Good morning. I hope you rested well and so
grateful that our brother prayed.
But it's just a habit sometimes, to pray before we open God's
Word again. And so join me as we bow our
heads and our hearts, more importantly before the Lord.
Lord, we are overwhelmingly grateful that You have sustained
us through our sleep and that our eyes open this morning.
We have every reason to believe that because we are alive today,
you have a purpose for us. And, Lord, we are eager to know
your purpose as we expound the Word and hear your voice through
your established revelation. And so, Father, we asked for a
special grace your hand upon the delivery of this Word.
Lord, your mercy upon our hearts to receive and to discern your
voice. Let every obstruction, any
interference be cancelled by your power and Lord.
May the living Christ be made more known, more alive, more
real to us as we come into your presence, as God's people, your
temple that you are creating and working on.
As we speak In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. The nation of Israel has
undergone many administrations. During their interesting history
as a people, they have endured many monarchs, many kings, many
rulers, and generally those rulers have failed to inspire
the spiritual prosperity of the nation of Israel, and as a
result they have not prospered in virtually every other area as
a nation and as a people. And now there were early signs
for Israel to see a shaky future because they couldn't last past
the third king established to see unity.
What was one government up to the third king became two
different kingdoms in one land. That was never God's plan.
But man, sin, selfishness, pride, idolatry unfortunately
interfered with what the Lord designed initially.
And so, up to the Babylonian exile, you had a divided
country. A divided country that even went
to war with one another at times.
And it's not difficult to see that the testimony of Israel's
political leadership is disappointing, to say the least.
All you have to do is read first kings.
All you have to do is read second kings to get that.
And though the various biblical records of these kings would
make the reader blush, there is one era.
There is one specific period, a timestamp of 40 years, that even
if you ask, a Jew today would confess was the golden age for
the nation of Israel. It was a time of unprecedented
peace. It was a time of unmatched
prosperity for this people, and I am speaking specifically as
and to the reign of King Solomon.
The reign of King Solomon was unlike any other.
The accomplishments of this one man in the span of four decades
is remarkable. And when you come to the
scriptures, you see that the Holy Spirit takes His time to
describe the list of his achievements, the cities that he
has built, the the wealth that he bestowed upon this people,
the flourishing commerce by land and sea.
The diplomatic relationship with the nation is the fullest
occupation of the physical promised land, the peak of
national security, the absolutely professional and
impressive administrative program that he had with those
who assisted him. The giftedness of even those who
came by his side, the men that he raised up and trained to do
what he did with his wisdom, was something that you did not see
even with his father David. The political and the economic
flourishing that came about from King Solomon, even David did did
not reach, and unfortunately, after Solomon's reign, it was a
downward spiral for this nation. There were some episodes of of
hope, of restoration, but no other king.
No other succeeding throne has ever reached the heights that
Solomon has reached. And on top of all of it, this
same man was privileged to be called by God to build the
resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the very first temple
of God in Jerusalem. And so it's no surprise that if
you were to talk to a Jew back then, if you were to talk to a
Jew even today who believes in Israel's history, they would say
there was no other time like Solomon's.
And even many would say we yearn for what Solomon was able to
usher in, to be repeated again. And that's really their hope and
the Messiah. But you look, you look on and
you read, and you realize that that was never to be really
repeated. Even when the nation of Israel
came back from Babylonian exile and attempted to restore what
was lost in Ezra chapter three, you see that the foundation of
the temple was laid and there was mixed reaction.
You had people who were rejoicing, right?
But at the same time you read in Ezra 3 that you had people who
were weeping, weeping, and you wonder, why are people weeping?
And then you read, because they were old men.
They were priests and Levi's and others who were old enough to
remember what it was like to live under Solomon's reign and
to see what Solemn was able to create with the blueprint that
God had given his father David. And this restorative program did
not even cut it. It never came close.
That's the reputation that this man Solomon had.
That's the impact that he had generationally.
Even the memory of him ruined people's present experiences.
And I I paint that portrait, that brief portrait, for you to
get an idea of the force of Jesus's words in Matthew 1242,
when he stood before the religious leaders of his day and
he said something greater than Solomon is here.
What do you think went through the minds of those Jews in that
moment? Here is a man who held no
political position. He had no princely attire.
He had no palace to his name. He didn't have a pillow to his
name, and yet he had the audacity with absolute
confidence to look at these men in their eyes and say something
greater than Solomon is here. I am surprised that nobody
interfered. I'm shocked.
I wonder why nobody in that very moment did not interrupt and say
what makes you think you're greater than Solomon.
And it makes you wonder if that thought passed through their
minds. I'm sure it did for some.
It did for me when I read that verse.
As you heard last night, we know that Jesus is greater than
Solomon. But I stare at that verse over
and over again and throughout these past few days and weeks,
wondering, Lord, how are you? How are you greater than this
great, brilliant king? And when you compare Jesus to
Solomon, you know what? You find out He is greater in
every way, not just in some ways, in every way Christ is
greater not just in his piety. He's greater than wherever you
see Solomon to be great. He outshines Solomon in his
wisdom. He outshines Solomon in his
wealth. He outshines Solomon in his
ability and his achievements and even the blessings that he was
the overflow on those who are willingly to rest under his
reign. Christ is greater in every
single way, and I hope that you will see that this weekend
Christ is even greater than Solomon in his crowning
accomplishment, the building of the temple.
