We turn again this morning to
1 Kings chapter 8 and conclude this chapter in which Solomon
the king of Israel stood before the people at the temple of the
Lord, before the altar and dedicated the temple and led the people
in worship and led them in prayer and supplication unto their God. And at the end of praying, we
read from verse 54, And it was so that when Solomon had made
an end of praying all this prayer, and supplication unto the Lord.
He arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on
his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and
blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice,
saying, Blessed be the Lord, that I have given rest unto his
people Israel, according to all that he promised. There have
not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised
by the hand of Moses his servant. And it was so that when Solomon
had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication
unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord,
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
He arose. He arose. As we've seen previously in this
chapter, this account of Solomon's prayer unto the Lord as he kneeled
at the altar. Those things that he prayed,
where he was, who he was, the people gathered, the temple,
all this is a tremendous picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A picture of Christ himself, the Son of God, the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords. As he was upon the altar before
his people, sacrificed as their sacrifice, as their lamb. As
he went, as it were, as the priest, and gave himself as the sacrifice,
slew himself upon the altar and offered his own blood on behalf
of his people. And having done all, having finished
the work, having taken and borne his people's sins and taken the
judgment of God upon those sins, the outpouring of God's wrath
from heaven, having drunk the cup of God's wrath, Having shed
his own blood, having cried out in victory, it is finished. Having given up the ghost, having
been laid in the grave on the third day, Christ rose from the
dead victorious and all his people rose in him. And here, all the
people of Israel gather and watch and listen as their King Solomon
intercedes on their behalf, as he brings them unto their God
at the temple, at the altar. And as he concludes his prayer,
he arose. from before the altar of the
Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. He arose. The work was finished. The work at the altar was done.
In type and figure the Son had been offered. He'd interceded. His prayer upon the cross was
over. His communion with his father
in the hours of darkness had come to an end. His faith was
rewarded. All the sins of all his people
had been blotted out and he arose from before the altar of the
Lord. From kneeling on his knees with
his hands spread up to heaven. What a tremendous picture this
is of the resurrection. of that morning when the women
came to the tomb, when the disciples came to the tomb and found the
stone rolled away and Christ no more laying in the tomb. He
had risen. The angel said unto Mary, whom
seekest thou? He is not here, he is risen.
Christ arose. There was nothing to keep him
in the grave. There was no more sin. There was no more condemnation. There was no more judgment pouring
down from on high. The price had been paid. Ransom
had been sought and the ransom price had been paid. His people
were redeemed. Christ rose victoriously. He rose with a shout, triumphant
over the grave. O death! Where is thy victory? He rose. What a picture this
is. Throughout this prayer, before
the altar, everything that Solomon prayed here, everything he did
in this scene, all the depiction takes us straight to the cross,
straight to Christ, throughout his suffering. Oh, death. Where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ died,
he took that sin that the law condemned, and he took it away. He was nailed to the cross by
the commandment, the law of God, which demanded the death of the
sinner, the death of his people. Their sins nailed him to that
cross. But he paid the price in full,
in its entirety. He suffered for every sin, every
transgression, all the iniquity of His people. He took it all
away. He satisfied justice. He satisfied the law. The soul
that sinneth it must die and He died in the place of His people. He satisfied justice. And He
brought in the everlasting righteousness of God for all His people. So
the grave could not hold Him. Death had no victory. The grave
had no victory. Christ delivered his people and
having delivered them on the third day, he arose. He arose from the altar. He arose
from the grave. His work upon the cross was finished. His work upon the altar was done. He arose. O believer, has God
given you faith to see Him, to behold Him upon the cross, to
hear His prayers on your behalf, to see His blood washing away
your sins, to hear His seven cries from the cross, to hear
His shout of victory, it is finished. Have you seen Him arise on your
behalf? And have you risen in Him? Have you seen the burden of your
sin roll away? And has God lifted you up by
faith in Christ? Have you arisen in Him? Did you
arise? Have you ascended into glory
in Christ by faith, into the presence of God? Washed in His
blood, justified, sanctified, righteous in Christ alone. Yes, he arose. In verse 55, secondly,
we read, and he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel
with a loud voice. Yes, Christ arose and he ascended
into glory. And from there, he preaches his gospel. Solomon
stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice.
