The time is 974
BC....
The place:
The setting: King Solomon
of
For 7 years Solomon had his
servants working on the
construction and finally
after 7 long years, at the
expense of $10 billion, the
dedicated
We
ended Ch.5 – All the vessels of the temple were in Place and the People were
united in one
– Praising
the Lord – that the Glory of the Lord filled the place
A)
It was so intense that the Priest couldn’t continue in their service/ in their
ministering – because the glory of the
Lord was so thick!
B)
So the pp were – astonished!
C) The
Cloud represented God’s Glory – filled the temple – so much so that the priest
could not continue to minister because of the Glory of the Lord
D) Awesome
experience.
1)
The only thing that would make the temple a bonefide House of God is that the
Glory of God filled it
D)
Without that it would only be a pretty building. – 1) You only have to look at the many Dead Churches that fill
E) Great Metropolitan Chapel
in
1) Every Sunday 6,000 pp packed that Place to
hear the Word – today maybe 100
F))
Or Westminster Chapel – G Campbell Morgan –
L. Jones – Incredible Bible Teachers/ Thousands gathered weekly to hear the
Word – Today almost empty
1) Ichabod – the Glory has departed
What
happened – what caused the Lord to remove his glory?
A) Simple – They forsook the
teaching and the following of the Word of God.
B) God said – Exalt His word
above His name – Such a connection to his heart
C) The Church is to be a place
where His word is taught – His name is glorified –
1)
People are pointed to Him – God’s glory will be manifested in that kind of
Place.
Now
I think that there is a gap of time between the end of Chapter 5 and the
Beginning of Chapter 6 – Then Solomon Spoke –
{ How long did He wait? Awkward to break the silence.
Then
Solomon spoke: "The Lord
said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted
house, and a place for You to dwell in forever."
A) Why speak of darkness when
they had just beheld God’s radiant glory?
B)
Solomon was referring to the words of the Lord to Moses at
C) There was indeed a thick
cloud of darkness on the mountain and Moses went into that darkness with great
fear).
D) The Lord dwelt in darkness because if allowed the
Fullness of His revelation to come forth we would be
wiped out
E) They say that if an
atomic bomb was to be detonated that everyone who GLANCED in that direction for
50 miles you would be immediately and permanently blinded.
F) The fullness of the glory of God would make an atomic detonation
look like a flickering match.
1) So really it was for the
protection of the People!
RD V3-6
JERUSALEM is the place chosen by God.
A) It is a beautiful city. But do you want to know something?
B) God did NOT choose it because it was beautiful. But because God
chose it, it is beautiful.
C) Jerusalem is NOT the prettiest spot in
1) In fact the prettiest
spot in
D) To the west of their palace you could see the
1) To the east you could see
the
2) To the south you could
see
E) But God chose an ORDINARY location and gave it extra-ordinary
beauty.
THAT is the way that God works.
A) He chooses ordinary
people like me and you. And He bestows His beauty upon us.
B) It is a BEAUTIFUL site
when I look out at your faces. Ordinary yet because of the Lord,
extra-ordinary.
RD V.7-11
Retraces the History – how
they got to this point
After
which He prayed for the
V.12
Then Solomon stood before
the altar of the Lord in the
presence of all the assembly of
Solomon stood before
the altar of the Lord in the
presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands (for Solomon
had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits
high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down
on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward
heaven); and he said: "Lord
God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your
covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their
hearts.
15 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You
have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this
day.
He built a small
platform and lifted up his ands and prayed to the Lord
A) And his prayer was
POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE. HOW effective?
When Solomon
had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
B) I’d say that this is a powerful prayer -
He begins with
PRAISE and WORSHIP and then moves into PETITION
1.) Note
his POSTURE V.13 He was on his
knees. – Humble Submissive
2.) He worships V.14-15
A) He begins by
acknowledging the GREATNESS of God and the GOODNESS of God
B) When you pray, and begin
by worshipping and considering the greatness of God, it puts your problems in
proper perspective.
ILLUSTRATION: When you are in an airplane flying over the
When you get ABOVE, they
take on an entirely different perspective.
When you begin to worship
God, and consider that there is NO God like Him your problems which seem so big
to you SHRINK in size.
RD VERSES
16-21
Hearken – Stoop
down and listen – is the idea – Remarkable that God is willing to listen.
-
One of the most encouraging
books I read about Prayer – The God who hears – Bingham Hunter – God stoops
down and listens – He gets close -
Now
at this point in his prayer Solomon begins to reflect upon the purpose of the
temple – what would happen there
A) In doing so – He reveals
that the temple was a place for sinners to come and get right with God
B) His prayer reveals some
of the effects of sin – as well as the sinner’s refuge in the Lord.
C) Picture of what the
Church is to be.
First
thing – Place of Prayer!
A)
A place where prayers are heard! – Place where prayer is lifted up!
