Do you like stories with happy endings?
Most people do.
In fact, I don't really know anybody who would say,
I love to read a story that just rips my heart out at the end.
I can't imagine that.
Well, have you ever noticed that most of the Bible stories
that you were taught growing up or that you just have read yourself,
have you ever noticed that most Bible stories have a happy ending?
Think about some that you know well, like the story of Joseph.
Joseph started off, he was sold into slavery.
He was abused in various ways,
but God raised him up to a position of prominence and power in Egypt.
His story had a great ending.
You know the story of Daniel,
how he was thrown into a den of lions,
but God rescued him, closed the mouths of those lions,
brought him not only out of the lion's den,
but put him back in a place of power,
of great influence in a foreign pagan nation.
The greatest story is the story of Jesus,
how he died on a cross and was buried,
but God brought him back from the grave.
He not only was resurrected,
but he has ascended back into heaven where he is today
and one day will return to this world.
And if you know him as your Lord and Savior,
or you'll come to put your faith in him,
your life story can have a great ending.
No matter what happens in this world,
you will live for eternity in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ.
That'd be the greatest ending, wouldn't it?
But I'm going to guess most people in this room,
you know that not all stories, even in the Bible,
have a happy ending.
One of the saddest stories that you'll ever read in the Bible
is the story of Solomon.
Now last week we saw how God blessed him with such wisdom
that the Bible even calls him the wisest man who ever lived.
Now you would think that the wisest man who ever lived,
according to Scripture,
that his life would be a great life.
That his life would just be a life of faithfulness.
It'd just be a good life that would end well.
But it didn't.
Solomon's life does not have a happy ending
because he, even though he was a man of wisdom,
he made a lot of unwise choices throughout his life.
Chuck Swindoll describes how Solomon's failure
to consistently act wisely led to its tragic ending.
Look at it.
By the end of Solomon's life,
the royal tree that once stood so straight and tall
had rotted from within.
In the springtime of his life, he had written,
Solomon wrote that, Proverbs 1.7.
But by the autumn of his life,
he had ceased fearing God
and simply depended on his own human wisdom.
He was no longer the world's wisest man.
He had become the world's wisest fool.
Last week, we looked at the bright side of Solomon's life.
Well, today we're going to look at the dark side.
It's in 1 Kings chapter 11.
Turn with me if you would.
1 Kings chapter 11.
As we go through this message,
as we go through this passage,
our goal is to learn some good lessons
from Solomon's bad example.
Our goal is that we learn from him
and not follow in his footsteps
because we don't want to become wise fools
with a tragic ending to our life.
So let's read 1 Kings chapter 11.
Now Solomon loved many foreign women
along with the daughter of Pharaoh,
Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women
from the nations concerning which
the Lord had said to the people of Israel,
You shall not enter into marriage with them,
neither shall they with you,
for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods.
Solomon clung to these in love.
He had 700 wives who were princesses
and 300 concubines,
and his wives turned away his heart.
For when Solomon was old,
his wives turned away his heart
after other gods,
and his heart was not wholly true
to the Lord his God,
as was the heart of David his father.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth,
the goddess of the Sidonians,
and after Milcom,
the abomination of the Amorites.
So Solomon did what was evil
in the sight of the Lord
and did not wholly follow the Lord
as David his father had done.
Then Solomon built a high place
for Chemosh,
the abomination of Moab,
and for Molech,
the abomination of the Amorites
on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
And so he did for all his foreign wives
who made offerings and sacrifices
to their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon
because his heart had turned away from the Lord,
the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
and had commanded him concerning this thing
that he should not go after other gods.
But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
Therefore the Lord said to Solomon,
Since this has been your practice
and you have not kept my covenant
and my statutes that I have commanded you,
I will surely tear the kingdom from you
and will give it to your servant.
Yet for the sake of David your father,
I will not do it in your days,
but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
However, I will not tear away all the kingdom,
but I will give one tribe to your son
for the sake of David my servant
and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.
Solomon, the wisest man on earth
because God had graciously chosen
to bless him with that wisdom.
He didn't use it wisely.
He made foolish choices.
And the result was,
God was angry
and God told him,
I'm not going to take the kingdom from you right now,
not because of you,
but because of your father David
and my covenant with him.
But I'm going to take this kingdom from your son.
And every parent in here knows
that would have ripped the heart out of Solomon
to think all that he had,
all that he had amassed,
that he knew one day would belong to his heirs,
God was going to take it away.
His son would suffer.
And Solomon, if you go ahead and read on,
Solomon suffers all,
also because God raises up adversaries
who are going to create problems for Solomon
from here on out.
