Our gospel lesson text this morning is from 2 Chronicles chapter 3. We'll read chapter 3 and chapter 4 in the first verse of chapter 5 this morning. This is an account of Solomon constructing the temple when he first takes leadership of Israel. He takes this upon himself as a top priority. And please turn there in your Bibles or in the Bibles that are in your seats. That's found on page 309. I'll give you another few seconds to get to that. Second Chronicles chapter 3 beginning in verse 1. This is God's Word, eternally true, written for His glory and our good. Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Mariah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the Threshing floor of Aaronod, the Jebus site, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month and the fourth year of his reign. The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was 60 qubits long and 20 qubits wide using the qubit of the old standard. The portico at the front of the temple was 20 qubits long across the width of the building and 20 qubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. He paneled the main hall with pine and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones and the gold he used was the gold of Parvam. He overlaid the ceiling beams, door frames, walls and doors of the temple with gold and he carved chair of them on the walls. He built the most holy place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple, 20 qubits long and 20 qubits wide. He overlaid the inside with 600 talents of fine gold. The gold nails weighed 50 shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold. In the most holy place he made a pair of sculpture chair of them and overlaid them with gold. The total wing span of the chair of them was 20 qubits. One wing of the first chair of was 5 qubits long and touched the temple wall while its other wing also 5 qubits long touched the wing of the other chair of them. Similarly, one wing of the second chair of was 5 qubits long and touched the other temple wall with its other wing, also 5 qubits long. Touch the wing of the first chair of them. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, they stood on their feet, facing the main hall. He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn, and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it. In the front of the temple he made two pillars, which together were thirty-five cubits long, each with a capital on top measuring five cubits. He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates, and attached them to the chains. He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south, and one to the north. The one to the south, he named Jacob, and the one to the north, Boaz. He made a bronze altar, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. He made the sea of cast metal circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. Below the rim figures of bulls encircled it, ten to a cubit. The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the sea. The sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a hands-breath and thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup like a lily-blossom. It held three thousand baths. He then made ten basins for washing in place five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burn offerings were rinsed, but the sea was to be used by the priests for washing. He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls. He made the courtyard of the priests in the large court and the doors for the court and overlaid the doors with bronze. He placed the sea on the south side at the southeast corner. He also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Harem finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God. The two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network, two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on the top of the pillars, the stands with their basins, the sea and the twelve bowls under it, the pots, shovels, meat forks, and all related articles. All the objects that Harem Avi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. The king had them cast in clay mold in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkuff and Zarathun. All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze was not determined. Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God's temple, the golden altar, tables on which it was the bread of the presence. The lamp stands of pure gold with their lamps to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed. The gold floral worked in lamps and tongs, they were solid gold, and the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and sensors, and the gold doors of the temple, the inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall. When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished. He brought in the things. His father David had dedicated the silver and gold and all the furnishings, and he placed them in the treasuries of God's temple. Hereins our reading of this week's Gospel lesson text, let us give thanks to the Lord using the response of thankfulness we have printed in our bulletin's forests. The word of the Lord, let us pray. Our Father, we are grateful to you for your word, and as we read this passage about qubits and other things that we don't even know what they are in some cases, we know that you have written this word for our good and for your glory. So we pray Jesus that you would preach this word to us that you might be glorified by your word and your spirit, by your words here to us, and shape us to be more and more conformed to your image, Jesus, cause us as a result to live lives more in conformity that are more worthy of your Gospel. We ask in Christ's name, Amen. As we look at this passage of Scripture, describing in pretty good detail how Solomon built the temple during his day, we remind ourselves of a couple of things that the writer of Chronicles under inspiration, the Holy Spirit, has emphasized to us in the first two chapters of 2 Chronicles. And you have in your bulletin here these two points of review. And these points of review remind us of the fact that Solomon, when he took over the kingship, had worship chapter 1 first and foremost in his mind. The temple wasn't even established right when he started, but he needed to worship. And so he went to another city where the bronze altar was where he could appropriately offer burnt offerings to the Lord and he offered a thousand burnt offerings because worship was that important to him, whatever the cost he was going to do it and he was