[0:00] the opportunity to be here. Trust that things are going well for you. Hope that you've had a good week thus far. Take your Bibles, go with me to the book of 1 Chronicles, 1 Chronicles chapter 29. 1 Chronicles chapter 29. We will slow down just a little bit in this passage because we're only going to look at the first nine verses, which is kind of unique to us where we've been at looking at 1 Chronicles. We've been looking at major sections or larger sections. We're on the last chapter now. We've made our way through Chronicles pretty quickly because we've covered a lot of chapters in one time, but we're slowing down just a little bit in this chapter in particular. So we'll look at the first nine verses, verses one through nine of the 29th chapter there. 1 Chronicles chapter 29. Let's pray and then we'll get right into the Word of God.
[0:52] Father, thank you so much. I thank you for the day which you've given us and the great blessing it is to be able to gather together with brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank you for the wondrous privilege it is to open up the Word of God and ask that you would speak to our hearts and minds as we read it and we see it. We pray that through the power and presence of the Spirit, you'd help us to come to an understanding of what it is you're telling us from your Word.
[1:22] And we pray that that understanding would move us to application, that we would not come to it just to gain information, but rather we'd come to it for transformation, that you would work it out in our lives for your glory and honor. We pray that you'd be glorified in all that takes place with our youth and our children, with those working with them in the back. We ask that Christ be magnified, that their lives would be impacted with the truth of the gospel, and that you get all the glory and honor from it. Father, lead us through this time in the Word and we ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. First Chronicles 29 is still a continuation of what was introduced all the way back in the 22nd chapter, okay? David's realization that where he was sitting at that moment was the house of God. So if we want to know where that is in the 22nd chapter, we would know that that immediately follows his census, the unordained of the Lord census that he declared, which led to the plague of the Lord that came in and killed 70,000 people, in which David goes up to
[2:38] Ornan the Jebusites, or Arunah the Jebusites, same individual. Ornan the Jebusites, he'll, he buys the threshing floor, he offers the sacrifice, the Lord answers by fire, responds to David, David is there, and in all this wonder and awe, he says, this is the house of the Lord. And from that moment on, 22nd chapter, all the way to the end of the book of First Chronicles, are David's preparations for the construction and completion of the temple. We know that in the midst of that, there's a major section in which he lays out the order and the responsibilities of the Levites and the priests.
[3:15] And so it's more than just preparations for the structure. It's really preparing the nation for temple worship. He declares to them the structure they should build. He begins to make preparations of the material. We'll get into that in just a little bit. He declares who should be doing what within the temple. So there, there's a lot that is going on. There's a lot of preparation being made in advance. We found in the 28th chapter that David actually gives them blueprints, if you will, the plant that he says that these were given to him in writing by the Lord God. So much like Moses on Mount Sinai, you have David on the hill outside of Jerusalem receiving the plants. And these are what he passes on. And he's giving it to the people that he's leaving behind. Now, all of this follows David's desire to build a house for the Lord in the book of Chronicles. And then the Lord responds to the prophet, you will not build my house, but I will build your house.
[4:25] Now, David wanted to build a physical structure. The Lord God declares that he will build an eternal dynasty. Now we know that that house is built ultimately in Jesus Christ, the seed of David.
[4:39] And so David understandably knows that he can't be the one who builds the physical house of the Lord, though don't ever lose sight of this because I want you to see it tonight. It was his desire to be able to do that. He wanted to do that. He longed to do that. And then he sat in the presence of God in worship. And then he stood before the people of God and gave this final address that we find in the 28th chapter and 29th chapter. So we pick it up in verse one and we go through verse nine and we'll stop there. Then King David said to the entire assembly, if you go back 28th chapter, you know that that entire assembly is all the leaders of the military leaders, the mighty men, the Levites, the priest, everyone is there. Not just Solomon, but everyone is there. Then King David said to the entire assembly, my son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen is still young and inexperienced and the work is great for the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God. Now with all my ability, I have provided for the house of my God, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron and the wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver,
[6:07] I give to the house of my God over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple. Namely, 3,000 talents of gold of the gold of Ophir and 7,000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the buildings of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver.