That's what Solomon was really known for.
And you might be wondering how how how is Christ greater than
Solomon in that fashion? And my answer is this, because
Jesus Christ today, even as we speak, is building a greater
house even now if we can put up Hebrews chapter 3, verse 6.
And if you want to see that reference briefly, let me give
you the proof of Jesus being a builder of a house, a greater
house than even that glorious majestic building called the
Temple in Jerusalem, we are told in Hebrews 3-6.
But Christ is faithful over God's house as a Son, and we are
His house. We are His house, If indeed we
hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Hebrews Out of all the places, that is where we are told we are
his house. Hebrews the audience, are Jewish
Christians. And this author is telling this
people who are very acquainted with the old covenant system,
who understood the Levitical precedent or understood the
functions and the furnishings of the Tabernacle.
This writer says with absolute boldness.
Christ is building a house. We are that house.
Staggering, shocking. At least it would have been to
them. Those who cherish and prized the
temple, the Tabernacle, are now being told that address of God's
abiding place has now changed. You're now the House of God.
We are now the House of God. And you think about that further
and you realize, well, this is something significant.
It is the place that was supposed to host the presence of
God with veiled splendor and majesty.
The place that God established to give man the access to give
God acceptable worship has now transferred to flesh and blood.
Christ now is committed to perpetually and faithfully work
on us in order for us to now be the meeting place with God and
for us to be able to display His glory to whoever would look upon
us and know us and be acquainted with us.
That's what's happening, and I hope we understand just how
massive that truth is. If not, I'll say it as plain as
possible. No longer does God look at a
building. No longer does He look at a
structure to speak for his glory.
He recruits blood, bought people and adorns them.
No longer does Christ look at specific instruments with
materials such as gold and wood to offer pleasing aromas.
He now looks to those that he has redeemed, and he asked for
your hands, your feet, your eyes, your meditations to give
him that pleasing aroma. Everything has changed in the
New Covenant. Everything has changed and we
need to grasp this or else you will fail to see the privilege
of belonging to him. And you will also fail to
realize the all that it is when we come together as God's
people, recognized as the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Peter put it this way. In First Peter 25 we are a
spiritual house. Paul clarifies, an asset, saying
that we are being built together as a dwelling place for God by
the Spirit. That's Ephesians 222 And so it
is sprinkled throughout the Bible.
We are now individually the temple of the Holy Spirit and we
also corporately express the House of God, hosting His
presence and displaying his glory.
That's what happened in Christ, and Christ is currently building
that. He's currently making that more
real, more accurate, more to his desire and design.
And for some reason, if you don't have the awareness of how
glorious that is to be the House of God or to realize the divine
efforts that went into making that possible, I hope this
message will change you. And the way that this message
will challenge us to see how Jesus is greater is by looking
at how Solomon built the the temple, paralleling it to how
Christ foreshadowing how Christ is building his temple and how
Christ has even greater greater plans and greater purposes for
the House of God. And so this morning we're going
to look at three simple things. We're going to go look at the
the timing of the building of the temple.
We're going to look at the method of the building of the
temple. And lastly, we're going to look
at the glory of the temple itself, the timing of the temple
being built, the method of the time of the temple being built,
and lastly the glory that went into the temple that was being
built. And our time is going to be
consecrated in one specific chapter, First Kings chapter 6
and those this turn, our bibles that are first first kings
chapter 6 beginning in verse one.
And let's look at the timing in which the Temple was built,
seeing how it points to Jesus Christ in so many ways.
In first kings, one in the 480th year and after the people of
Israel came out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year of
Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the
second month, he began to build the House of the Lord.
Be honest, how many of us would have skipped over that verse?
Ziv. 80th year, 4th year, second month?
Give me something for my life today, right?
But read carefully and read closely.
Look what the Holy Spirit is doing.
Notice the detail of the precise timing of the building of the
temple. You're not only told the year,
you're not only told the month. But in God's mind, he is
connecting, tracing the commencement of the Temple being
built with the Exodus. Did you see that?
In the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the
land? This is when the temple began to
be erected and created. And you think to yourself, why?
Why is the the Holy Spirit trying to bring our minds to the
Exodus and how does that relate to and why is it significant to
the building of the temple? And as you think about and as
you look into, you realize that perhaps God is trying to say
something loud and clear concerning the Exodus and the
temple and how it relates to this.
Could it be that the construction of the temple, the
construction of the House of the Lord, is the express purpose for
why God, God's people, were brought out of Egypt to begin
with? In other words, for this
building to be connected with the deliverance of the people of
Israel from Egypt is meant to communicate the goal of God in
saving Israel from the oppression of Pharaoh.
The temple was the great anticipation that God had.
