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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] ["Sowing in the New Year"] Some number 187, Jesus Luxwell. ["Jesus Luxwell"] ["Jesus Luxwell"] Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so. They don't want to make me gone. They all need the Christian. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, he who died. Heaven takes to open water. He will wash away my sin. Let his little child love him. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, he will stay. Lows beside me all the way. Thou hast pled in a bind for me. I will bless your victory. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. At this time, we'll go to the announcements. We'll be calling and we'll sing a song on the 409. If you'd like to turn it up, it's on the 409. If you go right, thanks for coming to take the word. Tonight, everybody, if you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hands. And Brother Adam will bring you one. As always, we have our service times listed there on the upper left-hand side. Tonight, we'll be in 1 Kings 8. We've got the salvation and baptisms listed for both the month and year, and a couple other notes about the church. A reminder that if you haven't already turned off your cell phone, to please do that, silence it for the rest of the service. And we've got the homeschool field trip coming up. I guess that was today. Did anybody go? No? All right. And we've got the New Testament 90-day challenge. Below that, keep working on that. Don't forget this Sunday is doughnuts and coffee. So we're going to have doughnuts and coffee in honor of those celebrating their birthday in the month of March. So come on a little early. Get here by 10 and get that first pick of that doughnut. And that'll be... If I don't have your birthday listed in there in March, it's not because I don't like you. It's just because I don't have that information. So if you've never given that to me, don't expect to see it in there. And we'd love to honor your birthday. So if you want it in there, we'd be more than happy to put it in there for you. Don't worry, we don't include your age, you know, ladies. So I know how we can get sensitive about that. And then don't forget on the back, we've got movie night coming up tomorrow night. So that's the screen there. We've had it all set up. We've got the projector up. We've been doing test screenings in here and getting the plates ready. So all we've got to do is break out the hot dog machine and the popcorn machine. And who's going to come on out and help us out with that? All right. So if you haven't signed up, go ahead and do that. But it looks like pretty much everybody has. So come on out tomorrow night. If you want to get here a little early, you're more than welcome to do that. Don't expect any previews or coming attractions or anything like that. So I won't be dressed up like a, what do they call that, the usher, I guess, or whatever. Have that little round hat, you know. I'm not going to walk through the aisles of the flashlight. You know, there's still no smoking allowed. All right, so I'm going to do that. But below that, we've got the weekly Bible memory passage. So keep working on that. How many kids are going to get that done? The young people as well. When I say kids, that's what I mean. All right, lots of hands. Okay. We'll go ahead and count up the soul wedding going back to Monday. Anything from Monday or Tuesday? Wednesday or today? No? Just one reprobate confronted. Okay. Gave him 10 seconds, which is, 10 seconds? A little less? It's more than he deserves. All right. Well, that's going to do it for announcements. We'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into preaching tonight. Song number 409, the pipe is on. The pipe is on. The trumpet sound is ringing out. The cry to the Lord is heard on far and near. The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory. The triumph of the poor. The price will soon appear. The price will soon appear. The price will soon appear. The price will soon appear. The pipe is on, O Christian soldier, and heads to faces turn away. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong in which to pay. The pipe is on, the beat of the wind, and strongest in faith, my old man. The body's for us, his manner o'er us. We'll sing the victim's song at last. The pipe is on, the bowels he's sold, he's made with truth, the hope of peace, and victory will assure. The love all along, the arm for God has given you, and in his strength forever will endure. The pipe is on, O Christian soldier, and heads to faces turn away. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong in which to pay. The pipe is on, the beat of the wind, and strongest in faith, my old man. The pipe is for us, his manner o'er us. We'll sing the victim's song at last. The pipe is leading on to certain victory, the blow of God dispairs his desire. His glorious fame, in every land shall honor thee, the poor will break, the daughter misses none. The pipe is on, O Christian soldier, and heads to faces turn away. With armor gleaming, and colors streaming, the right and wrong in which to pay. The pipe is on, the beat of the wind, and strongest in faith, my old man. The pipe is for us, his manner o'er us. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. 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We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. We'll sing the victim's song at last. He said in Hebrews 7 to sports is I'll start in Hebrews 7. And he said in Hebrews 7 He says in Hebrews 5 He's talking about Jesus. You know, this didn't take God by surprise. God knew that Christ was going to have a heavenly ministry after the order of Melchizedek, right, that he's going to be passed into the heavens, and I believe that's the symbolism there. The fact that these items are mentioned in Hebrews 9, but then they are left out in 1 Kings chapter 8. I mean, why else is God taking the time to tell us, look, all that's in there is the two stones. That's all that was in there. Because if he hadn't said that, we would assume that these other items were still in there. We get to Hebrews 9 and go, oh, he left out that detail, that these things were in there as well. He's saying, look, no, they weren't in there. All that was in there were the tables of stone, and I believe that's a picture of the fact. And I love that God doesn't just spell things out for us all the time. I love that God gives us these details and kind of leaves an open interpretation or guides us with the Holy Spirit and makes us think about what the Bible is trying to show us and tell us. Some people just want their Bible reading to be like paint by number. They want God to tell them exactly what every little thing means. That would make the Bible a boring book, wouldn't it? I love the fact that the Bible is a spiritual book, that we read it, we can see things that are deep. Like I mentioned last week, that it's like an onion, that you just have to keep peeling back the layers, and it gets deeper and deeper. You're there in Hebrews chapter 7, it says in verse 11, If therefore perfection were by the Levitic priesthood, what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made a necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood. So he goes on and he just tells us, verse 17, For he testifieth thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. So God knew, not only about the, obviously he foreknew the earthly ministry, and he pictures