Okay. Okay. Yeah. How is everyone doing this evening? Good. Doing well, doing well. We are in first Kings chapter eight again this evening. We noticed at the beginning of this chapter on Sunday and I mentioned then that we weren’t going to get finished with it and we didn’t, we didn’t get any more clubs. Uh, but this,
this is one of the, Um, one of those Key chapters in scripture that very much connects the law to the events of the latter portion of the old Testament, uh, the times of the Kings, the times of the divided nation of Israel, even the times of exile and captivity there. And we’ll see this as we go through. We’re going to not only look back at some of the specific references to the law that’s,
that are here in chapter eight, but we’ll also look forward to a few of the occasions where this passage in view of the law is also, um, referred to or, or at least the concepts there are carried forward. So it’s a, it’s really a fundamental chapter, uh, in the old Testament and kind of one of those that you should just kind of keep track of in your mind that,
that there’s a lot here that’s very important. Let’s begin with a word of prayer. Gracious father in heaven, We come before you, grateful for the day, for the blessings, for the health that we have to assemble together Or mindful of many places throughout the world because of illness and difficulties and disease may not be able to assemble together. We pray that you will be with individuals who are in those countries dealing with virus that is becoming a problem in this world and we pray that they will have safety and health and we pray for the Christians in those regions.
We pray for the missionaries that are throughout the world, that they are also those who remain healthy during this time of uh, difficulty and they are able to continue to travel and continue to reach lost souls and perhaps even have additional doors open to them through this difficulty at times. Lord, we pray that you will be with us as we go through this evening and as we go through this study,
may the things that we read reinforce your word in our heart and our mind. May we learn the things that you would have us to learn and may we put them in our hearts that we might not turn against you, that we might not sin against you, but that we might also know how to return to you and repent when we’ve done wrong. All this we pray in Jesus name.
Amen. Beginning of chapter eight they begin to do what? Dedicate the house of the Lord the so the temple has been built by Solomon and and the people of Israel. It has been finished. They bring up the tabernacle and all of the items that were in the tabernacle to the temple and it is during the seventh month. It is during the feast of the seven month,
seventh month, which was the feast of Tabernacles connected to the feast of Tabernacles was the day of atonement. And so they come to this day that the temple is being consecrated and all these things are going to transpire and they begin offering sacrifices. They begin to go through this consecration process and Solomon will stand up and he will begin to speak. And then around verse 22,
Solomon will begin to pray from verse 22 down through verse 61 is Solomon’s prayer. Um, someone is stated and, and I didn’t count the verses to validate it, but somebody stated this is the longest prayer we have recorded in the old Testament. Um, but it’s certainly uh, fairly lengthy whether it’s the longest one or not. So verse 22 is where we’re going to pick up.
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no gun in heaven above or on earth below. Like you who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their hearts. But question, What is the correct posture of prayer?<inaudible> That’s a trick question.<inaudible> Because the answer is a humble heart.
There is no physical posture of prayer that has ever been dictated in old or new Testament. There are many examples of postures of prayer. Um Hmm. This would be one that you probably would very rarely see, But there’s nothing wrong with this one. Uh, here is Solomon and instead of a, I don’t know if he, his head is bowed or not,
but I know where his hands are. His hands are raised up. But you know, there’s an interesting connection there Because when Moses is leading the children of Israel through the wilderness to Mount Sinai and they are attacked and there’s a battle going on and Joshua and the people are fighting and in battle, as long as Moses’s hands were in what position? Israel was winning,
right? Raised. Yeah. But whenever they went down, what happened? They were losing When the, his Ray hands were raised, God was fighting on their behalf. When his hands went down, God wasn’t, They were being defeated. And so eventually because of exhaustion, Moses can’t hold his hands up anymore. So what do they do?<inaudible> All right.
They have him sit down and Aaron and her on either side hold up his hands. Not that there’s anything magical about holding up hands is there. That’s simply what God did in that occasion. We don’t read about it ever again. We don’t read about that being anything other than one thing that occurred and just what it was. Make that point to say God has made it clear that prayer is important.
