WEBVTT 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:17.710 This is fun. 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:19.789 We are about the presence of God. 00:00:19.870 --> 00:00:22.910 We're about the will and the ways of God in our lives. 00:00:23.070 --> 00:00:25.230 Jesus is everything to us in this church. 00:00:25.390 --> 00:00:27.869 If you're visiting with us, we're so glad you're here. 00:00:28.109 --> 00:00:34.109 If you are visiting, we have been going through this whole year of walking slowly through the Old Testament. 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:40.189 And the first few months we went through creation story all the way through Abraham. 00:00:40.269 --> 00:00:43.710 And then we spent a few months looking at the era of the patriarchs. 00:00:43.789 --> 00:00:54.909 And we looked at, yes, we brought patriarchs into church, and you know, but the era of Moses and Jacob and Joshua and Israel, the whole thing. 00:00:55.069 --> 00:00:59.870 And then the last few months, this last month and for the next few months, we're looking at the era of kings. 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:18.349 And what we're doing is we're following a timeline of the Old Testament that shows how God created everything, how the patriarchs were there setting the identity, the DNA of what Israel was to be, and then how they rejected that and wanted a human king. 00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:22.030 And we're looking at what this era of human kings looks like. 00:01:22.189 --> 00:01:24.989 And before long you'll see it leads to exile. 00:01:25.149 --> 00:01:30.429 And for the last few hundred years before Jesus came, there was no king, there was no ruler. 00:01:30.509 --> 00:01:36.909 And this is kind of the timeline of scripture that as as we look at from Genesis all the way to Jesus. 00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:38.750 And we want to look through this series. 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:46.349 What does God have to say to us in our lives today with his living word that is true and alive and applicable to us? 00:01:46.509 --> 00:01:56.429 And what does the Old Testament tell us about the one who was to come, the greater king, the great prophet, the great I am, the one who is above it all. 00:01:56.589 --> 00:02:01.229 It gives us these breadcrumbs along the story. 00:02:01.469 --> 00:02:11.310 So last week we we covered Solomon, how Solomon had built the temple for God and a seven-year project, just incredible wealth. 00:02:11.469 --> 00:02:25.630 Solomon at this time was regarded the wisest king to ever live, and he had more wealth than anybody else, and he built this house for the Lord that David, his father, wanted to do, but God would not let him. 00:02:25.790 --> 00:02:36.510 So he built this house, and we looked last week at the dedication of the temple, how the glory of the Lord came down, and it was the weight, it was the revelation of who the Lord was, came down. 00:02:36.590 --> 00:02:39.150 The priests couldn't stand, they couldn't minister. 00:02:39.310 --> 00:02:45.230 There was such an awe of who the Lord was as it came into the room and the glory of the Lord. 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:48.670 And then Solomon prayed this incredible prayer. 00:02:48.909 --> 00:02:56.110 And I mean, if the story ended there, wow, put a ribbon on it, sell it to Hallmark. 00:02:56.270 --> 00:02:57.230 What a story. 00:02:57.390 --> 00:02:58.189 It is there. 00:02:58.270 --> 00:03:01.870 And he, I mean, in his prayer, he's declaring the most incredible things. 00:03:01.950 --> 00:03:06.750 I want to read you one verse from chapter 8, 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 61. 00:03:06.990 --> 00:03:11.070 He was praying, let your heart therefore be wholly true. 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:13.150 Holy W-H-O-L-L-Y. 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:23.230 Completely wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments as at this day. 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:31.150 He was asking the Lord on behalf of the whole nation that their hearts would remain wholly true for the Lord. 00:03:31.630 --> 00:03:34.430 Problem is, it didn't end there. 00:03:35.150 --> 00:03:36.270 It would have been great. 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:38.670 It would have been perfect, but it didn't end there. 00:03:38.830 --> 00:03:42.750 We're going to be focused on chapter 11 and 12 of 1 Kings today. 00:03:42.909 --> 00:03:44.590 Just a few chapters onwards. 00:03:44.750 --> 00:03:46.909 It's also quite a few years onward. 00:03:47.070 --> 00:03:50.830 And we're looking at the story specifically, sitting here today. 00:03:51.790 --> 00:03:52.909 What can we learn from this? 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:58.670 How a man who started so well, a man who said, My heart is holy, completely yours. 00:03:58.750 --> 00:04:00.350 He had the love song of the day. 00:04:00.510 --> 00:04:01.950 We are going to give you my all. 00:04:02.510 --> 00:04:07.390 And then, as we see a few chapters later, he's about 40 years into his reign. 