Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Resting In Order to Serve (1 Chronicles 22) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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Resting In Order to Serve (1 Chronicles 22) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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If you would, please take your copy of God's
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Word. Maybe you've brought a copy today. You
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may also reach for the one in the pew back there
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in front of you. We're going to be in 1 Chronicles
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chapter 22. And what we're doing is really finishing
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out our sermon series on the life of David. There
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is so much on the life of David. So you've noticed
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we've we've hit some we've hit the highlights
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We've also hit some of the lowlights, right?
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We cannot possibly cover everything on the life
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of David There's so much and first Samuel and
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second Samuel and the beginning of first Kings.
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There's so much in the Psalms, but we also Today
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go into first Chronicles and we'll be in chapter
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22 And so I ask That you would give careful attention
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to the reading of God's holy word First Chronicles
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22 the whole chapter then David said Here shall
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be the house of the Lord God and here the altar
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of burnt offering for Israel David commanded
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together to gather together the resident aliens
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who were in the land of Israel and he set stone
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cutters to prepare dress stones for building
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the house of God. David also provided great quantities
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of iron for nails, for the doors of the gates
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and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities
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beyond weighing, and cedar timbers without number.
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For the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities
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of cedar to David, and David said, Solomon, my
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son, young and inexperienced, and the house that
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is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly
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magnificent of fame and glory throughout all
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lands. I will therefore make preparation for
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it." So David provided materials in great quantity
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before his death. Then he called for Solomon
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his son and charged him to build a house for
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the Lord the God of Israel. David said to Solomon
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my son I had it in my heart to build a house
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to the name of the Lord my God But the word of
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the Lord came to me saying you've shed much blood
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and have waged great wars You shall not build
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a house to my name because you have shed so much
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blood before me on the earth Behold a son shall
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be born to you who shall be a man of rest I will
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give him rest from all his surrounding enemies
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for his name shall be Solomon and I will give
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peace and quiet to Israel in his days he shall
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build a house for my name he shall be my son
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and I will be his father and I will establish
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his royal throne in Israel forever now my son
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the Lord be with you so that you may succeed
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in building the house of the Lord your God as
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he has spoken concerning you only may the Lord
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grant you discretion and understanding that when
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he gives you charge over Israel you may keep
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the law of the Lord your God then you will prosper
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if you're careful to observe the statutes and
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the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel
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be strong and courageous fear not do not be dismayed
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with great pains I have provided for the house
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of the Lord 100 ,000 talents of gold, a million
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talents of silver and bronze and iron, beyond
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weighing, there is so much of it, timber and
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stone too, I have provided. To these you must
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add, you have an abundance of workmen, stone
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cutters, masons, carpenters, all kinds of craftsmen
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without numbers, skilled and working, gold, silver,
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bronze and iron, arise and work. the Lord be
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with you. David also commanded all the leaders
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of Israel to help Solomon his son saying is not
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the Lord your God with you and has he not given
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you peace on every side for he has delivered
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the inhabitants of the land into my hand and
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the land is subdued before the Lord and his people.
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Now set your mind and your heart to seek the
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Lord your God arise and build the sanctuary.
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the Lord God So that the ark of the covenant
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of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be
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brought into a house built for the name of the
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Lord This is God's Word. Let's pray Father we
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thank you for a good word. We thank you for all
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66 books of the Bible We thank you for 1 Chronicles
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22, and we ask that you would open our hearts
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and our minds to hear from you to help us, by
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grace, live out the Christian life and serve
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you. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. I wonder
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if you saw a news story this week out of Australia.
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There was a 98 -year -old woman named Yvonne
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Engelman. She was an Auschwitz survivor. After
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surviving that concentration camp, she moved
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as far away as she could. And so she moved to
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Australia. She passed away this week. She was
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originally from Czechoslovakia. And during World
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War II, she was sent with her family to Auschwitz.
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And before they got there, Yvonne's Her father
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specifically said to her, I don't know where
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we're going, but I know we're not going on holiday.
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Promise me this, Yvonne, that you will survive.
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And the young girl told her father, I will survive.
