Well, we've read together this
morning this sixth chapter in the Book of Kings, which describes
to us in some detail the building of it by King Solomon. And it
was quite very clearly a very, very wonderful and amazing building. And if you followed it through,
you would see that everything fitted together perfectly. And
of course, the whole building was covered in gold. both inside
and out, it was an amazing building. And we should recognise that
of course in these things and in the Old Testament all these
wonderful buildings really indicated and directed us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Saviour is in all the Scriptures,
right from Genesis, as we know, Genesis 3.15, right through the
Old Testament and right through, of course, the New Testament.
And it is our wonderful privilege and favour today to be able to
come together to worship the ever-living and true God. Well,
quite clearly, we can't comment on the whole of the building
of the temple, But there is just one verse I would like to read
to you this morning and just part of that verse to really
attach our attention to. And that's the seventh verse
in this sixth chapter of the first book of the Kings. So the
first book of the Kings in chapter six and reading verse seven. And the house, when it was in
building, was built of stone, made ready before it was brought
thither, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool
of iron heard in the house. what it was in the building. So we're told the building was
built of stone. And we know from other readings
in this Book of Kings that there were many, many people involved
in this building. We won't go through the details,
but there were many thousands that were employed in building
this temple, and many thousands were employed in the mountains,
where this stone for this building was hewn out of the rock. It was no easy task. And when you realise that this
temple took seven years to build, and it was really a relatively
small building, it gives you some indication of the detail,
and the effort required. Now we read together a very simple
statement here that the house, when it was in the building,
was built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither.
So all the stones, and they did vary in size, but some of them
were very large and they were all formed in the mountain. away
from the actual place where the temple was built, so that when
they were brought to the actual temple to build it, they were
a perfect size, a perfect size, and everything fitted together
very, very closely, with no gaps, no mistakes, everything fitted. And therefore there was no need
for any modifications when the stones of the temple came to
the site. It was all planned and all fashioned
and all worked out so that it all fitted together perfectly. And you may say, well, I understand
that. What's the significance of such
a statement? What's the significance of that?
Well, there is really a very wonderful significance. And the
significance is very simply this. The Church of God are spoken
of as a building. And each member of the Church
of God has a place in that building. And that building, of course,
is a heavenly building. And we're told that in that building
there is a chief corner stone, a chief stone, a stone that was
the foundation stone. And we're told that that stone
was none less than the Lord Jesus Christ. So all the stones were
perfectly fitted together. And we should be very thankful
to know that that building was therefore formed to signify a
perfect building. And we should recognize, therefore,
that in our lives, we, if we are the true Church of God, form
part of that eternal building, which is to be found in heaven. Now, these stones, they were
taken from the solid rock, taken from the solid rock. They were
broken out. They were hewn out of the solid
rock. It must have been a great effort. It must have been very difficult.
And yet, you see, they were taken out of the solid rock. We might
say that is really, in a spiritual sense, taken out of the rock
of nature. Yes, we're born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. And that's how we are as we're
born, in our natural state. But what a blessing it is, like
in the temple, It was hewn out, and what a blessing it is if
we, in our lives, are taken from that place of nature, as it were,
and are brought into the marvellous light of the gospel. Now, the
reality is that those stones, the temple, they needed a lot
of work on them. You can imagine in those days
they didn't have mechanical equipment. It was all labour of hands and
a great deal of work was required. But we can be very thankful to
believe that it was all ordained by God. And the workmen were
given skill. They were given skill to actually
form the stones. into that perfect plan so that
when they came to the temple site and were eventually placed
in position they all fitted together. It's a wonderful picture really
of the Church of God and what a mercy it is therefore if we
form part of that heavenly building. Now what a mercy for you and
me If we've been hewn, cut out of that rock of nature, we haven't
been left, as it were, in the mountain. See, it was ordained
by God that those stones should be cut out, hewn out. My friends, it's so with the
spiritual condition. The Lord has a purpose. And what
a mercy if you and I are found to be part of the eventual heavenly
building. But in order for us to be brought
to that condition where we are fitted and prepared for that
