insights. Yes, but the power to make it
personal and applicable to our own lives.
We know that you will guide us and we trust as we pray.
In the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Amen. As I said, we have now come to
this text that we knew was going to come eventually, where we
have to face one of the greatest failures in Israel's
leadership's history. And as one writer said,
Solomon's fall is told in the same frank way as his wisdom and
his wealth. It's sometimes unpleasant to to
come to the realization of the shortcomings of someone who
especially has been esteemed by many as a champion in the cause
of God. But we have to also appreciate
and realize that God has preserved such things in
explicit detail, doesn't hide these failures for the sake of a
preventative measure in our own walk with Him.
This is His grace. This is His love, His love in
the form of warning and caution. You know, when we look at the
authenticity of the Scriptures, the honesty and the transparency
of the Bible, it does say something about the divine
authorship of this book. But God's primary reason for
this is again to supply the necessary truths in order for us
to be further sanctified as we take these truths to heart and
believe that they are for us. In fact, I want to make the case
to you as before we even dissect these verses, the 1st 8 verses
of this chapter, that even within the Scriptures we have
testimony of how this particular story was used in the life of a
man of God, and not only in his life, but in the lives of those
who served underneath his leadership, those who were under
his guidance. Can anybody think of the man
that I'm Speaking of who made specific reference to this very
chapter when he tried to exhort the people of Israel at a
particular time in its history? Very good, Nehemiah.
If you turn quickly to Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 26, you'll see
what I'm Speaking of and it will solidify this point that I'm
trying to make, that this is intended to provide the
necessary truths in order to prevent us from making the same
mistakes. So Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse
26 to verse 27, Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem from his
frequent visits back and forth, and he learned that the Exiles
who have returned are now marrying foreign women from
different nations who serve different gods.
And this is his warning to them in verse 26.
Did not Solomon King of Israel sin on account of such woman
among the many nations? There was no king like him, and
he was beloved by his God. And God made him king over all
Israel. Nevertheless foreign woman made
even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you and
do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by
marrying foreign woman? In other words, here's what
Nehemiah is saying to this generation.
Didn't you learn from Friday night Bible study?
That when the story of Solomon has been preserved for us, it
was meant for you to understand that you should learn from the
mistakes of others, and that you should understand that you are
setting yourself up for the same disastrous disasters that
Solomon brought upon himself and others by entertaining the same
sins that he entertained. Did you not learn?
Secondly, notice his wording is very carefully.
He says here in the second part of verse 26, among the many
nations where there was no king like him, and he was beloved by
his God. Do you not understand, O
generation of rebellion, rebellious Israelites, that
Solomon was unique in that he enjoyed a particular wisdom from
God? He had this special favor from
God. But even him with such stature
and such influence was not impervious to this temptation.
And if it's true for Solomon, how much more you?
If it's true for Solomon, how much more you, how much more
vulnerable are you? How much more on guard should
you be? Evidently, as devastating as
this chapter will be to read and to look at in great detail, it
was a value in Nehemiah's day, and there should be no doubt in
our minds that it carries value for the Church in this hour.
So let's come back to First Kings Chapter 11, and let's read
the 1st 8 verses together and we'll take our time to look at
what each verse has to teach us. Now King Solomon loved many
foreign woman, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite,
Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite woman from the nations
concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel,
You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither
shall. They with you, for surely they
will turn away your heart after their gods.
Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives who were
princesses and 300 concubines, And his wives turned away his
heart. For when Solomon was old, his
wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart
was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of
David his father. For Solomon went after
Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Cydonians, and after milk them
the abomination of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did
not wholly follow the Lord as David his father had done.
Then Solomon built a high place for Kimash, the abomination of
Moab, and for Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites on
the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did, for all the his
foreign wives who made offerings and sacrifice to their gods.
Verse one, this verse should strike us because we learned in
the previous chapter that Solomon had now entered into a
phase of multiplication. We learned that he multiplied
his wealth. And yes, part of that was
promised by God that he would be rich and that he would enjoy
honor. But Solomon took it to another
level, to an unhealthy measure. From there we learned that
Solomon multiplied not just his wealth, but his horses, and that
multiplication, though it may seem to be an act of wisdom, was
actually an act of unbelief. God told the kings not to have
multiple horses so that they could demonstrate and trust in
the arm of the Lord, not the arm of the flesh.
And now we read in verse one of Chapter 11, that he multiplies
not just his wealth, not just his horses, but his women.