God has made it clear that prayer in private and public settings is important. Paul will write to Timothy if my memory serves me correctly. First Timothy chapter two and he will make the statement concerning men who are Christians that his desire is that men pray everywhere lifting up. Holy hands. No, I think the emphasis is rightfully placed in that passage, not on the position of the hands,
but on the condition of the hands. The position of the hands lifted up is much less significant than the condition of the hands being Holy<inaudible>. So I say all of this just simply to draw our minds back to, we have traditions of how we do things, but just because someone doesn’t necessarily do it the way we’ve always done it, as long as they do it in an in accordance with scripture and in not in opposition to scripture,
what they’re doing isn’t wrong. So you ever see someone lead a and their hands are lifted up? Don’t think, Oh, I don’t know that guy’s liberal. Don’t think that because that guy may have just read the scripture and said, you know what? This is how a public prayer was led. So I’m going to lead it that way. Oh,
by the way, I actually have, I know someone who grew up doing that because he had read it in the scripture and then was told by someone who was even a preacher to stop doing it because he was causing a problem.<inaudible> Absolutely. So now let’s draw that back to Jesus. His example of the Pharisee and the sinner. Jesus says, here comes this Pharisee and he prays before God and he prays loudly and he talks about everything that he’s done on behalf of the Lord.
And Jesus says his prayer goes nowhere. And yet here’s the sinner who smokes his breast and and recognizes his own sinfulness and Jesus says his prayers heard. So all of this is again simply to remind us, we should look in scripture for examples of how things are done. We should examine those examples, we should learn from them and we should also learn to apply what Jesus and the new Testament has said and not said.
And we should give Liberty where the Bible gives Liberty While also making sure we speak where the Bible speaks. So he says, Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants who walked before you with all their heart. Here is going to be the concept that is going to carry throughout this whole prayer.
You God, Okay, We’ll maintain your covenant, your promise and your relationship with your people upon a condition. And that is that they will follow you with their whole heart. Okay? He says, you have kept your promise, uh, or she 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.
Therefore, Lord God of Israel now keep you. Keep what you promised your father, your servant David, my father saying, you shall not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne of Israel. Only if your sons take heed to their way that they want before me. As you have walked before me. Question, would there be a time Where the lineage of David stop sitting on the throne of Israel?
Yes, there would. When they went away in the Babylonian captivity, from that moment forward to the day of Christ, there would not be a son of David on a throne in Israel. Four, seven or 600 plus years, no descendant of David would sit on a throne in Israel because no descendant of David would meet the criteria necessary. And because the ones who had come before that lost that right.
And God said no more because they weren’t following after David their father. They weren’t serving the Lord. They weren’t faithful to him. God’s promises were conditional And yet ultimately the fulfillment of second Samuel seven and God’s covenant with David would be his seed. Christ who would sit on a throne And that Peter mentions in acts chapter two but then we read and now I pray,
verse 26 Oh God of Israel. Let your word come true, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father, but will God and indeed dwell on the earth. Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less? This temple, which I have built, Solomon, builds this grand structure significantly larger than the tabernacle overlaid with gold made with the greatest and finest craftsmanship that was available made with the Cedars of Lebanon and made with these massive stones.
Never was a was a hammer heard in the, in the whole vicinity of the temple because it was all carved out at the quarry and then brought in built And Solomon gets to the consecration day and says, Oh, by the way, This temple can’t contain you. So sorry to burst any bubbles. If you thought God dwelt in the house, made with hands,
he doesn’t. But turn to Isaiah chapter 66<inaudible> Isaiah chapter 66 and in verse one Isaiah writes, as he closes out his prophecy, thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Oh, okay. So so God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. God would manifest his presence, but God’s real dwelling places is heaven.
But keep reading. Isaiah 66 in verse one he says, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the rest is the place of my rest? Verse two for all those things my hand has made, God says, what are you going to build for me? Where’s the temple you’re going to build And whose stuff are you going to use?
