Mark My Words

The title of my sermon today is Mark My Words. Anybody ever heard that phrase? I used to hear it. You know where it came from? The Bible. Very good. You know who first wrote it? No. It goes way back. The first time it was written in English, in the Bible, was in 1535 by a man by the name of Miles Coverdale. Miles Coverdale worked with Tyndale. He worked with all those trying to put the Bible into English, the entire Bible. As a matter of fact, he is the first man known to have translated the Bible in its entirety.

Others did just before him the New Testament, and there were parts, and there were psalms, and there were proverbs, but he was the first one, and he literally escaped with his life from Mary, Queen of Scots, who wanted to do away with him like she had done away with so many, being she was a staunch Roman Catholic, and he was trying to bring the Bible to the Protestants and to English-speaking people. And so he's a very passionate man, and he struggled. He had to move from this place to this place to Germany to the Netherlands to escape each time while he was trying to do his work.

And one of the amazing parts was that Coverdale moved to France, and he got a bunch of stuff copied, and he had 2,000, imagine 2,000 copies of a book called the Great Bible. That was the very first one. That was his, and so they found somebody who would print, and they made 2,006 copies. And just as they were about to move those copies, they were found out, and they were all destroyed, except for 6 copies that he carried. Imagine how much work went into that. Well, this isn't a story about Coverdale.

I just found his life amazing when I read that and what people went through, and those, I mean, he didn't, he wasn't like Tyndale hung and burned at the stake like so many others, but the whole stress of his life of knowing he was one step away from being executed if he was found. It makes me appreciate the Bible so much more of what people went through so that I now have this, and so many people had this book. But he wrote those words because he was the first one that translated into English, and so can we go there where he first used the words, Mark My Words?

You'll go with me to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 23. I'll read from the New King James Version, which is up here, and I think you'll find it interesting because of the way it's stated, but his original translation of from the great Bible was Mark My Words. Let's go there because in verse 23 we have God speaking here through Isaiah, and he's kind of saying, silence! Listen to what I'm saying. So when he translated that from the Hebrew in the New King James, it says, give ear and hear my voice. Listen and hear my speech. Sound like a redundant statement, but no, it was for emphasis.

So that's why Coverdale put the words, Mark My Words. Means, listen up. Remember this because it will happen. And you can read the entire 28th chapter and you realize why those words are so profound. And it's a warning message. Mark My Words. You could have even used those words when Jesus Christ gave his Olivet prophecy because he's talking about what's going to happen, and we better listen up and Christ would use many times.

Surely I say, or he who has an ear to hear, let him hear. Coverdale just thought this, and that's where this phrase came from, was from Coverdale. Now, I'm using this because continuing the series on Kings and our destiny, what we're called to be, as I've done for the last two or three sermons that I've given here, I want to go into some of the greatest biblical kings today. We'll just touch on two. And I greatest kind of, let's say they were possibly great in their own eyes, and in biblical times they were also considered great because they made an impact.

They're in the Bible more than just a few lines.

But these great kings, or these major kings, they didn't heed God's Word. They didn't mark His words. They didn't listen. They may have heard, but they didn't listen. In case you wonder about that statement, ask any parent. Because many, they heard, but they didn't listen. I find this first story, and you know the story, but I want to bring it out because this is more or less the first half of this sermon is what you don't do. Here is an example of kings you don't follow. You don't follow.

And then I want to bring it in at the end of some words that we do need to follow. If we're going to be what God has called us to be, and it's just not somebody that takes up a seat, but He's preparing for a kingdom of God. And He didn't care whether you believe that or not, because it's going to happen. And for those who He has called and working with, He knows it's not a problem. Because why?

They heed His word. We listen to what He says. So let's go there. You will go with me to 1 Kings. Let's go to 1 Kings.

1 Kings 11 will bring from a new King James Version. 1 Kings 11, verse 1. Here we have who? King Solomon. Remember? Rich dude that had everything.

1 Kings 11, verse 1. But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughters of the Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and the Hittites, from the nations of whom God said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Mark my word. That's what He's saying. 1 Solomon clung to these in love, all seven hundred. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. God told him. But the sad part was, he wrote over three hundred songs. Solomon did. But he didn't write the song, If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right. But it sounds just like him, you know? He knew, because it was wrong. Well, guess what? He did it anyway.