[6:27] That is for all the work done by the craftsman, who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord. Then the rulers of the father's households and the princes of the tribes of Israel and the commanders of the thousands and of hundreds with the overseers over the king's work offered willingly.
[6:48] And for the service of the house of God, they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 derricks of gold and 10,000 talents of silver and 18,000 talents of brass and 100,000 talents of iron. Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord in care of Jehill the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart and King David also rejoiced greatly. First Chronicles 29 verses 1 through 9. I want you to see this evening moved to give being moved to give and it is really more than just giving financially but giving of oneself to what God is leading the individual to being moved to give. David has made the preparations. He understands what is going on. He is understandably looking forward until that day.
[7:52] He knows that Solomon his son is chosen. Ultimately, we know the ultimate fulfillment of the one who will build the house of the Lord who will call the Lord God his father and God will call him his son is Jesus Christ. But for the temporal structure, which is the temple, would be Solomon his son. Solomon being the name of peace. He is a son of peace. And if you read his reign, you see that it is one of peace.
[8:14] David is a man of war. He has shed much blood, but Solomon does not. And yet Solomon is the great builder. He builds the temple. He builds the king's palace. He builds a lot of things. He fortifies a lot of things up. But all this is going on because David makes the preparation. Now, in reference to why it is recorded in this book, because we are looking at First Chronicles, which always bears in mind to know why it's there. When we see these happening for us in Second Samuel and First Kings and following, we okay, well, we're reading it in time when it's being done or immediately following it being done. And what we see there in context is God let the nation do all of these things. And the nation was prepared to worship. And yet the nation still failed because those books are written before the Babylonian captivity. And they show us why the nation went into captivity. First and Second Chronicles are written post Babylonian captivity. So it is restarting, if you will, the nation. The minority has come out after the decree of King Cyrus. The small temple has been built that we can read about in the works of Ezra and Nehemiah. The wall is being replaced. And so now the nation is trying to re-identify who they are before the Lord. So they look back. And in looking back, the chronicler is writing for us how the Lord led David to establish all these things so that people would know how to worship. Now, this is important historically because the nation coming out of Babylonian captivity needed to know who should be king. Well, we know it should be a descendant of David. Well, who should lead us in worship? Who should be the gatekeepers of the temple? Who should be the ones working at the altar?
[9:53] All those things are recorded for us here. So much so that during the time of Christ, they're still going on. So, you know, by the time they read this, I told you that in Hebrew scripture, First and Second Chronicles are near the end of the Old Testament, except for the book of Malachi, which is written immediately after that. So this is like the last things they have written, right? So this, then God goes silent for 400 years. Well, 400 years later, 400 plus years later, Zacharias walks into the temple to burn incense according to the order we have recorded for us in First Chronicles, according to that rotation, and God speaks again. So God is giving the blueprint for how the nation ought to continue until the fulfillment of these things. Now, that's important because they're writing here, not so they can stand and know what magnificent temple they have before them. Because, again, we always want to set it in proper context. By the time this book is written, and by the time the original audience is reading this book, there is no Ark of the Covenant. It's not present. It's no, we don't know where it is. Most people agree that when King Nebuchadnezzar came in, and Nebuchadnezzar, his leader, came in, and they burned the temple, or they burned Jerusalem and everything that was there, and the temple that was built, Solomon's temple that was there, and they wanted the gold that was inlaid on the wall that we're reading about here, that the Ark of the Covenant was destroyed at that moment too. I'm not buying into the theories that it's still hiding somewhere in Ethiopia, and there's somebody guarding it, okay? I'm sorry, I just don't think it's happening, because I just don't think there's a reason biblically for it to happen, not because I'm anti-conspiracy theorist, it's just I don't think biblically there's a reason.
