offering creator and sustainer
of heaven and earth king of kings and lord of lords we come into
thy presence once more at the throne of grace thanking thee
for the privilege of prayer and thanking thee for this opportunity
to gather around thy word and around the throne of grace collectively
this evening. We ask, Lord, that thou grant
us thy presence, that it may be known and felt amongst us,
that our hearts may burn within us, that we may know the freedom
and the liberty of the presence of thy Holy Spirit as we come
to thee in prayer and in speaking in thy name and in reading from
thy holy word. We pray that thou bless us as
we sing the hymns together. We ask that thou help us to worship
thee this night, in spirit and in truth, that we may lift up
thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Be with those and bless those
who are unable to gather with us this evening. Do bless them
and draw near to them and help them where they are also. We
ask then that thou draw near to us. Do not pass us by as we
ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our first hymn this evening is
from Hymns to Worship, hymn number 90. to the tune 951. Holy Spirit, hear us, help us
while we sing, breathe into the music of the praise we sing. Holy Spirit, prompt us when we
bow to pray, nearer come and teach us what we ought to say. Hymn number 90 from Hymns for
Worship. of the praise we sing. Holy Spirit prompt us when we
bow to pray. Miracle and teach us what we
ought Shine now on the book we read. Shine upon its pages with the
light we need. Wake us, Lord, like Jesus, gentle,
pure, and kind. Holy Spirit, help us. ? Hope to conquer ? ? And to choose
the right ? ? Holy Spirit lead us ? ? To that home above ? ?
Legend of the fallen ? Seeking once again the Lord's
blessing upon the reading of his word, I would like us to
turn to 1 Kings chapter 8, reading from verse 1. to verse 30. 1 Kings chapter 8 from
verse 1 to verse 30. Then Solomon assembled the elders
of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the
fathers of the children of Israel unto King Solomon in Jerusalem,
that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord
out of the city of David, which is in Zion. And all the men of
Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in
the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders
of Israel came and the priests took up the ark And they brought
up the ark of the Lord and the tabernacle of the congregation
and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. Even
those did the priests and the Levites bring up. And King Solomon
and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him
were with him before the ark. sacrificing sheep and oxen that
could not be told nor numbered for multitude. And the priest
brought her in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his
place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place,
even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth
their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims
covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew
out the staves, at the ends of the staves were seen out of the
holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without.
And there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark
save or except two tables of stone, which Moses put there
at Horeb. And the Lord made a covenant,
when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel,
and when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to
pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the
cloud filled the house of the Lord. so that the priests could
not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of
the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then spake Solomon,
the Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have
surely built thee a house to dwell in and a settled place
for thee to abide in forever. And the king turned his face
about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation
of Israel stood. And he said, Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, which spoke with his mouth unto David my father,
and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, Since the day that
I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city
out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name
might be therein. But I chose David to be over
my people Israel. And it was in the heart of David,
my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
And the Lord said unto David my father, whereas it was in
thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well
that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build
the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins,
he shall build the house unto my name. And the Lord hath performed
his word that he spoke, And I am risen up in the room of David
my father and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised
and have built a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And I have set there a place
for the ark wherein is the covenant of the Lord which he made with
our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. And
Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of
all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward
heaven. And he said, Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like thee in heaven above or on earth beneath,
who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk after
thee with all their heart. who has kept with thy servant
David my father, that thou promised him thou spakest also with thy
mouth, and hath fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this
day. Therefore now, Lord God of Israel,
keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promised him,
saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit
on the throne of Israel, so that thy children take heed to their
way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But will God
indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heavens
of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that
I have built. Yet have thou respect unto the
prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God,
to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant
prayeth before thee today. that thine eyes may be opened
towards this house, night and day, even towards the place of
which thou hast said, My name shall be there, that thou mayest
hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make towards
this place. And hearken thou to the supplication
of thy servant and to thy people Israel, when they shall pray
towards this place. and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling
place and when thou hearest forgive. We will leave the reading there. May the Lord add his blessing. I'd like us to look this evening
briefly at verse 30, the last verse that we have read together. And hearken thou to the supplication
of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray
towards this place, and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
and when thou hearest, forgive. The passage that we have read
together is at the end of Solomon having finished the temple and
he is coming to seek the Lord's blessing upon his labours and
as he begins to offer the sacrifices and as the people gather together
the Spirit of God descends as a cloud and rests upon the temple
and fills the house of the Lord. And as Solomon sees the presence
of God descend, he then breaks forth into thanks regarding that
God is a covenant-keeping God. And as he recognizes all that
God had spoken to his father David, and then as he sees the
fulfillment of those promises, his heart is overwhelmed with
joy and love to God. And he breaks forth into a prayer. We stopped basically just at
