The first Kings chapter 7. And King Solomon sent and fetched
Hiram out of Tyre. And he was a widow son of the
tribe of Naphtali. And his father was a man of Tyre,
a worker in brass, and he was filled with wisdom and understanding. and cunning to work all works
in brass. And he came to King Solomon and
wrought all his work. He was the man that the Lord
used for the construction of the temple. And he cast two pillars
of brass of 18 cubits high a piece and a line of 12 cubits to encompass
either of them about. And he made two chapters of molten
brass to set upon the tops of the pillars. The height of the
one chapter was five cubits and the height of the other chapter
was five cubits. And nets of checker work and
rees of chain work for the chapters which were upon the top of the
pillars, seven for the one chapter and seven for the other chapter.
And he made the pillars in two rows roundabout upon the one
network to cover the chapters that were upon the top with pomegranates. So did he for the other chapter.
And the chapters that were upon the top of the pillars were of
lily work. in the porch, four cubits. This is all the decorations
on these pillars. And the chapters upon the two
pillars had pomegranates also above over against the belly,
which was by the network. And the pomegranates were 200
in rows roundabout about the other chapter. And he set up
the pillars in the porch of the temple. Now these pillars had
the weight of the temple and they also were over the entrance
into the temple. And he set up the pillars in
the porch of the temple, and he set up the right pillar and
called the name thereof, Jacob. And he set up the left pillar
and called the name, Boaz. And upon the top of the pillars
was lily work, Christ the lily of the valley. So was the work
of the pillars finished and completed. It's interesting, isn't it? Given names. Jacob and Boaz. That's what we're going to consider
the two pillars of the temple. Let's pray together. Our merciful heavenly father,
we come into your presence in Christ's name. And we ask in
his name that you would be pleased to meet with us. And that you'd
speak in power to our hearts. That your gospel might be preached,
that we might be enabled to worship your son. that we might be enabled
to believe on his name, that we might be enabled to confess
our sins before you and ask for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of thy dear son. May his name be exalted. Be with
all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, we ask for
your mercy on. This country, according to your
will, give our leaders wisdom. that we might lead a quiet and
peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. Bless us for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. Now 1 Kings chapter 7 is about
the construction of Solomon's house first and then the temple. There's a lot of detail given
As you saw, just about the pillars throughout this very long chapter. And, um, many representations
of the gospel are found in here, but something I want to point
out that I think is, um, instructive and somewhat scary. Look in verse
38 of chapter six. And in the 11th year in the month
of bull, which is the eighth month was the house finished.
It's just talking about the temple. throughout all the parts thereof,
and according to all the fashion of it, so was he seven years
in building it. But Solomon was building his
own house 13 years and finished all his house. Now, why does
the scripture point that out? Well, we know that Solomon was
the wisest man to ever live. Scripture lets us know that.
And Solomon was just a man. And in some respects, he was
the most foolish man to ever live. And as a matter of fact,
as you go on reading and look in verse eight of chapter seven
and his house, where he dwelt had another court within the
porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also in house
for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he'd taken to wife, like unto
this porch. Now the Bible forbid him to do
this. The Bible forbid any Israelite
to make an affinity, to make a marriage with anybody of another
nation. But Solomon did it anyway. I think it's interesting, all
the writers that I read on this, and I read several, they said,
well, she must have converted to Judaism or he would have never
done that. Well, the Bible doesn't say that. The Bible doesn't say
that. It doesn't say she converted
to Judaism. It just says he married her.
And I know if you go on toward the end of his life, this was
the beginning of all of his problems because he had many wives and
he loved many women. And that ended up being his downfall
where he seemed to be an idolater. He wasn't. We know he wasn't.
