Solomon was the son of King David. He was given the task of building the temple for the dwelling place of the Lord. Solomon was a man of prayer and sincerity. He prayed so until God came down and visited him. He prayed so until God answered. What did Solomon pray for? He prayed for an understanding heart to judge the people and to be able to discern between good and bad (I Kings 3:9). God answered his prayer (I Kings 3:12). God also gave him riches and honour I (I Kings 3:13).
He performed his first act as king with the wisdom of God in him. He judged between two harlots concerning a child (I Kings 3:16-27). The wisdom that Solomon displayed caught the attention of the people (verse 28). Oh, what a man of God he was!! He began building the house of the Lord. He was even allowed to build himself a house. It was grand and beautiful too.
But, prior to asking the Lord for wisdom and understanding, Solomon had married Pharoh's daughter (I Kings 3:1) and brought her into the city of David. No more is said of her in this chapter. But in chapter 9, Pharoah had burned Gezer and slain the Canaanites as a gift for his daughter, Solomon's wife (I Kings 9:16). Solomon even received horses and linen yarn brought out of Egypt. Then his heart changed.
I Kings 11:1 says, "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. These strange women turned away his heart. These strange wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father (I Kings 11:3,4). The Bible goes on to say, "And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice. And, because he allowed his heart to turn away from the Lord, God rend the kingdom from him and gave it to his servant (I Kings 11:11).
The Bible teaches us that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Galatians 5:9 and I Corinthians 5:6). For the Church today, leaven represents sin and Egypt represents the world. At no time is wise or good for the soul to partake of the world. Just a little bit of worldliness will lead to more worldliness. You have to guard your heart. You have to pay attention to what you allow your eyes to see and your ears to hear. You be mindful of who you fellowship with. Just a little sin, just a little bit of being off, just a little bit of 'it's ok every now and then' is enough to cause you to sin in the eyes of the Lord.
The world we live in today makes it seem so harmless to do somethings. But I stand on the oracles of scripture today to say there are just some things Saints, Holy Ghost filled people do not do. Holy Ghost filled people do not partake of the world. Holy Ghost filled people are to be in the world but not of the world. I John 2:15 says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
The conclusion of this lesson? You can start out right and end up wrong if you allow the world to change your heart. For there is no such thing as once saved always saved.