NOT FOR SALE
TEXT: 1 Kings 21:1-16 (Please read this passage of God’s Word NOW before proceeding.)
INTRO.:
A.
🔸Patrick Henry was convinced that war with England was inevitable and declared, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” His loyalty was not for sale!
🔸Nathan Hale, about to be hanged for spying for the British said: “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” His patriotism was not for sale!
🔸(How far we have come when the current philosophy of the liberals in America shout: “Islam is a peaceful religion,” and slap the victims of 9-11 in the face by endorsing an Islamic Mosque 600 feet from ground zero in New York City! Their patriotism is for sale!)
NOTE: We have all heard about high ranking officers in the military and officials in the government who are caught selling
our secrets to our enemies. Their integrity had a price and they sold out to the highest bidder.
B.
✖ Judas Iscariot sold our Savior for a paltry 30 pieces of silver. His discipleship was for sale! ✖ Peter cursed and denied any relationship with our Savior at Jesus’ trial. His loyalty had a price tag. Thank God there were some, like ✔ John, who stood by the Savior at the cross in spite of possible and probable reprisals against them. John’s and other’s devotion, loyalty and love were not for sale!
TRANS.: Let’s look at two special people, a man and a woman, whose personal integrity and loyalty to principle was not up for the highest bidder. They had a NOT FOR SALE sign on their hearts...
I. NABOTH SAID: “MY INHERITANCE IS NOT FOR SALE!” (TEXT - Recap story)
A. The Covetousness of the King: vv. 1,2
1. He lusted after something he did not have
NOTE: TV commercials, newspaper, magazine and internet ads are all designed to appeal to the basic covetousness in man and create a desire to make us want what we don’t have & may not be able to afford. “Thou shalt not covet...” is still in the Bible.
2. He wanted something Naboth had
NOTE: The devil (Ahab) wants something YOU have! He wants your purity, your money, your possessions, your virtue, your decency and your honesty. The wicked king wants what you have for his own evil purposes! He wants your life, your body, your brains, your looks, and your talent!
🔹Many rock performers started out in church choirs; clean, decent young people and now have sold their purity, chastity and decency. The next “Prince” or “Madonna” (really) or “Lady (!) Gaga” or Miley Cyrus may come from a good home or a good church! They prostitute themselves and their talents for fame and fortune! What is YOUR PRICE?
a. Ahab offered Naboth “...a better vineyard” v.2a
NOTE: Obviously if he already had a better vineyard, he didn’t need Naboth’s. Nothing the devil has or offers is “better” than what God has given you!
b. Ahab offered Naboth money: v.2b
ILLUS.: How money turns people’s heads and hearts and changes their direction!
🏹A preacher is blessed of God and starts to become well known. He gets on TV and in order to pay bills he ends up selling out and compromising doctrine! Sad! (Van Impe, Graham,
Osteen, Creflo Dollar, etc.)
🏹A deacon or normal church member (!) gets a better paying job offer which takes him away from his family and church and he sells out for silver! (Song: “Jesus I love Thee more than silver...Silver that nailed you to the cross...”)
B. The Character of the Farmer:
1. Naboth says no to the wicked king vv.3,6
2. Naboth says God gave the inheritance to him and he would not and could not sell out!
Numbers 36:7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
3. Naboth says the land belonged to his father and to his grandfather and now to him and it was NOT FOR SALE!
ILLUS.: Naboth says to the king: “You don’t have enough money to buy my field. It is NOT FOR SALE!
✨“Faith of our fathers, living still, in spite of fire, dungeon and sword...”
We need preachers who will not sell the faith of their fathers, their Bible, their decency, their virtue, their honesty, their integrity, their doctrine or their character. We need men and women, teens and children to put a NOT FOR SALE! sign on their brains and bodies and souls!
4. Naboth paid the price for his stand:
a. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, plotted against him & had him stoned, along with his sons.
2 Kings 9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.
b. But God had the last laugh! Naboth and his sons went to heaven; Ahab & Jezebel were slain & the dogs licked up their
blood & ate her body & their sons were killed, and the youngest, Jehoram, was thrown into the same field where Naboth was buried and their souls went to hell!
TRANS.: Let’s turn from wicked King Ahab to drunken King Ahasuerus and a woman who put a NOT FOR SALE sign on her virtue...
II. VASHTI SAID: “MY VIRTUE IS NOT FOR SALE!” (Esther 1:9-12)
A. The Insolence of the King:
1. After 7 days of debauchery he calls for Queen Vashti so his guests could see her beauty (and possibly her body).
ILLUS.: Playboy magazine came to Phila. and ran ads in the papers calling for girls to pose for centerfolds. Amazingly, hundreds of young girls PAID for the “honor” of being photographed naked & the one who was chosen was brought there by her mother!!!
