Doug Batchelor - Solomon Part 3 - The Zenith of the Kingdom

it's been 2,000 years since the glorious light of the cross illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about the character of God and still today the greatest need of mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed on the life of Christ amazing facts presents the everlasting gospel with Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento Central Church in sunny California discover hidden treasures in God's Word today the message today is titled solomon part 3 the zenith of the kingdom now you've heard the word zenith before you may not all know what it means it's talking about when the sun or the moon or some object reaches the highest point in its arc before it starts back down again and you know typically in the summer 12 o'clock noon the Sun is at its zenith from that point on it goes down during the year soon we're gonna be at the the winter solstice around the 21st of December is the shortest day of the year the southern hemisphere it would be the zenith the longest day of the year we live of course an opposite so there was a time in the history of Israel when they experienced the highest point of fulfillment of God's promises the zenith of their experience it was during the time we're going to consider today now pastor Michael enjoy this I want to talk about Queen Victoria maybe you have heard about the Victorian era of England you know there was a time in the English Empire when they reached maximum influence power around the world you probably all heard the expression the Sun never sets on the British Empire well that's not necessarily true now but it certainly was during that time Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in England 63 years one Queen at some point she or her grandchildren were made in some way to virtually every monarch in Europe and it's quite an extended family but her Empire included of course the United Kingdom of Great Britain Ireland she was the Empress of India her reign was the longest known of any monarch in the British Empire it include Australia in Canada and all these British Commonwealth's around the world the Navy was everywhere the Empire had great influence before these different countries began to clamor for their independence she is also a very religious woman and so believed in high morals and obeying the law and the many historians believe that during that time of Victoria they call it the Victorian era that England reached the zenith of their power and influence and after she passed it began to decline that's something like what happened with Israel during the reign of Solomon now if you you ever talk about the good old days how many of you reminisce you have these nostalgic hallucinations about the good old days and in many cases they are hallucinations you think wow those were the good old days but if I'd asked you back to anything now you're kidding but you know sometimes there are points in history where we really did have the good old days we really were living in golden opportunities some sometimes we don't know when those times are but at the time of Solomon that we're talking about today was the time of the good old days turning your Bibles with me to Deuteronomy 28 I don't know how much of this passage I'll be able to read but I want to read some of it Moses last book of Moses Deuteronomy last chapters of Moses book Deuteronomy was the closing sermon of Moses when he's done with Deuteronomy climbs the mountain and he dies so it's his last sermon that you're reading he promises all these blossom blessings on the children of Israel that are conditional Deuteronomy 28 verse 1 now it will come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his Commandments that I command you today that the Lord your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth and all of these blessings will come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God notice blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the country blessed shall be the fruit of your body the produce of your ground the increase of your herds the increase of your cattle the offspring of your flocks blessed will be your basket in your kneading Bowl blessed you will be when you come in and blessed you'll be when you go out the Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you for your face they'll come out against you one way in the fleece seven ways they'll scatter the Lord will command the blessing on you in the storehouse and whatever your hint set your hand to he'll bless you in the land where the Lord your God is giving you the Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself just as he has sworn to you if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways then all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord and they'll be afraid of you and the Lord will grant you plenty of goods in the fruit of your body in the increase of your livestock in the produce of your ground and the land that the Lord your God swore to your father's the Lord will open to you his good treasure the heavens to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand you shall lend the many nations and you will not borrow and the Lord will make you the head and not the tail usually be above only and not beneath if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are careful to observe them so you shall not turn aside from any of the words that I command you this day to the right hand or to the left to go after other gods to serve them all right that's the longest thing I'm gonna read today I think what I just read what's the pinnacle the zenith the epitome of the blessings God wanted to give Israel that's pretty optimistic how many of you would like to have all this happen to you bless when you go out bless when you come in bless when you sit down bless when you rise a blessing your family bless in the field blessed blessed blessed blessed blessed blessed you're rich you're the top you're successful you're healthy and your family this actually happened to Israel for a brief time during all of their history there was one time you can point to when Israel experienced all of these blessings it was following the time of David where they had won all these victories he was close to the Lord the people were obeying God they were building up the temple of God during this time they