← ArchiveKings and KingdomsKings and Kingdoms – A Blueprint for FaithfulnessDateJanuary 19, 2025SpeakerJared MitchellText—Passages in this sermon1 Kings 51:51Proverbs 99:24Genesis 112:22Genesis 312:40Exodus 2913:15Leviticus 2613:35John 1:1415:042 Corinthians 617:27Galatians 522:12Psalms 6630:21Psalms 6730:23Romans 338:24TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you for listening. Well, good morning, church.0:30It's good to be together today and to gather as God's people and to do the things that we get to do every single week as we come together and we get to fellowship together through our small groups and we get to come here and we get to pray together, we get to0:58sing and worship, and now we get to study God's word together. As always, I'm so thankful to Matt and the band and the praise team for leading just so incredibly faithfully. My name is Jared and I'm the worship pastor here at Bethel. And today I get the opportunity and the privilege to preach the word for us as our pastor, Pastor Josh. He is in Montgomery today serving and preaching for our church partner there, Johnny Mills and1:28the Life Church. And God is doing incredible things through their ministry and we're certainly glad that Pastor Josh could be there today. But I want to invite you to open up your Bibles with me to the book of 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 5. Last week we started our journey together in this new sermon series through 1 Kings and1:54we are going to continue that today. So as we begin, let's allow the Bible to preface our time together. Our section of scripture today covers five chapters, but I believe that they can be foreshadowed with these verses. So if you're there with me in chapter 5, read along as I read, starting in verse 2.2:19It says, Solomon sent this message to Haram. You know that my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of the Lord his God. And this was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. The Lord my God has now given me rest on every side.2:47There is now no longer any enemy. There is no misfortune. So I plan to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God according to what the Lord promised my father. When he said, I will put your son on your throne in your place and he will build the temple for my name. So church, as we consider what God has for us today, let me pray for us.3:12Let's pray. God, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your faithfulness. We thank you for what you've done for us through your son, Jesus. So God, we declare together that you are good and we trust you. So God, as we now open your word and we consider what you have for us today, Father, would you open up our eyes to see more clearly, our ears to hear from you, our minds to understand and our hearts to truly receive.3:39So Father, would you speak now? We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Well, today's sermon is titled, A Blueprint for Faithfulness. A Blueprint for Faithfulness.4:10You see, as we look at this section of 1 Kings, we see a blueprint. As Solomon begins to build this temple for the Lord, we're going to see that the author is very specific or he's very detailed in how it's being built. Every square inch, every material used, every method of labor is discussed and it's written down.4:33This is really important when you think about blueprints. If you go to various commentaries to study these verses more, you'll see that they put actual drawings in there for you to see. But you've got to understand that when it comes to blueprints and when it comes to building...5:10Check, check, there we go. We're going to get that fixed one day, okay? But like I was saying, when it comes to building details, right? When it comes to directions, when it comes to blueprints, there's really two types of people. Now, you might be the person who loves this, that you love this part of the process.5:36You want to know what goes into every square inch. And you want to know what goes into every material. Here's the reality. This is my wife. That she loves the process. She wants to know what goes into every detail. But then you've got people like myself, where I don't really care about the beginning as much as I care about the final product.6:00I just say, well, just let me know when it's finished. And then we're probably all the person that says, when we see the blueprint, well, how much is this going to cost me? But either way, wherever you are in the process, I think that we can all agree that the blueprint matters.6:22Maybe you've built a house. And if you've done this, you definitely know that the blueprint matters. And maybe you haven't built a house, but you've put together furniture. And you know that the directions that you receive to do this, they matter. Maybe you haven't put together furniture, but you have accepted the greatest building challenge of all time.6:50And that is putting together a Barbie dream house for your daughter on Christmas Eve. And you convince yourself that you don't need the directions. So you throw the directions away. And here we are on January 19th. And you know, yeah, indeed, the directions did matter. And I'm sure that I'm not only talking to myself here. And maybe you're a senior in high school.7:21And you're starting now to make plans for the rest of your life. And you're starting to ask questions. Where am I going to college? Do I go to college? Do I get a job? How do I get a job? And you're starting to realize that the plans that you are making now for the rest of your life do matter. Your parents were right. And maybe you're engaged, getting ready to get married.7:47And you're starting to make plans with your future spouse. And y'all are realizing now that the plans you make for the next 50 to 60 years really matter. And maybe you're like me. And you've got a three-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. And every day you look down at them. And you're trying to make the best decisions you can to guide them in their lives. And you know that the plans for their life, the blueprint, it really matters.8:16But on the other hand, that maybe you're here this morning and you look back on your life or you look back on the last year, the last two years. And you're really tempted to say, you know, God, this was not part of the plan. You look at suffering, changes, changes in your life, changes