Encounter the Truth

Jonathan Griffiths: Are we giving the Lord Jesus our very best as we serve Him? I’m thinking in particular of our involvement in ministry and in gospel work. Do we give Him our very best, knowing that it is right and fitting, appropriate to His glory?

Guest (Male): Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. Today we’re picking up and continuing a message that we began last time called Doing the Work of the Lord. Jonathan, as you pointed out, we have been given work to do. God has given each and every one of us work. But that is a great challenge, I think, for each and every one of us to consider. Are we really giving the Lord our best? Why is it so important to actually be honest in addressing that question?

Jonathan Griffiths: I think it’s such an important question and I think this section of 1 Kings really pushes us to ask it and to consider it. We’re being drawn in here to see the process of the building of the great Temple of God at Jerusalem. As we look at the details of this, we see that no expense was spared. This was a truly glorious building, and it took the best of the nation, the best of the people, the best that Solomon could muster. Nothing was done by half measures.

As we look at that, we are prompted to consider that this God is worthy. He’s worthy of the very, very best. Nothing should be held back in His service. As we see that picture and as we watch this story unfold, I think we must ask ourselves the question: are we treating God in the same way, with the same reverence and respect? It becomes very, very practical in terms of our service of Him within Christian ministry, our giving to gospel work with respect to our finances, and the way in which we apply ourselves to the study and the teaching of His word as we have opportunity. I think it’s a very, very searching question.

Guest (Male): It is a powerful question to think about, to ask yourself, and you may or may not like the answer to that question. But that’s where we’re going today as we open up our copy of God’s word to the book of 1 Kings. We’re looking at chapters five through seven as we continue the message, Doing the Work of the Lord. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: The temple building project that God set before Solomon was a superhuman project. The building envisioned was absolutely massive in scale, grand in every way you can imagine. To construct such a building at this time in history, with the tools and with the technology available at the time, with the resources on hand, it was a gargantuan undertaking. It seemed quite unrealistic.

But what we see here in the story, as the narrative unfolds, is evidence after evidence after evidence that the Lord has made way for this, has provided for what He has commissioned. Just notice with me some of the ways in which the Lord provides for this project. Foundationally and centrally, He provides by giving Solomon wisdom. This proves to be the key to everything.

Remember that the Lord offered Solomon really to give him anything he asked of Him, and Solomon chose to ask for wisdom. That was a good request. The Lord granted his request in abundance, and so we finish the previous chapter, chapter four, with this statement, verse 34: "And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom."

We hear the word wisdom and we might think that this gift operates on some sort of esoteric level. Solomon understood grand ideas and was able to write a book of wisdom as a kind of philosopher someone operating in a kind of ivory tower. No doubt Solomon’s wisdom enabled him to write down thoughtful proverbs and we read those in the Scriptures. But his wisdom, we discover, is immensely practical in nature.

We see that this gift of wisdom was absolutely key in enabling the building of the house. We’re going to see that Solomon needed the help of the King of Tyre to get the house built. He needed the materials and he needed the workforce. But it was evidently the wisdom of Solomon that attracted the King of Tyre to participate.

There at the end of chapter four, we read of how people from all over the world are coming to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Kings are sending their delegations. If we ignore the chapter division for a moment, because those aren’t original to the text, this would have flowed right into the beginning of chapter five. What we find in the next sentence is that a delegation has come, among these various delegations, one has come from Tyre.

Verse one: "Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David." Solomon’s fame has reached Tyre, and the delegation comes, and Solomon in his wisdom sees the key opportunity. Wisdom is running right through this. He sends words of greeting to the king, he makes this request, verse six: "Now therefore command that the cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will join your servants; I will pay whatever wage you set, for you know there is no one among us who can cut timber like the Sidonians."

In the wisdom that God gave Solomon, he sees an opportunity. He’s shrewd to fulfill a need. He jumps on it and the response is positive. "As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, 'Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over his great people.'" He’s impressed by Solomon’s wisdom, and he’s eager to enter into a deal. He sets terms, there is an agreement, all the timber that is needed is provided, the labor that’s needed is provided, and again, it all flows from this gift of wisdom. Verse 12 highlights it once again for us: "And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty."

