Life Lessons from a Biblical Hero
Philadelphia Baptist Church
8/26/2007 Sun. a.m.
Life Lessons from a Biblical Hero
1 Kings 3:1–3; 11:1–6
1 Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Introduction: Alexander the Great conquered the world, yet died at age 33 in a drunken stupor. Hannibal may have crossed the Alps with elephants, but he had three bushels of gold rings taken off knights he slaughtered; and he later committed suicide. Julius Caesar conquered eight hundred cities across Europe and the Middle East, but he was stabbed by his closest friends. Napoleon was the scourge of Europe, yet he died in banishment.
Have you noticed that some who leave a strong mark have tragic lives? Solomon was like that. He was the wisest, wealthiest man who ever lived; yet there’s a tragedy to his life, and we can learn from it. From my study of his life, it seems to me that Solomon made three gigantic mistakes.
1. The Mistake of Unholy Alliances (1 Kin. 3:1). Solomon did what he thought he needed to do to solidify his power, but instead of pleasing God, he did the opposite. In 1 Kings 1:5, even before he became king, his throne was challenged by a half-brother. In 1 Kings 1:7, some of his father’s allies betrayed him. Solomon’s position was threatened, and that’s why he made an alliance with Egypt. Instead of making alliances with the right people in his country, with the priests and Levites and leaders in his family, he went to his worst enemy.
A lot of people do that. Instead of seeking counsel from godly people, we go to the world for help. That’s why 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns about being unequally yoked with unbelievers. We often apply that to marriage, but it has to do with every area of life, whether business or friendship.
| George Barna says that in the evangelical church in America and Canada today, there is much of the world in our churches. We choose to believe only what we want to believe from the Bible; and we choose to believe from the world what we want to believe. Barna says, “We’ve made an amalgam (mixture) religion”—what strikes our fancy! And he’s absolutely right! Instead of understanding the Word of God and drawing our strength from the Word of God, we draw our strength from here and from any other place we can find. Solomon did the same thing. That was a mistake. God will accept nothing less than total obedience from us. He certainly would accept nothing less from Solomon. Deuteronomy 6:4–5. God never accepts from us a piece of an offering. He never accepts from us a partial sacrifice. That’s why Paul says in Romans 12:1,2 that we are to totally be sacrificed to Him, to give everything over to Him: to give all of our finances to Him and give all of our children to Him and all of our grandchildren to Him, all of our days to Him and all of our nights to Him—we give it all to Him. He takes care of us because He loves total obedience. Solomon was only partially obedient. He made some mistakes. And making that mistake robs us of the blessing that Solomon lost. This is a man who was extremely wealthy but apparently quite unhappy at the same time because he made many unholy alliances, tolerated sin, and allowed his heart to drift from its pure love for Jesus. |
2. The Mistake of Allowing Dark Corners to Remain (1 Kin. 3:2–3). The second mistake Solomon made was in allowing dark corners of sin to remain in his life. According to 1 Kings 3:2–3, Solomon worshiped Jehovah but tolerated incense on the high places. The “high places” were altars on hills around the country devoted to false gods, especially the gods of the Canaanites. The Canaanites felt that the closer they got to heaven the more likely was the possibility that their prayers and offerings would reach their gods.
While Solomon did some wonderful things, he tolerated false gods. Blessing comes, not from giving God a corner of our lives; it comes from wholly following Him, giving Him everything. Those dark corners always come back to haunt us.
3. The Mistake of Allowing the World to Draw Us Away from God (1 Kin. 11:1–4). Once Solomon became wealthy, his mind drifted from God a bit. In the course of getting everything he wanted, represented by his seven hundred wives, the call of the world drowned out the call of God. 2 Timothy 4:10 ; 1 John 2:15–17. The Bible is clear on this. For you and me as Christians to invest all of our time in this world, to invest all of our energy in this world, to invest all of our money in this world—that isn’t just silly, it’s stupid!
But sometimes the distractions of the world cause us to have a life like Solomon’s. He did very well at first. Then he became wealthy, wise, and powerful; and the world became a strong attraction to which he did not summon the energy to resist.
Abraham Lincoln once asserted, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those around me seemed insufficient for the day.” For Nehemiah, as it should be for us, it wasn’t a last resort, but a first option! Nehemiah 1:5–11
1. Acknowledge God’s Greatness (v. 5).
A. His Sovereignty: “Lord God of heaven.”
B. His Holiness: “the great and terrible (awesome) God.”
C. His Faithfulness: “that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:”
2. Confess Your Sinfulness (vv. 6–7).
3. Remember God’s Promises (vv. 8–9).
4. Petition God’s Help (v. 11).
Remember that God is “… able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think …” (Eph. 3:20).
Conclusion: If you and I want to be joyous and fruitful Christians, we can learn from Solomon. We cannot allow these things to go wrong in our lives, because if we do they can spoil our hearts the way they spoiled Solomon’s.
We must always be aware of how closely we live with God. We can be as wise as Solomon yet still have a foolish life like him if we’re not a person after the heart of God. Let me encourage us today to check out, not how wise or wealthy we are, but how closely we’re living with God.
How intimate are we with God? Are we the person after God’s own heart like King David? Or are we a person who has been extremely blessed like King Solomon, yet we haven’t handled that blessing very well? Now is the time to change.
And that’s the good news—God will help you do that in Christ Jesus, His Son.
