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1 Kings 5 Bible Study (Preparations for Building the Temple) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Do you have a copy of God's Word in your hand?
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  Yes. Would you join me in First Kings
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  chapter 5 as we come to this precious text?
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  Perhaps a challenging text in terms of how to glean
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  application, but we'll trust that the Holy Spirit will reward
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  us for our diligence. So meet me in First Kings
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  chapter 5, and it's so great to see so many of you.
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  I know some can't make it, especially because of the event
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  tomorrow. They have to rise early in the
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  morning, But Bible study must go on, as you know.
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  And so here we are in this wonderful chapter, and here's
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  really a brief summary of where we're headed now into this book.
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  Solomon now, after doing much, is prepared to make preparations
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  for the building of the temple. We've now reached the pinnacle
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  of his achievements, at least the beginnings, the genesis of
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  this great project that has been divinely orchestrated and
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  ordained by God himself. And as we come to this chapter,
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  to our surprise, we don't see Solomon getting right into.
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  The construction itself, we don't see him taking the
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  resources that his father had consecrated before his death.
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  We see something strange perhaps to our understanding of how this
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  should happen. We see a gentile being
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  introduced to us, at least reintroduced to us, and we will
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  read the first few verses. And really what will summarize
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  and what will make up this text? Is Solomon dealing with this man
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  extending an invitation for him to participate in this
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  assignment? And this man's response, That's
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  really the format of it. And through that we will again
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  glean some truths for our own walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  And so let's read here the first few verses of First Kings,
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  chapter five we read now Hiram, king of Tyres, sent his servants
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  to Solomon when he had heard that they had anointed him king
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  in place of his father. For Hiram always loved David.
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  And Solomon sent word to Hiram. You know that David my father
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  could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God,
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  because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded
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  him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
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  But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side.
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  There's neither adversary nor misfortune.
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  And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God.
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  As the Lord said to David, my father, your son, whom I will
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  set on your throne, in your place shall build the house for
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  my name. Now therefore command the Cedars
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  of Lebanon be cut for me and My servants will join your
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  servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you
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  set. For you know that there is no
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  one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Cydonians.
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  Father, we come with reverence and anticipation.
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  We believe that what we just read is the word of the Lord.
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  We believe that this word is your voice, and we believe that
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  you will speak to us. But we do not presume that we
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  will experience such a thing unless you help us by the power
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  of the Holy Spirit. Lord, hover over us and do
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  miracles in our hearts. We trust, Lord, that you will
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  make much of Your name. As we study this text together.
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  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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  Amen. Amen.
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  Indeed. The last time that this man
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  Hiram has appeared in the scriptures was back in Second
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  Samuel, chapter 5, verse 11, where we are told that Hiram
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  came to the aid of David and supplied some materials for his
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  own palace. And then Hiram disappears.
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  And then he reappears again here in this text, this time to visit
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  Solomon, the successor of David, and to express his support and
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  express his allegiance to him. By sending representatives in
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  his name. But what's so fascinating here
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  is the motivation that Hiram the king of Tyre, which is tires in
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  modern day Lebanon. The motivation, the the thing
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  that stirred him to reach out to Solomon in this way, look again
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  here at the end of verse two we read and Solomon, Excuse me,
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  verse one. For Hiram always loved David.
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  Hiram always loved David. And so this man had affinity.
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  He had affection for David. And what I find so fascinating
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  is that this is being told to us after David had transitioned
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  into glory, after David had passed on and graduated into the
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  presence of God, this man still had high honor for David.
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  He is moving based on his history with David.
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  A memory, really. And if you go to the parallel
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  account, which you don't have to turn to in Second Chronicles 2,
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  which is a fuller testimony of the same chapter, we're told
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  that even Hiram called David his Lord not, you know, attributing
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  to him divinity, but his his master.
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  He's giving him respect, this title of being superior to him.
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  So this man had a deep, deep love for this man that we are
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  familiar with, David. And it translates even here that
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  he comes to his son to express his love for him in the name of
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  David. And as I looked at this and I
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  thought to myself, isn't it isn't it wonderful to see
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  someone have such a depth of devotion to another person?
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  Though he can no longer interact with him, he can't engage with
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  David. He can't see David any longer.
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  But his his respect from outlived the life of the very
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  man that he greatly appreciated. And as I looked at Hiram, I
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  couldn't help but think about the words of Peter to the
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  believers, when he reminded them of the quality of their love
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  toward the Lord Jesus Christ. What did he say there in First
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  Peter? 18 Though you do not see him,
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  you love him, and though you do not now see him, you have this
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  joy in you toward him that is inexpressible and filled with
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  glory. Hiram love David.
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  David. David died.
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  And our king, yes, he died. But he didn't stay in the grave.
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  He rose and he ascended into the heavens.
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  And he promised, while being high priests and interceding for
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  us, to walk with us and to lead us and to guide us.
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  And then he will one day return to us.
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  If David could love a man, or if hiring could love a man like
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  David in such a way, how much more us with our king, our king,
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  who we not only attribute our faith to in terms of a
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  historical account of what he has done, but a king that we
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  know lives today and is in our midst every day and goes before
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  us and surrounds us every moment.
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  How much more should our love for the son of David outshine
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  the love that Hiram shows for David himself?
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  I'm impressed by this man, but I'm also challenged that you and
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  I have a king who is greater than David, and he deserves a
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  greater love than this. And so he comes.
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  And as he comes, Solomon realizes that he clearly is a
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  friendly foreigner. He's someone who has an open
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  heart. And so he takes advantage of
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  this moment to extend an opportunity, a request, a royal
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  request to Hiram. And he asks him to join him to
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  partner with him in this amazing project known as the Temple of
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  God, this House of worship for the true and living God.
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  And it's in this message that we want to take our time to examine
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  some things that again, we can attribute to ourselves, or at
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  least to some extent. Notice the first words of verse
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  three. What are the 1st 2 words?
