The Economy of God

I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks, getting back into a routine here at the church, but also working over at the coffee shop in the evenings. I've been getting home pretty late and getting up earlier than I like to. My mom said something to me the other day. She mentioned that I had been going a lot the last few days, especially the last couple of weeks, and that I looked pretty tired. I replied that I was going to catch up on my sleep on Saturday. She then reminded me, "Aren't you teaching the men's breakfast on Saturday?" I realized, oh yeah, that's right, I am.

That conversation took place on Thursday, so I had to think about what we were going to talk about this morning. I've been reading through 1 Kings this week and looking at different things. We will actually be in 1 Kings chapter 6 this morning, so if you want to open there, please do. As I was reading yesterday, something stood out to me that I hadn't seen before, and I believe it's what the Lord would like us to look at today.

Some of you may understand a little bit of the context of this passage. Solomon is now king in Israel. As 1 Kings begins, David is still alive and is the king of the nation, but he is dwindling in his old age. One of his sons, I believe it was Adonijah, steps up to try and establish himself as king. Word comes to David through some of his men, who inform him of what is going on. Bathsheba reminds David that he had said Solomon would rule, that he would take over, as the Lord had said. The Lord had told David that this was what was going to happen.

So they anoint Solomon as king, and he takes over the rulership of the nation. In chapter 6, one of the very first things that Solomon does as king is take over the rulership of the nation of Israel, God's people, in the fourth year.

Of his reign, it came to pass in the 480th year, after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziph, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height, which translates to ninety feet by thirty feet by forty-five feet. The porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits in length, according to the breadth of the house, and ten cubits was the breadth before the house. For the house, he made windows of narrow lights, and against the wall of the house, he built chambers round about. Both the temple and the oracle had chambers round about.

The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad, the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. Outside the wall of the house, he made narrow rests so that the beams would not be fastened in the walls of the house. The house, when it was being built, was constructed of stone made ready before it was brought there, so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.

The door for the middle chamber was on the right side of the house, and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber and out of the middle into the third. Solomon built the house and finished it, covering it with beams and boards of cedar. He built the chambers against all the house five cubits high, and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

The word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying concerning this house which you are building: if you will walk in my statutes, execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will perform my word with you, which I spoke unto David your father. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.

So Solomon built the house and finished it. He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling. He covered them on the inside with wood and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. He built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar. He even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.

The house that is the temple was 40 cubits long, and the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers. All was cedar, and there was no stone seen. The oracle he prepared in the house within was to set there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. The oracle in the forepart was 20 cubits in length, 20 cubits in breadth, and 20 cubits in height. He overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar, which was of cedar.

So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold. He made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle, overlaid it with gold, and the whole house was overlaid with gold until he had finished all the house. Also, the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.

Within the oracle, he made two cherubim of olive tree, each 10 cubits high. One wing of the cherubim was five cubits, and the other wing was also five cubits. From the uttermost part of one wing to the uttermost part of the other was 10 cubits. The other cherub was also 10 cubits. Both cherubim were of one measure and one size. The height of one cherub was 10 cubits, and so was it for the other cherub.

He set the cherubim within the inner house, and they stretched forth their wings so that the wing of one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. Their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. He overlaid the cherubim with gold and carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, within and without. The floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

For the entering of the oracle, he made doors of olive tree. The lintel and the side posts were a fifth part of the wall. The two doors were also of olive tree, and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim and upon the palm trees.

He also made for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall. The two doors were of fir. The two leaves of one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were also folding. He carved thereon cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work. He built the inner court with three rows hewed of stone and a row of cedar beams. The foundation of the house of the Lord was laid in the fourth year in the month of Ziph.

In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts, and according to all its fashion. It took seven years to build it. You may wonder why I read through the whole passage and this entire chapter. I think it will become clear as we discuss it, because something stood out to me as I read through the passage before us.

