Solomon elevated to the throne

But I face a number of challenges. Maybe the greatest is to keep you awake. That's going to be difficult to do for a long day.

Number two is to keep you interested. One voice. You appreciate the fact that God has not allowed clones to be made, because imagine everyone the same.

It'd be pretty desperate. But maybe another difficulty is going to be is getting drowned in the sea of information. When you cover one subject in one day like this, you tend to just get lost because there's so much.

What I'll do to try to help prevent that is at the end of each session, just give you, if we were doing a power presentation, PowerPoint, we call them bullet points. You can just think of them as take-home points. At the end of each session, just summarizing what I think are the most salient, most relevant features, what we have talked about to at least enable you to focus on some very crucial issues that we will deal with in each of the sections.

So with that before us, we'll turn now to 1 Kings 1. Now King David was old and stricken in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. He prepared him chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? He was also a very goodly man, and his mother bare him after Absalom.

And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, with Abiathar the priest, and they following Adonijah helped him. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Reah, and the mighty men which belong to David were not with Adonijah. And then we have the account of his movements, verse 11.

Wherefore, Nathan spake unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the son of Agath, 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. And then he counsels her to go into the king, and to tell him what is happening. And verse 15, Bathsheba goes in, and immediately then in verse 22, she is followed by Nathan.

And lo, while she yet talk 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 over after me? He shall sit upon my throne, for he has gone down this day, hath slain oxen, and fat cattle, and sheep in abundance, and hath cut all the king's sons, and captains of the host, and a buyer to the priest. And behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah, and so on. Verse 28, Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba.

And she came in unto the king, and stood before the king. And the king swore and said, As the Lord liveth that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I swear unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying assuredly, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, he shall sit upon my throne in my stead, even so will I certainly do this day. And Bathsheba bowed herself 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 me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came in before the king. And he gives them instruction as to what they are to do to appoint Solomon to be king.

Verse 39, 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 the earth rent with the sound of them. Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is the noise of this city being in an uproar? While he had spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came.

And Adonijah said unto him, Come in, thou art a valiant man, and bring us good tidings. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Perethites, Pelethites, 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. This is the noise that ye have heard.

And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. Whereover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name. 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 hath given me one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up and went every man his way.

And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold of the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon. Lo, he hath caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of his head, and there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar.

And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon. And Solomon said to him, Go to thine house. Now that was a very lengthy reading, and we appreciate your patience in following me through that chapter.

Let me just say a word or two, just as an introduction, because you will notice that the life of Solomon is detailed in two different places. We have it in the Kings, and we have it in 2 Chronicles. And the two different portions of the word of God, which deal with the lives of these men, do vary and do give us different views, yet not contradictory views.

When you're looking at the Kings, Kings is mostly concerned with the prophets and their influence upon the kings. So when you're reading in the book of the kings, you're looking at Kings and prophets. When you're in the Book of the Chronicles, you're looking at kings and priests.

It's more the effect that the priests had upon the king. When you're in the book of the kings, you're looking at kings and their advancement and their warfare. When you're looking in the Chronicles, It's mainly the kings and their dealing with the temple and how they treated the temple of God and their relationship to the temple of God.

When you're in the book of the kings, you're looking at both the line of David and you're looking at the breakaway ten tribes of becoming what's called the northern tribes, Ephraim or really the name Israel was applied to them and the name Judah applied to the two tribes that stayed with the Davidic line. And so that kings follows both, follows both the line of David and the breakaway line that broke away under Jeroboam. And when you're in the chronicles, you are just looking at the Davidic line, the line of kings through David.

Now there are other differences between them, but nevertheless, that's just a very quick overview of the difference between the two different sections, the two different history books of the kings. Chapter one is interesting because it doesn't take much to understand the theme of the book. For example, the word king is actually found 60 times within its 52 verses, 52 verses and king, king, king, 60 different times and throne is mentioned 12 times, sitting upon the throne 11 times.

And so obviously the story of chapter one is Solomon elevated to the throne, Solomon brought to the kingdom. If you will, it is interesting because Solomon in chapter one is a totally passive individual. He does absolutely nothing to acquire the throne.

