God keeps His promises

 – Jan 20^th – 2008 – I will Keep my promise! – 1 King 8:22-24

Intro:  Today we are once again following our series of Walking through the Bible.  Today we will be studying the Book of 1 Kings.  From your outline we learn that the writer of this book focused on the concept of the covenant relationship with God.  Loyalty and obedience to this covenant meant life, blessing and success.  Disobedience or disloyalty meant ruin, curses, disaster and destruction.  1 Kings covers a period of 110 years from David to Jehoshaphat

There are four lessons we can learn from this book and they are as follows.

1.  Keep your covenants or promises to the Lord and be obedient to His will    Andrew

     Murray wrote about this during the 19^th century about being in the school of

     Obedience.  1 Kings is full of examples of those who were obedient to the covenant. 

     Elijah the prophet who by keeping God’s covenant, stopped the rain for 3 years,

    Called down fire from heaven, out ran a chariot, heard God in a still small

    voice and was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. 

a.  Our scripture this morning is Solomon’s opening statement and prayer at the

     Dedication of the temple.  This prayer was just after the glory of the Lord had

     Appeared and Solomon had blessed the people.  With his hands raised towards

     heaven.  Solomon makes two statements.  God keeps his covenant of love with

     Individual’s that continue wholeheartedly in His way.  God will keep up his end of

     The bargain if we keep up ours. 

1.  Moses taught the people of Israel that obedience to God was a wholehearted

     Requirement in Deut 2:16

2.  God stated to Joshua that it would be the price of success in Josh 1:8

3.  Samuel made it clear to Saul that obedience was better than sacrifice in 1 Sam 15:22

4.  Jesus stated in Matt 7:21, that obedience secures entrance into God’s kingdom.

5.  Peter and the other apostles stated to the San Hedrin counsel that they must obey God

     Rather than man in Act 5:29.  To the early disciples obedience was the imperative of

     Life.

b.  The second statement, You have kept your promise to my Father David, with your

     Mouth and hand it has been fulfilled.  Isaiah reminded Israel that the Lord’s hand

     Was not so short, He could not save or His ear to deaf that He could not hear.  Is 59:1

     God will do and fulfill what He says He will do.  As we learned in 2 Samuel, David

     Was he couldn’t build the temple but Solomon did.  Solomon in this case was God’s

     Hand to fulfill a promise.  Jesus was that instrument when it came to our salvation.

2.  The second lesson we learn from 1 Kings is that making friends with the world will

     Only lead to sin and destruction.   This was shown in the life of Solomon when he     

     Loved his foreign wives in Chapter 11.  His heir was a son of an Ammonite who a

     Generation before were shown enemies of Israel.  Solomon’s choices affected this son

     Who foolishly rejected wise counsel for foolish which led to a divided kingdom 

a.  Jeroboam who became King of the Northern tribes, immediately continue with

     This pattern of foolishness by setting two golden calves in Dan and Bethel which is

     Ephraim. 

b. Ahab was another example when he married and adopted the religion of Jezebel.  He

    Became known as the most evil king in Israel.  This friendship in Ahab’s case led to

    A violent and tragic death.  Unfortunately the church is riddled with story after story of

    People who thought they could get close to the world and not be trapped by it.  James

    reminds us in James 1:27, that pure religion is taking care of the widow and orphans

    And keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.

3.  Our third lesson is God can raise you up or pull you down.  Learn to lean on Him so

     You can continue to be a blessing.  This statement was never truer than in the lives of

     Jeroboam and Ahab who because of their actions led to their family destruction. 

     Jeroboam’s family was destroyed by Zimri and Ahab’s family was killed by Jehu.

a.  Jehoshaphat was an example of a king that leaned on the Lord and went from a vassal

     Or servant king to Ahab to the most powerful king in the region and Judah being

     Restored. 

b. Our decision this morning and every day should be, “Lord, I want to lean on you,

     Because I know you will make me a blessing.”  Like the old hymn says. 

4.  Our last lesson is powerful, “As the temple was dedicated, you as the temple of the

     Lord must continue to be dedicated to the service of the Lord.”

a.  In our passage today, Solomon prayed that be temple would always be a blessing

     And a reference point to the people of their continued separation to God as His chosen

     People.

b.  Paul reminds us in 1 Cor 6:19-20, that we are temples of the Holy Spirit.  We have

     Been bought with a price and we are glorify God with our bodies.  Paul then states in

    Rom 12:1-2, that this is done by presenting our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices

    Holy and dedicated to Him which is our reasonable service or spiritual worship.  He

    Then tells not to conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our

    Minds.  This is done by reading the bible, praying, and attending church.  This allows

    Us to know God’s good and acceptable will. 

c.  Dan Betzer said, “that we might be the only bible people read.”  What are they reading

     in your life?

Conclusion

1.  Today we have learned that we are to keep our covenant with God and be obedient to

     Him.

2.  Friendship with the world leads to sin and destruction.

3.  God can raise you up and pull you down.  Try to live your life with the thought of

      Always being a blessing.

4.  You are a temple of God so live everyday dedicated to his service.