Christ has gone up with a shout victorious. From on high today
he preaches his gospel. He makes it known. I have made
an end of transgressions. I have finished the work. I have
brought in righteousness. Every day, Christ declares His
glory from on high. He, as it were, stands to preach.
To preach by His Spirit, to preach through His Word, to preach by
those whom He sends with it, to preach from on high a finished
and accomplished salvation. There is no more to be done.
There is nothing demanded from the hands of men. There are no
works required. There is but faith. There is
nothing to be done but to look and to behold. The people here
did nothing. All was from Solomon. He was
the one at the altar. He was the one that prayed. He
was the one that knelt down on his knees with his hands spread
up to heaven. He was the one who arose here.
He was the one that stands and cries out with a loud voice.
He offered on behalf of his people. It was he who had built the house,
the temple. All is the King. All is the work
of the Son and the people just look on. What of you? Has God gathered you with His
people to look on, to behold the Lamb of God? All ye ends
of the earth, look unto Me and be ye saved. Has God brought
you by faith to just look to Christ, the Son, the King, as
He arose from the altar? as he stood to preach his gospel,
as he's standing before you today, on high, declaring a finished
salvation. Have you ears to hear how easily
our hearts would lead us to wander by, how swallowed up we are by
the darkness, by the vanity of this world, How blind we are. How foolish we are. How uncaring. How blind to our own condition,
our own hearts. That we are desperately needy
of salvation. We have hearts that are desperately
wicked. We need salvation, we need to
be cleansed, we need to be washed and yet in by nature sin is so
great that we have no understanding, we can't see our need. We're
born, we grow up, the years of our lives go by and no matter
what trouble comes upon us we just go through life stumbling
towards the day of our death blind until God comes and stands
in our way. until God brings us to an end
of ourselves. Here the people of Israel looked
on as their King stood before them. There was a day when the
Apostle Paul, Saul, went about persecuting the church, seeking
to put those that followed Christ to death Such was his heart,
such was his enmity. And he was going about it in
his own strength. And there was a day when he journeyed
to Damascus until he met with Christ in the way. And as it
were, Christ stood before him and he fell down to the ground.
And Christ spoke with a loud voice from heaven. It takes that
to save a sinner. Whether it's on a road to Damascus,
whether it's here before the temple, whether it's in quiet,
somewhere in the darkness, wherever it may be, ultimately God must
stand in our way. As we journey in the darkness
in our own blindness, he must stand before us and declare his
gospel unto us for us to hear. As he come before you. Oh that he would. Oh that he
would come before each of us. For left to ourselves we just
journey on in the darkness. Unto destruction. But praise
God that Christ finished the work. and he ever lives to make intercession
for his people. Every day he is standing and
preaching his gospel. Every day he's making it known. Through the scriptures, through
the preaching of the word, in the testimony, in creation around
us, every day he speaks from on high. Behold the Lamb of God. And what does he declare? Blessed
be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel according
to all that he promised. There have not failed one word
of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses
his servant. What does he preach? What does
he declare? Blessed be the Lord that have
given rest unto his people Israel. Do you know this rest which God
promised by the hand of Moses, which Christ brought in for all
his people? All that he promised has been
fulfilled. Christ has given rest eternal
everlasting rest unto his people. He's done all the work that they
may rest in him. That they may come to an end
of their own striving to climb up to heaven by their own strength,
their own wisdom, their own righteousness. that we may be brought to an
end of our own efforts in religion, our own efforts to save ourselves,
our own efforts to justify ourselves, our own efforts to sanctify ourselves,
our own efforts to approve ourselves before God and men, our own efforts,
our own wisdom, our own will. All that we do gets us nowhere. All the works of man simply boost
his pride and boost his guilt. They get him nowhere. And yet
all our religion is just that, works. Striving to climb up to
heaven, striving to build our own towers into heaven, striving