Solomon shows us the way
someone becomes a wise fool.
Let's see what we can see
with prayer to help us avoid
following those footsteps.
Number one,
a wise fool compromises biblical truth
when it seems personally beneficial.
Solomon compromised
what he knew,
the scripture says,
because he thought he was an exception.
He thought it would help him
maybe be a better king,
enhance his reputation,
and in the back of his mind,
he probably thought,
as the king of God's people,
if my image is made greater,
burns brighter,
maybe that'll make God's burn brighter as well.
He was a compromiser,
and so he had probably
all kinds of rationalizations in his mind.
Let's look at some of the ways he compromised.
Number one,
he compromised in the way he sought power.
He sought to make his kingdom secure
by developing alliances
with foreign kings
through marriages
to their daughter.
Look at verse 3
that we've just read.
Look at the description
of his many wives.
It says,
He had 700 wives
who were princesses.
Now that word,
princesses,
means that many of his wives
were daughters of foreign kings.
Those marriages
were politically motivated.
He didn't have a real relationship
with 700 wives
and 300 concubines.
That was a part of his image.
That was a part
of what kings did in that day
to make them look
greater and mightier
before people.
But also in this case,
this was Solomon's way
of aligning himself
with other kings
and kingdoms
to avoid future conflict.
He did not have to do it
at this time
because there were no problems.
David had taken care
of everything.
Basically,
the kingdom that Solomon inherited
was at peace.
He did not need to do this,
but he chose to do it.
He was politically motivated.
You can understand maybe
he wanted to make sure
that his people,
his nation,
would be secure.
So I'm going to make
what might be an enemy
become my ally
through these marriages.
Now,
what we were reading about
in chapter 11
took place at the end
of Solomon's life
or near the end.
But Solomon didn't do this
just toward the end
of his life.
He started his reign
as king
making the same compromise
as we saw last week
in chapter 3.
In chapter 3
of this 1 Kings
that we're looking at,
verse 1,
it says this,
Solomon made a marriage alliance
with Pharaoh,
king of Egypt.
He took Pharaoh's daughter
and brought her
into the city of David.
Solomon
thought he was being,
what you might say,
politically savvy.
Now,
he was not trying
to be defiant.
He was not trying to,
he was not openly
rebelling against God.
Especially here
in chapter 3,
he didn't really see it
as a compromise.
Chapter 3,
verse 3 says,
he loved the Lord
and we looked at that
last week.
Solomon probably thought
in his mind,
this is just what kings do.
this will enhance
our nation's security.
This will prevent
problems from happening.
It will make peace
between neighboring countries.
That may have been
a very wise thing
for a secular king,
but it was not
for God's king.
God warned his people.
God warned the people
of Israel
from the beginning,
before they ever went
to the promised land,
before this ever
could happen.
He warned his people
that they were not
to do things like this.
What is said
in the last part
of verse 2
here in chapter 11
that we saw,
that came from
Deuteronomy chapter 7.
I want you to look at it
from Deuteronomy 7
on the screen.
God said to
the people of Israel,
you shall make
no covenant
with them
and show no mercy
to them.
That's those foreigners
who occupied
the promised land
prior to God
sending his people
in there
to take it.
You shall make
no covenant
with them
and show no mercy
to them.
You shall not
intermarry with them,
giving your daughters
to their sons
or taking their daughters
for your sons,
for they would
turn away
your sons
from following me
to serve other gods.
Then the anger
of the Lord
would be kindled
against you
and he would
destroy you
quickly.
Now I want you
to just stop
and think.
The very thing
that happened
to Solomon,
God said
before there was
ever even
a nation of Israel,
don't do things
like that.
Don't
intermarry
because if you do,
these pagan,
false God
worshiping people,
they'll lead you
astray.
They'll take you
away from me
and that'll result
in my anger
and your judgment.
God
mercifully
warned them.
Solomon,
the wisest man
who ever lived,
didn't listen.
He compromised
the truth of God
in order to
maybe seek
or maintain
political power,
national security.
That's not all he did.
That's not the only compromise.
He compromised
in some of the ways
he spent his wealth.
Solomon
in some ways
flaunted
that great wealth
that God gave him.
One was in the way
he accumulated
many horses
and chariots
from Egypt.
I want you to just
look at it real quickly,
just a couple of verses.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 9,
that's sort of a parallel
story.
And horses
were imported
for Solomon
from Egypt
and from all the lands.
Here in 1 Kings,
just back up
from where we are
in chapter 11,
chapter 10,
verses 26 and 28.
