Setting Our Hearts Toward God

Introduction

We are a bad lot, we sons of Adam.

A. W. Tozer

Like Adam, we make wrong choices and chase after things that look good, sound good, and that we think will make us feel good.

couple weeks ago talking about Molech and Ashtarah and that they are connected still today

more than allowing them, we are to worship them or we are the evil ones

Solomon brought them into his kingdom but what would happen to them as his son Rehoboam takes over

would he restore the kingdom to the way it was when his grandfather David was king or follow down the path of this father Solomon?

Rehoboam has the choice… last week we saw the kingdom torn apart and he was left with a minority of tribes

would that be enough to wake him up and make the right decision?

Do we have to have our kingdom torn apart before we begin to turn our hearts toward God?

PRAY!

1 Kings 14:21–31 CSB

21 Now Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

The author gives us a couple details that he does not want us to miss right from the start

The Lord has put his name on Jerusalem

this is where his temple was,

the ark of the covenant

the place where his spirit dwelled with his people and the place where atonement for their sin could be made

Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, an Ammonite

not making too much of this, all kings of Judah had their mother listed

but the passage is bookended with this fact so we much take note

Ammonites - descendants of Lot’s son by his youngest daughter

how the Moabites and the Ammonites came to be

they each worshipped these false gods that have infected Israel

1 Kings 14:21–31 CSB

22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They provoked him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. 23 They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; 24 there were even male cult prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

We have our answer to the question, which way would Rehoboam go, the way of David or Solomon

Not only did he go the way of Solomon, but he has taken the entire nation with him

v22 - Judah did what was evil… Not simply Rehoboam

What was their sin?

they built high places, sacred pillars and Asherah poles… they even had male cult prostitutes

resulting in bringing God into a jealous anger toward Judah

why… because this is the very sins and false gods that the Lord said was so detestable in the law and needed to be purged from the land the the people would inherit

1 Kings 14:21–31 CSB

25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. 26 He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took all the gold shields that Solomon had made. 27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them into the care of the captains of the guards who protected the entrance to the king’s palace. 28 Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields, then they would take them back to the armory.

2 Chronicles 12 tells us that because of the sins of Rehoboam and Judah, God has allowed Shishak to overtake Judah

only five years into his reign and he has taken his nation so deep into sin that the Lord is allowing the Egyptians to overtake him

this is the king that housed Jeroboam, King of the north, while Solomon was alive

so kind of an enemy of my friend is my enemy situation

Shishak takes Judah from the nation of nations to an embarrassment

our passage does not tell us what happens after Shishak

but Rehoboam and the people of Judah repent but they are stuck with the consequences of their sin

the glory that was the nation of Israel is gone

the military power of King David is over

the wealth of King Solomon is gone

1 Kings 14:21–31 (CSB) 29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns. 31 Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam became king in his place.

Rehoboam dies but what we see of his life is one of struggle

his poor decisions have left him with a difficult life

constantly battling Jeroboam

and the author reminds us again, Naamah was an Ammonite

The world invites us to run to the same false gods that infected Rehoboam’s kingdom. If we do not determine in our hearts to follow the Lord we will fall to the same sins.

Today we will look at three decisions that we must make everyday to keep from falling into this trap.

1. Decide to offer yourself as a living sacrifice

I have never been the king of a nation

My niece though my name was Uncle Doug is King

I cannot imagine how hard that would be to remain humble

surrounded by yes men and people worshipping you

bowing to you

catering to your every whim and desire

how do you live for the kingdom of God and constantly be worried about your own

Rehoboam started off bad

his kingdom gets split and he is left with the smaller half

and not just by a little

he has two of the twelve tribes

he worships false gods of his father and mother

Solomon set up places to worship Ashtarah

Naamah was Ammonite and worshipped Asherah

many believe this is the same goddess

both are gods of fertility

Rehoboam was the grandson of David, a man after God’s own heart

Did he once think of the things that the Lord had done for David

David is the king by which all others were measured

but I do not think that Rehoboam was nearly as impressed with all the victories that David had compared to the wealth that his father had

These two false gods in our world today promise power if you bow to them

or to crush you if you come against them

this week in NJ is was signed into law that we cannot pray in front of abortion clinics

I am not nearly smart enough to understand how that is not a violation of the first amendment