to justify ourselves before God striving to come unto God with
a Lord Lord I've done this in thy name and that in thy name
striving to be fought well of by others and it's all just filthy
rags of iniquity self-righteous self-glorification that with
which we can set ourselves up above others I've done this when
they haven't why won't they do this I thank thee Lord that I'm
not as these men. It just makes us all guilty Pharisees. Worse than a publican. Yet that's
all that man's religion is. Whatever name it comes under,
whatever form it takes, all it is is men working and striving
to make themselves right, to climb up to heaven another way. without bowing down to Christ
alone, without resting in Him. By nature we are so at enmity
with God, we're so at enmity with His Son that we will not
believe, we will not rest in Christ, we will go another way. That ultimately is our problem. That ultimately is what sin is,
is what the fall brought in. It's about who's on the throne. We will not bow to the king. We will not bow to the son. We will not hear Solomon before
us. We will not hear Christ as he
stands before us. We will shut our ears to his
gospel. We will do whatever we can to
turn away from it, to close our ears to it, to find another way
of saving ourselves because we will be on the throne. And how
much effort man puts into trying to escape the truth that salvation
is of the Lord. only of God, only by grace, only
through Christ. We'll do all that we can to find
another way, another God, another Saviour. And all our striving
takes us further and further away from God. further and further
away from the gospel, further and further away from the truth,
further and further away from resting in Christ alone. From waiting upon Him. Oh how we must be up and doing. How often in religion people
will say, well you can't just wait. I must be doing something,
God would have me do this, God would have me do that. When what
God would have us do is wait upon the Lord. When what God
wants us to do is rest in Christ alone. When what we should do
is look unto him alone for salvation. We will always keep turning and
saying I must do this, I must think this, I must try this.
and we will not wait and we will not rest and we will not believe
until Christ comes and stands before us and preaches his word
by his spirit into our hearts and we fall down upon our face
before him and cry out, God, be merciful unto me, the sinner. when He sets His grace upon us
and brings us to an end of ourselves, an end of all our striving, an
end of all our wisdom, an end of all our will and our works,
and brings us to cry out, God, be merciful unto me, the sinner. Lord, I'm guilty, I'm vile, I
can do nothing. Cleanse me, wash me, have mercy
upon me. When He brings us there by His
grace, by His mercy, in His love, then He leads us into His rest. Blessed be the Lord that hath
given given rest unto his people Israel according to all that
he promised. There have not failed one word
of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses
his servant. God promised he'd send a saviour. He promised he'd send Christ
the Lord. He promised he'd make, he would
make an end of transgressions. He promised that he would be
the one Lamb of God to sacrifice. He promised rest. And all that
he promised in Christ came to pass. As God brought you into
this rest. Fourthly, in verse 57, we see
the consequence of this. If Christ has come unto you,
having finished the work, having risen again, having stood before
you and declared his gospel, if he's led you into his rest,
then you will be brought to dwell with him as one people with him
forever. The Lord our God be with us as
he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us, nor forsake
us. We've spent all our lives outside
of Christ trying to keep away from him. As unbelievers that's
all we do. We try not to hear. We try not
to think about the gospel. about the truth, though all around
us tells us it's true. We can see this in the world
around us. We can see the sin and the corruption
of man. We can see our own sin, really,
if we're honest. We can see the frailty of life,
the mortality, how brief life is. We can see the suffering
that sin has brought upon this world. We can see the creation
all around us. We can see the evidence of God's
creation. We see so much of the truth crying
out unto us through the world around us and our conscience
within. And if ever we hear the gospel
preached or the scriptures read, we know they're true. But we
fight against them, we resist them. We resist every testimony
because we don't want to be in the presence of God. We don't
want to hear his voice because it would slay us. Because we're