[11:33] We never have it mentioned again in Scripture. After the Babylonian captivity, it's never mentioned again. It's not there. I know you're going to say, well, yes, it is. It's in the book of Revelations. You're right, it is in the book of Revelation. The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned there, but it's not this Ark of the Covenant, okay? So anyway, a side note. So what we're knowing is they're not looking at this, and by this time that this is written, there is already a temple built. It's a temple built in Ezra, of which the people, some of them rejoiced because they have a temple, and some of them are crying because it looks nothing like the temple they remembered of their childhood, which was Solomon's temple. So surely we're not writing this to show us how bad this temple is. Really, we're just writing this to show how God was moving the people, moving them to give of themselves, and to prepare the nation to be able to worship. And so the application just immediately is not like this is the temple we should build. No, the application is look at what God is doing so that his people could worship. So what does it look like when the people are moved to give? Number one, you see that it is a focus on the work. It is a focus on the work. Now I say that because look at what it says, then King David said to the entire assembly, my son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen.
[12:57] Just stop right there. The first thing that we notice is that David acknowledges the ongoing work of the Lord God. God has chosen, told us in the previous chapter, he had many sons. We know when we read the fullness of scripture that he does have many sons. We know from the fullness of scripture that Jesus is not a direct descendant of Solomon. Rather, he is a direct descendant of Solomon's brother, Nathan. Now that's important later on when we get into Coniah or Jeconiah, the individual, and things of that nature. But anyway, at this moment, what David is saying is that God chose him to do the work. So it's not really about Solomon. Notice how he positions this. He doesn't say, my son Solomon is going to build this thing, so I want to support him. No, he says, the Lord God has chosen Solomon. So it's more about what God is doing than who is doing it. That's very important.
[14:02] Pay attention to it. He says, my son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen. Well, why is he fit to this? Because he's the one God has chosen. And he acknowledges he's still young and inexperienced.
[14:13] Most people, Bible students will tell you he's probably between the age of 25 and 30. But he also has not formed and fashioned his faith on the battlefield. He's born in a time when David is at ease, right? He's not fashioned this real hard faith the way David had to. He hasn't run from, he's lived a life of luxury. And so he says he's young and he's inexperienced. But look at this, and the work is great. So we see his moving to give is really about the work, not the people. Too often in how we give ourselves, either physically, financially, of our time, of our energies, of our effort, we are more concerned about the people involved than the work involved. And what David acknowledges here is Solomon plays a part in this, but it's really not about Solomon. It's about this temple that's being built. Because look at what he says, for this is not a house of man, but this will be the house of the Lord God. This is a great work.
[15:29] David gives sacrificially, not because he believes in Solomon, not because he thinks that he has the ability to do it. Acknowledges over and over again, I went back and read just kind of, not really in detail, but just kind of peruse through chapters 22 to 29. You know how many times David says Solomon is not fit to do what he's about to do? I mean, over and over and over again. I mean, if Solomon didn't get it, and if everybody around him didn't get it, I mean, this is the one discourse he just keeps saying, he's not ready to do this. He's not ready to do this. He's young and inexperienced.
[15:59] He's not ready to do this. Yeah, he's not prepared to do this. But it's really not about Solomon. Right? It's about the work that God has called Solomon to do. Big difference. He's not supporting Solomon. He is supporting the work that God is doing through Solomon. And that's the difference.
[16:24] It's that focus on what is God doing. irrespective of who he's using. Because naturally, when I tell you to name the temples, name the Jewish temples, what would you start out with? Well, there's Solomon's temple, there's Zechariah's temple, there's Herod's temple, and then we're looking for the new temple, right?
[16:47] The Solomon's temple, right? Who provided everything for, quote unquote, Solomon's temple? David and the people. Who actually did the building? Not Solomon. Solomon wasn't a mason, a stonecutter, or a craftsman.
[17:03] But he gets all the credit for it, right? This is Solomon's temple. Solomon didn't go win the battles that brought in the gold and the silver and the iron and the alabaster and all those things. Solomon didn't go into the battlefield. Solomon didn't dedicate.
[17:14] Solomon used all his resources to build his house. But this is, quote unquote, Solomon's temple. You think? I mean, let's just be honest. We don't want to read into Scripture more than what Scripture tells us.
