First Chronicles Chapter 22.
First Chronicles 22 is where we are for today's meditation. The title of our message is The
Life of David, The Bloody Man of War. Isn't it fascinating,
child of God, to think how that God has determined to weave his
mysterious providences into the fabric of your life and mine
in a way that both exalts God's sovereignty while at the same
time holding us accountable for our actions and its consequences. Isn't that an amazing contemplation?
That God would weave within the fabric, genuinely weave within
the fabric of our life. From the time of our conception
till the time of our death, God is working in and through, above
and below, in front and behind everything in your life. If that
doesn't blow you away, you're dead. Because what I'm doing
is laying a foundation for you to understand how that everything
about your life, if you are a child of God, is already redeemed. Now this is going to be expanded
on over the next three weeks as I press into your understanding
of what it means to be in Christ. I know we're headed back to the
book of Romans. And I wanna get back there because we're at the
peak and we're ready to go down the other side of that book,
but we won't start in Romans for maybe another two months
because of the things that are laid on my heart for us at Grace. And what I need us to know about
what we think we already know, which we need to know better
when it comes to what it means to be a believer in Christ. And today David is going to serve
to kind of lay that foundation. So you'll hear some things in
my discourse today that will be expedient to your own walk
with God. Our elder was talking again this
morning about troubles, how they come in our life. Well, that's
our middle name. It's trouble. It's woven into
the fabric of your DNA. It's part of who you are. And
this is amazing to me. It's part of who I am in Christ. And therefore my job is to learn
everything I can about how God works with my weakness and my
sin and my troubles to glorify himself in his son and the redemptive
purposes of God in my life. You see, you know what we often
do? We often separate our troubles from God's promises as if they
are alien. But in reality, you're gonna
learn more about a God of all grace when you learn how to reconcile
your troubles with the purposes of God in your life. And actually
this is what David is doing as he is admitting to the whole
kingdom. Right now, you guys know that I wanted to build my
God a house. But my God said what? No. This is also what I want
you to grasp, child of God. Are you ready for this? It is
frequently that when God says yes to you and me, it's always
yes in Christ. And when God says no to you and
me, it's always no for Christ's sake. Now, for those of you who
are expository listeners, write it down. because this is going
to be an anchor to bring clarity to how you and God interact. Because like our elder said this
morning, sometimes we get mad at God. If I got a couple of
real people in the house, is that true? But like Jonah got
mad at God. Did he get mad at God? That boy
went straight off on God, didn't he? But was his salvation still
secure? Did God work out Jonah's anger
to bring more clarity to Jonah in terms of God's will in his
life? It didn't even advance the cause of the gospel through
Jonah in all of his resistance and Jewishness and self-righteousness. We have an amazing God, don't
we? We have an amazing God, and our text before us is going to
lay that down with regards to our brother David. God's yeses
to his people are always in Christ. That's 1 Corinthians 1.20. Our
2 Corinthians 1.20, you know it. And his no's are always for
Christ's sake. In other words, when God says
no to you, he's saying no to you because what you are asking
for or seeking to do does not correspond to Christ. Remember
he said no to Moses. Did he? Moses wanted to go into
the promised land, but God said no. Because Moses' conduct was
shaped and formed in a fashion that limited him in being able
to participate in a Christ-type crossing over from the wilderness
into the promised land. He was confined by his actions
to a metaphor or a typology that stopped short of crossing over. So he was a type of the law.
And because he was a type of the law, he could not be a picture
of bringing the people of God into the promised land. Was Moses
an angry man? Yeah, you better know he was
an angry man. He was an angry man as well.
He smote the rock the second time out of anger, and the Lord
says, no, for Christ's sake. Joshua, a great type of our Lord
Jesus Christ too, just as Moses is. And these two I bring to
your attention because the no that God gave to David back in
1 Chronicles 17, verse four, where Nathan had to hurry up
and come back to the house, remember that? Because Nathan's sitting
there and eating caviar with David and falafel bread, whatever
they were eating. And he's telling David, you can
do whatever you want because God's on your side and God's
blessing you. And he had slipped into a prosperity
gospel. Remember that? And before he
got home, the Holy Ghost said, you better go back and tell David
you were wrong. And God told David, no, you cannot
build the temple. You guys remember that? Now remember
this, the no's of God are for Christ's sake. It's because God
sees way down the line that your desire does not correspond to
an aspect of Christ's redemptive work for which he has kept you
in this world. And it's for your good. When
God says no to us, it's for our good. Are you hearing me? And
in that first Chronicles 17 account, the author graciously Omit the
reason and cause for which David was not able to actually fulfill
his dream in building the house of God But he gives us the answer
in first Chronicles 22 And he gives it to us in first Chronicles
28 and he gives it to us again in the Kings And do you know
the reason for which God had told David he could not build
the temple? Was because he was a man of war
Point number one in your outline David the bloody man of war. He was a man of war. Look at
our text. First Chronicles chapter 22 verse
eight. This will underscore it. Are we there? But the word of
the Lord came into me. This David speaking to the elders
of Israel at that time. You listen to it. Have shed blood
abundantly. If you make great wars, you shall
not build a house unto my name, because you have shed much blood
upon the earth in my sight. Do you guys see that? Now, I
love this because you and I know that the Bible is about whom?
We are sold on that, are we not? And so even though God has shown
us that David's behavior, and it was a pattern of behavior,
led to God saying no to David, it wasn't because God couldn't
use David in any capacity, but David's actions fell out to only
correspond to one aspect of Christ's redemptive work. What David wanted
to do would not allow David to do it. In other words, as we
had stated a few weeks ago, you might desire to do something
for the Lord, but your passions and your drives and your aspirations
to do things for God doesn't amount to the will of God. Did
we learn that? Did we learn that what we do for Christ does not
last, but what Christ does through us, that will last? Did we learn
that? Right. So it's not always, I want to
do something and therefore I want God to sign off on what I do.
That is not after Christ. Christ only came to do the will
of his Father. He never once said, Father, I
want you to do my will. So you and I are going to learn
that it's God's will that we are going to do if we're going
to be a participant of the divine nature. Am I making some sense?
