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[0:00] This evening, God's Word, taken from the book of Kings, 1 Kings, chapter 2.! 1 Kings, chapter 2, and I'll read the first 25 verses.

[0:16] So, this morning we looked at chapter 1, briefly, or at least one small aspect of chapter 1, the life of Adonijah.

[0:33] This evening we'll be looking at also another part of 1 Kings, chapter 1, but just to give a bit more of an overview as to what is going on, I thought I'd just read chapter 2 as well, the first 25 verses.

[0:51] Hear God's Word. When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I'm about to go the way of all the earth.

[1:06] Be strong and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.

[1:41] Moreover, you also know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasar, the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals of his feet.

[2:07] Act now, act therefore according to your wisdom, But do not let his grey head go down to Sheol in peace, but deal loyally with the sons of Bazelai, the Gildedite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom, your brother.

[2:31] And there is also with you Shimei, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, from Bahurim, who cursed me for grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim.

[2:42] But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man.

[2:54] You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his grey head down with blood to Sheol. Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years.

[3:10] He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father and his kingdom was firmly established. Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and she said, Do you come peacefully?

[3:28] He said, Peacefully. Then he said, I have something to say to you. She said, Speak. He said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign.

[3:41] However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brothers, for it was his from the Lord. And now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.

[3:52] She said to him, Speak. And he said, Please ask King Solomon, he will not refuse you, to give me Abishak the Shunammite as my wife. Bathsheba said, Farewell, I will speak for you to the king.

[4:06] So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah, and the king rose to meet her and bow down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.

[4:21] Then she said, I have one small request to make of you. Do not refuse me. And the king said to her, Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you. She said, Let Abishak the Shunammite be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife.

[4:37] King Solomon answered his mother, And why do you ask Abishak the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side Abitha the priest, and Joab the son of Zerariah.

[4:53] Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me and more also, if the word does not cost Adonijah his life. Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me, and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.

[5:15] So King Solomon sent Abananiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. Amen. May the Lord be his blessing to the further reading of his holy and inspired word.

[5:28] The one, so it's a bit of a continuation from this morning. So this morning we looked at the character of Adonijah in the verse 5 and 6, and this evening we will continue in verse 7 to 10.

[5:46] And the word of God says, He conferred with Joab, the son of Zariah, and Abiathar the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him.

[5:58] But Zadok the priest, and Badananiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Ray, and David's mighty men, were not with Adonijah.

[6:11] Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the serpent stone, which is beside Enrogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.

[6:24] But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, or Badananiah, or the mighty men of Solomon, or the mighty men, or Solomon his brother. So I said this morning, that this, the book of Kings, it basically gives a summary of the kings, from Saul to Zedekiah, and the purpose, well who wrote it, some say it's Jeremiah, but the purpose of this, this book of Kings, 1st and 2nd Kings, the purpose of it is to, to write it so that there's an impact, there's an effect on the readers.

[7:01] And as I quote, the general objective was to bring about change, in these readers, to create persons different from what they were, before reading took place.

[7:14] And the readers, specifically would be the Israelites, during the Babylonian captivity. They had been, they were on, they were put up, they were on exile, because they had fallen away from the Lord, they disobeyed God's word, and so they were brought into captivity, because of idolatry, and so on.

[7:34] And these books, these two books, 1st and 2nd Kings, were written, so that, it can be proclaimed to them, it can be announced to them, it can be preached upon.

[7:45] And that when they hear, the word being read, and when they hear, the word being preached upon, they can be changed, there can be transformation, there can be, there's a word, they would be, the different people, before the reading took place, there would be a different people, a changed people.

[8:05] And so, I've said this morning, that 1st Kings is also for us, because when we read, and when we preach on this book, in fact, we read and preach on it, any book in the Bible, the expectation is that, there will be a change in us, and there must be a change in us, otherwise, we need to question ourselves, why not?

