Refuse To Fade
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Prayer
OKAY – let’s do this week 8 of our series, ‘Such Things Were Written…’ AND THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack a conversation called, ‘Refusing To Fade’
‘Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. They give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises. – Romans 15:4
NOW - it doesn’t happen often, but occasionally we’ll be watching the news and a report will come on telling us of a plane that has crashed.
AND IT’S - always disturbing, if you’re watching that, because most of us fly every now and then – and when a plane goes down – It just gets our attention.
I MEAN - it’s nerve-wracking enough to get in a metal tube at 30,000 feet going five hundred miles an hour, but when one goes down, that’s pretty scary.
AND - oftentimes there’s a lot of debris and wreckage and carnage spread out all over the place…
AND - whenever a plane crashes, they always tell us that they are going to try to figure out what happened and what went wrong by finding the what?
That indestructible little box called, ‘The Black Box.’
BTW – the black box is not actually black.
Anyone know what color it is?
IT’S – bright orange so that it will be easier to find.
AND – inside that ‘black box’ is the data that will tell the story of what happened to the plane.
AND LISTEN - when they look at the black box, they are basically trying to answer two very important questions… “What went wrong?”
AND - “What can be done to keep it from happening again in the future?”
AND THAT – has been what we have done at times in our series, ‘Such Things Were Written.’
LIKE -
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! - 1 Corinthians 10:11,12
NOW THIS WEEK - we’re going to recover and open up and retrieve the data from the black box of the life King Solomon. A GUY - who had it all. Who started out strong.
I MEAN – this guy was flying high. HE – started well…
HOWEVER – in the end he crashed and burned, leaving debris wreckage and carnage all over the landscape of his life and nation.
NOW – in First Kings chapter 11.
WE SEE – some of this wreckage described.
Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. – 1 Kings 11:6-11
UNDERSTAND…
There was wreckage and debris everywhere, on every high place. LIKE- crazy disappointing.
• Solomon building places of worship for detestable foreign God’s.
• Solomon following other gods
• The kingdom torn away from him (creating a carnage that would continue for centuries)
• Countless lives lost
• Death, debris and destruction everywhere
AND LISTEN – as Solomon as old man, began to crawl through this wreckage that had become his life, he wrote the words following in his journal…
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!…Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content." – Ecclesiastes 1:2,8
• Meaningless
• Wearisome
• Never satisfied
• Not content
Wow!
That does not seem like a very pleasant place to be, does it? AND THE QUESTION - the question I want to ask as the Breaking News Story “King Solomon’s life crashes…”
Flashes across the TV screen
(showing image after image of wreckage and carnage) is…
How did this happen.
How did this guy ever wind up there…
I MEAN – he had it all. He was flying so high.
He had such an incredible start.
“In the Christian life it’s not how you start that matters, it’s how you finish.” - Steve Farar
A good start means nothing if your finish is lousy. – Steve Malone
OKAY – so let’s talk about Solomon’s start
UNDERSTAND – few if any, have had a better beginning.
I. The Start
A) He had a great dad
UNDERSTAND - fathers are important in the raising of children... Yeah, I know that in the media, in our culture there is a movement to minimize the importance of a father being in the home, but they are wrong.
(Show chart of stats for effect of fatherless homes)
The number of fatherless homes in our country has gone up about 400% since 1960
1 out of every 3 children
AGAIN – had a great dad, he was born into the home of King David... NOW - David (as we know) was not a perfect man -- he made mistakes. AND SURE - we can look at incidents in David's life and judge Him…
BUT - in the final analyses it is only God's opinion that counts... AND GOD - said this of David,
I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to. - Acts 13:22
David served God’s purpose in his own generation. - Acts 13:36
YES - Solomon’s dad loved God and he chased after Him with all His heart.
AND LISTEN - this dad handed off a kingdom to his son that was in incredible shape.
• They were united under one flag
• They had a powerful and respected military
• Their boundaries that had been increased from 6000 – 60,000 square miles
• The nation hungered for God and David’s songs of praise could be heard throughout the land.
• They were financially sound (no 26.7 trillion debt hanging over their heads)
Go back 1 million seconds = 11 ½ days ago
Go back 1 billion seconds = 1987
Go back 1 trillion seconds = 30,000 BC
Million per day since birth of Jesus = 730 billion
A Trillion 1 dollar bills end to…
• NYC-LA = 40,000 times
• Around the Earth = 4,000 times
• Earth – Monn = 200 times
• From Earth-Mars and back again
B) He received great advice
After conquering lions, bears, Goliath, King Saul, the Philistines and other enemies (both foreign and domestic) David was facing an enemy he could not defeat -- he was facing death. And one day he calls Solomon to him and says…
I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel. – 1 Kings 2:1-4
And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. – 1 Chronicles 28:9
YEAH – great advice…
• Learn to know God intimately
• Worship and serve Him with your whole heart
• Seek Him
• Walk in obedience to Him
• Be strong
• Act like a man
C) He made a great request
NOW - After Solomon become King he went to Gibeon (the place where the tabernacle was) to offer sacrifices to God, the bible says that he offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar.
