I want to look at a life that exemplifies the grace of God; a life that progressed from sinner to saint. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. Judah means praise. Leah named him Judah because she gave praise to the Lord for his blessing of her fourth son. Judah did not have a good beginning. First Judah took part in the selling of his brother into Egyptian slavery.

Gen. 37:26 “Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? His blood would just give us a guilty conscience.”

Second he was a hypocrite.

Gen. 38: ²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.”  “Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.  ²⁵ But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?” ⁶ Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again.

Judah’s sin was as great as Tamar’s but he was willing to have her killed for her sinfulness. Jesus refers to this attitude when he tells us to get the pole out of our own eyes before we mention the speck in our brother’s eye. Having read these portions we would all wonder why in the world Judah would be the father of the kings of Israel and of Christ. I believe the answer is in his repentant heart and his willingness to take responsibility. After the affair with Tamar he claimed her to be more righteous than himself. As Judah’s life progresses he is able to make things right with his father and with Joseph. Gen. 43 records that Judah was willing to risk his own life to protect the life of Benjamin.

Gen. 44:33 “³³ “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”

The lives of so many Biblical characters, as so often ours do as well, reflect the goodness and the grace of God. Judah was wrong in what he did but he took responsibility for his actions.

Gen. 49:8-12 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you ⁹ Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? ¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,^[a]until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,^[b] the one whom all nations will honor. ¹¹ He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. ¹² His eyes are darker than wine.”

Perhaps the greatest testament to Judah’s life is found in the book of Matthew.

Matt. 1:1-3 “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David^[a] and of Abraham:  ² Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).”

What a blessing to know that God’s grace is sufficient for us as well.

Calvary Christian Center, Assemblies of God, Louisville, KY

Over the past two months we have looked at the lives and character of:

o   Abel – Giving Your Best

o   Esther – A Life of Sacrifice

o   Hannah – Living a Life of Dedication

o   Jeremiah – God’s Divine Plan

o   Moses – A Godly Leader

o   Paul – Overcoming Persecution

o   Ruth – Living a Life of Loyal Love.

Tonight we will look at the life of Solomon – The Wisest Fool That Ever Lived. Wisdom is a great character to possess. Paul tells us in Eph. 1:17 that if we have a desire for wisdom we should ask the Lord for it. Solomon was a wise and capable leader. He was wise enough to ask for greater wisdom when the Lord promised to grant him a wish. The Wisdom of Solomon was famous far and wide. Kings and queens would travel o hear him make wise decisions. We can see his wisdom not only in his judgments but also in his writings. Proverbs and Ecc. exemplify the great wisdom that Solomon possessed. The Song of Solomon teaches us how passionate our relationship with God should be as well as important lessons about courtship, marriage, and sex. So how could a man of such wisdom end so poorly?

1 Kings 11:1-3 “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.”

With all the wisdom God gave him, he failed to heed the most basic instruction of the Lord and of his father David.

1 Chron. 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

Solomon failed to give God first place in his life as his father David did. Jesus gives us the same warning.

Matt. 22:37-38 “Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Again in the book of Revelation Jesus has this to say about the church at Ephesus.

Rev. 2:4 ““But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!”

Young person and older alike, learn to day to God number one in your life. If He is number one in your life He will also be number one in your relationships, in your attitudes, in your work, and in your free time. Do not make the mistake of the wisest fool; don’t run after the pleasures of this life. Run after God.

Calvary Chrsitan Center, Assemblies of God, Louisville, KY

Jesus said that if he was hated we would be hated even more. People do not like that we take a stand between right and wrong. They often view our nonparticipation as our dislike for them personally. This of course is not the case. We strive to love everyone while maintaining a high standard of Godliness. As long as sinfulness is in the world Christians will be persecuted.

We look to the life of Paul for inspiration and purpose. Paul was a hater of the Christians. He persecuted them whenever he could. Once he became a Christian, he became the object of sever persecution.

2 Cor. 6:4-10 “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

Paul suffered greatly for his faith yet he did not give up. He continued to preach and God used these tough situations to reach the lost around him.

Phil. 1:12-14 “¹²Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. ¹³As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard^[a] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

Like Paul, we undergo persecution for our beliefs and our standards. This persecution can be hard to bear at times. Persecution is God’s way of strengthening our faith and opening doors of opportunity to minster to others. Use the persecution that comes your way to change a life…it might even be yours.

Calvary Christian Center, Assemblies of God, Lousiville, KY

Fern Valley Convention Center, Louisville

This service will for kids and their families. All are welcome.

$15 individual

$20 couple

Join us for a time of worship and communion.