In verse 8 here first Kings 8
verse 41 Chapter 8 verse 41. I love this word moreover. This
is a key word Up until this point in this chapter all of Solomon's
supplications have concerned the nation of Israel the Jews
only Verse 38 that people Israel and Verse 34 that people Israel
verse 33 that people Israel But now he says but moreover or in
addition to that beyond What I've already said And there's always been this
moreover with God It's not a new thing God chose the earthly nation
of Israel and picture of his elect The elect
means chosen and he said to the nation of Israel. I haven't chosen
you because you were greater in number But because I loved you I chose
you That's a picture of his people whom he loves with an everlasting
love and chooses out of all mankind To be his bride He gave the people
the elect elect people to his son And this is the picture now
Israel is a picture of that but God's elect is out of every kindred
nation tribe and tongue under heaven He gave the nation of
Israel many many advantages many what we call the outward advantages
that Israel had Outward blessings Not many, not very many who were
not Jews were saved in Old Testament times. Very few exceptions. Because they had no word from
God. Generally speaking, they just had no word from God. And
he's not going to save a sinner apart from his word, apart from
his gospel, apart from believing on Christ. And of course, that's
what God's designed all along. Wasn't just an unfortunate set
of circumstances for other nations that was God's choosing that
was God's way It still is he saves who he wants to save Listen to what Paul said in Romans
2 28 He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh
That was the sign of the covenant that the Jews were so proud of. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly, spiritually, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. And then in Romans chapter three,
Paul wrote this, verse one, what advantage then hath the Jew? In other words, if there's no
difference, if there's no, if being a Jew outwardly doesn't
make you a Jew inwardly, then what advantage hath the Jew?
Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way. You might expect
Paul to say, well, there isn't any advantage. And there's a
sense in which that's true. Both Jew and Gentile, and he
says that in the coming verses of the same letter, that there's
no difference. And there's a sense in which
there's no difference. Jew or Gentile, faith in Christ
is our only hope. the grace of God through faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. But here he says, don't despise
the means that God has given you. Don't count it nothing that
God gave you his word. That doesn't save you, just the
fact that he sent his word to the nation of Israel, but that's
a great blessing. Don't count that as nothing.
Much every way, chiefly because that unto them were committed
the oracles of God. What God said. So God greatly
blessed the Jews with his presence often. Think of the ways. Think
of the advantage. That's why we use the word outward
advantages because that's the word Paul used. What advantage
then hath the Jew? And they were outward advantages.
He didn't give every Jew inward faith in Christ. But he gave
them all these outward he met with them personally His presence
was with them often His prophets he gave his prophets to the Jews
to teach them the things of Christ To teach to give the Word of
God to deliver the Word of God to them as God was giving it
to them The Lord did miracles among them. Would that be an
advantage at all to see God part the Red Sea and say, you stand
there and watch me save you, and then see it happen and experience
that? I'd say that was a little bit
of an advantage. That might get your attention
toward God. They had the sacrifices. They
had daily reminders that the only way a sinner can be accepted
with God is by the blood of an innocent. And they knew then that it wasn't
the blood of bulls and goats that could ever take away sin. By faith, Abel offered the more
excellent sacrifice. Temple and the tabernacle everything
about them pointed to Christ Much every way You see what Paul's
saying there, but he is not a Jew which is one outwardly Being a Jew in an earthly sense
will not save anybody. I God's treatment and special care
of the Jewish nation is a picture of what he does for his elect. Think about all of these things
that he did for them, and we see that, we see the advantage
of that, and then realize he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly,
but those that have the same faith that God gave Abraham,
they are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. That's
us we're seeing. Only we don't just have outward
advantages, we have inward graces that so far supersede all of
those things because it's not those things, but it's what those
things pictured. The very one that they pictured,
we have. He gives his elect his word,
right? In a way that he does no one
else. His law was our schoolmaster. To others, it's a rule of life. They just say, well, I didn't
murder anybody today, so I'm doing pretty good. What about
in your heart though? He's not just a murderer, which
is one outwardly either. But to us, the law was a schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. You see, we have the word in
a way that nobody else does. His true elect, his spiritual
Israel. God gave the oracles to us. We experience the miracle of
all miracles, his saving grace. When God turns a rebel into a
son, there's no miracle like that. You're not gonna see anything
more spectacular than that His people hear from a preacher
Like he gave the prophets to his people of old He said I'll
give you pastors after my own heart That's his spiritual elect. He's talking to him. He says
that I'll give you pastors after my own heart. They hear from
a preacher, but they hear with spiritual ears of faith and are
saved by grace through that faith. He says to them, we talked about
his presence with him. What does he say to his spiritual
Jews? I will never leave you nor forsake you. His mercy seat, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is not only among us but is open to us all the time,
all the way. The veil is run into and we can
come boldly, not proudly, not presumptuously,
but without fear to the throne of grace to find grace to help
in time of need. Just outward advantages then
but inward grace and everything that those outward advantages
Represented are not only ours in Christ, but they are fulfilled
in Christ He's our high priest he's our
mercy seed he's our burnt offering our bread of life He's our atonement
Not in picture and type but in spiritual reality and Here's one example The Old Testament,
you know, they said our Moses gave us bread from heaven. What
are you gonna give us? Listen to what he said your fathers
did eat manna in the wilderness They're dead This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die Am the living bread which came
down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever
And the bread that I will give him is my flesh which I give
for the life of the world So yes, the Jews had great blessings
from God. No question about that but all
of those things all the promises are yay and amen not in Israel
in Christ and But even in the outward picture,
there are more overs. There are more overs in the Old
Testament. Rahab the harlot is the one that would I imagine
come to mind first. She's a more over. God only sent
these things to the Jews, but more over, Naaman the leper,
Rahab the harlot, there were Gentiles saved even then because
salvation is of the heart, not by heritage or lineage. Remember
the woman of Canaan in Matthew 15, 21. She's a Gentile. Let me read that to you again.
