1 Kings 21:1-3 KJV And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. [2] And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. [3] And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
I. INTRODUCTION—HERITAGE
-A heritage is something that is very valuable. It is powerful because it helps us to stay in contact with the past while we move into the future. Perhaps one of the reasons that America is losing her way currently is because she has lost sight of the history or her heritage.
-That same thing could be also said of the apostolic church in our day. We are losing our way because we are losing our heritage.
-It is important to understand that life can only really be successful when it is motivated by priorities. There really aren’t a whole lot of things that you have to know to be able to make a lasting difference in the world.
-But the things that you do choose to let master you will ultimately be the crowning or the downfall of your life. Seek to master the one great thing in life and it will make all the difference in the world.
-The church is a force that has to be tethered to a heritage that comes from its past. That past has a Cross in it. In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul said that his life and ministry were compelled by the fact that he did not want to know anything except Christ and him crucified.
-The apostle John affirmed that he was a companion in our tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:9). Your spiritual heritage comes from a powerful and deep conversion. It also comes with the matter of hardship, there is a cost involved in your walk with the Lord. Furthermore there will not be any shortcuts available to you.
-Take your hardship and make it work for you! There has to be a very fixed attitude when we have to bear some heavy weight or pressure that comes into our path. Don’t yield and don’t be crushed by it. Work and press on. Serving God means just taking the next step! That is where heritage comes from.
-You acquaint yourself with the struggles and challenges that those before you have had to endure and it will challenge you to do your part to carry on.
II. 1 KINGS 21—NABOTH’S VINEYARD
A. The Dirty Deal
-It would seem to even a casual reader of this little episode that there was nothing wrong with Ahab’s desire to have Naboth’s vineyard. He only wanted to have it for a little spot to plant a garden, maybe a few tomatoes here and a few squash there. Over here a few pepper plants and finish it out with a few stalks of okra and corn.
-No harm, no foul and Ahab was even willing to give a fair market price or even exchange the vineyard for a better vineyard somewhere a few miles away. But the problem settled in when the deal fell through with Naboth’s refusal to sell the property.
-No amount of money could buy the vineyard that Naboth had because it was more than just a piece of property to him.
• There was a high principle involved in this vineyard that could not be purchased by money.
• This vineyard was an object of Naboth’s affection and what a man loves he will not part from.
• Another substitute would have been much less than the current one.
-Naboth had a good reason not to sell his vineyard. The sale of that vineyard would have been in violation of religious and statutory laws in Israel. The law stipulated that inherited land should remain in the tribe where it was first owned.
-Because of that requirement and young lady could not get married outside of her own tribe because the property would take on the name of the husband. If he were outside of her tribe the priority would be violated.
-It is probably certain that Ahab was already well aware of this particular detail in his proposed transactions with Naboth.
-But now we begin to gain some insight into the whole scope of Ahab’s rebellion against God.
• A marriage that was foreign to God because of an unholy alliance.
• He had adopted the idolatry of Baal.
• He had persecuted the prophets and preachers of the land.
• He had been openly disobedient in war.
• He had broken many very sacred obligations that the country had.
• Now he is about to add robbery and murder to the list.
-This dirty deal was motivated by a wicked king and queen. He was motivated by covetousness. He wanted something that he could not have.
• That was the sin of Eden.
• That was the sin of Korah.
• That was the sin of Achan.
• That was the sin of Balaam.
• That was the sin of Gehazi.
• That was the sin of Judas.
• That was the sin of Demas.
• That is the resident sin of many people in our generation, coveting after something that they cannot have.
-This covetousness working in tandem with the wicked spirit of his wife, Jezebel, led to Naboth’s terrible downfall. The writer tells us the further details of exactly what happened:
1 Kings 21:4-7 KJV And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. [5] But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? [6] And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. [7] And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
B. The Spirit of Ahab
-This spirit of Ahab still is alive and well in our generation. It wants the vineyards that the church has and it will do anything to take them.