[17:28] But we have a newsflash here that David is a man just like us. Right? David wanted to build the house but was told no.
[17:41] Naturally, just speaking of mere humanity here, it would have been easy to say, okay, well then good luck, buddy. if I can't do it, then I'm going to step back.
[17:54] But he didn't. Why? Because of the work. He didn't get upset because God told him no. We don't want to know why David is a man after God's own heart.
[18:06] We don't see it in his failures, but we sure do see it in his testimony, right? We see this reality that he's like, okay, well if I can't do it, then I want to, because I believe in the work so much, no matter who does it, I want to ensure that it can be done.
[18:23] Too often in today's world, we just say, well if it's not me, if I can't do it, then just forget it or if I don't like the person doing it or whatever and then we just kind of back away from it and we just, we get so hung up on the people instead of the work.
[18:37] Because the reality is is people will always fail us. Right? None of us are fit to labor in the kingdom. No, not one. But for the grace of God and the mighty power of the Lord God Almighty wanting to use broken vessels which we can rejoice in of our own goodness and our own worthiness, none of us are, we're all, we all need somebody like David standing going, you know, you're too young, you're too inexperienced, you don't know what you're doing, you know, this is a great work.
[19:02] We need that. Not to discourage us, but to remind us that the work exceeds our abilities. When Jesus commissioned the disciples he told them to do something that they couldn't do, right?
[19:16] To take the gospel to all the ends of the earth. And Lord, I'm with you always. The work exceeded their abilities. So much so that they hung out in Jerusalem, they got comfortable in Jerusalem, they built a big church in Jerusalem, and you read the book of Acts, right?
[19:29] Peter preaches Pentecost message, a multitude of thousands of people come to faith, about 3,000, and then a couple, you know, months later again he preaches again about 5,000 people come. I mean, this is what we call a mega church, right?
[19:40] They have churches and they're probably meeting in houses and all these places and man, things are going great and then persecution starts. Well, why in the world did the Lord let persecution come in? Well, read what happens after the persecution.
[19:53] And then the disciples were dispersed. Where were they dispersed? To Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Which is exactly where God told them to go in Matthew 28. And then again in Acts chapter 1, verse 8.
[20:05] And it took the persecution to disperse them because they knew they couldn't go there. It's greater than they. But God used that and moved them. He strengthened them and all these other realities.
[20:16] Sure. But what we understand is we need to focus on the work, not the people. Number two, how are we moved to give? Not only do we focus on the work, we are moved to give because we realize it is an enduring witness.
[20:32] As we give of ourselves, we realize it is an enduring witness. One of the most humbling realities when I became pastor here nine years ago now, and it was something that really my first week in office, because I maintain office hours, I just have to do that for most of the day.
[20:55] So the first couple Sundays it was okay, but I remember it was my first week in office. Carrie helped me kind of get my office right because I can't function real well if my office isn't right. So anyway, after we got the office right and the church was finally quiet, then the reality set in.
[21:10] Wow, the Lord God called me to a church at that time that was nearing 150 years. Okay? In 150 years, I've been one, you know, you're standing on a lot of people's shoulders.
[21:28] and you realize the witness that has just endured throughout the ages and the testimony and the reality that you're standing on someone else's labor and work.
[21:46] And you begin to think back to that and then you see some of that being lived out in front of you through individuals and you realize that there are enduring witnesses to people who gave, not just financially but gave of themselves.
[22:02] I read the history that's so well preserved back there, at least up until the time I became pastor, it was so well preserved because I think the last notation in there was, and Billy Joe has called us pastor, which I guess our history stopped.
[22:14] We don't want to remember anything after that, that's fine. But it's pretty amazing just to read stuff like, you know, the gentleman who used to ring the bell every time a member would die, he'd ring the bell for every year that they lived or the janitor that was fired and he mailed the resignation letter back to the church and said, no, I'm not going to accept this.
[22:35] You know, you fired me but I'm not accepting it so he returned and he cleaned the church for like 15 more years. I mean, you know, it's pretty amazing. You just read these realities of real people doing real things, right?