He just waits for David to bring everything to pass. Now it's going to be difficult and we'll have to be, have to not get diverted, but actually that is really a picture, isn't it? Of the Lord Jesus, the father has said to the son, sit down at my right hand until I make on enemies, a footstool of thy feet, that God will bring everything to pass that will bring his son to the throne. There is a sense, a very real sense in which this very moment, the Lord Jesus is living by faith.

You may say living by faith, yes, he has nothing other than God's word that a day is coming when he will rule over all the kingdoms of this world. That's all he has, just his father's word. You just sit here until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.

I will bring everything to pass. I will bring you to the throne. And he's sitting there waiting for that day.

He is living by faith. Faith is just taking God at his word. That's what he's living by.

And so in chapter one, Solomon just is a, is a passive individual. He is just allowing David to bring him to the throne. And the lesson that stamps itself just in that one simple principle is this.

You never have to exalt yourself for God to bring you to what he has for you in life. God will always bring an individual to his ultimate purpose for your life if you just leave your life in his hands. We'll look at that as we look at Adonijah.

So let me just, in a very simple way, outline this chapter for you with just three sections. I want to talk to you about the tragedy of a king that was old. The tragedy of a king that was old.

The value of a prophet that was bold. So the tragedy of a king that was old, the value of a prophet that was bold, and the danger of a man who was uncontrolled. Three individuals that will highlight this chapter, David, Nathan, the prophet, and Adonijah, the uncontrolled man.

When I look at the tragedy of a king that was old, I see a crisis in leadership. A crisis in leadership. When I look at a prophet that was bold, I see a profile in loyalty.

Nathan is a tremendous man, and we don't have time to look at all of his life, but a man who was loyal to God and to God's truth. Profile of a man marked by loyalty. When we see the danger of a man who's uncontrolled, of course the problem of lawlessness that marked this man, Adonijah.

So let me just then highlight for you, first of all, a king that was old. Actually, three things about David that are seen in this first chapter. He was old, he was cold, and he needed to be told.

And the last two spring from the first one. He was old, he was cold, and he had to be told. He was out of touch, out of touch with what was going on.

So let me just highlight those, and we'll respect the time. David was old. Actually, that first expression that begins 1 Kings.

We frequently talk about when you're in a Pauline epistle, if you just read the first couple of verses, you have an idea of where he's going with his entire letter. But it's the same thing here in 1 Kings chapter 1. The very first words will introduce to you the theme of the entire book, books of 1 and 2 Kings. David was old and stricken in years, and they covered him with clothes and he got no heat.

You know what the story of 1 and 2 Kings is? It is a downward course of a nation. It begins with Solomon on the throne and ends with Nebuchadnezzar ruling over the people. It begins with wealth and with honor and with glory, and it ends in poverty and shame.

It begins with a temple consecrated, ends with a temple desecrated. And so it is a story of downward spiraling of the people, and we will see in these very first chapters of 1 Kings, the seeds that are going to be planted that will eventually lead to the destruction of the nation by the time we come to its captivity at the end of the letter. So David was old.

There's a weakness in leadership that begins this section. It seems as though David, as a result of his age and his infirmity and his weakness, has failed to take control, has failed to give leadership, has failed to appoint as properly should have been done Solomon to the throne, and the result is that there is a tremendous crisis in leadership. Now just so young people don't sit back and pat themselves on the back and say, well, you know, you old people, that's the problem with you, and we are the young generation, we know what we're doing.

When you come to chapter 12, and Rehoboam is looking for advice, it's the old men who gave him the right advice. It was the young men that led him astray. So age can be very, very beneficial, but age has its dangers, and the two dangers linked with old age are what followed, that David was cold, and David had to be told.

So let me talk to you first of all about a king that was cold. He got no heat, he could accomplish nothing, couldn't even take care of himself anymore. He was cold.

There is a tremendous danger as we age, and I'm among that group now who are aging, okay? So I can talk from experience, and I can talk to my peers. There is a tremendous danger as we get older, that we can get colder. Did you ever hear of a past tense Christianity? A past tense Christianity, what we did, what our generation was like, what it was like in our day, and we are living in the past, and we think that all the good things happened then, and that it was us and not you, and it was then and not now, and it was those preachers and not these preachers, and we are living in a past tense Christianity and just living our lives on cruise control, feeling we have done our share, we have done our bit, we have learned all we can learn of the Word of God, and now it's just cruise control until the rapture or heaven, and what a sad, sad condition to just sit back and feel that now because I am 65, 70, 75, there's no more ground to conquer.

