Title Toward Heaven (1 Kings 8:54-61)
The contents and methods of living are different depending on where we place the center of our faith while we live our life of faith.
appears.
Those who have had the experience of answering prayer live a prayer-centered life, and those who have experienced joy through the fruit of evangelism are encouraged to evangelize.
is moving toward a mature faith through a life of faith.
Those who realize the wisdom of the Bible can enjoy grace in Bible study and worship, and serve silently and silently.
For those who live by service, it becomes a strong strength and a strong pillar in their lives.
So, those who enjoy the Word and worship with intellect and knowledge, pray for answers to praise and prayers with emotion and emotion.
People who rejoice, those who wait patiently with faith and will, seek God's will, and serve with devotion and service.
You can see that they are coming together to form a church.
However, the church leans toward any one part of all of this, or the life of the saints is focused only on self-centeredness.
The ground cannot be warm.
The church must balance all these things harmoniously and grow into a healthy and healthy church.
All.
The Bible verse we read today shows how Solomon built the temple and dedicated it to God while he was on the throne.
I would like to share with you grace because the confession of faith and life seem to be a challenge and a lesson for us.
When Solomon succeeded his father, King David, to the throne, he completed the construction of the temple that his father had not completed.
In the process of giving to me, he is not proudly asserting his authority and prestige, but rather before God.
You can see that it is glorifying with pure confession of faith and devotion.
1, I gave everything for the glory of God.
Solomon built the temple of God for 20 years.
I did my best for 20 years and gave the best thing to God.
“(1 Kings 7:48) Solomon also made all the utensils of the house of the Lord, the golden altar and the golden table of the showbread.”
"(1 Kings 7:49) Two golden lampstands, five on the left and right, in front of the inner chamber; and gold flowers, and lamps, and lamps of fire."
"(1 Kings 7:50) And the bowls of pure gold ... the golden hinges at the gates of the Most Holy, and the golden hinges at the temple gates, the outer gates."
“(1 Kings 7:51) And when King Solomon had finished all that he had made for the house of the LORD, Solomon
They took the things that David had offered, silver, gold, and utensils, and put them in the treasury of the house of the LORD."
The best of David's time was not used by his son Solomon as a symbol of his wealth and authority.
It was.
He did not take the property he had inherited from David and the material he had inherited as his own.
Solomon dedicated all that he had inherited to building the temple of God, and the rest was
They also gave everything for the glory of God by placing them in the treasury of the house of Jehovah.
This is the life of faith that we want to learn from Solomon.
And Solomon did not write his name or achievements in the temple he had built.
Rather, the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, the word of God, was placed at the center of everything.
(1 Kings 8:1) So Solomon wanted to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, that is, Zion,
He summoned Lo and the heads of all the tribes, the chiefs of the children of Israel, to him in Jerusalem."
(1 Kings 8:5) King Solomon and the congregation of Israel that had gathered before him were with him in front of the ark, offering sacrifices of sheep and oxen.
They were so numerous that they could not be recorded or counted.”
King Solomon, together with all the patriarchs, elders, and leaders, held countless worship services before the word of God.
I glorified and thanked God.
Then it was filled with the glory of God.
“(1 Kings 8:10) And as the priests came out of the sanctuary, the cloud filled the house of the LORD.”
(1 Kings 8:11) The priest was not able to stand and serve because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD
The temple of mercy was full."
2. He established the grace of God rather than his own achievements.
Solomon built the temple with the best of all, and gave thanks to God through countless worship services.
He confessed that the merit of all these things did not come from him, but God's grace.
(1 Kings 8:22) So Solomon faced all the congregation of Israel before the altar of the LORD, and stretched out his hands toward heaven.
high "
(1 Kings 8:23) And he said, O LORD, the God of Israel, in heaven and on earth there is no god like you.
You keep your covenant and show mercy to your servants who walk before you from the heart.”
(1 Kings 8:30) When your servants and your people Israel pray toward this place, you hear their supplications,
Hear from heaven, the dwelling place of your righteousness, and hear and forgive."
In this way, Solomon stretched out his hands toward heaven in the temple that he had dedicated to God, and only he
I accomplished this by putting on my clothes, and I humbled myself to ask God to forgive me if I had sins
I gave it to God by confessing.
And for the future of this temple, he hopes that it will be done according to the will and providence of God, which is outside his domain.
That is the feeling.
“(1 Kings 8:39) In heaven where you dwell, He hears and forgives, and you know the heart of every man;
Do what you do and repay me, for you alone know the heart of life.”
(1 Kings 8:53) So, Lord GOD, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Moses said,
Like a heart, you have set them apart from the people of the world, and you have made them your inheritance.”
In the end, just as Solomon brought the Israelites out of Egypt, so this temple and his future are one.
We confess that we are in your hands and declare that only the grace of God is the way to live.
3. We ended by blessing the whole congregation.
It is worthy of building such a magnificent temple to show his honor, authority, and achievements, but Solomon
It ended by blessing the people.
"(1 Kings 8:55) And he stood and blessed with a loud voice for all the congregation of Israel, saying,"
"(1 Kings 8:56) Praise be to the LORD..."
(1 Kings 8:57) The LORD our God is with us as he was with our ancestors, and we
Do not leave or forsake
"(1 Kings 8:59) ...and day after day the work of your servant, and of your people Israel, as they happen to you."
“(1 Kings 8:60) So that all the peoples of the world may know that the LORD is God and there is no other.
I want"
Honoring Solomon and praising Solomon for his great deeds is to give himself and everything for 20 years to the temple.
Even if he made a gift and gave it to God, he wanted the glory of God to be revealed rather than his name being exalted.
Rather than establishing the honor and authority of God, he praised and blessed the people for their hard work.
So that we can see in Solomon the humility and faith that are not easily found in today's political and religious leaders.
You will receive grace and challenge.
After Solomon had accomplished such a great thing, he gave all glory and blessings to God alone and only for the people.
How blessed will their future be because they have finished this temple with
(1 Kings 8:66) On the eighth day Solomon sent the people back, and the people blessed the king and returned to their tents.
When he returned home, he cut off all the favors the LORD had shown his servant David and his people Israel.
And he rejoiced, and his heart rejoiced."
Hallelujah!