Because I built everything you have. I made everything that you see. So how are you going to build a temple for me? Well then he says this, and all those things exist as the Lord. But on this one, will I look On him who is poor and have a contract spirit? And who trembles at my word? God says, you won’t build a temple for me to dwell in.
You won’t contain me. But I’ll tell you who I’ll abide with. Not the person who walks in my Gates of my temple in Jerusalem, but the person whose heart is willing to submit to me. So what Solomon says here is you’ll dwell with Israel so long as they will dwell with you. And Isaiah is saying the same thing centuries later. But then notice we read verse 28 yet regard the prayer of your servant and his suffocation.
Oh Lord my God. And listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before you today. Solomon just requests and reiterate. Lord, hear us in this prayer, that your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day toward the place of which you said, my name shall be there. That you may hear the prayer which your servants make toward this place.
And you may and may you hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place here in heaven, your dwelling place. And when you hear, forgive, God had said, I will put my name here. And Solomon says, Lord, if you’re going to put your name here, then will you. You keep your eyes on this place.
You keep eyes on it day and night. And when you hear the prayer of Israel coming toward this place, being prayed toward this location and you hear the supplication of Israel, hear it, and forgive Daniel chapter six We made mention of this that we didn’t, I don’t think we actually turned over and looked at it. Daniel chapter six Verse 10 now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed,
that is the law that said, you can’t pray to anyone other than Darius. He went home and in his upper room with his windows opened towards Jerusalem. He knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom. Since early days<inaudible> He knelt down and prayed. Ah, so there’s yours.
There’s another posture, one sanding up with arms raised, one kneeling now, but he kneels down with what?<inaudible>. Humble heart. But a window open window open facing where Jerusalem, by all indications, he’s in Babylon, Maybe Susa, depending upon the time. So he’s not in Israel, buddies praying back towards, Well not the temple. Why wasn’t he praying toward the temple there?
There wasn’t a Dumble, But where was the place where God had said he’d put his name Cause it wasn’t about a physical temple. And so Daniel still prayed toward that place. But then also Nehemiah chapter one Over in the Mio<inaudible>. We read in Nehemiah chapter one in verse five and I said, I pray Lord God of heaven. Oh great. And awesome.
Gone. You who keep your covenant and mercy with those who love you and observe your commandments. Please let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now they in night for the children of Israel, your servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which they have sinned against you.
Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances would you commanded your servant Moses. Remember, I pray the word that you commanded your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful, I will you among the nations. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them though,
some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for my name Here. Nehemiah is after centuries of the existence of the nation of Israel from the time of Solomon, after 70 years in Babylonian captivity and after additional times where Niamh time where Nehemiah is still there working in the palace of the King and there are those back in Jerusalem and they’re struggling and he still rehearses this prayer and its connection back to the law.<inaudible> That’s why I say this is one of those fundamental chapters of the old Testament because here you find two individuals centuries later coming right back to this In their own prayers.
Verse 30 and you may hear your supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when you pray or when they pray toward this place here in heaven, your dwelling place and when you hear forgive, when anyone sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath and comes and takes an oath before your altar in the temple, then here in heaven and act and judge your servants condemning the wicked,
bringing his way on his head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. This references back to Exodus chapter 22 verses eight through 11. And basically what the law said is if you have someone who is accused of stealing or destroying something that belonged to another Israelite, that is light would bring that accusation against them. And that individual who had been accused would be broad and would be forced to make an oath if they claim they were innocent,
they would be brought to make an oath before God claiming they’re at the temple and the altar. I didn’t do this, I didn’t damage this person stuff or this person’s family member or steal what they claim. And what Solomon is saying is, Lord, when this occurs, when someone is brought before you to make an oath, you act, you judge,
you determine whether he’s righteous or unrighteous and you act accordingly.<inaudible> You know, it’s almost as if Solomon thought after all of these years and after all of these changes and after, uh, you know, all the things that have transpired since the days of Moses, it’s almost like Solomon thought that intended for his law to still be the same hundreds of years later.
