Solomon’s Throne Established (Solomon): After his father David’s death, Solomon moved to establish his kingdom. Adonijah, Solomon’s brother; Abiathar the priest; Joab the military commander; and Shimei all needed justice brought to bear on their actions. Would Solomon do what was easy or what was right? Would he overreact or judge justly? The King of God’s kingdom reflects God’s character. Recorded on Oct 12, 2025, on 1 Kings 2:13-46 by Pastor Nate Huber.
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
David’s Charge to Solomon (Solomon): Before his death, King David gave his son, Solomon, one last charge. What did he say in those final moments? David said to be strong and act like a man by being Biblically faithful. But would Solomon learn to be a righteous king? Can anyone be truly righteous? A right belief in God’s word leads to a right understanding of how to live in God’s world. Recorded on Oct 5, 2025, on 1 Kings 2:1-12 by Pastor David Parks.
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
This fall, we’re exploring the life of one of the most important ancient kings of Israel in a sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King. And we’re only a few weeks into this series, so if you’ve missed any of the sermons so far, you can always watch or listen to the podcast online if you’d like. But we’ve said that Solomon’s story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. However, before he could take the crown, a potential rival emerged from within his own family, Solomon’s brother, Adonijah. Last week, we saw that David’s response was successful. Solomon was made the next king, and his first act as the king was to extend mercy to the slippery self-appointed Serpent King. Today, we come to the end of the historic life of King David. Throughout this series, we’re asking, “How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy?” Well, we’re about to find out. But before his death, David gives Solomon one last charge. Let me ask you this: if you knew you only had a few weeks or even a few days left to live, what would you want to tell your kids/friends/spouse? If you were David, what would you tell your son before you died? I’ll tell you what, as a pastor, I’ve been with a number of people in their final moments, at their bedside, surrounded by loved ones. These are sacred moments. Very often, love is expressed, grief is shared, forgiveness is offered, Scripture is read, prayers are said, and plans are made for what will happen next. Have you ever experienced that? Well, today, we’ll step into a scene like this and see what David’s final words were to his son. Would the young man listen to his father? Would he learn to be a righteous king? Let’s jump in. If you have your Bible/app, please open to 1 Kings 2:1.
1 Kings 2:1–4 (NIV), “1 When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’” So it’s clear to me from passages like this that David read his Bible a lot. Now, at this time in history, David didn’t have a Bible in the format that we have today, because not everything had happened by this point in history that God wanted to record in his word. There would still be almost a thousand years before the time of Jesus. But at this time, David had the Torah, or the first five books in our Bibles, which contain the Law of Moses as well as the historical record from creation down to the exodus of Israel out of Egypt. David also had the books of Joshua, Judges, Job, Samuel, and some of the Psalms. Isn’t that interesting? If that’s all the Bible you had, would you be able to know who God was and what he was like? Yes, you could. David certainly had. Even before the fullness of the gospel was revealed in Christ, many faithful men and women loved God and trusted him for salvation. David had been one of those faithful people. He had been careful to observe what the Lord required and walk in obedience to him, to not merely listen to the word, but to do what it says (James 1:22). We know this from his story, but even from his statement here, it’s clear that the scriptures had embedded themselves into David’s heart and mind. We know this because what David says before his death is almost exactly what Moses said to the Israelites before his death (Dt 4). And it’s almost exactly what Joshua said to the Israelites before his death (Jos 23). David had read passages like these over and over; he had meditated on them to the point where, when it was time for him to face the end of his life, he literally thought Biblically about it. God’s word had worked its way so deeply into his thinking that it shaped how he faced everything in life, including his own death. Oh, that the same could be said of us! Do you read God’s word often enough, do you meditate on the Scriptures long enough, that they work themselves into your heart and mind, shaping and transforming you over time? This is what, at the very end of his life, and maybe even on his own deathbed, David wanted to remind his son. In this sacred final moment, David wanted Solomon to have the kind of relationship with God and his word that he had enjoyed. “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” meaning I’m about to die, son. “So be strong [and] act like a man,” But what does that mean? What did strength and masculinity mean for the mighty King David? He meant to be Biblically faithful. Be strong and act like a man by walking in obedience to God, and keeping his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Isn’t that interesting? If someone today said to be strong and act like a man, would you think they meant to read the Bible and do what it says? Probably not. Our culture would have all sorts of other nonsense to say about that, because our culture is desperately confused about what it means to be masculine or feminine. It doesn’t mean wearing blue or pink or following any other silly gender stereotypes. And it certainly isn’t something we can define or change however/whenever we want. We were created, we are creatures, so our Creator gets to define us and declare his will for what we do. But David knew what was at stake. “Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” In other words, Biblical faithfulness was the key to his success. David never let what other people said about him define him as a man. God defined him and declared his will for his life, and this led to victory after victory, to peace and prosperity. Now, it’s always a good idea to do the right thing, to obey God’s word and follow God’s way. It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. But this was especially for Solomon. God would not tolerate an ungodly and disobedient king like King Saul had been, at least not for very long. As the king goes, so goes the kingdom. This is why, here at the end of his life, David was hanging on to the promise of God that we looked at last week from 2 Samuel 7. If Solomon were to be Biblically faithful as David had been, and “If [Solomon’s] descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before [the Lord] with all their heart and soul, [their family would] never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.” No wonder David was thinking about this at the end of his life. Biblical faithfulness was the most important message David could’ve given. But this wasn’t the only advice David gave his son. Let’s continue.
1 Kings 2:5-9 (NIV), “5 “Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6 Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. 7 “But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 “And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9 But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.” Ok! If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, “Isn’t this the plot to the Godfather movies?” This reminds me of when the son, Michael Corleone, was preparing to take over the family business from his aging father, Vito Corleone. And Michael needed to be prepared for who would come for him after his father was gone. Michael needed to take out his enemies before they took him out. (Isn’t that what you were thinking? Maybe that’s just me.) But David wasn’t a mob boss. And Solomon wasn’t taking over an organized crime family. (Although it does kind of have the same feel.) So what’s going on here? Wasn’t David just talking about being careful to do the right things according to God’s word? Now he’s talking about going after Joab and Shimei? It sounds like David wants Solomon to tie up some loose ends for him. Well, David was a brilliant military and political leader. He had been surrounded by mighty men most of his life, men who could’ve tried to take his throne, and some who had tried (unsuccessfully). So David certainly knew where the threats and the vulnerabilities lay for Solomon…but I don’t think that’s what was happening here. Now, did David have mixed motives? It’s possible. But I think this was more about doing what was right than getting revenge. See what you think. First, David warned Solomon about Joab, the commander of David’s army. And Joab was a dangerous man. He was very powerful, having at least some of the army loyal to his leadership. But he had shown that he wasn’t always loyal to David, having ignored David’s direct command not to kill his son, Absalom, and, most recently, supporting Adonijah’s failed coup. Joab was a major threat to Solomon, but David never mentioned his disloyalty. He did mention Joab’s crimes of murdering Abner and Amasa. We don’t have time to get into the drama around those situations, but Joab should not have killed them. Their blood was still on his hands. Justice still needed to be done. Second, David was concerned that Solomon should continue to show kindness and hospitality to the family of Barzillai of Gilead, who supported him when David was on the run from his son, Absalom. Finally, we have Shimei, who had cursed David during the rebellion of Absalom. Barzillai had blessed David, but Shimei had cursed him, and David was the Lord’s anointed. Now, what’s the big deal with that? Well, when King Saul was hunting David before David finally became the king, David had several opportunities to kill Saul, but he refused to lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed king. Even though Saul was evil and was actively trying to murder him, David still respected the office of the king because it was the Lord’s, not his. So David isn’t telling Solomon to get even with Shimei because he had insulted him. This wasn’t an ego thing for David; this was about respecting the Lord and his anointed. So these three situations weren’t about David getting revenge. This was about doing what was right/just. Now, we’ll see how all this plays out next week. But now, we come to the end of David’s story.
1 Kings 2:10–12 (NIV), “10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.” This is God’s word. As it says in 1 Chronicles, “[David] died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.” (1 Ch 29:28). So the king was dead. Long live King Solomon, the Lord’s anointed. Now, we’ll have to see, not just next week, but for the next few months of our series, whether or not Solomon would listen to his father’s advice. Would he make Biblical faithfulness his first priority? Would he obey God’s word and follow God’s way? Would Solomon deal with everyone (friend and enemy alike) according to justice and righteousness? But what about us? Will we learn to live like this? Obviously not as a king or queen, but will we learn to obey God’s word and follow God’s way? Will we deal with the people in our lives according to what is just and right? In the weeks ahead, we’ll consider the themes of justice and wisdom in more depth. But today, let’s zoom in on one of the great themes of the whole Bible, that we see here, that of righteousness. Well, we’ve already seen that the righteous life starts with Biblical faithfulness. Do you believe that God’s word defines you and directs your life? Do you believe that you are under the authority of God’s word or that you can pick and choose what you want to obey/reject? I like what the Bible says about caring for the poor or turning the other cheek, but I don’t like what it says about sexuality or hell and judgment. But you can’t do that unless your word has more authority than God’s word. Here’s why this matters so much; here’s why, on his deathbed, this was the most important thing David could share with his son: A right belief in God’s word leads to a right understanding of how to live in God’s world. Right belief leads to right living. Very simply, righteousness means to think/speak/do what is right, but (and here’s the kicker), what is right as defined by God’s word, not your word. Righteousness means you think what is true, you speak the truth in love, you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and you love your neighbor as yourself. That is what’s right. Can you imagine if the whole world lived that way? It would be a whole world of love! It would literally be heaven. Now, is it a good thing to try to live a righteous life? Of course! But if you’ve ever tried to do this for more than five minutes, you’ll realize something that might come as a shock. We can’t do it. Try as we might, we always fail. Even the godly King David failed to be perfectly righteous. No matter how wise Solomon would become, he still failed to be perfectly righteous. This is a real problem because, according to God’s word, only the righteous will live. Now, most of us are fairly good most of the time (provided we don’t get too stressed out, hungry, frustrated, or anxious). But do we always think/speak/do what is right? No. And the wages of sin (in other words, what unrighteousness deserves) is death. But here’s the good news of the gospel: the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ro 6:23). You see, God had promised he would send a truly righteous king. After David and Solomon’s time, each generation of kings seemed to be worse than the last. There were a few good ones in there, but for the most part, it was just a mess until God’s people were finally sent into exile. But in Jeremiah 23, the Lord gave his people a gracious promise. Jeremiah 23:5 (NIV), “The days are coming…when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Despite the failure of the kings, a different kind of king was coming. One who would be perfectly righteous. The gospel is the story of this king. Through whom “the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,” (Ro 1:17). Jesus was the only truly righteous man who ever lived. He lived a life without sin, so he never deserved to die. But then he chose to die on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus traded his righteousness for our sin through his substitutionary death. He paid the price we could never pay. But then he rose alive, breaking the power of sin and death forever. So when we believe this good news, we fulfill one of the promises of God: The righteous will live by faith. Would Solomon learn to live according to righteousness? And would he trust the Lord when he failed to be perfectly righteous? (Will we learn these things?) It all starts with God’s word. Because a right belief in God’s word leads to a right understanding of how to live in God’s world. But when we fall short, we must not forget that we have a righteous savior, one who is not only the Lord’s anointed but who is himself, the Lord of Glory. And his name is Jesus. Friends, if this were my last moment, if this were my bedside, I’d want to tell you about him, too. No one is greater. No one is better. You can trust him. He will never lead you astray. The righteous life, and a right understanding of how to live in God’s world, is found in him. Let us pray.