B)
Opportunities to pray here at the Fellowship
C) Jesus
Fathers house – place of prayer – den of …
RD
V. 22-23
A)
Sin Causes Strife {James where do wars …….
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from
your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have.
You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war.
B)
This was to be a place where Strife was dealt with – forgiveness and
restoration was made.
1)
United at the
Sin
causes DEFEAT – Rebellion causes defeat
A) But when a sinner turns
to the Lord in true REPENTENCE –
B) Forgiveness and
restoration are the Result.
RD V.26-27
Sin
Causes Dryness in our souls –
A) But when a sinner turns
to the Lord – in true repentance the HS rains down upon their life and
refreshes them.
RDV.28-31
Sin
causes famine and Pestilence – Problem of all kinds
A) Notice how he puts this
When each one knows his own burden / his own grief – in other words he realizes
what his sin has caused –
B)1 Kings 8 renders it this
way: the plague in his heart seeks you –
C) Forgiveness is there!
RD V. 32-33
A) A place where the
foreigner can come to learn about God – Not just for
B) Here we see the calling of
C) Israel was to
be extending an invitation to the non-Jewish world
1) “Come to the house of God
and SEE the blessing and then SEEK the blessing”
D)
NOTE: INTERESTING that
A) But Jesus told the Church to GO
into all the world.
B) You are the temple: The
C) APPLICATION: We as a church or an individual can NEVER turn INWARD
or we will turn sour.
RD
V. 34-35
A) Place where those who are
going into
RD V. 36-39
Sin causes captivity –
Forgiveness and Freedom are
the Result when the Sinner runs to the Lord in Repentance.
The Church is a place where
prayer is heard
The Church is a place where
Strife gets healed!
The Defeated get built up
and restored
Those who are Dry get
refreshed.
Those
who are Hungry get fed.
Those who are Foreigners
find a home and family.
Those who are in the
Those who are captives get
set free.
Solomon
closes His prayer v.40-42
God Seals his prayer –
Ch.7:1-2
We saw last week that the
glory of the filled the house when the people PRAISED THE LORD and now we see
the glory of the Lord filling the temple when Solomon was PRAYING to the Lord.
The Glory of the Lord....
the substance and weightiness
of God..... will fill THIS
temple (personally) and THIS
temple (Corporately) when I
am praising and praying.
RD
V.3-11
The assembly that gathered
for the dedication of the temple came from the southernmost boundary of the
kingdom (“the
Many of them brought
sacrifices to the Lord and Solomon himself provided 22,000 cattle and 120,000
sheep and goats.
Imagine that – That is a lot
of Blood – Sacrifice
People cringe
when we talk of such large numbers. WHY souch large numbers and so much blood?
A) Especially in our culture
we have a hard time with it. But listen; in our culture we sacrifice some
500,000 cows to McDonalds every year
B) God is showing us the wages of sin (death) and the PRICE that
God paid for our forgiveness.
C) It wasn’t the Building it
is what the Building represented a place of Sacrifice
D)
Note The new altar was too small for the offering of so many animals, so to
expedite matters, the king sanctified the courtyard
and it was used for sacrifices.
PP rejoiced 8
days of Feast of Tab
RDV.12-16
A) The Lord Confirmed Solomon’s Prayer
B) This
wonderful promise is in the context of God’s promise to answer prayer from the
temple which He chose to hallow with His presence.
C)
God promised something special to
D)
Well known verse – but this is the context – it comes after Solomon’s prayer –
1)
Everything that would take place at the
It is a great verse – talking revival in
a Nation / a Church – bring back to life something died
A)
Humble themselves – God resist proud ….
B)
Pray and seek my face – Not his blessing
1)
Not His purpose – Not his power – Seeking His face
C)
Speaks of a heart of intimacy – wanting God –
Turn
from their wicked ways:
1)
Repentance is always a turning from sin and turning to God
2)
Change of attitude – action
D)
God says I will hear their prayer and forgive their sin and send healing!
At this Point
God reemphasizes His personal promise to
If Solomon
walked before God in obedience and faithfulness, he could expect blessing on
his reign and the reign of his descendants, and the dynasty of David would
endure forever.
Note: God did not demand perfect obedience from Solomon.
David certainly did not walk perfectly before the Lord, and God told Solomon to walk before Me as your father David walked. This was not out of reach
for Solomon.
The Promise is followed by a warning: RD V.19-22
The
The
Babylonian army devastated the land, destroyed
Instead
of being a blessing to all the nations of the earth, the ruined city and temple
would shock visitors from other nations
and move them to ridicule.
The
temple the place of Sacrifice – reminds us of Jesus – our place of Sacrifice –
He offered
A) If we will humble
ourselves – Seek His face tonight
Repent where needed –
B) Place tonight – Praise
lifted / Prayers heard /
a place where Strife gets
healed!
The Defeated get built up
and restored
Those who are Dry get
refreshed.
Those
who are Hungry get fed.
Those who are Foreigners
find a home and family.
Those who are in the
Those who are captives get
set free.