WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 How you guys doing? That's good. That's, that's, that's, hmm, so-so. How you guys doing? Okay? 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:11.500 Okay. Hey, so we are, I just need to lay it out there. I'm going to talk about it from the very 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:16.199 beginning. We're going to be talking about wisdom, and we're going to be talking about folly today, 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:21.900 or stupidity. And often when I do sermons, people come up to me afterwards. I mean, it's amazing how 00:00:21.900 --> 00:00:26.660 often this happens, and they go, you know my story. You were talking about me, weren't you? 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:30.539 And I'm like, no, I don't know your story. I know some of your stories, but I would never 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:36.620 talk about your story up here. I was talking about my story and the things that I struggle with. 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:40.259 And so I just want to lay it out here at the beginning so everybody knows who we're talking 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:45.219 about. So I want to begin by asking, is there anybody in here who's ever done anything stupid? 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:52.659 I mean, is there anybody in here who's done something really, really dumb? I mean, have 00:00:52.659 --> 00:01:00.519 you ever done this dumb thing over and over and over? And you wonder why you keep doing 00:01:00.519 --> 00:01:04.159 it, but you just keep doing it because you just can never learn. Is anybody in here like 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:11.120 that? Now, wives, stop elbowing your husbands. But I'm going to take it on a chin right here. 00:01:11.199 --> 00:01:16.840 Guys, I got to admit, I think guys, guys are the dumbest of the sexes. And I'm just going 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:21.000 to say it right here. I mean, I just, you just watch like American stupid videos or something 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.680 like that. There's never a girl tied to a car on a skateboard going 60 miles an hour 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:33.040 doing a stunt, right? There's never a girl who's riding her bicycle off the house and trying 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.760 to do a flip before they land on the wheels. It's always the guys that do it. So I think 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:44.460 the guys, we just struggle with being stupid. So, okay, so now what I want you to do, I want 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:54.059 you to turn to the person next to you. And I want you to say, you're not alone. I do dumb 00:01:54.059 --> 00:02:04.219 things also. Come on. You're not alone. I do dumb things also. Pat's not here. So I'll 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:11.000 just, you say it to Pat. Okay. Okay. Do you feel better? Do you feel better? I mean, I feel 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:17.099 better. I mean, I'm not alone, honey. You're not alone, right? I feel a lot better on that 00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:21.699 and we should feel better. So I want to talk about this today. Just put it out there because 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:26.120 I think we're talking about all of ours. I don't want to get so heavy and intense though. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:31.920 This passage is a pretty intense passage. So if you're joining us just today, you are going, 00:02:32.120 --> 00:02:36.900 what the heck's going on here? And we've been deep in this story of God's story, our story. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:40.560 And we've been about eight weeks into this and we're walking through the Bible and we're picking 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:45.060 out certain themes of the Bible and what God is saying in these passages. And last week 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:49.719 we saw God's people basically, they basically reject God. I mean, last week they came to 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.620 the prophet Samuel and they said, we don't want God anymore. We want a king because all 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:58.480 the other nations have a king. We want a king. And Samuel, God's prophet, he was not happy 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:02.140 about this whatsoever. I mean, it's almost like he wanted to call fire down on the people. 00:03:02.500 --> 00:03:05.539 But God said to them, just give them what they want. Okay. They want that. Give it to them 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:09.259 what they want. And what you're going to see today in the passage, and I put this huge book 00:03:09.259 --> 00:03:12.560 together because you're going to have to trust me, but you can go through it, but you can 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:18.719 go through it later. In Deuteronomy 17, which is on page three, 500 years before this even 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:23.359 happens, God knew that this was going to happen. And so God wrote Deuteronomy 17 because he 00:03:23.359 --> 00:03:30.159 knew that the people would one day want a king instead of him. And so we picked up last week 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:35.919 where they pick Saul as their king. Remember why they pick Saul? Saul is this tall guy. He's 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.500 handsome. He's head and shoulders above the rest. He's charismatic and he's strong. But 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:43.939 what we saw last week is that quickly Saul just kind of fails. He's actually a coward. 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:51.799 He kind of hides and he lacks just integrity. And so God sends Samuel back and Samuel comes 00:03:51.799 --> 00:03:57.939 to this 12-year-old boy named David and he anoints David as God's next king. And we're told 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:04.060 that David has a heart after God, that he loves God. It's not that he's perfect, but we're 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:08.900 told that he has this heart that is sensitive to God and he wants to follow the Lord. And 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:13.000 so last week we got to the story where David is now 17 years old and he comes and he kills 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:17.220 this giant. He kills this giant named Goliath. And we learned a lot about David last week. 00:04:17.340 --> 00:04:21.939 I was incredibly challenged and I hope you went back and you looked at it. We talked about 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:26.300 David's passion for God and we asked the questions, do we have passion for God? And do we have a 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:30.980 passion for God's name and his honor and his character? And does that bother us when his character 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:36.819 is thrown in the mud? We saw that David, he had a different focus than the rest of us. David 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:41.600 saw things that no one else saw in the past. David didn't see a giant. He just saw somebody 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.819 who was outside of the covenant and who was making fun of God. And he was really bothered 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:54.080 by that. And we learned that God wants us to see what's going on in our lives and call it 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:58.379 for what it is too, that we all face giants. And sometimes we hide these giants in our lives, 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:03.480 but they're there. And we learned that you can't have victory over the giant until you name it for 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:11.240 what it is and you confess it. We saw last week that David trusted the Lord. And we realized that 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:17.079 trust doesn't just happen. That it's over this long period of time in his life when lions and bears 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:21.560 came in and attacked him. David just put it all on the line and he said, God, if you're not here, 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:26.600 I'm going to perish. And he just did it. And we saw over and over again that God came through for him 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:33.020 and saved him. And so he had this trust built up in his character and this foundation of who God is 00:05:33.020 --> 00:05:38.280 and his goodness. And that we struggle with that sometimes because we don't trust God. We don't 00:05:38.280 --> 00:05:43.520 put him on the line. We don't put ourselves on the line. We don't think that he will radically come 00:05:43.520 --> 00:05:48.360 through for us. And so we encourage each one of us to go on a step of faith on this journey. And 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:52.300 some of us, the journey faith is tithing. Some of the journey faith is getting in community groups. Some of the 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.920 journey faith is serving. Some of the journey faith is just picking up our Bible and starting 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:00.480 reading it at five minutes a day. We're all, we're encouraged to take this step of faith to see 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:07.439 if God would come through and strengthen us. And then we learned about this idea of a champion. It 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:12.759 was only used one time in all of the Old Testament. It was this idea of someone who stands between. And 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:17.560 Goliath was the person who stood between the armies. And David came out and he stood between the armies. 