In this sermon, the preacher discusses the importance of praising and glorifying the Lord. He references a biblical story where the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud after the people praised God. The preacher connects this story to the release of the glory of the Lord and the earth coming to rest. He emphasizes the need to understand the spiritual reality behind these events and encourages the audience to trust the word of God. The sermon concludes with a mention of priests and singers coming together to worship with one voice.

For the Holy Spirit who lives in us, to take the facts, to take the letter, to take these histories, and to make them live with the person of our Lord Jesus. We pray as we look again into the Old Testament and the truth in picture form, that by your Spirit our hearts will be quickened and made alive unto the person of the Lord Jesus. Enable us to see beyond the sacred page, and may we see the Lord. We thank you in advance that you are going to guide us, and in a special way, as we come to the end of this little series on the Ark, we ask you to tie up all of the loose ends and enable us, Lord, to lay hold of your heart and the revelation of Christ. We thank you that you are going to guide us, and we would not even begin to think that you would minister to us because we deserved it in some way. But Lord, we claim it on the merits of our dear Lord Jesus, and because he so richly deserves it. Amen. I ask you to open, please, to 1 Kings 8, if you will. If you didn't get one of those sheets, there's some right around you somewhere. For those that came in a little later, one of the sheets, the one that has the testimony of Spurgeon on it, I found it in a book of sermons, and it's by Spurgeon. So it's his own testimony in his own words. You'll notice that in the first quarter of the page I messed up, and I left a sentence out. I apologize for that, but I already had them read out before I noticed it, so you lose a sentence. I didn't want to take more paper for that. So that has nothing to do with our study. I just thought you might enjoy reading his testimony from his own mouth. We've come to our final lesson in following the Ark to the Holy Temple and its resting place. Quite honestly, I don't want to take time this evening to review the five lessons that we've looked at so far, because there's so much in this final lesson to look at, and I really think that it would detract a little bit. Let me give you the heart of the series in a couple of sentences, and for those of you that haven't been here for all of the lessons, and if you'd like all of them, then just check with Lillian, and she'll make sure you get those. But I think most of you at least know, know enough to know what this is all about. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was actually the portable throne of God. It was in the shape of a throne, and it symbolized the invisible presence of the King. Where the Ark was, the Lord was. Where the Ark was, the King was. When the Ark went ahead, the King went ahead. When the Ark was in the middle, the King was in the middle. And all the way through, the King is pictured, or the Ark pictures the Lord Jesus as King. Now that throne, for about 500 years, was moved from place to place, until at last it came to what we call its final resting place. And the final resting place was Solomon's Temple. We've been trying to follow the last 100 years of the movement of the Ark. We've looked at its path, we've looked at its stops, and we've looked at its start. Where it went, how long it stayed, what it accomplished in that place, and so on. And we're trying, of course, to bring the spiritual principles that are underneath. In other words, as the Ark moved towards Solomon's Temple, in order to rest, the Lord moved in our lives. He has a goal. He has a destination. He is heading for that place in our lives, the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, where He can finally rest in us, reign in us, release His glory, and govern our lives by His own glory. Now it would appear from the record that the Ark could not finally rest until God's redeemed people had learned certain spiritual truths. We've tried to illustrate from the stories those precious truths. I'm not going to retell the story, but let me give you the five truths. Until God's people have learned these five truths, the Ark cannot rest. And we'll continue to strive until we learn it. Once we learn it, there is nothing to hinder God from resting then in our lives. Truth number one, the thing that got the Ark moving in the first place, was hunger, illustrated by Hannah's womb. Desire. Desire for life, for issue, for fruit. For living fruit that would come from God and be able to be returned unto God. The second truth, that everyone that God begins on the inside, not the outside. He begins with the corrupt priesthood in the heart, not with the fullest things. They got that all mixed up, and they tried to deal with the fullest things first. God always deals with the inside first. Truth number three, they have the wrong that God absolutely rejects what we've called the fullest thing part of me. You can have any word or expression you want to express it. We're just talking about the flesh. What I do on my own, that's the fullest thing part. There's no way I can provide God a place where he'll be happy. And as we saw in the fullest thing territory, every time he tried, there was that. And God rejected all of the flesh. There was no way that he would settle down there. Now that's a hard lesson for the natural heart, and quite honestly, as we saw in the Bible, sometimes that takes hard times and a long time to finally learn that. But that's the third truth. The fourth truth was the lesson of the preeminence of Christ. They had to learn that looking to Christ really meant nothing if they didn't look away from idols on the cross. Not looking at you, it's looking away at you until Christ was finally the one and only. And that was the fourth lesson that they had to learn. When they learned that, to their surprise, God gave them victory over the fullest things. Why? They worshipped. They didn't even have to try. They just worshipped God, and God gave them victory. The fifth lesson that we looked at last time is the final discovery that there is a living way to touch God and not die. Remember the artist, every time they seemed to touch Him, the Lord answered in judgment. And then they discovered that there was a way to touch Him and not die. And that was to touch Him through the revelation of Christ, through the word of God. And that became the secret that unlocked everything. And then they learned the five kings. Only after God. God deals on the inside. God has rejected my flesh. Christ must be prohibited, and I can touch Him through the word. When they learned those things, then that's when they began to sing, and to dance, and to jump before the ark, and to praise God. Now, God was ready to come to rest. Now realize, if you haven't seen those principles illustrated through the stories, you might be a little puzzled. But I really don't want to take the time to go over all of that again. Now that those five lessons have been learned, the ark will advance to its final resting place. Before we begin our new material, I want you to understand, and I think you do, and I want you to understand exactly what I'm saying. When the ark finally came to rest in the temple, Solomon's temple, and filled that temple with His glory, remember, that's the truth we've been moving toward. That's where we're heading. And it's a picture of you. It's a picture of me. I'm Solomon's temple. You're Solomon's temple. And it's a picture of us corporately. We are Solomon's temple. And God wants to reign in us. God wants to fill us with