[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Alright, take your Bibles if you would and go with me to 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 60. 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 60. As you know, we don't know if we have a CO or not, a certificate of occupancy or not.
[0:32] But we're going to, by faith, believe there's going to be one. And so, they'll be tearing some things apart after church. You already noticed when you came in, more like a warehouse than it was when we had a few things hanging on the wall.
[0:47] Pictures are gone. We lost all our missionaries on the back wall. I don't know what to say. But, so anyway, after church, Trent, we'll be getting with you to talk about some work that you can do.
[0:58] And I just want to tell you, I have enjoyed. We have had somewhere around 11 or 1,200 messages preached from this spot. Not counting, as the young men were saying, not counting what's happened in Spanish, Sunday school, children's churches, other meetings that we've had, so God has blessed this place.
[1:21] And you have paid a price being pilgrims and moving around from place to place. And I sure appreciate all that you have done.
[1:31] It's an interesting thing. When I got back from China and I said, well, exactly where am I supposed to preach in the Bible next? And it's on the temple.
[1:42] Solomon is going to build and dedicate the temple. And so, it's just interesting. I always love the coincidences that seem to happen in the Bible. I am going to cover chapter 5, Lord willing, to chapter 9, verse 9.
[1:56] So, that's like four chapters and nine verses. So, you're going to be in for a little bit of a ride. But we're not going to talk about every little piece of all the instructions that God gave them.
[2:06] We're going to try to look at the major lesson that we have for us. But so, read with me, if you would, in 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 60. You know, they're building a temple. Did you think world evangelism was a new thing that they thought of in the New Testament?
[2:21] Did you think that God never had world evangelism in mind? 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 60. That all the people of the earth may know.
[2:33] That the Lord is God. That God, Jehovah God, the Creator God is God. And there is none else.
[2:45] Father in heaven, we thank you and praise you because you are exactly that. The God of heaven that no building could ever contain. That no worship center could ever hold. That no group of people could ever control or contain.
[2:58] That you are the great God of the Bible. We worship you and we magnify you. And tonight as we look at this passage of scripture. And remember what you did is you had Solomon and David and them build the temple.
[3:10] I pray you'd build your people. I pray you'd encourage them. I pray they'd leave tonight a little bit lighter. A little bit happier. A little bit more joyful because they know what a wonderful God you are.
[3:23] And we'll give you praise for all in Jesus' name. Amen. Before Solomon starts building this temple, David has already prepared about 4,050 tons of gold.
[3:37] 4,050 tons of gold. Now multiply that by 2,000 and you'll know how much that is. And 38,000 tons of silver.
[3:48] Not to speak of thousands of tons of bronze and iron and precious stones. This building they're building is only going to be about 2,700 square feet.
[4:00] Some of you got houses bigger than that. And all that's going in that little place. Our building over there that you'll move into is about 15,000 square feet.
[4:11] 14,800 or something like that. But even about 15,000 square feet. This is less than 3,000 square feet with 4,000 tons of gold and 38,000 tons of silver.
[4:23] Imagine that. This was a magnificent place. Great preparations were made to build the temple of God. In the first part of the story, 1 Corinthians chapter 5, there's a guy named Hiram who's a king and he loves David.
[4:37] And so when David dies and Solomon takes over, he's ready to help David build the temple. David had wanted to build the temple, if you recall. It was David's heart and David's goal to build the temple.
[4:48] But God wouldn't let David. Because he was a warring man, a bloody man, he had been involved in too much killing. And God said, no, he let his son do it. He promised him, I won't let you do it, but I'll let your boy do it.
[5:00] So in 1 Kings chapter 5 and verse 8, go ahead and open your Bible. We'll be working our way through these chapters. Solomon makes a contract with Hiram, the friend of his dad. And in making that contract, he made the right kind of contract.
[5:14] When you're in business, he made the right kind of contract. By the way, by chapter 9, he's going to become a scoundrel of a guy and kind of rip old Hiram off. But right here, 1 Kings chapter 5 and verse 8.