There's no more exploits to do for God. There's nothing more that I can accomplish and no way in which I can serve effectively. You know, I've done my thing, I've done my... But now I know there's a balance.

We need to hand off responsibility to a younger generation. We need to see younger men and women develop and take over responsibility in God's assembly, not as though we have to hold on to everything until the bitter end, but the tremendous danger of just living in a past tense Christianity. There are individuals in the Word of God who broke the mold altogether.

I see a Caleb, 85 years of age, and he says, I am as strong this day as the day that Moses promised me the land, full of vigor at 85. I see a Joshua, and what was Joshua, 110, and he is still valiant for God and willing to fight wars and battles. And I see Moses, remarkable what it says about Moses, 120 years of age, his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated.

His eye was not dim, he still could see clearly. A man whose vision was right. When you come to Joshua, a man whose valor was right.

When you come to Caleb, a man whose vigor was still right. Three men that totally blow away any idea that age brings with it, all of the infirmities and all of the uselessness. But what was true of those three men? Is there a secret that can be found in those three lives that enabled a Moses at 120 to still be discerning? That enabled a Joshua at 110 to still be valiant? To enable a Caleb at 85 years of age to still want to claim what God had for him? You can correct me, but as far as I know, they are the only three adult men that fed on manna for a full 40 years, right? All the other generation died, but there were three men from beginning to end that were fed on manna all the way through.

Did you ever notice how Luke's gospel begins? A little different here, but just the same principle. Luke's gospel begins, and in chapter number three it brings before us seven of earth's great, right? Remember how it says that in the days when Caesar ruled and Pilate was procurator of Judea, and Herod was king and Tetrarch and so on, and Philip his brother was Tetrarch of Idumea, and Lysanias was Tetrarch of this area, and Ananias and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, by path all of earth's great. So Luke brings before us seven great men of earth, but he also brings before us seven godly people.

He tells us of Zacharias and Elizabeth, he tells us of Simeon and of Anna, he tells us of Mary and of Joseph, and he tells us of John the Baptist. Now four of those were older people, three were younger, four were older. So that when God deals with earth's great, he does it in one and a half verses.

When he deals with heaven's godly, I think it takes him 152 verses, 152 verses to tell you about his seven godly people. And four of them were older believers. So now here's the link if I can.

The four men, or rather the three men, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, they never changed their food. These godly people of Luke never changed their focus. What marked them is they were all looking for the coming Christ.

So what's the secret then as you get older, to not becoming colder? Never change your food. Never change your focus. Be Christ-centered in your life.

Be Christ-absorbed in your life. Feed on him. It is what prevents coldness.

So he was a king that was old, and he left a vacuum in leadership. There was a king who was cold, and they tried to remedy the situation by bringing in this attractive young virgin, not for any physical involvement, but rather just to nourish him and cherish him. And of course, as we'll see when we come to the next chapter, today's solution became tomorrow's problem.

Carnal solutions, carnal solutions today cause major problems tomorrow. And so they bring this young virgin in as their attempt to somehow remedy a desperate situation. David was old, David was cold, and David needed to be told.

He didn't know what was happening in his kingdom. One of the great dangers of getting older is getting out of touch, out of touch with reality, out of touch with younger people and their problems, out of touch with what's happening, and needing to be told. I retired, 99% retired, as of five months ago, and already I begin to feel what it is to be away from the pressures of work.

Now, some of it is good. I'm very happy to be away from some of the pressures and some of the grind, but can't you see the wisdom of God? The incredible wisdom of God that he wanted people who are leading God's assemblies, leading God's people, to be experiencing the very same stresses and strains of everyday life that all the flock is enduring. To know what it is to have to grind away for a boss, and try to please people that can't be pleased, and dealing with customers that are never satisfied, and the daily pressures of everyday life.

God wanted his leadership to be exposed to that, so they could relate to the people of God. And suddenly when you step back from all of that and you breathe a big sigh of relief and you're not faced with all of the same difficulties, you suddenly begin to live in a kind of a bubble. And it's a tremendous difficulty to stay in touch, to be where the believers are.

