11. Jesus In 1 Kings

12/28/2025

Introduction

This morning we will be partaking of communion together. In 1 Corinthians 11:24 we are told to do it in remembrance of Jesus. As we prepare for communion then, we are going to consider a few aspects of how the book of 1 Kings points us to Jesus and His work of redemption. In the past we have looked at Genesis all the way to 2 Samuel doing this. So we are continuing on to see how different books of the Bible help us remember Christ and our salvation.

Overview

To begin with, it would be helpful to have an overview of what is going on in the 22 chapters of 1 Kings. That will help us better understand how it leads us to Christ. It will also help us have a better point of reference for the allusions and connections that occur within the New Testament. If you have not read the book, or have not read it in a while hopefully this will inspire you to do so and get an even fuller picture of what was going on. However, before we get to that overview it would be good to briefly understand where we are at in history with God’s dealing with Israel in this book.

In Genesis 12:1-3 God promised Abraham that He would give him a land, make him a great nation, and bless him. Then in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This was a continuation of God’s eternal plan of redemption begun after Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden of Eden.

The descendents of Abraham sojourned in the land of Canaan until a famine brought them to Egypt. God used Joseph to rescue them, and they settled for about 400 years in Goshen in northern Egypt (Genesis 15:13, Acts 7:6; cf. Exodus 12:40 total time of 430 years in Egypt). After a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph the Israelites were oppressed and enslaved until God set them free by the miraculous plagues and Red Sea crossing. At Mount Sinai they received God’s law through Moses. The tabernacle was built, and the regular animal sacrificial system was instituted to atone for sin.

Despite all that, the people did not trust God. They disobeyed and would not enter the promised land because of fear of the inhabitants. Thus they wandered for forty years in the wilderness. After this generation passed away, God led Israel into Canaan under Joshua. Many of the Canaanites were driven out and Israel settled into the land. During Joshua’s time they followed the Lord. But the coming generations got worse and worse as the people repeatedly strayed from the Lord. As recorded in the book of Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. For 300 years or so Israel went in worsening cycles of idolatry. They went from being disciplined by God through the nations, crying out to the Lord, being rescued by judges sent by God, and then back to relapsing into sin. It is at the end of this 300 year period that the book of 1 Samuel occurs. Samuel is the final judge of Israel as it transitions to a monarchy.

1 Samuel follows the lives of Samuel (the prophet of God and final judge), Saul (the self-focused first king over all Israel), and David (the man of faith who was anointed by God to eventually be the second king over all Israel).

In 2 Samuel the reign of David as king is detailed. It covers the good, the bad, and the ugly. He had a number of failings, but as a man after God’s heart, he repented and came back to God. Positively speaking, David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, established Jerusalem as his capital, and planned to build God a temple. God did not let him build it, but instead made a covenant with David to build him an everlasting house. Thus we see that through David’s descendents God’s redeemer of mankind would come. He would permanently deal with mankind’s sin and bring in God’s everlasting kingdom. As we now come to 1 Kings we will see the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that his son Solomon would build a temple.

Originally, 1 and 2 Kings were one book, or scroll, in the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint translation into Greek split it into two books (circa 2nd - 3rd century BC). Future translations followed that pattern. Altogether, 1 and 2 Kings follow the kings of Israel and Judah from the time of Solomon for about 400 years to the time of the exile in Babylon. It shows Israel’s faithlessness to God under her kings despite the call of the prophets to repentance and faith. In contrast to that, we see God’s faithfulness to His covenant in preserving the Davidic line in anticipation of His eventual eternal rule through it.

In 1 Kings, the first 11 chapters deal with Solomon. The next 11 chapters give us the splitting of Israel into two kingdoms. Alongside of Judah’s struggles with both good and bad kings we see the spiraling descent of the northern tribes of Israel into greater wickedness and idolatry. This culminates in the interactions between Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophet Elijah.

While we will not look at it in this message, 2 Kings will then follow the prophet Elisha and the further decline of Israel until its judgment and exile by the Assyrian conquest. The decline of Judah and its eventual judgment and exile from the Babylonians follows that.

In chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Kings we see Solomon narrowly becoming king as his brother Adonijah first proclaimed himself king. Thus at the very beginning Solomon had to establish his throne securely and deal with those usurpers as well as with some left-over trouble-makers from his father’s time.

