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SPBC started in the early months of 1960. A pastor and congregation members in GB started discussing and praying for a church in the SP community. Eventually, property with a small house on the lot was purchased. The first Sunday in May, a worship service was held inside the house and SS classes was held within cars in the parking lot and that continued each week. In the first couple years, money was raised to demolish the house and establish a new building. The growth escalated and an education wing was built in 1965, which is the same building that exists today.

Many changes have occurred inside the walls. Rooms have been remodeled. Flooring has changed colors. Furniture has transformed. Some people wish for different changes or colors here and there, but overall this building is a home to our church family [why we can do things like vbs]; and we give thanks for 506 Benfield Rd.

Buildings are important, but they’re not primary. Because, SPBC has had hundreds of people and families enter its doors to walk hallways and sit in seats. And many new people and families have been added over the years, with only a few remaining from the first half of the church’s history. But SPBC exists beyond the walls of a building.

So, while much has changed, the mission has remained the same. Love God and love people. Gather in faith, grow in hope, and go in love – or, in other words: grow godly generations.

Today’s passage chapters are about a building campaign. It’s not exhilarating reading necessarily, but like our church building, the hallways and rooms of this can tell stories of life change and offer treasured memories and inspiring application. So, we will allow this OT text to inform and inspire us today, like all of God’s word has the power to do such.[1]

EXAMINE    1 Kings 5-9 A Nation’s Blessing

Review about 1-2 Kings

• History of Israel; 345+ years covered in OT with indirect reference to overall half of OT books – almost all the Prophets.
• Biblical leadership principles revealed with principles to adopt and negative traits to avoid. All of life requires leadership: self-leadership, families, communities, churches, organizations & workplaces, and nations.
• Preparation to die. Phrase: “Kings slept with their fathers” repeated 12x in 1 Kings and 14x in 2 Kings. When we try to build kingdoms without God on the throne, we will die without a godly legacy. So, these books remind us of mortality and our great need for mercy.

Life Principles from 1 Kings 5

When God blesses, build His kingdom.

¹ Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. ² And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ³ “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵ And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’
⁶ Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

Solomon became king of a blessed nation who had peace on all sides. Solomon picks up his father’s legacy of honoring Yahweh by building a temple to worship the LORD.

If you read 1Ki5, you’ll see that Solomon makes strategic alliances and partnerships with others to build the temple.  

• Hiram, king of Tyre sent servant workers to build and Solomon sent food and resources in exchange. In fact, Israel’s partnership with Tyre reflected Jew & Gentile working together to establish the LORD’s temple (cf. Eph 2:11-22).
• Solomon recruited a labor force of 30K workers / 70K porters / 80K stone cutters /3,500 supervisors. The workers served for 1 month in Lebanon, then had 2 months home. Later,
  1Kings 9:22 clarifies these were willing servants of the king not forced slaves. 

A few applications of this principle:

• Keep faith central. Solomon could have easily started his throne by building his own palace and focusing on other current affairs and cultural pleasures. Instead, he honors his father David and his heart for God.

Many people today complain that the younger generation is missing from today’s church; or that they aren’t respectful, or intelligent; or hard-working; or whatever else enough. The challenge with such a complaint is we forget to look in the mirror for the pattern set for the younger generation. Solomon imitates his father’s faith… but he will also duplicate his father’s deficiencies. The best thing we can do to keep faith central is not to pretend perfection but exhibit integrity.

David prayed, “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they are faithful. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.” Ps 25:6-7

The best thing we can do to keep faith central is not to pretend perfection but exhibit integrity.

• Keep faith compatible. Life is better together. We need friends and partners on the journey. And when it comes to leadership, solo is a no-go. Specifically, churches have had enough narcissistic leaders and nations have had enough dictators. The world needs leaders willing to communicate across differences to establish peace and prosperity.
  
  One of the persons Solomon partnered was another man with the name of Tyre’s king. 1 Kings 7:13-14 “King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a many of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.”

This Hiram was a son of a widow. But he did not let his dark circumstances define his perspective. He acquired wisdom and work.

The beauty of the church is viewing the various gifts that are different and unique, but each fulfilling their purpose to complement one another… / One reason why I love VBS…

Heb 10:24 strengthen & stir up one another to love and good works

When God provides, praise Him generously.