David Makes Solomon King (Solomon): In response to Adonijah’s attempted coup, King David acted quickly to ensure that Solomon was his successor. When David’s plan worked, he responded in worship for God’s faithfulness to keep his word. When faith is a battle and it’s hard to believe, even when it seems as if the whole world is against you, don’t forget this one simple truth: God never breaks his promises. Recorded on Sep 28, 2025, on 1 Kings 1:32-53 by Pastor David Parks.
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
We’re working through a sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King, which follows the story and some of the writings of one of the most important ancient kings of Israel, King Solomon. And we said that Solomon’s story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. At least, that was the plan. Last week, we saw that Solomon faced a threat to his life and leadership of the highest level before he even took the throne. A potential rival for the crown emerged from within his own family when Adonijah, one of his half-brothers, started acting like the king and then arrogantly declared himself to be the king. We saw David promise to deal with it, but we had to wait until today to see how David’s response would play out. But before we get into it, this passage is one of those sneaky Bible passages. On the surface level, it seems to be merely the historic record (this happened, then this happened, and so on). But it’s so much more than that. In fact, it’s passages like these in the Bible that are so incredibly helpful when your faith is failing. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever struggled to believe? Has it ever been hard to believe something that God said? Or have you ever wrestled with whether you believe in God at all? The Christian is not immune to questions and doubts. Pastors are immune to questions and doubts. At times, faith is a battle for everyone. What can we do? Well, there are a number of things that help us fight this battle of faith. But today, in our story, we’ll be reminded of a simple truth we must remember when our faith seems to be failing. Now let’s get into it. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to 1 Kings 1:32.
1 Kings 1:32–40 (NIV), “32 King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33 he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. 34 There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” 36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. 37 As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!” 38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. 39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.” Ok! So, last week, we saw that at the end of David’s life, when he was very weak and frail and out of touch, Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, made a plan to try to stop Adonijah from stealing the crown from Solomon. David had publicly declared that God had chosen Solomon to be his successor. But Adonijah was the oldest living son of David, which normally meant he would be the next king. Adonijah was also a handsome prince (meaning he looked like a king) and, unfortunately, he was spoiled by his father, David. He was never told no. So in his arrogance and pride, Adonijah thought he could claim the throne for himself. He rode around in a chariot with fifty men running ahead of him, and he assembled powerful officials who would support his rule. They met at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel, a spring to the south of Jerusalem. Now, En Rogel wasn’t the main water source of the city. It was an out-of-the-way place that was probably chosen so that David and his loyal followers wouldn’t discover what he was up to right away. By the way, the Stone of Zoheleth translates as the Serpent’s Stone. And I wonder if anyone saw the irony of celebrating someone trying to make himself king against the very word of God at a place called the Serpent’s Stone? Wasn’t it the devil, that ancient serpent of the Garden of Eden, who first questioned and twisted God’s word to serve his own destructive purposes? Anyway, when Nathan and Bathsheba heard about this, they both went to David to tell him what was happening right under his nose. Well, David immediately went to work. He called in his loyal officials, including Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, the general. And David commanded them to put Solomon on his own mule (a sign that he had the authority of the king) and bring him to Gihon. Why? Gihon was the main water source for the city of Jerusalem, which meant it would’ve been packed with people in the middle of the day. David said the prophet and priest should anoint Solomon as king, just as David had been anointed to be the king by the prophet Samuel, and then they were to have Solomon come and sit on David’s throne. Every step was intended to send a clear message to the nation: Solomon was the new king who sat on David’s throne, not Adonijah! Zadok, Nathan, and Benaiah quickly did all this and then blew the trumpet, publicly announced him to be the king, and the people responded with loud singing and celebrating. Well, how would the Serpent King, Adonijah, and his loyal followers respond to all this? Would they try to fight back?
1 Kings 1:41-50 (NIV), “41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, “What’s the meaning of all the noise in the city?” 42 Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.” 43 “Not at all!” Jonathan answered. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. 44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king’s mule, 45 and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That’s the noise you hear. 46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. 47 Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed 48 and said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.’ ” 49 At this, all Adonijah’s guests rose in alarm and dispersed. 50 But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.” Fear. Fear was their response. And rightly so! They knew their little rebellious coup was over. Nathan and Bathsheba’s plan had worked. Adonijah knew he was a dead man. All his guests who had just been partying went running, probably looking for a plausible alibi. (“Weren’t you at Adonijah’s party?” “Never heard of him!”) Well, Jonathan brought news not only of everything David had commanded for Solomon and how it was done, but also of David’s response of worship. Now, David was not a perfect man. We’ve seen that already in this series. But this was really a good thing for David to do. Why? Because when David saw that the will of God was done/accomplished, his response was to worship. That is good and right. Even in his old age, even in his weakness, even from his bed, he praised the Lord, the God of Israel. Why? For his faithfulness to do what God had promised to David that he would do. Let’s come back to this theme of promise/fulfillment in a bit. But for now, why did Adonijah run to the Tabernacle and take hold of the horns of the altar? Did you notice that? Was Adonijah trying to worship, like his father David? Or to beg forgiveness from the Lord for disobeying his word? No. He was just trying to save his skin. And he figured that no one would kill him in that holy place. Maybe Solomon would be more likely to extend mercy to him instead of justice here in this place of forgiveness of sins? One question might’ve been, would Adonijah have extended this kind of mercy to Solomon if his coup had worked? We’ll never know. But what would Solomon do? I doubt Adonijah had a full change of heart. I doubt he was truly repentant. Adonijah didn’t run to the Tabernacle to confess his sins and look for mercy. He was caught, and this was an attempt to get out of the consequences of his own actions. But if Solomon extended mercy instead of judgment, would his brother cause him problems later? Let’s see what Solomon decided.
1 Kings 1:51-53 (NIV), “51 Then Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ” 52 Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.” 53 Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.” This is God’s word. So King Solomon’s first act as the king was an act of mercy for his half-brother. He saved a life he had every right to take. But again, will this cause problems later? We’ll find out in the weeks ahead. But for now, let’s zoom in on why David responded in worship to Solomon being made king. Why did David worship? Well, it was more than just the fact that David felt thankful to God for his son being made king. If Adonijah had remained king, the same would’ve been true. David still would’ve had a son on the throne. No, David worshiped the Lord because he was able to see a prophecy of God fulfilled with his own eyes. In the history of God’s people, this was typically rare. Most of the prophecies, or promises of God, in the Old Testament took decades or even centuries to be fulfilled. For example, when the Lord spoke through Isaiah, he said that his suffering servant would be killed for the sins of others, but would rise again from the dead. But it took almost 700 years to see that prophecy fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As Jesus himself taught, many prophets and righteous people longed to see these promises fulfilled. But what prophecy/promise did David see fulfilled here? The answer is, there were two main prophecies, one the Lord gave directly to David and one the Lord gave to David through the prophet Nathan. Let’s look at Nathan’s prophecy first. And this passage is so important for the rest of our series. We’ll refer back to this at a number of points. 2 Samuel 7:12–16 (NIV), “12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” So here, God tells David that he will establish his eternal kingdom, the kingdom of God, through the house and line of David. God will be his father, so he will be the beloved son of God. (Does this sound familiar to anyone? A Messiah-King and beloved Son of God who would reign and rule over the kingdom of God forever and ever??? Christians have one name in their minds right now.) But when David heard this promise, he was blown away. “Who am I, Sovereign Lord…” that you would do all this for me and my family? (2Sa 7:18) Now, as is often the case with prophecies, there is an immediate fulfillment and a long-term greater fulfillment. The immediate fulfillment of this promise of God through the prophet Nathan was that one of David’s sons would be the king after him, and the Lord would establish his throne and kingdom forever. What a promise, right? But which son would it be? As we said last week, David had many sons. Let’s look at the second prophecy given directly to David in 1 Chronicles 22:7–10 (NIV), “7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. 8 But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’” Ok! So this is where God chose Solomon to be the next king, and also that he would be the one to build the temple that David wanted to build as a house for the Lord. So in 1 Kings 1, when Solomon is finally crowned king, David responds in worship because God’s promise was fulfilled. He saw the prophecy come true with his own eyes. What a gift. And what do we do when we get a gift? We say thank you. This was why David worshipped the Lord. But what does any of this have to do with when we can’t seem to see God or understand what he’s doing, when it’s hard for us to believe, and when faith is a battle? Well, first of all, even in the face of the most credible and powerful threat, God’s purposes will not be thwarted. Adonijah was a real threat to Solomon becoming the king. He had the influence, he had the birthright, and he had the looks. But that wasn’t enough to stop God’s plan. Even the best, the wealthiest, or the most powerful person in the world couldn’t make God break his promises. But it’s not just God’s promises to David. We see God give prophecies throughout time and throughout the Scriptures. The Bible was written over a period of about 1500 years by something like 40 authors who used multiple different literary genres, but they all tell the same story of God’s faithfulness to do what he says he will do. God promised David that Solomon would be the king, and Solomon was the king. David took God at his word when he received those promises, and then he worshipped when he saw God do what he had promised to do. So how about you? Do you really trust God’s word? Do you really trust that God will do what he has promised to do, even when it looks like all the powers of this dark world are against it? I know that faith can be hard at times. I know what it’s like to have questions and doubts about God’s plan or even God’s faithfulness. Back when I was going through assessment by our denomination for church planting, I took a series of personality assessments, and I can’t remember which one it was, but one of the reports I got back about my personality was that I was the least likely to believe in a higher power. I thought, “Oh, that’s gonna be so helpful for me as a pastor!” But I understand that sometimes it’s hard to believe. Would you remember this simple truth: God never breaks his promises. The whole Bible tells that story again and again. God has a 100% record of faithfulness. I like to say God calls his shots. A lot of the Bible is God saying, “This is what I’m going to do,” then it describes God doing what he said, and then God says, “I told you that is what I was going to do.” God wants us to believe he is faithful. He wants us to know that we can trust him. God kept his promises to David. But he kept his promises to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and countless others before him. If we kept going, we would see that God kept his promises to Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and so many more, all the way down to a young couple living north of Jerusalem, up in the small town of Nazareth in Galilee. This couple happened to be of the house and line of the ancient king David, who had lived a thousand years before them. It was Mary and Joseph who received a promise from God that they would give birth to and raise the long-term fulfillment of God’s promises to David. God was entrusting the true Messiah-King and the true beloved Son of God to them, and his name would be Jesus, for he would save people from their sins. How would Jesus do this? By fulfilling God’s promises for his suffering servant from Isaiah 53. Jesus would suffer and die on a cross for the sins of the world. But he would rise again from the dead, breaking the power of sin and death forever for those who trust in him for salvation. This is why faith is the means of receiving God’s grace. God has already accomplished everything needed for your salvation in Christ. All you have to do is believe it and trust him with your life. But then, maybe years later, when you have an unexpected loss or you find yourself in painful conflict with a family member or you feel like you’re in a fog and you don’t know which way to turn, maybe it feels as if all the powers of this dark world are against you, don’t forget this simple truth: God never breaks his promises. You can trust him. He is faithful. We saw this in our passage today, we see it again and again in the Bible, and this strengthens our faith when we are weak. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord. Let us pray.
Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King (Solomon): Before Solomon could take the throne, a new rival emerged—his own brother. Adonijah was the oldest living son of King David, so he would’ve been the normal choice. However, both the Lord and King David had chosen Solomon. Driven by pride, Adonijah ignored both God and his father. Would Solomon learn to be humble? Humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. Recorded on Sep 21, 2025, on 1 Kings 1:1-31 by Pastor David Parks.
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
So last week, we started a new sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King, which will run for about the next five months because we have a lot to cover. We’re following King Solomon’s story in the historical record of 1 Kings, but we’ll also look at his psalms, proverbs, and other writings in the Bible as well. We said that his story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. Last week, we saw some of David’s big expectations for his chosen son. But we wondered, how would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the dysfunction of his family and the temptations swirling all around him? Well, today, we’ll see that Solomon faced a threat to his life and leadership of the highest level before he even took the throne. A potential rival for the crown emerged from within his own family, one of his own brothers. In his foolish pride, Adonijah attempted to steal the throne. Solomon’s story has drama right away. So let’s get into it. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to 1 Kings 1:1.
1 Kings 1:1–4 (NIV), “1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.” Ok, so last week, we started our series in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, where David displayed a lot more strength physically and in his leadership than at this time here at the start of 1 Kings. David charged his officials and his son, Solomon, to obey the Lord and follow his ways. David gave Solomon the plans to build a glorious temple for the living God—a house for the Lord. But here, sometime later, the picture is one of weakness. David, who was known for his bold action, couldn’t even keep himself warm anymore. David was still the king, but things weren’t looking good. So his attendants suggested they find a beautiful young woman to keep him warm and maybe wake him back up from his weakness. So they brought in Abishag from the town of Shunem, and she served the king, but he never slept with her. Now, David had already made it clear who his chosen successor was to be. But while he was still alive, David was still the king. Would this be a problem for Solomon? An aging king might not be as on top of his game as he was when he was younger. Clearly, at this point, David wasn’t his old self. But here’s the problem: a king who isn’t on top of things, who is weak and distracted, is vulnerable. Would some strong young man come in to test David’s authority before Solomon could take the crown? Let’s find out.
1 Kings 1:5-10 (NIV), “5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.) 7 Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah. 9 Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.” So they had a full-on crisis as a rival king emerged. But why did Adonijah claim the crown for himself? Well, one answer is that Adonijah was the next in line by birth, which is generally how the succession of kings worked. The crown would pass from father to the eldest living son. But to explain why Adonijah thought he was next in line, we have to do a brief history of David’s very messed-up family. You think you have a crazy family? Just you wait. It all started with David behaving like all the ancient kings behaved when he took multiple wives (8!) and started having kids with all of them. Granted, at the time, this was totally normal. Every ancient religion and culture practiced polygamy, meaning one husband and multiple wives, although it was most prevalent among the wealthy and ruling class. One of the ways you showed your wealth, power, and status in those days was the number of sons you had. The more wives you had, the more sons you could have, and the higher your status became. But besides having sons and status, marriage was also a way to solidify political alliances. David’s first marriage was to King Saul’s daughter to secure David’s rising star in Israel to the house of Saul. But I just have to say, this sounds so wrong to us, right? But remember, just because something is in the Bible doesn’t mean God is ok with it. All kinds of evil things are described in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean they’re prescribed for us. We’re not supposed to go out and repeat those things. Dt 17 is a passage in the Mosaic Law which addresses a later time when Israel would have a king. And the law specifically says, “He [the king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” (Dt 17:17). Now, maybe David felt that eight wives weren’t that many, so he was justified (or maybe he just ignored this instruction and followed his own way and not God’s way on this point), but, and this is a really important point, if you track how David’s family relationships worked, you’ll see it was a total disaster. Even though it was a widely accepted practice back then, and still is in many places today, polygamy never works because it’s not how marriage was designed. Genesis 2 has one man and one woman united in a life-long covenant of marriage. Back to David’s family, his multiple sons from all these wives saw each other as competitors more than brothers. But when you add other sins to the mix, it becomes deadly. David’s firstborn son, Amnon, became infatuated with his younger half-sister, Tamar, and he ended up raping her. This heartbreaking event is recorded in 2Sa 13, and made David furious, but despite being such a bold man of action, David sadly chose not to intervene. He could’ve worked to bring justice and healing into his family, but he didn’t, which only made things worse. Tamar was the full sister of David’s son, Absalom. Later, when Absalom saw his opportunity to take revenge on his brother, Amnon, Absalom murdered him. David’s second son, Kileab, is never mentioned after his birth, which suggests he might’ve died at some point, although we can’t be sure. But he wasn’t in the picture. After Amnon was killed, Absalom, the third-born son, conspired to take the throne from his father, David. Perhaps he was resentful of his father for his inaction with Amnon? But just like Adonijah would later try here in our text, Absalom got chariots and horses and had fifty men run ahead of him. In other words, Absalom started acting like the king. He started collecting important officials and fighting men who would support his ascension to the throne. And step by step, he won the hearts of the people of Israel over to himself. Incredibly, this forced the mighty David and his loyal family and officials to flee Jerusalem for a time to prevent a coup. Can you imagine having to run for your life from your own son? However, Absalom, David’s son, was captured and killed despite his express command not to keep his son alive. David bitterly mourned the loss of another son, even though Absalom had conspired against him. So now, the first three sons were dead or gone, which left Adonijah as the oldest living son of David. Now here, Adonijah tries again where Absalom failed. But it wasn’t just the fact that he was next in line according to the ways of the world. Adonijah arrogantly put himself forward to be the king. Why did Adonijah claim the crown for himself? Another answer is pride. But this was a huge mistake for several reasons, most importantly, it directly opposed the will of the God of Israel. Not just in his pick of Solomon, but the two previous kings of Israel, Saul and David, Adonijah’s father, had both been chosen and anointed to be king by a prophet of Yahweh. It was God who created Israel, saved Israel, and brought them into the Promised Land. And it was God who chose the king of his people and his kingdom, not the will of Saul or David or any man. But in his foolish pride, Adonijah put himself forward. “I will be king.” Or really? And how well do you think that’ll work out for him? Well, it’s important to note that our narrator doesn’t put the blame completely on Adonijah. Did you see that? His father deserves some of the blame as well. v. 6 says, “His father had never rebuked him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” So again, David chose not to intervene to correct or rebuke or discipline his son when he was clearly headed down a dangerous and destructive path. David was obviously a man of great faith. He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, as best as any imperfect man could. But we see here that David’s family was a huge moral blind spot for him. He slew the giant Goliath, but he couldn’t figure out how to stop his sons when they were headed for destruction. He brought peace to Israel, but he couldn’t keep the peace in his own household. David was a brilliant political and military leader. He was a gifted poet and musician, and he enjoyed many successes. But he was not a good parent. And this had many consequences. So Adonijah was next in line for the throne by birth, he was handsome and spoiled. All this fed into his ego, making him think he could go against God’s will and the will of his father, David. This was especially ironic as Adonijah’s name meant, “Yahweh is my Lord.” But his actions told another story. So like his brother Absalom before him, Adonijah collected several important officials who would support his ascension to the throne and threw a party celebrating his impending coronation. However, Adonijah was shrewd and knew some officials would not support him; they would be loyal to King David and his chosen son, Solomon, so they weren’t invited. This reveals that Adonijah knew exactly what he was doing. But would any of these officials who were loyal to David try to stop any of this from happening? And would David, in his advanced age and weakness, be able to do anything about it, even if he wanted to?
1 Kings 1:11-14 (NIV), “11 Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? 12 Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14 While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.” So, Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, two people who were not invited to Adonijah’s party, come up with a plan to try to make David aware of what’s happening right under his nose. And Bathsheba especially would’ve been motivated to act because, being Solomon’s mother, she likely would’ve been killed if Adonijah actually became the king. Because that’s what ancient kings did. Once you ascend to the throne, you eliminate any potential rivals or people who could create more rivals down the road. Of course, this was not how God’s kingdom was supposed to work, but Adonijah seemed to be following his own path. But would it work? Or were Bathsheba and Nathan too little too late?
1 Kings 1:15-31 (NIV), “15 So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. 16 Bathsheba bowed down, prostrating herself before the king. “What is it you want?” the king asked. 17 She said to him, “My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: ‘Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18 But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. 19 He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. 20 My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.” 22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23 And the king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground. 24 Nathan said, “Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? 25 Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. 27 Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” 28 Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. 29 The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 30 I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” This is God’s word. So, we’ll have to wait until next week to see how David’s promise will play out. Last week, we asked, “What will your legacy be?” and were challenged by the two paths everyone faces in life. Are you going to follow God’s way or your way? Adonijah was clearly following his own way. So today, instead of talking about that again, let’s consider Adonijah’s pride, his other motivation for ignoring God’s word and trying to overthrow his own father and brother. Pride is a killer. It’s the sin under many other sins. But how often are we tempted to elevate ourselves higher than we ought? Or look down on others for all sorts of reasons? How often are we tempted to brag about our strengths, exaggerate our accomplishments, or boast even in our goodness? I’ve noticed this in my own heart many times after serving our monthly homeless shelter dinner. I feel the tug in my heart to mention it later in conversation. Why? Because of how good I am. But how often are we tempted to cover up our weaknesses, justify ourselves in disobeying God, or minimize the evil of our own sins? This is all pride. Listen to what God says about pride. Proverbs 16:18 (NIV), “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” God’s way is a way of humility. Wise people are humble people. But here’s the truth about humility: Humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. When you see and believe the truth about who God is, it snaps a lot of other things into the right priority and perspective. But pride is a counterfeit faith. Pride is faith in yourself, your abilities, family, grades, looks, popularity, wealth, ethnicity, intelligence, or even your spirituality. If you have pride, why would you need God? If you have faith in yourself, why would you need to put your faith in him or trust him when you don’t understand his will or his ways? This is why pride is so destructive. Just as a dysfunctional family puts brothers in competition with each other, so pride puts creatures in competition with their creator. This was never meant to be, and just like defining marriage however you want to define it, it never works. But true faith in God is a pride-killer. Because true faith not only recognizes God as being the highest and most glorious being in all the universe, but it demands a response of love. And you can’t love someone when you think you’re better than them. Love humbles. The greatest commandment to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength guards against the destruction of pride. And the second greatest command, to love your neighbor as yourself, is only possible when you love God more than yourself. So parents, if you aren’t sure how to raise or instruct or discipline your children, swallow your pride and get some help. The younger your kids are, the better. But it’s never too late to do the right thing. We’ll see this next week in David’s response. Better late than never. But for all of us today, humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. But this is incredibly freeing. It’s the truth. But it’s also the basis for healthy, life-giving relationships. This is where wisdom is found. God’s way is a way of humility. So let us be humble people. And may this church be a humble church, not elevating ourselves or our flag or our brand higher than we ought. And so, may we reflect the humility of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, out into the world around us. No one deserved more glory, honor, and praise than Jesus. But he was not only willing to come in humility to become a human being, but he was willing to humbly die on a cross for our sins to set us free from the sin of pride. Jesus was God, but he acted as if he were a humble servant. Will Solomon learn this? We’ll see. But as we seek to follow his humble way, may we never forget that God is God and we are not. Praise God. Let us pray.
