THE HEART OF KINGS
THE HEART OF KINGS
(1 Ki. 4:29)
(II Sermon series taken from The Ministry of Kings by: David Swan)
Preached by:
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, January 9, 2011
“And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.” (1 Kings 4:29)
“One unique characteristic of true kings of the Lord is largeness of heart. God gave King Solomon not only wisdom and exceedingly great understanding; He also gave him largeness of heart. What does largeness of heart mean? Some commentators describe it as the broadness of the mind in understanding. Note that the scripture did not say that God gave unto Solomon largeness of head, but largeness of heart! There is more to ‘largeness of heart’ than just intellectual capability. King Solomon’s largeness of heart has more to do with the bigness of heart and soul (a heart controlled by the Holy Spirit). It has to do with his large capacity and generosity.
Solomon was described as a person with a large heart. Every thing that he did, from the building of the Temple, the palace, the furnishings, the serving of food on the table, to the manner in which his servants and his palace officials were attired, evidenced the spirit of excellence, grandeur, and bigness of heart.”
There is nothing worse than a stingy Christian. All of you at this church have heard me bring down the hammer repeatedly that we are not to be beggars in the ministry, nor or we to teach others to beg. We are called to lead people into the Faith to believe God for our provision, not by our example to teach people to be beggars. We are to help people get-on-their-feet so they will be able to earn their own living. When others’ (whether ministers or saints) do not have the faith, health or means to have their needs met, we are to pray for them, encourage them, but not pass judgment. Benevolence will always be part of the ministry of the church. However, benevolence is meant for crisis intervention, not as perpetual support. We are to love them and encourage them to enlarge their heart and Spirit to be able to receive from the Lord.
“A person who has a large heart and Spirit will have a greater capability and larger capacity to receive and draw from God and do so in a shorter time… In computer terminology, they can download much more! We should pray for the Lord to enlarge and increase our spiritual capacity to receive and release blessings.
True kings are people with large hearts and big visions. The act with largesse. They are diametrically opposite of those who have a “constricted soul’ and are bound by the spirit of poverty and slave mentality. Such people will always have a nagging fear of insufficiency and lack.”
As a matter of fact, a spirit of nagging will attach itself to these people.
Such people will see only the impossibilities and will always hesitate and never venture to attempt anything of significance or importance. They will also try to sabotage those who have courage and faith. We must pray that the Lord raise up more people with the heart of kings.
Ps. 119:32 “I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart.”
National interest and the welfare of the people should be the primary concern of any good king. Kings need to have a heart that is filled with love. The love for God and people should govern and temper application of authority and power. Love helps to provide the balance and curtails abuse of authority.
Pro. 21:1: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”
THE WEALTH OF KINGS (Chapter 11):
2 Chr. 9: 22-23: “So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.”
Prov. 14: 24: “The crown of the wise is their riches…”
King Solomon is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Jesus is not only the Servant and the Lamb of God, but He is also the Possessor of Heaven and Earth. There are untold wealth and unsearchable riches and aspects of Christ for us to discover and inherit. Eph. 3:8: “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
However, many are incapable of handling great wealth if it is suddenly thrust into their hands. For this reason, God has to prepare and prove the kings before they can be entrusted with great wealth.
Kings have wealth, but it is not limited to the fiscal realm and dimension only. The wealth of kings may be manifested in terms of possessing a wealth of expertise, experience, knowledge, wisdom, gifts, revelations, anointing, and other resources. Therefore, we do not judge kings based solely on their financial accumulation or material possession. Many of the rich and wealthy are actually regarded as poor in the eyes of the Lord (Rev. 3:17).
As the Harvest accelerates, many will be entrusted with the power and acumen to acquire and steward fiscal wealth while some kings will excel in other fields and ministries.
Deut 8: 11, 17-18: “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God…then you say in your heart. “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. And you shall remember the Lord your God; for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”
Without the raising up of the ministry of kings, especially in the area of finance, there will always be a perpetual lack in the area of funding and finance in most churches. The constant financial constraints experienced by ministers in their ministries have frequently been a crippling and time-robbing factor where the work of God is concerned. Often, much time and energy are expended in raising the needed funds when they could be put to better use.” The church is to be supported by tithes and offerings, not fund raisers. Many ministers are so stressed financially that their physical and spiritual health suffers.
Children of ministers are some times bitter and greedy because they suffered and watched their parents suffer due to lack. Some ministers become discouraged and are forced to quit the ministry altogether so they could earn enough to feed and support their families. Very often the strain from the lack of finances frustrates their dreams and visions. They need the ministry and resources of kings to provide the release and relief.
