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1 Kings 6 Bible Study (Solomon Builds the Temple) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Father, we look to you now with absolute joy and delight.
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  In our hearts. We thank you that you've
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  gathered us as your people to come and commune in your word,
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  apart from your Holy Spirit. We would not even have a desire
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  for Your word. The very appetite we have is a
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  grace given from you. And we also know, Lord, that
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  you've called us to exercise our faith and to be disciplined in
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  our understanding of Your Word. And so we just ask for the mercy
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  to walk in that with greater stride and strength.
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  Father, we ask that the power of the Holy Spirit would rest upon
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  this session, and that you would be evident and obvious in our
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  meeting. We long for your nearness, Lord,
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  we long to fellowship with you, especially in a challenging text
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  like this. We pray for the grace to
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  understand it in a full, in its fullness.
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  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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  Amen. Well, if you have God's word in
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  your hand, meet me in First Kings chapter six.
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  We have reached the crowning achievement of Solomon's
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  leadership in the nation of Israel.
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  As a king, he is now going to build the temple.
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  He has made preparation. For it in Chapter 5.
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  But now, as we come to chapter six, we will behold the
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  procedure, the process, the the actual building now coming into
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  reality. But before we we go there, if
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  you just look at it briefly, you can be overwhelmed with the vast
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  amount of detail. It is rich with description.
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  There are materials, there are measurements, there are
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  dimensions, and it can seem kind of daunting, almost
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  intimidating, and it can very much tempt us to say, well, I
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  think I'm just going to treat this lightly when we have to
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  always resist that temptation and believe that the Lord will
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  indeed speak through every portion of His word.
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  And I'll be honest, coming to this text in preparation this
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  week, I thought to myself, with all this detail, how can this be
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  communicated in a way that doesn't make people make people
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  feel like they're drowning? And my own reading.
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  I was reading the book of Hebrews this week.
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  Do you believe God speaks through his word?
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  Do you believe he actually speaks?
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  We all say, yeah, theologically he speaks with his voice, but do
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  you believe that God can speak to you in His word?
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  I hope you do. So here I am, knowing that First
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  Kings 6 is coming up, but I'm also my personal reading,
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  reading the book of Hebrews, and I want you to see something with
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  me as I'm as I'm figuring out, planning and praying.
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  Lord, what? What are we going to do with
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  this treasure of a chapter with all the jewels and all the gems
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  and all the pieces of gold and silver?
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  Do we dump it all out? And what time?
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  How do we go about this in Hebrews?
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  Chapter nine came to my reading this week, and this blessed me
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  as though the Holy Spirit gave some guidance.
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  For our study tonight, go to Hebrews 9 quickly.
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  I told you to go to 1st Kings 6, but just to be encouraged with
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  how the Spirit is with us. Hebrews 9, verse 2 For a tent
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  was prepared, the first section in which were the lamp stand and
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  the table and the bread of the Presence.
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  It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a
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  second section called the Most Holy Place.
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  Having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the
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  Covenant covered on all sides with with golden, which was a
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  golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded and
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  the tablets of the Covenant above it, were the cherubim of
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  glory overshadowing the Mercy seat.
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  Now look at this of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
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  That encouraged me, that encouraged me, even the author
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  of Hebrews, when explaining and trying to teach on the very same
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  thing that you and I are going to study, he said.
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  We don't have to touch on every single detail at this time, and
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  I thought that's true. We don't have to overwhelmingly
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  stuff ourselves to try to get every single inch of Chapter 6
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  in one session. We can take our time.
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  Amen. Of these things we cannot now
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  speak in detail, but be encouraged.
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  We're going to get into some deep things in First Kings
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  Chapter 6. And though it is pretty
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  overwhelming, I want to make it the least overwhelming for you.
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  And and the way to do that, I believe is to come to this
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  chapter and to realize that there is a framework provided
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  for us. There are sections within this
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  chapter and in the first section what you'll realize is that
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  Solomon the record of his project, we are told the
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  construction of the temple, The construction of the temple.
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  That's going to be around the 1st, 9:00 or 10 verses, the
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  construction of the temple. If you're taking notes, this
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  will help organize your thoughts.
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  So the 1st, 9:00 or 10 verses you have the construction of the
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  temple, and then in the middle you have in the the verse 10,
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  verse 11, an interesting hinge, a pause there.
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  It's the Lord who's going to speak to Solomon and what you're
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  going to see. There is instruction about the
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  temple. So you have the construction of
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  the temple. Then you have instruction about
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  the temple. And then for the last portion,
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  the largest portion of this chapter, you're going to read
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  about the beautifying of the temple.
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  So there are three sections really, three main components to
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  this text, the construction of the temple, instruction about
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  the temple, and then lastly the beautifying, the garnishing, the
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  decor of the temple. So now with that, let's come to
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  the first section and read the first few verses and see what
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  the Lord has to say to us. Are you there?
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  First, King 6. Let's begin together in verse
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  one. In the 480th year after the
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  people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth
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  year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv,
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  which is the second month, he began to build the House of the
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  Lord. The house that King Solomon
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  built for the Lord was 60 cubits. 60 cubits long, 20
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  cubits wide and 30 cubits high. Before we move on, let's deal
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  with this first verse. If you were at the Maranatha
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  conference, we've touched on this verse before, but here's
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  the question that I present to you and for you were at the
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  conference. This will be helpful.
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  By way of reminder, don't you think it's interesting that in
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  the commencement of this project, the Holy Spirit wants
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  to inform us, or at least connect the Exodus with the
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  temple being built? Out of all the things, out of
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  all the references that God could have given us at this
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  point at this juncture, why is it that this temple being
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  erected is supposed to be associated with the deliverance
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  of the people out of slavery from Egypt?
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  It seems random. It seems like it's it's just a
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  random historical point, maybe a reference in terms of how things
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  are. And a flow maybe, maybe this is
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  the anniversary of the Exodus. I don't think it's any of that.
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  I don't think it's random at all.
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  I think there is a spiritual underlying message here.
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  When God delivered the people out of out of Egypt, he did it
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  for a purpose. Let me ask you this question.
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  When Moses approached Pharaoh and told him let my people go,
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  God says let my people go. What was the reason for the
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  people leaving Egypt? You guys are good.
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  If you don't know, on more than one occasion, this is what Moses
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  told Pharaoh. It wasn't to go into the
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  Promised land. It was here in Exodus 7, verse
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  16. Look at this with me.
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  Actually turn there with me because we're going to go to
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  different verses in Exodus to get the point of why it is that
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  Israel was to be freed from Egypt in Exodus 716.
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  Here's what. We're told Moses is receiving
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  instruction, and you shall say to him the Lord.
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  The God of the Hebrews sent me to you saying, let my people go,
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  that they may serve me in the wilderness, serve me in the
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  wilderness, but so far you have not obeyed.
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  Go to chapter 8, verse one and you'll see the same thing.
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  Moses telling Pharaoh, let my people go, that they may serve
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  me. You see it in chapter 8, verse
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  20. Same thing.
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  Let my people go. That they may serve me.
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  You see it in Chapter 9, verse one, Let my people go.
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  That they may serve me. You'll see it in Chapter 9,
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  verse 13. Let my people go, that they may
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  serve me. You'll see it again in chapter
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  10, verse three, let my people go, that they may serve me.
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  It's clear, isn't it? The intention, the aim for the
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  people being set free, is that God would be worshipped by the
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  ones that he has redeemed. No mention of the promised land,
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  even. Yes, that was part of the plan,
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  but that wasn't the primary purpose.
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  It wasn't to come to a place of flowing milk and glorious honey,
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  even God himself. Finally, when the people came
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  into the wilderness and met him out Mount Sinai, he again.
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  Tells the people the real reason for their deliverance.
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  One of my favorite verses concerning the theme of
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  redemption in the Bible. You're still in Exodus.
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  Go to Exodus 19 verse four. Look what the Lord says about
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  the reason why he rescued his own in Exodus 19 verse 4.