The temple was the longing that God.
The temple was the the aim of bringing God's people out.
And it's finally here. This is what the Lord wanted to
bring his people to. This is what the Lord wanted to
bring the people, to experience this glorious thing that's not
just a building, but it's it's a it's a gateway into something.
To meet with God, to worship God, to behold the glory of God.
This is why God brought them out and that is why the author links
the creation of the temple to their salvation.
He might be saying, well then they have the Tabernacle early
on in the wilderness. Yes, they did have the
Tabernacle. That just further proves the
point that God wanted to bring them into the wilderness to
worship him. But the Tabernacle was
temporary. The Tabernacle was mobile, it
was not fixed. Whereas the nature of the temple
is permanence. It speaks of something that is
there, something that is will continue constancy.
This is it. This is being parked here.
It's not going anywhere. At least that was the intention.
And when we think about that how God links the Exodus with the
temple, the temple, which is the place where he wants to meet
with us, then you understand also that Christ's deliverance
in the gospel has no different goal.
Is it not the intention of God in Christ that by delivering us
from the world, delivering us from Pharaoh, delivering us from
sin? He longs to bring us to himself.
He longs to bring us into His presence.
He longs to bring us into knowing Him.
That is the goal. One of my favorite verses that
proves that is First Peter 318, where he speaks about the
sacrifice of Christ and what that sacrifice was intended to
bring us to. What do you think it is, Heaven?
What do you think it is into a more harmonious life?
Into a more stable marriage? No.
Here's what it is for Christ also suffered once for sins, The
righteous. For the unrighteous that he
might bring us to God, to God. Not out of hell.
Not out of the world, primarily. Not even out of sin.
Yes, those things are true. And it doesn't even say into
heaven or into a more sense of fulfillment in your existence.
The primary aim in Christ's suffering, dying, redeeming us
with His blood is to bring us to God himself.
What does that imply? Personal knowledge?
What does that imply? Fellowship.
What does that imply? Relationship with God?
I've said it before, I'll say it again, if you don't want God,
you don't want heaven. It's plain and simple, because
the essence of heaven is God himself.
The glory of heaven is the glory of God.
The enjoyment of heaven is God himself, but not just heaven.
Now today he brings us to God himself.
So never fail to associate your salvation with that glorious
goal, God, God. And so in salvation, if you
claim to be saved and there is no desire for God, you have to
question your salvation. With all due respect, you have
to question your salvation. Because the very intent of him
saving you, filling you with the Spirit, changing your heart, is
that you would have this new found yearning for God to desire
Him and long for Him. And so, even from the beginning
of this conference, ask yourself, even if you've been
here, this is your 10th year, ask yourself this question.
Does that testify of my desire? Does that testify my ambition
and my pursuits? Do I long for God?
God creating this new temple in us is for that purpose.
And if there's not that purpose at all, if it's non existent,
then you have to ask yourself if you even came out of Egypt to
begin with. You might be still in shackles
my brother, your master still might be Pharaoh and you might
not even realize it now. In reality he brings us to God.
That is the heart of God in creating the temple.
It was the heart for the Exodus. Bring them here.
And 1st Kings chapter 6 verse one.
And it is still the heart of God today when people say, oh Lord,
set me free, redeem me with your blood, wash me.
He wants to make you a place where you can know God and give
God acceptable worship your very own heart.
Not a location in Jerusalem. A forgiven heart becomes a new
meeting place between you and God where you enjoy him, know
him and love him. But we look here further at the
method of the building. Look at verse seven of First
Kings chapter 6. When the house was built, it was
with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer
nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was
being built. What a fascinating detail for
the Holy Spirit to give us. This is so interesting.
The Spirit saw necessary to inform us that there was no
sound of tools colliding with the material.
When the temple was being constructed, it was at a
distance. All the raw stone and all the
things that they used to bring about the structure was done at
a distance. And so you wouldn't hear the
furnishing. You wouldn't hear the pulling,
you wouldn't hear the polishing. You wouldn't hear all of that.
When those materials were ready to be placed and brought
together, they would do so in the city where it was planted.
But you wouldn't hear it. There was a reverential silence.
There was this elegant rhythm where you would go about in your
home, at your workplace, and you, you would barely hear the
whisper even of this grand, majestic thing being put
together. Now why would the Holy Spirit
show this? Why is this even important?
For me? To know that the project of the
building of Solomon's Temple was generally silent.
It was not immediately perceived.
Periodically you would look out and you would see it getting
larger, coming together more and more.
But if you were distracted to the slightest, you would not be
able to understand what was happening.
At least you would not be able to perceive it.
And I look at this and I think to myself that this is an
encouragement. This is an encouragement that
you have to link when you realize that you're the temple,
the church is the temple, and Christ is the one building it.
A brilliant man said once Andrew McLaren, that this is a lesson
not to mistake noise and notoriety for spiritual
progress. Do not mistake noise and
notoriety for spiritual progress.
What does that mean? It's very simple.
There are many believers who equate their spiritual
effectiveness, their spiritual growth, with the attention and
the recognition that they might receive from others.
