to think about from verses 12
through to verse 18 particularly to ... it's our thoughts around
verse 14 where the Lord says to Solomon if my people which
are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their lands you will
recall that when I was here a few weeks ago that I spoke from the
6th chapter of the second book of Chronicles and and I spoke
from verse 6 through to verse 11 putting that passage in its
context and to look at the dedication of the temple of the Lord as
I went home after that service a few weeks ago I continued reading
in the 2nd book of Chronicles and these words 2 Chronicles
7 verse 14 stood out on the pages it were to me and I felt that
it would be suitable follow on from what I spoke last time so
just to recall what we spoke about last time we spoke about
the Lord speaking again to Solomon and how that he had chosen Jerusalem
so we looked at three things last time that I have chosen
Jerusalem that my name might be there and have chosen David
to be over my people Israel and then verse 10 the Lord therefore
has performed his word that he hath spoken for I am risen up
in the room of David my father and am set on the throne of Israel
as the Lord promised and have built the house for the name
of the Lord God of Israel. We noted three things last time. First of all, there was the place
Jerusalem. We looked at the city of Jerusalem. It was no coincidence that the
temple was built there because going right back to the time
of Abraham it was a place of sacrifice where Abraham was told
to go and slay his son Isaac but the ram was provided the
sacrifice was provided what a mercy it is when we look at the sacrifice
that the sacrifice for our sins has been provided even in the
Lord Jesus Christ we looked at at the place we looked at the
person David I've chosen David to be over my people Israel and
we talked a little bit about the Lord Jesus Christ being David's
greatest son and how he came from the glories of heaven and
he gave his life a ransom for many and he's over his people
Israel the Israel of God the church of Jesus Christ are referred
in prayer to that verse in Ephesians where it says Christ loved the
church and gave himself for it he also said to the disciples
I will build my church and upon this rock will I build my church
what rock? Peter? no Peter is a stone that's
what the word means is a little pebble brothers the Lord Jesus
Christ is the rock he is the rock where the foundation can
no man lay but that which is laid even the Lord Jesus Christ
and then we went on to look at the posterity that there is that
Solomon was risen up for I am risen up verse 10 of chapter
6 for I am risen up in the room of David my father and I am set
on the throne of Israel and I spoke, if memory serves me right a little
on the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ just as Solomon
was obedient to his father just as Solomon was obedient to his
heavenly father in building the temple so the Lord Jesus Christ
is risen up to be obedient he was obedient in his life and
in his death the theologians speak about the active and the
passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ but in his preaching
in his actions he was active in raising the sick and healing
the sick and raising the dead remember the occasion when when
the Lord Jesus Christ stood in front of the tomb of Lazarus
the stone was rolled away and his active obedience was to call
him Lazarus! come forth! the obedience of
the Lord Jesus Christ just as Solomon was obedient to Almighty
God and also to his late father so the Lord Jesus Christ was
obedient in his activity but he was also obedient in his passive
work in that he laid down his life upon the cross he gave his
life his life was not taken from him he was not executed the Lord
Jesus Christ gave his life a ransom for many as John records in the
10th chapter of his gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ said that
he was the good shepherd and he laid down his life for the
sheep he gave his life a ransom for many and that's where we
finished last time I was here we didn't have time obviously
to consider Solomon's prayer right through to the end of that
chapter there are many petitions but many cases of sin that Solomon
speaks of but he ends each petition with a phrase or a similar phrase
then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place and forgive and
render unto every man according to all his ways whose hearts
thou knowest for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of
men that they may fear thee to walk in thy ways so long as they
live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers and he concludes
his prayer by saying O Lord God turn not away thy face from thine
anointed remember the mercies of David thy servant and of course
whilst he is speaking of himself literally in this prayer because
he is the anointed king of Israel the son of his father who was
also anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel when Saul
was taken away from this present life but it also has that prophetic
interpretation O Lord God turn not away the face of thine anointed
continue to look upon thine anointed and we are reminded how the Lord
Jesus Christ himself was anointed if we turn to Isaiah chapter
61 we read how the Lord Jesus Christ was anointed the spirit
of the Lord God is upon me and remember it was in the synagogue
that the Lord Jesus Christ read these words to the congregation
the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek he has sent me to
bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that are abandoned Zechariah
speaks about the prisoners of hope and what a mercy it is if
the Lord God gives us that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ the
Apostle Paul speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ which is our
hope and we have that hope it's not the hope of the gambler The
gambler will buy his or her lottery ticket on a Saturday
or whenever during the week and they will choose out their number
and they hope. It's indefinite. They're not
certain as to what's going to happen. Whether that £2, I think
it is, that you pay for a lottery ticket and you just waste the
money because you do not know what's going to happen. there's
no certainty but the hope when it speaks of the hope in scripture
it is something that is certain it is something that is concrete
evidence it is without shadow of a doubt that the Lord Jesus
Christ gave his life a ransom for many he is our hope for eternal
life if we were to hope in ourselves if we were to hope in what we
could do it would be futile but we have that hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ because he is the anointed one and so the prisoners