going to worship God extravagantly. So then chapter 2, Solomon starts gathering what's needed for building the temple, because if the temple is the place where the regular worship of God will go on, and so he contacts some friends of his father, a friend especially up to the north and gets from him, skilled craftsman, and he gets from this king resources materials that he would need, saying that he would build this temple great and glorious because God is so magnificent in this temple needed to represent the God of Israel who is greater than all gods. And so we come here and we understand that as the writers of the New Testament have called the temple of God today, the church, or have called the church a holy temple in the Lord, we are the temple and Solomon is not building us, but Jesus is, Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against us. So Jesus is building the church today, he is building you, he's building us together and we take part in this. Solomon didn't actually pick up a hammer that we know of and help out the craftsman. We don't know that he picked up any stones and made the temple building, but rather he employed people underneath him that we read about in the first two chapters of 2 Chronicles to take part in temple building with him and in like manner, Jesus our king who is building the church, he has gone to heaven and we are his arms and feet here on this earth to build the church. And so we spoke about and heard from him last week in chapter 2, how do we build the church? And these are your two points of review. I, we build the church by, here's how you build the church is a Christian, employing, that's your, that's your blank there, employing your gifts and abilities in and for the church. We are the craftsman that Jesus has called to come and build his church and we employ the gifts that he's given us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that when we came to faith in Jesus it was by Jesus Spirit, the Holy Spirit that we came to faith and when we came to faith the Spirit distributed to each one of us different gifts, different abilities for the building up of the church. So Jesus called to us in the gospel like Solomon's call as king to his people and even people that were aliens to the land. His call to us in the gospel when we were an alien, not a citizen of the kingdom of God, comes to us as a call to worship, comes to us also as a call to build his church. So we employ our abilities, our gifts in and for the church and so as we are members of the church we're always looking whether it's in a permanent kind of way or whether it's just a way in an instant. There's a new person, I can build up the church by going and talking with them and showing them how Jesus loves me, how Jesus is merciful, how Jesus is always calling out to include people to be among his people and so we can make instant decisions like that to use my gifts and abilities, my ability to say words, my ability to go shake someone's hand and say hi I'm John, it's nice to have you as this your first time here and you folks do a good job of that in the church but we employ whatever gifts and abilities that God has given us from the least skilled gifts to the most skilled gifts, we're always asking in our minds how can I contribute to the building up of the church so that my king Jesus is honored and glorified? Secondly, we build up the church by here's your blank telling, telling non-believers of Jesus, the New Testament tells us that the Old Testament temple is really a form and a shadow of what Jesus would do in the church, that is Jesus would build a living temple which is made up of living stones which Peter calls and first Peter to us, you and I are living stones that are the walls of the temple of God the church and so as we express the gospel to other people we reveal the character of Jesus to other people in our words and in our deeds what we're doing is contributing to a living stone being added to the church should any of those people come to faith in Jesus. We can build up the church by telling people of Jesus because as we do and as they believe living stones are added to the church but the question then comes and if you've ever been in a work situation or in a school situation where you're having trouble getting motivated as to why I should do whatever it is say you've been given a homework assignment and it just seems like busy work you say why do we have to do this and you know if you can be given a good reason for why you're doing this or if you're on a sports team why do we have to run up the hill up and down 20 times your dad never did that to you did he lean Larry was a track coach one point
leans track coach among others why do we do this and you know when you come to understand when you get a good reason of why we're doing something it helps us out it helps us to do it and in fact we may start doing it on our own when our teacher or coach or our coach or boss is not there because we begin to understand if I do this activity at work it leads to the the better profitability of my company and there are all kinds of benefits with that I might get promoted because I'm contributing to the profitability of my company I might have a better relationship with my boss because he's asked me to do this thing and I'm doing this thing with some intensity with some fervor all kinds of benefits and it helps us to do any task when we understand why it is we're doing it this passage here book of Chronicles is obviously written after this time we can look to the end of second Chronicles and see the earliest date for the writing of this book it was written when God's people come back from their exile and they've come back to a temple that has been burnt by King Nebuchadnezzar who took Daniel with them back about 80 years before and they're asking the question why should we rebuild the temple does this matter that the temple get rebuilt and the writer of Chronicles here under inspiration the Holy Spirit gives us reasons reason after reason why it's important that God's people rebuild the temple or for us today why it's important that I employ my gifts and abilities in the church for the church to be built up why it's important that I speak of Jesus to my neighbor who doesn't know him so we have five reasons this morning those your five points in this in this sermon outline and motivations we have for building the church one we build the church because it's the pinnacle goal of Jesus our King we build the church because it's the pinnacle goal of Jesus our King look at verse one of