[22:49] And you know that these things last because the congregation still meets and it's still here. But look at what David, David said. He said, with all my ability I have provided.
[23:01] With all my ability. He said, I'm giving all the gold that's for the things of gold. He had the weights measured out. He knew exactly what to need. I'm giving all the silver for the things of silver. I'm giving all the stones, all the precious stones, all the different rocks, everything that I think you're going to need.
[23:16] With all of my ability I'm giving it to you. But then he comes down to verse 3. He says, moreover, in my delight in the house of my God. Look, it's not even a reality yet but he is rejoicing in what's about to be in this work, right?
[23:30] He says, in my delight the treasure I have of gold and silver I also give above and beyond all that I've already provided.
[23:41] So he provided everything that was needed to meet the need. He says, but in my delight in my worship I'm going to give above and beyond.
[23:51] And there's a statement there when you get to the end of that section in verse 5. He said, it'll be of the gold for the things of gold and of the silver for the things of silver. That is for all the work. Look at this. Done by the craftsmen.
[24:03] The wording there is done by the hands of the craftsmen. So we see this enduring witness because as the craftsmen are overlaying the walls of this temple they know who the gold and silver came from.
[24:23] Right? Somebody provided that. Somebody gave of themselves so that these people would have the opportunity to use their giftedness in constructing the temple.
[24:38] And that endured. Because now, not only is David giving the resources, no, he's giving the opportunity for the people to utilize their giftedness!
[24:50] to the Lord God Almighty! So that when it's laid in their hands they have something to work with. Right? Because if he hadn't done it, where would it be?
[25:06] And this is a witness and he's not doing this to brag, he's not doing this to boast. He's just declaring, this is what I want to do. And even though the temple is called Solomon's Temple and there's all these things, right, we refer to that historically and we know that's what he built, but the resources to do it were the things that endures because it goes beyond David.
[25:32] And it is there providing providing not just for the house but for the people to do the work, right? He was enabling others to do the work God was calling them to do.
[25:46] The greatest thing that I believe we can ever do is to so give and you know I'm not one who preaches sermons about giving. I just don't. I believe, you know, if we get to the text and it tells us to preach about giving, then we can't preach this text and not preach about giving, okay, we just can't.
[26:02] We're not doing it justice if we do, but I'm not one who's going to say I'm going to preach a series on tithing and preach a series on giving. No, that's just not my leading. My leading is if I preach for your heart to be changed that when your heart's changed the wallet always follows the heart.
[26:15] That's just my understanding. But I also know that it is amazing if we look beyond giving here, beyond the resources, beyond the financial abilities, but the greatest thing that we can ever do is to so give of ourselves.
[26:29] If that means it's our time, if that means it's our energy, if that means it's our finances, whatever it is, that we can so give of ourselves that we would empower other people to be able to work for the Lord.
[26:41] And that's a hard thing to do because we naturally want the recognition. But it's a wonderful thing to be able to so give that others can take the work and do.
[26:57] that we ought to be equipping other people to do the work because the reality is is that witness endures much longer than our short breath of life.
[27:12] If we confine the work of the Lord to the number of our days because we say, well, I'm going to do it all. I'm just going to do it. You know, I'll take care of it rather than giving of ourselves to equip others to do the work, then the work stops when our life ends.
[27:29] And we are called to invest and we're called to pour in so that other people could labor and other people could work because it's not about us.
[27:41] It's not really even about them. It's about the work of the Lord and we've got to keep our focus there. We see that time after time again throughout church history.
[27:52] People that gave of themselves to equip and encourage others so that they would be able to give. So it's an enduring witness. Number three, we are moved to give not only because of the focus on the work, not only because we long to have an enduring witness.
[28:08] Number three, it becomes we give from a heart of willingness. Look at what it says at the end of verse five. Who then is willing willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord.
[28:25] Consecrate literally means to pour into the hand. Legacy Standard Bible has it as anoint, who is willing to anoint himself. It just really means to pour oneself into the hand.