But if the Bible didn't tell us he wasn't, we'd think he was
the way he died. This is the wisest man to ever
live. He spent 13 years on his own
house. seven years on the house of the
Lord. And you know what I was thinking
about that? I don't want to be somebody like that. I know I
will be, apart from God's grace. I know I will be. But I don't
want to be somebody like that. May the Lord deliver us from
being like that, like Solomon was, because it ended up being
his downfall. Wisest man to ever live, yet
he dies in such a shameful way. I don't want to do that. Now
this chapter is about the construction of the temple and there's so
much detail given. We have the temple, we have the
brass seas of water where there were just, Christ our sanctification. We have a picture of the church
in this temple. The church is the temple of God. It's the temple of Christ. And
I think it's real interesting if you look at the end of this
chapter, it says there was so much brass used that there was
no weight given for anything that was made. And you know,
there's no measuring of the believer because of what we are in Christ.
You can't measure us because Christ can't be measured. He's
infinite. He's altogether glorious and
lovely. And this is the salvation that
every believer possesses in Christ Jesus. It cannot be measured
for greatness. But what I want us to consider
are these two pillars. Now, this man was hired that
was very cunning. Wisdom was given to him. He was
full of wisdom because God filled him with wisdom. to be able to
do this. And he made these two pillars of brass and they're
given names. By the time they were finished,
they were about 40 feet high. All the weight of the temple
rested on these two pillars. I don't understand how that works
with architecture, but probably somebody that has understanding
does. All the weight was upon these two pillars and these two
pillars were over the entrance into the temple. And this gives
the significance of these two pillars. They bore the weight
of the temple, and this was the entrance into the temple. These
pillars represent the Lord Jesus Christ in such a powerful way.
And I love the way they're given names. Solomon gave these two
40 feet high, this is 12 feet, so over triple the height of
this and four feet, you can imagine how big they were with all these
decorations of lily work and pomegranates and chapiters, which
are some kind of decoration that made it wider. But these pillars
were about 40 feet tall and Solomon gave them names. Jachin and Boaz. Jachin means He will establish. Boaz means in the Lord, in the
Lord, there is strength. Now all the gospel is found in
those two names of these pillars. He will establish, Jacob. And in the Lord, there is strength. Now this is the strength of the
temple, what it rests on, this is the entrance into the temple. He will establish. Talking about what he will do. And in the Lord, there is strength. Now is not all of our salvation
dependent upon what he has done and what he will do? Think about
that. Take that into your mind. Is
your salvation not completely 100% dependent upon what he has
done and what he will do? All of the weight of your salvation
is dependent upon that. And if you're a believer, I don't
have to convince you of that. You know it so. All of my salvation
is dependent, completely, 100% dependent upon what he has done
and upon what he will do. He will establish. Now, what
I want to do is give you some words that are used by the translators
in the King James version that come from the root word of he
will establish, and this will give us some idea of what all
this means as far as our salvation. The gospel, he will establish,
this is the first, Jacob, he will establish. It's translated,
he will prepare. Didn't the Lord say, I go to
prepare a place for you? Now, when he said that, he was
talking about going to the cross. He wasn't talking about going
up into heaven and getting the room ready. That's the way most
people look at that. Well, he's gone there to get
my mansion ready. Well, I suppose maybe to some
extent that's true. But when he says, I go to prepare
a place for you, he's talking about going to the cross. And
he had the name of every one of his elect on his heart when
he said that. I go and prepare a place. And he says this to me. I go
and prepare a place for you. He will establish. It's translated established.
Let your heart be established with grace and not with meats.
Hebrews 13, nine, let your heart be established with grace. You
know, the headlines of the paper this morning was about somebody
falling from grace and everybody knows what I'm talking about.