So then watch this. the life of David with all of
the fastidious and meticulous aspects of it from a child all
the way up to his calling and then his skill sets that he had
acquired and learned in terms of how to fight. I've told you
before, if I'm walking the streets of Oakland, San Francisco or
LA, I want David on my side. I'm rolling with David, me and
David rolling together. I'm not so sure I want his son
Solomon because we're in a different context now. But I want David
because David knew how to fight. I've said this before. You got
to be careful because your strengths are always limited. Also, your
strengths will also impede you in other areas of life. And if
God is good to you, he won't allow your strengths to bleed
over in areas that can be a detriment for you. But more to the point,
the reason for which God said no to David was because David
was a bloody man of war. Now I want to call your attention
to this whole concept of war briefly and show you the typology
relevant to David and why God has to say no to him. So under
our first point, there are three sub points that I want you to
consider. And the first is very clearly
that there is a war going on. You guys got that? And there's
a war that has been going on from the beginning of time. The
one sphere of warfare is in the heavens. We as biblical Christians
believe that the heavens right now are and have been for a long
time engaged in a war. You guys believe that? That there
is a battle that takes place between the dominion of Satan
and the dominion of God and these spiritual forces are constantly
at war, antagonism and conflict. Is that true? Paul tells us in
Ephesians 6. He tells us in 2 Corinthians
5. We know this in the book of Daniel. Daniel was told and seen
the battles of the Lord with Gabriel and Michael waging war
against the princes of this world. You and I are in a spiritual
battle. It is a heavenly battle. It is a dimension whereby winner
takes all. It's a fierce battle in the heavens. Revelation chapter 12 says, and
there was war in heaven. The other warfare that you need
to know about is the warfare that goes on where? In our hearts. Now again, unless you're dead
or in denial, radical denial, you know that you are waging
war in your heart. You are at war in your heart against principalities
and powers, against ideas and concepts, against the sinful
nature, against the assaults of your soul by the devil and
every other maniacal entity that's seeking to deny your identity
in Christ. Are we at war, saints? And this
is what James talks about in James chapter 4. From whence
come wars among you? Do they not come even hence of
your flesh, of your fallen nature? Are we not at war with this thing
called our fallen nature? It wants to go downward while
the new man wants to go upward. It wants to go left while the
new man wants to go right. It wants to serve the enemy while
the new man wants to serve God. This is Romans 7. I'm at war
with my old man. I'm at war with the flesh. That's
a battle and you can't take it lightly. And God has given you
answers for it. But then there is another battle
which actually is more relevant to the point that we're dealing
with. And that's the battle of the cross. that our Lord fought
2,000 years ago. Colossians chapter 2 makes it
very clear in verses 14 and 15 that the nature of that battle
is that Christ, through his cross, triumphed over principalities
and powers and brought them into subjection to himself, triumphing
over them, making them slaves of his own will. It's a picture
of total defeat of the enemy by the death of Christ on the
cross. Are you guys hearing me? If it
were not for what Christ did on Calvary's tree, pull up Colossians
2, 14, 15. If it were not for what Christ
did on Calvary's tree, you would not be a free slave. Did you
get that? If it were not for the war that
the son of God fought against hell, against sin, against the
devil at Calvary, you'd still be a slave of sin. If it were
not for him winning that battle, you and I would not be captive
slaves of Christ, walking in the liberty of the gospel, rejoicing
in our redemption, and walking in the hope of eternal life.
Listen to what it says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he took it
out of the way, nailing it to his what? Boom! That was a battle
that the Savior won. Because God had an indictment
against us because of our sin. God was our enemy. and we were
God's enemies. Is that true? And this is why
Ezekiel was told in Ezekiel 3, 18 and 33, Ezekiel, I have set
you as a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem to tell my people,
to warn my people against me. While as yet you are outside
of Christ, you are an enemy of God and God's your enemy. And
you need someone as strong as God to withstand God's wrath. And the only person that could
do that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who stood in your way and endured
the wrath of God to deliver your hell bound soul from a defeat
that would have left you in hell forever. Is he good? Look at
verse 15, verse 15, look at verse 15. And having spoiled principalities,
that's the language, triumphing over the whole host of hell,
he plundered them. He plundered principalities.
He is the master and Lord over all of hell. He's the master
and Lord over all demons, all devils. Satan is nothing but
a servant of Christ. And this is why he could say
in Matthew 16, 18 and following, I will build my church. We're
going there today and the gates of hell will not prevail. Not
only do I have the keys, I have the authority. Not only do I
have the exousia, I also have the dunamis. Not only has God
given me right, God has given me might. And I'm able to subdue
all foes under me with the purpose of releasing my people. That's
good news, child of God. Not only did he spoil or plunder
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly. This
is what you do when you know you have won the battle. You
bring out all the enemies, you chain them, and you make them
come out butt naked, and they got to walk behind you as you
walk as head and master over them. Now you laughing, but those
folks that are behind the master are you and me. That's right,
because God had to plunder us before he clothed us in his righteousness. Hallelujah. triumphing over them
in it, because we were legitimate children of darkness until Christ,
our great mediator, the man of war, as he is called in Exodus
chapter 15, verse four and five, as Moses put it in his song,
the Lord is a man of what? So you, child of God, as you're
dealing with days in which we live where, you know, war and
terrorism and all these other conflicts are really all around
us, don't you become biblically, politically incorrect? Don't
you get soft on God? Don't you get soft on the concept
of war? War is a glorious thing in its
own right. Had not God went to battle for
you, you'd still be lost. And you're going to discover
over time if you are in the Lord's army that he's calling you to
the battle too. So sub point B says that David's
battles point where? To the cross work of Christ.
Is that true? David's battles point to the cross work of Christ.
And we're getting ready to learn that the cross work of Christ
sets as a anticipation and a primer for what he is requesting, that
David's life and David's service destroying Goliath and destroying
the foes of the Lord. And even saying to Solomon, have
you not, Solomon, inherited a level of rest that has come from me
killing up everything all around us? That's what he was saying.