the beginning of his prayer but he goes on right the way through
the whole chapter and he pleads to God asking for certain things
to take place that when people come and face towards the temple
as they look towards the temple that he would hear them in heaven
their his dwelling place. It's repeated many times verse
32 hear thou in heaven and do. Verse 34 hear thou in heaven
and forgive the sins of thy people Israel. Verse 36 hear thou in
heaven and forgive the sins of thy servants Verse 39, hear thou
in heaven thy dwelling place and forgive and do and give to
every man according to his ways. Verse 43, hear thou in heaven
thy dwelling place and do according to all that the stranger calleth
to thee for. And so there are in verse 49
also, and hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven
and thy dwelling place and maintain their cause. So it was a great
blessing for Solomon to finish the building of the temple and
to witness the fulfilment of the promises that were given
to his father and to see God himself descend and honour that
work and then he petitions for those of his subjects, the children
of Israel, who would come into various circumstances in life
and feel constrained to pray, that God would hear their prayer
because they look to this temple. The temple externally and internally
was an amazing structure. If we were to read through the
Book of Kings, we could see the detail and the money that was
poured into the building of the temple, a beautiful structure,
an amazing site. And so the people naturally would
want to look to it. Even in Jesus's day in the second
temple, not so glorious, yet it still took the hearts of the
apostles when they said, look at these stones. And so it was
a structure, even a second structure, something to be looked at and
admired. Even King Solomon himself, The
scripture tells us that he was arrayed in fine clothes, a man
full of wisdom and an amazing ability to deal with people. And so he himself was someone
to be looked to. And we have all what was going
on with the priests and such like as everything began to take
shape and as the order of God's order began to come about there
in the temple with the high priest and the priests and such like
and the sacrifices, everything was taking place there on that
day. It says there were so many, in
verse five, so many animals being sacrificed that their number
could not be told, for they were such a multitude. In verse 46, sorry, 64. It tells us there that Solomon
hewed out a section of the temple because of the amount of animals
that were being sacrificed on that day. Verse 63. And Solomon offered
a sacrifice of peace offerings which he offered unto the Lord
two and twenty thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand
sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated
the house of the Lord. The same day did the king hollow
the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord
for there he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat
of the peace offerings because the brazen altar that was before
the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings and meat
offerings and the fat and the peace offerings. And so as they
brought these sacrifices to burn offerings to the Lord such was
the number that the basin that Solomon had built was insufficient
for them. Now I look this up that one cow
has 31 litres of blood. One sheep has three litres of
blood. Solomon is dealing with 20,000 plus the others that could not
be numbered and then the cows and you think of the death. You think of the blood that is
being shed and the animals that are being killed at that time. You think of the thoughts that
are going through the minds of the children of Israel as they
see God descend in a cloud into the Holy of Holies and descend
over the temple and the thousands of animals that are being slaughtered
the blood that is being shed so that they are able to come
near a holy god they're not able to get into his presence for
he dwelt in the most holy place and as they witnessed all of
those things that great barrier that was set before them. They
were one side. Death and blood and priests were
in the middle and the Holy of Holies God is there in the centre
of the temple. There's the ark that is brought
in with the law and then the cherubims that sit over the top,
the angels with their wings stretching over the ark of the covenant
which is the mercy seat. and there at the mercy seat is
where God meets with his people. And so we have this image being
displayed as we've looked at over the past weeks, those acts
that took place, those prophetic acts by Abraham and Isaac and
even the Lord Jesus Christ. But what is taking place here
is also a visual act of something which would be fulfilled in Christ
Jesus. And in the middle there is this
bloodshed. God one side, man the other and
death in the middle. And it is there that they meet
in the temple. And Solomon says, when they look
to the temple, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place. And it's
like they look down towards the temple and God looks down from
heaven upon the temple and there is the great high priest. There
is the high priest. And there is the slaughtered
animals. There are the priests serving the people. And that
is where they meet together. Without the shedding of blood,
the scripture says, there will be no remission, no forgiveness
of sin. And he says, hearken thou unto
the supplication of thy servant and to thy people Israel. We know that as the cloud descended
that God's presence was there. He tells us that he dwelt in
the thick darkness. But also Solomon understood that
this is a great mystery. As he says, he comes to that
conclusion, doesn't he? Well, the heavens of heavens
cannot contain the how much more, how much less this house that
I have built it. If we remember that the other
day, on the Lord's Day, we looked at Isaiah 57. In verse 15 it says, and thus
says the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name
is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place. with him also that is of a contrite
and a humble heart, to revive the spirit of the humble and
to revive the heart of the contrite ones. And so God, he is dwelling
place, he inhabits eternity and yet he is able to dwell in the
hearts of his people. He is able to dwell in the temple,
the holy of holies that Solomon created. That was the meeting
place where God and man was going to meet together through the
sacrifice, the outpouring of blood. There was able to be that
symbolic reconciliation in the holy of holies. God and man met
together when? They pray when they face this
temple, hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and when
thou hearest, forgive. The mercy seat. We looked at
on the Lord's Day evening, the tax collector, God be merciful. And we understood then that it
is mercy that we need and there at the centre of God and man
being reconciled together is that mercy seat, that place of
mercy where heaven as it were and earth are able to meet together. There is a need of that mercy
seat, that blood-sprinkled mercy seat. in Solomon's day the outpouring
of blood was almost unimaginable and unable to be calculated through
the vastness of the sacrifices that were being shed at that
time. And the only way for them to
come was with blood. The blood the
scripture tells us in Leviticus symbolized the life of that animal
as the life is poured out, drained out. And so one was to bring blood
and the other brought mercy. Man brought blood and God looked
down in mercy. But all of this, all of this
temple, all of these priests, even the high priest at that
time has been destroyed. But it has been replaced with
a greater. even in our day don't we? If
there's an old building they knock it over to build another.