[8:23] And so, we look at Adonijah this morning, about his, I won't go into, into all the details again, but he had this, I mentioned about the sin of self-exaltation, he said he would be king, and that he prepared all the chariots, he gathered himself, a little army, to make, to prop up his, his, his self-imaginary importance, or self-importance, and then, I mentioned as well, the problem of overindulgence, his father David, King David, we read in verse 6, never at any time, displeased him by asking, why have you done thus and so, so basically, David was to soften him, he allowed his, Adonijah to run away, with all his, imaginary grandeur, and so on, and then finally, we thought, we talk about the, the folly of superficial qualities, he was a young, very handsome man, in verse 6, second part, and so, he tried to use, his natural abilities, and natural charisma, and looks, to replace, what he lacks, which is, good character, so, this evening, we will look, even a bit further, into, not just his character, but some of the actions, that he did, and the first thing, we can say is, is this, there's a tragedy, of compromise, the tragedy, of compromise, look at verse 7, and 8, we see here, that he conferred, with Joab, the son of Zariah, and Abiath, the priest, and they followed,

[10:07] Adonijah, and helped him, but Zadok, the priest, and Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei, and Re, and David's mighty man, were not, were not, with Adonijah, basically, there was a, a compromise, he, he, he compromised, and he sought, after, certain people, to help him out, to achieve, his aim, which is to usurp, the throne, to take the throne, away from, the rightful king, which is Solomon, and to take it, for himself, and so the way, he did it, is to recruit Joab, who you know, is the general, in David's time, and Abiath, the priest, now you may ask yourself, the question, well what, what's so significant, about Joab, after all, do we not read, that Joab, was a loyal, ambitious, general, in the time, of Israel's history, so he's well known, in fact, the books, of Samuel,

[11:08] Kings, and Chronicles, all describe, Joab, to some extent, he was, a important, military leader, under King David, and, in all fairness to him, he did conquer, Jerusalem, for David, so we read, in, first Chronicles, chapter 11, verses 4, and 6, we read, that David, and all Israel, went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites, were, the inhabitants, of the land, and David said, whoever strikes, the Jebusites first, shall be chief, and commander, and Joab, the son of Zariah, went up first, so he became chief, so, he did conquer, Jerusalem, for David, and so that's why, the seat, of Israel, was transferred, to Jerusalem, Jerusalem, however, well, apart from that, Joab is going to have, more victories, over the Syrians, and Ammonites, and then, he became, quite a powerful general, quite a powerful general, we read, in 2 Samuel, chapter 8, that David, reigned over, all Israel, doing what was, just, and right, for all his people,

[12:25] Joab, son of Zariah, was over, the army, so he almost, became like, the field marshal, or whatever it is, equivalent, the, the general of the, of all the military forces, of the Israelites, he was a good general, so let's, you know, we have to be, we have to get credit, where credit is due, he was a good general, but, and there's always that, but there, he was, a nasty politician, he was morally, ambiguous, that's how one writer, described him, morally, ambiguous, he wasn't a very, pleasant, politician, despite being, loyal to David, Joab's actions, were, to put it in common parlance, a bit dodgy, he was willing, to commit some, morally, questionable acts, in order to achieve, his ends, you can say, he was pragmatic, but, he was ruthless, you know, let's be clear, he was ruthless, sometimes, even repaying, good with evil, so he, he's known, among many things, he is known to, to assassinate, people, as an act of revenge, for example, he murdered Abner, to avenge, for his brother,

[13:50] Asahel, we read in, 2 Samuel, chapter 3, when Abner, returned, to Hebron, Joab, took him aside, in the midst of the gate, to speak, with him privately, and there, he struck him, the stomach, so that he died, for the blood, of Asahel, his brother, this was an act of revenge, act of revenge, and then, later on, he, also, assassinated, another, person, Amasar, who was his, as it were, a rival commander, not rival commander, but, not somebody, who is against him, but somebody, who was tipped, to be the next general, David, tipped him, to be the next general, when David, said to Amasar, are you not my bone, and my flesh, he was related to him, God do so, to me, and more also, if you're not, if you're not, commander of my army, from now on, in place of Joab, you see that, he, he was tipped to be, the next general, and,

