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The Preaching Ezine (the newsletter of Preachology.com)

Hello,

Mark Hollingsworth here. Hope you are having a great week in the Lord.

2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

I would like to continue to discuss what Broadus said about the prerequisites of effective preaching. He said there were four requisites. The first is "piety." The second is "Natural Gifts." The third is "Knowledge."

(3) Knowledge. There must be knowledge of religious truth, and of such things as throw light upon it; knowledge of human nature in its relations to religious truth, and of human life in its actual conditions around us. It was a favorite idea of Cicero that the orator ought to know everything. There is of course no knowledge which a preacher might not make useful.

We may thankfully recognize the fact that some men do good who have very slender attainments, and yet may insist that it should be the preacher's lowest standard to surpass, in respect of knowledge, the great majority of those who hear him, and should be in sacred ambition to know all that he can learn by life-long and prayerful endeavor.

Piety furnishes motive power; natural gifts, cultivated as far as possible, supply means; knowledge gives material.

Broadus is saying that knowledge in and of itself is of no real value but if Biblical, religious and world history is humbly applied to the theological truths of God, man and redemption, we would be much better preachers.

Knowledge is not an end in and of itself but is valuable for making spiritual applications in the real world. And we must preach in the real world if we are to make a real difference!

2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

HEART TROUBLE

1 Kings 11:1-13

Introduction: Solomon was a unique person. Most everyone knows he was a the wisest and richest man that has ever lived. He was David's son and he followed David on the throne as king of Israel.

He was the last king to reign over the entire kingdom of Israel before it was divided. Chapter 10 of 1 Kings gives insight to all of Solomon's wealth. It has been estimated that it totaled six to ten million dollars.

But with all that wealth and wisdom, Solomon still had heart trouble. In these 13 verses of 1 Kings, we see the word heart used 7 times. His heart was not sold out to God, verse 6, "And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David, his father."

This is strange in a way because Solomon was a heart specialist...he wrote the book of Proverbs and its theme is the heart of mankind. It is mentioned 75 times in the Book of Proverbs.

Solomon didn't control his heart as we see in verse 1 where it says, "But Solomon loved (lusted after) many strange (foreign) women." Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

Therefore everyone in the world has the same heart trouble that Solomon had...including everyone hearing this sermon. We are going to do an examination of Solomon's heart and as we do I want you to let the Lord search the innermost depths of your heart and then apply the healing balm as the Lord offers.

What kind of heart did Solomon have?

I. Solomon Had a Divided Heart. (vv.4-5)

• "His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David."

  1 Kings 8:61 "Let your heart be perfect." But Solomon tried to divide his heart between 1000 women. Someone said, "It is unwise to have more than one wife, but it is downright stupid to have more than one mother-in-law!" Amen!

• Matthew 6:24 "Can't serve two masters." And Jesus said, "A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways."
• A house divided against itself cannot stand. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus says that you or either for me or against me.
• Is there anyone here with the same problem as Solomon?

  Is your heart divided? Have you "left your first love?" Are you trying to serve two masters? If so, you have heart trouble too.

II. Solomon Had a Defaulting Heart. (v.6)

• He didn't keep his end of the bargain. (1 Kings 9:4-6). "Walk before me as David thy Father walked." Here God is telling a young man to follow his in his Dad's footsteps in relation to his heart toward God.

  There is so much teaching today that destroys this principle. This is, of course, speaking of following a father who has done right and lived for God. That doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes. David did make mistakes but his heart was always toward God even when he failed. Society today bombards this one principle and tries to default the home and the leadership of the home.

  "Integrity of the heart" is the key. This means have an honest heart. Keep your word. Make a commitment to God and keep it. Make a commitment to marriage and keep it. Where are those who have hearts of integrity today?

  "In uprightness" is also key. This means doing what is right. This means doing everything above the table, honestly. There should be no questionable or shady deals. "Do all that I have commanded thee" says the Lord.

• Jephthah kept his end of the bargain. (Judges 11:32-40)

III. Solomon Had a Distant Heart. (v.4)

• "Turned away his heart...after other gods." Whatever turns you away from following God is a "strange or foreign god."

  "And his heart was not perfect with the Lord." It was distant and he could not hear or feel that knock at his heart's door anymore.

• Too many today live at a distance from God because of the guilt of sin.

  You can't get close to God because He would require giving up something or some sin or some habit and so you choose to keep your distance. That way, you can't hear that still small voice. You can't feel that gentle tug by God on your heart strings.

IV. Solomon Had a Disobedient Heart. (vv.7-10)

• He didn't fully follow the Lord. (v.6)
• He built idols. (v.7)
• He did all this for his wives. (v.8)
• He turned away from God. (v.9)
• God warned Solomon against this. (v.10)
• Solomon ignored God's command. (v.10)

How many today are on the same road as Solomon? You started off right, living for the Lord and He was first place in your life.

But now your heart has been turned away from God. Your job has gotten in your way or maybe there is a relationship that keeps you away from God. Or maybe money has lured you away from your Savior.

Whatever is keeping you from giving God all your heart, get it out of the way right now. Hear God today and heed his call. Turn back now before it is too late.

Let me remind you again preachers and teachers that you can now have your own Preachology sermon web page. If you submit 15 or more sermons on the "Your Sermons" page, I will then move your sermons to a page of your own where you can continue to add sermons and invite your family, friends, and followers to view your work. When they visit your page, they can make comments about each of your sermons.

Loy Clements has now submitted 15 sermons and has his own sermon web page now. He has submitted some great sermons. Check it out at "www.preachology.com/loy-clements-sermons.html" and then get your own page!

There are more outlines at the "Bible Study Outlines" page where I share my skeleton outlines and there are more outlines at the "Your Skeleton Outline Page" where you can share your great skeleton outlines with all of us.

I also just recently added some more material at preachology.com on the FREE SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS page. There is also new material at the YOUR SERMONS page. There are new sermons there from several different preachers.

Go to the... Free Sermons ...page to get the new sermons and come often because we will soon add more. Take a look. There are some new sermons there now.

Subscribe to my free newsletter and receive even more sermons, outlines, notes, and ideas on a regular basis emailed directly to you. If you subscribe, you will also be able to access "The Preaching Ezine" archives where you will find even more sermon material (not on the website), sent out in the past. I'll also give you a free copy of E. M. Bounds book "Power Through Prayer."

Click here to subscribe to...The Preaching Ezine.


YOUR SERMONS, OUTLINES, and ILLUSTRATIONS:
Preachers, let's be an encouragement to other preachers by sharing our sermons and outlines and commenting positively about other preacher's sermons.

I love to read other preacher's sermons as devotionals for my own personal spiritual growth and also to get ideas for developing sermons of my own.

Go to the... Your Sermons ...page to submit your sermons and outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Skeleton Outlines ...page to submit your skeleton outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new skeleton sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Illustrations ...page to submit your sermon illustrations and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new illustrations there right now!

Well, that's about it for now.

Do you have any comments, ideas, or feedback? I'd love to hear from you personally. You can either reply to this ezine or go to the form on the "Contact Me" page on my website and tell me what you think.

Yours for Powerful Preaching,

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