-The spirit of the age always promises something better in exchange for the godly heritage that we have been given when we are born into this experience by the New Birth.
• It wants the succulent fruit of holiness.
• It wants the tender blossoms of true worship.
• It wants the properties secured by sacrifice.
• It wants the fertilizing capabilities of the Word.
• It wants the foundations of character and integrity.
-But there was courage on the part of Naboth. He was a conscientious worshiper of Jehovah and because of that he had developed some strong convictions. There is much power in a man who has developed stout convictions.
• It gives him courage not to bow to political pressure.
• It gives him the ability to refuse to sell his heritage.
• It gives him a sense of moral responsibility.
• It gives him the ability to withstand the anger and the vengeful spite of a king.
-The certain reality of it all is that you find that spirit of Naboth, his courage, his strength, and his principle in all of God’s men throughout the course of time.
-It is found in the apostles who were willing to endure severe persecution and death to carry on the message. That takes an uncommon bravery to stand up and say, “You cannot have my heritage!”
-There are powerful lessons that Naboth’s refusal sets up for every one of us:
• The great value that we have to place on our heritage.
• What cost much has to be valued much.
• We cannot give in to the temptation of the times to let our heritage go for a song and dance or a dollar.
• It takes character to stand alone and boldly confront the spirit of Ahab and Jezebel.
• A man can withstand anything if he values his roots.
• In the face of an idolatrous king and nation, he affirmed that there was still a God and His laws were to be honored.
III. CONCLUSION—MY HERITAGE
-With Sis. P_________ imminent home-going, my mind has been drawn back to my own heritage, particularly the one that affects me in a spiritual way.
-I have been handed some incredibly wonderful things in the forty-four years that I have lived. Much of this heritage started back at the old house we had a church in on south Saint Andrews. Then moving to where we are right now; first in the old house and later to our present facilities and soon to be in a new location.
-I am just as aware now perhaps more than ever before that there is an Ahab and Jezebel who would be intent on trying to take my heritage away from me. We all need to develop the mentality that Naboth had, “you can’t have my inheritance!” The only way that our inheritance will be taken away from us is in death.
-Missing from our times is a passion for the things like the old saints once held to in previous years. That must change if the American church is going to prevail. I can remember singing, shouting, weeping, and marching saints! That is all of my past and it needs to continue on into the future. This matter of serving God ought to be the whole pursuit of our life and everything else needs to be lesser priorities! We must get a bull-dog grip on these matters of holiness, righteousness, hunger for revival, and a sense that God wants to do so much more with all of us than what He presently is doing right now!
A. Prayer
-Prayer marked my early years. I can remember the prayers that took place in our home, in the church on Wednesday nights when we all knelt down to pray, and the prolonged altar services where prayer served as a great emptying and refilling place.
-We have to guard that for it is our heritage. Who is going to teach our kids how to pray? We can only teach them by example when they hear us praying!
-There are prayer meetings that we have in the course of our lives and they stand out at particular times as a way of encouragement to us. I will never forget a prayer meeting that I had in a conference in January, 1996. It was a moment that I know now that I heard the voice of God. Not an audible voice but a very clear distinct impression in my spirit.
-I remember another prayer meeting that I had in the winter of 1993 or 1994. I had been invited to preach in _______ by Brother R_____ B______. After the Sunday morning service, we went to my grandmother’s house to eat. After lunch, I went back to the church and I can remember it almost like it was yesterday. I think the temperature was in the upper 20’s or low 30’s and the wind was howling around the building in such a way that you could hear the wind whistling in that little auditorium. This was in the early days before Praise and Worship music had really began to take off and Brother B______ had a cassette tape of Don Moen in a small boom box. I started that tape and in that cold, drafty sanctuary that day, it literally seemed like the God of Heaven showed up to visit with me. All alone I was, but an incredible power and anointing seemed to settle in that day on me. I am thankful for those times.
-Various other prayer times around this current facility. Late Saturday nights, early Sunday mornings, and sometimes even on Monday nights I would come over to the church and spend time alone praying.