reached the zenith of the kingdom now why am I telling you this Doug sorry pastor Doug how do you apply these things to our lives today it's still true what God did for Israel during the time of Solomon's golden era he does for his people now so I want you to take a deep breath sit up pay attention because he wants to bless you but those blessings are conditional on obeying God there there are conditions to receiving these things now turn with me in your Bibles and we're gonna what we'll consider a lot of verses that deal with the story of Solomon and his blessings first of all little history we got a review you remember God said that he was going to use Solomon to build the house of the Lord back before David died God had made a promise to David he said I'm gonna bless your house God says the David I'm gonna bless your house meaning your family and through your seed the Messiah will come and God says you're gonna bless your got a david said to god you're gonna bless my house i want to bless your house you know they got a TV program out called Trading Spaces or I guess I've only seen a couple of parts of a couple episodes where people actually trade houses with someone else and they redecorated other's houses that's pretty scary thought but it's almost like that's what happens here with David God says David because you've trusted me and you've humbled yourself and you're obeying me I'm gonna bless your house through your descendants the Messiah will come and David says oh Lord I want to build up your house you're gonna build up my house I want to build up your house actually says that in 2nd Samuel 725 now Oh Lord God the word that you have spoken concerning your servant concerning his house establish it forever as you have said and David was so thankful that God said I'm gonna build up your house and the Messiah would come through your descendants and David said Lord I want to build up your house Ark has been in a tent now for hundreds of years it's not fair all these nations that I've conquered around me their gods that I've overthrown they've got these massive temples and here the god of gods is living under a tent so he have it in his heart to build up the temple of the Lord but God said to David you're not going to do it because you've been a bloody man you've been a man of war it's gonna be a man of peace now in our last message about Solomon we talked about the wisdom of Solomon Solomon said in proverbs chapter 9 verse 1 wisdom has built her house the wisest way that wisdom can build up the house is to build up the Church of God wisdom is built her house she's hewn out seven pillars Solomon was the son of David who built up the house of the Lord Jesus is the son of David who built up the house of the Lord what was Jesus occupation he was a carpenter what did he do he built up the house of the Lord Christ came to build a church you and I are the Church of Jesus built I want to review a couple of verses 1st chronicles 17 verse 11 through 13 and towards the end there it says God had told David I will set up your seed who is after you who will be of your sons I will establish his kingdom he will build me a house and I will establish his throne forever who is the son of David to built the house of the Lord Solomon literally built up the temple but is there another son of David that was to build up the house of the Lord that's Jesus this is one of those examples in the Bible of a dual prophecy you can also read our memory verse that we had that was read 1st chronicles 22 9 behold a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest was Jesus a man of peace and I'll give him rest from all his enemies roundabout for his name will be Solomon all right quick I could ask you a question to wake you up how many people in the Bible were named by God before they were born well it's Calum Isaac I checked this morning I don't have Molly yet but I know Isaac John the Baptist angel named him Jesus you will call his name Jesus before he was born he was named don't even buy a baby book of names I picked the name God said write Solomon not Samson huh Cyrus his mother and father weren't told that he would be named but you're right he was his name was mentioned but it doesn't say an angel appeared to his parents and told him what to call him just not that many he can fit them on one hand anyway you might come up with others later email me Solomon is one of the few in the Bible who is divinely named so that's important and by the way all those who are divinely named are types of Christ Isaac and John the Baptist of course Jesus Salomon type of Christ says you'll call his name Solomon and I'll give him peace the name Solomon is similar to the word Shalom and it means peace and I'll give him peace and quietness to Israel in his days he will build a house for my name he shall be my son and I will be his father and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever now whose talking about Jesus is the Son of God who built a house who was named by God so very important now there's another aspect he's chosen to build up the house of the Lord you can also read 1st chronicles 28 verse 4 notice 1st chronicles 28 verse 4 David is speaking however the Lord God of Israel chose me a ball above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever and of all my sons for the Lord has given me many sons he's chosen my sons Solomon to sit on the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel now he said to me it is your son Solomon who will build a house to my name and my courts I have chosen him to be my son and I will be his father then it goes on consider now for the Lord has chosen you David's telling Solomon consider now the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary be strong and do it so don't miss this important point the zenith of glory for the people of God was while they were building up the house of God don't miss this point it's still true today God's people are never more blessed they're never closer to the Lord than when they're engaged in building up the house of the Lord there's a story in the book of Hosea they've come back from the Babylonian captivity the temple had been destroyed but they were starting to rebuild it but the people got so preoccupied with building up their own houses they forgot about the house of Lord and everything was going wrong and God said you're putting your