of hope can go forth out of the prison because of what he is
the prison of course of sin the prison of the law the prison
of our unworthiness we go forth to the Lord Jesus Christ and
he welcomes his people to himself and that day will come that glorious
day that eternal day where the Lord Jesus Christ will present
every one of his people to his father and I know I've said it
before but I like to imagine the Lord Jesus Christ standing
as it were on one side before his father and waving his hand
over the whole of the church and saying I and the children
which thou hast given me everyone everyone brought out of the Egypt
of this world just as the children of Israel were brought out of
Egypt not a hoof was left behind nothing pertaining to the children
of Israel was left behind in Egypt everyone came out and the
chosen race were brought into the promised land that land of
hills and valleys that land of plenty and so the Solomon concludes his prayer
by saying O Lord God turn not away the face of thine anointed
turn his face not away but grant that he might continually look
upon his people and have them in his care and keeping and remember
the mercies of David and the apostle in the book of Acts calls
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sure mercies
of David. They are sure and steadfast. David on his deathbed said, although
it be not so with my own house, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and it is certain that the mercy
of David will be upon his people so we move into the 7th chapter
of this 2nd book of Chronicles and it deals first of all with
the sacrifices and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord coming
down The fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled
the house. We can note another occasion
when the fire of God came down upon on this earth in 1 Kings
chapter 18 Elijah is on Mount Carmel and he has challenged
the prophets of Baal to the sacrifices and their God, because he was
no God, failed to light the offering so Elijah repaired the altar
and he said he prayed hear me O Lord hear me that this people
may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned
their heart back again then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed
the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and
licked up the water that was in the trench this was a declaration
of the majesty of God it was a declaration of God being almighty
too many people today bring almighty God down to the span of man and
they think that God is unable to work in this day and generation
that God is dependent upon man that God is almighty He is the
one who rules the waves, he is the one who created this world
and if I believe that God is almighty and if we believe that
God is almighty then there is no problem to believe in that
the world was brought about in 6 days and on the 7th day God
rested 24 hour days it is not an impossibility for Almighty
God to do such a thing He is able to do it but why? because
He is Almighty because He is the Sovereign Sovereign Ruler
of the skies ever faithful ever wise and the writer goes on to
say all my times are in thy hand all events at thy command and
so there is that that declaration on Mount Carmel of the majesty
of God of the sovereignty of God and then here in this chapter
7 of 2 Chronicles in the first verse of the fire coming down
from heaven and consuming the burnt offering and the sacrifices
and the glory of the Lord filling the house we have a picture of
the holiness of God of the wholeness of God that he consumed that
sacrifice and the priests being sinful men like you and I were
unable to minister because the glory of the Lord was there the
glory of the Lord was there they could not stand and minister
in that place because the glory was there. And then if we turn
to the 27th chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we read how the Lord
came down upon this earth again. And Jesus, when he had cried
out again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold,
the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom and the earth did quake and the rocks rent and here we
have a picture of the Lord coming down to bring salvation the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom man
was incapable of producing the access to God only the high priest
could go into the Holy of Holies once a year and that with blood
and to sprinkle the mercy seeds 7 times and to sprinkle the ground
seven times with their blood. But now the veil has been rent
in twain and we have access, we have salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh there is that majesty of God
displayed and the Lord Jesus Christ has finished that work
of salvation. If we turn to Psalm 22 we see
how the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled that word, Psalm 22, the last
verse, the penultimate verse, a seed shall serve him, it shall
be accounted to the Lord for a generation, they shall come
and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born
that he hath done. I purposefully leave out the
last word because the last word in that verse is this they shall come and shall
declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that
he hath done this but that word this is not there in the original
Hebrew in our authorised version you will come across words that
are there in italics and it means that it means that the word was
not there in the original Hebrew but has been put there by the
translators to make things simpler but sometimes being men and they
make things more complicated see the word the Hebrew word
there done it means finished finished and he finished the
work they shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto
a people that shall be born that he hath finished finished what? finished the work of salvation
the work of salvation has been finished by the Lord Jesus Christ
and here That word is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ
when he gave his life upon Calvary's cross, that it is finished he
said, it is finished. And so we have the work completed
by the Lord's appearing. and then from verse 4 to verse
7 there is that sacrificing the record of the sacrifices that
were made on that day then from verse 8 to verse 11 the feast,
the rejoicing thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the
king's house and all that came into Solomon's heart to make
in the house of the Lord and in his own house he prosperously
effected the work was finished And as we look at the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are seeing that the work is finished. It is done,
it is completed. There is nothing more, nothing
left for us to do. Indeed, there never was anything
