If you have your Bibles, I'd love for you to join me in the classic passage of Scripture on Husbands and Wives, Ephesians chapter 5. I wanna talk this morning, as I referenced a moment ago, about being the wrong husband. Now, if you're sitting here, you're thinking to yourself, I've already got that one figured out, can I just leave? The answer is no, you gotta stay. The point is not being the wrong husband, it's learning from the wrong husband. If you are seated here as a lady and you're thinking right now in this moment, I might be married to the wrong husband, let me tell you from Scripture, if you are married to him, he is the right husband. We're just gonna try to get him to be the righteous husband that he should be. The Bible declares in Ephesians 5.25 a simple tenet that belongs to every married man. It is this, husbands love your wives. You can credit scripture. You can credit Christianity with the introduction into the world of marital relationships, the awareness of sacrificial, selfless, agape, willful love. If I were going to describe this verse to you like you were five years old, I would simply say, husbands, it is your job to love your wives and to do so to this degree. That verse finishes with this, husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. The standard for our love is that of Jesus Christ. One author said this, according to the Bible, marital love is tantamount to dying to self. Dying to self-desire, to self-ambition, to self-preservation, to self-promotion, to self-will, to a self-absorbing, self-satisfying lifestyle. And I can say with conviction, if you aren't doing it like that, then you're doing it wrong. Because that is the expectation of Scripture. That we align our lives with the Word of God to such a degree that we would be considered godly men. Righteous men. Because ungodly men leave broken homes. Ungodly men produce broken hearts. But what we need is righteous, back to the Bible, loving, male headship or leadership. One of the ways that we can learn from the scripture is to look at the classic illustrations provided to us concerning leadership, and in this case, or lack thereof. And by looking at the leadership that we see, particularly for the case of our study this morning, of the Old Testament kings, we will see some shining examples of what not to do And we will understand the effect that wrong leadership has on those that are around them. When you study the Old Testament, you'll note that when the king of Israel was unrighteous and outright rebellious against God, the people suffered. Not only did the people suffer, they also reflected the sinful attitudes of the king. But far too infrequently, when the king was a godly and righteous individual, submitted, the people prospered, and they mirrored the attitude of the king. which allowed for one to summarize history as well as reality proves the point that a society, an institution, a church, or a home always is responding to the presence or to the absence of righteous leadership. Your home is not an outlier to these principles. Your marriage is not beyond the scope of scriptural application. This is for all of us. And all that we will do in our study this morning is take a little walk through scripture, viewing bad examples. And by seeing these bad examples, we'll be able to assess ourselves and make the necessary changes. The first husband I want to look at this morning is the controlling husband. Now as soon as I announce these husbands, some of you are gonna get a little squirmy because you're gonna think, she just said that this week. But understand from the onset, I always conclude the marital series by speaking to the women. So whatever she says to you today, you should bring her back next week, all I have to do for them is just open to Proverbs 31 and go, huh? Huh? And that's it. That's a three-point sermon. You just, huh? Huh? Huh? And then have an invitation. The controlling husband. In the book of 1 Kings, we read of the death of Solomon. And we'll come back to visit Solomon in a moment. But Solomon was incredibly successful in his reign. He reigned for 40 years. and his son Rehoboam is set to take the throne. The people have gathered themselves together at Shechem for the coronation service, and Rehoboam is there, and the people, they share their hearts with Rehoboam before he begins his reign. Here's what we read in 1 Kings 12, verse 4. They say to him, thy father Solomon made our yoke grievous. Now therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, And we will serve thee. It was hard to be in Solomon's kingdom. It was prosperous, of that there is no doubt. But there were mega construction projects and there was no doubt heavy taxation and levies and they're looking at Rehoboam and they're saying, look, everything's been built, man. We are enjoying peace, how about you back off just a little bit? I think Rehoboam wisely responds in the next verse. He says unto them, depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. He's basically saying I want three days to think about this. Interestingly within scripture, there are three day periods where people take a step back to make a major decision. That's just a valuable thing to hand off. So the people go away and Rehoboam surrounds himself with counselors. He gets the old men. Perhaps these men were around his father and he asks them, what should I do? And in verse seven, they, the old men, spake unto him saying, if thou wilt be a servant, note