This is so familiar and yet so, so beautiful. Jesus went thence
and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold,
a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto
him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word
and his disciples came and besought him saying send her away For
she crieth after us But he answered and said I am
NOT sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Then came she and worshiped him
saying Lord help me Lord help me And he answered and said it is
not meat it's not appropriate not the right thing to do To
take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. He didn't
just call her a stranger. He called her a dog And she said truth Lord yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs Which fall from their master's table?
Menjee's and Jesus answered and said unto her. Oh woman great
is that faith Be it under thee even as thou wilt And her daughter
was made whole from that very hour moreover a stranger The Lord taught Simon this in
Acts chapter 10 didn't he? Simon said there in that chapter
of a truth. I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons Thus God if any man thirst if
any man thirst He said let him come unto me and drink That's
the gospel call we tell sinners who Christ is and what he did
and if God is pleased to give faith in life and That sinner
will believe on him. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. When he says, be not faithless,
but believing, he doesn't have to say that audibly
like he did to Thomas. But he did to Thomas, and he
says that a lot. He says that a lot. Believing on him we have everlasting
life though. We be the very chief of sinners
Solomon prayed if a stranger from a far country if they come
for your namesake If they come for your namesake if they come
to find out who God is That's what his name is is who he is
That's who he is Person's name is not just what they're called
by There are a lot of people with
the same name they don't have the same name that makes sense He says this if they come for
your namesake if they cry out to you Lord hear their prayer
Give them what they need What a prayer what an intercession
Solomon said in verse 42, they're gonna hear of your great name
Isn't that the truth? The word name there as you might
imagine means reputation and glory They're gonna hear of your
great glory and Reputation what you've done. They're gonna hear
who you are. They're gonna hear about you
and God Has done he has never done in a corner never has David
said you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
and sometime among those enemies Sometimes when God does that
when he prepares a table for his sheep and Right in the presence
of their enemies sometimes somebody among those enemies might just
say by God's grace I sure would like a seat at that table. I Sure would like to sit down
there and rest a Stranger Might just come for his namesake
and cry to him Remember what David also said
to Goliath in 1st Samuel 17 46 and this is all through these
are just a couple of things I've picked out This day will the
Lord deliver you into my hand and I will smite you and I'll
take your head from you and I will give the carcasses of the host
of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the
wild beasts of the earth That all the earth may know there's
a God in Israel How's a stranger, moreover, gonna hear of his great
name? God knows how to make his name
known, doesn't he? And he does it by saving his
people. By saving his people, that's
what happened that day. God saved his people. When they hear of thy great name,
Lord, when they hear of your great
name, and look what that stranger will do when he hears who God
is, and shall come. This is an outline of what it
is, how it is that God saves a sinner. He says, North and South give
up, give them up. And he draws his people from
all points of the compass. They shall come by some God-designed
chain of communication. They will hear of God and they
will come. They will come. And we know what
the spiritual equivalent of that is. You hear from one of his
preachers. You hear the gospel. And in your
heart, you come to God by faith. By faith in his son. And we know
why they come, don't we? John 644 no man can come to me
except the father which hath sent me draw here That's why
they come because God brings him That old lost sheep came to Christ
Yeah, how that happened the Lord went out and found him and laid
him on his shoulder And brought him home rejoicing That's how
I came to He said in verse 65 of John 6
therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except
it were given unto him of my father Look what else they're gonna
hear about the stranger What are they gonna hear about? Well,
they're gonna hear about your name or they're gonna hear your great
name Who you are but also of that strong hand Not only who
he is, what's the gospel? Who he is? You remember the second
one we always say? What he did. His power. His almightiness to save. They'll
hear of your power. Christ is the strong hand of
God. First Corinthians 121, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. For the Jews require sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God. the wisdom
of God Christ is the right hand the power of God Almighty this
in the psalm 89 19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy
one and said I have laid help upon one that is mighty I Have
exalted one chosen out of the people The mighty one here is
Christ and laying help on him means that now it's up to him
to help the helpless. Laying help on him means now
it's up to him to save sinners. It's not up to you. He didn't
lay help on you. He laid help on his son. Help's not laid on you. You're
the one that needs saving. Ezekiel 20 33 as I live saith
the Lord God surely with a mighty hand and With a stretched out
arm and with fury poured out will I rule over you? And I will
bring you out from the people and will gather you out of the
countries wherein you're scattered with a mighty hand With a stretched
out arm and with fury poured out. That's a picture of salvation
in Christ. I God brings us out of the bondage
of sin and the law. It takes a mighty hand to do
that. It takes Christ the power of
God to do that. Pictured in all of the miracles.