And he sure didn't write the country song, trying to love two women as like a ball and chain. This is God made this so crystal clear. And here was the king who could have set the pace for everybody. But he didn't. Verse 4, For so it was when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after the gods, and his heart was not loyal to the Lord as God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Astrath, the goddess of Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites, who was Milcom? Molech.

Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites. On the hill that is east of Jerusalem. And for Molech, here's Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. Moabites sacrificed their children to Molech. Even their king, you can read in 2 Kings 3, 25 or 26, couldn't figure out why they couldn't win a war. So what did the king do? He pulled his son out, and went and sacrificed him so they could win. They didn't win, but they still followed the God. This is what was brought into Jerusalem and allowed, and it actually says that Solomon built their altars, built their temples for them, helped them worship.

And we don't have evidence in Scripture, except for Manasseh, who sacrificed. King Manasseh, who sacrificed his son. But it almost leads you to wonder here, with all those altars and to Molech, and they were practicing their religion, could it have happened?

But I don't know why they would have sacrificed. Prosperity was going so well in Jerusalem, in all of Israel. Maybe they didn't have to at that time, but they still set up altars.

Verse 8, and he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. They sacrificed. Just clean animals. Oh, let's make sure we don't mind that altar to that other god. Let's just make sure we sacrifice clean animals. You think that happened? I don't. I don't.

Verse 9, so the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord, God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

He never appeared to David. He appeared twice in person. That's what it says. And he didn't listen. And had commanded him concerning this thing. Even told him about this is one of the reasons. Don't do this. Mark my word. He didn't do it. That he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, because you have done this and I kept my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Jeroboam. And it happened.

So basically we see the story of kings all through the Bible. And that story says kings rule and they reign until they don't.

Go with me if you will through the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2, verse 21. Chapter 2 and verse 21. As a matter of fact, I'll start up in 20 where Daniel said, bless be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and might are his. He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He did it then. He does it now. And we can all be thankful he's going to do it in the future. It's just not in there. Revelation 19, when he comes to destroy the armies of the earth, that it describes him as the king of kings. He's not the king of kings of the earth. He's the king of kings who will be kings in his kingdom, as we will be able to see a little bit in Bible study. So Daniel understood it.

Do we? Do we understand thoroughly? That a place of rulership is there because God allows you to be there. Same thing for us. When we're the kings under the king, only there because he gives it. We don't earn it. It's like salvation, but it's his gift. It says he raises them up and he puts them down. Like to go. We'll all change Bibles here.

And I'd like to go to another story. That one is in 1 Kings 21. So Solomon showed us how not to do it. Now we go to another example of how absolutely not to do it.

1 Kings 21. Let's go there. I'll be reading from the new living translation just because of the story flow. This is a story about Naboth Vineyard. I think he is. There we go. Verse 1, Now there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel who owned a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of king Ahab of Samaria. One day Ahab said to Naboth, Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I'll pay you for it. But Naboth replied, The Lord forbid. Why? That was an inheritance, and it would go on. That was the stay in the family. That was what God said. That was His word. Mark those words. Naboth did.

But the Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors. So Ahab went home angry and sullied because of Naboth's answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat.

What's the matter? His wife Jezebel asked. What made you so upset that you're not eating? I asked Naboth, sell me his vineyard. But truly, anybody refused. Ahab told her. Are you the king of Israel or not? Jezebel demanded. Get up! Eat something, and don't worry about it. Mark my word. I'll get that vineyard. And you don't have to go through the story. You know that she did. She trumped up charges. Had him actually killed, Naboth lied, and she got it. But let's go down to verse 17, as we finish this story. But the Lord said to Elijah, as he was living at the time, Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in some area. He will be at Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself. Didn't take him long. Couldn't have made some vegetables. Eat those grapes that he's been growing. Give him this message. This is what the Lord says. Was it?

Wasn't it enough that you killed Naboth? But you robbed him too? Because you have done this, the dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth.

