The title, the title of my sermon here
tonight, the title of my sermon here tonight
is The Tragedy, The Tragedy of Solomon's Life.
The Tragedy of Solomon's Life.
We read in 1 Kings 2 verse 10
that David died, David died.
Verse 12, Then sat Solomon upon the throne.
Chapter 3 verse 3, And Solomon loved the
LORD.
Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the
statutes of David his father.
Verse 5, And the LORD, the LORD appeared
to Solomon in a dream, and God said,
Ask, ask what I shall give thee.
Ask what I shall give thee.
Verse 9, And Solomon said, Give, give thy
servant an understanding heart, an
understanding heart, that I may discern, may discern
between good and bad, that is between good
and evil, between right and wrong.
Verse 10, And the speech pleased the LORD,
that Solomon had asked this, that Solomon had
asked this.
Verse 12, And God said unto him, I
have done, I have done according to thy
words, I have given thee a wise and
an understanding heart.
2 Chronicles 1 verse 1, And the LORD
his God was with him.
The LORD his God was with him, and
magnified him, that is, he honored him, he
honored him exceedingly.
1 Kings 10 verse 24, And all the
earth, all the earth sought to Solomon to
hear his wisdom, which God had put in
his heart.
2 Chronicles 9 verse 23, And all the
kings of the earth, all the kings of
the earth sought the presence of Solomon to
hear, to hear his wisdom that God, that
God had put in his heart.
And the queen of Sheba exclaimed in 2
Chronicles 9 verse 6, The half, the half
of the greatness of thy wisdom was not
told to me.
The half of the greatness of thy wisdom
was not told to me.
1 Kings 10 verse 8, Happy are thy
men, she said.
Happy are thy people, happy are these thy
servants.
Verse 9, Blessed, blessed be the LORD thy
God, which delighteth in thee, which delighteth in
thee, to set thee on the throne of
Israel, because the LORD loved Israel.
Therefore made he thee king.
What an incredible beginning.
But Solomon had a tragic ending.
Solomon had a tragic ending.
Will you?
In 1 Kings 3 verse 14, God had
warned him, If, if thou wilt walk in
my ways to keep my statutes and my
commandments, then, then, if, and then are two
crucial words.
If, and then are two crucial words strewn
throughout the Bible, beloved, and none of us
dare overlook that.
But Solomon tragically kept not that which the
LORD had commanded.
1 Kings 11 verse 1, But did evil
in the sight of God.
Verse 6, Verse 9, And the LORD was
angry with Solomon, because, because his heart turned
from the LORD.
Now that can sadly happen to us also,
beloved.
That can happen to us also, beloved.
The queen of Sheba had given Solomon this
noble tribute.
Happy are thy people with thee as their
king.
But they soon despaired under his eventual foolish
and tyrannical reign.
At his death, at his death, a weary
and disillusioned nation pled with Solomon's heir apparent
Rehoboam.
Thy father made our yoke grievous.
Now therefore, ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude
of thy father and his heavy yoke that
he put on us.
But Rehoboam proved to be gravely foolish from
the start and consequently faced the rejection of
most of his people.
David Wilkerson of Times Square Church, New York,
said, The first thing God removes from a
Christian who backslides is discernment.
The first thing God removes from a Christian
who backslides is discernment.
That, I believe, is tragically what happened to
Solomon, beloved.
But why, why did such a glorious beginning
end in such shame?
Why did such a glorious beginning end in
such shame?
Now the answer, the answer to that question,
I believe, is given to us.
The answer to that question, I believe, is
given to us in the book of Ecclesiastes.
The book of Ecclesiastes, which is a staggering
sermon delivered to us by Solomon himself before
his death.
Ecclesiastes literally translated the preacher, the preacher, contextually
meaning the preacher's sermon.
But in essence, it was Solomon's shameful confession
in which he reflects on how he lost,
how he lost the integrity of his initial
pursuit of God.
