1 Kings chapter 3. And Solomon made affinity with
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought
her into the city of David until he had made an end of building
his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem
round about. Only The people sacrificed in
high places because there was no house built under the name
of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking
in the statutes of David, his father, until he had sacrificed
and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to
sacrifice there, for there was the great high place, a thousand
burnt offerings that Solomon offered. upon the altar. Let's
pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son and we ask for his presence, for his
blessing, that he would be with us and bless the word preached
for your glory. We confess our sins. We pray
for forgiveness and cleansing. And Lord, our desire is that
we might be found in Christ. Cause your gospel to be preached.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now look at the last sentence
of chapter two, and the kingdom was established in the hand of
Solomon. Now Solomon, according to the
scriptures, is the wisest man to ever live. Turn to Verse 12
of chapter 3, Behold, I've done according to thy words. Lo, I
have given thee a wise and understanding heart. This is God speaking to
Solomon. So that there was none like thee
before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. Look in chapter 4, verse 29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and
understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even
as the sand that's on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled
the wisdom of all the children of the East country, and all
the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men,
than Ethan, the Israelite, and Haman, and Calcol, and Dardath,
The sons of Mahal and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake 3000 proverbs and
his songs were 1005. He spake of trees from the cedar
tree that is in Lebanon, even into the hyssop that springeth
out of the wall. And he spake also of beasts and of fowl and
of creeping things and of fishes. And there came of all people
to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the earth.
We heard of his wisdom. Now, This man died as wise as
he is, he died as a fool. He died as perhaps the greatest
fool ever. Turn with me to First Kings chapter
11. This is the wisest man to ever
live, chapter 11, verse 1, but King Solomon loved many strange
women. Together with the daughter of
Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zionites,
and Hittites of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the
children in Israel, you shall not go into them, neither shall
they come unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods. That's in Deuteronomy chapter
5. Solomon clave unto these in love, and he had 700 wives, princesses,
and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For it
came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away
his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with
the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For
Solomon went after Ashotroth, the goddess of the Zidianians,
and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the
Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high
place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab in the hill that's before
Jerusalem, and for Moloch the abomination of the children of
Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which
burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord
was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned. from the
Lord God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded
him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other
gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore
the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and
thou hast not kept my covenant, my statutes, which I have commanded
thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give
it to thy servant. Notwithstanding, in thy days
I'll not do it, for David thy father's sake, but I'll rend
it out of the hand of thy son." Now we see the wisest man to
ever live dying in infamy. And if you would guess, you would
say this man is not saved the way he died. That's the way we
would all feel. Now turn to 2 Samuel 7. Verse 12. This is God speaking to David,
and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seat after thee, which shall proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. Now, God
is speaking of Solomon at this time. And this was before the
issue with Bathsheba, but God was already in control of everything
as he always is. And he ordained that Solomon
would be king. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 2, or 12, I'm
sorry, 2 Samuel chapter 12. beginning in verse 24. And David
comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and went into her and lay with
her. And she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. His
name means peaceable. And the Lord loved him. And he sent by the hand of Nathan
the prophet. And he called his name Jedidiah,
beloved of the Lord, because the Lord loved him. Now, he was
loved by God. And the Lord never stops loving
anybody. Now, Solomon is a great type
of Christ, which turned to Psalm 72. Before I get into what I
want to say, turn to Psalm 72. Notice the name of this psalm, and these
are inspired. These are part of inspiration.
Psalm 72 says a psalm for Solomon, and you can see as we read this
psalm how Solomon is a great type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Give the king thy judgment, O God, and thy righteousness unto the
king's son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness and
thy poor with judgment. Now this is talking about Solomon,
but obviously it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. The mountain
shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness.
He shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children
of the needy and he shall break in pieces the oppressor. They
shall fear thee as long as the sun and the moon endure throughout
all generations. He shall come down like rain
upon the mown grass as showers that water the earth. In his
days shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long
as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from
sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They
that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies
shall lick the dust. I say once again, this is obviously
speaking of Christ, although he's talking about Solomon. The
kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents. The
kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
Now this was true of Solomon. He became the most powerful king
in all the world. He controlled everything. But
this is especially true of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he shall
deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath
no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save
the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from
deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
And he shall live, and to him shall be given the gold of Sheba.
Prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall
he be praised. There shall be a handful of corn
in the earth, and upon the top of the mountain the fruit thereof
shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish
like grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him. All nations
shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name
forever. And let the whole earth be filled
with his glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of
David, the son of Jesse, are ended. Now, what a glorious type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
and the Song of Solomon. A man of great wisdom. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter 1. This was written by Solomon. The words of the preacher, the
son of David, king in Jerusalem, and here is his conclusion of
everything that goes on under the sun, this wise man, vanity
of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Look in verse 12. I, the preacher, was king over
Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and search out
by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This
sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised
therewith. I've seen all the works that are done under the
sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of the spirit. That
which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting
cannot be numbered. I commune with my own heart,
saying, lo, I've come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom
than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea,
my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and
I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.
I perceive that this also is vexation of spirit, for in much
wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow. I said in my heart, go to now,
I'll prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure, and behold, this
also is vanity. I said of laughter, it's mad,
and of mirth, what doeth it? I sought my heart to give myself
unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom, until I lay
hold on folly, till I might see what was that was good for the
sons of men, which they should do unto the heavens. All the
days of my life I made me great works, I builted me houses, I
planted vineyards, I made gardens and orchards, I planted trees
and then of all kinds of fruits. I made pools of water to water
therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees. I got me servants
and maidens and servants born in my house. Also, I had great
possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in
Jerusalem. I gathered me also silver and
gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces.
I got me singers and women singers and the delights of the sons
of men as musical instruments that were of all sorts. So I
was great. more than all they that were
before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with
me, and whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them.
I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced
in all my labor, and this was my portion of all my labor. Then
I looked on all the works that my hand had wrought, and on the
labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and
vexation of the spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Now this is this wise man's conclusion
of life. Now let's turn back to our text
in 1 Kings chapter 3. This is just more of an introduction
as to this man Solomon. 1 Kings chapter 3. In the last verse, in the kingdom
of chapter 2, the last sentence of the last verse, and the kingdom
was established in the hand of Solomon. And Solomon made affinity
with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Now this shows how powerful Israel
was. Now they become allies with Egypt. They don't want to battle
Israel. Solomon's become so powerful.
And he disobeyed God right off the bat. He took Pharaoh's daughter
and brought her unto the city of David. And this was forbidden
in Deuteronomy chapter 7. And I read many people who said,
well, she must have proselytized. But it doesn't say that in the
Bible. Neither did any of these other women that he ended up
marrying. But he took her into the city of David until he had
made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord.
Notice his own house first and the house of the Lord second.
As you go on reading, he spent 13 years building his own house
and seven years the house of the Lord. And the wall of Jerusalem
round about. Only the people sacrificed in
high places. And that's always an act of idolatry.
And he tolerated it. He allowed it to take place.