David’s Chosen Son (Solomon): Roughly 3,000 years ago, King David was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to his chosen son, Solomon. How would young Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Recorded on Sep 14, 2025, on 1 Chronicles 28 by Pastor David Parks.
Today is so exciting for me because we get to start a new sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King. And this will be a longer series, running all the way to about the end of February, but we have a lot to cover! In addition to following his story in the historical record of 1 Kings, we will also look at a few examples of his writings from the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. As we’ll see, King Solomon was a complex man. His story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. In our text today, we’ll see some of David’s expectations for his chosen son. But how would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Would he reign and rule according to justice and righteousness? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? We know David’s legacy. What would be his legacy? We’ll see this over the course of our series. But besides being just a fascinating story, Solomon’s story reveals so much about who God is and what he wants for his kingdom and his people. Most importantly, Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you ready? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to 1 Chronicles 28:1. We’ll read through the whole chapter and unpack it as we go.
1 Chronicles 28:1–10 (NIV), “1 David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the warriors and all the brave fighting men. 2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3 But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’ 4 “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’ 8 “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. 9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” So David gathered all of the most important people in his administration, his generals, warriors, officials, and, of course, his son, Solomon. And David reminded them of his story, that God had chosen his tribe, family, and eventually, God chose him to be the king over all Israel. But even after all his success, David still had something left undone. He had wanted to build a house for Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty. But God said no. David was a warrior, and God didn’t want his house to be a house of war. Solomon was to be the one to build the temple. Now, you might wonder, why in the world wasn’t there already a temple built for the Lord that had brought his people into the Promised Land some 400 years earlier? Well, you might remember from our series last year, but during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses received the Law at Mount Sinai, including instructions for building the tabernacle or tent of meeting. The tabernacle was where the ark of the covenant and the other articles used for worship were. But because they weren’t in the Promised Land at the time, the tabernacle was a tent that could be moved around with the people. The tribe of Levi was responsible for taking care of all these things and facilitating worship wherever the Israelites went. And so, for about 400 years, the central place of worship was the tabernacle. But during this time, Israel moved into the Promised Land of Canaan. After the time of the Judges of Israel, they established the monarchy, first with the disastrous King Saul. But then, under King David, they had a good king who fought many battles and won peace on every side from their enemies. David built a unified, wealthy, and secure kingdom. He built Jerusalem into a proper capital city. But as he enjoyed his hard-won peace and prosperity, it bothered him that God’s house was still only a humble tent. But he wasn’t the guy to build the temple. So here, at the end of David’s reign, he knew his time was coming to an end, so he gathered all the VIPs and gave some final commands. First, he solemnly charged the officials, leaders, and powerful people to “Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.” (v. 8) David knew that Israel’s future would rise or fall not on their loyalty to the monarchy, but to their loyal love of the Lord their God and their commitment to obey God’s word and follow his ways. Second, David addressed his son, telling Solomon to acknowledge and serve God with all his heart and mind. “…for,” because, he said, “the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” (v. 9) God doesn’t just want us to go through the motions of worship or obedience. He doesn’t want our lips to sing his praises but our hearts to remain far from him. God wants us to love him through and through. This is what a relationship with God is all about. It’s not a list of rules or religious works to curry God’s favor or blessing. It’s a relationship with a relational God who wants us to know/love him just as he knows/loves us. This is what David had enjoyed throughout his life. And this is what he wanted for his son. This is what I want for my kids/friends/you, too! And it’s not impossible. It’s actually possible to have a relationship with the creator of the universe. As David said, if you seek him, he will be found by you. Isn’t that an incredible promise? God wants to be found. But David is saying that if Solomon, as the king, has this kind of relationship with God, then things will go well for him. Now, does this mean that he won’t have any problems or difficulties? No. If you know David’s story, and as we’ll see with Solomon’s story, you’ll know that isn’t true. But in general, life tends to go better when you live how you were created to live. However, there’s a warning here too. “…if you forsake him [the Lord], he will reject you forever.” As Solomon approaches his reign as king, he has two paths set before him. One way is God’s way. The other way is his own way. One way leads to life, light, and love. The other way leads to darkness, destruction, and death. This is an important thing for anyone to consider. What path are you going to follow in life? But especially for Solomon, since he had such a huge responsibility ahead of him. He was chosen by God and by his father to be the next king and to build a house as the sanctuary of the Lord. How do you think young Solomon felt in this moment? Having his famous father give him this charge in front of all the most influential people in the kingdom. Every eye was on him. What path would he follow? But dad wasn’t done. David had a lot more to say about this building project.
1 Chronicles 28:11-19 (NIV), “11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 19 “All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.” Do you get a little sense from this as to why David was so successful? David was a man who made big things happen. He was a man of bold action. When a giant taunted the Israelites and insulted their God, and no one had the courage to face him, David went out and killed that giant, Goliath. When the Israelites had enemies all around them, David went out and led the army to defeat everyone. And when he got it in his head to build God a temple, he didn’t go halfway with the plan. I’m convinced he would’ve built it himself if God hadn’t expressly told him he wanted Solomon to build it. So David gave Solomon all the instructions that God had inspired him to design. But it wasn’t just a blueprint. He also gave Solomon instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, those who would work in the temple. He also gave Solomon all the gold and silver needed to make all the articles for worship for the temple. He also gave Solomon the plan for the ark of the covenant, the place where God had promised his presence would be in the Holy of Holies at the heart of the temple. He also commanded the officials to help him. Finally, we don’t see it here, but David gave a huge personal gift of wealth to fund this project and called all the other wealthy people to give to the project as well. The temple would be known as Solomon’s Temple, but it was really David’s temple, right? It was his desire, his plan, his money, his officials, and his kingdom that made all this happen. I wonder how Solomon felt about this? David never asked Solomon if he wanted to build the temple. I suppose he could’ve chosen not to do it once his father passed away. But I would imagine he felt tremendous pressure to do what his dad wanted him to do, regardless of how he felt about it. Solomon was also probably wondering if he could live up to his father’s expectations for him. David had been such a great man. Would Solomon be a great man, too? Of course, David wasn’t perfect. Solomon’s mother was Bathsheba, a woman with whom David committed adultery before having her husband, Uriah, killed in battle to cover it up. That was David’s worst failure. However, our God is a redeemer. So their son, Solomon, was the one God picked to be the king after David. But even with this terrible sin, David repented and was forgiven and became the archetype of a good and godly king. Would Solomon learn from his parents, or would he fall into temptation to use his royal power/status for his own sinful gain? We’ll see. But all this would make it pretty hard for me to sleep at night. With so much pressure, such high expectations, and so many unknowns, I don’t know about Solomon, but I would have been really worried that I wasn’t going to be able to handle it all. Now, David certainly wasn’t a fool. Do you think he anticipated any of these complicated emotions in his son? Let’s find out.
1 Chronicles 28:20-21 (NIV), “20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. 21 The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.” This is God’s word. And here, David gives his son some real encouragement. He does say to “Be strong and courageous, and do the work.” which is tough. But he follows that with a wonderful promise. You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be discouraged. You can find courage. You can keep your hope. Why? Because “the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.” It’s as if David is saying, “I know you’re young. I know you’re probably nervous about all of this. I know you might be questioning the plans or even your own abilities. I’m sure you’re wondering how all this will play out. But I’ve been there. I know what that’s like. I know what it feels like to have that pit in your stomach when every eye is on you. But the most important thing for you to remember is that our God is faithful. He will not fail you. He will never leave you or forsake you. You should acknowledge him, love and obey him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But what is far more important than anything you do for God is the fact that God is faithful. Anytime you’re anxious, you should remember that Yahweh God, my God, is with you.” And I just love this. David speaks right to his son’s heart. If you’re a parent here today, are you paying attention? David has very high expectations for his son. But he gives him what he needs. And he speaks to the fears or insecurities of his heart. But also, on top of God’s faithfulness, David assures Solomon that he will have plenty of help from within the kingdom. The priests and Levites were all ready for the work, the skilled craftsmen were all ready for the work, and the officials and all the people were ready for the work. Solomon didn’t have to carry all the weight himself. Solomon would have a ton of help. So, now, at the beginning of this series, I want to ask again, how would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Would he reign and rule according to justice and righteousness? What would be his legacy? For Solomon, we’ll just have to see as we work through our series. But what about you? Here’s a big question for you: What will your legacy be? Let’s face it, none of us will ever be a king or queen. But we all have work to do, the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. And we all have the choice of what path we will follow in life — either God’s way or our way. And we, too, will all face many temptations in this broken world. Will we learn to be wise and godly men and women? Will we live according to justice and righteousness? What will be our legacy? As David counseled his son, so I say to you today, be strong and courageous, and do the work. Whether you’re at home or work or school or anywhere else, do not be afraid or discouraged. Have courage. Keep your hope. For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Will everything be easy? Will everything go your way? No, but that’s ok. God is faithful. If you’ve been a follower of Jesus for a while now, I’m sure you have experienced his faithfulness in your life. But nowhere is God’s faithfulness clearer than in the gospel. If God was willing to send his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to seek and to save us when we were lost, will he not provide what else you might need today? Nothing is more costly than the cross of Christ. But God was faithful to save. All you have to do is believe in him. You don’t have to carry all the weight of life on your own. When anxiety creeps in or when temptation starts to pull on your heart, or if you just aren’t sure about your own abilities, put your faith and trust in Jesus. When he is the king of your life, you don’t have to worry about your legacy. It will all be a story about Jesus and the faithful love of God. Let us pray.
Helping People Grow in Their Faith in Jesus: What exactly does spiritual growth look like? And what kinds of things help people grow in their faith? We love it when people become Christians, but this is only the beginning! The whole rest of the Christian life is about growing as a disciple of Jesus. The call to discipleship is a call to be with Jesus, learn the way of Jesus, and be transformed by Jesus. Recorded on Sep 7, 2025, on Matthew 4:12-23 by Pastor David Parks.
