In 1 Kings 7 from verse 13 towards
the end we read of how Hiram and Solomon furnished the temple. How they furnished it with the
treasures that they made. Hiram made of brass two pillars
and a sea upon twelve oxen set upon ten bases with ten lavers. He decorated these things with
above the pillars he made nets upon which hung pomegranates.
On the bases he set wheels with axles like chariot wheels. On the borders that were between
the ledges were lions, oxen and cherubim. And he made all from
brass. And Solomon made from gold all
the vessels that pertain to the house of the Lord, the altar
of gold, the table of gold whereupon the showbread was, and the candlesticks
of pure gold. flowers, the lamps, the tongs
of gold, the bowls, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, the senses
of pure gold and he made gold hinges for the doors of the house,
for the door of the most holy place and for the door of the
house, of the temple. And then we read in verse 51,
so was ended all the work that King Solomon made for the house
of the Lord. Solomon brought in the things
which David his father had dedicated even the silver and the gold
and the vessels did he put among the treasures of the house of
the Lord. The treasures of the house of
the Lord. What treasures these were that
were made. What meaning each sets forth
what riches are displayed here not earthly riches not merely
the physical things that they were but those spiritual riches
that they depict all set forth the work of salvation all set
forth the glory of God in his house and in his people in how
he delivers them from their sin, in how he brings them into his
presence, in how he takes away their sin in judgment, in how
there is sacrifice on the sinner's behalf, in how the sinner is
washed and purified by water and by the blood of the Lamb
of God. Oh the treasures that are God's
peoples as found in the temple which is Christ himself. As Solomon brought in the things
which David his father had dedicated even the silver and the gold
and the vessels did he put among the treasures of the house of
the Lord. What treasures these are But how they set before us the
contrast between the treasures of God, as seen here in the temple,
and as set forth in Christ the Saviour. Everlasting treasures,
eternal treasures, glorious treasures, treasures that cannot rust, treasures
that do not decay, treasures that cannot be destroyed, treasures
that will never be taken away, everlasting treasures. How they
depict these treasures in contrast to the treasures in this world
and the treasures which men seek and the treasures upon which
our hearts are set. Ask yourself the question, where
is your treasure? Or for what treasure do you live? What do you treasure? What do
you seek? What do you desire? Where is
your heart set? Where is your mindset? What are
you preoccupied with? What are you seeking? Into what
are your energies set? Where are you heading? What do
you hunger for? What do you desire? Where is
your treasure? Is it on earth? Or is it in heaven? Christ says, for where your treasure
is, there your heart is also. If your treasure, or the treasure
you desire to have, or that which you seek, is upon the earth,
then that's where your heart is. But if God has given you
a heart to seek treasure above, then you'll care less For that
which is below, that which can be taken away, that which perishes, will desire heavenly treasure,
everlasting treasure. Truly by nature we are consumed
with the treasures of this world. Not just the physical treasures,
not just money and things that money can buy and things that
we can own. Not just houses and cars and
property and clothes and riches and all the things that money
can buy in this world, but we're consumed with all those things
that men treasure in their hearts. We're consumed with a desire
and a hunger for knowledge and for wisdom. and for understanding. We're consumed with a desire
for acclaim and position and status. We're consumed with a
desire for the praise of men, for reputation, for recognition,
for love, for pleasure. We want to be respected, we want
to be looked up to, we want others to think well of us. We're intoxicated
by these things. They take up all of our thoughts,
whether we're seeking these treasures or enjoying these treasures,
they take up our minds and our attention. Where your treasure is, your
heart is also. But Solomon looked beyond the
treasures upon the earth. Solomon looked up into heaven's
glory. Solomon looked in the building
of this temple and the furnishing of this temple to those things
which were outside of this world. outside of time, beyond that
which could be seen and tasted and touched and felt with the
natural senses, he looked unto God, he looked into eternity,
he looked unto God's salvation, he built a house for the Lord
upon the earth which was a picture of that everlasting eternal house
of God in heaven's glory. He built with Hiram the pillars
at the entrance to the house. There was this sea set upon 12
oxen, depicting the cleansing, the washing, the purification
of the sinner, all made of brass. depicting the molten work, the
fires of God's fury in a furnace, the judgment of God by which
sinners are delivered from their sins, by which sin is purged. He saw the glory of God's house,
the pictures of Eden's paradise, the flowers, the cherubims, the
palm trees. He saw the lion of the tribe