Solomon didn’t have the resources in his kingdom to build the house. The cedar of Lebanon is the best cedar. The Sidonians know how to cut it like no one else knows how to cut it. How is the Lord going to provide? He gives Solomon wisdom that makes him famous. People are coming from all over the world to hear his wisdom. The King of Tyre sends a delegation. Solomon in his wisdom sees opportunity. They make a deal. The King of Tyre is impressed by his wisdom, and suddenly there’s timber and labor.

Added to all that, the Lord gives Solomon a situation of peace that allows him to build. Again, this is the provision of God, and Solomon recognizes it. You can’t undertake a major building project at home if you are fighting wars on every front or if there is unrest among your people. Solomon rightly recognizes that the Lord has done something here.

Verse three: "You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune." There’s no way in which this project could be undertaken in a time of tension, civil unrest, or warfare, and no king can guarantee freedom from such things. Only God can provide it.

God’s provision for the project is comprehensive. He provided a context of peace, harmony at home and abroad. He provided Solomon with wisdom, attracted international attention, led to discussions with the King of Tyre and a favorable trade deal. As we’ll see as we go on, He provides an outstanding craftsman to furnish the temple and so much more besides.

Here is the point. If God wants something done, if He wants a kingdom initiative to move forward, here is the one thing you can be sure of: He will provide everything that is needed. I was shopping around for some travel insurance the other day, and I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time reading the fine print for all the exclusions on the policies that I was looking at.

The companies are quite good at advertising what they will cover. That tends to get onto the front cover of the brochure, printed in bold and in glossy font. But the exclusions to the policy are printed in microscopic font and run to many pages at the back of the brochure. By the time you read all the exclusions, you struggle to imagine a specific situation in which the insurance company would actually provide cover and make a payment for a claim.

God’s provision for His work, by utter contrast, is totally comprehensive. He provides all that’s needed. Rarely does He do so in advance, by the way, from what I’ve noticed. Sometimes He does. But so often it just unfolds as the project takes shape and moves forward. That was the case with Solomon, wasn’t it? It unfolded as it happened as the needs arose.

That’s so often the way. It’s not all right in place right from the start. A kingdom need, a kingdom opportunity becomes apparent, and things just unfold. The provision comes. Individual Christians, churches, ministry organizations, each have stories to tell of this. You will have your own stories to tell of the Lord’s provision, of how God has provided everything needed.

I would only say this: if God would call you, if He would call us to undertake work or projects or initiatives for the sake of the kingdom, in the cause of the gospel, He will provide everything. That’s just what He does, and He’ll provide in a comprehensive way. The work of the Lord rests upon His provision. Next, the work of the Lord happens in His time.

Chapter six and verse one, do notice it with me: "In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord." You and I live in an age when we are accustomed to instant results, instant gratification.

If there’s something you want, something you want done, something you want delivered, something you want streamed, something you want paid, something you want transferred, something you want communicated, there is almost certainly an app on your phone. We would view it as something akin to a fundamental right to have our desire fulfilled instantaneously and without delay. We don’t like to wait.

In the 1970s in Britain, there was a credit card called the Access card, now defunct, that had as its slogan: "it takes the waiting out of wanting." That was the slogan for the credit card, and it’s quite a perceptive little slogan. It taps into our desire for immediate results. That’s what credit cards can facilitate; they allow us to purchase things that perhaps we cannot yet afford, things we maybe shouldn’t buy. But we love instant results. We hate waiting.

When it comes to the work of the Lord, we like to see things taking shape. We become quite easily discouraged if things don’t take shape instantaneously, if plans don’t come to fruition, if the mission work is slow on the fields, if the church growth is a little bit faltering, if the discipleship journey is a little bit bumpy, if the results aren’t quickly visible and quantifiable.

But it’s good to remember that God’s work has often proceeded along a timetable, along a time scale, that looks rather slow to our eyes. The building of the temple only began 480 years after the people of Israel left their bondage in Egypt. This statement here in chapter six and verse one actually echoes another time marker in the Bible. It echoes the mention in Exodus 12 that the nation of Israel had spent 430 years in bondage in Egypt.

The nation spent 430 years in bondage. The Lord took them out that He might settle them in their own land. But you remember on their way out they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. That’s quite a long time. Even once they got into their own land, it was now another 440 years, it turns out, before the temple was built. That is a long, long road, many lifetimes.

Once Solomon gets to work, the temple isn’t built in an instant. It’s not like those new Amazon warehouses I see sprouting up all around us in our region. One day you see a site being cleared of trees. Next time you drive by, there’s a five million square foot warehouse sitting there that you hadn’t noticed being there before, buzzing with activity, trucks coming and going. No, this project took time.