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  You know he's speaking to Hiram. He says, you know that David, my
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  father could not build a house for the name of the Lord has
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  got. How did Hiram know that he's all
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  the way in Lebanon. He's a distant friend.
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  One logical conclusion, right? At some point David shared his
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  heart with Hiram. At some point, some juncture, he
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  opened up to Hiram and he says, you know, Hiram, so appreciate
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  you helping us build my house. But down deep inside, more than
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  anything, I want to build a house for God.
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  I want to build a house for the Lord.
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  And with that he must have explained.
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  But I've been prohibited by the same God that I longed to honor
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  and his perfect wisdom. He did not allow me to directly
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  build a house for him. I I just wonder what that looked
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  like. At what point David opened up
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  about these things. The reason why that's so
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  significant is because Hiram. Is he a Jew?
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  Is he? No, he's Lebanese.
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  He's a gentile. He's a gentile.
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  I thought to myself, what stimulated David to open up?
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  His heart, to share this personal thing that he had with
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  God, with this man who had no direct relationship with the God
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  of Israel or the people of Israel.
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  And I thought and I meditated. And then I remembered some of
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  the Psalms where David makes these statements, these
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  declarations, these exhortations.
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  And I think in those Psalms you get an understanding of his
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  heart and maybe what he wrote in those psalms is why he did what
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  he did with Hiram. Let me give you a couple
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  examples. So in Psalm 96 verse 3, David
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  makes this amazing statement that you are probably familiar
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  with declare his glory among the nations.
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  Declare his glory among the nations, and he doesn't finish
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  there. And he says his marvelous works
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  among all the peoples plural. The author of Psalm 119 is
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  unknown, but many are comfortable to give that Psalm
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  over to David in terms of authorship.
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  And if it is David, listen to what he says in Psalm 119 verse
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  46. I will also speak of your
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  testimonies before who? Kings before kings.
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  So this man, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, also in
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  connection to his desires, worked about by the Holy Spirit.
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  Doesn't want to just contain the testimony of the goodness of
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  God, his marvelous works to the people who are familiar with it,
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  he says Go beyond that. Go beyond the borders.
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  If there's a way, let the nation's here.
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  If there's a way, let the peoples here.
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  If there's a way, let kings here.
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  And I like to think that David testifying about this to to
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  Hiram is David proving that he was more than a worshipper and a
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  psalmist. He was an evangelist.
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  He was an evangelist. His worship was not just in
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  creating songs. His worship overflowed and
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  telling people who might not be familiar with these amazing
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  truths about how amazing they really are.
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  That excites me about David. He came to higher up at some
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  point, he says. I want to just tell you about
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  what I had in mind for God, and I want to tell you something
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  about the wisdom of God. And we do not know for certain
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  if Hiram ever became a believer. There's some evidence that you
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  can make a case for, especially in Second Chronicles, and you
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  read here that he actually says that the Lord is the maker of
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  heaven and earth. I don't think that's enough
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  evidence in chapter 2, verse 12 of Second Chronicles.
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  But one thing is for certain, this man loved David.
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  Even though David unashamedly testified about his God, he
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  still loved him. I mean, it's very likely that
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  Hiram was a worshipper of many false gods, and yet still there
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  is this sense of great respect and appreciation for David in
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  light of the fact that he proclaimed the true God without
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  fear. Listen, if people are going to
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  love you, if people are going to love me, let it be because of
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  the fragrance of worship that's on us.
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  Let it be because of our walk with the Lord.
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  Let it be because we are unashamed about the gospel of
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  Jesus Christ, not because for fear or anxiety, we conceal our
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  testimony with the attempt to win the allegiance of people who
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  don't know our God, Hiram. Loved David and David did not
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  conceal his love for God and made an impression on this man,
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  no doubt. And so we see Hiram come now and
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  he's already aware of the situation.
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  And as Solomon explains in verse 3.
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  Not only how he knew, but he also explains and reintroduces
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  why Solomon was the one that had to build the temple.
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  Reading anniversary, you know that David, my father, could not
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  build a house for the name of the Lord his God, because of the
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  warfare with which his enemies surrounded him until the Lord
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  put them under the soles of his feet.
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  David, throughout his life you know this.
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  Throughout his reign was preoccupied with warfare, his
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  time, his energy, his planning. Was to defend, was to fight
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  back, was to resist. And because of that
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  preoccupation, at least in part, was the reason why he could not
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  give himself over to this. Yes, God prohibited him because
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  he was a man of war. But Solomon explains that he was
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  also very busy with a different mission.
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  And it's in this that we have another insight, I think a
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  golden insight concerning the Church of Jesus Christ.
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  Because now Solomon goes on to say Data was a man of war.
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  My my father was very busy doing that.
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  But now me because of God's goodness, because of God's
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  provision of peace, we can build.
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  Look what he says here in verse 4.
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  But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side.
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  So he tributes even this rest to God and rightfully so.
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  Well, what's the insight for you and I?
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  Here's the insight right? Because Solomon saying it's it's
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  a time of peace. So let's build, Hiram.
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  Let's build. And you and I also as Christians
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  have to understand that in society and culture, with
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  politics and government, when there are times of peace, we
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  have to take advantage of those times.
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  We have to take advantage of those times of rest that have
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  been sovereignly permitted by God.
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  When persecution has been restricted, has been pushed
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  back, and we enjoy more freedom than the world has known, Our
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  dear brother Mark, Pastor Mark preached on persecution this
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  past Sunday. What we're experiencing in
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  America is not common. It's an anomaly.
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  Hiding to have church is common. Hiding your Bible when you come
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  from your car to a building is common.
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  Times of peace, even in Solomon's day was uncommon.
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  And it's a special window of time that the Lord has ordained.
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  For what purpose? For what purpose?
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  For His Kingdom to be built. For his Kingdom to advance with
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  an acceleration that is unusual as well.
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  And so, in times of peace, you and I cannot afford to get dizzy
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  by extensive leisure. You and I cannot afford to get
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  lost in our own priorities and our own ambitions.