of Judah. He saw the oxen depicting the
sacrifice. He saw the pomegranates, the
fruit, the riches, the paradise of God. He saw the gold, the purity,
he saw heaven's treasure and he depicted heaven's treasure
in all these things all that point to Christ and his people
in him for all that furnished the temple is a depiction of
God's people gathered in Christ, in his house, furnishing his
house, one with Christ in his glory. Hidden Christ, covered by Christ,
covered by his blood, taken out of the world, taken out of Egypt,
put into Christ, hidden him as his treasures. As we read in
Colossians 2, Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. Where is your treasure? Where
is your heart? Has God given you a heart a hunger,
a desire for this treasure which is everlasting, this treasure
which can never be destroyed, this treasure which can never
be taken away, this heavenly treasure which is hid in Christ
alone. Consider briefly some of these
treasures that were built in the temple. Hiram, This great
craftsman, a worker in brass who was filled with wisdom and
understanding and cunning to work all works in brass, he came
to King Solomon and wrought all his work. He cast two pillars
of brass of 18 cubits high apiece and a line of 12 cubits did compass
either of them about. He made two chapters of molten
brass to set upon the tops of the pillars. made these two great
pillars at the entrance to the temple. All his works, the two
pillars, the sea set upon twelve oxen, the ten bases, the ten
levers, were all wrought in brass, molten brass. All a picture, a reminder of
the wrath of God. that burns against sin. All a
reminder to the Jews of that brazen serpent that was lifted
up to which they looked to be delivered from their sin. All a reminder that their Savior,
that their salvation stood in one who would go into a furnace
on their behalf, one who would enter into the fires for his
people, one who would be consumed as a sacrifice, one upon whom
the wrath of God would burn and melt. All these things were of
molten brass. Those fires, that wrath should
come down upon you and I. We are the ones who deserve this
judgment. None of these things would be
if it were not for the sin of God's people, the iniquity the
depravity, the natural hatred we have towards God and his kingdom,
his son, his gospel, his ways, his works, his house, his temple,
the riches found therein. It should be us who are sacrificed. It should be us who suffer for
our sins. But the glory of this temple,
the glory of all that Hiram made from brass is that there is another
who has entered in on our behalf. Another who has gone into the
holy place on the behalf of his people. Another who has been
consumed as a sacrifice under the fires of God's wrath and
has shed his blood and has entered into the holy of holies and sprinkled
that blood upon the mercy seat. Another who has wrought salvation
and finished the work and come out victorious. There is a priest,
a high priest who has entered into the holy place on the part
of his people, sprinkled his own blood and washed away every
sin. He has taken the judgment away.
He has consumed the fires of God's wrath. And he comes out
preaching peace. Peace. These pillars depict him. He
stands holding up his house. He stands tall, victorious. having conquered sin, death and
hell. He stands as the gateway, the
doorway into his house unto salvation. I am the door, he says. He stands
as a great pillar of truth, a declaration to this world that here is salvation. He stands today in his gospel,
as a gateway to salvation, as the entrance to his temple, as
two great pillars at the doorway of his temple. And every time
he's preached, every time he declares his salvation, he declares
to this fallen world, here is hope, here is salvation, here
is peace, here is the answer to all the troubles you see below. And what does man do? What have you done? What have
we done when Christ has been declared unto us, when he's been
set forth, when we see him on the cross crucified for sinners,
when we see him standing victorious, when we hear his cry, it is finished. When we see these two pillars
of molten brass, what have we done? We've passed by. We've walked on unmoved. or we've raged in response. Crucify him, crucify him. Away with this man, we will not
have him to reign over us. He stands in his gospel declaring, is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by? Is that you today? passing by. One more time. Your eyes shut, your ears closed,
your heart a heart of stone. Is that you? Is that you? Are we unmoved by these things?
Are we so consumed with this world, so consumed with our ambition,
so consumed with self, that the gospel washes over us. This world
is in tumult. In our day at this hour, we hear
of wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, violence. One nation is at war
with another nation, the world wonders whether war will spread. There is famine, there is tragedy,
there is hatred between one people and another, there's no union,
there's no unity between the peoples. Every nation is divided,
there is so much hatred, there is so much chaos. There is so much unhappiness
and people talk about all these things and they wonder what the
answer is and one says we need to do this and we need to do
that and the government should do this and the government should
do that and they wonder about how they shall save this world.