Solomon multiplies his wives. All of these things go against
the specific decrees that God had instituted for the kings of
Israel. But I find it interesting how
the Holy Spirit in verse one explains and defines Solomon's
foreign wives. Again, look at this carefully
now. King Solomon loved many foreign
woman. Along with the daughter of
Pharaoh. That stood out to me.
He could have just said he multiplied his wives.
But he says in the middle, along with the daughter of Pharaoh.
Remember we studied about Pharaoh's daughter?
That was the crack in the beginning of his walk right as a
king and we're reminded, we're reminded of the daughter of
Pharaoh. In other words, what this is
trying to say is that before Solomon had multiple before he
made this collection of foreign wives, it began with him
marrying one foreign wife. And the principle there is a
reminder of the nature of sin. It is in the makeup of sin to
grow in strength. The more it is tolerated and
justified in one's life. Sin will grow in strength unless
it is cut off by repentance. The longer we remain
unrepentant, the more sin in our lives will spread like cancer.
And when it does spread, it can spread in one of two ways.
The first ways that it could cause you to engage in that one
sin with greater intensity and the other way is that it can
encourage you to sin in other ways.
Solomon started out with one foreign wife.
Now he has 1000. Sin multiplies.
Sin wants to take you and I further and deeper Into Darkness
it. Rarely.
Keeps you and I in one place. Rarely.
It's not designed that way. In fact, if sin would have its
way with each of us, it would take us all the way to death.
We thank God for a conscience. We thank God for the word of
God. We thank God for the Holy
Spirit's conviction. But unrestrained sin can destroy
you, can ruin you because that's the design of it.
And we even see the sequence of sin even in the very, very
verses that we read. Look again at verse one.
Now, King Solomon loved many foreign wives.
It started with love. He loved these foreign wives.
Now you come down to verse 5 and.
Look what you read here. For Solomon went after
Ashtoreth, and he names the different gods in the
imaminations of these foreign people.
So he loved the former women. Then he went after their gods
and. Then what do you see here down
in verse seven? Then Solomon built a high place
for Kamash. Then he listed different false
gods. Again it started with affection.
Then he began to make steps forward into action.
Then. Now he is building temples.
This man who built a temple for the Lord is now building temples
for false gods. Who would have thought, oh how
the mighty have fallen? Is this?
Is this for real? Is this the same guy who made
that elaborate and glorious prayer, the dedication of the
temple unto the true and living God?
And now you're making temples unto false deities.
It's amazing how sin can mar and mold us into something that is
hideous and almost unrecognizable.
And so this is what we see in verse one.
We learn here again the principle of how sin multiplies
in our lives if we're not careful.
But then we read in verse two what from the nations concerning
which the Lord had said to the people Israel, you shall not
enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for
surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.
Solomon clung to these in love. Here's the Holy Spirit reminding
us that this is Solomon disobeying a particular command
that has been inscribed hundreds of years before his time.
And this wasn't just for the kings of Israel.
This is for all the people of Israel.
And so we have a quote here from Exodus 34, verse 16.
And what I find interesting about Exodus 3416 is that where
this command is found is the same context where we have a
name. Of God that is rarely mentioned
and christened them. I I doubt that most of us in
here have heard this name that God ascribes unto himself,
perhaps because it may cause confusion or there may be
misunderstanding, but it's not really difficult to understand
when you just meditate on it a little bit further.
There is a name that God gives himself, and I wonder, have you
ever called God this name? Have you ever heard God
identified in this way? It's found in Exodus 34, not 16
by verse 14. I'd encourage you to turn to
that passage, because by comprehending this name, not
only do we have greater insight into this command, but of all of
God's decrees. Here's what the Lord says in the
middle of these different exhortations in Exodus 34, verse
14. For you shall worship no other
God for the Lord. Whose name is Jealous?
Is a jealous God.
Jealous is his name. Now how do we make sense of
this? It's very simple.
Jealousy is such an intrinsic part of the nature of God that
he unashamedly uses the word as a name for himself.
Jealousy is such an intrinsic part of the nature of God that
he willingly, unashamedly ascribes it to his identity.
That is fascinating to me. And that might be fascinating to
you, because generally we understand jealousy to be a
negative emotion, and that is true most cases.
But evidently here. For God, who is perfectly good
without sin, using that to identify himself means that
there is a righteous expression of jealousy.
There's a way of experiencing jealousy, expressing jealousy
that is perfectly holy and in alignment with God's nature.
Just like anger, there's a righteous anger, there's an
unrighteous anger. And clearly here there is a
jealousy that is holy. There's a jealousy that is holy.