And Solomon
gathered together
chariots
and horsemen.
He had 1,400
chariots
and 12,000
horsemen.
And Solomon
imported horses
from Egypt
and Q.
And you might think,
what's the big deal?
Don't kings acquire
all kinds of things
like that?
Yes.
But Israel's kings
were specifically
instructed
not to
amass
an army of chariots
and horsemen.
Look at it
from Deuteronomy
chapter 17.
Basically,
instructions
to Israel's
former
or future
kings.
When you come
to the land
that the Lord
your God
is giving you
and you possess it
and dwell in it
and then say,
I will set a king
over me
like all the nations
that are around me,
you may indeed
set a king
over you
whom the Lord
your God
will choose.
Only he must
not acquire
many horses
for himself
or cause the people
to return
to Egypt
in order to
acquire many horses
since the Lord
has said to you,
you shall never
return that way
again.
Solomon,
it appears,
was more concerned
with competing
with other kings
in accumulating
a lot of horses
and chariots,
that kind of army,
that kind of division
in his army.
He was more concerned
with competing
with the other kings,
maybe outdoing
the other kings
than he was
with obeying God.
Solomon also
put more emphasis
on building
his own house
than he did
the house of God.
I want you to note
one sentence
that is said
about Solomon
building the temple,
God's house.
It's in 1 Kings 6, 39.
It says,
he was seven years
in building.
That's the temple.
The very next verse
is chapter 7, verse 1.
And just look
at what it says.
Solomon was building
his own house
13 years
and he finished
his entire house.
Now, most commentators,
most Old Testament scholars
who are trying to figure out
what's going on here,
interpret that
as the writer
of 1 Kings
contrasting,
pointing out
the difference
between the time
and the money
Solomon spent
on the Lord's house
versus the time
and money
he spent
on his own house.
And time-wise,
Solomon spent
almost twice
as much time
building his
elaborate
palace
than he did
building the temple
of God.
the ESV study Bible
points this out.
Look at it.
Solomon spent
much more time
building his own house
or palace
complex
than he did
building God's house,
another indication
of his
divided
heart.
From everything
we see,
it appeared
there were times,
not all the times,
there were times
when Solomon
was not wise
in the way
he used his money.
And there were times
when he was just
concerned to put
on a show,
flaunt
what he had,
make other kings
envious,
but he was
compromising.
He wasn't
acting
faithfully
to the Word
of God
as he knew it.
and he really
just wasn't
acting as a man
that God
had given
such great
wisdom to.
But there's
a third
compromise
we need to notice.
He compromised
in the way
he fulfilled
his sexual
desires.
Solomon
had a great
interest
in women,
in foreign
women.
He had a
weakness
for women.
Look at verse
one.
Now Solomon
loved many
foreign
women.
Now as we've
said,
some of these
marriages were
politically
motivated.
Hey,
but nobody
twisted Solomon's
arm to make
him do this.
Nobody put
any pressure
on him to
take all
these women.
Solomon was
king.
Solomon could
do what he
wanted to do
and not do
anything he
didn't want
to do.
Solomon loved
women.
He loved
foreign women.
And in the
power,
with the power
he had,
the position
he was in,
he took
advantage of
that.
Whoever he
wanted,
that's who
he got.
And he
did it
excessively.
Look at
verse three.
They captured
his heart.
He loved
foreign women.
He gave
himself to
many women.
There was
love,
there was
emotional
attachment.
And because
he gave
himself that
way,
they had
influence over
him.
They
influenced
him in
some terrible
ways.
Verse three,
and his
wives turned
his heart,
turned away
his heart.
As we have
already seen,
this was a
clear violation
of God's
word.
Deuteronomy
seven,
you shall not
intermarry with
them.
Also in
Deuteronomy
17,
Israel's
kings were
not supposed
to take
all these
wives.
Look at
it.
And he
shall,
talking about
Israel's
kings,
and he
shall not
acquire many
wives for
himself,
lest his
heart turn
away.
Solomon
compromised
the truth of
God's word
in his
pursuit of
women.
He
compromised
the truth of
God's word
in the way
he fulfilled
his sexual
desires.
Now,
let's look at
it now.
Solomon never
renounced his
faith.
Solomon never
says or does
anything to
say he's
turning away
from God.
He doesn't
believe God's
word.
He doesn't
care what
God thinks.
But his
love for
God,
and his
trust in
God is
obviously,
as you just
read through
this,
it's not
wholehearted.
He did
love God
to a certain
degree.
He was
committed to
a certain
degree.
But there
was not the
wholehearted
love and
commitment that
God required.
