e e e e e e e e e e [Music] h [Music] h [Music] h [Music] h [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] for [Music] good evening everyone you can turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 61 for our call to worship Psalm 61 Psalm 61 this is the word of God to the chief musician on a stringed instrument A Psalm of David Hear My Cry Oh God attend to my prayer from the end of the Earth I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I for you have been a shelter for me a strong tower from the enemy I will abide in your Tabernacle forever I will trust in the shelter of your wings for you oh God have heard my vows you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name you will prolong the King's life his years as many generations he shall abide he shall abide before God forever oh prepare mercy and Truth which may preserve him so I will sing praise to your name forever that I may daily perform my vows amen let's stand and sing together the first hym we're going to sing is Psalm 119 M 119 M I love ho Lord all they are T up on your word it makes me wiser than my enies for your commands are ever with me Lord I more wisdom than my teachers Lord for all yours are each I have GL that the one for all your test oh I keep might from every all for I follow all your world s you have me all your Mighty from their I to not turn us oh [Music] how sweet your words are for to my days sweet and is upon my through your I will understand Lord [Music] I let's go to God In Prayer Heavenly Father we thank you for this Lord's Day evening and we rejoice in the fact that we can gather together this second time on your Lord's day for the worship of of you our one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you for the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in in his gospel in his perfect life of obedience to the law in that death upon calvary's cross a substitutionary sacrificial death for all who believe in his name for that glorious Victorious Resurrection his Ascension on high and that current session where he does ever ever live to intercede for his people he rules and Reigns at your right hand we rejoice in the truth of your word and we do pray that you'd help us tonight to worship you a right help us by those measures of the spirit to worship you in spirit and in truth and to give you all honor to give you all glory and to be attentive to your Worship in this place we thank you for the forgiveness of sins for the righteousness of Christ and we rejoice in your goodness towards us and in your Amazing Grace and your your love your Eternal loving kindness and your mercy exercised towards us we do pray Lord God that as we are gathered here for worship that our minds would be focused upon that help us not to have wandering thoughts but help us by your spirit to be focused as we pray as we read the scriptures As we sing Psalms hymns and spiritual songs and as we engage in preaching we do pray that you'd help us to uh to be focused to be attentive and that you would receive all honor and glory be with those who are unwell whether with us or unable to join us Lord as there are many on the list we pray that you attend to them that you would heal them that you would strengthen them uh in their physical bodies and uh more than that that in the inner Inner Man you would lift them up and cause them to rejoice in our savior and to to sing your Praises we pray for those struggling spiritually that you would lift them up uh that you would return to them the joy of their salvation that you would give them uh those measures of your spirit to lift them up from uh from out of the depths to those uh to those high places of walking strong in the faith we do pray Lord God that you'd be with those who rule over us as we're called in the scriptures to pray for kings and for those who are in Authority we do pray for these Lord God that you would cause them to rule in righteousness and in proper Justice that you would cast down those who would seek to perpetrate wickedness in the in the ranks of government and Lord God that you would even do a work of Salvation in the midst of those uh uh who are in positions of authority and power we do pray that throughout the world the governments would not be marked by um iniquity but that they would be marked by righteousness and Justice ruling over the people as uh as they as they ought as the Defenders of those uh who do good in the punishments and and as as those who are set up to punishment evildoers to punish evildoers we do just pray throughout the world that you would cause your people to uh be strengthened in their faith as we think of those in countries that uh are are enduring much persecution much opposition uh the countries that we pray for very often on the Lord's Day morning in Africa and in Asia and throughout the world Lord God we do just pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ those in Chains those uh under the uh the the repeated uh oppress pressions of governments and and of the uh the uh the hatred of their own countrymen we do just pray that you'd strengthen them cause them not to be weary but to be strong as they uh as they are afflicted we do pray that you'd help them and that you would deal with their persecutors lord we uh pray that the gospel would be preached in these places and that many uh who are presently persecutors would turn by Amazing Grace to be found amongst those whom they formerly persecuted and we do pray Lord God for those who would remain in a in reprobate opposition to the proclamation of Truth and uh to the advance of the church that you would take them out of the way that they may no longer bring violence upon our our precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ so do be with us now Lord God help Pastor Butler as he comes up here in a number of minutes to preach as we pray each and every Lord's day we know that the the preacher does not rest upon his own strength and his own wit but he rests upon the power that the Triune God affords those who Proclaim his word and so we do pray for this we pray pray for us that those who hear the word preached that we would be edified your Saints would be lifted up and strengthened and encouraged and uh those who came in in unbelief in in into this church in unbelief would leave singing your praises and we pray in Christ's name amen amen let's stand and sing together another hymn it's going to be 460 460 let's stand and sing that together [Music] s gladness to their star they tell me all is done