Not Even The King's Wisdom can Save Him

King Solomon was granted wisdom as a gift from God (1 Kings 3:10-14). His wealth, status and power had increased over time. He’d accumulated an average of 25tons of gold annually from merchants, servants, kings and queens. No doubt, Solomon was a man whom was admired in the eyes of the world. It was evidently clear to Queen Sheba that from the service and toil that Solomon had put into the detail of the temple, the palace and the lampstands; he loved the Lord!

But I was in deep anguish this morning after reading the following chapters. Solomon’s love for foreign women (1 Kings 11:1-3) was the beginning of the fall of his kingship. But why was I in anguish you say? I was in anguish because Solomon abandoned the commands of God (1 Kings 11:9-13). He was seduced by the women whom he’d chosen as wives and concubines and bowed the knee to the gods they served instead of the living God.

Even more than that, after God had said that the kingdom was to be handed over to his servant. Solomon rebelled even more so, in pursuit of his servant Jeroboam in order to kill him! (1 Kings 11:26-40). But this is not entirely why I’m in anguish, although Solomon’s last days were somewhat depressing. I’m in anguish because Solomon was anointed by God, accumulated wisdom and rebelled with a hardened heart. And when I look at the example of Solomon and look at our lives and consider the sin that we dwell in (in specifically lust and adultery) we should take heed to this warning!

If we as Christians (and whether you’re male or female) are caught in secret sin of lust and thoughts of adultery, are we any different to King Solomon? Solomon was prepared to kill his servant Jeroboam, how far would we go in order to keep hold of our idols? Let us never forget the serious message of keeping God’s commands; we should be a people clinging to Christ each and every day for pure minds and pure hearts.      

Be Broken or Be Grounded

Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!” Matthew 21:44

Our Lord is the corner stone that the builders rejected (Matthew 21:42). What’s pertinently clear about the above verse is judgment and wrath! However, for the one who falls on the stone will be broken into pieces. What is our Lord saying? He’s saying that to fall (or to surrender) you will be broken in realisation of the sin you’ve committed, in realisation of His holiness and in realisation of the standard required for perfect union with God! And in so being broken, it is God who moulds and shapes the Christian to His desire. And it makes perfect sense when we realise the depravity we once all dwelt in. We made ourselves a wreck, havoc, a self-seeking desire to sin! (Romans 3:10-18).

 But in falling on the stone, we realise that the stone is immovable and unchanging. We realise that this stone is perfect for falling on so that we can be broken! It is good to be broken, is it not? It is good to realise your sin and given the opportunity to repent! What of the other person, who does not fall onto the rock? We see in this verse that the rock will grind this person to powder. And we know all things from God is good (so I know some of you might be wrestling with this). This is almost harsh wording, but let us never forgets that our Lord is very serious when it comes to judgment. In Luke 13:3, Jesus tells his disciples His close friends “Unless you repent, you too shall perish!” But what love it is for Christ to share this truth that we as Christians know the importance to repent of sin in our lives!

It is far better to be broken then to be grounded into powder by Christ, for He will judge rightly, and knowing this is our nature as Christians to share the gospel in a hope that those who have ears would hear the truth. We as Christians need to know the seriousness of eternal judgment and condemnation. We need to KNOW this seriousness so not to shy away from sharing the gospel. Our command given by Christ is to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). Let us not hold back in sharing the truth regardless of what opposition we may face.

 

Voddie Baucham

Sissified needy Jesus? Jesus doesn't need us, He's capable of slaming His righteous fist against the world Himself!

The Call to Arms

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics^[g] of the Devil. Ephesians 6:11

Christianity is a battleground! Anything short of that and it’s not Christianity! Don’t you hear the Holy Spirit screaming to you “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT?” We’re called to put on the armour of the Lord, Paul never tells us that there’s a moment when we can take it off! We are in a battle against a spiritual warfare, a war against ourselves, a war against the temptations of the devil. If you want peace in Christ, then clear a path for war! You will have to fight, against everything you enjoyed whilst in the shackles of death.

What is at stake? Your life! Your eternal life and the grand prize is the kingdom of God! Now, before anyone accuses me of a works based gospel, let me say that the only WAY we can fight IS because Christ has set us free from our depraved selves!  So we need to fight! Fight against the thoughts of adultery in your minds, fight against slander, fight against gossip, fight against selfish ambition, fight against all things folly and fight against false doctrine!