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  You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I
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  bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to where?
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  The Promised Land. What does it say to myself?
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  I brought you to myself. He wants fellowship.
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  He wants the people to come to him so he can enjoy them, and
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  that they would enjoy him and the word served there.
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  I mean, you guys have the right idea serving not to be slaves in
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  a sense, just like they were slaves to Pharaoh, but in
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  serving they would really be worshipping.
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  You and I were created to worship.
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  That's where we know our fulfillment.
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  That's where we know sustenance. Substance is in the place of
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  worship because you were wired to worship.
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  And so the Lord brings the people out that they may serve
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  Him. And he says no, It's not even
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  just about serving me. It's not that I need you to do
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  something. I have a myriad of angels who
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  can do things for me. But in my love for you and the
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  way it designed you and your purpose for existing, I want you
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  to be for me. I'm bringing you to myself and
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  then you go to 1st Kings 6 and you see this connection between
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  the temple being built and the Exodus.
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  It could it be that the construction of the the House of
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  the Lord that Solomon's about to begin, is the express purpose
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  for why the people were saved? In other words, for this
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  building to be connected to the deliverance from Egypt is meant
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  to communicate the goal of God and saving them that it's
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  ultimately. Leading to this.
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  I'm drawing my people to myself. I'm bringing them to a place
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  where they can come as close as possible to to me without me
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  destroying them because of my holiness.
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  Well, if you read Exodus then it makes sense.
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  Now, some might say, well, the Tabernacle was provided for
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  that, right? And that's true.
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  But the Tabernacle itself, by by nature of what?
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  It was a tent. It was unfixed.
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  It was movable. And so, yes, that that's a
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  partial fulfillment. But then you come to the temple
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  and it's a permanent thing. There's a floor, there are stone
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  walls. And so it's supposed to mean
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  that this is, this is what it's all about.
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  And we know in the New covenant that there's more, but at least
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  in this dispensation, that's what's being said.
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  I'm bringing to a place where it's all about this moment, it's
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  all about this experience. And the point for you and I in
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  Christ Jesus is that. The purpose of His redemption
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  for us is no different. It's no different.
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  You heard me quote this in the conference of First Peter 318.
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  The reason why Christ suffered once for all was to bring you to
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  who? To God.
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  That's what he says, to bring you to himself again, just like
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  what he said in Exodus, Christ comes to bring us to the Father,
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  to himself, but this time to a different temple.
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  Not to geographical, geographical location.
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  Not to a specific city in the Middle East, No.
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  With this new structure, this spiritual house, you and I, the
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  new meaning place between you and God is in the heart of a
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  forgiven Sinner. And when forgiven sinners come
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  together that make up the temple of God, their God is in the
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  midst. Right here, right now, is the
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  temple of the Holy Spirit. If people really believed that,
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  there would be something so much more holy.
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  In our meetings. So much more excitement and
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  reverence in our meetings, and I praise God that that's true in
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  this place. But this is the reason why verse
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  one tells us about the Exodus, because it's connecting
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  deliverance with fellowship with God.
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  Why is this temple even being built to begin with?
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  So that God may dwell with his people?
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  Yes, that there would be sacrifices and a temporary
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  covering for sin, but ultimately that the Lord may be with his
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  people, and that the people would be with their God.
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  Now we come back here and we read something interesting and
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  verse 2IN connection with that thought.
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  The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was 60
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  cubits, 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.
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  A cubit is believed to be 18 inches, so about a foot and a
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  half, a foot and a half. And if you do the comparison
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  between the Temple and the Tabernacle, the temple this
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  glorious structure. Is roughly about double the size
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  of the Tabernacle, what the people knew up to this point in
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  terms of their centralized worship center.
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  And looking at this, we think well already we have this
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  impression that this temple is more impressive in terms of size
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  and as we're about to discover in terms of the ornaments and
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  the materials that are going to be used to color this thing.
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  But there is a temple that I just.
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  Referred to you that I just mentioned to you that it's far
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  more glorious than the temple and the Tabernacle, separately
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  and combined in terms of its size and in terms of what it's
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  made of. The Church of Jesus Christ, as
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  the temple of the Holy Spirit, covers the globe from the four
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  corners of the earth. There are different expressions
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  of houses of worship from living stones made from different
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  nations and tribes and tongues that are hosting the very
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  presence of God. Like here in this place on this
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  Friday night, in different places again across our lands.
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  And there are priests, a royal priesthood, according to First
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  Peter, that are giving, like what we're doing tonight,
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  spiritual sacrifices to God. And so this covenant with this
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  temple is far greater than the temple of first King 6 far
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  greater than the Tabernacle in the Book of Exodus.
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  And I hope you and I realize that now.
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  We read specific details about this temple, Solomon's Temple,
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  and like what we heard in Hebrews, we're not going to
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  cover every single detail, at least not in one session.
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  But we will highlight some things.
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  Look at verse 3. The vegetable in front of the
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  nave of the house was 20 cubits long.
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  Equal to the width of the house and 10 cubits deep in front of
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  the house. And he made for the house
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  windows with recessed frames. You know what's interesting
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  about that? Were there windows in the
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  Tabernacle? No, there weren't windows in the
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  Tabernacle. The only source of light were
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  the lamps inside. But now you come to the top
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  temple and you read of these, these narrow windows.
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  So that's interesting. We won't touch on that.
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  Now, verse five, he also built a structure.
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  Now try to visualize this. He also built a structure
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  against the wall of the house. So, so far we have the
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  dimensions of the main building, the temple.
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  We have a description of the front area that we just read,
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  but now we're talking about a structure that's around the
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  temple, and here's what we're being told about it.
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  He also built a structure against the wall of the house,
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  running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the
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  inner sanctuary, and he made side chambers all around.
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  So now you have this other structure with almost like
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  apartments. They're these side chambers
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  around the main place of worship.
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  And now we're we're being told about these side chambers here.
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  Here's what we see. In verse 6, the lowest story was
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  5 cubits broad, the middle one was 6 cubits broad, and the
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  third was 7 cubits broad for around the outside of the house.
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  He made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams
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  should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
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  So the way that these apartments, these chambers
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  worked is that they weren't connected into the temple.
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  There was different support, a different support system that
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  made it a part of it but didn't penetrate through the House of
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  worship. How many stories are these
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  chambers across the whole place? Three.
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  There are three stories, right? So you have a lower chamber, you
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  have a middle chamber, and you have a third chamber, right?
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  So imagine again, I'm trying to illustrate.
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  Here's the temple. Imagine I'm facing the temple.
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  Here's the door to the temple, but along the side, except for
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  the front area, of course, along the the the, the sides, in the
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  back, you have these chambers and they're three stories high.
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  You know, what I find interesting is that we're not
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  told the the purpose of these chambers.
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  We're not told. It's not until you go to
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  different books like Second Chronicles, Chapter 31.
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  When you go to those places, you'll see that under Hezekiah's
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  rule, under Ezra's leadership. The priests were storing
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  treasures, gold, silver, offerings in these chambers, so
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  they were most likely used as storehouses, things to keep and
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  protect the precious offerings and donations that were granted
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  to the place of worship. What's also interesting is that
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  the Holy Spirit goes out of his way to give us the dimensions of
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  each floor. Did you notice that?
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  And what did you notice about these floors?
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  What stands out to you? Very good.
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  They get broader and broader and broader.
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  In fact, when you go to Ezekiel and I encourage you to turn
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  there, we have a lot of verses to cover tonight, so your
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  fingers are going to get some work.
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  OK, Ezekiel 41. This is not Solomon's Temple.
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  What are we being told about in Ezekiel 40 to 48?
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  Which temple? Oh, I kind of gave it away based
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  on the name of the book Ezekiel's Temple.
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  The temple that we believe will be known during when the
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  Millennium Kingdom, right? So this is not the same temple,
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  but there are a lot of similarities.
