In 1 Kings 6 and verse 1 we read,
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after
the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in
the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month
Ziph, which is the second month, that he began to build the house
of the Lord. verse 37 in the fourth year was
the foundation of the house of the Lord laid in the month Ziph
and in the eleventh year in the month Bul which is the eighth
month was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof
and according to all the fashion of it so was he seven years in
building it And it came to pass in the four
hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come
out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon's reign
over Israel in the month Ziph which is the second month that
he began to build the house of the Lord. And it came to pass
that which God had promised That which God had promised unto King
David that his son would build an house unto the Lord. That which God had promised to
Solomon came to pass. Solomon was brought to the throne. Solomon reigned over Israel in
a time of peace. The wars of his father David
being brought to an end. Solomon began to build the house
of the Lord. It came to pass. Now this phrase, it came to pass,
is a phrase we often read in the scriptures, but we read it
in some places more than others. In this very book, 1 Kings, we
read this phrase 41 times, it came to pass. It came to pass. Just as the Lord determined,
just as he purposed, just as he would, just at the right time,
it came to pass. Solomon began to build the house
of the Lord in the 480th year after the children of Israel
would come out of the land of Egypt. It came to pass just then. It came to pass. Elsewhere, for example in Luke's
gospel, we read this phrase used. In Luke's gospel it's used 40
times. It came to pass. This is in contrast
to the three other Gospels. It's one of them, it's only used
four times. But Luke uses it repeatedly,
it came to pass. And in the book of Acts, which
Luke went on to write, he also uses it multiple times there.
It's a phrase that Luke deliberately and repeatedly used, it came
to pass. Why did he use it there? Because
in Luke's Gospel, Luke is setting forth Christ in a certain light.
The Gospels each set him forth in a different role in a certain
light. The same Christ but presented
in a certain manner to show forth a certain part of his work and
character. In Luke, Christ is the Saviour
and he comes with the salvation of the Lord. He comes as God's
promised saviour to his people, bringing salvation. And as Jonah
said, salvation is of the Lord. God sends it, he's the saviour. It happens according to his sovereign
rule and his purpose. So Luke repeatedly stresses,
it came to pass. Nothing could prevent it. Just
as God determined, He sent His Son. He sent salvation. He finished the work. All that
was determined came to pass. And here in 1 Kings, this great
work of Solomon's in building the temple of the Lord, this
wondrous house, built so carefully, built so meticulously, built
so gloriously from stone and timber and overlaid with gold,
this wondrous house built for the Lord in seven years. began to be built in the 480th
year after the children of Israel would come out of the land of
Egypt. At the exact time that God determined, in the exact
manner that He determined, in the exact way that He determined
this house was built, nothing could prevent it. It came to
pass. Men may purpose and plan and
hope to bring things to pass. But so often, their plans are
thwarted. Where men plan, they're not in
control. They have some measure of control
of those things within their realm, but they're not in control. They don't control the weather,
they don't control the times and seasons, they can't control
what others may do. They made purpose to do something,
and then they're delayed and they're hindered. Or it does
not come about as they would, or it's delayed. So often when
men purpose to build something, it takes longer than they hoped.
It costs more than they hoped. They have to reduce the scale
of what they originally envisioned. We see this time and again. Men
plan. Men purpose, but they're not
in control. But with God, it is sure and
it is certain. What he purposes to come to pass,
comes to pass. He is sovereign. He is a King. He is a Lord. He rules. He rules over all things. He
rules over all men, all women, all children, all countries,
all nations. He rules over the entire world. He rules over time and eternity. He rules. He's sovereign. He
does just as He wishes, when He wishes, as He wishes. He's
God. And when he says something will
happen, it comes to pass. In Isaiah 43 we read, I will
work and who shall let it? Who shall resist? Who shall stop
my hand? Who shall prevent me? When God
says this shall happen, it happens. When God determined that a temple
would be built, it was built. at the right time, in the right
place, by the right king, in the right manner, in the right
way, it came to pass. And when God determined to send
his son as a saviour into this sinful, evil world to save his
people from their sins, it came to pass. He came at the right
time. in the right place, in the right
way. He did what he determined to
do. He died the death that he must
die in order that sinners should live. It came to pass and everyone
for whom Christ died, everyone for whom he came, is and shall be and will be saved
it comes to pass yes this temple was built it
came to pass at the perfect time according to god's sovereign
purpose his eternal decree he brought it to pass at the perfect
time 480 years after the children of Israel would come out of the
land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel. It came to pass. 480 years after the children
of Israel would come out of the land of Egypt. This temple was
not built a year late or a year early. It was built at the exact
time that God would have it built. And this time is full of meaning. 480 years. 40 times 12. 480.