00:04:07.550 --> 00:04:13.870 He had arrived, there's peace, he has wealth, he was the envy of the nations. 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:18.670 Yet his heart had drifted from the Lord. 00:04:19.469 --> 00:04:22.430 40 years later, his heart had drifted for the Lord. 00:04:22.670 --> 00:04:25.550 What we're going to see is there wasn't one incident. 00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:26.750 There wasn't one moment. 00:04:26.909 --> 00:04:31.069 There wasn't one offense that, like, that's it, I'm going to turn away from the Lord. 00:04:31.230 --> 00:04:36.669 There was a slow drift away from fulfilling the will of God for his life. 00:04:36.829 --> 00:04:41.069 There was a slow drift of enjoying the blessings that God had given them. 00:04:41.149 --> 00:04:47.870 But before you know it, his heart had drifted from being wholly true to the Lord to having a divided heart. 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:50.990 Now, we're here pretty close to campus. 00:04:51.149 --> 00:04:59.310 This is generally a young church, but if you are above, let's say, 40, can we can we say a line here? 00:04:59.469 --> 00:05:01.949 Can have anyone over 40 just give me a holler? 00:05:03.149 --> 00:05:03.629 Good. 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:04.589 That's good. 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:06.029 Let me tell you something. 00:05:06.189 --> 00:05:08.189 Can I just tell you this with all my heart? 00:05:08.509 --> 00:05:18.509 My heart breaks for our churches, where our old people, older, older, older, older, more mature. 00:05:18.990 --> 00:05:24.909 My heart breaks for seeing our churches emptying out of more mature people. 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:26.430 What happened? 00:05:27.069 --> 00:05:28.829 If you're sitting here, you're over 40. 00:05:28.990 --> 00:05:29.789 I honor you. 00:05:30.430 --> 00:05:31.069 I thank you. 00:05:31.229 --> 00:05:40.990 Thank you for showing the young people in this room what it looks like to wholly serve the Lord in longevity as you go on in your life. 00:05:41.229 --> 00:05:50.430 What happens, unfortunately, especially in our country, God has blessed this country with more wealth and more opportunities than any other country in the world. 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:53.629 I'm from South Africa, trust me, I've lived in a few continents. 00:05:54.029 --> 00:05:55.709 The opportunities are incredible. 00:05:56.349 --> 00:05:57.549 The wealth is incredible. 00:05:57.870 --> 00:05:59.389 I love living in this nation. 00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:08.990 The problem is the blessing that we have in this nation, move our heart from him who gave it to him to the stuff that he gave us. 00:06:09.229 --> 00:06:17.469 And our hearts go from here to here, and before we know it, we have a divided heart and we stop serving the Lord wholeheartedly. 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:19.469 We start serving the things. 00:06:19.709 --> 00:06:21.949 We start serving the blessings. 00:06:22.349 --> 00:06:25.229 So if you're here over 40, I applaud you. 00:06:25.469 --> 00:06:26.589 Please keep coming. 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:28.669 Bring your old friends with you. 00:06:29.789 --> 00:06:31.069 Yeah, I say that. 00:06:31.389 --> 00:06:32.109 I'm 50. 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:32.589 Trust me. 00:06:32.669 --> 00:06:33.949 I'm in that category. 00:06:34.109 --> 00:06:35.229 Bring your friends with you. 00:06:35.469 --> 00:06:43.149 Our church needs older, more mature people to help lead the way, to show the way, to teach, to mentor, to counsel. 00:06:43.389 --> 00:06:45.789 We are a church that wants to reach this whole city. 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:46.750 We need everybody. 00:06:46.909 --> 00:06:47.549 Amen. 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:54.750 What we're seeing in the story, though, is a king who started drifting from the will and the ways of the Lord. 00:06:54.909 --> 00:06:59.469 And before you know it, we see a heart that has gone after other things. 00:06:59.629 --> 00:07:12.669 And I'm praying today, as the Holy Spirit has already been moving in our hearts today, to establish again the Lordship of God, the one true thing in your life that the Lord wants to bring us back to one focus. 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:22.909 I'm praying the Holy Spirit spotlights in your life what that thing is that you've allowed to take your attention off of Him, wholly and completely following Him. 00:07:23.149 --> 00:07:28.109 I'm gonna try and throw a few examples out, friends, but let the Holy Spirit speak in your life. 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:30.189 Let the Holy Spirit address you. 00:07:30.430 --> 00:07:32.029 We all have little idols. 00:07:32.109 --> 00:07:35.949 We're a Tim Killer says, our hearts are an idol factory. 00:07:36.269 --> 00:07:40.589 We make up idols out of even the biggest blessings the Lord give us. 00:07:40.750 --> 00:07:42.189 We make that the main thing. 