eternal place, there's much work to be done. There was much work
to be done on those stones. You can imagine, I'm sure, that
initially they were being cut out in a very rough state. And there was a lot of work to
do initially. Probably there were large corners
and pieces which were necessary to cut off. And then gradually,
as more and more of the large bits were then trimmed down,
then smaller and smaller bits had to be removed. until finally
there were very, very small bits had to be honed off so the stone
became a perfect shape. It was a perfect shape to fit
in to this natural temple. My friends, in our lives, we
have to be blessedly worked upon by the Spirit of God to take
away, take off all those bits which were rough, all those bits
which perhaps stick out, all those bits which need to be trimmed
down until that great day when we are ready to be taken and
to be placed into that heavenly temple. Now you see, naturally
it took a long time, spiritually It may take a long time. Sometimes
God's work is very rapid. Sometimes it takes longer. And all of these heavenly stones,
and if we are a heavenly stone, we shall know the work of God
working upon us. It was a process which had to
be carried out. And so it is in our spiritual
life. It's a process which has to be
carried out. We're very rough, perhaps, to
begin with. We've got a lot of sharp edges, a lot of offensive
bits which need to be taken off. And you see the work of natural
man in forming the temple had to be done. Workmen had to be
used. My friends, in a spiritual sense,
you know, the Lord does use those who preach the gospel to declare
the great truths and to convince of our sinful condition, our
sinful nature. And there are many things which
need to be removed so that we are, as the word of God tells
us, made conformable unto his image. And that usually takes
a lifetime. Our lives vary in length. But
the work of God is a lifetime to prepare us for our eternal
home. Well, it's a great blessing if
you and I are able to observe God's work within us and realize
that the Lord is taking off rough bits, bits which can be very
damaging, very hurtful. And if they had been placed in
the temple, they wouldn't have fitted. the stones wouldn't have
fitted together if there were still those rough edges protruding. They all had to be removed. And so it is in our spiritual
life. The rough edges, the bits which
stick out, which are not God honoring, have to be removed. And my friends, God does graciously
and gloriously remove them. And what a wonderful favour it
is when that occurs. You know, the Apostle Paul, when
he wrote that wonderful chapter in the 8th of Romans, and as
he comes down to the end of that chapter, we're told this, and
it's a good, it's a wonderful verse to remember and to consider,
in this eighth chapter. And this is what it says. It
says, verse 29, for whom he did foreknow. Now, in the building
of that temple, each place, each stone was no doubt earmarked
to be cut out as a suitable stone. And so we read this, for whom
he did foreknow. He also did predestinate, predetermined
to be conformed to the image of his son. Well, all those stones
in the temple were preformed and they had to be made to conform
to the plan of that which Solomon had, that perfect plan. An order to be made in accordance
with that plan. It couldn't be brought to the
temple site and then say, oh we got that wrong, we'll have
to adjust it, we'll have to perhaps take it away. No, every stone
when it came to be placed in the temple, was in a perfect
condition, a perfect state. And so it is, my friends, with
us, in our journey of life, the Lord deals with us and brings
us down to that perfect state. And it's described here in a
very few simple words, conformed to the image of his Son. Well what a good and blessed
thing it is if you and I are being made conformed to the image
of his Son. Now you think of that. The Lord
Jesus Christ was perfect. He didn't have any sharp edges,
did he? He didn't have anything which
was offensive. Everything in the Lord Jesus
Christ and everything that showed forth from the Lord Jesus Christ
was perfect. Everything he said and did was
good and right. Just think then, in our lives,
if we are to be made conformable If we are to be prepared to take
and be part of that heavenly building in glory, then there's
a lot of work to be done, isn't there? And if God gives us a spiritual
understanding to look at ourselves and to see how many faults we
have, how many sharp edges, Perhaps in our walk, perhaps
in our actions, perhaps in our conversation, indeed in our thoughts,
there are so many things, aren't there, that we need God to deal
with, to make us conformable unto his image. You know, that
really shows to us when God gives us that willing spirit to submit
ourselves to God's purpose for us. What a great blessing and
what a great favour and what a great mercy it is to know that
the hand of God is upon us. It's good then to look to ourselves
to see whether First of all, we have been cut out, been hewn
out of that condition of nature. The Lord hasn't left us in that
position that we were born in. The Lord has graciously called
us. The Lord has graciously spoken
to us and shown us our great need of a Saviour. And in doing
that, He's shown us what a sinful person we are. Oh, how much we
need the Holy Spirit to come into our souls and to direct
us and to instruct us and to make us willing to do the will
of our Father in heaven. What a gracious example we have.