After Israel was delivered from captivity in Egypt. 40 in the Bible is used repeatedly
as a time of testing, as a time of proving. Moses was caused to wait 40 years
before he would be sent back to Egypt to deliver God's people
from Pharaoh's bondage. Christ was sent into the wilderness
for 40 days and 40 nights to be proved and tried as the devil
tempted him. And here, Israel had waited 480
years, 12 times 40, 12 times of proving. before the foundations of the
house of the Lord were laid. Twelve being the number of the
covenant, the foundation of the Lord. He had twelve tribes in
Israel, and he sent twelve apostles of the Lamb to preach his gospel
when Christ arose from the dead. Each of the 12 tribes were thoroughly
proved 480 years and the temple was not built until this had
been accomplished. The foundations were laid 12
times and each foundation had been proven 12 times 40, 480 years. When that time was complete,
when those 12 tribes, as it were, when the 12 foundations of the
house, pictorially, visually, when the foundations had been
laid, when the foundations had been proven, then God raised
up Solomon to build the house. What Solomon laid with physical
stones as a physical foundation of this house on earth was pictured
spiritually by the 12 foundations of God, each proven over 40 years. When that time had gone by, when
his work in his people had come to its conclusion, then this
house could be built up. Not a moment before and not a
moment after. It came to pass in the 480th
year. after the children of Israel
would come out of the land of Egypt. The temple began to be
built then. It came to pass. Nothing could
stop it, nothing could delay it, nothing could hasten it. It came to pass then. Then once God had delivered his
people out of Egypt, when he had spiritually delivered them
out of sin and darkness and captivity, the captivity of their sin, when
he brought his people out and thoroughly proved them in the
wilderness and thoroughly proved them in the land of promise at
the right time when his work was done when his work was complete
he brings them as it were into his house a picture of his salvation of
his people He comes unto them in the captivity of their sin
in this world. He comes unto them with his gospel,
and he delivers them out of Egypt. He gives them life. He points
them unto Christ, their Savior, and brings them forth, brings
them out through the Red Sea, and delivers them from their
captivity, from the bondage of their sin. But then he proves
them as he leads them through the wilderness of this world,
through this pilgrimage of time, until that day that he then leads
them into eternal glory and brings them into his house at the perfect
moment. Brings them into that peace and
that rest of eternal glory. It came to pass. How did this
come to pass? The building of this house didn't
just happen. This phrase is not just a phrase
of this just happened. It's a determinate phrase. It
happened when God would have it happen. It came to pass at
the right time in the right way. 480 years after Egypt, four years
of Solomon's reign. the temple was seven years in
the building with the finest craftsmen, the finest materials,
the finest cedars of Lebanon, the fir trees, the olive trees,
the finest stones, the finest gold. Oh the workmanship which
went into this this didn't just happen but it came with great effort
over great time and at great pain it cost it cost all of course a picture
of salvation in christ Christ would come, as God determined,
as God promised, He would send a Saviour, He would send Messiah
repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, He's prophesied of. The Son is
promised, the Saviour is promised, He will come. But He could not
come a moment too soon. or a moment too late, He came
in the fullness of time, when all things were ready, just as
God purposed, just as God determined. When all had come to pass, just
as God would have it, when everything was ready, then Christ entered
into the darkness of this world. He came spiritually after the
480 years had passed, at the right time. in the right place, in the right
manner. The seed of David, of David's
line, the exact lineage from David as promised, the exact
lineage from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He came, he came at
the right hour, in the right place, Bethlehem. He came in the right circumstances.
He came just as God would have him. He fulfilled every promise
of the prophets made concerning him, where he would be born,
how he would be. He was rejected by all men. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. He had nowhere to lay his head. He was a man who knew poverty
like none other. He had no home. He had nowhere
to lay his head. No one wanted him in this world.