in your circumstances.8:43And you're starting to say, God, this is not how I drew this up. And if you're honest, you just want to throw the blueprint in the trash. And this is where, when we come to moments like this, this is where I love the Bible. I love the word because I believe that on a human level, we can all agree that we make plans just to see them change.9:09We make plans just to see them get ripped away. But then I think about Proverbs 9, where Solomon, the man who built the temple that we're considering today, he says this, that a person's heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.9:33So as we look at this blueprint for this temple that Solomon builds, I believe that it points us to a greater plan and a greater blueprint of how God relates to his people. So our prayer is that today we would examine the word and would God open up our eyes and our hearts to trust him more.9:57And as we consider Solomon's plan for this temple, would we also consider the spiritual and practical realities of God's plan and God's blueprint for his people and our relationship with him. So we consider these verses and as we begin, we want to ask this context question. We really get to the meat of this scripture.10:25We ask, well, what is the purpose of this temple? And we know that Solomon built this temple so that it could be a dwelling place for God's presence. You see this in chapter six, verse 19, when he prepared the inner sanctuary. And this is where he put the ark of the covenant. Now this represents God's covenant with Israel. And it shows that God's promise, God's covenant was central to the Israelites worship.10:55He went deeper and he created the Holy of Holies. This is the innermost chamber. This is the very middle. And this is the location where God's presence was believed to dwell. And then we come to a key verse in verse 12 of chapter six. Now for all of this work, God says and he delivers a promise saying,11:22as for this temple you are building, if you walk in my statutes, if you observe my ways, if you keep all of my commands by walking in them, I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father. I will dwell among the Israelites and I will not abandon my people. So I think if you're taking notes that the first thing that the Bible shows us today,11:52as we consider Solomon's temple, we consider God's blueprint is that God desires to dwell with his people. God desires to dwell through his people. We see this all throughout the Bible and we see this reality that God has always desired to dwell with his people. If you go back with me all the way to Genesis 1 and 2, as we read,12:22we see that God speaks the earth into existence. He sparks life. He establishes order. And then he forms a relationship with mankind, Adam and Eve. But then we get to Genesis 3 and we see that because of sin, man can no longer dwell in harmony with God and brokenness enters the world.12:45But as we read on in the Old Testament, we see that God does, in fact, pursue his people. Even in the midst of their brokenness, he pursues them with a desire to once again dwell among them with his presence. Again, we see this all throughout the Old Testament, a couple of portions of Scripture. Exodus 29, God writes out, God says, I will dwell among the Israelites and I will be their God.13:15And they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. Look at the very next book, Leviticus chapter 26. God says, I will place my residence among you. I will not reject you. I will walk among you and I will be your God and you will be my people.13:46I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom. And then we just read in 1 Kings where God says to Solomon that if you walk in my ways, I will dwell among you. And this is one of those times where the Bible stops us in our tracks. And let us ponder this thought for a second.14:15That the God of all creation desires to dwell in, with, and among that very creation. Me, you, us, that the one who created us desires to dwell with us. And sometimes I wonder if, if we really understand the gravity of that truth.14:40And I know you might, you might be thinking, well, Jared, you're just reading about the Israelites. You're just reading about the Old Testament. Well, but what about me? And the story continues as you, as you keep reading your Bible and you get to the New Testament. You get to John chapter 1, verse 14. That says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us.15:09And we observed his glory. The glory as the one and only son from the father. You see, all throughout the Old Testament, and this is the reason Solomon built the temple. Is that God desired to dwell with his people through his presence, through locations, through offerings. But at the same time, they're required separation. And now, as we get to John and we get to the New Testament, we see that God desires to dwell with his people through his son, Jesus.15:38And they're no longer requires separation. And this is God in the flesh. And listen, I know that we just got done with Christmas and trust me, as the worship pastor, I'm just as ready as the next guy to move on from Christmas music.15:59But I will say that I'm not ready to move on from Christmas truths that not only echo throughout the entire year, but these truths echo all throughout eternity. That Jesus is God with us.16:24So if you're here and you're tempted to think, well, well, God doesn't care about me. Or I've done too much. I've gone too far. Friend, listen, see for yourself that God has been pursuing you with his love. With his grace and his desire to reconcile you to himself through his son, Jesus. You might be here today and you feel really far away from God.16:54But I promise that when you start to look to Jesus, you're a lot closer than you think. And would we praise God for his pursuit of us through Christ. And the last point I want to make here, just to bring this full circle, is that Christ not only dwelt among us, but for those of us that are in Christ, Christ now dwells in us.17:13And Paul makes this point clear in his letters in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, that we are the temple of the living God. Solomon built the temple, but Christian, we now are the temple. In Colossians, he writes that the mystery and the wonder of the gospel is that Christ is now in you.17:41And this is the hope of glory