Some of you may remember that David desired to build a temple for the Lord. As he considered all that God had done for him and the house he lived in, we see in the early parts of 2 Samuel that he wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to where it should be, in the center of the nation of Israel. He brought the Ark back to Jerusalem, where it was placed under a tent covering. As he stood in his grand house and looked at where the Ark of the Covenant was, David expressed his desire to build a house for the Lord. He shared this with Nathan the prophet, who encouraged him to do all that was in his heart.

However, Nathan went home that night, and the Lord said, "Why did you tell him that? I didn't tell you to tell him that." Nathan had to return to David and inform him that the Lord did not want him to build a house because he had been a man of war and had blood on his hands. Instead, God promised to build David's house and establish him and his descendants after him. The Lord also promised that Solomon would be his heir and that he would build the temple, preparing a house for the Lord.

We see the fulfillment of this promise in chapter 6 of 1 Kings, as Solomon begins to gather all the materials needed for the temple. In chapter 5 of 1 Kings, we see that he starts bringing in all the timbers and various items required to construct this house. In the fourth year of his reign, the very first significant action Solomon took was to begin building the temple for the Lord. This was a crucial undertaking in his life and in the life of the nation, establishing the worship of God, the one true God, as the forefront of Israel.

There is a small word that is repeated over and over again in this passage in chapter 6, and it stands out to me. Perhaps some of you noticed it as we were reading through.

It's the word "he." Over and over again, we read that Solomon did this. He built the house. He set this up. He overlaid it with gold. At the very end of the chapter, it says he was seven years in building it. When you consider how great this temple was, that it was 90 feet by 30 feet by 45 feet, it goes into great detail about its grandeur. It states that he built it.

Now, do any of you think that Solomon was the only one who built this temple? Did he go out and carve all these large rocks? You can still go to Israel today and see the foundations. The stones they used as the foundation stones were immense and huge. So perfectly were they cut that they could just sit together without needing any sort of mortar because they fit closely together. None of them were carved on the site. There was no sound of any sort of work going on there on the temple mount as these stones were built and put in place.

As you read this, was Solomon the only person who worked on this house? At the very same time that he was doing this, as you read chapter 8, we find that he was also building himself a house that took him 13 years to build. So either he was an absolutely amazing builder, or he had some help. Actually, we find out in the previous chapters that he had a lot of help. He had set up quite a group of people to build this temple for the Lord.

There's something in this passage that really stands out to me about the fact that God says he did this and he did that throughout the whole building of this temple. You see, the economy of God is very different from the economy in which we live. God doesn't account things in the same way that we account for things. He does say, and he does tell us, that he's going to repay us. We see that throughout the scriptures, that there's some sort of reward that's going to be given to us.

We see this in the Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus talks about when you pray, do your prayer before the Lord only, who sees in secret, and he will reward you openly. When you do your good works, when you give your alms, do so in secret, and he will reward you openly. We see Paul speak about rewards being given to the faithful. All throughout the scriptures, we see this. Sometimes, because of the way that our economy works here on earth, and the way that we live and receive wages, we seem to think that we need to do certain things, and then according to the work that we do, God's going to...

Give us something in return. We sometimes use our walk in the very same way. We think that, well, Lord, I really want You to do this for me, so I’m going to read ten chapters today. Now that I’ve read this, the Lord’s going to really owe me. We often think of fasting in that way as well. We might say, "Lord, You’re not doing this thing for me, so I’m going to go on a hunger strike until You do."

We fast, and while none of us really look like we fast all that much, we seem to think that somehow God is going to repay us in the same way that we receive wages or a salary for the work that we do. However, that’s not what Scripture shows us. In fact, as we look through the Scriptures, it often doesn’t fit that model at all.

There’s a passage in 1 Samuel, at the end of 1 Samuel, where David and his mighty men are in a certain city. They go out to save a group of Israelites from the Amalekites. While they are gone, some raiders come into their camp and steal all their belongings and take off with their women. When David returns to his village and sees what took place, he and all his men are grieved. This man, whom God had anointed to be king, now faces the wrath of his mighty men, who are ready to stone him because everything has been stolen away.