chapter three then Solomon began to build the temple the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Mariah where the Lord had appeared to his father David it was on the Threshing floor of Aaron on the Jebusite the place provided by David and then we look at the last verse of our passage this morning chapter five verse one when all the work of Solomon had all the work Solomon had done for the temple the Lord was finished he brought in the things his father David had dedicated the silver and gold and all the furnishings and he placed them in the treasuries of God's temple what we're confronted with here is that the two ideal kings over God's people in the Old Testament the two pinnacle guys the two kings who were the best kings that Israel had they aligned their efforts to temple building a passage that was just great and almost essential background for this was just too long to read this morning so instead we had a verse one verse about the pillar the pillars of the gods people being the church but this was in first chronicles about chapters 19 through 21 and it's where David takes this evil census of God's people particularly particularly he is counting how many men in Israel and all Israel are able to fight are able to use the sword and so David is considering how strong he is and this is an evil thing and his the commander of his troops even says no David don't make me do this take this census this is an evil thing to trust in our might instead of to trust in the might of the Lord but David wins out he's king and so his commander goes out and counts all the the men of Israel and comes back and then David's confronted by one of the prophets of the day who says David this is an evil thing and you will be punished and he gives David three choices of bad things that could happen to him and the people of God and three years of one thing three months of another thing and three days of another thing and David takes the three days and says I want to be in the hands of the Lord and this is three days of plague all across the land and so this plague comes and it starts demolishing and angel the Lord comes and starts bringing this plague all across Israel and a great thousands upon thousands of people die and David sees an angel the Lord outside of Jerusalem with his sword who's paused for a moment and David goes out and he comes to this place owned by a man named Aaronah who's a Jebusite the Jebusites were not Israelites they were the original habitants of Jerusalem Jebusites lived in Jerusalem and this was one who had stayed on and David goes and he buys this site the stretching floor from Aaronah the Jebusite so that he might offer to the Lord a sacrifice that the Lord would relent that the Lord would show mercy to God's people and indeed David buys this site and the angel the Lord puts his sword back in its sheath and leaves God shows mercy to David in the Israelites at this spot where the temple is now being built and we read from there beyond that I think it's chapter 22 as it goes on that David then begins collecting all these things all these materials so that the temple could be built at that spot and he takes all the the booty that he gets from wars that he's at and he collects it and brings it in so that his son might use this stuff in the building of the temple all that to say David and Solomon are completely dedicated to the building of the temple and why do we build the church because our king Jesus is completely dedicated to the building of his church hell itself will not prevail against the building of the church Jesus will overcome he will build his church and there is nothing that will stop him in it you know if you have or have had a dad who's loved you and you know your dad is excited about something or committed to something when it comes gift time you may give him a gift related to that thing if your dad is a fan of the Indianapolis Colts guess what maybe you're giving him a certain hat or a sweatshirt speaking of their good doing this year so that he might be pleased why do we contribute to the church why do we use our gifts and abilities in the church it's so that our king Jesus might be pleased this is what Jesus is all about building the church and so we join with him in building the church and the good news is as we work in the church it reminds us that Jesus' pinnacle goal was to include here's a blank for you was to include you or you can write in your blank there me Jesus pinnacle goal for which he gave his life when he came to this earth was to add you as a living stone to his church was to forgive your sins so that you might be included in his people so we work in the church and we use our gifts and abilities and we remind it as we work that Jesus worked for us because he loved us because Jesus loved us and did the gospel for us he went to the cross for us he worked for the church for the building up of the church we worked for the building up of the church because he is loved us it's his goal so it's our goal just like during the days of Solomon and David it's David's goal it's Solomon's goal so it's our goal to second reason we build the church we build the church because it's God's design that worship occur within the church that's your blank church it's God's design that worship occur within the church we're told about the sight of the temple and we're told here that it's Mount Mariah now if you know the book of Genesis you know where Mount Mariah comes in Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his own son Isaac as a test to see if Abraham loves his God born let me love his son and Abraham does this and he takes his own son and he surrenders his son to the Lord because he loves his God and he trusts his God that his God will take care of him he doesn't know how but he goes and he raises his knife above son and there on Mount Mariah the Lord shows Abraham and Isaac his mercy and the temple is on the site the site of God's mercy to his people Abraham the father of this great nation of Israel is shown mercy at this site and so it's appropriate that this site of the temple where God would show his mercy to his people through the whole sacrificial system that this be done on Mount Mariah or at the same site we're told this is where David bought this plot of land from Aaron on the Jebus site at Jerusalem he buys this site from him and on this site God shows mercy to his people during the days of David when David has done this foolish thing and God shows mercy and withholds the full extent of his plague for the full three days upon his people and so God