In other words, when we think about the cross, here's what
I want you to think about. The total triumph of Christ over
all our foes and that the net consequence of the cross is a
piece that corresponds to what David wanted to do in building
the temple. You guys got that? Some of us
right now enjoy the peace of God, do we not? Right now we
enjoy that peace and understanding, do we not? Right now we are enveloped
in a realm and dimension called the kingdom of God and the kingdom
of God is what? Righteousness what peace and
what joy in the Holy Ghost ladies and gentlemen The only reason
you can enjoy that is because it is a pulse cross product It
is the consequence of Calvary Once the smoke cleared on that
Friday morning. I Sunday morning came and our
master cut the lights back on and the people of God have been
happy every since This is the truth the joy that you have the
peace that you have the comfort that you have is the Consequence
of the cross work of Christ. So now David is a type of Christ
crucified And there's some lessons we need to learn from that. He
is the Lord is a man of war. I like this because there are
two passages that actually buffer this statement. One is, do you
remember Moses? How God had called Moses to deliver
the children of Israel out of Egypt? Did God call Moses as
a warrior king? Yes, he did. Didn't he? He called
him as a warrior king. And do you know while Moses was
headed to take the children of Israel out of Egypt, he had a
wife. That's not a bad thing, I'm just
saying it. He had a wife, her name was Zipporah. And do you
know what Zipporah said about Moses? Moses, you are a bloody
man because of the circumcision. And circumcision points to the
cross work of Christ, does it not? It's a battle that he fought
to deliver us from bondage to sin. And the net effect of it
is regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost by which we
are united to God. His wife called him a bloody
man because he had to circumcise his children. And he had to circumcise
his children because God was using him as a type of God. And
what he was saying to Moses is, you can't go circumcise my children
and bring them out of Egypt until you first circumcise your own
child and bring him out of Egypt. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? Now this pours into leadership. Leadership are men who are qualified
by God through providence and time to reflect the character
of God. So how am I going to lead you out of Egypt and not
lead my own family out of Egypt? Hallelujah! I'm called to it. That consistency is the pattern
that we're called to. But Moses was called a bloody
man of war. Joshua was a bloody man of war. David is a bloody
man of war, and quite interestingly enough, this is somewhere down
on the latter account, one more of Saul's seed pop up. His name
was Shimei. You guys remember him? David
is experiencing revolt by his son Absalom, and Shimei pops
up to start throwing stones at David and saying to David, David,
you are a bloody man, and what you got coming to you is a consequence
of you taking the kingdom from my father Saul. Now this is an
interesting point of application before we move to our next point.
David's life was filled with sin, as our elder said this morning.
He was a sinful man, like you and I are sinful people. And
God still uses us. But if you don't understand the
richness of God's grace and mercy, corresponding to his providence
in your life, leading you in spite of and through and around
and by your sins. Are you ready? Your enemies are
going to take advantage of that to mock you and ridicule you
and tell you you are under the judgment of God. And if you are
not clear on who Christ is for you and in you, you might listen
to the voice of your enemy. But I love the way David said
it when Joab said, you know what? All you need me to do is just
say the word. I get it. And David said, no, leave him
alone. The Lord has let this man curse
me. And I'm sure it's going to turn to a blessing for me. That's
amazing. But see, really, this has to
do with the studies that are about to come to help you learn
how to better handle your walk with God. so that the pittance
and the shallow accusations that come from without don't knock
you off your course as they so often easily do. And the reason
they do is because you and I are not going deep enough into Christ
to understand the paradigm of the crucified Savior having borne
all your sin in order to conform you to himself. But we'll deal
with that. Point number two in our outline
so I can move on since we have understood now Fundamentally
that David was forbidden to actually build the temple For God because
David was a man of war and that model only corresponds to the
cross work of Christ point number two the temple itself is is a
motif that we've talked about before, have we not? The temple
itself is a magnificent picture of the eschatological or final
state of all things on the last day. The temple itself is a massive
grand metaphorical statement by God about what will be, once
again, when God ends all wars, when he destroys all foes. And
when Christ comes back again for his church, having made it
a glorious church without spot and wrinkle or any such thing. And the new Jerusalem is descending
down from God, having the glory of God. This new jerusalem is
the body of christ. It's the temple of the living
god. It's the church of the living god both old and new Represented
in solomon and from the time that jesus comes again for all
eternity You and I will be enjoying a level of peace and bliss That
is indescribable Are you guys hearing me? So now, here's what
God is doing with relationship to David's request. He's saying no to David, not
because of anything in David, but rather because David's life
doesn't correspond to the motif of the temple that he wants to
see built. How good is God to David? He
says, David, I'm gonna let your son do it. You guys remember
that? I'm gonna let your son do it. You're a blood man of
blood. You're a man of war. The temple does not speak to
war. It speaks to the cessation of
war. It speaks to the end of war.
It speaks to the solution for war. It speaks to the atoning
blood of Christ, the proprietary work of God for sinners in Christ. It speaks to the peace that God
wins by which sinners can draw near to God and God draw near
to sinners. Are you guys hearing me? So I don't wanna be too long
on this, but I know you gotta get it. The temple motif suggests
that God found a way in his infinite wisdom to solve the variance
and hostility and warfare and conflict between himself and
all of his holiness and our rebellion and all of our sinfulness. And
the men and women that are in the temple of the living God
are enjoying the peace of reconciliation and unity and communion and fellowship
with God fellowship with God at a level that I can't talk
about this week, but you've got to get it. The level of fellowship
between God and his people have become ontological. This is crazy. This is crazy. Are you guys hearing
me? I am a partaker of the divine nature. I am a son of the living
God through Jesus Christ, my mediator. God calls me his son. We'll talk about it. We'll talk
about it. Adopted yes, but truly his son
spiritually. I am like Solomon and David is
my Christ. Am I making some sense? There
is a relationship there for the people of God. This is something
for you to think through. This is a marvelous thing and
it has everything to do with our mediator and the blessings
that he pours out upon his people. Can you cry Abba Father? You can't get closer to God than
that. The second sub point there, second point is that the temple
motif signifies peace and what? So 1 Chronicles chapter 22 verse
9, this is where David is speaking to Solomon. And here's what he
says in verse 9. Are you there? Behold, this is what David said
that God said to him, a son shall be born unto thee. Isn't that
the theme of scripture? Who shall be a man of what? Is
that the antithesis to war? Yes, it is. He shall be a man
of rest. and I will what? Give him rest
from all his enemies round about for his name shall be what? The
extended version of the word shalom. Shalom means what? Peace, total peace, complete
peace, the peace of mind, soul, body, and relationship with God.