They talk about the climate and the catastrophe that's coming
upon them and what should we do, oh the urgency of it and
the Savior is there already. He's already come into this world. He's already wrought salvation. He's already finished the work
and he stands every day in his gospel as two pillars at the
doorway to the temple, at the entrance to the kingdom. and
he declares to this world his salvation, what he did to deliver
his people from their sins. Here's the answer. This world
will be burnt up. This world is but for a moment. Here is salvation. Here is life. Here is righteousness. Here is
peace. we run around in the darkness
as fools seeking another way, another savior, seeking to save
ourselves when we're perishing. And yet despite all our folly,
despite all the hardness of man's heart, Despite all his craving
of treasure on earth, Christ in long-suffering mercy, peace
and grace, comes again and again and again and stands before his
house and declares his mercy and says, come unto me, all ye
that labour. and are heavy laden. Sinner,
come unto me. Come unto me and be cleansed. Wash yourself in the sea before
my house. Wash yourself in my blood. See my salvation. Come drink
of a cup of a water. We're in his eternal life. Come
eat of my flesh. Come drink my blood. Come live
forever. Come take of my treasures, which
can never be taken away. Oh, has God given you ears to
hear? Has he brought you to the entrance
of this house, of this kingdom? Has He given you eyes to behold
the Saviour? The Saviour who, like that brazen
serpent, went into the fires on the part of His people. He
overcame all that was against them. He overcame their sin. He overcame the wrath of sin.
He overcame death. He overcame the enemies of God. He overcame the devil. He overcame
Satan. He overcame every obstacle to
salvation. He overcame and he brought his
people into life. Two pillars. Here I am made at
the entrance to the temple. In Revelation 3 verse 12 we read,
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my
God, and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him
the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which
is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God,
and I will write upon him my new name. Who can overcome? Who can overcome? Only Christ. We can't overcome. We can't overcome
our sin. We can't overcome the iniquity
within. We can't overcome our selfish
desires. We can't help ourselves. Sin
overcomes us. We're captive to it. We can't
help ourselves. We can't give ourselves wisdom
and understanding. We can't make ourselves believe. We hear the gospel. We can hear
it a thousand times. We can read the scriptures from
cover to cover and we can't make ourselves believe. We can't overcome
the unbelief within our hearts. We can't overcome the blindness
that's within. We can't overcome our deafness. We can't overcome the deadness
of our souls. We're captive to it. We're slaves
in Egypt. And yet God says him that overcome
if I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Well if we
can't overcome another must do it for us. And thank God he has. Christ overcame all for his people. He went before them he offered
himself as their sacrifice. He was the ox and he was the
bull offered for them he was a lamb of God slain on their
behalf. He was consumed in the fires
that they could not withstand. He bore their sins. He was made
their sin. He bore their iniquity. He was
slain that they should live. And what treasures He has given
them in the place of their sin. What treasures are theirs in
Him? What glory awaits them? O have you tasted and seen? O
has He made His treasure known unto you? O has He made His love
and His mercy and His grace unto sinners known unto you? Do you
know Him and the power of His resurrection? Here I am went
on to make one see this great sea, this great basin, this great
ocean as it were before the entrance to the temple on the east side
where the sun would rise and shine down upon it. A picture of the entrance to that
garden made in the east of Eden. Here is the way in, here is a
way to be cleansed, here is a sea of cleansing stood upon 12 oxen
oxen raised to be sacrificed, a picture of Christ sacrificed
for His people. Here's salvation. Here's the
way of salvation. Here's the need to be cleansed
of our sins. And oh, how this points to that
temple of God above and His heavenly kingdom. We read in Revelation
in two places, chapter 4, and before the throne there was a
sea of glass like under crystal. And in the midst of the throne
and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind. And again in Revelation 15, and
I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire. and them that
have gotten the victory over the beast and over his image
and over his mark and over the number of his name stand upon
the sea of glass having the harps of God. Oh what we see pictured
here in this sea that Hiram built out of molten brass. Here's a
sea, a sea of glass before the throne of God, before the entrance
to his house. A sea of glass mingled with fire. Here I made it out of brass.