That's how people esteem, their value, their worth, their
fruitfulness. The Lord has to let what's
happening in me be made known in order for it to be true and to
be genuine and to be powerful. And if it's not known, if it's
not receiving that attention and that recognition and that
appreciation, and maybe it's not really God working in me and
Solomon's temple would testify otherwise.
Because the Lord does not need to announce his work in order
for it to be legitimate. He doesn't need to advertise
what he's doing in you. Your growth, your godliness,
your character being chiseled, your fruitfulness, your gifting
does not need to be known to the masses in order for it to be
authentic. And some people, unfortunately,
live with discouragement because they feel as though they are
often overlooked, unappreciated, not praised, not recognized.
And if you feel that way, especially as you look out and
you see other men and women being raised up, being
acknowledged by prominence. And here you are, little
Christian, trying to just raise your children and be faithful to
the ministry in your local church.
Don't forget the temple. Don't forget the temple.
Even that glorious place was being built silently.
When God works, it's not always loud.
And we think if God works, it has to be loud.
There has to be, at Maranatha Bible conference, Year 25,
thunderous conviction and rivers of tears that we have to clean
up and explosive miracles. God, if he's working, surely has
to be noisy and obvious and undeniable.
Oh yeah, what about the temple? Silent, subtle, sometimes even
missed. But still, God was working on
something, and God was building something.
And sometimes we look at our own lives and we feel as though
there's been periods, long periods, where monumental
moments, even miraculous moments have not been experienced, have
not worked through you or to you.
And you think to yourself, Lord, have you stopped working in me,
Lord? Have you stopped working on me?
Lord, Have you stopped working through me?
God's work is not always loud, and God's work is not always
instantaneous. How long did it take to build
this temple? Well, Scroll down with me here
and look at verse 38 of first king 6 and then the 11th year.
In the month of bowl, which is the 8th month, the house was
finished in all its parts and according to all its
specifications, He was seven years in building it.
Seven years. You know, David confess in First
Chronicles 2819 that this blueprint for the temple came
from the hand of God. This was not man's initiative.
This is what man's idea. They didn't have a bunch of
architects come together and say what?
What can we build from? God gave the specifications for
what he expected from his own house, and even though this
originated in the mind of God, it didn't take a day, it didn't
take a month. It took seven years.
When God works on something, he gladly and often takes his time
to do it. And that's helpful for the
person who is eager to arrive somewhere in their godliness,
eager to arrive somewhere in their effectiveness, The Lord
takes his time. You know, there's a wonderful
song that says promotion comes from the Lord.
You can't promote yourself, You can't expand your influence.
You can't do that. You can't even make yourself
arrive. Some of those sanctification is
a partnership with God. Understand that the Lord knows
exactly what he's doing with his syllabus, with his program for
your life. So seven years taking to build
this building and our simplicity, We think that if God
does something, it has to happen overnight.
It has to happen right there and then.
No, He takes time when he makes his men.
He takes time when he makes his woman.
Look at David. We've been studying David in our
local church all the years in the wilderness, being pressed
and crushed. Look at Joseph.
He he has this glimmer of hope, this little spark that he's
going to get out of prison, all for that guy to forget to
mention him after he interpreted his dream.
And he's in that prison for two extra years.
When God sanctifies, is often in a slow cooker.
He knows exactly when and where and how.
And I love to see the temple being built in this way because
it encourages me to know that even if you're part of a
ministry, even if you're part of a local church, and you long for
it to be something to gain attention, to win people's
affection, the Lord takes his time.
And so don't be discouraged. Don't be downcast.
Don't wonder. Just trust him and look to him
and believe Him as you go. Just submit to his work day by
day and let him take you where he wants to take you.
That's it. It's so simple.
Rest, relax. Enjoy him as he builds you.
But I look at this and I think to myself also this, this
silence. I wasn't even planning to say
this, but I'll say it anyway. Solomon's name means peace.
It derives from the word Shalom. God did not use David to build
his house because David was was a man of war.
His hands were stained with blood.
God did not want a man associated with war to be the
direct agent to building his house, and so he rises up.
His son Solomon names his name peace, and that was the
manifestation of his rule in his reign, his whole rule and reign,
except by the end of his life because of his apost.
He never knew war, never knew civil distress, never knew
foreign oppression or strife. It was.
It was calm and tranquil throughout it all.
And even in this you see that the building of it was silent.
It was peaceful. It was.
It was beautiful. There was no clashing.
There was no disruption. There was no painful anything.
There was a grace to it. Let me say this because it's
important. There are many churches.
I've said this in our own church, but I want to say this
for those who represent different ministries here.
If you want to be somebody who's part of God's building program
for his church in this hour, God uses men and women of peace.
God uses men and women of peace. If you're a troublemaker, right,
God's not going to use you to build his house.
He's not. If you're a person that enjoys
drama and strife and gossip and problems and slander, if that's
the thrill, if you come to the House of God just to create
problems, if that's you, you will never be used by God to be
part of his building program for the church.