with mying heart to SA has for in a for shall my not my your Christ upon the shameful tree have made the L CH and Pur for me to S who can for for shall I my cross my as for me all oh sins and not in heaven Earth could be to for for shall by right special Christ the rightousness s that to L who can for more [Music] shall can turn in your Bibles with me to the Book of Judges Judges chapter 1 as we finished the book of Joshua last Lord's Day evening last time we read from the Old Testament we're now beginning the Book of Judges so we start the Book of Judges just a reminder if we to use those words of Nehemiah Cox in in all our search after the mind of God in the Holy scriptures were to manage our inquiries with reference to Christ and it's no different than of course when we come to the the Book of Judges what it's not just a a capturing of the history of this period of national Israel but it is so many types and so many Shadows that point forward to the true judge the true and needed king and the true deliverer even Jesus Christ the lord as we see this pattern repeated in the Book of Judges we see sin uh oppression repentance restoration or deliverance and then peace and this is repeated throughout the Book of Judges and it it calls our our minds to it back then it um it engendered in the minds of the people of God to look forward to the coming promise one the hero born of woman who would crush the serpent with his heel again the true deliverer of Israel and for us this side of the Cross as we read the Old Testament we're to see here in the Book of Judges that each and every one of these deliverers imperfect point us forward to the perfect deliverer even Jesus Christ the lord who does Deliver us from sin and oppression who brings us to repentance gives us deliverance and brings us a true lasting and eternal peace the judges 1 verse1 now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord saying who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight to fight against them and the Lord said Judah shall go up indeed I have delivered the land into his hand so Judah said to Simeon his brother come up with me to my allotted territory that we may fight against the Canaanites and I will likewise go with you to to yot territory and Simeon went with him then Judah went up and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the perizzites into their hand and they killed 10,000 men at basac and they found uh Adon basac in basac and fought against him and they defeated the Canaanites and the perizzites then Adon basac fled and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes and Adon basac said 70 Kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table as I have done so God has repaid me then they brought him to Jerusalem and there he died now the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it and they Struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire and afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains in the South and in the lowland then Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron now the name of heon was formerly kirjath arba and they killed shes sheshe ahan and teli from there they went against the inhabitants of deir the name of deir was formerly kirjath sephr then Caleb said whoever attacks kirjath sephr and takes it to him I will give my daughter AXA as as wife and annel the son of canas Caleb's younger brother took it so he gave him his daughter AXA as wife now it happened when she came to him that she urged him to ask her father for a field and she dismounted from her donkey and KB said to her what do you wish so she said to him give me a blessing since you have given me land in the South give me also Springs of water and Caleb gave her the upper Springs and the lower Springs now the children of the kenite moses' father-in-law went up from the city of Palms with the children of Judah Into the Wilderness of Judah which lies in the South near Arad and they went and dwelt among the people and Judah went with his brother Simeon and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited zepha and utterly destroyed it so the name of the city was called horma and uh also Judah took Gaza with its territory ashalon with its territory and ekron with its territory so the Lord was with Judah and they drove out the Mountaineers but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland land because they had Chariots of iron and they gave Hebron to Caleb as Moses had said then he expelled from there the three sons of anak but the children of Benjamin did not drive out the jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem so the jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day and the house of Joseph also went up against bethl and the Lord was with them so the house of Joseph sent men to spy out bethl the name of the city was formerly L and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city they said to him please show us the entrance to the city and we will show you mercy so he showed them the entrance to the city and they struck the city with the edge of the sword but they let the man and all his family go and the man went to the land of the Hittites built the city and called its name L which is is its name to this day however Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of bethen and its V Villages or Tanakh and its Villages or the inhabitants of dor and its Villages or the inhabitants of IIM and its Villages or the inhabitants of megiddo and its Villages for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land and it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not completely drive them out nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in gazer so the Canaanites dwelt in gazer among them nor did zebulun drive out the inhabitants of kitrin or the inhabitants of nahalal so the Canaanites dwelt among them and were put under tribute nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of AKO or the inhabitants of sidon or of alab Axe helba AIC or Rahab so the ashit dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land for they did not drive them out nor did napali drive out the inhabitants of Beth shamesh Or the inhabitants of Beth anath for they dwelt among the Canaanites the inhabitants of the land nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth shamesh and Beth anath were put under tribute to them and the amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains for they would not allow them to come down to the Valley and the amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Herz in aelon and in shelim yet when the strength of the House of Joseph became greater they were put under tribute now the boundary of the amorites was from the ascent of acram from saah and upward amen well let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this the reading of your scriptures uh we rejoice as we trace this Quest through the Old Testament that it points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ as these uh a as these cycles of uh of sin through oppression and deliverance and peace as we read through these and as we read of uh of imperfect yet many Val ient judges they certainly point forward to that perfect one our Lord Jesus Christ the one who ultimately and finally and eternally delivers from sin and from oppression and brings that Everlasting peace we pray that you would help us as we read to glory in your truth to glory in your word and to glory in the Christ To Whom It points and we pray in his name amen amen let's stand together and sing our third hymn and last hymn before the preaching is 370 370 uh Z let's stand as a church and [Music] sing Glory let us sing World shall hallelu hallelu my fire will for all s to the throne of God hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu [Music] on the M of all hallelu hallelu with his followers they sing Jesus re in hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu the Angels s and Gaz upon the sky hallelu hallelu is the savior L this is his trium hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu Hallelujah beh as you today have seen him go allelu hallelu in glorious standing High to the portals of hallelu hallelu hallelu Hallelujah [Music] you can turn with me in your Bibles to First Kings chap 11 First Kings 11 Pastor cam is preaching next Sunday night and then Pastor Ed roine will be preaching the following Sunday so I want to maintain continuity in our studies in Philippians and then I wanted to visit something I mentioned last week in the sermon on First Kings chapter 8 I had alluded to Solomon's downfall in First Kings CH 11 so we're going to take that up verses 1 to13 I'll read this portion of scripture we'll pray and then we'll look at it in some detail so First Kings 11 beginning in verse 1 but King Solomon loved many foreign women as well as the daughter of pharaoh women of the moabites ammonites sidonians and Hittites from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel you shall not enter marry with them nor they with you surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods Solomon clung to these in love and he had 700 wives princesses and 300 concubines and his wives turned away his heart for it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not not loyal to the Lord his God as was the heart of his father David for Solomon went after ashth the goddess of the sidonians and after milcom the abomination of the ammonites Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the lord as did his father David then Solomon built a high place for Kos the abomination of Moab on the hill that is east of Jerusalem and for moak the abomination of the people of Ammon and he did likewise for all his foreign wiv wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods so the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded therefore the Lord said to Solomon because you have done this and have not kept my Covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David I will tear it out of the hand of your son however I will not tear away the whole Kingdom I will give One Tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we come now to a very sobering passage of Holy scripture we pray that your H Holy Spirit would guide us as we consider this your word may we approach it with that that reverence and awe that is certainly fitting for the the approach to scripture as God God we pray as well that you would cause us to reflect upon this downfall of a a godly man we ask that you would guard our hearts and guard our minds and keep us by your grace and according to your uh the ministry of your Holy Spirit we know father that we are full of remaining corruption and there is that proness to wander and proness to leave the god that we love so restrain our hearts guard our minds give us Grace God to fill ourselves with the scriptures and to be prayerful men and women For Your Glory and for your honor even now forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well as we look at the book of First Kings we have the rise of Solomon in chapters 1 and 2 and then the reign of Solomon in chapters 3 to 11 chapters 3 to 10 are something of the golden age of Solomon everything he does is blessed of God everything he does is encouraging to The Reader chapter 11 here however describes his fall and subsequent turmoil in the Kingdom of Israel so what is Promised later in chapter 11 comes to fruition in chapter 12 with the division of the Kingdom the North and the South there in the nation of Israel and essentially what we have in the chapter before us is the idolatry of s uh Solomon in verses 1-13 the rebellions against Solomon in verses 14 to 28 the prophecy concerning the kingdom in veres 29 to4 and then the chapter ends with the death of Solomon in verses 41-43 but as I said we'll just take up that first section under two considerations first the idolatry of Solomon in verses 1 to8 and then the Divine response to Solomon in verses 9-13 and as we conclude later on I don't want to moralize the text but I think it would be delinquent not to make some observations with reference to a practical nature in terms of the fall of this particular man with reference to these sins so with reference to the idolatry note first the problem the problem in verse one but King Solomon loved many foreign women as well as the daughter of pharaoh women of the moabites ammonites sidonians and Hittites this is a contrast from say for instance first uh Kings 3 and verse three where it says that Solomon loved Yahweh solom loved the Lord and remember in chapter 10 is that glowing report when the Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon and hears his wisdom and sees his wealth and sees the the great blessing of God upon him in fact Paul house says after the glowing report in chapter 10 these verses in chapter 11 are the literary equivalent of a blow to the face and I think he's right notice as well the concern of the text he loved many foreign women verse two tells us that he clung to them in love Gil