CHRIST CREATIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
A SERMON PREACHED ON SUNDAY
APRIL 18, 1999
BY
THE REV. DR. GEORGE ST. ANTHONY FERGUSON, SR.
AUTHOR: Unknown
THEME: Kingdom United; Divided
DATE: 6th Century BC
TEXT: 1 Kings 14:27
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to give God your best? I mean, have you really ever wondered what it would fell like to really give God your best? I'm not talking about giving God your best when you feel like it. I'm not talking about giving God your best when you think about it. I'm not talking about giving God your best when everybody was looking. I'm talking about giving God your best when everything is going right. I'm talking about giving God your best when everything is going wrong. I'm talking about giving God your best in the good times. I'm talking about giving God your best in bad times. I'm talking about giving God your best in season. I'm talking about giving God your best out of season. I'm talking about excellence in ministry. And one day the writer of 1 Kings told us what a king did when he failed to have excellence in ministry. So on this Youth Sunday, the Lord told me to preach on the topic, Excellence In Ministry.
Our Bible lesson comes from the 14th chapter of the book of 1 Kings. It is also found in 2 Chronicles 12:9-11. By way of introduction you should know that 1 and 2 Kings is one book in the Jewish Bible. The author or authors are unknown. The book of 1 Kings is a sacred history book. It is the history of the united Kingdom of Israel. It is the history of the divided Nations of Israel and Judah. It is the history of God in the life of His people. By the time we get to chapter 14, the writer told us King David was dead. The writer told us David's son, Solomon, became the next king. The writer told us King Solomon took out all his enemies. The writer told us Solomon had peace in the land. The writer told us Solomon built a temple to God. The writer told us Solomon prayed to God for wisdom. The writer told Solomon was prosperous. The writer told us that King Solomon died. The writer told us Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became king. And here in chapter 14, we read about the administration of King Rehoboam. Unlike David his grandfather, Rehoboam was a bad king. Unlike Solomon his father, Rehoboam was an unwise king. Rehoboam was a bad and unwise king. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and Naamah, a Black Ammonite woman. He was born about 975 BC. He was about 42 when he ascended to the throne. After he became king, the Jews came to him to ask for tax relief because Solomon had taxed them to death. People say the only certain things in life are death and taxes. After three days, the older counselors who advised Solomon told Rehoboam to ease the taxes. But the younger counselors who grew up with Rehoboam told him to increase the taxes immediately. He rejected what the older advisors said and did what the younger advisors said. How many of you know that youth and inexperience is no match to old age and wisdom? These older advisors was one of the reasons Solomon was so wise. But Rehoboam rejected the old men and listen to the new boys. He listen to his running partners. He listen to his homeboys. He told the people if you think my father's taxes were too high then you ain't seen nothing yet. My taxes will be even higher. He said my taxes will be like my little finger but my little finger will be as thick as my father's waist. In other words, his taxes would be bigger than his father's. He was a fool. And because Rehoboam decided to ignore the people, the Jews in the Northern kingdom revolted and the nation was divided. Ten tribes formed the Northern Nation of Israel and two tribes formed the Southern Nation of Judah. Rehoboam began on a bad note and his rule went down from there. In the fifth year of his reign at the age of 47, Egypt and other African nations invaded Jerusalem, under the leader of Pharaoh Shishak. I did not say Shaka Zulu. I did not say Shaquel O'Neill. I said Shishak. Shishak walked in Jerusalem just like John and took all the money and valuables. V25 says, "And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem." My first point is this: When you live wrong, God will allow the devil to come against you! Rehoboam listen to the wrong crowd. Rehoboam did the wrong thing. Rehoboam made a wrong decision. And as a result, God allowed Shishak to come against him. Now you may not know this but Solomon had married Pharaoh's daughter when he was king. He did this to have peace with Egypt. But now that Solomon was dead and his son was weaken by a divided kingdom, Shishak saw this as his best chance to break the peace and enrich himself. And when you and I do wrong, God will allow others to come against you. God will
LET YOUR ENEMIES COME AGAINST YOU
LET THOSE WHO HATE YOU COME AGAINST YOU
LET EVIL PEOPLE COME AGAINST YOU
LET DEMONS COME AGAINST YOU
LET THE DEVIL HIMSELF COME AGAINST YOU
And if God sends your enemy against you, who can help you? Can I get a witness? Excellence In Ministry.
