“SOUND ADVICE FOR SINFUL TIMES”
1 CHRONICLES 28:1-10
INTRO: Benjamin Franklin said: "Remember this, they that will not be
counseled cannot be helped. If you do not hear Reason, she will rap
your knuckles." A minister spent some time visiting in a penal
institution where four hundred men were incarcerated. He was
impressed with the fact that most of the men were young. Being a
parent himself, he thought of the hundreds of fathers and mothers, to
say nothing of grandparents, other elderly relatives, and perhaps
Sunday school teachers, who had lavished good advice on those boys.
Had they taken the advice of their elders, few of the lads would have
been sent to prison. So often young people think their elders are just
"old fogies," only to wake up eventually to the fact that their advice
was worth something after all. Franklin was right: "If you do not hear
Reason, she will rap your knuckles."- Paul E. Holdcraft, Cyclopedia of
Bible Illustrations, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press) 10. Unless
We are willing to listen and act on the sound advice that is given to us
by godly men and women we, too, will, find ourselves in trouble. As
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:8-9—“My son, hear the instruction of thy
father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an
ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
In 1 Chronicles 28:1-10, we see King David calling for a solemn
assembly. The purpose of this assembly was to offer counsel to the
Nation and also to Solomon. During David's last sickness, many chief
priests and Levites were at Jerusalem. Finding himself able, David
spoke of his purpose to build a temple for God, and of God's
disallowing that purpose. He opened to them God's gracious purposes
concerning Solomon. David charged them to cleave stedfastly to God
and their duty (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary). According to
1 Chronicles 23:27, the writer is giving us “..the last words of David”.
What a wonderful thing that David sought to build a temple to the
glory of God and not a monument to his own glory. He could die
knowing that future generations would have a beautiful house of
prayer and praise where they could honor the Lord…David gathered
all the leaders of Israel and exhorted and encouraged them to support
Solomon in his administration, especially in the building of the temple
(1).
In vs. 9-10 of our text we see the sound advice given by David to the
People. His advice will help us in this world in which we live as we
seek to live for and please God. Let us think on this subject today,
“SOUND ADVICE IN SINFUL TIMES.”
NOTE FOUR THINGS:
(1) KNOW GOD
1 CHRONICLES 28:9a—“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God
of thy father..”
*There are many exhortations in the Word of God which encourages us to
“Know God”. But what does it mean to Know Him? The word Know in
the Hebrew here means “to make acquaintance, to take knowledge of, to
have understanding.” He did not mean head knowledge, for Solomon
possessed that already, but that experimental acquaintance with God
which is only to be obtained by loving and serving Him (Jamieson,
Fausset & Brown Commentary). David exhorts his son, Solomon to seek
to know more and more about God and to own and acknowledge Him as
his God and to love Him and fear Him. The Apostle Paul voices this same
desire for himself in Philippians 3:10—“That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death.” Paul’s desire should be the desire of every
blood-bought, born-again believer in Christ Jesus!
*We should:
A. KNOW THAT HE IS THE GOD THAT SAVES (PSALM 25:4-5; 40:1-4).
It is through Christ and Christ alone that we are saved. Jesus said in
John 14:6—“..I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.” There are not myriads of ways to be saved there
is but one way and that is through faith in God’s only Son, Jesus (John
3:16; Romans 10:9-10, 13)! Many think they are going to heaven
because they are religious. We see Paul in Philippians 3. Paul had
plenty of legal righteousness (v6), but he lacked the true righteousness
that God demands and that He alone can give. It is one thing to be
religious enough to get into the synagogue, and quite another to be
righteous enough to get into heaven (2). The only way anyone will ever
enter God’s heaven is by the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:
21).
ILLUS: The Chinese character for "righteousness" is most interesting.
It is composed of two separate characters - one standing for a
lamb, the other for me. When "lamb" is placed directly above
"me," a new character - "righteousness" is formed.
This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me, the
sinner, and God, the Holy One, there is interposed by faith the
Lamb of God. By virtue of his sacrifice he has received me on
the ground of faith, and I have become righteous in his sight.
Salvation is all by His grace. We owe all to Him because without Him
we would be eternally lost! There is a great difference between Knowing
about Christ and knowing Christ. Friend, do you know Christ as your
Savior today? We should KNOW THAT HE IS THE GOD THAT SAVES
also, we should…
B. KNOW THAT HE IS THE GOD THAT KEEPS. The hymn writer Fanny
Crosby wrote: “Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe from corroding care, Safe
from the world’s temptations, sin cannot harm me there. Free from
the blight of sorrow, Free from my doubts and fears; Only a few more
trials, Only a few more tears!…Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His
gentle breast, There by His love o’ershaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest.”
--All-American Church Hymnal, p. 200, John T. Benson Publishing Co.,
Nashville, Tn. I am glad today that I have a God who keeps me! The
Psalmist speaks of the keeping power of God in Psalm 91:1-11.
