Not second Kings, first Kings. Evidently I said that wrong a
few times last week. Verse 5. Then Adonijah, the son of Hagath,
exalted himself, saying, I will be king. And my marginal reading
says, I will reign. The word be king here is actually
a verb. I will reign. And he prepared
him chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, how thankful we are.
For that, dear son. For his beauty, for his glory,
for his excellency, for the completeness of the salvation that's in him.
And Lord, we ask that by your spirit you would speak to our
hearts to reveal him to us. And teach us what it is to trust
him and glory in his cross. We pray that the gospel might
be preached in the power of your spirit. Lord, we're aware of
our sinfulness. We confess our sins. Lord, we
ask that you would give us grace to truly take sides with yourself
against ourselves and our sins and confess them. And Lord, may
we find mercy and grace in Christ Jesus. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen. Now this story about Adonijah,
whatever his name is, he was the brother of Absalom. And he's
doing the exact same thing that his brother did. He's declaring
independence. and freedom from Solomon. Now this story actually begins
with something that had already been determined by God. Turn
to 2 Samuel chapter 12. This is what's called God's providence. You know, everything is like
this. It begins with God. Everything. It begins with God. Now, this
story begins with what God had determined. Now, you'll remember
how David went into Bathsheba. And here is the end. 2 Samuel
12, verse 24. And David comforted Bathsheba,
his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her, and she bare
a son. And he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him." What a powerful, glorious thing. Solomon, this one born through
this wrong union, It says the Lord loved him. Well, that's what I want said
of me. That's what you want said of
you more than anything else. The Lord loved him. What else
needs to be said? Now turn to 1 Chronicles 22. Beginning in verse 5. And David said, Solomon, my son,
is young and tender. Now this is before this took
place with Adonijah. And the house that is to be built
for the Lord must be exceeding magnificent, of fame and of glory
throughout all countries. I will therefore now make preparation
for it. So David prepared abundantly
before his death. Then he called for Solomon, his
son, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.
And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my
mind to build a house under the name of the Lord my God. But
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood
abundantly, and hast made great wars. Thou shalt not build a
house under my name, because thou shalt shed much blood upon
the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to
thee." Now notice, this is before Solomon was even born. A son
shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest, and I'll give
him rest from all his enemies. Round about, for his name shall
be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in
his days." Now isn't this interesting? This was all said about Solomon
before the issue with Bathsheba, but God had everything in control.
He purposed everything that was taking place. And he purposed
that Solomon was going to be king before Solomon was ever
born. And Solomon was going to be the
one to build the temple. Verse 10, He shall build a house
for my name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne
of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now who has God determined to
take David's place? Solomon. Is there any way that
can be aborted? No. God purposed it. Solomon was going to be king.
And Solomon in some respects had a more glorious kingdom than
David. His father did. And he's the
king. He's the one David selected.
Now let's go back to our text in second or 1 Kings chapter
1. Now Adonijah was the brother
of Absalom. You remember how he rebelled
against David? Then Adonijah the son of Hagoth
exalted himself saying, I will be king. Anything that begins with an
I will is going to end up defeated. I will be king. No, you won't. God has already
determined that Solomon will be king. But here he exalts himself,
saying, I will be king. Now, turn back to 2 Samuel 15.
Look how he prepared him chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run
before him to make this announcement. Here's his brother some years
before, and it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him
chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him." They're
doing the precise same thing. You know, error always repeats
itself. It's nothing new. What he's doing
had already been done. Error always repeats itself. And he said, I will be king. Now this word exalted where it
says he exalts himself. It's only used one other time
in the scripture and it means to exalt majestically. It's a special word and it's
only you. The only time it's ever used
again is with regard to the Lord himself. In First Chronicles
29, he will be exalted. He will be magnified. But here
we have Adonijah saying, I will be exalted. I will. I will be exalted. Now there is an unalterable law
in the kingdom of heaven that goes like this. Whosoever exalts
himself shall be abased. And whosoever humbles himself
shall be exalted. Now that is true all the time. He exalts himself saying, I will
be king. Literally, I will reign. Now, this is a declaration of
free will. I will. I will. This is a declaration of free
will. It's the same thing that happened
when Satan said, I will exalt my throne above the stars. It was the temptation of Adam
and Eve when they thought, I will be as God. I'll know the difference
between good and evil. I'll be able to make my choice.