In fact, you're in trouble with God, and so let me say that
you're eager to to know a participation in this temple
building. Be a person of peace.
Esteem others higher than yourself.
Fear God, Please fear God. Fear Him.
Tremble before him. Realize how holy and sacred it
is. Even though you come together
weekly and you're familiar with the people, you're with those
people that you're familiar with, that local church that
you're gathered with. That's the temple of the Holy
Spirit. And God is wanting to build
something that would more reflect his beauty.
Don't get in the way of that. Be a person of peace.
There's another thing even with the silence, something that
blesses me tremendously. Not only is it the silence of
God's work in our lives per se, not only is it a a nudge to to
remember that when God builds something, when he desires to do
something, to to really magnify his presence and to showcase his
power. You must be a person of peace.
But even this God desires to build us in silence.
Yes, trials and afflictions. They have a way of chiseling us
and creating something in us. But when I look at this, I also
realized that there's a theme, and the theme is this, that
there is something, a valuable production that is realized in
the place of silence. Solitude with God, getting alone
with the builder of your heart, the renewing of your mind,
silence before the Lord has a way of stretching you and
developing you. And I believe because it's a
lost art, many people are stunted in their growth because
of a lack of realizing the treasure it is to separate
yourself from everything and to just be with God alone.
Being with God alone, I know quiet time, what you like to
call it. That right is a luxury for some
people. Like brother.
If you only knew what my life looked like, I would pay for
quiet. I would do anything for quiet,
to which I would respond. You would be amazed to know what
God can do with your 5 loaves and two fishes.
If you just give him what you can give him, you would be
amazed to know the miracles that he can do if you just come with
that sincerity and humility. Say, Lord, this is all I have.
This is all I'm able to give with all the other God-given
responsibilities that you have bestowed on me and Providence.
Can you do something with this and the Lord can do something
with it? Do you get quiet before God?
Do you? Do you have a habitual practice
of pulling yourself away from all the noise, Even the noise
that you would say is ministry? Look, Lord, I'm busy.
Ping, ping, ping, Look what I'm doing for you, Lord, look, look,
look. That's wonderful.
The Lord's happy, But but the Lord wants to do something with
you in silence. There's something.
There's a perspective that is built.
There is a fortification that is known.
There is a conviction that is realized as you step into his
light alone and you allow his voice and you allow that closed
room to be the place where your father is able to do what he
wants to do when he rewards you in secret.
Silence. The temple was being built in
silence. You will know something of
growth when you commit yourself to saying I I'm going to just
step away and meet with my God. You know, Christ did that often.
Christ did that often. And one of the most notable
times that he has done it was in John 6.
After he fed the 5000, he fed the 5000.
And we are told there that they realized that he was the
prophet. Like Moses, Moses multiplied
food in the wilderness. Now here's this Jesus who
miraculous made food appear in the wilderness.
He's satisfied. This is the guy that we've been
waiting for. And they at that time were ready
to make him king. That's a good thing, isn't it?
No, it wasn't a good thing. They wanted Jesus to be king for
the wrong reasons, and Jesus was not supposed to be king without
first going to the cross. Satan frequently tempted Jesus
to pursue his ministry, to pursue his end without the
cross, even at the very moment Jesus is hanging on the cross.
The very people said come off the cross and prove that you're
the son of God. Satan tells him you can have
this whole world if you just bow down and worship me.
Satan frequently tempted even through one of his closest
followers tempted Jesus to not go to the cross.
Peter rebuked him and Jesus returned to rebuke.
Get behind me Satan. And we know that the the the
cross was our redemption. But in in like manner, Satan
today tempts Christians to live across this life, crossless
Christianity, Christianity without sacrifice, A
Christianity without dying to self.
A Christianity that doesn't go to war with your sin and your
pride and selfishness. Now he wants you to live your
Christian life without A and then we expect at the end of the
road to get a crown. How?
It's not going to happen. So you have this crowd
approaching Jesus and he's hearing the murmurings within
the thousands saying let's make him king, let's let's make him
king. Now we can overthrow Rome.
He will feed us. We will know prosperity again in
the land. How tempting would have that
been for Jesus to to refuse to go to the cross and to become
king right there and then to exercise his power as he has
just won the allegiance of multiple thousands of
Israelites? You know what he doesn't said in
John 6:15. And John 615 says, perceiving
then that they were about to come and take him by force to
make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by
himself. And Mark he sends his disciples
on the boat. He goes, boys, go, I'll meet you
on the other side. And we're told why he withdrew
by himself. It Mark tells us he went to go
pray. What a model of Christ when
everything around him was persuading him to veer off the
will of God. Jesus, the Son of the living
God, goes by himself to a mountaintop and prays, teaching
us what prayer is capable of doing.
It cuts off the hooks that try to pull us away from God.
It stabilizes us. It realigns our perspective on
life and and helps us know. I have been called by God to
obey his word, not not to have the easy way out, not to have an
easier Christianity, A worldly version of it.
And what prayer does is that it empowers you.
God gives you something in that place when you get alone with
him. People wonder why they struggle.
