Sermon # 16 - Heart Of Wisdom Series

We read in 2 Corinthians 9:8, And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause. (GNB)

As we complete this series we will look at one more important principle that we need to follow in order to retain the abundant blessings that God desires to pour on us, and not lose out on them.

Adam had everything in overflowing abundance in the Garden of Eden. Everything that Adam desired was readily available for him at his disposal. The other person in the bible who had such an abundance was King Solomon.

• Solomon was seated on the throne

We read about King Solomon in 1 Kings 1:46, “Solomon is now seated on the royal throne.” (GW)

Though King David had many sons, God granted the throne to Solomon only. The first ten chapters of 1 Kings describes the life and feats of King Solomon.

• Solomon’s throne was firmly established

In 1 Kings 2:46, we read that “...Solomon's power as king was now firmly established.” (GW)

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we too have the entitlement and honor to be called the sons and daughters of God. We are special and have the privilege to be part of the church, which is the family of God.

• Solomon had peace all around

We also read in 1 Kings 4:24, He controlled all the territory west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah to Gaza and all of its kings. So he lived in peace with all the neighboring countries. (GW)

Solomon was in such a serene place where God so blessed him so that he had peace with all his neighboring countries.

• God gave Solomon unlimited wisdom and insight

We also read in 1 Kings 4:29, “God gave Solomon wisdom-keen insight and a mind as limitless as the sand on the seashore.”(GW)

The wisdom and insight that Solomon had was God’s special gift to him. That wisdom that King Solomon possesses was as numerous and limitless as the sand on the sea shore. There was no king who lived like King Solomon did.

• Solomon was blessed beyond measure

We read in 1 Kings 10:21, “All King Solomon's cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall which he called the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Nothing was silver, because it wasn't considered valuable in Solomon's time.)”

Every vessel that Solomon used was made of gold or fine gold. None of it was made of silver because silver was considered worthless during the reign of King Solomon.

All was well for King Solomon until the tenth chapter of 1 Kings.

We too must be cautious about every chapter of our lives. If we lived ten chapters of our life well and then if we messed up one we would have lost it all. That is exactly why we have to maintain our testimony and witness right to the end of our lives. God has given us so much, our families, children, parents, our work, income and all of it we should value and retain these blessings.

• Solomon went astray in his old age

We read about King Solomon in 1 Kings 11:4, “In his old age, his wives tempted him to follow other gods. He was no longer committed to the LORD his God as his father David had been.”(GW)

The wives of King Solomon made his heart lean towards other gods. Leaning is something that doesn’t happen overnight, but is a gradual process. For a while everything seemed normal though Solomon married heathen wives. This change happened so slowly that Solomon did not even realize that his heart had turned away from the living God.

God never stopped Solomon from marrying heathen women. Solomon knew the commandments of God which clearly mentioned that the children of Israel were not to intermarry with the heathen women around them. As Solomon began to do what God forbid him to, the consequence was that his heart turned away from God. The man who was recipient of God’s abundant blessings was suddenly the object of God’s wrath.

What are the things that draw us away from God?

The lesson we need to learn is to identify the things that lead us astray from God. For Solomon it was his wives but each of us have various issues that lead us away from God.

To some it is laziness. These are those who want to wake up late in the morning, and hurriedly rush off to work. Since they are late they will have no time to spend with God, and will make a deal with God that they will spend time with Him in prayer at night. Tiredness will overtake them again, and they will be unable to pray at night. Once again they will make a plan to wake up early in the morning, they will even set the alarm to wake up, but when the alarm goes off, they will snooze it, and once again get back to their hectic schedule.