God came in the person of Jesus Christ. God himself, Emmanuel,
God with us, came into this world. that wanted Him not. Came into
a world that had rejected Him. Came into a world that despised
Him. Came into a world that had no
time for Him. Came unto a people that had no
time for Him. He came unto His own and His
own received Him not. He came into the darkness. The
light of God shone in the darkness. And the darkness did not receive
Him. But He came. just as promised. And though no one wanted him,
though no one sought him, though no one was prepared for his coming,
though no one cared for him, though in the end, even the disciples
scattered, at that hour when Christ was betrayed, at that
hour when he must lay down his life for sinners, Though all
deserted him, it was exactly as God determined. It came to
pass. It came to pass. This carpenter,
Christ, this stone squarer, this king, wrought in perfection. He wrought salvation in perfection. He came as the only man that
ever lived who lived righteously. He manifested the righteousness
of God. He shone as the light of God
in the midst of darkness. He did all things according to
the Father's will. He lived for the glory of the
Father. He lived by faith. He looked
beyond the outward circumstances, beyond the opposition, beyond
the hatred, beyond what he could see with a natural eye. He looked
beyond the hatred of the Jews, beyond the stoning, beyond the
rejection. He looked to the cross. He looked
beyond the cross and to a people who were his, for whom he would
die. By his blood he would wash them
from their sins. He looked to that people who
he would cleanse, whom he would redeem, whom he would ransom,
whom he would save. He looked to that people who
would rise with Him when He rose from the grave, who would ascend
with Him when He ascended unto His Father, who would sit down
with Him in spiritual places, on high with Him in glory. He
looked to that people whom He would lead forth into His temple. But to build that temple for
them cost Him His life. It cost him his life. Yes, he came at the appointed
hour. He came, as it were, after 480
years when the 12 foundations of his temple were laid, as it
were. When each had been proven, 40
years each, when the foundations of his temple
were laid, then he came. And then he suffered in the darkness
at the cross. It took seven years, seven perfect
years for Solomon to build this temple. It took three hours in
the darkness for Christ to suffer for the sins of his people. It
took three days From the day he died to when he rose on the
third day to build that temple again. Destroy this temple, he said,
and I shall build it again in three days. He wrought perfectly
the building of his temple as pictured by the perfect building
of the physical temple that Solomon built in seven years. But what
cost Solomon? And what cost the people of Israel
in that day? What cost those craftsmen? What
efforts they put in? What they endured, what they
suffered to build that house was a pale picture, a faint imitation
of just what it cost Christ to build his temple. It cost him
his life. Because Christ came in the fullness
of time at the appointed hour to die for sinners. To die for his people. To die for sinners like you and
I. Rebels. those who hate God, those
who have no time for him, no time for his son, no time for
his gospel, rebels. He came to die for sinners like
you and I, for the dead, so that he who is life could give us
life. He who was life gave his life
for those who were dead, for those who were full of sin, full
of death, He gave His life to bring the dead to life. To bring dead sinners everlast
in eternal life, to bring them righteousness, to bring them
salvation. O sinner, O rebel, What do you
know of this life, this righteousness, this salvation? Has God brought
you to hear the Son of God? Has He brought you to hear this
Gospel? Has He brought you by His Spirit
unto life? Has He given you faith to look
beyond the darkness, unto the light, to see the Saviour risen
in your stead, to see Him, to see Him on the cross, to see
Him crucified in your place, to see yourself crucified there
in Christ, to see yourself dead in Christ and alive in Christ,
to see your old man crucified and to see yourself risen again
in Christ alive in a new man of grace. Has God given you faith
to look upon Him and to see your salvation and to see what it
cost Him? Has God come by His Spirit in
the Gospel unto you and given you life? Has it come to pass? It came to pass in the 400 80th
year after the children of Israel will come out to the land of
Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel in the month
Ziph which is the second month that he began to build the house
of the Lord. Has the Lord begun a work in
you? Has he begun to take you as a
stone and place you in his temple? as it come to pass Christ came
spiritually after 480 years into the darkness of this world to
begin the work of building his temple to begin that perfect
work that seven-year work of building his temple from stones
from dead stones from dead sinners like you and I, to gather them,
to hew them out of the rock, to fashion them, to cleanse them,
to make them anew, to take them and to put them in their place
in his temple one by one, one by one. We read in this chapter of the
great work of the temple being built, of the dimensions and
the ways it was built. We read how the stones were not
built, were not worked upon in the temple. They were all worked