Well, I guess you do. It's we're talking about Patino,
what happened to him this week. And it's all so sad, but they
said he's fallen from grace. No, he hadn't. If you can fall
from grace, it's not grace. It's not grace. Grace establishes
us. Let your heart be established
with grace. It's translated made ready. And
you'll remember from a couple of weeks ago in first Kings chapter
six, where the stones were cut out before they were placed in
the temple. So no sound of construction would
be heard in the temple. No sound of work. They were made
ready. My salvation was made ready by
the Lord Jesus Christ before I ever experienced it. And that's
why salvation is so secure. It was made ready by the Lord
Jesus Christ. All my salvation was made ready. This is the pillar upon my way. This is my inference that he
made everything ready for me, that he did it all. It's translated,
established, immovable on the rock Christ Jesus set upon the
foundation. Established. It shows the strength
of it. And then the word, I love this
word, it's translated ordained. Ordained. He has ordained. Now, every aspect of the salvation
of all of God's elect was ordained before time began, actually accomplished
before time began, and that's why it's assured. It's already
done. If something's already done,
And Hebrews 4.3 says, the works were finished. All the works
of salvation were finished from the foundation of the world.
Every aspect of my salvation was ordained by God before time
began. And that is why it is certain.
You know, I don't have any confidence in anything that just happened
sometime in time. Do you? You know, if just there's
no strength to it, there's no, there's not this immovable My
salvation was ordained by God in the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And that's why it must come to
pass. The word is translated provide. He will provide. Same
word has all these meanings. He will provide. And I love to
think of, uh, Isaac going up the mountain with his father
and he said, here's the wood and here's the fire. Where's
the lamb? My son, God will provide Himself a lamb. You know, in
this thing of providing for my salvation, nothing for me to
provide. He provides it all. He provides
the lamb. He provides this lamb for Himself
that He might do something for me, and He Himself is the lamb
that He provides. The Lord will provide. That's the very weight of our
salvation. The Lord will provide. Now I like this. It's translated
right. Right. Righteousness. Now this
salvation that we have is a righteous salvation. It's altogether righteousness. There's nothing unclean about
it. There's nothing sinful about it. There's nothing where. Something's
covered up, but it's still there. It's absolutely right. Listen
to this scripture. Moreover, Romans 5.21, moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Wherever sin abounds, grace. I love that because you find
yourself a place where sin abounds. Wherever sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness." Now, this is
what the Bible is speaking of. I'm going to speak some justification.
I'm justified before God. There's no sin. There's nothing
unclean underneath. It's an altogether righteous
salvation. And the only thing we have confidence
in is an altogether righteous salvation, that which is right.
Now, this is the foundation of my salvation. This is what upholds
my salvation. This is the way I enter in, perfect
righteousness. This word is translated fixed,
immovable. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. It's translated set and settled. Set on the foundation and settle
on the foundation to where it cannot be moved. Now here's one
of my favorites. All these are my favorite, but
ordered. David used the word like this.
Although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me
an everlasting covenant ordered. ordered in all things. And sure. And David said, this
is all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not
to grow. It's translated fashioned, fashioned
as his glorious body. It's translated certain. The
salvation of all of God's elect is certain because Christ died
for them. What else needs to be said? And
it's translated perfect. By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now what a pillar that is. What
a pillar that is. Jacob, the pillar that upholds
the way to the temple. All these words demonstrate who
Christ is and what he did for us and how he bears all the weight
and he is the entrance in. Now the other pillar is named
Boaz. Who's Boaz? Y'all remember him,
Boaz. He's David's grandfather. He
is the one who married Ruth. And what is he? He's the kinsman
redeemer. Now the kinsman redeemer is the
one who, if you lost everything and you had a kinsman, who had
the right to redeem and buy back everything you lost, and he had
the power to do it. Christ Jesus is the one who has
the right to redeem me. I may seem unredeemable, I may
seem so weak, but what's the point? But Christ has the right
to do it, and not only does he have the right to do it, he has
the power to redeem me. Boaz. Boaz, the one who has the
right, the one who has the power. Now his name means in the Lord
there is strength. It doesn't say in you there is
strength. It doesn't say anything about you and strength or me
and strength. No mention is made of that at
all. In the Lord there is strength. Now all of God's Salvation, all
of the blessings of His salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish I could say that the way
it ought to be said. I wish I could believe it the way it ought to
be believed. All of God's favor, all of God's blessing, every
aspect of God's salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not anywhere else, it's
in Him. Paul put it this way in Ephesians 1, 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And he goes on to enumerate those,
but you think of every truth regarding salvation, no matter
what it is, it's in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all centered,
focused only in him. What is election without Christ?