that and the fact that the manna is gone at this point, but showing us that there's going to be the bread from heaven that comes, but also that there was the lack of Aaron's rod showing us that there was going to be, that the Levitical priesthood was going to pass away. You know, I didn't go into it either, but it's kind of, the imagery is there too in the first, you know, six to eight verses where he talks about how the staves were seen without, like the things that are used to move the ark are seen without, like within the holy place, but they weren't seen without in the court. So it was like a reminder for the priests, like, hey, there's still staves here, buddy, you know, I can pick this thing up and be done with it anytime I want, right? And I don't want to develop all that, but that's another imagery, that picture of the fact that the Levitical priesthood is temporary, that it was something that God was going to do away with. That's why Aaron's rod, I believe, is missing. You know, and that, but the other thing I want to point out before we move on here and make some more practical application is the fact that, you know, the two tables of stone did remain, right? That's what we saw back there in, in, in Hebrews chapter nine, or excuse me, or in first Kings chapter eight, you know, that nothing was in the ark save the two tables of stone. So those things did remain, you know, and I believe that's a picture of Christ's millennial reign, you know, that his other coming ministry that we have yet to experience. You know, we, we have already, you know, the world has already experienced his earthly ministry. We're experiencing right now his heavenly ministry, but then there's also going to be the ministry of his, his millennial reign, right? And the, and the tables there, I'd be remaining in the, the ark, you know, our picture of that, I believe. And it's interesting because, you know, if my theory is right, that these items, you know, when they was being moved or being taken in and out of the ark, you know, the two temporary things are being taken out. They're coming from God because what is the ark? It's a picture of God's throne. He's saying, I'll sit above the mercy seat underneath the wings of the cherry of them, right? So it's a picture of God's throne. Of course, God, we don't, they don't put an image of God himself, but he's saying, look, that's a picture of my throne and I will meet with you and I will speak with you from that place. So these things are coming out of the ark and returning to the ark, right? As they're moving. So, you know, the manna that came from heaven came and went, right? The Levitical priesthood came and went, but what remains the tables of stone, which are a representation of what? The law. The word of God. It all comes from God, but you know, some things pass away. Some things come and go. Some things are temporary. They come from God, but God has decreed that they would go away. The law, however, remains. And I believe, this is why I believe it's a picture of the fact that, excuse me, it's a picture of Christ's millennial reign. And if you would go over to Revelation chapter 19, Revelation chapter 19. Of course, we know that Christ, the Bible says in Daniel chapter 7 that there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. So talking about the, you know, the millennial reign. And Jesus said, look, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. You know, the law, God's word, is always going to remain. Now, we read in Hebrews how some things are going to be changed, you know, because there was a change in the priesthood, there was a change of necessity also in the law. And those, that just pertains only to the things concerning the Levitical priesthood. The holy days, the new moons, the Sabbaths, you know, the diverse washings, the meats, the drinks, the sacrifices. Those things have been done away in Christ. But the rest of the law still remains, right? Things like thou shalt not kill, like specifically, you know, just the Ten Commandments. You know, and that's the foolishness of what people say, oh, that was the Old Testament. When you point out something from God's law, they say, oh, that's the Old Testament. Yeah, but it still stands. You know, only those things which have been specifically named in the New Testament as having been done away are done away. Anything else still remains. You know, incest is still wrong, murder is still wrong, you know, stealing and raping and all, you know, everything the law still condemns still stands. You know, it's just foolish to use that kind of logic when you approach the word of God. But that's another sermon. But again, you have this picture of the commandments remaining in the ark, which is a picture of Christ's millennial reign. He said in Revelation 12, you're 19, it says that she brought forth a man child. This is a picture of Jesus who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. You know, Jesus isn't coming back, you know, with a feather duster. He's not coming back to tickle people's nose, you know, Gucci Gucci goo. He's coming back to rule with a rod of iron, right? And again, it's not like he's going to get here and then call a world council. He doesn't have to get together with the European Union, the NATO. He's not going to get together with all these other nations and put everything to a vote. He's going to say, look, it's my way or the highway. I'm going to rule with a rod of iron. I'll dash you in pieces like a potter's vessel. You know, it's like if you took a, you know, a piece of rebar and went and smashed your mom's vase, you know, you're probably, you know, the weakest among us could probably do that, right? That's what it's going to be like for Jesus when he comes back. He's going to rule easily. He's going to take over easily. Look at verse, Revelation 19 verse 15, and out of his mouth, right, the words that he speaks, his law, go with a sharp sword and the word of God as a sword, isn't it? It's a two edged sword, dividing in the center of the joints and marrow and the soul and spirit as a discerner of the thoughts and tense of the heart. So his, out of his mouth, go with the sharp sword, the word that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule over them with the rod of iron. And he tread at the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of almighty God and on his vesture and on his name, histi, a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So when he's coming to rule and reign and he's using the sword, right, that comes out of his mouth, what is he using? He's using the Bible. He's using the law. And the Bible tells us in Micah that the law shall go forth out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem in Micah chapter four. That's how he's, that's what he's going to rule with. He's not going to, he's not going to take a poll and see what everybody wants. He's not going to put up things up. He's not going to be this voting on the ballot for some legislation. Are we going to enact Leviticus 2013 or not? It's going to be law. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, almost. So that's, you know, right there I think is just a real cool picture. You say, why does the Bible take the time to give us these details about the fact that only the two tables of stone? We might just read over that and think, oh, that's just some arbitrary detail. And the reason I'm kind of bringing that up is because, you know, people need to learn to look for these things when they read the Bible and understand these things. You know, the more you read the Bible, the more you have an understanding of all of God's word, the more you begin to see things like this. You start to make these connections. And again, like I said last week, that's not just, you know, that's just not for me to do because I'm preaching. That's for all of God's children. Everyone that has the Holy Spirit has the King James Bible in their hand. You know, they can begin to peel back that onion in God's word. But I don't want to re-preach all that from last week. So we see, you know, that we have this image of Jesus' earthly ministry, his heavenly ministry and then his millennial reign, this permanent throne that is yet to come in the millennium. And because we understand that, because we see that, you know, this permanent throne is coming, that Christ is going to rule and reign with a rod of iron, you know, that there's going to be a millennial reign set up and, you know, we're going to reign with him, you know, to whatever degree we serve him and obey him here, you know, we're going to be given certain levels of authority. I really don't want to develop all that right now. My point is this, is that in light of that fact, that there is a permanent, you know, kingdom of God that's coming, we should not be overly concerned with the physical structures we worship in here, okay? And this is important because people can get hung up on a building, can't they? Look, they do it all the time. If you've been around Baptist churches long enough, they get real into their buildings, you know, they think that, you know, they buy land and they build a house and they think they've built a church and they think they've, you know, made some holy ground or something like that, just by virtue of the fact that there's a Baptist sign in the driveway or something. And they get crazy with it. I mean, they, I won't even tell you all the stories I could about it. But my point is this, is that we should not become overly concerned with the physical structure. And it's important to understand that the day we're living in, because, I mean, have we seen some people lose physical structures? Yeah, several times, you know, not just recently, you know, Pastor Jonathan Shelley in Hearst, Texas, you know, at Steadfest Baptist Church, you know, he's actually just one of several people that have been, you know, run out of their town, run out of their building. You know, we, Pastor Mejia had to move the city, you know, basically, you know, strong armed him in having to move, right? And he actually had it done by getting a better building, you know, poor guy, in a better location, you know, after he did all the work that he did in Almonte. You know, that's, you know, that he's already done all that. You know, Pastor Roger Jimenez, a very Baptist church, you know, he got protested and they said, hey, we're not renewing your lease, you know, and he had to go find, that's what, and I'm just bringing that up to say, look, you know, we have a city whose builder and maker is God. You know, I'm not going to get so caught up with some building. I mean, this is just drywall, it's just, it's just two by fours, or maybe it's steel in there, I don't know, you know, but it's just all these, it's just more of the same stuff that we're surrounded by. You know, and I'm not saying that we should just treat, you know, we, with disrespect the house of God or something, obviously we try to make things look nice, you know, we put the wall up, we put trim down, we paint, you know, we could have just left it bare concrete floors, but, you know, we want to, but here, you know what? The reason why we do all those things, it's not so we're trying to impress God, right? We're doing that because, you know, we're trying to create a welcoming atmosphere where people are like, hey, I want to go to that church, it doesn't, I know it's in a warehouse, but it looks nice in there, you know, it has comfortable chairs, the lighting's good, whatever, you know, that's why we do the things that we do, not because, you know, we think that we're, we're, we're creating some new tabernacle or something like that, like this is some new temple, okay? Because like I preached on Sunday, you know, the church of God is the congregation, you know, wherever we are, we could, you know, we could just pick this whole thing up and go out in the parking lot and have service out there, you know, and we'd still be having church, you know, we could, we could go down here in the little retention pond behind the place and we could kick that gate open and we could, you know, run the javelinas off, you know, and, and we could, and sit down and we could have church, it's not about a structure and, you know, and, and that's what we see here in this chapter, you say, why are you bringing that up? Because, you know, Solomon takes the time to really emphasize this and you want to talk about somebody who took the time to, to build an impressive structure, for God, it was Solomon. I mean, there has never been another building that could even come close to the, the beauty and just how, you know, how impressive it was that what Solomon did, it was the most impressive thing, I mean, name it, it's not out there. No one's assembled as much gold, I mean, it says that he made the gold to be like nothing, it was as nothing, it wasn't even counted in his days. All that, all those brass things that he made, you know, he's just like, I'm not even going to bother to weigh him because there's just too much, there's just so much of it. You know, he just, he just, it was just so impressive, but at the same time, Solomon in his prayer here makes it really clear that God is in heaven, you know, and God is showing us, I believe, you know, that, that there is a, that, that where God dwells is on earth is, is not as important as where he dwells in heaven, that it's temporary, okay? Now we have a kingdom coming, that's what we should be focused on, serving that kingdom and not get obsessed about a, you know, a structure here on earth. Look there in verse 26, we'll just go through the prayer here real quick, and he said in verse 26, and now, O God of Israel, let thy word I pray thee be verified, which thou speakest unto thy servant David my father. Verse 27, but will God indeed dwell on earth? Well, we know that he will in the millennium, right, and eventually the, the, Jesus will deliver up even that kingdom unto the father and God shall dwell on earth with man. So, but that's not what he's saying here, he's saying, look, he's referring to the house that he just built, like, is God going to dwell here on earth, right? Behold the heaven, and heavens of heavens cannot contain thee. So say, look, the sky can't contain you, and even the heaven of heavens, you know, the stars, the universe, it can't contain you either. You know, God says that his right hand spans the universe, you know, that's how big God is. He's immeasurable. He says, look, heaven can't contain you, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded. So he's, he realizes that he's built this very impressive structure on earth, but then his prayer, he just keeps bringing up the fact that God is in heaven, and that you can't put God in a structure, you know, and that's why we as God's people today in the New Testament shouldn't be so obsessed about a building. Because like I said, you know, we're living in a day where people can take the building out from under your feet anymore. If you would, keep something there, go to Isaiah 66, Isaiah's chapter 66. When Stephen in Acts 7, you know, before he got martyred, he was preaching to the Jews, and he said, Solomon built him in house. Howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands. As sayeth the prophet, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool, what house will you build me? Sayeth the Lord. Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? You know, Solomon's realizing he's building all these impressive things, and look, when we take the time to read what he built and understand the magnitude of it, it's impressive. All the molten this, and the mass of that, and this many cubits, and I mean, all these different houses, and all the cedars and everything, like, man would be impressed. But God's saying, look, I made all that stuff that you assembled, I made it. You know, you think you're real cute with building your house of the forest in Lebanon with its 50 foot tall, you know, pillars, you know, 45 of them, 15 in three rows, you think that's really, I mean, it is cool. We would say, wow, God would say, well, I'm the one who made the cedars. I'm the one that caused that little seed to fall on the ground and to germinate and grow into that impressive tree over and over and over again. So we shouldn't think that God is going to be impressed, you know, of the color of our walls. You know, oh, the carpet, you know, God is going to look down and go, oh, man, faithful word Tucson. The decor in there is just, wow, right, now I'll come meet with you, right? Again, we do that to make it welcoming to the people so that the people want to come to the house of God, you know, so that we can enjoy ourselves while we're here. It's not to impress God. God, you know, his hand has made all these things. Look at Isaiah 66, verse 1. What is going to impress God? How are we going to get God's attention? Thus saith the Lord. This is the prophet that, you know, Stephen was quoting. The heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that He would build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath my hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look. You want to get God's eye, it's not going to be because of your building. To this man will I look. You know, the guy who gets just the right hue of paint. The guy who gets just the right pattern of molding, right, who makes everything just perfectly square. You know, some craftsman, right, you know, or some, we're going to decorate the house. That's not what's going to get God's attention. He said to this man will I look. Even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit. A contrite, like a broken, humble spirit. Somebody who realizes that before God they're nothing. That's truly what all of us are. You know, I mean the more, the older I get, the more time I, you know, I look in my own heart, and you see how mankind is, it's amazing to me that God ever gave us a second look. It really is. After, I mean, why didn't God just at the beginning just say, you know what Adam, you know what Eve, you already messed up, let me just start over. Because he knows that it would just keep happening, obviously. But you know, God in his mercy, and in his long suffering, you know, has, you know, been pleading with man. And we really want to get God's attention, it's not going to be because, you know, the clothes we wear, or our education, or our bankroll, or the things that we own, or the building, the church that we need in, the structure. It's going to be our heart, our spirit that impresses God. That's what's going to, that's what's going to cause him to look. Him that is of a poor and of a contrite spirit, and what, trembleth at my word. You know, that's what is going to get God's eye. When we read God's word and just say, wow, Lord, this is magnificent. Thank you, God, for the Bible. When we take heed unto his word, you know, when we put the word of God into practice in our life, when we apply to it, that's what's going to impress God. I mean, think about all of the impressive churches that are out there. I mean, people walk into the, you know, like the Roman Catholic Church, I mean, there are some here in Tucson that are just, you know, just right over here, there's several churches that are like 100 plus years old. Attractive buildings, from man's perspective, they've withstood the test of time. I mean, you go in there just ornate, stained glass, and brass, and gold, and I mean, look at the Vatican, it's its own city, practically, it is. With its, you know, giant obelisk, you know, its pagan symbol right in the middle. You know, with all of its statues, and people walk in, they just, oh, I'm having a religious experience. But you know what? Are they fearing God's word? Are they trembling at God's word? Not at all. They're doing things contrary to the word of God. You know, Catholic doctrine puts church, you know, the church fathers and church tradition on par with God's word. In fact, they trump God's word with their doctrine. They don't, that's, all of that, they think all that's going to impress God, it isn't. You know, God can look down on this congregation tonight, and look amongst us, and in our hearts, and he's not going to see, you know, how well dressed we are or aren't, he's not going to care, you know, well, you know, it's about how groomed we are, or any, he's not going to be impressed with, you know, the building that we're in, what he's going to be impressed with is whether or not we tremble at his word. When we read the word of God, we honor it, we do what it says. You know, that's the futility, excuse me, of a structure. It's futile to sit there and think that God can be housed or impressed by a building. He can't be. You know, the structure, and that's, again, to say that the structure has no purpose, but I'm saying it's not, it's futile to sit there and think that it's a, that God is impressed with this building. That's not what catches God eye, God's eye. Look at the drywall, he's like, I made the drywall. Look at the timbers, I made those. You're just taking the stuff I made and assembling it. Again, that's not to say that there isn't a purpose behind the building. Of course, you know, it's futile to think that God, it's futility to think that God can be housed in it, but you know what, there is a utility of the structure. It's not, it's futile to think that God would be impressed, but you know what, there's still a utility that comes with the house of God. That's what it is, it's a tool. That's all this building is. This is just a tool that we use. That's all this podium is, that's all this platform is, that's all this sign is. It's all, anything that's in here, it's just tools that we use to preach the word of God, to motivate God's people, to learn how to live godly in Christ Jesus, to come together for fellowship and to exhort one another, to love and to good works, to gather together and to go out and organize and preach the gospel and accomplish the mission of the Great Commission. That's all it is, it's just utility, it's just a tool. We're not doing any of this to impress God, because God's not impressed with any of it. That's why we shouldn't get so caught up in a building. If it ever happens here, if we ever get run out of here by a bunch of raging sodomites and their money-grubbing enablers, so be it. That's the stupidity of these people in Hearst, Texas that think they've won. They think they shut down steadfast, like, no you didn't. It's still meeting. They're still having church Sunday. They