Like he gave a law and he didn’t tended it to not change. Oh, I guess that’s because he did. He intended to give a law and it not change unless he changed it. You know, there are people who will not treat the Bible that way and will not treat the new Testament that way. All I know, that’s what they said back then,
but<inaudible> We just live in a different world now. You know, Solomon, Solomon’s environment was quite a bit different from Moses’s. Moses never saw the promised land and not one day At least by way of stepping foot in it. Moses Dwell and Sojourn for 40 years, Solomon’s living in extravagance, And yet none of it changed the law Or God’s expectation for them to keep it When your people,
verse 33 when your people, Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have, they have sinned against you and when they turn back to you and confess your name and pray and make supplication to you in this temple, then here in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers. That’s Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 25 Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses one through three that Solomon is referencing then here in heaven and forgive the sins of your people Israel,
and bring them back to the land which you gave their fathers. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you and when they pray toward this, this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you afflicted them, then here in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people, Israel, that you may teach them the good way in which they should walk and send rain on your land,
which you have given to your people as an inheritance. That’s Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 23 Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 2122 and 27 And all, almost every single one of these is also in Leviticus chapter 26 Because that was the giving of it to the first generation that was wicked and died in the wilderness and Deuteronomy 28 and 29 and 30 is the giving of it to the second generation.
Solomon’s not inventing any new requests here. Solomon’s dedicating this temple and saying, God, will you please keep the same promises made centuries ago for this people now that you made for that people then will you still keep your covenant and when this people sins, the one thing that I think is very interesting about this is Solomon had the wisdom to know it wasn’t a question of if Not a single time in all of this.
Does he say if your people does this? Yeah. You know, back in Deuteronomy and back in Leviticus there’s, there’s very much that verbiage. If you do this, if you turn away, if you do that, Solomon is the, the, the, the wisest man. He’s been given understanding and judgment buying God and he doesn’t say, if He says,
when Solomon knows this is coming, Maybe he knows it’s coming because maybe Solomon thought, you know what? God wouldn’t have given the law if that wasn’t going to happen. God knew it was going to happen, so we gave the law telling you exactly what was going to happen when you did it. Or maybe Solomon was a student of the history of Israel up to this point.
Maybe Solomon knew what had happened in the time of the judges knew what had happened in the time of Eli knew what had happened in the time of Saul knew what had happened in the first generation of those who left Egypt. You think, Oh yeah. And so Solomon says, when your people does this, Remember and forgive. But you’ll notice also in this,
that every single time Solomon makes it clear that the condition for forgiveness Is repentance. There’s no plea by Solomon God, will you just ignore the sin? God? Will you just overlook the wrongdoing? Gone? Will you? Will you just took, take these things and put them away and act as if it never happened? No. When you see the repentance and when they turn to you in supplication,
then Forgive me, And that’s one of the lessons we need to learn from this passage. That’s one of the lessons we didn’t need to learn from the old Testament is not only are God’s promises always contingent upon obedience, but God’s forgiveness is always contingent upon repentance. No repentance, no forgiveness, okay. But then notice he goes on Verse 37 when there is famine in the land,
pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, when their enemy BCGs them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone or by all your people. Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward this temple, then here in heaven,
your dwelling place and forgive and act and give to everyone according to all his ways whose heart you know for you alone. Know the hearts of all the sons of men that they may fear you all the days of that, that they live in the land which you gave to their fathers. I think it’s kind of interesting. This phrase that he uses here Talks about the plagues.
He, he uses a reference back to Egypt because God had said, if I bring you out, Okay And I bring you into this land and then you turn your heart back to sin, I’m going to do to you what I did to Egypt. And Solomon says, so when Israel does what you told them not to do, and then notice this phrase,
He says, Uh, There in verse 37, he says, when their enemy besieged as them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone or by all your people, when each one knows the plague of his own Heart,<inaudible> Like Israel was going to be able to see the plague around them and see the enemies overcome busing them and see the destruction and look inwardly and say,
this is My fault. They’re not going to look at those enemies standing outside their Gates and saying, you know what? It’s this people’s fault. They’re attacking us. No, they’re going to look in inward and say,<inaudible> God told us it would happen And it’s our heart. That’s the problem.<inaudible> Moreover, Like has happened a number of times throughout the old Testament as we’ve been studying the lessons of the old Testament.