The people sacrificed in high places because there was no house
built in the name of the Lord into those days. But still says
Solomon loved the Lord in spite of his disobedience. Can you
understand that? He loved the Lord. His disobedience,
his weakness is pointed out, and this is going to end up being
his downfall, humanly speaking, in the end of his life when he
loved many strange women. But Solomon loved the Lord, walking
in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and
burned incense in high places. He was tolerant of that which
is wrong, and it's a lack of love for the truth that will
allow that. And we read that he didn't follow the Lord fully
the way David did. He didn't do it. He didn't have
a perfect heart the way his father David did. And the king went
to Gibeon to sacrifice there for that was the great high place,
a thousand burnt offerings. Now, here are four things I'd
like to say about Solomon in line with those scriptures. You
know, it's pointed out that the very beginning of his kingship,
that he disobeyed God, that he married someone who God forbid,
and this ended up causing his heart to be turned away from
the Lord. Yet we know he was loved of the Lord. And if we
look at this man, we'd say he wasn't saved. He didn't know
the love of the Lord, the way he died, but we know he did because
God's word says he did. Now, what can we conclude about
this man Solomon? Number one, man at his best state, That's all of it, isn't it? The
wisest man to ever live. Man, this man, these men and
women I'm looking at, and everybody outside of this room, man at
his best state is altogether vanity. That's what the scripture
says. Man at his best state. Solomon
is man at his best state. He had infinitely more wisdom
than you and I do. Wisest man to ever live. And
yet he dies like the biggest fool to ever live. And we know
the Lord loved him and the Lord never stops loving someone. We
know he loved the Lord. We know when he died, he came
into the presence of the Lord. But he is an example of man at
his best state. You believe that about yourself? I say I do, sometimes I wonder
whether I really do, but it's what the Bible teaches. Man at
his best state is altogether vanity. Now, I'm thankful the
Lord knoweth our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
Aren't you? Don't be shocked by anything. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. And here's the second point I'd
like to make about Solomon, and this is a very sobering thought.
Our conduct has such an effect on our children. Now you read
where the Lord said to Solomon, I'm going to bring this evil.
But for David's sake, we just read that for David's sake, because
of David's relationship with me, I'm not going to bring it
in your life. I'm going to bring it in the life of your son. And it was with when Rehoboam
came and all that trouble was created for him. And it was because
of Solomon's sin. Now somebody says, how could
that be fair? Well, it is. Uh, you know, whatever the Lord
does is right. Amen. Whatever the Lord does
is right. And he brought this sorrow into
Rehoboam's life because of the sin of his father. Now, Rehoboam
was a sinful man. He deserved it. We realize that
you can't say God is not fair, but understand this, our actions,
our decisions that we make in this life are going to have a
drastic effect on our children. Ask Rehoboam, Solomon's son. It did. Now here's the third
statement. And I want you to listen to this
real carefully. You and I cannot judge whether or not someone
is saved by how they're living. Can't do it. If you would have
looked at Solomon, you would have concluded that he couldn't
have been saved the way he died. Look at what he was doing. He
was worshipping idols. He was building temples to false
gods. I mean, he had 700 wives and
300 concubines. You'd say, how could this man
be saved with this life he is living? But the fact of the matter
is, you can never judge whether or not anyone is saved or lost
by their conduct. So don't do it. Don't do it. Forget it. It's foolishness.
You can't make that assumption. And I want you to think, how
much difference is there between Solomon and you? What do you
think about that? How much difference is there
between Solomon and you? And here's the fourth statement
I want to make. First, man, Solomon, man at his best, stayed us all
together. Second, you can't make a judgment. I mean, second, our
conduct has such an effect on our children. Third, you can't
make a judgment on somebody, whether or not they're saved
or lost by their behavior. And here's the last statement
and how I love this statement. For somebody like Solomon or
me or you to be saved, how much of salvation has to be of grace? How much of salvation has to
be of pure, free grace? Now, in Solomon's case, it had
to be grace, didn't it? Any different with you? How much grace did it take for
God to elect you? Did he see anything in you that
would cause him to choose you? Free grace. How much grace did
it take for God to cause you to be justified? Did it have
anything to do with your works? How much grace did it take for
you to be redeemed? Was there anything in you that
God saw that I need to redeem them? No. Every aspect of salvation
is by grace. And you can bet Solomon believed
that and rejoiced in it. The only hope any sinner has
is grace. Now, why did the Lord reveal
this about the ending of Solomon's life? Because I would have liked
to have had a better ending, wouldn't you? I mean, the wisest
man on the earth and have an ending like this where he dies
almost in infamy. And the Lord is angry with him
and the things he says and the things that take place in his
life and the lives of his children. I would like to have had a better
ending. But this is the way God ended this. And this teaches
us as powerfully as any other thing in the scripture, by looking
at Solomon, that salvation really is all of grace. And aren't you
glad it is? Do you look at yourself as any
better than Solomon? Of course not. Of course not. Thank God for the grace of God
in Christ Jesus that saves sinners like Solomon and me and you.