Shishak just walked in Jerusalem like he owned the place and while in Jerusalem, Shishak went to Solomon's Temple. The Temple was also the treasury house. And near the Temple in the house called the Forest of Lebanon, Solomon put 300 shields in it when he was king. These shields were used in worship when the king went up to worship. These were not 300 ordinary shields. These were not 300 regular shields. These were not 300 average shields. These were 300 extraordinary shields. Solomon made these shields of gold. 1 Kings 10:14-15 tells the story. Seven years into his rule, soon after he built the Temple, Solomon had his master craftsmen hammer out 300 shields out of gold. Each shield was made of 3 pounds of pure gold. If you assume that gold was about $350 an ounce, then one shield cost $16,800. The total cost for all 300 shields was $5,040,000. Don't that sound like Solomon. The Bible says that each year, 666 talents of gold was paid to Solomon just as a salary. That was over $3 billion a year in 900 BC money. That would be over $3 trillion dollars a year today. This man was Rich with a capital R. Solomon did not use 14K gold or 24K gold. He used 99.99% pure gold. Solomon used pure gold in everything. He covered the holy of holies or oracles of God with pure gold. He covered the walls of the Temple with pure gold. He made the partition chains of pure gold. He covered the cheribiums with pure gold. He covered the floors inside and outside the Temple with pure gold. He covered the two entrance doors with pure gold. He made the altar of prayer of pure gold. He made the table of showbread of pure gold. He made the seven golden candlestick of pure gold. He made the tongs of pure gold. He made the bowl of pure gold. He made the snuffers of pure gold. He made the basins of pure gold. He made the spoons of pure gold. He made the censor of pure gold. He made the hinges for the doors of pure gold. He covered over his ivory throne with pure gold. He made his drinking cups of pure gold. All the vessels in the house in the Forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold. Solomon had so much gold coming in each year that 1 Kings 10:21 says that nothing was made of silver. Silver was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. They did not count the silver. They just gave the silver to the poor or threw it away in the trash cans. And when Solomon would go up to worship the Lord on the Sabbath or on one of the seven feast days, 300 mighty warriors would get the shields, take them to the roof of the Temple and stand on the roof top behind the gold shields. When the Middle East African sun hit those shields, it made an excellent testimony to the glory of God and His blessings on King Solomon. It was a beautiful, marvelous and wonderful sight to behold. When Solomon went up to the Temple, he was saying excellence to God. The gold on the wall of the Temple was saying excellence to God. The sun reflected by the gold shields was saying excellence to God. And that's what we should be saying, excellence to God. Now what does gold represent in the economy of God? Gold represents the holiness of God. Gold represents the purity of God. Gold represents the greatness of God. God represents the goodness of God. Gold represents the glory of God. Gold represents the excellence of God. With the gold, Solomon was showing us that God is the best, gives the best and requires the best from us. God is excellent and God requires us to be excellent. And when God sent Jesus to the earth, God did not send His second best. God sent His very best. God sent Jesus because he cared enough to send the very best. And God expects us to give Him our very best. God expects our best in ministry. God expects excellence in ministry. Jesus had excellence in ministry. Solomon had excellence in ministry. But when Shishak came to town, he changed all of that. He took all 300 gold shields. V26 says, "And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made." My second point is this: If you don't give God your best, God will allow the devil to take away your blessing. Shishak came to Jerusalem and just took away the treasures of the Temple. He just took away the treasures of the king's house. He just took away the 300 shields that Solomon made. Listen. This is what Shishak did. He stole the partition chains of pure gold. He stole the tongs of pure gold. He stole the bowl of pure gold. He stole the snuffers of pure gold. He stole the basins of pure gold. He stole the spoons of pure gold. He stole the censor of pure gold. He stole the hinges of pure gold. He stole the ivory throne covered with pure gold. He stole the drinking cups of pure gold. He stole the vessels of pure gold. And to add insult to injury, Shishak stole the 300 shields of pure gold. And when you don't focus on excellence in ministry
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR HEALTH
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR MIND
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR BLESSING
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR HAPPINESS
THE DEVIL WILL STEAL YOUR JOY
Don't let the devil steal your joy. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is your strength. Am I right about it? I'm preaching about Excellence In Ministry.