that phrase. If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day and wilt serve them and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever." Doesn't that sound like a paradox? If you will be their servant and you will serve them, then they will be your servant. Now, if you're Rehoboam, being told to be a servant when you finally got the crown from your dad is asking a lot. So he brings in his friends, and the Bible says this in verse 10, and the young men, that were grown up with him, spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us. Thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. And now, whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. Now that's Old Testament language, but that's a major problem. We read that and we're like, that's the weirdest thing ever to say. My father chastised you with whips, well here come scorpions. That's weird. But to the people who were gathered at Shechem, they're like, oh no, this is not good. This is not good. Of course he sides with the young counselors. He makes this announcement to the nation of Israel and he divides the kingdom by his announcement. The nation split. Interestingly, the split nation chooses to follow a man named Jeroboam whom Solomon had praised for his acts of service. The old men had said, if you will just be a servant to this people, they will serve you forever. But he chooses the controlling route. Why might that be? Here are some simple facts about Rehoboam. We know that Solomon reigned for 40 years and that Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became the king. Which means Rehoboam grew up in the palace. Rehoboam grew up surrounded by opulence. Rehoboam grew up with the mentality that everybody on planet earth existed to do his bidding. that everybody on planet Earth lived and existed to make his life easier. Maybe I should better say Rehoboam didn't really grow up. But Rehoboam was selfish, Rehoboam was immature, and Rehoboam was self-serving. I can almost see the elders shaking their head as he makes this proclamation. Notice what happens in 1 Kings 12, 16. So, when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, and the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel, now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. In other words, they're saying to the king, if this is the way that you're gonna treat us, who cares that we're related to David? Everybody to your tents. Everybody look after yourself. Rehoboam, you are on your own. There's a principle in this. Selfish and controlling leadership always develops division. Always creates painful differences between people. In fact, in 2 Chronicles 10, we'll read that Rehoboam tries to send a messenger to get some people to come work for him on a project, and the people raise up and kill the messenger. Division. Difference. Hardship. The moral is this. That a servant's heart is the single most important quality in righteous leadership. That was the advice of the old man. If you would just be a servant, they will serve you forever. I say this often because of the visual imagery it puts in my mind. If you are a husband, you cannot act like a fat little despot on your throne with a scepter in your hand, mandating that everybody in your little fiefdom do your bidding all the time. That's not righteous leadership. Servant-hearted leadership is the expectation of Jesus. In fact, in the upper room, when He washed the disciples' feet, He showed us that. He told the disciples explicitly in Matthew chapter 20 and verse 25, He said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them, but it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Servant-hearted leadership is what Jesus told us to do. What Jesus lived out before us, understand something. You cannot force and impose your will on those around you and not encounter division and harsh personal differences. If you are going to be a righteous man in leading your home, you must be servant-hearted. letting each esteem other better than themselves, submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God, looking at the things of others, not only on our own things, a servant's heart. Serve those around you. The second example we'll find is the example of a weak husband. Now that one stings as soon as you say it, the weak husband. And I will tell you something, if your wife has said that to you this week, I'm sorry, because that one hurts. the weak husband. Perhaps one of the most vile characters in all of scripture is Ahab. Maybe he is only surpassed in his vileness by his wife Jezebel. Jezebel was no doubt the power behind the throne. Jezebel worshiped pagan false gods and Ahab capitulated to her pagan heathen worship and in doing so, he brought a curse upon himself and he brought a curse upon the nation of Israel. Ahab was the king and in that he had all the land at his disposal and he was certainly a spoiled individual who was treated, well, like a king. There was a man named Naboth who had a vineyard that Ahab really liked. Ahab really wanted the vineyard. It was right next to the palace and Ahab, though he had vineyards and though he had orchards and though he had fields, he wanted this particular vineyard so that he could turn it into a vegetable garden. He goes to Naboth, he proposes to Naboth that this vineyard could become his and Naboth says to him, no. This is the inheritance of my father, and you know Mosaic law. I couldn't sell it to you if I wanted to. It's the inheritance