His glory. God wants us to be governed by His glory, and so on. In reality, we're the temple, and it's a wonderful day for the temple and for the world, when we finally get to that place where God rests and we're filled with His glory. Now, the temple, as you know, had a heart. The Holy of Holies. Now, the glory of God didn't fill the temple when the ark came to the outer core. The glory of God didn't fill the temple when it went to the Holy Plains, when it went by the table of shewbread, or when it went by the seven-pronged candlestick of the Ark of Innocence. The glory of God only filled the temple when the ark came to rest in the Holy of Holies. As the temple had a heart, you have a heart. You have a Holy of Holies. And when God finally comes there, and we'll see that tonight, then you'll also experience what they picture here in scene four. Now that God has redeemed people, I'm moving by those principles. And once again, hunger, spiritual reality, rejection of the flesh, the preeminence of Christ, and touching Him through the earth. There is nothing now to hinder God from resting in His temple. And so we're going to follow the ark on its last leg to its desired haven, to its resting place. This is what was on God's heart all along, and may God quicken us now to the truth. Now let me explain how I'd like to develop this this evening. Obviously, before we can enjoy spiritual principles, we always have to begin with the facts. Sometimes the facts can get you down, and you get lost in the facts, and then you can't appreciate the principles. The problem with this final lesson is that there are so many facts. And quite honestly, if you go through it yourself, you'll see how many facts there are. Actually, 1 Kings 8, where I asked you to turn, if you just look at the last verse, you'll see number 66. So you know, just in that one chapter, there's 66 verses. And then it's in 2 Chronicles 5, and 2 Chronicles 6, and 2 Chronicles 7, 1 to 10. That's another 66 verses. So far, 132 verses. Plus, there are psalms written about this. And so far, there's much inspired speech given over to this final leg. I like to spend some time sort of in an overview. So that you're not lost in the facts, but so that you get a feel for what is happening. Somewhere along the line, we better hone in on the identification of some facts. You know, we're in the Old Testament, so we talk about the glory cloud. What does that mean, the glory cloud? We'll be talking about the fire. What does that mean? The good offer. What's that? The peace offer. The blessing. The prayer of dedication. And so there's certain words we're going to use, and somewhere along the line, and I'll try to read it in, rather than say, hey, we're going to do six definitions. I'll try to read it in as we go along, and then finally, Lord willing, by His grace, which we can isolate, identify, and apply some of the precious principles that are pictured here. Now, again, I'll tell you right at the start, supposedly this is the most exciting study of all. Now, I may not be able to get that across, but we're now talking about being filled with the glory of God. We're talking about God resting in His temple, in His people. And what a shame it would be, in a section filled with facts, to lose that message because of so many facts. And I need to get rid of the facts, but let me just advise you, if you start getting lost in the facts I'm giving, shut me off, and just look away, Jesus, and don't worry about all of this, and you'll be doing fine. Because I don't want to lose you in the facts, or you'll miss them all. The glory of this lesson is, God will rest in His temple, and I'll fill His temple with His glory. The facts illustrate that, and I pray God will help us to see it. Now, I've prayed much about how to do this, again, without overwhelming you with the details. And so, I'm not going to begin with step one, and then go to step two, and step three, and say, well, here's what happened first, then here's what happened second, and then here's what happened third. And you say, why won't you do it that way? Well, because I put it all together, and there are 17 facts. And it would take us all night just to lay out the chronology. This happened, and then that, and then that. Now you got the 17 things together, now let's go back and see what they mean. It's too much. But, of course, I felt that I had to see that, but I don't want to bore you with that. So we're going to stand back and look at the parade as a whole. We're not going to look at everybody marching in it. We're just going to see the big sections. There was the band, and there was this, and you see the big things. I think that'll be enough to take you into these precious principles. With that in mind, when he left off in 2 Samuel 6, David was king. And when he left him, he was leaping and dancing and shouting. In fact, he was transformed. He wasn't even in his king's garments. He had become a priest in that moment, rejoicing before God, leaping and dancing before the ark. And there was a reality king in his heart. He wasn't a king. He saw only one king. And he danced before the throne of God, saying, in effect, I'm so glad I'm not king. I'm glad he's king, and I'm his priest. And you remember his wife, when she saw that, she got so angry at him, because she was still outside the camp. Well, he was outside the camp, and she was still in the Philistine mentality. And she just wanted human praise and glory and so on. But when he left off, David was king. And he had discovered the living way to touch God and not die. That was such a big thing for him, because every time they tried it, you know, it blew up. At this one time, at last, they learned to touch God through the Word. Now, call attention to that, because where we're going to begin tonight is many years later. In fact, it's about 40 years later. Forty years have gone by. David is now in heaven with the Lord. And I suppose he's still dancing before the ark up there, still rejoicing. Now, turn to 1 Kings chapter 7, please. Verse 51. When he left off last time, there wasn't even a temple around. And now in verse 51, we read, Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. Solomon brought in the friends dedicated by his father David, the servants of gold, the utensils, and they put them into the treasuries of the house of the Lord. Now the house of the Lord is finished. David's in heaven. Solomon is king. The house of the Lord is finished. Now, it's not important to nail down exactly what's meant by that. The house of the Lord is finished. And you'd be amazed how the commentators go at this. You know, according to 1 Kings chapter 6, it took seven and a half years to build the temple, to complete the temple. And then someone looks at 1 Kings 9, verse 10. And they say, oh no, not seven and a half years. It took 20 years for the finishing touches to complete the temple. And then someone calls attention to chapter 8, verse 2. And you notice our story begins in the seventh month. The seventh month they gather now, they're going to dedicate the temple. And that puzzles some people, because if you'll notice 1 Kings chapter 6, verse 38. It says the house was finished in the eighth month. They say, well, wait a minute, how can you dedicate it in the seventh month when it's finished? Well, the Bible says it's not even finished till the eighth month. And someone says, well, they dedicate it a month early. Because whenever it's good, it's finished. Like the Lord Jesus in John 17, verse 3. He praised his Father, I finished the work. God has given me to do it. He had me mended a cross. How could he say he finished the work? And the answer is, it's his goodies down. And so some say, they dedicated the temple one month early, because it was his goodies down. And they say, no, a month