How do we distinguish between unholy jealousy and holy
jealousy? I'll give you a couple of
seconds here to to answer it if you have a brief definition
between the two or difference between the two.
Any idea the difference between unholy jealousy and holy
jealousy? It feels very much the same, but
it's not. Go ahead.
There's jealousy. OK, there's a jealousy that's
filled with love. I think that's a key ingredient.
Sure. Yes.
The motive of the heart. Why am I jealous?
Sure. A healthy possessiveness.
Every answer is giving us a closer reach to the true meaning
of a true and holy jealousy. I have every right to be jealous
about something that exclusively belongs to me.
I have no right to feel jealousy about something or someone that
does not belong to me, whether that be a skill, whether that be
an object, whether that be a person.
If it doesn't belong to me, if it's not exclusively my own, I
have no right to feel that burning sensation in my chest.
If that does belong to me and exclusively belongs to me and
righteously belongs to me, I have every right to feel that
complex set of emotions, anger and grief, when it is being
threatened to be violated or seized by someone else.
And the most positive example of this righteous jealousy is when
a man learns that some other man is pursuing his wife, is
flirting with his wife, is trying to get the attention, the
affection of his wife. That man has every single right
to feel that emotion of jealousy.
Why? Because she belongs to him by
righteous relational covenant, your mind and your mind alone I
cannot share you, and you have no right to share yourself with
any other. And that positive example is
precisely the example that God uses in the context of
introducing himself as a jealous.
God. Notice the language in the
following verses where he says that he is jealous.
Scroll down to verse 15 and 16 of the same chapter of Exodus
34. Lest you make a covenant with
the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods
and sacrifice to their gods, and you are invited, you eat of a
sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons and
their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons
whore after their gods. Notice that after the Lord
reveals himself as jealous, he employs promiscuous and
adulterous language in explaining the nature of the sin
of idolatry. He wants to open the eyes of his
people to understand that to be with another God, to follow
another God, to share this right of worship that exclusively
belongs to God is spiritual adultery.
So again, how does this work? Well, what belongs to God alone?
Worship. Adoration.
Obedience. And to give that to another
deity is to say in some great sense that a wife giving her
submission or her affection or a body to another man is
unthinkable. It's in case inconceivable.
It's wrong. And the Lord wants us to feel it
that way. The Lord wants us to see it that
way. You can give this to other
deities. That belongs to me.
You can't give this to other idols, any object, any person,
because those things belong to me.
So it's spiritual adultery. And I have every right to feel
jealous when I see you being pursued and being entertaining
to other things that threaten your devotion to me.
And I I think understanding, I believe with all my heart, and I
encourage you to do the same. To see God as a jealous God is
one of the most comforting and encouraging truths about Him.
Why? Because it helps me understand
that behind every command, that this understanding of obedience
is firmly fixed with the realization that this is a
relationship with a person. This isn't just a set of rules
issued from a cosmic judge that has no interest in me but is
ready to lay down the law if I cross the line.
That's not who we're dealing with.
You. He is a judge, but he's also the
bridegroom. He he is justice, but he's also
jealous. And so I am to feel obedience.
I'm to realize that this is about a person that I love and
who loves me. I have to see that these are
boundaries to protect the purity and the joy of this relationship
between me and my God, my Creator, my Savior.
You remove the aspect of God's jealousy.
You are very much threatening the understanding of the
relationship of this whole thing.
He's a jealous God, meaning he's a person and he's a person who
loves. He's a bridegroom who wants the
purity and the chase thee and the faithfulness of his bride,
which I am a part of. And so I'm to see every command
in that way that fuels the joy of holiness, and that also gives
me the taste of the severity of sinfulness.
So he is a jealous God. And this verse is quoted with
that context in mind. That's the beauty of Bible
study. When you see a quote like this,
go to that verse. Look at the context of that
verse. And this is where revelation
comes. This is where revelation comes.
And then we read this last sentence of this verse, a verse
to Solomon clung to these in love.
And when I read the word clung, something triggered in me,
because I told myself reading this the other day, I've seen
this word before. I've seen this word clung
before. And when you look for where this
word has been mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, it's been
mentioned in many places, but in one particular place, it will
make Solomon's sin that much more heartbreaking.
We're told here that Solomon clung to these in love, right?
These false gods by way of these foreign wives.
Joshua warned the generation that was entering into the
Promised Land in Joshua 23, verse six and eight.
Notice what he tells them. Joshua 23, six and eight.