Chapter 3 highlights an oddity of Solomon marrying an Egyptian princess. Then it turns and focuses on his love for God, his extensive sacrifices at Gibeon, and his famous request for wisdom to rightly judge God’s people. God granted him that, alongside promises of riches and honor. He would also have a long life if faithful.

Chapters 4-7 focus on Solomon’s wisdom in organizing the country for its administration, and in getting stone and wood from Lebanon for his great building projects. It includes his 7 year building project on the temple, and then his 13 year building projects on his palaces.

Chapters 8-10 give the high points of Solomon’s life. Chapter 8 records him bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the new temple, consecrating it, publicly praying to God, and blessing the people. In response to that, chapter 9 records God appearing to Solomon a second time and promising to be with him and his descendents if they are faithful. It also records many of God’s physical blessings upon Solomon. He had great success in his economic, building, shipping, and military endeavors. Chapter 10 follows that up with Solomon’s blessings from the nations—most notably with the queen of Sheba’s visit. Further records are given of Solomon’s extraordinary fame, wealth, and military might.

Chapter 11 concludes the focus on Solomon by showing his striking downfall. Despite all his wisdom he went astray from God through his love of idolatrous women. He even built pagan temples and altars for those wicked wives. Because of that God condemned him and proclaimed that the kingdom would be split. He also raised up enemies as thorns to the nation. 1 Kings does not record any repentance of Solomon, but it does say that God’s affliction of David’s descendents would not be permanent.

Chapter 12 record’s the foolishness of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. His oppressive treatment of the people led to the nation being split. One of those previous enemies that God raised up, Jeroboam, became king over the northern tribes. Unfortunately he did not follow God wholeheartedly. Instead of worshipping obediently at the temple he led them in the worship of golden calves that he set up.

The next two chapters (13-14) record how that went. First, in chapter 13 a prophet strongly confronted Jeroboam’s wickedness. However, the prophet was then killed by a lion on the way home when he himself did not fully obey God’s commands about how he was to carry out the prophecy. Jeroboam did not heed those warnings. Chapter 14 records another prophecy. Jeroboam’s house would come to complete destruction. Meanwhile, Judah did not fare much better. Rehoboam was wicked and lost Solomon’s great treasures to Egypt.

In chapters 15 and 16 we see that Rehoboam’s son Abijam was also wicked, but his grandson Asa was a godly king and flourished. Meanwhile, Israel just kept getting worse and was afflicted with civil wars. First, Jeroboam’s house was wiped out by Baasha. With his wickedness, he was also prophesied to suffer the same fate as Jeroboam. That occurred by a man named Zimri who was quickly taken out by Omri. Throughout that time the wickedness kept getting worse until its low-point with Omri’s son Ahab. He married the Ba’al worshipping Jezebel and built a full temple to Ba’al in his capital city Samaria.

The last 6 chapters of the book (17-22) deal with Ahab and the prophet Elijah. God raised up Elijah to give strong, miraculous warnings to Israel and to call them to repentance. Chapter 17 records the 3½ year drought that God sent on Israel through Elijah. Not only did God stop the rain with Elijah’s prophesy, but He also miraculously fed him by ravens for a time. Then He sent him to Sidon to the widow of Zarephath’s house. There God supernaturally made her flour and oil never run out. God further verified Elijah’s prophetic ministry by listening to his prayers and raising her son back from the dead.

In chapter 18 Elijah returned. He challenged the prophets of Ba’al and Asherah on Mt. Carmel to make a sacrifice and than have the true God miraculously burn it up. They failed and God fully devoured the drenching wet sacrifice of Elijah. After the false prophets were put to death God sent rain again.

Despite all that, Queen Jezebel retained her wicked authority and threatened to kill Elijah. Thus, in chapter 19 we find Elijah fleeing from her into the wilderness south of Judah, depressed and alone. God again fed him miraculously—this time through an angel. He had him go on the strength of that food for forty days. At Mount Horeb God spoke to Eljiah and heard his troubled assessment. Then God showed him see His great power in a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. After that He spoke to him again in a quite breeze. God commissioned him to appoint successors in two kingdoms as well as a successor for himself as prophet. Then He corrected Elijah’s wrong assessment of Israel’s complete idolatry with the news that 7,000 had not bowed to Ba’al. Elisha was picked by God to be Elijah’s successor.