Not just peace in your mind, peace in your soul. Not just
peace in your soul, peace in your life. Not just peace in
this life, peace in the life to come. It's the peace of God
that's in Christ Get this, this is also an attribute of God. Just rest with it, it'll come
one day. Amazing, amazing. So Solomon here will serve for
us as a great type of whom? Jesus Christ on the other side
of the cross work of Christ. See, this is all about who? Jesus. So our second point, the motif
signifies peace and rest. And he says in verse nine, points
A, B, and C, as we have stated, that God shall give Solomon rest
because that's his name. And notice that last line, and
I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. Is that
true? And see, this is what I meant
earlier about how God works mysteriously, providentially in the life of
all of his people to demonstrate his redemptive mysteries. Solomon's reign was largely a
reign of peace. You don't find Solomon fighting
wars like David did. Solomon is enjoying the after
effect and consequences of the battles that David won. And it
corresponds to what you and I enjoy as a consequence of Christ crucified. Are you hearing me? Oh, there
are small skirmishes that we have to deal with, but the major
battle is won, is it not? We are sons of peace, are we
not? And so it was with David. So, sub-point three things. Solomon
points to the eschatological Jerusalem and the foundation
of peace that it establishes. We just quoted that, Revelation
21, 1-5. And I would recommend, if you
are really interested in where you are going, to meditate on
verses 1-5 of Revelation 21 and get it in your system. Because
God has a picture of us that I don't think we see of ourselves.
I love the fact that what God sees is not a dream. I love the
fact that what God sees is not a hope and a wish. See, our God
doesn't dream. You dream. I dream. Prognosticators dream. Witch
doctors and wizards and all those crooks dream. God doesn't dream. How can you dream of something
that you know will come to pass when you're God? See, our dreams
may or may not come to pass, but God only sees what's real.
And when God sees the end from the beginning, and when God knows
what we shall be when he's done with us, that's not a dream.
That's a reality with God. And your job, child of God, is
to learn how to get with God's reality. Some of us will get
it, they won't get it, most of them won't get it, because most
people are dreaming right now under my preaching. They're dreaming.
They're dreaming. You're just dreaming. And my
prayer is that you would prepare your heart by asking God to give
you grace to hear him when you come to church, because most
of us are just going through the motion. And this is why you
can't get the revelation. So over the next three weeks,
I warn you now, there are things I'm going to talk about that
are so critically important to your understanding of the grace
of God, that if you miss it, you may miss it to your eternal
doom. I warn you now, don't come to
church with your heart not open to God. I warn you now, Christ
came and went, and Israel missed him. And I don't want that to
happen to you. I don't want that to happen to
you. Subpoint B, the triumph of the cross results in what?
Peace for the people of God. Peace for the people of God.
This is one of the things you see when Jesus, after his resurrection,
comes into the presence of his people anywhere. What's the first
thing he says to them? Peace. Isn't that what he said?
Peace. Peace. The disciples are freaking
out. Christ walks into the door. First
thing he says, peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. That
is the word of triumph that the master brings to all of his people
after his resurrection. When he came to you, Law Center,
he came to you speaking peace. That's what Ephesians chapter
2 verses 13 through 16 teach. Pull it up. Ephesians 2 verse
13 through 16 describes how it is that the gospel is a message
of peace to you and me. You and me who were enemies of
God. At various with God, one day
here's the message that we heard. Ephesians 2 verse 16. Here it
is. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 16 says and that he might reconcile
both unto God that is Christ in one body by the what? Having
slain the enmity thereby and he came and preached Peace did
he not to you which were far off and them that were not for
through him We both have access by one spirit to the father.
This is a great truth to be worked through in weeks to come Now,
therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God. Is that amazing or not?
And I'm going to show you something now. Look at verse 21. In whom,
that is Jesus. No, verse 20. And you are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets and Jesus Christ
himself. Being the chief cornerstone,
is this the building of the temple? Is this what Solomon is about
to do? Verse 21, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. Are we talking about
literal stones? Are we talking about the souls
of God's elect? Men and women in Christ, from every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue, from the foundation of the world,
are the stones of God that he places in his temple that make
up the body of Christ. Is that phenomenal or what? Last
verse, in whom you are also built together for inhabitation of
God through the Spirit. Capture that. This is what we'll
be working on for the next three weeks. The love of the Father,
the love of the Son, and the love of the Holy Ghost, and their
objective to make you like Christ. You and I are the habitation
of God through the Spirit. It's crazy. It's crazy. So the Spirit of God is that
resident Lord. Through the work of Christ, you
have been made qualified for God to reside in you and with
you. Do you understand that? I know
you don't. Infinite God. and all the impeccability
of his nature and character and holiness has fitted you for his
dwelling place. Y'all sleep. You sleep. But this is what David is coming
to discover with regards to God. So the three points we underscore
is Solomon points to the eschatological Jerusalem. It is a city and foundation
of peace. Is that not what Jerusalem means?
Foundation of what? Peace. Jerusalem. The second
one is the triumph of the cross results in peace for the people
of God. And then thirdly, the nature of Christ's government
in the hearts of his elect. What are you saying, pastor?
Isaiah 9, verse 6, pull it up. Isaiah prophesied that the child
that is born and the son that was given would be the ruler
of the universe, that God would place the government on his shoulder,
and of his kingdom and increase there would be no end, and his
peace will continue forever and ever. Do you guys see that? Here
it is, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulders. Men, this is what
we're going to be talking about. The government upon His shoulders.
We believe Christ is Lord, don't we? That He runs the universe.
That He's in control of every kingdom, every king, every nation,
every government. He is Lord of lords and King
of kings and He runs everything. Is that true? Listen to the language. And His name shall be called
by His people, Wonderful. Wonderful. Now that's a deep
personal subjective experience wrought in your soul by the grace
of God That's what you say when you come to know Jesus. He's
wonderful Who is Jesus? He's wonderful And he's the counselor. He is the mighty God. He is the
everlasting father and he's the ruler of peace Do you see it
our next verse just to sum this up here it is and of the increase
of his government This is the spread of the gospel This is
the spread of the gospel, the spread of the gospel through
the church, by its office bearers, preaching the gospel, calling
lost men and women to Christ. God will have a people for himself,
will he not? God will have a people for himself.
Watch this now. Upon the throne, here it is,
increase of his government and peace there shall be no what?
Upon the throne of who? This is the great paradigm that
we're dealing with right now, right? The Davidic kingdom. under
the rule of Christ, the son of David. Now, here's the thing
I want you to get. You might be thinking political
kingdom, earthly kingdom, whatever. When it says upon his kingdom
to order to establish it with justice and judgment from henceforth
and forevermore for the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform
it. He's talking about peace in your heart. See, in the world
there is no peace. But this is what Jesus meant
in John 16, 33. He says, Watch this, in the world, you're gonna
have tribulation, you're gonna have trouble, but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world. In me is peace. Peace I have
and I give it unto you, not as the world give I unto you. There's
a peace that the people of God have as a consequence of Christ's
government that is poured into our hearts. And when everything
around our life falls apart, when we remember who Jesus is
and how he can't lie, fail, or change, and how he must keep
his people to the end. That peace that passes all understanding
anchors our soul in Christ and keeps us through the storm. Does
it not? It keeps us through the storm. I believe that with all
my heart. I believe that with all my heart.