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  And when you go to Ezekiel 41 verse seven, you actually get
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  again a description of these side chambers and it's
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  confirming what we see here in First Kings chapter 6 and
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  Ezekiel 41 seven, we're told. And it became broader as it
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  wound upward to the side chambers.
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  So just like in Solomon's Temple, the first floor is is a
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  certain measurement. Then as you go up it gets
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  broader and as you go higher, it gets broader, broader and
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  broader and broader. Now come back to First Kings
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  Six. Are you guys with me?
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  So far I'm not overwhelming you. Oh oh there nobody answered.
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  So I could be overwhelming people.
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  Good. We'll go to 1st Kings 6 again
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  and look at verse 8. The entrance for the lowest
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  story was on the South side of the house.
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  And one went up by stairs to the middle story and from the middle
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  story to the third. So in these apartments, in these
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  chambers, you had a door. And when you went into the door,
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  you were in the lowest part. And then there were stairs that
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  would bring you to the next level and another set of stairs
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  that would bring you to the third level.
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  And based on Ezekiel's words, it could be at least in his temple,
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  that they were winding stairs. But here's what you would feel
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  if you were one of the priests in these chambers.
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  The higher you climbed, the more there was to realize.
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  The higher you excelled, the more there was to discover.
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  And I'd like to think that that's a wonderful illustration
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  about our growth and revelation and truth concerning the things
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  of God. Is that not true?
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  You know, I I love reading books, and there are many books
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  that I'll read. And I will read it once and put
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  it on a shelf, never to read it again.
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  I've read this book every single day for years since I was 20
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  years old. And guess what?
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  I can't put it away and say I figured it out.
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  The more I read it, the more I realize there's more, there's
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  more. It doesn't stop.
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  The walls keep getting broader, broader and broader, and there's
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  even more treasure than the last level I was in.
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  It just keeps expanding. Is that not true?
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  It is true and it's completely biblical, you know?
• 21:43
  Paul says, I've received the grace in Ephesians 38.
• 21:46
  I've received the grace to preach to the Gentiles the
• 21:49
  unfathomable riches of Christ, the immeasurable riches of
• 21:54
  Christ. You can't put a limit on the
• 21:56
  riches, the wealth of just the person of Jesus Christ.
• 22:01
  And as I was thinking about this kind of illustration, I thought
• 22:05
  of a Psalm. This Psalm is so exciting to me.
• 22:09
  And again, your fingers are you're going to get to work,
• 22:11
  right? You're going to get muscles in
• 22:12
  your fingers tonight. And Psalm 119, what's Psalm 119
• 22:15
  all about? Can I give you a challenge?
• 22:20
  I wonder if anybody will take this challenge because I did it
• 22:21
  once and it was one of the most exhilarating things in terms of
• 22:24
  reading. If you are willing, read Psalm
• 22:28
  119 in one sitting. Just do it and you will feel
• 22:33
  like you're drinking out of a fire hose.
• 22:35
  But it's a it's a good feeling because you just are showered
• 22:37
  with the Holy Spirit's praise about the Word of God.
• 22:41
  And here's one of the praiseworthy things about the
• 22:44
  Word of God in Psalm 119. Look at verse 96.
• 22:46
  Look what the Psalmist says about the word he says.
• 22:53
  I have seen a limit to all perfection.
• 22:55
  I've seen many things in the world and there's a there's a
• 22:58
  stopping point here. There's a point where you figure
• 23:01
  it out, but look what he says. But your commandment is
• 23:04
  exceedingly broad. You see what he's saying there.
• 23:09
  I've seen a lot of things in this world, beautiful things,
• 23:13
  excellent things, mind boggling things.
• 23:17
  But they come to an end in terms of the odd that it inspires,
• 23:22
  perhaps. The mechanics and understanding
• 23:26
  how things function. But there is one thing that I've
• 23:28
  discovered that's exceedingly broad.
• 23:30
  What is it? The word.
• 23:32
  The word. There's no limit to the word.
• 23:34
  There's no bottom to this. Well, there is no end to this
• 23:39
  horizon. It just keeps growing.
• 23:41
  It keeps expanding. And I believe that is the case
• 23:44
  here. What we read about these
• 23:47
  chambers expanding as they climbed, You can believe the
• 23:51
  same thing about your. Experience with God through what
• 23:55
  he's revealed in the place of prayer.
• 23:57
  Walking with him day by day, you'll realize there's only more
• 24:01
  to know. There's only more to realize
• 24:05
  now. Let's come back to first kings
• 24:09
  and let's read verse 7. When the house was built, it was
• 24:15
  with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer
• 24:19
  nor axe, nor any tool of iron. Was heard in the house while it
• 24:25
  was being built. This is one of my favorite
• 24:30
  verses in First Kings Chapter 6. Again, why is the Holy Spirit
• 24:34
  going out of his way to tell us about how these stones were
• 24:38
  chiseled and prepared before they were assembled together?
• 24:43
  It seems as though we need to know that there was no
• 24:46
  recognition of the materials colliding together.
• 24:49
  It was. It was at a great distance.
• 24:52
  And when it came to the place of putting the pieces together,
• 24:55
  there was almost this reverential silence about it.
• 24:59
  It was sacred. And so there was this wisdom
• 25:04
  behind this. But there's a spiritual message,
• 25:06
  and I believe it's significant because it's to encourage us
• 25:09
  when we link it to the house that God is building today.
• 25:12
  You have to understand the New Testament.
• 25:13
  You as an individual are called the temple, the Holy Spirit, and
• 25:16
  the church at large is called the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
• 25:19
  And here we're being told about this temple.
• 25:20
  And interestingly about this temple.
• 25:22
  There was no sound of tools. There is no sound of let me put
• 25:28
  it this way, there was no immediate evidence that
• 25:31
  something was happening. And someone once said, very
• 25:36
  wisely, that this is a lesson not to mistake noise and
• 25:40
  notoriety with spiritual progress.
• 25:45
  First, Peter Two tells us that you and I are living stones
• 25:47
  being built up together into a spiritual house.
• 25:51
  That's what Peter said, living stones being built together up
• 25:56
  to be a spiritual house. And I believe there's something
• 25:59
  here for us to take in for ourselves.
• 26:01
  You know, there's some believers who believe, unfortunately, that
• 26:06
  in order to truly measure success and effectiveness, it's
• 26:11
  all determined by the attention and praise you might receive
• 26:14
  from others but the Lord here? Does not need to announce the
• 26:20
  work that he's doing in your life.
• 26:22
  He doesn't need to advertise it. He doesn't need to let the
• 26:25
  masses know. This is what I'm doing in my
• 26:27
  son. This is what I'm doing in my
• 26:29
  daughter. This is what I'm doing in this
• 26:30
  pastor, and through this pastor, he doesn't need to do that for
• 26:33
  it to be legitimate. Your fruitfulness and mine can
• 26:38
  sometimes take place in a way where.
• 26:43
  People don't immediately see it, at least for a season.
• 26:49
  For most of us here, you know your life is going to be
• 26:51
  relatively quiet, unnoticed under the radar, not pointed out
• 26:58
  by prominence. And that's OK.
• 27:03
  But what you have to resist is the temptation of thinking just
• 27:06
  because somebody is on a platform or somebody is highly
• 27:10
  praised and. Greatly known that God is
• 27:13
  working and doing more in them than he is in you.
• 27:15
  And if you are feeling that, Lord, are you really doing
• 27:22
  something significant? In my life that doesn't seem to
• 27:25
  be much noise that I'm creating. I'm not really gaining much from
• 27:30
  others and and seeing them appreciate, maybe point out
• 27:37
  highlights what you're doing. I mean the gifts that you've
• 27:39
  given me. Remember the temple?
• 27:42
  Remember the House of God? Even this glorious structure
• 27:45
  that would host the presence of God was built in silence.
• 27:50
  It was not immediately recognized.
• 27:53
  And you can apply that to the corporate sense as well.