People wonder why they stumble. People wonder why they don't
excel. And it's been year 10.
It's been year 15. Well, how much do you value
silence with God? How much do you protect that?
You know when Moses had the meeting place early in Exodus,
after the Israelites committed that grave sin of creating the
golden calf, right? Which is significant.
They created the golden calf. We were talking about this
yesterday. Where did the Israelites get the
material to build the golden calf?
Anybody remember they got it from Egypt.
They got it from Egypt. God told the Egyptians, or
rather the Israelites, you're not leaving this place empty
handed. And so the Israelites on their
way out into the wilderness on Passovernight, they went up to
the Egyptian neighbors and they gave them their silver and their
gold and their jewelry. Why?
So they can look bougie in the wilderness.
People have limited to that to say this is reparations.
This is God's way of saying if you enslave a people of you, you
should pay it back. That's the surface level.
God asked for those materials so that when they went into the
wilderness, they would have something to build the
Tabernacle. That's what it was for.
And what do they do with the gold that they received from the
Egyptians? They built the golden calf
instead. It's amazing what we can do with
the blessings of God. Amazing what we can do with the
gifts of God. God gives us gifts, He brings us
out of Egypt, out of the world, and he gives us something in our
hands to use for His glory. And we make idols out of it
instead, right? Jesus here meets alone with the
Lord. You and I are also called to
meet with the Lord alone and know a fortification and a grace
that can only come from there. So you look at the method of the
building, right? Look at how God takes his time.
Look at how God often makes his men and woman and quiet, unseen,
overlooked. If you're not famous, doesn't
mean you're not spiritual, OK? If people don't ask for you,
doesn't mean that you're not being worked on by the Lord and
being alone with God will excel and protect will protect it.
I was talking about the Tabernacle, right?
The Tabernacle, they make that sin with the golden calf.
And then Moses meets with God as the people are waiting for the
next step, because the Lord said my presence, I'm not going with
you. So Moses meets with God there in
Exodus 33 and it says he had a meeting place with God.
There was a tent of meeting, and every time Moses would go there
to meet with God, the people would come out of their tents
and look and see Moses meeting with God.
And they were so excited because they saw that their mediator was
meeting with their God and that there perhaps there's hope in
this. But there's a little interesting
detail in Exodus 33 that whenever Moses left the meeting
place, he had Joshua stay at the entrance.
He had Joshua wait, his assistant, to wait.
Why would he have Joshua wait at that tent of meeting his
personal meeting place with God? You know why?
Because Joshua was to protect it.
And it's a picture of you protecting our meeting with God.
Busyness, the devil. Even ministry would love to,
would love to have you vacate that place.
So he said. Joshua, protect this tent of
meeting. I'll be back to call for us to
guard and to gauge how has my time with Lord the Lord alone
been, because so much depends on it.
So much depends on it. Lastly, we talked about the
timing of the building. We talked about the method of
the building. Now we come to the glory of the
building. The glory I'm speaking about is
is often associated with the actual presence of God, right?
But that's not the glory I'm speaking about.
And it's true that without the presence of God in the
Tabernacle, without the presence of God in the temple, all you
have is a hollow religious museum.
The essence of that holy place was the holiness of God and
God's manifest glory. But I'm not speaking about that
glory. I'm speaking about the structure
itself. The very building of the temple
was in itself glorious and every component and facet of it showed
something about God. It actually foreshadowed
something about Christ. And so when you look at the
details of the the Tabernacle and the temple, don't skip it as
or what is this trying to say about God.
And there's one feature about the temple what that was new.
You don't find it in the Tabernacle and I want to show it
to you. It's not in first king six, it's
in first king seven. It's neighboring chapter and I
want you to see this in verse 21 at First Kings Chapter 7.
It says here in First King 7/21, he set up the pillars at the
vesicle of the temple. He set up the pillar on the
South and called its name Yakin, and he set up the pillar on the
north and called its name Boaz. And on the tops of the pillars
was Lily work. Thus the work of the pillars was
finished. So at the very entrance of the
top of the temple, rather, you had these massive towering
pillars. Just two.
Two of them. And these pillars were so
significant that God was telling Solomon that they needed to be
named something. Each one had a personal name.
The one name of the one pillar was Yatkin, the other Boaz.
We're familiar with the name Boaz.
Why would the Lord ask for these pillars to be named?
And it's because the message of those names were to be seen just
as reliable as the very pillars that they were on.
The pillars associated with those names were to communicate
these names. What they mean are fixed and
established and completely trust.
You can build your faith on these truths.
That's what a pillar signifies. So then, what are these things
symbolize? The name Yakin, right?
There's no J in Hebrew. Yeah, I can means he will
establish. He will establish.
The name Boaz means swiftness. But most people also agree that
it can mean in him is strength. He will establish in him is
strength. I mean, it makes sense, right?
So you would walk up the courts into the temple.
You would see the temple. And here's the message that's
being conveyed. When you look at Yak and you
look at Boaz, God is the one who established the temple and God
is the one who is able to sustain the temple.