Solomon's temple was destroyed because of the disobedience of
the children of Israel and the Ezra and Nehemiah established
a second. But Christ established an eternal
temple, an eternal kingdom which cannot be destroyed. And to everything
that we see here, even Solomon himself was just a type and a
shadow of somebody far greater. Solomon was a wise king. Jesus
Christ is the King of Kings with all wisdom. He says in Luke 11, And verse
31, the Queen of the South shall rise up in judgment with the
men of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold,
a greater than Solomon is here. Solomon we know is the wisest
man, but Christ is the wisest of all. He's the greatest. A greater than Solomon is here. The book of Hebrews gives us
great detail of the old covenant and the old way of doing things
and the new in Christ Jesus having a better sacrifice, a better
testament. There's a greater temple, Hebrews
9 verse 31. Sorry, 24. but into heaven itself now to
appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy
place every year with blood of others. And so Christ didn't
enter into an earthly court but he entered into heaven itself
to present to God as it were, the holy place not made with
hands but into heaven itself. He went with a greater sacrifice. Verse four, you think as we have
just said that one cow has about 31 litres of blood, one sheep
about three litres of blood, Solomon had 20 odd thousand animals
and before that an unnumberable amount of animals sacrificed
and then proceeding from that through time the amount of animals
that were slain at the temple, the blood that was shed, the
scripture tells us none of them not one of them was able to cleanse
anybody from any sin but they offered them in faith believing
that a perfect sacrifice was going to come. Verse four, for it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins wherefore
when he cometh into the world he says sacrifice and offerings
thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared for me made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death that
was his reason for coming made a little lower than the angels
that he would be made the greater sacrifice Hebrews 9 and verse
11 but Christ being come and high priest of good things by
a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to
say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves
but by his own blood He entered once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls
and of goats and the ashes of the heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? And so Christ's sacrifice outweighed
them all. God manifest in the flesh. It
was not the amount of blood that was shed but it was the one whose
life was given, the Lord Jesus Christ, the great high priest. That was, in the old covenant,
was a continued sacrifice, wasn't it? And those continued changing
of the high priest as one died, another was raised up in his
place. But Christ, having presented
his sacrifice to God, shed his blood upon Calvary, went into
the Holy of Holies, not made with hands, now is at the right
hand of God. as our great High Priest. Seeing then that we have a great
High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a High Priest
which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but within all points tempted, like as we are yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, we may
obtain that we obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need. And so as Solomon witnessed God
descending upon the temple as he pours out his prayer to God
and he says when they come and they look towards this temple
hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and forgive and thou are
greater than Solomon is here a greater sacrifice, the Lord
Jesus Christ, where God and man are reconciled eternally. As God looks down, as it were,
upon his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and as believers look
to the Lord Jesus Christ, there they meet together. as all the
sacrifices were slain there at the temple. All the blood was
shed and the priest entered into the holy place. God looking down,
man looking, and there they met together in that bloodshed. So
they meet together now in today in that bloodshed upon the cross. the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb
of God which takes away the sin of the world, Christ. And all
of these things point to him with just types and shadows of
the great Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so today, today
as we come to the throne of grace, the true throne of grace, where
God and man meet together in prayer through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is a great privilege. You
think, as they all looked on, on all of that vileness and death. And there God comes. And so we
have to look to Christ His death upon the cross that brought about
reconciliation. Romans tells us. Romans chapter five. From verse 7 it says, For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards
us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being
reconciled shall we be saved by his life. And not only so,
but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have now received the atonement. Wherefore as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, And so death passed upon
all men for all have sinned. There it is. For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
Reconciliation. There at the cross of Christ
was that reconciliation. God looked upon his son and poured
out his anger for the sins of his people. His anger was quenched
in his son. And we look to the Son for that
righteousness which we don't have. If we confess our sins,
the scripture says, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our
sins. And so as Solomon and the old
covenant people looked to the temple and its sacrificial system
and by faith they viewed Christ. So by faith we look to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the cross, and there is that reconciliation.
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are able to be cleansed
from all sin. And so we can apply this to us
today. And hearken now unto the supplication
of thy servant and of thy people. And when they pray towards this
place, what place? As they look to the cross, as
they look to the risen Christ, their great high priest, as they
look to him today, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
and when thou hearest, forgive. May we be granted then this night
that access to God through our great high priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who died upon the cross to bring about reconciliation
between God and man. There they meet together in that
blood shed upon the cross. There God and man meet together
to bring and reconciliation is brought about through Christ
our Lord. And when thou hearest, forgive. Amen.