early, they waited another year. After the seventh month, until the eighth month. Or the seventh month of the following year. Some say, no, you can see, they have to wait till all the finishing touches. They waited 20 years until all the finishing touches were put on the temple and so on. I don't think it's a waste of time arguing about those things. I only call your attention to them in case somebody brings them up. The point that we want to see is this. The temple is finished. It's ready. That's what finished means, for our purposes. The temple is ready. And the ark is brought there to rest. I don't care if it's been seven and a half years. Maybe 13 years. Maybe 20 years. Or four years added on, because Solomon was four years. Deacon being laid. Whether it was a month earlier. Or a year after. Or 20 years. It doesn't matter. The point is, the temple is now ready. The ark is going to be brought to the readied temple. And maybe someday, another day, another time, another series, we can look at Solomon's temple. Picture of the Christian. Glorious study. But for now, pretend you already knew that. And the temple is ready. You are the temple. Forty years have gone by. David's in heaven. The temple is ready. Elaborate plans are now made in the seventh month. That's important, because Solomon tried to coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles. And so there's going to be 14 days. Seven days of dedication. Seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 days of celebration. I'm going to ask you to glance, just for a moment, at that handout sheet that I gave you. There's a comparison there between Solomon's temple and the tabernacle. It's just lines and words. It's not very graphic. But I want you to notice a couple of differences, because you'll appreciate it as we get into this study. Actually, the temple wasn't very big. It was about twice the dimensions of the tabernacle. That's all. As far as the big rooms are concerned, the outer court, the holy place, and the holy of holies. The chief difference between the tabernacle and the temple was that truckloads of love were dumped into Solomon's temple. Now, I don't know if you trust David's dictionary Bible. I think it's pretty accurate across the board. And here's what David says in his dictionary Bible. The value of the temple was $4,900,000,000. We're talking almost $5 billion in a building that small. And you know, Solomon actually had trouble. He couldn't make it any richer. He had promised his daddy that everything he had laid aside, he'd use in the temple. But he couldn't embellish anything anymore. It was blown out of everything. Everything was already burned, and he had a pile of metal. And he had promised God that he would use it for the temple. And so what he did was, he made a treasure house in the temple. And he just took everything left over, men and the dogs, and just threw it into the treasure house. So you got this wealthy temple. $5 billion worth of a little house. A small little house. $5 billion. You don't see anything like that on Beverly Avenue. We're talking wealth. Now that only becomes precious to you when you realize that's picturing you, folks. That's me. I'm Solomon's temple. And that value is put in there on purpose. Because God will go and show how valuable we are. You notice that the labor of cleansing in the tabernacle is now replaced by the bronze sea. You see, Solomon gets very loud in here. And the capacity of this sea is now 17,000 gallons of water. Things are certainly changing. Instead of one large stand, there's now 10. Instead of one table of sure blood, there's now 10. And on the courtyard there, you see those stands with basins. That's nothing more than a poor bird in it to run wheels. They were able to move right around the courtyard. And they could help and slew the animals on that. And they brought them over to the blazing altar in order to be offered as a sacrifice. You'll notice in the temple that in the front there were two great bronze pillars. They have names. Jacob and Boaz. The establishers and the lord of strength. And those great big pillars, 27 feet high. And if you count the capitals on top of them, about 34 feet high. Those great pillars supported nothing. They weren't connected. They were only for the eye. They were only for beauty. And then they got these tremendous pillars at 27 feet high, 18 feet in circumference. And the only thing they did was they were just used for ornament. That's all. So remember that when God says if you ever come, you'll be a pillar in the house of your God. You'll support nothing. And God hasn't called us to be pillars. No, to support something. But just to shine and just to radiate. Anyway, it was into this temple. And now you can throw the shoes away. It was into this temple that the ark was brought with great pomp and great ceremony. Commentators generally refer to the section we're going to look at as the dedication of Solomon's temple. And I want to call attention to this. That's part of it. We're going to end up with the dedication of Solomon's temple. But that throws you off. If you look at these scriptures and say, now we're going to study the dedication of Solomon's temple, you're going to miss the point of it. You see, we've got to keep it in the history of the ark coming to rest in the temple. The ark did not rest in the temple because it was dedicated. The temple was dedicated because the ark rested in it. The dedication followed the resting. They weren't planning at that point to dedicate the temple. They were planning to bring the ark to rest there. And they were looking for that fear of surprises. So they ended up dedicating the temple. But that wasn't the original plan. They had to start it off to dedicate the temple. Now instead of going on every step, I want to stand back and view this final journey. And I think it will help you to realize that the journey took place in two parts. It's important to realize there were two fillings of the temple with the glory of God, not one. The first filling happened when the ark was put into the holy of holies. When the ark finally came to its rest and prayed. And the people began to praise God. 2 Chronicles 5 I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles now. And let me just point this out while you're doing that. 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5-7 cover the same ground. Same period. Same story. 2 Chronicles mentions five things that Kings doesn't mention. Later if you want those five things. I'll give them to you. I don't want to take time to do that now. And if you want that. Remind me it's on page 31 in my notes. And then I'll be able to dig it up for you. So Chronicles gives you five things Kings leaves out. Kings only mentions one thing that Chronicles leaves out. That's chapter 8, 54 to 61. The blessing Solomon gives the people after his long cold vacation. With that in mind. I'll stay with the Chronicle record. Since I don't want you to miss anything. The full record is in Chronicles. So we'll stay now for the rest of our time. With one little exception. Let me go to one side. In Chronicles. Alright. 