Helping People is a two-part mini-series focused on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission includes both helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
Today, we’re doing the second of a little two-part mini-series called Helping People. Helping people do what? Helping people to come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. We said, this represents both sides of the Great Commission of Jesus. And since it’s the beginning of a new ministry year, it’s a great time to remind ourselves of the basics of our mission as individual Christian people and together as a church. Because everything we do should contribute in meaningful ways to this mission. Last week, we talked about helping people come to faith in Jesus from the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official. If you missed that sermon, you can always go back and watch or listen to the audio podcast if you’d like. Next week, we get to start our main sermon series that will run this fall and winter on King Solomon. If you enjoyed our series on Esther, Exodus, or Ruth from last year, I think you’ll love our series on Solomon. But before we get to that, let’s consider helping people grow in their faith in Jesus. Just what exactly does spiritual growth look like? And what kinds of things help people grow in their faith? These are really important questions for ourselves as we learn to follow Jesus, but also for our kids, friends, coworkers, and for every person who walks through the doors of our church. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Matthew 4:12. The Apostle Matthew gives us a great snapshot of the public ministry of Jesus. But when you see the things that Jesus was doing, I think you’ll see that this serves as a great case study for helping people grow in their faith.
Matthew 4:12–17 (NIV), “12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Before we get too far into this, what are we reading? This is a gospel account from Matthew, who was a tax collector before he started following Jesus. And tax collectors in first-century Judea were wealthy but not well-liked because they grew wealthy by a kind of legal extortion in the Roman Empire. But when Jesus called Matthew, he left his tax collector’s booth and everything else, and followed Jesus. Eventually, he would be sent out by Jesus as an apostle or eyewitness to his life and ministry, and this gospel account is his apostolic message. Here in chapter 4, Matthew records the start of Jesus’ public ministry. It started after John the Baptist was put in prison. John’s calling was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. He did his job, was arrested, and would be put to death, but these events meant the Lord was here. So Jesus withdrew to Galilee, the northern region of his childhood, where the small town of Nazareth was located. But instead of Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was another small town by the lake, which is also called the Sea of Galilee. One of the great themes of Matthew’s gospel is prophetic fulfillment, that is, how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the OT about the Messiah, and we find one here. That Jesus started his public ministry in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, two of the twelve ancient tribes of Israel, fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had written some 700 years earlier. But what would this Messiah do? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all say that Jesus’ main ministry (before the cross) was preaching. Look back at v. 17. Matthew says, “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Now, this is merely a summary of his message, not the whole sermon. Matthew will give a lot more of the teaching of Jesus if we continued into chapters 5-7 and the Sermon on the Mount. But the teaching of Jesus was focused on the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. And the response Jesus preached was a response of repentance. To repent means to have a change in your mind that results in a change in the direction of your life. It means to turn, to turn from your way and to turn to God’s way. Now, the ministry of the word and preaching about the kingdom of heaven were certainly important. But at the same time, Jesus did more than just preach. What else did he do?
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV), “18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” So in addition to his preaching ministry, Jesus called people to follow him as his disciples. And just like the extremely brief summary of Jesus’ preaching, Matthew gives another summary of calling people to become his disciples. Here, we get the impression that Jesus just went up to random people, said, “Come, follow me,” in this mysterious way, and they just immediately left everything and followed him. But from the other gospel accounts, we know that’s not what happened. John gives the best account of Simon Peter meeting Jesus. His brother, Andrew, was told by John the Baptist that Jesus was the one he was sent to prepare the way for. So Andrew started hanging around Jesus and was invited by Jesus to spend the day with him. As Andrew got to know Jesus, he became convinced that he was the Messiah. So Andrew went and got his brother, Simon, to come and meet Jesus. When Simon met Jesus, it was Jesus who gave him the nickname of Cephas, which means the rock in Aramaic, or Petros (Peter) in Greek. After getting to know Jesus, Peter and Andrew invited others to come and meet him, too. When Jesus was ready to launch his public ministry, he called several people, including Peter and Andrew, along with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to officially become his disciples. You see, Jesus was a rabbi or teacher. In their culture, a rabbi had disciples who followed him to learn his teaching and his way of life. This is what a disciple is: a follower or a learner. You can be a disciple of anyone, really. There are many people who offer what they believe is the truth and a way to live in light of that. But not every way is right, true, or good. We must be careful who/what disciples us and who we are following. But when Jesus called these men, they left everything to follow him. Did you notice that? They left their careers behind as fishermen. They left their comfort and predictability for this unknown journey of following Jesus. Jesus called both men and women to be his disciples. He taught Mary, Martha, and other women, just as he did the men. But out of a larger number of disciples, Jesus would eventually choose twelve men to be his apostles, including these four fishermen. But so far, none of this is that remarkable. There were other preachers back then. And there were other rabbis who had disciples who followed them. What was it about Jesus that we’re still talking about him almost 2,000 years later? Well, one of the reasons is found in the next section of Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 4:23–25 (NIV), “23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” This is God’s word. So, one reason we’re still talking about Jesus is the miraculous aspect of his ministry. Of course, the most important reason why we’re still talking about Jesus is his greatest miracle, that of rising from the dead after dying on the cross for the sins of the world, which broke the power of sin and death once and for all. But, we’re not there yet. We’re still just at the beginning of his public ministry here in Matthew 4. But, as we see here, the empty tomb wasn’t his only miracle. Throughout his ministry, Jesus demonstrated real spiritual power over every disease and sickness, over pain, over demons and the demonically possessed, over seizures and paralysis, and over life and death itself. Jesus could calm the storm with a word. He could feed five thousand. He could walk on the water. And he could command the dead to come to life. And this wasn’t done in secret! Many of these miracles were done in public with many eyewitnesses. Now, in case you’re guilty of chronological snobbery (as described by C.S. Lewis), and you think that we’re so much more advanced than those ancient peoples that we would never fall for such outrageous claims, and that people back then were so superstitious they’d believe anything, read the Bible. Even the most devoted followers of Jesus expressed many questions and doubts, even as eyewitnesses to the miraculous! These people weren’t gullible. They didn’t have iPhones, but they weren’t dumb. They knew people didn’t normally just get up and walk after being paralyzed. Or just get over being blind from birth. And the dead didn’t leave their tombs! But according to the eyewitnesses, this is exactly what Jesus did. Now, God had done miraculous things in the past. In fact, the whole context of creation, that God made everything from nothing, is a miracle. But interestingly, miracles aren’t equally distributed throughout the Bible. Why do you think that might be? If you look into it, you’ll find that miracles tend to come at key moments in salvation history. Why? Because miracles are never an end in and of themselves. Miracles testify to the truth of God’s word. Miracles prove that God’s word is from God, whether that be from a prophet or directly from God Himself. God knows how we are formed. He knows our faith is fragile at best. And he knows that we need some sort of evidence to believe even what is completely, objectively true. But thankfully, our God is a good and loving Father. And so God loves to provide evidence that what he is telling us is true. This is why miracles come at key turning points, and why there were so many miracles around Jesus. If we were to continue reading through Matthew’s gospel, we’d see that Jesus was constantly saying things that only God could say. But he was also constantly doing things that only God could do. And so, because of this dynamic ministry of preaching on the kingdom of heaven, calling people to follow him, and demonstrating the power of God, many thousands of people started following him, as you might imagine. Now, following Jesus didn’t result in a problem-free life. This isn’t the fully realized kingdom of heaven, not yet. We still live in a very broken world. But Jesus was very clear that there was a cost of discipleship. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Mt 16:24–25). Following Jesus isn’t always easy or comfortable, but it’s the only way that leads to life that is truly life (and love, joy, peace, and so much more). Ok, but what does any of this have to do with helping people grow in their faith? Well, if we don’t understand how Jesus made disciples, what are the chances we’ll be effective at the mission that he has given us? But even in Jesus’ call to follow, he reveals so much about how we grow in our faith. Let’s look back at v.19. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” I like the first part of the NIV’s translation. “Come,” Jesus said. Discipleship and spiritual growth start with an invitation from Jesus. Come! Come and be with me. Come and spend some time with me. When Andrew was curious about Jesus, Jesus invited him to spend the day with him. The disciples traveled with Jesus, they ate together, they went fishing together, and they ministered together. Even after his resurrection and ascension back into heaven, Jesus sent his Spirit to be with us. He wants to be with us and for us to be with him. This is what a relationship with God is all about. It’s not first about what you do for Jesus, it’s first about being with Jesus. Jesus taught that he is the vine and we are the branches. We have to abide in him and he in us. And that apart from him, we can do nothing! To be with Jesus today means to spend time with him by reading his word and talking with him in prayer. It’s to be aware of his Spirit during the day, and especially during our worship. But then, from the context of this loving relationship, we learn to be like Jesus and follow his way. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said. Again, this is what being a disciple is all about. Of learning Jesus’ word and attempting, however imperfectly at first, to put his word into practice in our lives. He goes first, and we follow him. But then, as we seek to follow Jesus, we are changed in every way. The ESV is a little more literal translation of the second half of this verse, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Who were these men, again? What was their career? They were fishermen. Jesus was saying that as they spent time with him and learned his word and learned obedience to his ways, he would make them into something new. He would make them into a new creation. He would transform them not to be different people, but to be the people God intended them to be from before the creation of the world. He would take them as they were and make them into something far more valuable and with a mission that was far bigger than anything they had ever expected for themselves. You want to catch something, boys? How about bringing the gospel of my kingdom to the ends of the earth? How about sharing the gospel so that people come to faith and grow in their faith? How about helping people follow me so that they go from death to life, from an orphan to a beloved child of God, and from under the wrath of God against sin to being forgiven and freed for all eternity? How about giving your lives to change the world for the next 2,000 years at a minimum? To bring it all together, I would say: Spiritual growth comes from 1) being with Jesus, 2) learning the way of Jesus, and 3) being transformed by Jesus. This is the call of discipleship. And, friends, this is what I want to give my life to. Jesus has changed every part of my life. And I want this so much for you, for my family, for my friends, for everyone in the world! Nothing is better. No other way leads to life, love, joy, and peace. No other person, place, or thing can do what Jesus can do. So, again, every group, team, event, and ministry opportunity that we do as a church needs to serve this purpose. Everything we do needs to contribute in some way to helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. As a church, may we never lose our passion for the gospel of Jesus. And may we never get distracted from the truth that true and lasting spiritual growth only ever comes from the call of discipleship, of being with Jesus, learning the way of Jesus, and letting him do his transformative work in every part of our lives. So how about you? Are you ready? Let’s learn to follow Jesus together. You have no idea what he might do with you. Let us pray.
Helping People Come to Faith in Jesus: The Great Commission of Jesus, given to his disciples after Jesus rose from the dead, means that every Christian has a mission. To do what exactly? To help people come to faith and grow in their faith! The story of Philip and the Ethiopian official is a great case study for how to help people come to faith in Jesus. Recorded on Aug 31, 2025, on Acts 8:26-40 by Pastor David Parks.
