1 Kings 1
Kingdom, Come • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
You’ve Probably Heard the Saying, “Never Meet Your Heroes”
The Reason this is a Saying is Because We Tend to Idolize People We Look Up to
We Place Them on Such an Impossibly High Pedestal…
That, Often Times, When We Meet Them…
They Don’t Live Up to Our Expectations of Them
We See Their Weaknesses and Imperfections
Maybe They’re Not as Good Looking as the TV Makes Them Look
Maybe They’re Not as Friendly and Outgoing as They Seem on Talk Shows
Whatever the Case, “Never Meet Your Heroes” is a Warning
Don’t Meet Them Because They are Probably Going to Disappoint You
I Want to Tell You 2 Stories of When I Met Some of My Heroes
(Talk About the Time I Met Eddie George)
That was a Time When Meeting My Hero Turned Out Really Well
But Then There was Another Time I Met a Couple of My Heroes
These 2 Men are Well-Known Preachers in the Churches of Christ
They were Both Speaking at a Men’s Day that I Went to
They were Speaking to One Another to Themselves at One Point…
So I Took My Chance to Tell Them that They were 2 of My Favorite Preachers
After I Did, Neither of Them Said a Word
But They Both Gave Me the Same Look
The Look of, “I Don’t Know You and You’re Bothering Us”
The Silence and Their Looks Made Me Feel Super Awkward and Discouraged
So I Just Walked Away having Marked Their Names Off of My Favorite Preachers List
Maybe I Caught Them at a Bad Time, I Don’t Know
I Expected that Reaction Out of Eddie George
But I Never Expected that Out of 2 Well-Known, Well-Respected Preachers
But that’s Often What Happens When a Person Becomes “Well-Known”
It can Feed into Our Pride and Negatively Affect Us
One Hero From the Scriptures that Many of Us would Love to Meet is David
But I would Like to Meet Young David, Before He Becomes King
Because After He Takes the Throne…
We See a Lot of Negative Changes in Him
Sin Became a Much More Natural Part of His Life
We’re Doing a Series on 1 & 2 Kings
Through Much of 2nd Samuel, We See a David that We Don’t Like to See
And in the 1st Few Chapters of 1st Kings, Before David’s Death…
We’re Going to Continue to See a David We Don’t Like to See
It Hurts Us to See a Man After God’s Own Heart…
Act So Differently Than the God He Claims to Follow
You Know What They Say, “Don’t Meet Your Heroes”
That’s a Pretty Fitting Saying for the Book of Kings
Because it’s All About How the Kings of Israel Led the Kingdom to its Doom
The Men Who should have Been the Leaders of Righteousness…
Were the Leaders of Wickedness
They should’ve Been the Heroes, But Most of Them were Villains
1 Kings 1
1 Kings 1
1 Kings 1:1–4 (NIV)
1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.
The Once Mighty King David is Now a Frail Old Man
His Servants Decide to Get Him a Beautiful Young Woman…
To Lay in Bed with Him and Keep Him Warm
Answer this One for Me:
If David is Simply in Need of Warmth…
Why Not Ask His Many Wives to Lay with Him?
Why Did They Need to Travel So Far to Find a Warm Body?
Why Does He Need a Young, Beautiful, Virgin Girl?
“But Jon, He Didn’t have Sex with the Girl!”
You’re Absolutely Right!
But was that Because of His Righteousness and Self-Control?
Or was it Because of His Inability to Do So?
The Text Doesn’t Tell Us…
But I Don’t Think We’re Meant to See David in a Positive Light Here
If You Remember:
All of David’s Sin-Induced Troubles Began…
With Him Bringing a Beautiful Woman to His Bed
A Woman Who Didn’t Belong to Him
Now David’s Life is Coming to a Close…
With a Beautiful Woman in His Bed…
Who Shouldn’t Belong to Him
We’ll Learn More About this Situation Next Week in Chapter 2
1 Kings 1:5–10 (NET)
5 Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, was promoting himself, boasting, “I will be king!” He managed to acquire chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.6 (Now his father had never corrected him by saying, “Why do you do such things?” He was also very handsome and had been born right after Absalom.)
David’s Oldest Living Son Decides its His Rightful Turn to Take the Throne
And He had Himself a Royal Procession as a Formal Declaration of His Reign
Adonijah is a Spoiled Little Pretty Boy Prince…
Just Like His Deceased Older Brother, Absalom…
Who Tried to Take the Throne From David Years Prior
Why was He Like this?