So, my enemy, you have found me, Ahab exclaimed to Elijah. Yes. I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord's sight. So now the Lord says, I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male deservants, your descendants, slave and free like anyone in Israel. I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebuch and the family of Bahashah son of Ehasheh. For he, for you, have made me angry and you have led Israel into sin. He should have marked his words. And regarding Jezebel, let's get to that woman. The Lord says, dogs will eat Jezebel's body at the plot of land in Jezreel. The members of Ahab's family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures. No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord's sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. I like how the new King James puts it, because his wife Jezebel stirred him up. Is anybody going to be able to stir you up? Does anybody stir you up now and cause you to sin? This is training for kings, not reading this to down the wicked Jezebel and weak-minded Ahab, which he was, but she so influenced him. Verse 26, his worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done, the people whom the Lord had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites. But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap and fasted. He even slept in burlap. Now, that had to be uncomfortable and went about in deep mourning. Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah. Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons. I will destroy his dynasty, and as you biblical people know, Jehu did, almost in a day, killed all those sons.

But he paid the price, because it happened, as you can read later in the story of how he went to battle, and the dogs did lick up his blood. But it shows us one thing as evil and wicked, because Jezebel was still alive. Imagine if she came in, she was making fun of him for being in sackcloth and ashes when she killed a man, because he was upset, because he couldn't get land. Imagine what she thought of this, where he actually was showing repentance. But what does it show us as future kings, as kings in training now, shows us how important and how precious repentance is to God. And he wants us to be able to do that.

And no matter what we've done, this man was evil. So it's important for us, having the relationship, being a family member of God's family, that we understand when there's an issue or a problem, all God's wanting us to do is repent. Let's do it. Let's get cleansed from this thing. Will we listen? Will we mark his words as future kings? And the king, oh God. Do we listen now? Do we mark or do we mock his words? Because when we don't keep his words, we mock his words. It's a shame what's happened on television today, movies today, in songs today.

Because if you're a young person, you've never had the Bible, you just, you thoroughly believe that damn is God's last name. Because that's what you listen to. It's amazing how many times. Yet they've got certain words you can't say on television, but you can say G.D. What has happened to us as a nation? What happened to the censors that was never allowed? And mock his words. Mock his name. Not mark.

If we cannot rule ourselves, are we really fit to rule others? You say, well, I don't want to rule anybody. I just want to take care of myself. That's not what you're called to be in the future. We must rule and reign ourselves. It shows to God that we're finishing our training here on earth to be perfected at the wedding supper. Now we'll get around to it, the Feast of Trumpets.

All right, as I heard another day, and I think about to our potential kingship and our potential being future kings, that upon Christ's return, and setting up as he sets up his kingdom, for those saints, you will rest in peace, or you'll roast in pieces in the Gahina fire, because that's our options. So when you really put it the way that the Bible puts it, we have the lake of fire or being kings and ruling and reigning with God for a thousand years. Who's going to struggle with that? Say, well, I don't want to. No, you either. You're here or you're there. I want you as kings. You're part of the family. Your royalty. Live up to it.

Or maybe this heat didn't bother you, but 98, 99 degrees is hot enough for me down here. I don't need 451 degrees.

So I want to go now as I finish this. I'm looking at my clock. I'd like to go there, because I want to go to writings now. It's in the New Living Translation. And I want to just hit these scriptures. I hardly ever use that many scriptures for me. Seven scriptures is most I'll usually use in any sermon. It's usually three or four. There's enough in two or three or four scriptures to expand on those, expand those. Then there is what. But this time I wanted to do this for this for the very reason that I went through this book myself, because I wanted to see what was written for me as a future king. Potential king. Let's make sure we get that right.

But these words are written from a king to a king about being a king.

Because it's written by Solomon. It's written to his son.

But he's trying to tell him because Solomon's been on both sides of the fence. He was good for 20 years of his reign, maybe even 25. And man, was he an example when he followed God. God blessed him. What an incredible life and the world that his subjects lived in. But then, what do we read? I need more women. I need more wives. 700 and enough.