-Your heritage calls you to prayer!
B. Worship
-Heart-felt and sincere worship is another part of my heritage. I remember well the times we would sing “I’ll Fly Away!” at about a hundred miles an hour. I can remember shouting and running saints when all of that was going on! I can remember the old victory marches that took place when we would sing! The joy of the Lord filled the house! That is a part of heritage that is crucial in this generation.
-I can remember the choir singing, “I’ll Make It Home Someday, Oh Yes I’ll Make It!” It was a song that started slow and ended wide-open and by the time we got into the chorus, worship was in high-gear.
-When people walk in off the streets and come into our church, we need to be worshipping. I have no idea what kinds of problems that they have had to endure as the week has progressed but I do know that when a church begins to worship that there is an anointing that is released that has the ability to break every bond.
-People are delivered, encouraged, healed, and even can be filled with the Holy Ghost when there is a church that will give itself to worship.
-Your heritage calls you to worship!
C. Sacrifice
-Sacrifice has also been part of my heritage. There has been a culture of sacrifice that has been created among us and I am certain that it has greatly benefited us. Some of the blessings that we now enjoy are because of the past opportunities where we sacrificed and offered our best to the Lord.
-Whether it was making and selling peanut brittle, cleaning up old buildings, working on an old rusted out bus to make it a church bus, going to rallies when we were dog-tired and then having to work the next day. . . that is our heritage!
-You wonder why I get my hackles up when I begin to see spiritual drift taking place or when I know that someone is criticizing the church, the saints, the pastor, and whatever else they may choose to criticize, it is because I know what it cost to get us to this point.
-We literally have lost our minds if we think that we are going to have church growth and revival without sacrifice. It is going to take more than just a little courteous golf clap, or just a little meager offering to drop in the plate, or just a little bit of your time to stop in here and “worship” on Sunday. Not on your life!
-It is going to take hungry, stirred, driven saints and preachers who are willing to sacrifice to get the job done! We can shake our city if we will explode into an atmosphere of sacrifice!
-Your heritage calls you to sacrifice!
D. Character/Integrity
-My heritage had character and integrity modeled for me. There isn’t one mark that can be laid against Brother and Sister P_________ and I am going to throw my parents in this mix too! I had it drilled into me, not so much by their words but by their actions, which you are to love your wife, raise your kids to serve God, pay your bills, and do everything in your power to have a good name.
-Our generation has got it all mixed up. They love somebody else’s wife and let their kids do just whatever (the excuse is “well we need to give them a choice, we don’t want to shove it down their throats), let somebody else pay your bills, and then complain because they don’t have a good name.
-You may not have all the money in the world, but you ought to have a good name regardless of what your address is, what your social status is, and what your educational level is!
-Your heritage calls you to character and integrity!
E. Preaching
-Lastly, my heritage had preaching modeled to me. It is going to be Brother Patterson’s preaching that has stimulated more spiritual growth in me than any other preacher. I have heard him preach more than any other preacher.
-I can remember his old brown Thompson Chain leather Bible that he used years ago. I can remember many of the briefcases he has worn out in the last 43 years carrying his Bible and notes in.
-I have watched him preach from sitting in a pew to now sitting on the platform. I have watched him write out his notes in different colors and the outline form that he used. I know about a stack of sermon notes that are probably more than two foot tall that he has used over the years.
-I won’t rehash some of the preachers that I have heard preach in my lifetime as I did a few Sunday mornings ago when I preached. But I do have a high priority that I place on preaching.
-It is a very serious affair to me and I have agonized over doing it for twenty-two years and I probably will be agonizing over it until I am finally promoted. I have a high regard for God’s Word and the impact that it can make on every one of our lives.
-Preaching is part of your heritage!
-There are other areas that I could walk through and I hope that I have stirred something up in every one of you! Sis. P_______ isn’t long for this world but only what she has done for Christ will last! The same thing holds true for all of us here today! Don’t waste your heritage!
Philip Harrelson
February 26, 2011