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:22.580 But we all have a greater champion. His name is Jesus. And he stands between us and 00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:31.060 our ultimate opponent, death. And he's victorious. And we asked each other what our champions were. 00:06:31.139 --> 00:06:35.599 And who do we have our trust in? Who do we have our faith in? And so we're going to continue this 00:06:35.599 --> 00:06:39.639 this week and we're going to talk about kings. I just, we were going to go to another chapter, 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:44.620 but I felt like I wanted to come back here because something just kept gnawing on me as I was reading 00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:48.939 and going through scripture. And so I want to keep looking at this idea of kings. And I want to, 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:56.079 us, when we start off, to remember that kings are really important. And as kings go, nations go. 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:02.540 And as kings go, people go. I mean, in ancient times, you look to the king and he was the one 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:06.819 who's going to give you words of wisdom, kind of like today. We're hoping that our leaders do that 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:13.180 same thing. And whatever the king values, the people value. And whatever the king worships, 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:20.720 the people will worship. And whatever the king sacrifices to, whatever he hopes in, so will the 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:27.340 people. We're asked these questions, are the people better off after they have this king? The king 00:07:27.340 --> 00:07:34.240 blessed them. You know, you can learn a lot about a king from their people. You can watch how the people 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.180 act and you can watch how the people interact and how they talk and what they do with their lives 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:47.680 and what they sacrifice to. I've often wondered what people think about our God when they see us 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:55.399 in the workplace and at the restaurant. What are they thinking about the God we serve? 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:02.759 Is he a great, massive God or is he just this kind of joke like Santa Claus who comes through for us 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:10.019 all the time? So kings are incredibly important. And by the end of David's life, last week, his life 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:18.519 was a mess. I mean, his life is out of control. His family is suicidal, right? One of his sons rapes 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:24.639 his half-sister Tamar because she's good-looking to him. And David hears about it, but David doesn't do 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:29.060 anything about it because he's in his palace. And David basically did the same thing to Bathsheba, 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:33.639 right? He took Bathsheba away and raped her and took her from Uriah and killed her husband. And so 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.360 the father doesn't say anything because the son just basically did the same thing that the father 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.039 did. So he doesn't do that. And so another son gets so angry that his father doesn't come out and say 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:47.879 something that the son puts his trick together and he kills that brother who raped his sister 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:53.940 from his mom. And then he starts his civil war and he goes after David. He goes after the king. He goes 00:08:53.940 --> 00:09:00.880 after his father. And he wants to kill his father. And in the last act of David's life, almost, 00:09:01.560 --> 00:09:07.720 God asked David and David puts Solomon over the kingdom. And so that's where we're at today. 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:12.080 You know, remember, it's important because in all this craziness in David's life and in our life, 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:16.240 the story keeps coming out that God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. Will you trust him? 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:21.600 Will you trust him? Will you trust him? And he's the God of the covenant and he keeps coming towards us. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:25.860 And we're going to see this blessings that he's throwing out. He's going to pour it out on 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:31.480 Solomon's life. And Solomon's life is kind of like at this apex of Jewish culture. It's like the golden 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:36.680 age of the Hebrew culture. I mean, it doesn't ever get this better than this for the Jews. Never. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.580 And what we're going to see is that in about 20 years, it just kind of falls apart. 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:48.440 And the amazing thing to me as we read God's word is that God just keeps coming and he keeps blessing 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:52.880 and he keeps pursuing his people. And he doesn't say like we say sometimes when we're really frustrated, 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.360 I'm just going to give up on you. I'm not going to talk to you anymore. But he just keeps pursuing us. 00:09:59.180 --> 00:10:04.520 And so I put all of this in your bulletin. So it's craziness, but it's so rich. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:08.380 And I put the high points and the low points of Solomon's story in here. 00:10:08.760 --> 00:10:12.460 And so if you trust me, I want to walk through it with us because I think there's some things that we 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:16.160 need to learn as God's people. And I think that there's some things that we can learn 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:20.419 so that we don't do stupid things, right? Because we don't want to do stupid things. 00:10:20.459 --> 00:10:27.699 We want to receive God's blessings also. Solomon's name means peace. And in 1 Kings 3, 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:32.019 it's page 3 of your bulletin, we are told that he loves the Lord and he walks with David just like 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:37.559 he walks with the Lord just like his dad David did. And then one night, we're told that God comes 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:41.159 to Solomon in a dream. Can you imagine this? God comes to Solomon in a dream and he says, 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:47.240 Solomon, ask whatever you want and I'm going to give it to you. Now I've got to stop here. 00:10:48.100 --> 00:10:51.659 I mean, you have to stop, right? Because I ask questions all the time and I'm usually asking 00:10:51.659 --> 00:10:59.480 about myself, but what would you ask for? If Solomon, you're like Solomon and God comes 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.600 to you tonight in your dream and you know it's him, there's no shadow of a doubt. It's not the 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.939 bad pizza you ate the night, you know, two hours before you went to bed. But God says, 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:11.420 hey, ask whatever you want and I'm going to give it to you. What would you ask? 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:20.000 Well, verse 7 says that Solomon, it's probably the only time in his life that he's humble. It's 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.940 probably the only time that he's contrite. And he just says, I'm just like this little child. 