shows his mercy here and God mixes point to us here in the days of Solomon he makes the point here you should build this temple here this is God's design that worship go on here David worshiped here by offering burnt offerings to the Lord during the days of those three days of the plague Abraham offered worship to God through the sacrifice of his own son here of all places in Israel this is where worship should occur now we know the temple is the church and this is the message of all places in the world worship should be going on in the church we build the church because we care about worship we care that our God is worshiped there's a lot of hoopla that's going on in the church right now a lot of hoopla some is good some is a bunch of silliness but one thing we know is not silliness that our God is worshiped we care about this we care that the worship of God goes on in the church that God has proclaimed that his gospels proclaim and that we respond in worship and as we work to build the church we remind ourselves that all our work for it for the church is that God might be better here's your blank worshiped why do we build the church why do we extend expend our energy because we care that our God is worshiped we don't care about the hoopla out there we don't care about the dog and pony shell we care that God receives the glory do his name and so we come and we worship him and we as best as we can in our frailty put put silly things out of our mind that belong to us the rest of the six days of this of our of our week and we reserve this time that he might be thought of that he might be worshiped it's his design that he is worshiped in the church and so we come together in the church we build up the church whether our work is in Sunday school or children's worship or setting up or in small group everything that we're doing making the coffee whatever setting up the chairs drawing lines so that the music can be heard it's all that God might be worshiped we care about this the decons set up and and help us to the decons set up every week so that when we come we're not distracted in this task of worshiping God the church is not about us we're loved in the church Jesus has died for us but the church is not about us the church is about Jesus the church is here for the worship of him not for us and so we care we contribute we use our gifts and abilities in the church that our God might be worshiped this is the why the fundamental why why we do anything in the church why we employ our gifts that our God might be worshiped we care about this third reason we build the church we build the church because it's the place from which God dispenses his mercy we have been treated with mercy by God in the gospel and Jesus says here's how I will dispense my mercy in the world I will build my church I will make disciples synonyms I will build the church and my mercy will be known the gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world we've talked about a Abraham and David their history at this site this site was the place the temple site or today the church is the place where God's mercy is shown where God shows mercy to Isaac where God shows mercy to David the church is the only place dispensing the gospel non-believers can't dispense the gospel Tony Robbins doesn't dispense the gospel Louis Farrican doesn't dispense the gospel doctor Phil doesn't dispense the gospel Rush Limbaugh doesn't dispense the gospel George W. Bush doesn't dispense the gospel John Lennon doesn't dispense the gospel the university professorship around this nation does not dispense the gospel only the church is here dispensing the gospel the church is the only source of the mercy of God reaching people who have been created by God and bear his image we work to build the church because we remember that through it the church through the church we receive God's mercy here's your blank to us the church is the pillar of God's truth Larry read that for us this morning we have the truth that matters we can live if we don't ever hear doctor Phil or Louis Farrican or Tony Robbins or Jim Tressel or George W. Bush or whatever other truths are out there but we can't live if we don't hear the truth of Jesus and the pillar of the truth is the church so we build up the church we use our gifts and abilities we speak of Jesus that the truth might go out that the church is built up so that people like us receive his mercy fifth we build the church let me fill in a couple blanks for you that I skipped there's nowhere else that unbelievers that's your blank nowhere else where unbelievers might come to be spared from judgment Isaac was spared from judgment David was spared from judgment at the spot of the temple people today are spared from judgment at the spot of the church so we build the church in other words in this point that others might be saved we build the church because our king cares about it we build the church because it's the place where worship happens and we care that our God is worshiped and we build the church that others might be saved fourth we build the church by our work and by our work it becomes an awesome that's your blank awesome for us valley girls out here it becomes an awesome display of the gospel we have all this accounting from chapter 3 verse 3 through chapter 4 22 and this is a motivating display of how wondrous the temple was that Solomon built that later was destroyed and it was motivation for the future generation who came back to a destroyed temple it was motivation to them that our God be represented in a glorious way among the nations the more work you put into the church the more you use your gift senate the better the church becomes the nicer it is the more gold is added to the walls the more bronze is seen over the work as you work in the church here's the selfish part the more it ministers to you as the church is built up as the church matures as the church becomes more like Jesus the more you get ministered to but also very importantly the more we build up the church the more effectively it communicates the gospel to those who don't understand the gospel the good news to the Israelites was that their God was awesome he was a wondrous God a God who was a God who cared about the details of their lives who cared extensively about them having their sins forgiven and so created this extensive temple
