DEDICATION OF TEMPLE AND OUR SELVES BEFORE GOD
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 this out line we look at some points that the dedication of the Temple is also in types required of us as we too dedicate ourselves to God. To serve Him, love Him, and offer our selves as a living sacrifice to Him. Romans 12:1-2 (AMP) I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
I. Would God come to this earth? The answer is YES!
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. In the Old Testament He lived 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. If they where required to keep the Temple holy and clean in the Old Testament that we must also do the same today. We want to please God because of His mercies
Romans 12:1-2 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.
2 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.
II. With the dedication of the Temple Solomon asks God to look and 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.
A. God not only sees us but also knows the intent of the heart. (Heb 4:12 KJV) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.
B. God answers prayer today when we pray in Jesus Name! (John 16:23 KJV) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
III. Solomon asked God for forgiveness.
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.
A. We too can do that and have the assurance of sins forgiven. (1 John 1:9 KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
B. We have the assurance as well. (1 John 3:14 KJV) We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
IV. Prayer in the Temple for healing.
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:
A. There is still healing in the Church today. James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
V. Solomon declared 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.
VI. 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)
A. It is very important that we be friendly and show love to all that come to our churches.
VII. This building was built to be called by God’s Name.
............., 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.
A. Our churches today need to be a spiritual house.
B. Many times our churches have become a social house where as one old preacher said: We traded our upper room into the board room
The Fire of the Holy Spirit for a warm heater.
Our prayer meetings for chicken dinners and have become as week as our tea, cold as our soup and dead as the chicken we eat.
C. Our services should be filled with the leading and working of the Holy Spirit.
VIII. The Glory Cloud came down with the dedication of the Temple.
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 saved and 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.
IX. After this God spoke. We speak first in prayer and then He speaks through His Word to us.
A. This is 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)
X. 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)
XI. 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;
A. God uses His people to bring revival.
B. I wrote a book on ’Revival, you make it happen’. It deals how God uses us to bring revival to pass. Please read it. Go to our website and order it.
XII. You are 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. You are more important than the whole world. 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. 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.
C. When we truly surrender to the Lord everything we have and are, He then gives us everything He has and He is. He Lives Within My Heart.
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