[14:56] Joab, didn't like that, and so, Joab, said to Amasar, this is very devious, of him, is it well with you, my brother, and Joab took, Amasar by, by the beard, and with his right hand, to kiss him, but Amasar, did not observe the sword, that was in Joab's hand, so Joab struck him, with it, in the stomach, and spilled his entrails, to the ground, without striking a second blow, and he died, that second Samuel, chapter 20, you can read that all for yourself, you know, it's, slightly gory details, so he was morally ambiguous, he's, he's, he's ruthless, to put it mildly, anyone who he perceived, to be a threat, to his position, he would, execute, or kill him, and then, finally, he defied, King David's, explicit, explicit, public command, to deal gently, with his rebel son, Absalom, you may remember this, account, in 2 Samuel, chapter 18,

[15:57] King David, told him, to deal gently, with him, and yet, what did, what did Joab do? He personally, stabbed Absalom, when he hung, from the tree, so, there, there you have it, you have, a very questionable, general, Joab, who, was good, to David, in one sense, in the military sense, but yet, also, morally, he was very much, questionable, and sometimes, downright, wrong, and not only that, but he betrayed David, when he, killed Absalom, and then now, he's going to back, Adonijah, Prince Adonijah's, coup, to claim the throne, ahead of, Solomon, why in the world, did Joab do that?

[16:50] Why did he, join, Adonijah? Well, there could be, various reasons, but we won't go into that, but there you have, he is, he's going to join forces, with Adonijah, and we see later on, and this is where, the reading earlier, in the reading earlier, that David, gave the instruction, at his deathbed, that Joab, was going to pay, for his past crimes, if you remember, in the reading earlier, in chapter 2, verse 5, moreover, you also know, what Joab, the son of Zerariah, did to me, how he dealt, with the two commanders, of the armies of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasar, the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace, and so on, and then we read, in verse 6, act, therefore, according to, your wisdom, and do not let, his gray head, go down, to Shreel, in peace, he was giving, instruction to Solomon, that Joab, would pay, for his crimes, and he did, we read later, in chapter 2, this is, beyond the reading, but also in chapter 2,

[18:03] Joab, was finally, executed, in verse 32, in verse 32, or verse 34, Ben and I, the son of Jehoiada, went up and struck him down, and put him to death, and he was buried, in his own house, in the wilderness, and so on, so, Joab was finally, paid for his crimes, so, Joab's character, ambitious, but lack, a moral restraint, now, what about, Abiathar, the priest, well, you know, he was also, kind of, equally morally, ambiguous, well, he did well, at various points, for example, during the, massacre at Nob, and his flight to David, in 1 Samuel, chapter 22, you need not to learn there, but I'll just read some, just a couple of verses, verses, where we see, this,

[19:09] Abiathar, in verse 20, but one of the sons of, Ahimelech, the son of, Ahithub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled, after David, and Abiathar told David, that Saul had killed, the priests, of the Lord, and David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that he would surely, tell Saul, I've occasioned the death, of all the persons, of your father's house, stay with me, do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life, seeks your life, with me, you shall be in safekeeping, so David was very, kind and gracious, to Abiathar, even though, the priests, were all executed, by King Saul, he promised to look, after, the sole survivor, which is Abiathar, and, he's going to stay, with David, for many, many years, after that, David promised, to protect him, and David did, he served, with David, as the high priest, when David, was in exile, you can read all, in 1st Samuel, chapter 23,

[20:16] I won't go into, all the individual readings, you know, we'll be here, for a very long time, and, later on, Abiathar, is going to use, the effort, to seek, guidance, for David, when David, was, was, running away, from Saul, and also, when David, was running away, from Absalom, so, both occasions, when David, was in trouble, from Saul, and then, later on, from his own son, Absalom, Abiathar, remained, a loyal, priest, to David, and, he even, stayed behind, Jerusalem, to act as a spy, for, for David, during the time, when Absalom, was, was, after David, and wanted to take his, take the throne, from David, so, you may say, well, all, that's all very good, and well, then, why in the world, did Abiathar, conspire with Joab, to support, Adonijah's claim, to the throne, over Solomon, why, why did he do that, why did both of them, supported,

[21:26] Adonijah, claim to the throne, well, there's not really, a clear indication, perhaps, in the previous verse, when, when, Adonijah, was described as, a young, handsome man, perhaps, they may see him as, you know, the next, big thing, King David is, he's old, he's, he's, he's, he's on his way out, well, we've got this, young, you know, man coming up, up and coming, Adonijah, hey, we'll throw our lot with him, perhaps, that's what they were thinking, now, Abiathar's, ending, was not as tragic, as Joab, Solomon, spent, Abiathar's life, because, because, he had helped David, his father, when he carried the ark, when he carried the ephod, when he, when he gave guidance, to King David, and so,

[22:29] David, sorry, Solomon, spared, Abiathar's life, but he did send him away, on exile, and strip him, of his priesthood, so you see all that, in chapter 2, and verse 26, and to Abiathar, the priest, the king said, this is King Solomon, said to Abiathar, go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death, but, I will not, at this time, put you to death, why?