I'll be like God. I will. I will is the essence of sin. I will is the essence of sin. It's rebellion against God. We'll
not have this man reign over us. Free will, man's free will
is a rejection of God's sovereign will. That's all it is. It's
not an innocent mistake. It's a rejection of God's sovereign
will. I will be king. And you know the message that's
preached in our day. God loves you. Christ died for
you. God, the Holy Spirit's calling
you. He wants to save you. He loves everybody. He died for
everybody. But it's up to your will as to
whether or not you will be saved. If you accept him as your personal
savior, you'll be saved. If you, by your will, reject
him as your savior, you won't be saved. But ultimately, salvation
is in your will. You know that's evil. That's
all it can be called. It's evil. There's nothing good
about it. It's a rejection of free grace. It's putting salvation ultimately
in my hands rather than in God's hands. And it is a rejection
of God Himself. You know, really, there's no
such thing as free will in the sense that your will is controlled
by your nature in the first place. God didn't have a free will.
What do you mean by that? Well, he can't lie, can he? He
can't choose to lie. He can't choose to sin. His will
is controlled by his nature. And my will is controlled by
my nature. If I have an evil nature, my
will will be evil always and only. And what this man is saying
is, I will be king. Now, the Bible rejects this.
Romans 9, 16, So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Now, no believer
wants to have anything to do with their will being subject
of the cause of salvation. No believer wants that. Take
my will and make it thine. for it shall be no longer mine."
We don't want to have anything to do with our wills, having
anything to do with salvation. I want God to overcome my will
with His will. Don't you? That's what we desire.
Now back to our text. Adonijah, the son of Haggath,
exalted himself, saying, I will be king. And he prepared him
chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him. And his
father, David, And this is a very important verse. His father,
speaking of David, had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why
hast thou done so? He was also a very goodly man,
like his brother, who was very good looking, and his mother
bare him after Absalom. Now, why is it that he was never
displeased with David? Because David never corrected
him. Now, if you look at the life of David, one thing that
you can see for sure, David was a rotten parent. He was just
a rotten parent. He let his kids do whatever they
wanted to do. He was a doting dad. He was a
friend. Whatever direction they were
going in, he wouldn't restrain them. He wouldn't make them do
right. He wouldn't correct them. So
old Adonijah, he never got mad at David because David never
corrected him. You know, your kids will never get mad at you
if you never correct them. Just let them do what they want to
do. But you know what you're doing? You're failing to be a
parent. The job of the parent, with regard
to our kids, is to make them do what's right. That's the main
job. That's the most important part
of your life as a parent, to make your kids do what's right,
and to punish them when they do wrong. Now that, is there
any parent here that doesn't feel like they've been a failure
as a parent in many ways? I know I have. Particularly I
know Lynn has. Kidding, kidding. But the point
is, turn to Proverbs chapter 22 for a moment. Proverbs chapter 22. This has
been a very misunderstood passage of Scripture over the years. People use it. Verse 6, "...train up a child
in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart
from it." Now does that mean that if you train your children
well, bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And
if you do all the things you're supposed to do, you dot every
I and cross every T in your super parent, that guarantees your
kids will end up being good. And they'll go in the way that
you've taught them. Is that what that means? Well, no. No, it doesn't have anything
to do with what it means. And the sad fact of the matter is
many people have trained up their children in the way, you know,
tried to train them in such a way as that it would be to their
benefit and they end up being rebels. That's what we experience. What he's saying is train up
the child in the way he wants to go. Let him alone. Don't restrain
him. Let him do whatever he wants
to do. Don't punish him if he does wrong. Just let him go the
way he wants. And in the end, that is the direction
he'll take. And this gives us the responsibility
of parenting our children. Well, David just wasn't a good
parent. I mean, look with Absalom. Remember
when Absalom killed his other son, or one of his sons raped
his daughter? David didn't say a word about
it. He just did not get involved in the lives of his children.