Helping People is a two-part mini-series focused on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission includes both helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
For the next two weeks, we’ll be doing a little two-part mini-series called Helping People. And the point of this series is to remind ourselves of the basics of our mission as individual Christian people and together as a church: helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. This is why we started as a church, and this is what we’re all about to this day as a church. Our ministry year roughly follows the school year, so as we approach a new year, with a lot of new groups, teams, events, and ministry opportunities, it’s a great time to come back to the core of who we are and what we are called to do. And where do we see this in Scripture? The classic passage is found after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For forty days, Jesus appeared to hundreds of eyewitnesses, proving he was alive and teaching about the kingdom of God. But before ascending back into heaven, Jesus commissioned his disciples, meaning he gave them a job to do. We see this in Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV), “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” So Jesus sent his disciples out with his gospel message and a mission to make disciples of all nations. But if you notice, Jesus gives two different activities associated with making disciples: baptizing and teaching. Baptism represents when people come to faith in Jesus, while teaching (or really learning to obey) everything Jesus commanded represents the whole rest of the Christian life. A life of repentance, learning, and growth. This week, we’ll consider helping people come to faith in Jesus in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. Next week, we’ll consider helping people grow in their faith in the very call of Jesus to follow him. So, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Acts 8:26. We’ll read through this story and unpack it as we go.
Acts 8:26–31 (NIV), “26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” Ok, so first of all, what are we reading? The book of Acts was written by a man named Luke, who was a medical doctor who became a Christian through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. After becoming a Christian, Luke took it upon himself to investigate the person and work of Jesus, interviewing eyewitnesses who were still alive, and then wrote it all down in a two-part series, of which Acts is part two. But this story is from very early on in the life of the church. The gospel had barely left the city of Jerusalem when persecution started, and the believers were scattered. The bad news was that I’m sure this time was really difficult for the Christians in Jerusalem, having to run away from friends/family, jobs/homes. No one would’ve been happy about that. But the good news was that Luke says, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” (Ac 8:4). As believers like Philip were scattered, they started accomplishing the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. And Philip had had some success in sharing the gospel in a city in Samaria, the region next to Judah, when an angel of the Lord gave him a message. Incidentally, that’s what the word angel means: a messenger. But God told Philip to “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Can you imagine if God gave you directions to follow like this? (“David, I want you to head south on Hwy 41 toward Oshkosh…”) But look at how Philip responded! v. 27, “So he started out…” meaning he listened and he obeyed God’s word. We should never fail to recognize this when we see it in the Bible. Even if it seems strange, even if no one else is doing it, always do what God tells you to do. And look what happened when Philip was obedient. He just so happened to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury for the Queen of the Ethiopians. This would’ve been the African nation to the south of the Nile River that is also called Cush in the Bible. What would it have been like to come across this important foreign official? It was probably fairly intimidating! I’m sure this man had an entourage of diplomats, servants, probably security, and such. He was from a very different culture from Philip and probably spoke and dressed very differently. As far as we know, Philip was a pretty normal guy. He didn’t have an entourage. Philip didn’t have a chariot. I bet Philip couldn’t come up with 1,000 excuses why he could avoid interacting with this man. Until God spoke to him again. v. 29, The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran. Again, Philip obeyed the word of God, but I love that he ran to do it. He didn’t walk; when God told him to go, he ran. But when he got near enough to hear what was happening, he realized that this Ethiopian man was reading the Bible. Actually, he had a copy of the scroll of Isaiah, a very costly possession at the time, and was reading it. Luke tells us that he was coming from Jerusalem because he had come to worship with the Jewish people. It’s possible that he had been in Jerusalem for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or possibly a different festival, but either way, and with him reading from Isaiah, it’s clear that this man is very interested in the God of the Hebrews, the Lord God Almighty. When Philip hears what the man was reading, he asks a great discipleship question: Do you understand what you are reading? Are you tracking with this or not? And the man invites Philip to help him understand. He doesn’t understand, but he wants to understand. That’s important. Let’s keep going.
Acts 8:32–35 (NIV), “32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” I love this so much! What Philip does here is what I try to do here every week. He starts with a Biblical passage, in this case the famous Suffering Servant passage from Isaiah 53 (a passage we often read for Good Friday), he teaches the passage, and then shows how it points to Christ and the gospel. And Isaiah 53 is an especially easy passage to connect to Christ. In it, the prophet says that at some future time, there would be a righteous man who would be pierced for our transgressions, that he would give his life, die, and be buried, but after he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied, having saved many sinners. Let’s see, can anyone think of who Isaiah might be describing here? Even if you never preach a sermon in your life, I would hope everyone here (including you kids!) could make the connection from Isaiah 53 to Christ if you ever happen upon an Ethiopian official by the side of the road. Who is the man who died and rose from the dead to save people from sin and death? Well, that’s Jesus! But in case you think that Philip didn’t do justice to his explanation of Isa 53, perhaps by forcing a gospel connection, this is exactly how Jesus taught his disciples to interpret OT Scripture. Jesus said, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Lk 24:44). Then Jesus “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Lk 24:45). The Scriptures in that day are what we call the OT in our Bibles. And what this means is that the whole Bible, from start to finish, is about Jesus. In a sermon called, The Soul Winner, Charles Spurgeon said, “…do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.’” This is exactly right. We cannot rush too quickly to Christ, of course, and miss the original point of a text. But we best not spend so much time on what some particular text is teaching that we miss Christ! But Philip knew that, though he was probably about as different from Philip as you could be, this man needed to hear the gospel as much as anyone. So he took this Spirit-led opportunity and told the man about Jesus. How would he respond? Have you ever put yourself out there like this before? Maybe with someone you didn’t know very well, and the seconds feel like lifetimes while you wait to see how they respond? Would he believe it? Would he reject it? Would he laugh in his face? Let’s find out.
Acts 8:36-40 (NIV), “36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 37 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” This is God’s word. How cool is that?!? I really want to have this happen to me at some point. Like some random guy asks me to help them understand a passage in Isaiah and I’m able to share the gospel with them and they believe and get baptized and then God Holy-Spirits me on down the road. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Well, you might’ve noticed that v 37 is missing from this passage. The NIV says in a footnote that some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now, that isn’t wrong. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, then you should get baptized. The only problem is that the earliest manuscripts do not have this verse. It was probably added later as something of a baptismal profession of faith. This would be similar to how we ask four questions of every baptismal candidate today. Nevertheless, it probably shouldn’t be included as original. Well, so there was an Ethiopian official who needed some help understanding the Bible, so God brought Philip, who could not only explain Isaiah, but could point him to Christ. So this African man went home rejoicing, having met Jesus and become a Christian. What do you think happened to that man after this encounter? Do you think he told anyone else about Jesus? I’m sure he did. From history, we know that from the very early days of Christianity on, there were many African Christians in different countries and communities. Probably some of whom can trace their spiritual lineage to this influential man. Now, some people have the false idea that Christianity is the product of Western culture. Christianity certainly shaped Western culture, but it is far bigger than Western culture. Jesus isn’t the Lord of the West; he is the Lord of heaven and earth. And Jesus said he wanted disciples of all nations — including Jews and Gentiles. From the beginning, God said that all nations would be blessed through the Jewish people. In the end, there will be an assembly of the saints who will be from every nation, tribe, people, and language. God has a truly global vision for his people, for his family. The story of Philip and the Ethiopian would be repeated again and again down through the generations as the gospel would continue to radiate out from Jerusalem in Judah to Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. It wasn’t long before there were Christians in India and China, as well as throughout Europe and Africa. Today, there are more Christians in the global south (Africa and South America) than in the north. Within a generation or two, there will be more Christians in China than there are people in the US. The cross and the empty tomb marked a new age in salvation history. The battles are still being fought, but the war is won. Christ has won the ultimate victory over Satan, sin, death, and hell, and the news/announcement of this victory is what the gospel or good news of Jesus is. But this means that, like Philip, every Christian today has a job to do. Every Christian has a mission. And this is something that is true whether you’re young or old, rich or poor, whether you’re here in Appleton or somewhere else in the world. Every Christian has a mission. Every Christian must be led by the Spirit of God to the people that God places in our path who need help. Help with what? Food? Clothes? Helping finding a job or a place to live? Certainly! But ultimately, helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith in Jesus. And these people might be in your home. Kids need the ministry of the gospel. They might be at your workplace or school. They might be someone you haven’t even met yet — they’re going to be in your path! But from this story, we learn several principles about this. First, we must remember that the work of the gospel didn’t start when Philip arrived. God was at work in this Ethiopian man’s life already. So when we join God in this work, we are joining him in the work he is already doing, and has been doing, but he wants us to do this with him. Could God have revealed himself to that Ethiopian man like the Apostle Paul experienced on the road? Sure! Of course, he could have. But God wanted Philip involved, so he sent Philip. Why? That’s not up to us. But according to the Lord’s wisdom, he uses his people. So, when God calls you (not if, but when), he will be sending you to people he’s already been working among. Secondly, Philip obeyed! When God sent him, he ran to do it. That is exactly the right attitude for the mission of God. A mission that is appealing to people who are lost without Christ to have life and to be reconciled to God and to have the joy and the love and the peace of God for the rest of their lives eternally! What a message! There’s no greater message here than the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Friends, this is why our mission as a church is “sharing good news.” And this is what we will be about if God so allows for the rest of our days. Every group in this church needs to be about helping people come to faith in Jesus. Every class needs to be about helping people grow in their faith in Jesus. Every opportunity to gather together for worship needs to be about making disciples. Every single program that we do, in every setting, needs to be about this. Because this is what God is doing until Jesus returns, so we need to be about this as well. Let us pray.
Where is God in this Story? (Esther): The unlikely victory of the Jews in Persia, brought about by the wisdom, humility, and courage of Esther and Mordecai, was commemorated by the Festival of Purim. However, the entire book of Esther raises a crucial question: Where is God in this story? Recorded on Aug 24, 2025, on Esther 9:20-10:3 by Pastor David Parks.
This sermon is part of our series, For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. Far from home, Esther and her cousin Mordecai had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger to prevent the annihilation of their people. They needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage. Esther’s story is dramatic, inspiring, and surprising. Because while God’s name is never mentioned, His fingerprints are everywhere. In our series, we’re reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. He did it then. He can do it again. But will we have the courage to do the right thing, whatever the cost?