sinners. And we can't dwell in the presence
of a holy God. The truth would slay us, we know
we're guilty before him. So we flee from his presence
as Adam and Eve fled. And we try to cover up our guilt
with our own self-righteousness. We make ourselves garments from
fig leaves. And we try to strive to heaven
and to eternity and to immortality through our own efforts. But
we don't want to come unto God, unto Christ. We don't want to
be with Him. Until the Gospel delivers us
and leads us into rest. And then we don't want to be
apart from Him. We don't want to be anywhere
where God isn't. We want to be with Him, we want
to know Him, we want to behold Him, we want to hear Him, we
love Him. We love Him whom our souls once
hated. And He comes unto us in the Gospel
as Solomon declares here, the Lord our God be with us. As He was with our fathers, let
Him not leave us nor forsake us. And so Christ echoes this
to His people as He leads them into His rest, He promises unto
them, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. as we read in Hebrews. Let your
conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things
as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. If you're mine, if I've bought
you with my blood, if you're my bride, you're mine forever. I've brought you into rest. I've
brought you into my house. I've brought you into eternal
glory. I will be with you forever. Let
the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let
him not leave us nor forsake us. Oh, what truths Solomon presents
unto us here. Fifthly, in verse 58, we learn
just who God is. That He may incline our hearts
unto Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments
and His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers,
And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before
the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he
maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel
at all times, as the matter shall require, that all the people
of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is
none else. that all the people of the earth
may know that the Lord is God and that there is none else how do all the people of the
earth come to know that the Lord is God and that there is none
else by nature they deny it by nature they turn and run from
him In the darkness of their sin, they rebel against this.
But there's coming a day when all will bow before Christ. As we read in Philippians, at
the feet of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Every one of us will
have to confess that he is Lord. Every one of us will be brought
to see that this is the truth. And we will be brought to see
it. Because Christ finished the work of salvation upon the altar
of the Lord. Solomon praised that our hearts
would be inclined unto him to walk in all his ways, to keep
his commandments, his statutes, his judgments which he commanded
our fathers. How can that be? How can a sinner's heart be inclined
unto God? How can they walk in His ways?
How can they keep His commandments, His statutes, His judgments?
None of us have, none of us ever have. None of us is able to. The law commands and the people
of Israel when Moses came down from the mount with that law
said all that the Lord has commanded that we will do and they fell
on the very first day. They had fallen into sin when
God was giving Moses the law in the mount. They could not
abide to hear the voice of the Lord, the thunders and the lightnings
upon the mount. and all their promises to keep,
all that he commanded them lay in tatters as every one of them
proved themselves to be an adulterer, covetous, a thief, a liar, an
idolater, a murderer. Every one of us is just the same,
every thought of our heart is only evil continually. And how
can our hearts be inclined towards Him to walk in all His ways and
to keep all His commandments, His statutes, His judgments,
only one way? Through Christ our Saviour who
did it all. Through Christ our Saviour who
offered Himself up in the place of His people as their substitute. Through Christ our Saviour who
brought in the righteousness of God for a people that had
no righteousness. Through Christ our Saviour that
took away all our sins. Through Christ our Saviour that
took away our stony heart and gave us a heart of flesh. Through
Christ our Saviour that finished the work of salvation. and causes
us in Him alone to have hearts that rejoice and love the Lord,
to have hearts that walk in all His ways and keep His commandments. We can't do it in ourselves and
we've never done it in the flesh. But in the new man in Christ,
by grace, in Him alone, every believer is 100% righteous before
God. They're perfect through and through.