That's what was being communicated.
But I wonder if there was a secondary purpose.
I wonder if when these worshippers would come into the
House of God, they would look at those pillars, they would be
met, they would stand in the shadow of these monuments.
And they were also being told that in the House of God you
will know establishment, and in the House of God you will know
strength in the House of God. So the the place of worship, in
essence promised and reminded and guaranteed a sense of
establishment and a knowledge of God's strength.
Is it any different with the House of God today?
It's not different every time that we gather, as we're
gathering this weekend, every time you go to the local church
that you are in covenant with. I hope the moment you walk in,
you should be reminded, and you should be confident that in this
place, with God's people, I will know a strengthening I will know
an encouragement. I will know a building up.
I will know a protection. I will know a nourishment.
I will be helped by God here. Isn't it sad that the experience
of Christians and many local churches is the opposite?
It shouldn't be. But when the house is truly
there for the glory of God, those are the promises.
Those are the foundational promises that you can expect
when you come to the House of the Lord.
I know you think that you can do it on your own.
I know you're very spiritual. I know that you know your Bible
inside out. I know that you want sermons all
throughout the week. But you will never know the
fullest extent of flourishment if you do not have that
conviction about the House of God.
Not talking about the church building that you pop in and
escape the moment the guy says Amen.
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about being planted
in the House of God. You know Psalm 92, right?
Psalm 92, Verse 13. I love how the King James puts
it. I know.
I love how the new King James puts it.
Let me read to you how the ESV puts it in.
Psalm 9213 says here they are planted in the House of the
Lord. They flourish in the courts of
God. The King James says those who
are planted in the House of the Lord or they who are planted in
the House of the Lord, what's the promise?
They flourish in the courts of our God.
Planted. You know what it means?
Rooted. Firmly fixed.
That's where your address is. When you're planted in
something, you're not going anywhere else.
And with the Temple of God, then we realized that He's speaking
about the temple. But we're also seeing that in
the New Covenant lens. It's true of the Church of God.
When you choose to be planted in the House of God, only then will
you flourish spiritually with the Lord.
Only then, only then will you know blessing and fruitfulness
and fragrance. Apart from that you will not
flourish. This is what the Word of God
says. It's not my opinion.
This is what the word of God says and in this individualistic
society and in the way we treat the local church as though it
is, it's a place of my convenience and if it's not for
my convenience then I choose to divorce myself from relating to
it. You will not flourish.
It doesn't matter what kind of mind you have, doesn't matter
what kind of personality, doesn't matter how
self-discipline you are. God's mind is not our minds.
God's law and God's will is not our subjective interpretation
and is not subject to it. You have to be planted in the
House of God in order for you to flourish.
What is flourishing look like? Look at verse 14.
Tell me any born again believer that doesn't want verse 14 to be
real. They still bear fruit and old
age. They are ever full of SAP and
green. That's life that is linked to
verse 13. Do you want to love the Lord?
Do you want to remain devoted to him even into your old age?
Be planted in the House of God? Parents, do you want to see your
children flourish? Lead by example and don't be
cheap with the House of God. Don't show them by example the
absolute supernatural value that comes from loving the House of
God. Loving the House of God.
Hey, single people, pay attention to this.
I don't mean to make this more difficult for you than it
already is. I get that the dating scene is
not easy. I get that the prospects are
becoming less and less. I get the idea that people who
present themselves as Christians are living contradictions.
I get it. It's not easy.
So I don't mean to make it more difficult.
I'm just trying to protect you because the pain of marrying the
wrong person is much more severe than remaining single.
Find somebody if you're going to look for anybody.
Look for somebody who has high esteem for the House of God.
If you meet any Christian, if you meet anybody who claims to
love the Lord but doesn't love His bride, put a giant question
mark on them. You want your marriage to be
blessed? Find somebody who's planted in
the House of the Lord. You want your children to be
blessed. Find somebody who is planted in
the House of the Lord. Somebody who is sporadic has no
sense of commitment and devotion to the House of God.
I wouldn't consider it. That's just my opinion and Bible
opinion. Bible opinion planted in the
House of the Lord. You know, there are many parents
who asked for help from ministers.
I've seen it throughout the years considering their wayward
children. You know what's amazing?
A lot of them. You don't see them in church.
They just appear when their kids are in trouble and they often
ask for. But can you please, can you
please come to our home? And we're more than willing to
like, can you please talk to my son, my daughter?
They're getting all swept up and all these things.
And here's what I often say, and I've been saying it lately more
than ever. With all due respect, where have
you been? With all respect, I'm more than
willing to listen to you. But are you plugged into a local
church? Do you have elders in your
lives? Do you do you serve in any
ministry? Oh, no, I'm very busy.
OK, well then how do you expect my visit to do something when
for 1520 years you've set an example for your children that
going to God's house is not important?
That hearing God's word worshipping with God's people is
not important. Planted in the House of the
Lord. They will flourish.
Let me say one more thing.
I've said this before, but I'll say for those who've never heard
it before and my also my personal experience when it
comes to counseling and marriage.
