Heart Failure

    It is the heart that God looks at.  God wants us to have a pure heart before him.  Our words flow out of our heart.  Our actions flow out of our heart.  What is in our heart will eventually come out somewhere, someway.

A Great Beginning

    I Kings 11 speaks of a great king of Israel named Solomon.  As Solomon was to ascend to the throne of his father David, God came to him in a vision to grant him what he desired from God.  Solomon in his humble position asked God for "an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad"  I Kings 3:9.  The Lord gave him largeness of heart and wisdom to exceed all others.  In addition to this, he gave him wealth, peace and long life.

    It was Solomon who built the glorious Temple for the Lord.  In the dedication service the glory of God filled the place so that the priests could not stand to minister.  Solomon prayed a prayer that literally brought the fire of God from heaven upon the sacrifices.  Solomon's reputation for wisdom was unsurpassed in all the land.  The Queen of Sheba came to see all of his greatness.  She asked Solomon all that was in her heart and he answered her everything.  Her response was, "the half has not been told of his greatness, wisdom and knowledge."

Wrong Choices

    Even in all of Solomon's greatness he made bad choices.  Solomon married women who followed after false gods and they turned his heart away from the true living God.  God had warned him of this very thing, yet in all his wisdom and understanding Solomon did not heed the warning of God and as a result his heart failed him.  Solomon clave to his wives in love and built for them altars to strange gods and Solomon did not go fully after the true God.  It became a plague for him and for the many kings that would follow in his footsteps.

The heart failure of a great man

    This great man and great king that God had blessed in everyway ended his reign as a broken, empty man.  His heart failed him because he failed to hold to God and his precepts to the very end.

    Here the words of the Preacher

Ecc. 2:15 - Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me.

Ecc. 10:11 -  Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment.

Ecc. 12:13 - Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his comandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

There will be a falling away in the last days.  Men will turn from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits.  Let us guard our heart that we do not go in the path of Solomon and experience heart failure by turning away from God.

Pastor Joe Prewitt