After going into battle, they prepare to go out again to try to save their possessions. Some of David’s men stay behind to watch over their things so that they won’t be attacked again. After David and the men who went with him bring back everything, including the women and the stolen goods, there is murmuring within the group. Some say that the men who stayed with the stuff didn’t do anything, so they shouldn’t receive any spoils of war.

David responds, saying, "No, that’s not right. That’s not the way the Lord works. They were part of this battle as well, even though they weren’t fighting." As a result, they all received from the spoil. This gives us a glimpse of the economy of God and the way the Lord operates.

There’s also a parable that Jesus tells in the New Testament about a man who went out to the center portion of the city one day. He says, "I need harvesters to come and help with my work." It was in the early morning hours, and a group of people came with him. He promised to pay them a denarius, a day’s wage for this work.

And they go to work. At nine o'clock in the morning, the owner goes back down and says, "I need more workers." Some more workers come, and he says, "I'll pay you a day's wages." Then he goes at noon and says, "I need more workers." They come, and he tells them, "I'll pay you a day's wages," and so on until the end of the day. He even goes at the last hours of the day and gets more workers, bringing them back to work. He says, "I'll pay you a denarius. I'll pay you a day's wages."

At the end of the day, he gathers all his workers. He pays the workers he hired last, at the end of the day, a day's wages. Then he pays the workers who came just before them, around three o'clock in the afternoon, a day's wages as well. The guys who started at six in the morning think, "Boy, we're going to really get some today. If he's paying these guys a day's wages for only a few hours of work, and we worked all day long, we're going to get a whole bunch." However, at the end, he gives them a day's wages too. They complain in their hearts about what they received. He says, "This is the deal I made with you. I made a contract with you that this is what I was going to pay you, and I've paid you that. Why are you so upset?"

They weren't thinking in the realm of the Kingdom of God; they were thinking in the realm of this world, which is sold under sin. They figured they should get more, but God doesn't work like that.

As Solomon organizes everything for building the temple, you don't think he did every one of these tasks himself. He wasn't the one out there carving the stones or measuring everything out and overlaying it with gold. He wasn't the one carving those giant, huge, angelic carvings. Yet, over and over again in 1 Kings, it says, "And he built the chambers, and he made the narrow rests, and he built the house and finished it, and he built the chambers, and he overlaid it with gold, and he set everything in order."

In the eyes of God, as he committed himself to this work, the Lord laid it to his account. We see this also in the New Testament. If you turn in your Bibles to Philippians, Paul speaks to this a little bit as well. In Philippians chapter 4, as he finishes up his letter to the church at Philippi, a church...

That greatly took care of Paul's needs during his travels. They were one of the only churches that really sought to take care of what he had need of. In Philippians chapter 4, he is speaking to the Philippians and thanking them for their help. He says in verse 16, "For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity."

When Paul left Philippi and went to Thessalonica, it wasn't under happy circumstances; he was driven out of the city. Remember, they beat him and Silas with rods, and so he was asked to leave Philippi. He went to Thessalonica without anything to take care of himself. The new church that was begun there sent to take care of his necessity. Not once, not twice—we don't even really know how many times—but he says, "Once and again you sent to take care of my necessity."

Notice what he says in verse 17: "Not because I desire a gift, not because I desire that you'd give something to me because I'm worthy of it. You know, well, I shared with you the Lord; you're going to heaven because of me." He continues, "Not because I desire a gift, but I desire that fruit may abound to your account."

He explains that they are investing in the kingdom by supporting the work he was doing as he shared his faith with the people in Thessalonica. These people were coming to the Lord, and a church was being planted. There was fruit coming forth from this church in Thessalonica, and he says that this fruit is abounding to their account because they are taking care of him.

We often don't think in those terms, but do you realize that in every aspect of serving the Lord, God is taking note of that? This fruit abounds to your account. Jesus speaks about this in the Gospels. In Matthew chapter 10, turn there if you would. In the very end of the chapter, at verse 40, Jesus says, "He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me. He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward."

I hope that's not mine. That happened to me just the other day. He that receives a prophet receives a prophet's reward, and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of those little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. This is a beautiful thing that God does.