that we could do to attain salvation. It is all of Christ. The Reformers
were quite right in their slogan of the Reformation, by Christ
alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone, by the Word of God alone
nothing else but Christ and if we have the Lord Jesus Christ
as our Saviour what need we of anything else but to follow Him
and to follow His commandments and then from verse 12 we have
this second appearance of the Lord to Solomon in the night
time In chapter 1, the Lord appeared
to Solomon and in that night did God appear unto Solomon and
said unto him, ask what I shall give thee. And he says, give
me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before
this people. for who can judge this thy people
that is so great and the second time the Lord appeared to Solomon
and he gives him the assurance that his prayer has been heard
and that he would answer that prayer that prayer of course
from verse 14 through to verse 42 of the previous chapter he
says that the Lord has promised that
he will answer that prayer. Just as Solomon brought cases,
certain scenarios before the Lord, so the Lord brings a scenario
before Solomon. If I shut up heaven that there
be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or
if I send pestilence among my people." Then he says, I will
work, I will work to bring them back to thyself. So we come to
this verse, if my people which are called by my name shall humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and
will heal their land. There are five things in this
passage that obviously we don't have time how to consider the
only one clause that I will be considering with the Lord's help
but first of all there is the proposition if my people which
are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways and then the second matter
to notice is the promise then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land and then there is
a perception on the part of Almighty God now my eyes shall be open
and attempt to enter the prayer that is made in this place that
he will hear prayer what a mercy it is that our God is a prayer
hearing and a prayer answering God and the Gods of the heathen
the Gods of this world can neither hear nor can they answer prayer
a few years ago I used to go to Waltingham to what's called
the Grand National Pilgrimage where the Anglo-Catholics would
carry a statue of Mary through the village into the ruins of
the castle and there they would celebrate High Mass on an altar
and they would pray to this statue well this statue is a lump of
plaster of Paris didn't have any ears to hear the statue couldn't
hear neither can the crucifixes of the Roman Catholic Church
neither can the idols of Buddhism and other religions they are
unable to hear they are lifeless why? because they are no gods
at all there is only but one god we read of that god in the
20th chapter of the book of Exodus where we have the 10 commandments
thou shalt have no other gods before me thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above or that is in earth beneath or that is in
the water under the earth it goes on to speak about the perfections
of the living God he is alone the God of heaven
and he looks and he hears a prayer now mine eyes shall be opened
and mine ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place
and then there is the perpetuity for now I have chosen have I
chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever
and my eyes and my heart be there perpetually God is present with
his people what a mercy it is God is present with his people
and then there is in the 5th place the pathway and that's
for thee if thou walk before me as David thy father walked
and do according to all that I have commanded thee and shall
observe my statutes and my judgments then will I establish the throne
of thy kingdom according as I have covenanted with David thy father
saying that I shall not fail being a man to be ruler in Israel
the pathway that the child of God walks so firstly then again
as I said I'm very conscious of the time there is the proposition
if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways and
this is not conditional in the scriptures you will find that
when the word if is used it is not conditional it is consequential
it is consequential of God's promise if my people which are
called by my name and there are four things that the Lord says
about his people they are to humble themselves and then they
are to be people of prayer are there to seek the face of Almighty
God are there to turn away from their wicked ways you remember
how the woman taken in adultery in the 8th chapter of John's
Gospel how the Lord forgave her and sent her away telling her
to live a different life her past
life was gone and it was to be changed and no man could condemn
her but this is the first opening clause that I would like to spend
just the last few minutes this morning if my people you see
this clause this promise of Almighty God is particularly addressed
and as you look in the scriptures you'll find that the invitations
of the gospel are always particularly addressed if you turn to the
55th chapter of Isaiah in the first verse we
see a particular address that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. It is a particular
address. It is addressed to those who
are thirsty. It is addressed to those who
are bankrupt. Come ye, buy and eat. It is addressed
to those who are hungry. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself
deals with those people in that passage of scripture that we
call the Beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are
they that mourn blessed are the meek blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness blessed are the merciful blessed
are the pure in heart blessed are the peacemakers blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness blessed are ye
when men shall revile you it is always particular but who
are these people? these people are set out in the
scriptures of truth they are loved people they are people
who are loved they are loved just as you and I love our children
so God loves his children those given to Christ in covenant bond
he loves his people Jeremiah chapter 31 tells us of the love of God Jeremiah
chapter 31 and verse 3 the Lord hath appeared of old unto me
saying yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore
with loving kindness have I drawn thee and that love is everlasting
it lasts from eternity past before the world was ever created God
loved his people it has manifested in time with the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the call by grace of individual
sinners, and it lasts into eternity, an eternity future. He loves
his people. My people, he says, are loved.