And I think Adonijah, because of this experience, felt kind
of emboldened to do this. Nothing's going to happen to
me. I'm going to proclaim myself king. He never was afraid of
David. So that's why he did this. Now, back to our text. Verse
7. And he, Adonijah, conferred with
Joab the son of Zeruriah, with Abiathar the priest, and they
followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest, and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shemai
and Rehi, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were
not with Adonijah." They were loyal to David. We just considered
these mighty men a few weeks ago from this 23rd chapter. They
would not go with Adon and Nijah because they knew that David
had declared Solomon was going to be king. And so they would
not participate in this thing. Verse 9, And Adonijah slew sheep,
and oxen, and fat cattle by the stone of Zoriath, which is by
Enragel, and called all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the
men of Judah, the king's servants. But Nathan the prophet, Benaiah,
and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. Now
he invited everybody to the party except his brother and those
who were loyal to his brother. Verse 11, Wherefore Nathan spake
unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not
heard that Adonijah the son of Hagath doth reign, and David
our Lord knoweth it not? Now therefore come, let me, I
pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own
life, and the life of thy son Solomon. Now, Nathan is saying,
if Adonijah reigns, you will be put to death, and Solomon
will be put to death. This is a matter of life and
death. And do you know that if man has
a free will, if he really does have a free will, can do what
he wants to do, God's throne wouldn't be safe for a second.
It'd be the death of all of us. We'd be in trouble. He said,
if Adonijah reigns, if he gets his way, then You're gonna be
killed and Solomon will be killed because that's what they all
did back then. The one who reigned, he got rid of all, anybody who
could rebel against it. And he would have killed Solomon.
He would make sure. So if he does reign, you better not be
just indifferent about this because you'll get killed by it. This
is the issue. If man has a free will, we're
gonna die. And God's throne really wouldn't,
if we really could do what we wanted to do, God's throne wouldn't
be safe for a second. And that's what he's saying.
Now let's, verse 13. Go and get thee into the King
David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear
unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after
me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Why then doth Adonijah
reign? And behold, while you're talking
there with the king, I will come in after thee and confirm thy
words. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word
be established." So he said, I'm going to come in right behind
you when you tell David this, and I'm going to say, this is
going on to see how David responds. Verse 15. And Bathsheba went
in unto the king, into the chamber, and the king was very old. And
Abishag the Shumanite ministered unto him, unto the king. And
Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said,
what wouldst thou? And she said unto him, My lord, thou swearest
by the Lord thy God and thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy
son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.
And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth, and now my lord the king, thou
knowest it not. And he hath slain oxen, and fat
cattle, and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons
of the king. And Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain
of the host, but Solomon thy servant hath he not called? And
thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee,
that thou shouldst tell them who shall sit on the throne of
my lord the king after him. Otherwise it shall come to pass,
when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and
my son Solomon shall be counted offenders." He's letting him
know, if you let this go on, we'll be killed for it. Verse
22, And lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet
also came in. And they told the king, saying,
Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before
the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the
ground. And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah
shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? For
he is gone down this day, and has slain oxen, and fat cattle,
and sheep in abundance. and hath called all the king's
son, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest.
And, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save
king Adon and Nijah. But me, even me thy servant,
and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy
servant Solomon hath he not called? Is this thing done by my lord
the king? And hast thou not showed it to thy servants? Who should
sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? Then King
David answered and said, call me Bathsheba. And she came into
the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king
swear and said, as the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out
of all distress. Don't you love that verse? That
is every believer's testimony. As the Lord liveth, who has redeemed
my soul. Oh, how many distresses David
went through. How many self-inflicted wounds But yet he could say,
the Lord has redeemed me out of all distresses. I love the
way he didn't say just the ones that weren't my fault, but all
distresses. Really, they were all his fault.
You know, I had denied you. Whose fault is it? It's David's.
It's David's. But let's go on reading. Verse
30, Even as I swear unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying
assuredly, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall
sit upon my throne in my stead, even so will I certainly do this
day. Then Bathsheba bowed with her
face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my
lord king David live forever. And King David said, Call Zadok
the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.
