You can turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8, because of the weather, the Lord's Supper will be next Sunday evening. So we'll get right to the sermon so that people are able to get home safely, the Lord willing, after our service this evening. But this morning we looked at Stephen's defense, or began to look at Stephen's defense, in Acts 7. And one of the charges laid against Stephen was that he was anti-temple.
So, because we're concerned a lot with the temple, I thought it would be good for us to look at the dedication of the temple under Solomon in 1 Kings 8. I just want to read verses 22 to 53. It is the longest section. It does contain the prayer of Solomon on that particular occasion.
So, beginning in verse 22. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you, who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts. You have kept what you promised your servant, David, my father.
You have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand as it is this day. Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what you promised your servant David, my father, saying, you shall not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me. And now I pray, O God of Israel, let your word come true, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father. But will God indeed dwell on the earth?
Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built. Yet regard the prayer of your servant in his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before you today, that your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which you said, my name shall be there, that you may hear the prayer which your servant makes toward this place. And may you hear the supplication of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
When anyone sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath and comes and takes an oath before your altar in this temple, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name and pray and make supplication to you in this temple, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, that you may teach them the good way in which they should walk and send rain on your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. when there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all your people, Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward this temple, then here in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart you know, for you alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. Moreover, concerning a foreigner who is not of your people, Israel, but has come from a far country for your name's sake, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.
When he comes and prays toward this temple, hear and have in your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people, Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name. when your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the temple which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. When they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near. Yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent and make supplication to you in the land of those who took them captive, saying, We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness. And when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to you toward their land which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the temple which I have built for your name.
Then here in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against you, and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them, for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt out of the iron furnace. That your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to you, for you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance, as you spoke by your servant Moses when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. And so it was when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord that he rose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised.
There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require.
That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, there is no other. Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments as at this day. Amen. Let us pray.
Our Father, we thank You for the written Word. We thank You for this prayer of Solomon and for the great theology that it contains. And we would pray now that Your Spirit would help us to understand the passage, as well, God, help us to apply the passage in our own lives. We know there are timeless principles contained here.
We know, Father, that You do demand, You require that Your people, Your covenant people, saved by grace, walk in obedience unto you. Grant us help from on high, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well,
Introduction: Temple Dedication Context
just to give a bit of a context observation on the context, basically Solomon builds the temple according to chapter 5, verse 1, to chapter 7, verse 51. And here in chapter 8, Solomon dedicates the temple, and it's broken down into several sections. First, we see the ark is brought into the temple, verses 1 to 13. Then there are these words of thanksgiving from Solomon in verses 14 to 21.
There is this prayer of dedication that we just read in verses 22 to 53. And then the benediction pronounced on the assembly in verses 54 to 61. And then finally, the dedication of the temple proper by Solomon in verses 62 to 66. So this was a key event in Israel's history.
Remember up to this point they had a tabernacle, they had sort of a mobile dwelling place for God when they were in the wilderness, when they initially come. into the land of Canaan, David wants to build a house for God. God tells him, no, I'm going to build a house for you, basically asserting a dynasty will come or arise from David, and that the promise of house building would be Solomon in terms of the temple, but the larger context with reference to that promise by God to David is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God who comes from the line of David that ultimately builds a house for God and of His kingdom. There shall be no end.
But as I said, I think there's a lot of good practical lessons in this prayer of Solomon. I want to just look at it briefly by way of exposition and then spend the bulk of our time tonight making some application with reference to this prayer.
Foundation: Theology Proper in Prayer
Note first the foundation of his prayer. It is theology proper. In verses 22 to 30, Solomon was an excellent theologian. Solomon doesn't start to pray, God do this, God do that.
First, Solomon muses upon, reflects upon, meditates upon, and rehearses in prayer who God is. This is a good thing to do when we're at the throne of grace. Spend time rehearsing who God is. Praise Him.
Glorify Him. Consider the various perfections that the scripture tells us concerning God. The specific ones highlighted here, perfections, are what we may call attributes. are the
God's Incomparability and Transcendence
incomparability of God. There's no one like you, Solomon says. There is no God on earth like you. He asserts that in verse 23.
He speaks concerning the faithfulness of God in verses 24 to 26. A faithfulness that you and I can testify to. a faithfulness that does see and appreciate God's work, God's kindness, God's mercy. As well, he asserts the transcendence of God in verse 27. And transcendence simply means that God is removed from us.