• 27:55
  The worship team that you're part of, the ministry team that
• 27:58
  you're part of the church that you're part of, the outreach
• 28:02
  that you're part of. A lot of people, again, confuse
• 28:06
  something being loud with it being legitimate.
• 28:12
  And if you use that kind of evaluation, then you actually
• 28:15
  can get yourself in trouble. What do I mean by that?
• 28:18
  Well, God is really at work when there's a lot of people crammed
• 28:21
  into one place and in that meeting there are rivers of
• 28:24
  tears and there are explosions of miracles happening, that's
• 28:28
  when God is really at work. And God working that way,
• 28:30
  Absolutely. Does God always work that way?
• 28:33
  No. He can do.
• 28:38
  A silent work, and it's still just as much, precious to him,
• 28:42
  and it should be precious to you.
• 28:44
  This inner surgery where he is chiseling and cutting so that
• 28:48
  he's conforming you. The framing of your thoughts,
• 28:53
  the putting together the fragments of the brokenness in
• 28:56
  your life until that mess becomes something of a
• 28:59
  masterpiece. God indeed is working, and he's
• 29:04
  always working in you and I, whether people recognize it
• 29:06
  right away or whether you even recognize it in the moment.
• 29:10
  He is a patient, careful, meticulous, loving artist and
• 29:18
  when he feels that it's necessary, he will make his work
• 29:21
  known and it will be loud And there are other.
• 29:24
  Times where he will take his time.
• 29:27
  And I see that with the sacred structure, what would have been
• 29:31
  like for a citizen of Jerusalem to see the progress?
• 29:34
  I, I think just week after week, month after month as they go
• 29:37
  about their affairs, they're not hearing anything right.
• 29:39
  They're not seeing major cranes and traffic and noise.
• 29:42
  The the all that complicated stuff is being done at a
• 29:45
  distance. And from time to time they would
• 29:47
  look out their window and they would see the building getting
• 29:49
  stronger and higher and thicker. Look what's happening and do you
• 29:56
  know how long it took for this temple to be built?
• 29:58
  Who knows the number of years? Yeah, it's right here in verse
• 30:03
  38. We're told here at the last part
• 30:06
  of verse 38, he was seven years in building it.
• 30:11
  Seven years now. David confessed in First
• 30:14
  Chronicles 2819 that he received the blueprint for the building.
• 30:19
  It wasn't a human architect who came up and offered something to
• 30:22
  God from their own initiative. No.
• 30:24
  God gave the exact instructions for this thing to be built.
• 30:30
  And even though God gave it, it took seven years to build.
• 30:32
  You know why that's important? Again, Because some people think
• 30:34
  if God's going to do a work, and if he does work, it means it has
• 30:36
  to happen instantaneously. Growth should happen instant
• 30:41
  stainlessly, right? Disciples should should happen
• 30:43
  in a moment. Who said that things have to
• 30:45
  always happen in the blink of an eye or snap of a finger?
• 30:48
  That's not how God always works. And just like his temple, here
• 30:52
  he sweetly and wisely took his time.
• 30:55
  And you can believe the same for you and I.
• 30:59
  Not that that's permission for us to delay in our discipline or
• 31:02
  to not be participating in the things of God.
• 31:04
  No, but to understand that progress doesn't happen
• 31:07
  overnight and that should encourage.
• 31:11
  You and I to not be overwhelmed by our lack of progress at the
• 31:16
  speed that we would like it to happen, and your knowledge of
• 31:19
  the word of God in in different areas concerning your gifting.
• 31:25
  And so this is something for you and I to be blessed by.
• 31:28
  Now, before we move on, there's another lesson here, and I
• 31:31
  believe the lesson here, when we see this verse being built,
• 31:35
  this, this amazing building being built in silence, is to
• 31:39
  remind us that God often also likes to build and work on us in
• 31:43
  quietness, right? So this is this is a good word
• 31:48
  for us because a lot of us always need distraction noise.
• 31:55
  When's the last time you got quiet before God?
• 31:59
  Quiet, quiet. Just to sit before him and allow
• 32:03
  the architect of your soul to work on you?
• 32:06
  You know, there's a lot of people who are frustrated with
• 32:10
  their walk with the Lord. I don't just, I don't sense God
• 32:15
  leading me, speaking to me, clarifying things to me.
• 32:17
  And one of my first questions is, well, have you given time
• 32:21
  for him to do that? Just to get before the Lord,
• 32:28
  open your Bible. Say Lord, I'm reading this text
• 32:32
  this week. Can you speak to my heart?
• 32:34
  When's the last time you did that without checking Instagram?
• 32:38
  A notification? Throw that thing in the garbage
• 32:41
  just for an hour. You can pick it up, clean it and
• 32:44
  go. Go about your day.
• 32:45
  Just give time and silence. Before the Lord He wants to do
• 32:53
  something with you in that place.
• 32:55
  I argue that he can only do certain things in that place.
• 32:59
  You can come to 1000 church services a week and it will not
• 33:03
  substitute personal time with the Lord.
• 33:08
  And I know that me saying this, and I'm becoming more aware of
• 33:11
  this as I'm advancing in life, right.
• 33:14
  Things become busier and busier and quiet that time.
• 33:19
  Seclusion becomes more of a luxury, isn't it?
• 33:22
  Look at all the heads. I just went.
• 33:24
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess I'm not here to beat you
• 33:27
  over the head, but I I am here to tell you that God is able to
• 33:33
  do miracles with five loaves and two fishes.
• 33:36
  Miracles. You know, when I was doing my
• 33:38
  internship in Toronto, Canada, that was one of the most
• 33:41
  frustrating times of my walk with the Lord.
• 33:43
  Because up to that point, I had my just my my schedule at
• 33:46
  school. I wasn't working and so I had
• 33:48
  all this time. It was amazing and I'm so glad
• 33:51
  for that season because so many things were revealed to me.
• 33:55
  But then now I'm working full time school, full time
• 33:59
  internship and that was technically part of my school.
• 34:01
  So waking up, commuting, taking three different modes of
• 34:03
  transportation, just. To get to the place and coming
• 34:06
  all the way back. And I remember just feeling so
• 34:08
  frustrated. I don't know what to do with
• 34:10
  this. Lord, by the time I get home and
• 34:11
  I got to make dinner, I'm ready to sleep.
• 34:14
  Quiet time. I just.
• 34:15
  I just need a full night's sleep.
• 34:18
  To survive. That's how I was feeling.
• 34:21
  But I realized how the Lord is willing to honor whatever you're
• 34:24
  able to give him. You know what I was able to do
• 34:25
  at that time? Yeah, there, there is still the
• 34:28
  the grace to be able to take that time in my apartment.
• 34:31
  But even during the day when I had coffee breaks, I was, I was
• 34:34
  doing my internship in a fairly tall building.
• 34:38
  And so there was a lot of stairs and a lot of empty stairs and
• 34:42
  low traffic area. So my coffee breaks.
• 34:44
  I would just go up to some of those stairs.
• 34:46
  And I would go high enough where I can see the city of Toronto.
• 34:48
  And I would just sit there and talk to the Lord.
• 34:52
  Just talk to the Lord while I'm looking out the window.
• 34:55
  Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you, Lord.
• 34:59
  Fill me with the spirit as I go back into my office so that
• 35:02
  people can sense the fragrance of Christ.
• 35:04
  Give me boldness if I'm ever confronted with my beliefs that
• 35:08
  I would be strong and loving. Just talk to the Lord.
• 35:10
  About 10 minutes go by and go back to work.
• 35:13
  Do you think the Lord is looking for heaven?
• 35:14
  Saying you only gave me that much time.
• 35:18
  I didn't hear a word you said that's not the Lord.
• 35:22
  When Mary of Bethany broke that alabaster flask and poured it on
• 35:24
  Christ, the disciples criticized her and Jesus said she did what
• 35:28
  she could. And it is beautiful to me.