00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:30.400 Basically means I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do it. This thing's too amazing. I don't 00:11:30.400 --> 00:11:33.800 know what to do with all these people you've given me. They're so great in number and they're so 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:39.879 massive and they're out of control. And so Solomon asked God, will you give me understanding? Will 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:44.799 you give me a heart to judge your people, your people rightly? Because these people need a judge 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:49.639 to help them in their way. They need someone who can help them see what's good and what's evil. 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:56.120 Can you give me that heart? Can you give me these things? He asked for wisdom. And in verse 10, 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:01.979 we're told that God is so pleased that Solomon does that. He's, that Solomon doesn't ask for himself. 00:12:01.980 --> 00:12:07.680 He just asks for the people. He asks as a servant. He asks for wisdom. And so God gives him wisdom. 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:14.800 And wisdom is defined in the Bible as basically living your life with God in mind. 00:12:15.800 --> 00:12:20.740 Living your life with God in mind. It's obedience to the Lord. It actually means, the word actually 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:26.320 means to come under the authority of something. And so whatever you come under authority of, 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:31.159 whatever you're trained in, whatever you're disciplined in, that thing controls your life. 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:37.460 So you can have wisdom in the ways of the world. It means that you've come under the authority of 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:43.019 the ways of the world and you know how to live life in a worldly way. You can have wisdoms in the way of 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:50.019 HSBC. And so you know how to live within HSBC and how to survive within HSBC and how to move up the 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:59.399 chain within HSBC. Or you can have wisdom in, in God's word. And so Solomon, which is astounding to me 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:06.480 because his background as a family is a little craziness, he just asks for, for wisdom to follow 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:13.059 God's people and help them. And we're told that he becomes the wisest person ever. He becomes the 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:17.699 wisest king ever. He's given this massive amounts of discernment. God, because God is so pleased with 00:13:17.699 --> 00:13:24.419 him that God actually honors him. God doesn't just give him wisdom and discernment, but he gives him 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:28.919 riches and honor. And he gives all these things. And it is amazing. And immediately after that story, 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:35.059 you, you have this story. And we all know the story, don't we? The Solomon faces these two women, 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:42.099 right? They both have smartphones. And they both go to sleep with their smartphone. And the lady who 00:13:42.099 --> 00:13:48.219 has a Samsung falls asleep on her smartphone and she breaks her Samsung. And so she goes to the other 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:53.700 lady who has the iPhone because she's always wanted an iPhone. And so she grabs the iPhone and they're 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:58.200 fighting over this iPhone. And so they come to Solomon and then one says, it's my iPhone. The 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:01.500 other goes, no, it's my iPhone. And Solomon goes, okay, I'll tell you what, we're going to take a sword 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:07.639 and we're going to divide the iPhone in half. And the lady who had the Samsung, because it was a copy 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:13.180 of an iPhone anyway, and it's cheap and she can get one any day, she just goes, oh, go ahead. 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.220 Because she's just angry because the other person has an iPhone and she just wants the iPhone 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:21.899 destroyed. And so the other lady who has the iPhone says, no, the iPhone is too precious. It's 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:28.360 original technology. It's not copied. Give it to her. And what you're told in the past, he said, 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:34.920 David knows right away, right? He knows right away who owns the baby, right? It's the mother who owns 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:39.879 the baby. The mother who, some of you are going, iPhone, smartphone, David, what's going on here? 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:48.279 But I'm trying to modernize the story. David knows right away. And in verse 28, we're told that when 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:56.399 the nations hear of his wisdom, they fear him. They fear him because they know that God is behind 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:01.600 him, that God is working in his life, and that God is making something happen amazing in Israel. 00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:08.700 Verse Kings 4, we're told that under his rule, Judah and Israel explodes in size. And the passage says in 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:13.440 Hebrew that everybody is drinking and eating, that means that things are really good. Verse 21 says that 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.040 he's ruling over all this land. I mean, it's all the land of the promise, all the land of the covenant. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:25.520 He's ruling over all that land. And then all the nations come to Jerusalem to be blessed by Solomon. 00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:31.400 All the nations, kings and everybody comes to be blessed by Solomon and his people. And basically what you 00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:37.040 see is that God is fulfilling his covenant. He's fulfilling the land. He's fulfilling the people. He's 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:41.719 fulfilling the blessings. He's fulfilling all these things through this guy named Solomon who just asked for 00:15:41.719 --> 00:15:48.439 wisdom. I mean, we're told that Solomon writes about 3,000 Proverbs. And Proverbs are just these lessons for 00:15:48.439 --> 00:15:55.799 life. They're not laws. They're not rules. But they're good lessons to live by if you live by them. And he writes 00:15:55.799 --> 00:16:03.639 over 1,000 songs. And the pinnacle of Solomon's career is God allows him to build his temple. Remember, he didn't allow 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:08.120 the father to build the temple because David was a man of blood. He was a warrior. And so he lets his son 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:12.340 build the temple. And he builds his temple. And this temple is massive. And if you go with us next year 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:16.819 to Israel on the Israel trip in the Hannahs, you're going to see the foundation of this temple. We're 00:16:16.819 --> 00:16:22.799 going to actually go underneath the temple. And these stones are like 40 feet long and 30 feet wide. 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:30.000 And they're like 800 tons. I mean, they're amazing. And so Solomon builds this thing. And it's like the apex of 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.759 Jewish culture. And it's never been better. I mean, everything is coming up roses. It's just perfect. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:41.899 God's promises are fulfilled. But what you see in the passage and what we didn't talk about yet is that 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:51.379 over and over, God is saying, hey, but be careful. Be careful. Make sure you obey me. Make sure you 00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:57.500 trust me. Because if you do that, I'm going to continue to pour out my blessings and my spirit upon you. 00:16:57.500 --> 00:17:01.799 But if you don't, I'm going to remove those blessings. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:05.259 I think we get that mixed up today, don't we? 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.559 I mean, because a lot of us, we want God's blessings, but we don't think about obedience. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.460 And we don't think about following him and obeying him and trusting him. 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:18.059 We just want the good stuff. And we get angry when God doesn't give us those good things. 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.759 But the Bible says that God doesn't have to give us anything. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:26.900 But he chooses to, and he gives us his son. 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:28.740 And we have that forever. 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:33.700 But the blessings are contingent on how well we obey. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.859 And are we faithful to him? 