money in pockets with holes and your wine skins are ripping and the crops were not coming in and you've got locusts and grasshoppers and plagues and he said you're wondering what's going wrong why are we cursed and God said I'll tell you now I'm paraphrasing what he says here in Hosea all of you are running to your own houses and my house is in ruins he said if you make building up the house of God a priority I will build up your house God will bless us if the house of God remains a priority now you think pastor Doug this is this an offering appeal I'm talking about spiritually building up the house of God I'm talking about putting God and his work and evangelism as a priority he will bless your house it's like what he said to David God said David I want to bless your ålesund David said no Lord I want to bless your house and we're gonna out bless each other and so the more you make it a priority to seek first the kingdom of God the more God will bless you God wants you to be a channel of blessing to the world and the more your hand is open in giving to God your time and your means and your service for the cause of God for evangelism for mission work the more he'll bless your house I just find that's true in the Bible where do the plans come from for the temple Solomon was a genius and that's where the plans came from right master architect no they were divine plans look here 1st chronicles 28 verse 11 and 12 then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule its house its Treasuries its upper chambers its inner chambers and the place of the mercy seat and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit who gave David the plans that he gave Solomon the blueprints they came from God you read in 1st chronicles 28:19 I'm giving you a lot of verses just go to verse 19 of that same chapter all this said David the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me all the work of these plans they were given divinely the design for Solomon's Temple he did not concoct that he did not manufacture it who gave no other plans for the Ark no I did who gave Moses the plans for the first temple God did so the plans for building up the temple of God come from God now does God still have a temple in the world today has he given us a design a pattern a plan in the Bible so how we can build up the church your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit does he have guidelines in the Bible about how we can take care of our bodies some simple rules we Mars got it summarized in the new start acronym of just all the natural things but there's this a plan in the Bible for building up the temple of God both physically and spiritually and so those are given by God revelation 21 16 oh wait a second first King 6 verse 20 notice this the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long 20 cubits high I'm sorry 20 cubits wide and 20 cubits high and he overlaid it with pure gold and then as you go through the rest of those verses there it says pure gold pure gold gold gold gold overlaid with gold Solomon had tons and tons of gold 20 20 20 20 why 20 high 20 long what's that make if you got something that's got the equal geometrically length breadth and width it's a cube it's a square isn't that right the Holy of Holies was that way no you go to Revelation 21 this is interesting and the city was laid out in a square its length as great as its Brent and he measured the length of it with a reed 12,000 furlongs it's the length breadth and height are equal now how often have you seen pictures of the New Jerusalem artist concept typically it's you know maybe 375 miles wide and long but certainly not 375 miles high but you know this is what the Bible says I've talked to several scholars and they say if you want to really go by what the language says dr. Leslie Harding he said you can't escape that it says it's a giant cube that it cannot be overturned it's this perfect sacred cube is the City of God now the Egyptians they used to make these massive triangles as a sign of their deities called pyramids God doesn't go by that design his is a cube it's a perfect square and that's what the Holy of Holies was and it's what it says about the New Jerusalem so just another interesting and the plans for both come from God right not only were the plans holy the construction process was to be holy I thought it was interesting first Kings chapter 6 verse 1 and it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel he couldn't get the temple built right away they had to get organized four years into his reign they begin construction in the month of zib which is the second month he began to build the house of the Lord now one of the scholars has kind of done the homework for us listen forty years Israel was in the wilderness 17 years under Joshua 299 years under the judges 80 years under Eli Samuel and Saul 40 years under David to which you had the four years of Solomon that makes four hundred and eighty years from the time they left Egypt and they became a nation until they got their national identity the temple he realized until they have their old temple they really couldn't say we are now in the Promised Land because as long as they had the Ark under curtain it's like we're still wondering when the temple foundation stone was laid that was a pivotal time in the history of God's people and I'm gonna say more about that in just a minute how do you get four eighty forty times twelve those are two numbers that are very important what does 12 represent represents the church 12 apostles 12 judges in the Old Testament twelve tribes in the Old Testament you've got the twelve gates in the New Jerusalem that's the church twelve foundations for the church twelve thousand furlongs the church woman in Revelation 12 twelve stars above her head it's a church forty represents a generation for God's people so it's 12 times 40 they'll finally begin the construction and it's seven years in construction I'll talk about that in just a moment the construction was holy the timing was perfect with God everything's perfect with God first King 6 verse 7 notice how they built in the temple when it was being built was built with stones furnished from the quarry so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built here's his massive platform that they built stone pavement they're gonna build up the temple on it you've got thousands of