• 35:33
  When I read that, I thought, yeah, in certain seasons there
• 35:35
  are things that you can only do so much of, and God will see it
• 35:39
  as beautiful as long as your heart is true and you're being
• 35:42
  honest before him. Lord, this is all I can give
• 35:44
  you. That's all I could give him in
• 35:47
  that season. And so give that time to the
• 35:52
  Lord and He can do miracles in your heart, your mind throughout
• 35:56
  your day. The Lord wants to build us in
• 35:59
  the place of quietness. Now there's there's much more
• 36:03
  that can be said. But now we've come here, We read
• 36:06
  verse eight, we read verse 9 about the roof, the ceiling.
• 36:10
  But something happens here in verse 11 says here.
• 36:16
  Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon concerning this house,
• 36:23
  and he says here, excuse me. Now the word of Lord came to
• 36:26
  Solomon concerning this house that you are building.
• 36:30
  If you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all
• 36:33
  my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my
• 36:37
  word with you, which I spoke to David.
• 36:39
  Your father and I will dwell among the children of Israel and
• 36:42
  will not forsake my people Israel.
• 36:46
  So Solomon built the house and finished it.
• 36:51
  So as we're reading about the construction of this building
• 36:54
  going up to verse 10, verse 11, there's this intermission.
• 37:00
  Somehow the word of the Lord comes to Solomon.
• 37:02
  It could have been through a prophet, and this seems kind of
• 37:06
  out of place. The Lord is telling and
• 37:08
  reminding Solomon about the covenant that he had made with
• 37:11
  his father and with his descendants.
• 37:13
  And we don't know why this came to Solomon, not only how, but
• 37:18
  why. But based on the message itself,
• 37:20
  we can gather enough information to understand the mind of the
• 37:23
  Lord and why he spoke to Solomon in this manner.
• 37:27
  The tone that you get from this, what kind of tone is it?
• 37:33
  What is this message? What kind of message?
• 37:36
  Is it? Condition.
• 37:39
  Yeah, it's a condition. The promise.
• 37:42
  The covenant is conditional. But what's the message then?
• 37:46
  If he's giving this reminder for this condition, what is he
• 37:49
  essentially doing? There's a cautious tone here,
• 37:58
  and this message is a message of warning.
• 38:03
  And so the Lord is warning Solomon at this point, at this
• 38:06
  juncture, at this, at this mark of the progress of the building,
• 38:11
  He wants to warn him. And based on that we can have
• 38:15
  strong confidence to believe that Solomon.
• 38:18
  Needed to hear this. Whether he knew it or not.
• 38:21
  He needed to hear this message from the Lord, and it could be
• 38:25
  that at this point the Lord saw something in Solomon, something
• 38:29
  concerning. Perhaps there are early signs
• 38:32
  already that Solomon was beginning to lose sight of the
• 38:36
  significance and the recipe for true, lasting success concerning
• 38:41
  the temple. Solomon, you're building this
• 38:47
  temple. That's wonderful, but I want to
• 38:50
  let you know that what's really going to bring blessing to you
• 38:53
  and this people is going to be your obedience to my law.
• 38:58
  It's going to be your consecration unto me.
• 39:02
  Just because this building is going to be built does not
• 39:04
  necessarily mean that you've guaranteed my blessing and my
• 39:06
  presence here among you and your people.
• 39:10
  I'm asking you, and I'm reminding you to live in my word
• 39:15
  and to walk in my ways. That's a much needed warning for
• 39:20
  many of us who are serving the Lord.
• 39:22
  Listen, this is very important, right?
• 39:25
  Because here Solomon is performing something for the
• 39:28
  Lord in his tenure. At this point in his ministry,
• 39:31
  he needed to receive instruction.
• 39:33
  And you and I need this kind of instruction and warning from
• 39:37
  time to time as we're serving the Lord, often times when we're
• 39:39
  building something to the Lord, what do we need?
• 39:41
  We need an encouragement. Well, we get discouraged.
• 39:45
  There's delay. There's persecution.
• 39:46
  We see that with Nehemiah. We see that with Ezra.
• 39:48
  And so we need to be encouraged. Encouraged, encouraged,
• 39:51
  rightfully so, but with encouragement.
• 39:53
  We also need warning. We do need warning.
• 39:57
  They're two pitfalls, right? We can fall into discouragement
• 40:00
  that can lead us into other problems.
• 40:02
  We can fall into disobedience because of what Solomon is
• 40:06
  facing here. Could be the.
• 40:08
  Solomon already is showing again evidence that his heart is being
• 40:15
  uplifted or his own wisdom now is is filtering in and we see
• 40:22
  later on what happens to Solomon.
• 40:25
  You know, just because we have a church building with a service,
• 40:27
  an order of service, a team that sings beautifully, somebody that
• 40:31
  comes up on the pulpit and offering food, A5O1C3, that
• 40:35
  doesn't mean God's presence is here, does it?
• 40:40
  Do we need a big enough cross to be like, you know, that cross
• 40:42
  impresses me. I'm going to come now and bless
• 40:44
  this place. Is that how God?
• 40:46
  Works, no. Some people think so.
• 40:50
  If we have an extravagant enough of establishment, if we have
• 40:54
  talented people enough, if the numbers come, if the money
• 40:58
  flows, and surely we have the thumbs up from the Almighty,
• 41:05
  that's not how it works. What is God after?
• 41:09
  A holy people and obedient people, A repentant people, a
• 41:13
  broken people, people who walk in the fear of the Lord?
• 41:16
  That's what will usher in, and that's what will.
• 41:18
  Guard his blessing, his power, and his presence, and his
• 41:22
  delight. Amongst us.
• 41:26
  And there's another thing here, right?
• 41:27
  Again, Solomon could very well be losing focus here, being
• 41:33
  deterred, drifting in one way. And you and I also have to be
• 41:39
  careful and understand that the same temptation awaits all of us
• 41:42
  who want to advance. And this is a temptation that's
• 41:46
  very present for those who are seeing accomplishments, great
• 41:50
  accomplishments done in the name of God.
• 41:54
  Solomon is going to end up falling very bad and it makes
• 41:59
  you wonder what went wrong. I mean, go to Chapter 9, we're
• 42:03
  in First Kings, things go to go to Chapter 9.
• 42:05
  This is after Solomon builds a temple, and then in chapter 8 he
• 42:08
  dedicates the temple. And then look what the Lord says
• 42:11
  in Chapter 9, verse four and five.
• 42:17
  And the Lord is speaking to him again.
• 42:18
  And As for you, if you walk before me as David your father
• 42:22
  walked with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according
• 42:25
  to all that I've commanded you and keeping my statutes and my
• 42:28
  rules, then I will establish a royal throne over Israel
• 42:31
  forever, as I promised David, your father, saying you shall
• 42:34
  not lack a man on the throne of Israel again, He just did it in
• 42:38
  chapter 6. Now he's doing it again.
• 42:40
  After the thing was built, after it was dedicated, after there
• 42:43
  was a grand opening. The Lord says Solomon, be
• 42:48
  careful. Be careful.
• 42:52
  When we do things for God and it blesses other people, and it's
• 42:57
  grand and it's unique and it's spectacular and it's fruitful,
• 43:04
  we can begin to think that we are above the law and maybe
• 43:09
  there are certain rules that don't apply to me.
• 43:13
  And certain things that I I can do, because look how much I give
• 43:15
  to the church. This church wouldn't be able to
• 43:17
  do what they're doing if it wasn't for my contributions.
• 43:21
  That's dangerous thinking. Look what I did for the Lord.
• 43:26
  Look at the glory I brought to His name.
• 43:28
  Look at all the people who are blessed.
• 43:30
  Surely the Lord will look with partiality upon me if I drift
• 43:33
  here and there. There are people who think like
• 43:34
  that. In fact, the Bible calls that
• 43:38
  something. It's called the root of
• 43:39
  bitterness. You know when people quote the
• 43:42
  root of bitterness in Hebrews chapter 12, they think that's a
• 43:45
  verse about when you have unforgiveness in your heart.