Have you?
Has that happened to you?
In chapter 1 verse 17, he confesses, I
gave my heart, I gave myself to know
wisdom and to know
madness and folly.
In other words, what was I thinking of?
What was I thinking of when I buried
integrity and single-mindedness in my pursuit of
God?
It was madness doing that, for it only
brought shame and sorrow and weariness to my
life.
Now the first thing, the first thing he
confessed doing that he now realized was madness,
was literal madness.
The first thing he confessed doing that he
now realized was literal madness was when he
buried, when he buried his initial pursuit of
God-imparted knowledge in order to live a
God-glorifying life.
When he buried his initial pursuit of God
-imparted knowledge in order to live a God
-glorifying life and stooped to embrace a carnal
pursuit of prideful knowledge in order to live
a self-glorifying life.
Chapter 1 verse 13, I gave my heart
initially to seek and to search out by
wisdom concerning all things.
But then, verse 16, I communed with mine
own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten more
wisdom than all that have been before me.
Yes, I initially gave my heart to no
wisdom, but then stooped to what I now
realize was madness in doing and folly.
And in chapter 12 verse 12, he sorrowfully
cried out in disillusionment of making many books,
there's no end.
And much study is a weariness of the
flesh, much study that was not sought for
edifying, but self-glorifying swiftly became a weariness
of the flesh to him.
So the first thing he confesses, having tragically
stooped to that he now looked upon as
madness doing, was when he buried his initial
transparent and humble and noble pursuit of God
-imparted revelation and knowledge in order to live
a God-glorifying life, and foolishly embraced a
prideful pursuit of knowledge in order to live
a self-glorifying life.
And in doing that, in doing that, he
lost every intention of implementing or living those
God-imparted truths.
I want to repeat that.
In doing that, he lost every intention of
implementing or living those God-imparted truths.
And we all must beware here, beloved, we
all must beware here, for all integrity is
immediately crippled the moment we cease to live
only for God's smile.
And this was Solomon's first fearful warning to
all who would read this, his heartbreaking confessional
sermon.
All integrity is immediately crippled the moment we
cease to live only for God's smile.
I have known men in this world who
were living encyclopedias of this book, every
doctrine, every theological facet of truth, historical, church
history, everything there is about Christianity, you name
it, even today's movements, heretical or good or
once good and now lost, he could tell
you like a living encyclopedia.
When I was near him, I used to
say, stop, just wait, and I'd pull out
papers and pens and say, now go on.
He was a living encyclopedia of biblical
truths, but he eventually brought great dishonor and
shame upon Christendom.
When it became evident that he didn't live
the truth he preached, I have known men
again and again who left me in awe
at their knowledge, their incredible grasp and understanding
as it were, but they brought great dishonor
and shame upon Christendom when it became evident
they didn't live the truth they preached.
Now, I have no doubt that they had
started with genuine humility, transparency, and integrity like
Solomon, but like Solomon, they also fell fell
into the trap of seeking self-glory and
thereby ceased to seek grace, the grace that
God would have given them to live a
holy life through the knowledge they had obtained.
Beloved, God is a jealous God, Exodus 20
verse 5, and his sensitivity as he sees
our motives, as he sees our motives in
serving him, is unnerving and fearful.
I believe that the great warning to us
here is that it is possible to become
living encyclopedias on the truths and doctrines of
the sacred book and to tragically experience no
genuine desire or intention of living or implementing
those truths.
I believe that the great warning to us
here is that it is possible to become
living encyclopedias on the truths and doctrines of
the sacred book and to tragically experience no
genuine desire or intention of living or implementing
these truths.
The tragedy of a sacrificial pursuit after biblical
and theological knowledge with no intention or desire
to live it.
I wonder what percentage of preachers alone in
the evangelical pulpits of our world are guilty
of this as I look at them being
exposed.
One by one across the world in shameful
sin while they were preaching all this knowledge
that impressed and left men and women in
awe.