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  You and I, like Solomon, have to understand when God gives us
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  peace all around, when the people of God know or rest, that
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  doesn't make sense. It's time to be strategic.
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  You know, when the whole COVID thing broke out, part of me, and
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  I'd like to think it was a righteous indignation, was like
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  it happened so quick, just it was just a surprise.
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  We're all surprised everything got flooded on the media.
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  We're all told to bunker and hide in for two weeks until we
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  flatten the curb in two weeks became two years.
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  As you know, I just thought to myself, ministries were shut
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  down, missionaries couldn't travel, people have to come back
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  home. The world shut down overnight.
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  And on many occasions I remember asking the Lord if this world is
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  to return to somewhat of a normal state again, please help
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  us take advantage of this time. Please let us not waste an
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  opportunity again. In fact, you and I are commanded
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  by the Holy Spirit in our prayers as a church to ask God
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  for times of peace. Let me prove that to you.
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  Do you have your bibles? Yes.
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  First Timothy chapter two look at the 1st 2 verses.
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  First Timothy chapter two, look at the 1st 2 verses.
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  You know the verse, the first verse because it's an
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  instruction for the church to pray.
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  Look what Paul says in verse one.
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  And first Timothy chapter two first of all.
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  Then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
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  Thanksgivings be made for all people.
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  Now he qualifies. A group of people that we should
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  focus much of our prayers for verse 2 for kings and all who
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  are in high positions. Why Paul?
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  Why pray for those in high positions that we may lead a
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  peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way?
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  Can I translate that into modern English?
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  Pray and ask God to do a work in those who make decisions in
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  society and civilization and your culture.
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  And ask God that the government would leave you alone as a
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  church. That's the translation that they
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  would have put up hindrances, threats, obstructions.
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  Challenges that you would be as free as possible?
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  To do what? To live a godly life, dignified
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  in every way. In other words, ask that there
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  might be favor so that you can be more effective in your gospel
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  work. That's what we're asking God for
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  when we pray for our officials. And yes, in the next words, he
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  asked that we pray for their salvation, right?
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  Because God desires the salvation of all men, including
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  those in high positions. But even in asking for their
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  salvation, whether they are saved or not, we we should be
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  aiming saying Lord, give us a time of peace, give us a window
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  of opportunity where we can have a a greater freedom in making
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  your name known. We don't want inconvenience, we
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  don't want more difficulty. So Lord, give us that grace.
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  So again, in times of peace, as much as it's chaotic out there,
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  we are still in that time of peace in the West.
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  So listen, we can't afford to be lacking enthusiasm.
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  You can't. And Solomon here is fully aware
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  of that. He understands this is a time to
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  build, this is a time to get to work, this is a time to get
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  busy. And I'm afraid that often the
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  opposite is true. Where there is so much freedom,
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  we don't know what to do with it, and so we get distracted
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  with so many other things. Often what it takes is
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  persecution, when everything is stripped from you, where you
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  realize what matters most. It doesn't have to come to that.
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  It doesn't. We just need the mind of Christ.
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  We need the wisdom of God to interpret what's happening in
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  our day and to realize that in times of peace or persecution we
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  do the work of Him who's called us.
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  But it's much more difficult to do it in times of peace, isn't
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  it? May not be so of us.
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  Now look here verse. Four, he says.
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  But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side.
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  There is neither adversary nor misfortune.
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  And look at this in verse 5. And so I intend to build a house
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  for the name of the Lord my God. I intend to build a house for
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  the name of the Lord my God. I love how he's being honest.
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  He's like at this point I intend to do so.
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  Intending to do something is not the same as actually doing it.
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  Actually, I need 3 volunteers. It's a very simple task.
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  I need one person. To open to one passage each.
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  OK who wants to volunteer? You got to be able to read with
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  authority, though. OK, my brother, please open the
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  Second Chronicles 21. Who's the next person?
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  Somebody lifted their hand. Second Chronicles 3.
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  One and sister open up the Second Chronicles 51.
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  So Second Chronicles 2. One, Second Chronicles 3 one,
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  And then Second Chronicles 51 again.
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  This is a parallel account of what's happening here at this
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  portion of First Kings, and you can turn there if you'd like to
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  highlight these points because Solomon sequence.
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  Of how he moves about in building the temple is presented
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  beautifully in Second Chronicles and those chapters that I
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  mentioned. And it really provides us a
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  model of how we should approach ministry for ourselves.
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  And it also provides warning that in certain phases of how we
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  go about ministry, some get stuck at these stages.
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  So let's read Second Chronicles 21.
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  Let's read the first verse and pay attention to the words.
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  So again, kind of like what we read here in verse 5, Solomon
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  determined to build a house for the Lord.
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  Now let's stop there. So there are many believers who
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  determine or purpose to do things for God, right?
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  They have ambition. Those ambitions sometimes are
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  even expressed to others with great interest.
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  I really want to serve the Lord in this way.
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  I really want to honor him in this way.
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  I really believe I should start this.
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  I really believe that God has called me or gifted me in this
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  way, but unfortunately, many people just stay in the place of
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  determining They know that they are supposed to be plugged into
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  a local church. They know that they're supposed
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  to be active with what God has put in their heart, but they
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  never get to it. It just stays in the realm of
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  wishful thinking. And they tend to be satisfied
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  with the fact that in their hearts they have these desires,
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  though those desires are never materialized.
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  Solomon doesn't do that. Solomon goes to the next next
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  step. And what's that brother in
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  second Chronicles 3? One.
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  Yes, your second Chronicles 51. Your second Also three One.
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  Go ahead, you're. You're in Chapter 5.
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  Go ahead, brother. Then Solomon began to build a
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  House of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord
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  had appeared to David, his father, at the place that David
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  had appointed on the thrusting floor of one in the West side.
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  What's the next thing that he did?
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  The first thing that he did is he determined what's the next
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  thing that he did? He began to build.
• 22:14
  So he didn't. He didn't stay in the place of
• 22:15
  just determining. Now he started something.
