KINGDOM CHARACTER-I—1Kings 3:16-28
AKA—Motherhood Potential
HINT—!!Take this sermon to the next level by focusing upon every Christian’s potential!!
Attention:
Some may consider themselves as unworthy of being a mother.
Perhaps they never found the right man to be their husband.
Or perhaps she married but could not bear children for whatever reason.
She has not necessarily been cursed by God. She is not necessarily receiving her ‘just due.’ She is not necessarily a sinner living on God’s ‘bad side.’
Perhaps she’s had an abortion, & is carrying that crushing weight everywhere she goes. It effects her every thought & action.
Perhaps due to her circumstances, she has convinced herself that “I wouldn’t have made a good parent anyway.”
I can easily imagine how such ladies beat themselves up because of their internal heartache. I have heard it from many.
If you have never had kids or even if you have, it is always pertinent to examine a woman’s motherhood potential. This is because such potential, & anyone’s potential, is ever directly & indirectly related to one’s spiritual condition.
Is God leading you or has the devil been allowed access to your world because of the way in which you approach your potential?
Background/Context:
YaHWeH had approached Solomon “in a dream by night” saying, “Ask! What shall I give you?”(:5).
King Solomon recognized his own inability to rule properly because he saw himself as “a little child” who did not even know how to go out or come in”(:7). On top of that, he was also taken with & humbled by the sheer numbers of God’s people. Also tied into this was an understanding that Solomon’s charge was to lead God’s chosen people(:8). The expectations/responsibilities upon Solomon were great & he felt their weight.
Therefore in answer to God’s question, Solomon requested “wisdom” from the LORD. Solomon knew he needed “an understanding heart to judge” YaHWeH’s people, that he might be able to “discern between good & evil”(:9). He was concerned that he be able to “judge” the people of God wisely & with equity.
Solomon’s desire “pleased” God(:10) so that He responded,
3:11“Because you asked this thing, & have not asked long life for yourself, not have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise & understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches & honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk inMy ways, to keep My statutes & My commandments, as your father David walked, than I will lengthen your days.” 15 Then Solomon awoke; & indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem & stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, & made a feast for all his servants.”
The result & proof of God’s bestowing His wisdom upon Solomon was immediately manifested to everyone as follows in our text(:16-28)...
MOTHERHOOD/Mothering POTENTIAL-I—1Kings 3:16-28
Recognizing Motherhood
The events surrounding one of Solomon’s official judgments revealed the mothering potential of a harlot.
A woman’s character reveals her mothering potential.
*How does a woman’s character reveal her potential as a mother?
How does a woman’s character reveal her potential for motherhood?
9 ways in which motherhood/mothering potential is measured.
1—Motherhood/Mothering Potential is manifested in a woman’s...
Approach to PERSONAL SIN(:16)
Explanation:(:16)
:16—“Now two women who were harlots came to the king, & stood before him.”
These “harlots,” had means to maintain a private(?) household. The children mentioned here were probably born of their trade. There is no mention of husbands.
The most tragic ‘side-effect’ & ‘collateral damage’ of prostitution is the birth of children.
Born of unknown or uncertain lecherous/degenerate men. Such men pay money for sexual gratification. They have no concern & take no responsibility for the living result of their momentary, hormonally & emotionally-driven actions.
Ungodly men come & go in these children’s lives yet they have no father in their home. No support for their mother. They grow up with no idea of true love. And their only hope for understanding God’s love is a mother who has chosen, either directly or indirectly, to willingly offer a perverted semblance of love! Such a child’s love comes by means of a whore!
People are so perverted that a buzzword in our society today is ‘human trafficking.’ Children, both boys & girls are forced against their will, into harlotry. They grow up as slaves...being told that wrong is right & right is wrong!
Why is this a concern in our society? Because it undermines God’s purpose & plan for humanity at large & entirely perverts the thinking of individuals. The church must respond with physical resources, love, & compassion!
“Harlots/Prostitutes”—hnz zaw-naw’—Qal Participle Active—1) To commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot—1a) (Qal)—1a1) To be a harlot, act as a harlot, commit fornication, 1a2) To commit adultery, 1a3) To be a cult prostitute, 1a4) To be unfaithful(to God) (fig.),. Strong—a primitive root[highly-fed & therefore wanton]; To commit adultery (usually of the female, & less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively--To commit idolatry(the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah).
*The ‘Active Participle’ confirms that these were not ‘former prostitutes’ but were continuously engaging themselves in harlotry.