[5:26] Hiram said to Solomon, saying, I've considered the things that thou sendest to me for. You're asking me for all this wood and all this stuff that you want. I will do all thy desire.
[5:36] Underline that. I'll do everything you need me to do. Concerning the timber of cedar and concerning the timber of fir. Verse 9. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea. And I will convey them by sea and floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me.
[5:51] And will cause them to be discharged there. And thou shalt receive them. And thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household. Why don't you underline in verse 8. I will do what you need.
[6:03] But you'll be doing what I need. So good business deal on both sides. Doesn't have a whole lot to do with the message. I just thought that was pretty good. Nobody was ripping off anybody. One guy's paying what ought to have been paid.
[6:15] The other guy was getting what he needed. They're going to need a lot of workers. 1 Kings chapter 5 verse 13. 30,000 men are going to go work. 10,000 every one month and then two months off.
[6:29] And they're going to keep going over there and building that. That's in verse 13 and 14. 150,000 men are going to be needed to cut and prepare and transport the stones. 1 Kings chapter 5 verse 17.
[6:42] They made all the preparations off site. The Bible said, And the king commanded and they brought great stones. Costly stones and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house. I can't show you all the verses.
[6:54] But one of the things that they did. They didn't want any hammers heard when they were building it. They didn't want it to sound like it was a man-made thing. It needed to be a God-made thing. So they prepared the rocks.
[7:04] And they cut the rocks so that they'd fit. So when they brought them, they didn't do any chiseling. They didn't do anything. And that doesn't sound like much to you, maybe. But in Peru, I could take you to where the Inca Indians built places.
[7:17] And they have to 17 or 18 or 19 cuts. And they fit perfectly. Not a knife blade won't go between them. And that's the kind of work they put in to building this temple.
[7:30] And he hired all the best people to work for him. 1 Kings chapter 7, verse 13. He hired a widow's son who was filled, in verse 14, with wisdom and understanding and cunning to work in all the works of brass.
[7:45] And so God's house was worth a lot of expense and a lot of effort. And if I took the time to read all these verses, here's what you'd hear. The reason we're covering so many chapters is this costs a lot.
[7:58] This costs a lot. This costs a lot. This had a lot to do. I'll bet if we brought John Pearson up here and said, tell us about the building we're moving into, most of us would be thinking, well, you know, it's a building.
[8:11] But I bet he'd be saying, this costs a lot. And this has been a lot of headaches. And I've had to put up with a lot of this. And that's what God writes down. That building his house was a big deal.
[8:21] How much consideration have you given to God's house, his ministry, and his kingdom when you think of your finances? Because if you read this passage of Scripture, they're building this temple.
[8:33] And it's costing a wad. And old King David has put together more money than anybody to get it done. He's brought in all the spoils of war. And then he's given money that he personally had. And then he's gotten all the people together.
[8:44] And they built it. It's a story of God's people saying, God, you're worth it. We'll give the money. We'll give the time. We'll give the effort to get the job done.
[8:55] Now, the next thing, go with me to 1 Kings chapter 6. That's 1 Kings chapter 5. The temple is only 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high, like about three stories, making a building of about 2,700 square feet.
[9:13] And there's a porch out front of that, 1 Kings chapter 6 and verse 2. The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was 60 cubits, and the breadth was 20 cubits, and the height was 30 cubits.
[9:25] And you can do your math and figure that out. Never think, though, that building a building impresses God. Because Solomon's in the process of building a building. They're getting all the gold together.
[9:36] They're getting all the silver together. And everything's going good. And you would think that if you got your mind on buildings, and if you got your mind on material goods, you might be thinking, we're doing a good thing.
[9:47] But in the middle of it, God sends word. 1 Kings 6, 11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, concerning the house which thou art in building. Now, y'all, you're building me a house, so let's talk about it a second.
[10:01] And he doesn't even talk about the house. He talks about, if you walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David your father, and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people.