2 Chronicles 5-7 Then the priest brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place. The other saints were in the house to the holy of holies under the wings of the chagrin. By the way, that's not the wings that were on the ark. These are special chagrin that were in the temple. And they were just in the back of the holy of holies. Verse 13b at the bottom please. It says, Then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. That's the first filling. When the ark came to rest, the people praised God. There was a filling. The glory filled the house. After Solomon's long prayer. His prayer of dedication. There was a second filling. Turn to chapter 7. Beginning of verse 1. Now when Solomon had finished praying. Fire came down from heaven. And consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. And the glory of the Lord filled the house. That's the second filling. And the priest could not enter into the house of the Lord. Because of the glory of the Lord filled the house. And all the sons of Israel. Seeing the fire come down on the glory of the Lord upon the house. Bound down on the pavement. With their faces to the ground. They worshipped. They gave praise to the Lord saying. Truly He's good. Truly His loving kindness is everlasting. The second filling. Was different because it was accompanied by fire. Fire on the outside. Glory on the inside. I'll show you later what I think that means. But right now that's the difference. The first one was just the glory of the Lord. The second filling was fire and glory. Fire on the outside and glory in the middle. Now. Think of the ceremony then in two parts. That which led up to the first filling. And that which led up to and followed the second filling. And you pretty much have the facts. Let's look at the first half then. What led up to the first filling? You can grab that pencil. There's underneath it. And I suggest. Chapter 5 if you would. Verses 2 and 3. Solomon had gathered the elders. The tribal fathers. All Israel in the seventh month. And now he's about to make the journey. We've been talking about the ark and the path of the ark. But the ark is not the only thing that's going to come to rest this day. There's something else that was about to be laid to rest. It was the tabernacle. And there for 500 years they carried that house of skin around with them. Evidently by now it was pretty worn. Perhaps you never thought of this. But when they moved in through the temple. What did they do with the tabernacle? Did they throw it away? Did they burn it? Did they sell it? What did they do with the tabernacle? If you'll notice please that 2nd Chronicles 5.5. And they burned up the ark and the temple meeting. And all the holy utensils which were in the tent. The Levitical priests burnt them all. The tabernacle was laid to rest inside the temple. They actually burnt the tabernacle inside the temple. Sort of a picture of maturity I think. And when the boy becomes a man. You don't throw the boy away. Anybody knows a man knows the boy is still there. The boy is in there somewhere. And that's what you have here. You're moving now into temple truth. You don't get rid of tabernacle truth. It's still there. But now it's swallowed up in the temple. And so the tabernacle was also laid to rest in the temple. In this first part of the march. Two things that Holy Spirit underscore. Before the first thing. There were these two things. Number one. Oceans of animal blood. Oceans of animal blood. And look at verse 6 please. Chapter 5 verse 6. Can you all see in there? It looks so dark in there. I'm going to turn that side. Verse 6. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel. Who were assembled with him before the ark. Were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen. That they could not be counted or numbered. Later you're going to read about a specific number of sacrifices. Don't confuse it. Don't confuse it. On this wonderful day. There were actually three different groups of sacrifices. The first group was right here. On the way up. Unnumbered sheep and unnumbered oxen. The second group. When they arrived. In the courtyard. On the altar. They were sacrificing. That's when the fire came down in control. And then after that. There was a whole bunch more offered. As peace offerings. After the whole thing was over. But this first group was unbelievable. Now you've got to remember. We just sort of read this la la la. Now this is some parade. All the elders. All the chiefs. All the tribes. And all the people that could set themselves free. We're talking about millions. Millions of people. Are marching now up toward Jerusalem. And they're all offering animal sacrifices. Sheep and oxen that can't be numbered. And whatever else was pictured by these oceans of blood. Blood of sheep and blood of oxen. Certainly it was a recognition. That we're able to move. We're able to advance. Judgment's not coming down. We're not experiencing what the Metabushimash experienced. We're not experiencing what Yuzur experienced. When he reached out and touched the ark. We're not dying. And we're not dying because the substitute is dying. And all along the way they sacrificed these animals. And it was just a substitute in the place of them. Because of the animals they're not consumed. And so those oceans of blood. I have no doubt. Pictured the ocean fullness. Of the blood of our Lord Jesus. Now don't detach this story. From where it's gone before. And the many times God's fire fell down on them. Because they never even touched the ark. Rather appreciate this. If you want to see. The first thing was prepared. By a path of blood. All the way to the temple. There was blood, blood, blood. Oceans of animal blood. The second thing notable about this journey. Was praising the Lord. Especially when the ark came to rest. In fact. You cannot read about the filling. Unless you connect it with the praising. God puts that together. The filling and the praising go together. And look at chapter 5 verse 11. And we're going to read to 14. And when the priests came forth from the holy place. For all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves. Without regard to divisions. And all the mythical singers. Asaph, Haman, Judicom. The sons and kinsmen. Clothed in fine linen. With cymbals and harps and lyres. Standing east of the altar. And with them a hundred twenty priests. Blowing trumpets. In unison. When the trumpeters and the singers. Were to make themselves heard. With one voice. We talk about body truth folks. Here you have it. One voice. To praise and to glorify the Lord. And when they lifted up their voice. Accompanied by trumpets and cymbals. Instruments of music. And when they praised the Lord. Saying. He indeed is good. His love and kindness is everlasting. Then. Don't disconnect the praise with the filling. After that praise. Then. The house of the Lord was filled with a cloud. So that the priests could not stand to minister. Because of the cloud. So the glory of the Lord. Filled the house. We then appreciate. This first form. There are oceans of blood. And the praising of the Lord. Oceans of blood. Praising God. Then. The house was filled. And all of that because the ark. Came to rest. Now hold on a moment. Let me show you the events that led up to the second form. And the events that followed. Two things led up to it. Two things followed. The first thing that took place. After the first thing. And that would lead up to the second. I really don't know how to call this. Because. Solomon calls it something it's not. At first I was just going to say. Solomon bless the people. But that's not really true. And let's just call it. A rejoicing in the faithfulness of the Lord. And I'll show you. Why there's a little problem here. The record is in chapter 6. 1 to 11. And look at verse 3. The king faced the bow. And blessed all the assembly of Israel. While all the assembly of Israel was standing. So you get this idea. That Solomon is going to bless the people. And he stands up to bless the people. Verse 4. And he says. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. And for the rest of the people. He blessed them all. So. If you call it. Solomon blesses the people. That's a strange blessing. Because he's not. He's blessing the Lord. And. What is happening. This little. Outpour. On the king. Is a response. To the first thing. Now. Try to remember this. Again. We just try to read these things. The first. Was a surprise. The second thing. Was a surprise. They were not expecting that this day. This was the unprogrammed part of the service. By the way. That's the best part of the service. The unprogrammed part. See. It's wonderful when the Lord surprises us. And especially it's wonderful. When the Lord surprises us. With the filling of his glory. And the filling of his presence. They planned the white robe priests. They planned the special music. The 120 trumpeters. That was all planned. They planned to offer the sacrifices. They didn't plan to pray. In fact. Later we talk about. A special prayer family built. For their purpose. So that they could pray publicly. They planned on everything. That service. Was a real plan. The Baptist service. And it was all packed. This will have the other thing. Then all of a sudden. God surprised everybody. They weren't expecting this. And the glory of the Lord just filled the temple. That was the unprogrammed part. I don't know. I can't prove it. But I have an idea. A lot of people for the first time. Were coming to this 5 billion dollar temple. Because it was open house. And they were going to see what they had heard about. See Hiram had a big mouth. And Hiram was telling all over the countryside. How much he had donated. And how much this temple was. And so on. And now they were coming for the first time. And they were going to see. The glory of the temple. And I have an idea. When they left. Nobody was talking about Boaz. That great big pillar outside. At 27 or 34 feet high. If you count the capital. They weren't talking about the 17,000 gallon capacity. Blazing sea. They weren't talking about the 10 big candlesticks. Or the 10 tables of show bread. When everybody left. The glory of God had stolen the show. The glory of God. There was a surprise. Nobody expected that. And under that sun. This was the unprogrammed part. The glory of God fills the temple. And he stands up. And he really don't know what to do. And he stands up to bless the people. But he can't. Then he says. How blessed be God. And he begins to bless the Lord. Because he's overwhelmed. With the glory of God. This wasn't in the program. This wasn't a planned part. He didn't know what to do. And he stood up. And he began to bless the Lord. You read those first 11 verses. The essence of it. Is in verse 4. Blessed be the Lord. Who spoke with his mouth. And fulfilled with his hand. That's what Abraham did. He said. He did what he said he was going to do. He promised. And he fulfilled it. That's what he told David. He now did it. Verse 10. Now the Lord has fulfilled the word which he spoke. And so the first thing that preceded this. Second filling. The king was overwhelmed with the first filling. And there is a second thing that preceded. Preceded the second filling. And actually it's the longest part of the record. And I'm referring now to chapter 6 verse 13. So Solomon had made a bronze platform. Five cubits long. Five cubits wide. Three cubits high. He had set it in the midst of the court. And he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel. Spread out his hands toward heaven. I can't prove it. I know they built the platform. So they planned something. But I don't think they planned what happened here. You see. As the record goes. We're pretty deep into the Bible. We've gone through all those books from Genesis. All the way to Chronicles. Do you know why this is the first time you ever read that anybody ever got on their knees and prayed? This is the first mention. Praying on their knees. And I don't think he planned it. He was standing there. And all of a sudden he dropped to his knees. I think that's the first word he got to hear. When he saw the glory of the Lord fill the temple. He didn't know how to respond. But he just fell to his knees. And he raised his hands toward heaven. And then the longest part of this whole record. He just pours out what has been called now. We call it. After the fact. We come now as commentators. And we call it the prayer and dedication. And now he's going to dedicate the temple. All the way to verse 32. He pours out this wonderful prayer. And what a wonderful prayer of complete surrender. Solomon anticipates almost everything. He said if we sin against our neighbor. And then he calls on the Lord. If we're defeated by our enemies. He calls on the Lord. If drought comes. If famine comes. If pestilence comes. If blight comes. If mildew comes. If locusts come. If grasshoppers come. If the plagues come. If sickness comes. He just mentions everything. If strangers come into our land. He anticipates everything. He prays Lord bring us back. Lord bring us back. We want to be real. We want to be right. We want to be true. The key word of the prayer seems to be. Verse 21. Hear thou from thy dwelling place. 23. Hear thou from heaven. 25. Hear thou from heaven. Forgive. Bring us back. 27. Hear thou from heaven and forgive. Teach us to good laying. Verse 30. Hear thou from heaven and forgive. 33. Hear thou from heaven. 35. Same thing. 39. Same thing. It's a prayer of dedication. And a prayer of dedication. And it has to be this way. Solomon ends with the holding of Hannah. That's how Hannah began. With the empty word. With the bare word. Call it all for fruit. Listen to the end of this prayer. A great desire for God to rest in his temple. Verse 40 to 42. And now oh my God I pray thee. Let thine eyes be opened. And ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. Now therefore rise over to thy resting place. Now in the ark of thy might. Let thy priests, O Lord, be clothed with salvation. Let thy godly ones rejoice in what's good. Lord do not turn away thy face, O God, and want it. Remember thy love and kindness to thy servant David. And Solomon now prays, Lord. Arise to your resting place. We dedicate this temple to you. And we want you to rest in it. We want you to clothe your priests with salvation. We want to do what's right. And he has the same hunger that Hannah had for fruit. Now those two things preceded the second filling. That the response of Solomon and the blessing of the Lord. And in this great prayer of dedication where he falls on his knees. And he just commits everything and says, Lord, here's your temple. Come fill it. Come rest in it. Come live in it. Come clothe us with salvation. And then we learn what's right. Do what's right. Then came surprise number two. You thought he was surprised about the first filling. He wasn't expecting this. Chapter 7, verse 1. When Solomon had finished praying. Fire came down from heaven. Consumed the building. And the sacrifices. And the glory of the full house. The priest could not enter into the house of the Lord. Because of the glory of the Lord. Full of the Lord's house. And all the sons of Israel. Seeing the fire come down. And the glory of the Lord upon the house. Bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and gave praise to the Lord. Saying truly he's good. Truly his love and kindness is everlasting. This time. They got the fire and the glory. And I remind you again. Because I need to underscore this. Neither one of these fillings. Had been programmed into the events of the day. They hadn't counted on that. And they were overwhelmed. And when they see the fire and the glory. They just fall down on their face. Chapter 7, verse 3. With their faces to the ground. I told you two things preceded. The second filling. And now two things are going to follow it. What followed it? Well the first. I just call it a banquet. You say well. I read the record. I don't see a banquet. I see more blood. I see more animal sacrifices. Look at verse 4 and 5. And the king, chapter 7. The king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. King Solomon offered sacrifice. 