Now the second thing, the second thing he
sorrowfully confesses to have stooped to that led
him to his making shipwreck of his spiritual
life and pursuit of God was to have
become consumed with a passion for wealth and
materialism but once again for self-glorification.
In chapter 2 verse 4 he reflected, I
made me great works, I builded me houses.
Verse 7, I had great possessions.
Verse 8, I gathered me silver and gold.
Verse 9, so I was great, I was
great.
Verse 10, and whatsoever my eyes desired I
kept not from them.
But then in verse 11, in verse 11
he sadly wrote, he wrote, I looked on
all the works of my hand.
I looked on all the works that my
hand had wrought and behold all was vanity
and vexation, weariness of spirit.
Verse 17, therefore I hated life, I hated
life.
Then in chapter 5 verse 10, he warns
us, he that loveth silver shall not be
satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance
would increase for this is vanity, it's worthless
wasted effort that brings nothing but weariness.
In 1 Timothy 6 verse 5, Paul warned
us, be content with such things as you
have.
Verse 9, they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare and into many
foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in
destruction and perdition.
Verse 10, for the love of money is
the root of all evil, which while some
coveted after they have erred from the faith
and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
I met a pastor in my country of
one of the largest churches in our nation.
Now what's unique about this man is his
church is situated in one of the most
affluent wealthy areas of southern Africa where there
are millionaires upon millionaires upon millionaires and billionaires.
Just to drive through there is unnerving.
Here his church is situated 6,000 people.
I walked into his building, the auditorium they'd
built.
Oh he started with six in a little
cottage meeting a few years prior and then
he said these words to me that undid
me.
Brother, the tragedy of this church is that
90 percent of all members are millionaires, a
good amount are billionaires, most of which attempted
suicide and I with my pastors as the
church grew was taken to their hospital bed
as they lie, some of them close to
death, some of them hardly able to be
revived after the horrific way they tried to
kill themselves and I led them to Christ.
I pointed them to the one that's satisfied,
that fills up the gap, that no other
thing you pursue or achieve.
Oh there's a man in South Africa that
said when I become a millionaire that's when
I'll rest.
You know he became a millionaire and the
next day after he was declared a millionaire
he committed suicide.
This man said the most of this congregation
came to this church as a result of
us leading them to Christ as they lay
half dead because wealth doesn't satisfy.
You think it does.
It doesn't.
That's a shocking thing to find having achieved
great wealth and financial success did not give
them what only Christ can, peace and true
happiness.
My father as a little boy was in
great poverty during the Great Depression.
The Depression just prior to the Second World
War, the world plunged into depression, that is
financial recess and recession to the degree that
people were committing suicide across the world daily,
jumping of buildings who lost everything and couldn't
provide and had to be thrown in the
street.
Oh recession's a terrible thing my father told
me as he reflected back.
He was a little boy and my daddy
to help his mother because his daddy had
forsaken him and his mother couldn't survive it
seemed.
So as a 13-year-old boy he
went off to work.
He found work on the streets with pick
and shovel with big men hardened out in
the countryside of the roads for one ceiling
a week to help his mother to survive.
Now my daddy said there were times the
blisters on his hands broke and the blood
just poured down the pick to shovel and
he had tears as he trembled in pain
in the cold winds blowing across but he
didn't want anyone to see him crying for
fear of losing this one ceiling of a
week of hard labor that they let a
little boy in the recession they stooped to
that.
They have to for people to survive.
Children left school in their multitudes in our
nation and across the world to keep the
family alive somehow for anything they could do
but daddy as he stood there began to
weep and he said words that changed the
course of his life forever.
I will one day make money.
I will one day fight my way to
have wealth.
I don't care what I have to do
to get there.
I will never see my children resort to
this to stay alive.
After the war daddy returned very young and
worked like a slave to the degree that
even the owner of the company said stop
it go home you're wrong.