upon outside. 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 while it was in building there was no building
in the temple everything was prepared everything was ready
and brought in And so Christ came into the darkness of this
world. He comes by His Spirit to where
His people are. And He fashions them. He prepares
them. He breaks them. He shows them
what they are. He shows them what they are as
sinners. He shows us our sin. He shows
us our depravity. He shows us our need. He so works
in our life it comes to pass that He works by His Spirit to
show us what we are, to show us our need of salvation. Before
we're brought to that point of having our eyes opened by faith
to see the Saviour and to be taken and laid in His temple. This can be a long work. this
can be a painful work, a costly work it's not something we like
it's something that breaks us as sinners we don't want him
we don't want to hear, we don't want to know we don't want to
know that we're sinners we don't want to know that we're depraved
we don't want to know that we're in darkness we don't want to
know that we're evil And we don't want to know of a sovereign God
who brings salvation according to his purpose. We'll come to
a God that will receive those who choose to follow him. We'll
follow our God. We'll make our own decision in
our time according to our wisdom. We don't mind bringing things
to pass by our own will or our own works. We'll follow a God
whom we fashion, will follow an idol, will do what we will. But we have no time for a God
who brings things to pass at his time, in his manner, in his
way. We have no time for the sovereign
God of the scriptures, the God that Solomon worshipped. We've
no time for the Christ that came when he would come and laid down
his life at the appointed hour. and who delivered his people,
each one, everyone, according to his choice, his determination,
his election, according to the grace of God. We've no time for
that God. And as such, when God begins
to work in our hearts, he has to chisel away at us. He has
to work on us. He has to break us. He has to
bring us down low. He has to humble us. It's a long
work, a painful work, a costly work, something we don't want,
but something we need. And should God come unto us in
the darkness and find us and show us what we are, what a day
that is. What a day should God come in
the person of His Son unto those who know nothing but warfare,
nothing but enmity, nothing but sin, nothing but darkness. Those
who are in turmoil as it were. Should the Prince of Peace come
our way and bring us peace. Should He come and preach salvation
unto those who are captives in Egypt? Should He deliver us and
lead us forth by the right way and bring us into His eternal
kingdom, into His temple, into His house? Should He do that? We will see that as a glorious
day, a wonderful day. We didn't seek Him. He seeks
us. We didn't bring it to pass. He
brings it to pass. But oh, what a salvation he has
wrought, and what a house he has built, of which Solomon,
his kingdom, his house, the temple, were but faint pictures. Yes it came to pass after 480
years. 480 years after the children
of Israel would come out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year
of Solomon's reign he began to build and in the eleventh year
in the month bull which is the eighth month was the house finished
throughout all the parts thereof and according to all the fashion
of it. So was he seven years in building
it. Seven years. This was a temple
built to perfection, built in seven years, a perfect
house for a perfect God. Of course but a picture, that
which was on earth, that which Solomon built though glorious
was but a picture of the greater glory of God's eternal house.
This house that Solomon built cannot be found today. This house
was destroyed. But in building it for seven
years, in building it in the manner he built it, it's a great
picture of the perfection of God's house. And the perfection
of God's salvation. God's work of salvation in building
his church. in building his temple, in saving
sinners, in saving sinners from the grave, from their captivity
and delivering them from Egypt. God's work is perfect. It comes to pass. It's built
to perfection in seven years. He saves all whom he purposes
to save. He saves everyone at the right
time, the perfect time. He works in their hearts in the
right way, the perfect way. He takes every stone from its
place and fashions it as he would fashion it and puts it in the
right place in his house. His temple is built perfectly,
wondrously from the right timber with the right stones with the
right gold fashioned in a perfect manner with the cherubims and
the wings of the cherubims touching the walls and touching each other
the oracle built just as it should be the holy of holies just as
it should be the ark of the covenant placed in the right place the
mercy seat where it should be everything built to perfection
it came to pass It came to pass in Solomon's
day. Man could not hinder it. The
nations round about could not prevent it. Those nations which
had been at war with Solomon's father David for so many years,
those nations which had been fighting the children of Israel
even in Canaan, those nations which had caused so much trouble
to them could not prevent the commencement and the completion
of the building of the temple at the exact time that God determined
it should be. Solomon came to the throne after
his father David passed away and Solomon's reign was a reign
of peace. There was peace in the land.