In the First and Second Day churches, we still hear 30-minute offering sermons as well as sermon after sermon hammering people to give. During this Third Day, many kings who enter into the fullness of their call by Faith and largeness of heart will be used by the Lord to release manpower, resources, and large sums of money to expedite the work of the kingdom and to reach nations. Some of these kings will be instrumental in releasing not only hundreds of thousands, but also tens, and even hundreds of millions for the extension of the Kingdom of God. they will be the Lord’s end-time financiers; the Josephs, the Davids, and the Solomons. They will be true kings in the realm of finance.
Because finance plays such an important role in the ministry and the harvest of souls, the enemy will seek to target and stop kings in the realm of finance from releasing the resources. The enemy will always oppose and resist anything that will bring advancement and furtherance to God’s kingdom. Therefore, there is warfare to be waged over the realm of financial release. That’s why we have to pray earnestly and contend for these strategic ministries to be raised up and released to fulfill their function.
It is perfectly possible to be wealthy and Godly. Abraham, Joseph, Job, King David, and King Solomon, for example were very wealthy people. There is nothing wrong with wealth; it is how we handle it. Do we handle money or does money handle us? While wealth in the hand of the wicked can do much harm, wealth in the hand of the righteous can result in multiplied blessings.
Covetous people envy the wealth and liberty of kings. They wonder why God would give them more when they already have so much. They tend to forget that before many of these people became successful, prosperous, and kings, they had actually gone through many years of struggle, sacrifice, and faithful service. God will entrust much to the faithful steward. That is why the scriptures say, “To him who has, more will be given.”
“Matt. 13:12: “For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Matt. 25:29: “For to everyone who has, more will be give, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
Matt. 25:21: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”
Some kings will possess such vast financial resources at their disposal that good stewardship will be one of their greatest responsibilities and challenges. They will be accountable for all that has been entrusted to them by the One who appointed them.
Luke 12:48: “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
Very often, kings are able to reap abundantly because they have sacrificed and sown abundantly over a period of many years. 2 Cor. 9:6: “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
1 CHR. 29: 10-12: “Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said: Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness the power and the glory; the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might. In Your hand is to make great and to give strength to all.”
THE WISDOM OF KINGS (Chapter 12):
Prov. 8: 15-16: “By me (wisdom) kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles’, and all the judges of the earth.
2 Chr. 9: 22-23: “So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.”
God gives to kings the spirit of wisdom. This may be the most essential gift for their office and function. The word of wisdom is the first gift to be mentioned in the list of spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12. Perhaps, it is to stress the importance and priority of this gift.
Kings need wisdom and discernment more than anyone else as the decisions and decrees they make will always invariably affect multitudes and the entire nation. Wisdom is part of the apostolic gifting. It takes apostolic wisdom to lay strong foundations and it takes wisdom to build the house of God.
Prov. 16:10: “Divination is on the lips of the king; his mouth must not transgress in judgment.”
Kings need to know the word of God by heart. A king’s discernment will be sharpened by the knowledge of god’s word. God by wisdom made the earth and all that is in it. “O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all”. (Ps. 104:24)
Ps. 119:97: “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.”
THE REVELATION OF KINGS (Chapter 13):
Prov. 25: 2-3: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.”
It take someone with the stature and status of a king to have a fuller understanding of another king. David, being a king, had a deeper insight and awareness of the King of kings while having a greater appreciation for Him too. Kings will have a greater comprehension of the majestic and magnificent aspects of the High King of Heaven. Kings are better able to perceive some aspects of God’s kingly nature and royals ways.
In the Old Testament, God often communicates directly with prophets and kings through dreams and visions. At times it is to warn them, and at times it is to show them things concerning the future. Kings, therefore, must pay heed to dreams and visions that are of the Lord. In the Old Testament, prophets work closely with the kings. King David had the wisdom to always include prophets and priests in his team of counselors. These are some kings to whom God gave dreams and visions: Abimelech (Gen. 20:3), Pharaoh (Gen. 41: 1-36), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:1), King David (1 Chr. 21: 15-18, Ps. 89:19) and King Solomon (1 Kings 3:5).
God will release revelations to and through kings in this Third Millennium. These revelations will be deciphered and understood by kings. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
The kingly anointing is an anointing for ruling and reigning. It is an anointing for dominion and for government. It is also an anointing for prevailing. It has strength and might to push back the forces of darkness and take new ground.
The Kingdom anointing is very powerful and poses a great threat to the realm of darkness. The enemy will go all out to prevent one from breaking into and getting established in this higher level of anointing. Those who consistently develop and carry this strong anointing will become high achievers, accomplish mighty deeds, slay giants and rise up to become spiritual champions.
This evening we will continue this study with The Strength of Kings.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V. Text from a study of The Ministry of Kings by: Pastor David Swan; comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I have gleaned.