This passage in first Kings 9
15 through 23 Our title tonight of the message is no bondman
and This is a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God in this
world If you think of Israel at this time and King Solomon
was the king of peace he was known as the king of peace because
There was no war really during his reign he's a picture of Christ
in that of course just as David was in being a warrior and Doing
that which was necessary that there would be peace But this
passage is such a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God is Israel's
God's people Solomon is God's King picture in Christ and back
then This was God's chosen people in this world and how they lived
And it's a picture of God's chosen people now and how we live spiritually
in this world King Solomon is king. He's Christ in this picture
though. We see his sin in this very passage
in marrying Against the law of God marrying
a Pharaoh's daughter. And in other
things, yet he pictures the Lord Jesus in one sense. If you always
remember that parables, types, and pictures, they paint a picture
overall of the gospel. If you get bogged down in the
details, you miss the point. And I believe, by God's grace,
I pray that we'll see the point tonight. What's Solomon doing
in this passage? What's what's he pictured as
doing building? Building it talks about all the
things that he built the Lord's house his own house these walls
and forts fortifications Building The kingdom of God The Lord Jesus
Christ said upon this rock I will build my church. You might see a book, I saw a
book one time, How to Build a Church. Why would you wanna read that?
God, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm gonna build it. We're just
gonna be included in it, and thank God we are. I don't wanna
do the building. That's the king's job. He's the one that sees to that.
But Christ is building God's house in us. Building fortresses,
defenses, building infrastructure for productivity. That's a spiritual picture. These
things that Solomon built, the Lord builds those things in us. His people, his kingdom. Listen
to these passages of scripture. First Peter 2.4, to whom coming
as unto a living stone, we're still coming to Christ. That's
not a one time event. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. And you also as living stones
are built up a spiritual house. and holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. So we read of Solomon here, he
imposed a levy for to build the house of the Lord and his own
house and Milo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo
and Giza. He built all of these cities
and infrastructure and defenses the place of worship The Lord
is that in us he is the place of worship a Spiritual house and holy priesthood
to offer up spiritual sacrifices. That's what happened in that
house that Solomon built It also happens in here In the heart
of the believer acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Listen to
first Corinthians 619 what? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have
of God and you're not your own That's God doing that in you
the temple The city Solomon built fortifications and cities for
chariots and horsemen and There was imminent war, though he didn't
enter into a whole lot of war during his reign, but it was
always a threat. Listen to Ephesians 6.11. Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God.
We need that built up in us, don't we? We need those fortifications. That's the Lord that does that.
We can't do that. You may be able to withstand
in the evil day and having done all To stand Solomon built the wall
we saw that in our text Job won that and then Satan answered
the Lord and said doth Job fear God for naught hast thou not
made an hedge about him and about his house you see how this is
a spiritual and What Solomon did and built, provided is a
picture of what the Lord does for us in us spiritually. He builds a wall, a hedge, a
boundary. Hast thou not made an hedge about
him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side?
Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is
increased in the land. The names of the cities in verse
15 are significant. We've read them a couple of times,
so we won't read them again, but there in verse 15, there
are names of the things that he built. He built up the cities
themselves, I'm sure, housing and things like that, but also
defenses, and in certain cities were for certain things, like
he had a city for his horsemen. one for his chariots. But these
names, think of these as places the Lord sets up in our hearts. As one of his citizens, he does
this for us. Milo, I think the way you say
it is Milo, is from a root word which means to fill, be full,
fullness, be satisfied, complete. The Lord does that in him. That's
part of his work within us. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body and you are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power. He's done a perfect
work for us and he does this work in us. Jerusalem is one of the words
in that verse. He built up, he built the wall
of Jerusalem. Jerusalem means teaching of peace. Does not he do that every time
we hear the gospel? The Lord has built that within
each of us. He teaches us to be at peace
with the trials that we face. We continue to learn to be at
peace with God by the blood of his cross, to be able to rest
fully in that. because we still struggle with
that. Hazor means castle or enclosure. The Lord builds a castle. The
Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my
strength in whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn of my salvation
and my high tower. That's David's song in 18.2 of
the Psalms. Megiddo is from a root word that
means attack invade He also builds up forces within us. We're not
all defense are we as believers? We have the sword of the spirit He gives us Spiritual maturity to use that
to Gezer means portion Lamentations 324 the Lord is
my portion saith my soul Therefore will I hope in him Deuteronomy
32 9 for the Lord's portion is his people It's a mutual wonderful
thing in it the Lord is my portion and Then Deuteronomy 32 9 the
Lord's portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance
So we count each other as all we need In our text it says that the
Israelites could not Utterly destroy all the godless in their
midst all of the children of all these other countries and
That the Lord told them to destroy. He told them to go in and destroy
every one of them, but it says they couldn't do it. Look at,
and that's in verses 20 and 21 in our text. Look with me at
Deuteronomy 7. Verse 1. When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land, whither thou goest to possess it, and hath
cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites,
and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites,
the Jebusites, most of these I believe are mentioned
in our text, seven nations greater and mightier than thou, When
the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt
smite them and utterly destroy them. It's the same wording.