[22:57] Because you carried, the ark of the Lord God, before David, my father, and because you shared, in all my father's afflictions, so Solomon, expelled Abiathar, from being priest, to the Lord, thus fulfilling, the word of the Lord, that he has spoken, concerning the house, of Eli, in Shiloh, so, Abiathar was removed, later on, by Solomon, and incidentally, as we read, in this verse, that was actually, in fulfillment, to a prophecy, that was spoken, to Eli, if you remember, Eli, in 1 Samuel chapter 2, with his wicked sons, that we, we talk about this morning, the Lord has said, to Eli, that, he would be, his line, would be, would come to an end, and true enough, Abiathar is, going to be the last, from that line, in the house of Eli, and you can read, all that, in 1 Samuel chapter 2, and again,

[23:59] I wouldn't go into that, 1 Samuel chapter 2, gives you a bit, more information, about Eli, and, and how the Lord, is, has dealt with, the house of Eli, and so on, so, but basically, coming back to, to, this chap, Adonijah, he got, he gathered, among himself, Joab, and Abiathar, general, and priest, perhaps, you know, we can say, that Adonijah, appointed, two, opportunistic, leaders, who, were desperate, to, hang on, to some, kind of power, trying to, claw back, whatever, power, influence, they have, they have, left, in their lives, basically, he gathered, for himself, the wrong, sort of characters, the wrong, sort of people, the wrong, sort of people, now, this culture, society, the culture, that we live in, promotes, that sort of idea, we are always told, we are told, in social media, and in, just in society, today, that we can, claim our crown, or, and I've not heard, this phrase used before, fake it, till you make it, never heard that before, fake it, till you make it, but that's, that's the kind of thing, that people are promoting, these days, to promote, the sort of, ruthless ambition, you exalt yourself, you, you're ruthless, in your pursuit, of whatever, you, you claim it, you claim your crown, you do whatever it takes, to get you to, become number one, you know, in the, probably in the, several decades ago, they used to call it, you know, you climb up the greasy pole, of the career, you know, you climb the career ladder, now, now it's, it's a lot more, ruthless than that, you, you, you, you got to, be number one, numero uno, you know,

[26:13] I'm number one, I'm, I'm the first, and it's all about me, me, me, and perhaps, Adonijah is a bit like that, he, he's, and Joab, perhaps he's a bit like that, perhaps, maybe he could see a bit of kinship, kind of, you know, kind of common ground, between Adonijah and Joab, they're both very, very ambitious, and ruthlessly so, however, however, we know, that, that sort of mentality, that sort of ideology, never works out well, that's why I say, it's the tragedy of compromise, when we, when we try and, do things, without God, and try and do things, without seeking God's will, and help, usually doesn't end well, for us, and perhaps, we know this, in, in, in our own lives, broken relationships, spiritual hypocrisy, and ruin, we see that, time and time again, there's a problem, with compromise, it usually doesn't end well, you may remember, 2010, there was the elections, and we had the, was it in,

[27:29] I suppose in Scotland, you had it as well, the lip dams, and the conservatives, they formed the, coalition government, I don't know if you remember that, far back, it's been what, 16 years ago now, they used to call it, the con dam, you know, conservative, and lip dams, con dam, and, they were both, very ambitious, David Cameron, and, Nigel, I can't remember his last name now, but, you know who I'm talking about, they were very ambitious, and they formed this coalition, and you know, from all the various, political commentators, it, it would never work out well, and true enough, the lip dams for, many years after that, they were in, kind of political, exile, because they were not, and, Tories also suffered as well, but what I'm saying is this, and this is nothing to do with politics, but, the point I'm trying to make is, compromise, in any shape and form, usually doesn't end well, usually doesn't end well, in fact, the Lord himself, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, said, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one, and despise the other, you cannot serve God and money, that is from the very lips of Christ himself, where we try and compromise, to try and get things our way, where we try and, have the best of both worlds, as we think, we might have it, we end up in a pickle, we end up in a lot of trouble,