It took fire to make this sea. Took the wrath of God poured
down from heaven to bring this cleansing, to bring this purification
for his people. It took fire. A picture of God's
judgment. Judgment that we saw in Noah's
day when the waters of God rained down from heaven above, when
men were drowned in the seas of God's wrath, when the seas
of their sin destroyed them. And a reminder that there is
coming another judgment where this world will be consumed by
fire. But those that have gotten the
victory shall be raised up, raised up above the sea, raised up above
the fire, and brought to stand before the Lord upon the sea
of glass, praising his name with harps of God. Has he brought
you through the judgment? Has he brought you to stand upon
this sea? in His presence, knowing that
one suffered that wrath for you, knowing that one went through
judgment for you, knowing that He took your sin away, that He
was melted on your behalf, that He felt the heat, the fires of
God's wrath, that He purified you through his death, through
his suffering, through his great love and mercy to you. Do you see these ten oxen were set
upon ten bases that Hiram fashioned and he made
ten levers. The bases are underneath, underneath
the oxen They're hidden away as it were, they're at the bottom,
they're not the glorious thing that we see set up on high. And
yet they're vital. And God's house is built from
all those that he's chosen. They're all bricks, they're all
stones built and fashioned in his house, they're all put together
just where he would have them placed. And Christ is the one
that stands on high, that great pillar, that great doorway into
the house. Every one of God's children are
there, built in his temple, a part of his body, but he's the head. For God have chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world. And things which are
despised have God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring
to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his
presence. If you're brought to see these
treasures, if you're brought to see the meaning of the pillars,
the sea, the oxen, the bases, the lavers, the gold, the treasures
of the house, then you'll know that you're base, that you're
nothing, that you're at the feet of Jesus, that you happily, willingly
accept the lowest seat just to be in his presence. just to look
up and to see the glorified Savior who suffered all for you. All
these things that Hiram built, that Solomon built upon earth
are pictures of that which is eternal. But in themselves they
were but physical. They are no more. They have been
taken away. And even in the days of the scriptures. These things were destroyed and
taken. They were taken into captivity.
In Jeremiah 52 we read, also the pillars of brass that were
in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen seed
that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans break, and
carried all the brass of them to Babylon. All these things were taken up
into Babylon with God's people at that time taken into captivity
to one day be delivered again. A reminder that by nature in
this world all the time that we're in this world even as believers
even if we have the temple of God in Christ We're so easily
taken into captivity by our flesh, by our sin, by the world. So easily do the Chaldeans come
upon us and break us and take us up into Babylon. So easily
are we swept aside. So easily are we brought into
captivity. Oh how hard our hearts are by
nature. Oh how the flesh wars against
the spirit. But oh, what a great Saviour
we have, who even when we're lost in Babylon, He'll come and
bring us again, and bring us back, and build His temple anew. Oh, how He brings His people
back into His presence, no matter how much they may fall, no matter
how cold their heart may become, no matter how weak they may be
in the flesh, His mercy is everlasting. We read in addition of all those
things that Solomon had added to the temple. He built an altar
of gold, the table of gold upon which the showbread was, candlesticks
of gold, flowers, lamps, tongs, bowls, snuffers, basins, spoons,
censers and hinges. Twelve of them. How pure were those things, those
riches he made of gold. How he took all that was in the
tabernacle of old, all that respected the worship of God, the altar,
the table, the candlesticks, the flowers, lamps, tongs, bowls,
snuffers, basins, spoons, sensors. How he took all these things
and brought them into the temple and furnished it richly. How
these things picture. the work of salvation in Christ
which is pure which is perfect which is made of pure gold it
cannot be measured we read of the work of Hiram the brass things
that he made that Solomon left all the vessels that Hiram made
of brass because they were exceeding many. Neither was the weight
of the brass found out. He never measured it. There was
so much. A picture of the treasures of
God that it cannot be measured. It's immeasurable. His treasures
are eternal, they're everlasting, they're infinite. They cannot
be fathomed, like the love of God and the mercy of God and
the grace of God, you cannot measure it. It's everlasting,
it has no beginning and no end. It cannot be comprehended. They're eternal treasures. So was ended all the work that
King Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought
in the things which David his father had dedicated. Even the
silver and the gold and the vessels that he put among the treasures
of the house of the Lord. King Solomon brought the father's
things. He brought David's things into
the house of the Lord. All the things which David his
father had dedicated. What do these picture? What do
these things of David picture? Solomon's father, the father's
things, the king's things, David's things, what are they? They're