In our text it says they could not utterly destroy them. God said utterly destroy them,
thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. You see what they picture so
clearly, this world. Things of this world Paul said
this world is crucified unto me and I unto this world There's
no quarter. There's no compromise. There's
no mercy There's no Cooperation whatsoever
neither shalt thou make marriages with them thy daughter thou shalt
not give unto his son nor his daughter shalt thou take unto
thy son and For they will turn away thy son from following me,
that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall
you deal with them. You shall destroy their altars,
break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn
their graven images with fire. That's what we do spiritually.
We talked about it some this morning. We show nothing but
utter contempt for the religion of this world. How can we do
otherwise when God is our God, when the Lord Jesus Christ is
our Savior? For thou art an holy people unto
the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself. above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people, but because
the Lord loved you. And because he would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand. Redeemed you out of the house
of bond of bondmen From the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt you
see the spiritual lesson in that how that Israel is a picture
God brought us out with a mighty hand a Mighty hand and redeemed us Redeemed us by His grace, by His sovereign
grace. Why? Because He loved us. He
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen. Is that true of you and I? Does
the Lord command His people to do that which they cannot do?
Utterly destroy them. Listen to what the Lord said
in John 5, 12. They asked this man at the pool of Bethesda how,
then asked they him, what man is that which said unto thee,
take up thy bed and walk? And he that was healed wist not
who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being
in that place. Afterward, Jesus findeth him
in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole.
Sin no more. Don't sin anymore. Can you imagine
the Son of God saying that to you? He does. He says that to
us. Don't sin anymore lest a worse
thing come upon you. Remember the woman who was caught
in adultery and they picked up stones ready to stone her and
then the Lord said, whoever among you is without sin, let him cast
the first stone. Take the first shot. And they
all began to leave. And the Lord asked this woman, where
are those that condemn you? Are there any that condemn you?
And she said, there's nobody. He said, neither do I condemn
thee, go and sin no more. 1 John 2.1, my little children,
these things write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the sinless, the righteous. And so, are we able to utterly
destroy all that is within us that's contrary to God? No, we're
not. We're not, but we're told to. Sin is never okay. What's the
Lord gonna say? You know, go and you're gonna
sin a lot, but you know, just be careful, you know. Of course
he says that, go and sin no more. And what are the consequences
of not being able to? Listen to Joshua 23, 11. Take good heed therefore unto
yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. Else, if you do in any wise,
go back and cleave unto the remnant of these nations." That's what
these children of these other countries were in the midst of
the Israelites in our text. the remnant of these nations
that remain among you and shall make marriages with them and
go in unto them and they to you know for a certainty that the
Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from
before you, but they shall be snares and traps unto you and
scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish
from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given
you. Have you and I driven out the
Jebusites and the Hittites and the Amorites? Are they a grief to you? Are
they a thorn? A thorn in your eyes? But look what God does in our text. He even uses the
thorns to be a blessing to his people. He uses them to build, to construct,
to further his kingdom. In our text, the building projects
within the kingdom were furthered by those who should not have
even been there. We see the Lord doing things
this way all through the scriptures. Judas, what did Judas do? He betrayed the Lord, that was
horrible. Well, it was necessary though, wasn't it? The Lord furthered
the work of his grace for his people by one that shouldn't
have even been there. We've got an enemy in there,
even among the 12? That's horrible. But the Lord's gonna use them
for our eternal good. That's what he's doing here.
Solomon made slave labor out of them. They shouldn't have
even been there. Yeah, but they were there by
God's purpose and design. He even uses the thorns to be
a blessing to his people. What does that look like spiritually?