[10:21] It's amazing God didn't go, wow, so much gold for me? Wow, so much silver? I'm impressed. Wow, you're building it like that? You don't buy God off.
[10:34] Some people have turned tithing into keeping God off of your doorstep. As a kid, I was raised to believe if you don't tithe, God will break your legs. If you don't tithe at the church, you'll tithe at the junkyard.
[10:47] I heard that all my life. If you don't tithe at the church, you'll tithe at the hospital. But in the story here, when they're giving all that money, God doesn't come down and say, well, sure, I'm glad y'all are bringing me all that money. God just came down and said, you just remember this.
[10:58] You're supposed to be serving me. Not about buildings. Not about money. It's about you loving me and obeying me. Notice how God conditioned his blessings on obedience. You got your Bible open in verse 12.
[11:11] He said, if thou wilt, underline that, if thou wilt, if you will, and then a little bit further down, he said, then will I. He said, if you will, then will I. So as God said, it depends on you.
[11:23] Everything was finally built and covered. Not a stone was seen. They brought all these stones in. They built it all. And they put all the gold and covered everything in gold. And everything was beautiful.
[11:33] The floor is in gold. Go read the passage. It's the craziest building you've ever seen. And the ark and the furnishings are moved into the temple. No expense was spared.
[11:45] 1 Kings 747. This impressed me. Read this verse. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were exceeding many.
[11:58] Neither was the weight of the brass found out. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertain to the house of the Lord, the altar of gold, the table of gold, whereupon the showbread was. Because they got gold shields made out of pure gold.
[12:11] These shields are worthless. You can't take them into battle. They're not that good a shield. They're just for show. And they're for show like that thing costs so much money. We just like to look at it. I mean, that's the story in the Bible.
[12:24] And he says here, the vessels are unweighed. It's like Solomon said, hey, boys, we ain't got time to weigh all that. Just put it all into place. We got all this stuff here. God's stuff is so much.
[12:35] This isn't a penny pinching bunch of whiny Christians. This is a bunch of people saying it doesn't matter. God's worth it. The vessels are unweighed.
[12:47] There's so many of them. And they made all the vessels. First King 6, 38. It took him seven years to build the building. It took him seven years with 150,000 guys, 180,000 guys all together working, plus the people he hired that worked for O'Hiram.
[13:06] It was a big undertaking for 2,700 square feet. Here comes the sad part. You ready? 1 Kings chapter 7 and verse 1.
[13:17] He just finished building God's house in seven years, but it took him 13 years to build his own house, and he built it twice as big. That's like the first crack in the testimony.
[13:31] Like the first crack in the testimony. Look at verse 7 in 1 Kings 7, 1. Solomon was building his own house 13 years, and he finished all his house.
[13:43] It's amazing to me. Look at verse 38. 1 Kings chapter 6, verse 38. Seven years in building it. 1 Kings chapter 7, verse 1.
[13:54] 13 years in building it. He even built a house for Pharaoh's daughter, one of his wives. 1 Kings chapter 7 and verse 8. He builds her a house. God was interested in every detail of the building.
[14:08] If you read these chapters 5, 6, and 7, every detail. But here's probably the thing that most struck me as I read the passage. What an embarrassment to think that my house and my stuff is more important than the very work of God.
[14:28] Seven years, 13 years, and literally, if you take the time to read the measurements, twice as big. His house is like a 6,000 square foot house, and he built God a 2,700 square foot house.
[14:42] And then I wonder about us, and I wonder what we do. I wonder how often God's kind of like second place with us. He's kind of like what we do on the weekend. He's kind of like what we do when we ain't too busy.
[14:53] He's kind of like what we do when things aren't that important to us. That's maybe where we put him, and that's where old Solomon seems to put him. Then they took the ark into the temple. Go with me to 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 1.
[15:04] Now they've got it all built. It's taken seven years, and it's taken literally billions of dollars to build this small building to get it done.
[15:15] In 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 1, Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, and chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, and of the king Solomon in Jerusalem, and that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is in Zion.