My daddy just carried on but wouldn't obey
just working.
Of course they rose him up as a
young man to foreman and then manager but
worse than that daddy started studying.
He found these books from Europe and he
studied through the nights working like a slave
through the day studying right through the nights.
Mommy said you're going to die.
No one can survive this.
What are you doing?
I have to.
Don't stop.
He left everyone behind in his profession across
the nation.
He just put him up more and more
authority more and more position.
He was indispensable across the nation to many
many companies that now ran by his knowledge
survived by his knowledge grew but daddy turned
to drink.
60 cigarettes a day smoking through the night.
I looked in that door and no matter
what time of the night there was this
little red cigarette as he lay in a
bed trying to think of how to cope
with all that was upon him all the
responsibility upon him somehow the night was not
his to sleep we get high blood pressure
fall down pools of blood alcoholism as he
had to socialize to make wealth those days
it wasn't little meetings in a little conference
hall there was always socializing where great decisions
were made in the business world and he
had to socialize and he would come back
reeking eventually he was enslaved to drink to
the degree that we were shamed mother would
weep herself to sleep and then there was
the arguing his whole character changed when he
was reeking and mother couldn't bear it she
hated it we hated it and the shame
it brought on the home and the disgrace
and people's eyes at the way he became
eventually his wife was filing for divorce I
will never love another man in my life
I promise you that my boys he was
my first sweetheart as a child I will
never love another man but this is not
the man I loved I will never love
another man but this and mommy will die
if I stay any longer so I have
to leave they had two children me and
my brother he rebelled he was angry he
didn't speak to my father he avoided daddy
if he saw him come down the passage
he'd get in the room and slam and
lock wouldn't speak days weeks in his anger
blaming daddy for mommy aging weeping me running
off as a little boy that he couldn't
find me in my fears and disillusionment and
confusion to escape and they're running down the
streets my little brother looking for his brother
oh he blamed daddy and he angered daddy
and so my darling daddy sat back crushed
given up all hope no hope resigned to
losing everything in life oh he had gained
position he had gained materialistic wealth above most
but no happiness the
same and grief and fear and sorrow as
everything was robbed and lost that he wanted
so to provide for in the way he
thought as a child he could bring security
and happiness to his family but he lacked
as a boy and then god saved him
just in time in the most wonderful way
daddy was totally delivered in one moment on
his knees he walked out and said to
mother i've given my life to christ i
shall never take it back he smashed every
bottle pouring it down the drink down the
drains mother we will never bring wine or
alcohol or we'll never have anything not even
wine or champagne it ruined my life it
ruined our lives threw down his cigarettes 60
over a day for over 23 years never
less than 60 a day never touched another
never touched another drink hated abhorred the smell
of it the thought of it god had
set him free read through this book 68
times in nine years that he lived now
he gave up everything went around confessing to
things that he took that should have declared
in his position he was able and the
fortune he had made and they said well
it would have been thrown away anyway you
don't have to he said no don't stop
me he made checks out to companies and
companies and companies you let me do this
in the end they were saying they told
me we said to your daddy well we're
not going to take it you give it
to churches or missionary societies but not us
we can't well eventually they called my father
asked my mother to make sure he came
because he didn't want to so they flew
up to our big cities trying to get
him back because the companies were just collapsing
all over the nation that he had brought
to great prosperity for these men mother said
there was a row a circle of men
some of them household names they saw wealthy
that had all investments and all these things
of these companies and they just sat there
looking at him but mother said they offered
him what no man should have been offered
as she couldn't believe they'd stooped to such
things to try and bring him back that
no one could say no to but daddy
stood up she said he never told me
this and he said thank you but no
thank you you see i thought this would
give me happiness but it destroyed my life
the more i got the more my life
crumbled i don't want it anymore i was
poor in poverty as wealth increased that you
bestowed on me i only found wealth when
i found christ i never knew true wealth