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.759 And so we're told throughout history, and even the historians, Josephus, say that this time, 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.140 all the eyes are looking at Israel because they want to see if Solomon is going to fulfill 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:49.020 this destiny that Israel has, that God has for his people. 00:17:49.340 --> 00:17:50.120 So what happens? 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:52.740 What do you think happens? 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:55.440 Well, it's not good, right? 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:56.900 I mean, it's not good. 00:17:56.980 --> 00:18:00.840 Solomon goes from loving the Lord fully and being the wisest man in chapter 3 00:18:00.840 --> 00:18:05.759 to one in chapter 11, which we read, that says that his heart was turned from the Lord. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:11.019 His heart was hardened and callous. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:15.299 I mean, things declined so quickly in less than 20 years. 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:18.660 And what we realize is that Solomon does a lot of stupid things. 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:20.359 He does a lot of dumb things. 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:22.960 He does a lot of unwise things for the wisest person in the world. 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:26.500 And what I want to do is briefly in our time, I just want to look at a couple of these. 00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:29.059 And I want to see if we can learn from them. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.440 Because I'm trying to learn from them. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.100 And maybe we can learn from them together so that we can stop doing foolish things as we walk with the Lord. 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:41.320 I mean, the first thing that sticks out here in your passage is on page 3, 1 Kings 3, 00:18:41.620 --> 00:18:44.740 is that even before he came to know the Lord, he struggled. 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:45.620 Solomon struggled. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:49.240 He struggled with obeying the Lord fully. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:55.059 I mean, if you read the passage, it says that he left room for his passions. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.180 He hedged his bet in Texas English. 00:18:58.580 --> 00:18:59.519 He hedged his bet. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:03.559 He hid some chips just in case things weren't going to work out well. 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:09.639 In 1 Kings 11, 4, which we read, it basically said his heart wasn't wholly devoted to the Lord. 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:12.019 He was partially devoted to the Lord. 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:15.839 I mean, you read the words in the passage, and it says, 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:17.599 And he followed the Lord except. 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:22.339 So whenever you see except, you want to go there and see what he's saying. 00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:25.180 And it says, except he was sacrificing in the high places. 00:19:25.180 --> 00:19:30.080 Now, the high places in the Bible are never, ever, ever a good thing. 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:30.940 Ever a good thing. 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:32.539 You don't ever want to be on a high place. 00:19:32.860 --> 00:19:36.039 I mean, the high places, when we go back to the temple at the Tower of Babel, it's a high place. 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:38.160 It's a place where cultic worship happened. 00:19:38.860 --> 00:19:40.440 It's where human sacrifice happened. 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:42.420 It's where massive orgies happened. 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:45.400 It's where the gods came down, and you integrated with the gods. 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.620 And so the high places were never, ever a good thing. 00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:53.840 The book of Deuteronomy and Numbers says that the minute you come into the land and you see a high place, 00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:55.040 you tear it down. 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:58.300 You destroy it because this is not what God's people do. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:19:59.480 This is where the pagans live. 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:01.480 You don't want to be a part of pagan worship. 00:20:01.600 --> 00:20:02.860 You want to destroy these things. 00:20:04.600 --> 00:20:06.440 But Solomon, he had a good excuse. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:09.500 You see what his excuse was? 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:11.440 He says, well, the temple's not ready yet. 00:20:13.060 --> 00:20:14.420 And so we need this place to worship. 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:18.460 And we see that he kind of, he kind of obeyed. 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:20.220 He's kind of like a high school kid, right? 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:21.820 Do you have high school teenagers? 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.360 What I've realized as my kids get into teenage years is that they never disobey. 00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:29.860 I mean, there's always an excuse for why they disobeyed. 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.500 And the excuse for why they disobeyed is amazing sometimes. 00:20:34.740 --> 00:20:36.660 And so they say that, and I have two kids. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:41.900 I think they probably never sinned their whole life because they always have this great excuse for why they didn't obey. 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:43.240 And Solomon is like that too. 00:20:44.420 --> 00:20:47.300 In 1 Kings 3, it says he made alliances with Egypt. 00:20:48.300 --> 00:20:49.100 Now think about this. 00:20:49.660 --> 00:20:54.920 800 years earlier, God did all these, imagine incredible miracles to get people out of Egypt, 00:20:55.080 --> 00:20:59.960 to help them escape bondage, to help them escape the idols, to get away from all these things. 00:21:00.300 --> 00:21:02.580 And here you have this king, the wisest king in the world, 00:21:02.840 --> 00:21:07.019 and he's introducing idols and pagan worship. 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:10.420 He's introducing Egypt back into God's people. 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:15.319 And God's been saying, no, no, separate yourself, be different, be different, trust me. 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:17.139 And he even marries Pharaoh's daughter. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:21.440 And of course, it's for political reasons, there's economic reasons, there's military reasons, 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:22.619 it's going to make the country stronger. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.879 I mean, he has all the excuses in the world, right? 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.880 Because he knows how to partially obey. 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:35.880 In 1 Kings 11, it says that he has multiple wives. 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:40.420 I mean, it says that he had over a thousand wives. 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:44.480 Now, I have a lot to say on this topic. 00:21:46.320 --> 00:21:50.660 But I have my wife, and I don't want to get beat up by her tonight. 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:54.960 So I think that I should just be quiet. 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:00.980 But can you imagine a thousand mother-in-laws? 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:07.800 A thousand mother-in-laws. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:10.400 Enough said, okay? 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:16.000 But he does this thing, and he's warned that if he does it, if he moves in, 00:22:16.060 --> 00:22:18.160 he's going to have, his heart's going to be changed. 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:21.500 But of course, he has good reasons, and so he kind of partially obeys. 00:22:21.620 --> 00:22:25.080 And what we see throughout this passage is in his life that Solomon, 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:29.360 he struggled with being wholly devoted to the Lord. 00:22:31.080 --> 00:22:34.519 He struggled with being fully devoted to God. 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:40.380 And the question I want to ask you, because I've been asking myself these last couple weeks, 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:41.860 is do we? 