And what a wonderful thing it is to see what the Lord Jesus
did. You know, it's a great picture,
isn't it? The Lord Jesus pleased not himself. He pleased not himself. And we
got that sharp edge, perhaps, in our lives. We want to please
ourselves. We don't want to perhaps submit
to what the Lord has directed us in or is speaking to us about. We have our own life which we
want to live and we want to perhaps be thought well of by people
and we don't want to submit to God's will. Well the great blessing
is that in forming that temple Those stones, no matter how out
of shape they were, no matter how they needed squaring up to
fit, perhaps sometimes there was a great deal of work initially
needed to be done. Great bits need to be broken
off. Yes, perhaps they needed hard work. Perhaps they needed
sharp blows that of a strong hammer and a strong man to break
them off perhaps sometimes in our spiritual life we need sharp
blows sharp blows to be made conformable to his
image we're not willing to do the will of God Well, my friends,
be sure of this. God deals with his children to
make them conformable to his image. And naturally, with the
formation of that perfect stone, there may be hard work needed
to break off some bits which were very difficult. It may be
in our spiritual life. My friends, we may have some
very stubborn bits in our life that need to be dealt
with. They may need a lot of dealing
with. But we should be very thankful, as we have that picture of that
temple, that no stone came to the temple site, unless it was
properly formed and ready to be fitted. So, my friends, it
is with our spiritual life. We won't come down to that day
of our death unless we have had the great and glorious
work of the Holy Spirit dealing with us. Now you see, naturally,
perhaps there was much work, but it came to pass. And so it
is, my friends, in our spiritual life, perhaps there's much work,
but you see, we have a glorious, gracious, compassionate God who
deals with us, and that blessed Spirit does not fail and he does
not give up. And that work continues. Perhaps
sometimes there's large sections which had to be dealt with. Perhaps
they're dealt with sometimes with a single blow. Sometimes. there are many blows which need
to deal with those obstinate things in our life but be sure
of this as every stone in that temple came perfectly at last
to be placed there so it is in our lives you know there's a
line in the hymn writer isn't it it says rebellious thou hast
been and art rebellious still, but since in love I took thee
in, my promise I'll fulfil.' That's a wonderful blessing to
realise that God deals with us in love to our souls and brings
us at last. Indeed, there's that stone ready
to be placed in that building. There are no misfits. in God's
building. No misfits. Sometimes we might
think, well, doesn't seem to be much progress. Seems still to have a very awkward
and obstinate spirit. Well, it's good if we can observe
perhaps the chipping away of perhaps small things. And it
comes down to this. The Lord makes us willing in
the day of his power. And there is power with God.
Power which is stronger than our will. It breaks down all
that which is offensive to God. Sometimes we fail to realise
There are those things which are offensive to God. What a mercy it is then to know
that we have a God who graciously takes us in hand. Those workmen,
you see, dealing with those stones, they knew what was needed, they
knew what was required, and they didn't give up. My friends, that's
a great blessing. Almighty God, never gives up. You know, the Apostle Paul was
very conscious of what he was writing. He knew in his life
how the Lord dealt with him and continued to deal with him. And
when he writes to the Ephesians, we come to the end of the second
chapter and we read this from verse 20. He speaks about the
church of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in
whom all the building, no doubt about it, no misfits, all the
building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple of
the Lord. That means as one soul is taken
from this earth, one soul has been made conformable to his
image and fits into this heavenly building part of this building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord
and then he says a wonderful statement in whom ye also doesn't matter does it how Impossible
it may sound. Impossible it may seem. We may
look at ourselves and think, well, I shall never be made conformable. Well, here we have this statement,
whom ye also are builded together. The whole Church of God, builded
together. Complete unity. uniformity for
an habitation of God through the Spirit. You see, it is the
Spirit's work in your life and my life to make us conformable
to His image. You see, that's why we should
really understand and appreciate the great work of the Trinity,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, joined together,
all a complete work in our little lives. It should be a very humbling
meditation, seeing that they are all concerned, and they all
work together, and they all bring about that perfect condition
so that when that work is done then you see there's that need
to place us in that heavenly temple. There was that stone,
those many stones that were wrought upon by those workmen, used by
God. You see the Holy Spirit uses
people today all part of that great and glorious plan to reconcile
us to Almighty God. Well, my friends, it's a wonderful
thought, isn't it? And don't forget here, and the
house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready
before it was brought thither. made ready before it was brought
thither. What a mercy that is. You see,
we won't come down to that time when we leave this earth before
God has made us ready. Now you see, God works, my friends,
at his pace. And you may think, well, I've
got this great difficulty in my life, and it may be Something
like this, an evil heart of unbelief. And that may be a great problem. It may be sticking out. You may
say, well, I don't seem to be able to get past that. There
it is. It's a great obstacle. It's an evil heart of unbelief. My friends, the Lord knows how
and when to deal with that. And it does deal with all those
things. Sometimes it might be pride. Pride's a great evil, isn't it?
It's got so many sharp edges, and they need to be erased, and
they will be erased, perhaps one by one. And it's all part of bringing
us down to a conformable situation. The Lord knows how to deal with
these things. He knows how to remove them out
of our lives. So that perhaps, which at one
time we were very proud of. You see, the Lord brings things
into our lives. They're removed away. They're
taken out of our life. there's no place for them because
they were hindering that being made conformable unto his image
to fit and prepare us for our eternal home now we should be
thankful and we should praise and bless God for it so many
things aren't there you know we may have our own ideas of
how the Lord's going to work We may have our plans. We may
think, I need this, and I want that, and I desire this. My friends,
always remember that God has a perfect plan. And let's remember
that that plan is for His honour and glory. You see, if God worked
to your plan and my plan, you might say, would there be a problem?