of my father. Listen to 1 Kings 21 and verse four. Ahab, in response to being told no, came into his house heavy and displeased. You say he was fat and angry? No, he was distressed. pleased and depressed. That's what heavy means. Because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. In essence that word was no. What had he said? I will not give thee the inheritance of my father. Now here's a king. Here's a full grown adult man. And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread. But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, now it is very hard for me not to read this in the whiniest voice I can possibly come up with. But I need you to picture this despondent little brat of a king on his side facing the wall, his wife behind him, honey, why are you so sad? So sad, in fact, that you won't even eat food. And here's what this full-grown man says, because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and I said to him, give me thy vineyard for money or else of it, please thee, I'll give thee another vineyard for it. And he said, no, I will not give thee my vineyard. And Jezebel said unto him, this is so brutal for this wife. Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? That's like a way of saying, aren't you the king, champ? Are you the king, champ? Roll over, buddy, you're the king, man. You let a little vineyard owner tell you no? Oh, I've got an idea. Here's where he surrenders the power. After she says that, she says, Arise, eat bread, let thine heart be married. I'll give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city dwelling with Naboth. And here's what she had in the letters. Proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. Set two men, sons of Belial, before him, false accusers. Let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out and stone him that he may die." She thinks this is like a really layered, awesome plan. You're like, that's not really layered, man. You're just killing a guy. Because you want his vineyard. So they carry it out. Naboth, we're gonna have a fast. By the way, you're gonna get the seat of honor. We've got two liars, men of Belial. They also did this against Jesus in the New Testament, actually. These two men of Belial, about halfway through the fast, they say, hey, by the way, this guy blasphemed God and the king. Did he? He did. Saw it. Two witnesses. Carry him out. Stone him. He's dead. She comes back in, and here's little Ahab, and she says, here's your vineyard, buddy. Thank you. Thanks for taking care of that for me. Thanks for giving me my vineyard. What are you gonna do with it? Well, actually, now that you ask, I've been thinking about making it a little vegetable garden for myself. How gross is it, really? You say, pastor, you're carrying this out a little too authentically. Is this like it is for you and Christie? I mean, maybe there's been an occasion or two where I've pouted on the bed, yes. It's clear that Ahab's pouted like this before. But this one's different because he's pouting so bad he's not even eating and Jezebel's basically trying to fix it for him. Because he's never pouted so bad that he didn't eat. One pastor practically said, it's no wonder to me as I have studied this pair, Ahab and Jezebel, that Jezebel wore the royal pants in this family. He said, imagine how she must have despised this weak, immature, selfish man who was the king of Israel and yet is pouting on his bed. He summarized, a passive husband can seem so sweet, but will at a point drive his wife crazy for his lack of leadership. Whether it's financial, or spiritual, or romantic, whether it's his children or whatever, he will ultimately destroy the sense of security that his wife needs from him. Passive, weak husband. I think another said, Jezebel hatched her plot to rescue the puny reputation of her immature husband. It happens all too often today, he said, that a woman feels she must take leadership, she must play front guard, she must block to rescue her husband's immature reputation. Say, ouch, man, way too straight. I'm not saying that you have to overcompensate and become a dominant, controlling husband. In fact, that's right where we began. What I am saying is you must stay sensitive and you must stay humble and you must exercise leadership because that is the expectation that God has placed upon you. In fact, God has a man, a prophet named Elijah during this time. Naboth is down touring his vineyard. As he's touring his vineyard, laying out his little vegetable garden, Elijah walks into the vineyard and Ahab sees him. Ahab looks at him in essence and he says to him, oh, you found me. Have you found me, my enemy? How did you know I would be here in my vineyard? And Elijah basically says, it's not your vineyard, and you know how I knew you were here. The God of heaven told me to come here, and you know it's over, right, pal? When David was getting ready to turn over the kingdom to Solomon, he used a phrase that's very interesting. He said in 1 Kings 2-2, I go the way of all the earth, that's an Old Testament way for David to say, I'm dying. And here's my advice to you, Solomon, be strong therefore and show thyself a man. Be strong and act like a man. Now, that sounds like something you'd say to your kid going into a football game or to a soldier getting ready to go into battle, but I want you to grasp what David is doing here. He says, I'm dying, not gonna have me around anymore. So I say to you, be strong and act like