316 No One so Skilled in Felling Timber as the Sidonians 317 But Will God Really Dwell On Earth

Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner

1. “No One so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 13 Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 4-6

2. 1 Kings 5:6 NIV "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."

3. It takes a lot of scaffolding to erect a large building. The scaffolding is useful in many ways, but is never a part of the building. When the building is finished, the scaffolding is hauled away. So it is in the building of the church and temple of our God. He uses much scaffolding that has no part with the building.

4. Hiram’s servants were skilled workmen, wisely employed by Solomon, for the building of God’s temple in Jerusalem. They were like many in every age, and particularly in our day, to whom God has given great talents and abilities, but no grace.

5. What multitudes there are to whom the Lord God gives great natural abilities of a carnal nature, but to whom no grace is given! Many possess such gifts who know nothing of the gracious work of God the Holy Spirit upon the heart. Many minister in holy things, who are not partakers of holy things. Hear the Word of God… No Foundation

6. Matthew 7:21 NIV "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

7. No declaration ever fell from our Savior’s lips that is more fearful than this. How many, like Judas, Demas, and Diotrephes, have been instruments in the hands of God, by which God the Holy Spirit delivered the word of salvation to others, by which our omnipotent Savior has bound the strong man and cast him out of the soul in the name of Christ, who never knew Him or the grace of God in Him!

8. Judas: but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?“ Luke 22:48 NIV Demas: Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4:9,10 NIV

9. Diotrephes: I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. 3 John 1:9,10 NIV

10. A more wonderful work cannot be done. What a wonderful thing it is for poor, lost sinners to be born of God and given faith in Christ, converted by God’s almighty grace, through the instrumentality of gospel preaching!

11. But how very fearful it is to know too many such preachers, teachers, and religious workers, the Son of God will speak these dreadful words: “’ I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers !” They do not know Him; and He does not know them. They do not own Him as Lord; and He does not own them as His people. They have no part with Him; and He has no part with them.

12. All the good and service of God they think they are doing, the Lord Jesus calls them “ evildoers ” for which they are to be forever damned! How tormenting it will be to their souls to know, though they were helpful instruments in the hands of God for the salvation of His elect, daily serving in the house of God, because they themselves believed not on Christ, they are forever damned!

13. They pointed others to the Foundation-Stone, Christ Jesus; but they were not built upon the Foundation-Stone themselves. They had a refuge; but it was “ the lie .” They were nothing but pieces of scaffolding by which God builds His house! Isaiah 28:17 NIV I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.

14. Are we built upon the Rock Christ Jesus? Am I built upon the same Foundation as the apostles and prophets, which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Chief Corner-Stone? Are you? If so, we are inexpressibly happy and blessed of God in our souls, looking up to our God and Father in Christ Jesus, with a humble hope that He is our Portion. Solid Rock

15. Yes, blessed Savior, You alone are the Foundation of my soul, the Foundation of all my hopes, all my desires, all my wishes, all my joys, and all my salvation! God, our Father, in His infinite mercy, love, and grace laid this Foundation. The whole structure of His house, His temple, His church rests upon Christ Jesus.

16. His precious blood and perfect righteousness is the cement which unites and keeps the living stones of this holy temple eternally together; and each stone in the building is “ joined together ” by the effectual, irresistible work of God the Holy Ghost, who has built our souls upon the sure Foundation, Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:21 NIV In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

17. Blessed Lord God, carry on, complete, adorn, and finish the work in my soul. May Your mercy be built up forever. Then, when Your work of grace is finished in me and with me, bring forth the top stone of Your spiritual building with “ shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it! ” for the everlasting glory of Your great name. Zechariah 4:7 NIV "What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'"

18. “But will God really dwell on earth?” Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 14 Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 7-8

19. "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 1 Kings 8:27 NIV

20. 493 years after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, and 17 years after his father David had gone to Glory, Solomon finished building the temple in Zion. It took him seven years to build it. Then, when the temple was finished and the Ark of the Covenant had been brought into the most holy place, the Lord God lowered Himself to come into the temple Solomon had built. And the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord!

21. Then Solomon exalted the Lord God as the only true and living God. 1 Kings 8:22 NIV Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: "LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. God Exalted

22. He declared there is no God but our God, none beside Him, none like Him, none to be compared to Him in His nature or in His works. He is the supreme sovereign of the universe, the covenant keeping God of His people, merciful, gracious and good, and faithful and true, fulfilling all His promises to all His people!

23. Yet, this great and glorious God, who inhabits eternity, lowered Himself to come into the temple and to dwell among His people upon the earth! To Solomon this was a matter of utter astonishment. God Came Down

24. 1 Kings 8:26 NIV And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. 27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!

25. Will God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to look upon things in heaven and stoops to consider things upon the earth, will this great and glorious God lower Himself to dwell with men upon the earth? That is absolutely astonishing! God Incarnate

26. But this display of our God’s great lofty grace foreshadowed something indescribably greater. It foreshadowed and typified the incarnation of God the Son for the accomplishment of our redemption and everlasting salvation.

27. “ Will God ” the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, “ dwell on the earth ?” Indeed, He has and He does. This is marvelous in our eyes! This is astonishing indeed. 2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

28. Jesus Christ is God; yet, He tabernacled upon the earth in our nature. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 NIV The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV

29. Moses’ tabernacle was a type of Christ’s human nature. Hebrews 8:1 NIV Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

30. The temple which Solomon built, into which God came and dwelt, was also a type of our Savior’s human nature. John 2:19 NIV Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, (referring to His body) and I will raise it again in three days." Christ came into this world to fulfill the covenant He made with the Father on our behalf before the world began.

31. Hebrews 10:5 NIV Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.'" 8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them"—though they were offered in accordance with the law.

32. 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

33. 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." 17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

34. The wonder of the incarnation only increases as we contemplate it. Once the Lord Jesus obtained eternal redemption for us, He entered into heaven in our flesh. And now, though He has gone to heaven to make intercession for us, our Lord still dwells upon the earth. Indwelling God

35. He who is God our Savior is the infinite God, the incarnate God, and the indwelling God. Particularly, the Lord God, in the person of and by the Spirit of Christ, dwells in the hearts of all true believers. John 14:18 NIV I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

36. The Father comes and makes His abode with us. 2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

37. The Spirit comes and dwells as our Comforter. John 14:25 NIV "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Acts 2:38 NIV Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

38. Ephesians 1:13 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

39. The Son dwells in our hearts by faith. Ephesians 3:17 NIV so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

40. Imagine that! What an astonishing fact this is: The Lord Jesus Christ dwells and lives in His saints upon the earth! He dwells not in our heads only, not in our lips only, but in our hearts. He dwells where sin dwells, in our hearts! He dwells where He is often slighted, in our hearts. ( Song of Solomon 5 )

41. He dwells where His Holy Spirit is often grieved, in our hearts! Our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, dwells in us permanently! No wonder Solomon spoke with such astonishment. “ But will God really dwell on earth ?” Child of God, take this thought with you throughout the day, God’s saints are the dwelling place of God’s Son.

42. HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?

43. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

44. He was buried and rose on the third day.

45. When He did this He solved 2 problems we all have. He solved our sin problem because He nailed our sins to the cross; & He solved our grave problem when He rose from the dead because it proved we could also rise from the dead.

46. Jesus said, if we want to get in on of all this we must . . . BE BORN AGAIN. FOLLOW HIM; &

47. ISN’T THAT GREAT NEWS? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH TODAY?

48. Mark 16:15 NIV  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Numbers 6:24 NIV '"The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.“’