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:50.279 Do we struggle with being wholly devoted to the Lord? 00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:56.819 I mean, the Bible says to know God is to love him, and to love him is to obey him. 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:00.779 And Solomon obeyed 80%. 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:05.859 And, you know, guys, and I struggle with this, and I'm being very honest. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.379 I know that a lot of us struggle with this idea of obedience. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.539 And a lot of us struggle with a God who demands 100% or nothing. 00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:18.639 And a lot of us struggle with this idea of being wholly devoted, all or nothing. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.359 And 80% sounds really good. 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:24.240 80% sounds really good to me also. 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:27.079 But think about it. 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.960 I'm about to do some weddings in the next couple weeks. 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:35.419 And what if you were at the wedding and you listened to me, and I went to the person, 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:41.819 and I said, do you promise to love and honor and cherish and to be devoted to your spouse 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:43.460 in sickness and in health, 00:23:45.199 --> 00:23:49.579 in poorness and in abundance for as long as you both shall live? 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:55.500 And you heard the other person say, you know, I promise to be 80% faithful. 00:23:57.579 --> 00:23:59.039 Well, 80% is pretty good, isn't it? 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:01.679 What would you think? 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:05.799 Well, you would think right away, man, there's going to be a problem in this relationship 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:11.000 because there's not an understanding of what a relationship really is. 00:24:12.639 --> 00:24:14.119 Or what if you came into the ER? 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:17.399 You know, I worked in a trauma unit for a couple years, and I was doing my internship there, 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:21.440 and you came in, and you were all beat up, and we were about to do this surgical procedure on you, 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.580 and I leaned over to you and said, you are in good luck 00:24:23.580 --> 00:24:28.680 because last night I sterilized the equipment 80%. 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:34.720 So there's an 80% sterilization on this, so you're going to do really well. 00:24:36.080 --> 00:24:37.000 What would you think? 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:40.580 You'd be like, I'm out of here. 00:24:41.540 --> 00:24:43.640 Or if you want, and you had some cancer surgery, 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.900 and after the surgery the doctor comes back, and he says something like, you know, 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:48.519 98%. 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:51.560 I got 98% of the cancer out of you. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.420 That's pretty good, right? 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:54.780 That's higher than Asian F. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:57.140 98%, right? 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:58.680 Asian F is 97%. 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:00.580 98%, that's pretty good. 00:25:00.600 --> 00:25:01.360 But what would we say? 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:04.340 We would say, oh, that's not good at all. 00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:09.740 And we learn from Solomon's life that partial obedience isn't good, 00:25:10.620 --> 00:25:14.259 that it's never good, and that obedience is always for our good. 00:25:15.059 --> 00:25:17.900 And I've struggled with this in trying to understand this, 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.359 and it's taken me years to understand that when God asks us to obey, 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:24.440 it's not for his good, it's for Tobin's good. 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:27.039 It's the best thing for Tobin. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:29.579 And the question is, are we going to obey? 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:31.299 Are we going to obey God always? 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:35.819 Because what we see in Solomon's life is that partial obedience doesn't just hurt us, 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:37.220 it hurts everybody around us. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:45.639 The next stupid thing that Solomon does is that he does basically, after chapter 3, 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:49.039 after God, so all these happen before chapter 3, right around chapter 3 time, 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:51.460 so God comes and speaks to him even as he's doing these things. 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:54.379 But after chapter 3, what you see is Solomon just acts totally different. 00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:57.919 I mean, he almost acts like the law doesn't apply to him. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.180 It's almost like he acts like he's not even 80% obedient. 00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:03.060 I mean, he's not even 80% obedient. 00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:05.120 He just doesn't obey at all. 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.680 It's like he's above the law. 00:26:06.820 --> 00:26:07.920 He's like an exception. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.380 He's like the wisest person in the world. 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:12.140 He knows what he can do and what he can't do. 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:15.160 Have you ever said that to yourself? 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:17.560 I have. 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:19.400 Well, I can handle this. 00:26:19.600 --> 00:26:20.480 I know what to do. 00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:21.200 I know what the limits are. 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:22.640 I can stop here, and everything's going to be okay, 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.680 and it's not going to be able to do anything about that. 00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:27.799 I mean, he just seemed to be living all these things, and God said, no. 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:32.539 Again, Deuteronomy 17, page 3, the top of page 3. 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:35.180 500 years before, God knew this was going to happen, 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:38.960 and God wrote these rules, and he said to the king, he said this, 00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:45.600 whenever you become king, do not accumulate massive amounts of wealth for yourself. 00:26:46.420 --> 00:26:48.200 It will make you feel self-sufficient. 00:26:49.120 --> 00:26:50.640 Your heart will turn away from the Lord. 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:52.759 Instead, bless your people. 00:26:52.759 --> 00:27:00.039 Whenever you become king, do not depend on horses and chariots for your protection and might, 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:01.920 especially those from Egypt. 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:07.299 Instead, trust in the Lord, because I'll take care of you. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:13.420 Whenever you become king, do not accumulate many whys for yourselves, 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:16.140 because they're going to turn your hearts elsewhere. 00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:19.940 How do you think Solomon did with those? 00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:23.039 Do you think he was wise? 00:27:24.860 --> 00:27:25.920 Do you think he's foolish? 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.220 1 Kings 10, 14 and 27, page 2 says this. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:37.259 It says that silver is so common in the kingdom of Solomon that it's worthless. 00:27:38.860 --> 00:27:44.440 It says that at least 800,000 ounces of gold yearly come into him just from one source. 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:52.720 I don't know what gold is selling at today, but if you do $1,000 an ounce, he gets $50 million a year just from one source every year for 40 years as he's king. 00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:55.059 So he has a lot of wealth. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:57.720 1 Kings 10, 26. 