a man. So Solomon, once he'd ball up his fists and walk into his house and tell all thousand women what to do, because he had a thousand of them. Did he just throw his weight around and scream and yell and use coarse language? Here's what David meant specifically within context. Here's how you act like a man. Verse three, keep the charge of the Lord thy God, walk in his ways, keep his statutes, keep his commandments, keep his judgments, keep his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and withersoever thou turnest thyself. Don't be a controlling husband, be a servant. Don't be a weak husband, be strong therefore and show thyself a man. And here's the manliness that God expects. Take the principles of Scripture and live them out. Stand against the world that presses you the other direction. Stand against ideology that says it's antiquated, outdated, and irrelevant. Align your life with the principles of Scripture. Be a man. Be strong and stick to the Word of God. Don't be controlling, be a servant. Don't be weak, be strong and align your life with Scripture. The third husband we'll look at is the sinful husband, David. David had a lot of great characteristics of that, there is no doubt, but David fell miserably in sin. You know that David sinned with Bathsheba more than likely and that he covered that sin with Bathsheba by murdering her husband Uriah. A simple principle is this, if David the giant killer, if David the sweet singer, if David the king of Israel can fall, then so can we. Everyone should take heed lest they fall. What may seem like a moment for David is actually a pattern that existed in his life. Because all the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, God had told Moses, foreseeing that the nation would want a king, that there are some rules, some expectations for the king. I'll boil them down to three and save you the trip through Deuteronomy. Number one, the king should not multiply horses unto himself. He should not put his trust in military power. He should stay trusting me. He should not multiply gold and silver unto himself in an exacting fashion. And he should not multiply wives unto himself. He should stay morally pure. He should stay away from being dominated by materialistic possessions. He should stay away from putting his trust in swords and spears and horses. He should stay away from immorality. David, you will find as you study his biography, would oftentimes kill the horses of the conquered enemy. He would take the gold and the silver and he would put it into the treasury of God's house, but he struggled with women. He didn't always follow through in that regard. One said this, King David was two out of three. If this was baseball, he'd be a superstar, but this isn't baseball. And David had developed an appetite to the degree that he wouldn't tell himself no. And when he looked upon Bathsheba and he desired to have her, he brought her in unto himself and he sinned tragically. And man, he paid dearly. Nathan the prophet comes and he confronts David and he calls David out for his sin and he tells David there will be consequences for what you have done and they will be terrible. Grief will come to you in Bathsheba. The child that he had with Bathsheba will die. He tells him, violence is going to be a part of your family life because of this sin. And certainly it was. In fact, David's daughter is going to be vilely assaulted and Absalom will kill his half-brother over this assault. Immorality is going to be a family legacy. He is told, and this is striking, that his wives will be taken from him, and they will be given unto his neighbor, and he shall lie with his wives in the sun. And this happens, for when Absalom takes the kingdom away from David, and David runs away, Absalom's counselors counsel him to set a tent on the roof of the palace, and as a show of power over his father, go in unto his father's wives, and he does. It's pretty disgusting what we see. unfold. The fact is sin can never be satisfied and one thing you and I can learn from David is don't hide sin. If we sin, we confess it. Why? Because Jesus has already paid for it. He bore our guilt. David was honest when he was confronted by Nathan in 2 Samuel 12, 13. David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. He acknowledged his sin. There were consequences, no doubt. But He confessed His sin. And that teaches me something. Our prayers of confession don't have to be long and eloquent and articulate. What God wants from us is acknowledgement of our sin and agreement with Him over it. 1 John 1, 9 tells us, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You cannot have known, unconfessed sin in your life and be a righteous man. You cannot have known, unconfessed sin in your life and righteously lead your home. Don't be a sinful husband. Submit and confess before God. There is always grace. Don't be controlling. Be a servant. Don't be weak. Be strong in aligning yourself with the mandates of Scripture. Don't be sinful. Be righteous by confessing your sin. And the last husband we'll address is don't be disconnected. Don't be distant. In order for this, we'll kind of come full circle back to our first, and we'll arrive at the life of Solomon. Solomon had it all. Or so it would seem. He chased everything under the sun, and I mean everything under the sun, and it wasn't enough. He writes the book of Ecclesiastes, literally the theme of the book of Ecclesiastes is empty. In this incredible