00:07:42.349 --> 00:07:43.789 Where is your heart today? 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:45.149 That is our question. 00:07:45.469 --> 00:07:46.109 Amen? 00:07:46.909 --> 00:07:49.389 Now, a couple of context sets for you. 00:07:49.549 --> 00:07:53.069 Firstly, the book of Kings actually used to be one book. 00:07:53.229 --> 00:08:03.629 Kings 1 and Kings 2 was one big book written to give the people of Israel a kind of a story, a long story of their history. 00:08:03.870 --> 00:08:13.789 The book came out around 500 BC, which is as you go through the timeline that we're going to be looking at this year, is around the time that they were in exile. 00:08:14.109 --> 00:08:25.389 So remember that the patriarchs, Abraham, led into Jacob and Joseph, and I'm getting it all wrong now, but they were establishing the nation of Israel. 00:08:25.549 --> 00:08:30.829 The kings came, we started with Saul, then David, Solomon, and then a downward spiral from there. 00:08:30.990 --> 00:08:33.470 But it led into an era of exile. 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:45.389 So this book comes out when the nation of Israel, the people of God, were either in exile or had just come out, and they're asking the question, what happened? 00:08:45.629 --> 00:08:54.909 How did we go from being the beloved of God, rescued out of Egypt, brought into our own land with the most wealthy king, wise king ever? 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:55.710 What happened? 00:08:55.870 --> 00:08:57.230 How did we get so divided? 00:08:57.389 --> 00:09:01.149 How did we get so far from the blessings that God had promised us? 00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:02.750 It's an autopsy. 00:09:03.389 --> 00:09:06.750 How did we get split, splintered into all the world? 00:09:06.829 --> 00:09:15.870 So see of it from that point of view, and we're we're looking at it then because God is wanting to instruct us the mile markers along the journey of drift. 00:09:15.949 --> 00:09:17.309 What does it look like? 00:09:17.629 --> 00:09:17.949 Okay? 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:20.029 So one important context. 00:09:20.110 --> 00:09:21.389 Here's the second one. 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:27.789 Because we're gonna look at Solomon, you're gonna quickly realize he had 700 wives. 00:09:28.189 --> 00:09:34.189 So if you're a player in here, yeah, this is speaking directly to you, but it's it's it's not about that. 00:09:34.429 --> 00:09:35.549 700 wives. 00:09:35.710 --> 00:09:37.389 What are we looking at here? 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:40.429 This is not primarily a story about lust. 00:09:40.750 --> 00:09:53.389 This is a time where every royal marriage wasn't a marriage of convenience, it was a marriage of purpose, of a trade treaty, of a peace deal. 00:09:53.549 --> 00:10:06.909 Uh there was something behind many, I'm gonna say many, I can't believe 700, but there's something behind many of them that probably was a good and a wise decision politically, economically, and for the empire. 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:08.509 So we have this thing. 00:10:08.750 --> 00:10:21.230 The problem is it was in direct opposition to what God had told Solomon about marrying foreign wives, but it was maybe a wise thing to do from a political point of view. 00:10:21.309 --> 00:10:22.750 So keep that in mind as we go. 00:10:22.829 --> 00:10:26.269 Will you open your Bible to 1 Kings chapter 11? 00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:28.990 And we're gonna read the first four verses. 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:32.350 1 Kings chapter 11, verse 1. 00:10:32.669 --> 00:10:38.990 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh. 00:10:39.309 --> 00:10:48.669 So, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, here are the Moabite, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Sidonian, and the Hittite women. 00:10:48.909 --> 00:10:57.949 Why the detail here is important if you look at the geography of where Solomon was, is basically listing the countries that were bordering around him. 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:04.029 He had made these pacts with them, these treaties with them, but his heart started loving them. 00:11:04.750 --> 00:11:17.710 From the nations concerning, uh, yeah, yeah, verse 2, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy, you shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you. 00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:23.949 For surely, here it is, they will turn away your heart after their gods. 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:28.829 Solomon, look at the words, clung to these in love. 00:11:30.909 --> 00:11:38.110 He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. 00:11:38.350 --> 00:11:50.350 Verse 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 00:11:50.829 --> 00:11:58.909 A few verses later, God then directly confronts Solomon and telling him that the kingdom will be torn away from him. 00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:06.029 There's an act of mercy in it, because God says, I won't tear it away from you, but I'll tear it away from your son. 00:12:06.189 --> 00:12:10.590 So there's a thread of mercy we already begin to see in the telling of the story. 