• 22:17
  He laid a foundation. So that ambition now finally
• 22:21
  manifested into a real action. And so he starts, He puts his
• 22:25
  hand to the plow and he begins to till the soil.
• 22:28
  And that's what some believers do as well.
• 22:31
  So they go from just knowing what they're supposed to do or
• 22:33
  believing something they're supposed to do, and they
• 22:34
  actually start doing that. And we praise God for that.
• 22:38
  But unfortunately, some people start something, and what they
• 22:43
  don't finish, they don't fulfill their ministry, They don't
• 22:46
  complete it. And that's the case of many, for
• 22:51
  whatever reason. Now, one justifiable reason is
• 22:53
  that the Lord has called you to elsewhere, and that was a season
• 22:55
  of training. But that's not often the case
• 22:58
  with how people go from determining to beginning
• 23:01
  something. It's often for unjustifiable
• 23:03
  reasons. They lose interest.
• 23:05
  They don't think that it offers the fruit of the reward that
• 23:07
  they anticipated. At a certain point, they are
• 23:11
  invited or another opportunity opens up, and so they kind of
• 23:14
  jump from one thing to the next. Here's the thing, many people
• 23:17
  rob themselves of great blessing and rob others of blessings
• 23:21
  because of a lack of this one characteristic, Loyalty.
• 23:27
  Loyalty. More and more is loyalty
• 23:30
  becoming a rarity? Many profess to have a love, but
• 23:34
  a faithful man who can find It's easy for people to express their
• 23:41
  appreciation, the devotion, their love, but to live it out
• 23:45
  and to prove it with action as a rarity.
• 23:46
  It was a rarity in the book of Proverbs.
• 23:48
  It's a rarity even today. Unfortunately, you rob yourself
• 23:52
  of much when you miss out on the discipline and the honor and the
• 23:57
  call of loyalty, hopping from thing to thing to thing,
• 24:02
  friendship to friendship to friendship, church to church to
• 24:04
  church, ministry to mission and ministry.
• 24:06
  And you don't stay long enough to see the fruit of the thing.
• 24:12
  And I, even growing up in the church, I I I've been to
• 24:15
  different churches in different seasons.
• 24:17
  And I remember one particular church, I think in five years
• 24:21
  they had four different pastors just jumping from ministry.
• 24:25
  Oh, better pay over here. It's warmer in that place.
• 24:27
  And look, if God's called you, God's called you.
• 24:29
  But if your reasons are in the flesh, you're hurting your own
• 24:32
  Ministry, and you're hurting other people can be blessed by
• 24:34
  your Ministry. So much more can be said about
• 24:39
  that. So you have some who determine
• 24:41
  you have some who begin. But what does Solomon do in
• 24:43
  Second Chronicles 5/1? Was finished.
• 24:54
  So it went from a plan to beginning to completing.
• 25:00
  That should be what you and I emulate in our own lives in
• 25:03
  ministry. That you stay the course that
• 25:07
  whatever God's called you to do, in whatever context he's called
• 25:10
  you to do it in. That you do it until he calls
• 25:13
  you home. That you spend yourself, as Paul
• 25:17
  said, that you I poured myself out as a drink offering, like
• 25:20
  every drop of who I am has been spilled over to the cause of
• 25:24
  Christ. Do that.
• 25:26
  Be that I ask God for the grace to complete what he's called you
• 25:30
  to. We have enough wreckage and half
• 25:34
  built ideas and ministries, and May God be honored with
• 25:39
  longevity and loyalty. So this man completes and then
• 25:43
  he goes on and verse 6 and he says now therefore command that
• 25:49
  Cedars of Lebanon be cut for me and my servants will join your
• 25:52
  servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you
• 25:56
  said. For you know that there is no
• 25:57
  one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Cydonians.
• 26:03
  Some would criticize Solomon. For what?
• 26:06
  I just think Why would some criticize Solomon for reaching
• 26:10
  out to Hiram? Yeah, you said it right.
• 26:15
  He's a Gentile. Why are you involving A Gentile
• 26:17
  with this Jewish project, right? Why are you asking for resources
• 26:24
  and supplies beyond the Promised Land?
• 26:31
  But if somebody carefully reads the Old Testament, they would
• 26:33
  understand something about the Promised Land.
• 26:37
  Do this on your own if you'd like.
• 26:38
  When you go to Joshua 13, you read that when Joshua and the
• 26:41
  generation with him went into the promised Land and performed
• 26:44
  some successful campaigns taking over some of the promised Land,
• 26:47
  they didn't complete it. And the Lord said in verse one
• 26:49
  of chapter 13, there's still much land to take over.
• 26:51
  And when you go to verse six, you read something interesting
• 26:55
  part of the Promised Land. I know this is controversial
• 26:58
  today. Is all of Lebanon?
• 27:04
  Yeah, all of Lebanon. And they were called to drive
• 27:09
  out all the Sidonians. The same Sidonians that he is
• 27:12
  referring to here, let me say this way, there's a lot of
• 27:16
  controversy about the Promised Land today, right?
• 27:19
  If you actually study the Old Testament, the the boundaries of
• 27:22
  the Promised Land are much larger than what people believe.
• 27:26
  Much larger. So I just throw that out there.
• 27:31
  I'm just throwing that out there to for what point?
• 27:34
  For the point of this, Because we shouldn't condemn Solomon
• 27:38
  here because in essence, he's really asking for something that
• 27:41
  belongs to him and his people. And so this man is not acting
• 27:46
  out of faith. He's acting in lineman with his
• 27:49
  faith. And at the same time, he is
• 27:51
  respecting Hiram as a king and he's respecting his people for
• 27:54
  who they are separate. Autonomous, But he is not
• 28:01
  performing something illegal by reaching out to them.
• 28:03
  And in fact, this is a picture of a future temple that would be
• 28:06
  built, right? A future temple, the Church of
• 28:10
  God, The Church of God, that would be built not through the
• 28:13
  resources of Jew and Gentile, but comprised of Jew and
• 28:16
  Gentile. Ephesians 2 We're told in 22
• 28:19
  that we are being built together as a dwelling place for God.