The last three chapters (20-22) return to king Ahab. We see how God used him, how his wickedness continued, and how he ultimately died. In chapter 20 a prophet of God twice guided Ahab to defeat the Arameans despite being vastly outnumbered. He botched that by wrongly spared the other king’s life from the judgment God had arranged. Chapter 21 records the infamous event where Ahab and Jezebel had Naboth murdered for his vineyard. Elijah returned and prophesied God’s judgment on Ahab’s house. This catastrophic judgment was delayed for a time when Ahab actually humbled himself before God. Chapter 22 reveals that this humbling and God’s delay of judgment was not permanent. Ahab was brought to his death in another battle he started against the Arameans when he would not believe the prophesy of Micaiah, God’s prophet. Israel was left scattered. Ahab’s wicked son Ahaziah only reigned 2 years.

Meanwhile on the Judean side, the good king Jehoshaphat (the son of good king Asa) had made peace with Ahab. He even went into battle with him against the Arameans. He did escape that ill fated battle where Ahab died, and ruled for 35 years before leaving the kingdom to his son Jehoram.

That then in brief is the book of 1 Kings. As we come to communion, though, there are two main questions that we want to investigate as we consider this book with its high points under Solomon and its low points under Ahab. The first is:

How Does The Book Of 1 Kings Point Forward To Christ And Help Us Remember His Sacrifice?

One of the main ways that 1 Kings points forward to Christ is with the temple. 1 Kings reveals the highpoint of Israel with the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that his son would build a temple for Him. Over the course of 7 years Solomon built God’s amazing temple according to God’s direction. 1 Kings 6 tells us that the stones were carefully chiseled off site to the exact proportions needed. Then they were brought into place and fitted together so perfectly that no sound of hammer, axe, or any other iron tool was heard while it was being built. Then it was entirely paneled with beams and planks of cedar. Finally the whole house was overlaid with gold. (1 Kings 6:7, 9, 15, 18, 21-22)

The temple was to be a perfect, pure, holy place where God’s presence would dwell and where sacrifices for sin would be made to Him. Its visible, exalted nature was a reminder of God’s holiness, greatness, and transcendence above everything else in His creation. The daily sacrifices in the temple also continually reminded the nation of the deadly consequences of their sin. They also pointed forward to the need for a greater redeemer who could finally and completely deal with sin and who could enable people to be in the presence of a holy God.

Jesus is the one and only one capable of accomplishing this. He was the perfect, final, all sufficient sacrifice for sin who paid in full what the continual sacrifices of bulls, goats, and lambs could never complete. He willingly offered Himself on our behalf to fully cleanse us and give us His own righteousness. That alone could fully purify us and enable us to be fit for the Holy Spirit of God to indwell us and fellowship with us. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 highlights this reality that God now dwells within His people. We are His temple. That is, quite amazingly, what we now are!

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

Because we are now the very temple of God we ought to keep ourselves pure and holy. We ought not partner with unbelievers. We should take to heart the extreme care that was taken in making the original temple with its carefully crafted stone, its paneling with cedar, and its being overlaid with precious gold. That ought to make us consider how we live day by day in whether we are fit residences for God Himself to be indwelling. Is our speech a fit residence to reflect the reality of God within us? Are our thoughts a fit residence to accompany the reality of God within us? Is our behavior at work, with our family, and with our friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and strangers an appropriate place for God to dwell within us? Is our stewardship of our possessions, money, physical health, spiritual health, time, and relationships what God would want them to be? Is God comfortable and satisfied living within us?

When we think of it all this way, every one of us would have to lower our gaze and acknowledge our unfitness time and time again. Like those who had been condemning the woman caught in adultery we would all have to drop our stones and walk out. On our own, and by our behavior none of us are worthy to have God indwell us. None of us are holy and righteous. Yet, the amazing reality is that Jesus’ work on the cross takes away all that sin, makes us righteous, and frees us from our slavery to sin. In Jesus we do not have to return to that sin. We are free. We can walk, live, and think righteously. Depending on our own strength we cannot because of our flesh. We will get worn out. We will grow weary in well doing. We may not even want to come to church, or to have our own personal Bible and prayer times with God. But In Jesus all that can be overcome. We can walk, live, and think righteously. But it will be a daily fight with our flesh. Temptations will come from every direction.