book, Solomon, telling us a lot of his little nuggets of wisdom, shares with us this observation. He's saying, in essence, I have learned, and he says this in Ecclesiastes 2.11, I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity, see, empty. All was empty and vexation of spirit, and there was no prophet under the sun. You say, yeah, but did Solomon really know what he was talking about? Had he really tried everything? He had really tried everything. He had lived and succeeded to a degree that you and I never will. That's not me taking a shot at you, that's me telling you the truth. And the scripture backs it. Here's something that's gonna blow you away. Are you ready for this? Solomon could talk about every plant. Wait, from the cedar tree even to the hyssop. That's like really good. That's what the Bible tells us. In the ancient rankings, the cedar tree was at the top and the hyssop plant was at the bottom, and we read in 1 Kings 4 that Solomon could talk about plants from the cedar tree to the hyssop, which means he knew every kind of plant there was. I'm pointing out the capacity of his intellect. In fact, in 1 Kings 4, it tells us plainly that he spoke of beasts, he spoke of fowl, he spoke of creeping things, he spoke of fishes. Which led one commentator to say Solomon was actually the first great naturalist on earth. If it was out there in creation, Solomon could talk about it. And I don't mean he would say like, that's an oak tree, that's fescue. That's an evergreen, that's a fish. I mean scientifically he could break down all botany. He could break down every animal, whether it was a beast of the field, whether it was a fowl of the air, whether it was a fish of the lake or a fish of the sea, whether it was a creeping thing. He literally understood at a divine level all of it. He had amazing intellect. His intellect was so amazing. Listen, if it didn't blow you away that he could talk about the cedar tree all the way to the hyssop, how about this? The Bible tells us he was actually smarter than Ezra. I'm sorry, Ethan the Ezraite. He was smarter than He-Man. I don't know if he was stronger than He-Man. It's not that He-Man, the Bible tells us, he was smarter than Chalcol and Darda. Now we didn't live in this day, but if somebody said, hey, this guy's smarter than Ethan the Ezraite, he's smarter than He-Man, he's smarter than Chalcol and Darda, we'd have been like, what, what? He's that smart, he's that smart. We're supposed to be blown away by this. He distracted himself on every level. I'm gonna study, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna chase a degree, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna apply myself to this. And then he found out, wait, study's not it. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pivot and I'm gonna chase down pleasure. That's what I'll do. And man, did he. He had 1,000 women available to him any time he wanted. That's not an exaggeration. That's not an estimation. 1,000 women. Literally available to him whenever he wanted. He said this in Ecclesiastes 2.10. Here's what he said. Whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy. If I wanted it, I took it. He could walk onto any car lot and say that one. He could open any website and say that one. He could ride through any neighborhood and say that one. He could walk any street and pick any woman off the street and say that one and that one and that one and that one. This is literally what he's telling us. If I saw it and I had any inkling that it might bring me joy, I refuse to withhold it. If you could study it, dude, I studied it. If you could get it thinking it would make you happy, man, I got it. He literally attempted everything he could think of to make himself happy. Just listen to this list. This comes from Ecclesiastes 2, three through nine. Here's the list. He basically says, I gave myself unto wine. Not it. I made great works. Not it. I builded me houses. Not it. I planted me vineyards. Not it. He does talk like a pirate, doesn't he? I builded me houses. I planted me vineyards. And so now I gotta go through the rest of these and you're just gonna hear a pirate voice. Said I made me pools of water. Not it. I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. Not it. I made me gardens and orchards, not it. I got servants and maidens, not it. I had great possessions of great and small cattle, not it. I gathered me also silver and gold, not it. I gathered the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces, not it. I got me man singers and women singers to come into the banquet hall and sing while I ate and while I slept, not it. I got the delights of the sons of man as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. I mean, I had it all. If you could find it, I had it. And I'm telling you, it ain't it. It's all empty. I love to read his daily menu. You know that you can find out what Solomon ate in a day? Now, not just Solomon. He'd have been a big boy if he ate this. But this is what his banquet hall required every day. This comes from 1 Kings 4. Here's what we read. Solomon's provisions for one day. 30 measures of fine flour, three score measures of meal, 10 fat oxen, 20 oxen out of the pastures, 100 sheep, besides that, hearts, roebucks, fallow deer, and fatted fowl, one day. Everybody wanted to eat at Solomon's house. In fact, he brought all kinds of gifts from Egypt and all the kingdom to where he was. We can either believe the testimony of the Bible or we