How do you
know that?
Because all
along the way
he compromised
and disobeyed
God to
increase his
power,
to flaunt
his wealth,
to fulfill
his lusts.
All too many
times,
Solomon was
more committed
to pleasing
himself than
he was to
pleasing God.
God.
Now,
do you see
yourself in
any of these
pictures,
in any of
these compromising
situations?
You know,
money,
sex,
and power are
the big three
sources of
temptation in
this world,
aren't they?
One or two
of them,
probably not all
three,
one or two of
them really
resonates with
you,
because we're
just that way.
You know,
you know what's
one of your,
maybe what you
might call root
sins,
one of the
greatest temptations
for you,
but the person
sitting right
beside you in a
pew,
that may not be a
temptation for them
at all.
What you struggle
with,
it's not even a
thought for
somebody else.
But you think
about it.
We in this
room,
we all struggle
with temptations.
Are yours more
along the lines
of,
you struggle
with an area
of money,
of wealth,
of material
things.
Maybe just
your desire
for it.
Maybe some
of the things
you might
compromise in
order to get
it,
or to hold
on to it.
Or maybe
do you
compromise in
the area
of power,
of control?
Maybe you
abuse your
authority.
Maybe you
envy those
who are
in authority,
who have
power.
Maybe you
resent it.
Or maybe
your temptations
in the sexual
realm.
maybe it's
just thoughts.
Maybe it's
some of the
ways you
entertain
yourself.
Or it
could be
just a
flat-out
relationship
that you
know is
not right.
We struggle.
We are
tempted.
We're not
tempted all
in the same
ways.
But most
of us in
this room,
we struggle
with one
or more
money,
sex,
power.
What are
you doing
to guard
against
stumbling
and falling
over one
or more
of these
temptations
in your life?
I mean,
what are you
doing?
How are you
fighting it?
How are you
resisting it?
One of the
most important
ways to avoid
compromising and
falling, as
Solomon did, is
to learn to
choose God's
way of wisdom
and obedience
every day.
You know, if you're
familiar with the
Old Testament, this
story, or here
last week, chapter
three, verse
three, God
said, Solomon, I'll
give you anything you
want.
You tell me.
And Solomon made
this choice.
I want wisdom.
A great choice.
But it wasn't
enough for
Solomon to ask
for wisdom
one time
at the beginning
of his reign.
Solomon should
have been asking
for wisdom
every day
of his reign.
And he would
have avoided
these compromises
if he had
truly sought
day by day
to be faithful
to God,
to listen to
God, to obey
God,
in every
detail.
Here's what I
want us to
understand.
Choosing to
trust God and
be faithful to
him is not a
once-in-a-lifetime
choice that you
make.
You don't have
some kind of
emotional experience
or really just
think it through
and come to a
real serious
decision and
say, I am
going to put my
faith and trust
in God.
I am going to
really and truly
trust Jesus as my
Lord and Savior
and think to
yourself, it's a
done deal.
I never need to
think about it
again.
I make this
commitment and I
go on with my
life.
That's crazy.
That is not
biblical faith.
faith.
We must make this a
daily, sometimes
even hourly
commitment if we
really want to be
faithful.
You don't make a
decision to trust
Christ one day,
never think about
it again.
Saving faith is
continuing faith or
it's nothing at all.
Everything you read
about faith in both
the Old and New
Testament.
Somebody begins a
relationship with the
Lord one day, putting
their faith and trust
in Him, but they
continue to trust Him,
to obey Him if
they're faithful.
That's what God
calls us to do.
That's why it's so
important for us to
spend time every day
with the Lord in
meaningful, heartfelt
prayer and Bible
reading.
We need to seek to
cultivate a conscious
awareness of God's
presence in our life
on a regular basis.
Begin the day with
Him in the morning.
Talk to Him as we go
through the day.
Become familiar enough
with His Word that as
we encounter situations,
have to make decisions,
we have a good idea of
what God's will is and
we ask His help to
enable us to do His
will.
The only way we can
avoid compromising like
Solomon did is to live
in close fellowship with
God every day.
And I'm as serious as I
can be.
That applies to every
single one of us in
this room.
Your level of
commitment could be
stated this morning if
someone observed you,
knew what was in your
mind, knew what was in
your heart, knew how
you spent your time.
Every one of us, our
level of commitment to
the Lord Jesus Christ,
our faithfulness could be
pretty much explained
based on the amount of
time we spend with Him,
talking to Him,
listening to Him,
loving Him, praising Him,
desiring Him, obeying Him.
that's true about me and I
know it's true about you.