So, I want to look at these words. So, first place I'd like to go in Proverbs, and this is not all of them, but it's enough because I had to quit there. So, there's enough words in here to last you a while if you want to make a study out of it. But let's go through this. I'll go through these very fast because they're written to us, and I want to look at those. So, Proverbs 16 and verse 10. The king speaks with divine wisdom. He must never judge unfairly. So, are we doing that now? See, this is for us to get to practice what we're doing now so that it's, they have to say in baseball, basketball, football, especially tennis, there's muscle memory where you just, you continue to hit ground strokes. They just make you hit in tennis. Just head to where you just, you can't hit any other way. It's muscle memory to where your muscle remembers. Brethren, this is spiritual muscle memory stuff. It's stuff we must be doing now so that it just comes natural. Verse 12, a king detests wrongdoing for his rule is built on justice. Do we always do what's right? I didn't see anybody raise their hand and say, I do, I do, because we don't, but that's what we work on. And so it helps us train because what do you do when you're over other people? When you're taking care of them. And it says, it says a king detests wrongdoing. He hates it. He can't stand to see it. Are we that way?

All right, I have to flashback. I have to flashback. I don't think I've ever told this here, but on Tennessee where we lived in the country. And so one day I was going to work, going to a job, and I was country road, and nobody was on the country road very much. And it's having a good day. You know, you've had those days where, man, everything's going right. It's just like, wow, I'm driving in my little truck, listening to country music, going to a job site, going, hey, this is good. It's good. And all of a sudden, a car was in front of me. And they were slowing down, but they were still doing, I was doing maybe 30. They were doing, slowed down to 15 or 20. And then, as soon as I got behind them, they sped up a little bit. And what they were doing, they were opening the door, and they were throwing little cats out in the road. And I couldn't miss the first one. And then there were seven or eight, and they just kept throwing them out on the road, hit the road, bounce, just, just an atrocious, I got angry.

They didn't want the cats to turn them out, but you didn't have to throw them down the road. As Scripture reminds me, there are things that we should get upset about. Injustice in the world? Yes. Cruelty? Yes. We can't go. That has nothing to do with me. I wanted to get the license plate.

But it's not my world yet, is it? But it's not my world yet, is it?

But someday it will be our world, and that won't happen. That's what we need to be excited about, training about. Not my turn yet, but I can just, I detest things like that, and so can you. And our hearts need to be soft when it comes to areas like that.

Verse 13, the king is pleased with words from righteous lips. Oh boy! And he loves those who speak honestly.

Honest politicians, wouldn't you love to see one? Hear one? To know that they actually exist, and then take a knife and see if they actually bleed? Because we don't see it.

I mean, they don't care that people lie, do they? In this world today, they use other words. Well, I misspoke.

No, you lied.

He loves those who speak honestly. Do you? I hope so. Maybe you've got neighbors. Some of us have neighbors that they're honest, and I'm going to steal if you lay something out. And that's nice to have, because not everybody has that, and we should appreciate it. Verse 14, The anger of the king is a deadly threat, and the wise will try to appease it. What's it talking about? Respect. Respect for authority. Wouldn't that be nice in today's world? It's gotten less and less. A king is going to have in the kingdom of God full authority.

15. When the king smiles, there is life. His favor refreshes like a spring rain. It's talking about rulership, being able to reign to where you're pleasant. Do we try to be pleasant? Now? Or do we get up and go, that's another day.

Some people do. How much training is that? Because enough bad stuff is going to come along to try to steal your joy. 16. But when you are going to be helping people and ruling and reigning this earth as kings, you can put a lot of smiles on people's faces. But it's going to be hard to do when you don't even know what a smile is now.

I remember Queen Sheba came to Solomon and actually she said, half of what I heard is not even true. Your service, your people who sit at your table must be smiling. I mean, they must be happy because this is how wonderful things are. It was in his righteous rule. Let's go on to, let's go to Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20 and verse 8. When a king sets in judgment, he weighs all the evidence, distinguishing the bad from the good. He doesn't hear like one side and say, okay, I'll make my decision. This is what Solomon is teaching his son. And God inspired this to be in there to help us as future kings. We are both sides. It's amazing sometimes when a news story comes on, I tell Mary, I have to change two different channels because of three channels just to get it because I know this was like, wow, is that what I turned to another channel? No, that's not how it was. We don't know what truth is.