And then I want to move to the third point as we can wrap up
our next two points. And so the picture of the solonomic
temple And the typology that it carries to bring us to that
eschatological Jerusalem at the end time is reserved for David's
son because David is a bloody man of war. But I want you to
now go deep with me into, for just a few moments, David redeeming
his sin. David redeemed his sin. You know,
sometimes you go through life and your life is jacked up. Can I get away? That's your second
middle name. Your first middle name is trouble. Your second
middle name is jacked up. Okay, stay with me for a moment.
Stay with me for a moment. So your first middle name is
trouble. The second middle name is jacked up. And jacked up simply
means I don't understand. I don't understand what's going
on. Right? That's how jacked up it is. But
once you come out of your troubles, a long distance away from many
of your troubles, after many years, in God's mercy, he helps
you organize and restructure what you went through. And then
he tags those events with clarity concerning his will and purpose.
And you begin to see how that God meant it for your good all
alone. Am I making some sense? How he
meant it for your good all alone. And watch this now, watch this
now. See, and he does it that way to keep you humble. Listen,
the reality is, is God's not gonna let you steal his glory.
Hurry up and get that. He will leave you on the street
by yourself to walk home before he lets you steal his glory.
You'll be rolling with God and you'll get out of line and he'll
pull a car over and say, get out and walk home. Right, I'm
telling you how this works. This is important, important,
important. And you, listen, and you will
think he got to be kidding. He got to be kidding. And then
you'll see that car drive off and it'll keep driving off and
it'll keep driving off. And then after a while, you have
to ask the question. Now, do I want to stay here or
do I want to go home? Now watch this, now watch this
now. Now, if I want to go home more than I want to sit here
and get mad with God, then I better start putting one foot in the
other and start walking, right? Now that journey home, It's a
process of humility that God must bring you to because you're
not going to argue with God when you're in his car. That's good. You just missed
that. That's good. He'll pull over and let you out.
Now he got his angels to watch over you. But I tell you, it
would be much better to roll with him. But now you'll get
there, corns and blisters and all, if you have to. I'm here to tell you that David
got it. And what I'm about to share with
you now really requires you savoring because it's too much. This is
the nature of the gospel. And these are the infinite depths
of the word of God. When we just get a little bit
of glimpse of his glory, all we can do is just fall back in
awe at the faithfulness of our God and how he keeps you. with your crazy self. Because
see, David was crazy. Yes, he was. But God knew that
before he chose him. Like he said in Isaiah about
all of us, he says, I knew that you were transgressing from the
womb. Your actions don't fool me. And this is what I mean. David is going to be able to
reconcile all of his mishaps. And he's going to understand
what I've been teaching grace for 20 years. Are you guys with
me right now? Listen. When God looks upon you
and chooses you and calls you and quickens you, it's because
He actually has a purpose for your life. Now, I've said this
before. Many of us try to be a jack of
all trades. And as a net consequence, we're
a master of nothing. This is true. But He gives every
one of us a specific gift in calling. This is what I'm gonna
help our men understand next week. And where you fail to submit
to this principle, your walk with God will be diminished.
Spirit of God help these people. Where you fail to get this, you
will be walking on the outside of the will of God, window shopping. instead of putting on thoroughly
the garments of Christ's glorious spotless riches and apparel,
demonstrating a walk with the King because you have obtained
it through what Christ has done for you. When you fail to understand
what I'm about to say, you and I will always live short of knowing
the blessing of being smack dab in the middle of God's will.
If you fail to hear me, God only really gives us one task to do. Your job is to find out what
that task is for you. Are you hearing me? Your job is to find
out. Now he allows us to do a bunch
of other little stuff. Ancillary, correlative, adjacent
to, but not central. and where you get shifted by
distracting thoughts to focus on things that don't correspond
with the gift that God has ordained for you, for which you are to
identify and affirm and embrace and nurture and grow and apply
so that when you lay down on your deathbed, you can say, I
was in the middle of the will of God for me. And when I die,
I can die at peace knowing that God has revealed what he wanted
me to do, and he gave me grace to do it, albeit how jacked up
it was while I was doing it. I'd rather do the will of God
jacked up than not find the will of God at all and getting the
applause of men. I'd rather be broke and happy
in Jesus than to be rich and applauded by men for success
on a material level and having missed Christ. Having missed
Christ. having missed Christ. I'm going
to say it again. There's only one thing that God
has really called you to do. Now, this is going to offend
some of you to no end, but it ought to. God is really only
giving us a few things that we're supposed to do. And when we look
at the the patriarchs and matriarchs of scripture, we discover when
they found God's will, they took off. They exhaled. Are you hearing
me? They exhaled. Then hearken to
our master's prayer, which again, I'm gonna develop when we deal
with the second person of the Godhead in our series starting
next week. When you pray, this is what you
need to be praying. Our Father who art in heaven,
your name alone is holy. Your will be done. Your kingdom
come on earth and heaven. You are to be praying for the
will of God in your life. That will keep you happy. and
that will keep you satisfied. Watch how David understood this.
Our third point. David prepared the material for
the temple. Do you see that? Crazy! Solomon
would build it, but David would prepare the material? Stupendous! Solomon would enjoy being the
foreman of a massive project of a temple that would exceed
the glory of the temple of Dianus that took 200 years to build.
One of the wonders of Asia. It was a magnificent building
that the pagans went to. Solomon's temple exceeded that
in glory and he did it in only seven years. Why? Because it
was wrapped up in the supervision and power of the Holy Ghost.
Solomon got a chance to build it, but his daddy made all of
the material necessary for it. Is that good? Here it is then.
Point number one, sub-point number one under David prepared the
material for the temple. This is 1 Chronicles 22 verses
5, 14 and 16. And I want you to hear this carefully
because there is a great redemptive reality behind these statements.