• 43:47
  That's not true. When the author of Hebrews is
• 43:52
  speaking about that, he's referring to a warning in
• 43:54
  Deuteronomy where the Lord told the people, please be careful
• 43:57
  that there is no one among you has a root of bitterness.
• 44:00
  And then he describes what that root of bitterness is.
• 44:02
  It's a person who hears the law and blesses himself and says, I
• 44:06
  will be safe. Do I walk in the stubbornness of
• 44:09
  my heart? And that root has the ability to
• 44:13
  infect that garden bed and touch other people and bring him into
• 44:16
  the wrong direction. So Solomon need to be careful,
• 44:21
  because already when these things are taking place, things
• 44:23
  are progressing and advancing. The Lord saying, please Solomon,
• 44:27
  be careful, don't let it get to your head.
• 44:29
  Don't think that these things are not binding on you.
• 44:32
  They are. My law is just as much for you
• 44:34
  as it is for anybody else. In fact, the warning is even
• 44:36
  greater for him because he's what?
• 44:37
  What is Solomon? He's a king, meaning he's a
• 44:40
  what? He's a leader.
• 44:42
  He's a leader. So notice what he says here when
• 44:45
  you read I read it in verse 11, he says the word of Lord comes,
• 44:50
  verse 12 describes what's going to happen.
• 44:52
  And then in verse 13, the condition is in verse 12, verse
• 44:55
  13 is the consequence. And I will dwell among the
• 44:58
  children of Israel and will not forsake my people.
• 45:01
  Israel, if you obey, I will be here and I will not forsake
• 45:05
  them. Implying what?
• 45:06
  If you don't obey? What's going to happen?
• 45:09
  I will forsake them. Did he say forsake you or
• 45:14
  forsake the people? Pray for your leaders.
• 45:24
  Pray that the Lord would keep them from discouragement.
• 45:26
  I recently preached about David's discouragement from
• 45:28
  First Samuel 27. He believed that Saul was going
• 45:31
  to kill him. When Saul think about this, he
• 45:34
  believed Saul was going to kill him.
• 45:36
  He was. Going to die.
• 45:38
  And he had Samuel the prophet. He had Abigail, his wife.
• 45:40
  He had Jonathan his friend. He had Saul himself, saying,
• 45:42
  you're going to be the next king.
• 45:44
  The guy that's trying to kill you believes that you're going
• 45:46
  to be king, and you believe that he's actually going to kill you.
• 45:48
  Imagine that. That's how dizzy we get when
• 45:51
  we're discouraged. And so he goes, you know what?
• 45:54
  I'm better off living with the Philistines.
• 45:56
  Saul won't chase me. He moves with the Philistines.
• 45:58
  That's a no, no. If you're an Israelite because
• 46:02
  he provided boundaries, you ain't leaving those boundaries
• 46:05
  unless God tells you plain and clear, you can go to Egypt.
• 46:08
  Jacob was afraid to go to Egypt, even to visit his son.
• 46:11
  The Lord assured him go. Abraham didn't see God to go to
• 46:14
  Egypt, and he got in a lot of trouble.
• 46:16
  David says. I'm going to go with the
• 46:17
  Philistines. He goes, what happens?
• 46:19
  600 of his men follow him with their families, because that's
• 46:23
  what happens when the leader makes a decision.
• 46:25
  It has consequences beyond his own life, beyond his own family.
• 46:31
  It trickles down. And their obedience can inspire
• 46:34
  people to greater obedience. And their disobedience can cause
• 46:37
  people to either follow in that direction or all the other mess
• 46:40
  and problems that can come with somebody of great prominence,
• 46:43
  stature, leadership fails. Pray for your leaders.
• 46:47
  Pray that they wouldn't be overcome with discouragement.
• 46:49
  Pray that they wouldn't be overcome by their
• 46:51
  accomplishments, by their gifting, by the opportunities
• 46:53
  that they receive. Solomon here needed to hear this
• 46:57
  warning. And we also, in our service to
• 46:59
  the Lord, have to be careful. And now we come to the last
• 47:03
  portion. And look how many verses we have
• 47:06
  left. Look at verse 14 right.
• 47:08
  I have to flip my page and I realize there's almost a whole
• 47:12
  other page, at least in my version of detail upon detail
• 47:16
  upon detail upon detail. And so I feel the author of
• 47:21
  Hebrews. We don't have time to talk about
• 47:24
  all the detail, but I want to encourage you of how studying
• 47:30
  these kind of texts. Can bring joy and bring a sense
• 47:37
  of absolute reverence for the authorship of this book.
• 47:42
  So now hold tight to your Bible. We're going to look at different
• 47:47
  references. We're going to, we're going to
• 47:48
  stick in Chapter 6 and then we're going to go to a
• 47:50
  completely different book because we're going to do a
• 47:52
  comparison here and and this will be very exciting.
• 47:55
  If you're willing to do the work with me, I hope you're willing
• 47:57
  to do the work. So let's begin.
• 47:59
  Now we're talking about the beautifying of the temple,
• 48:00
  right? We talked about the construction
• 48:01
  of the temple, some details there in we talked about the
• 48:04
  instruction about the temple. Now we're coming to the
• 48:06
  beautifying of the temple, and it's mainly occupied and
• 48:09
  preoccupied with the internals of the temple, the materials and
• 48:13
  the carvings and the the images. That's what we're being told
• 48:17
  about in verse 14 all the way to verse 38.
• 48:20
  But let's look at this one main feature beginning in verse 20,
• 48:24
  right? We're going to skip a few
• 48:25
  verses, but come here to verse 20 and notice what's being
• 48:28
  described here. The inner sanctuary.
• 48:32
  What's the inner sanctuary? Not the Holy.
• 48:37
  Place. There's the Holy Place, and then
• 48:40
  there's what? The Most Holy Place?
• 48:43
  Good. So which one is this?
• 48:45
  The Most Holy Place? The Inner Sanctuary The deepest
• 48:48
  part of the building. The inner sanctuary was 20
• 48:50
  cubits long, 20 cubits wide, 20 cubits high, and he overlaid it
• 48:56
  with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of
• 49:00
  cedar. And Solomon overlaid the inside
• 49:02
  of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across in
• 49:07
  front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold.
• 49:10
  And he overlaid the whole house with gold until all the house
• 49:13
  was finished, and the whole altar that belonged to the inner
• 49:15
  sanctuary he overlaid with gold. What kind of material do you
• 49:18
  think everything was overlaid with?
• 49:20
  Gold. If you didn't get it yet, look
• 49:24
  at verse 28 and he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
• 49:29
  Look at verse 30, the floor of the house he overlaid with even
• 49:33
  the. Floor was gold.
• 49:36
  Again, we're talking about permanence here, right?
• 49:38
  Did the Tabernacle have a floor? Did it?
• 49:43
  No. It was dirt.
• 49:44
  It was the earth. Everything around was built, and
• 49:48
  there was material, but not not the, not the ground.
• 49:51
  It was pure dirt. And there's a spiritual lesson
• 49:53
  there as well. But here.
• 49:54
  You have wood, and that wood was covered with gold.
• 49:57
  Gold underneath your feet, Gold all around you.
• 49:59
  Gold above you. If you still didn't get it, look
• 50:02
  at verse 35 on them. He carved cherubim and palm
• 50:07
  trees and open flowers. I wish we had time to talk about
• 50:09
  these symbols, cherubim and palm trees and open flowers.
• 50:13
  And he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved
• 50:19
  work. Gold everywhere.
• 50:22
  Can you imagine a room like this where the pews, the carpet, the
• 50:25
  piano, the light fixtures, the walls, the pulpit, the screen,
• 50:32
  everything gold. Now again, just really heavy
• 50:38
  with detail. And this is not the only account
• 50:40
  of the building of the temple. You have another account in
• 50:42
  Second Chronicles. I told you if you do the work,
• 50:44
  it'll be rewarding, right? So you go to Second Chronicles
• 50:46
  and just one verse. It's just one verse, but just to
• 50:49
  help us understand what is happening in this place called
• 50:52
  the Temple in Second Chronicles, look at this in chapter 3, verse
• 50:56
  six So, so far, What is it in the house?