2. The King had enough power to have her stripped against her will & to have her head cut off for refusing.
ILLUS.: Today women strip in public w/out being threatened or coerced and lay as close to naked as possible on public beaches and go to the mall partially clothed!!
The price for decency has gone down! Now the fashion world does its best to design women’s clothes to reveal as much flesh as possible. Unfortunately Christian women would rather bow to fashion than to put up a NOT FOR SALE sign on their body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Short dresses, tight clothing (especially “leggings” and jeans), low necklines, shorts, etc. are a violation of Biblical decency. (Isaiah 47:2 speaks of a woman uncovering her thigh. Ladies, girls, how short is YOUR dress...how low is your neckline...how tight are your skirts...??
Who are you dressing for?)
B. The Integrity of the Queen: v.12
1. Queen Vashti had enough integrity to disobey her drunken husband’s commands
NOTE: No woman has an obligation to obey the sinful, degrading requests of her husband! Women as wives are to be obedient to their husbands until the husband’s request is in violation of God’s will or Word.
2. Queen Vashti said you can take the crown jewels from my head, but you can’t take the crown of decency from my integrity!
NOTE: The Queen, who was probably a heathen and an idolater, had placed a NOT FOR SALE! sign on her decency. She said there are some things that fame, money & position cannot buy! She said if you want my crown and royal robe, you can have them, but my decency, honor, and morality are NOT FOR SALE!
3. Queen Vashti paid the price & lost here crown (v.19) but she kept her virtue and integrity
NOTE: You may lose popularity or money or position if you refuse to compromise, but there are some things worth dying for, fighting for and standing for! We need men, women & youth to stand up and say “NO! I WON’T SELL OUT!” I will die for the Book, the Savior, my honor, my decency. I will not compromise. These things are just NOT FOR SALE!
CONCL.:
🚫Christian businessmen must have integrity & refuse to sell out their testimony for a larger profit.
🚫Christian ladies need to place a NOT FOR SALE sign on their bodies and brains and say no to the dirty soap operas, fashion designers, and lure of flirting with words, dress or body language.
🚫Christian young people must refuse to sell out to Rock & Rap music, drugs, booze, etc. Get yourself a NOT FOR SALE
sign and place it next to some things you know God says are more important that money, fame, popularity or acceptance by the “IN” crowd.
🚫Friend, the devil wants something YOU have! Tell him it is NOT FOR SALE!
🚫Unsaved, you need to place a NOT FOR SALE sign on your soul, by giving it back to the Lord who paid for it already by
dying in your place for your sin!
INTRO.:
A.
🔸Patrick Henry was convinced that war with England was inevitable and declared, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” His loyalty was not for sale!
🔸Nathan Hale, about to be hanged for spying for the British said: “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” His patriotism was not for sale!
🔸(How far we have come when the current philosophy of the liberals in America shout: “Islam is a peaceful religion,” and slap the victims of 9-11 in the face by endorsing an Islamic Mosque 600 feet from ground zero in New York City! Their patriotism is for sale!)
NOTE: We have all heard about high ranking officers in the military and officials in the government who are caught selling
our secrets to our enemies. Their integrity had a price and they sold out to the highest bidder.
B.
✖ Judas Iscariot sold our Savior for a paltry 30 pieces of silver. His discipleship was for sale! ✖ Peter cursed and denied any relationship with our Savior at Jesus’ trial. His loyalty had a price tag. Thank God there were some, like ✔ John, who stood by the Savior at the cross in spite of possible and probable reprisals against them. John’s and other’s devotion, loyalty and love were not for sale!
TRANS.: Let’s look at two special people, a man and a woman, whose personal integrity and loyalty to principle was not up for the highest bidder. They had a NOT FOR SALE sign on their hearts...
I. NABOTH SAID: “MY INHERITANCE IS NOT FOR SALE!” (TEXT - Recap story)
A. The Covetousness of the King: vv. 1,2
1. He lusted after something he did not have
NOTE: TV commercials, newspaper, magazine and internet ads are all designed to appeal to the basic covetousness in man and create a desire to make us want what we don’t have & may not be able to afford. “Thou shalt not covet...” is still in the Bible.
2. He wanted something Naboth had
NOTE: The devil (Ahab) wants something YOU have! He wants your purity, your money, your possessions, your virtue, your decency and your honesty. The wicked king wants what you have for his own evil purposes! He wants your life, your body, your brains, your looks, and your talent!
🔹Many rock performers started out in church choirs; clean, decent young people and now have sold their purity, chastity and decency. The next “Prince” or “Madonna” (really) or “Lady (!) Gaga” or Miley Cyrus may come from a good home or a good church! They prostitute themselves and their talents for fame and fortune! What is YOUR PRICE?
a. Ahab offered Naboth “...a better vineyard” v.2a
NOTE: Obviously if he already had a better vineyard, he didn’t need Naboth’s. Nothing the devil has or offers is “better” than what God has given you!
b. Ahab offered Naboth money: v.2b
ILLUS.: How money turns people’s heads and hearts and changes their direction!