Sermon Transcript
For the last two months, in our preaching ministry, we’ve been working our way through the book of Esther, in our series, For Such A Time As This, but today we get to bring it to a close. And I do hope this has been an encouraging and helpful series for you. Next week, we’ll start a two-part mini series considering two of our key ministry priorities this coming year, including 1) Helping people come to faith in Jesus. 2) Helping people grow in their faith in Jesus. After that, we’ll start our main series for the fall and winter, which will track the life and impact of King Solomon, which I’m very excited about. But first, let’s finish Esther’s story. Almost twenty-five hundred years ago, in Susa, the capital of the mighty Persian Empire, a courageous young Jewish orphan named Esther became the queen. But then, Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people and the villain of our story, but also the second in command over the whole kingdom, sent out an edict that on the 13th day of the last month of the year, all the Jewish people could be attacked, plundered, and killed without punishment. Mordecai, Esther’s older cousin who had raised her after her parents had died famously told her, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Es 4:14). Mordecai convinced Esther to risk her life by going to the king to see if she could somehow undo what Haman had set in motion. And we saw that Esther’s plan, executed with such wisdom, humility, and courage, actually worked! Haman fell into his own trap that he had set for Mordecai, and was killed. Mordecai was promoted in Haman’s place and was able to send out a second edict that allowed the Jewish people to defend themselves. Last week, when the 13th day of Adar came, the Jewish people won the day, their enemies were destroyed, and the Jews celebrated. Today, we’ll consider something like the epilogue to Esther’s story, which describes the national festival that was started to commemorate this unlikely victory for the Jews in exile — the festival of Purim, which is celebrated by Jewish people to this day. But throughout this series, we’ve noted one of the unusual design features of Esther, that it’s the only book in the Bible where the name of God isn’t mentioned at all. In fact, our narrator seems to go out of the way to keep from mentioning any direct involvement of God in all of these events. What does that mean? We’ve asked several times, “Where is God in this story?” But isn’t that a relevant question for our lives today? Where is God in my story? Where is God in our story? Have you ever wondered, “What is God doing?” or “Does he know about the events of our lives, sometimes in the deep pain and struggle of our lives, or is he far off and removed?” or “Is God even real?” Especially when times are hard or when the right thing isn’t black and white, these are questions even the most devoted follower of Jesus might wrestle with. But as we think back through Esther’s story and ask, “Where is God in this story?” I think you’ll see that even though God’s name is never mentioned, his fingerprints are everywhere. So, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Esther 9:20. We’ll unpack this as we go. Let’s finish this story.
Esther 9:20-23 (NIV), “20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them.” One question the commentators wrestle with is who wrote the book of Esther. I think it’s likely that most of our account comes from Mordecai, as it says that he recorded these events and sent copies throughout the kingdom of Persia. But in response to their great but unlikely victory, Mordecai helped establish an annual celebration to commemorate their dramatic reversal there in Persia, still so far from home, still vulnerable in many ways (though less so with King Xerxes listening to Esther and Mordecai instead of Haman), but they were saved from annihilation. Besides all the dramatic reversals and seeming to forget about God, another design feature of Esther is that there are many parallels. If you think back to how our story started, you’ll find that Esther starts and ends with a great feast. The first drunken banquet was an opulent display to celebrate King Xerxes’ wealth and power. The last banquet celebrates the victory of justice and includes humble sharing and generous gifts to the poor and those who were in need. But there are many other parallels throughout the story that invite us to compare and contrast what the characters are doing and what the outcomes are. The first feast resulted in nothing but chaos, confusion, injustice, mourning, and eventually, death. The last feast resulted in joy, generosity, justice, and care for the vulnerable. There were many morally ambiguous parts to this story, but this is clearly such a good thing. This victory was worth celebrating, and all the Persian Jews were on board with Mordecai’s plan to keep it going in an annual festival. Let’s continue.
Esther 9:24–28 (NIV), “24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. 25 But when the plot came to the king’s attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. 26 (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. 28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.” So the festival became known as Purim because when Haman decided to kill the Jews, he had cast the pur, that is, the lot (something like flipping a coin or rolling the dice) to see when this plot was to happen. This was fairly common practice to see what God’s will (or the gods’ will) was for something. Yahweh God wasn’t necessarily opposed to this practice. But Haman wasn’t looking for Yahweh’s approval in destroying his own people. So Haman cast the pur, and instead of receiving God’s will, he marched right into his own trap. This is a small point of application, but be very careful where/how you seek God’s will. You might think you’re being led by God, but it may not be God at all. The best test for God’s will is God’s word. God will never lead you in a way that disagrees with his word. It’s ironic that the Jewish people decided to call their festival Purim. It made a statement something like, “You rolled the dice to see when we should be destroyed. But when we won the victory, we called that day The Day of Dice.” It became a warning as much as it was a celebration. I believe Esther’s story is one reason why the practice of casting lots became less common for the Jews after this time. Let’s finish our story.
Esther 9:29–10:3 (NIV), “29 So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. 30 And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance—31 to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. 32 Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records. 1 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.” This is God’s word. So we could almost end our story with a “and they all lived happily ever after.” That is, except for Haman and the enemies of the Jews who had been defeated and killed, of course. And also, we know from history that King Xerxes was assassinated about 8 years later (in 465 BC) by the captain of his bodyguard. And though Esther and Mordecai achieved great things, we don’t know what other struggles or pain they faced after this. I’m sure Xerxes wasn’t easy to live with or work with, given what we saw of his serious lack of character. In other words, Esther’s story is not a fairytale. This isn’t some idealized portrayal of the life of a queen. This was real life. Through wisdom, humility, and courage, Esther and Mordecai navigated the rough terrain not just of life in this broken world, but of life in exile. They weren’t perfect people; we questioned their decisions and motives at several points in the story. But when facing the annihilation of their people, they courageously did the right thing, not knowing how it would all turn out. But today, instead of a big idea from our text, I’d like to come back to the big question of our whole series: Where is God in this story? Seriously, was God even involved? Or was it all up to Esther and Mordecai to figure out how to fight for their lives and the lives of their people all by themselves? Was God providentially working or not? Well, as we’ve said, these questions are relevant because, at least for me and my life, I’ve wondered about that at many points. Is God at work in my life, or am I basically on my own? A little over twelve years ago, we made the decision to sell our wonderful first little house and try to find a bigger house with more room for our growing family and for our ministry. We were a mobile church meeting at the YMCA, and our home was used for all sorts of ministry groups and events, and more room meant more people we could love and serve. Well, after looking for several weeks, we found a house in our price range that was far better than anything we had seen. It wasn’t even close! Our realtor actually set up the meeting before talking with us because it was listed overnight, and she saw it in the morning, and she told us she knew it was our house. And she was right. We made an offer that afternoon, and it was accepted that day. Then, we put our old house on the market, and it sold to the first couple that walked through it. At this point, does it feel like this was God’s will for us? Yes, right? Like God was obviously providentially caring for us. And why wouldn’t he? Our motives for the move were good and godly, right? Why wouldn’t he bless that? But it goes even further. We found out later that the sellers were motivated to sell and had asked for a price well below what they could’ve gotten because they were going through a divorce and had to sell. That’s why it was such a good deal. We moved out of our old house, but there was going to be a two to three-week time before we could move into the new one. So we moved all our earthly belongings into storage and moved ourselves into Holly’s parents’ house. But that’s when the problems started. Not with Curt and Diane! But with the bank. The bank had so many errors and was so incompetent that what should’ve taken a few weeks ended up taking three months. Every day, it seemed, I got a new checklist of things the bank needed to close. Once I met their requests, a new list came the next day. It was so stressful and exhausting. Our realtor hadn’t seen anything like it. Eventually, the sellers gave us a hard deadline. If you can’t close by this date, the deal’s off. Every day, I prayed that God would help us, but I also had to pray that he would help me trust that he would provide for us. But wouldn’t you know it, on the day of our deadline, we were finally able to close. The house was ours. But you know what happened after that? We found out that the sellers were selling because of the divorce. We didn’t know that was going on behind the scenes. But then, we found out that the closing process took so long that it allowed time for the sellers to reconcile! They didn’t need to sell after all, which is why the deadline came up. But when we were able to meet the deadline (barely!), they were happy about it because they told us later that it would be a fresh start for their marriage. From our vantage point in the middle of the story, it felt like all pain and suffering. But God was doing something bigger. God was working behind the scenes, not just for us, but for the sellers, too. And though it was painful, I could tell that God was growing my faith in the process. With every prayer for help, I could tell I didn’t really trust the Lord with all my heart. I was leaning on my own understanding far too much. That alone would’ve made the pain worth it, but God had even bigger plans. Now, who was responsible for us getting this house? Was it God’s providence or my hard work? The answer, truthfully, is both. I had to trust God, but I also had to work hard to make it happen. This was Esther’s story, too. Mordecai and Esther had to do the right thing. They had to be wise and courageous and humble. But there are just far too many coincidences in the story for God not to have been involved. And some things can only be attributed to God. Who gave Esther the beauty that initially won the favor of the king? And was it an accident that a man as wise and discerning as Mordecai would be willing to raise Esther when her parents died? Who put Esther and Mordecai in the same family? And was it random chance that Mordecai overheard the plot against the king, that he was able to tell Esther about it, and that it saved the king’s life? And then later, was it a coincidence that Xerxes was reminded of that when Haman was plotting to kill Mordecai? Were all the dramatic reversals meaningless accidents? Was the casting of the lot by Haman directed by the gods for the destruction of the Jews, or was it appointed by God to be their vindication and the judgment of God against his enemies? Did Esther lead the Jewish people in a time of fasting alone, or were they also desperately crying out to God to save them? Where is God in this story? God was at work in every scene and in every chapter and verse. God was at work in the dark valleys of fear and uncertainty, and in the heights of victory. But what about your life? Where is God in your story? Can you look back and see God at work, providing for you, protecting you, helping you, guiding you, and growing you through all sorts of unlikely circumstances? Can you see God’s providential care over the course of your life? It doesn’t mean that you’ll never experience pain or struggle. And it doesn’t mean that you won’t have to work hard to do the right things when the right things are not always obvious. But I can’t look back and say, it was all me. Every victory was mine. God has been faithful to me in so many ways and in so many messed-up situations, time and time again. But no situation was more messed up than when the perfect Son of God was sent from heaven and was hated and rejected and ultimately killed. But the cross of Christ wasn’t an accident or random chance, either. No one saw it coming, but God knew what he was doing. Because only God knew that Jesus Christ had to die on the cross, not to save his people from Haman, but to save his people from the greater enemies of sin and death. And only God knew the plan of salvation included a resurrection. What looked like a great defeat became the greatest victory in all history. For all those who trust in the person and work of Jesus will receive this salvation as a gift of God’s grace. You have to receive it by faith, and continue to trust in Jesus as you walk forward in this life. But this is the good news that is for all people today, both Jew and Gentile. God is doing something far bigger! So, let’s be people of joy and generosity, just like the festival of Purim. By the way, the Passover festival takes place during the first month of the Jewish calendar. That celebrates when God saved his people from captivity in Egypt. Purim is celebrated in the last month of the year. So from Exodus to exile, the whole Jewish calendar is bracketed by God’s saving work. When you can see him and when you can’t, our God is with us. He is faithful. So let us put our faith in him. Let us pray.
The Triumph of the Jews (Esther): Will God allow evil and injustice to prevail? Will God allow his enemies to win and his people to lose? The dramatic reversal of the downfall of Haman and the rise of Mordecai prevented the annihilation of the Jews in Persia. But this victory points to the truth that ultimately, God will not allow evil and injustice to prevail because of the person and work of Jesus. Recorded on Aug 17, 2025, on Esther 8:15-9:19 by Pastor David Parks.
This sermon is part of our series, For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. Far from home, Esther and her cousin Mordecai had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger to prevent the annihilation of their people. They needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage. Esther’s story is dramatic, inspiring, and surprising. Because while God’s name is never mentioned, His fingerprints are everywhere. In our series, we’re reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. He did it then. He can do it again. But will we have the courage to do the right thing, whatever the cost?