• 28:22
  By the Spirit. You and I are those precious
• 28:25
  stones that are being cut and prepared to make a house for
• 28:28
  God. Right here, right now, in this
• 28:29
  very room. I'm looking at precious faces.
• 28:31
  Precious Saints. Awake faces.
• 28:33
  Praise God. This is the temple right here.
• 28:38
  This is it. It's not this.
• 28:40
  It's not this. It's not this.
• 28:41
  It's not this. It's this coming together.
• 28:44
  Different backgrounds, different shades of skin and color and
• 28:47
  length and accents and cultures and food and all those wonderful
• 28:55
  things. Coming together by the grace of
• 28:58
  God through the blood of Jesus Christ, making a house for God.
• 29:01
  And so here we even have a nudge of a house to come, Jew and
• 29:04
  Gentile coming together to glorify God and His presence,
• 29:07
  hosting it in partnership with the truth of the Son of God.
• 29:13
  Let's see here what happens next verse 7.
• 29:16
  Now we get the response of Hiram.
• 29:18
  As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly
• 29:22
  and said, blessed be the Lord this day who has given to David
• 29:26
  a wise son to be over this great people.
• 29:28
  And Hiram sent to Solomon saying, I've heard the message
• 29:31
  that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire
• 29:35
  in the matter of cedar and Cypress timber.
• 29:38
  My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I
• 29:41
  will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct, and
• 29:45
  I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it,
• 29:48
  and you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.
• 29:52
  Again, it's not conclusive whether or not Hiram believed in
• 29:56
  the true and living God eventually, or for he did at
• 29:57
  this point. What is certain, though, is that
• 30:00
  his response to the invitation of Solomon is a wonderful model
• 30:04
  for believers in connection to how they should respond to the
• 30:07
  invitation of the call of God for their lives and the
• 30:10
  respective ministries that you received.
• 30:12
  Let me remind you of the simple truth.
• 30:14
  But God help us. We need to be reminded often of
• 30:16
  simple truths. When Jesus Christ shed his blood
• 30:21
  for you and forgave you, when you responded in repentance and
• 30:23
  faith, you didn't just get heaven.
• 30:25
  You got a gift. You received a supernatural gift
• 30:29
  from God in order to equip the church, build the church, edify
• 30:34
  the church, and glorify God in and through that gift.
• 30:40
  And each of us in this place have been invited to some degree
• 30:44
  to participate in the expansion of the glory of God.
• 30:48
  Right. And this is what this man
• 30:49
  understands. I am ready to do all you desire
• 30:52
  in the matter of cedar and Cypress timber.
• 30:55
  I know the lane that I'm supposed to stay in, provide you
• 30:58
  wood. And I'll do it with all my
• 31:01
  desire. And I will do it with all my
• 31:03
  strength, all my joy, all excellence.
• 31:06
  But let's look at this year before he even says that.
• 31:08
  Notice his response in verse seven when he received the
• 31:10
  message. What did he do at verse seven?
• 31:12
  What stands out to you? It's 2 words.
• 31:16
  Or three. He rejoiced greatly.
• 31:22
  So when the message came to him says, hey, are you willing to
• 31:25
  work with me on this? He exploded with excitement.
• 31:29
  Are you telling me that I get to be part of this awesome thing?
• 31:35
  And from that great joy we're told in verse eight, I am ready
• 31:41
  to do all you desire. This is going to save some
• 31:47
  people. Not salvation.
• 31:49
  Maybe even salvation. I'm talking salvation saving.
• 31:53
  I'm talking about sanctifying, saving.
• 31:57
  Notice here, before he confessed I am ready to do all you desire,
• 32:01
  he expressed this. Amazing.
• 32:03
  Explosive. True.
• 32:05
  Genuine joy. The joy resulted in this high
• 32:12
  commitment and great sacrifice. And doing whatever he could do
• 32:17
  in order to please God. And why is that?
• 32:21
  Important because I'm convinced that the reason why any believer
• 32:24
  has a low commitment and whatever God's called them to do
• 32:29
  is because they have a low joy. And the reason why they have
• 32:34
  little joy is because, unlike Hiram, they can't perceive, for
• 32:39
  whatever reason, the awesome privilege it is to be invited in
• 32:43
  serving God in any way that makes sense.
• 32:47
  It's a poor outlook on what it is that Almighty God has
• 32:52
  beckoned you to. And when you have a blurry
• 32:56
  understanding of the awesome privilege of serving the Lord
• 33:00
  Jesus Christ, then you're not going to have much joy.
• 33:05
  And if you don't have much joy, you're not going to have high
• 33:08
  commitment. You see how simple that equation
• 33:10
  is? Why is it you can't get people?
• 33:16
  Why is it that you can't get yourself to do something
• 33:19
  continually, consistently, effectively?
• 33:24
  I believe one of the main reasons is because your heart is
• 33:27
  void of gladness. It's as simple as that.
• 33:31
  It's no mystery. It's deeper than that.
• 33:36
  And let me say something even perhaps more shocking.
• 33:41
  The reason why I can diagnose that is because that's how God
• 33:44
  diagnosed at least one of the main reasons for the spiraling
• 33:48
  apostasy of the nation of Israel.
• 33:49
  Listen, this is what I meant. This might save some.
• 33:56
  It might save some. Yeah, God diagnosis the nation
• 34:00
  of Israel for their apostasy by putting his finger on this very
• 34:05
  truth that I'm trying to convey. They lacked joy in serving God.
• 34:12
  Now let me prove it. So you don't think I'm just
• 34:14
  pulling this out of thin air. Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse
• 34:17
  47, where God gives the rewards for obedience and the curses for
• 34:22
  disobedience to the nation. And notice what he says to this
• 34:25
  people in terms of the reason why they would disobey
• 34:33
  Deuteronomy 28, verse 47. I remember stumbling upon this
• 34:39
  verse studying Deuteronomy and it changed my life and I hope it
• 34:44
  changes yours as well. Look what the Lord says to the
• 34:46
  people. Look at this.
