The Temple likened to God's Assembly

I'm going to ask you to turn to 1st Chronicles and chapters 28 and 29. I don't want to speak to you about God's assembly. You say it isn't there in that portion, but I'll tell you what, the character of God's assembly is what I'm going to read about.

You see, as you're turning there, God has always desired fellowship with mankind. We cannot deny that. He put man in the garden, and he communed with Adam and Eve every day.

But you see, the thing that hindered it then and brought an end to it was sin. And so when we look down through the pages of Holy Scripture, we would find that God's desire is to bless man and to fellowship with man and to do everything possible for mankind, apart from when sin enters in. You know what I'm going to read about and speak to you about? In the days of Solomon were the highlights, some of the most highest truth in relationship to the history of Israel.

I have no doubt about that. It was a delightful time. You know, in the past I remember men coming into this part of the world, and they would give ministry, Mr. Schlebaugh, Mr. Surgener, and others.

They would give ministry on the tabernacle. You know, going back even before the tabernacle, there were men that sought after God, and they had their altars. But you know, when they came out of Egypt in 1491 B.C., it was within a year that the tabernacle was constructed in place and functional.

What was it about? God wanted to dwell among his people. And you think of all the furniture that was associated with it. But you know, the tabernacle, it came and it went.

But there was something that was left that made it to Solomon's house of God, to the temple, and that was the ark. And I have no doubt that the mercy seat was associated with it. And then after Solomon's temple, you know, the day came when the Lord Jesus came into the world.

And 50 days after he was raised from the dead, we have Pentecost. We have the beginning of the church. And as you read through Acts and you read through the epistles, you know what you find? You find that there were assemblies planted to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, and its presidency, his presidency.

And the Lord Jesus Christ being the center of attraction. Now, I want to come back to what I'm going to read now. I didn't take time to read all these verses, but I'll just read them and make my comment as I work through them.

Because you see, after they came out of Egypt, 480 years later, was the heart of David to build this house for God that there might be a place for the ark. And of course, the ark always brings to us and reminds us of the presence of God among his people on the ground of obedience. And it was his concern, it was his desire that there would be a house built for that purpose.

However, because he was a man of war, he was not allowed to build the house. But we're going to notice that he had a lot of the resource that went into the house. And his son Solomon built the house.

As a matter of fact, it was built in seven years. Quite a bit longer than it took to do the tabernacle, which was maybe about nine months at the very best. So we can see that this was a tremendous undertaking when there was a building of this house.

So with that in mind, I want to read first of all from chapter 29 and verse 3. There are some things that characterize that are found in the tabernacle and found in this project of Solomon. They all have character that points to what is in God's assembly today, where Christians in a locality gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in verse 3, Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, and the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the house within, the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to make by the hands of the artificers, and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord.

Now we've heard about consecration, and we see in verse 3 an affection for the house of God, and we see down in verse 9 about those that willingly offered. Now here's the thing that impressed me when I was looking this over. My wife and I were reading through the Old Testament, and there's parts of 1st Chronicles that maybe I don't really understand too much about, but there were some highlights in it.

I said to my wife when we come to the end of these two chapters, I said this is tremendous, this is something I haven't even looked at before. Not only what David offered, well not only what he gave and brought for the purpose of the building of this house, but you read down the rest of the verses, I'm not going to take time, there were the fathers, there were the princes, there were the rulers, there were the people, and they all contributed, and likely the last four categories contributed more than David contributed. But you know I've tried to do my math, and try to figure out just exactly how much stuff was involved in this house of God that David longed for as he wanted a place for the ark of God.

Say it very shortly, you know, he wanted the presence of God. That's what he wanted. That should be our desire, more and more and day by day, to know more about divine presence with us.

We can't live without it. But back to what he contributed. Three thousand talents of gold.

I've tried to do the math on it. If I'm wrong, you'll have to address me, some of you are better mathematicians than I am. Sometimes my calculator don't always work accurately, but I've done it many times, and you know what I found out? There was a hundred and eighty tons of gold.

A hundred and eighty tons of gold. And there were four hundred and twenty tons of silver. Now, I'm interested in trucks and moving and transportation, things like that.

Now going by the state law of Wisconsin, if you were to take a semi and put a pusher axle under it, so you'd have six axles, you could haul, likely, over fifty thousand pounds of weight. Just to put it simple, this is how much gold David gave. Enough to load seven semis, and to be legal.

And how about seventeen semis of silver? And I've already said, if you read down the chapter, there's more given by others, like the fathers and the princes, the rulers and the people. What a fantastic building this must have been. Silver, gold, stones, and you'd have to read it.

I'm not going to take the time, because I don't want to leave room for another one or two. But can you imagine the amount of the value? If it was in today's money, the gold would be worth two and a half billion dollars. And the silver, at just twenty dollars an ounce, would be about two hundred and seventy-five million.