say, oh, mission accomplished. No, mission failed. You know, unless you're like Richard Henderson, where the mission was just to get the building so you could rent it out at a higher rate after it's been improved by steadfast, then yeah, I guess mission accomplished, and you've just shown us what you are. I already preached that Sunday, I swear I won't do it. I told you, and I went long, and I'm sorry about that. I said I was going to get off my chest, but here I am again. But there's a utility here. What's the utility of the structure? It's a place for prayer. Jesus said, you know, my house shall be a house of prayer for all nations. That's the purpose of church, of coming together. It's a place to prayer. It's a place for preaching. The church of God is the pillar, which is the house of God, is the pillar and ground of truth. It's where we preach the truth of God's word. It's a place for prayer. It's a place for preaching. It's a place for praise. We enter into his gates with thanksgiving. We enter into his courts with praise. The Bible says in Hebrews 2 that we will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church I will sing praise unto thee. So that's the utility of the structure. To preach, to pray, to praise, that's what we do here. Not to try to impress God. So that's what we do here. We preach, we praise, and we pray to the God of heaven. We don't try to impress him. And notice that's what Solomon's doing here. You say, what's this got to do with 1 Kings 8? Well, that's what Solomon's doing just over and over again. I'm not going to take the time to read the whole prayer in 66 verses. Hopefully you're paying attention. But notice in verse 30 it says, and hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people. And when they shall pray towards this place, hear thou in heaven and thy dwelling place. And when thou hearest, forgive. Verse 34, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people. Verse 36, then hear thou in heaven. He's saying, look, when they turn to this place and they remember Jerusalem and they pray towards this temple, hear thou in heaven. Not come down here and meet again in the temple. He was constantly reminding people in this prayer that God hears from heaven, not from just some building, no matter how impressive it is. He said in verse 39, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place. He said in verse 42, and for they shall hear thy great name and strong hand and stretched out arm, when he shall come and pray towards this house. Hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place. Verse 45, then hear thou in heaven. It sounds like Solomon's really trying to drive home the fact that God hears from heaven. Is it hot in here to anybody else? Is anybody else hot? Did the AC go off? I haven't heard it kick on. Could you check the AC, brother, brother Adam? I know it's not the preaching. Verse 49, then hear thou their prayer in heaven. Just over and over again, he's reminding them that prayer is heard from heaven. That no matter where they were, that if they were in Babylon, if they were in captivity, if they were being destroyed by the heathen, that God would hear them from heaven. They didn't have to go back to Jerusalem to make that prayer. That's where God hears from. So the point of church, you know, is not its appearance. Notice verse 35, he said, when heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee. If they pray toward this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sins of thy servant and thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk and give rain upon thy land, which thou has given to thy people for inheritance. So the point of the church, its purpose is not appearance. Its purpose, you know, is personal. You know, you need to apply the purpose of church to your personal life. You know, that's why we meet here for the preaching of God's will. You got to make that personal for you. That's the point of it. That's the whole point of coming to church. At least it is for me. I mean, that's why I take the time to write these sermons to try to edify God's people. Hopefully that's why you came here tonight. Just because you wanted to show everybody your new haircut or something. Or just show people how your new duds, you know, we're coming here for a purpose, a personal purpose. And isn't that what he said there? He said, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people, of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk. That was the purpose of them, you know, praying towards God and getting right with God. That God would teach them the good way wherein they should walk. Look at verse 57, the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded our fathers. That was the purpose of that building. That was the purpose of the temple, was to cause people to incline their hearts, to walk in his way. Not just to be say, look what we did for you God, look how impressed, are you impressed with what we built? And obviously they were trying to put their best foot forward, they wanted to give their best that they could to God. You know, we should try to do that in our lives. But you know, the purpose of the congregation, the church, and meeting with God is that our hearts would be inclined unto him. And that we would walk in his ways, that we would keep his commandments and his judgments, that God would what? Teach us the good way wherein we should walk. You need to learn to walk in that good way. See all the Christian life is hard, and I get it, you know, there's struggles, you know, we battle against the flesh and the devil and the world and all that. But you know, it's still the good way. It's still better than what's out there. The way the transgressor is hard too. It's not any easier for them out there. You know, at least here we have a good way to walk in. It's not the easy way, that's not what he said. He said the good way. The good way of having everyone in their proper roles in the family. Of fulfilling their roles, you know, and that they've been given of God. That they can live, you know, in a peaceable, a quiet life in all godliness and honesty. That's a good way to walk in. And the people today, you know, so many Christians they look at what the world's doing and they think, oh that's the good way. They're out there having so much fun. You know, and there is pleasure in sin for a season, but you know what, what you don't see are the consequences that come with it. You don't see the hangover, you don't see the drug addiction, you don't see the porn addiction. You don't see the divorce, the children born out of wedlock. You know, that's not, the devil doesn't put that out there, you'd go, ah, I don't want anything to do with that. You know, they just fill the movies, the music and just make it all look so cool and alluring. And you know, there's so many people that chase after that and you know what, the way of the transgressor is hard. But in here, in God's place, in God's house where we meet, where we get together for the preaching and praying and praising. And what do we learn? We apply it personally and it's the good way that we walk in. This is the good way, not what they have. It might look good, it might be appealing. You know, there is a way which seemeth unto man, there is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof is death. Death. When sin is conceived, it bringeth forth death. Every time. So that's the purpose. It's a personal purpose. That you come to church, at least it ought to be. To come and to be