There's a great big distinction between God and between us. There's what's called the creator-creature distinction. All that is not God is creature and is in a completely different category of being. God alone occupies the category of Creator and He is transcendent.
That means He is far removed from the creature. Notice that in verse 27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built." This was Stephen's emphasis before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 7.
They thought that the building contained God. They had become idolaters based on that supposition. And so Stephen points out that that's not the case. He cites the prophet Isaiah, who says essentially what Solomon says in this instance.
God is majestic. God is holy. You cannot build a place, a dwelling place, that does contain God. So he highlights the transcendence of God.
But then as well, in verses 28 to 30, he
God's Imminence and Near Presence
highlights what's called the imminence of God. And essentially what imminence means is that God is near us. So on the one hand, He's transcendent and removed, but on the other hand, He's near us. He is imminent.
And it's not just by virtue of His omnipresence, but it's by virtue of the fact that He is Creator and we are creature. God is near to His people. God hears the prayers of His people. God forgives the sins of His people.
Now, these two doctrines are maintained in Christianity. If you get rid of one of them, you're going to end up as a heretic. The pantheist, who teaches that everything is God, has a doctrine of God's imminence, but he doesn't have a doctrine of transcendence. versus the deist who has the doctrine of transcendence, but he doesn't have the doctrine of imminence. So to maintain Christianity, we affirm and confess that God is both transcendent and imminent.
This is particular to Christian theism. So the foundation of Solomon's prayer is theology proper.
The Petitions: Forgiveness as Central Theme
Notice, secondly, the petitions of Solomon's prayer. Forgiveness is a central theme. Forgiveness is a central theme in the petitions from verses 31 to 51. Notice in the first place,
Petitions for Justice, Curse, and Exile
Solomon requests assistance with reference to the adjudication of civil matters. In verses 31 and 32, Solomon requests that God aids him and assists him and renders him able to bring justice to bear within the body politic of Israel. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived, of course, except for the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon's wisdom is on display in 1 Kings 3, when those two harlots come before him.
This was a demonstration of Solomon's wisdom, and yet Solomon realizes that in the government of this kingdom of Israel, there are going to be things that are outside of his ability and his competency level, So he asks God to be in the midst of the people so that the righteous will be vindicated and the wicked will be punished. Notice, secondly, Solomon is, in many respects as well, praying with Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 opened up before him. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 specify not only the blessings for Israel when they occupy the land, but also the curses upon Israel when they occupy the land and they do not maintain faithfulness to God. And so Solomon now begins to think through what will happen if the people are disobedient in the land. they will reap the curses associated with the covenant in Deuteronomy chapter 28.
He says, notice in verses 33 and 34, when Israel is defeated by enemies, they will humble themselves, they will call upon God, and you, God, in heaven, hear and forgive. So those themes are replete throughout this section. The next section, he speaks of drought sent by God in verses 35 and 36. Again, curse is associated with the covenant in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
When this drought comes, the people, hopefully, will humble themselves, they'll confess their sins, you hear from heaven, and forgive their sins. In the next section in verses 37 to 40, famine and pestilence and other disasters. Again, prescribed according to Deuteronomy 28. When this happens, the people will humble themselves and the people will call upon you and in heaven here and forgive.
And then notice in verses 41 and 42, it's
Petition for Gentile Inclusion
not necessarily a request for forgiveness, but it's a request or a petition that all the nations may come to know the God of Israel. Notice in verse 41, moreover concerning a foreigner who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your namesake, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this temple, here in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, that all peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by your name. See, there was this hope, there was this desire. It was connected to the promise made to Abraham that in Abraham's seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed.
And so Solomon wants Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God. Now, this is ultimately realized in and through the new covenant, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's already being prayed for in this instance. And then notice, he requests God's presence in battle, according to verses 44 and 45. When we go out to battle, wherever you send them, when they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the temple which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause.
And then the last reference in verses 46 to 51 has to do with exile. Exile. Solomon already, conscious of the curses in Deuteronomy, where a lot of Deuteronomy 28 is given to this particular theme of exile, prays this when they are captured, when they are defeated, when they go into enemy countries. when they are exiled by you, when they pray to you here in heaven, forgive their sin and restore them to the land. And he refers to God bringing them out of bondage in Egypt.
