Pick A Side

What we’re seeing here in the heart of Adonijah, is really not so different than what we see in Satan. His pride leads to rebellion. His own self-worth leads him to rebel against the king.

But here’s the thing Church, all of us are sinners, and because all of us are sinners, we’re all rebels at heart. We rebel, we oppose God. If you’re a parent or a grandparent, you’ve seen it in your own children. If you’re a boss you’ve seen it in your employees. If you’re a teacher, you’ve seen it in your students. And the reason for that is because we are all born in sin. It’s kind of like that story… you may have heard it before… but if not, it goes like this.

One day a father was taking his son out with him to do some swathing… and he told him, to sit down and buckle his seat belt. The boy at first didn’t do it, and kept standing up in the seat. So the father told him again, and again, the boy wouldn’t listen. Finally the dad, raised his voice a little and said, “If you don’t sit down and buckle that seat belt, I’m going to whip your hind end.” The boy sat down, and buckled up, but then said to his dad, “I’m sitting down, but on the inside I’m standing up.” That’s the rebellion that’s in our heart.

We see it in ourselves, we see it in our children… we see it in society. We live in a day and age, where it seems that all of society is rebelling against God’s authority, and against His rule and reign. God’s Word clearly says that He made us “Male and Female”, yet people want to rebel and change their gender, or at least pretend like it. God’s Word clearly says that God ordained marriage to be between man and woman, and yet people want to rebel and marry people of the same sex. God’s Word clearly says that We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and yet, state officials all over the nation, are telling people that they cannot gather and worship God. We see it in our world today, and we see it here in our text in the heart of Adonijah. Maybe if he would’ve humbled himself… But instead Adonijah missed that principle. He didn’t realize that the way to be exalted was to humble himself.

Instead, he listened to the world.

The world says, “Never let a crisis go to waste! Take the opportunity to exalt yourself, and make a name for yourself!”

But the Bible says, “The Lord lifts up the humble, He casts the wicked to the ground.”

(Psalm 147:6)

It says, “Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4).

And in James 4:10 it says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.”

And it’s the same for us today… Jesus must increase, and we must decrease. Jesus must be exalted, not us, not our ability, not our personality, not our career… Jesus! He should be high and lifted up! He should be magnified and exalted above all else!

But Adonijah didn’t learn this. He said, “I will be king! I will be exalted! I will be lifted up!” He was a rebel… a rebel by nature… AND… a rebel by nurture.

Go back to our text, and look at verses 5 & 6 (READ 1 Kings 1:5-6) – do you see it? Adonijah is making himself look like he’s king. He’s preparing chariots and horsemen, and he has 50 dudes who run before him. That’s a kings entourage right? And his father David is aware of all of this, he knows what Adonijah is doing, and yet, he never rebukes him, he never corrects him, or discipline him. Let me just tell you… there’s no faster way to make a monster out of your child than to not discipline or correct them. And not only that… Adonijah, was a good looking guy on top of all that.