And that night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said,
"Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Sweet…
QUESTION - What would you have asked for?
• Money
• Long life
• Defeat of all your enemies
• And no you can’t ask for 100 more wishes.
“Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
NOW – the guy is probably 17 or 18 the time, remember David married his mother Bathsheba late in life.
QUESTION – do you think Solomon is maybe freaking out a little? I MEAN – not only is he taking over for his popular and powerful rock star dad.
BUT – he was given the assignment of building the very first Temple, and up until this time the biggest thing he ever built was a fort in the back yard and the roof caved in the next day.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” – 1 Kings 3:7-9
AND SO – God gave him wisdom.
I MEAN – He uploaded a huge data base of knowledge and discernment into Solomon such that no one has or ever will be as wise. YEAH – he was always the smartest guy in every room.
D) He completed a great project
LIKE – I said Solomon was the guy that God choose to build his temple… the place where his presence would dwell… 180,000 people were involved in this 7 year project that was completed in the 11th year of Solomon’s reign before he was 30.
IT - was an amazing structure…
I would have loved to have seen it.
NOW - the bible goes into great detail about it’s construction… we don’t have time to say much about it…
BUT - just one little piece of trivia (before we move on), do you know how much gold was used in the temple?
100,000 talents of gold
1 talent = 75 pounds
7,500,000 pounds or 3,750 tons or 120 million ounces
@ $1956 per ounce = 235 billion dollars
Crazy…
BUT LISTEN – the most awesome thing… was not the gold that was in the temple… IT WAS - when God’s presence came to dwell inside of it…
OKAY – thousands are gathered…
The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim… The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians — stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.”Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. – 2 Chronicles 5:7-14
Wow! Can you even imagine the joy and the excitement of that moment?
Later that day the people would sacrifice: 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. (Yeah, everybody ate good that day)
My Old Testament professor Doc Smith in his commentary wrote…
“without question the dedication of Solomon’s Temple was the grandest ceremony ever performed in the Old Testament.”
D) He had a great prayer life
Wow! Could this king pray…
We don’t have time to read it this morning, but I encourage you to read the prayer Solomon prayed, at the Temple Dedication in 1 Kings chapter 8…
It’s incredible…
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven, and he prayed,
“O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today. “And now, O LORD, God of Israel… - 1 Kings 8:22-25
E) He wrote 3 great books of Scripture
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and song of Solomon
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5,6
NO… you wouldn’t expect a guy who:
• had it all, was flying so high
• had a great dad, received great advice, made a great request, completed a great project, had a great prayer life – and wrote 3 books of the Bible (wisdom books)
Who had such a great start to have such a lousy finish
BUT – he did…
QUESTION – how could a guy who started out using his wisdom to save a child’s life… end his life worshipping a false God that demanded people offer their children as a sacrifice…
II. The Crash
HAVE YOU - ever noticed in life that a good start isn't always enough.
NOW THERE - is nothing wrong with a good start mind you, but it is often not enough to get us to the finish line or the winners circle.
AND IF - you don't believe me, you can ask the 1969 Baltimore Orioles. Who dominated the majors that year. Won 109 games -- more than any other team.
And their opponents in the world series were the New York Mets.
Everyone expected the Orioles to win easily, and then when they won the first game -- it seemed as though they had it in the bag...
But in just 4 more games it would be all over, and the New York Mets would be the ones wearing that World Series ring.
In 1969 the orioles and all of Baltimore were convinced of the truth that a good start isn't enough.
As were the 2007 New England Patriots who had a great start (in fact, no one ever started better)…
• they won all 16 games in the regular season
• they won the first two playoff games
• and they were winning the first 3,656 seconds of Super bowl 42
YEAH - they had a great start, I MEAN, LIKE – they owned the first 68,365 seconds of the 2007 season.
BUT – in the end the final 35 seconds was all that mattered
OKAY… And of course… ‘The Catch’ (show picture of David Tyree)
(and I was a huge fan of both teams...)
OKAY - in our time remaining… I want us to open up black box of Solomon’s life and answer the 2 questions.
What went wrong ... and, what can be done to keep this from happening to us?”