Therefore be very strong to keep and do all that is written in
the book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to
the right hand or to the left. That you may not mix with these
nations remaining among you, or make mention of the names of
their gods, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.
Here it is in verse 8. But you shall.
Cling. You shall cling to the Lord your
God, just as you have done to this day.
That was the standard of faithfulness and obedience that
all of the Israelites were to have to Lord, clinging to the
Lord. When you cling to something, you
know what that implies? Desperation, dependency and
Joshua says. Cling to the Lord.
Grip on the Lord. Hold this book tightly to your
heart, and don't you ever let go.
And then you come to 1st Kings 11.
What do you read? Solomon clung to these in love.
For you. To cling to these means that you
let go of something else. You let go of the Lord at some
point for you to cling to these things.
That's exactly what He did. He clung to these in love.
And then we read this. Something that most people know.
It's something that's pretty common in Bible trivia is that
most people get right. He had 700 wives who are
princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his
heart. Yeah, to the carnal man, they
might praise this kind of an achievement.
Wow. You're able to secure 1000 women
and your harem. And as much as these marriages
here in part are motivated by politics, you and I should
understand that Solomon, by doing this, is also trying to
reach a gratification by way of companionship.
He actually makes that known. So these, these are not just
political alliances. There's lust involved here.
There is a pursuit to satisfy something of the soul.
So these additions of woman says something about a vacuum in his
own life. And it's not until again, you
faithfully read your Bible through and through and you come
to 1st Kings 11 and you learn, wow, Solomon had 1000 women in
his home. How did that work out?
Maybe you meditate on that a little bit.
How do you, how do you take him out on dates?
How does that work? How?
And then you remove that thought, but you still remember
1000 women. And then you come to the book of
Ecclesiastes. And then you read this in
Ecclesiastes 7, where Solomon, he gives commentary about this
season of his life, this very verse 3700 princesses and 300
concubines. He speaks about his experience
and it is insightful. Here's what he says in
Ecclesiastes Chapter 7, beginning in verse 27.
Behold, this is what I found, says the preacher, while adding
one thing to another to find the scheme of things.
Which my soul, Verse 28, which my soul has sought repeatedly.
My soul was searching for something.
I'm investigating something. I'm longing for something.
I'm trying to find answers to something.
And here now at this point he is trying to discover something in
the area of relationships. This is what he says.
But I have not found one man among a thousand 1000.
Does that sound familiar? One man among a.
Thousand I found But a woman among all these I have not
found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
So he's not just speaking by inspiration here, he's speaking
by experience. Listen to this man. 1000 women
at your disposal who can grant you anything that you desire,
clearly will not bring gratification to you.
I'm looking for something. And among 1000 women, a
companion who is righteous, a companion who shows excellence
in character, companion who can bring something to what my soul
is looking for. Among 1000, I have not found.
And you know why? Having 1000 women in your life,
whether they are there consecutively or they are there
sequentially. However you experience them,
whether you jump from relationship to relationship or
from marriage to marriage, God didn't design you to know
fulfilment in that area. In this way.
You know how God designed it for you.
One woman who fears the Lord, one wife for life.
That's what it is. And Solomon builds on that
thought in the next verse. Look at verse 29.
This is an excellent verse to speak on the depravity of man.
See this alone? I found that God made man
upright. But they have sought out many
schemes. God made man upright and
evidently through the fall of Adam.
Now man lives to scheme their way through life and try to
figure out, try to create these recipes and ideas that go
contrary to God's design and end up falling into sin.
These are sinful schemes. What Solomon is essentially
saying in part is it's difficult to find those who are righteous.
It's difficult to find those who are God fearing because man's
nature stimulates and coaxes us to search out sinful schemes.
But if you connect it with what we've just been saying, here's
what we can see connecting with the previous verses.
Such schemes never quenched even Solomon's own schemes.
Never mind the schemes of people in terms of general idea of
humanity in their pursuits. But I myself, even in my own
schemes, I cannot find fulfilment.
My soul is still searching, repeatedly, experimenting and
dipping my toe here and dipping my toe there.
Any scheme that you have in life, any plan, any idea, any
pursuit that's not in alignment or is supported by the word of
God, is bound to fail you. It will fail you.
And that's why you're here tonight.
I'm sure that's why you can sing.
That's why you can rejoice. That's why you enjoy Bible
study, Because at some point in your life you realize my schemes
have failed me. And so forget my schemes.
I repent for my schemes, and I surrender to the Savior and not
just His saving work, but His Lordship over my life.