00:12:10.750 --> 00:12:17.710 But he said, From your son, the kingdom will be torn away from him, and there will be this division that comes about. 00:12:18.429 --> 00:12:34.990 In chapter 12, Solomon dies, and his son Rehoboam, Rehoboam, okay, yes, Rehoboam takes the throne, and everything that has been quietly building, kind of underneath the little compromises, shows up in one big catastrophe. 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:37.230 The twelve tribes split. 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:40.509 And that's where we're going through this story. 00:12:41.069 --> 00:12:44.590 So I want us to look firstly what the text is telling us. 00:12:44.909 --> 00:12:58.269 I think most importantly, it's wanting us to show us so badly that it tells us more than five times the same idea that his heart was not wholly true. 00:12:58.509 --> 00:12:59.949 W-H-O-L-L-Y. 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:02.750 His heart was not completely true. 00:13:02.990 --> 00:13:08.110 It says his heart was turned away, or his heart was not wholly true to the Lord over and over. 00:13:08.350 --> 00:13:11.629 This is not an accident of Hebrew storytelling. 00:13:11.789 --> 00:13:16.909 There's something very intentional with this constant repetition of this idea. 00:13:17.629 --> 00:13:33.549 In Hebrew, the heart, live, isn't primarily about your feelings, it's the whole governing center, the the will, the mind, the affections together where decisions gradually get made. 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.230 When you and I read, this thing is heart wasn't wholly true. 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:39.549 You know, I want my heart after the Lord. 00:13:39.629 --> 00:13:41.870 Uh anyone here grow up with Disney? 00:13:43.069 --> 00:13:43.870 All of us. 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:45.629 Okay, we grew up with Disney. 00:13:45.789 --> 00:13:50.189 Best movies Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin. 00:13:51.069 --> 00:13:51.149 No? 00:13:51.870 --> 00:13:52.429 Mulan. 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:54.029 Mulan. 00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:56.750 No, nobody likes Mulan. 00:13:57.389 --> 00:13:58.429 Joking. 00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:02.750 But but but we grew up, maybe it's just for me, old oldies, right? 00:14:02.829 --> 00:14:10.590 You grew up with this Disney idea that one day your true love's kiss will make everything better. 00:14:10.829 --> 00:14:11.069 Right? 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:26.590 One day you're gonna be tending to your garden, you're gonna be picking a fruit, or you're gonna be riding your stallion, and you're you're gonna see her, or you're gonna see him, and the birds are gonna sing, and your heart is gonna flutter, and you'll be like, yes, she's my girl. 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:29.629 You know, and and there we go, and everything's gonna be okay. 00:14:29.710 --> 00:14:35.230 That's why a lot of people are still wondering where is my true love, because we're grew up with Disney. 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:39.309 We grew up like the song is gonna play, like it's all gonna happen. 00:14:39.629 --> 00:14:42.990 This is not the heart when the scripture talks about that. 00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:45.069 That's Disney feelings. 00:14:45.230 --> 00:14:45.549 Okay? 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:48.429 Let's not confuse heart with feelings. 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:49.389 Amen. 00:14:49.949 --> 00:14:57.789 Any too many of us let our feelings drive the bus when your heart should be the decision center in your life. 00:14:58.669 --> 00:14:59.309 Amen. 00:14:59.710 --> 00:15:06.590 Alright, so when Solomon, when the text says that Solomon's heart was divided, it wasn't saying that he even felt differently about God. 00:15:07.069 --> 00:15:13.629 But it's saying that the part of him that runs everything quietly started splitting its allegiance. 00:15:14.189 --> 00:15:17.710 It started splitting, started dividing. 00:15:18.189 --> 00:15:25.230 Now, the obvious question, perhaps if you've been thinking this for the last three minutes, isn't this primarily about lust? 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:27.470 Uh, an appetite problem for Solomon. 00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:34.509 Now, I want to say, I'm fairly sure many of these were political and economic allegiances. 00:15:34.829 --> 00:15:38.750 But 700, I think Solomon had some other things on his mind as well. 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:40.590 I just wanted to put that out there. 00:15:40.750 --> 00:15:42.669 Uh it's both, right? 00:15:42.909 --> 00:15:46.590 So it is there, but what does this apply for you and I today? 