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The sad reality is that she was the only one
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of the family that did survive that death camp.
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Her story is well known. And that while she was
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there, she was in a group that was going to be
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taken to one of those dreadful chambers. Except
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on that particular day, the gas didn't work.
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It didn't turn on. And so instead of being put
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to death, she was put to work. If you've ever
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been to Auschwitz, you know there is an awful
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sign that hangs over the entrance to the death
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camp. It says, work sets you free. It's a wrought
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iron sign. And of all of the horrific things
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that you see when you go into that concentration
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camp, you honestly don't have to set foot inside
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before you have a sense of terror, before you
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have a sense of the evil and the cruelty that
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was done. With a sign like that, you don't have
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to go any further. Because the sad reality of
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that place is work didn't set anybody free. Work
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didn't set anybody free there. The Lord saved
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her, and then they put her to work. I don't want
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to make too much of a connection here, but it
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should not go unnoticed that with a slogan like
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that, work sets you free, that appeals to us.
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It doesn't just appeal to Nazis. It doesn't just
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appeal to the Germans. It appeals to us, too.
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Work sets you free. We like how that sounds,
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right? We're Americans. We like to work. We're
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put -our -nose -to -the -grind kind of people.
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We're put on your gloves and your work boots
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and let's get after it. We like people who do
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that. That's called success in our minds. Work
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sets you free. But what if there was another
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way? What if we didn't trust the sign hanging
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over the entrance of a death camp? What if work
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was the thing that you did after you were free?
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What if freedom set you to work? That's what
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I want us to see today in this passage, that
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we are freed by the Lord from our slavery to
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sin in order then to do God's will. We're talking
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about the construction of the temple. Solomon's
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temple was the biggest, grandest, most expensive
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project of all time at the time. It really was.
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And yet, Solomon and these Jewish leaders within
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the text, they don't accomplish the building
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of this temple on their own. They were set free
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to do it. They set their minds and their hearts
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on the Lord. And with the Lord, they're able
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to construct this. Temple. Chapter 22, we see
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mostly this is a private conversation between
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David and Solomon. And so let's start there with
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David and Solomon. This chapter reminds us of
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something we've already looked at, about how
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David really, really wanted to build the temple
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for the Lord, right? He wanted to build a house
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for the Lord. David said, I've got a house. Why
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don't you, Lord, have a house? Well, here we
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see that David would not be the one to build
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that temple. Instead, the Bible says that Solomon
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would. You'll remember David had many sons. Three
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of them actually died before David does. We haven't
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spent a lot of time on Absalom, but you'll remember
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that David feuded with his son Absalom for a
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very long time. We might even say... that perhaps
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David's greatest battles were actually fought
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against his own son. But here you have another
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son, and this is Solomon. And within our text
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here, Solomon is really young. We don't know
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exactly how old he is, but probably a teenager.
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But we know that David was zealous to build the
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temple, but he wouldn't be the one to do it.
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Look in verse 8. The word of the Lord came to
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me saying, you have shed much blood and have
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waged great wars. You shall not build a house
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to my name because you have shed so much blood
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before me on the earth. So David's not going
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to be the one to do it. How come? It's actually
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a bit of a tricky spot in scripture. There are
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at least two possibilities of interpretation,
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maybe more. Some have looked at David's shedding
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of blood, and they have said, well, this usually
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assumes that it's a statement of guilt, saying,
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David, we know what you've done with Uriah. We
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know about that whole episode with Bathsheba.
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And so because of that shed blood, you will not
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be the one to build the temple. However, While
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it may be true, we also recognize that David
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is called in many places a man of war. In many
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of those wars, the Lord actually commanded him
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to fight and to lead. And so that have led some
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to say this has nothing to do with Bathsheba
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and with Uriah. This has to do with the very
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fact that David has shed a lot of blood as a
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warrior and perhaps his hands are unclean from
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the shedding of blood. To be honest with you,
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I think both of them might be in play here. We
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do know that David sinned greatly. And we do
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know from last Sunday that David sinned with
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Uriah and with Bathsheba. That whole episode
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had ongoing consequences. The Lord told him there
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would be consequences for this, even as he truly
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repented. David goes through so much in his life.