now i have wealth that which is valuable
i found salvation in jesus christ as you
all have heard and known then he said
these staggering words i know you men some
of you household names the way you've achieved
and the wealth you have but i know
this also how miserable you are i know
how unhappy your homes are i know about
your wives i know about your children you're
the same as me most of you you're
in poverty give up give it up and
come and find true wealth in christ or
will you die like that he left mother
was unable to move she was so shocked
she said she turned around looked at these
men she said keith every single one of
them was shopping brocks god had confronted them
you see this isn't happiness it's not going
to ever satisfy you loving this no matter
what you achieve by dubai numbers of them
gave their lives to christ through daddy now
a life consumed with the belief that materialistic
achievement and wealth is the means to fulfillment
and happiness can be expected from the unsaved
beloved but when a man who knows and
follows half the heart of god who walks
with god who loves god who's fulfilled and
finds all the peace that god gives a
man who's right with him when he allows
his pursuit of god to be drowned by
a carnal desire and passion for wealth and
materialism he will experience grave sorrow and frustration
for he will completely lose the one thing
that truly matters in life peace with god
god is a jealous god and he wants
our hearts and he warned against laying up
for ourselves treasures upon earth for where your
treasure is there will your heart be also
matthew 6 verse 19 who seek set your
affection set your affection on things above not
on things of the three verse two i
know a deeply conservative and loved evangelical preacher
i have known more than one trust me
who landed up in jail for long sentences
for the love of money that took away
their integrity you see the love of money
is the root it's just the beginning of
all evil once the seed of this sin
enters your heart it can lead you to
stoop to grave sin beloved and total disregard
and insensitivity insensitivity toward god's will and commandments
the third and final burial of all integrity
in his pursuit of god that he confessed
was madness madness in doing was
his pursuit of sensual pleasures in chapter
2 verse 1 he shamefully confesses i said
i said in my heart i will give
i will enjoy pleasure verse 10 so i
withheld not my heart from any joy or
pleasure but he that loveth pleasure shall be
a poor man proverbs 21 verse 17 warns
i want to repeat it write it on
your heart boy girl he
that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man
and paul also warned against serving diverse lusts
and pleasures and tragically stooping to become
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of god
that's a serious verse there you see it
says there was something overtaken that buried it
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of god
to timothy 3 verse 4 choosing choosing choosing
choosing to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season hebrews 11 verse 25 thou art
given to pleasure thou art given to pleasure
isiah 47 verse 8 does god confront you
and say that of you also here tonight
does god confront you and say that of
you also here tonight in your heart and
conscience in 1 kings 11 verse 1 we
read we read that solomon loved many strange
woman where is that me well ungodly foreign
woman verse 3 and he took to himself
700 wives which turned away his heart completely
from god that was the final barrier this
word loved is sensual it's not just you
loving one woman you loving something there's something
tragic about this word it implies a sensual
desires that made you stoop to this it's
fearful he loved many women didn't matter if
they were ungodly didn't it matter if gods
had warned and given him the light from
the old laws and the commandments through moses
not to embrace them not to pursue them
because they would turn your heart away from
god he took to himself 700 wives which
turned away his heart the three completely from
god the final burial of anything
left happened there was nothing left now i
know a man in south africa and a
lady she's quite a character he's more of
a character so i get a little bit
startled in their company at times but i've
made notes and used it she said to
him i suppose if i die you would
swiftly marry someone else wouldn't take long you'll
get married again won't you so he looked
up what never one was enough thank you
well solomon certainly didn't seem to think so
he had some other sort of agenda ah
well i have known many preachers who
tragically at some point gave themselves over to
the lusts of the flesh and
like solomon ended in disgrace and shame became
a grief to god and man now
the downfall of many people and many great
preachers that i have known and prayed with
and loved the downfall of so many one
proudly seeking to glorify themselves and no longer
god proudly seeking to glorify themselves