Now you would think that at this point Rehoboam would have repented to God and let everybody know that the gold shields were gone. But no, Rehoboam was more ashamed than he was repentant. Rehoboam was more embarrassed than he was willing to ask God for forgiveness. Rehoboam was more willing to hide his short comings than he was willing to admit his short comings. Isn't that just like us? We are weighted in the balance and are found wanting but we try to hide our low weight. We are found out in our sin but we act like we just made a mistake. We are shown to have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but we are only sad because we got caught. God is looking for a truly repentant heart. David said a broken and contrite heart God will not despise. But Rehoboam was just like most of us. He tried to hide the fact that the glory of the Lord, as represented by the gold shields, had departed. V27 says, "And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house." My final point is this: If you don't have the joy of the Lord in your heart, you will put on a false face. King Rehoboam did not want the people to know that King Shishak had taken away the 300 gold shields. The people loved to see their king walk up to the Temple in the golden reflection of those shields. The people knew that the blessings of God was on their king when they saw those golden shields. That's how church folks feel when they see their pastor dressed in his robes walking up to the pulpit. But Rehoboam could not tell them the truth. He did not want to tell them the truth. He could not handle the truth. So he decided to fool the people. He decided to lie to the people. He decided to perpetrated a fraud on the people. Haven't I told you what a wicked web we weave, when we practice to deceive? King Rehoboam made 300 brass shields to replace the 300 gold shields. Shiny brass looks like gold but it is not gold. Far away up on the roof top of the Temple, they looked real but close up you could tell they were fake. The chief guard kept these false shields under lock and key in the king's house. You see, gold is a pure metal but brass is an alloy of copper and tin. Gold will shine for life. Brass will shine as long as you polish it over and over again. You touch gold and it keeps on shining. You touch brass and it loses its luster. You need nothing to keep gold shining. You need Brasso to keep brass shining. That requires a lot of work and up keep. This reminds me of something that happened to me a while back. I was at the McDonald on Brightseat Road. You know the one just across the street. This slick and sly guy came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy a gold chain. I told him no! I don't buy anything off the street. I knew better. But then he showed me that chain. It was thick. It was shiny. It was golden. I told myself, I got to have it. I negotiated the price down from $200 to $20. I should have come to my senses but I did not. I gave the guy $20 and thought I made a good buy. But I should have remember that all that glitters ain't gold. I should have remembered to watch out for fool's gold. Well, I got the so called gold chain home and went to sleep with it on. But when I got up, it had gone from being a bright and shiny golden color to being a dull tarnished greenish brown color. I had been had. That day I was not a fool for Jesus. I was just a plain old fool. And that is what the devil always does to all of us. He dangles a lie before us and tells us that it is the truth. He tells us it is real. He tells us it is good. But it is all a lie from the father of lies. Satan always gets us with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That neck chain looked good against my skin. That neck chain looked good to my eyes. That deal made me feel proud of my negotiation skills. And just like Adam and Eve, I fell for the oldest trick in the book. And so have all of you! I still have that chain to keep me humble and to remind me to give God the glory. But that is not what Rehoboam did. He was willing to lie to the people. Unlike Solomon who focused on excellence in ministry, Rehoboam focused on lying in ministry. You see the gold shields Solomon made was always ready to be used but the brass shields Rehoboam made was only ready to be used after they were shined. Gold is always ready for use but brass has to be made ready. God wants us to always be ready like gold. God does not want to wait for us to be made ready like brass. Most Christians do ministry of brass not ministry of gold. Gold is real. Brass is a fake. Gold is excellence. Brass is a cheap counterfeit. And that is what is happening in too many churches today. Most pastors and churches today have fake praise and testimony not real worship of God. Most pastors and churches are marketing to your pleasure not calling you to repentance. Most pastors and