• 34:48
  Hey, if you haven't paid attention up to this point, pay
• 34:49
  attention now because you did not serve the Lord your God.
• 34:54
  Now he could have stopped there because you didn't serve the
• 34:57
  Lord your God. And then he gives his warnings
• 34:59
  and he gives the consequences of that.
• 35:00
  But he doesn't say that because you did not serve the Lord your
• 35:04
  God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the
• 35:11
  abundance of all things. And he goes on to explain what
• 35:14
  they were headed to because of that lack, not just of
• 35:17
  obedience, joyful obedience. You know what George Mueller
• 35:20
  said? George Mueller said that it is
• 35:23
  my ambition to attend to this every single day as my top
• 35:27
  priority, and it is to be happy in God, my priority every single
• 35:33
  day, Mueller said. It's not to get preoccupied with
• 35:36
  how to serve God, what kind of thing I need to do next.
• 35:39
  My priority numero Uno is to ensure that my soul is happy in
• 35:46
  God. Why did George Miller have that
• 35:48
  revelation? Because he understood that true
• 35:50
  ministry flows from that place. Longevity, effectiveness.
• 35:55
  Again, fruitfulness comes from the heart that serves the Lord
• 35:59
  with a revelation of joy and gladness.
• 36:05
  Now, if you're waiting for that to be spontaneous, if you're
• 36:07
  waiting for that joy to be spontaneous or to just erupt out
• 36:12
  of nowhere, you're in for some disappointment.
• 36:17
  This joy is not even determined by whether or not things are
• 36:22
  going for you that week, and that's why you have a little bit
• 36:25
  extra skip to your step when you want to serve the Lord that
• 36:28
  week. No, no, no.
• 36:30
  That joy has to be nourished. It has to be fed.
• 36:34
  It's a discipline to see that joy grow.
• 36:38
  And how does that joy grow? I mean, there's many ways, But
• 36:39
  just realizing again what Hiram realized.
• 36:44
  Who is it that I'm serving here? What reward awaits me in my
• 36:50
  contribution in light of the New Covenant?
• 36:53
  The eternal impact that I can possibly make with my brothers
• 36:58
  and sisters is I I just serve in this area and they serve in that
• 37:01
  area and and together we become this machine that bulldozers
• 37:07
  over the Kingdom of darkness and makes room for God's light to
• 37:09
  shine brighter. That's how you feel your joy
• 37:14
  when you come to the truth of your position, of your calling,
• 37:20
  of the empowerment that belongs to you, of the promises of God
• 37:23
  for those who walk in obedience and say this is really what I've
• 37:26
  been invited to. And then you begin to feel a
• 37:30
  pulse, and then you begin to feel fire in your blood.
• 37:34
  And something deeper than feeling is something deeper than
• 37:36
  just emotion. It's a conviction that steers.
• 37:39
  You get happy and God make that your priority every single day.
• 37:45
  Feed that every single moment and everything else will just be
• 37:49
  the natural consequence. All ministry, all the things
• 37:52
  that you feel like you need to do, even the difficult things
• 37:55
  will be done. This is what this man had.
• 37:58
  He had joy and led to him saying, I'm ready to do all that
• 38:01
  you desire. So he says I'll do my part.
• 38:06
  Look at verse 10. So Hiram supplied Solomon with
• 38:08
  all the timber of cedar and Cypress that he desired, while
• 38:10
  Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cores of wheat as food for his
• 38:14
  household at 20,000 cores of beaten oil.
• 38:17
  Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.
• 38:19
  And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him.
• 38:22
  And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and the two of
• 38:25
  them made a treaty. Yes, if we want peace, we need
• 38:30
  wisdom. In many ways.
• 38:33
  We need wisdom in many ways. Verse 13.
• 38:37
  Now we're going to end it here in a few minutes.
• 38:39
  It's going to be a shorter Bible study than.
• 38:40
  Usual King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel.
• 38:46
  Now I I'm reading this for a reason, so so be patient and
• 38:48
  read this with me. And the draft numbered 30,000
• 38:51
  men and he sent them to Lebanon. 10,000 a month in shifts.
• 38:57
  There would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home.
• 39:01
  Arunayaram was in charge of the draft.
• 39:04
  Solomon also had 70,000 burden bearers and 80,000 stone cutters
• 39:10
  in the Hill Country. And besides Solomon's 3300 chief
• 39:13
  officers who are over the work, who had charged the people who
• 39:16
  carried on the work at the King's command, they quarried
• 39:20
  out great costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the
• 39:22
  house with dress stones. So Solomon's builders and
• 39:26
  hiram's builders and the men of Gebel did the cutting and
• 39:29
  prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
• 39:33
  And it's usually text like this where.
• 39:35
  We're just going to read on quickly and barely remember any
• 39:37
  details and say, OK, I read First Kings Chapter 5 today.
• 39:41
  No, no, no, no, no, don't do that.
• 39:45
  I looked at that set of verses and I and I thought to myself,
• 39:49
  why would the Holy Spirit include such great detail of the
• 39:52
  operations of the beginnings, of the preparation of the building
• 39:55
  of the temple? And here's what came to mind,
• 39:58
  maybe came to yours. We're supposed to feel and be
• 40:02
  impressed by the magnitude of it, by the intricacies of it.
• 40:09
  By the mechanics of it, it's supposed to make us this is
• 40:11
  huge, this is costly, this is demanding.
• 40:19
  And here's the thought also that came to mind.
• 40:21
  You know how Solomon felt about it.
• 40:23
  We know how, Hiram. Felt about it.
• 40:25
  But in reading all these different numbers of peoples who
• 40:28
  were commanded to do this, here's my question for you.
• 40:32
  How do you think the people felt about it?
• 40:36
  Let's let's do a vote here, yeah?
• 40:38
  Who thinks that the people were happy about this?