00:15:47.789 --> 00:15:52.029 Solomon didn't wake up one morning and decide to abandon the Lord. 00:15:52.829 --> 00:16:04.269 But what he did was make a few reasonable, perhaps defendable decisions, yes, against the will of God, but he thought it would make sense. 00:16:04.590 --> 00:16:11.629 And before long, started realizing the thing that the Lord said would turn his heart away from him, actually happened. 00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:14.669 It didn't happen right away with marriage, number one. 00:16:15.069 --> 00:16:26.590 It happened over time where these small decisions you and I make, these small compromises, these small, just veering, just a little bit left of what God is trying to tell us and do to us. 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:32.029 See, you and I don't need one big betrayal to lose our first love in the Lord. 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:35.789 We just need enough small, defensible compromises. 00:16:36.029 --> 00:16:36.750 Small reasons. 00:16:36.829 --> 00:16:38.110 We leave for good reasons. 00:16:38.269 --> 00:16:41.149 We we make decisions for for defensible reasons. 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:42.829 Let me give you an example. 00:16:43.069 --> 00:16:58.189 Perhaps in this room you have a partner, uh a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband, a wife, and and somebody offends her or him, and you're like, you know, Kathy, I'm gonna use my my wife because I don't want to offend you. 00:16:58.350 --> 00:17:02.269 Uh Kathy didn't look at my friend the right way. 00:17:02.429 --> 00:17:05.230 Or Kathy didn't invite my friend to the party. 00:17:05.390 --> 00:17:09.309 Oh, that's a toxic place at that church, even though you were part of this community. 00:17:09.390 --> 00:17:10.350 So what am I gonna do? 00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:12.590 Well, next week, I'm not gonna come. 00:17:12.750 --> 00:17:15.069 I want to protect my wife, my girlfriend, my husband. 00:17:15.150 --> 00:17:18.269 I want I want to protect them from big, bad Kathy. 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:19.390 That's my wife. 00:17:20.110 --> 00:17:21.389 She's not big or bad. 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:22.430 She's beautiful. 00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:25.069 Uh illustration, right? 00:17:25.230 --> 00:17:32.829 But someone offends you, and you're like, Well, I am going to defend myself or I'm gonna defend my friend, and I'm not gonna come next week. 00:17:33.629 --> 00:17:38.509 Let's see if we can work this out maybe with time, because that fixes everything, right? 00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:40.990 Uh that was sarcasm. 00:17:41.710 --> 00:17:43.389 Week two, I'm not gonna come. 00:17:43.549 --> 00:17:45.389 Week four, I'm still not here. 00:17:45.629 --> 00:17:49.869 Week six, my calendar starts filling up just a little bit on Sunday mornings. 00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:55.150 Week seven, I realize, wait a minute, no one has called me in the this last week or two. 00:17:55.309 --> 00:17:57.389 They don't even like me at that church. 00:17:57.629 --> 00:17:59.549 They, well, they don't love people. 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:08.670 And I start defending my decisions, my offense with these actions where before you know it, three months down the road, I'm no longer going to church anywhere. 00:18:08.750 --> 00:18:10.670 I've been doing some online church shopping. 00:18:10.910 --> 00:18:11.629 Love you online. 00:18:11.869 --> 00:18:14.829 I know that's not you, but just we're illustration here. 00:18:15.069 --> 00:18:25.869 Um, and and and before you know it, six months later, a year later, not really getting to the online either, not really getting to any church. 00:18:25.950 --> 00:18:32.509 Well, I mean, church people are so hypocritical, and you know, and you know, my my feelings will hurt and everything. 00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:37.710 I what I wish, what I wish this was, was theory. 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:51.629 But I've been in ministry long enough, I've been around the church long enough to know I'm actually describing actual events that have happened over times, over years, in different settings, in different groups in this church and in other churches. 00:18:51.869 --> 00:19:06.589 We don't deal with the little offenses, we don't really, but we justify why we're stepping out of the practices the Lord gives us, and before you know it, our hearts have drifted and we're wondering, does the Lord even want me back? 00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:08.589 These small little decisions. 00:19:08.670 --> 00:19:09.789 Do you see what I'm saying? 00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:12.109 Here's another example. 00:19:12.430 --> 00:19:17.069 Many of you are starting new careers, or you're in your career and you're starting to make it up. 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:18.589 This is a good thing, right? 