[29:01] James, the apostle James, in chapter 4, we read, you adulterous people, do you not know, that friendship, the world, is enmity with God, therefore, whoever wishes to be the, to be a friend of the world, makes himself, an enemy of God, it's true in, in the political sphere, it's true in, the, in the, in this case, in the Old Testament, and it's true, even for us today, it's true, even for us today, when we, when we seek to, to, to pursue, greatness, for ourselves, imaginary greatness, for ourselves, and we, we try and, forge links, with those who, do not love the Lord, those who do not, value the Bible, where we try to, have friendships, with those who are, who are antagonistic, to the, to the Bible, well, it usually doesn't, end well, with us, you see, time and time again, in, whether it be churches, whether it be individuals, whether it even be, denominations, when they seek, to compromise, when they seek to, form alliances, with those who are, against the word of God, it never ends well, it never ends well, you may think, it ends, you may think, it looks good, but give it time, and you see, that things will go badly,

[30:34] I'll give you, a good example here, Spurgeon's College, you may have heard of it, founded, founded, by, the Baptist minister, in the Victorian times, C.H. Spurgeon, very well known, he had a group of men, that he taught, and it grew so much, that he had to form, what is known, in 1856, as the Pastors College, so he trained, pastors, in, in his time, that college, became Spurgeon's College, which is not, still in London, however, that college, rejoined, the Baptist Union, now the Baptist Union, was liberal, in 1892, this is when Spurgeon, had passed away, they rejoined, the Baptist Union, Spurgeon had already, taken the church, and obviously the college, out of the Baptist Union, because of liberalism, but now they brought it back, because they wanted to have, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the Baptist Union, and all the ranks, and file, and so on, and, and, and I'm not being, more and more liberal, and now you may have heard, in the news, that it closed down, finally, uh, uh, the, the,

[31:53] Spurgeon's College, closed down, in July, 2025, um, and we can think of, other examples, uh, which I wouldn't go into, um, that's one that's still fresh, in my mind, because it's, it happened only last year, uh, Presbyterians had the same issues, uh, sometimes you ask yourself, where do you think, Harvard, University, uh, where do you think that name came from, and what it is today, um, you know, so, you know, when, when, we compromise, when we, seek to, align ourselves, with those who, do not love the Lord, well, there will be, uh, lots and lots of problems, and this example of, of Adonijah, speaking for himself, uh, morally ambiguous, um, characters, like Joab, uh, that is a signal, the, the start of his own end, now, but there's more that we can say, uh, more than we can say, um, look at verse 9 and 10, and, there's the next, the next part I'm going to say, is the problems with mere religious performance, the problems with mere religious performance, we see in verse 9 and 10,

[33:13] Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle, by the serpent stone, which is beside Enrogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, but, he did not invite Nathan, the prophet, or Benaiah, or the mighty man, or Solomon, his brother, this is the problems of mere religious performance, performance, now, what's Adonijah trying to do here, he's trying to, mask, his own spiritual darkness, and rebellion, by performing a really, a pointless, act of sacrifice, that's what he's trying to do there, in verses 9 and 10, he was trying to mask, his own spiritual darkness, and rebellion, by performing a pointless, sacrifice, sacrifice, you may think to yourself, hmm, that sounds familiar, where have I seen that before, but if it sounds familiar, it's because, it's very similar to King Saul,

[34:17] King Saul, did something similar, before, you may remember, in 1 Samuel chapter 13, in fact, two occasions, 1 Samuel 13, and 1 Samuel 15, I wouldn't read all, all the passage, but, you can read it for yourself, there was a battle, Samuel told Saul, to wait for him, before he, he would turn up, and, as priest, Samuel had the, right to, conduct a sacrifice, but Saul, decided, nah, I'm, I'm waiting for, a bit too long, I'm getting impatient, he's not here yet, I'm going to do it, and so, in verse, in chapter 13, Saul, performed a sacrifice, even though, he's not meant to do it, we read in, chapter 1,