• 40:41
  The thousands of thousands of people?
• 40:43
  Were they happy? OK, Who thinks that they weren't
• 40:46
  happy? OK, prove it.
• 40:49
  Make your case for those who think that they were happy.
• 40:52
  You thought I was just going to let you vote and not explain why
• 40:57
  you made your answer. Why were they happy?
• 41:01
  OK. Building an awesome temple for
• 41:03
  God. And you might even look back to
• 41:05
  the people who contributed to the Tabernacle in the
• 41:08
  wilderness. I mean, they were giving so much
• 41:10
  that Moses said stop. Can you imagine an offering like
• 41:12
  that? Imagine an offering like that on
• 41:15
  a Sunday. Hey, stop that.
• 41:17
  We have way too much here. We don't need any more any more
• 41:19
  contributions. That's what it was like.
• 41:20
  So maybe, like, OK, history is repeating itself.
• 41:24
  Now make a case for why they were not happy.
• 41:26
  Yes, after Solomon died and Rehoboam took over the throne.
• 41:36
  Look at first Kings 12 with me and you will get the true
• 41:39
  response of this people. Look at verse three of first
• 41:45
  Kings 12 And they sent and called him and Jeroboam and all
• 41:52
  the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam.
• 41:56
  Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard
• 42:01
  service of your father and this heavy yolk on us, and we will
• 42:07
  serve you. So there's your answer.
• 42:11
  They weren't happy. I mean, they were traumatized.
• 42:15
  They were bitter all the way to the point where we're.
• 42:19
  Became king, they said OK, this is our chance to get some
• 42:21
  relief. Hey, rebel home.
• 42:23
  Listen, your dad was really tough on us.
• 42:25
  We promise to be good to you if you just lighten up this load.
• 42:29
  And we know what happens. We're going to study it in a few
• 42:31
  months, I think. But let's think deeper here.
• 42:36
  Let's think, in light of our past studies, what's going on
• 42:39
  here? The fact that they were
• 42:44
  commanded to serve in this way and the fact that they cried out
• 42:47
  with complaints. Think back at First Samuel.
• 42:58
  When the people wanted a king. Oh, I heard light bulbs go off.
• 43:02
  Didn't, right? The people demanded Samuel for a
• 43:08
  king. And what did Samuel do?
• 43:10
  Like a good prophet, He warned them.
• 43:14
  He warned them. You want a king?
• 43:16
  You don't want God to be your king anymore.
• 43:18
  Here's what you're signing up for.
• 43:20
  Do you guys remember? Some of you Remember some of
• 43:24
  you, maybe not. So let's remember.
• 43:25
  Together. Go to First Samuel Chapter 8.
• 43:29
  Now as I'm reading First Samuel chapter 8, I'm going to read a a
• 43:32
  fairly large portion of scripture.
• 43:33
  I want you to look for a word that is repeated First Samuel 8,
• 43:45
  verse 10. Let me read verse 10 down to
• 43:48
  verse 18. And again, here's your homework.
• 43:50
  In this moment, pay attention to something that is emphasized.
• 43:55
  So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were
• 43:58
  asking for a king From him He said, these will be the ways of
• 44:03
  the king who will reign over you.
• 44:05
  He will take your sons, and appoint them to his Chariots,
• 44:08
  and to be his horsemen, and to run before his Chariots.
• 44:11
  And he will point for himself, commanders of thousands and
• 44:13
  commanders of 50s and some, to plow his ground and to reap his
• 44:17
  harvest, and to make his implements of war and the
• 44:19
  equipment of his Chariots. He will take your daughters to
• 44:22
  be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
• 44:25
  He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive
• 44:27
  orchards, and give them to his servants.
• 44:29
  He will take the 10th of your grain and of your vineyards, and
• 44:32
  give it to his officers and to his servants.
• 44:34
  He will take your male servants and female servants, and the
• 44:37
  best of your young men and your donkeys have put them to his
• 44:40
  work. He will take the 10th of your
• 44:42
  flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
• 44:44
  And then that day you will cry out because of your king, whom
• 44:47
  you have chosen for yourselves with the Lord will not answer
• 44:50
  you in that day. What word stands out?
• 44:55
  Take, take, take, take, take. And Samuel is an effective
• 45:02
  minister and preacher. He knows exactly what he's
• 45:05
  doing. By repeating that word, you know
• 45:07
  why that's important? It's an important lesson for all
• 45:09
  of us and how we view sin and righteousness, obedience and
• 45:11
  disobedience. The people in wanting a human
• 45:14
  king were in essence, rejecting God as their king.
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  And they thought that in having a human king they would gain.
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  We'll be like the world and he'll fight our battles and he's
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  tangible, he's observable, he's there, He's not tucked in some
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  box behind a curtain. We want a human king, and we
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  will win so much by having a king.
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  And here's Samuel now coming with his sermon.
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  He says in. Fact, it's the opposite.
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  He will take from you by having a human king and rejecting the
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  will and purpose of God at this time.
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  You're going to lose. You're going to lose.
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  And that is always the case when we trust in human wisdom.
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  And betray the truth of God's word in any particular realm or
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  lane. You always lose when you walk
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  away. You always lose when you think
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  that it's gain to do it your way.
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  Always, always, never forget it. You'll always have something
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  taken from you. You'll lose your peace.
• 46:14
  You lose your joy. You'll lose your testimony.
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  You lose your ministry. You always have something taken
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  from you. When you choose to not trust God
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  in an area of your life where you deliberately say this is
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  what God says, I don't believe it.
• 46:31
  I want to trust in this. And what Samuel says to this
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  generation, he says to all of us, you'll have something taken
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  from you, and often it's more than you anticipated.
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  And that's what they're experiencing.
• 46:43
  This, this is, this warning is manifested through Solomon.
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  He put a burden on the people and then when they cry out and
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  protest. I wonder if any of them thought
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  of what Samuel had said many, many years ago.
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  And what's so sad about Samuel? Warning here is the sadness that
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  many preachers know that they can warn ahead of time.
