In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith emphasizes the importance of keeping and seeking the commandments of the Lord. He encourages the congregation to walk in the ways of God and to have a complete and willing heart in their service to Him. David, in his assembly of the princes of Israel, advises his son Solomon to know and serve the God of his father with a complete heart and a willing mind. Pastor Chuck also highlights the breakdown of the family unit in society and the need for applying biblical principles to maintain love and peace within families.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that mold you And His Spirit like a dove Will descend upon your life And make you whole Welcome to The Word for Today The broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture through the entire Bible And on today's edition of The Word for Today we'll be continuing with David's plan for the temple as we pick up in 1 Chronicles 28, verse 1 And now with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck Smith So, David assembled all of the princes of Israel Now the whole thing is organized We got it all organized and it's all set So, David is now getting ready to pass on He realizes that he has done just about all he can do as far as the house of the Lord is concerned And so, David assembled all of the princes of Israel of the various tribes, the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course all of these 24 fellows who had their or the 12 fellows that had their men that would come in the captains over the thousands and over the hundreds the stewards of all of his substance all of these chief fellows, the possessions of the king all of the sons with the officers, with the mighty men and with all the valiant men to Jerusalem a big conclave of the chief people of the nation Then David the king stood up upon his feet and said Hear me, my brothers and my people As for me, I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God and I had made ready for the building but God said unto me You shall not build a house for my name because you have been a man of war and you have shed blood How be it, Jehovah God of Israel chose me before all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever He has chosen Judah to be the ruler and of the house of Judah and the house of my father and among the sons of my father He liked me to make me king over all of Israel David recognized that God's hand was upon his life that God had chosen him He had chosen the tribe of Judah way back when Jacob prophesied over his sons Jacob prophesied that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes and so the scepter, the reigning power came to the tribe of Judah David said the Lord liked me over my brothers now that's just God's sovereign choice and David realizes I was chosen by God to be king and God had announced that there would be one from David's seed who would sit upon the throne forever of course the promise was of the Messiah that would come and we still wait for the fulfillment of that promise the coming of Jesus Christ to reign forever and of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end but that recognition, God chose me fellas for His own reasons, for His own purposes God chose me the wonderful thing is that God has chosen each of you now so often in evangelistic services we hear the evangelist say now choose to serve the Lord make your choice to follow Jesus but in reality the Lord has chosen you Jesus said to His twelve disciples you didn't really choose me I chose you and ordained that you should be my disciples that you should bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain and that can be said of each of you who are following Jesus Christ you are following Him because He chose you because He liked you He chose me because He liked me not because I was deserving or worthy or had any special kind of merits or He, you know, could see down the line and see that I would do this and that and the other no, just He said hey I like Him He chose me, that's the sovereignty of God it's something that we can't understand we can't understand the mind of God we can't understand the purposes of God or the ways of God God said my ways are beyond your finding out because if God chose me then does that mean I had no choice in the matter well, no it doesn't because you had to choose so many times in the Bible they were exhorted choose this day whom you will serve you say but how can you put the two together? you can't God's ways beyond my finding out you see on the gate to the kingdom of God there was the inscription on the outside whosoever will let him come and drink of the water of life freely and He said oh man I'm thirsty I'm tired of this life of misery and emptiness and sin and oh that looks so good come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden I will give you rest, alright Lord I'm weary of life as it is, I come and you come to Jesus Christ and you enter the gate into the glory and you look back up and on the inside of the gate it said you did not choose me, I chose you and ordained that you should be my disciple and so the Bible speaks of us chosen in Christ before the foundations of the world that we should be heirs of this glorious grace you say well that isn't fair I don't know if I appreciate that well I appreciate it tremendously and I'm not really I'm not challenging the Lord at all if He chose me, hey, alright I accept that and I'm not going to argue with Him on that score at all that would be crazy to argue with God on the fact that He chose me I just rejoice in the fact that He chose me you say yeah but it isn't fair if He didn't choose me you're challenging the fairness of God do you think you have a right to choose the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with how would you like it if someone said her man hey wait a minute, I want a choice here I'm going to spend the rest of my life with this woman yes I appreciate the choice and I was able to make the choice and thank God I made the right choice well, if I have the right to choose who I'm going to spend my life with shouldn't God have the right to