[28:38] So who is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord? Notice this. What follows is a number of people giving, but they don't give out of constraint and they don't give out of obedience.
[28:57] They give from willingness. The word of God says the Lord God loves a cheerful giver, right? But David is king here.
[29:09] I know Solomon's already been anointed king. He'll be anointed king again at the end of the chapter for the second time. But David is still king, right? He's the man.
[29:20] He's at the end of his life. And he could have ordered the people to give, but he doesn't. He said, who is willing to consecrate himself? Or to pour oneself into the hand of the Lord and say, here I am, you have all of me.
[29:36] Who's willing to do that? It says, and then the rulers and the fathers of the households and the princes of the tribes of Israel and the commanders of thousands and hundreds and the overseers over the king's work offered willingly.
[29:49] So they willingly gave and it tells us the amount they gave. They gave this abundance and then it says, and the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly.
[30:02] It comes, true giving moves from a heart of willingness, of being willing to pour oneself entirely into the hand of the Lord and say, here I am, Lord, I consecrate myself.
[30:14] I set myself apart for your usefulness. Again, it's a very hard thing to do. It's an easy thing to talk about because we say, God, would you be happy if I gave you this amount and then you leave the rest of me alone?
[30:25] That's not giving, right? And let's say, Lord, here I can give you this amount and that's why we want people to tell us how much should I give or how much should I do and we want these rules and we just naturally want them because I want to know how much I can do or how much I have to do and then I can be left alone and I get the rest to myself.
[30:42] That's not what scripture teaches. Scripture teaches who is willing to consecrate himself, who's willing to say, here I am. I put all of myself in your hand. I pour my life into your hand.
[30:53] What you leave of me for me to God be the praise and glory. But what I give to other people, okay, Lord, use it for your good and your work and your labor.
[31:05] We are moved to give when we have a heart of willingness that is that. This is, I want my life to be used by him. Now notice this.
[31:16] When you pour it into his hand, this is why it's so scary. When we say, oh, I'm willing to do that. Well, when the oil of anointing is in the hand, the oil doesn't get to determine where it's poured out at.
[31:32] So when you say, I consecrate myself to the Lord, then we don't get to tell the Lord how he uses us. We just say, you use us.
[31:48] All of us for your glory. It comes from a heart of willingness. And fourth and finally, we're moved to give, not only is it a focus on the work, it's an enduring witness from a heart of willingness.
[32:02] Number four, it is an expression of worship. worship. We see the true worship in the verses that follow, but I didn't want to rush through them, but we see a hint of it here in verse nine.
[32:13] Then the people rejoiced. They began to celebrate and to rejoice and to magnify. Why? Because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord, look at this, with a whole heart.
[32:28] With a whole heart. They gave of themselves with a whole heart, so they rejoiced because of the reality they've been able to sacrificially give of themselves and say, yes.
[32:40] Now, that's hard, right? I gave willingly with a whole heart everything that I had, and I placed it in the hand of the Lord God Almighty, and I rejoiced in the fact that he's going to use it. And then it goes on, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
[32:54] This led to the rejoicing of the nation. Why? Because they had come with a whole heart and given themselves to the Lord. And it leads to an expression of worship that we really see fleshed out for us in the verses that follow where David acknowledges the only reason we're able to give is because God has first given to us, that what we're giving back to him is his already, that he is the provider and the sustainer of all things, and we just had this wondrous opportunity, whether it be physical things or our time and our energies to give it back and say, yes, God, you can have it.
[33:33] But worship starts with rejoicing, and they rejoice because they knew their hearts were fully committed to giving. When we're moved to give, we focus on the work, we know that it's a witness that's going to endure, we come to him with willingness and say, Lord, here I am, I pour myself into your hand, and we truly worship with rejoicing because we've been given the opportunity to come with a whole heart and say, do what you want with what I have.
[34:03] That's a great place to be. It's a hard place to be, but it's a great place to be to say, yes, Lord, have all of me. And we find that 1 Chronicles 29 verses 1 through 9.
[34:16] Thank you, my brothers. Yes.
[34:31]