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  If you do this, if you go in that direction, you will lose.
• 47:08
  It will hurt you and people still do it.
• 47:10
  Look at verse 19. But the people refuse to obey
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  the voice of Samuel and they said no.
• 47:14
  But there shall be a king over us that we will also be like the
• 47:17
  all the nations, so that our king may judge us and go out
• 47:19
  before us and fight our battles. So you read first Kings and 2nd
• 47:26
  Kings, and that's what you realize except for a few.
• 47:28
  But in the generality that was the case, there was unnecessary
• 47:33
  burdens placed on the general population because they chose
• 47:36
  to. Have a human king instead of an
• 47:38
  invisible one. And so again they asked Rehoboam
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  Lighten our yoke be easier on us, and Rehoboam refuses.
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  And here is. The main point of first kings,
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  Second kings. What is it that every king, even
• 47:57
  the greatest kings of Israel failed?
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  And then you have that impression as you read first
• 48:05
  kings, second kings, as as told you before.
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  I remember when I first got saved, we're flying back from a
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  conference and my friend and his devotions was reading First
• 48:11
  kings, Second kings. And I looked over to my right in
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  the late flight, and I heard sniffles.
• 48:16
  And I looked. And I asked what's wrong and he
• 48:17
  says I'm reading first kings and 2nd kings and I just can't
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  believe how ridiculous the people of Israel are.
• 48:27
  I I just can't believe the incompetence of these rulers to
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  get it right and to provide what these people desperately needed.
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  And then you come to Matthew, you go to Matthew 11/28/29 and
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  you see a different king. They said, would you, would you
• 48:47
  lighten our yoke, would you make this easier on us?
• 48:49
  And Samuel warned, Hey listen to kings that you're choosing
• 48:52
  they're going to take from you. And then Jesus comes on the
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  scene and he says come to me all you are weary and heavy laden,
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  and I will take. I would give, I'll give you
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  rest. That's our king.
• 49:11
  I would give you rest. There's a king coming who would
• 49:15
  not take. Take, take, take.
• 49:18
  Oh, yes, there's a call for you and I to surrender and to
• 49:20
  repent. But for what?
• 49:22
  To receive abundant life. To lay down as we saying lesser
• 49:27
  things so that we can have true life and eternal life.
• 49:30
  Ultimately, that is our king. He's ready to.
• 49:34
  Give what kind of king is like this so we do not serve a rare
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  bone where we come to me. Say you're a hard taskmaster.
• 49:45
  You tell us to make bricks, but you don't give us straw.
• 49:47
  He's not like Pharaoh. He's a king.
• 49:50
  Who says come to me, you're heavy laden, you're broken,
• 49:55
  you're distressed, you're in turmoil.
• 49:57
  Let me lighten that burden. Let me give you something that
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  is overwhelmingly joyful, blissful, fulfilling and
• 50:10
  satisfying. That's the king that we serve.
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  It is not a burden to serve the Lord.
• 50:18
  It is a joyful thing. And if Hiram can rejoice and
• 50:22
  being invited to serve Solomon, how much more him who is greater
• 50:27
  than Solomon, I don't know. This is the thing with
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  preaching, man. You try to communicate things
• 50:34
  and in the moment you are fully aware of your incapability of
• 50:38
  trying to convey something that is in essence.
• 50:42
  Impossible to fully explain the plight of the preacher, right?
• 50:46
  And so this is where we have to trust the Holy Spirit.
• 50:50
  I my, my. Goal and prayer.
• 50:52
  Preparing this was Lord, let us all just be refreshed and
• 50:56
  reminded that it is an absolute honor to serve you and Lord.
• 51:02
  If if we had intention to do something and we've never done
• 51:05
  it, may we begin it. And if we're beginning to begin
• 51:07
  it, may we see it to fruition and completion by your wonderful
• 51:10
  mercy and grace and power. My prayer is that your heart
• 51:14
  would be touched again to say what he said here to Solomon.
• 51:22
  I will give you all that you desire.
• 51:25
  Let's pray. Lord, we are moved to see how
• 51:48
  you spoke in First Kings 5, and we believe that there is so much
• 51:52
  more even in that chapter for us to discover.
• 51:55
  But for tonight we pause and we say thank you for the portion
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  that you have provided. Lord, you know the people in
• 52:10
  here who might be serving you, but not with joy or gladness of
• 52:15
  heart. They've lost sight of the
• 52:19
  absolute privilege and honor it is to serve you in any capacity.
• 52:26
  Renew our vision and help us see, Lord, that there is no
• 52:30
  alternative to serving you. There's nothing better to do on
• 52:33
  a Friday night than to worship you.
• 52:36
  There's nothing better to do with our weekends than to serve
• 52:39
  you. There's nothing.
• 52:41
  Help us believe that when we feel like the happiness in our
• 52:44
  soul is being drained by lies and temptation or
• 52:47
  discouragement, rescue us from such a place because we know
• 52:51
  that it begins. The downfall begins when we lose
• 52:54
  that joy and gladness of heart, never mind serving Lord.
• 52:57
  Rescue us from being an autopilot mode in ministry and
• 53:02
  bring us to the place again, where we know the energy of the
• 53:04
  Holy Spirit and we know the animation of the gift of God.
• 53:09
  Given to those who believe and that the same kind of power that
• 53:15
  Paul knew. We would know that even in our
• 53:17
  weakness we would be excited about it because we will know a
• 53:20
  perfection of your grace. So look tonight we just simply
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  ask that as we sing and close and even prepare to serve you
• 53:27
  tomorrow That you would do what no preacher can do, no
• 53:33
  communicator, no song, no counseling can ultimately do.
• 53:37
  That you would deposit in US. The necessary graces so that we
• 53:41
  can be where you want us to be. And Lord, we say thank you again
• 53:47
  as a church, that we can be in a place among people who surely
• 53:52
  love you. Lord, receive this honor and
• 53:55
  adoration as we sing in Jesus name.
• 53:58
  Amen.