workers you read the The Book of Chronicles and it tells you about the workforce that Solomon had thousands of workers I remember when we did met in New York in New York City right across the street they were doing construction and they were blasting with a dynamite right there in the middle of New York City they were dynamiting into the rock to build a new skyscraper and they had these big metal screens over the dynamite when it blew up and the mandis of big bulldozers the jackhammers on was what they were and on the building we were in across the street we're just shaking and we were so glad they stopped construction before we went alive every night but all during the day were just shaking everything it was very loud they probably only had 20 guys across the street imagine thousand guys over there like oh quiet like little hints and all you can hear is the low grind of the stones as they're being put into position in the muffled tones of the foreman as they say over here over here there was a sacredness about the house of God should we still have that sacredness about the house today they said look you get all that to all the noise none out there but when you come into this holy place these plans come from God this is a building to gods of glory and because they honoring that God honored them as you'll see as we go on a little bit of interesting history the temple stones came from this quarry and some of the stones in the temple of Solomon were 24 25 feet long by five feet wide there are massive stones and you know right now we don't hardly have any combination of equipment that can move those things I suppose we do but just big big stones and we think how did they cut them how did they move them hundreds of them they were bigger than the stones in the pyramid just to give you some comparative idea that were used in Solomon's Temple last year in September they found the quarry they and it's about three miles away from the temple it's about 80 meters higher than the temple so what they did is they were able to cut the stones out of this quarry and they've they've compared the stone I don't know they got some science they use the stone that's in this quarry and by the way it's right they were building an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and as I began to excavate they ran into this old quarry they had to stop the excavation and they found that this and they still had some stones that hadn't been moved yet there was no other quarry in Israel with stones this big and they call it the queen of stone different stone in Israel has different quality to withstand cracks you know sometimes the stones have little fissures but to get one big stone one solid stone fifty feet across with no cracks or fissures in it very hard to find a place like that well this place provided what the Muslims still called it the queen of stone and they've matched the stone here with the very base stones that were in Solomon's Temple and King Herod Herod the Great who built the temple that Jesus preached in he went back and got more stone here so this mountain used to be much bigger and they quarried all these stones out of it they were able to roll them down the hill how much easier roll them downhill to the mountain where they were building the Temple of Solomon I just thought you'd enjoy that amazing fact seven years in the building process by the way that that struck me is interesting Jesus also built a house in any how long did it take Jesus to build the New Testament church now we're talking today about Solomon's Old Testament temple Christ has a New Testament temple how long did it take to build that how long did Jesus preach three and a half years and then how much longer did he have the Apostles preached to just the Jews three and a half years three and a half and three and a half is how much seven years and then when Stephen was stoned the gospel then went to the Gentiles isn't that interesting seven years again preparing now while I'm talking about the construction of Solomon's Temple I can't rush past this important point the cornerstone we talked about when they laid the the stones and how they built it you there's a number of verses in the Bible for instance Jesus refers to this mark 12 verse 10 and 11 have you not read in the scripture the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner this was the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes Jesus is quoting from psalm 118 and we're not sure whether psalm 118 was written by David or Solomon but there was this experience it's not in the Bible but it's in history that you need to understand matter of fact I'm gonna read this to you from the book desire of Ages page 597 you've all heard about the cornerstone we've got to understand how important this cornerstone is in quoting the prophecy of the rejected stone Christ referred to an actual occurrence in the history of ancient Israel the incident was connected with the building of the first temple Solomon's Temple while it had a special application to the time of Christ's first coming and it should have been applied with special force to the Jews it was also a lesson for us when the Temple of Solomon was erected the immense stones for the walls and the foundation were entirely prepared and cut at the quarry afterward they were brought to the place of the building not an instrument was to be used upon them the workmen only had to place them in position for use in the foundation one stone of unusual size in a peculiar shape had been brought but the workmen can find no place for it now on top of Mount Moriah Mount Zion it's a rock Knob Rock Knoll they're matter-of-fact you go to the Dome of the rock you ever heard of that it's built on top of this big rock where Abraham offered Isaac it's a stone cap on that mountain they they cut into the actual mountain and prepared a place in the stone cap where the temple corner would sit and it would absorb the weight they didn't want to put in loose dirt and stone on top of the dirt and then have the temple get out of kilter they found it a temple right on the rock got the picture I'm is where they cut into Mountain Raya it wasn't necessarily a level spot so part of this odd cornerstone had to match up with the mountaintop and it also had to be square at the top because the main cornerstone how many of you have done masonry before you men you may