In 1 Chronicles 22, here's what it says in verse 5. Are you there? Here it is. And David said to
Solomon, my son is young and tender. The house that is to
be built for the Lord must be exceeding what? Magnifico. I'm going to come back here and
explain this to you. I'm going to come back and explain
to you why he said this. It must be magnificent, exceedingly
of fame and of glory throughout all the countries. I will therefore
now make preparation for it. See what David said? I'm gonna
see to it that Solomon has everything necessary to build the temple.
Because Solomon is a type of the post cross work of Christ. David is a type of the crucified
Christ whose labors would produce the material to build the temple.
You can shout hallelujah right there. Now watch how he puts
it. Watch how he puts it now. Not
only in verse five, but watch how he also puts it as we look
further in the development of the temple David prepares it
verse 14 and 16 listen to this language Saints. Are you there
now behold in my trouble see David's middle name I Have prepared
for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold a thousand
thousand talents of silver and a brass and of iron without weight
For it is an abundance of timber, also of stone, I have prepared
in order that you may add to it, Solomon. Verse 18 then. All right, subsequent verse,
this is what I want you to see. Verse 16, here it is. Here's
what he says. And of gold, the silver, and
the brass, and the iron, no number. Did you hear what he just said?
More gold, more silver, and more brass than you could count. I
want you to get the picture, God help you get it. David marshaled
500,000 U-Haul trucks in the presence of his son Solomon and
dumped out the riches and abundance necessary to build the temple,
which in its own right was jaw-droppingly magnificent. and the outpouring
of all of these riches that David gave to Solomon represent the
booty and plunder of Christ crucified. That the death of Jesus Christ
was the means by which God gave to Christ all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge and all the riches, riches, riches of
grace and mercy and righteousness and all the necessary material
by which he would build for himself a glorious church. Anybody with
me so far? Anybody with me so far? Anybody
with me? And I want to show you something.
He prepared all this in the face of two things. Verse 5 says his
troubles. Verse 16 says his death. Anybody with me? Raise your hand
if you're with me. We are talking about the death
of Christ being the means by which God now has poured into
Christ all of the divine nature, all of the resources of heaven
and of earth. for all eternity, necessary to
build this temple of God. In him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. In Christ is everything necessary
for godliness, both in this life and in the life to come. Christ
has an inexhaustible body of resources by which the people
of God are going to be made fit for the kingdom. Are you guys
seeing this? And here's what David says. This all came through
my troubles. This all came through my troubles.
This all came, all of that stuff I got into, all of that mess
I got into from the days I was on the backside of the mountain
with the sheep and getting into battles with bears and lions.
God was turning that for my good. God was using that trouble to
store up in me the riches of glory. This is what Paul is teaching
when he says our light afflictions, our light afflictions are but
for a moment and they work in us and they work for us. A far
exceeding weight of eternal glory, eternal glory, eternal glory. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Stay with me now. So David got what I'm hoping
some of you get over the next several weeks. David didn't sit
by and lick his wounds and cry and whine about all the hell
he went through. He looked hell in his face and
said, you know what? I'm going to wait till you get
me because I know on the other side, they're going to be exceeding
blessings. My God's going to bless me tremendously
for the hits I'm taking for him, for Christ. Even with God redeeming my sin,
my stupidity, my mistakes, my errors, my faults. Are you hearing? Did anybody get what I'm saying?
Is this good? Is this good? My faults, my faults. See, but
you have to get it because if you miss this, you'll be wallowing
in your failures, understanding the glory to follow. You will
be wallowing in your failures, failing to understand the glory
that follows. And the only reason you won't get it is because you
don't understand how to appropriate faith relative to the revelation
of God in the mediatorial work of Christ, which is here being
underscored by the glory of Christ's death. For this cause, I came
into the world. That's what Jesus said, John
chapter 12. What cause, Master? Trouble and death. Did our Lord
come into the world in trouble? He's in his mama's womb and they
want to kill him. The devil tried to kill him,
Revelation 12, right? Stood before the woman that was
with child so that as soon as he'd be born, kill him. Matthew
chapter 2, the king wanted to kill him. His family had to take
him down to Egypt. Our master's middle name is Trouble.
He had the same middle name I had. He was a man of sorrows acquainted
with griefs. He was smitten and afflicted
of God. He was full of troubles, hallelujah. This is what I'm
trying to get you to understand. God turns your trouble into timber. That's what I'm trying to get
you to understand. That's what I'm trying to get you to understand.
Pastor, are you talking about Christ? Yes, but I'm also talking
about the body of Christ. See, it's the thing we fail to
understand. God is going to be glorified
by a temple. And that temple is the believer
because we are the body of Christ. Of gold and silver and brass
and iron and there is no number there. Let me go on. I think
I got it now. I think you got it. Let me underscore then the
four sub points of point number three. David prepared the material
for the temple, a type of the cross work of Jesus Christ. He
did it in his troubles and in his death. Sub point two, are
you there? Exceeding riches through his sufferings. Is that right?
Sub point three, the pattern given through what? What I'm
about to say is crazy. Here's what David is about to
tell Solomon. It's in 1st Chronicles chapter 28 verse 10. Pull it
up. And 1st Chronicles 28 10 is an expansion of 1st Chronicles
22. I'm glad some of you guys are
really students of the Bible because most folks in church
are dead after 15 minutes of preaching. Do you know why that's
the case? Because they're not interested
in knowing God. When you're interested in knowing
God, you will do like Peter, James and John says, Lord, it's
good for me to be here. I'm ready to be here all day
long. Stay with me, because I'm laying a foundation here. I want
you to get it. David understood his troubles
and his death to be redemptive in nature, and God blessed him
with riches, didn't he? God blessed him with riches.
That's the Word of God. That's paradigmatic. But God also blessed
him with revelation. God also blessed him with revelation.
Here's what he says in verse 10 of 1 Chronicles 28. Are you
there? He says, take heed now, talking to Solomon, for the Lord
had chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong
and do it. Be strong and do it. He's talking
to Solomon. Look at verse 11. Are you there? 28 to 11. Listen
to what it says. Then David gave to Solomon his
son, the what? Do you see it? He gave his son
the powder. Not only did he give him the
money, He gave him the blueprints. He gave him the pattern. He gave
him the whole outlay of the blueprint. Steve, you know what I'm talking
about. Blueprints to the kingdom. How did David get them? Through
his suffering, through his troubles. When we decrease, God increase.
When he brings us low, he then can be made high. When he brings
us down, he can expose us to his revelations because we can
only receive his revelations in a humble state. Here's what
I'm saying to you. You can read the historical narrative
on a vertical level and see all of the mess that David went through.