00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:00.519 He gathers many chariots and horsemen. 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:05.600 The passage says that he has over 1,400 chariots, and he has 12,000 horses, 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:08.959 and he places all of these things in fortress cities to protect him. 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:11.519 And where do you think the horses are from? 00:28:14.639 --> 00:28:15.659 Where are the horses from? 00:28:16.659 --> 00:28:18.259 Verse 28, where are they from? 00:28:19.379 --> 00:28:20.379 Egypt, right? 00:28:20.980 --> 00:28:22.500 It's exactly what God said not to do. 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:25.019 He just basically disobeys altogether. 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:31.220 1 Kings 11, 1 through 4, he loved many wives from many countries. 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:37.680 Now, again, I could say a lot more about this, but I won't. 00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:41.740 But what we see is that he turned his heart away from God. 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:46.059 And the amazing thing to me about Solomon's life, and you've got to think about this, guys, 00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:48.400 he started off and he wanted wisdom to judge God's people. 00:28:48.500 --> 00:28:49.400 He wanted to be a servant. 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:53.200 He wanted to serve God's people like a lot of us want to do, especially when we enter into ministry. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:58.220 And I just wonder if he had asked, instead of wisdom to judge other people's hearts, 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:05.480 I wonder if he had asked, God, would you give me wisdom to judge my heart? 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:09.319 Because my heart has problems. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:16.240 I wonder if he asked for that first, before he asked to judge other people's hearts, 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:17.460 if things would have been different. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:21.480 But what we see in the passages is that Solomon just doesn't obey. 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:23.599 He just doesn't follow the Lord. 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:25.160 He's at the pinnacle. 00:29:25.299 --> 00:29:26.319 God has given him everything. 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.039 And it's just like he's kind of above all these things. 00:29:33.059 --> 00:29:34.120 It's getting heavy, isn't it? 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:38.480 I mean, I've been thinking, you think about this for one hour, 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:40.880 and then you're going to forget and go eat dim sum or grab a beer. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.160 But I've been thinking about it for a long time, 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.779 and it's been hitting me in my heart. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:48.440 So I got asked the question, 00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:51.680 how about us? 00:29:55.120 --> 00:29:59.980 I mean, when God's word clearly says something like Romans 12, 00:30:00.100 --> 00:30:02.360 do not be conformed to the world, 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:07.340 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:10.000 do we obey it? 00:30:12.919 --> 00:30:16.059 I mean, do we really, really obey it? 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.519 I mean, are we wholly devoted to it? 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:20.480 Not just 80%. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.319 I mean, are we, do we obey? 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:27.220 Or do we say like I say, 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:29.379 yeah, God, yeah, I understand, and it's great, 00:30:29.459 --> 00:30:30.859 but your grace is just going to come to me, 00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:32.740 and right now it's just a really difficult time. 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:33.759 You know, it's just a special time. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:34.900 I just can't do this. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:36.259 I really need this right now. 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:39.180 I really need this thing in my life to come through for me 00:30:39.180 --> 00:30:40.519 just to give me hope and encouragement 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:42.200 because things are difficult. 00:30:42.900 --> 00:30:45.460 You know, I know I'm allowing these things into my eyes, 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:47.460 and they probably shouldn't be there, 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:49.700 but, you know, it's okay because I can handle it 00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:50.660 because it's just a special period. 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:53.859 I know my words maybe aren't as encouraging as they need to be, 00:30:54.039 --> 00:30:55.879 but it's okay because I've had this rough day, 00:30:56.019 --> 00:30:57.900 and that's just who I am. 00:30:57.960 --> 00:30:59.879 You know, I know I have this anger issue, 00:30:59.980 --> 00:31:02.180 and I'm struggling with these anger problems in my life, 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.700 but I'll get over it. 00:31:03.840 --> 00:31:05.580 I'll learn about it sometime. 00:31:06.539 --> 00:31:07.880 You know, these resources, they're really, 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:10.059 you know, God, they're really kind of my resources, 00:31:10.180 --> 00:31:12.340 you know, and I just don't have the resources right now 00:31:12.340 --> 00:31:13.600 to give to what you're doing, 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:16.460 but I'll make it up in the future if I think about it. 00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:17.740 You know, my past life, 00:31:17.860 --> 00:31:19.180 there's all these things that I struggled with 00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:20.920 before I came to Christ, 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:22.779 and all these things are kind of grabbing on me, 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:24.420 and they're trying to pull me back into the closet, 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:26.660 and, you know, stepping into the closet 00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:28.039 is okay sometimes, right, 00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:29.440 because it's just a little way, 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:30.600 and I always keep one foot out, 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:32.080 and I can always just pull myself back out, 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:36.059 and I hear Solomon, 00:31:36.419 --> 00:31:39.599 and he was the wisest person who ever spoke, 00:31:39.659 --> 00:31:42.819 and I'm sure his excuses were amazing, right? 00:31:42.819 --> 00:31:45.859 I mean, I'm sure his excuses were so much better than mine, 00:31:45.919 --> 00:31:48.359 and they're probably better than my oldest daughter. 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:51.500 He had these great excuses, 00:31:51.819 --> 00:31:53.559 but the question is, do we obey, 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:54.740 and do we trust God? 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:57.259 Do we believe that God is for us, 00:31:57.799 --> 00:31:59.419 and do we trust Him? 00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:02.460 One last thought. 00:32:04.320 --> 00:32:09.759 11, verse 1, 1 Kings 11, verses 2. 00:32:10.860 --> 00:32:13.100 In Hebrew, we should read it in Hebrew. 00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:15.440 If I could speak better Hebrew, I would read it out loud, 00:32:15.860 --> 00:32:17.759 but what it basically says here is, 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:20.000 Solomon held fast to these in love, 00:32:20.320 --> 00:32:21.500 but what you could have said is, 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:21.940 nevertheless, 00:32:23.779 --> 00:32:26.560 nevertheless, Solomon held fast to these in love. 00:32:26.860 --> 00:32:28.180 God said, don't do these things, 00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:28.980 don't do these things, 00:32:29.019 --> 00:32:29.880 they're going to turn your heart away, 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:30.620 they're going to turn your heart away, 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:32.759 and in Hebrew, it says, 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:36.180 nevertheless, Solomon held fast to these in love, 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:40.120 and that word held fast is stuck, glued. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:43.820 It's like this fly that gets stuck on this flypaper. 