Because His Dad Never Raised Him to Be Any Different
He Never Disciplined Him or Taught Him to Act Right
He Let Him Do Whatever He Wanted
7 He collaborated with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported him.8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s elite warriors did not ally themselves with Adonijah.
Adonijah Got David’s Nephew and Commander, Joab, to Join Him…
As Well as David’s High Priest and Life-Long Supporter, Abiathar
But Several Others Stayed Loyal to David
9 Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. 10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, or his brother Solomon.
Adonijah Then Threw a Big Banquet for Himself By a Spring Near Jerusalem
He Invited All the Royal Officials of Judah…
Except for Those Who Remain Loyal to David
All the While, David had No Idea this was Taking Place
So the Prophet Nathan and Bathsheba Come Up with a Plan to Tell David
1 Kings 1:29–30 (NIV)
29 The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 30 I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”
So David Told Those Loyal to Him…
Place Solomon on the King’s Mule…
And Anoint Him as Ruler Over All Israel at Another Spring Near Jerusalem
Then They are to Blow a Trumpet and Shout, “Long Live King Solomon”
And as They Made Their Way Back to Jerusalem…
For Solomon to Sit on the Throne, We Read:
1 Kings 1:40 (NASB95)
40 All the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook at their noise.
The Sound of this Royal Procession was Heard By Those at Adonijah’s Banquet
Once They Received News that Solomon had Just Been Anointed King, We Read:
1 Kings 1:49 (NLT)
49 Then all of Adonijah’s guests jumped up in panic from the banquet table and quickly scattered.
They No Longer Wanted Anything to Do with this Party
If the King Knows You’re Supporting a Successor that He Didn’t Appoint…
Bad Things are in Your Future
So They Abandon Adonijah in a Panic
Adonijah was So Afraid that He Ran and Grabbed the Horns of the Altar
This was to Say to King Solomon, “I Am Begging/Pleading for Mercy!”
1 Kings 1:52 (NIV)
52 Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.”
“If Your Life From this Point Onward Proves that You have Sincerely Repented…”
“Then You will have Life”
“But if Your Life From this Point Onward Doesn’t Prove that You’ve Sincerely Repented…”
“Then You will Die”
Application
Application
What Solomon Offers His Older Brother, Adonijah…
Our Older Brother Jesus Offers Us
If We will Show Ourselves Worthy of the Gospel of Jesus…
Then He will Give Us Eternal Life
Paul Wrote to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians…
Saying to Each of These Churches…
“Walk/Live/Conduct Yourselves in a Worthy Manner”
But How can Someone Ever Be Worthy/Deserving of the Gospel?
We’ll Never Deserve What Jesus has Done for Us
Not Once is Paul Referring to Being Deserving or Perfect
He’s Referring to Living a Life that’s Different
A Life that’s About Selflessness, Instead of Selfishness
A Life that’s About Unity, Instead of Division
A Life that’s About Doing Good Works, Instead of Being Wicked
A Life that’s About Repenting of Sin, Instead of Indulging in it
A Life that’s About Loyalty/Allegiance to Jesus…
Instead of Myself or Anything/Anyone Else
Solomon was Saying:
“You’ll have Life if Your Actions Prove that You’re Loyal to Your True King”
Jesus Through Paul is Saying the Same Thing
Like Adonijah, We are Guilty of Trying to Place Ourselves Upon the Throne
Our Fallen Nature Wants to Be in Charge of Our Own Lives
We Want to Follow Our Own Rules and Live By Our Own Desires
If We Continue to Live According to Those Fleshly Impulses…
We’re Going to Die
But Also Like Adonijah…
If We will Approach the King, Pleading for His Mercy…
Making the Commitment that We will Be Loyal to Him
He will Offer it Graciously
Hebrews 4:14–16 (NIV)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Adonijah Grabbed the Horns of the Altar in Fear
We are Able to Approach Without Fear the Very Throne…
Of the One Who Sacrificed Himself Upon the Altar…
And Rose Again to Claim His Throne
So May We Submit to the Kingship of Jesus…
And Offer Him Our Loyalty/Allegiance From this Day Forward…
Living Our Lives Worthy of Him
If We Do so, He will Give Us Life
If We Don’t, Death is Our Fate