OPEN: In my files I have the following pieces of advice that you may want to consider:
· Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
· Never buy a car you can't push.
· When everything's coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane.
· Find out what you don't do well, then don't do it.
· Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
· An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of bandages and adhesive tape.
· It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
The world is filled with people who would like to give us advice.
And the Bible SAYS it is a good thing to listen to advice.
For example:
Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”
Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Prov 19:20-21 “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
Interestingly enough those proverbs were written by Solomon for the benefit of his sons. Repeatedly – throughout Proverbs – Solomon would say things like this:
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” Proverbs 1:8
Solomon’s oldest son was Rehoboam, and this morning we’re reading about the day Rehoboam sought that very kind of advice.
When Solomon died, his throne was passed down to his son Rehoboam and Rehoboam was approached by his people saying that they needed relief from the high taxes his father had imposed during his reign to build the Temple and to run the kingdom.
Wisely, Rehoboam asked for 3 days so that he could consult with his advisors.
1st he goes to his father’s advisors… older men whom Solomon trusted for good advice. These men tell Rehoboam to listen to the people. They say "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." 12:7
But Rehoboam rejected the advice of these Elders.
Instead he goes to his friends… and asks their advice.
But HIS friends are not wise men.
They are proud, arrogant and selfish men.
They like to “talk big”. They probably spend a great deal of their time sitting around and making fun of people who aren’t like them.
These are men who probably enjoyed the “trash talk” of their day.
And you can tell – that’s the kind of men they are - from the kind of answer they give Rehoboam
"Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’— tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’"
Now, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that was probably NOT the smartest advice they could have given.
Those were not words destined to make people happy with Rehoboam.
Those weren’t the words a good king would say.
Those were the words of tyrants and bullies.
People who like to push others around.
(pause…) But those were the words Rehoboam listened to.
And so, when the people of Israel reassembled 3 days later, Rehoboam shows off for his friends and as a result --- he loses nearly everything he’d inherited from his father. He lost more than half his kingdom and neither he nor any of his descendents could ever get it back again.
From that day forward, the 10 tribes of Israel (to the North) and the two tribes of Judah (to the South and ruled by the descendents of Rehoboam) were never to be reunited again.
The focus of this message this morning is this:
It pays to pay attention to who you pay attention to.
NOT ALL advice is good advice.
Psalm 1 tells us “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
In that short Psalm, God warns us to be careful who we hang around with.
Who we listen to.
· Don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked
· Don’t stand in the way of the sinners
· Don’t sit in the seat of mockers.
Why not?
Why don’t I want to spend time with these folks?
Because, the reason they are the way they are, is because they think the way they think.
God tells us these folks are losers
They won’t stand in the judgment.
They’re not going to sit with the righteous in the last day.
They will perish!
And you DO NOT want to go where they end up.
Their actions and their words tell us what kind of people they are, and what kind of advice they’d give us.
ILLUS: I remember talking with a young man in jail. He was telling me that his family had hired a lawyer to get him out (whom I always heard was a good attorney) but he wasn’t sure he wanted to trust the lawyer.
I asked him why.
He responded that the other guys in his jail block didn’t trust this lawyer. He said THEY didn’t think he ought to let the man represent him. And then he said –
“They ought to know because they’d been to court plenty of times.”
And I thought to myself – you’ve got to be kidding me!!!
There’s a reason why these guys are in jail!
They weren’t smart enough to STAY out to begin with
And now that they’re in… they aren’t smart enough to GET out!
AND THESE were the men my friend wanted to rely on for advice????
· Don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked
· Don’t stand in the way of the sinners
· Don’t sit in the seat of mockers.
Don’t listen to these people.
They’ll just get you to doing and thinking things that are going to hurt you.
I Corinthians tells us pretty much the same thing
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
Don’t spend your time listening to ungodly!
They don’t think like we do.
The advice of sinners, mockers and wicked is often selfish and vindictive.
It rarely shows a desire to heal… instead it insults and belittles others.
Now you don’t have to go to jail to meet these kinds of people.
You can meet this kind of person at work, or at school, or at family gatherings.
You can even hear it on your radio.
How many of you have ever heard of Rush Limbaugh? Sean Hannity?
They’re just a couple of the talk show hosts on Radio. And I admit I listen to them periodically.
I hear things that other news media don’t tell me… and I agree with much of what they stand for. But I get really uncomfortable with the way they mock people they don’t agree with.
For example, Limbaugh labels an older liberal Democratic senator: “Senator Depends” and he calls feminists “Feminazis”. And I’m not sure who said it, but I’ve heard at least one of these people labeling Nancy Pelosi the wicked witch of the West.
Now that political theatre.
That’s what you should expect on talk radio I guess.
But I’ve noticed a couple of leading commentators in our own brotherhood using the same kind of insults for politicians they don’t like.
Brethren… that ought NEVER to be!
A Christian MUST NOT ever use that type of language.