God never intended Israel To stand alone. God never intended Israel to be a sheltered, huddled group of people who didn’t have any interaction with those around them and didn’t have any influence on the Gentiles and didn’t have any presence among the Gentiles and just live in their little land until the Messiah came. That’s not what God intended. Verse 41 moreover, concerning a foreigner who is not of your people Israel,
but as comb from a far country for your name’s sake, that is the Lord’s names sake. For they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm when he comes and prays toward this temple here in heaven, your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you as do your people Israel and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name.
Solomon says when the foreigner comes because he’s heard about you Lord, and when he’s heard about your outstretched arm, what? What did God through Moses tell Israel over and over and over again that he was going to do to Egypt and why he was going to bring about these plagues. And it was for one singular purpose. That is that Egypt and Israel and all the nations throughout the earth would know what that I alone am the Lord.
And so Solomon says, when a foreigner comes because he’s heard about you because he knows about your outstretched arm because he knows what you’ve done for this people and what you’ve done in this place. And when he prays here, There was grace for the foreigner, the non Israelite even under the old Testament. But then notice verse 44 when your people go out to battle against your enemy or their enemy,
wherever you send them, and when they prayed to, uh, to the Lord toward this city, which you have chosen, and the temple which I have built for your name, then here in heaven, their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. In other words, fight on their behalf. When they sin against you for there is no one who does not sin.
You could just jot down there a first John chapter one verse seven and eight because John says the exact same thing. Let him who says he has no sin or he who says He has no sin is a liar and deceives himself For there is no one who does not see it and you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy and they take them captive to the land of the enemy far or near.
Yet when they come to themselves in the land, when they were carried, kept it and repent and make supplication to you in the land of those who took them captive saying we have sinned and done wrong, have committed wickedness and when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive and prayed to you toward this their land which you gave to their fathers,
the city which you have chosen and the temple where I’ve built for which I have built for your name. Then here in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. Turn very quickly to Jeremiah chapter 29 Is kind of interesting, um, without going too far down, uh, down a rabbit hole here That Let me say this in a way that maybe isn’t going to get me in trouble.
So I’ll, I’ll couch it in in a, uh, in a qualification I, I very much understand, appreciate and M no way diminishing Diagnosed mental illness. Okay. But Solomon makes it clear that the worst mental illness Is sin Because he knows what he just said. He said, when the people sin and they do this and they’re carried away and then they go into a foreign land,
they’ve been conquered. They’ve been so the praised by sin, they’ve been so overwrought with sin that he says, and then they finally come to them selves As if they were insane and outside their own mind Because they couldn’t see what sin was doing to them. The worst mental illness that exists And frankly, the cause of many mental illnesses that do it yeah,
exists Is sin Because people will allow sin to control their every action Until they can’t even understand what they’re doing. And finally sometime later having an endured. All of this being carried away being brought into this foreign land. He says they finally wake up And They were the problem all along. But notice Jeremiah chapter 29 he says, thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, do not let your profits, your diviners who are in your midst deceive you nor listened to your dreams which you which you cause to be dreamed for. They prophesy falsely to you. In my name I have not sent them, says the Lord. So Jeremiah is prophesying and the Lord is speaking through Jeremiah and Jeremiah through or the Lord through Jeremiah says,
You have deceived yourselves, even your profits who dream dreams are causing themselves to dream dreams. And their message didn’t come from me. I didn’t send them, but then he goes on. He says, for thus says the Lord. Verse 10 after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place for I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord.
Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope, then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I’ve driven.
