Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
God’s Conditional Promises
1 Kings 9:1-9
A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. The promises of God in the Bible are numerous and yet each has a condition attached that must be fulfilled if we are to reap the harvest of blessing that the promises offer.
Here are a few examples:
God’s presence -- "…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
Hebrews 13:5, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
God’s power -- "…I will strengthen thee…I will help thee…"
Isaiah 41:10, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
God’s rest -- Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"
God’s wise plan for our good -- Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
As you can see, each of these great promises carries with it a responsibility to be obedient and faithful. With every promise of great blessing, there comes also a responsibility and requirement for us.
In our scripture portion for this evening, we see that King Solomon has finally accomplished the task of completing the Temple in the City of Jerusalem just as God had directed that it should be built. Solomon had inherited this task from David and God was very pleased that the work had been completed.
1 Kings 9:1-3, "And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."
1 Kings 9:4-5, "And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel."
In the life of every believer God has given instruction for us to yield our will to His will and to give our lives and our bodies as living sacrifices unto His service. In turn for our obedience, God moves into our heart and dwells there, making each of us the Temple of God.
God hears your cry and comes to your aid so that the Word of God is revealed to your mind and the Holy Spirit helps you to understand what course of action is needed in order to be obedient and faithful to what is revealed to your heart and mind.
As you grow in grace and become a faithful servant, God is pleased with your life and begins to move within you and to bring blessings upon your life.
Just as in the case of Solomon, if we maintain our attitude of faithfulness, then we can trust that God’s blessings will be established upon us. The blessing that God pours out on us is not just for us alone but God is so gracious that those blessings overflow from us onto our family and those around us. God equips us for the ministry that He would have us to do.
God’s promises are based upon an “if, then” condition. His word always says that “if” we will do our part and remain obedient and faithful, “then” God can send the promised blessings to us. If we fail to do our part, God is not under any obligation to bless us even though He often shows mercy and grace and allows the blessing to overtake us anyway.
Solomon had done a great work for the Lord and God was well pleased with him but God also had a warning for Solomon.
1 Kings 9:6, "But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:"
Solomon had not yet failed God but God knew Solomon’s heart. He knew that Solomon would not remain faithful and true in all things. God also knew that the kings who would follow Solomon would not be as faithful either, so God issued His conditions for the continued blessing of Israel and the judgment of the nation that would befall them for their unfaithfulness and disobedience.
I believe that each of us, each of you, and the church as a whole, have God’s promises of victory and blessing.
I am convinced that God wants each of us to become great witnesses and powerful ministers unto Him to reach the lost and to supply the needs of our community. I don’t believe that God ever saves anyone so that they can just sit back and enjoy a life of mediocrity. He births within each of a desire for greater things.
Do you have a hunger to know more of Jesus? Are you desirous of some great thing but perhaps haven’t found what that thing is? Are you looking forward to the future in God with great anticipation of things to come because you are convinced that God has great things in store for you?
Thank God for a vision, a dream, something to look forward to, and something that makes life exciting and worth living. Whatever God has called you to do, make sure you stay faithful and put your all into your work for Him.
Just as Solomon completed the work on the Temple, God will allow you to reach your full potential in Him if you remain faithful. Day by day, hour-by-hour, year-by-year, we are growing older. I hope that we are also growing spiritually and in the knowledge of God. As we follow God, He will give us the increase as He desires and in His timing.
The sad thing about the Promise of God to Solomon is that Israel did not remain faithful and obedient.
God knew that this would happen and yet He wanted to give Israel every opportunity to walk the right path. God is full of mercy and love and He desires that no man should every fail.
Look around you and notice, or remember, those who once were powerful men and women of faith who are not longer serving God.
A number of ministries have faced the disobedience and unfaithfulness of their leaders and God has had to remove the blessings for a time. Some have come back and are doing all they can to recover while others are dead, never to rise again.
When you think of the number of souls that could have been reached if the failures had never come, grief over those souls overtakes you.
When you think of the number of people who have lost confidence in God because they kept their eyes on the man of god instead of God himself, it is so very disturbing.
When God told Solomon that if Solomon were unfaithful, the blessings would be lifted, God was not just talking or making idle threats. The promise of Judgment for sin is also a promise that we must take seriously.
Israel, as a nation, soon fell into idolatry. We all know the story of their slavery in Egypt and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Roman Army in 70 AD. We can see that their disobedience to God’s conditions for blessing has brought about the thing that God promised would come upon them.
1 Kings 9:7-9, "Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil."
As a result of Israel’s failure, they were scattered to the four winds of the earth and they have been hated by all nations and hunted down like animals for many years. God’s hand of protection and blessing was lifted from them and He turned His eyes away from their calamity just as He promised Solomon so many years ago.
The Jews have been the outcasts of every society. Those who look at Israel, look upon it with pity for a great nation that was utterly cast down from their preferred position in God. The world looks at Israel with a “hiss” as if to say that Israel is a cursed nation.
Even though most people on earth don’t understand the spiritual implications of the scattering of Israel, everyone accepts the fact that they are no longer a blessed nation.
It wasn’t until 1948, after the close of WWII, that Israel once again became a nation. God, in His infinite mercy, began to draw the Jews from all over the earth to rebuild their nation. We know that, in the last days, God will once again bless and protect Israel but what a terrible price they have paid for their disobedience when over 6 million were killed in WWII alone by the German SS troops and the death camps. Nearly every nation on earth is still contemptuous toward Israel and they still suffer persecution for their sin.
Let’s learn our lesson by watching and studying Israel lest we follow the same path of disobedience.
God will hold us responsible just as He does Israel. If we are not faithful to the call of God upon our lives; if we are disobedient to the commandments of God; then we too shall face the same judgment that Israel faced.
There is no doubt that many former Christian homes are in ruin today for this reason. There is no doubt that many people who once served Jesus, are now facing the terrible judgment of God against their family, finances and homes because of sin in their lives.
It doesn’t take very long until we can hear the “hiss” of the crowd as they look at these backslidden people. I am always hearing things like; “I knew they weren’t going to last long in church!” “I didn’t think they had the real thing!” “There isn’t anything real about all that Christianity stuff anyway!”
I wonder how many souls will be in Hell for eternity or how many lives and homes have been destroyed because of unfaithful and disobedient, backslidden Christians?
Child of God, we cannot afford to be disobedient to the commandment of God or unfaithful to our service for Him. Too many lives and souls are in the balance.
The Promise of God for blessings and the Presence of Almighty God dwelling with your heart are still very much for today.
My prayer is that we as individuals and as a church remain faithful and obedient to God. I want His blessings and His presence in my life.
Search your heart right now! Ask God if there is any rebellious attitude within. Ask God if there is any unfaithfulness within?
God is merciful and He wants us to draw close to Him. He is waiting for us to look to Him in repentance and then walk on in faith and obedience to His call.