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He goes through horrible family trauma. He doesn't
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handle it all well. Through it all though, he
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makes preparation so that Joshua, or not Joshua,
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so that Solomon can build the temple. And I reference
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Joshua because as we're reading this, you might
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get a sense, hey, I feel like I've heard some
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of this before. And the reason that you feel
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that way is because I think this text is encouraging
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us to think about somebody else who is doing
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something incredible for the Lord, but didn't
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get to finish it. We're supposed to think of
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Moses and Joshua here. You remember Moses leading
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the people, the Israelites, out of Egypt and
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going on the way to the promised land, but he
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doesn't get to take the people all the way there,
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does he? Instead, he has to hand the reins over
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to Joshua. There's several similarities then,
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both. Joshua and Solomon have a commissioning
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service. And just as Moses was not able to finish
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what he started, David doesn't get to build the
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temple. But you can see the headway, the work
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that he puts into it to ensure that Solomon will
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be successful. Look at all of these materials
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here. Gold and silver, bronze, iron, timber,
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and stone. I'm not much of a mathematician, but
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I've read some who have calculated the numbers,
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especially with the gold and the silver. As you
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look at these numbers and you calculate them
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today, we would be talking this temple, just
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in those precious materials alone, hundreds of
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billions of dollars would have gone into this
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temple. Hundreds of billions of dollars into
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this This temple was to be the most magnificent
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structure around. This temple was to be so grand
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that people from out of town, from way far away
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would be like, hey, have you heard about that
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temple that they're building there? Have you
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heard about this guy, Solomon, and this temple?
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But David doesn't get to build it. Instead, Solomon
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does. But we see that as much as David wants
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this and as much as David does, Who really provides
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the materials? The Lord provides those. And not
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only that, but the Lord also provides the workers,
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right? A great, a great number of workers at
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work on this temple. This is the locals. These
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are the Jebusites, which tells us something else
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important about the temple. Is that from the
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start, with this temple, God was already including
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Gentiles here. The temple is built on Gentile
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land. Again, the Jebusites. This temple is built
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by Gentiles. God is already including others
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in this thing. And so, yes, we are to think about
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Moses and Joshua. Because all along what God
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is doing is preparing redemptive history. As
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the Israelites were saved from Egypt, He saves
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them, and we are supposed, as we read that episode,
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to think of Christ and what He has done, about
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how Christ saves us from our sin. As the Israelites
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were saved from being enslaved to the Egyptians,
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so we are saved by Christ from our enslavement
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to sin. Thirdly, though, of these connections,
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look at the language here. Be not afraid, don't
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be dismayed, strong and courageous. Who does
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this sound like? Again, Moses to Joshua. This
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is God telling Moses who's telling Joshua these
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things. You can read this in Deuteronomy 31,
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I think verse 6, and Joshua 1, verse 9. So if
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you're feeling a little bit of Moses and Joshua
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going on, that's intentional. And so what David
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does is he passes these good words onto his son,
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Solomon. But if I can add even more history to
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this, you should think of Moses, you should think
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of Joshua, you might even see beyond them to
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Abraham. Because where is the temple being constructed?
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I haven't mentioned it yet. But I'm gonna read
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to you 2nd Chronicles 3 1 2nd Chronicles 3 1
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Then Solomon began to build the house of the
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Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah Where the Lord
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had appeared to David his father At the place
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that David had appointed on the threshing floor
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of Ornon the Jebusite If you know your Bibles
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well, what else happened on Mount Moriah? You
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know that this was the location that Abraham
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took his son Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice.