instructed in the good way. Right, like Solomon said. Teach them the good way when they're asked to walk. Incline our hearts unto him to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments in a statute of judgments. You know, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Well, I love Jesus. Well, I'm glad to hear that you keep his commandments. That's what he said. He said, if you love me, keep my commandments. I love Jesus. Then you must keep his commandments. I mean, that's what it means when people say they love Jesus, isn't it? I mean, if we're going to interpret biblically, Jesus said, why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not those things which I say? I was going to have you go to James 1, but I'll just read to you from James 1 and verse 22. He said, But be doers of the word, and not hearers only. See, he's talking about, you know, it has to be personal. The church of church is that it becomes personal to you. That's the purpose of church. That it becomes personal. That you don't just come here and hear what the Bible says. You don't just come here and hear what the Christ has commanded us, and let it just go one ear and out the other. And walk out there and just continue to live in sin, just continue not to make any changes, continue not to live for God. You know, and there's plenty, and look, if you want to go do that, there's plenty of churches where you can go do that. Where all you got to do is just show up, put your tithe in the plate. No one's going to challenge you. No one's going to, you know, the preacher's not going to get up and preach on sin. You know, he's going to get up and just be this soft, effeminate, weak, sissy. That's what they are. A bunch of panty-waist preachers today. They don't want to preach the whole counsel of God. They don't want to upset anybody. Because they're more concerned about that plate. Because they're more concerned with building, you know, making a building to try and impress God with. They think if we get enough purple lights up here, you know, if we get a bigger fog machine, if we get drums and guitars, and we get, you know, we get the girls up here in the miniskirts to sing, you know, as the deer panteth for the water, whatever, you know, CCM that's out there, you know, that God's going to be impressed. No, he's not. God's going to be impressed with the people, not how big they are, not, you know, how many of them there are, how great their building looks. He's going to be impressed with people that tremble at his word, that keep his commandments and love him. That come to church and understand that the purpose is that it becomes personal. And they apply it to their lives. That they're not just doers of the word and not hearers only. Deceiving your own selves. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. And that's what a lot of people do. You know, Christianity is so called. Oh, I love Jesus. Living in fornication, drunk, they mock the word of God, they don't obey the word of God, they don't want to hear the word of God. They haven't deceived me, they've deceived themselves. They haven't deceived the Christian who knows what the word of God says. They haven't, you know, they haven't deceived God. You know, if a man can love God, you know, the same is known of him. They've deceived themselves. You have to understand, first of all, that the purpose of church is that it becomes personal. That there's a personal purpose behind it. But also, you know, the purpose of church, there's also a popular purpose. And by popular, I don't mean a purpose that everybody loves. By popular, I mean that it relates to the general public. You know, like a populace, we're talking about the population, right? The popular purposes, the purpose that relates to the public that is, you know, suitable to the majority. You know, there is a personal purpose in church, but there's also a popular purpose behind church. Look at verse 59. He said, And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God night and day, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require. All right, verse 60. Why does he want God to do all this? His words to be remembered and maintained? Verse 60, because of the popular purpose, that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God. You know, Solomon just didn't build that temple to just show off, like, hey, look at all the gold I got. Look how cool I am. He was trying to glorify the God of heaven. So that, you know, all the people of the earth would hear of the magnificence of Israel, and the temple that was built unto their God, the true and living God. And that all the people of the earth would know that the Lord is God. That's the popular purpose of church. There's a personal one, the one that you have to apply to your life, but there's also a purpose to church that is popular, that pertains to everybody, to all the people of the earth. You know, that's why we preach the gospel. You know, I feel like, I'm pretty sure, I don't know, I've never really kept track, but I'm pretty sure I probably bring up soul winning just about every single sermon. Probably every sermon I'm talking about soul winning. It's like, boy, you guys talk about soul winning a lot in the church. Yeah, did you notice we do a lot of soul winning too? You think that's a coincidence? I guarantee you, if I didn't talk and preach about soul winning as much as I do, we wouldn't do as much soul winning as we do. You know, if Pastor Anderson didn't preach about soul winning as much as he has, that church wouldn't have a soul winning time every day of the week, sometimes two in one day. Sometimes three on a Sunday. I mean, it's just multiple times throughout the week every day. Why? Because we understand that there's not just a personal purpose of the church, there's a popular one, one that applies to all the people of the earth. That we have to take the gospel to all nations. Preaching the gospel. The Bible says in Psalms 96, I'll read to you, Oh, sing in the Lord a new song, and sing in the Lord all the earth, sing in the Lord, bless his name, he showeth for his salvation from day to day, declare his glory among the heathen and his wonder among all people. You know, we should, that's our purpose. That's our popular purpose in this church, to declare his glory among the heathen. You know, that's what you're doing when you're preaching the gospel. You know, hopefully that's how you feel about it when you go out soul winning. You're not just going, well, I'm just checking this off the list. So the next time Deacon gets up there and starts preaching about it, I don't have to get sweaty palms or whatever. I don't have to get nervous about the fact that I'm not soul winning. Look, I know sometimes we have to drag ourselves through it. But hopefully, you know, when we go out soul winning, and whether we're the ones preaching it, or hear somebody else flipping through their Bible and expounding the word of God, and we look at some lost sinner hearing the word of God being preached, you could see them getting it. I mean, you're declaring God's glory to them among the heathen. It's amazing. It's a privilege that we can have a purpose like that in church. And that's what we're supposed to do. That is our purpose. To declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people, all of them. Doesn't matter what race, what nationality, what demographic, what, you know, economic status. Everyone, all the heathen should know. Everybody should know and hear the gospel. And look, when