But unless you know how God works, you don't know what David did
when he went home after his trouble. You don't know how David went
into the secret place of the most high God. that he abided
under the shadow of the Almighty. You don't know how David ran
to the strong tower, which is God himself, and fell on his
knees and started calling on God. You don't know how God showed
up in the midst of his trouble to give David the revelation
and clarity of what God was doing through David. But David got
it. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
He got the pattern. He got the blueprint. He got
the whole mystery of the gospel represented in the temple. He
got it in his suffering and he got it in his death. And this
is a picture of Christ crucified sending the Holy Ghost to take
the things of Christ and reveal them to us so that we might be
partakers of the building of the temple. See, this is why
Paul says, what is it that you have that you didn't want? And
if you received it, then why are you boasting as if somehow
God never gave it to you? All that you have and all that
I have is because of Christ. All the knowledge that we have,
all the understanding of the grace of God that we have is
because of Christ. And I'm hoping you get this,
that that knowledge and that that grace will translate into
an ethical response to the glory of God so that you live for Him
like God is calling Solomon to do. I gotta finish up, I gotta
finish up. I want you to get it. I've got
to finish up. So David prepared the material
and his troubles and his death. They were exceeding great riches.
And the pattern given to him through suffering was a magnificent
pattern. It's not only in verse 11 and
12, but it's also in verse 19. You got that. Finally, the last
thing I want you to see, this is remarkable. And point number
four, he did it with all his what? Do you guys see that? David
did it with all his might. Go to 1 Chronicles 22, 29 verse
2 and 3. Let me share with you the implication
of that statement. I want you to get this. I want
you to get this. This has to do with how we live
before God. This has to do with the ultimate
desires of your life. Here's what David said to Solomon,
closing out chapter 28, verse 1 of 29. Furthermore, David,
the king said unto the whole congregation, Solomon, my son,
who alone God has what? Is yet tender and the work is
great for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord. Verse two, now I have prepared
with all my heart for the house of my God. Do you see it? Here's what David was able to
say, that from the time that God called him, to the time that
he's about to transfer the kingdom to his son, he lived for God. Did you get that? Did you get
that? I want you to get this now. David is not lying. He's not exaggerating. Here's
what he's saying. When he looks back, he sees how
the grace of God led him all the way and gave him strength. Here it is, ladies and gentlemen,
to stay on point. Do you understand how hard that
is to stay on point? Do you understand how hard it
is to finish well? Do you understand how hard it
is to stay in your lane? Brother David, with all the...
And then he go through some mess. See, you and I have to learn
how to reconcile where sin abounds, grace abounds, and much more.
You got to learn how to reconcile that. Because David went through
some mess. But he could testify that what he did for God, he
did with all his might. All his might. And in reality,
there was only one man could do it with all of his might.
What's his name? I always do those things that
please him. Which of you can convince me of sin? He knew no
sin, he did no sin, and him was no sin at all. He was wholly
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He was perfect
in his obedience, was he not? And he did it with all of his
might, because sin is not serving God with all your might. Did
you hear what I just said? Whenever you and I serve God
half-heartedly, it's sin. Christ never did one thing for
God that wasn't with all of his heart. Is this message good? Can I get to my last point? Because we're done with David
for today. But I promise you that the model that's in front
of us, because it's about the kingdom represented in the temple,
is something we have to deal with till we die. This is going
to carry over, because this is about you and me being partakers
of the glory of God. Listen to what it goes on to
say. I'm going to now move to my fourth point quickly. Solomon,
the man of rest. Do you see that? David, the man
of war, Solomon, the man of rest. We learned that in chapter 22
and chapter 28, right? I want you to see what Solomon
himself says in 1 Kings 8, verse 12. 1 Kings 8, verse 12. Listen
to what Solomon says. about himself in relationship
to his father David. And this is going to teach you
how Solomon over time began to understand what his daddy David
was saying to him when he was tender and young. Let me drop
this as a piece of historical data just to augment what I'm
about to say. Where you and I are is David as an old man. David
is somewhere about 60 years old, maybe even 65. His son Solomon
is about 20 to 25 years old at best. Somewhere between 17 and
25. This is why he's called a young
tender man. The actual Hebrew term there
means a lad. It's the same age that David
was when God called him. Remember what we learned? 17
to 25? David was a lad when God called
him. Now Solomon is a lad when God is calling Solomon. And so
David is protecting Solomon by giving him all the resources
because he's still young, still young. He said to his son Solomon
in 1 Kings chapter 8, 11, I'm going to start at verse, I guess
I better start at verse 12. He says in this context with
regards to his father, he says in verse 12, these words, Then
spake Solomon, the Lord said that he would dwell in thick
darkness, and I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, because
he's happy that the temple is built now, a settled place for
you to abide forever. This is Solomon talking. And
then we skip on down to verse 20, verse 20. And the Lord hath
performed his word that he spoke, and I am, listen to this, are
you there? I am risen up in the room of
David my father. Do you see it? What are we talking
about? The resurrection. David represents the cross work
of Christ that prepares the material. Solomon represents the resurrection.
I'm risen up. I'm risen up in the place of
my daddy David. David represents Christ crucified.
Solomon represents Christ risen. Did you guys get that? Solomon
represents Christ risen. Risen and reigning. and now sending
the Holy Ghost to gather all of the people to build the temple.
I'm going to quickly close this here. There are four things under
point number four that are clearly affirmed. And that's that sub
point one says that he was confirmed by his father in First Chronicles
chapter 29, one David to the whole of the kingdom. God chose
my son Solomon. Sub point two, he was called
to be what? You actually have to see this.
Go back to First Chronicles chapter 22. Verse 11 through 13. You have to see this. So when
God was commissioning Solomon through his father, David, David
said to Solomon, Solomon, if you're gonna build this temple,
you've got to be what? Faithful, faithful, faithful. Listen to verse 11 through 13.
Here it is. And verse 22, verse 11. I'm sorry,
I'm way up there. Here it is, verse 11. Now my
son, the Lord be with you and do what? build the house of the
Lord your God as he has said to me here it is only the Lord
give you what wisdom and understanding and give you charge concerning
Israel that you may as well keep the law of the Lord your God
do you see it so Solomon is under charge to be faithful verse 13
then shall you prosper if you take heed to fulfill the statutes
and judgments which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel
be strong and of good courage and dread not, nor be dismayed."