22,000 oxen. 120,000 sheep. That's the king and all the people. Dedicated to the house of God. Now I remind you. 22,000 oxen. 120,000 sheep. That's just the offering of one man. That's not the people. That's just Solomon. And then add to that. All the people offered sacrifices beside. In fact so many people offered sacrifices. The brazen altar said. No. I can't hold all of this. So guess what they did. Verse 7. Solomon consecrated the middle of the court. That was before the house of the Lord. And there he offered the burnt offerings. And the fat of the peace offerings. Because the bronze altar which Solomon had made. Was not able to contain the burnt offering. The great offering and the fat. They took the outer court. And they consecrated that and turned that into one big altar. And there was so many offerings. So many sacrifices. The brazen altar couldn't contain it. And so the secular part. This becomes important. The secular part of the temple. Now it becomes a spiritual part. And they just offer these offerings. You say well where do you get the idea of banquet? I get the idea of banquet from verse 7. This tremendous outpouring of offering. Are called peace offerings. Now of course there are burnt offerings as well. But the peace offering is not for sin. If you want to see the record on it. Read Leviticus 3 and Leviticus 7. The peace offering. Some people have the idea. Make peace with God. Offer a peace offering. That's not the idea of a peace offering. Make peace with God. A peace offering is a thank you. It was an offering that recognized. It was already at peace with God. Here's the difference between the peace offering. And the burnt offering. And it also shed light a little bit on this fire. The burnt offering. Only went to God. Now fire. In the Old Testament. In the biblical offering. There's a picture of God eating it. You say. Come on. Where did you get that? I get that in Leviticus 3. It says. The priest shall offer the burnt offering. In smoke. On the altar. As food. For the Lord. It's food for the Lord. And the idea was. They burned it. The part that was burned. God ate. Sometime. Some of it. Well, let's see here. In the peace offering. Some of it was burned. Some of it was given to the priests. And the rest of it was given to the people. To take home to their families. The idea is. Sitting down with God at the table. And let's all eat together. Let's fellowship. God ate some. The priests ate some. The people ate some. And it was a big banquet. That's when I get the idea. The banquet. This tremendous peace offering. He blesses us. We respond. And give him a peace offering. He turns around. Gives it back. And we all sit around. And enjoy a great banquet. At his expense. That's the first thing that followed. The second thing. The heart was so full. It just responded. In this peace offering. And there was a great banquet. From 2nd Chronicles. Chapter 7. Verses 8 and 9. We see that they partied. For 2 full weeks. And they just ran again to the feast of tabernacles. And so on. Feasting. Rejoicing. Fellowshiping. What's the second thing? That followed the second thing. Not only banqueting. I'll just summarize it in a single word. Blessing. Look at verse 10. On the 23rd day of the 7th month. He sent the people to their tents. Rejoicing. And happy of heart. Because of the goodness of the Lord. Had shown to David and to Solomon. And to his people Israel. He sent them home rejoiced. Happy of heart. And that's where the story ends. Banqueting and blessing. And they went home and lived happily ever after. Had to end that way, see. Well, those are the facts. The first thing. Oceans of blood and mountains of praise. And he fills the temple. The second thing. Praise and a prayer of dedication. And a second surprise. Fire and glory. And all of that's followed by banqueting and blessing. Now, thank you for bearing with me. That's the donkey work. Those are the facts. Now, where's the me? All of that was just to get the facts before you. Now, may God help us as we try to make sense out of it. Part into our lives. Since the whole story seems to revolve around these two fillings. The release of the glory of the Lord. The glory of God filling his temple. And the up comes to rest. If I'm going to understand the spiritual reality. I need to know what is God picturing by these fillings. Let me give you a general answer first. And then a little more specific. First of all, we need to know what the glory of God is. So, in a moment. Let me just tell you again. I think I can show you in the binder. I ask you to trust me on this. Not too far. Never trust anybody beyond the scriptures. Now, check it out. Make sure it's the word of God. But I ask you to trust me at least through this session. So that we don't have to spend time turning pages. The glory of God is not an attribute of God. Sometimes we have this idea that God has many attributes. And one of his attributes is glory. That is not what the glory of God is. You'll never see anywhere the glory of God as an attribute of God. In fact, Isaiah 59, 19 uses the glory of God synonymously with the name of the Lord. Psalm 103 does the same thing. And then 102, verse 15. The glory of God, the name of God. That is the glory of God. You say, well, God is love. That's an attribute of God. Yes, and he's glorious in his love. Say, God is power. That's an attribute of God. Yes, and he's glorious in his power. Say, God is just. And he's glorious in his justice. God is immutable. And he's glorious in his immutability. See, glory is not an attribute. Glory is the sum total of all the attributes of God. It's everything God is. It's the full character of God. And so when his glory fills the temple, he fills the temple. It's his essence. It's himself. It's his presence. It's his character. It's his reign. And the glory of God came down on Mount Sinai. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses prayed in Exodus 33, 18. Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. He was praying, show me the Lord. I want to see, always to know, to see about you. A man sins and falls short of the glory of God. He's falling short of the character of God. He's falling short of what God is. The glory of God is God himself. When God's glory fills Solomon's temple, God's presence fills Solomon's temple. Now that's Old Testament. That's seed for him. The glory of God is the presence of God. Now let's look at the New Testament counterpart. What's the glory of God? Colossians 2, 9. In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead and bodily form. 2 Corinthians 4, 6. The God who said that light shall shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the glory of God. Colossians 1, 27. What's your hope for glory? Christ gave you the hope of glory. That's the glory of God. John 1, 14. The Word became flesh. To let them know us. We beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten. Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. New Testament. It's the presence of God. In the New Testament, it's Jesus. The glory of God is Jesus. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It's Jesus. What does it mean to be filled with the glory of God? It means to be filled with Christ. That's what it means. What does it mean to do all for the glory of God? See, we make that so abstract. Do everything for Jesus. That's what it means. When you do it for the glory of God, you do it to make Jesus happy. That's what it means for the glory of God. Now, as the key to the glory of God is Christ himself. When the ark rests, Christ fills the life. It's Jesus that fills the life. It's no wonder that such a filling had to follow the dedication of the temple. God's goal in your life, God's goal in my life, God's goal in our life, is to be able to settle down in our hearts after we've learned the hunger, after we've learned He deals with the spiritual part, after we've learned He rejects the flesh, after we've learned the preeminence of Christ, after we've learned to touch God the living way through the book. Now He comes and He settles down and His desire is to fill every part of our life with the Lord Jesus. So that the glory of God governs the temple. So that the temple says, I don't really care what happens anymore as long as Jesus is happy. That's the glory of God governing the temple. The chief side of a person who's filled with the glory of God is just saturated with Christ. He just wants to make Jesus happy. That's the whole point of all of this, Jesus is at rest. Now in the picture, 1st Kings 8 and 2nd Chronicles 5, I called attention to the fact that there were two fillings. And I can hear the charismatic Christian rejoicing, saying, I knew it, I knew it, we haven't had it enough. It has to be two, I knew it. Praise God that there's two. The first filling must refer to receiving Christ as your Savior and the second must be the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Well, call it what you will. I'm not going to spoil on those things. I'm just glad in my heart that the Holy Spirit divided it up into two parts. Because everything doesn't happen at once in the Christian's life. And it's not only realized at once. I'm not shy to speak about two parts of salvation. I'm quite sure the first filling referred to that which the New Testament calls justification. And I'm quite sure the second filling has a reference to that which the New Testament calls sanctification. You want to call it a second blessing? You want to call it a baptism? I'm not going to fight with you, call it whatever you want. There were two fillings. It's mentioned here and it's illustrated. Now just like there are not two salvations, the glory in the second filling is the same as the glory in the first. It was Christ. And whether it's the first or the second, it's still Christ. You see. And Christ is experienced in justification and he's experienced in sanctification. Now let me call attention to this and may God give us light as we get ready to wrap this up. In the first filling, there was no dedication of the temple. In their own eyes, that just means they hadn't surrendered. I'm not hurting them, charging them with any kind of unspiritual thing. I'm just pointing out, at that point, when the first filling came, there was no passion that Solomon put at the end. More calm to your wrestling place. Fill us. We want to be right. Call us with salvation. Keep us from wrong. Bring us back. Make us pure. Give us truth. There was none of that. There was no dedication of the temple whatsoever that was there. Well, there was a recognition on the blood. That's for sure. A hundred percent realization all along the road. The only reason we're not wiped out is because of the blood of the substitute. And they were praising God for the finished work. That's justification. Praise God for the blood. Praise God for the finished work. Praise God it's not on there. And then the glory came and drove man out. And they say, it's right. Because man has no part in salvation, in justification. And quite honestly, from the record, it went no further than that. All they saw was the blood, grace. It's God. Praise the Lord it's not man. He's not left in the earth. It's a substitute. Praise his name. And they were filled with Christ. They were filled with Christ. Wonderful as that is, that's as far as it went. Verse 13. The ark had come to rest in the temple. As soon as they said, he is good. That's recognizing who he is. Love and kindness is everlasting. That's recognizing what he's done. Then, the house was filled with the glory of the Lord. That's the beginning of God's rest. I hope we've all come that far. It's because of the blood. It's because of the finished work. It's because of him. We just praise God. It's not from man. Verse 7. The priest brought the ark into the covenant of the Lord to its place. Into the inner sanctuary of the house. ASB says, holy holies. King James says, they brought it into the oracle of the Lord. Why do they call the holy of holies the oracle of the Lord? And the answer is, because it's the place of revelation. It's that place in my heart where God speaks. It's that place of light where God is speaking. Some Christians have experienced the first filling. You hear him testify. It's all the blood. It's the finished work. It's grace. It's not by works. It's not man. He's driven us out. It's not our ministry. Praise God. And the glory of Christ comes in and fills their life. There's a second experience as wonderful. It's also called a third. Sanctification. A little more advanced. Still based on what's gone before. This follows the dedication of the temple. I want you to notice that it was because of the first filling that they decided to dedicate the temple. They put it in New Testament words. It's Romans 12, 1 and 2. Because of all the mercies of God, I beseech you. Because of all that God has done to commit your bodies a living sacrifice. And because of the first one, they came to the place where they said, We want to dedicate this temple. We want to give this temple. We want to be real. Lord, come to your resting place. Come and take over. We want to be right. We want to be pure. We want the priest clothed with salvation. We want to know what's good. And when they dedicated that temple, when they surrendered that temple, as a response, because of all that God had done, I began to see surprise number two. Here's an amazing thing. At the first filling, we saw the glory of God drive men out. The glory came in and the priests were driven out. They couldn't minister. But answer chapter 7, verse 2. I think it's implied here that they tried to get back in. In chapter 7, verse 2, it says, The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord. I think they tried. Isn't it amazing how we allow God to push us out for sanctification, I mean justification, and then we try to get back in for sanctification. It's amazing. So yeah, I know. I know the gospel. I had no part in my salvage. I didn't do it and God did it all. The glory of God drove men out. It's not by works. Just any man should believe. I can't assist God. Then we come to the second part. Then we try to come back into the temple. The glory of God that drove you out for justification keeps you out for sanctification. And they can't get back in, you see. You know, here's an amazing thing too. You come to any Christian who has the least instruction in the ways of God, and he will understand that he had no part in the first part of his salvation, no part in his birth, and he'll claim there's no part in the last. He better call God or he's dumb, because he's going to be dead. Now how are you going to help? How are you going to help in the resurrection when you're laying in the grave and your body's being eaten by worms? How are you going to help? It's all in the last part. Well, no, it won't die. Maybe I'll do the rapture. Well, then go to jumping school and prepare yourself. And then when the rapture comes, you can assist God and jump. We can't help in the first part. We got saved by God. We couldn't help. In the last part, we're going to get saved by God, glorification. We can't help. That can't work. In between, in the middle, well, you have nothing to do. And so the priests now are kept out because of the glory of God. I'm sure that this fire that came down, this is the second film, they dedicate themselves, they surrender to the Lord, they try again, but God won't let them in. And all of a sudden, that fire comes down and the house is filled with glory. The only difference between the first film and the second film was the fire. That's the only difference. And what's the fire? The fire is God eating it. God satisfied with the sacrifice. And