THE DEDICATION OF TEMPLE AND OURSELVES!
John 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
2Chr 6:18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?
behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain
thee; how much less this house which I have built!
In a big world, the small church has remained intimate. In a fast world, the small church has been steady. In an expensive world, the small church has remained plain. In a complex world, the small church has remained simple. In a rational world, the small church has kept feeling. In a mobile world, the small church has been an anchor. In an anonymous world, the small church calls us by name.
A study once disclosed that if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 72 percent of their children remain faithful in attendance. If only Dad attends regularly, 55 percent remain faithful. If only Mom attends regularly, 15 percent remain faithful. If neither attends regularly, only 6 percent remain faithful.
I. Would God come to this earth?
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
A. He lived then in a temple on earth but now in us.
1 Cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye
are not your own?
B. Worship is a stairway on which there is movement in two directions: God comes to man, and man goes to God. -- Daniel Baumann,
II. Solomon asks God to look, hear the prayers in this place.
2Chr 6:20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night,
upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest
put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy
servant prayeth toward this place.
III. Solomon asks God for forgiveness and healing.
2Chr 6:27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
2Chr 6:28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if
there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if
their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land;
whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
IV. He declares God knows the heart.
2Chr 6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and
forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his
ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the
hearts of the children of men:)
A. Jesus knows our heart.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
V. Strangers are always welcome at the house of God. For they will become friends, and then will be our brothers and sisters.
2Chr 6:32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in
the world: (KJV)
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (KJV)
VI. This building was built to be called by God’s Name.
(2 Chr 6:33 KJV) ..........and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
2Chr 6:39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
VII. Then the Glory Cloud came down.
2Chr 7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
A: Preaching in Pakistan. over 1000 were healed when the glory came down.
2Chr 7:3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
B. Tent on fire in West VA.
VIII. After this God spoke. We speak first in prayer and then He speaks through His Word to us.
A. What I tell new believers.
1. Talk to God each day. (Prayer)
2. Let God talk to you each day. (The Word)
3. Then talk to others of what He has done for you. ( Your testimony)
IX. God chose us.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
2Chr 7:12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. (KJV)
(Rom 12:1 KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
(Rom 12:2 KJV) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
X. He gives the key to revival and answers Solomon’s prayer in 2Chr 27 and
2Chr 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2Chr 7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
2Chr 7:17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;
XI. You are much more important than the building.
Num 18:14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
2Chr 7:5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
A. I remember my surrender to God, the last thing I surrendered was my pocketbook.
1Chr 26:26 Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. 1Chr 26:27 Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the LORD.
XII. We now surrender this building, our body and all we have to God. We surrender all.
A. The words of the Song I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In his presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
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