And I think it was probably pretty valuable, even back in this day. But I want to come to think about God's assembly today. Or you say, this would have been quite a building they had.

It was. As I said, it took seven years to put it together. But listen, what kind of a value today do I find in God's assembly? Let me read you a verse.

Paul is writing to the Ephesian elders. Acts 20, verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost had made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.

Here's this structure that was worth, in our account today, would be worth billions of dollars. I didn't even calculate some of it. Billions and billions of dollars.

But, dear believer today, what about God's assembly? Have you stopped to think of the cost and the value as to God's holy sight today, what the assembly is to Him? Because we've got to remember something. Every assembly is purchased by the blood of Christ. Do you know that? Do I move in God's assembly like I realize that where I form a part of an assembly, it took the blood of Christ being shed to make it a reality? That should give us an accountability as our performance, as to our behavior in the house of God.

You see, this isn't just toying around with something. The Lord saved you by His grace. Trust everybody here today that's saved, has been baptized.

Baptized in sons in doctrine, without question you should be in the house of God, in God's assembly. God's New Testament assembly, in your locality. It has been purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you see, any given assembly is far greater and far more important than the tabernacle or the house of God that was built by Solomon. That needs to be impressed upon my heart every day. I shouldn't be forgetting it.

We're not gathered to some kind of a denominational activity. We are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it took His precious blood to save me.

And the formation of every assembly by God, when it's planted, is at the cost of the death and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus. I want to move back then in chapter 28 to verse 2. Then David the king stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people. As for me, I have in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

Again, I go back to the ark that was in the tabernacle. You think that little tabernacle was 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high, two-thirds into it. As you come in from the east, going westward, you come to a veil.

And behind the veil was the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat. Always seem to be joined together as to one piece. As I already suggested, the ark speaks to us about the presence of God among His people.

You see, as for the ark in the days past, when it came out of the tabernacle and it was maybe, I don't know, it was served. The tabernacle served as they moved through the wilderness. And then it kind of seems to go off the face, you know, out of view.

But the ark was around all those years. There was times when it was in the house of Obed-Edom. And there was blessing there because of the presence of the ark.

There was a time when the Philistines took it and they put it in and set up beside Old Dagon. And he just tipped over. And parts fell off of him.

Because it couldn't stand in the presence of divine persons. That's interesting, isn't it? You see why David found this so valuable. We need a place for the ark.

We need a place for the presence of God. Come to the assembly. I say it's not a denomination.

It's not regulated by men. We're going to see that. The presence of God in our midst.

God has promised to be. Listen to the verse. The Lord Jesus said, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

God's assembly. Maybe you're from Black Earth. Maybe you're from Heightsville.

Maybe you're from Broadhead, B-town, Ontario, La Crosse, wherever. But gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to point out that every assembly has been divinely planted.

And the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst. So it isn't a place where man has his own personal interpretation and does as he wants to do. No, no.

The presence of God. It isn't something that frightens us away. But it is something that draws us near.

Because we love our God, don't we? And we love the Lord Jesus Christ who bled and died for us. And it brings us into this willing mode of being obedient to him. And we're thankful for the presence of God among his people.

So the house was built that there might be. The purpose of it here was for a place for the ark. I want to know something else about it.

In chapter 28, verse 11. Read with me quickly here then. Then David gave to his son Solomon the pattern of the porch and so on.

It's in detail there. And then it goes down and says, And the place of the mercy seat at the end of verse 11. And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit.

That's a capital S. And down to verse 19. Pattern in association with the construction of this fabulous building. Do we have a pattern today for God's assembly? Do we have a pattern for what we carry out? It wouldn't do too well if it came in the pattern was what I thought.

Or maybe what you thought. But you see there is a revelation of truth when it comes to God's assembly today. And there is a plurality of elders in God's assembly today.

And with fear they should be moving. Wanting to know what does the Word of God have to say. Because it's not the opinions of men.

It's what the pattern indicates. You see the Lord Jesus Christ taught. And when he went back into heaven, the apostles doctrine began.

And men were raised up by the Spirit of God. And they have given us truth relative to the assembly. And so the assembly should function according to the Word of God.

The pattern that has been given. That's the only safe way for it to function. According to the Word of God.

We don't have to say too much about that, do we? I think we all understand that. An assembly that's given to opinions and ideas and conveniences. And just yielding to what seems to be most comfortable for the majority.

We need to go by the Word of God. So it was in the construction of the house of God. The place for the ark of the covenant.

It was according to the pattern. And verse 19 is very clear. It seems to say that David is saying.

Made me understand in writing. See we have the canon of scripture today. So we really don't have an excuse for failure, do we? Let's go take another reading now.

In chapter 29. And verse 15. I found this very intriguing really.

What is said here in verses 14, 15, and 16. But we'll read verse 15 first of all. He's saying this after all the acknowledgement of all that's been contributed by him.

And all others have contributed. Notice verse 15. For we are strangers before thee and sojourners.

