By Pastor Roger Feenstra
The Bible is an interesting book. You may think that all of the people the Bible talks about are holy people. But in reality, they are people just like you and me. Take for example the guys below: Probably the only difference is that they were Kings, but in all other aspects of their lives, they struggled with the same things you and I might struggle with.
King David
The first guy is King David. You remember David don’t you? He was the guy who, when he was a young boy, went up against the giant named Goliath. David was a tough guy.
David said this about himself in the Old Testament book of 1st Samuel:
But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.(1 Samuel 17:34-35)
When David grew from boyhood, he was appointed King of Israel. He was a mighty King and nearly every battle he fought, he won.
But there came a time in David’s life as King that he decided to stay back from the battle, he let his commanders go and fight instead – and that was the beginning of David’s downfall. Let’s pick up the story in the book of 2 Samuel 11:
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful… (2 Samuel 11:1-2)
Look at verse 4
So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant."(2 Samuel 11:4-5)
There were two problems that David was now dealing with. One, he had sex with a woman he was not married to and second, this woman, Bathsheba, was already married and her husband was away fighting the battle. Now David was in a jam. So he called her husband back from the battlefield and tried to coerce him to go and have sex with his wife, then he would think that the child was his. But the plan didn’t work, because her husband, Uriah, was such a loyal soldier, he couldn’t think of having sex while his fellow soldiers were out on the battlefield sacrificing their lives.
So, David, rather than do the honorable thing and admit what he had done, sent Uriah to the front line of the battle where he knew Uriah would be killed.
And because of David’s treachery God allowed the child that was born to him by Bathsheba to die. And for David, it was a very difficult time.
King Solomon
David had another son named Solomon, and after David’s death, Solomon became King of Israel. God was blessing Solomon. The Bible tells us in 1 Kings that:
Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father (1 Kings 3:3.
The Bible tells us the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said,
“Whatever you ask for I shall give you.” (1 Kings 3:5)
And Solomon, rather than asking for things said to God,
“I ask for wisdom and understanding.” (1 Kings 3:9)
And this pleased God and God granted to Solomon wisdom and understanding. In fact the Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man who lived and the wisest man who would ever live!
Solomon loved wealth. Look at 1 Kings 10: 14
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps, and at the back of the throne was a calf's head, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
The passage goes on to say that he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen,
But there was something Solomon liked more than gold and chariots. Women – the text says “foreign women.” It seems he couldn't keep his eyes, or his hands off of them.
Look at 1 Kings 11: 3,
He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
Verse 6 goes on to say,
So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. (1 Kings 11:6)
And because of that disobedience, it was the beginning of the end for Solomon.
King Rehoboam
When Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam came into power. The Bible tells us that Rehoboam was a harsh leader. He treated the people of Israel as slaves.
In the book of 2 Chronicles 11 we read that Rehoboam loved power. And rather than putting his trust in God, he took everything into his own hands:
Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and he built cities for defense in Judah.(2 Chronicles 11:5)
And Chapter 12 tells the sad conclusion of Rehoboam:
When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.(2 Chronicles 12:1)
What Causes People to Turn From God?
Why did these men, who seemingly had all they wanted and were blessed by God, turn their backs on God?
More importantly, maybe you’ve turned away from God and have decided to do things your own way. Why?
Well the answer is found in the New Testament, in the book of 1 John 2:15, 16:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16)
You see, these men began to love the world more than they loved God.
- David pursued the “Desires of the flesh” when he took Bathsheba and had sex with her
- Solomon pursued the “Desires of the eyes” when he was consumed with wealth and gold and foreign women.
And
- Rehoboam pursued “Pride in possessions” which essentially means he “loved the power that he had.”
Sex, Money, Power.
In themselves and when done rightly, these are not bad things. But when your life is consumed by either of these things, God becomes just an afterthought.
The Bible uses a word for anything you put before God – its called sin.
Now we all sin, but John tells us in this same book in chapter 3
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)
In other words, John is telling you and me to not make it a practice of sinning.
David, Solomon, Rehoboam started off on the right track, but they began making it a practice of sinning.
In the book of James we find the progression of sin: How it takes hold in our lives:
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)
What’s this “death” that James is talking about?
Well, its eternal death – You know, you’re not going to live forever. What is going to happen to you when you die?
The Bible says there are only two alternatives. Heaven (life). Hell (death).
Romans 6:23 puts it this way:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You see the payment, or wages of unforgiven sin is eternal death. But fortunately, there is a way of escape from this death. That is by receiving the free gift of eternal life that is offered by Jesus.
Then, the Bible says that when we sin all we need to do is confess it. You see, once you believe in Jesus: That he is the Giver of Salvation – when you believe in him, you are automatically guaranteed eternal life.
- There is nothing else you need to do except believe
- There are no magic words you have to say
- There are no works you have to perform
- You don’t even have to be holy to believe in Jesus
The Bible says, “Even while you were still a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you.”
So, you can make a decision. You can choose to go your own way like David, Solomon and Rehoboam did. Or, you can choose to stand up and follow Jesus: To proclaim his message of Salvation to your children, your wife, your girlfriend, your mom, and your friends.
And of course that would be our prayer for you today: That if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you tell him you believe in him and make a decision to follow him. The instant you believe in Jesus, your sins, past, present and future are forgiven! It doesn’t matter what you have done. God has forgiven your sins.
Maybe you know Jesus already. Perhaps you followed him once, maybe in jail or prison, or maybe as a young person. But now, you’ve put him behind you. You don’t think of him much. You certainly aren’t living your life for him.
Do you know you can confess that sin right now? Tell him you’re sorry and you want to follow him.
Simply say in your heart, "Lord Jesus I believe in you. I want your free gift of eternal life. I want to follow you." And if you prayed that and meant it, then the Bible says that Jesus now lives within you. You have the power of the Holy Spirit in you life. And, you are assured of eternal life.
Maybe you already know Christ, but you haven’t been following him. Ask him to forgive you right now. He promises he will. The Bible says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Sure there are pressures that you’ll face each day, but wouldn’t you rather face them with the power of God on your side? Why not determine to follow God beginning right now.