says some think he did this with political views to get intelligence of the state of those countries or to Abate and extinguish their en enmity but it rather seems to be the fruit of lust or Pride Davis agrees in a mo modern commentary he says many of these marriages were political meant to cement alliances concluded with other nations or groups I see no reason to dispute this but the text says more the text is not interested in Solomon's politics but in his affections Solomon clung to these women in love it says and so the emphasis here again is not on his political alliances it's not marrying a king or a daughter of a king so that he can cement or Forge an alliance he is multiplying women which was prohibited by God with reference to the Kings of Israel if you turn back back to the book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy CH 7 we have uh 17 rather we have the principles involved with reference to the king in Israel Deuteronomy 7 specifically in verse 14 when you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you and possess it and dwell in it and say I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses one from among your bre you shall set as king over you you may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother but he shall not multiply horses for himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt to M multiply horses for the Lord has said to you you shall not return that way again neither shall he multiply wives for himself lest his heart turn away nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself so the prohibition here is not against being married the prohibition here is not against a standing army the prohibition here is not against wealth but it's dependence upon those things or it is trust in those things that would take the place of trust in God most high and if you turn back to the book of Deuteronomy chap 7 you have the prescription for holy war given to the nation of Israel and we see these passages serve as the background for what Solomon is doing uh or doing wrongly in First Kings 11 so notice in dter Deuteronomy 71 when the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you the Hittites and the gites and the amorites and the Canaanites and the perizzites and the hivites and the jebusites Seven Nations greater and mightier than you uh and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them you shall make no Covenant with them nor show Mercy to them nor shall you make marriages with them you shall not give your daughter to their son nor take their daughter for your son notice if that happens if we have these social alliances with the pagans in the land verse four is the inevitability for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly but thus you shall deal with them you shall destroy their altars break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire so no political alliances no social alliances and certainly no religious alliances and of course God knows that if you make those political or social it won't be long until you're violating the religious Fidelity to God most high so going back to our passage we see the problem and we see as well the precedent for Solomon he had that in his wheelous he had Deuteronomy 17 he had Deuteronomy 7 he knew the specifics with reference to this particular issue now the fact that Solomon loved them and clung to them ought to be a concern as you read through the book of Deuteronomy Ian proven makes the observation that the use of both verbs is to be understood in terms of their appearance in Deuteronomy where they speak of unswerving human loyalty to God the Israelite was to love the Lord wholeheartedly so we're tipped off right at the beginning in verses 1 and two that Solomon's problem was that he violated the precedent the Commandment of God most high and he did not maintain Fidelity to Yahweh he opened himself up to these false gods via these particular women obviously this is condemned by the Lord then the text goes on to specify his practice notice in verses 3 to 8 gives us the number of his wives the number of his women in verse 3A he had 700 wives princesses and 300 concubines we notice the spiritual effect upon Solomon this is not a good thing we're not to be missionary daters we're not to go out and try and truck uh uh with with pagans so that we can win them to the Lord now God in his mercy and Grace often times overrules our our foolishness but there's no uh hint in the text whatsoever that that's why Solomon is marrying these women his heart has been Le LED astray notice that the king's heart has turned away from the Lord according to verse 4 for it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods look back at First Kings 8 in that prayer of the dedication at the time of the dedication of the the the the temple and then the blessing of Solomon upon the people subsequent to that prayer notice in 8 at verse 58 that God May incline our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways and to keep his Comm Commandments and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded our fathers Solomon reneged on that Solomon prayed that pronounced that blessing upon the people of Israel but now he's contracted these relationships with all of these particular woman uh women and now he has turned astray so it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods notice he went not only went after other gods but his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God and here's a shout out to David twice in Verses 4 and 7 I mentioned last time that David is noteworthy as not having ever committed idolatry now I know he committed adultery and conspiracy to murder to cover it up I'm not suggesting that those are a walk in the park in terms of Ethics but he was always faithful to God in terms of his allegiance to the Lord not so with Solomon and that's what it is told us in the middle of verse four his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God as was the heart of his father David and notice he rejected all of the benefits of that good parentage at this particular stage in his life now I want us to consider something just by way of some foreshadowing with reference to application later note verse 4 for it was so when Solomon was old that should try to scare all of us when Solomon was old the Apostle tells Timothy to flee youthful lusts well Solomon IND indicates or underscores or highlights the reality that youthful lusts aren't only consigned to the youthful when Solomon was old this