In our minds, sometimes we look at the ministry that God has called every single one of us to, and we say that ministry is Pat's ministry, or it's Richard's ministry, or it's Josh's ministry, or it's Miles' ministry—these guys who that's all they do and that's their job. Sometimes we think if I'm not a pastor or if I'm not teaching a Bible study, then I'm not receiving any reward as a disciple. I'm not receiving any reward as a prophet when he's speaking forth the word of God. But that's not the way that the Lord works.

You see, He desires that every single one of us would be involved in this work that He's given us to do. Every single one of us has an area of responsibility because we're all part of the body, and every member has its function. You may feel sometimes like you're the hair on the end of the toe. You may look out there and say, "Well, I wish that I was the hand reaching forth to take care of all these other things." I wish that I was the mouth speaking forth these things. I don't feel very useful. You might even feel like you're the appendix—it's about ready to burst. But it has a purpose. Every area of the body has a purpose.

As we give our hearts completely to the Lord, whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with all of our hearts. Whether it's working at your job during the week, being a witness for Christ, or whether it's helping clean up tables here after today, we all have a responsibility to fulfill. Whatever it may be, we all have a responsibility to fulfill. As we fulfill whatever that little small task may be, it may seem insignificant to us.

We may think no one ever sees it, but God sees it. He accounts the entire ministry of this church and all the fruit that is abounding from this church to your account. We're not going to get to heaven and sit back, thinking that Chuck Smith gets to sit up in front and receive all the rewards while we just clap for him and say, "Yeah, he was a part of Calvary Chapel" or "Pastor Patton, that's really good." No, the Lord is going to overflow all of us with reward as we diligently, with all of our hearts, serve Him with whatever our hand and heart find to do before us right now.

However, there will be those who come to Him on that day. Matthew chapter seven speaks about this. They will say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, cast out devils in Your name, and do all sorts of mighty works in Your name?" And He will say to them, "Depart from Me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness." There is a principle here that has so much to do with where our heart is in relation to God. God desires that we would be involved in the work that He is doing.

I ask you this morning, how are you involved in what He is doing? I think it's interesting as Solomon steps forward to set in order all the things that are going on in the temple during this big coronation service in chapter eight. He shares with the people of Israel how things got started with this whole temple project. He tells them that his father desired to build this temple.

Notice what he says in First Kings chapter eight. He speaks about his father, David, who wanted to build the temple. Nathan comes and speaks to him and says that the Lord doesn't want him to build it. God spoke to David in verse 17 of First Kings chapter eight. Solomon says, "It was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel." The Lord said to David, "Whereas it was in your heart to build a house unto My name, you did well in that it was in your heart." Even the fact that David desired to do this work for the Lord is significant.

And was hindered from doing it, it was still accounted to him. That's an amazing thing. While it was in your heart to do it, it's a good thing, David. I believe that in some of your hearts today, the Lord is speaking to you about something He desires you to do, even maybe just today—something that seems so insignificant. Yet, as you're faithful to do it as unto the Lord, He'll reward you openly. He's promised to do so.

Sometimes we don't think we're doing much, but if we're doing it as unto the Lord, God sees and will reward us openly. He desires us to be involved in what He's doing. One speaker that I like to listen to is Ravi Zacharias. One of the things he often says is that a missionary is simply one who sees where God is working and what God is doing and gets involved. That's all a missionary is. He looks out, sees that God is doing this, and just gets involved with that.

I want to be a part of it, even if it's just praying—diligently praying for that ministry. Maybe it's in giving to that ministry, whether it's time or financially, whatever it may be. But God sees, however small it is, and He'll reward you openly. He desires that we would be involved in what He's doing here on earth because He has made us His instruments to declare the praises of God, to declare the glory of who He is.

It's not just the work of the professional ministers to do that. Unfortunately, in our day and age and in the society we live in, we've put all of that completely on professional ministers. We say they do the stuff that has to do with God, and we just sit back and watch. I believe it was UCLA, several years ago, that did an article. They conducted a study on Calvary Chapel. One of my friends in Germany was sharing this with me, and they said that this was a secular group at UCLA that studied Calvary Chapel and the growth that was taking place. They were wondering why it was growing so much. One of the key things they said is that Calvary Chapel has put the ministry back in the hands of the congregation.