• 51:00
  Gold. Gold.
• 51:01
  Gold. Gold, Gold Everywhere.
• 51:03
  People estimate that the value of the Temple in terms of the
• 51:07
  measurement of gold is in the billions of modern day currency.
• 51:12
  We're talking billions. Of dollars.
• 51:15
  But it wasn't just gold. Look at verse six of chapter 3,
• 51:18
  Second Chronicles. He adorned the house with
• 51:22
  settings of what? Precious stones, Precious
• 51:27
  stones. And then we're told where the
• 51:28
  gold is from at the end of the verse.
• 51:30
  So on top of the gold you have diamonds and sapphire.
• 51:37
  We're not told the exact stones. Some even believe they.
• 51:42
  You know, people are imagining there's nothing dogmatic here,
• 51:44
  but that Solomon placed them on the ceiling so they were like
• 51:48
  stars. Right.
• 51:50
  You can just imagine the vast beauty and wealth, how it would
• 51:54
  take your breath away when you would walk in The just the
• 51:58
  absolute investment, the massive investment that went in just
• 52:01
  into the internals of this House of worship.
• 52:06
  Gold. Gold.
• 52:07
  Gold. Gold.
• 52:08
  And in precious stones, wherever they were placed, they're
• 52:10
  obviously there. They're obvious to the eye.
• 52:12
  Here's my question. What other physical area in the
• 52:17
  Bible has the same? Description as the Temple
• 52:23
  Revelation. Good.
• 52:24
  But you got to be more specific. The New Jerusalem OK, tuck your
• 52:30
  hand in First Kings 6 and then go all the way to the last book
• 52:33
  of the Bible in chapter 21 and go to verse 10, just to ensure
• 52:38
  that we are talking about the New Jerusalem.
• 52:42
  This is not the Millennium that we're talking about here.
• 52:44
  We've passed the Millennium. The Millennium is chapter 20.
• 52:47
  This is the final era, the final chapter of human history.
• 52:52
  It's the eternal age. The new heavens and the new
• 52:56
  earth will be created. The old is passed away.
• 53:00
  And now, with this new heavens, new earth, we see this new city.
• 53:07
  And we read about it here in verse 10.
• 53:10
  And He carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain.
• 53:14
  This is John speaking and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem
• 53:18
  coming down out of heaven from God.
• 53:21
  So this is Jerusalem, right? The new city, Jerusalem.
• 53:24
  Now we get. The description of what the city
• 53:25
  is all about. Look at verse 18 of chapter 21.
• 53:29
  The wall was built of Jasper. While the city was what?
• 53:33
  Pure gold, Like clear glass, it was almost transparent.
• 53:38
  The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with what?
• 53:43
  Every kind of jewel. And John was given even the
• 53:48
  specifics of what these jewels were.
• 53:50
  I'm not going to read them for you for the sake of time, but
• 53:53
  look at verse 21 and the 12 gates were 12 pearls.
• 53:58
  Each of the gates made of a single Pearl, and the street of
• 54:02
  the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
• 54:07
  I like the joke. The things that people are
• 54:08
  coveting, the things that people are denying God for money,
• 54:11
  wealth, gold, is going to be pavement in heaven.
• 54:15
  That's silly. The betrayal, the murder, the
• 54:18
  corruption and politics in heaven.
• 54:21
  It's going to be the pavement. But wait, there's so much more
• 54:26
  here. We're actually even given the
• 54:28
  dimensions of this new city, this new heavenly Jerusalem,
• 54:32
  which is important. Look at verse 15 and 16 with me.
• 54:34
  You're still in Revelation 21, I hope.
• 54:38
  Verse 15. And the one who spoke with me
• 54:40
  had a measuring rod of gold. Even the measuring rod is made
• 54:42
  out of gold. The measuring stick is made out
• 54:45
  of gold. Had a measuring rod of gold to
• 54:48
  measure the city and its gates and walls.
• 54:51
  The city lies 4 square, its length the same at its width as
• 54:55
  its with and he measured the city with its rod. 12,000
• 54:59
  stadium. Some believe that this city.
• 55:03
  Alone is thousands of miles long.
• 55:06
  Each way, it's absolutely huge. What do you call the shape where
• 55:12
  every side is the same? And in 3D it's a cube.
• 55:18
  People believe the city of Jerusalem will be a perfect
• 55:20
  cube. You know, there's only one other
• 55:25
  place in all the Bible that we're told of another area
• 55:28
  that's a perfect square or cube. Where is it?
• 55:37
  The inner sanctuary in Solomon's Temple.
• 55:41
  You didn't see it, did you? Back in First Kings 6.
• 55:43
  Go back to First Kings 6, verse 20.
• 55:46
  I hope you kept your your hand there.
• 55:51
  Look at verse 20 and please keep your hand in Revelation 21.
• 55:54
  We're going to go back and forth.
• 55:56
  It will be rewarding first Kings 6/20.
• 56:00
  The inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, was what, 20 cubits
• 56:05
  long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high?
• 56:08
  And he overlaid it with pure gold.
• 56:10
  He also overlaid an altar of cedar.
• 56:12
  So the Most Holy Place, if you were a high priest going in once
• 56:18
  a year, you would realize that it was a perfect square or a
• 56:21
  cube. The descriptions of the temple.
• 56:28
  And the descriptions of the new city of Jerusalem, the heavenly
• 56:32
  city Jerusalem, are strikingly similar.
• 56:35
  The materials, the stones, and even the idea of the the
• 56:38
  perfection of its dimensions. What's being conveyed here,
• 56:43
  What's what's the message here is the message that the city
• 56:48
  Jerusalem will, will be the heavenly temple.
• 56:53
  This is the final temple, right? I mean, you see the description
• 56:57
  in Solomon's Temple? It's there's gold or stones and
• 57:00
  even the measurements are the same.
• 57:01
  So is this the new temple that we will worship in forever and
• 57:06
  ever? No, it's not.
• 57:06
  Do you know why? Who knows why?
• 57:08
  You have to go back to Revelation 21.
• 57:12
  You get the answer to why When you go to 21, verse 22, what do
• 57:19
  you read? And I saw what?
• 57:23
  No temple. And I saw no temple in the city,
• 57:27
  for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb.
• 57:33
  So why does so much of Solomon's temple then point to the New
• 57:40
  Jerusalem if there's going to be no temple in that city?
• 57:47
  And I believe the message here that the Holy Spirit is trying
• 57:49
  to relay to us is that the temple had not just certain
• 57:56
  dimensions and rules, it had a specific protocol.
• 58:02
  You know this protocol very well, that if you were to
• 58:05
  minister in the temple, you had to be a what?
• 58:08
  You have to be a priest. From a specific line, from a
• 58:11
  specific tribe, And not only that, but if you were to go into
• 58:14
  the Holy of Holies, you couldn't be any priest.
• 58:16
  You have to be the you have to be the high priest, and you can
• 58:19
  only go in one day out of the year.
• 58:24
  And if you walked in there, if you read the description, you
• 58:27
  not only see the Ark of the Covenant, you see these towering
• 58:30
  cherubim whose wings touch the walls of that room and the other
• 58:34
  wings. Touch each other overshadowing
• 58:36
  the ark. It it was supposed to give you
• 58:38
  this feeling of this is holy, this is heavenly, this is the
• 58:43
  throne of God, and there was only one person, one person, one
• 58:51
  time out of the year. Who can enjoy that?
• 58:54
  Who can be in close proximity to that?
• 58:58
  And then now you come to this book called Revelation, and you
• 59:00
  realize that if you have a knowledge of the Old Testament,
• 59:05
  namely the temple, this place that was only for the privilege,
• 59:09
  only for these certain priests, and this most holy place that
• 59:12
  was exclusively and singularly for one man.