Notice with me at the end of chapter six, verse 37: "In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid in the month of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it." The timeline we see here for the building of the house of the Lord in 1 Kings, it is rather sobering, I think. It is rather recalibrating.

It resets our expectations. Once the people of God were out of Egypt, once they were into the Promised Land, it was still a long time we are seeing before they had a truly settled existence, a set place where they could worship the Lord, a fixed location for meeting with Him. God’s work, it proceeds along God’s time scale and not according to ours.

We long to see those immediate results, of course we do. We long to get things done, we long to see a job completed. But God will not be rushed. I remember when I embarked on a new ministry project some time ago, and I was eager to see things take shape and get sorted out and build momentum. An older saint came along and just commented to me quite casually as he observed the scene. He said, "I think it’ll take you five years."

I thought to myself, "five years? My goodness, I’ll be practically retired or expired by then." Five years seems like such a long time, but of course he was right. He was absolutely right. I wonder where it is that you need to recalibrate your expectations, where it is that you need to learn patience, learn God’s timeline, learn to trust Him while you wait upon Him, learn faithfulness in serving as you slog along in the ordinary things waiting for the Lord’s timeline. The work of the Lord does happen in His time, according to His time scale, and we often need to learn that patience.

Guest (Male): You’re listening to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths, a message called Doing the Work of the Lord, part of our series Days of Glory, where we’re looking at the book of 1 Kings. Today, focusing in on chapters five to seven. We’ll get back to the message in just a moment.

Tim Keller has written a short, punchy book called The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. In this book, we see that gospel humility means that we can stop connecting every experience and every conversation with ourselves and can thus be free from self-condemnation. Keller says that a truly gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but a self-forgetful person. We’d love to send you a copy of this book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. Find out more or give online at encounterthetruth.org. That’s encounterthetruth.org. Again, here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Next, the work of the Lord requires obedience to His word. This is quite a brief point but so important. In the midst of chapter six in our passage, there comes a section, this is verses 11 to 13, which looks like an interruption to the building project. Scholars actually get quite excited about this and suggest that something strange has happened here, there’s been an insertion in the editorial process, maybe another author’s come along and put something in. These verses are some kind of an addition, they suggest.

It’s such a change of gear that people trip over it. We’ve been looking at construction details and we’re about to return to construction details, but in the midst of it we read this, verse 11: "Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, 'Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.'"

Of course, the message from the Lord, this isn’t misplaced. It’s exactly where it should be. You see, in the midst of kingdom activity, of frenetic service of the Lord, the greatest danger we will probably face is this: it is the danger that we will ignore our personal obedience to His word. You see, we’ll substitute holiness for hard work. We’ll pursue a project goal in place of personal godliness.

We’ll think that that’s all kind of okay in some way because we are just doing so much for the Lord. I think that’s a tremendous danger. That was clearly Solomon’s danger. His life was incredibly fruitful, but we’re going to discover tragically at the end, it was not faithful. Here in the midst of frenetic activity, God sets down a marker. Faithfulness matters. Godliness matters. Obedience from the heart matters.

So friend, let me ask, where are you in danger, or where am I, of giving yourself a pass on godliness and obedience because you are just so busy in Christian service? Just watch out. Just be careful. Busy Christian service never stopped anyone from falling into disobedience and sin. It didn’t stop Solomon and it won’t necessarily stop you or stop me.

The Lord’s work requires obedience to His word. Finally, the Lord’s work must reflect His glory. It would take more time than we have available to consider all the details of the construction and the furnishings here. But I think the main impression we are meant to take away is of a building of very grand proportions, made of the finest materials, furnished in splendor and with meticulous detail. The temple was built to be the finest building of the ancient world, the grandest construction project ever undertaken.

Just notice with me a portion of the description, chapter six starting from verse 14: "So Solomon built the house and finished it. He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress." Down to verse 18: "The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen." Down to verse 21: "And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across in front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold."

That’s the building, splendid. Next come the furnishings and fittings. It will take a skilled craftsman, especially gifted, to make all that’s needed to furnish the house of the Lord. For this, Solomon turns to another man named Hiram of Tyre. Actually, this isn’t the king of chapter five, but a craftsman from that same country.