They've kept all His ways, all His commandments, all His statutes
and all His judgments. Because He finished the work
on their behalf and He ever lives to make intercession for us.
and it's because of His work, His great salvation that all
His people will be brought into glory and all the world will
gather round on that last day and even those that sought Him
not, even those that rejected Him, even those that are still
in their sin will be brought to see that He is God and there
is none else. Every knee shall bow. We will bow now. By His grace
and His mercy we will bow the other side of the grave under
His justice that all the people of the earth may know that the
Lord is God and that there is none else. Oh that God would
show us this by grace in Christ now. inner saviour who offered himself
as our sacrifice and built the house of God of which his people
are a part. Sixthly, we consider the sacrifice
of Christ and the dedication of his house. Let your heart
therefore be perfect with the Lord our God to walk in his statutes
and to keep his commandments as at this day. And the King
and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before the Lord. 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 hallow 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 of the
peace offerings. Oh what sacrifice Christ offered
up. Here we see The great sacrifice
is that Solomon, the king, the son, offered on this day. But that's but a picture. A picture
of that one sacrifice for sin forever that Christ gave when
he gave his blood. Perfection comes but one way. Let your heart therefore be perfect
with the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his
commandments as at this day. How? Through the sacrifice of
Christ once forever. It's his death, it's his offering,
it's his blood that makes us perfect. What an offering, what
a sacrifice, what a sight. As the people looked on on this
day as Solomon offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, as this
great sacrifice was offered, as all this blood was shed, what
a sight this was! But this is nothing in comparison
to the sacrifice that Christ gave upon the cross once forever
for his people. What a sacrifice! What a Saviour
and how His house was built. What a conclusion to the building
of His house when Christ offered up His life upon the cross. All His people united unto Him
as He took their sins, as He bore their sins in Him, as they
suffered and died in Him, as they were crucified with Him.
His house was built once and forever. built out of every stone,
built out of every perfectly crafted stone, every child of
God, chosen by God the Father from before the foundation of
the earth, His elect, His chosen, His royal priesthood, all fit
together, one in Christ. Oh what a house was built. What
a temple there was. That temple was destroyed upon
the cross but as Christ promised in three days I will build it
again and the day he rose they all rose in him all his people
rose in him and that temple rose up built and glorious magnificent. filled with His people, filled
with the glory of God, filled with the salvation of Jesus Christ,
filled with His grace, His mercy and love. Oh what a sight this
temple was on this day as the people gathered around it, the
gold shone in the light of the sun. But oh what a sight this
temple which is Christ is. What a temple, what a house,
what a people. What perfection in Jesus Christ
has God brought you into his house. If he has, lastly, seventhly,
he will bring you unto a great feast. Verse 65, And at that
time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great
congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of
Egypt before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even
fourteen days. on the eighth day he sent the
people away and they blessed the king and he went and went
unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness
that the lord had done for david his servant and for israel his
people what a feast this was seven days and seven days perfection
twice told all israel with him a great congregation spread from
the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. What a sight
this was! What a gathering! What a feast! But nothing compared to that
gathering that there will be when all God's people are gathered
into the marriage supper of the Lamb. When all that multitude
for whom Christ died are gathered before Him. perfect in him, righteous
in him, what a marriage supper there will be. What a sight John
saw in Revelation when he was shown these things. Revelation
19 he writes, He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which
are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith
unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Has God brought you to
this place, to this altar, to this Savior, to this sacrifice,
to this resurrection? Has He brought you to this gospel,
into this rest? Has He brought you unto the Father
with a people who see and know that He is God and there is none
else? Has He brought you to behold
the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, His blood shed on your behalf? Has He made you one with His
people in His temple? Has He brought you to this feast?
Has He brought you to see that salvation is of grace alone,
through faith alone, by Christ alone? Has He brought you with
all Israel to behold the King, as he stood, as he arose from
before the altar, having knelt with his hands spread up to heaven.
Have you seen Christ upon the altar for you? Have you seen
his blood shed for you? Have you seen him arise for you? as he stood with his gospel before
you when you went on the way, seeking to put him and his people
as it were to death, seeking to silence the truth, seeking
to run from God as he come unto you and stood in your way, as
he by grace washed you in his blood and led you into rest and
brought you into his house unto a great feast. O may he come
unto us this day and preach this gospel, this saviour, this salvation,
this Christ. Amen. We'll close by singing hymn number
125.