so that they might have these priestly actions done on their behalf so their sins might be forgiven that they might be right with God and we want the world to know and see this God we want like Solomon said in chapter 2 the world to know that our God is magnificent that his temple is great and awesome and magnificent that is gospel is magnificent so we build the church of the church grows to be more like Christ so when a non-believer comes in this door for whatever reason and we had non-believers come in this door year after year month after month that they get a picture as John writes about through the love we have for each other through the care we have for our God that this God the God these people worship must be great that was the message through the temple and the Old Testament this God must be great so we build up the temple so that others might know that lastly we build the church because through it God establishes that's your first blank through the church God establishes and secondly strengthens us there are two pillars of this temple one is named Jacob the other is named Boaz Lance you have a Boaz middle name in your family don't you do you know you thought about that name that's right Boaz means he strengthens that is God's strengthens Jacob means God establishes he establishes and that was a reminder at the temple for God's people as they looked at these two marvelous pillars they were reminded of the fact that God establishes us as his people in this land he establishes us in this land as its residences as its residents and he strengthens us so when foreigners come in and try to get us out of this land this land of promise a land flowing with milk and honey that we are strengthened by him and he enables us to stay
this is a message for the church in the church God establishes a person as a church citizen by baptism that's a blank for you there the church is a place where God's people are established the church today is promise land promise lands not a geographical thing in New Testament language and New Testament definitions all the blessings that are told of the promise land the Old Testament are spoken of of of the church in the New Testament and God establishes you know God's people were always worried about being cast out from the land being exiled and indeed they were and when they came back to this decimated land and this decimated temple they were wondering if God would establish them in the land and God gives them this pillar of the temple and names it Jacob I establish you in the land I am your protection I am your security it is me who establishes you here and in the church it's the same God establishes us here by his decree he elects all his people to eternal life and he gives them his spirit so that they come to believe and he establishes them with his death and with his blood we are to a great sermon at Presbytery two Saturdays ago where we were reminded that Jesus doesn't just sign a contract with ink he doesn't give us the church a contract a legal contract and sign it and ink and we hope that he's good on it Jesus gives us a contract a covenant and we talk about this at the Lord's Supper every other week basically this cup is a new covenant in my blood how does Jesus guarantee that he will be true to his covenant promises to us how does Jesus tell us that he will be true to establishing us in his people he does this by signing in his blood he spills his blood to prove to us my word is good I establish you in the church likewise it's not by our own strength that we are in the church or that we stay in the church or that we will that it'll be our strength that overcomes death when we die rather it's boast he strengthens God's strengthens it's by God's strength that we are in the church it's by his spirit that our sinful hearts were overcome that our proud knees were caused to bow before King Jesus in homage to him when we heard the gospel it's by the power of his spirit the Holy Spirit that we are here in the church God strengthens us through all his church ordinances preaching of the word teaching prayer fellowship God uses these things that he has put in place to strengthen us to keep us to experience the blessings of the promised land the church here's your blank God strengthens us through all his church ordinances such as the Lord's Supper these two pillars are almost shockingly sacramental the two sacraments are in a way represented in both of these pillars God establishes that's the sacrament of baptism God's strengthens that's the sacrament of the Lord's Supper what do we say when we take the Lord's Supper twice a month this is Jesus your shepherd your good King giving you his body and blood to strengthen you your shepherd is feeding you with his own body and blood to strengthen you that your lives might glorify him so we build the church because we care about the church it's the place that God has used to establish us to be among his people and it's the place where he strengthens us again through his ordinances baptism and then through the Lord's Supper through the preaching of his word through teaching through the fellowship we experience through prayer we are strengthened in our faith this is why we care about the church this is why we build the church up because it's our support structure it's what keeps us experiencing the blessing of God this was the case when God's people came back from exile what will keep us from experiencing the curse of God again and it was the proper worship of God how do we have the proper worship of God go on by building the temple so that proper worship could go on so that the priest could do their priestly duties and so we care about the church today that proper worship can go on so we can properly worship the Lord and experience his blessing rather than his discipline in this world let's pray Jesus help us to care about the church as you care about the church you cared about the church with your blood you care about the church today by your continual intercession forces the writer of Hebrews told us by inspiration of your spirit and you care about the church in the future as you come to gather us to be with you as your sheep your flock to bring us into the blessing of the new heavens and the new earth help us to build up the church because you care about it help us to build up the church because we have zeal for your worship help us to care about the church because this is the place where we received mercy and where you dispense mercy for our non-believing friends and relatives and classmates and neighbors help us to build up the church so that it might be an awesome display of your gospel in this world and help us to build up the church because it is the place where we are established and strengthened in you so we ask in Christ's name. Amen.