in religion in preaching and no longer god
secondly purposefully and sinfully seeking wealth and materialism
oh oh once a man in the pulpit
where a christian starts on that road it's
the end god he
will not stand in the pulpit with god
even if he has a bible and quote
scriptures about giving money is written across every
single church and man on earth even if
they have thousands the moment they stoop to
that beloved and i hope you hear the
sermon sir proudly
seeking to glorify themselves the downfall of many
preachers seeking to glorify themselves and no longer
god proudly seeking to glorify themselves and no
longer god two purposefully and sinfully seeking wealth
and materialism through religion three evilly passionately seeking
sensual pleasures in
my country there was a man so revered
and loved by his conservative values and his
uncompromising message he really was revered i preached
for him in some of his meetings and
then he landed up on the front pages
of every newspaper and the television i believe
the news the whole nation landed up in
jail for the love of money you see
he stooped in his love for money to
take money from the churches his massive monuments
that were being built to accommodate the crowds
that to go and gamble is found in
a gambling den a casino because he now
is so lost so much because it wasn't
enough so he wants more and so he
stoops you see it's the root of all
evil prison his wife died of a what
a lovely soul she was i
have known so many who had such integrity
that i literally went to my knees after
a few minutes with them and what god
had done in this world through them and
then the shame the disgrace across the world
as their names were written in newspapers magazines
as they were exposed and sensual pleasures stooping
to the lust of the flesh and now
are the same and disgrace of the world
let alone the church evilly
passionately seeking sensual pleasures in the end while
you preach that can happen to a man
john cried out in 1 john 2 verse
15 love not love not love not the
world neither the things that are in the
world if any man love the world the
love of the father is not in him
that means love for god is no longer
in him for all that is in the
world the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of
life is not of the father but is
of the world the world and the world
passes the way and the lust thereof but
he that doeth the will of god solomon
now while solomon while solomon pursued god in
humility and integrity this book records that he
had peace on all sides round about him
1 kings 4 verse 24 and judah and
israel dwelt safely and he joyfully proclaimed the
lord my god hath given me rest that
is peace on every side so that there
is neither adversary enemy nor evil occurrent that's
misfortunes that come upon us as a nation
1 kings 5 verse 1 but god soon
withdrew his hand of protection and blessing from
him for the lord stirred up an adversary
that is an enemy unto solomon hadad the
edomite 1 kings 11 verse 14 chapter 11
verse 23 and god stirred up another adversary
reason verse 26 and jeroboam the aphrodite even
he lifted up his hand against the king
he rebelled against the king respect and love
for solomon was gone all respect and love
for solomon was gone and his nation's heart
steadily turned against him but hebrews 12 verse
5 caustens us here despise not thou the
chastening of the lord god did this took
away the blessings and brought sorrows and troubles
to try and make him seek god again
to try and make him give up these
evil pursuits and set his heart to being
blessed and honored by god again the only
way that god will let's get right with
god despise not thou the chasing of the
lord hebrews 12 verse 5 we see this
again and again cried out through one passage
after the other in its context and perhaps
that's what god is doing to you if
he isn't yet he's going to i guarantee
you child if you're a child of god
your life will crumble pursuing these things at
salvation at salvation enslavement to sin is gloriously
cancelled whosoever committeth sin is the servant of
sin whosoever goes on and sin is enslaved
to sin john 8 verse 34 verse 36
but if the sun shall set you free
shall make you free you shall be free
indeed gloriously freed now subsequent to salvation i
believe a total surrender is essential in every
christian's life i beseech you therefore brethren by
the mercies of god that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice you see in the
old testament the sacrifice had to be a
whole animal dead but he doesn't want that
he wants the whole of your life dedicated
laid on the altar surrendered fully on the
altar of god i beg you brothers by
the mercies of god you do that present
dedicate yourselves to be a living sacrifice holy
acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service
and be not conformed to this world don't
go for the things the world goes for
that will just bring grief but be transformed
now by the renewing of your mind change