1Kings 6-7 details architectural plans and furniture designs for the temple. Basically, the permanent structure measurements double the Tabernacle, a mobile temple.

• Estimated today 195 billion in gold / 22 billion in silver / 1 million in wood (imagine the cedar smell) / 15 billion in labor cost.[2]
• Temple was built in 7 years 1Ki 6:38. Many scholars believe that the Temple represents the 7-day creation of Eden, restoring the presence of God on earth with humanity. Inside the Temple are flowers & furnishings like the menorahs shaped like tree of life.[3]

You can read these chapters of the Temple design, which has both fascinating parallels to Christ, as well as some level of tediousness on the details. But don’t miss the principle that when God provides, we are to praise Him generously and extravagantly. Like the precise measurements, the artistic engravings, and the skilled and beautiful craftmanship on the temple, we should glorify God with every aspect and expression of our life.

One of the colleges our family recently visited was Union Univ., which had a large bell tower with 49 bells. 8 were large bells that had Scriptures engraved on them. The idea is that God’s word is echoing across their campus day and night. May this be said of our life. (1Cor 10:31 “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”;
Col 3:17 “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him”).

In 1Ki 7 Solomon builds his own palace. It was over 2x larger than temple bc it included national interests, and took 13yrs to build (vs. 7 for temple). But remember, Solomon was also busy building cities & ships & other national interests (see 1 Ki 9:10, 26; Ec 2). Also, David had prepared some materials for temple but not for the kingdom palace.

All of this shows us that temple building takes time… just like spiritual growth and the temple of our bodies.

• D.G. paralleling her physical therapy from knee replacement to spiritual growth – only those who are disciplined in the difficult work will receive benefits of healing and freedom.
• J.R. testifies she’s grateful to be a NICU mom – though scary, she saw God move mountains and answer prayers that she wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
• B.D. testifies his cancer diagnosis has been a major league curveball yet he’s seen God guide the process with swift open appointments to head of pancreatic cancer dept at JHH, nurse “angels” ministering with spiritual encouragement, and other support & love – not least from church family.  

2Cor 4:16-17 “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

When God answers our prayers, celebrate His faithfulness.

1Kings 8-9 details the completion of the temple building and king’s palace. Solomon dedicates these to the LORD.

¹ Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant[4] of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
² And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast[5] in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
Solomon’s extravagant dedication would have rivaled the Olympic opening ceremonies. This was a historic day for Israel’s history.
⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸ And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. ¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

Did you catch that? God is light but also dwells in darkness. There are seasons of your life that will be disruptive and dreadful, but God will be with you.[6] There is no darkness that God cannot see and create something good.  

¹³ I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” ¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father…

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, ²³ and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ²⁴ you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ ²⁶ Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. ²⁷ “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! ²⁸ Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, ²⁹ that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ³⁰ And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive…

⁵⁴ Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched[7] toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, ⁶⁰ that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

APPLY/TAKEAWAY

This is the culmination of 600 years of God’s activity with His people. There were highs and lows, twists and turns, but God was faithful. And still today God is building His temple – the church. Are you part of the workforce?

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[1] Cf. Mt 5:17; Lk 24:44; Rom 15:4; 1 Cor 10:11; 2 Tim 3:15-16; 1 Pet 1:12

[2] Thoughts from Skip Heitzig sermons on 1 Kings 6-8.

[3] See my prior sermon https://growinggodlygenerations.com/2013/05/14/tabernacle-exodus-40/, and notes on the tabernacle: https://growinggodlygenerations.com/2013/05/03/the-tabernacle-video-pictures/.

[4] Wooden box, overlaid with gold. Represented the place where God dwelt. Inside were 10 Commandments from Sinai, also Aaron’s staff that budded life and fruit.

[5] The feast of booths/tabernacles. It was a 7-day remembrance of God’s deliverance from Egypt and the Jews living in dessert tents/booths. Cf. Lev 23:36; Dt 16:13. So, 1 Ki 8:65 also indicates another 7 days for total 14 days of celebration during this historic moment for Israel.

[6] See also Psalm 23:4; 42:8; 77:6; 139:12; Isaiah 43:2; Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:18, 28-29.

[7] This posture of prayer indicates dedication and surrendered worship to the Lord.