The Kingdom Divided

What is the greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

What does it look like to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind?

We are going to see what it doesn’t look like today as we continue looking at the Life of the Wise King Solomon. As we have seen Solomon started out the right. He sought God for wisdom on how to lead God’s people, and God gave Solomon wisdom to lead.

Next Solomon built the temple and God’s presence fell and it was an amazing display of God abiding or dwelling with His people.

God appears to Solomon for a second time after the dedication of the temple and says to Solomon;

1 Kings 9:4–9 ESV

And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

God had made a promise to Solomon much like He did with his father David, “ If you walk before me with integrity and uprightness doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever,”

Jesus uses similar language when He speaks to His Disciples in John 15 and Says,

John 15:4–8 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

God called Solomon to walk before Him and God would establish him, Bless Him and Keep. Jesus’ words echo this same message for His followers, “Abide in Me”

What would come for Solomon if he walk before the Lord with Integrity of heart and righteously?

God promised blessing- God knows our greatest need and that is to know Him and He invites Solomon to this amazing type of covenant with Him, Just walk with me and you will receive blessing.

What is Jesus’ promise to His disciples?

It is very much the same. It is an invitation to abide with Christ and in return we bear fruit in our lives. Let me take a moment to say if you aren’t seeing the Fruit of the SPirit in your life, That’s not on God cause He has promised that with we abided in Jesus we will produce fruit. But He also says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Take a moment and think about that. Are you abiding in Christ or are you wandering on your own and just pointing your finger a t God saying, “why isn’t there any fruit?”

Both God and Jesus give the same warning for someone who lives apart for God “You will be cut off”

So What is Solomon’s response?

1 Kings 11:1–8 ESV

Now King 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 Ammonites. 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 Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

Solomon turned away from God.

The first thing we can see is that Solomon’s heart was divided. There was this love for God but He also loved all this women who turned His heart for the Lord.

Deuteronomy 17:17 ESV

And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

This was a warning that God had written in His law, and Solomon walked away.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 379 Parable from a Plane

Between an airplane and every other form of locomotion and transportation there is one great contrast. The horse and wagon, the automobile, the bicycle, the locomotive, the speedboat, and the great battleship—all can come to a standstill without danger, and they can all reverse their engines, or their power, and go back.

But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up. It dare not stand still. If it loses its momentum and forward-drives, then it crashes. The only safety for the airplane is in its forward and upward motion. The only safe direction for the Christian to take is forward and upward. If he stops, or if he begins to slip and go backward, that moment he is in danger.

—C. E. Macartney

This is what is means to abide in Christ. It is a constant way of Life. As we started off with , it is loving God with all your Heart, and not having a heart divided. It is God above everything else- above relationships, Above your wants, even above your feelings.

King Solomon failed to lead God’s people perfectly. God’s people needed a better king, a perfect king! Even though Solomon was not faithful to God, God was faithful to keep His promise to make David’s kingdom last forever.

Through David’s family, God would send His own Son, Jesus, to be a perfect King over God’s people forever. Jesus is greater than Solomon. Jesus brings His people together and leads them back to God.

Jesus came to lead us, who have all like Solomon have chased after other things, back to our greatest need, God Himself. We are called to Abide in Christ and in return bear the fruit of Godliness

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This takes walking with integrity before God and not chasing after worldly pleasures as Solomon did at great cost. This great kingdom would be divided into two kingdoms and most of the kings that would come after Solomon would follow in Solomon footsteps and worship fakes gods.

Solomon became just like all the other kings of the world, and Israel became just like all the other nations- They were called to be God’s chosen people and point to the one true God.

David Well’s defines worldliness as “Worldliness is everything in the culture which makes sinning look normal and righteousness look odd. To be enculturated is to be worldly.”

For us there is a warning in this story, and that is are we fulfilling the greatest commandment

Matthew 22:36–38 ESV

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

Are we loving God with all that we are and all that we have. Seeking His will above everything else- This is the sign of a true heart after Christ, cause it will affect everything else in you life. If you love God you will abide with Him and other will see the fruit being produced in you.

Sign in a church vestibule said: “If you were on trial for being Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

There is compromise when it comes to walking with Christ or chasing the desires of this world. This is a divided heart.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“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.