happened now I think there's this mindset in us that older necessarily means Holier no not necessarily and we see that here in the case of Solomon it is never the time to shrink back from faithfulness and perseverance and diligence there's no retirement in terms of the spiritual life you don't hit age 80 and no longer are there any lusts or any Temptations or any hardships or any difficulties that one not needs to resist it's to the very bitter end we need to fight we need to be faithful we need to be watch ful and prayerful obviously Solomon let down his guard when he was an older man and that opened him up to all manner of lawlessness and wickedness so notice after the spiritual effect upon Solomon there in verses 3 and 4 we see the Practical results in verses 5 to8 the king pursued the false gods ashth milom or molac and Kos according to verses 5 and 7 the king did e evil in the sight of the Lord notice in verse six Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the lord as did his father David I said five and seven it's 5 and six David again once or once again gets this shout out for his loyalty and his faithfulness throughout his entire life and then note as well the king built high places for the false gods to facilitate and participate in their worship this is a very dist stressing passage this is a very scary passage this is the kind of Passage we should take into our prayer closets and meditate upon and pray to the Lord God help me not to go the way of Solomon at the end of his life so again verse 7 Solomon built a high place for Kos the abomination of Moab on the hill that is east of Jerusalem and for molok the abomination of the people of Ammon and he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrific to their God Robert alter says one may infer that he initially allowed them freedom of worship listen to this he initially allowed them freedom of worship go ahead honey go ahead honey go ahead honey go ahead honey multiply that by a thousand go ahead honey alter goes on to say and then was drawn into their Pagan ways hence the prohibition in Deuteronomy 7 if you marry them you will then allow them and then you will then participate with them God knew the heart God knows the heart and God ordered his law to speak to the heart of the children of Israel you're going into a foreign land there's going to be foreign peoples there's going to be foreign Gods there's going to be all manner of Temptation and if you don't walk carefully before the Lord and incline your heart to follow him holy then it won't be long before you're married to them and it won't be long before you're worship shing with them and not Yahweh not the living and true God so the king who had built a house for God and centralized Worship in accordance with Deuteronomy 12 is now in the business of building high places for the false gods that surround the Covenant people house again says other than their linked to his wives listen to this this is a I I think a very perceptive comment other than their linked to his wives Solomon's choice of Gods makes no sense he says in the ancient world polytheists tended to worship the gods of the Nations who had conquered their armies or at least the gods of countries more powerful than their own kind of makes sense if you're a pagan you see your neighbors and they're doing quite well well I think I'll go transfer to their God he goes on to say ironically Solan worships the gods of the people he has conquered and already controls what could he Poss gain from such activity he says the whole episode makes no sense just as idolatry itself makes no sense perhaps the narrator is trying to present that reality to us so that we will reflect so that we will contemplate and so that we will meditate upon this reality and resist and take heed to John's words John uh 1 John 5:21 he ends the epistle my little children keep yourselves from Idols that's an interesting way for a new testament Apostle to end his first epistle no it isn't not when you realize that our hearts are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love not when you consider that a man like Solomon a man who had Consolidated power a man who had a golden Reign according to chapters 3 to10 a man who was held in high esteem by the Nations around witnessed the queen of sheba's visit to him in first king chap 10 a man who had the blessing of God the chronicler tells us that when Solomon ascended the throne he sat on the throne of Yahweh he knew the blessing of God most high he loved the Lord and now we come to the place when he's old he's not having to flee youthful lusts he's having to flee elderly lusts and he does not do that it is nonsensical notice then the Divine response to Solomon we see the anger of the Lord expressed in verse 9 so the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel who had appeared to him twice he appears to him in First Kings chapter 3 that famous instance where God asks him what is it that you would like and Solomon requests wisdom and then he appears to him again in First Kings chapter 9 so this isn't like you know 20,000 years ago God no this is this is the real deal God made maintained close communion and Vis uh gave him vision and spoke to him and then notice the specific violation is in view because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel not because he married a thousand women that's not commended that's not promoted that's not thus saith the Lord It's okay but the issue here is the first commandment the issue here is that these Pagan women turned his heart from following holy the Lord God most high and the fact that the Lord had appeared to him twice only aggravates the scene before us now I'm not suggesting that if you haven't had two visions it's okay for you to go out and marry a thousand women I'm not suggesting that if you haven't had two visions it's okay for you to turn to their fake Gods I'm not saying that but I'm saying that these two visions exacerbate the closeness of God to Solomon in terms of his Rule and Reign exacerbates the sin that is before us Gil says which is mentioned here this two-time Vision as an aggravation of his sin that he should fall into it when the Lord had condescended to appear to him so graciously notice verse 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded it was a simple Act of transgression of God's holy law he lacked Conformity unto it he stepped he breached he violated the first commandment with reference to these gods and then note the word of the Lord he speaks