ILLUS: For a good many years we have wondered why Christ mixed
His figures in His parable of the Good Shepherd. At one place
He calls Himself the Shepherd and at another the Door. A
Recent book explains it beautifully. It says: "A traveler in
Palestine once had a conversation with a shepherd at work
near a sheepfold, who showed him the various features of the
fold. Thereupon the traveler remarked: 'You say, here is the
sheepfold, there are the sheep, and this is the doorway; but
where is the door? 'The door?' asked the shepherd. 'I am the
door. I lie across the entrance at night. No sheep can pass out,
no wolf can come in, except over my body.'" Beautiful, is it
not? Christ did not mix His figures after all. He is both the
Shepherd and the Door. --Council Fires
The Psalmist said in Psalm 121:5-8—“The LORD is thy keeper: the
LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all
evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out
and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” I am so
glad today that He is the God who keeps me:
1. Saved (John 10:27-30).
2. Supplied (Philippians 3:19).
3. Satisfied (Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 107:9).
C. KNOW THAT HE IS THE GOD WHO PUNISHES SIN. Even though the
attitude of many today is, “do what you want,” “do whatever makes you
happy,” and “If it makes you feel good, it isn’t wrong,” God still hates sin
and will punish those who practice it. As someone has so aptly pointed
out, “You can’t win at the game of sin.”
ILLUS: The sins you do by two and two, ye must pay for, one by one.—
Rudyard Kipling, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 1.
Sin always has a cost. And we must be willing to living with the
consequences of sin. When we have sinned against God we must be
willing to confess, repent, and forsake our sin. Listen to David in Psalm
32:1-5 and Psalm 51:1-14. Even though we acknowledge our sin and
forsake our sin, we still, as did David, live with the consequences of our
sin.
ILLUS: A physician told me he estimated that about 80 percent of the
people who come to him come to him not because some strange
bacteria has invaded their body, but they come to him for
simple lifestyle reasons. I'm not going to stand up here and
argue some kind of moral cause and effect in life: you do this,
and you get that. But still, according to this doctor, there does
seem to be a kind of wages to be paid for our sin. -- William
Willimon, "The Writing on the Wall," Preaching Today, Tape No.
129.
WE SHOULD KNOW THAT HE IS THE GOD WHO SAVES, WHO KEEPS, and WHO PUNISHES SIN, also WE SHOULD:
(2) SERVE GOD
1 CHRONICLES 28:9b—“And thou son, Solomon, my son…serve him with
a perfect heart and with a willing mind..”
ILLUS: An Australian native preacher went to a little church in the bush
to preach. It was dusk when he arrived, the place was without
light, and he wondered what to do about it. Presently, he saw
twinkling lights moving about through the bush. His congregation
was arriving. Each person carried a hurricane lamp, and as they
came in they placed their lamps upon a shelf around the chapel
wall. Soon the whole place was flooded with light. Each had
contributed light that had dispelled the darkness. Your share is
needed in a world which desperately needs the illumination of the
gospel.
ILLUS: A boy who applied for work was told by the manager he did not
think they had enough work to keep another boy employed. The
boy said, "But I am sure, sir, that you must have enough work to
hire me. You don't know what a little amount of work it takes to
keep me busy." Many so-called disciples are like this boy. They
want to follow Jesus, not to see how much they can do for Him,
but how little. To such the Lord never says, "Follow me." Any who
enter Christian service for the sake of having an easy time will be
disappointed. Christ is a busy Commander of busy soldiers.
*David advised Solomon and the people to “serve him with a perfect heart
and with a willing mind.” That means “cordially and sincerely, cheerfully
and freely, neither in an hypocritical manner, nor through force and
constraint, nor with loathing and weariness (John Gill’s Exposition of the
Entire Bible). David tells us that there are three things needed to serve
God as He desires:
A. ACCEPTABLE SERVICE REQUIRES PREPARATION OF HEART
(v9b). “..Serve him with a perfect heart…” A perfect heart is not a
sinless heart, for nobody can live without sinning in some way. It
means a heart totally devoted to the Lord, a sincere heart. This means
our heart is prepared to serve Him out of our love for Him
(Deuteronomy 11:13-14). Moses makes it clear in chapter 11 that the
real issue is the heart: if they truly loved God, they would obey His
Word (John 14:21). This basic principle has never changed: if we obey
God’s Word from the heart, He will bless us and our labors; but if we
disobey Him, He will send a curse and chasten us. Obedience is the
key to happiness (3). Someone has said, “Service is love made visible”
(4). The basic principle is “If I love God, I will serve Him and obey His
Word.” There will be a willingness in my heart to do His will. As 2
Corinthians 9:7 tells us, “Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver.” So often we read that Scripture and apply it to our
giving of finances, but the principle that is given there is true of every
area of our service for God. We must purpose in our hearts to give of
ourselves to God.
B. ACCEPTABLE SERVICE REQUIRES CONSECRATION OF SELF AND
POSSESSIONS (1 CHRONICLES 29:5b). “…And who then is willing to
consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?” The Hebrew word for
CONSECRATE here means “fill the hands.” David was asking everyone
to bring whatever he possessed and give it freely and wholeheartedly to
the Lord and His service. God today wants our ALL! He wants us to
freely and cheerfully give ourselves to Him and His service! William
Barclay said, “Jesus needs what we can bring Him. It may not be
Much but He needs it. It may well be that the world is denied miracle
after miracle and triumph after triumph because we will not bring to
Jesus what we have and what we are” (5). The greatest problem we all
face in our consecration to the Lord is SELF. John Milton said, “He