He is the great Shepherd who would lead me home, and he will
lead me and make me lie down by green pastures, and He will let
me sip on living water and keep me satisfied until the end, to
the point where you never have to consider another man made
scheme again. So 700 wives who are princesses
and 300. Concubines.
And then later on, Ecclesia, as he goes, that was a headache.
I didn't find what I thought I would find.
Praise God for his will, so pure, so clean, so direct, and
hold so much promise. Now we come back to our text and
we read in verse four. For when Solomon was old, his
wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart
was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of
David, his father. What stands out to you about
that verse? I mean, there are many things.
We'll mention a few things, but there's something in the
beginning of this verse that really struck me.
I wonder if it caught your attention.
We're told about his backslide. We're told about his apostasy.
We're told about his unfaithfulness.
But there's something about Solomon's description that's
really sobering old. Did you catch it?
When Solomon was old, I thought age was supposed to make was on
one wiser. Not necessarily.
Not automatically. It can, but not in this case.
Clearly. You see, it wasn't when Solomon
was young that he fell into idolatry.
It was when he. Was old life lesson.
Write it down if you don't need to.
Write it down and you're able to retain these things in your
mind. God bless your mind life lesson.
Temptation awaits us in every season of life.
Temptation awaits us in every season of life until you give
your final breath. Sin is crouching at that door,
the door of your heart, And this is especially necessary for
people like Solomon. Solomon is just isn't just a
nobody. Solomon had done great things
for the Lord. Solomon had a history.
He had a resume, remarkable testimonies that he had
performed for the glory of God, and it's often the case that
even in our own lifetime we have seen great.
Falls from men and people in Christendom even after they have
made great feats in the name of Christ.
Is that not true? There's some kind of
intoxication that takes place. I don't know what it is, but I
know that I've seen it enough where it is a common pattern and
something to be weary of that when people do great things for
God and and they build something for the Lord and they do some
great things and many people are influenced by their gift, they
let their guard down. They let their guard down.
They they're not as vigilant. They're not as careful.
And then they get sucked into something.
And this is what we see with this man here.
He did great things for the Lord, but after these great
things, there was a great fall. Listen to this, please.
Listen to this, Please. I love you.
This is why I'm saying this. Past victories and past
testimonies will not prepare you for tomorrow's temptations.
They won't. No matter what you say to
yourself about the days of old, or what you've done, or who
knows you and how many people are blessed by you, those things
will not keep you protected from the attacks that await you.
Do you know what will keep you from the temptations that await
you? From the things that are there
lurking, ready to try to snatch you away from the bull of God?
It's not what you've done in the past.
It's not who knows your name. It's not what kind of position
you have daily devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what it's going to do. That's what's going to cut it.
You need daily dependence upon the Lord.
I've talked to some people, many people said, brother, Sometimes
I think about, you know, I'm young in the Lord.
I still have many years of God keeps me on these on this earth.
How will I know if I will remain fervent?
How will I know if I will remain obedient down the years after I
became a father, Become a father grandfather.
How will I know? And I just tell him this.
Take it one day at a time, will you?
One day at a time. Just make it your ambition the
moment you wake up. I must spend time with the
master. I must sit at his feet.
I must let the hammer of the Word, the fire of the word, the
sword of the word, the water of the word do what's work in me,
because all it takes is a little bit of negligence here, a little
bit negligence there, And then what?
Seemed to disturb you. Now doesn't bother you as much.
And then all it takes is a few months and then years, and then
things get really scary. You think this happened
overnight with Solomon? It never happens overnight.
It always takes time. That is the case with this man.
Notice that the word heart is mentioned three times in verse
4. Did you catch that?
For when Psalm was old, his wives turned away, his heart one
after other gods, and his heart too was not wholly true.
To Lord is God, as was the heart of David, his father.
The word heart three times in one verse.
That's where it all starts. The heart, it's internal, it's
hidden. It's only between you and God.
It doesn't manifest right away. It's not observable by by
others. It doesn't start with you not
coming to church. That happened.
You not coming to the House of God regularly for unjustifiable
reasons. You not serving the Lord.
You not reading your word. Where did it all start that
started in your heart. So this man's heart was not in
check. It was not regularly brought
before. The refiner who looks at the
spots and looks at the mud that splashed on your heart as you
went through that weekend work, and as you fell maybe into this
temptation and that temptation was ready to clean you as he's
so eagerly to wash your feet, that was not brought before him.
And it eventually becomes calloused and hard and it
becomes crystallized. And then you begin to start
doing things like this, building temples to idols when you once
built one temple into the true God.