[15:31] So now the place is ready, and they're going to bring the ark. The ark was the symbol of the presence and the power of God, and it was in the tabernacle before it. It had marched with them in the wilderness, and they brought it in to the place.
[15:45] And one of the questions on a Q&A night just a few weeks ago was about all the sacrifice, and so hang on. This chapter is going to be full of animals dying, and blood being shed, because the whole point of the temple is the blood of a lamb.
[16:00] Look at 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 5. And King Solomon and all the congregations of Israel that were assembled unto him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
[16:16] Check that out. How many died? They're building this temple, and it's like this is God's house, and God's house is worth all the sacrifice. We have given money to get this house built.
[16:26] We have given our lives and our time to get this house built, and now we give our animals and our income and our products so God's house can be built. When they put the ark in there, there was only one thing in the ark, and that's the Ten Commandments.
[16:40] 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb. Don't forget that the law is what brings us to God by showing us our needs.
[16:56] It drives us to our knees. And so when they put the ark in there, the only thing in the ark were the Ten Commandments. And the ark is now inside the temple. And inside the ark are the Ten Commandments.
[17:08] But I want to remind you, because you've been studying the Bible, so somewhere right there, right about this verse, right about 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 9, you need to write down Exodus chapter 25 and verse 22.
[17:18] And don't you forget this one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. The Bible says, And there will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all the things which I give thee in the commandment unto the children of Israel.
[17:35] In Exodus, and you go write that verse down, go look it up. They put the commandments in the ark, and the commandments in the ark, the commandments are what gets you killed. The commandments are what tell you you're a sinner.
[17:46] The commandments are what tell you you deserve to die. And so they put the commandments in the ark, and then God said, build a mercy seat above that. Build a mercy seat. Just listen to the name of the thing.
[17:57] A mercy seat, where I don't give you what you deserve. And he said, When you come in to talk to me, I'm not going to talk to you from the law. I'm not going to be sitting there like the judge with a law book open in front of me.
[18:09] I'm going to be talking to you from where you put the blood of that lamb, and I'm going to commune with you from there. Look at it. Exodus chapter 25 verse 22. I will meet with you, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat.
[18:21] Isn't that a good thing? Say amen right there. If God were to deal with you, if he brought up your sin, if he brought up the law in you, you would come in losing.
[18:32] But he'd let you come to the altar, fall on your face, and say, I am guilty, and I don't deserve anything. I'm just like a branch plucked from the fire. And he said, Yeah, you are, but let me talk to you from the mercy seat.
[18:44] What a great God you serve. What a great God we serve. Once they got in the ark into the temple, God's glory filled the temple. Look, if you would, at 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 10.
[18:56] And it came to pass, this won't happen next Sunday. Man, wouldn't it be something that did? In the Old Testament, God just came down in a way they could see him. God just came down in a way that would shake things.
[19:08] And the Bible says in 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 10, it came to pass when the priests were come out of this holy place, that the cloud filled the house of God, so that the priests could not stand to minister before the cloud, for the glory of the Lord and filled the house of the Lord.
[19:22] Can you imagine that? They finished all this building. And Solomon's sitting after, he says, Guys, they're sacrificing animals. They moved the ark in. They're fixing to start having a prayer meeting here in just a minute.
[19:33] And God says, Step aside, boys, I'm coming. And he moved in. And he moved in in such a way that the priests were like, We can't do anything. And the glory of the Lord filled the house.
[19:46] Then Solomon addressed the Lord, talks to the Lord, telling him that he had built him a temple. You read this passage, 1 Kings chapter 8. And Solomon turned after he got through talking to God, and he blessed the people, reminded them of how good God had been to them to choose them and to make them his people and to bring them out of Egypt and to choose David to be their king.
[20:05] By the way, it's more than that for us today. We are the temple. And he lives in us. There may not be a cloud you can see. There may not be a, whatever you call it, halo around your head, but God has moved in.