When Christ performed a miracle for somebody, it was always something
they couldn't do themselves. Only Christ can conquer sin. Only Christ can conquer Satan
and all the powers of hell. Only Christ can conquer our evil
nature. Only Christ can satisfy the law
of God for his sheep. What else do they
see? The third thing, they're gonna see this. They're gonna
hear, they're gonna see you're stretched out arms. Now, this
is interesting. I first thought, well, maybe
that's seeing his arms stretched out as saying, come. He does do that,
doesn't he? He absolutely does do that. And
so that would be consistent with the gospel. But after looking
into this, it seems that this is what it is. This is the difference
between God and a fake God. This is the difference between
our God and the God of this religious world. Right here. False religion
declares that God is mighty to save. They say, boy, he's got
a strong arm. He'll save you. He can save anybody. Our God actually does that. You
see the difference? He actually saves people. The
God of religion has a mighty arm, but it's waiting on you. He can't use it. Unless you use
your mighty will I'm not misrepresenting it That's the truth of it. I
was in it for years God is so mighty to save if you'll
let him I Don't cut it around here by
God's grace I We declare that God is mighty to save, and he
hath saved. He hath saved. His stretched
out arm. Christ, the power of God. This
is irresistible grace, if you will. It's God actually bringing
us home. He doesn't just have the ability,
but he wants to. And what he wants to do, he does
it. He's not only gracious in his
character and in his ability, but his grace actually brought
me home His stretched out arm He reached out and got me. I
love that song. He reached way down for me Look at this in Matthew chapter
8 and we'll close I'm gonna be brief tonight, but listen to
this This is what they're gonna see these strangers. I They're
gonna see that God is omnipotent, but also he's not just almighty,
he's almighty to save. He saves sinners. Matthew 8, one, when he, our
Lord Jesus, was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed him. And behold, there came a leper
and worshiped him saying, Lord, If you will, you can make me
clean. I know we've looked at this a lot, but think about this
picture. What a beautiful, beautiful scene this is. Our Lord Jesus
Christ comes down out of the mountain from teaching. And this
leper is down there. He didn't go up with everybody
else because the leper couldn't get anywhere near anybody. They
weren't supposed to come near anybody. He shouldn't have approached
Christ. I don't, maybe he stood way back. I don't know. We don't
know that. But he wasn't among the crowd.
There was no place for him there. There was no place for him. Can
you imagine how wretched he must have been? A leper. That's about
the last thing I would want to be in this world as far as physical
misery. What a wretch. And listen to what he said. I don't even know how to express
it. But think about what he said
to God's son, if you want to, if you want to, you can make
me clean. I'm not sure I even know what
that is yet. I've been looking at that for
a long time. I don't think we've gotten to
the bottom of that yet. I don't think it's dawned on
us. If you want to, you can save me. Do you pray like that for your children? For those that you love? For
yourself? If you will, you can make me
clean. There's his power. There's his
mighty arm. There's no dispute in that. False religion, agreed. God is, you know, powerful. He
can say. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. You know what
that reminds me of? Be thou clean. You know what
that reminds me of? Let there be light. The difference is he's saying
this to an old, wretched, vile, poor, miserable, alone sinner. Be thou clean. I will. I don't know that there's a more
clear picture of the gospel in all of the word of God. God can save whoever he wants
to save. And you come to him like that,
I just believe he'll save you. I really do. I believe he will. I've never seen anywhere that
he ever turned away a sinner like that. Lord, if you will,
my will has nothing to do with it. if you will, and he says,
I will. He reached out and touched him.
There's his stretched out arm right there. That's the difference
between a mighty arm and a stretched out arm. Our redeemer actually
redeemed somebody. He actually redeemed me. That's
the difference between our God and the God of this wretched
world The power of his arm is in who he is The stretching out
of that arm is what he did Power of his character Power of his might is an essential
part of his character. He's omnipotent. The putting
forth of his hand is his willingness. I will. Lord, you can save me. I'll save you. Our savior is both able and willing
to save sinners. I'd sure find out if he'll save
you or not. That's what that man came there
to find out. He didn't come and say, boy, I wonder if he can
do what everybody says he can do. He came knowing that already. You can do whatever you want
to do. But would you save me if you
will, if you will? Let's pray.