00:19:20.670 --> 00:19:23.309 Okay, okay, let's quick lesson. 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:27.710 Having a job, being a contributing member of society is a good thing. 00:19:28.029 --> 00:19:28.750 Okay, good. 00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:30.430 Understand, let's just go, good. 00:19:30.670 --> 00:19:43.309 So now many of us starting our jobs, we're starting our careers, and I got a new sales job, and I want to I want to make it and I want to go, and um, let me just change the deal just a little bit, let me compromise just a little bit. 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:53.069 Oh, I've got to get to this event and that event, and I've got to mingle properly, and I start drinking a little bit more, and I and I say, Oh, it's for the work, it's it's for relationship building. 00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:54.589 Again, true stories. 00:19:54.910 --> 00:19:55.869 My true story. 00:19:56.029 --> 00:20:06.750 And I begin compromising even more, and before you know it, I'm drinking a lot now, and I'm compromising a lot now, and my heart begins to drift. 00:20:06.829 --> 00:20:09.869 And I come to church and I'm a consumer now. 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:17.629 Well, I mean, I tithe a lot, you know, I give a lot to this church, um, and and I mean I mean they should be happy I'm here, you know. 00:20:17.789 --> 00:20:21.309 And and we begin to treat our relationship with the Lord that way. 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:22.509 What has happened? 00:20:22.750 --> 00:20:25.789 Small little compromises, small little drifting. 00:20:25.869 --> 00:20:28.029 And before you know it, what is the problem? 00:20:28.509 --> 00:20:35.069 The problem isn't that you have a drink, the problem is your heart has drifted. 00:20:35.309 --> 00:20:37.549 Your heart is divided. 00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:43.470 Many of these things I can describe to you in themselves, not that big a deal. 00:20:43.869 --> 00:20:45.789 700 wives is a big deal. 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:49.470 Everything else, not that, not always, it's not the problem. 00:20:49.789 --> 00:20:54.190 The problem is the heart that's divided, and now I'm running after other gods. 00:20:54.910 --> 00:21:00.990 Other idols, other things that make me and bring me fulfillment and peace and joy. 00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:09.549 Anything else but God that you run to for peace, fulfillment, joy, identity, for worth, for value is an idol in our life. 00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:28.190 We run to those things when we veer off what we just experience together lives holy, devoted to Him, ministering to the Lord, practices and rhythms in our lives of coming every week, being in community with his church. 00:21:28.349 --> 00:21:31.869 What those things are there to help us along our journey. 00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:36.829 Look at verse 9 in chapter 11. 00:21:37.150 --> 00:21:38.269 Look at this detail. 00:21:38.670 --> 00:21:42.910 It says the God of Israel who appeared to him twice. 00:21:44.589 --> 00:21:45.950 This is again significant. 00:21:46.029 --> 00:21:48.109 There's nothing insignificant in these scriptures. 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:51.230 The God of Israel who appeared to Solomon twice. 00:21:51.389 --> 00:22:01.230 This is the Old Testament, doesn't have the benefit of you and I being able to come in into the presence of the Lord, you know, Sunday morning, Monday morning, Wednesday morning. 00:22:01.710 --> 00:22:03.389 This is a big deal. 00:22:03.789 --> 00:22:08.509 More than many of the Old Testament figures, God appeared to Solomon twice. 00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:14.190 Solomon experienced the glory, the weight of the Lord coming down where they couldn't stand in his presence. 00:22:14.349 --> 00:22:16.029 Solomon's problem wasn't information. 00:22:17.230 --> 00:22:18.589 Solomon knew God. 00:22:18.750 --> 00:22:19.710 He knew about God. 00:22:19.869 --> 00:22:21.069 He knew what God had done. 00:22:21.230 --> 00:22:22.109 He was raised. 00:22:22.269 --> 00:22:24.029 The information wasn't the problem. 00:22:24.190 --> 00:22:25.869 The revelation wasn't the problem. 00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:26.990 What was the problem? 00:22:27.069 --> 00:22:38.109 Is a life that was ready to continue day in, day out, to follow the will and the ways of the Lord so that a heart can stay true, wholly true for the Lord. 00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:51.150 This is why I think so many older people either get stuck into their rhythms, and this is all the only way I'm ever going to serve the Lord, you know, with the with the organ, and if it's not that, it's hell music. 00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:54.109 Or we just drift away. 00:22:54.990 --> 00:22:58.670 We let busyness catch us up. 00:23:00.829 --> 00:23:03.549 So what does this mean for you and I today? 