Turn with me to second Corinthians chapter 12. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 Paul
speaks in this chapter about how that the Lord gave him a
special revelation a wonderful revelation of things and But
he says in verse seven, lest I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations, there was given
to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. And for this thing,
I've assault the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.
And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and reproaches, in necessities and persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. Now you think about in what sense
he's saying this. Do you take pleasure in Persecutions? In a sense, of course not. There's
nothing pleasant about that. But what does he mean by that?
I take pleasure in that. You know the Lord is using it for
your good and His glory. Infirmities? My infirmities? My shortcomings? My inability
to worship as I ought to? Or do anything as I ought to? The Lord's gonna make slave labor
out of it. It's gonna teach you patience. It's gonna cause you to stay
close to him. He's gonna bring you in and use
that to do it. He does it all the time. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions.
distresses for Christ's sake For when I'm weak, then am I
strong The revelations lifted Paul up,
of course any time God reveals something to you that's gonna
Lift you up. He gloried in what God showed
him and we do too We delight if God shows me something That's
a wonderful thing His great grace But there was a countermeasure. There was a messenger of Satan,
a thorn. And that word, I think, is misleading
in our day. The word thorn there is a pointed
piece of wood, a stake, not a ribeye, an S-T-A-K-E, a stake. You think of a thorn in a rosebush
and you might draw a little bit of blood. This is like a spear
in my side, Paul said. Whatever this was. And he wanted rid of it. And
we do too, we would. There's nothing wrong with wanting
rid of it. The Lord, Paul beseeched the Lord three times. that it would be removed from
his side. There's not a thing in the world wrong with that.
The Lord didn't rebuke him for beseeching him that it would
be removed. But look what the Lord did say.
My grace is enough for you. For you. Not in general. This is not just doctrine, this
is experience now. Oh, I believe the Lord's grace
is sufficient. Yeah, but when it gets right down to it, is
it enough for you? When you're suffering, when you're
hurting, when you're scared to death, when you're miserable,
is it enough for you? My grace is sufficient for thee
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God didn't say to Paul, you're
just gonna have to take the good with the bad, you know, and be
happy with that. What the Lord said to Paul, in
effect, is this, you're gonna have to be satisfied with my
grace. That's gonna have to be enough.
It is enough. And we've got to live that. We've got to live
that we've got to confess that we've got to testify of that The only way that's gonna happen
how are we gonna do that his grace is sufficient His grace He brings us to the place where
we're content with the fact that we are saved kept Upheld and
strengthened by grace alone That's it Can you truly put yourself
in his hands all the way That's the question here My grace is
sufficient No matter what the situation no matter what the
heartache No matter what the danger No
matter our wretched unbelief, God help our unbelief, but his
grace is sufficient. You know, that's the work of
grace in the heart. He just makes us happy with his
grace. By nature, the only thing we
hate worse than God's law is God's grace. That all changes
when he bestows his grace upon us. Even when my disobedience to
God brings a thorn, a spear in my
side, the Lord will use it to build me up for his glory. My inability, I'm not able. How to perform
that which is good, I find not. I'm not able to utterly destroy. That within me which is godless
and idolatrous and has no faith in God, I'm not able to utterly
destroy it. But my inability will not be
my ruin because His grace is enough. You remember when the
Lord asked the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, could you
not watch with me for one hour? And the sad answer to that question
is, no, they could not. But you know what he ultimately
said to them? Sleep on and get some rest, it's enough. What
was enough? They couldn't even stay, not
only couldn't they contribute to their salvation, they couldn't
even stay awake to watch him save them. It's enough, what's
enough? His grace is enough. We cannot utterly destroy the
Amalekites. But God brings good out of evil. He brings good out of the world's
evil. He brings good out of our evil. Those people shouldn't have even
been there and yet he turned them into labor for the good
of his people and for the glory of his kingdom. That happens
every day in his spiritual kingdom of grace. God uses this world even to build his church, even
my sins, though there's no excuse for them whatsoever. And there's
never a time when it's okay to sin. But God will impose a levy
even on my sins and bring them into subjection for his glory
and my good. His grace is sufficient. I have
a stake in my side. And it's of our own making, but his grace is sufficient. We cry in this world as believers.
I believe we cry every day, and though we don't say it audibly,
we may not even be fully conscious
of what we're doing. But does a day go by when we
don't cry in some form or another, oh Lord, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? His grace is sufficient. For my sin has abounded, his
grace has much more abounded. Praise both now and forever his holiness.