KINGDOM CHARACTER-IV—1Kings 3:16-28
AKA—Motherhood Potential(Mother’s Day)
Attention:
Opposites Attract!
Two young fellas were talking about what they wanted to find in their mate. One friend said,”I’ve heard from a lot of folks that people with opposite characteristics have the longest & happiest marriages. What do you think?"
The friend replied, "I think they're right. That's why I am looking for a girl with money!"
Is God leading you or has the devil been allowed access to your world because of the way in which you approach your fitness for the Kingdom of God?
Remember our 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 by giving Solomon the “understanding”he had asked for along with the personal things he had not considered important—long life, riches, & the life of his enemies(:11-14).
The result & proof of God’s bestowing His wisdom upon Solomon was immediately manifested to everyone as follows in our text(:16-28).....
The events surrounding one of Solomon’s official judgments revealed the motherly potential of a harlot.
A person’s character reveals their potential as a servant of God, their fitness for the kingdom of God &/or their citizenship in God’s kingdom.
How is Kingdom character manifested?
Some ways in which Kingdom character is manifested.
So that we also find that...
Kingdom character(or the lack thereof) is manifested in one’s approach to...
1. PERSONAL SIN(:16)
2. TRAGEDY(:17-21)
3. TRUTH(:16-22)
4. JUSTICE(:16-22)
5—Kingdom character is manifested in one’s...
Approach to OPPOSITION(:22)
Explanation:(:22)
:22—“Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, & the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, & the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.”
Now the “other” harlot takes opportunity to speak.
She speaks contrary to, or in opposition to, & contradicts the testimony of the “first”(:17) woman. She gives a different story.
The world at large opposes God’s truth, love, design!
Therefore they disregard truth & reality, comforting themselves by actively replacing God’s truth with their own unrealistic(& worldly) version of reality/belief.
“Living one”(See :23)—yx khah'-ee—Adj.—1) Living, alive—1a) Green(of vegetation), 1b) Flowing, fresh(of water), 1c) Lively, active(of man), 1d) Reviving(of the springtime). Noun Masc.—2) Relatives; 3) Life(abstract emphatic)—3a) Life, 3b) Sustenance, maintenance. Noun Fem.—4) Living thing, animal—4a) Animal, 4b) Life, 4c) Appetite, 4d) Revival, renewal; 5) Community. Strong—Alive; hence--Raw(flesh); Fresh(plant, water, year), Strong; also(as noun, especially in the feminine singular & masculine plural)--Life(or living thing), whether literally or figuratively.
Argumentation:
Rom. 1:18—“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Acts 18:5-6—“When Silas & Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, & testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him & blasphemed, he shook his garments & said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
2Tim. 2:22-26—“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish & ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, & that they may come to their senses & escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
1Cor. 6:1-8[See also Pt.#6--:23-25]—“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, & not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, & that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong & cheat, & you do these things to your brethren!”
Num. 32:6, 13-15—[Moses’ accusation of the sons of Gad & Reuben]“So the LORD’S anger was aroused against Israel, & He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And look! You have risen in your father’s place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, & you will destroy all these people.”
Mat. 5:10-12—“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile & persecute you, & say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice & be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Lev. 26:11-25—“I will set My tabernacle among you, & My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you & be your God, & you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke & made you walk upright. ‘But if you do not obey Me, & do not observe all these commandments, & if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease & fever which shall consume the eyes & cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, & you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, & you shall flee when no one pursues you. ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron & your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. Then, if you walk contrary to Me, & are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, & make you few in number; & your highways shall be desolate. And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, & I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; & you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.”
Jer. 1:4-10, 17-19—Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Then said I: “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the LORD said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD. Then the LORD put forth His hand & touched my mouth, & the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations & over the kingdoms, To root out & to pull down, To destroy & to throw down, To build & to plant.”.....“Therefore prepare yourself & arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city & an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land-- Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.”
Jn. 15:22-16:3—“If I[Jesus] had not come & spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen & also hated both Me & My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.”
Mat. 12:30-33—“He who is not with Me is against Me, & he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin & blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Either make the tree good & its fruit good, or else make the tree bad & its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”
2Tim. 3:12—“Yes, & all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Lk. 12:51-53—“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, & two against three. Father will be divided against son & son against father, mother against daughter & daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law & daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
1Pet. 5:8-11—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, & settle you. To Him be the glory & the dominion forever & ever. Amen.”
Illustration:
Fishing for Grouper—a bottom fish/But your fish-finder tells you that there is lots of activity above the Grouper/You have to get your baited hook thru the other(undesirable) fish first or you’ll never reach the Grouper below them!/You don’t stop fishing though do you? No!...You fish smarter & more patiently!—thru the OPPOSITION!
Fishing/Excellent day/You are at ‘the spot’ for what you’re fishing for/Soon after you arrive, another boat approaches, making a beeline for your numbers!/Who’s numbers are they?/OPPOSITION
Application:
?Is your Approach to OPPOSITION...of God, or of something else?
?Are you currently living in the Kingdom of God?...
?Are you ready for its fulfillment?
People of Kingdom Character can walk with head held high, knowing that they are indeed fit for God’s Kingdom in Christ!
6—Kingdom character is manifested in one’s...
