The Walk Of Praise Series

THE FORWARD WALK – PART TEN

“THE WALK OF PRAISE”

I CHRONICLES 28-29 - ©LARRY L. THOMPSON (2003)

In this next to the last message from the sermon series “The Forward Walk,” I will share with you from 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 on the subject of “The Walk of Praise: The Celebration of Obedience by God’s People to our Great Jehovah!”

In this great passage we find King David eagerly desiring to build a great temple for the glory of God. God said no. David was a man of war and God would not allow him to build the temple, but he would allow David’s son Solomon to do so. However, God would give David the plans for the building and plans to raise the money. So David did obediently went to work.

I. THE PLAN OF GOD

a. God’s Plan for the Foundation

The plans for the temple were given to David by God Himself, including the details of construction and the furnishings. God is a God of planning, and we should plan as well. I’m reminded of a little story Jesus told in the 14th chapter of Luke: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’” I am proud of the leaders of this church in that they have always been deliberate and thorough. They have planned with an eye to the future, and in my opinion that is one of the reasons why God’s blessing has continued upon us.

The purpose of a House of God was made perfectly clear when David said, “This palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God.” Likewise, our goal in expanding our facilities is not to build a monument; it is not to have the biggest church in South Florida; it is not to outdo the Mormon Tabernacle in aesthetics. It is to build a place where God can be worshiped as fully as He deserves, and where He is honored through our evangelism, discipleship and fellowship.

b. God’s Plan for the Funding

Then at the beginning of chapter 29 David reveals his simple plan to pay for the house of God. He declared his giving first, then the leaders declared theirs, and finally the people gave. David gave over $2 billion and the leaders about $4 billion. Now these figures boggle our minds, but we have to understand that this was a project undertaken by a whole nation. There were certainly more leaders in Israel than there are in this church, and they had deeper pockets than we have. What we want to learn from their example is not how much they gave, but that they gave willingly.

Verse 9 shares the people’s response, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” A few verses later we see that the people gave the rest of what was needed, apparently more than the King and more than their leaders, for the eventual cost of the temple was in the neighborhood of $12-16 billion.

II. THE PATTERN FOR GIVING

Now the pattern David set out here for raising the money for the temple is the pattern we have adopted for the building of the Community Life Center. Someone asked me this week, if we did it the way Israel did it, then the Pastor should have declared his giving first, followed by the leaders, followed by the people. Well, I thought about that, but then I concluded that it is not the Pastor who is parallel to King David, but rather the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who inherited the throne of David for ever and ever. Now did He ever declare His giving to us? He certainly did. Consider these verses: “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son.” “Every good and perfect gift is from above.” “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.”

The leaders of our church understand the biblical pattern for giving and are preparing this week to make a faith based commitment to give what God has commanded them to give over a three year period that commences on June 1, 2003. Our leaders will have that opportunity to lead with their commitment this Friday evening at the Leadership Rally with John Maxwell. Our people will then have the opportunity to follow the example of our leaders and making your commitment next Sunday morning.