It's some kind of, and you know, most people, when they hear of
election, this is what they think. It's God, just arbitrarily chew.
I'm going to pick this one out and I'm going to damn this one.
I'm going to select this one. And I'm just, that's not what
election is. According as he has chosen us
in him, in him, you can't separate election and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What about justification? I'm justified by his righteousness. What about redemption? I'm redeemed
by His blood. I'm called by His grace. I'm preserved in Christ Jesus. Every aspect of salvation is
in Him. That means that everything God
requires of me, He looks to His Son for. Everything. In the Lord,
in the Lord, that's where God's salvation is. In the Lord, there
is strength. In the Lord, shall all the seed
of Israel be justified in the Lord. There's righteousness and
the Lord, their strength. And here's where this comes in.
In the Lord, their strength. I have no strength. None at all in and of myself. I can't believe. I can't come
to Christ. I can't repent. I can't love
God. In myself, I cannot do anything. And didn't the Lord say, without
me? Think of this. He said, without me, you can
do, what's the next word? Nothing. There are many different
ways to take that. Without me, he didn't say without
me you can hardly do anything. Without me you can only do, no,
without me you can do nothing. But in the Lord there is strength
to believe. I do believe. I'm resting in
Christ right now and it's because the Lord strengthened me to do
it. There's strength to repent. There's strength to come to Christ.
In the Lord there is strength. There's strength to persevere.
He strengtheneth me. I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me, Paul said. And in the Lord, not in
you, but in the Lord, there is strength and how graciously he
gives it to every one of his people. In the Lord, there is
strength. All of God's blessing is in the
Lord. Now, what does it mean to be
in the Lord? Well, first of all, it's a mystery. I can't really give a good textbook
definition of what it means to be in the Lord. If I thought
I could, I'd just prove how ignorant I am. This is one of the mysteries
of Scripture that is believed, not understood. Do you understand
how you've always been in the Lord? That's what it means to
be in the Lord. It means you've always been in
the Lord. It means there's never been a
time where you were not in the Lord. It means before time began,
you were in the Lord. It means when you had no existence,
God knew you. Jeremiah, he said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I, what? Knew thee. I knew thee. He's always known me because
I've always been in the Lord. Now, do I understand that? No,
it blows my mind. As a matter of fact, I, you know,
wow. But the scripture says, both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one,
one with Christ, eternally one. Well, somebody says, what's that
mean? Well, that's as close as I can
come to say, and it means I've always been in him. Well, how
do you get in him? Well, 1 Corinthians 1.30 says,
of him are you in Christ Jesus. How'd you get in Him? Did you
crawl in there? Did you something, did you do?
No. Of Him. Are you in Christ Jesus who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption? Well, how do I know? How can
I know if I'm in Him? I mean, this is such a mysterious
thing and there's nothing I can do to make myself get in Him. It's totally dependent on God
putting me in Him. And if I'm in Him, I've always
been in Him. So how can I know if I'm in Him? In whom you trusted. Ephesians 1.13. In whom you trusted. Now here is all I trust. That
everything God requires of me is in his son. And I'm in his
son. And it's well with my soul because
I am in him. That's a great place to be, isn't
it? Now, what a, what pillars, the
pillars of our salvation, Jacob and Boaz. He will establish. It's what
he has done. And in him is strength. All the weight of our salvation
weighs upon those two pillars. And we love it that way, don't
we? We wouldn't want it to be any other way. In Him is strength. Now, Lord willing, next week,
we'll spend probably several weeks in chapter eight about
Solomon's dedication, when he dedicated the building to the
service of the Lord.