As were all our fathers. Our days on earth are as a shadow. And there is none abiding.

He is identifying what they were. And you know we've been hearing about humility and boasting about things. Well.

You can never accuse David here. Of any boasting. There was a loneliness seen here.

About all those that had come and brought. What they had given. And even more than that.

It says in verse 14. And who am I? That in my people that. We should be able to offer so willingly after this sort.

That all things come of thee and of thine own have. We given thee. And verse.

16. O Lord our God. All the store that we have prepared.

To build thee a house for thy. Holy name. Cometh of thy hand.

And is all thine own. Now what am I driving at here? Sometimes people talk about my assembly. Sometimes people talk about.

What man is doing. What man is accomplishing. In relationship to the assembly.

You know when I read these verses. I have to adjust my thinking. A whole lot.

Because who are you? And who am I? That ever we have been reached and saved by the grace of God. And called into God's assembly. It humbles us doesn't it? None of us deserve that place.

And after all what they were given in contribution to this house. They are saying this. It wasn't ours to give anyhow.

It came to us from God. God has provided all this. That we might come into the good and the value of it.

And the enjoyment of it. If I am getting anything out of this. The assembly.

God's assembly. Is not a place for our pride. For our boastfulness.

For our feeling of self-sufficiency. The house of God belongs to the Lord. And has been purchased by the blood of Christ.

And it should adjust our attitude and our thinking. As to how I think and how I behave in the house of God. Some people think it's very necessary to have their own way.

And a fulfillment of their own thinking. Listen, if it isn't according to the word of God. It's a waste of time.

And furthermore. To fail to own. That God's assembly.

Belongs to the Lord. And it is all of his benevolence and his grace and his kindness. That has provided it for us.

God has planted it. It's God's assembly. And it should guide me very carefully in my behavior in it.

So we see the attitude in the assembly. It's God's house. Not mine.

There is a pattern associated with it. The word of God. It belongs to the Lord.

And we should be ever grateful and gracious before God. That it is ever seen impossible that we would be in the house of God. What a privilege.

What a responsibility. What a blessing. I would never want to be outside of God's assembly.

And I know you feel the same way. And it's good that we pay attention to things that we ought to pay attention to. Now there's one more thing I want to talk about.

I want to talk about the character of the house. I already touched on it somewhat. But you see the Holy Spirit is mentioned in verse 12.

I'm going to drop down to verse 15. We read about, let's just read verse 15 and 16. Real quickly.

In chapter 28. What do we have here? The lamp stand. The light.

That illumination. It's good to have the word of God to guide us in our testimony, isn't it? Individually and collectively. Because, you see, if I am failing to be a testimony as I ought to be in God's assembly, it impacts the whole of the testimony.

The totality of the assembly where Christians gather to the Lord's name. The word of God gives us direction. It gives us illumination.

We're not out wandering around in the darkness. There was here this great truth about the candlestick. And then it talks about the tables.

It tells us, you know, when the table speaks of fellowship, really. Every assembly should be characterized by the fullness of fellowship. Fellowship with our God.

But you know when you come to 1 Corinthians 1. That there be no divisions among you. There should never be in God's assembly any dissension or division. Because it is the Lord's assembly.

So these are things that we need to pay attention to. Verse 18, we could read about incense and the offering of incense. God's assembly, the place where he receives worship.

And there's an adoration that comes to God. And God is so deserving of. Sometimes we feel we so poorly presented.

God's assembly. He's talking here about incense and so on. So it is in the house of God.

Praise that goes to our God. God is so deserving of our worship. But just one more thing here.

I've long went over my time. I want to look at verse 20. And David said to Solomon his son, be strong and of good courage and do it.

Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of God. And so on.

You know what I see here? I see protection in the house of God. God cares for his own people. He protects his own people.

But you know, he is really stating words here to his son Solomon. About the fact of encouraging him. God's assembly should be a place of encouragement.

Someone once said the blue is a place where everybody gets hit over the head with a shovel. I'm just not so sure about that. I can't give an account of it 70 years ago.

But I tell you this. I think that we should encourage one another. And we should encourage one another in spiritual things.

And brethren, I don't see anything wrong when someone prays in the assembly. Brethren, give it an amen. Unless it's way off in left field doctrinally.

Say amen to it. Encourage God's people in God's assembly. It's a tremendous lubrication if I could say.

It's a spiritual lubrication. People in their kindness, in their love, in their care. One for another.

And I see now David is passing on information to his son Solomon. This I'll close. It's a blessed thing in God's assembly.

When one generation can pass on to the next generation truth and help and encouragement and assistance. And the capacity that older people are in capability of. You know, God's assembly is the ideal.

It is perfect. It is according to the word of God. And I draw these few thoughts from Solomon's temple here.

Built in seven years. Tremendous cost. But it is nothing.

I'd be careful what I say. But really in my thinking it is nothing compared to God's assembly. Where God's people are gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.