What's the implication? If God could bring them out of Egypt, he can certainly bring them out of Babylon. If God could bring them out of Egypt, he can certainly bring them out of one of these other foreign nations that have exiled the people of Israel. So that's sort of an overview of the prayer itself.
Theology proper is the foundation, and then these particular petitions, which sees forgiveness as a central theme.
Application: Faithfulness of God
Now, in terms of some points of application with reference to the section as a whole, I want to first note the faithfulness of God toward His people. I think this is always a good application for us as God's people. It's always good for us to rehearse this as God's people, and it's always good for us to see it in display on the pages of Holy Scripture. Note in the first place the faithfulness of God toward Abraham.
Chapter 8, verse 56. Notice what he says. Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel. according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised through his servant Moses.
I got Abraham. Must be Moses I'm thinking of there. The Lord, actually it is Abraham, giving rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised. That was the promise to Abraham of rest in the land, but as well his fidelity toward Moses.
But also go back to the beginning of the prayer with reference to his faithfulness to David. to David. David wanted to build that house for God. God said, no, David, because you're a man of war. And so Solomon is going to build the house.
And Solomon recognizes the faithfulness of God to his father, David. God's faithfulness is replete throughout the pages of scripture. And if you look specifically at verses 23 to 26, he said, and he said, Lord God of Israel, there's no God in heaven above or on earth below. like you, who keep your covenant in mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts." Now notice in verse 24, you have kept what you promised your servant David my father, you have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand as it is this day. See, that is something that you and I can testify to in light of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
See, at the particular time that Solomon prayed this, the full application or fulfillment or realization of 2 Samuel 7 hadn't taken place. It wasn't the case that the Son of God prophesied in 2 Samuel 7 had come to build the house for God. We see that Son of David. We appreciate that reality.
We know that we are participants in the very house that Christ is building. Remember in Matthew 16, we considered this yesterday morning in the theology study. Peter confesses thou art the Christ the the son of the Living God Jesus pronounces a blessing upon him blessed are you Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father in heaven revealed this to you see Jesus Exultant sovereign grace not in the free will of Peter and then he goes on to say and you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and So on this confession that Christ is the Son of the Living God, the Son of the Living God now builds a house for God, a la 2 Samuel 7. We see the faithfulness of God.
Notice what Solomon goes on to say in verse 25. Look at verse 24 again. You have kept what you promised your servant David, my father. You have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
Verse 25. Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what you promised your servant David, my father, saying, you shall not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me. You see the logic of Solomon's prayer. Because you have been faithful, God, we will ask you to continue to be faithful.
In other words, you have tried and proven God, and therefore you continue to try and prove God. That's how the people of God are supposed to live. Spurgeon said it that way. Pray as a people who have tried and proven their God.
When has God ever let us down? When has God ever left us? When has God ever forsaken us? Now, I realize in the midst of trial, in the midst of affliction, we often go to those sorts of places.
We think that perhaps God has abandoned us. Later on in this particular prayer, Solomon recognizes that God sends affliction so that the afflicted come to him in a way that they hadn't previously. Brethren, afflictions and trials and hardships and pain does not and should never be interpreted as to mean that God is no longer present with His people. He says, He covenants, He promises, He swears, I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.
And in the context that that's used in the book of Hebrews, in its new covenant sort of setting, it's, yes, spiritual, but it's well physical. He's never going to leave us. He's never going to forsake us in the context of not being a covetous people. Don't be that sort of people.
God promises, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
The Presence of God Among His People
Secondly, we ought to appreciate something about the presence of God among His people. Remember the doctrine of imminence. First,
Holiness, Sacrifice, and Reverent Awe
His holiness necessitates sacrifice. Look at verse 5 in 1 Kings 8. This is when the ark is brought into the temple. And in verse 5, we read, also King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
And then again, in verses 62 to 64. Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings." God's holiness necessitates sacrifice. We don't just run into the presence of God. We are defiled with sin. We are polluted.
We are wicked. We are evil. We have transgressed God's law. We don't do what He says.
The only way of approach is through sacrifice. Well, praise God Almighty, the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. So we have access to God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. In terms of His presence, it promotes reverential awe, or it ought to promote reverential awe.
Notice in verses 10 and 11. And it came to pass when the priest came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priest could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. That glory of God Most High ought to promote in the people of God a reverential awe. We talked about that yesterday in theology as well.