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:45.120 He's just stuck there 00:32:45.120 --> 00:32:49.060 because he's compromised, 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.120 and the scary thing is that in chapter 3, 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:52.920 we talked about it, 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:55.220 he saved the baby because of his wisdom, 00:32:55.220 --> 00:32:57.480 but in chapter 11, 00:32:57.600 --> 00:32:58.940 just a couple years later, 00:32:59.160 --> 00:33:00.740 he's actually building these altars 00:33:00.740 --> 00:33:02.400 to sacrifice his kiddos to, 00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:04.819 and he's throwing the babies in the fire, 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:08.460 and what I've seen in Solomon's life, 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:09.680 and what I realize is that Solomon, 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:11.819 he just never had anybody in his life 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:12.600 that he would listen to. 00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:14.220 Did you know that? 00:33:15.140 --> 00:33:16.680 I mean, the wisest person in the world, 00:33:17.380 --> 00:33:19.200 he never had anybody he would listen to. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:22.500 I mean, he never faces sins. 00:33:24.140 --> 00:33:25.539 He never repents. 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:29.259 He never confronts his weakness for his many wives. 00:33:29.340 --> 00:33:30.259 He never looks at these things 00:33:30.259 --> 00:33:33.440 that are calling him to not wholly obey. 00:33:35.340 --> 00:33:38.340 I mean, when Nathan the prophet came to his daddy, David, 00:33:39.100 --> 00:33:40.019 and he said, you're the man. 00:33:40.100 --> 00:33:41.559 David just basically, he repents, 00:33:41.620 --> 00:33:43.340 and he says, I'm the man. 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:44.160 I'm sinful. 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:44.799 I'm wrong. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:47.919 But when God sends the person to Solomon 00:33:47.919 --> 00:33:51.039 to do the same thing about his wives, 00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:54.480 Solomon tries to kill him. 00:33:56.180 --> 00:33:57.819 And so Solomon just had this heart 00:33:57.819 --> 00:33:58.799 that was unrepentant, 00:33:59.639 --> 00:34:02.159 and he never thought that he needed these things. 00:34:04.619 --> 00:34:07.440 So I want to end with this thought for us, 00:34:07.659 --> 00:34:10.440 and it's this thing that haunts me right now 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:12.079 as I read and as I've been praying about 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:12.980 these last couple weeks, 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:15.900 and it's this, what are your neverthelesses? 00:34:20.740 --> 00:34:22.840 What are the things that are nevertheless 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.840 that God says, I want you to do this, 00:34:26.699 --> 00:34:28.059 but you say, you know, 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:32.420 I know you said that, 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:35.559 but nevertheless, I can't. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:40.240 What are your weaknesses? 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:45.460 Because you can be for sure 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:46.740 that the enemy knows your weaknesses. 00:34:47.639 --> 00:34:49.079 Are you dealing with your weaknesses? 00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:53.719 Are we as a church dealing with our weaknesses? 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:55.119 That's why we started the care ministry, 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:58.079 because we wanted a safe place for people to come. 00:34:58.380 --> 00:35:00.000 That's why we train up all the community group leaders, 00:35:00.099 --> 00:35:01.800 because we want them to be able to help people 00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:03.420 when they face these struggles. 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:06.639 Are you dealing with the weaknesses in your life? 00:35:06.740 --> 00:35:08.760 Are you grabbing onto these things? 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:10.539 Are you getting rid of them, 00:35:10.539 --> 00:35:12.219 or are you going to pass them on to your children? 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:18.019 I mean, again, the reason Solomon never heard from his dad, 00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:20.860 because his dad didn't want to confront what he had done. 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:26.460 And I wonder how many of us as parents 00:35:26.460 --> 00:35:30.120 aren't dealing with these whatsoevers 00:35:30.120 --> 00:35:33.300 and these partial obediences. 00:35:34.660 --> 00:35:36.079 And we're thinking in our lives, 00:35:36.220 --> 00:35:37.120 yeah, it's just me. 00:35:37.220 --> 00:35:38.240 My kids aren't going to ever know. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:39.460 It's never going to affect anybody. 00:35:39.579 --> 00:35:40.059 It's okay. 00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:44.300 But that's not what the message says. 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:45.300 That's not what the Bible says. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:46.440 That's not what the passage says. 00:35:46.660 --> 00:35:48.780 As the king goes, all the people go. 00:35:48.780 --> 00:35:51.560 As the father goes, all the family goes. 00:35:51.620 --> 00:35:54.340 As the mother goes, all the family goes. 00:35:58.060 --> 00:35:58.420 Right? 00:36:01.140 --> 00:36:03.360 I wonder if David knew years later 00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:05.220 what was going to happen because of his choices. 00:36:07.080 --> 00:36:09.680 So in verse 9, what you see is that God comes to him 00:36:09.680 --> 00:36:11.680 in chapter 11, the first thing we read up there, 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:12.920 and God comes and says, 00:36:13.060 --> 00:36:14.519 because you've done this, because you've done this, 00:36:14.560 --> 00:36:15.680 I'm ripping the kingdom apart. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:17.460 I'm tearing it apart. 00:36:17.460 --> 00:36:19.400 You've lost the blessings. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:22.960 In the kingdom, what you see is that is apex, 00:36:23.740 --> 00:36:25.519 and it falls apart, and it gets divided, 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:27.940 and what you see is 20 kings afterwards, 00:36:28.059 --> 00:36:29.619 and they all fight, and they all kill each other. 00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:30.920 There's a couple that are good, 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:31.820 and they come back to the Lord, 00:36:31.900 --> 00:36:34.039 but most of them are corrupt and not good, 00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:35.980 and as the king goes, the nation goes, 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:37.199 and you know the story. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.360 Solomon left. 00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:40.380 He got to the temple, and he got to the, 00:36:40.380 --> 00:36:43.619 he got to his people, God's people at the apex, 00:36:43.820 --> 00:36:45.699 and when he leaves because of his choices 00:36:45.699 --> 00:36:47.179 and the things he chose not to obey, 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:51.519 he leaves the people at their worst point, 00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:54.460 and they struggle with all these things, 00:36:54.539 --> 00:36:56.480 and the king, as the king goes, 00:36:56.579 --> 00:36:59.079 the people go, and the king fails the people. 00:37:00.779 --> 00:37:01.639 Did you know that? 00:37:01.639 --> 00:37:04.859 And I don't want us to fail our kids, 00:37:04.940 --> 00:37:06.579 and I don't want us to fail the future generations 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:08.619 that come after us at Watermark, 00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:09.799 and I don't want us to fail the Christians 00:37:09.799 --> 00:37:10.859 in your office place, 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:14.719 and I want you to be able to leave this mark of integrity 00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:17.159 and love and wholly obedient to the Lord 00:37:17.159 --> 00:37:19.420 so that the people that come way long after you 00:37:19.420 --> 00:37:22.559 at Samsung or Apple or wherever, 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:25.259 that they just, they're blessed 00:37:25.259 --> 00:37:28.900 by your obedience and your faithfulness to God, 00:37:28.900 --> 00:37:30.340 and that's why I think God has us here. 00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:32.440 That's why he has us here, Watermark. 