treasures. Consider David's things, consider
his treasures. We read of them in the New Testament,
in so many places. We read of David's son. Matthew
1.1 and multiple other references refer to thou son of David, that
Christ is the son of David, of the household and the lineage
of David, he was David's greater son. Christ was brought as the
treasure of God's house into the temple. The book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He's the
treasure of God's house. Is he your treasure? Christ is
also referred to as David's seed. John 7, 42, he is the seed of
David. He's the son of God and the seed
of David. He is also, Revelation 5.5, the
root and the offspring, Revelation 22.16, of David. He's the root of David. He's
the offspring. He's both David's creator and
Lord, and he's David's son. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand, David writes. He is his root, and he
is his offspring. He is his Lord. David's Lord. The Lord said unto
my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Another of David's things is
his house. Christ was born of the house
of David. In Luke's gospel in chapter 1
we read of the house of David. We read in chapter 1. In the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city
of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose
name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name
was Mary. Christ was born. of David's house. He was born in David's city,
Bethlehem. We read of David's city, Luke
2.4. We read in Acts chapter 15 of
David's tabernacle. The tabernacle was brought by
Solomon into the temple, all those vessels, all those things
he made of gold, all that was done in the tabernacle, the altar,
the table of gold, all the ornaments, all the bowls, all the censers
were all brought into the God's house, the temple, David's tabernacle. Solomon brought David's kingdom
into this house. Mark 11 10 refers to David's
kingdom. Christ came in David's kingdom. Another of David's things is
his throne, Luke 1 32. Christ sat upon David's throne. In Revelation 3 we read of David's
key. There's a way into this house.
There's a door that leads into this house. There's an entrance
to this house. And there's a key that opens.
And you and I cannot open. We do not have a key like this
by nature. But the son has brought the father's
key into his house that he may open the door to any that knock. that he may open the door into
life for his people. We read in Acts 13 of David's
sure mercies. That which Solomon brought into
this house, which will lead you and I into it if God is pleased
to open our eyes to see, are his sure mercies, his love, his
grace, his compassion. That is what brought David to
a knowledge of this salvation. That is what brought David to
want to build this house. That is why Solomon, his son,
built it. They knew the sure mercies of
David. They knew God's sure mercies
unto them in Jesus Christ, their Savior. And finally, twelfthly,
We read in Acts 1.16 of David's mouth. David's speech. What does David say unto us in
all these things? That great psalmist, that one
that spake so wonderfully of Christ his Saviour in so many
places, what do his things that Solomon brought into the temple,
his treasures depict? What do the silver and the gold
depict? What do David's son, his seed,
his root and offspring, his Lord, his house, his city, his tabernacle,
his kingdom, his throne, his key, his sure mercies and his
mouth tell us? They tell us in the gospel that
Christ is the Savior of whom all these things speak. that
he is the one treasure worth having, that he is the only treasure
that keeps, he is the only treasure that remains, he is the only
treasure that is everlasting and eternal, he is the only one
who can deliver us from captivity, the only one who can wash us
from our sins, the only one who can cleanse us, the only one
who can purify us, the only one who can bring us from death unto
life, The only one who can save. Oh the treasures that Solomon
brought into the temple. Do you know them? Are they yours? Solomon brought in the things
which David his father had dedicated. Even the silver and the gold
and the vessels did he put among the treasures of the house of
the Lord. things which depicted those spiritual things in David
which all find their meaning in Christ alone. Is he your treasure? Has God given him to you? Has God given you a heart that
loves and seeks and wants to know Christ your Saviour that
treasures him above all else? Is he your treasure? Is His gospel? Is His temple? Is His kingdom? Are His sure mercies treasures
that you would not exchange for anything? Are they what you long
for? Are they what you hunger for? They were what Solomon longed
for. They were what David longed for. And they were what this
temple sets forth before us. O God, give us eyes. to look
beyond the treasures of this world, to despise the treasures
of Egypt, to esteem the sufferings of being with God's people, the
reproach of being with God's people, the reproach of being
with Christ. greater than all the treasures
of Egypt, as Moses did. O God, give us a heart to turn
from all that is in this world, all the vain treasures that rust
and corrupt and are taken away, all those things that we cannot
take beyond the grave, and bring us to the pillars of this temple,
bring us unto Christ, bring us unto His treasures, bring us
unto His house, bring us unto Him. Is He your treasure? Is He your all in all? God give us grace and faith to
fall down before Him who has finished the work, who has endured
the fires of God's wrath, who has purified His people forever,
who has brought in eternal life by His sure mercies and grace,
O God, give us grace to fall down before Him and treasure
Him above all. Amen.