Solomon got too busy with
his kingdom.
Solomon got too concerned
about himself.
He got preoccupied by his
wealth, by his power, by his
position.
Solomon got distracted by
women and sex.
And it destroyed
his kingdom.
It destroyed his life.
The only way we can avoid
this divided heart,
Solomon's problem,
is to have a guard over our
hearts and not let it
become distracted and
divided like he did.
Let's look at one more
point quickly.
A wise fool carelessly
fails to guard his heart
because he thinks he can
handle anything.
I want you to look at
Solomon.
Chapter 11, verse 4 first.
For when Solomon was old,
his wives turned away his
heart after other gods,
and his heart was not
wholly true to the Lord
his God, as was the heart
of David, his father.
Look at verse 6.
So Solomon did what was
evil in the sight of the
Lord, and did not wholly
follow the Lord as David's
father had done.
And then verse 9.
And the Lord was angry with
Solomon because his heart
had turned away from the
Lord, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him
twice.
Solomon allowed his heart to
become divided.
Again, he never renounced
his faith or even his love
for God.
But for all practical purposes,
he really did because when
his heart turned away from God,
his heart turned to his
wives and false gods.
Solomon became an idolater.
Solomon became one who
worshipped things that were
not even gods because his
wives captured his heart.
He desired to please them more
than he desired to please God.
Solomon's idolatry emphasizes
how important it is for us
to guard our hearts and guard
them every day.
You know, today we're expected
to accept everyone's view of
the truth as being equally
valid.
Every day, today, I mean, in
this world in which we live
today, if we're going to be
politically correct, if we're
going to get along, if we're
not going to get labeled as
some kind of extremist,
whatever anyone thinks,
whatever anyone considers to
be true, we're supposed to
say, okay.
It's okay.
You believe what you want to
believe, I believe what I
want to believe.
You believe what you do and
it's true for you.
I believe what I want to
believe and it's true for me.
That's the way the world tells
us to think.
That's the world tells us what
we've got to do in order to
get along.
That's what we've got to do in
order to please the world.
But if we try to please the
world, we're going to be just
like Solomon who tried to
please his wives and the result
will be we will compromise
God's word.
Our hearts will be pulled away
from God, from his will.
Here's what we need to be
aware of.
It's not going to happen
overnight.
It's going to happen
gradually.
It's going to happen almost
unnoticeably.
But a life made up of little
compromises here and there,
year in and year out,
will eventually result in a
heart that's turned away from
God just like Solomon's was.
We need to learn from the
mistakes of this wise fool.
Solomon was smarter than any of
us in this room.
Solomon had a gift from God
that we do not have.
But because he compromised,
because he did not guard his
heart, he became the biggest
fool from the heights he fell
from.
He became a wise fool.
Before we go, I want us to hear
from one who was wiser than
Solomon, the only one.
The Lord Jesus Christ,
along the same line.
Look at what he 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's what Jesus said.
You may think you can't because
Solomon thought he could.
And in light of what we see in
Solomon's life, we need to
understand not only can we not
serve God and money
simultaneously, we can't serve
God and power.
We can't serve God and sex.
We can't serve God and anything
else.
We must serve God wholeheartedly,
we're not at all.
Jesus, as the old cliche says,
Jesus must be Lord of all,
or he will not be Lord at all.
So I want to ask you, who are you
serving?
What are you serving?
There's nothing in the world wrong
with wisely using power.
Nothing in the world wrong with
wisely using wealth.
Nothing in the world wrong with
having strong sex drive and having
those needs met in the context of a
marriage, one man and one woman.
But your heart, your wholehearted commitment,
your wholehearted devotion must be,
must rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
your heavenly Father.
It cannot be divided between him and
anything else.
hear that word.
Don't compromise.
Guard your heart.
Your life will never end well
if you don't.
Let's pray together.
Dear God,
help us to see how we should respond
right now.
Father, if there are people in this room
who do not really have a relationship
with you, their heart is not for you.
It's for themselves or something else.
Dear God,
call them
to turn from their sin
and put their trust in Jesus
right now
for their salvation.
If there's Christians in this room,
dear God, who
have been more like Solomon
and not guarded their heart
but made compromises,
convict them
and help them
and help them to see
the importance right now
of confessing their sin,
renouncing these wrong allegiances
or wrong priorities.
Dear God,
call them back right now
to wholehearted
love,
trust,
commitment to you.
and in an attitude of prayer,
let's listen to the Lord
and respond to Him.
Do what God's calling you to do
and I'd be glad to pray with you
here at the front
if you'd like for me to pray with you
during this time.
you
to