[35:19] Samuel chapter 13, he waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, the people scattering from him, so Saul said, bring the burnt offering, to me, and peace offerings, and he offered the burnt offering, and as Samuel came, he turned up later on, and Samuel said, what have you done, and he said, when I saw, that the people scattering from me, and that you did not come, within the days appointed, and that the Philistines, had mustered at, Michmash, I said, now the Philistines, will come down against me, so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offerings, he forced himself, I have to do it, you're too slow, there might be a battle coming up, I better do this now, he's not meant to, he was impatient, and later on, in chapter 15, it happens again, not quite, the actual sacrifice, but he, they were having the battle, against the Amalekites, and they were supposed to, destroy everything, but he decided to keep, some of the animals, and, and the people took the spoil, the sheep and oxen, but the best things, devoted the destruction, to the sacrifice, of the Lord, your God, in Gilgal, he was thinking, well,

[36:40] I won't kill all the animals, that we, that we can find, among the Amalekites, I'll keep them, because I'm going to, offer it up to God, as a sacrifice, you know, he just wanted to, imagine that, he can just please God, like that, and what did Samuel say, and these are famous verse, famous verse, has the Lord, as great delight, in burnt offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying, the voice, of the Lord, behold, to obey, is better, than sacrifice, to obey, is better, than sacrifice, Saul, did that, his sacrifice, his motive, was either impatience, or just plain, crowd pleasing, Adonijah's, motive was, he wanted to usurp, the throne, from his brother Solomon, and so he wanted to, throw a coronation feast, you know, welcome all the, all the royal, the bigwigs, of Judah, you know, and I'll, sacrifice the sheep, the oxen, the fattened cattle, and all the rest of that, his motive was, you know,

[37:51] I want that throne, so I will show, my power, by having this sacrifice, very similar, is it not, who did Saul, disobeyed, well, he disobeyed Samuel, he disobeyed Samuel, who did Adonijah, disobeyed, well, he disobeyed David, but ultimately, who did they both, disobeyed, they both disobeyed God, they both disobeyed God, and what I read earlier, in Samuel, what Samuel said, to obey is better than sacrifice, God is not going to look at, all these animals being sacrificed, and say, wow, fantastic, that's exactly what I need, from these people, no, God has said to them, and I read this morning, in Deuteronomy, chapter 28, the blessings can only come, through obedience, when we disobey God, well, don't expect a blessing, do not expect blessing, so what was the outcome, for Saul, do you remember, what was the outcome of Saul, when he, offered a sacrifice, even though he was not meant to,

[39:04] I think you probably remember, what happened to Saul, he lost his kingdom, that was, that was his, outcome, that was the consequence, of him, disobeying God, running ahead on himself, offering up a sacrifice, when God said, no, Saul lost his kingdom, what happened to Anonijah, well, I mentioned already, this morning, the coup failed, and finally, he was executed, by Solomon, a lot can be said, about his, the, the, how, Anonijah, was finally executed, but we won't go into that, but just, to say, very briefly, that he, when we read in verse 25, so King Solomon, sent Anonijah, the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died, Adonijah thought, that even though Solomon, now is king, he thought,

[40:05] I can still, try and squeeze in, and try and squeeze, the last opportunity, to be king, in the reading, that we, we read earlier, in chapter 2, he spoke to Solomon's, mother, Bathsheba, and he wanted, Abishak the Shunammite, as his wife, now you may remember, you remember, Abishak the Shunammite, in chapter 1, she was the, the close, companion, of King David, and he was trying, to have her, as his wife, now you may think, to yourself, what's the big deal, with that, after all, King David is dead now, it's not, not a big deal, but actually, that is, in those days, that would be, an act of treason, that would be, an act of treason, you remember, in, elsewhere, in 2 Samuel 16, where Absalom, this is Absalom, who, wanted to, usurp the throne, from King David, is Absalom, the son, the rebellious son, of David, when he wanted, to, show his, his, rebellious nature, or wanted to show, his, his desire, for the throne, of David, what did he do, he had relationships, with 10 of David's concubines, and that was, an act of defiance, he's trying to show,