This is why we need to continually renew our minds. This is why we need the Word of Christ to constantly dwell in us richly. This is why we need to put on the whole armor of God and stand firm. This is why we need to persistently walk by the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of our flesh. This is why we need to unceasingly look to Jesus, the author and completer of our faith. This is why we need to regularly partake of communion together and to come to church. This is why we need daily Bible and prayer times.

Even still none of us will always perfectly walk, think, and live righteously. The good news, though, is that God is relentlessly at work perfecting us. He daily gives us His means of grace and help through these things as we do them. The work that He began He will complete, as Philippians 1:6 promises. Thus, as we consider the temple in 1 Kings it ought to remind us of God’s holiness, of Jesus’ all sufficient redemption, and the amazing reality of His Spirit’s dwelling within us. As these staggering truths more fully hit us, it should push us, like communion does, to fixing our hearts and minds on Jesus so that we can walk in the holiness and newness of life that He enables us to keep walking in. As we live this way, those times of our lives will become the highlight of our faithfulness to God just like Israel under Solomon. When we do fail we need to confess our sins, let God purify our hearts and minds, and once again be pure, holy, fitting places for God to indwell.

Unfortunately, Solomon did not do that. His later unfaithfulness and Israel’s many failures are thus also striking reminders that if we do not keep walking in holiness with God we too are capable of great failure and of bringing shame to God. For Solomon and Israel simply having a temple was not enough to ensure that their hearts followed or remained true to God. For us, simply being God’s temple will not ensure our faithfulness if we do not also live by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the truth of God’s Word.

In the big picture, 1 Kings continues what we have been seeing in the need to have God’s perfect Redeemer. No matter what we do in our own so-called strength, it is not enough to make us holy or preserve us faithful. Israel as a whole had not followed God faithfully under His law and direct rule in the wilderness wanderings. Under the judges in the promised land they had kept returning to self-seeking individualized idolatry. Under a king, that they begged for in order to be like the nations, they had gotten a king with a heart like theirs which did not whole-heartedly follow God. Now, here in 1 Kings, we see that even under kings with an everlasting covenant, unparalleled wisdom, amazing prosperity, external peace, and an exalted temple in which to worship things still only went as well as the leaders heart remained faithful to God. And that was not very well. Will our hearts remain faithful? Will we keep our sin accounts short and receive the cleansing of Jesus day by day? Will we stay pure and holy for His indwelling and to be used for His glory in the service for which He designed us? Let’s not be like Solomon in this. May we remain faithful by keeping our eyes on Jesus, and not on sin’s fleeting pleasures.

The second half of 1 Kings also points forward to Jesus’ coming in the way that it highlights the miracle working prophets that God raised up to rebuke Israel when it went in wicked directions. After several chapters highlighting Israel’s descent into wickedness the narrative slows down and fixates on king Ahab’s wickedness and the corresponding work of the prophet Elijah. Through numerous miracles God validated Elijah’s message calling the people to repentance and to come back to God. By his prayers it did not rain for 3 and a half years in Israel. God miraculously fed him multiple times by birds that brought him food, by a jar of oil and bowl of flour that never emptied, and by an angel directly feeding him. Through him God raised the widow of Zarephath’s son back from the dead. Through his prayers God sent fire down from heaven and fully consumed the wet sacrifice on Mount Carmel during the confrontation with the priests of Ba’al. God was indeed with Elijah in calling Israel to repentance.

In the New Testament John the Baptist is pictured as coming in the spirit of Elijah as a herald of Jesus—again calling the nation to repentance. Malachi 4:5-6 specifically prophesied that Elijah’s life foreshadowed someone that God was going to send to carry out a similar mission.

Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Matthew 11:7-15, but especially verses 13-15, make this connection.

Matthew 11:13-15 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The sad reality is, that just like Elijah was persecuted for proclaiming the truth to Israel and calling them to repentance, so too was John the Baptist and Jesus Himself. Despite Elijah being validated by God’s miracles and Jesus being validated by even more, people did not want to heed their messages. We see this connection made explicit in Luke 4:23-29.