be ladies I'm sorry where you do brickwork and if you want your walls to be straight you start with a corner stone and if that corner stone is off at the further you go away from the corner stone the further off it gets and so you've got to have that corner stone plumb square precise right on because from it all the other dimensions go out just like that picture there it's it sets the standard for everything else afterward has to be perfect so they're building this building and they're looking around for their corner stone and the workmen early on the people at the quarry they didn't have email walkie talkies they sent over the corner stone knowing they needed but it looked kind of odd and they dropped her right in the middle of the work area thinking they'd figure out this was the corner stone but they didn't expect it to look that way we don't know what happened but for whatever reason they were looking for something different so they kept tripping over this thing this big block bumping into it knocking things into it and they kept thinking why did they drop this piece of a stone here this big strange stone and eventually they got upset and they rolled it off into the Kidron Valley to get it out of the way well they then began to try all the other stones that were coming as a cornerstone and they weren't fitting they weren't matching some of them they sort of fit but then as they'd work on they say that was that stone is not plumb everything's out of line it's wrong or they put some other stones on it and it would crack under the wait long this stone remained a rejected stone but when the builders came to laying of the cornerstone they searched for a long time to find a stone of sufficient size and strength and proper shape to take the particular place and to bear the great weight that would West rest upon it should they make an unwise choice for this important place the safety of the entire building would be endangered they must find us capable of resisting the influence of the Sun or Frost and tempest several stones at different times had been chosen but under the pressure of immense weights they had crumbled to pieces others could not bear the test of sudden atmospheric changes but at last attention was called to the stone so long rejected it had been exposed to the air the Sun and storm without revealing the slightest crack the builders examine the stone it had born every test but one if it could bear the test of severe pressure they decided to accept it for the cornerstone the trial was made the stone was accepted brought to its assigned position and found to be an exact fit in prophetic vision Isaiah was shown that this stone was a symbol of Christ now there are about seven times in the Bible a couple in the Old Testament six I think in the New Testament that talk about the cornerstone Jesus is the cornerstone who was rejected by his own people if you try and build your house with anything but the right cornerstone it's gonna be out of line it will not withstand the pressure it will not be able to survive the storms that are gonna come or the radical changes in temperature and so all of these lessons were implied and put into this one powerful teaching about having the right cornerstone in connection with this first Peter 2 verse 4 coming to him as a living stone I mean who wants to give their heart to a stone Jesus is a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God as precious you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ therefore it is also contained in Scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief Cornerstone elect precious he who believes in Him will by no means be put to shame you can trust putting everything all your weight on Jesus heard about when they used to do these barnstorming airplane rides any of you remember those days where you could go to the fair and you get in the airplane the guy would take you for a ride over the fair and land you they call them Barnstormers mom and dad and the kids tried to talk grandma into going for one of these rides and these newfangled airplanes and she really didn't want to do that but they persisted so she climbed in the back and the pilot he took her round he showed her all the sights and he landed she got out and looked a little indignant they said grandma did you enjoy the ride she said not really I never put my full weight down can you put your full weight down on Jesus that's what it means can you trust that you're gonna rest all of your house on him and you don't have to worry about being ashamed the stone that the builders rejected I'm finishing here in first Peter chapter 2 the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone and a stone of stumbling a rock of offence they stumbled being disobedient to the word to which they were also appointed in the Bible you can understand this teaching the Bible talks about on whomsoever the stone falls it will grind him to powder but whoever falls on the stone will be broken their brokenhearted and they're saved you don't want the stone falling on you in Daniel chapter 2 all the kingdoms of the world represent that image of all the different metals but a stone cut out of a mountain without hands and maybe even Daniel looked at that quarry probably did that we just showed you a picture of because Daniel had lived after the time of Solomon and they knew that there was a stone cut out of a mountain but without man's hands and it destroys this image because the stone falls on it you must fall on the stone it's like after Peter denied Jesus he went out and he wept bitterly the book desire of Ages tells us Peter went back to the Garden of Gethsemane and he fell down and he cried on the stone still moist with the blood and sweat of Jesus he fell on the stone and he was broken you see what I'm talking about this is that cornerstone you want to be on it you don't want it on you you got that that's not too deep is it it's your foundation so as we're talking about Solomon building the temple of the Lord this temple is a symbol of Christ's body John chapter 2 verse 19 jesus answered and said to them destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up then the Jews thinking he was talking about the temple of Herod there the last temple they said it's taken us 46 years to build this temple you're gonna raise it up in three days but he was speaking of the temple of his