God commands us “Let your conversation be ALWAYS full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
AND “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
If I spend too much time with mockers… eventually I won’t talk like a Christian. I’ll talk like a pagan. It’s when we hang out with mockers, that our thinking and our language becomes coarse and selfish.
That’s what made the advice of Rehoboam’s friends so obviously foolish.
Rehoboam’s friends didn’t want to heal the people.
They didn’t want to help others.
They saw themselves as ABOVE those common folk.
They wanted to flex their muscles.
And they felt so powerful and privileged they believed they could insult and belittle others without any repercussions.
They were wrong.
So let me repeat: It pays to pay attention to who you pay attention to.
Now, we’ve just explained who I should NOT pay attention to.
BUT who SHOULD I pay attention to?
Well, the reason Jesus created the church was so that we could look to each other for support and advice. When you listen to the counsel of fellow Christians, you at least stand a good chance of getting Biblical advice.
But it’s interesting. The first people Rehoboam consulted were the Elders.
1Kings 12:6 tells us “Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. ‘How would you advise me to answer these people?’ he asked.”
Now, of course, these were not exactly “Elders” like a church might have. They were older men whom Solomon had trusted for advice when he was King. But older men have always the standard advisors in the Bible.
When Moses was leading the people out of Egypt, he was helped by 70 Elders of Israel, and these 70 Elders were often part of God’s dealing with His people because these 70 men were recognized leaders and wise men in Israel. Numbers 11:16, 25
Later, Elders of each city would sit at the city gates and they’d act as judges in civil disputes. Deuteronomy 25:7
And throughout much of Israel’s history, the Elders of the people often guided Israel both in good and bad ways.
And that continued once God began His church.
Paul told the two young preachers - Timothy and Titus – to appoint Elders in their churches
But these Elders were not just to be older men.
“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless— not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” Titus 1:6-9
When God began His church He intended that Elders should be the ultimate “advisors” for church.
They had to be men with a proven track record.
They had to be good husbands and fathers.
They had to have a good reputation in the community.
AND they had to be men who stood firmly with good doctrine because their main job was
“… encourage others by sound doctrine”
“… and refute those who oppose it”
That’s why it is so critical for a church to prayerfully consider who gets to be an Elder.
These men are the guardians of Christ’s bride/ His church.
They stand beside the preacher to do the work of the ministry.
They stand before the congregation to lead.
And they are here to help give you and I Godly advice when we need it.
And they can be counted on to give good advice because…
· they are good fathers
· they are good husbands
· they are men you can trust to stand with God’s Word
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve asked the advice of the men who are now your Elders here. Granted, not every church has good Elders, but the men we have here are trustworthy men who can be counted on to look to God for their guidance.
Even I served in churches where the Elders were not always good men, I showed respect to them by asking their advice on a number of issues in the hopes they would rise to the competency such men should have in a congregation.
But my point is this:
When you need advice… look to God’s people (that’s why God formed the church)
When you need serious advice… look to your Elders (that’s why God formed the Eldership)
If you follow this guideline in your life God will protect the things that are important to you.
If you don’t, you may end up listening to foolish peopl– whose advice may cost you everything you hold precious.
Now Solomon gave one more piece of guidance to his son Rehoboam that Rehoboam ignored:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” Proverbs 3:4-7
In this entire story in I Kings we don’t find ONE time that Rehoboam even prayed to God.
He never consulted the priests at the Temple.
He never visited one of the Prophets God used to proclaim His will.
Even when he visited with the Elders for advice, He wasn’t really looking for God’s will.
Rehoboam was looking for someone who would agree with what he’d already decided to do.
One person observed: "When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice." Marquis de la Grange
Rehoboam was looking for an accomplice.
He wasn’t looking for God’s advice or counsel.
He probably had already made up his mind what he wanted to do and his friends only confirmed the decision he’d already made.
But why would Rehoboam ignore God?
Why seek his own counsel rather than God’s?
Because Rehoboam wanted to be God.
He didn’t think God would care enough for him to do what was best for him.
Why would he want to entrust his life to God when he didn’t believe God would be there for him in the important matters of his life?
But Paul wrote: “… I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that
He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV)
In other words, Paul believed that no matter what happened in his life - if he entrusted that which was precious to God’s hands - God would take care of it.
CLOSE: Anne Graham Lotz, in her book Just Give Me Jesus declared:
No means of measure can define God’s limitless love…
No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply…
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings…
· He forgives and He forgets
· He creates and He cleanses.
· He restores and He rebuilds
· He heals and He helps
· He reconciles and He redeems
· He comforts and He carries
· He lifts and He loves.
He is the God of the 2nd chance, the fat chance, the slim chance…
Just give me Jesus!
He makes change possible!
Just give me Jesus.
Just give me His counsel and guidance.
Just give me His will and way for my life.
And the best way to have those blessings in your life is to give yourself to Him completely.
If there’s anyone here this morning that needs to make a decision to belong to Jesus, won’t you please come forward during our invitation hymn.