You says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away. Cap. Yeah. Here’s Jeremiah. Centuries later, Telling them before they go into captivity, but they won’t listen. Oh, you’re going into captivity. Oh, you’re going to Babylon. Even though your profits tell you you’re not going. They yell peace,
peace. When there is no peace. You’re going to Babylon And you’re not going to be there for a short time. Oh, I know. There’s other province saying, Oh, we’ll go to Babylon, but it’s just going to be short time. He says, no, it’ll be 70 years, But at the end of that time, When you pray and when you repent,
I’ll bring you back Back to first Kings chapter eight<inaudible> What verse did I leave off? Verse verse 51 or 50 and verse 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you in all their transgressions which they have transgressed against you and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought out of Egypt,
out of the iron furnace, that your eyes may be opened to the supplication of your servant and the supplication of your people, Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to you, for you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance as you spoke by your servant Moses when you brought our fathers out of Egypt. Oh Lord God.
Solomon concludes his prayer with a reminder. God, yeah, You chose us. You gave us an inheritance. We are your people. And if there’s not a connection between that and a Christian, I don’t know what it is. Turn to first Peter chapter two second Peter chapter one many other passages that talk about our inheritance and our relationship with God. And so all of these things as well are a lesson for us When we can’t figure out why things aren’t going well,
when we can’t figure out why the church isn’t doing what it should be or why their struggles or why there’s problems. Maybe it’s time to look inward. Maybe the problem isn’t somebody else. Maybe we’re the problem. And that’s the reminder of first Kings chapter eight and so it was for 54 when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord that he arose from before the altar of the Lord,
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to the heaven, up to heaven. Oh, so there, there, there’s this full posture. He’s down on his knees, but his hands are up. Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice saying, blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people. Israel.
According to all that he promised, there has not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised through his servant Moses. May the Lord are gone be with us as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us nor forsake us. Then he may incline our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments,
which he commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine which I have made supplication before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant and call and the cause of his people. Israel as each day may require that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord has gone. There is no other.
Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord, our God to walk in his statutes and keep his commandments as it as at this day. So Solomon concludes his prayer. And then exhorts the people obey the Lord, be faithful to him, And yet who will lead them away from God? Solomon. Well, Solomon will build up the high places. Solomon will build the temples for the idols in Jerusalem.
Solomon the one who prays this eloquent prayer will be the one who will fail to guard his own Hard. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. So then verses 62 through 66 then the King and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord 22,000 bowls and 120,000 sheep.
So the King and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. On the same day that King consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord. For there, he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings in the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar wa that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burn offerings,
the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. So basically day one, as they Institute the temple, they have to actually make the offering somewhere other than the place where they built to make the offerings. Because the place they built to make the offerings wasn’t big enough for the offerings they built on the day they consecrated it. So I, you know,
I guess it was kind of like technology today you buy it and day one it’s out of date. It’s not large enough as kind of the way it was with the altar. Uh, so they do it in the middle of the court. Uh, at that time Solomon held a feast and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Haymoth to the Brook of Egypt before the Lord our God,
seven days and seven more days, 14 days. On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the King and went to their tents. Joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for his servant David and for the Israel. His people. Question four, we did the first three on Sunday. What promise that God had promised David.
Did Solomon pray to God to keep, Hey, let me go back there real quick. Think specifically is that there would not fail to be a descendant of David sitting on the throne. That that’s I believe with the specific question is looking for by way of an answer. Um, question five, what did Solomon do after the Ark of God was placed in God’s house?
He prayed. Yeah. Uh, what position did Solomon take when he prayed to God? Kneeling with his hands lifted up way or did he pray that an Israelite prayer be directed Toward the temple? Question six. How did Solomon define repentance? Okay, so when they sin, when they come to themselves, they repent, make supplication And return. Um,
Those are kind of the fundamental things there. Something like that will be acceptable. Uh, specifically the idea of turning their hearts back, Right? They have a contract. Heart question seven, yes or no? Did Solomon say that the house he had built could contain God? No. All right. Thank you for your attention. You are dismissed.<inaudible> Good evening.