• 59:19
  Is now a place that everybody can enter into.
• 59:22
  Let me put it this way. The city of Jerusalem will be
• 59:29
  the eternal Holy of Holies. So you have this square in the
• 59:35
  temple that only one person can enter into.
• 59:37
  And then we're being told of this.
• 59:39
  Perfect. Cube to come.
• 59:42
  It's not a temple, but it's supposed to point you and remind
• 59:45
  you of a place in the temple where the presence of God would
• 59:49
  radiate. And now it's a city, and in
• 59:52
  essence it becomes the most holy place.
• 59:55
  Not just for one person. Can I tell you who it's for?
• 59:58
  Go back to Revelation 21 and verse 27.
• 1:00:01
  Here's who it's for. But nothing unclean will ever
• 1:00:06
  enter it. The city.
• 1:00:08
  Nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only
• 1:00:12
  those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
• 1:00:18
  The new city of Jerusalem becomes the eternal Holy of
• 1:00:21
  Holies. The connection with the
• 1:00:23
  measurement and the material is supposed to help you realize
• 1:00:26
  this is the place now that will host the Presence.
• 1:00:28
  And glory of God. But everyone who has been
• 1:00:31
  washing the blood of the lamb can enjoy it.
• 1:00:35
  Not only that, you don't just visit the city.
• 1:00:39
  The Holy of Holies, the eternal Holy Holies, becomes your home.
• 1:00:43
  It's where you're going to live forever and ever and ever.
• 1:00:47
  That's the connection. Now, if you skip the First Kings
• 1:00:51
  Chapter 6, you would think that the only perfect cube in the
• 1:00:53
  Bible is this new city, Jerusalem.
• 1:00:54
  No, There was another one in Solomon's Temple.
• 1:00:58
  And you're supposed to make all those connections.
• 1:01:00
  There's only one person who could go in there.
• 1:01:01
  But there's a day coming. There is a city coming.
• 1:01:04
  There's a. Holy of Holies that is coming.
• 1:01:07
  Where can I go and enjoy the presence of God?
• 1:01:09
  Oh yeah, all whose names are written in the lamb's book of
• 1:01:12
  life can go in and enjoy it forever and ever and ever.
• 1:01:17
  And I told you I was reading Hebrews this week, right?
• 1:01:19
  This is the verse that I saw, the last chapter of Hebrews that
• 1:01:22
  brought this so perfectly together.
• 1:01:23
  You don't have to turn there. Just listen to this.
• 1:01:25
  And Hebrews 1314 for here and 1314 for here.
• 1:01:31
  We have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
• 1:01:37
  That is to come. Is your name written in the
• 1:01:41
  Lamb's book of life? If it is, you have a new
• 1:01:45
  address, you have a new home. You get to walk into something
• 1:01:50
  that only one man could enjoy, with absolute terror, by the
• 1:01:54
  way, and fear not knowing if he was cleansed enough to walk in
• 1:01:57
  and not be struck down by the holiness of God.
• 1:02:00
  But when the city comes, that will radiate and manifest the
• 1:02:05
  unfiltered presence of God. You will have a white robe.
• 1:02:10
  You will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ that
• 1:02:13
  will remove every ounce of fear from the holiness of God, and
• 1:02:16
  all you will know is perfect bliss with Him and unending
• 1:02:22
  years upon years upon years upon years.
• 1:02:24
  There is an eternal holy of holies that's waiting for you
• 1:02:27
  and I, and the way that you have entrance and residence in it is
• 1:02:32
  if you have your name. Sealed by his blood, in that
• 1:02:36
  book of life, Lord, we ask that every person here would know for
• 1:02:40
  certain that that is the city that they will enter into and
• 1:02:44
  reside in. And we thank you for the
• 1:02:46
  richness of your word in First Kings. 6 And we pray, Lord, that
• 1:02:49
  it would encourage us to continue to mind the Word of
• 1:02:51
  God, trusting that you have something to say to us, trusting
• 1:02:55
  that we will see the harmony and the Symphony of the scriptures.
• 1:02:58
  And we pray, Lord, that our hearts would have been moved to
• 1:03:01
  even worship you in song as we see the absolute supernatural
• 1:03:04
  authorship of this book that we are carrying in our hands.
• 1:03:07
  Lord, glory be to your name. Because what we just studied is
• 1:03:11
  our future, is our tomorrow, is our security.
• 1:03:14
  And we have been guaranteed it. And so we say on this Friday
• 1:03:17
  night, Thank you, thank you, thank you.
• 1:03:20
  And Lord, until we enter into that holy of holies in the city
• 1:03:23
  of this heavenly Jerusalem, help us be the temple of the Holy
• 1:03:27
  Spirit today, pure, undefiled, unified as stones, living
• 1:03:32
  together for the glory of God. And may there be sweet incense
• 1:03:36
  coming to your throne even now. In Jesus name.
• 1:03:39
  Amen. As the team comes up, listen,
• 1:03:41
  you're a priest, a royal priesthood this night.
• 1:03:45
  Don't let your mind wander. Don't let your plans for
• 1:03:49
  tomorrow over shadow the moment. I want you to see yourself in
• 1:03:52
  this place, the way the Bible describes you even as you sing
• 1:03:55
  now you were singing and offering a sacrifice of praise
• 1:03:59
  to the Holy One, to the King of Kings, and to the Lord of Lords.
• 1:04:04
  We should never, ever treat a moment like this as mundane.
• 1:04:08
  It irks me. It irks me.
• 1:04:10
  Can I be honest with you? It absolutely irks me.
• 1:04:13
  When in a meeting, whether it's like this or any meeting, this
• 1:04:15
  church or another church. When you see a place where
• 1:04:18
  people are distracted and bored. How?
• 1:04:23
  How? If this book is true, how how
• 1:04:26
  can you, when you're in the presence of the King of Kings
• 1:04:30
  and when you've been clothed an identity and a purpose for the
• 1:04:33
  sole goal of pleasing him, Never mind anybody else, never mind
• 1:04:36
  the elders. God himself as your chief
• 1:04:40
  priority and your chief audience.
• 1:04:42
  I'm here, Lord, to please you. You've redeemed me.
• 1:04:44
  You've brought me to bring it to yourself.
• 1:04:46
  And if that's the reason why you save me, then I'll give you what
• 1:04:49
  you paid for, and that's worship.
• 1:04:55
  If your heart is lukewarm, bring it to the altar and let God
• 1:05:00
  light it on fire. Ask the Lord, Lord, even that
• 1:05:05
  Bible study, OK, it was kind of interesting.
• 1:05:10
  Like the guy up there got a little excited at certain parts.
• 1:05:13
  I appreciated that. That's not the way you're
• 1:05:15
  supposed to engage with the word of God.
• 1:05:18
  Lord, set my heart on fire. And let me believe that you have
• 1:05:22
  deposited something from heaven that can absolutely radicalize
• 1:05:26
  and change my life if I engage with it in faith.
• 1:05:29
  Well, I pray that you would get that lest your spiritual journey
• 1:05:34
  become empty. Vain surface studies and a sin
• 1:05:40
  bound life where you just go from boring to boring instead of
• 1:05:45
  glory to glory may never be of us.
• 1:05:49
  And so I exhort you. What?
• 1:05:50
  What that what just happened there?
• 1:05:51
  He said what just happened? He was so nice up to that last
• 1:05:53
  point. What just happened there is
• 1:05:55
  called exhortation, admonition, telling you and encouraging,
• 1:06:01
  stirring you to see what this is really all about.
• 1:06:04
  Can we stand and give the Lord worship on this Friday night and
• 1:06:07
  say Lord, I have been called the royal priesthood, I've been
• 1:06:10
  called the chosen people. And now based on the truth that
• 1:06:13
  I heard, If this is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you've
• 1:06:16
  called me to be a priest to give spiritual sacrifice, then here
• 1:06:19
  it is. Engage with your God tonight in
• 1:06:21
  Jesus name.