I saw on Twitter, Todd Pruitt gave this clip to a particular church, and he said, ladies and gentlemen, behold modern-day evangelicalism, and it was a church service that would celebrate Super Bowl Sunday in the very worship of Almighty God. Serving chicken wings today. having a rock band today, doing all those sorts of things. That's not the reverential awe that you see at the dedication of the temple. The glory of God so filled the place that the priest could no longer maintain occupancy in it, in there.
Reverential awe, fear before the Lord. See, we've lost sight of that today. This idea of a good God-fearing Christian, which used to be commonplace to identify the people of God, now it raises eyebrows. How could you be a people that want to fear God?
How could we be a people that don't fear God? He's most high. He's glorious. He's awesome.
He's majestic. He's excellent. We should fear. We should have reverential awe.
We shouldn't be about chattiness in His presence. We shouldn't be about games and jocularity and frivolity. When we come into the house of God, it's to have dealings with the God of the house. And therefore, we ought not to engage as if He's our equal, or He's our fellow, or He's our companion.
He is God Most High. Deuteronomy 4, Hebrews chapter 12, tells us that God is a consuming fire. Now, I would argue that that reverential awe will be accompanied with joy. Because the people of God, redeemed by the grace of God, on the one hand they reverence this God, they fear this God, but on the other hand they do so happily and joyfully, because their sins are forgiven, their debts are forgiven, they're canceled.
They've received the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So that reverential awe is always mingled with joy. As well,
Nearness Produces Dependence
his nearness produces dependence on the part of the people of God. That's the essence of the prayer, the petitions in 31 to 51. What is Solomon saying? God, we are in this land, we have this temple, but we are always a dependent people upon you.
There's never going to be a time, God, when we don't need you. And he happens to outline the times when they sin against God, when they rebel against God, and they reap the curses of the covenant. That is what it is that's going to cause them to continue to be dependent upon God. Have you ever asked the question, why affliction?
Why trouble? Why difficulty? Have you ever asked the question, why remaining corruption in the heart of God's people? It's to promote dependence upon God.
What would happen if we were never afflicted? What would happen if we were never tried? What would happen if we didn't have remaining corruption? I'm not suggesting we should love remaining corruption, but I am suggesting we should appreciate the theological rationale, at least one of the theological rationale, for this remaining corruption.
It keeps us dependent upon God. What's the wise man say in Proverbs 30? Two things I request of you before I die. One of them is give me neither poverty nor riches.
Why? If I'm poor, I'll go out and steal and dishonor God. But if I'm rich, I'm inclined to forget God. See, that's the problem when everything is going well, when there is no trial, when there is no affliction, when there is no struggle or battle. there is this lack of dependence upon the Lord God.
So I'm not going to say tonight, take courage from the fact that you have remaining corruption. I would never go that far, but I would suggest there is a theological rationale for it. It keeps you humble, and it keeps you dependent, and it keeps you at the throne of grace. And then finally, in terms of the presence of God among His people, notice that His blessing His blessing results in joy and gladness.
Look at verse 66. This is after the dedication. This is a summary statement. And it says in verse 66, on the eighth day, He sent the people away and they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David and for Israel, His people.
You see, that's what the presence of God yields. That's what the presence of God produces. We often refer to Psalm 122 on the Lord's Day. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.
So there's this anticipation on the part of David. There's this gladness of heart on the part of David. He goes on Sabbath to the house of God, and he knows that there he's going to meet with God. Well, hopefully at the end of the Sabbath day, we have glad hearts.
We have joy because we have been in the presence of God Almighty. Hopefully it's not, oh, I'm so glad the day is over. I'm so glad that long sermon is over. I'm so glad the tedium of sitting in church for all that time is over.
No, we got to commune with the living God today. We got to enjoy the presence of God in a corporate setting. God loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. And he promises his blessing and his presence in the new covenant era in the churches of Jesus Christ.
What better thing is there than to be in the house of God? So we see the faithfulness of God toward His people, the presence of God among His people.
Centrality of Theology Proper in Prayer
Thirdly, the centrality of theology proper in prayer. The centrality of theology proper in prayer. Let me explain what I mean. Theology proper means the doctrine of God Himself.
Theology is a broad statement. It means the study of God, to be sure. It means the doctrine of God. But we use theology as more of a general reference to any sort of religious study, any sort of study of scripture.