[20:19] You are worth more than any building. How much are you worshiping him? How much are you giving him the rightful place in your heart? Next thing I want you to look at, 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 17.
[20:32] What's in your heart? What's in your heart? I love these two verses that I'm about to read to you. The, this, the fact that God would say this, this way about King David speaks a lot to what God might say about me because I don't, you know, I know I'm not very worthy.
[20:50] I know I don't do very good. But God wasn't even worried about all that. He said, man, I just know what David wanted. Look at 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 17. And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
[21:06] Solomon knew that about his daddy. Compare that to this morning. Solomon knew about his daddy.
[21:17] And Solomon turned around and he said, guys, and it's going to be called Solomon's temple from now on. He turned around and he said to him, hey guys, it was in my daddy's heart to build this temple. God let it be put in the book so you know it was in his daddy's heart.
[21:30] It was in his daddy's heart. And I'd ask you, what's in your heart? And I'd ask you, what do you really want? I mean, do your kids see in you a hunger for something?
[21:43] Go with me if you would to 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 18. Solomon says, the Lord said unto David, my father, whereas it was in thine heart to build a house unto my name, you did right.
[21:56] Look at it. You did right. Thou didst well that it was in thine heart. He said, you know what, David? You don't get to build a temple, but I know what was in your heart and I like what was in your heart.
[22:09] I like the attitude and I like the heart. Can I just talk to you just a second here on a side note? Not everybody in this room can do what others can do.
[22:21] David's the guy who wanted to build a temple. It doesn't, there's not a reference anywhere where Solomon thought, I want to build a temple. It was David who wanted to build a temple. Fact is, it's not even much of a picture that I find in the Bible where God said, David, build me a temple.
[22:37] It's like God, David was out worshiping God and saying, David says, God, I love you. I love you. I love you, God. I just wish I could do something for you. Just wish I could give you something.
[22:47] I would like to build you a temple. And he tells Nathan and Nathan says, go do it. And then as soon as he gets through telling him, he said, no, you can't do it. So David did everything together.
[23:00] Just getting tons of gold together. Just getting tons of silver together. Just going ahead and making a contract with Hiram so his son can call Hiram when he dies and get everything going.
[23:10] It was in David's heart. The greatest things you could possibly ever do with your life would be to be a missionary. I'll just be honest with you. Oh, I wish you could go to a place like China.
[23:22] I wish you could be over there and be in a church service and share the gospel with people who've never heard and people that believe, honestly believe that the difference between them and a dog is nominal.
[23:34] Believe that the difference between them and an animal is nominal. They believe that when they die, it's just like when a dog dies. They don't have any concept but when you start talking to them, they really do know something inside their heart and when they do sins and wicked things, they say it hurts their heart and you get to share the gospel there.
[23:52] So Mark Coffey's asking for help to build a camp and most of us would be like, you know, I wish I could do something like that or I wish I could be like Mark Tolson or Ben Johnson and be over doing something but you see, here's the beautiful thing in this story, David didn't get to do it but God knew what was in his heart and this whole church, we don't get to do a lot of the stuff, man, I want to be on the mission field, I'll be honest with you.
[24:14] I don't ever go to one of these fields, I don't wish I could go back, I don't go to one of these places, I don't think, in fact, I got Chinese apps right now, I'm trying to learn Chinese. You know how much I've learned? None. It's hard.
[24:25] But I'm just telling you, it's in my heart. What I really like in the story is this, God liked it, it was in his heart and when it was in his heart, it affected his giving, it affected his leadership and we don't like it about it, you know why we call that one Sunday school class a bridge builders?
[24:43] Because a bridge builder is a person who doesn't get to do it, he just gets to be a bridge and the funny thing is it was David's heart and David's goal to build a temple and David didn't get to do it but he was a bridge to fix it where Solomon could.
[25:00] Sometimes there'll be a ministry you can't do but you can help others do the ministry. Sometimes there'll be a ministry you wish you could do but you can't do anything more than lay down your life and your money and your talents and help another guy build a ministry God has.
