1 Kings

[0:00] My inch my reach Apostle my力 apostle so He saves services will arise, and with books of themonies, there are star 탄sc PS 951, and with lyman, Amen.

[1:27] But not forever. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever.

[1:44] Such words could not be spoken by any less than the Lord of hosts. For example, he sees the future and his divine intentions are irreversibly accomplished.

[2:16] What he purposes, he does. Whether it is individually, none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?

[2:33] And there is this sense, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Solomon was a remarkable character.

[2:50] And he was given wisdom to pray for wisdom. And God granted him great prosperity.

[3:05] Time will not permit this evening to go into too much detail of the situation that obtained in his kingdom during the time of his prosperity.

[3:21] But it was an unequal situation. He stands transcendently in scripture as one whom the Lord prospered.

[3:37] He had the Queen of Sheba to visit him who heard of his fame.

[3:47] And she was rendered speechless by the situation which unfolded before her eyes.

[4:00] There was no more spirit in her. She says, happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom.

[4:16] Blessed be the Lord thy God, lighted in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel. We read in the tenth chapter of the first of kings at verse fourteen.

[4:29] Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred three score and six talents of gold. That's one hundred and thirty two and a half tons of it in one year.

[4:43] And we read in another place, the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones. And cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the veil for abundance.

[5:01] Everything speaks of prosperity. Bursting, as it were, at the seams on every side is the successful mission of this God-prospered king.

[5:23] And it seems very sad that such prosperity doesn't flow out of time without something to spoil it.

[5:49] And the trouble was in Solomon's heart. And this eleventh chapter seems to open the evil disease that beset this great man.

[6:10] But King Solomon loved many strange women. Now, that was the, shall I say, the undoing of the glory of the king in the midst of his prosperous kingdom.

[6:32] He had a weakness. And his weakness prevailed in the latter part of his time.

[6:45] Before we read, For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods.

[6:59] And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. Now, What a messin' there is in these histories, isn't there?

[7:22] And how becoming it is for us all to appreciate that such a man as Solomon was not self-sufficient.

[7:33] And if a man of his integrity and his wealth was not sufficient, surely we may realise our comparative insufficiency.

[7:51] And these strange wives that turned away Solomon's heart caught Solomon to forsake his God and the ways of his God.

[8:13] He'd been warned by God that the prosperity of his kingdom depended upon the obedience to the statutes and commandments of God.

[8:35] And the very thing, the very snare that he falls into is the snare which God forewarned him of.

[8:50] And although God for David's sake preserved the kingdom in the hand of Solomon, God gave to Solomon a clear indication that in the days of his son the kingdom would be rent in twain and so it was.

[9:14] And so it was. Now, I don't want to spend all the time on the context.

[9:31] I want to come to the principle of the text. But just to say this, that there seems to be a considerable signification in the history concerning Jeroboam.

[9:46] That he was an industrious young man and Solomon recognized this and he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

[10:00] While he was in that position the prophet Ahijah the Shilohite found him in the way and he had clad himself with a new garment and they too were alone in the field and Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him and rented him twelve pieces and he said to Jeroboam take the ten pieces for thus saith the Lord the God of Israel behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee.

[10:39] Now what a ministry what an experience wasn't it? Here Jeroboam was a widow's son his father was Nebat an Ephratite of Zerida Solomon's servant whose mother's name was Zerua a widow woman this was the background of the man and the Lord sends his servant and says ten tribes are going to be yours according to these ten portions of your garment that are here and the other two well they will not be your portion so we see God in this way showing the future prophetically that there will be the tribe of Israel the nation of Israel and there will be the nation of Judah and the ten tribes and the two tribes shall separate ten tribes under

[11:54] Jeroboam the two tribes under Rehoboam Solomon's son my friends how God foresees every eventuality and he can do just as he will he says I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it unto thee even ten tribes and unto his son will I give one tribe that David my servant may have a light all way before me in Jerusalem the city which I have chosen to put my name there God had entered into covenant with David that there should be of his seed upon the throne of Israel and my friends there God maintains his covenant with his servant in the face of those judgments which he pronounces against the iniquity of

[13:05] Solomon now I will for this afflict the seed of David Solomon's sin is punished Solomon's sin is punished you say but Solomon was a good man Solomon was without doubt a good man Solomon is in heaven beyond question the Lord abundantly blessed him but that didn't mean to say that the Lord didn't afflict him that didn't mean to say that the discipline of heaven should not be exercised upon him and my friends what happened well peace was taken away from the kingdom wasn't the Lord raised up one and the other and we read in this chapter the experience of

[14:09] Solomon as the Lord afflicted him in one way and another because his heart was not perfect was not right before God and he was carried away to the idolatrous worship of the gods of the wives to whom he had become attached now here's the principle and I will for this afflict the seed of David my friends the Lord is a disciplinarian he's a father with a rod he's a father with a rod oh but you say he's got a loving heart that is overflowing with that perfect relationship toward his people what son is he whom the father chasteneth not whom the

[15:18] Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth if he be without chastisement then are ye bastards and not sons if you can go on and on and on in some path that is contrary to the revealed will of God without correction there's more evidence that you're a bastard than a son but if the Lord loves you so much that he won't permit you to go on in a path that is wrong then there is indication in the discipline that he exercises that you are indeed his child and my friends the Lord's family is a corrected family and it's corrected in love and he says and I will for this afflict the seed of David