When we say theology proper, we mean specifically theology proper, that which is proper to God, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Solomon, as I said, begins his prayer extolling the perfections of God Almighty. He doesn't just run into the presence of God and say, give us. He first adores.
He first meditates upon. He first rehearses. He first tells himself what the later divines at Westminster would say. God is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
And we need to understand as we use that word attribute, We ought not to have an improper understanding. It's not as if all of these things make up God. All that is in God is God. God is His attributes.
The doctrine of divine simplicity demands that understanding. The attributes, the perfections, are more for us. to appreciate this God. In fact, Turretin explains it in this way. He says, the divine attributes are the essential properties by which God makes himself known to us who are weak and those by which he is distinguished from creatures.
Or they are those which are attributed to him according to the measure of our conception in order to explain his nature. He goes on to say, now the definitions of the divine properties are rather of our conceptions, conceiving God under this or that relation, than of the thing itself, which is one and most simple. Essentially, what he is saying is that you don't look at God and say, well, he's 33% love, he's 33% justice, he's 33 and a third percent whatever else. It's not as if God is composite.
It's not as if God is made up. It's not as if God is put together. That's what the doctrine of divine simplicity demands. We read that.
He's without parts according to our confession of faith. That's the doctrine of divine simplicity. There's not sort of material or God's stuff out there that comes together and produces God. There's nothing before God.
There's nothing outside of God. There's nothing pre-existent to God. He's not composed of parts. He's not put together.
That means that He is His attributes, and we need to understand that. When we hear the word attribute, it's something we attribute to God, but it's not the case that He is composed of those particular things. Now, I tried to make that as simple as I could. No pun on simple there, Isaac got that.
But if you're confused or you want more information, you can email Isaac. Just maybe one other quote. Hermann Bavink says, whatever God is, He is that completely and simultaneously. And then he quotes Augustine, God has no properties but is pure essence.
That's the thing. There's no properties. He's a simple being. He's not composed of parts.
Not that there's all these sorts of things that conglomerately form or shape God. That's just not the way God is, as Scripture reveals Him. So, back to Augustine. God has no properties, but His pure essence.
God's properties are really the same as His essence. They neither differ from His essence, nor do they differ materially from each other. In other words, when we think attributes, when we think perfections, we cannot think these are the things that make up God. Rather, it's from our vantage point.
It's according to the manner of man. They're accommodations to us so that we can appreciate and appropriate who God is and what he does in terms of his creatures. those attributes outlined by Solomon, the incomparability of God. Verse 23 in 1 Kings 8. Verse 23, Lord God of heaven, Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you, who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts.
This is the same statement that comes from the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, 11. There is no God like you. This is the same question posed by the prophet Micah in Micah 7. Who is a god like you?
What's the answer? There is no god like you. Because no gods of the earth will forgive the iniquities of their people. No gods in the earth will pardon the sins and transgressions of their people.
But Micah praises God for the incomparability seen in that attribute, or rather seen in that expression of his goodness in the forgiveness of sin. He goes on, as I've said, to promote the faithfulness of God, an attribute, a perfection that you and I ought to consider. Davis comments in terms of verses 25 and 26, the reality that God has shown Himself faithful, and then the prayer based on that for God to continue to be faithful. Notice in verse 26, and now I pray, O God of Israel, let your word come true which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
Ralph Davis says in short, act in the future as you have acted to date. Yahweh's fidelity in the past becomes the basis for expecting the same in the future. God has joined. I love this.
Fidelity and expectancy. Fidelity and expectancy. When he has shown himself faithful, he creates on the part of his people an expectancy in further faithfulness. That's not blasphemous.
That is not untoward. That is the way the people of God pray. The people of God know their God. They know He won't leave them.
They know He won't forsake them. And based on His conduct in the past, they pray that in the present, that God would continue to maintain that path in the future. And then, as I mentioned, the transcendence and the imminence of God, two things that must be maintained, or we're going to be pantheists, or we're going to be deists. And both pantheism and deism is absolutely, positively wrong.
It is heretical. Deism is the idea that God is like a watchmaker, a clockmaker. He makes the clock, and then he winds it up, and then he puts it on the mantle of the fireplace, and he just sort of forgets about it. That's deism.
There's no doctrine of imminence. God is not present. God is not with. God is not hearing.
God is not answering. God is not forgiving his people. But pantheism is equally messed up. That teaches that God is everything.