We must fight! Our new birth in Christ is an awakening to fight against sin and to fight against the devils flattering calls! Ask yourself, are you fighting? What kind of soldier is administered a weapon and doesn’t use it? He’s no soldier at all! But you Christian have been given the word of God! It’s the most powerful weapon that echo’s into eternity.

We must fight! As Paul says in Romans 8:13 for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. How I wish Christians would refuse their trivial ways and cling to Christ and His word! If we don’t know the coming of Christ, then we should live like He could come back at any moment! Be ready, be ready for His destruction against all things evil! Be ready to bend your knee to the Lord, be ready by throwing off whatever has taken the throne in your heart and replace it with God’s word!

Let Ziba Take it All! (2 Samuel 19:24-30)

Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has come to his palace safely, let Ziba take it all!” (2 Samuel 19:30)

This was a pivotal moment for King David. Israel had just been defeated by David’s men; Absalom (that is David’s son) turned Israel against King David and was attacked. So David had just reclaimed Israel after a lengthy battle between Saul and Absalom. But this one Character, Mephibosheth stood out to me the most as I was reading chapter 19 this morning.

Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. ²⁵ When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Mephibosheth, why didn’t you come with me?” (2 Samuel 24-25)

Mephibosheth arrives before King David looking very rugged and worn out. He hasn’t washed his clothes nor trimmed his facial hair. He’s in no position to fight the king at all! Now keeping in mind, Mephibosheth is Saul’s grandson. But it would appear that King David has compassion for the man, asking him “why didn’t you come with me?”  Mephibosheth replies by saying:

“My lord the king,” he replied, “my servant Ziba betrayed me. Actually your servant said: ‘I’ll saddle the donkey for myself^[a] so that I may ride it and go with the king’—for your servant is lame. ²⁷ Ziba slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the Angel of God, so do whatever you think best.^{[b] 28} For my grandfather’s entire family deserves death from my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. So what further right do I have to keep on making appeals to the king?” (2 Samuel 26-28)

It appears there was a bit of a fallout between Ziba and Mephiboseth, as if Ziba saw himself the better of the servants between one another. But Mephibosheth realises the kindness of King David saying “But my lord the king is like the Angel of God, so do whatever you think best.^{[b] 28} For my grandfather’s entire family deserves death from my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. So what further right do I have to keep on making appeals to the king?”

Mephibosheth is pleased simply to be a servant of David! He asks for no reward, instead he praises David for his kindness to his servants, allowing them to eat at his table! David replies to Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 19:29) The king said to him, “Why keep on speaking about these matters of yours? I hereby declare: you and Ziba are to divide the land.”

King David wanted to reward both Mephibosheth as both equally being the kings servants by giving them land. But here’s where we see the heart of Mephibosheth! (2 Samuel 19:30) Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has come to his palace safely, let Ziba take it all!” Mephibosheth was pleased simply to see that the kingdom of Israel had been returned to King David! This was his reward! Mephibosheth wanted nothing more than what was right for Israel but more importantly, what was right for his King.

And like Mephibosheth, are we any different? We come to our King broken from sin, pleading with our Lord that He would take a wretch like us and make us His servant. That we praise our King who reserves a place for servants at his table! And how right our response should be, “I don’t want the gifts my Lord…I want you!” Let’s learn from men like Mephibosheth who gives us an illustration of what it truly means to surrender to our Lord and saviour!

Be Thou My Vision (Instrumental)

 

Great piano version of one of my favorite hymns

What a God we have!

What a God we have, powerful and mighty to save! That He should put grace in our souls, joy in our hearts and the mercies of God’s love on our lips! What a joy we have knowing we are His children, obedient to the faith He has given us. Yes our Lord is indeed strong to tear the chains of disbelief! He is strong to change the course of corrupt minds. But He displays His right arm at the cross, not where people may think it is weakness, but where it displays the thundering true power of God, a power that does away with sin!

O how the law is powerful to condemn! Let us never forget, that the law in it of itself is good to condemn that which is evil and wicked. But under the law, we all perish, for as Paul himself says “there is no one good, not even one…” (Romans 3:10-18). The law written to provide an insight into the holiness of God, a bar so high that none of us could reach. Many seeing the height of the bar try in attempt to create their own bar saying to themselves “if I do good charities, I shall be right with God!” What blasphemy it is to label that bar in the same likeness as God’s holy law!