[25:14] What's in your heart? What do you want to accomplish for the Lord? Man, I want to do something for God, don't you? I want to see God change people's lives. I want my life to count.
[25:25] What's in your heart? This building is being built and it'll carry Solomon's name for the rest of time but even at the dedication Solomon had to say just to be honest with y'all this was in my daddy's heart and God was glad it was in my daddy's heart.
[25:39] Maybe you're a mother that would have loved to have been a missionary but I've loved to be able to carry the gospel somewhere else and God's going to let you help others get there. It'll affect your faith promise given.
[25:51] It'll affect your being a yoke fellow. It'll affect the way you help in Sunday school classes. Just think about this. It's in your heart and you want to make a difference. Now it's in Solomon's heart to pray to God.
[26:03] So go with me to 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 22. Good night. It's time to quit and I may have to halfway through. I may have to cut and give you the rest because the best stuff is yet to come but anyway. 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 22 Solomon stood and he spread his hands forth to heaven like this.
[26:18] If you'll read the passage it's wonderful. Now I'm just going to skim it quickly so I can get to the next passage later but listen to this. He said God there's nobody else like you. You're the only God that keeps your word and keeps your mercy.
[26:31] Keeps your word and keeps your mercy. Look at 1 Kings 8 23. He said Lord God of Israel there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath who keeps covenant.
[26:41] That means you say it and you do it and mercy with the servants that walk before thee with all their heart. God you keep your word. You promise in verse 24. You promise and you fulfilled it.
[26:54] He says God I'm asking you to keep doing it. God you told my daddy you would and you've done what you told my daddy you would so in verse 26 he said now verify your word.
[27:04] Show me. Show me. You showed my daddy now show me that you'll do it. He said I'm building you a temple. Tried to spend a lot of money on it but there's no building on the planet that could ever hold you.
[27:15] 1 Kings 8 27 underline this. It cannot contain you. The heavens can't contain you. The heavens of the heavens can't contain you. That means out there where the solar system is they can't contain you.
[27:28] How could my little 2700 square foot building contain you? You are the God who created it all. He says so I'd just like to ask you to do something. Would you look towards the temple?
[27:39] Would you look towards the temple of verse 29? Would you keep your eyes open and would you listen to us when we pray from here? And when verse 23 when our enemies knock us down because we've sinned against you but we realize we messed up and we look towards the temple again and say God we messed up.
[27:54] Will you hear us God and answer us? And God in verse 35 God when it quits raining because we've sinned again we know it's going to be because we sin when we do and we recognize it and we confess your name and we turn from our sin.
[28:07] Verse 36 will you forgive us? Will you forgive us? And God when strangers come when foreigners come to our community would you let us have a place where they could be welcomed and hear the gospel.
[28:18] 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 41 you've got to hear this. You've got to hear this. The Bible says moreover concerning a stranger that's not of thy people Israel that means concerning a foreigner that's not from America but comes out of a far country for your name's sake they shall hear of thy great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm and when he shall come and pray towards his house will you hear him?
[28:43] Will you hear him? When this stranger this guy who speaks Chinese this guy who speaks French or Spanish or English when he comes will you hear him? Verse 43 and do according to all that stranger calls on you that all people of the earth may know your name.