[16:25] I will for this I can't pass it by I can't let it go without attention that wouldn't be love I must deal with this I must deal with this you know if we observed our children pursuing a path which we knew was not for their good and we kept shutting a blind eye to it would that be love for them would that be indeed an indication of our true affection my friends affection is manifest in discipline and here the Lord shows that he will chasten Solomon for that which Solomon is guilty of and I will for this afflict the seed of David but not forever now it's those words that arrested me yesterday in waiting upon the Lord for a word to bring to you this evening but not forever but not forever the Lord the trouble of the Lord's people has abound it has a time fix the dealings of the Lord with his people are not as the

[18:15] Lord's dealing with the wicked the punishments of the Lord for the wickedness of the wicked will be forever but not with the righteous they are for a time and here the Lord indicates prophetically that he will deal with the seed of David in afflictive dispensation for the sin that has been committed before him but there will come a time of deliverance that time of deliverance is beautifully set before us in the first chapter of Luke and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb this is the

[19:17] Lord speaking to Mary and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus he shall be great and he shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end an everlasting kingdom an everlasting kingdom and my friends when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared then there was a deliverance afforded from the afflictions that had troubled the seed of David if you read the history of the kings of Judah that line from Solomon or from

[20:23] David down to Christ you will see what terrible afflictions from time to time troubled the line of David but not forever but not forever there will come a time of deliverance there will come a time of glory once more to the seed or the kingdom of David and I will for this afflict the seed of David but not forever how wonderful it is for the church of God to feel amidst the afflictions that the Lord administers to them in this world that those afflictions are not forever they're not forever our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal the things which are not seen are eternal my friends but not forever but not forever sometimes we may look upon the church of Christ and feel that the church of

[22:13] Christ is at disadvantage we may get into the position of Asaph in Psalm 73 where he looks at the prosperity of the wicked Asaph remember this the afflictions of the Lord's people are not forever they're not forever when you put eternity in the scale the people of God always have the advantage they always have ground for rejoicing their afflictions are confined their afflictions are terminated by the good pleasure of God they're controlled and limited by the hand of God they're not forever sometimes we're called upon to sustain lifelong afflictions but they're not forever if we're among the seed of

[23:17] David if we're among the children of God they're not forever sometimes afflictions come upon us as we go on and the Lord shows to us that he is the deliverer of his people and that when his time comes he can deliver and he does deliver and every deliverance surely is the earnest of a final deliverance and a full deliverance to the children of God when the Lord exercises his power for their deliverance it is an indication of the final and full deliverance that he will exercise when he lifts them above all their adversaries whatsoever and I will for this afflict the seed of David but not forever they shall be punished for their sin they shall know that they cannot sin lightly they cannot reach the commandments of God as something superficial there is a terrible temptation at times which besets the church of God and the apostle Paul warns against it well we've always got the atonement to turn to so it doesn't matter just how we live my friends you cannot use the atonement to license sin there's no license for sin in the atonement you can't go on saying well it doesn't matter what

[25:13] I do what I say how I live I've got the blood of Jesus Christ to plead I've got the atonement to look to let us sin that grace may abound the apostle most emphatically says God forbid the Lord here gives sentence in that sense and I will for this afflict the seed of David I'll let Solomon know he's done wrong I'll let Solomon know that his prosperity can't insulate him against my dealings that he will smart for his the error of his ways but I'll let him know that my love is constant that the time of deliverance will come and so the Lord here brings this word before him and I will for this afflict the seed of David but not forever

[26:34] Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam it seems as though he kind of had some idea of the future and he went out to kill the boy as if that's the way get rid of him that's the way to solve our problem get rid of him so we'll kill him it's just like Herod did when he heard that Jesus Christ was born he says kill all the children two years old and under and that will remove us of our problem that will deliver us from our trouble but my friends the Lord took care of Jeroboam the Lord wouldn't suffer Solomon's hand to frustrate him from the fulfilment of his prophecy God's purposes shall stand he will do all his pleasure you see the evil intentions of Solomon couldn't frustrate the purposes of God but you say

[27:38] Solomon was the most powerful man on the earth at that time what is now that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou visitest him all flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower thereof falleth away my friends man is nothing before the most high God and Solomon in all his glory had to realize that he couldn't frustrate the counsels of God for God had pronounced that ten of your tribes I will give into the hands of your servant and your son shall retain but one tribe that promise

[28:39] I have given to David shall surely be fulfilled and I will for this afflict the seed of David but not forever I hope the principle is clear may God bless a few remarks amen amen That covers the 273.

[29:37] And sit, couch in fearful heart, hear what Christ the Saviour say.

[29:48] Every word should joy depart, change thy warning into praise. Yes, he speaks and speaks to thee, may he help thee to believe.

[30:01] Then they presently will sing, there's little hope to breathe. Christ the Saviour say, every word should joy depart, hear what Christ the Saviour say.

[30:26] Every word should joy depart, change thy warning into praise.

[30:40] Yes, he speaks and speaks to thee, may he help thee to believe.

[30:54] Let thou bless us, may he help thee. For our sins of Christ to be.

[31:11] Let thou bless us, may he help thee. Let thou bless us, may he help thee.

[31:36] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[32:38] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[33:50] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Amen.

[34:38] Bless thy word to us. Sanctify us through the truth. Thy word is truth. Pardon anything that has been amiss.

[34:52] Take us each safely to our homes. And may thy grace, Lord Jesus, thy love, O God, the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us.

[35:07] Amen. Amen.

[35:28] Amen. Thank you.