body even when he hung on the cross they threw this in his teeth they said you who destroy the temple and raise it up in three days if you're the Messiah come down they understood what he had said about that mark 1458 when he was accused they could only get two witnesses to agree you know the only thing that the two witnesses agreed to when Jesus was condemned what was it we heard him say I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days I will build another one without hands are you part of that temple Jesus made without man's hands a sacred temple with sacred plans I hope you are again Ephesians chapter 2 well first Corinthians 3:16 know you know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you If any man defiles the temple of God him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy which temple you are so while we're talking about Solomon building this holy temple with the holy plans is that a story from 2,000 years ago are we talking about what's happening today you and I are the temple of God today Ephesians 2:19 now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow-citizens with the Saints and of the household of God and you're built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone what is the Bible called isn't it the rock he's in Christ the rock he that hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who builds on the rock that's the rock of his word Christ is the word that we build upon in all the building fitly framed together it fits it grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you are builded together for a holy habitation of God through the spirit then when Solomon got done with the building after seven years on I'll tell you boy this was some building gold gold gold everywhere there was gold he dedicated the temple they had a special dedication prayer they activated they mobilized it everybody got in position and they did it right he built a mob he built a bronze platform he did not use plywood just for this inauguration he had a bla a bronze platform picture when a whole nation gathers together they didn't have television or or PA everybody in Israel and there are probably more citizens in Israel during the inauguration of the temple than any other time in their history because it was the time of their greatest blessing they all came to Jerusalem there was a sea of humanity that gathered around Jerusalem for the inauguration of the temple Solomon didn't have a PA system only thing he had was his voice so they built a platform up above everyone's head so they could all see him kneel think that's interesting he wanted them to see him kneel and to pray and they could hear his prayer and to dedicate the Temple of the Lord and so and you know what one of them there's some passages in the Bible that are really important and I hope it doesn't bother you that I say that all the Bible's inspired but there's some real mountaintops in the Bible of very pertinent important powerful pivotal a lot of peas in there uh pterence Daniel chapter 9 the prayer of Daniel of course he had the Lord's Prayer the dedication prayer of Solomon I don't think I've got time to read it all to you I hope you'll go home and read it it outlines the history of God's people and all the promises and how were to relate to the Lord and how we can ask for forgiveness and everything he says in his prayer happens to Israel he even in his prayer talks about an Lord if your people are carried away because of their unfaithfulness to a foreign land if they pray towards this place here in heaven answer their prayer that's exactly why Daniel prayed towards the temple in Jerusalem when he was in his upper room because of the prayer of Solomon and did God answer his prayer and he says if your people are unfaithful and you withhold the rain because of their unfaithfulness if they pray towards this place please hear in heaven answer their prayer well did God send a famine because of their unfaithfulness several times especially during the time of Elijah and so you can see in his prayer he under inspiration this is when Solomon was still really close to the Lord he's out lying what's going to happen in the history of God's people and everything you see in the prayer of Solomon you're gonna find also applies to the church today we sometimes get carried away because of our unfaithfulness but we can repent and turn to the Lord and he has mercy on us and he hears our prayer in so they have this special dedication prayer and at the conclusion second chronicles 6 read all of second chronicles matter of fact now the prayers were a little bit different between second Chronicles I'm sure it was a long prayer and they just added different parts to it or recorded different parts 2nd chronicles 6 1 through 42 you can also read about it in first kings and I just want to read the last few verses here at the end of Solomon's prayer now my god I pray let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place now arise O Lord to your resting place you and the Ark of your strength let your priests Oh God be clothed with salvation let your saints rejoice in goodness now you go to chapter 7 next chapter read verses 1 when Solomon had finished praying after this dedication prayer fire came down from heaven alright another test how many times in the Bible this fire come down from heaven I don't know I'm asking you let's count together Abel's offering remember God accepted Abel's offering that means God probably brought fire down rack but he didn't do it for cane you've got when fire came down for Gideon in his vision when they activated the earthly temple in the time of Moses the first tabernacle Elijah fire came down three times with Elijah not only on Mount Carmel but I like to pray twice and fire came down and burned up soldiers right if let me see and then I think there are six times in the Old Testament and the seventh time fire comes down is Pentecost tons of fire sent from heaven right isn't that interesting God sent fire down on the temple in Solomon's day and he still sends fire down on his spiritual temple so I'm not I didn't even finish reading it when Solomon got done praying fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering in the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the temple Oh would the Lord do that again and the priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house