Brethren, that is not the case. There is this great chasm, this great divide between the Creator and the creature. And then the final perfection or attribute we ought to recognize that Solomon refers to is actually found in verse 60. Verse 60, that's why I read that section, because in verse 60 he says that, "...all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, there is no other." This is the singularity of God.
The singularity of God. This can be further subsetted. and specifically we find here the unity of singularity. Bavink explains, there is but one divine being, that in virtue of the nature of that being, God cannot be more than one being, and consequently, that all other beings exist only from him, through him, and to him. Hence, this attribute teaches God's absolute oneness and uniqueness.
We need to confess this, and we need to maintain this. Before we finish on the practical lessons for God's people, I would suggest that the church really needs to take theology proper seriously. The church really needs to know who their God is. The church needs to see, in our confession of faith, yes, there's a whole lot of statements in terms of perfections, with reference to He's most loving, He's most gracious, He's most merciful, but those sort of three foundational or fundamental attributes or perfections of God, divine simplicity, and divine impassibility, and divine incorporeality.
That means he's without body. So when the Confession says he's without body, parts, and passions, this is probably where the Church is the weakest. Without body, parts, and passions. This is foundational.
The very grammar of theology depends on an understanding of those particulars. I think we're all good on divine non-corporeality. He's without body. That's what Jesus says.
God is spirit, according to John chapter 4. But it's the without passions, the without parts, that I think is a bit more confusing for the people of God, because we just don't think about it. We don't hear messages on this. We don't always attend the confession studies, where these things are explained, hopefully in detail.
But these are absolutely crucial things for the people of God to know. And it's not because you need to be a PhD or because you need to have all of this, you know, you need to read Bob Ink and Augustine. It's for the comfort of your soul. To know your God produces comfort.
To know your God produces encouragement. To know your God produces happiness and joy. To realize the doctrine of divine impassibility secures the reality that He's most loving. He's not going to diminish in His love for me.
He's not going to get less loving toward me. Of course not. He's impassable. It is impossible for God to change, to undergo change, either from without or from within.
That's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Now, that doesn't mean we should go out and sin and let grace abound, but to realize that God's love for us in the language of our confession is most It's most loving. That's a world of comfort for the believer. Now,
Practical Lessons: Word, Obedience, Forgiveness
finally, in terms of some practical stuff, notice the centrality of the Word of God for the people of God. It's intriguing. They bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple, and notice what's in it, according to verse 9. Nothing was in the Ark except the two tablets of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
Paul House says God's presence, God's word, and God's covenant with Israel are inextricably linked. In other words, the word is paramount for the people of God. It's a good practical lesson in terms of 1 Kings 8 and the dedication of the temple, but in terms of 2019 in Chilliwack, BC. Secondly, the necessity of obedience from the heart.
Solomon stresses that. Now, you've heard me say it, and I hope I'll die saying it. We are not saved by our obedience. We are saved by Jesus' obedience.
We are saved by the work of Jesus Christ, His life of obedience, And His death at Calvary satisfies those things that sinners desperately need. We need a righteousness that avails with God. We have it because of Jesus' righteousness. We need forgiveness from sin to blot out our transgression.
We have it because of Jesus' death at the cross. So we're not saved by our obedience. We're saved by the obedience of another. That's where, if this was a black church in Southern California, everybody would say, amen, because that's a glorious thought.
We're not saved by our obedience, we're saved by Christ's obedience. Now, having been saved as the people of God who are undergoing sanctification, we are called to obey God out of a pure heart. Does everybody get that? The doctrine of justification, God, by grace, through faith, justifies us.
The doctrine of sanctification, the Spirit of God is working in us, both to will and do according to His good pleasure. So justification, the work of Christ, is that work that is done outside of us, for us, and the work of sanctification is that work of God by the Spirit in us. to further conform us under the image of Jesus Christ. Now look at Solomon's emphasis here on the necessity of obedience from the heart. Verse 40, he says, that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
Verse 58, that he may incline our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers." See, keeping commandments as the people of God is not legalism. Keeping commandments as the people of God is what the people of God are supposed to do. This is Jesus' point in the upper room when he says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. That word legalism gets bandied about a lot, and I think there's various ways to explain or define legalism.
Legalism is most certainly not actually obeying God's law. By the power of the Holy Spirit, that's not legalism. That's biblical Christianity. That's sanctification.