Luke 4:23-29 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

The wickedness of human hearts has not changed through the millennia. For us today, that should cause us to realize that if we are proclaiming God’s truth many will similarly not like it. They will shun or persecute us for it. May we remain faithful knowing His sovereign plan is at work. On the complete other side of things, we also ought to ask ourselves how we are responding to the truth. In our flesh we will want to revolt against it. In so doing, we will be revolting against God Himself. When God calls out our sin we have the choice on how we are going to respond. The right response is to repent and turn to Jesus to save us, forgive us, cleanse us, and enable us to walk in righteousness. How will you respond? How are you responding? Has there been anything in this message that has pricked your conscience? May we not be like the unfaithful Israelites, or like the unfaithful Pharisees who rebelled. Rather, may we be like the faithful remnant of Israel that God preserved who did indeed listen to His prophets and to Jesus Himself.

In 1 Kings Israel goes from its heights to its depths. We are given a picture of the exalted temple, the exalted king of Israel, and the exalted prosperity that Israel experienced. Yet, none of that was enough. It did not keep the nation pure from idolatry. It did not keep the nation united. It did not keep the wisest king from sin and idolatry himself. It did not keep his descendents faithful. Something more is needed than external blessing and financial prosperity. Something more is needed than military might. Something more is needed than having a beautiful temple available to go and worship at. Something more is needed than the often ignored external call to repentance and faithfulness given by miraculously validated prophets. A perfect redeemer who can transform and sustain hearts is what is needed. Jesus alone can do this. He is the one we all need. Even in our rich, powerful country Jesus is who and what we all need.

Having seen these important themes in the book of 1 Kings which push us to examine the purity of our own lives as the indwelt temple of God and to examine what our response is to God’s calls to repentance and faithfulness, the second question that we want to investigate from the book of 1 Kings is:

How Is 1 Kings Used In The New Testament And In Jesus’ Work Of Redemption?

Beyond the broader themes that we have already discussed, 1 Kings and its events are referenced a number of times in the New Testament. Let’s briefly take a look at 4 of them in connection with communion. First, we have David’s death in 1 Kings 2:10 referenced in Acts 13:32-41. Notice how Paul ties David’s death to pointing towards Jesus.

Acts 13:32-41 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ 34 “As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’ 35 “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’ 36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; 37 but He whom God raised did not undergo decay. 38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. 40 “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ‘BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’”

David had been promised in 2 Samuel 7:13-16 that God would establish the throne of his kingdom forever. But this was not going to be in David himself. The Holy One who would not see decay (from Psalm 16) had to refer to the coming Messiah because David did die and was buried with normal decay. Because He rose from the dead and did not suffer decay Jesus was verified to be the Messiah who will have the throne of His Davidic kingdom established forever. Thus, the record of David’s death and burial in 1 Kings, in light of messianic prophecies, points forward to the greater, eternal king who would come redeem Israel, and also reign eternally as the Davidic king.

Secondly, Solomon building the temple in 1 Kings 6 and 8 is referenced in Acts 7:47. As the religious leaders were judging Stephen he confronted them for their rejection of Jesus with a historical account of how God’s works had often been rejected by Israel. They were doing the same thing again. They were working against everything that the law, the temple, and the prophets stood for and pointed towards in Jesus. The religious leaders who ruled over the very dwelling place made for God on earth murdered the One whose right it was to dwell in it eternally. It is not a very far off thing from that which we also do against our holy, good, righteous Creator when we willfully sin against Him. He redeemed us by His own blood and has made us part of His holy temple. He made us. He made everything. He has complete authority and right over everything. Our sin challenges Him and defies him. That is a completely wrong response to His creation of us and to His reaching out to redeem us from our sin.

Third, in Matthew 12 some of the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for yet another sign to verify who He was and what He said. Instead, Jesus warned them that it is an evil generation that craves a sign. No further sign would be given them except the sign of Jonah with Jesus being buried in the earth 3 days. Then He further warned them with two examples. The second one refers back to events in 1 Kings 10.