as you go on in the Lord, you're going to see the only difference in your life. As you go on from family to family, from one life of God to another, as you go on, you're going to see more and more with understanding how much God has accepted Christ. How much God is satisfied with the burnt offering. And that's all they saw. And the more they saw, they fell down before God and they just fell down. Because now, not only was there glory on the inside, but there was glory in understanding how accepted they were in the sight of God. And God had been satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ. I think I'd be dishonest if I didn't tie this in to some precious New Testament truth. I can't read this and see the fire and the grill and not think about Pentecost. I don't know if you can read that and get away. I can't. You know the tons of fire on the head and the wind just filling the house? We're talking now the filling of the Spirit. You see, it is Christ that is in the person of His Holy Spirit. And as you go on in this second filling, it's not only the presence of God permeating your life, but there's also the fire. And I think first of all, primarily, the fire is God eating it, God accepting Christ. But I also see other pictures of fire. You can read it and I don't know how far to go with it, this whole idea of purification, this whole idea of action. I don't get that idea. glory on the inside, fire on the outside, that means, this is in your heart that you're on fire for Jesus. I'm not talking about the fire is His as much as the glory is His and He's not talking about being on fire for the Lord. He is talking about the difference in the second stage where there is not only the glory inside, but there is the fire on the outside that people can see. There is that change on the outside that God has accepted me. That affects my peace. That affects my security and my work with God and so on. And so that's the second, the fire and the glory. How do the saints respond? Well, in that day, they could only do one thing. Because of all God had done, they could just give a thank offering. All they had to say was thank you. And they took all this peace offering and they just said thank you and they sat down and they began to eat. And they shared it with their family and they shared it with their friends and everybody got together and that was the end of the story. A big banquet, God at the table, priests at the table, saints at the table, everybody sitting around enjoying the Lord and then they went home and they lived happily ever after. And that passage, I'll wrap it up, I promise. God doesn't believe it. Who was I? Willie and I were someplace listening recently. Oh, it was that Buttonwood Gospel Chapter. A brother was speaking and he says, finally, and then he says, no, almost finally. He had one more thing before finally. Look at 2 Chronicles 6, for your own. Here is Solomon's prayer, it's how he ended his prayer, his prayer of dedication. Now therefore rise, O Lord God, to thy resting place. Mark of thy might and let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation. Let thy godly ones rejoice in what's good. That was his prayer. Did God ever answer the prayer? Now, we know he did by the blood, but did he ever answer it in words? So I can see how God thought about all of this. Now, you look at verse 41 again, remember those words, and turn to Psalm 132. I want you to see this. Psalm 132. The Holy Spirit takes that prayer. Verse 8. O wise, O Lord, to thy resting place, thou and the Ark of thy strength, let thy priests be clothed with righteousness. Let thy godly ones sing for joy. Same prayer, right? Now, watch how God feels about it, beginning at verse 13. The Lord has chosen Zion. Now, when I read this, I want you to know he's talking about you. He's talking about me. The Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. Now, God is speaking. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell. I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her needy with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation. Her godly ones will sing for joy. And there I will cause the horn of David to spring forth. What's the horn of David? Who's the horn of David? There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth, Christ. I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall shine. And I couldn't think of a better way to end this series on the Ark than telling you from God's own lips how much he desires you and how much he wants to rest in you and how much he loves you. He said, I've desired you as my habitation. I want you as my address. So where do you live? You give me the address. Where does God live? You're his address. I'm his address. And he says, I want to answer your prayer and I want to come in. And I want to provide all your needs, verse 5. And I want to clothe you with salvation, verse 6. And I want to fill you with satisfaction and joy. And I want Christ to come out of your life and begin to shine, verse 17. I said 5 and 6, it's 15, 16, 17. 18, I want to give you victory. And then finally, the crown of glory at the end. I wonder where we are in this whole story of the Ark. Maybe somebody's still struggling along saying, I'm not even hungry. And then the Ark won't even begin to move. Maybe somebody else is on step 2. They're saying, I'm waiting for God to deal with these Philistines. They've got to start in the heart. A corrupt priest will change all your spiritual thinking. Somebody else might say, I've been trying to make God happy. He's not happy there in the land of the Philistines. I've been looking to Jesus and it's not working. It's because you're not looking to live under Jesus. I try to touch God and I die. Try to touch Him through a vision. Try to touch Him through a dream. Try to touch Him through a verse. Try to touch Him through an experience. Sure, you'll die every time touching Him through the word. You live. So I finally see it. It's all His blood. Praise God. All this. You're filled with His person. And then in the light of all life, you begin to respond again. You say, Oh my. In the light of all you've done for me, Lord, I want to dedicate this temple. Come and rest. And God says, that's what I've desired. So that desire all along. I love you. I want to I'll clothe you with salvation. I'll provide you needs. I'll satisfy you. I'll fill you with joy. I'll take care of your enemies. I'll make the home of David shine through you. I'll give you a test. I'll give you everything. Let me rest in you. Don't answer. Just think. Have you dedicated the temple? Because that's when He comes in. And answer questions. Father, we thank you for these wonderful Old Testament scriptures. And again, not what we think they might mean. But whatever you know they mean. Whatever you've inspired them to mean. Quite apart from our puny interpretations. But you work that in our lives. What you know they mean. And we thank you in advance that because you're greater than your word you're able to do this. Take us forward and may we be at that place where you can rest in us. We desire it. Arise, O Lord. Come to thy resting place. We want you to have these temples and fill them with Christ. And that Christ might be in every part of our lives. And that in every room we might just desire to satisfy Him. Thank you for Christ's glory. And now, Lord, we ask you to sanctify our conversation together. And may we be used by you to help each other and strengthen one another and encourage and go on and build each other up. Thank you for the refreshments that are provided and those who have provided them. A blessing, we pray, upon them. Nourish us with this food and give us good fellowship. In fact, join us. Sit down at the table with us. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.