churches are calling you to church membership not saving grace in Jesus. Most pastors and churches are telling you to come as you are and stay as you are not come as you are and go on to be a disciple of Christ. Most pastors and churches are appealing to your flesh not to your spirit. Most pastors and churches are appealing to your emotions not to your soul. Most pastors and churches want you to get all rapped up in the pastor not rapped up in Jesus. But, I' m tied up, tangled up and bundled up in Jesus. Listen to me. Today, we have substituted excellence in ministry with a performance. We have substituted excellence in ministry with an act. We have substituted excellence in ministry with a bunch of busy work. We have substituted excellence in ministry with human manipulation. We have substituted excellence in ministry with a lie. We have substituted the shields of gold with the shields of brass. Too many churches are not building on the Lord Jesus Christ. They are building on the personality of the preacher. Too many churches are not building on the uncompromising Word of God. They are building on saying what makes you feel good. David said except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Joshua said but as for me and my house; we will serve the Lord. Brass looks good but gold is the best. Too many pastors and churches are bringing out the brass of fake worship rather than bringing out the gold of true worship. Jesus said the time has come and now is that the true worshippers of God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Do you want a church that looks good on the surface or is great in substance? Give me substance over form. Give me function over fashion. Give me reality over fakery. I want to be just like Jesus. Brass will not cut it with God. Brass will not make it with God. Brass will never do with God. Brass is fake, false and foolish. But gold is the real deal. Gold is the real thing. Ain't nothing like the real thing. God's standard is the gold standard. God put pure gold in the land of Havaliah in the Garden of Eden. Moses made the Tabernacle furniture of pure gold. Solomon made the Temple furniture of pure gold. One of the gifts the wise men brought Jesus was pure gold. The streets of heaven are paved with pure gold. Jesus will give us a crown of pure gold. Jesus has a breastplate of pure gold. And Jesus has a heart of pure gold. Jesus died... And when you do a ministry of excellence, you are doing a ministry of pure gold. You are doing a ministry in the Holy Ghost. You are doing a ministry of love straight from the heart. You are doing a ministry out of a pure heart. David had a heart of pure gold. Paul had a heart of pure gold. And I want a heart of pure gold. What about you? I don't know about you but I don't want a ministry of brass, I want a ministry of gold. Because I'm building on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. One of the materials I'm using is gold. I'm on the gold standard. I want excellence in my ministry. Excellence in my life. Excellence in my heart. Excellence in my soul. Excellence in my mind. Excellence in my church. Excellence in my preaching. Excellence in my teaching. Excellence in my singing. Excellence in my living. I want EXCELLENCE. That's the gold standard. Excellence is the highest level. Excellence is abundantly above the average. Excellence is the best. Let me show you a more excellent way. God is excellent in power and judgment. Praise God according to His excellent greatness. God in the excellency of His power overthrew Pharaoh. God in the excellency of His power rides on the sky. God in the excellency of His power mounts up to the sky. God wants us to deck ourselves in excellency. We have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. And one day God gave us His gold. God gave us His best. God gave us His most excellent Son, Jesus. God so loved... God did not send His Son... God commended His love towards us... What can wash away my sins? What can make me whole again? The blood that give me strength? There is power, power wonder working power? Because my hope is built... The blood of Jesus is the gold standard. Am I right about it? David said, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth." The song says, Jesus, excellent, is thy name. In all the earth. Jesus excellent, is thy name. There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth... There's healing in His name. There's salvation in His name. There's deliverance in His name. There's power in His name. There's excellence in His name. In the name of Jesus... Can I get a witness? And I just want to ask one question: "Will you give God excellence in ministry with shields of gold or will you give God a fake ministry with shields of brass?" The doors of the church are opened.
© 1998 drsax989238@msn.com
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