Back in the hands of the people to do the ministry. That's what God has called ministers to do, I believe. It says in Ephesians chapter 4 that God has given prophets, teachers, evangelists, and all these different roles—pastors and teachers—for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

We are to be raised up as the saints of God, as the church of God, to do the ministry of God here in this world, to shine His light. He will not be unfaithful to remember that. Hebrews chapter 6 speaks about this, specifically verse 10. It says, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister."

God is not unrighteous to forget that. He is not going to say, "Oh yeah, well, I know I wrote that down somewhere that you put in these hours or something." That's not the way the Lord works. He is not unrighteous to forget your work, your labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints.

God's economy is so much different than ours, and I praise God that it is. There is a passage that really speaks to this in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Here's one that you know well: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ," verse 17, "if any man be in Christ, he is what? A new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become what?" We are new creatures, new creations in Christ.

All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.

I sure like the economy of God here. The wages of sin is death. Yet here we read that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself in verse 19, not imputing their trespasses unto them, not accounting their trespasses unto them, and not giving them the wages of their sin, which is death. He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. He has called us as His people to go out and be the shining lights of His glory, to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Now look at the accounting that's taking place right there in verse 21. He took Jesus, who knew no sin, never sinned, and never even stepped towards sin. He took Him who knew no sin and made Him sin for us. He took our sin and put it upon Jesus when Jesus was upon the cross, that He might take His righteousness and put it upon us. We don't work like that in our economy, do we? But God's economy is different. God treated Jesus upon the cross like He had lived yours and my life so that He could impute His righteousness to us and treat us in the same way that He should have treated Jesus.

Not imputing our trespasses unto us, He then takes us, unworthy vessels, and says, "I've given you the ministry of reconciliation." I've given you this word to share with other people and to go be a part of building the temple of God. We are all living stones being built together, as Peter tells us. We're the temple of God, being built together as the body of Christ into the temple of God in the very same way that Solomon established the temple that day—not by himself, but with many people helping. Look at how God saw it.

He established the temple. It's interesting; my father has been an iron worker his whole life. I can remember many times when I would be with someone, and we would pass by a building. They would say, "Hey, that's a pretty cool building," and I would respond, "My dad built that." Now, I realize he didn't single-handedly build it, but in my eyes, he did. I don't know the other guys who worked on it.

People talk about the stadium down in San Diego, the new ballpark for the Padres. They ask me, "Have you gone to that stadium? It's great!" I say, "Yeah, I was in the locker room when my dad was building it. My dad built the ballpark." You may have season tickets, but he built it. My brother was on the job too, although I think he got fired.

My dad once said to me, "If you want to get into the iron worker's apprenticeship, I can get you in." I thought, "Yeah, sure, you'll fire me." In the same way, God looked at Solomon as he built this temple and said, "This is what Solomon has done." I bet every single one of those guys who worked on that temple, when they took their kids there, their kids would say, "Wow, look at this temple!" They would respond, "I built that. I was a part of that."

John says in 3 John 4, "I have no greater joy than to see that my children walk in truth." I can't tell you how happy I am when I see people I have been involved with serving the Lord. People say, "This guy's doing a great job," and I think to myself, "I got him into the ministry." In my mind, I may say that because the Lord involved me in some way in that aspect of the ministry.

It's a great thing to be able to take hold of the plow and be a part of what the Lord is doing. God is calling every single one of you to be involved in this church, in this body, in that way. We are a body. What part do you play? What function are you a part of today? You may say, "Well, I don't really know." Paul said to be diligent to make your call and election sure.

God has specifically placed you in this men's ministry, at this church, at this time, to be a part of what He's doing. He's placed me here for that same purpose as well. You may think, "Well, I'm not teaching any Bible studies, I'm not counseling anybody, I'm not doing any marriages and funerals and that sort of stuff, so I'm really not doing anything." That's not true. That's not true at all.