concerning that division of the Kingdom that's going to come in first Kings chapter 12 Brethren that's a bad thing right see in the reign of David he secures the kingdom and in the reign of Solomon he builds the temple and he expands the kingdom it was a time of Peace it was a time of Pros erity it was a time of great blessing and imagine now they're going to have a divided Kingdom and they're going to be at odds with one another First Kings chapter 12 is not a joke either so the division of the kingdom is the result of broken commandment notice in verse 11 therefore the Lord said to Solomon because you have done this and have not kept my Covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant he's going to take it away there's going to be a breach Rahab is going to ascend the throne after Solomon and rabam is going to be challenged by jeroboam and jeroboam is basically going to say we're not happy rabam does what morons do he doesn't seek or take the counsel of the elders that surrounded his father but he listens to his boneheaded friends and he brings these oppressive measures upon his own People First Kings 12 is a sad commentary in the life of old Covenant Israel division of the king om breach idolatry Jobo the son of nebat becomes The Benchmark for sin and godlessness and in that that that series of kings that obtains so the faithfulness of God is seen in his keeping of promise to judge in this manner he says as much in 3:14 and in 96 to9 in those Visions as long as your sons are faithful as long as you yourselves are faithful there will be blessings and again the backdrop here is Deuteronomy 28 Leviticus 26 blessings in the land if you obey cursings in the land if you disobey you see the big difference already between Joshua and judges and our brother's reading tonight did did you catch that how frequently they didn't dispossess the Canaanites how frequently they ended up living amongst the Canaanites how frequently they turned their back upon what God had commanded and terms of Deuteronomy chter 7 how do you think the Book of Judges is going to go I mean that series of sin oppression repentance which really isn't repentance on their part it's typically crying out for the pain that has been inflicted upon them and then Deliverance it's continuous Cycles sin and oppression and I should say that the oppression there isn't the bad consequences that sin brings upon the heart it's God raising up fore an Invaders ERS and sending them as instruments of chastisement upon the Covenant people you see God is faithful to his promises and that means judgment as well and so you see that here the tearing away of the Kingdom proven makes the observation a divided heart will lead to a divided Kingdom Solomon's divided heart is the predicate for this divided Kingdom as I said it will be carried out in chapter 12 basically the request there of the northern tribes the Revolt of the northern tribes and then the requirement for the southern tribes they're not to engage them as enemy they're not to engage in a civil war to understand that there is now this division between the northern and the southern tribes but this section ends on God's mercy God's kindness he's faithful to execute judgment according to verse 11 but he's also faithful to execute his grace and mercy note verse 12 nevertheless you should love nevertheless is in old testament's uh uh prophecy you should love it like you love but God in in Ephesians chap 2 and verse 4 so here he says nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David I will tear it out of the hand of your son however I will not tear away the whole Kingdom I will give One Tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen so the Judgment would affect Solomon's son not him directly the Judgment would leave Judah intact it would be divided it would be hurt there would be all kinds of problems and and and difficulties but in terms of the davidic Covenant 2 Samuel 7 which I think is other background here is God says he'll leave Judah intact and he will leave Jerusalem intact and he does so for the sake of my servant David according to verse 1 that's Covenant language it's not based on David's Merit but it's based upon God's promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 so the Judgment then will be spelled out by ahijah in verses 29-39 and the Judgment would proceed exactly as God had prescribed in 2 Samuel 7 you can turn there I think it's good to have that in the backdrop 2 Samuel 7 God's promise to David that he's going to build bu a house for David a dynasty of Kings notice in 2 Samuel 7:12 when your days are are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom he shall build a house for my name and I will establish the Throne of his kingdom forever I will be his father and he shall be my son if he commits iniquity I will chasen him with the rod rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men that speaks to that line of judaic Kings those kings of Judah that sin Solomon rabam and down the line there would be chastisement there would be Exile there would be the curses of the Covenant executed upon the children of Israel verse 15 we notice my Mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I remov from before you and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you your throne shall be established forever now we know that ultimately this has fruition and fulfillment and execution in and through our Lord Jesus Christ he is that greater than Solomon that Sinners look to and are saved and so the chapter rather the section ends with a mention of God's mercy nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David well as we pull out some thoughts here again don't want to moralize but there is some practical warnings but before those practical warnings the sinfulness of Solomon this is a bad scene this there's no way to gloss this and I think it's another evidence of inspiration by the Holy Spirit whenever I've preached on the fall of David in 2 Samuel 11:1 12 I mentioned that it's an Evidence of divine inspiration we tend to gloss Over The Faults of Our Heroes right if David was your hero and you had the opportunity to write his biography you might just keep out that pesky bit about adultery and and murder if Solomon was your hero you you might be inclined to say well you know I don't want to kind of pick on the old boy that's now gone so I I'm just going to I'm not going to put that part in you see all of the Old Testament converges to this reality that every hero that Israel had