What a different picture of someone in their old age than
what the Bible aspires and commands meant to be in their
old age. The Bible has a whole different
picture than what we see here with Solomon for men, men, and
women, but it spells it out for men specifically.
And when you read this verse, you're going to learn that this
is something that is not just for men.
Again, what this verse is going to show is that there's a
standard that God has in mind that as we grow in years, we
also grow in these characteristics.
We should grow in these things as as we spend more time with
the Lord, as we. Continue to serve the Lord, and
they are 6 qualities that I believe summarize beautifully
what a true biblical man looks like.
It's found in the Book of Titus, chapter 2, verse 2, and I'm not
going to expound on these things, just to give you an idea
and you can take this home, men especially, and reflect on these
things. In Titus 22, you're told what
older men should demonstrate and display in the local church.
And this is not just for older men, as though younger men
should not pursue these things. I argue this is what older men
should exemplify. And this is what younger men
should pursue passionately as they see these things modeled by
those who are older in the church.
Here's what we're told in Titus 22, When Solomon was old, his
heart turned from the Lord. That's not you in Christ.
That's not your destination in Christ.
That's not what the Holy Spirit is ready to empower you to.
Here's what we read. Titus 2 Two older men.
Are to be sober minded 1 dignified to self-control 3.
Sound in faith, four in love, sound in love 5 and sound in
steadfastness. Sound simply means healthy and
these are not characteristics of elders.
This is not for. Pastors in the church.
This is for those in the pews, those in the congregation,
seasoned men, men who have known the Lord for years.
You should operate in these things and younger men should
see it and and pursue it with their passion.
And the thing that stands out to me out of all these six is the
first one sober minded. Let me just give you a sample of
what biblical masculinity looks like.
I'm not going to touch on all these things and there's so much
to touch on, but. Let me give you just a sample.
Yeah, just something to taste on and chew on.
Sober minded. You know what that means in the
original Not drunken. Now, don't limit the application
of that to. Intoxication with actual
substance. Paul's application here is much
broader than that. What Paul means by saying older
men should be sober minded is that they should be clear
headed. They should be vigilant.
They should be aware. Aware of what?
They should be aware of the principle of moderation in
every. Area of their lives and they
should not be given over to excess.
As those are who are not ruled by divine principles, So what
Paul is saying here is men should live in moderation and
there should be no pursuit in their lives that.
Puts the greatest emphasis of your life as a man of God, the
Kingdom of God, the gospel of God.
There should be no excess in your life that pushes that into
the shadows. There should be no other
emphasis in your life that eliminates or the dilutes that
which you should be preoccupied by as a man of God, sober
minded, you're not giving over to excess as a man of God.
Excess of what? Excess of sleep?
Excess of Entertainment. Excess of.
Anything. Anything, even that might be
neutral morally. Anything that would overtake you
or discourage you or derail you from your calling.
As a man of God, your responsibilities, your ministry,
you should be clear headed, aware.
You know, Paul said it this way. In First Corinthians 612 all
things are permissible, but not all things are helpful.
All things are legal in a sense, but not all things are
beneficial. And then he goes on to say this.
I will not be mastered by anything.
How do I know if I'm mastered by anything?
How do I know if I'm being dominated by anything?
Very easy. Very easy.
Can you say no to it? That's all you have to ask.
Can I say no to this when it's when it's asking of me more than
it deserves? Can I look at it as a man of God
filled with the Holy Spirit ruled by the truth,
understanding my responsibilities as a man of God
to my wife, my wife to be to the local church, to my friendships,
to my work? Can I look at that and say no,
not today. I had enough of you.
That's a sober minded man of God, Solomon.
In his old age, he going to do that?
Any pretty Princess that walked by that he saw on his Instagram,
She's mine. Hey, you have 999 too many
Solomon, you're not sober minded.
Oh, we can make the rest of this about Biblical.
Masculinity We won't because we have four more verses and 1st
Kings 11 verse 5. For Solomon went after
Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Cydonians, and after Milkham,
the abomination of the Ammonites.
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did
not wholly follow the Lord as David his father had done twice
in the set of verses that we are examining tonight.
Solomon's devotion is unfaithfulness is compared to
the wholehearted devotion of his Father.
So go back to verse 4 again and notice at the end of verse four,
as was the heart of David, his father.
Then you come to verse six as David his father had done.