🏹A preacher is blessed of God and starts to become well known. He gets on TV and in order to pay bills he ends up selling out and compromising doctrine! Sad! (Van Impe, Graham,
Osteen, Creflo Dollar, etc.)
🏹A deacon or normal church member (!) gets a better paying job offer which takes him away from his family and church and he sells out for silver! (Song: “Jesus I love Thee more than silver...Silver that nailed you to the cross...”)
B. The Character of the Farmer:
1. Naboth says no to the wicked king vv.3,6
2. Naboth says God gave the inheritance to him and he would not and could not sell out!
Numbers 36:7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
3. Naboth says the land belonged to his father and to his grandfather and now to him and it was NOT FOR SALE!
ILLUS.: Naboth says to the king: “You don’t have enough money to buy my field. It is NOT FOR SALE!
✨“Faith of our fathers, living still, in spite of fire, dungeon and sword...”
We need preachers who will not sell the faith of their fathers, their Bible, their decency, their virtue, their honesty, their integrity, their doctrine or their character. We need men and women, teens and children to put a NOT FOR SALE! sign on their brains and bodies and souls!
4. Naboth paid the price for his stand:
a. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, plotted against him & had him stoned, along with his sons.
2 Kings 9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.
b. But God had the last laugh! Naboth and his sons went to heaven; Ahab & Jezebel were slain & the dogs licked up their
blood & ate her body & their sons were killed, and the youngest, Jehoram, was thrown into the same field where Naboth was buried and their souls went to hell!
TRANS.: Let’s turn from wicked King Ahab to drunken King Ahasuerus and a woman who put a NOT FOR SALE sign on her virtue...
II. VASHTI SAID: “MY VIRTUE IS NOT FOR SALE!” (Esther 1:9-12)
A. The Insolence of the King:
1. After 7 days of debauchery he calls for Queen Vashti so his guests could see her beauty (and possibly her body).
ILLUS.: Playboy magazine came to Phila. and ran ads in the papers calling for girls to pose for centerfolds. Amazingly, hundreds of young girls PAID for the “honor” of being photographed naked & the one who was chosen was brought there by her mother!!!
2. The King had enough power to have her stripped against her will & to have her head cut off for refusing.
ILLUS.: Today women strip in public w/out being threatened or coerced and lay as close to naked as possible on public beaches and go to the mall partially clothed!!
The price for decency has gone down! Now the fashion world does its best to design women’s clothes to reveal as much flesh as possible. Unfortunately Christian women would rather bow to fashion than to put up a NOT FOR SALE sign on their body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Short dresses, tight clothing (especially “leggings” and jeans), low necklines, shorts, etc. are a violation of Biblical decency. (Isaiah 47:2 speaks of a woman uncovering her thigh. Ladies, girls, how short is YOUR dress...how low is your neckline...how tight are your skirts...??
Who are you dressing for?)
B. The Integrity of the Queen: v.12
1. Queen Vashti had enough integrity to disobey her drunken husband’s commands
NOTE: No woman has an obligation to obey the sinful, degrading requests of her husband! Women as wives are to be obedient to their husbands until the husband’s request is in violation of God’s will or Word.
2. Queen Vashti said you can take the crown jewels from my head, but you can’t take the crown of decency from my integrity!
NOTE: The Queen, who was probably a heathen and an idolater, had placed a NOT FOR SALE! sign on her decency. She said there are some things that fame, money & position cannot buy! She said if you want my crown and royal robe, you can have them, but my decency, honor, and morality are NOT FOR SALE!
3. Queen Vashti paid the price & lost here crown (v.19) but she kept her virtue and integrity
NOTE: You may lose popularity or money or position if you refuse to compromise, but there are some things worth dying for, fighting for and standing for! We need men, women & youth to stand up and say “NO! I WON’T SELL OUT!” I will die for the Book, the Savior, my honor, my decency. I will not compromise. These things are just NOT FOR SALE!
CONCL.:
🚫Christian businessmen must have integrity & refuse to sell out their testimony for a larger profit.
🚫Christian ladies need to place a NOT FOR SALE sign on their bodies and brains and say no to the dirty soap operas, fashion designers, and lure of flirting with words, dress or body language.
🚫Christian young people must refuse to sell out to Rock & Rap music, drugs, booze, etc. Get yourself a NOT FOR SALE
sign and place it next to some things you know God says are more important that money, fame, popularity or acceptance by the “IN” crowd.
🚫Friend, the devil wants something YOU have! Tell him it is NOT FOR SALE!
🚫Unsaved, you need to place a NOT FOR SALE sign on your soul, by giving it back to the Lord who paid for it already by
dying in your place for your sin!