God granted peace. He brought the circumstances
such that this temple should be built. Man could do nothing
to stop it. He could not stop it, he could
not prevent it, he could not delay it. A man could not bring
it to pass a day early. David wished to build this house,
but God would not have it. He could not build it according
to his desire. God would have it built. And
God said, thy son will build it in the right way at the right
time. it came to pass just as God determined
for God is sovereign and what he did in the building of the
temple he does in the building of his house and the salvation
of his people the will of man could not bring to pass the building
of this temple nor could it stop it from coming to pass the works
of man could not bring it to pass and they could not prevent
it and the will of man cannot bring salvation to pass, and
nor can it prevent it. And the works of man cannot save
a sinner from their sins, and nor can they prevent it, should
God come and say, thou art mine. When Jesus passes by a blind
man on the wayside, at the right time, at the right hour, and
touches his eyes and cause him to see, there's nothing that
that blind man could do to bring that to pass or to prevent it. And should God come our way,
should he come your way in his gospel and teach you what you
are? and give you a need, a desire
for salvation? Should he show you the sin that
thou art and give you a desire for righteousness, for life,
for salvation? Should he open your eyes to see
his Son Christ crucified in your place? There's nothing that you
will have done There's no decision you will have made and no works
that you will have wrought. There's nothing you will have
done to have brought that day to pass. And there's nothing
that you could do to prevent it. It is the grace of God that
brings salvation. The will of God that saves a
sinner. It is the purpose and the determinate
counsel of God to save his people from their sins. It's God that
brought this to pass just as he determined it should and it's
God that saves his people. Has he come your way? Are you
sat as a blind man by the wayside? Are you sat as a lame man unable
to move, unable to walk? Are you like Lazarus laying dead
in the grave? Should God be pleased to save
you and open your eyes and lead you unto salvation, it will come
to pass. We read of this in many places.
If you read through the scriptures, so often you will read it came
to pass on a specific day, at a specific time, in a specific
way. Christ would come and find the
sinner and give them life. We read in Esther how Esther
came to the king. Now it came to pass on the third
day, on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel and
stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the
king's house. And the king sat upon his royal
throne in the royal house over against the gate of the house. Oh, what a picture of salvation.
When Christ was nailed to the cross, when he cried out, it
is finished, he had taken away the sins of all his people. And
on the third day, early in the morning, he arose and all his
people, clothed in righteousness, clothed in royal apparel, rose
with him. And all his people were led forth
into the king's house, in the inner court of the king's house.
And the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, and
they are brought as a bride, as the queen before the king,
their saviour, their lord. It comes to pass, For Esther, she was brought in
her royal apparel before the king on the third day it came
to pass. What of you? What of you? When God determined that Solomon
should build his temple, it was built at the right hour, at the
right time, in the right way. And when God determines to save
a sinner from their sins, They are saved at the right hour,
in the right manner, in the right way. Always through the preaching
of the Gospel. Always by the Spirit of God coming
unto them and bringing them life. Always through the person and
the work of God's Son, Jesus Christ, having laid down His
life for them. He came at the right time. It
came to pass that Christ came to save sinners from their sins.
It came to pass that He came into the darkness of this world
and was rejected by all, including you and I. It came to pass that
we all cried out of Him, crucify Him, crucify Him. It came to
pass that He was nailed to a tree. It came to pass that the light
of the sun was taken away and there was darkness over the face
of the earth. It came to pass that God took
all the sins of all His chosen people and laid them upon His
Son. It came to pass that He was made
sin for them. It came to pass that He was guilty,
that the curse of the law was poured down upon Him. It came
to pass that the Father poured down His wrath and judgment upon
His own Son. It came to pass that in dying
in the place of sinners and enduring an eternity in the three hours
of darkness, that the faith of Christ was proven. He, as it
were, endured for 40 years in the darkness. He was proven,
his faith was proven, his belief and trust that God would deliver
his people from their sins came to pass. It came to pass that
every one of those sins was blotted out, that Christ's blood was
shed, that a spear was thrust in his side and forthwith came
there out blood and water. It came to pass that not a bone
of his body was broken. It came to pass that he gave
up the ghost and cried out, it is finished. And salvation was
wrought, righteousness was manifested. He brought in righteousness for
all his people. And all those who crucified him,
all those sinners who were his, who cried out of him, away with
this man. Crucify him. All those who were
his. whose sins nailed him to the
cross. It came to pass that every one of those sins was washed
clean by his blood. It came to pass that he who was
made sin for them made them to be the righteousness of God in
him. It came to pass that on the third
day they with him rose from the grave and were arrayed in royal
apparel and ascended with him into the king's house in glory. It came to pass that they were
brought before their King and Saviour Jesus Christ with whom
they shall live and reign forever. It came to pass that God sent
salvation through his son Jesus Christ. and he accomplished it
and perfected it and built it and built his temple that it
shall reign forever that Christ shall reign in the midst of his
people his temple forever it came to pass and it comes to
pass that he's preaching his gospel today that those for whom
he died should hear and should live and should be brought into
that place with Esther with David with Solomon with Abraham with
Christ As it come to pass that this Saviour in His Gospel, by
His Spirit, has passed your way and found you lying in your blood,
in your filth, lying in death, as He touched you and said unto
you, live, come forth, follow me. It came to pass. Salvation is of the Lord. Amen.