I find that interesting. I find that interesting for one
main reason. Was David really wholehearted to
the Lord himself? If we're being honest, what's
the answer? No, and less Wholeheartedness to
us means perfection. Here's what's even more
fascinating. There's a there's a comparison
here, right? Solomon was not like his father
David. And what's the sin that we're
dealing with here? Multiple wives.
Hello, Who had multiple wives? David had multiple wives.
How do we make sense of this? I think the best way to make
sense of this is that though David struggled in the same area
as his son here, he never allowed it to totally sabotage
his faith. He struggled.
There's no doubt he stumbled absolutely.
He paid the price for it, yes, but in the area of worship,
David never wavered and understanding that this is the
true and living God, This is the one to whom I pledge my
allegiance to. There is no other God but this
God. David was firm, and when he did
sin, you know what he did? He lived a repentant life.
That's what the Lord is after. You've heard this before from
this Bible study. That's what makes David a man
after God's heart. Not necessarily whether or not
this, the sin in his life was present, but it was his attitude
toward that sin. Yes, we should strive unto
perfection. This is not license for us to
justify sin, but what's the the thing that the Lord is after is
your attitude towards sin. That's what defines us as being
wholehearted to the Lord. Do we turn back to the Lord when
we do fall? If we do fall, there's no
indication from the narrative of first kings that Solomon ever
turned back to the Lord. So he struggled in the same area
as as they. Maybe not to the same extent,
but it was to his ruin. It.
Ruined him. And I find David writing many
Psalms, expressing his woes and his laments of what his sin has
done, not just in his life, but primarily to to you Lord.
And before you have I sinned. David repented.
Solomon remained. Big difference.
Verse 7. Solomon built a high place for
Akimosh, the abomination of Moab, for Molech the abomination
of the Ammonites on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
And so he did for all his former wives who made offerings and
sacrifice to their gods. And partly why this is an
abomination. I'm going to turn you there to
Psalm One O 6 Psalm One O 6. Verse 37 we read they sacrifice
their sons in Psalm One O 6, verse 37.
They sacrifice their sons and their daughters to who?
Demons and their daughters. To the demons they poured out
innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom
they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
And the land was polluted with blood.
You know this very well, that in great part the practice of false
worship. To these false deities were very
cruel, cruel things. The giving up of the lives of
infants and little children, sexual orgies and drunkenness,
and arriving to a state of ecstasy as a form of trying to
tap into the divine. It was horrible.
But Psalm One O 6 indicates that behind these Isles are demons,
spiritual entities that deceive the masses, and believing
something to be untrue. And so let me say this bluntly
and boldly. No matter how innocent, no
matter how pure, no matter how civil some of these different
beliefs are, rest assured and believe that behind these things
are demons, demonic ideas. We we kind of equate demons to
erratic behavior and self harm, sure, but demons are very
sophisticated. They come up with doctrines,
they come up with false theologies.
So if they don't physically destroy, they'll deceive you and
allow you to destroy yourself for all of eternity.
And I think that's very important in our understanding
of spiritual warfare. That demons are at work, whether
you realize it or not. And the more you understand this
word, the more you realize that what we're seeing before us is
energized by demons. Now, this is what's so
interesting. Come back to verse seven and 1st
Corinthians. Excuse me.
First Kings 11. Solomon built a high place for
these different gods. Notice where they were built.
Tell me where they were built. On the mountain east of
Jerusalem. That's very specific.
On the mountain east of Jerusalem.
The consensus this mountain east of Jerusalem guess which
mountain it is. No good guess though.
Mount of Olives. This mountain where these high
places were built was actually to this day is the Mount of
Olives. The Mount of Olives is mentioned
a couple of times in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Is mentioned plenty more times in the New Testament.
But this is where Solomon decided to erect these false
things. And what's so interesting is
that over time in the Book of Kings, in the Record of Kings,
this very mountain developed a reputation and actually
developed a new name. Do you want to know that name
is? Actually, let me ask you, do you
know what the name is? It's it's called the Mount of
Something, and it's found in Second Kings.
This mountain is referred to in a derogatory way.
You'll have the chance to say it if you're the quickest to the
reference. In Second Kings 23 verse 13 you
have the answer of what this mountain was referred to as.
And it's not a pleasant name. If you're there, you have the
right to blurt it out. Mount of corruption, Did you see
it? Well, let's read in Second Kings
2313. This is in the context of
Josiah's reforms where he's bringing revival to the land, to
the people of Judah. And this is what we're told here
at this point of his efforts. And the king defiled the high
places that were east of Jerusalem.