When we have to make big decisions, do we weigh the good and the bad or the decisions? That's what God wants us to do now. That's how you become wise. Chapter 20 in verse 26, A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat, then runs his threshing wheel over them. That's a graphic picture, but you know what it means? You don't put up with wickedness.

I just read a story today or yesterday about a sheriff's deputy, Broward County, that they found had stolen money out of a woman's purse at the airport. He worked the airport. That was his thing. He had been there since 2001. You see a picture, you'll see the story, this incredible story.

They actually planted because they thought some things were missing and it just didn't line up, so they kind of did the sting thing. They set a purse out there with travel stuff and you know a little makeup in it or whatever and left it there. A guy came up and said, I saw this over there and turned it in as you should do. He was part of it. He turned it and had $1,665 cash in it. The guy goes, okay, I'll take care of it. Make sure it gets to the right place. And so then they watched with cameras as the guy walked off. He went into the bathroom, came back out and threw it in the trash.

And they waited to see the next day. He didn't turn it in. And when they got him, he had already spent $200 of that $1,600-something. This is a man supposed to be in authority. This is the one you're supposed to be trusting. And he did this. Thankfully, they did that. And the amazing part was when I read the story, I then went down to see the comments. And they gave the guy's name up here because he was arrested. That's my point. He was arrested. Okay. They took him in, and the judge just released him on his own reconnaissance. No bail. No anything. Okay. You went back a few years. There is a story of a professional gambler that came through Fort Lauderdale and had lost his, or forgot a bag there, and he had $9,000 in it because he's a professional poker player, famous poker player, and he was going down to Brazil. He went back to get it, and there was all the different chips in there and everything else, but the $9,000 was gone. And so he never knew. He complained to the authorities, and this has been, four or five years ago, six years ago, nothing ever became of it. They just dropped it. You know who he turned it into? The same man who they just got for stealing this.

This, this is not our world, but we get to observe it and see, my cities can't be run like that. We've got to be honest, and wickedness cannot stand. Otherwise, it just continues. Let's go to verse 28 as I wrap this pretty soon here. Up. Verse 28, "'Unfailing love and faithfulness protect the king. His throne is made secure through love.'" You realize what that's telling us? That the king has to set the example of, because it just said what he would do to wicked. Now he's, now he's explaining love. Who's telling this? Solomon. You remember when the two women came and one of them, one of them said they killed a baby, and he said, take a sword and cut it in two, and give each woman half. Knowing, knowing what? The love, the love of the mother. We have to stress, the Bible stresses, we have to stress, we have to live, as love is a determining factor in our lives and how we treat other people and how we judge things. Because it's going to be necessary in the coming kingdom.

Because, in Galatians 5, 22, when it lists the fruits of the Spirit, these are the fruits of the Spirit that are going to be so up front, obvious, in the kingdom of God. And the very first one is love.

We have to do that.

Proverbs 21, verse 1, the king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord. He guides it wherever he pleases. You think he's not in charge? Yes, he is. What do you think about Nebuchadnezzar? What do you think about the king of Syria when Jonah went to do that?

Proverbs 25, verse 5, remove the wicked from the king's court, and his reign will be made secure by justice. The corrupt politicians, they don't get another chance. The people around you, they don't need to be in charge if they're corrupt. And this is how we need to... Have you ever had a friend? I worked with a couple guys that I wouldn't trust them with anything I had, but I wasn't in charge at that time. But I didn't want to hang around them. And this is what Solomon is telling his son. Don't have corrupt people around you. Chapter 28, chapter 28, chapter 28, verse 16.

A ruler with no understanding will oppress his people, but one who hates corruption will have a long life. This is what people want.

You know, if you had someone so honest and so caring about the people they were overseeing, and he got rid of corruption, he wouldn't have to spend a dime to get reelected, would he? Because people would come, oh no, we got to have him. We got to have him!

Well, it's going to be that way in the kingdom. Except we don't run for office. We're appointed. Lifetime appointment!

Chapter 29, chapter 29, verse 14. These are not all of them, but they say, if a king judges the poor fairly, his throne will last forever. Oh, brethren, our thrones will last forever, because we're going to treat everybody fairly. It's what God has called us to do.

So as I started with the words, I'll end with the words from God Himself. The kingdom of God is coming. Mark my word.