can you imagine what be like we're all out there standing outside central church we can't come in why too much glory just stay out here for a while until it eases up we can go back in can you imagine that would that be nice to have that kind of problem did you go to church say yeah did you go in no why not too much glory in a church this is what happened the priest couldn't even go in when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down not emphasizing this because in the dedication prayer in first Kings it doesn't mention this and I wondered why I wanted to leave this part out I'd leave out the whole prayer and don't forget this fire coming down miraculously from heaven you know one reason God did that the fire on the altar was called holy fire and for the remainder of the history of the Temple of Solomon they always used that fire initially kindled by God to light the lamp to light everything they always kept it going they never let the fire go out in the temple of God it was called holy fire that's why was it native and a bi who were slain they decided to kindle fire from the campfire to go into the altar and God said you're not supposed to use common fire it has a sacred fire you know churches sometimes do that today they say we're gonna manufacture we're gonna impersonate the holy spirit and if we don't have the Holy Spirit we'll just turn the volume up and pretend it's the Holy Spirit you know I'm talking about a lot of things we do in the church to try and imitate counterfeit the Holy Spirit it's common fire we want the fire from God that man-made fire we do a lot of things to try and create the illusion that we've got the holy spirit it's man-made fire we want the fire that God brings down now wait how did they get that fire they were obeying the Lord building up the Temple of the Lord the way God said according to God's plan with a reverence and when they did their part God did his part didn't he has he changed will he still baptize his people with the Holy Spirit if we follow the things we just read about there in Deuteronomy and and the first kings and second chronicles the fire of God came down Pentecost I'll tell you boy that was some church service they offered thousands of burnt offerings on the altar and the people rejoiced and God was with them and God blessed them and this is all happening before the Queen of Sheba even shows up this is the first 10 years of Solomon's 40-year reign they were at the zenith of their glory and just to give you some idea have you heard about the wealth of Solomon I mean you just read some of these things for instance second Chronicle that's my next segment the wealth of Solomon second chronicles 818 and Hyrum sent him ships by the hand of his servants and servants who knew the sea and they went with the servants of Solomon to Oh fear and they acquired 450 talents of gold from their 450 talents a talent was somewhere between 56 and 75 pounds I was looking at Laska gold nuggets the biggest gold nuggets that they found in Alaska they weren't as much as a talent well no I guess some of them were bigger than a talent but can you imagine coming back from one mining expedition annually 450 talents 450 times 50 pounds of gold that's like Fort Knox every year oh maybe not but it's still a lot and they brought it to King Solomon you know people have been looking for the lost minds of King Solomon because of these verses here they said boy they had a lot of gold there notice this second chronicles 913 the weight of gold that came to solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold why wait a second does that number sound familiar is that an accident do you think it might be interesting that at the zenith of israel's history the number 666 shows up was it talking about the heavenly kingdom or an earthly kingdom so here at the zenith of the earthly kingdom the earthly Jerusalem you've got this number 666 talents of gold earthly gold when we think about the New Jerusalem we're thinking about a different kind of gold and so it's almost like it's it's the number from man it's a number of the world's kingdom that Jay is compared so the king made silver and gold is common in Jerusalem as stones and it goes on you ought to read about it when it talks about the wealth of Solomon it just says you know he's surrounded he's got these seven steps I think that led up to his throne and he had this throne of ivory overlaid with gold and he had six Golden Lions on one side and six gold and lions on the other and I don't want to say too much because next time we're talking about the Queen of Sheba and we're gonna get into that but just fabulous wealth even Jesus referring to the greatest glory of Israel's history he refers to Solomon Matthew 628 said why do you worry about clothing consider the lilies of the field how they grow they don't toil or spin yet I say to you that even Solomon you know they're trying to figure out what the new president and his wife are gonna wear you wear for the inauguration and all of the designers are fighting among themselves to be able to make the dress for this is Ole Obama and because they said what those are gonna be some threads I'll tell you her real and they do whatever she wears they put in the Smithsonian whatever she wears to the inaugural ball can you imagine the tailors who work for Solomon you can't think of any French name that is good enough to make clothes for Solomon and so Jesus said but even Solomon in all of his glory it's not a raid like the flowers of the field so he says you should seek her first God's kingdom now when it describes Solomon in his glory I want you to notice it talks about the power of Solomon right the riches of Solomon does it does it talk about the wisdom of Solomon the strength of Solomon the honor of Solomon the glory of Solomon and the seventh is the blessing now you turn with that in mind turn to Revelation chapter 5 verse 12 I'm almost done what do they sing around the throne of God to the son of David Jesus worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power riches wisdom strength honor glory and number seven the blessing of rest right the very things that you read about during the zenith of Israel the time of Solomon it extol his wisdom his riches his power as glory and all these things it's really an echo of Christ's kingdom in heaven of the New Kingdom that you could be