And we know that from that most famous verse in John's Gospel,
John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son that whoso believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life they are loved people and then they are
chosen people if we turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse
8 well verse 7 the Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose
you because you were more in number than any people for you
were the fewest of people but because the Lord loved you because
he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers
hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you out of the house of bondman from the hand of Pharaoh king
of Egypt they are a chosen people he chose this people for himself
and he still has a chosen people if you turn over to the first
chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians we read how that that
God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself so they are my people they are a loved
people My people which are called by my name, they are a people
who are loved and they always have been loved and they will
always be loved by the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. They are a chosen people because
the Lord entered into that oath because he would keep the oath
which he has sworn unto your fathers. They are a purchased
people because we've been redeemed not with corruptible things such
as silver and gold but we've been redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ he shed his precious blood not
ineffectually but effectually he shed his blood so that sinners
might be washed and cleansed in that fountain open for sin
and uncleanness they are a called people they've been called out
of nature's night into the glorious light and liberty of the gospel
I think it's Kent isn't it that says in one of his hymns the
appointed time rolls on apace not to propose but called by
grace to change the mind, renew the will and turn the feet to
Science Hill they are called out of nature's night just as
Paul was called out of nature's night look at those who have
been called out of the of nature's knights, they are
guilty sinners. David, he was a sinner, he was
a murderer, he was an adulterer. The woman of Samaria was an adulterer. Peter was one who denied the
Lord Jesus Christ, Paul was one who persecuted the Church of
Christ. they were all called by grace
the grace of God was set upon them the love of God was set
upon them and they were called out of nature's night with Paul
it was a great cataclysmic event the light shone round about him
and knocked him off his horse and he went blind for a time
with Lydia the Lord worked gently and opened her heart gradually
but notwithstanding the differences in the two people and the differences
between us all. It is the certainty that the
people of God are called by grace. Paul writes to the Galatians
and he says, May it please God who called me by his grace to
reveal his Son in me. Has the Son of God been revealed
in you? Can you say that? that the Son
of God has revealed himself to you. What a mercy it is if that
is so. And then finally, we have the
people of God, if my people which are called by my name, they are
a covenant people. They are covenant people. I've already quoted David's last
words to Samuel 23 and verse 5. although my house be not so with
God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my
desire although he make it not to grow and you see in that verse
if you turn it up three times the words are placed in italic
and if we omit them we can read it he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all and sure for all my salvation and everything
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a complete saviour in
him while our time has gone. I'm, God willing, with you in
a few weeks' time, so with the Lord's help we'll continue considering
this verse. If my people which are called
by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land. Have we been humbled? Have we been brought low? Have
we been brought low to the feet of the Lord Jesus just as Thomas
was? Do we pray? pray without ceasing is the exhortation
of scripture do we seek continually the face of the Lord Jesus and
do we turn from our wicked ways and walk in that direction that
leads upwards not on the broad road that leads to a lost eternity
but that upward path, that narrow path and return from our wicked
ways will the Lord add his blessing to these few thoughts Apposing him this morning is
145 Christ exalted in our song, hymned by all the blood brought