your heart change your minds from anything that
would divert you from an integrity in your
pursuit of god that you may prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of god i believe victory will be obtained
at such a dedication beyond all comprehension and
i've yet to meet the man who argued
with me and said that's not true everything's
salvation i said i want to ask you
a question don't you dare answer with a
lie or god may strike you dead so
be careful what about your life you're saved
i have no doubt of that don't desperately
need for god to have a total surrender
in you in your life desperately before you
make shipwreck i've never known a preacher or
a man who hasn't turned away and walked
away from me unable to say the true
answer but those who seek such a dedication
the victory that you obtain and experience through
this act of total dedication is maintained only
through the discipline of meditating god's word fervently
which results in true prayer outside of which
there is no such a thing as praying
in the spirit apart from crisis prayers in
desperate need there's no true prayer you
see we are born with a sinful nature
that salvation cancels out that enslavement to sin
but a total total surrender to god and
seeking as you realize where your heart can
be going just surrendering everything no matter what
it costs no matter what you're going to
throw out of your door your life or
lose but don't lose the pursuit of god
man's heart is evil from his youth genesis
8 verse 21 solomon cries out remember now
thy creator in the days of thy youth
while that is before the evil days come
not for the years do not when thou
shalt say like solomon i have no pleasure
in them i don't believe like we preach
that this is speaking to unsaved people to
get saved no you young people get so
totally right with god don't seek other things
don't bury your pursuit of god of course
solomon got right with god before death but
it was too late to rectify all the
damage and shame and sorrow that his life
had brought upon this world and on god's
name the fact of this book of ecclesiastes
is proof that this man confessed where he
had gone wrong and longed for us and
all who would read this sermon as heartbreaking
as it is to be protected from where
he landed the whole conclusion he says in
chapter 12 verse 13 is to fear god
keep his commandment this is the whole duty
of man for god shall bring every work
into judgment with every secret thing whether it
be good or whether it be evil oh
that's what he prayed for isn't it but
lost we have to be very careful here
tonight concerning this man solomon's fall you see
his confession as tragic as it was was
courageous because if any one of us sitting
here tonight were to try to do the
same the cost would be so so great
an honest confession before everyone right now of
just what you are the cost of such
a confession is this man made before death
to the whole world through the centuries the
cost of such an honest confession to oneself
will cost oh i implore every one of
you whom god has spoken to here tonight
to pay that price confess it to yourself
that costs how many of you how many
of us started off like this man with
utter integrity seeking wisdom knowledge from the pages
of this holy book in order to live
a god glorifying life you also had a
wonderful beginning but will you end in shame
and tragedy we think
we choose to come to a convention fellowship
is sweet tell me do you honestly think
god wasn't in it for this message alone
but what will you do with this message
one step after the sermon one word after
the sermon god satan and man will know
what you've done with this message one step
after this message god will know satan will
condition what you've done with this message even
if god brought you here to hear it
can we stand please no
appeal but there's an altar you know not
here just before god to ask for forgiveness
to tell god you'll pay the price no
matter what you have to bury of your
plans and life but you will no longer
step out of the perfect will of god
and that is ultimately to pursue him with
your whole heart soul and in total integrity
no matter what you have to lose or
who you have to lose now that altar
might be strewn with people here tonight seeking
god or maybe you in five minutes will
be laughing with people let me tell you
what you're doing you're laughing in god's face
don't doubt it now mr corbell will you
come please to our to the front no
up here one more meeting tomorrow morning
i believe we gather here about nine i
think i think roy will be preaching first
at 10 a little break and then i'll
preach he brings a half an hour message
and me hopefully an hour or what god
can do between this meeting and tomorrow morning
if you let him could change your life
and your world everyone you affect in this
world or could end in
tragedy for you and everyone that knows you
if you don't don't doubt this could you
please commit us to christ can we bow
in prayer please