And they came before the king, and the king said unto them,
Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Saul and
my son to ride upon mine own mule. That's going to tell everybody. And bring him down to Gihon.
Now what's this remind you of? Remember the Lord riding into
Jerusalem on a donkey? Behold, thy king cometh to thee,
meek, sitting on an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. Here Solomon is going to come
on the king's mule. Verse 34, And let Zadok the priest,
and Nathan the prophet, anoint him their king over Israel, and
blow ye with a trumpet, and say, God save King Solomon. Then shall
you come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne,
for he shall be king in my stead, and I have appointed him to be
ruler over Israel and over Judah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
answered the king and said, Amen. The Lord God of my Lord the king
say so too. As the Lord hath been with my
Lord the king, even so be he with Solomon. Make his throne
greater than the throne of my Lord King David. And he did.
It became more extensive than David's was. So Zadok the priest, and Nathan
the prophet, and Baniah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherithites,
and the Peithites went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon
King David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest
took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon,
And they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, God save
King Solomon! And all the people came up after
him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great
joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. Can you imagine
how loud this must have been? And Dad denied you, and all the
guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of
eating, And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said,
Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? And
while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest
came, and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for thou art a
valiant man, and bring us good tidings. He thought he was going
to hear something good. And Jonathan answered and said unto Adonijah,
Verily our Lord King David hath made Solomon king. Now let me
point this out. David's everybody's Lord. whether
they know it or not. These men who were in rebellion,
he said, our Lord. You know, I love thinking about
this. Christ is Lord of the dead and the living. You know that
unbeliever that you know that's troubling you? You know Christ
is his Lord. Maybe not willingly. Christ is
his Lord. Somebody says, won't you make
Jesus Lord of your life? That's blasphemous. He is the
Lord. You can't make him the Lord.
He's in absolute control of everybody and everything. And this fellow
acknowledged that. He said, our Lord David, he made
Solomon king. Ain't nothing we can do about
it. He's in absolute control. Verse 44, And the king hath sent
with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherithites, and the Perithites,
and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule. And Zadok
the priest, and Nathan the prophet, have anointed him king in Gihon.
And they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang
again. This is the noise that you've
heard. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover, the king's servants
came to bless our Lord King David, saying, God, make the name of
Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than
thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon
the bed, and also thus said the king, blessed be the Lord God
of Israel, which has given one to sit on my throne this day,
mine eyes seeing it. And everybody that was with Adonai
just said, uh-oh. We'd be in trouble." And look
what they did. And all the guests that were
with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went every man his
way. They scrammed. They didn't want
to have anything to do with him anymore. They knew Solomon was
now king. And Adonijah feared because Solomon
had arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon. For lo, he hath caught hold on
the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear unto me
today that he will not slay a servant with the sword. He was scared
to death. And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy
man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But if
wickedness shall be found in him, He shall die. Now that's the truth. If you're worthy, you'll live.
And if you're worthy, you know Christ is your worthiness, don't
you? Christ is your worthiness. But if wickedness be found in
you, you will die. Now we're going to find out in
the next chapter that wickedness was found in him, and we'll see
just what that was. Verse 53, so King Solomon sent,
and they brought him down from the altar, and he came and bowed
himself to King Solomon. I love that. He's made to bow
to King Solomon. He said, I will reign. No, you
won't. You're going to be made to bow.
You know those people who say, we'll not have this man reign
over us? You don't have any choice. He does reign over you. And this rebel, Adonijah, who
said, I will be king, I'll reign, he's made to bow down on his
face before Solomon, knowing his life is in Solomon's hands. And Solomon said, go unto thy
house. I will be king. What if that leper said, I will
that you heal me. I will that you make me clean.
That's offensive, isn't it? But he couldn't, he didn't come
that way. He said, if you will, if you will, you can make me
clean. Now, this is the wise way to
come into the Lord's presence. Not saying, I will anything.
Not, I'll resolve, I'll do this, I'll do... No. If you will, you
can make me clean.