Focussing on all the Lord has done for you keeps your eyes focused on the right thing

that is not comfort or success, that is not the goal of this life

we focus on furthering his kingdom

some of us cannot fathom praying out loud in front of an abortion clinic when it is against the law

we can’t even pray out loud in front of our brothers and sisters in Christ

we cannot fathom taking a stand against in a public space like that when we cannot even tell our lost neighbor about Jesus

Romans 12:1 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

in view of the mercies of God

mercy = not getting what you deserve

Paul has made the argument in the first eleven chapters that we have not received the wrath of God we deserve because of our sin

instead that wrath was poured out on Christ on the cross

present your bodies as a living sacrifice

present = stand near, place beside

we are placing our lives on the altar as a sacrifice to the Lord

not physically dying for the Lord, but living for him

in some ways that is harder

dying for him is saying I will not renounce my love for him

I am not saying that is easy…

living for him is daily standing and saying, “Here am I, send me!”

Rehoboam looked at the world around him and chose to worship the gods of this world

his mind was set on the false gods, not the kingdom of the one who placed him on the throne

2. Decide to renew your mind

what we see in the world easily affects our minds

we are bombarded with acceptance of everything unbiblical

books, movies, news

we have politicians on both sides fighting over who has elevated the homosexual movement higher

we have politicians who claim to be pro-life (not a fan of that term) agreeing that abortion can happen as long as it is in the first 6 weeks

we have allowed the world around us to influence the beliefs we have

we have to agree to this because saving some is better than none

we live in a free country and we do not care what your sexual preference is… yet brag when we can about promoting it

Rehoboam would wake everyday and see the idols

approved by his father and encouraged by his mother

There will be kings in the lineage of Jesus that we see that will destroy some of these things

but not this king… he led the nation into further worship of them.

how bad did it get…

1 Kings 14:22 CSB

22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They provoked him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed.

Not only did the king sin, but he led the people of Judah to sin as well

the nation, southern two tribes became so evil that they provoked the Lord to anger

arguably more evil than the northern kingdom

this is the kingdom that made two calves and placed them in Bethel and Dan

declared this is the god that brought you out of the land of Egypt

afraid that if the people of the North went to Jerusalem to worship they would not come back

they had brought in male cult prostitutes

these fertility gods we promoting homosexuality

their sin brought judgment

2 Chronicles 12 tells us that God allows Shishak to overtake Jerusalem because of their sin

1 Kings 14:25 CSB

25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem.

what in this world has your attention, that you are clinging to

whatever you cling to will shape who you are

Romans 12:2 CSB

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

renew = make like new

how was man created, in relationship with God

we are to renew our minds, transforming us from looking like the world to looking like Christ

we do this through prayer, through communing with God and his word

A renewed mind will look at the world and be amazed

how could anyone believe that is good, that is godly

3. Decide to keep your relationship with the world in its proper place

We know the first two points to be true

yet we decide to cozy up to the things of the world all the time

1 John 2:15 CSB

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

He is not talking about God creation

the creation cries out to the divinity and power of God

the ways of the world, the world that we are not to be conformed to

if you love the world the father is not in him

Instead we are to be a holy people… a people set apart

Matthew 5:13–14 CSB

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.

Jesus’s disciples are to purify a corrupt world through their example of righteous living and their proclamation of the gospel.

this is a both situation

you are to live the godly life that Jesus has called you to

you are to proclaim the truth of his kingdom

how can they hear without somebody to proclaim… Romans 11

However, contaminated salt does not promote purity.

The verb translated lose its taste indicates foolish and immoral behavior.

It refers to a professing disciple whose unrighteous lifestyle promotes destruction rather than purification.

this is why we are here… to proclaim to the lost world that Jesus is Lord

that life chasing false gods leads to death

but in Christ we have life

its funny how the enemy has tried to turn that truth on its head

life with Christ restricts me, takes from me

John 10:10 CSB

10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

that is the message that we are to proclaim to this lost and dying world

don’t be a jerk for Jesus!

Conclusion

I was recently gifted a pair of cowboy boots

I graduated high school in the 1900’s

I was a grunge rock kid with combat boots and flannel shirts

I have never worn a pair of cowboy boots in my life

Everyday we get up and we make simple choices

what we will wear, what we will eat

the time is now that we begin to make the more difficult choice to follow God, live for him in a world that demands we don’t