I've noticed one thing for the most troubled marriages under
the banner of Christianity, The most troubled marriages had this
one common denominator, though the problems varied, and it was
this one or both. People in that marriage were not
serious in their commitment to the church.
They didn't have believers in their lives to hold them
accountable, to encourage them to give them counsel.
Didn't have elders in their lives to supervise and watch
over their souls didn't have any of that.
At least one or both. You might have one who was and
the other wasn't, or you have both who weren't.
And so this is, this is not just like psychological tricks.
There's a spiritual principle here be planted in the House of
the Lord. You saw those two pillars in him
is strength he will establish. And that's not just a testament
of what he will do for the universal church.
That's something that you can expect when you put yourself
there and you become a consistent worshipper with the
people of God. Something happened to these
pillars as I close. It's in Second Kings verse 25 or
chapter 25 verse 13. After so many succeeding kings,
subsequent monarchs, Eventually the Babylonians came and
ransacked Jerusalem and Judah and even the Temple, and we read
here in Second Kings 2513. What's what happened to these
pillars, specifically chapter 25 of Second Kings, verse 13, And
the pillars of bronze that were in the House of the Lord, and
the stands and the bronze seed that were in the House of the
Lord. The Chaldeans broke in pieces
and carried the bronze to Babylon.
So these these two pillars he will establish, and in him his
strength were ultimately cut in pieces, destroyed, and taken up
into Babylon. What happened to God
establishing and God's strengthening his house?
You can see that as a warning that you and I is the temple of
the Holy Spirit. We can, we can sabotage what God
wants to do in us. But I'd like to see it in a
different lens, because that is the temple that Solomon built
and God was willing to protect it along the way, right?
But the house that he's building today, Jesus made a promise.
And the promise is this, that the gates of hell will never
prevail, that no enemy will be able to overcome and overtake
the house that he is building today.
And so as you look in this world and you see maybe apostasy and
and you see disappointment and you see a failure and spiritual
leadership, realize that nothing, no one will be able to
overtake what God started. That is true corporately.
It is true individually. The work that Jesus Christ began
in you, He will bring it to completion.
He will complete it. You may not see it now, you may
not comprehend now, but understand that as long as you
remain in him, you will know His favor and his faithfulness until
the end. And even in those moments where
we do fail, we get up, we plead for forgiveness, He restores us
and he never puts a pause on that which he started.
He will continue until the end. Nothing will ever be able to
separate you from the love of Christ.
Nothing. That temple is non existent
today. That temple is nowhere to be
found. It will be rebuilt one day, and
that's a whole different teaching.
But the temple, the spiritual House of God that started 2000
years ago, will continue until the end of the age.
I'm so glad to be part of an institution that will never
fail. I'm so glad that I'm Christian
before I am American, right? You're not American before
you're Christian. You're a Christian and your
citizenship is in heaven. I like to joke with people.
They say, how many citizens do you have?
I'm Canadian, I'm American. I have a third one.
I say, where's heaven? Heaven.
You can't say that at the border, but you can say it with
other Christians. They understand that stuff, the
glory of the temple. You and I have to understand
that the Lord wants to shine his glory through us, and you will
never know. You'll never experience the
glory of God until you first are convinced that it is glorious
and that this is something that you need to be a part of by your
participation. Not just by your theology, but
by your participation. So there is a timing of that
temple that testifies that the foundation of this whole thing
is Jesus Christ dying for us so that we can know God and meet
with God. There is a method that we need
to trust throughout the years that there is a silent work that
God is doing. You may not perceive it.
There are days that go by that you might not be able to sense
what you want to sense from God, but that doesn't mean that he's
not working in you in a deep and significant way.
And there is a glory that you can expect by being part of the
House of God. Don't you forfeit that by your
foolishness? Don't you forfeit that by your
foolishness? And there's something that the
Lord, as you commit being planted in the House of God,
that promises you until the end of your life.
You will know SAP, and you will know life, and you will know
fruitfulness in your old age and even in your family.
That's his promise. Lord, we claim those promises by
faith in Christ. And we thank you that in Jesus
Christ you are building a better house.
And we ask, O Lord, that our vision of your house would be
clarified. Help us see with the eyes of
faith. We're not looking to actual
pillars. We're not looking to physical
gold. We're not looking to towering
stones. We're not looking to veils and
inscriptions, Lord. We look at people from different
tribes and nations. We look at different materials,
physically speaking, things that naturally would divide us.
Lord, you are bringing and building something with.
And so as we even stand in this very room, help us see the
absolute beauty of what you are doing.
As we go back to our local church and we get up every
Sunday morning and we make our way to the House of God, may
there be a sense in our hearts realizing I am going ready to be
established, ready to be strengthened, ready to be a
means to strengthen others as well.
Lord, help us see the absolute majesty of the house.
We are your house and would you receive all the glory for it?
But we love you and we worship you in this place as the temple
of the Holy Spirit. May you receive acceptable
worship, a fragrance on this Friday morning that would be
pleasing to you. In Jesus name, Amen.