you have these purposes lined up, when you understand that church has a personal purpose, for you to come and hear the word of God, and to tremble at his word, and to take heed to your ways, and to keep his commandments, and when you understand the popular purpose, and you understand that it's not just about you and about this church, it's about reaching the world with the gospel, you know, those purposes, they add up. And you know what it does? It makes a product. You know, it produces something in your life. That's the purpose of church, to produce something in your life. Look at verse 61. He said, let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God. You know, he's going through, he's saying, hey, you know, verse 58, incline our hearts on him, walk in his ways, keep his commandments, his statutes, his judgment. That's personal. He gets to verse 60, let all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God. Look, that's popular. But that when you have those lined up, there is a product. That in verse 61, your heart is perfect with the Lord our God. To walk in his statutes to keep his commandments as at this day. You know, we need to have a perfect heart. What's that mean, a complete heart? It's perfect with the Lord our God. It's not, what, double minded. We walk in his statutes to keep his commandments. We're not just trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot with the Lord. You know, those are, you know, those are uneven, that's an uneven ground. That's why Christians walk in circles in life. Because they got one foot out in the world and they're just going, I can't figure out why I can't walk for the Lord. I can't seem to move forward in my Christian life. It's because you got one foot in the world. Your heart is not perfect. You haven't, you know, this hasn't produced, this purpose hasn't produced this in your life yet. You haven't made it personal. You haven't understood the popular purpose. That's why it's not being produced, this perfectness with the Lord our God. To walk in his statutes to keep his commandments as at this day. You know, when a heart is perfect, you know, it produces some things in our life. It produces what? It produces godliness. Right? You know, that we would walk godly in Christ Jesus. It says to walk in his statutes and keep his commandments. That's a product of the church. It produces that in your life. Go to Romans chapter 12. Keep something there when you get there. I'm almost done. He said in 1 Thessalonians 4, this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication. Oh, I want to know the will of God for my life. What do you want me to do? To be sanctified. That's the will of God for your life. That you should abstain from fornication. That every one of you should not have possessed his vessel in sanctification and honor. Not in the lust of concupiscence. You know, that's a big word, right? Well, just think, you know, concupiscence meaning like just an over-abounding of sin. The lust of concupiscence. Just all manner of sin. Look, we're all going to have some degree of sin in our life. We're always going to be at odds with sin. We're always going to struggle to some degree. But you know what? It shouldn't be a lust of concupiscence. You know, where it's just this overabundance of fleshly sin in our life. Even as the Gentiles, which know not God, that's what the world does. Look, what the church should produce in your life is godliness. When you walk in a statue, you keep his commandments. Look at Romans chapter 12 verse 2. He said, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. That's the product of church in your life. Your sanctification. But notice, you know, it doesn't just come automatically. So I go to church, I'm going to be godly now. You know, I show up to church three times a week. I make every service I can. And so I'm expecting, I'm just going to walk out of here and just live godly in Christ Jesus. Is that how it works? You come in here and it's like, you know, you walk up to the dean and I just rub your head. Good to go. Maybe at some Pentecostal church they'll teach you that. You know, maybe you go to the Catholic church. So here, have a Eucharist. Have this little cracker. All your sins are absolved and they're going to walk in the Spirit. That's how it works. You know, if you want godliness, if you want this product in your life, you know, then you have to make a sacrifice. You know, I'll read to you from 1 Kings again. He said, let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in a statue, to keep his commandments. So he says, look, this is what we want. This is the product that we're looking for. But notice verse 62, and the king and all those who are with him offered sacrifice before the Lord. Now, I don't have the time to go into it, but I mean, when you start to look at those numbers and the amount of land that they covered in the sacrifice, this feast on the Lord, it's amazing. There's nothing like it. But, you know, this product comes at a price. You have to make a sacrifice in your life. Look, if you're still in Romans chapter 12, he says in verse 1, the preceding verse, he said, that I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies what a living sacrifice unto God, which is your reasonable service. So I don't want to be conformed to this world. I want to be transformed by the ruining of mind, that I may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. Okay, well then that means you have to be willing to make a sacrifice. You have to, you know, make it personal. You have to, you know, fulfill that popular purpose. You have to be willing to go preach the gospel. That's not going to happen on its own. You're going to have to sacrifice your time to accomplish that purpose. You're going to have to take the time to read, you know, get the Romans road down, to memorize those scriptures, to work up the courage to knock that first door and, you know, open your mouth and boldly proclaim the gospel. To go out there and have some loud and proud, you know, sodomites slam the door in your face. To get in some argument. You have to be willing to go through, you know, these confrontations, these difficulties. You have to make these sacrifices if you're going to have this, you know, this produced in your life. It's not just going to happen on its own. There's a sacrifice. And what Paul says there, verse 1, I beseech you. I beseech you. That's strong language. He's saying I'm begging you. He's not saying, look, you know, if it's convenient, if it's not too much to ask, if it's not too much trouble, you know, by the mercies of God present your bodies. God beseech you. He's begging them. Please, by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice. Please, I'm beseeching you. Because Paul understands there's so much at stake. You look, there's the popular purpose, there's souls hanging in the balance. He's pleading for that you would go reach them at the gospel, that we would do that. There's rewards, you know, your heavenly rewards are hanging in the balance. And if we're not willing to sacrifice and prove this holy and acceptable will of God, that's all, it's all lost. Souls will go to hell. Eternal rewards, you know, we're going to hang our heads in shame when we stand before Christ. I don't want that for me. I don't want that for anybody. And, you know, and I understand no matter how much we do, it's never going to be enough for what Christ did for us. But you know what? We need to do something. We need to start somewhere. And Paul's beseeching them to present their bodies a living sacrifice. Go to Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter number 3. He said, let your heart, that's what, that was King Solomon's prayer back there, 1 Kings 8, let your heart therefore be perfect. You know, if you want this personal purpose, this popular purpose to be produced in your life, you have to have a perfect heart. What is he talking about? Perfect, meaning singularity. Let your heart be perfect. Complete and entire, perfect, complete and entire, wanting nothing, as it says in James. I mean, you can't be a double-minded man. He says in Revelation chapter 3, verse 14, unto the angel of the church that allowed his seance, write, these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works. Say, I know what you do or don't do. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I work that thou were cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Now, some people read that and say, well, I'll just be cold then. That's not the answer. He's saying, you know what's even worse than something that's cold? It's something that's lukewarm. Like people who drink the same cup of coffee all day, right? Not in a thermos. I'm not naming any names. I don't know how they do it. I've known several people that do it, and I've probably done it from time to time. That's not something I'm in the habit of doing. But, you know, coffee is really good when it's hot, isn't it? You know, it's really good when it's iced. You get that iced Americano, right? The soft top. Amen. You get that? Man, it's good. But that cup that's just been sitting around since morning, now it's three in the afternoon. You know, the creamer is starting to curdle a little bit. Right? We want to be hot, right? You've got to let your heart be perfect. You can't be double minded. Because the Bible says in James that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. He's unstable in all his ways. Look, if we're not going to fulfill the purpose that God has for us in the local church, you know, we're going to miss out on so much. Others are going to miss out on going to heaven. And we're going to be unstable in all of our ways. If we don't make it personal. You know, it's not enough just to come and hear it. You have to do something with it. Come and hear the sermon on marriage. You know, come hear what the Bible has to say about child rearing. Come here, what the Bible had to say, you know, in any area of life. And say, yeah, that's what the Bible says. Preacher's right, but you know, that's not for me. Well, then you're unstable. I mean, just, I mean, is the world, are they the, you know, the picture of instability? I mean, are they just founding marriages on a bedrock that is just standing the test of time? No. And unfortunately, a lot of their philosophies and a lot of their influences have crept into the church. And it's affecting God's people too. That's the purpose of church. I got to come in here, you know, to get you in here so I can pump out everything that the world's been pumping in. You know, it's hard to keep up sometimes. You know, when you're, when you're taking in all the world's garbage, you know, every day, seven days a week, and you show up for church once a week, and it's just like, all right, let me try and pump as much of this out as I can so I can get, you know, God's word in there. It's a battle. You know, and if we don't, you know, make the sacrifice, if we aren't singular, if we don't let our hearts be perfect, we're going to be double minded. And God's just going to look at our life. He's going to know our works. He can take a sip and just go, yuck. Gross. I'd rather you were cold. At least I could stand that. You know, but it's the people that are lukewarm who think they're serving God, who think that they're right with God, but what do they do? They deceive themselves. You know, and the answer is to draw nigh to God. That's what He said in chapter four, verse eight. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your heart, your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be singular. So, you know, that's what I see here in this prayer of Solomon's is that, you know, yes, it's an impressive building, but God's unimpressed. And Solomon's taking the time to remind the people that God is in heaven. That's where he's going to hear you. And that, you know, that there's a purpose to the church. There's a purpose to the congregation. You know, it's personal that we would change, that our lives would be, you know, we would be molded more and more to be like Christ, more and more, which each and every passing day. Our minds would be renewed, right? We'd be transformed by the renewing of mind. That's a personal purpose. But there's also that popular purpose that we would go out and preach the gospel. And if we do that, you know, this will produce things in our lives. It will become stable people. It comes through sacrifice. You know, church is not just a place where we meet. You know, I mean, it is, I mean, but it's not just this building. It's not a place, a building where we just meet just to impress one another and try to impress God with what we're doing here. It's a place where we meet to accomplish what the practical purpose is of the Christian life. That's the purpose of the church. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for the church. And Lord, thank you for the assembly of the believers. Thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, I pray you'd help us to walk in and know that you'd help us to accomplish or build in our lives. Lord, and as a church, you know, we thank you for this building. We thank you for all the good things you've given us. And Lord, I just pray you'd help us to be reminded, Lord, that there's a purpose here in what we're doing and that it's to serve you and to be one accord in order to accomplish the goal you've given us. Please help us to always remember that, no matter where we find ourselves meeting, where we find ourselves, or in our personal lives, or as a congregation, that we remember that there's always a greater purpose, or there's a door if I meet them among you, and we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go to the next one. For a minute, let's turn the song over to 300 and 97. The song is 300 and 97, Little is Much, when John is in it. There's a word for all to do. Hark, the voice of God is calling. To the heart is calling you. Little is much, when God is within. Labor not, for love for free. There's a crowning you can give. It will go in Jesus' name. Does the glacier come to labor? Seems so small that he will know. It is great if God is to give. If he'll not forgive his own. Little is much, when God is within. Labor not, for love for free. There's a crowning you can give. It will go in Jesus' name. Hark, the voice of God is calling. To the heart is calling. Little is much, when God is within. There's a crowning you can give. It will go in Jesus' name. Labor not, for love for free. There's a crowning you can give. It will go in Jesus' name. When the conflict here is ended, And our waste on earth is drowned, He will say to love the faithful, Welcome home, my child of John. Little is much, when God is within. Labor not, for love for free. There's a crowning you can give. It will go in Jesus' name. Hark, the voice of God is calling. To the heart is calling. Little is much, when God is within. Hark, the voice of God is calling. To the heart is calling. Hark, the voice of God is calling.