00:23:04.829 --> 00:23:09.230 Lesson here isn't avoid Solomon's marriage problems. 00:23:11.629 --> 00:23:18.349 A lesson for us is it's an invitation to do an audit on where your heart is today. 00:23:19.309 --> 00:23:22.109 What is actually running your calendar? 00:23:22.269 --> 00:23:24.109 What is running your life? 00:23:24.349 --> 00:23:26.750 What is the thing that's driving you? 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:29.789 What is the thing that you're running towards? 00:23:30.109 --> 00:23:37.150 To find identity, to find value, to find joy, to find peace? 00:23:37.710 --> 00:23:45.710 What are the things that you look to first before you come on your knees wholeheartedly before the Lord? 00:23:46.990 --> 00:23:48.589 Ask yourself some questions. 00:23:48.829 --> 00:23:50.190 Is your heart divided? 00:23:50.750 --> 00:23:52.109 Is your heart divided? 00:23:52.349 --> 00:23:54.829 What are you preoccupied with checking? 00:23:56.190 --> 00:24:05.389 I know, I know Gen Z of today, if you don't check your social media every 37 seconds, someone's gonna get mad at you. 00:24:05.629 --> 00:24:10.269 If you don't leave leave your e your text unread, someone's gonna get offended. 00:24:10.349 --> 00:24:11.549 I get that, right? 00:24:11.869 --> 00:24:14.349 But what why do you keep going there? 00:24:14.589 --> 00:24:16.269 Ask yourself the question. 00:24:16.509 --> 00:24:20.589 Why do you allow your friends' opinions to drive your decisions? 00:24:20.829 --> 00:24:27.629 Why do you allow how many likes and shares to ascribe value to you? 00:24:27.789 --> 00:24:34.829 Why do you give that so much power when the Lord invites us to be holy after him? 00:24:35.470 --> 00:24:38.509 This is the question we've got to ask. 00:24:39.950 --> 00:24:44.589 Because where that answer lies is where your heart truly is. 00:24:46.430 --> 00:24:51.789 Solomon's heart that became divided led to a divided kingdom. 00:24:52.109 --> 00:24:57.150 I'm gonna skip over just briefly chapter 12, but but here's how the story goes. 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:01.789 Solomon's son, Rehoboham, takes over. 00:25:01.950 --> 00:25:05.230 He still has the whole kingdom, all 12 tribes. 00:25:05.629 --> 00:25:10.109 He listens to the old advisors, doesn't want to take their way. 00:25:10.190 --> 00:25:15.069 He listens to his peers, his buddies, takes their stupid advice. 00:25:15.389 --> 00:25:20.430 And out of that one decision, two tribes split away. 00:25:20.589 --> 00:25:23.230 The other ten say, we don't need you. 00:25:23.470 --> 00:25:29.789 They then, the Lord says, Okay, Jeroboam, Jerobim, Jerobam, come on, help me out. 00:25:30.910 --> 00:25:32.589 Jeroboam, thank you. 00:25:32.829 --> 00:25:36.349 That's lovely, lovely pronunciation there. 00:25:36.589 --> 00:25:37.470 Jeroboam. 00:25:37.950 --> 00:25:42.589 He then gets told by the Lord, you get to take be king of the other ten. 00:25:44.029 --> 00:25:44.589 Him? 00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:49.470 He gets insecure. 00:25:49.789 --> 00:25:54.990 By the prophet of the Lord, he gets the word, you will be king of those of those ten. 00:25:55.309 --> 00:25:56.269 He gets insecure. 00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:57.069 What does he do? 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:06.509 He says, Oh, they're gonna go to where they're gonna go there and then they're no longer gonna follow me. 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:07.789 So what am I gonna do? 00:26:08.029 --> 00:26:12.589 Well, he creates new temples, new, new places of worship. 00:26:12.750 --> 00:26:16.349 He says, I'm gonna create a new feast, not the ones the Lord had said. 00:26:16.509 --> 00:26:19.789 He said, I'm gonna get new priests, not the Levites. 00:26:19.950 --> 00:26:21.389 He creates his own priests. 00:26:21.549 --> 00:26:28.670 He does all these counterfeits to try and make sure he can hold on to the kingdom of God that God had given them. 00:26:28.990 --> 00:26:31.789 He's compromising through his insecurity. 00:26:32.029 --> 00:26:39.629 Through these two actions, just in chapter 12, we're seeing what Solomon's decisions, how it plays out. 00:26:39.869 --> 00:26:54.589 A split kingdom, an arrogant king in Rehobah, an arrogant king in him, and you see an insecure king in the other ones, and they're all just one by one compromising on the will and the ways of the Lord. 00:26:54.750 --> 00:26:56.109 And who suffers? 00:26:57.230 --> 00:26:57.869 The people. 00:26:58.990 --> 00:27:00.029 Who suffers? 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:00.990 The people. 00:27:03.629 --> 00:27:08.990 Solomon had so drifted in his ways that he had made the whole entire nation. 00:27:09.150 --> 00:27:17.150 The word is the type of work they were doing, the word is the same word used when Israel was under Egypt in slavery. 00:27:17.389 --> 00:27:19.230 Solomon had left his people in there. 00:27:19.389 --> 00:27:25.869 His stupid son, his arrogant son, doubles their work and causes a division. 00:27:26.109 --> 00:27:32.990 Friends, on the other side of you and I having a divided heart, there's brokenness and pain. 00:27:34.029 --> 00:27:35.950 There's people who got affected. 