Christ is right when He says in Matthew 21:44 “Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder!” But what a God we have! That when we do fall on Him broken and shattered by the sin we’ve committed, He is good to forgive! That He shall no longer remember our sin but instead, equip us with the Holy Spirit whom guides our path and sets a course for our lives!

Far better to be broken into pieces then to be ground down to a powder and never see reason to EVER throw yourself onto the rock that is Christ! What a God we have, who sustains the breath in our lungs, and gives us an eternal hope that like Paul we can confidently say “For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Yes, we have a God who is powerful and is our mighty fortress in our times of distress and hardship. We have a God who shattered the bonds that would have dragged us into the pit of condemnation, yes we have a loving and merciful God who displays His right arm at the cross, central to the Christian faith, home of our hope.  

Assumptions Leading to Tragedy

In 2 Samuel chapter 1 David is presented news by a messenger who tells David that King Saul is dead and that the young man had finished him off with the sword and presented the Kings wears to David as the newly appointed King over Judah (2 Samuel 1:1-10). But instead of David rejoicing that his enemy had been killed, he tore his clothes and mourned for Saul and the rest of the fallen men who had died in battle that day (2 Samuel  1:11-12). I can only imagine that the young man had maybe anticipated some kind of reward for slaughtering David’s enemy but instead, the young man was struck down for killing the Lord’s anointed (2 Samuel 14-16).

 David loved Saul very much, and even though David had at least two chances at killing his enemy, he restrained himself from touching the Lord’s anointed King. David was an upright man with a humble attitude towards Saul. David even met up with Saul in a cave (1 Samuel 24) whereby David pleaded with Saul not to pursue him. So David had a greater love for Saul even though Saul hated David and tried extremely hard to kill him.

But this was not the only assumption leading to tragedy. In 2 Samuel 4 we read of how Ish-bosheth (Saul’s son) was assassinated by Rechab and his brother Baanah. David replies to both of the men prior to killing them saying “As the Lord lives, the One who has redeemed my life from every distress, ¹⁰ when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was my reward to him for his news! ¹¹ How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his own bed! So now, should I not require his blood from your hands and wipe you off the earth?” (2 Samuel 4:9-11).

Are there things in our lives by which we assume God is pleased with but have not the humility to test it with scripture? Perhaps there are ministries, church events whereby we are more inclined to believe it is good, acceptable and pleasing to God without bringing it before God, without testing these things with the word of God. We should be less like the men who assumed to do right before God and before David, and be more like David who didn’t assume of the Lord but brought all things before Him asking which way to go (1 Samuel 23:9-10).

It is a tragedy to assume the will of the Lord without consulting the Lord, without seeking after His word. Let us be a people who are humbled by His word and not assume for the sake of reaping only tragedy on ourselves.

What is Joy in the Christian Faith?

Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to Him in song. Psalm 95:2

 What is the Christian joy? This type of question is often thrown around in Sunday school s as if we automatically know what joy is. We know where it comes from, we know it comes from our Lord who interceded for us and became the atonement for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Joy is a gift, in knowing what Christ has done for us! Joy is not simplistically an emotional feeling, but it is also in knowing that we can approach the Lord when we sin.

When the ark of the Lord had been stolen from the Israelites in 1 Samuel from chapters 4 to 6, the wrath that God pours out is endless. His wrath is against those who have stolen the ark and those who have mishandled the ark. The ark of the Lord being a symbol that God was always with the Israelites bound by the covenant law as a way of keeping them His people.

And so when I read chapter 7, I stopped in my tracks. What is it that I mishandle that God has entrusted to me? And there were a number of sins that I could think of, but with a contrite heart my joy is found in the depths of my confession to God. Like the Israelites, they too realised the error of mishandling what the Lord had entrusted them.

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah. 1 Samuel 7:6

But God was good to forgive the Israelites! They brought their prayers before the Lord and repented. As a result the Lord’s hand was against Israel’s enemies, and sent the Philistines scattering (1 Samuel 10-11). So the depth of joy is found in my tears, in knowing that God is good to reveal to me the errors of my sin. But in knowing this, He is good to forgive! So my joy does not simply reside in sorrow, but in knowing with confidence that He can forgive! We cannot fool the Lord, we can’t run from Him and it would be foolish to try. As it says in Revelation 6:16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. There will be those who will do all they can to hide from the fear of God but as John Piper once said, fearing God is not running away from God but knowing His greatness, His supremacy, His sovereignty we can only and with confidence turn to Him.