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And just before Abraham could plunge that knife
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into his son, the Lord said, stop. And he provided
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a ram to be the sacrifice. You know what else
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happened not too far from Mount Moriah? Mount
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Calvary, Golgotha. Moriah is not far from the
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location where Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice,
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was crucified. And so you can see within this
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text that sounds like it's about materials and
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sounds like it's a father's encouragement to
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his son. We see redemptive history playing out
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in this thing. Mount Moriah is where the temple
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would be built. But you might say, well, this
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temple sounds pretty important. Why does God
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use Solomon? Why does he use this young man,
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this son of David? Look in verse 9. Behold, a
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son shall be born to you who shall be a man of
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rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding
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enemies, for his name shall be Solomon. And I
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will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
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Solomon, unlike his father, was to be a man of
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peace, not a man of war, but the Lord provides
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the conditions, right? He provides the peace,
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but also the Lord provides a name. What's the
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Hebrew name for Solomon? Shalomah. Does that
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sound like shalom to you? It should, because
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that's where Solomon gets his name. Shalom means
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peace. But also notice how the peace comes. It's
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not achieved. It's not attained. It's given.
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The Lord is the one who gives the rest from the
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surrounding enemies. The Lord gives the peace
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and the quiet. And what a relief this must have
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been for David. David, who's been through so
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many wars. He's fought with Goliath. He's been
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a king. He's been a warrior. He's been a refugee.
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He's been a father. What a relief that David
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gets to say to his son, it's going to be okay.
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that as you take the throne, you will not have
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to fight the same battles, the bloody battles
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that I had to fight. Oh, if we could all be in
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such a position with our children to say it's
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going to be okay, I know so many of you, you
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would fight a thousand battles for your children,
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right? This is what David gets to say to his
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son, the Lord is bringing about peace for you
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so that you may build the temple. Now, as parents,
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we might not get to give our children peace like
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that. But David does tell Solomon how to navigate
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the storms of life. So you can do this to four
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things that David tells his son. Look in verse
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12. Only may the Lord grant you discretion and
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understanding. This sounds like a blessing, doesn't
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it? May the Lord grant Solomon is later going
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to ask for wisdom, right? We might even say that
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that prayer is already being asked, that blessing
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placed upon Solomon by his father. May the Lord
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grant you understanding. He knows that Solomon
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will need that. Secondly, a parent's urgent advice,
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the latter half of verse 12. Observe the statutes
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and the rules of the Lord. David tells his son,
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be obedient to the very word of God. Parents,
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You can do that too. You can open your Bibles.
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You must open your Bibles for your children.
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Help them to see that this is our roadmap. This
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is how we live the Christian life, by observing
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what God has for us in His Word. Thirdly, the
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language again that's here. Be strong and courageous.
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Fear not. David encourages his son. David knows
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the task ahead is going to be tremendous. But
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he says, don't fear, trust the Lord. We have
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to tell our children that as well. And fourthly,
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and I've said this to the last, but it's important,
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it kind of bookends this speech, the Lord is
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with you. When David says that to Solomon, when
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he says the Lord be with you, it's not a catchphrase.
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It's not something you put on a t -shirt. He's
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telling him, you will not be able to do this
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thing if the Lord's not with you. Friends, we
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need to be freed to work. We need to rest in
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order to serve. In order to do anything for the
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Lord, we must first rest in Christ. We have already
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said this, haven't we? The Westminster Shorter
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Catechism, number 86. Faith in Jesus Christ is
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a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon
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him alone for salvation as he's offered to us
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in the gospel. Friends, in order to do anything
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for the Lord. We must rest in Jesus as our savior.
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You have been created in Christ for good works,
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but the work that saves you is not yours. The
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work that saved you is Jesus's work, his life
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and his death. And so what does Jesus tell you?
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It was also on our call to worship. He tells
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you to come and lay your burdens at his feet.
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That's what we must do. We cannot free ourselves
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from the grip that sin has upon us. It's too
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strong. No amount of labor on your part can save
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you. We need to be freed from sin in order to
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serve. That's not just us. That's not just Solomon.
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That's also the leaders. Look in verses 17 through
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19. David no doubt is concerned for his son.
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He's concerned for the temple being built, but
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he doesn't tell these leaders, hey, go get your
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best pair of work gloves and your work boots
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and get after it. No, David says to the leaders
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the same thing that he said to his son is not
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the Lord with you. The Lord supplies the materials.
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The Lord supplies the workforce. The Lord supplies
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the peace from the enemies. The Lord makes the
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conditions perfect. And so he says, set your
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mind in your heart to seek the Lord. actively
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obey Him. And you can build this sanctuary, this
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temple. Why, though? Why does the temple need
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to be built? What's the purpose? The purpose
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is for worship. That's really what this discussion
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is all about. Why does the Lord need a house?