would fall save one there's one hero in the Holy scriptures and that's the Lord Jesus Christ the greater than Solomon according to Matthew 12 so what we have here is his sin highlighted it was aggravated by his knowledge of the law verse 2 he knew Deuteronomy chapter 7 he knew Deuteronomy chapter 17 in fact in Deuteronomy chapter 17 had we contined to read we would know that one of the main functions or rather first functions of the reigning king of Israel was to write out the law of God for his own personal use he didn't have an iPad he didn't have an iPhone he didn't have law of good.cat upon that's what he thought through that's what he contemplated now I suspect there were a lot of deric Kings in both Tri uh the North and the South but I suspect that if one king probably did that it would have been the son of David the son of the man who wrote Psalm 119 the son of the man who understood that the blessed man meditates upon God's law day and night so there was a lesson that David most likely passed on to Solomon that came from the book of Deuteronomy Solomon when you exceed the take the throne I want you to write out that law and I want you to meditate upon it and night so he knew the law as well the sin of Solomon is aggravated by the good example of his father David again not a perfect example not a Flawless example not a sinless example but a good example and so we ask the question why would you do that Solomon but as well his experience of God's grace he's got the knowledge of the law he's got the great pattern of Paradigm of his own father and he's got own experience of God's grace again verse 9 so the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel who had appeared to him twice he had appeared to him twice he's got the knowledge of the law he's got the pattern of his father but he's got his own experiential knowledge of God most high because God most high has appeared to him twice there's no excuse it's horrible it's bad and as I'm saying this and as I'm preaching this I realize that all said there's no excuse and I'm saying that as a sinner saying that as a remaining sinner these things are terrifying as d uh Calvin says with reference to 2 Samuel 11 and 12 David's fall when he commits adultery when he conspires to murder Uriah the hittite David said or Calvin says this passage ought to make our hair stand up on end it is terrifying and I think that emphasis when he was old old sinners still sin I always used to try to keep that in my mind I would go to minister prior to co they put the kibos on that I'd go visit the old dolls as I would call them as I'm getting older I'm becoming an older not doll but whatever they call a guy but I would go there and I would remember these sweet blue-haired old women they were Sinners they look nice they didn't look like sinners look friendly and kind but old sinners sin people sin doesn't matter where at you know on the the the timeline there and the fact that Solomon does this when he's old I think causes the hair to stand on end I would suggest in light of or in contrast with the sinfulness of Solomon the Loyalty of David the Loyalty of David in verses four and six he's a benchmark he is the man after God's Own Heart Gil says who though guilty of many sins never inclined to idolatry his heart was always right in that point and sincere in his worship whatever else David had going wrong whatever other problems David had in this point his heart was faithful to the Lord his God now in terms of the Practical warnings I would suggest first the believer this is kind of stepping back looking at Solomon not moralistically but practically Paul says that the scriptures are written for our admonition for our encouragement so I would suggest first the believer must marry in the Lord that is a New Covenant imperative 1 Corinthians 7:39 as well that believer married in the Lord must maintain sexual Fidelity according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 3 an elder must be a onew woman man that means he is faithful sexually he is faithful conjugally he is faithful Covenant to his wife as well for the woman that's being placed on the widows list in 1 Timothy Chapter 5 she must be a one-man woman in other words she's a widow but it cannot be the case if she's to be on that list that she had a propagate rebellious and Godless life no she was a one-man woman I would suggest secondly the believer must maintain fidelity to the Lord by obeying his Commandments notice what I did not say I did not say that the person or the believer becomes a Believer by obedience to the Commandments of the Lord no we're Justified freely by God's grace when we believe the gospel we're forgiven of our sins we receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith alone but in light of that justification what inevitably follows and is inextricably connected is sanctification Saul should have walked carefully before the Lord his God and we in the New Covenant are to walk carefully Bel before the Lord Our God according to the Spirit uh and the word I would suggest thirdly the believer must guard the eyes and the heart and in Solomon's instance perhaps political motivations were involved in that as well but as the text says he clung to them he loved them so we need to maintain a watchfulness over the eyes and the heart and you know what's kind of sad well it's not kind of sad it's really sad Solomon teaches us all that in the Proverbs I'm not spitballing here I don't have some wealth of data this is all just you know Bible application and much of it owing to Solomon in the Book of Proverbs third uh fourthly the believer ought to be mindful of Solomon's age when he fell when Solomon was old when Solomon was old now that doesn't mean okay as young people you're off the hook no there's a text I said that mentions that flee also youthful lusts so whatever place in the timeline we are there are temptations there is a necessity for us to watch and pray there is a necessity for us to fight there is a necessity for us not to sort of glide into heaven now I'm not condemning retirement per se when I speak of spiritual retirement I mean we need to Be watchful we need to be prayerful we need to be mindful and we need to fight I would suggest fifthly that the believer should realize that past experien experiences do not always ensure present faithfulness past experiences verses 9 and 10 God appeared to him twice do not necessarily ensure present faithfulness just because you've been on the mountaintops with Jesus just because