[29:01] So when we sin and realize it would you forgive us? 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 46 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 51 we know we are your people we know you made us this house reminds us that you did for they be 8 51 for they be thy people and your inheritance that you brought forth out of Egypt you did it and he finished praying in 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 54 and he stood up he started out on his feet with his hands up he ended up with his knees on the ground and his hands up and he's standing up now and he turns and he blesses the people in chapter 8 and verse 55 and he said listen to me guys not one word of what he said has ever failed not one word 8 and verse 56 not one word has ever failed the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers and I pray in verse 58 that he'll incline our hearts to him to walk in his ways to keep his statutes and his judgments verse 60 so all the world may know that the Lord is God and there is none else in 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 63 they sacrificed 22,000 cows oxen and 120,000 sheep and don't forget that already killed some that couldn't count before so I don't know how many this is adding up to but the sacrifice was to say and we know you're God we bring to you everything that's worth something here's my wallet here's my 401k here's my future here's my house
[30:37] I just lay it on the altar it sure God hears and answers prayer and he heard his prayer and he answered him positively in 1 Kings chapter 9 in verse 3 the Lord said to him I have heard thy prayer listen to that underline that did your God listen to the prayer did your God hear you when you talk to him did your God wants to pay attention to you I have heard thy prayer I've hallowed this house I've made it holy and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually he said Solomon I heard your prayer I'm going to keep looking at this place my heart's going to be here my eyes are going to be here and this place you built for me buddy but if you mess up and you guys do wrong and you don't do what David did I'll tear this temple down and I'll mess you guys over don't play with me 1st Kings chapter 9 and verse 4 I was going to tell you this and if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked in integrity of heart and uprightness to do according to all that
[31:45] I've commanded and will keep my statutes and my judgments he said if you'll do that then I will verse 5 can I just stop here a second would you look at verse 4 with me just one second look at that verse you know David I know David I know David the guy that killed Uriah I know David the guy who slept with Bathsheba I know David the idiot just to be honest I know David the guy who just messes up but grace but God's grace you see this verse because if I look at you you're a mess up and God ought to never think nice things about you he knows about the porn you looked at he knows about the stuff you stole he knows about the lying you've done he knows about the mess up you are but he looks and says now Solomon your daddy he walked in the integrity of his heart in uprightness to do all according to all I commanded him that's pretty good stuff
[32:47] God loves you you know what he took that filthy rags off of you like in Zechariah that he put on those holy garments on you and what David had done even though David had sinned David never quit loving God Solomon's going to mess up for it so we're start building temples for other gods and loving other gods and that's where the downhill slide starts David might have messed up in some ways but he always loved God 1 Kings 9 5 says then will I establish your throne verse 6 but if you turn then will I cut off Israel verse 8 and I will destroy this house and people will know why I destroyed it they'll know that as long as you honor me I bless you but when you don't honor me I don't bless you 1 Kings 9 9 and thou shalt answer somebody will come by and say what happened to the temple what happened to all this stuff this great God was doing and they shall they'll say they forsook the Lord their God who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt have taken hold upon other gods and have worshipped them and served them therefore hath the
[33:54] Lord brought upon them all this evil last thing just because you're saved you do not have a license to sin there ought to be an amen right there huh boy he's good he is gracious and he is kind and he deserves all of our offerings and he deserves all of our heart and he looks at what's in our heart and knows what we're doing but you can't think I just got saved and I'm on my way to heaven and God's just gonna be good to me sometimes aggravates me when I hear it baptists say once saved always saved because I believe that I believe that if you say it right if you say once you're saved you're forever saved I'm all in favor of that but if you say once you're saved you do what you want you're still saved I ain't in favor of that one real salvation changes you but Christians can mess up Christians can get involved in sin so that people will say you know what that guy used to serve God but look how his life has fallen apart so tonight temple's built great money has been spent great effort has been expended the temple has been built the animals have been sacrificed
[35:05] God has come in God has given his glory and his power God has made promises to his people so what's our takeaway we're fixing to move to a new building I just think that's interesting we happen to land here God's been good to us you have given a lot of money next Sunday morning Lord willing John's gonna have a number for me of exactly how much we're given the missions we're gonna compare that to how much we're spending on that building and thank God for your goodness you're giving I think we're gonna be actually show that we'll have given more than we will owe on the building that's pretty good we can never think that God's gonna bless vision every day of our lives we gotta say we gotta keep honoring God we gotta keep preaching this book because churches become shells that are empty and places where once God did great things become dead empty places because they forget God we're not in it for a building we're in it for the Lord God of heaven what's on your heart what's in your heart what do you wish you could do what's in your heart to do for the Lord Jesus this message was recorded at vision baptist church in alfred georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings thanks thanks you you