King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2019
Chapters: I King, II Chronicles 8
Message: To Obey Is Better Than To Sacrifice
Hello My Friend,
There is this protest going on this weekend by a church in essence of it being gay pride month in an attempt to open the sinners eyes to their sin. While they re calling it a peaceful protest, some of them were shouting, “Reprobates!” On the other of this are those in support of gay pride claiming that if Jesus were here today, He would be in the midst of them in support. I am not one for protests of any kind, but this is worse because they are trying to involve God in their efforts. Let me tell you, God does not condone sin of any kind, and we cannot support, attack, or accuse people into submission. If we are going to represent God it might be wise to not only learn and understand His ways, but live them, and show them Jesus the correct way. “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” – Romans 14:10,15-17.
“Let not then your good be evil spoken of:” It does no good to tell someone about Jesus if, one, they are making up their own image of who He is, and two, they attack those who know not what they do. And remember, we cannot rebuke a fool, there are some people who are indeed reprobates, and attacking them only brings trouble for us. In order for us to see someone turn to Jesus in repentance, people need to see Jesus for who He truly is, and the only way we can do that is by living by the example Jesus set. We have been reading about Solomon and the temple, I Kings gives more details about the night that God spoke to Solomon after his thousand word prayer.
“And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.” – I Kings 9:1,3,6-9.
“and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” Perpetually; Constantly; continually; applied to things which proceed without intermission, or which occur frequently or at intervals, without limitation. God promises that if we love Him with all our heart that His eyes and heart will be with us constantly, without limitation. Does God love us even when we sin? Of course He does. The blessings and protection beyond our salvation are continual when we keep His commands and statutes. He does not expect us to never sin again, but He does expect us to confess when we do, and repent of any sin that is constant in our lives. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” – I John 1:8-10.
“and his word is not in us.” Worldly Christians have been living in some kind of alternate universe buying into this false narrative that Jesus is all about loving you as you are and there is no judgment for your sins. The last time I checked the Bible said that Jesus is judge, and He will judge everyone for their sin. Now, mind you, if we are saved we will be saved from judgment day, but that does not mean we will not be judged for unrepentant sin. In the beginning, Solomon was godly, and followed his fathers footsteps, all it took was one wrong decision for him to start allowing the world to creep in his life, and choose it over God. His first mistake, marrying the Pharoah’s daughter, the next, he gave Hiram some land that was already inhibited by Canaanites that never got driven off the land as payment for his services.
“(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.” – I Kings 9:11-16.
“And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised;” Levy; To raise; to collect by assessment; as, to levy taxes, toll tribute, or contributions. To make things right, Solomon restored the land for Hiram, but then taxed the people in order to rebuild the broken cities. This would cause problems later, not for Solomon, but his son when he took over.
“That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it. And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come. Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch, Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.” – II Chronicles 8:2-4,11-13.
“because the places are holy,” Solomon was very religious, deeply involved in all the worship services at the temple, he even saw the need to send Pharaoh’s daughter out of Jerusalem because of her faith. The problem was not that God was unforgiving every time he went to Him for atonement, it was that he greatly lacked discipline. David might have sinned, but he did not continue to do so, Solomon sinned every time he took a new wife that was of a different faith, especially since he started following them as well. Even he acknowledged this later on near the end of his life, it is truly better to be obedient than sacrifice. “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” – Proverbs 21:2-3.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” – I Kings 9:3.
Today’s Prayer: God, It truly is amazing what You have done in my life since the day I got in that water and dedicated my life to Your Son. The walk has not always been easy, I have been tempted and tried, and even walked into some dangerous territory, but You have always kept me from going over the edge, even pulling me up more times that I care to admit. Lord, let me never lose sight of Your faithfulness to me, and Your willingness to give me the things I need and desire through my faithfulness to You. Keep my heart tender, never let it harden to the point that walking in sin is more important than walking with You. You are my strength, my guide, my comfort, my hope, and my foundation, I am nothing without You, and I never want to live another day without You. I love You Lord, and pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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