you participated in a Revival just because every time you've opened up the scripture it's like nuggets have been falling into your heart just because of all that that does not ensure present faithfulness what ensures present faithfulness is dependence upon the holy spirit a mind rooted in God's word and a constant recognition that I am prone to wander I am prone to leave the God I love so Lord protect me Deliver us not into evil we know the propensities and the Tendencies of our heart I cannot Bank on my past experiences I need to make sure that I am presently faithful to The God Who has saved me six the believer should realize that good examples do not always secure present faithfulness either David was a great example and parents be good examples but bathe that example in lots of prayer that God gets a hold of their heart and that they wholly follow him always because the good example that Solomon had with reference to David was not enough to secure present faithfulness when all of these women captured his heart and took him off to their worship Services I would suggest seventhly the believer should realize that knowledge itself does not always secure present faithfulness I'm not suggesting don't have knowledge but just because you know a lot doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be pres uh faithful in the present d uh Solomon counsels his sons in Proverbs 5 remove your way far from her do not go near the door of her house he says rejoice in the wife of your youth he says remember that a man's ways is always before God he counsels his son specifically in Proverbs 5 about avoiding sexual sin and immorality so the knowledge that Solomon has doesn't inoculate him from the lusts that Solomon gives vent to as well the believer should realize that wisdom does not always secure present faithfulness Solomon was the wisest man on the earth save our Lord Jesus Christ I mean he's heralded by pagans too everybody comes they're they they Marvel at the the the wisdom of Solomon I mean people for Millennia have marveled at the wisdom of Solomon recorded in the Book of Proverbs and and in eclesiastes but that wisdom itself does not necessarily secure present faithfulness so not experience not example not even knowledge and wisdom so so what are we supposed to do you're supposed to trust and depend upon God most high you're supposed to live listen to Jesus in John 17:17 sanctify them by thy truth Thy word is truth it's to show us our absolute need for the presence and the power of the holy spirit because if it happens to Solomon who was experienced who had example who had knowledge who had wisdom if it can happen to him it can most likely happen to any of us and so what do we need we need the Holy Spirit we need the spirit of Truth we need the other comforter that strengthens us Gil says this shows that the best and wisest of men when left to themselves may do the worst and most foolish of all things as nothing can be more so than the worship of such wretched deities so we need to understand that we we need God constantly utterly always consistently and then I want to end on this the question everyone asks was Solomon saved was Solomon saved I mean if you read this chapter it's Bleak it's depressing it's distressing it's hair raising 2 Timothy 2:19 tells us nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands having this seal the Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity I'm going to lean on Gil here so if you got problems with my explanation you can take it up with the brother when you get to heaven I think he's right though he says though nothing is said so I guess you can take it up with me so nothing is said of Solomon's repentance or I'm sorry though nothing is said of Solomon's repentance there is no doubt but he was a good man repented of his sins and was saved as may be concluded from the commendations of him after his death he men mentioned 2 Chronicles 1117 where the people followed David and Solomon from the promise of God that he made that his Mercy should not depart from him though he chastised him 2 Samuel 7:14 from his being an inspired writer who were all holy men according to 2 Peter 1:20 and especially from his writing the Book of Ecclesiastes after his fall which contains a full acknowledgement of all his evils a recantation of them and repentance for them I suggest that's the question everybody usually asks but here's the question I think we should all ask how do I avoid that as a Believer depend upon the Triune God for your help as a Believer be in the scriptures even the negative examples like these and let your hair stand on end because hopefully it promotes in you a fear to not go thou and do likewise as a Believer do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind as a Believer make sure that you are watchful and that you are prayerful and that you understand that we have something that Solomon didn't have we've got the internet we've got all kinds of things and I'm not suggesting that Solomon is somehow off the hook there is a whole host of things that are vying for the attention of men and women in this Godless age and well as well if you're not a Believer look to the one who describes himself as greater than Solomon in Matthew 12 I think Matthew 12 Christ shows that he's a greater priest he's a greater prophet and he's a greater King and Solomon is the foil for him to say that he is a greater King so believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and believer on the Lord Jesus Christ walk in his truth walk in dependence upon him and flee these sorts of sins well let us pray Our God and Father we thank you for your word we thank you for your goodness and for your kindness to us we pray that you would help us to learn the lesson of chapters like these and help us to be faithful and P persevering by your grace and For Your Glory and we know that faithfulness and perseverance on our part requires much grace much mercy and much provision on your part we want to be dependent holy upon you we want to serve you we want to glorify and honor you so keep us by that Grace and cause us to glorify and honor you individually as families and as a local church and we pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well we'll stand and we'll close our service by singing 572 [Music] [Music] 572 and to and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world [Music] now may the God of Peace who brought up our lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation [Music] h [Music]