00:37:33.900 --> 00:37:35.820 He doesn't have us here just to feel good about ourselves 00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:37.440 because we could do that in heaven for eternity, 00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:39.280 but he has us here because he wants us 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:41.800 to be his ambassadors to everywhere we go, 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:43.160 and yes, sometimes it's going to get rough, 00:37:44.019 --> 00:37:45.139 and sometimes it's going to get hard, 00:37:45.300 --> 00:37:46.920 but the whole story, what we've been talking about 00:37:46.920 --> 00:37:49.519 in the Kings is that we can trust him. 00:37:52.780 --> 00:37:53.820 We can trust him. 00:37:53.820 --> 00:37:58.220 We can trust him with our whatsoevers 00:37:58.220 --> 00:37:59.300 and the neverthelesses. 00:38:02.260 --> 00:38:05.460 So the Kings fail, and a thousand years later, 00:38:05.580 --> 00:38:07.100 God has to send another king, 00:38:08.420 --> 00:38:10.860 and this king he sends is the true Davidic king. 00:38:12.080 --> 00:38:12.940 It's Jesus. 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.000 He's the one all these passages have been pointed to. 00:38:16.059 --> 00:38:18.700 If you take this, they all come down to this apex, 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:19.840 and they point to Jesus, 00:38:20.019 --> 00:38:22.340 and when this king comes, we're told in Matthew 12 00:38:22.340 --> 00:38:23.519 that he's greater than Solomon. 00:38:24.780 --> 00:38:26.519 And then he rules, and he gives life, 00:38:26.600 --> 00:38:28.660 and he heals, and he gives hope, 00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:30.300 and he restores, and he blesses, 00:38:31.080 --> 00:38:33.140 and he does it because he's perfectly obedient. 00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:33.740 Do you know that? 00:38:33.780 --> 00:38:35.500 Jesus is perfectly obedient, 00:38:35.820 --> 00:38:39.360 even to the point of dying on the cross for you. 00:38:42.240 --> 00:38:44.000 And so the question we have to ask ourselves 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:45.740 as we leave the Kings now, 00:38:45.780 --> 00:38:47.180 when we go into the Prophets next week, 00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:48.420 we have to ask ourselves, 00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:50.059 which king are we following? 00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:54.579 We need to come before the Lord 00:38:54.579 --> 00:38:56.659 and maybe just do some confessing in our life. 00:38:56.739 --> 00:38:58.360 We need to pray and ask God to show us, 00:38:58.739 --> 00:39:00.639 are there things neverthelesses that we're holding on to, 00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:02.099 and what are we giving our kids, 00:39:02.179 --> 00:39:03.579 and what are we giving our office workers, 00:39:03.699 --> 00:39:04.940 and are we giving them blessings, 00:39:05.059 --> 00:39:05.880 are we giving them curses? 00:39:06.179 --> 00:39:07.920 We need to spend some time as a family 00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:09.159 praying about those things 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:10.179 and thinking about those things. 00:39:10.779 --> 00:39:11.659 We need to ask ourselves, 00:39:11.719 --> 00:39:12.679 are we going to obey 100%? 00:39:12.679 --> 00:39:16.339 We need to ask, 00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:17.919 are we going to accept his rule 00:39:17.919 --> 00:39:19.519 over all the areas of our life? 00:39:21.960 --> 00:39:22.699 We need to ask, 00:39:22.779 --> 00:39:23.859 are we going to follow him, 00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:25.119 the one who makes it all right 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.239 because he does it all perfect? 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:31.259 Or are we going to live stupid, 00:39:32.940 --> 00:39:33.719 foolish lives, 00:39:34.319 --> 00:39:36.659 even as Christians? 00:39:39.179 --> 00:39:41.079 We're going to miss out on what God wants to give us. 00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:46.559 I was talking to Rachel one time. 00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:48.500 I'm trying to spend more time with my kids, 00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:50.239 and Rachel said to me, 00:39:50.299 --> 00:39:50.419 you know, 00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:52.159 Dad, you have some really good advice. 00:39:53.500 --> 00:39:55.139 The problem is you just don't take it sometimes. 00:39:57.759 --> 00:39:59.259 So this is my 14-year-old, 00:39:59.319 --> 00:40:00.399 15-year-old telling me that, right? 00:40:00.519 --> 00:40:01.139 15-year-old. 00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:04.480 You know, I want you to hear my heart here. 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:08.399 I don't try to become a great dad 00:40:08.399 --> 00:40:10.440 so that my parents will copy me. 00:40:10.539 --> 00:40:12.039 There's nowhere in the scripture that says that. 00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:13.539 There's nowhere it says be like these people. 00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:15.739 But what the passage says is 00:40:15.739 --> 00:40:17.320 be like Christ. 00:40:18.820 --> 00:40:20.500 And if you're here struggling with your parenting, 00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:22.079 join the club. 00:40:22.719 --> 00:40:23.800 Talk to people about it. 00:40:23.860 --> 00:40:24.880 Go to the care ministries. 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:25.679 Talk to me. 00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:27.840 I can share all these stories with you. 00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:29.239 Talk to someone you feel who's safe. 00:40:29.639 --> 00:40:31.420 But realize that your parents, 00:40:31.579 --> 00:40:33.500 your kids don't need a perfect parent. 00:40:33.500 --> 00:40:35.940 They need a perfect Jesus. 00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:38.619 And you can be a perfect parent 00:40:38.619 --> 00:40:39.699 if you don't point them to Christ. 00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:41.639 And you can give them to all the right schools 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:42.639 and do all these right things 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:43.860 and all these other things 00:40:43.860 --> 00:40:45.619 that we think in Hong Kong means 00:40:45.619 --> 00:40:46.380 to be a perfect parent, 00:40:46.619 --> 00:40:48.039 and your kids are going to be lost. 00:40:49.820 --> 00:40:51.239 They don't need those things. 00:40:52.480 --> 00:40:54.059 Ultimately, they need Christ. 00:40:54.059 --> 00:40:54.139 Christ. 00:40:55.559 --> 00:40:56.799 So don't point them to you. 00:40:58.500 --> 00:40:59.299 Point them to him. 00:41:00.659 --> 00:41:01.019 Right? 00:41:02.219 --> 00:41:02.579 Amen? 00:41:03.860 --> 00:41:04.119 Okay. 00:41:04.679 --> 00:41:05.960 Father, thank you for this day. 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:07.239 We thank you for our brothers and sisters 00:41:07.239 --> 00:41:09.559 that we are broken and imperfect 00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:10.420 and we fail 00:41:10.420 --> 00:41:12.400 and we try to obey 00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:13.659 and we fail 00:41:13.659 --> 00:41:14.299 and you know it 00:41:14.299 --> 00:41:15.880 and you keep pursuing us 00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:16.659 as your covenant people 00:41:16.659 --> 00:41:17.440 and you love us. 00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:19.880 You just ask us to be obedient 00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:20.840 and to trust you. 00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:21.700 And I think it comes down 00:41:21.700 --> 00:41:22.980 in my life to trust. 00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:25.420 Do I really trust you to be good? 00:41:25.519 --> 00:41:26.480 Do I really trust you 00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:27.800 to take care of me? 00:41:27.840 --> 00:41:28.519 Do I really trust 00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.059 that you're out for my own interest? 00:41:30.220 --> 00:41:32.120 And if I really trust those things 00:41:32.120 --> 00:41:34.000 then obedience is easy. 00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:37.519 But sometimes in the shadows it's not. 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:40.360 And the amazing thing about your word, 00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:40.880 the gospel, 00:41:41.039 --> 00:41:42.400 is it pursues us in the shadows. 00:41:43.740 --> 00:41:45.360 And it frees us from our demons 00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:46.100 and our darkness. 00:41:47.579 --> 00:41:48.860 And I pray that we would be people 00:41:48.860 --> 00:41:49.900 who have that happen. 00:41:51.059 --> 00:41:52.700 We point to an amazing Savior 00:41:52.700 --> 00:41:54.940 who wants to do it for others. 00:41:56.100 --> 00:41:57.079 Father, we love you. 00:41:58.160 --> 00:42:00.039 We're so humbled by your mercy and grace. 00:42:02.059 --> 00:42:03.640 We pray these things in your son Jesus' name. 00:42:04.220 --> 00:42:04.480 Amen.