Argumentation:
Lev. 19:29—“‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, & the land become full of wickedness.”
Ex. 34:9-17—“Then he[Moses] said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; & pardon our iniquity & our sin, & take us as Your inheritance.” And He[YaHWeH] said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; & all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite & the Canaanite & the Hittite & the Perizzite & the Hivite & the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, & cut down their wooden images ‘(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), “lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, & they play the harlot with their gods & make sacrifice to their gods, & one of them invites you & you eat of his sacrifice, & you take of his daughters for your sons, & his daughters play the harlot with their gods & make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.”
Lev. 20:1-7—“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set My face against that man, & will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary & profane My holy name. And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, & they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man & against his family; & I will cut him off from his people, & all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech. And the person who turns to mediums & familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person & cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, & be holy, for I am the LORD your God.”
Harlotry/Prostitution/Whoredom is a woeful yet tremendous picture of unfaithfulness!
Judges 10:17-11:3—“Then the people of Ammon gathered together & encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together & encamped in Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; & Gilead begot Jephthah. Gilead’s wife bore sons; & when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, & said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers & dwelt in the land of Tob; & worthless men banded together with Jephthah & went out raiding with him.”
Josh. 2:1—“Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, & came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, & lodged there.”
Rahab protected the lives of the Israelite spies as they entered Jericho to spy out the land, which they were about to usurp as a nation. She trusted YaHWeh, God of Israel above & against her own upbringing!
Josh. 2:8-13—“Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, & said to the men: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, & that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, & what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon & Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above & on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, & give me a true token, “& spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, & all that they have, & deliver our lives from death.”
Heb. 11:31—“By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”
Js. 2:24-26—“You see then that a man is justified by works, & not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers & sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Jer. 3:18-20—“In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, & they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers. But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children And give you a pleasant land, A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ “And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from Me.’ Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the LORD.” We must deal decisively, individually, & personally with sin...No matter who we are or what we do!
Heb. 9:24-28; 10:12-13, 18—“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another--He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”.....“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.”.....“Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”
Heb. 10:19-25—“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new & living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, & having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience & our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love & good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, & so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Heb. 11:6—“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, & that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
1Cor. 10:1-14—“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud & in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, & all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, & that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat & drink, & rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, & in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, & were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, & were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, & they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
‘Sin will always take you where you should never go & it will leave you there longer than you ever thought possible.’
Lk. 12:13-14—“Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”
*Mat. 7:1-6—“Judge not, that you be not judged. “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; & with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; & look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, & then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, & turn & tear you in pieces.”
Illustration:
Suppose a boat enters the Carrabelle River from the ocean side/In their trip upriver, & through a series of unfortunate events, they mistakenly cause another boat to capsize!/They cause the death of at least one person & the injury of others/As these capsized are struggling in the current & with their injuries, the pilot & crew on the other boat quickly come to their aid rescuing the near-drowning victims—They exhibit true concern for those in trouble/However...what the victims never knew was that the only reason the boat was going up the river at all was because they were bringing a drug cartel’s shipment of illicit drugs to sell on the black-market!/PERSONAL SIN
I am approached occasionally with concerns about someone that had purportedly said such-&-such(something damaging) to another person, etc...They approach me because they expect me(the pastor) to act on it!/Guess what dummy Byron has a tendency to do—I want to solve people’s problems, right?...I agree to approach them!/Folks, its the responsibility of the offended parties to approach their own situation! Its not my call to do that!! I will gladly offer myself as a third-party counselor & referee, But neither I nor the church of God can afford to be someone’s scapegoat!/Do we need help with personal sin? Yes! & We need to worship corporately for that very reason!/PERSONAL SIN
Application:
?Is your Approach to PERSONAL SIN... of God, or of something else?
?You fulfilling your Motherhood/Mothering Potential?
Such doesn’t necessarily mean that you will become a mother...
But now you can walk with your head held high knowing that you do indeed ‘fit the bill’ in God’s kingdom!
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Perhaps motherhood is far beyond your reach. Yet you can know with certainty that you are indeed fit for such service to God!
Perhaps motherhood is intentionally out of the picture for you. Perhaps God has other plans for you. Remember, His plan is perfect & tailor made just for you. Don’t hold on to the past but look to those things which God has been pleased to offer you that are available to you now & in the future!
!!Take this to the next level by focusing upon every Christian’s potential!!
Action:
Motherhood/Mothering Potential is manifested in a woman’s Approach to...
1. PERSONAL SIN(:16)
Pt. 1 only! presented 05/08/2016am to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SE(Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