Notice with me chapter seven, verse 13: "And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work." Now, if you’ve ever had to try and find a craftsman to work on a special project, perhaps in your home, if you’ve ever had to recruit a skilled employee for a project, you will know it’s one thing to have the resources, the money for a project; it’s quite another thing to find the right person to carry out the work.

A skilled worker, a fine craftsman, such a person can be a true rarity. But again, actually, the Lord has provided here. Look at all the things that this craftsman builds for the house. Two great pillars of bronze, verse 15. A sea of cast metal, verse 23, with gourds all around, set on oxen, shaped like a lily. Ten stands of bronze, verse 27, all very intricate. Ten basins of bronze, verse 38. All the pots, shovels, basins, and vessels in the house, it’s all beautiful, it’s all detailed work, fine craftsmanship.

But the bronze will not be the pinnacle of the furnishings of the house of the Lord. No, the description actually finishes with more gold, yet more gold. Just notice it with me, chapter seven, verse 48: "So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, the lampstands of pure gold... then cups and basins and dishes all of pure gold."

My wife’s great-grandfather was something of a collector, I understand, and at some point he acquired a beautiful set of plates and dishes that first belonged to King George IV of England, a king who was known, if you know your English history, a king who was known for his very extravagant tastes two centuries ago. This china, it is quite striking, ornate in design with gilt edges and so on. We’re rather hesitant to actually use it for anything for fear of breaking it. I think we did serve the children Christmas lunch on it once. We’ve still got all of them.

It certainly was fit for an English king in his day. But as we look at those and then compare them to what’s described here, well, they’re nothing compared to what Solomon commissioned for the house of the Lord. Pretty much everything was pure gold. It had to be the very best that this earth could afford. This commitment to the very highest quality in materials, to fine craftsmanship, to beauty and elegance, it’s entirely fitting. It’s never questioned within these chapters of 1 Kings. This is the house of the Lord, as we’re told again and again and again within the text. So rightly all that is done here reflects His character and His glory.

I was chatting with a member of our staff the other day, and he was saying to me how he was working really quite hard to get something right, to work out the details of something for the ministry. He said to me as we were talking, it was kind of a throwaway comment, but he said to me, "you know, this just has to be perfect. It’s for the Lord." It was a quick comment, but it carried so much significance for me as I heard him say it.

For this brother, he wanted his work to be the very best it could possibly be, and the reason in his heart was simple: it was for the Lord. I just wonder, I wonder if you and I see things that way as we serve the Lord together. Not that we sort of beat ourselves up to make everything absolutely perfect. Nothing is perfect in this fallen world.

But are we giving the Lord Jesus our very best as we serve Him, as we do the work of the kingdom? Does our service of Him, and I’m thinking here especially of our gospel service, obviously all we do as Christian disciples is to serve the Lord, but I’m thinking in particular of our involvement in ministry and in gospel work, do we give Him our very best? The best of our time, the best of our treasure, the best of our talent, knowing that it is right and fitting, appropriate to His glory.

Guest (Male): A message called Doing the Work of the Lord, here on Encounter the Truth. If you want to go back and listen to today’s broadcast again, you can do that at our website, encounterthetruth.org. If you’re a regular listener, either to the podcast or the radio program, you know that Encounter the Truth is listener supported. As you give a gift of any amount, we want to say thank you by sending you a book written by Tim Keller called The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. Jonathan, what’s really the point of this book? What’s it getting at?

Jonathan Griffiths: This book is really here to help us think about our identity and where it is that we find our value and sense of self-worth. I think so many struggle with this question. It may be that you’re listening today and you are struggling with this in quite a major way. We so easily build the foundation of our identity and our value based on our accomplishments. When things are going well, we can feel great about ourselves. When things are going badly, when there’s a failure of some kind, we can feel terrible. Tim’s aim in this book is to give us freedom and to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ and His accomplishments for us in His perfect life and His sin-bearing death at the cross of Calvary. It shows us that as we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, we can enjoy the freedom of self-forgetfulness. I think this book will be a real encouragement to you, and I’d love to be able to put it into your hands this month.

Guest (Male): You can give a gift of any amount to Encounter the Truth and we’re going to say thank you by sending you a copy of this book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness. To give online, go to our website, encounterthetruth.org, or call us at 1-833-99-TRUTH. That’s 1-833-998-7884, or encounterthetruth.org. For Jonathan Griffiths, I’m Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll join us next time.