Approach to RESOLUTION(:23-25)
Explanation:(:23-25)God’s wisdom/Drastic/Radical/Extreme
:23—“And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, & your son is the dead one’; & the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, & my son is the living one.’”
Frustration rules the day when none will surrender their position. This is particularly sad considering that one of the women made up for her loss by stealing from another & was blatantly & unashamedly lying about it.
:24—“Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.”
In order to break the rule of frustration, the king was forced to act. It complicates the lives of others. The same mentality gluts courthouses the world over.
:25—“And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, & give half to one, & half to the other.”
The result of such bickering with serious matters such as human life is potentially devastating for the voiceless child, the women given to harlotry, the kingdom of Israel, & the witness that goes forth.
Solomon knew that the true mother’s loving sincerity would be discovered & plainly displayed thru the innocent child’s imminent endangerment.
The king’s decision to “divide” the child is extreme, yet he would not have allowed the taking of a human life in innocence. It was a ‘bad cop’ means toward extricating the truth from confusion brought about by a deliberate & sustained lie.
*Similarly Abraham’s faith become apparent to both himself & Isaac as he obediently took the knife to slay his only son, Isaac(Gen. 22:9-12).
*All real resolution does not come thru legalities, but thru application of spiritual truth. Don’t throw out your ‘by-laws’ by any means, but do not use them as an offensive weapon either!
1Cor. 6:1-10—“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, & not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, & that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong & cheat, & you do these things to your brethren! Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
“Divide”(See :26)—rzg gaw-zar’—Qal Imperative—1) To cut, divide, cut down, cut off, cut in two, snatch, decree—1a) (Qal)—1a1) To cut in two, divide, 1a2) To cut down, 1a3) To cut off, destroy, exterminate, 1a4) To decree. Strong—a primitive root; To cut down or off; figuratively--To destroy, divide, exclude, or decide. Used 13X.
Some Biblical Usage:
2Kgs. 6:4—“...they cut down trees.”
2Chron. 26:21—“...because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD.”
Job 22:28—“You will also declare/decree a thing,”
Ps. 88:5—“And who are cut off from Your hand.”
Ps. 136:13—“...Him who divided the Red Sea in two”
Isa. 9:20—“And he shall snatch on the right hand"
Argumentation:
Mat. 5:29-30—“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out & cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off & cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Rom. 14:9-13—“For to this end Christ died & rose & lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead & the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”
Js. 4:4-10—“Adulterers & adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil & he will flee from you. Draw near to God & He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; & purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament & mourn & weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning & your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, & He will lift you up.”
1Cor. 11:16—“But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”
1Thess. 2:2—“But even after we had suffered before & were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.”
1Tim. 6:12-16—“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called & have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, & before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed & only Potentate, the King of kings & Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor & everlasting power. Amen.”
Some are so caught up in the ‘fight’ that they miss the ‘faith!’
2Cor. 7:4-5—“Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.” Acts 27-28—Getting Paul to Caesar after 2 full years of incarceration. And Paul’s voyage to Caesar under guard was via a shipwreck...via a deadly viper bite, etc.
The point is that resolution does not always come about in the way we may have imagined, & its means may not be pleasant or enjoyable. However true Resolution is always of God!
Illustration:
Do you remember the following scenario in elementary school or high school?—Billy Bob clandestinely shoots ‘spit-balls’ into Shaniqua’s hair/Shaniqua passionately tells the teacher about it, because she’s trying to actually do her school work/Everybody knows Billy Bob did it, but he won’t ‘fess-up to it/The entire class gets penalized because Billy Bob refuses to own-up to his crime/Everybody suffers because of one person’s disobedience/Resolving the problem thru corporate punishment is intended to eventually rat-out the perpetrator/RESOLUTION
I NEVER intend ‘to hurt people’s feelings’ from the pulpit—But if we’re serious about heeding the Holy Spirit it can happen/But then it is important to realize that some need ‘to have their toes stepped on’ in order to make them aware or ‘wake them up’ to their own sin!/This is another reason why it is key that we have fellowship with one another personally, & corporately & why it is absolutely vital that preachers & the teachers not avoid certain issues(that may offend certain people)/Such effectively ‘sugar-coat’s & hides the message rather than applying the truth openly/Christian Fellowship, Teaching, Worship, & Ministry in general are all means to effective RESOLUTION for sin!
Application:
?Is your Approach to RESOLUTION...of God, or of something/one else?
?Are you currently living in the Kingdom of God?...
?Are you ready for its fulfillment?
People with Kingdom Character can walk with head held high, knowing that they are indeed fit for God’s Kingdom in Christ!
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
“Opposites attract—That’s why I am looking for a girl with money!"
Perhaps what you have viewed as your ‘Kingdom character’ is well outside of God’s desire. Perhaps God has very different plans for you. Remember, His plan is perfect & tailor made just for you. You can know with certainty whether you are indeed fit for such service to God! 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 & will carry you thru your future. Obtain Kingdom Character.
Action:
Kingdom character(or the lack thereof) is manifested in one’s Approach to...
5. OPPOSITION(:22)
6. RESOLUTION(:23-25)
1. PERSONAL SIN(:16)
2. TRAGEDY(:17-21)
3. TRUTH(:16-22)
4. JUSTICE(:16-22)
Pts. 5-6 presented 05/22/2016am to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SE(Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