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He doesn't have a body. You say, well, it's for
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the ark, but why? It's all for worship David
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acknowledges anything he's been able to do is
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because of the invisible hand of God and David
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recognizes this He recognizes that he is chosen
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for this work His son is chosen for this work
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flip over to 28 chapter 28 verses 4 through 7
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First Chronicles 28 4 through 7 they are chosen
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for this work 28 for yet the Lord God of Israel
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chose me from all my father's house to be king
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over Israel forever for he chose Judah as leader
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and in the house of Judah my father's house and
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among my father's sons he took pleasure in me
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make me king over all Israel and of all my sons
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for the Lord has given me many sons he has chosen
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Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom
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of the Lord over Israel he said to me it is solemn
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in your son who shall build my house in my courts
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right chosen him to be my son and I will be his
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father I will establish his kingdom forever if
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he continues strong and keeping my commandments
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and my rules as he is today Friends, if you are
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really here for worship, and if you're really
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a Christian, it's not because you willed yourself
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to be one. And if you've accomplished anything
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at all for the Lord in your life, it's not through
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your own hard work. And if you have peace in
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your heart today, it's not because you achieved
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it somehow. It comes from the Prince of Peace.
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And once we have that Prince of Peace, once we
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have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we've
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believed on the name of Jesus Christ, then and
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only then we are called to action. You remember
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Ephesians 2 10, for in Jesus Christ, we're created
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for good works, which he prepared beforehand.
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We're created for good works. And so what this
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is, what chapter 22 is, it's a call to serve.
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With redeemed hearts, we are to seek and honor
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God and loving him and loving others. That's
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what this chapter is. But there's also a gospel
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connection here. We know that the temple that
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Solomon built, it was destroyed, right? And then
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another one was built, right? And then Jesus
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said to the Jewish leaders, he said, destroy
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this temple and I will raise it up in three days.
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And they said, what are you talking about? You
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can't possibly do that. They didn't understand.
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They were confused, right? He was talking about
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his own death and his own resurrection. He says,
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I'll be raised on the third day because he who
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lays his life down does so to take it up again.
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Let me read to you a quote from one commentator
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on this. As a place of God's dwelling, Christ
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is the way of access to God's presence. The goal
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of David's temple is the goal of incarnation.
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The Lord dwells on earth with humans in the fullness
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of his attributes. But the commentator also goes
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on to explain that not only is Christ the temple,
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but we as Christians, as the church, we are also
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the temple. because of the indwelling of the
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Holy Spirit, as God's temple, we can then serve
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God. Yvonne Engelmann that I referenced at the
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beginning, she was freed from that death camp
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and she went on to serve every single week in
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a Holocaust museum in Australia. That's how she
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went about service. But we, have the Holy Spirit.
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We've believed in Jesus. And so how might Jesus
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use us? What is our call to action? Well, there's
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probably a lot that we could say here. I'll just
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give you one point of application. We are called
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to build the church. Now you might say, well,
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Matthew 16 tells us that Jesus builds the church
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and the gates of hell will not prevail against
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it. And that's 100 % true. but what is true of
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Solomon in building the temple is true of us
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as we build the church unless the Lord builds
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the house those who build it labor in vain but
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no doubt God called Solomon to action and God
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provided what he needed and so he does with us
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you Christian you've been commissioned by Jesus
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to go and make disciples of every nation and
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I get it it can be a lot to build the church.
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It can be a lot to do evangelism. It can be a
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lot to do apologetics. It can be a lot to go
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on a mission trip. It can be a lot even for us,
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especially those of us who are a little bit timid
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to share with our neighbor or our co -worker
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or even our relative. But the Lord grants you
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understanding. The Lord has given you his word
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to guide you. The Lord provides strength and
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so we shouldn't fear. And the Lord promises his
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presence as we build the church. And so church,
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arise. You have been freed to serve. Let us make
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disciples and go out to build the church to the
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glory of God. Let's pray.