David had to be told what was happening in his kingdom. What a tragedy when leadership needs to be informed by other sources of what's happening in the assembly, what's happening with the flock of God. That's where this man David was at this point in time, being out of touch, being out of touch with the people of God.

There is a great danger to what I'm doing today. I cannot tell you how valuable it is to have your roots somewhere in life. Because if all I did was go about place to place speaking, you have all the answers, and you seem like you're, well maybe not Solomon, but you seem like you've got all the answers for all of the problems.

Until you go back home and you face the problems in your own assembly, and suddenly the answers aren't quite so easy, and the answers don't just fit quite so well, and you're faced with reality, and the danger of just getting isolated from the real world. One of the problems with my being here is I'm not there. I'm not there where believers have problems and difficulties and trials and stresses.

Someone has said you can pretend to listen, and you can pretend to care, but you can never pretend to be there. You either are or you aren't. So you need to be in touch.

And as you get older, and as some of the burdens and responsibilities of life begin to become a little less pressing upon you, you have to work at being in touch with believers. You've got to work at being in touch with younger Christians. You've got to work at being in touch with every group in the assembly, to have your fingers on the pulse of what's happening in their lives.

Not intrusiveness, not detective work, but rather just to be in touch with what is happening among God's people. The tragedy then of a king that was old. The value of a prophet who was bold.

There were three prophets who were instrumental in David's life, right? There was Samuel the prophet, there was Gad the seer, and there was Nathan the prophet. Three men who were instrumental in David's life. Samuel was the prophet of his formative years, of his youth, of his early days, of his days of rejection, of his days of running.

Gad was the prophet who was with him in the hold when he was just a small number, and all that were in debt and all that were distressed gathered themselves together to David in the cave of Adullam, and Gad was with him in the cave. That's why, incidentally, just as a point of relevance, that's why when David numbered the people at the end of his days as an old man, when he became proud and numbered the people, wanted to see how great his kingdom was, God did not send Nathan, who was usually the one that was sent. God sent Gad.

You know why? Because Gad remembered when he was very small. Remember David when there was only 200 with you in the cave? That's all you were? A small band of 200 men? And David, now you think because God has given you all this, you're some great person? So Gad, the prophet of his rejection, the prophet of his days in the cave, was the one sent to remind him of the fact he had sinned in having such high thoughts. So there was Samuel in his formative years, there was Gad who endured rejection with him, and there was Nathan who was the prophet of crisis moments in David's life.

Three times Nathan appears at moments of crisis. You remember how he appeared at the occasion when David wanted to build a temple, a house for God, and Nathan told him to go ahead and do it? And as soon as Nathan left, before he's even back home, God says, wait a minute, Nathan, go back and tell him you were wrong. The answer is no.

A man sensitive to the word of God, that would be sort of difficult for a prophet, wouldn't it, to say face, David, I was wrong. Do you have trouble saying you're wrong? Do you have trouble admitting to a younger Christian I was wrong in what I said? Nathan wasn't embarrassed. God said, Nathan, you're wrong, go back and tell David, no, he's not to build it, it's for his son Solomon.

So he was the prophet of that crisis, the crisis of the building, the house of God. He was a crisis at a moment of holiness, wasn't he, when he went in and told David, David, you're the man, you've sinned relative to Bathsheba. And now he is the one who has a concern for the honor of God's throne.

So the house of God, the holiness of God, the honor of God, this man Nathan rises to the challenge of all of those occasions. And here in this chapter, we see a man who is in touch, in touch with what's happening in the kingdom, but yet totally separate from it. Now that is a tremendous standard to try to establish, to be in touch and yet to be separate.

That's what this man Nathan was like. So we see his interests, the temple of God, the testimony of God, the throne of God. What marked this man in his usefulness for God, first of all, was a man willing to bow to the word of God.

Despite what it would mean for his own reputation, what he would think would be his own honor as a prophet to own, I was wrong. That marked him, first of all, a man sensitive to the word of God. He was a man who, as a result of being able to apply the word of God to himself, could apply the word of God to the king.

David, you've sinned. Had he never bowed to the word of God himself, he would have had no moral right to apply the word of God to anyone else. And finally, he was a man not only able to take the word of God and to control himself, not only take the word of God and control the king, but here now in this chapter, he rises to an even higher, more critical stage.