Good to see everybody here tonight and sheerly winter night. I guess there’s things I want. It doesn’t sound like it to main, but anyway, Oh Yeah. Bearish is with us tonight. Cartel. Which one’s vicious? Which one’s not You to pick ADI cause she’s bossing them kids around or something. But anyway, good to have y’all with us. Uh,
Rodale and Darth are still on the sick list. Julia Case is still in hospice care. Joan Springer are still recovering from her Bronco pneumonia, the Rushmore family. Oh, They’re still in Ghana. I thought I come Monday, But Martha fail I guess why she was over there and uh, she does have a mass on her kidney and um, we’ll be seeing about that on March the sixth.
And Lewis, his father, cliff Rushmore fell and broke his hip last week and uh, he’s still got some problems if they got straightened out before they operate on that. Well, we need to remember the Rushmore family. I guess the day off I was still sick. Right? We’re 600. They lose doing a lot better on, uh, after her surgery she had on her hand Monday and Don Robinson has stripped throat All of our sick.
Uh, they went out, uh, Beverly, Beverly’s back with us. She’s been out. Oh wow. Blood pressure. She back Ladies Bible class. We’ll meet tomorrow if it doesn’t snow Big like fair where the friend people, But anyway, they’ll meet tomorrow at 10 o’clock in the fellowship hall. Coleman Avenue, ladies day Saturday at eight 30. Oh Yeah.
Richardson a song later. Yeah. Promotional and Terry weekly. We’ll have the closing prayer. 569 I’ll add to the prayer list. Cassidy is going to be flying out in the morning with my parents to Homer, Alaska for a week. They are doing a campaign up there. So remember her, she’s excited for sure. First time. Remember her 569<inaudible> uh,<inaudible> uh,
Jesus<inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible> Uh, Ooh. And I reached Chris C voice as well. Cough voice and that’s when I call<inaudible>.<inaudible> No, Jesus is a<inaudible>.<inaudible><inaudible><inaudible><inaudible>. So<inaudible> No Marketing handles the page number nine zero four, 900. And Matthew chapter 16, Jesus says beginning in verse 24, if anyone desires to come after me,
let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me While we often discuss the need and the requirement to hear and to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and to repent of one’s sins, that you can’t stay in the same lifestyle that you lived in before you were a Christian. You have to conform and be, be transformed to God’s way of living.
One of the things that I think we often don’t spend enough time on Is confession. Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, you have to take up your cross and follow me. In the first century, for one to confess the name of a King, for one to proclaim allegiance to a King, it demanded that as one who followed that King,
they would do anything that King required up to and including losing their life on behalf of that. Okay? Jesus says, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. You say, well, why would someone lose their life for a King? Why would they plead allegiance to a King? W we have a very Set way of thinking.
In America. We, we like freedom and we like democracy and we, we are not big fans of monarchies. We don’t think that way.<inaudible> But that’s not the kind of relationship Jesus has with his citizens. Christianity is not a democracy. It is a monarchy and there is one King. And if you will be his citizen, you will have to deny yourself.
Take up his cross and follow him for whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul or what will a man give in exchange for his soul, for the son of man will come and the glory of his father with his angels,
and then he will reward each according to his works. There’s a need for us to remind people, You don’t make the decision to become a Christian lightly. And when you make that commitment, You’re not going to walk away from it. And if you do, It won’t be without consequence. But for the one who chooses To lose his life for Christ’s sake,
to die to himself, to live to Christ, to confess Christ. Jesus says, when I come, there’s a reward that comes with me. Paul would write as he was nearing the end of his life, He says, I’m about to be poured out as a drink offering. I fought the good fight. I finished the course. I’ve kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness and not for me only, but for everyone that loves his appearing. You love the appearing of the one you’ve pled allegiance to. If you’re here this evening, you’re outside the body of Christ. You do have to confess Christ, but you also have to die. You have to be immersed in water buried with Christ to rise again so that he lives instead of you.
You’re outside the body of Christ. You don’t have to stay there. You can change that tonight if you’re a member of the body of Christ and maybe you’ve become a little democratic in your Christianity, You can’t stay that way. You have to be on the cross and he has to be alive in you. If you have need of repentance, if you have need of prayers for sin or for any other reason,