Yes, there would. And I'll tell you what that problem
would be. That problem would be that when
that was fulfilled, you would claim some of the glory. And
it might be in a very subtle way. And sometimes, perhaps,
you might come and say, well, I prayed for this and it came
to pass. And you know, if you're not very
careful, you claim some of the glory. You see, God is a jealous
God. And my friends, in the lives
of his children, he will have all the honor and glory. And
so what a mercy it is to realize that he's dealing with us in
love. Sometimes we might be proud of
our religion. You might be proud of what you
do. You might be proud of what you say. Oh, you see, we have
to be very careful, don't we? Because you see, left to ourselves,
left to ourselves, we can so easily fall into every sin. The
Apostle Peter gives us a wonderful example. He thought he was strong. He thought he would never deny
his Lord. He told him so. He would never
deny the Lord. He would in fact die for him. Peter didn't know the evil of
his own heart. But you see, he was brought into
that situation where very clearly he proved the evil of his own
heart. When he fulfilled that which
the Lord spoke to him, the Lord told him, For the cock crow twice,
thou wilt deny me thrice." Well, Peter couldn't believe that,
but he proved it. He proved how weak he was. My
friends, never rely on our own strength. Perhaps we've got some
real sharp corners that need to be knocked off. We may be
relying on our ability to do this, our ability to say this.
Our ability to follow this pattern. We have to come back to what
the Apostle Paul said. This is what he said. I can do
all things. Really, Paul? No. All things through Christ that
strengthens me. What did he do? He gave the honour
to his God. That's the whole thing, my friend,
you see. When the Lord makes us conformable to his image. And that means what it says to
be like Christ, where some of us have needed and do need a
lot of work, a lot of work. Well, we should be very thankful
that we have a God who is very patient with us. He hasn't cut
us off as a camera of the ground. But he deals with us in love
to our souls. And he deals with us in that
way that in his time, everything will be smoothed away. When you think of that, you know,
sometimes we perhaps think of big bits being broken off, but
sometimes there's that which needs smoothing. It looks pretty
good on the surface. And yet you see it needs to be
smoothed down. Those stones, they fitted together
perfectly. My friends, that's how it is
when you and I are taken from this life. There's a perfect
fit into that heavenly building. And it may have needed some rubbing
down. Yes, some bits which perhaps
didn't even seem to be sticking out. The Lord knows what there
is, what needs to be dealt with. You see, He deals with us very
graciously. What a mercy it is when He deals
with us through His Word. Yes, my friends, the Word, His
Word takes off large rough bits, small rough bits. You may come
across it, you may read a verse, and you may recognise the application
to your soul. And realize, wow, that speaks
to me. You see, it's a good thing to
have a heart prepared to receive God's Word. Not to turn away
from it and think, well, that's for someone else. We should always
read the Word as though it's speaking to us. Because then,
you see, we'll prove and we'll find the wonderful benefit from
it. We're able to come and bless
God for this great truth, that each stone made ready before
it was brought thither. Well, it's good sometimes to
be able to examine ourselves and to see whether the Lord is
making us ready. We can realise, yes, well, I'm
so thankful the Lord dealt with that. in my life. I didn't realise
it was there. I didn't realise it was causing
a problem. I didn't realise it was an offence to God. And yet
to think the Lord, in love to our souls, deals with us, to
bring us into that conformable situation, to make us like Christ. It's a very humbling thing. They
realise they're God's hands upon us. He hasn't left us to wander
on in our own way. And it all comes down, doesn't
it, to his love. And again, just to think, in
just conclusion, that he loved us so much that he set before
us that glorious example. And of course, that glorious
example concludes with this. He gave his life so that you
and I might receive life and you and I might possess life. He gave his life that you and
I might live eternally with him. What a sacrifice that was. He gave his life as that great
sacrifice. You and I may be called upon
to make sacrifices sometimes for our God. Perhaps it's those
bits that need honing, need rubbing down. We have to make a sacrifice. We have to give up perhaps that
which we didn't want to. Perhaps it's painful. Well, the
Lord gave himself the most painful death. The great thing is to
know that God is dealing with us and making us ready for our
eternal home and hasn't left us to perish in our sins. What a God we have. What a merciful
God. And so as you, we read perhaps
accounts like this and we think, well, I don't know why there's
such detail about this kind of building. And there's many parts
of the Word of God you might think, why is this being written
like this? Remember, it's God's Word. God's written it for divine
purpose. Don't think that's irrelevant. It may be very relevant. You
may think something is not necessary. You may prove that it is necessary,
perhaps in your or my case. And we can bless God then that
he hasn't cut us off, but in love to our souls, is teaching
us and instructing us and preparing us for our eternal home. And the house when it was in
building was built of stone, made ready before it was brought
thither. so that there was neither hammer, nor ox, nor axe, nor
any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building. Amen.