[41:29] David, his own father, I can do this, I can do this, in defiance of you, who are you, I can have, relationships, with all, 10 of your concubines, now, you would think, that Adonijah, being a younger brother, should know better, ought to know better, he would have seen, what happened to Absalom, in the end, but no, he wanted to, take Abishak, as his wife, and then, finally then, he was executed, by Solomon, but notice this, but the point, I'm trying to point, I'm trying to make, is this, he used, he used, all these, sacrificial rituals, as some kind, of spiritual, a veneer, to legitimize, his, political actions, after all, these are, religious symbols, and if they are, religious symbols, would they not, make it a bit more, legitimate, for all the, big wigs, in Judah, using these, religious symbols, would he not, get a bit more, credence, a bit more, currency, amongst the, the people, in front of him, including, the priest, and, and Joab,

[42:41] Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the general, you know, having these, religious symbols, you know, it makes it a bit more, gives a bit more, weight, a bit more, a bit more, currency, a bit more strength, there, all his intentions, are not for God's glory, and we know, that's the case, because why, he deliberately, excluded certain people, notice this, at the beginning, in verse 8, we read that, Zadok the priest, and Benani, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Re, and David's mighty men, were not with Adonijah, that should really give us, a little, alarm bells, a bit of red flag, something's not right here, why did he not get, these people on his side, it's likely that, they didn't want to be, on his side, David's mighty men, that's a whole sermon, on his own, David's mighty men, would stick with David, and the appointed king, which is Solomon, and Zadok the priest, and so on, and so forth, and then, when we come to verse 9, and verse 10,

[43:48] I mean, he did not invite, Nathan the prophet, amazing, this is Nathan the prophet, the prophet, who is so closely, linked with David, or Benaniah, again mentioned there, and the mighty men, again mentioned there, Solomon his brother, you can see already, that he's got, certain, he's got his own, personal agenda, he's got his own, personal agenda, he was not thinking, about God's glory, he wasn't thinking, about who God, has appointed, to be the next king, no, he was just thinking, about me, myself, my own, claim to the throne, his so called, worship was, was pretty much, a calculated, political strategy, rather than, a genuine devotion, to God, I think we can safely, say that, all his religiosity, his religious actions, was all to, make himself look good, in front of other people, rather than, truly devoting himself, to the Lord, now, we cannot read, each other's hearts, but this, reminds us, and it should remind us, that, all our, any religious, outside, or outward, religious, actions, or observance, can easily, become a cover, for something, that is wrong, within us, something, that is rebellious, within us, or something, that is self-centered, within us, we ought to be, quite careful, with how, with how, we, worship God,

[45:25] God, it's no point, having all the, outward signs, of something, that is empty, within, this, this, few verses, remind us, of that, we see, sometimes, we see in, even in this, day and age, you know, some, professing Christians, come to a certain church, and then, they realize, that the church, stands, on the word of God, the Bible, and they are not, comfortable with that, and they said, no, let's go to somewhere else, where at least, I can do what I please, whether it be sinful or not, I can do what I please, but, I can do what I please, but have the rituals, and the ceremonies, being performed, so that there's no demands, placed on me, no requirements, placed on me, no standards, put before me,

[46:25] I can just do what I like, in, another church, I'm sure you've seen that, in, happening elsewhere, this does happen, sadly, we cannot use, we cannot use, outward actions, and outward, religious symbols, or, anything, outwardly, to try and cover up, perhaps even sin, in our life, we have to be careful, we have to be careful, because when we compromise, our own, Christian faith, with sin, as John Owen said, be killing sin, or it will be killing you, we, we, we, we, our, when we come before God, in the public worship of God, it has to be real, it has to be real, we cannot use, religious activity, for self-promotion, or religious activity, to cover up, something, that we are trying to hide, from God, well, we need to ask, we, and I say we, including myself, we need to ask God, to search our own motives, when we come before God, in the public worship of God, this is what this passage, teaches us, it reminds us of that, well, just a few thoughts, concerning this passage,

[48:01] I don't know, a lot more can be said, but it's, just a few verses, to, to hopefully, focus our minds, on the things of the Lord, and may the Lord, bless these few thoughts, to all our hearts.