a part of now you know people were the economy bad right now people are searching on the Internet they're wanting to know where is the safest place in the world to live that will have the best economy and be safe from terrorism and violence it's interesting I heard about this couple of years ago I may have told you this already Paul Harvey mentioned this couple and they wanted to know the best place in the world to retire they wanted to find a place in the world where there would be peace a good economy nice climate and they searched and they searched and they finally came up with this place they moved to this island they said we've got it made we're safe now we can retire in peace on this island you know where they moved the Falkland Islands a week before the Falkland war broke out so where can you go in this world if you could live during some time in history be pretty nice if you could live in Israel during the time of Solomon in the temple wouldn't you like to have seen that temple it was one of the wonders of the world the only reason it's not listed as one of the ancient wonders of the world is the guy who made that list the Greek historian Herodotus he never went there actually he went before it was even built but it would have been one of the wonders of the ancient world well you can live in a better time than that you can live and not Solomon the son of David you can live in Jesus the Son of David's kingdom and be part of all that glory and all of that peace and that's my closing thought is during the zenith of God's kingdom God had said through David your son will be a man of peace that's why he gave him the name Shalom or Solomon listen to what it says Israel had peace first Kings 425 the wonderful verse first Kings 425 and he had peace on every side all around him you know sometimes you get peace a little bit here but you got problems over here and sometimes you have families doing okay but there's problems at work and to say you've got peace on every side that's pretty nice when you can say that right I mean how often is everything going well in your life he had peace on every side all around him and judah the southern kingdom and israel in the north dwell safely each man under his vine and under his fig tree from dan in the north as far as brushy bay in the south all the days of Solomon the main thing it's telling us is when they were doing what God said he kept his promise he blessed them has God changed have the conditions changed if we surrender to the Lord and if we trust the son of David our solemn and Jesus can he still bless us he can bless us with the greatest blessings I'm not telling you you should I'm not preaching prosperity preaching that you should have 666 talents of gold I've kind of make you nervous anyway to have that number right you'd probably take that number but it's a kind of a it's a weird number that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about just to have those blessings of peace because when you've got Jesus no matter what's happening in the world around you you've got your own little temple you've got your own little sanctuary you can be blessed you can sleep through a storm you've got that peace that passes understanding and that's something he's promising all of us right now that perfect peace well this is your you've just done it friends I hope you took a good look we went to the top of the mountain today we're at the zenith of what God did during the time of Solomon you look at the history of Israel it never goes back there again until Jesus comes then we go back to that place of that great glory that he experienced during that time all of the promises God made to Israel were fulfilled during this generation take a good look because God kept his word and he hasn't changed he'll still do it today would you like that kind of peace let's pray loving father in heaven Lord as we consider this story in the Bible we can see your faithfulness you fulfilled everything you promised to Abraham in blessing his children in establishing them in the promised land in giving them victory over there enemies in opening up the windows of heaven and Lord we know that the peace that you gave them back then is still available today help us to pattern our lives after this time in Israel's history help us as a church your people to be wholly committed to you to trust you to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness to work for the building up of your temple knowing that van you'll respond by sending your glory by letting the fire come down in our lives fill us with your spirit Lord bless every person in our homes and help us Lord to make sure that we are building all that we do on that tried and true cornerstone of Jesus Christ in his name we ask amen you don't have to live with diabetes or worry about a triple bypass nor continue to carry those extra pounds reverse your diabetes restore your heart shed those pounds I was on a downhill slide for kidney problems on to dialysis the damage I've done can be reversed it's the whole food it's the trick it's like being part of a miracle I just wish more people knew about weimar they're talking about the new start lifestyle center just 45 minutes east of Sacramento where 25 years of 18-day pampered scientific health changes have made history call now for your free DVD to experience what the new start program can do for you health turnarounds are what we do best call now eight hundred five to five ninety one ninety two that's eight hundred five to five ninety one ninety two thank you for joining us for this broadcast if you've missed any of our amazing facts programs visit our website at amazing facts org there you'll find an archive of hollar television and radio programs including amazing facts presents central study our everlasting gospel Bible answers live and wonders in the word you'll also find a storehouse of biblical resources geared towards answering some of your most difficult questions and our online Bible School is just a click away one location so many possibilities amazing facts org

Channel: Amazing Mission

Views: 10,714

Rating: 4.7606835 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus, Lord, God, Holy, Spirit, Gospel, Salvation, Word, Prophecy, Study, Preaching, Truth, Pastor, Grace, Messiah, Ministry, Bible

Id: hB_ewnnht-8

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 05 2012