Matthew 12:41-42 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

These ought to be our responses to the wisdom and glory of God appearing on earth. We should repent of our sin like Nineveh repented. Then we should pursue the wisdom and glory of God like the gentile queen of Sheba did. We should not reject it and despise it! As we come to our time of communion we ought to ask ourselves if we are like the men of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba, or like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Do we truly seek to know the glory of God more deeply? Do we truly value God’s Word for the amazing wisdom that it has for us? Will we cross land and see to understand it, learn from it, and apply it? Will we give up our costly treasures to know it, see it, and live by it? That’s what the queen of Sheba did. Do you remember her response after seeing Solomon’s wisdom and having her questions answered? She declared that all she had heard was indeed true. Indeed, not even half of what was true had been told her! It was more than worth all the effort she had put into coming and finding it in person.

We have a greater than Solomon here with us in Jesus. Likewise, we have a greater wisdom being revealed to us in God’s completed Word. God’s wisdom and glory is worth pursuing with everything that we have. It gives us the wisdom that we need for all of life. These paltry descriptions I have tried to express here do not even come close to describing the amazing truth of God’s glory and wisdom which He calls us to come see, understand, and live by. Will we be like the queen of Sheba and pursue knowing God with His greatness, glory, wisdom, and love? Or will we ignore it and despise it like so many in the evil generations which have gone before us? Communion calls us back to treasuring, seeing, experiencing, remembering, learning of Jesus with His wisdom, love, and glory.

Fourthly, and lastly for this message,¹ Romans 11:3-4 recounts the events of 1 Kings 19. There Elijah encounters God on Mount Horeb. He proclaims to God that Israel has broken the covenant, all the prophets have been killed, and that he alone is left. God told him what he still needed to do in living obediently. Then He encouraged him with the truth that there was still a remnant of 7,000 faithful ones. In Romans 11:3-4 Paul uses this to highlight an extremely important enduring truth about Jesus. Despite how things may look in our circumstances God always preserves a remnant and will always accomplish His redemptive promises and purposes. The darkness of the crucifixion gave way to the light of the resurrection. The same will be true for His promises to one day redeem all Israel. From this we can likewise be encouraged to hold onto all of Jesus’ comforting promises to return, to judge all things, to recreate this earth, and to reign eternally. Discouragements may come. Evil may prevail in our situations. We may feel like the last faithful ones on earth. But God is still here and reigning sovereignly over all things even if He is not yet reigning physically on the throne of David.

Like with Elijah God calls us to obediently live for the purposes that He created for us. He will still accomplish all of His good and perfect will. The truth is that God does indeed have many faithful ones still serving Him around the world. May we keep our eyes on Him as communion reminds us to do. May we treasure the wisdom and glory of God more than anything else in this world. As Christians may we not spurn His presence within us but be pure and righteous temples fit for His holy indwelling. May we continue to renew our minds and depend on God’s power to walk in righteousness.

Conclusion

As we come to taking communion together let’s first read 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

1 Corinthians 11:23-29 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

We are here this morning as believers in Jesus Christ to remember together what Jesus has done for us in His life, death, burial, and resurrection to pay the penalty for our sins, to save us from the judgment that we deserve from them, and to adopt us as His beloved children.

Drinking this cup and eating this bread does not in any way remove any of our sin. It does not in any way save us from God’s judgment for our sin. Only faith in what Jesus did, that this reminds us of, can do that. So we do this in remembrance of what He did, as He commanded us to do.

If you have not trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then this will do you no good. You need to think about what Jesus did, and repent of your sin. Turn from your sin to God. Trust God to forgive you, redeem you, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness because of what Jesus did in your place.

As believers, this remembrance should challenge us to look at our lives and see if we are walking before Him with a pure conscience and whole-heartedly. If not, we need to confess that to Him, and surrender from walking in our own way and walk in a holy way—controlled by the Holy Spirit and not our flesh.

This remembrance should also fill us with encouragement and joy that He would love us so much, redeem us from our sin, make us His beloved children, give us new life, and enable us to walk in a way that honors Him through His presence with us. So let’s remember Him. Remember what He has done in our lives, and what He will do.

Let’s partake of the bread first and remember what Jesus has done for us in His perfect unblemished life given for us. He became:

…sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21b, KJV)

Now let us partake of the cup and remember the cost that Jesus paid to reconcile us to God and make us partakers of this new covenant with Him.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7-8a)

© 2025, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org