So God is calling Solomon to be what? Faithful. Look at 1
Chronicles chapter 28 verse 20. This is a corollary to this,
but you've got to see this. I'm sorry, this is what we call
narrative theology. If you don't tie these verses
together, you miss critical statements. Now in verse 20, David is doing
the same thing of 1 Chronicles 28. Here it is. Now watch this,
saints. And David said to Solomon, his
son, what? Be strong. Be of good courage
and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for
the Lord your God, even your God, will be with you. Now I want you to hear this,
saints. He will not fail you nor forsake you until you have
finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
Is that good? Is that amazing? Do you know
what that means? God has to work in you the willing
to do of his good pleasure. That the only way you're going
to do the will of God is for God to work in you to do it.
Is that true? And is it wonderful that God will promise that he
will be with you until it's done? So that we hear the echo of the
greater Solomon in John chapter 19 saying it is finished. But
let me show you a truth in closing. God bless you for hanging out
this long. Here's the truth. This is a conditional covenant
that God laid upon his son, Solomon, telling him, if you obey me,
you will see all these things. Did you hear that? This is a
conditional covenant based upon him keeping the law of Moses
and saying, you have to obey me fully in order for me to be
with you, in order for you to do my will. Ladies and gentlemen,
Solomon did not obey him fully. Do you hear me? But he did obey
him partially because God gave him grace to do the one thing
that God had called him to do. Remember what I told you? All
we got is one thing to do. All we got is one thing to do.
All we got is one thing to do. Now Solomon tried to be a jack
of all trades, but all he had one thing to do. What was Solomon's
job? Build that temple. That was his
paradigmatic model. That was his mission. Did God
give him grace to do it? Lord have mercy on us. Because
the day after Solomon said, it is finished, he started going
downhill. Did he? In his old age, crazy. You can't handle one woman. 700 wives. Somebody give me a stretcher.
300 concubines took the typical son
of God and turned him upside down on his head and made him
an antichrist. See, I wish you could handle
it because I would actually transition from David to Solomon and show
you how this works. But see, our generation is not
ready for long, deep theological implications drawn out of the
historical narrative, because we get shallow teaching in our
world today. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Lo, I come,
and the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will,
O God. But see, if your soul has an interest in a Savior,
you are with me right now. Are you with me right now? We
about done. We about done. And also, thank God. Thank God.
Because when you can hang out in these kind of long-distance
races under my preaching, you get to burn some calories. Yes,
you do. You get to burn some weight.
And you can eat more food now when you get ready to go watch
that Warriors game. I'm telling you. I'm here, Don. I'm here, Don.
I'm so glad to have been able to have a people that are willing
to hear this out. This will bless you exceedingly. So I want to
pull back up our PowerPoint. I'm going to quickly run through
these thoughts. Solomon is a man of rest. He was confirmed by
his father. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
He was called to be faithful. Jesus is the faithful and true
witness, is he not? But this ominous warning lays
out before us with regards to Solomon's temporary obedience,
and then ultimately his temporary loss of mind, which tells you
and me our only hope for doing the will of God is our trust
in Christ. Now, he completed the task. That's
1 Kings chapter 7, verse 7 through 14. Don't go there. But it's
clearly laying out that he finished it. And finally, Subpoint D. Do you see the Subpoint D? The
saints are to help in the work. That's 1 Chronicles chapter 22,
verse 18. Pull it up. I want these people
to see it. Did you remember what David did? He said to all Israel,
come here. Now God told me to give the task
to my son Solomon. He's tender, he's young. I'm
going to give him the material. He's going to build it. But your
job is to help him. Everybody listening to me? Your
job is to help him. The notion that you sit on your
fanny and somehow let God do it all and somehow you're going
to end up in glory? You're delusional. Are you hearing me? You're delusional.
Listen to what it says. Are you there? Has the message
been good so far? good good then I'm gonna be faithful
to get you mad at the last point right here I'm gonna let you
be mad right here I know but I'm gonna let you be mad right
here now pastor is telling me to do something I don't want
to do nothing I'm lazy I'm sloppy I just want to wallow in the
grace of God in Christ well go to hell stay with me go to hell listen
to me Because if he has not poured into your heart the love of God
enough for you to want to put your hand to the plow as a privilege
of being called out of darkness into his marvelous light to give
you a little pittance that doesn't earn anything but just gives
you a right to be a part of the building of the kingdom, you
don't know grace. Listen to it. It's not the Lord
your God with you. Has he not given you rest on
every side for he has the inhabitants of the earth. In the land of
Shadduh, verse 22, verse 18. What's that all about? Is it verse 17? All right, let's
look at verse 17. No, that's not no verse 17. Whoever
that guy is, he's just jumping on it. Verse 18. We're 1 Chronicles
2, 18? Oh, there it is. It's verse 17. Who said that? Where? Right there? Oh, Peter got it.
Bless you, Peter. David also commanded all the
princes of Israel to do what? See that word help? That's you
and me. I'm so glad to have brought that.
I would have failed in myself if I brought all that other part
and didn't bring this. Because see, this is the way the church
is built. If I had time, I'd show you the splendor and wonder
of the process. Do you remember when he says,
Solomon, this temple is to be exceedingly magnificent in its
fame and in its glory. You guys remember that? In our
English Bible, it's in an adjectival form. And you and I are thinking
in terms of, what it looks like. Really, Solomon was told that
the process by which the temple is to be built is to be magnificent. The process, the process is to
be awe-inspiring. And what that means is the people
that watched Solomon hiring strangers and saints, working together
to put this thing together and the way he put it together, were
by prepared stones that were carved out beforehand in the
rock quarry of Hiram. Every one of those stones represented
God's elect chosen in Christ before the world began and they
were placed stone by stone without a hammer or without a tool. so
that we understood that the building of the church is by grace alone,
apart from works. That no human hand is putting
this together. Now, when you have people building
houses by your house or buildings by your house, you complaining
about the dust and the debris and the noise and all that. But
the church of the living God is not built with noise, it's
built by grace. And every stone that's placed
in it is already prepared by God from before the foundation
of the world in Christ. We just get placed. We get placed
by His grace. And we get placed by his grace,
by those who already know the grace of God and have been placed.
All we're doing is taking them and placing them. Is that good?
Taking and placing. And we do that through the preaching
of the gospel. God bless every one of you. Amen. Let's stand for the doxology.