August 1927
515
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
God to teach them that it is "in Him we live and move and have our continual being." In the wilderness they were far removed from all resources and supplies; hence, they were completely dependent upon God. Man has a spiritual side to his nature which is an integral part of himself and hence demands attention, as much so as supplying the needs for the body, and education and culture for the mind. It occurs to the writer that this is the one lesson which the world has for gotten and which it heeds above every thing else at the present time. Men and women are wild in their desire* to accum ulate property, to educate, and develop their minds, and to acquire breadth and culture,.thinking little of the spiritual na ture. May that which is necessary to arouse the world to a realization of its spiritual needs, be speedily sent to the world! Another lesson which God wished to teach them was that He is able to meet all of the emergencies that may arise in the life of any of His children. The three Hebrew children refusing to bow to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, by faith told that proud monarch, “I f it be so, our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery fu r nace." God honored their faith and de livered them. To the Corinthian Church the inspired apostle Paul urged liberal giving on the part of each Christian ac cording as he had been prospered, not sparingly or grudgingly, but willingly, assuring them that “God is able to make all grace abound unto y ou ; that y ej hav ing all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto ¿very good w o rk ”: Another important lesson which God taught them was that “Man’s extremity is God’s op portunity.” Not until man realizes his in ability can God have a chance in his life. When one is brought to the end of him self, then he is willing to let God have His way. Hence at this feast these different thoughts and many other ennobling ones were brought to the minds of the Chosen People. At this season they dwelt in booths, which shelters were only tem porary and which doubtless reminded Is rael that man’s life is but a vapor; he is here today but gone tomorrow. Prior to this time the ark had been housed in different tents from the time Israel was at Sinai to the present time. Now that Solomon had erected a per manent structure for the dwelling place of the ark, it was, quite appropriate that when all the males of Israel were gath ered at Jerusalem, the ark should be brought from the city of David to its final resting place within the new edifice. At the time of the bringing up of the ark, according to tradition there was a large procession which brought the tabernacle, together with the sacred vessels of the same, from Mt. Gibeon. On Mt. Zion this procession joined a second one which had come up from the city of David with the ark. There they met before the temple, where Solomon, together with the priests and Levites, was engaged in sacrificial service. With gladness and joy which thrilled the entire nation, the ark, the most sa cred object connected with the service of God, was finally placed in the “holy of holies.” In this ark were deposited the two tables of stone on which the Ten Command ments were written. According to the
account in Kings, these stones were the only things within the ark ; but according to the writer of Hebrews there also were Aaron’s rod which budded and a pot of manna. There is not any discrepancy in thè two accounts, the harmony of which may be easily seen in the following ex planation : At the time when the ark was placed in the temple' there were but twò stones ; however, two other objects were deposited there. With this explanation there is harmony between the records. The tables of stone were the visible symbols of the ministration of death, for “the letter killeth." The law, which was but the unfolding of the principles ex pressed in the Ten Commandments, was, as Peter says, “o yoke which neither we nor our fath ers w ere able to bear." If one who was under law violated in one point, he was guilty of all, according to Jas. 2. Being guilty of one sin; he would be condemned, “fo r the soul that sinneth, it shall die^jt but we thank God that the law was but a schoolmaster tó bring us unto Christ and that it, having served its purpose, has been abolished (Col. 2:14), and now we are no longer under law, but under grace. But let no one interpret grace and liberty in terms of license. One who is redeemed from the curse of the law is given full and absolute liberty, but this liberty and freedom is such that it appeals to the heart and soul of the redeemed one, so that “Our wills are ours, we know not how ; Our wills are ours to make them Thine.” To the surrendered one, the question never occurs, “Shall I do thus and thus?” but “What would Christ have me do?” The ministry of death in the form of the tables of stone was covered by the mercy seat on which the shekinah of glory, the visible presence of God, rested. It was upon this mercy seat that :the blood of atonement was sprinkled, which rolled forward for one year Israel’s sin until the recurrence of the Day of Atonement the following year. This covering, or mercy seat, was typical of the Lord Jesus Christ Who has become our Mercy Seat, “Who has washed us in H is blood, and Who is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him." When the ark was deposited in its final resting place the glory of God filled the house, which fact reminds one of the setting -up of the tabernacle at Mount Sinai. The dedication of the temple and the filling of the house with the glory of God doubtless is typical of the occur rences on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). The material which was “builded into a holy temple unto the L ord” on the day of Pentecost had been prepared by John the Baptist and Jesus prior to that day, but on the day. of Pentecost the Holy Spirit, one of the Blessed Trinity, came in power and glory and brought together the material which had previously been pre pared by the ministry of John and Jesus. Thus the glory of the Lord has filled this spiritual temple, the stones of which are living ones which “are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesu s Christ.” Amid the joyous throng Solomon delivered his dedicatory address and concluded with prayer, thanksgiving and benediction, which ser vice was followed by a most elaborate sac rifice of offerings and sacrifices of the var ious kinds. By prayer and praise, together with thanksgiving, this noble edifice was consecrated to the service of God as a
dwelling place of God upon earth, but as Solomon said, the heaven of heavens could not contain God; how much less could that house which was made with hands. As God dwelt in the Most Holy place, so He dwells in the most holy con secrated hearts today, hearts that have surrendered all to Jesus, hearts that have said, “Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth," hearts that are made new characters in Christ Jesus and who are walking in the light even as He is in the light.
Worshipping In God’s House 1 Kings 8:1-11, 62, 63.
Memory Verse ^¿“1 was glad when they said unto me, Let us go. into the house of the Lord." Psa. 122:1. A pproach : What do we call the build ing in which we are meeting? A church. You know boys and girls and grown up people do not realize what a great bless
ing the church is to the world. We can not t h i n k how dreadful it is in parts of the world where there is no church. In heathen villages in Africa the. “beer d r i n k ” drunkenness, the li centious dancing,
the beating of the tom-tom, demoniac yells, and unspeakable debauchery pre vail. In the Christian villages under the shadow of the chapel, may be heard the voice of song and prayer night and morn ing; peace and quiet reign, and pure fam ily life is being developed. Let us bow our heads and thank the Lord for let ting us live in a land where the Gospel is known. Lesson S tory: In our story last week we heard about a wonderful choice. Who will tell us what that choice was? (Re view, emphasizing the great need in our day of leaning upon God for wisdom.) Our beautiful story today shows what people will do who have let God have his way in their life. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and in our story today we find Solomon in God’s house worshipping God. Much of the material for the won derful temple was gathered by David, Solomon’s -father. This great temple that Solomon built, ranked among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world in its beauty, splendor, cost and size. Thirty •thousand workmen were required to cut the timber, eighty thousand to quarry and trim the stone, seventy- thousand to trans port it, more than three thousand to over see the work. It was seven and one-half years building. (A good picture of temple and courts will help give the children some idea, and show difference from our churches today.) King Solomon called all the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes and the chief men together ; the occasion was the dedication of the Temple, and the priests brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle, and all the holy vessels, and reverently and carefully placed them in their proper places in the beautiful new Temple. The people could now have a permanent house of worship, for they were not moving about from place to place. Every church has its apparatus for doing its work—-communion service, hymn
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