8 May 2005
by
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
CP Walker, Taegu South Korea
BIG IDEA: GOD CHOSE LOVE; AND WE SHOULD TOO.
REFERENCES: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (KJV;)
Deuteronomy 10:12-22 (KJV); Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:21 (KJV); And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. 2 John 1:5 (KJV); If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:20 (KJV); Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John 4:7 (KJV); And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; Phil 1:9 (KJV); “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.?- Proverbs 9:10 (KVJ); A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35 (KJV)
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 1 Kings 3:16-28
II. READ THE PERICOPE: 1 Kings 3:16-28
III. READ THE TEXT: Then the King answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. (1 Kings 3:27 ?KJV)
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to CHOOSE LOVE.
V. SERMONIC THEME: MOTHERS’DAY & The Verdict of LOVE?
INTRODUCTION: Mothers Day & The Verdict of LOVE. Happy Mothers Day to all mothers.
The Second Sunday in May , in the United States of America, is Mothers’ Day. As you have attest to already, Mothers Day is a day when American children honor their mothers with cards, gifts, and flowers. We are truly grateful for our mothers because it’s through their prayer that God continues to richly bless us.
Likewise, most of you know that on this past Thursday, 5 May 2005, in South Korea was Children Day. While today, in SOUTH KOREA, is PARENTS Day 2005.
Parents Day occurs 3 days after Children Day. It is a time for the young to show their respect for the love received from their parents.
*******************TAKE 5 BEATS********************
MOVE 1: It’s my understanding that most Koreans buy their parents carnations and many children make paper carnations at school for their fathers and mothers.
a. It’s wonderful to see how different but similar our COUNTRIES are.
b. Happy Parents Day 2005 to all of our KOREAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
c. It’s my prayer that God richly bless us all through his message today:
d. MOTHERS?DAY & The VERDICT of LOVE.
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MOVE 2: The word VERDICT is a noun.
a. The word itself is considered MIDDLE ENGLISH which means that it was spoken in England from the 12th to the 15th Century.
b. The “ver?in verdict is latin which means “TRUE?while the latter portion of the word spelled ... dict ... means “SPEECH?
c. In other words, VERDICT means ... “True ?Speech?.
d. Although there are various kinds of VERDICTS:
e. “directed verdict? excessive verdict, general verdict, instructed verdict, partial verdict, quotient verdict, and repugnant verdict ... to name a few.
f. In fact, it’s my understanding that “In law,?all VERDICTS have to do with the findings of a jury on issues of FACT ... which has been submitted to it for a DECISION to be made.
g. It is an expressed conclusion; a judgment ...
********************TAKE 5 BEATS*******************
MOVE 3: The classic symbol of justice is that of a “blindfolded woman?scales in her hand.
a. The implication being that the eccence of justice is the weighing of the facts in hand with an impartiality ...
b. ... which might be lost IF THE JUDGE WERE TO SEE THE PARTIES involved.
c. But, such a portrayal is HARDLY ADEQUATE. THE BLINDFOLD should be removed.
d. It as been said that “If we would weigh a situation JUSTLY, we must see the background of those involved in it:
e. For example, the delinquent boy whose home has been a slum and whose playmates have been a gang, ....
f. ... can not be JUDGED JUSTLY ON THE SAME BASIS AS THE BOY WHO HAS ENJOYED EVERY ADVANTAGE OF A GOOD HOME AND CHRISTIAN CULTURE.
**********************TAKE 5 BEATS*****************
MOVE 4: Ironically, on this MOTHERS/PARENTS DAY, our message encompasses both the TRUE SPEECH OF A LOVING MOTHER AND HER SELFLESS RESPONSE TO GOD’S TEST OF HER LOVE.
a. FOR my brothers and my sisters ... LOVE IS MORE THAN WORDS. TRUE LOVE IS A COMBINATION OR LOVE AND DEEDS.
b. FOR DON’T YOU REMEMBER ... IN HIS LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN CORINTH .... The Apostles Paul wrote (in 1 Cor. 13:1-13) ...
c. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love feast) , I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal ...
d. ... and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, ...and have not charity (LOVE FEAST), I am nothing ...?
e. Likewise, we have a phase around here that says ... LOVE ISN’T LOVE UNTIL YOU GIVE IT AWAY ...
f. We have to be READY and WILLING to GIVE what rightfully belongs to us (such as our time, talents, and treasures) to ANOTHER in order to demonstrate the ultimate LOVE.
********************TAKE 5 BEATS*******************
MOVE 5: In our scriptures today, we find ourselves in King Solomon’s Court, bearing witness to THE CASE OF THE 2 MOTHERS.
a. One of the MOTHERS was humble and SELFLESS, and One was arrogant, and SELFISH.
b. For you may recall that prior to THIS CASE, King Solomon had acquire wisdom from God (in 1 Kings 3:1-15) in a dream.
c. like a Gene, God offered Solomon ONE REQUEST for anything his heart desired.
d. And contrary to what many of us would have SELFISHLY requested, Solomon HUMBLELY ... AND SELFLESSLY did the right thing, ...
e. He asked God for wisdom to govern wisely ... and well .... according to the pattern of a TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS KING.
f. AS A RESULT, of his request for DIVINE wisdom in government,
g. ... rather than wealth, and military success, GOD GAVE HIM BOTH WEALTH AND HONOR.
*******************TAKE 5 BEATS********************
MOVE 6: AFTERWARDS, Solomon was told (by God) HIMSELF in 1 Kings 3:12 (KJV)
a. ... I have done according to thy words: Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart;
b. ... so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee .
c. Therefore, in our text today, we get to see THIS YOUNG KING for the FIRST TIME, UTILIZE (in THE CASE OF THE 2 MOTHERS) the DIVINE WISDOM in leadership that God had granted him.
*******************TAKE 5 BEATS********************
MOVE 7: For don’t you remember, ONE MOTHER said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house.
a. While we were living together, I had a baby.
b. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby.
c. We were alone—there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us.
d. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep.
*******************TAKE 5 BEATS********************
MOVE 8: She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!?
a. Afterwards, she put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast.
b. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby!
c. But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby."
d. "Not so!" said the other SELFISH MOTHER. "The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours."
e. The first MOTHER (THE SELFLISH ONE) countered, "No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one."
f. They went back and forth this way in front of the king.
a. The king said, "What are we to do?
b. After a moment the king said, "Bring me a sword." They brought the sword to the king.
d. Then he said, "Cut the living baby in two?
e. ... give half to one and half to the other."
*******************TAKE 5 BEATS********************
MOVE 9: The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son ...
a. ... and said, "Oh no, master!
b. Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!"
c. But the other THE SELFISH MOTHER said, "If I can’t have him, you can’t have him
d. ... —cut away!"
********************TAKE 5 BEATS*******************
MOVE 10: THEN SOLOMON GAVE THE VERDICT OF LOVE: "Give the living baby to the first woman -THE SELFLESS MOTHER.
a. Nobody is going to kill this baby.
b. She is the real mother."
c. LIKEWISE, my brothers and sisters, GOD ALWAYS CHOOSES LOVE.
d. If we caught between a ROCK and HARD PLACE ... don’t know if you choose to be SELFISH or SELFLESS ...
e. ... if you CONFUSE BY THE FACTS ... AND YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ...
f. ON THIS MOTHERS?PARENTS DAY ... DO WHAT JESUS WOULD DO ... CHOOSE LOVE ...
d. Jesus said (in John 13:34-35 KJV) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
e. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
*********************TAKE 5 BEATS******************
CELEBRATION: THE BIBLE SAYS, IN JOHN 3:16, THAT ... God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
