Christian Living

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HOW DO I KNOW IF THE PASTOR IS BEING DIRECTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT?

●Solomon’s Heart Was Turned After Other gods


CHAPTER 2

TURNED AWAY HIS HEART AFTER OTHER GODS

How do I know if the pastor that is in the leadership position of the church that I am attending is being directed by the Holy Spirit?

Hopefully, the next story that we will look at will give us insight into another hindrance that inhibits the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The next person that we are going to look at is King Solomon of Israel.

King Solomon
Suggested Reading: 1 Kings 10:1-24
Solomon is one of the sons of King David, who succeeded his father to the throne over the 12 tribes of Israel.
In his early years his fame was spread throughout the known world.

What made him famous?

The scriptures state that he was famous concerning the name of the Lord. This refers to the extraordinary things that the Lord had done and was doing in his life.

1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

Why was God blessing him?

When Solomon began to reign as king the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him what He could give him.
Solomon responded by saying that he wanted wisdom and understanding so that he would be able to judge between the people discerning good and evil.

1 Kings 3:5,9
5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

This response pleased the Lord. Solomon had his priorities right, because they were God’s priorities.
The Lord said to him that if he followed through on this desire, then He would bless him with riches, long life, and the life of his enemies.
The Lord also disclosed to him the avenue that he must follow in order to be able to judge the people in a Godly manner.
He must walk in His ways, keeping his statutes and commandments.
Another word in order to be able to be effective in ministering to others, you must be effective in ministering to your-self first.

1 Kings 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

A similar admonition is given from King David to Solomon before he became king.
His told to keep God’s:
“statutes” [The Spiritual Code-the ordinances of the Law (e.g. the Tabernacle, the Holy Days, Offerings, the High Priest, the Meat Offering, the Trespass Offering, the Levites, etc. Ex 26-31; 35-40; Lev. 1-24)]
“commandments” the Moral Code which includes the 10 commandments called the Decalogue (e.g honor thy father and thy mother…Ex 20:12-17) and more than 100 other commandments (Thou shalt have no other gods before me; the Sabbath,…thou shalt not do any work…Ex 20:12-17; Deut 5:6-21; Deut 12)
“judgments” (The Social Code which are the laws belonging to civil government. (e.g. dietary, marriage, military, conservation, etc. along with the related consequences (punishment Deut. 14-28).
“testimonies” the laws directing the commemoration of certain events (e.g. Seventh year Sabbath rest; the 50th year, the year of Jubilee; the ordinance of the Passover; the feast of unleavened bread; etc. Ex 12:43-50; Num 28: 16-25; Deut 25,26).

1 Kings 2:3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

Solomon had to put some time into his walk with God. He needed to know all aspects of the Mosaic Law for himself before he could implement them in the lives of others.

It appears that in the early years of his reign he followed the Lord.

1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father:

In the fourth year of his reign he begins building a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.

At some point in his reign he is visited by a woman known as the Queen of Sheba, who has heard of his fame and wanted to witness the things that she had heard about him firsthand. It is believed that she was the ruler of the great spice country which was located in Southern Arabia.
When she arrives she sets out to prove (test) him with hard questions (riddles; verbal puzzles of various kinds). Solomon solves all of her riddles.
As she is taken on a tour of the facilities of the kingdom she is in awe.

1 Kings 10:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.
6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

One the most amazing comments that came out of her mouth was an awareness that all of the riches that befell Solomon truly testified to his God, who delighted in him.

9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

Solomon had everything going for him, because he trusted in the ways of his God.

But something began to happen, which would impact God’s blessings.

What do you think it is?

He begins to make alliances with other nations by contracting marriages for political purposes, which is clearly denounced in the scriptures.

Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
Exodus 34:12-16

Over time he continued to marry more and more women, which again is contrary to God’s word.

Deuteronomy 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

Another decision that he made was to bring horses to the kingdom of Israel from Egypt, which he was instructed not to do.

1 Kings 10:28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

Deuteronomy 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

Over time (a gradual process) his many wives turned his heart away from Jehovah (Yahweh).

1 Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

So what happened to Solomon?

He disobeyed God’s word. He committed habitual adultery. He went back to Egypt and brought something from it that was forbidden.
Eventually he became a worshipper of the many gods of his wives. As he became more and more immersed in their religions’ theology and personal associations his heart changed.

Many Christians dabble in religion with the thought that there is nothing wrong with this, because they are socializing with the community.
What they don’t understand is that little by little their heart is being turned away from the Lord.
Before you know it they are no longer worshipping in the temple, or if they are they are engaged in worship that has an admixture of spirituality and religion. These two don’t mix. Eventually one will win out.

Why wait to see which one wins out.

Get out and remain faithful to your God.

What have we learned in this chapter about the hindrances that inhibit a pastor from being filled with the Holy Spirit?

These hindrances are: being engaged in the overt habitual sin of adultery; going back to Egypt or by analogy going back to one’s flesh in order to retrieve something that God forbids; following many gods, thus exhibiting to others that this practice should be condoned.

If the pastor or any member of the assembly is engaged in these practices, then they will not experience the filling of the Spirit.
So if the pastor has repented to God the Father and believed in Jesus Christ for salvation, thus receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit; confesses known sin (mental, speech, actions); does not live in habitual overt sin; does not go back to the ways of Egypt (his former ways); embraces the trinity of three persons in one God; puts on God’s perspective in regards to any area of weakness within or trials without, then he will be filled (directed; empowered) by the Holy Spirit.

The bible says that he that walks with wise men shall be wise.

If what was stated characterizes your pastor, then this pastor is wise, so it is advisable that you walk with him.

In the chapter that follows we will look at scripture sections from the New Testament concerning the question, how do I know if the pastor is being directed by the Holy Spirit?

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