Sermon Transcript
Well, we’re starting to make our descent as we approach the end of the book of Esther. After today, we only have one more sermon next week to wrap up our series, For Such A Time As This. What are we doing next? We’ll have two weeks to consider two of our key ministry priorities this coming year: 1) Helping people come to faith in Jesus. 2) Helping people grow in their faith in Jesus. And then, we’ll start our main series for the fall and winter, which will track the life of one of the most successful kings of ancient Israel, King Solomon. We’ve been working for months on that, and I’m so excited for the series, but we’re not quite there yet. First things first! Let’s finish Esther’s story. And we’ve said that Esther’s story took place twenty-five hundred years ago, in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire, the most powerful kingdom on the planet at the time. And we saw that Esther was this courageous young Jewish orphan who, through a series of very unexpected events, became the queen of Persia! But then, years later, we met the evil Haman, the villain of our story. When Mordecai, Esther’s older cousin, refused to bow down to Haman, he used his position of authority (being the second in command over all the kingdom) to set a plot in motion not only to kill Mordecai, but all the Jewish people throughout the kingdom. This was obviously terrifying for Esther, Mordecai, and all the Jews in Persia. They had done nothing to deserve execution! But throughout Esther, we’ve been reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now, so there was still hope. “And who knows,” Mordecai famously told Esther, maybe “…you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Es 4:14). Well, sure enough, last week, we saw that Esther’s plan to expose Haman’s plot to the king, done with such wisdom and courage, actually worked! And I loved Pastor Nate’s analogy from the classic Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons, that in yet another dramatic reversal in the book of Esther, Haman fell into his own trap for Mordecai. “Pride [indeed] goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Pr 16:18). So Haman met his untimely end, but the edict of the king was still in effect. Mordecai was promoted and was able to send out a second edict that allowed the Jewish people to defend themselves from anyone who attacked them. But would it be enough to save the Jewish people from annihilation? But the bigger question is this: Will God allow evil and injustice to prevail? Will God allow his enemies to win and his people to lose? Well, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Esther 8:15. We’ll unpack this as we go.
Esther 8:15–17 (NIV), “15 When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.” So, we jumped back into the story after the second edict went out to all the 127 provinces of the Persian Kingdom. Haman’s original edict, steeped in his wounded pride and hatred for the Jews, said that on the 13th day of Adar, it would be lawful to attack, plunder, and destroy every Jewish man, woman, and child in Persia. This was totally unprovoked and grossly unjust, the slaughter of so many innocent people. But then, after Esther’s courageous intercession and this startling reversal that put Mordecai in Haman’s place, Mordecai couldn’t repeal the first edict (because of how Persian law worked back then), but he could send out a counter edict that allowed the Jewish people to assemble and protect themselves. This turned the bitter mourning of the Jewish people in Persia into great happiness and joy, gladness and honor. They were still in exile. They were still so far from home. And they were still all vulnerable as a minority in Persia and with many enemies who hated them as much as Haman had, but with King Xerxes listening to Esther and Mordecai, there was hope. Maybe God’s providence was at work? Either way, there was hope! Mordecai went from wearing sackcloth to wearing royal garments of fine linen. We’ve seen that changes of clothing in Esther typically reflect a change in circumstances, from joy to mourning and then from mourning back to joy. But it’s not just the attitude of the Jewish people that changed. The attitude of the Persian people toward the Jews had changed as well. They still had enemies, as we’ll see, but many Persians in Susa and elsewhere celebrated Mordecai’s edict along with the Jews. In fact, the mood shifted so much that “many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.” Does this mean they converted to saving faith in Yahweh, started obeying the Law of Moses, and so on? Pagan converts to saving faith in Yahweh are found throughout the OT. We saw this last year in our Exodus series when, after the plagues, Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go, and Moses says, “Many other people [Egyptians and maybe other people groups] went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.” (Ex 12:38). But this was God’s plan from the beginning. Back in Genesis 12, when God made a covenant with the family of Abraham and Sarah, he promised that eventually, all the peoples on earth would be blessed through them. This would ultimately be fulfilled in Christ, who was good news first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (meaning, for everybody). But back then and still today, God’s heart for the whole world doesn’t mean everyone will love God in return. There were in Esther’s day and still remain many enemies of God and his people. Haman was just one among many. So how would this play out? Let see.
Esther 9:1-10 (NIV), “1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.” According to commentator Anthony Tomasino, the thirteenth day of Adar “would correspond to February or March, 473 BC.” (Tomasino, Anthony. Esther. Lexham Press, 2016, p. 330.) Just a reminder, Esther’s story isn’t just an entertaining story. It’s part of the history of the Jewish people in exile. As we’ll see next week, the victory the Jewish people won that day was memorialized in the national festival of Purim, a holiday celebrated by Jewish people to this day. But here, we have the triumph of the Jewish people over their enemies in Persia. The tables were turned. The Jews assembled to courageously defend themselves from those who wanted to attack them. The nobles and all the authorities helped them because of Mordecai’s influence. The other nationalities were afraid of them. And they won the day. But instead of plundering their neighbors or going after their families, which they were legally able to do under Mordecai’s edict, they were careful to keep the rules of engagement to only those who attacked them first. But what would the king think of all this? Would there be any backlash?
Esther 9:11-19 (NIV), “11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.” 13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.” 14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. 18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.” This is God’s word. So Queen Esther boldly approached the king’s throne once again. And King Xerxes welcomed her and asked what her request might be. And Esther asked for one more day for the Jews to defend themselves in Susa, as well as a public display of judgment against the sons of Haman. This sort of grisly public display was common in their day and would serve as a deterrent to anyone thinking of taking up Haman’s wicked desire to destroy the Jewish people. According to the Law of Moses, anyone left hanging like this was under a curse. Now, it’s not clear from the text why they needed another day of defense in Susa. Perhaps battles were still being fought, and they didn’t want to break the law by continuing to fight into the next day? Some think the Jews were going beyond what they should’ve done, but it seems as if the narrator is trying to show the restraint of refusing to plunder. What is clear is that the victory of the Jews extended from the capital of Susa to everywhere throughout Persia. And the next day was a day of rest, feasting, and great joy. Now, we started today by asking: Will God allow evil and injustice to prevail? Will God allow his enemies to win and his people to lose? Well, in Esther’s story, we see the answer is no, God did not allow evil and injustice to prevail. At the very least, we can say that Haman’s plot did not prevail. But what about more universally? This might’ve been true for Esther and Mordecai all those years ago. But what about all the evil and injustice in the world today? What about the abusive and hurtful sin that has been done to us? What about the enemies of God and those who hate God’s people today? This world can be so messed up at times. And how do we square all this with the teaching of Jesus to love our enemies and not to respond to evil with evil but with good and to pray for those who persecute us and bless those who curse us and so on? Well, here’s the deal: according to God’s word, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Ro 3:23). This makes every person in this broken world an enemy of God. We’re a world in rebellion against God. Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes us apart from the saving work of Christ in Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2:1–5 (NIV), “1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” The gospel is good news, but not for good people. The truth is there is no one who is perfectly good, who has perfectly loved God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and who has perfectly loved their neighbor as themself. That is, no one besides Jesus. The gospel is not good news for good people. The gospel is good news for sinners, for the enemies of God, for people like you and me. People who need help, grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God. People who need a Savior! But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. It is by grace you have been saved! The gospel is not only the story of how God defeated evil, but of how he offered this saving grace even to his enemies. This new status (death to life, enemy to adopted son or daughter of God) brings a whole new relationship with God. This is illustrated in Mordecai’s change of clothing. Mordecai’s new clothes represented his new status in relation to the king of Persia. He went from wearing clothes of mourning, not able to even enter through the king’s gate, to clothes of authority and honor, having been elevated to second only to King Xerxes. But the Christian has new clothes, too. Because when you put your faith in Jesus, you are clothed not in “royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen” (Es 8:15), but with the righteousness of Christ himself. In Isaiah 61, God tells us that this reversal will happen when the anointed one comes to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim freedom for the captives (Is 61:1–2). Isaiah responds to this vision with joy and delight, saying, Isaiah 61:10 (NIV), “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Do you remember what Jesus said, years later, when he read this very passage in the synagogue in Nazareth? He read Isaiah 61 and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4:21). Meaning I’m the one Isaiah was writing about. I’m the one that God promised would come, the anointed one, the Messiah. And it was Jesus who would break the power of sin and death through his perfect life, his death on the cross for the sins of the world, and his resurrection from the dead. You see, there is no greater dramatic reversal than the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are given a new set of clothes: a robe of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, because we have a new status in relation to not just the king of Persia, but the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator and sustainer of the entire cosmos. Mordecai could stand in the presence of the king in his royal robes. So can we, in Christ, stand in the presence of our king. No longer separated by our sin, we can boldly approach the throne of grace today in prayer and praise by the power of the Holy Spirit. And one day, we will see Jesus face to face, and we will be with him in his kingdom forevermore. And this radical change in status and relationship in Christ frees us to love our enemies. If God loves enemies like us, then we can love our enemies as well. There is still hope in the face of evil and injustice today. However, God will not allow this messed-up world or his enemies to continue forever. God’s heart for the whole world doesn’t mean everyone will love God in return. There are still many enemies of God and his people. However, one day Christ will return, the dead will be raised, and all will give an account to their maker. Those who remain enemies of God will get their justice. I say this with no joy. While those who trust in Christ will be with him forever, and it will be far better than you can imagine. The story of Esther and the victory of the Jewish people there in exile over their enemies points us to this ultimate reality: God will not allow evil and injustice to prevail because of the person and work of Jesus. Jesus will either be your savior or your judge. But the invitation of the gospel today is for all people. Do not delay. Come to Jesus. He is great, but he is good and gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness, and willing to save. The gospel is good news, even for enemies. Let us pray.
The Downfall of Haman (Esther): Queen Esther displayed great wisdom and courage in facing King Xerxes to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people. And in a dramatic reversal, her plan works! Haman falls into his own trap prepared for Mordecai and gets the justice he deserved. In Esther’s story, and elsewhere in the Bible, God uses faithful people to accomplish his justice and rescue his people. Recorded on Aug 10, 2025, on Esther 6:12-8:14 by Pastor Nate Huber.
This sermon is part of our series, For Such A Time As This, from the book of Esther in the Bible. Twenty-five hundred years ago, a courageous young Jewish woman named Esther became queen of Persia. Far from home, Esther and her cousin Mordecai had to navigate palace politics, power, and danger to prevent the annihilation of their people. They needed humility, wisdom, and extraordinary courage. Esther’s story is dramatic, inspiring, and surprising. Because while God’s name is never mentioned, His fingerprints are everywhere. In our series, we’re reminded that God has faithfully worked behind the scenes in a lot of messed-up situations with messy people for a long time now. He did it then. He can do it again. But will we have the courage to do the right thing, whatever the cost?