choose who He's going to spend eternity with I would think so I would grant Him that right you say yeah but maybe He didn't choose me and that wouldn't be fair if He didn't choose me well how do you know He didn't choose you well I'm not a Christian well why aren't you a Christian well I don't know if I believe in that stuff or not well you can find out very quickly whether or not you were chosen just ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and forgive you your sins and make you His child and you'll find out He chose you the very fact that you're able to do that means that you were chosen of Him you say but maybe I don't want to do that then maybe you weren't chosen but you really can't blame Him can you because He said come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden now if you don't want to come that's your problem not His because if you do come chosen or not He won't turn you away because He said whosoever cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out so you see from a technical sense no one can blame God and say well God didn't choose me that's not fair because God gave you the same opportunity as everybody else He said look if you'll come I'll not cast you out and the moment you come and receive Jesus Christ you discover the glorious thing that God from the beginning had chosen you to be the heir of this glorious grace in Jesus Christ you say well I don't understand it that's alright join the crowd I don't either but I don't argue with it I just just enjoy it He chose me so David recognizes hey the Lord liked me and He chose me now there are things of David that are likable and there are some things about David that aren't so likable and so it is I'm sure with each of us certain things that are likable in each of us and certain things that aren't so likable but the thing is God loves us all David said He chose me above my brothers He liked me to be the king over Israel and He hath chosen Solomon my son verse 5 to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel so David recognizes now this truth of God is the one who made the choices we are here because of God's divine choice and he recognizes that behind the scenes I may act but God is the one who is directing God is the one who chose me and so He hath chosen Solomon and He said to me Solomon thy son shall build my house and my courts for I have chosen him to be my son and I will be his father so David was chosen Solomon was chosen moreover the Lord said I will establish his kingdom forever if notice if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments as it is this day if he'll just continue in my path Solomon's can reign his kingdom and he can be a part of the whole thing Solomon unfortunately did not continue in the ways of the Lord as we'll find out in our lessons as we progress and so it was a conditional promise his kingdom to be established if he was constant to do the commandments now therefore in the sight of all of Israel the congregation the Lord in the audience of our God David said keep and seek for all of the commandments of the Lord your God that you might possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever keep the ways of God walk in the paths of God and really he gives the interesting reason that you might be able to leave this land to your children now there are some people who are extremely selfish and they care not for the future at all they would destroy totally our environment they would destroy the landscape they would use up all the trees for paper for us and the next generation be hanged that's their worry that's their problem I think that it's almost criminal for our government to continue spending programs increasing yearly the national debt because in reality what we are doing is laying on our children and our grandchildren the price of our extravagances because we want to live in a certain type of a lifestyle we want to maintain a certain standard of living that in reality we can't afford that's why we're going into debt that's why the government is going into debt the programs that the government cannot afford but we are requiring them so that we can live in a better standard of living but someday they're gonna have to pay but we should be concerned about leaving an inheritance for our children the land as an inheritance leaving it intact and we would do so if we would keep the commandments of God and walk after the Lord I wonder often times just what are we leaving for our children and what are we leaving for our grandchildren as I look at the conditions of the world and I see the deteriorating moral values and standards as I see these people made heroes gods and goddesses who live such totally immoral life and yet they're held up as, you know, the life and I just wonder what are we leaving for our children what hope are we leaving for our children what future are we leaving for them and it should be a concern and David says, look, you should keep the commandments of God so that you can leave for an inheritance something for your kids this land for them and turning to Solomon, he said, Solomon, my son know the God of your father and serve Him with a complete heart the perfect heart is a complete heart and a willing mind good advice, know God serve God with a complete heart and with a willing mind let your service to God be total, a total commitment a complete commitment to God a willing mind serving the Lord great advice for any son for the Lord searches the hearts and He understands the thoughts and the imaginations of the thoughts heavy duty the Bible said everything is naked and revealed before Him with whom we have to do you don't hide anything from God He knows what's in your imagination He knows what's in your heart God searches the hearts, the imaginations David said, God knows my thoughts before I think them He knows them in their origins when Ezekiel was sort of questioning the judgment of God upon the people the Lord gave Ezekiel a vision he saw a wall, God said, dig a hole in the wall and he dug a hole through the wall, he said, now crawl through it and he crawled through the hole and he came into this room and he looked around