can outright reject it. Solomon chased every single thing and said, guys, I'm ahead of you, it's empty, it's a vexation to your spirit, and after all, all you're gonna do is leave it behind. The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 10, 22, he had a navy. He had a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram, and once in three years, get this, came the navy of Tarshish, and they would bring him gold and silver and ivory, that's awesome, this always blows my mind, and they would bring me apes and peacocks. That just seems like an outlier, doesn't it? I got gold and silver and ivory, all right, and apes and peacocks. What? Oh, go get him Solomon, okay. You had a zoo, he's flexing on us. That's what he's doing. It boggles my mind. They would literally bring him apes and peacocks, and I try to see what it is that the Bible's telling us. He's sensory overloaded. He's not withholding anything from himself. He's chasing every single thing. This is what I see. Somebody of his navy is somewhere, and they see an ape, and they're like, that, the king's gonna love that. Get it. They bring the ape, they come in, and they're like, Solomon, you've seen the gold, the silver, and the ivory. Hold on. Sit down. They bring in the ape. Literally, I believe this for Solomon. In comes the ape. What is that? Yeah, they call it an ape. Now what's amazing is, due to his divine wisdom, he could already tell you about the ape. As it comes in, the ape does ape things, and it apes around the room, and I think Solomon goes, an ape? Okay, anything else? Wait, a peacock. Wait, just wait. Wait till it does its feather thing with its tail. No, no, hold on. There it is. Whoa. A peacock. Put it in the lower pasture. Can you imagine? No matter what you brought him, no matter what you did, it would last for just a fleeting second. I mean, the guy had every single thing you could possibly ever want. He was 13 years in building his own house. It was a stunner. The Bible tells us he built also the house of the forest of Lebanon. He had a house in Lebanon that he would summer in. There was nothing you could ask of Solomon that he hadn't tried. He did it. Solomon, is there a book you haven't read? Nope, I have literally read them all. Any animal you haven't seen, just go down to the lower pasture, knock yourself out. I got apes and peacocks. You got silver and gold? Yeah, and I got so much silver. Honestly, this is not even a joke. Silver is like gravel in Jerusalem right now. That is what they said. So much silver in his kingdom, it was like the gravel on the road. Solomon, you into women? Am I into women? I have a problem. A thousand of them. Would you want to go to any of them tonight? Could you just take a walk, see if you could find another one? Because I don't really want any do-overs. See if you can find one more. Solomon, do you want wine? I've had it from every single kingdom and vineyard along the way. Have you been to the new pool they built for you? I haven't, I heard about it, it's beautiful, right? Great. Does it look like the other pools I have? Mm-hmm. Any new instruments today? We did find one, sir. They play it, that's cool. Put it in the room. This is the life of opulence this man lived. And then I want you to hear yet again what he said. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, And on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all of it was empty, and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Why? Because he comes back in verse 18 and he says this, yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. In effect, he simply says, because you can't take it with you. There's no lasting value to it. Somebody else got the apes and the peacocks, man. Rehoboam probably went to the forest house in Lebanon. He's like, eh, it's kind of my dad's place. I never really liked it when we came up here. I gotta go back down and abuse people with scorpions. He would plow through the pools and the gardens and Solomon would sit there at night and his spirit was so vexed they would try to bring him another opulent gift or another bit of food or another lady from the harem or they'd play a new instrument or they'd find a new singer and every time he'd lay in bed at night his eyes would pop open and he would just say, that ain't it either. All of it was empty. The only thing that matters in our life is what we do for God. The only thing that matters and that amounts to anything is how we honor God with our lives. And I'm telling you, I know the annoyance of a good example. Heavens, I am one. That's a joke, sort of. For all the visitors, that's a joke. For everyone that knows me, they're like, I think he's serious. Don't be a controlling husband, be a servant. Don't be a weak husband, be a strong husband. And that doesn't mean throw your weight around and ball up your fists and use a loud voice. That means be strong and show yourself a man by aligning your life with scripture. Don't be a sinful man, be a righteous man. Confess, you'll find grace from God. Don't be disconnected and think there's an answer out there anywhere. It's not out there. You can either believe the scripture and save yourself the trouble or you can reject the scripture and walk a really, really broken path. Find all that you need in the scripture and pursue a life that honors God. Don't be the wrong husband, be a righteous man. Would you please bow your heads with me one moment? Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.