We just read that in First Kings 11/7 to the South of the Mount
of Corruption, Mount of corruption which Solomon the
king of Israel, had built for Asherah, the abomination of the
Cydonians, and for Akemos the abomination of Moab, and for
Milk on the abomination of the Ammonites, the same deities that
we read of in First Kings 11. It became known as the mount of
Scandal, the mount of corruption, vile, putrid, evil,
and Josiah. I love that.
King, My nephew's name too. He defiles that, He defiles that
which Solomon honored, and he brings it down.
The mount of corruption. I find that fascinating.
If this is in fact the mount of Olives, what a glorious picture.
At the same time, because Jesus comes on the scene and he
declares himself to be greater than he of Solomon.
One who is greater than Solomon is here.
How is he? Greater in so many ways, and
even in this way that he reverses what Solomon did.
On this mountain, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives, this place
that was known as the mount of corruption.
And what does he do on that night, the night that he would
be betrayed? He intercedes for you, for me.
He sweats drops of blood. He patiently endures the lack of
faithfulness of the three closest of his disciples.
He has one of his disciples come with an army to betray him with
a kiss and one of his own and their zeal.
And the flesh strikes one of those men, and his ear is cut
off. And one of the final acts of
Jesus before he is nailed upon a tree, is to heal a man.
He recreates the ear of that man.
And here's Jesus on that night, the night that would begin the
Passion and the one greater than Solomon on the mount of
corruption was ready to pay for humanity's corruption.
The time of Solomon, not just time of Solomon, all the way
back to the beginning, and not just in the beginning before the
generations ahead. He who is greater than Solomon
came to the mount of corruption and with his blood can make the
most corrupt, evil, dark, vile, perverted of them all, make them
pure, white and holy in the sight of a holy God.
This is why he is greater than Solomon, and This is why we
study, Bible study. Because Christ is there, Christ
is there, Christ is here. Let's pray,
oh Lord, we, like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus,
testify that our hearts burned within us as we open the
scriptures. What a book this is.
What revelation is this? Forgive us for our unbelief, for
every thinking that such texts have no value to us in the New
Covenant. Lord, many of these truths were
heavy, sobering, challenging, convicting, and we say yes to
them. And, Lord, we thank you for the
final note of redemption, That on that mount of corruption
there was the Christ who spoke to the Father and accepted the
will of the Father to die for the sins and the corruption of
all humanity. Thank you for dying for our
corruption. Thank you, Lord, that despite
our failures we have been made righteous, and that Lord the
Holy Spirit in us as a seal, as a guarantee until the day of
redemption. Thank you, Lord, that even in
the temptation that we experience, even when we are
feeling the urge to flirt with that which we should not flirt
with, your Holy Spirit will not let us go so easily.
You will convict us, You will warn us, You'll send things in
our way. You are a gracious God, a
jealous God. You are jealous, and we praise
you for being jealous. Lord, tonight we sit here
basking in the glory of your attributes, in your character
the practical truths that Solomon's downfall provides for
us. And we pray that they would be
indeed so embedded in our hearts that as we grow old, we would be
sober minded. Unlike him, we would be vigilant
and clear headed. We would not be given over to
excess in anything. And when we feel ourselves
drifting in one way, we would with holy ambition, say no, this
is not to be true in a man of God.
So we pray for the men of this church that older men and
younger men would pursue these attributes.
Oh Lord, there's so many things that we can pray and ask for.
We just ask that in this time of meditation you would receive the
aroma of personalized prayer. You would receive, Lord, our
true, sincere supplication. We need you, Lord.
It's so easy to begin, so hard to finish.
Well, number US among those who finish well, we want to finish
well. And thank you that we are
considered wholehearted. When we know how to live
repentantly, we repent. We repent, and we gladly repent.
We thank you for the gift of repentance in your name.
Amen. Don't lift your head too
quickly. I encourage you to just the next
few moments as the praise team will come quietly to prepare to
sing a final song. This was a weighty Bible study,
and I love when God's weighty conviction settles in because
it's so necessary for us to reflect on these truths and
conviction is what alarms us. I just want to encourage you
just speak to your God, just you're in the House of the Lord.
Speak to the Lord and just give him your desires, your needs,
your prayers. Offer him praise.
Just before we sing and we wrap up, we're all going to make it
home by God's grace. But now in this moment, as we've
heard from the Lord, speak to the Lord now and don't distract
your neighbor. Just speak to the Lord, your
God, your king, your shepherd, with the truth that you heard
and translate them in your own way to him.
And then we will sing together, OK.