He is going to stand against the nation because of God's word. God has said, Solomon will reign, and we have to work to that end. So the man that can apply the word of God to himself is then fit to apply it to the king and is then fit to apply it to the nation.

So his increase, his usefulness, we've looked at that already, and the tremendous influence this man had then for God. Now you may say he's really using sort of theatrical ways to bring about what he wants to accomplish, but he had the word of God for it, and he knew what he had to do to impress David the king, and he knew what he had to do to save Bathsheba's life, or if Adonijah did reign, Solomon and Bathsheba would have been either exiled or executed, one or the other, because Adonijah knew that Solomon was to reign. And so he's concerned with the preservation of life as well as the preservation of the throne and the fulfillment of God's word.

He has seen that as a man tremendously useful. His usefulness is linked with his care for the word of God. Your usefulness for God as a young Christian, as a middle-aged Christian, as an older Christian is going to be directly related, inseparably related to how careful you are with the word of God on your own life.

The moment you begin to view the word of God as being optional, the truth of God as being options you can add to your life when convenient, take away from your life when convenient, you will begin to lose your usefulness. It doesn't mean God won't use you and bless you. God is sovereign.

He can do as He pleases with whomever. But I have no right to expect God to use me if I am inconsistent with the word of God. So Nathan was a man who was bold for God when it was necessary.

We've mentioned those three prophets, Samuel, Gad, Nathan. One instrumental during a man's youth. One instrumental during a man's rejection.

One instrumental during a man's crisis. God raises up different men for different times to be a blessing in your life, to be a help in your life. Different personalities, different gifts, different approaches, three different kinds of men.

So now, when you think about being a help to someone, try to be at least one of those three. Be someone that can help someone in the early days of their Christian life. Be someone who can step in and help them during difficult days.

Be someone that can be there for the crisis, as Nathan was. At times, it required a rebuke. At times, it required encouragement.

At times, guidance. Whatever it may be, strive to be someone that God can use for a blessing and help to others. So the value of a man who was bold, a profile in loyalty.

Let me come to the danger of a son of a man that was uncontrolled, Adonijah. Although there were only two other kings in Israel up to this point in time, Saul and David, in both cases, God had done the appointing. God had said who would be king.

God had raised up his man to be king. And yet, when we come to chapter number one of where we read, and in verse number five, Adonijah says, I'll be king. So instead of God exalting the man, the man exalts himself.

I'm going to be king. A whole different, an entirely different, a departure from God's pattern, from God's plan, a man who would exalt himself then to be king. Now, one is very reluctant to reflect on David's failures, but it may well be that David's own sin in the past led to his weakness in dealing with Joab, in dealing with Absalom, and now in dealing with Adonijah.

His own past hindered his ability to deal with the present. Because it says that David had never displeased him. It means that David had never checked that tendency, that lawless tendency.

He was allowed free reign, free bridle, a man that was uncontrolled in all of his self-exaltation and self-will. And so we see this man exalting himself to be king. An undisciplined man is never fit to lead.

Let me put it another way. A man who has never learned to follow is never fit to lead. Sometimes, let me just help young Christians if I can.

I hope this will help you. The idea of submission and subjection are sometimes bitter pills for young people to swallow. You know more than we do, and you can accomplish more than we can accomplish, and you have better ideas than we have, and so why shouldn't you be in charge and we sit at your feet? Okay.

We won't contest you know more than we do, and you could do a better job than we could do, but what's God's pattern? If this were a Bible reading, I would simply ask one question. Where is the first place in the New Testament that you have mention of some person submitting to another, of submission or subjection? First place. You don't find it in Matthew, and you don't find it in Mark.

And you come to Luke chapter 2 and you read these words. He went down with them and was subject to them. You know who he is? You know who them is? It was your Savior.

He, the Lord Jesus, went down to Nazareth and was subject to Mary and Joseph. Now you've been taught the value of the Law of First Mention. What that simply means is whenever something is mentioned for the first time in Scripture, God introduces principles or teaching that will be true of that theme wherever you find it in the Word of God.