BY – talking about what we need to do to finish strong and refuse to fade. You know a song kept playing in my head the entire time I was working on this message… ‘Slow Fade’ by casting crowns.
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
UNDERSTAND - no one ever sets out to wreck their life, their home, their marriage, their career…
BUT LISTEN - there are decisions, steps and choices that can lead even the best of people to crash and burn in the end.
HOWEVER MGCC – if we do not want that to become our story then we need to ‘Refuse To Fade’ by not doing five things that when we opened up the black box of Solomon’s life, we discover were his fatal flaws…
OKAY – if you want to end up like Solomon…
III To Refuse To Fade
A) Don’t Leave Wiggle Room In Your Commitment
AND LISTEN – we see our guy Solomon doing this very thing in 1 Kings chapter 3.
Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except…-1 Kings 3:3
AND – we don’t even need to read pass that 6 letter word do we?
I MEAN – once we read the word except we know that this guy is in trouble, right?
He showed his life for God, he followed God… except
Except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. – 1 Kings 3:3
NOW - the high places were places where the people who lived in the promise land worshipped their false gods… They were places that God told His people in Deuteronomy 12:2, to destroy completely.
BUT – they didn’t… AGAIN - he showed his love for God, he followed God… except
HEY GUYS - just try that one at home… “baby, I love you and I am going to be faithful to you… except.
AND - see how it goes.
LIKE - it doesn’t matter what we say next, does it?
UNDERSTAND – if we begin your walk with God with an exception clause, we will never arrive at full devotion.
I think, John Ortberg was the first guy I heard say that… “95% devotion to God is 5% too short.”
BUT HEY - 95% that’s pretty good, right…?
BUT – let me asked you if you were going into in operating room and as they are wheeling you into you saw a sign that said, “all of our surgical instruments are 95% sterilized…” What would you do?
I would jump of the table and tell them, ‘Hey call me back when you are @ 100%”
UNDERSTAND – God wanted to created a healthy – sterile environment for the growth of his people…
BUT SOLOMON – thought ‘almost, partial commitment was good enough’ which let in a few spiritual germs, germs that wound up infecting his entire life.’
AGAIN - one sure way to crash and burn in the end…
Is to allow a little wiggle room in our commitment.
QUESTION…
ARE YOU - (am I) trying to follow God with an exception clause…
“Steve loved God and he followed God, EXCEPT…
B) Don’t Assume That You Are An Exception To The Rules
LIKE WE SAID - Solomon was a really smart guy,
SO - he knew what God had commanded.
I MEAN – think about it, he even wrote a bunch of those commands down for God.
HE KNEW – that obeying God would result in blessings and that disobeying God would result in destruction.
BUT – obviously Solomon decided that these rules somehow did not actually apply to him. A few examples…
What God commanded:
The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again. - Deuteronomy 17:16
What Solomon actually did:
Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. - 1 Kings 10:26
AND – guess where those horses came from? Egypt
What God commanded his kings:
He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. - Deuteronomy 17:17
What Solomon actually did:
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray. - 1 Kings 11:1,3
What God commanded:
He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. - Deuteronomy 17:17
What Solomon actually did:
The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land … The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. - 1 Kings 10:14,27
666 talents = 25 tons = 800,000 ounces
UNDERSTAND B/S – when we know what God commands and for some reason we assume that those commands do not actually apply to us we are on a downward decent to a devastating crash.
YEAH - I know God commands me:
• to love my life as Christ loves the church
• to forgive those who hurt me
• to bring the whole tithe to the store house
• to maintain my sexual purity
• to share my faith
• to control my tongue
•
BUT… - I think He be okay if I do don't
QUESTION – are there any commands that you feel that you are an exception to the rule?
C) Don’t Look For Meaning In All The Wrong Places
NOW – when you look at some of the journal entries that Solomon made towards the end of his life in the book of Ecclesiastes it is obvious that this guy was looking for meaning, purpose, satisfaction and contentment in all of the wrong places…
AND – again… we are left wondering why?
I MEAN – how could the smartest guy in every room fall into such a deadly and life draining trap.
YOU KNOW – something hit me as I was studying Solomon’s life. FOR – the first 11 years of his reign as king, his purpose was very clear, build God’s Temple.
And he did, he was lazar focused.
BUT - the only problem was he still had another 29 years left to reign.
AND LISTEN – I think this is where he began to lose both his focus and his intimacy with God…
YOU SEE – Solomon thought it was about a building project, when it was really about walking with God and bringing Him glory.
It wasn’t about the project, it was about intimacy with God. Knowing and walking with Him.
SO – Solomon tried to find meaning in a bunch of different things… He tried education.
Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. – Eccl 1:17
He tried to find it in pleasure…
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. – Eccl 2:1
He tried to find meaning in alcohol (in escape by numbing the pain)…
I tried cheering myself with wine… - Eccl 2:3
He tired to find meaning in his accomplishments
I undertook great projects… - Eccl 2:4
He tried to find it in stuff
I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, - Eccl 2:7,8
He tired to find meaning in his sex…
I acquired… a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart… I denied my heart nothing my eyes desired; I refused no pleasure. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. – Eccl 2:9-11
YOU KNOW – trying to find meaning in - education, pleasure, accomplishments, alcohol, stuff, money, sex…
Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?
BECAUSE – those are the places the so many people (maybe even some listening to me right now) think will bring them contentment, satisfaction, meaning and fulfillment…
AND LISTEN - Solomon had more of those things (stuff, knowledge, money, pleasure) than all of us listening could ever possibly hope to have (all add together) and it did not work!
UNDERSTAND – there is only one place where we can find true and lasting meaning… and listen, ‘everything’ else will always leave us/you/me feeling thirsty again, and again, and again.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
- John 4:13,14
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. – Jeremiah 2:13
YEAH – there is some incredible data on the black box of Solomon's crash
D) Don’t Fail To Address Areas Of Struggle
QUESTION – do you have any areas of struggle?
Solomon did.
Solomon – like his dad (David) had an issue with women, he like them, a lot… too much.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women… They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.”
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray… - Eccl 11:1-3
UNDERSTAND…
• He knew it was wrong
• He knew it was something that God did not want
• He knew God said about marriage
BUT NEVERTHELESS – he keeps doing whatever he wants, he keeps eating the forbidden fruit.
QUESTION…
Do you know anyone of who sin has a hold?
I MEAN…
• They know it’s wrong
• They know it’s destructive
• They know it’s not what wants for them, BUT…
Nevertheless – they go for it, they jump in, they take that bite…
UNDERSTAND - Solomon knew this was wrong.
BUT LISTEN - spiritual strength is not simply about knowing the will of God… it’s about doing the will of God.
QUESTION – what are your areas of struggle, is it…
• Pride
• Anger
• Your tongue
• Your attitude
• In the area of sexuality
• A love for money and stuff
and what are you doing about it.
Be honest, be accountable to someone, and as a friend of mine Mark says memorize at least 3 scriptures that deal with your area of struggle.... He says if we do not do that we are not serious about overcoming that sin.
E) Don't Ignore Corrective Words From God
UNDERSTAND - right after the temple was dedicated God (knowing what was coming, God knowing that Solomon already had left some wiggle room in his commitment) appeared to Solomon and gave him this warning…
If you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble.
All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’” - 1 Kings 9:6-9
Solomon obviously ignored that warning…
AND THEN – after Solomon had crashed and burned, God came to him again to confront him with his sin…
HEY – do you remember what David’s response was when he was confronted with his sin… I have sinned against the Lord…
UNFORTUNATELY - that was not Solomon’s response…
I MEAN…
• Scripture does not say he repented
• We never read of him destroying and tearing down all of the high places.
• He is not mentioned in Hebrews 11.
IN FACT - we read in 1 Kings 11:40 that Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam the guy God was fixing to give the kingdom to. YES – that is correct Solomon wanted to kill the very instrument of God’s judgment.
MGCC WHEN – we open the black box of Solomon’s life…
WE – can clearly see how this guy who had it all crashed and burned.AND LISTEN – if you do not want his story to be your story, if you want to refuse to fade…
• Don’t leave wiggle room in your commitment
• Don’t assume that you are the exception to the rule
• Don’t looking for meaning in all of the wrong places
• Don’t fail to address areas of struggle
• Don’t ignore corrective warning from God
HEY – as we wrap up I want us to read the final entry in Solomon’s journal… It is the ultimate takeaway
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. - Ecclesiastes 12:13
Fear God, Keep His commandments
NOW – I am not sure what happened after he wrote those words… I MEAN – were they written as an act if repentance
Or of remorse and regret? I just don’t know…
BUT LISTEN – here is what I do know, that… there is still time to finish strong! UNDERSTAND – if we are alive and breathing, there is still time to reverse the downward dive and avoid a devastating crash…
MGCC – if you listening to me right now
The race is not over
It’s not too late (for me, for you, for any of us)
You may – be tired, broken, have messed big time and often
But it is not too late, it is never too late to say…
• God I will listen to your corrective warnings
• I will address my area(s) of struggle
• I will stop assuming that your commands do not apply to me
• I will leave no wiggle room in my commitment, and
• I will look to you alone for meaning, life and fulfillment
(thankful for some ideas for this message from a sermon on YouTube by Kyle Lidleman)