And then notice in verse 61, Let your heart, therefore, be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments as at this day." So we see the centrality of the Word of God for the people of God. Secondly, the necessity of obedience from the heart. Thirdly, the perpetual need for forgiveness. Do you see that in Solomon's prayer?
Do you see that emphasis in Solomon's prayer? All these things are going to happen to them in subsequent history. And when they pray, when they cry to you here in heaven, and forgive them, forgive them, forgive them, forgive them. Brethren, that is the reality of the Christian life.
You and I are taught by our master to pray, forgive us this day, or give us this day our daily bread. We're told as well to ask God to forgive us from our sins. Why is that? Because we continue to sin.
Not laughing as if it's frivolity or jocular, but Romans 7 and Galatians 5 tells us there's going to be this necessity for the people of God to cry out to God for continued forgiveness. Christ has paid for all of our sins. Christ is atoned for all of our sins. So some might say, well, why do I need to continue to pray for the forgiveness of sins?
Well, there is that reality where God the Judge acquits us. God the Judge declares not guilty. But in terms of our relationship with God the Father, we want to maintain short accounts with Him. We want to know His smiling face.
We want to know that communion with our Lord. And that's the place that daily forgiveness has in the lives of God's people. Note specifically in 1 Kings 8, verse 38, whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone or by all your people, Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward this temple. It's not an intriguing way for a brother to describe what's happening in the lives of God's people when we know the plague of our own heart.
See, I would suggest that if we don't know the plague of our own heart, we need to start studying the Bible more. We need to start reflecting more accurately on Romans 7 and on Galatians 5. We need to look at the spiritual essence of the law of God, because this is something the people of God do surmise, they do see, they do view in themselves. They know the plague of their own heart.
And knowing that plague of their own heart, what do they do? They cry out to God, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? And then notice in verse 46, when they sin against you, for there's no one who does not sin. Sinless perfectionism is heresy.
The reality is that the people of God stand in need of the forgiveness of God, and they have been promised that forgiveness by God Himself. And then the
The Usefulness of Afflictions
final practical observation I want to look at is the usefulness of afflictions. Notice in verse 35, when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin, notice, because you afflict them, because you afflict them, Why did God do this? Because it turned you from that unto Him. Turn over to Psalm 119, probably one of the clearest expressions of this particular truth.
Psalm 119, specifically at verse 67. Psalm 119, verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 71, "'It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.'" Spurgeon, on verse 67 here, in Psalm 119, says, "'Grace is in that heart which profits by its chastening.'" It is of no use to plow barren soil. When there is no spiritual life, affliction works no spiritual benefit.
But where the heart is sound, trouble awakens conscience. Wandering is confessed. The soul becomes again obedient to the command and continues to be so. Whipping will not turn a rebel into a child, but to the true child a touch of the rod is a sure corrective.
Before his trouble he wandered, but after it he kept within the hedge of the Word, and found good pasture for his soul. The trial tethered him to his proper place. It kept him, and then he kept God's Word. Sweet are the uses of adversity, and this is one of them.
It puts a bridle upon transgression and furnishes a spur for holiness." Luther said, I never knew the meaning of God's Word until I came into affliction. I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters. I think that's a better approach to affliction than those fools who say, well, there's an evidence of your lack of faith. Shame on those wicked men to ever tell anybody that sort of a thing.
When David extols the affliction of God, because before it I went astray, but now I keep your word. You see, afflictions are designed by our Father in the way that chastening comes from fathers and mothers today toward their children. We don't spank them because we hate them. We don't spank them because we despise them.
It's because we love them. And that's what God communicates throughout to his people. So those are some practical things. We ought to appreciate the typological significance of the chapter as a whole, as we saw today in Stephen.
The temple points to Christ. Christ has come, we're no longer attached to a temple that is situated in Jerusalem, but rather now the temple is God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is no temple there for the Father and the Lamb, or God and the Lamb are its temple. Well, let's close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this prayer, this section in 1 Kings 8, and for the great things it teaches us in terms of theology, and in terms of practical religion. I pray that you'd help us to meditate upon these things, not just tonight, but to perhaps visit it again in the coming weeks, and help us, God, to see those things that are important in godly man at the throne of grace. Go with us now. Again, we pray for protection as we travel these roads.
We thank you that you are sovereign over everything, over weather patterns, over snow, rain, sun. All of these things are under the sovereign control of our great and our glorious God. Keep us, watch over us, and protect us, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.