00:27:36.109 --> 00:27:42.269 Now you may not be a king, but you're a leader in some aspects of your life. 00:27:42.509 --> 00:27:53.789 Perhaps as in your in your relationships, perhaps in your in your dorm rooms, your house, perhaps in your home, in your friend group, there's leadership, there's influence that the Lord has given you. 00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:58.029 On the other side of your divided heart, there are people who suffer. 00:28:00.349 --> 00:28:05.549 So I want you to ask another difficult question on the other side of my compromise. 00:28:06.109 --> 00:28:07.789 Who is paying for it? 00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:10.750 Or who's going to pay for it? 00:28:12.029 --> 00:28:21.389 Perhaps a spouse is running on empty because you've been somewhere else mentally, emotionally for months, and they're wondering what on earth is wrong with me. 00:28:21.629 --> 00:28:23.950 Because your heart has drifted. 00:28:24.910 --> 00:28:33.549 You've got friends who are covering for you over and over, making excuses for you, beginning to lie for you because your heart has drifted. 00:28:34.589 --> 00:28:36.349 God has called us into the city. 00:28:36.509 --> 00:28:37.869 Columbus, I love the city. 00:28:38.190 --> 00:28:41.470 I've grown to love the city and what God is doing here. 00:28:41.549 --> 00:28:50.910 And there's so much happening in the city, but there are so many people who need a church on fire with a single-hearted devotion. 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:54.109 They need us to get this right. 00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:56.029 They need us to worship the Lord. 00:28:56.109 --> 00:28:56.990 They don't know it yet. 00:28:57.150 --> 00:29:01.470 But the other side of our disobedience is a city that doesn't know Jesus. 00:29:02.750 --> 00:29:05.950 There is a consequence to your and my compromise. 00:29:07.710 --> 00:29:11.230 Most of you, many of you don't have children yet. 00:29:11.549 --> 00:29:17.549 But what's happening in our community and in our culture these days, our kids come along. 00:29:17.789 --> 00:29:19.309 Our kids have a schedule. 00:29:19.470 --> 00:29:22.430 Now the schedule becomes the Lord of your life. 00:29:22.670 --> 00:29:24.269 Then our kids have sports. 00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:27.629 Now the kids' sports schedule becomes the lord of your life. 00:29:27.869 --> 00:29:36.829 Then the kids have this interest and that interest, and your kids, you've made your child an idol, and your child is not strong enough to carry that level of devotion. 00:29:39.150 --> 00:29:46.750 Many of the young people in this room are on the other side of this gentle parenting, or you know, just don't rock the baby's boat in any way. 00:29:46.910 --> 00:29:52.109 So, children, maybe you've grown up being at the absolute center of your family. 00:29:52.269 --> 00:29:57.869 And now that you're out of your family, you're wondering why you're not the absolute center of everybody else's life. 00:29:58.990 --> 00:30:00.269 See the connection? 00:30:00.509 --> 00:30:03.069 You've been made an idol by somebody. 00:30:03.389 --> 00:30:05.389 And now you're struggling. 00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:10.990 Our devotion, all of us, needs to be wholeheartedly after the Lord. 00:30:11.150 --> 00:30:12.910 This is the heart of God for us. 00:30:13.230 --> 00:30:15.470 Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 6. 00:30:15.710 --> 00:30:17.470 No one can serve two masters. 00:30:17.869 --> 00:30:22.269 Either he will hate the one, will love the other, or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other. 00:30:22.430 --> 00:30:24.589 He says, you cannot serve God in money. 00:30:24.829 --> 00:30:27.629 God is not saying it is not wise to do it. 00:30:27.789 --> 00:30:30.269 He's not saying it'll be really hard to do it. 00:30:30.430 --> 00:30:34.190 He's not saying, man, your schedule is going to be really full, rather, don't do it. 00:30:34.349 --> 00:30:35.950 He's saying you cannot. 00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:41.150 There will be only one God in your life: either money or God. 00:30:42.109 --> 00:30:44.750 Either your career or God. 00:30:45.470 --> 00:30:52.190 Either your gaps that you're trying to fill desperately with, you name this substance, or God. 00:30:53.549 --> 00:30:56.750 Either your friend's opinion for your life or God. 00:30:56.990 --> 00:31:02.829 Either your parents' opinion for your life that they're trying to work out before the Lord and not sure how, or God. 00:31:03.069 --> 00:31:04.670 Who will you serve? 00:31:09.950 --> 00:31:11.629 Who will you serve? 00:31:16.430 --> 00:31:25.150 Solomon is described in greater detail than I did today as having more wisdom than anyone alive in his generation. 00:31:25.710 --> 00:31:31.950 And even all his wisdom was not enough to hold his heart together. 00:31:33.389 --> 00:31:35.869 Okay, if you don't know, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. 00:31:36.029 --> 00:31:37.389 The book of wisdom. 00:31:37.710 --> 00:31:41.789