and there was all kinds of filthy pornography all over the wall all kinds of vile, horrible, degrading things and the Lord said to Ezekiel I've allowed you to penetrate within the minds of the leaders of the people this is what they are thinking this is the corruption that is there this is what's in their minds, their imaginations God knows what's in your mind, in your heart, in your imagination that's why David said, search me, O God know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be some way of wickedness in me and lead me in your path God knows my imaginations, God knows my thoughts, God knows my heart that's why I need the grace of God and that's why I'm so thankful that God chose me serve the Lord and he said, if you seek him you will find him but if you forsake him he will cast you off forever if you seek the Lord you'll find him no one has ever yet sought for the Lord and not found him Jesus said, ask and you shall receive seek and you shall find David is saying that to Solomon, seek the Lord, you'll find him, son but if you forsake him he'll forsake you and cast you off forever then David gave to Solomon the pattern for the temple the pattern of the porch and the houses around about it, the patterns for the treasuries the upper chambers, the inner parlors and the place of the mercy seat, David had drawn it all out the specs, the design, the engineering the pattern for all that he had by the spirit the Lord by the spirit gave this all to David even as the Lord directed Moses in the building of the tabernacle so the Lord directed David by his spirit in the design of the temple the courts of the house of the Lord, the chambers about those courts the treasuries, the treasuries for the dedicated things and for the courses of the priests, the Levites for the work and the service of the house, all of this earlier thing that David, the organization, God gave it all to David and he then even told him how much gold to use in each candlestick, how much gold to use in each basin, and David had the gold all weighed out now this gold here is for the basins, this gold is for the candlesticks and all, and that's pretty good having never made a candlestick before, to know just how much gold it would take you know, to make it, but it was all by the spirit of God that David was directed in setting out for the temple, all of this, said David verse 19, the Lord made me to understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all of the works of this pattern, this all has come to me from God, the work of God's spirit, and so David said to Solomon his son, be strong and of good courage and do it, fear not nor be dismayed for Jehovah God, even my God will be with thee that's always the key of strength and help and courage, God's with me that always dispels the fear, God is with me the Lord is with me, I will not fear what my enemies might do He will not fail you or forsake you until you have finished all of the work for the service of the house of the Lord, and behold the courses of the priests and the Levites even they shall be with thee for all of the service of the house of God, and the workmanship, every willing, skillful man for any manner of service, and the princes of the people will be holy at thy commandment, you're in charge my son, take over, and all of these people will be there We'll return with more of our study of 1 Chronicles in our next lesson, as we look at The Generous Giving of David, and we do hope you'll make plans to join us, but right now, I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one, you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives, and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details Simply call 1-800-272-WORD and phone orders can be taken Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm Pacific Time Once again, our toll free number is 1-800-272-9673 And for your added convenience, you can order online anytime when you go to thewordfortoday.org And while you're there, be sure to browse through the additional resources that include Bible studies, commentaries, CDs DVDs, and so much more Once again, that's The Word for Today online at thewordfortoday.org And for those of you who still prefer to write, you can use our mailing address, which is The Word for Today, P.O. Box 8000 Costa Mesa, CA 92628 And be sure to include the call letters of this station with your correspondence And now, on behalf of The Word for Today we'd like to thank all of you who share in supporting this ministry with your prayers and financial support And be sure to join us again next time as Pastor Chuck Smith continues his verse-by-verse study through the book of 1 Chronicles That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today And now once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith May we now be doers of the Word and not hearers only because that's self-deception You've got to put it into practice for it to have any value in your life Let the Spirit of God now minister to you its truth as He brings to your remembrance those things that we have studied and He enriches you in your walk and in your faith and in your life in Christ May the Lord be with you and bless you Give you a good week, in Jesus' name Undoubtedly, one of the most glaring signs that our society is in trouble is the breakdown of the family unit Marriages just aren't making it today And kids are suffering as they watch the breakup of their homes Those marriages still holding together are often plagued by conflict and turmoil making the home a battleground instead of a refuge That's why The Word for Today would like to present Pastor Chuck Smith's Marriage and Family MP3 where Pastor Chuck discusses basic biblical principles to keep a family's love alive Each member of the family has a different set of needs and responsibilities And when you know and apply God's principles everyone in the family can experience real peace real joy and an agape love To order your copy of the Marriage and Family MP3 by Chuck Smith, call The Word for Today at 800-272-WORD or visit us online at thewordfortoday.org This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California