He never will back off and change it. The Law of First Mention, whatever is true the first time is going to be true every time you will find that theme mentioned, that doctrine mentioned in Scripture. So what was true the very first time you have the mention of submission? What was true was this, that the greater submitted himself to the lesser.

That the omnipotent submitted himself to the puny. That the omniscient submitted himself to the ignorant. That the framer of the worlds submitted himself to the carpenter of Nazareth.

Do I have to go on? Do I need to spell it out anymore? That submission has nothing to do with inferiority. That submission has nothing to do with capability. That submission has nothing to do with worth.

It is simply a willing ranking of myself in an order that God has placed in his universe. And in his universe he has placed the male in leadership and the woman in the place of submission. He has placed the father in the place of leadership in the home and the children in a place of submission.

He has placed parents above children. He has given leadership in the assembly and under that leadership there is submission. And there is headship in the male and there is submission in the female.

Never the thought of inferiority. Never the thought of less capability. Never the thought of less worth and value.

It is God's order. And here was a man, Adonijah, who was moving flagrantly against the order that God had established in his kingdom. He is following the example in large measure of his brother.

You may say it's almost genetic. Absalom used almost the same exact tactics. And in fact, when we come to chapter 2 and we see Adonijah's attempt to regain the throne, he will use one of the strategies that Absalom used relative to the concubines and all.

And we'll notice he follows the very same pattern that his brother Absalom had followed in his rebellion. Now we'll have to stop there as time is beginning to run out. So I just want to recap if I can and mention a few things.

Some take home points. Some bullet points. Nature as well as human nature.

Maybe I should put it the other way. Human nature as well as nature abhors a vacuum. Never leave a vacuum in leadership.

Now I speak to my peers, not to younger Christians. Speaking now to men like myself that are in responsibility in God's assembly. And as we get older, never leave a vacuum in leadership.

You may say, well, there's just no one good enough. Listen, any leadership is better than no leadership. Now I'm not saying we dumb down leadership and we settle for less.

But I'm just saying any leadership is better than no leadership. Because when there's no leadership, there's total anarchy. So never leave a vacuum in leadership.

Number two, old men can become cold men. Old men can become cold men. Stay warm and stay in touch.

Whether young or old, never change your food. Never change your focus. Feed on Christ.

Be occupied with Christ. Never change your food. Never change your focus.

Today's carnal solutions to problems become tomorrow's crisis problems. Beware about solutions. I mean, if you need anything more, just look at our government.

And every time there's a problem, they come up with a solution that becomes the next generation's problem to deal with, right? And we move from crisis to crisis because of our solutions to problems. You do not have to advance yourself. Self-advancement is self-destructive.

Wait on God. Allow Him to bring you to whatever He has for you in life. Whatever place of usefulness, whatever place of service.

You will never lose by giving control of your life into the hand of a sovereign God. Now, those are just some takeaways. Nature, human nature, a poor vacuum, never leave a vacuum in leadership.

Old men can become cold men. Stay warm, stay in touch. Never change your food.

Never change your focus. Today's carnal solutions are tomorrow's crises. Self-advancement is self-destructive.

Allow God to take control of your life and to bring you to what He has for you for His honor. Now, we're going to pray, and then after that, we'll sing a few hymns that will give time not only just to stretch your legs, but those that need to use the restrooms can do so. And we'll reconvene then in about 10 minutes or so and look together at 1 Kings 2. Shall we pray? Our Father, we bow together in Thy presence and thank Thee for the Word of God.

It is searching to both speaker and to hearers. We would trust that the lessons that this first chapter of 1 Kings contains will be a message to all of us as to our needs and as to the pathway of preservation and usefulness for God. We thank Thee for lessons drawn from Thy Word that are so relevant even today and pray that Thou would impress them upon our hearts and imprint them upon our hearts.

We thank Thee above all for Thy Son. In every instance, in every case, we can return to Him as the great exemplar of godly living. We thank Thee for Him.

We thank Thee for a life lived that was fragrant and delightful to Thee. We thank Thee for a crosswork that has satisfied not only the heart of a father, but the throne of God. We bless Thee that grace reigns through eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, even this very moment.

We bless Thee we live in the age when grace is reigning. Thank Thee for Thy longsuffering and goodness to us, committing ourselves to Thee now in light of all that follows. In the name of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.