You may just be using the chisel to hammer away at that living stone to get it ready to be a part of the kingdom of God, a part of the temple of God. But it's a very important aspect of God's kingdom. He's calling you and me to be diligent in that work, to whatever our hand finds to do, to do it with all of our hearts. He's uniquely gifted every single one of you to do a unique aspect of work in His kingdom—something that I can't do, something that Ken can't do, but you can because God has fit you to be that perfect piece that fits into the puzzle.

He's calling you to step up and to grab hold of the plow. When that takes place, when that happens, I want to show you what happens. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 8. It says in chapter 8, verse 1, "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the children of Israel unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is in Zion."

All the men of Israel assembled themselves with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanam, which is the seventh month. All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. They brought up the ark of the Lord and the tabernacle of the congregation and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. Even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor numbered before the multitude.

And the priests brought in the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto its place, unto the oracle of the house, unto the holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above. They drew out the staves that were at the ends of the staves, which were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, but they were not seen without. And there they are unto this day.

For there was nothing in the ark save the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel and when they came out of the land of Egypt. It came to pass when the priests came out of the holy place that the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

Then Solomon spoke, and the Lord said that He would dwell in thick darkness. The Lord was dwelling in His house in the midst of His temple. All the people came there, and they took the ark of God that was down in the old part of the city, the city of David. It was there in the tabernacle. Now this temple was erected upon the temple mount, and they carried this up the hill. The priests took it up as they were supposed to, and all the people were sacrificing sheep and oxen before it. There were so many sacrifices that they could not even number them.

They brought the ark up and set it in the holy place. As it was in the holy place, these two huge cherubim that Solomon and the people had built had wings that overstretched the holy place. The priests came out and took the staves that carried the ark out with them. As soon as they came out, the temple was filled with the glory of God, with that cloud. So much so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. The presence of the Lord was so great that the priests had to leave the temple.

Solomon spoke and said that the Lord said He would dwell in this thick darkness, in this covering of cloud. God was dwelling in the midst of His people, showing His desire to tabernacle with them. He demonstrated His visible presence by that cloud. When we are functioning together as the body of Christ, being knit together as one body, we are being built together as the temple of God.

Great living stones! Then the Spirit of the Lord comes and fills that temple. His presence is there in the midst of His people. God is doing that and desires to do it in a greater way among us. He desires that we would be joined together as His body, functioning as one body.

Let's pray. God, I thank You that You have not imputed our sin to us because You account things differently than we do. Lord, You have put Your righteousness upon us. You've counted us worthy to serve You, to even boldly come before You and stand in Your presence.

Lord, I ask that You would cause us, as the body of Christ here at Calvary Chapel, to be knit together. Reveal to each of us the area of responsibility that You've gifted us to fulfill. Whether it has to do with comforting those who are hurting, taking Your Word to the lost, or simply keeping these grounds looking good, help us to understand our roles. Maybe it even involves going out to other places to share with people as missionaries, or standing at the door to greet someone here at this church.

Many of these individuals, Lord, You have called in their jobs to be lights for You. We live in a dark time and a dark place. You haven't desired that all the lights would be placed in one location inside a building, but that they would go out into the darkest places. What good are all the lights in Escondido if we put them in one parking lot, Lord?

God, I ask that You would spread us abroad for Your work. Whatever our hands find to do, help us, Lord, to do it with all of our hearts.

I pray that even now, Lord, you would be revealing to each of the guys in this room the gifts that you have given to them. Help them to make their call and election sure.

I pray that you would give the leadership of this church the eyes to see the areas of need and the areas of gifting within the body, and that we could be a part of helping this ministry to move forward, Lord. I thank you for these guys. I thank you for their willingness to do this work. I thank you for their willingness to, week by week, get together and be honest with each other, to grow together.

Lord, I pray that you'd continue to raise each of us up to fulfill the ministry that you've given to us. May there never be in my mind or in the eyes or the minds of my brothers here the thought of, "Well, that's for the pastors to do or the elders to do." Whatever our hand finds to do, help us to be able to do it with all our might.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.