to all the world. So Christian, don't miss it today. That now you are the temple and Christ dwells in you. So we go back to the blueprint and we consider God's blueprint. And you might, the truth is that you might make your own blueprint. You might make your own plans. And it might not work out like you thought it would.18:11But when you take a step back and you start to look at God's plan, God's blueprint to dwell in you, through you, and among you, from the very beginning, you can start to trust that God's plans might actually be good for you. And it may not look like your plans. It may not look like your parents' plan. It may not look like what the computer or chat GPT said it should look like.18:41But what we know is that the wisdom of God is higher than the wisdom of man. And we can trust that in the middle of his plan, he is working. And don't take it from me. Just look at the Bible. So we see, number one, that God desires to dwell with his people. And second, I want us to see this temple and see God's holiness.19:05And that his holiness demands a pursuit of holiness from us. God's holiness demands our pursuit of holiness. And I would say that it also begs us to pursue excellence in all that we do. Look at chapter 6 and let's consider this excellence from Solomon as he built the temple and he knew the one he was building it for.19:33It says he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple to put the ark of the Lord's covenant there. The interior of the sanctuary was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He overlaid it with pure gold and he also overlaid the cedar altar. Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold and he hung gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and he overlaid it with gold.20:03So then he added the gold overlay to the entire temple so that everything was completely finished. Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold. And I think that we can agree that this is not just any structure. Listen, I've seen a lot of blueprints for a lot of houses that are put up in the nicest of areas, but they didn't look like this.20:29Have you ever seen a house with floors made of gold? I mean, some might, but I don't think that I'll see them in my lifetime. But what we need to see, that one of the purposes of this temple was to highlight the holiness of God and the demand of excellence from Solomon.20:52And as we look at the holiness of God highlighted here, there is a truth that for the Christian, the Bible demands a pursuit of holiness and excellence from us. And I know that we are tempted to hear phrases like pursuing holiness and we have a tendency to think, well, that's just a little too high on the shelf.21:20For me, it's a phrase that we don't hear much, but I'll just put it this way, that the pursuit of holiness is the natural inclination of the Christian. It is a desire to simply turn from yourself, to turn from your sin, and to chase after the things of God.21:45And we've talked this morning about how God pursues us through his son, Jesus. And now, as we talk about pursuing holiness, we're simply saying that this is what happens when we begin to pursue him. Paul writes about this in Galatians 5, he says that when we yield to the Holy Spirit, we begin to become fruit-bearing Christians.22:12In that same chapter, he writes that if we walk by the Spirit, we no longer desire to gratify the wants and the needs of our flesh. And as we consider this idea of pursuing holiness, here's this reality, is that I don't know the ins and outs of what that looks like in your life.22:37That as you take a step back, and you look at your life from a 30,000-foot view, and you ask, well, what does it look like for me to pursue holiness? There's probably some things that you need to stop doing.23:05I don't know what those things are. I know what they are in my life. And let me tell you, that's a humbling thought. That nobody knows me better than me. And there's probably some things that you need to start doing. There's some godly things that we all need to start doing. But don't let yourself overthink this.23:34That when you pursue God through a relationship with him, you are pursuing holiness. And this is the beauty of the gospel. That when you come to this moment in your life, and you realize that God loves you, and he is pursuing you through his grace. So then, in turn, you decide to give your life to him through faith. When you do this, the Bible says your life will change.24:03Because to pursue holiness is to pursue God. And to pursue God is to pursue holiness. I'll tell you this little story. Years ago, I took a mission trip to Haiti with a team. And we were in Haiti for about a week and a half. And while we were there, we had another trip planned. And we got on this little bus.24:33And we rode all the way out into the woods to meet with this pastor. And his family, who lived there. And they were caring for some children there. And I remember wondering, like, I really don't know. I mean, I've heard about witch doctors. And Haiti, I don't know what we're getting ourselves into. If you know me, sometimes I don't like to get out of my comfort zone a lot. And this was out of my comfort zone. So we get to his house.25:01And we walk into his house. And I remember that his house, it was small. And it seemed like it was made of clay and made of dirt. And we walked in. And on this table, there was some soup that he had prepared for us. We didn't know what was in this soup. And again, thinking, oh, man, I don't know. I don't know what's about to happen. And I remember looking at the wall. And somehow this pastor, he had gotten some paint.25:29And he wrote up on the wall just the simple words, for God so loved the world. And I remember that he prayed over the soup. He prayed over us. Saying, God, thank you for this food that you've provided. Saying, thank you for these friends that you've brought to us today. And, you know, as I look back on that day, you know, that house, that temple was not made of gold.26:00But, man, it sure felt, it sure seemed like it was made of Jesus. You see, pursuing holiness means that we don't look like the world. That we don't desire what the world desires. But it's when we can say, God, I don't need anything that this world has to offer.26:30I just need you. And the sermon series that we're in right now is called Kings and Kingdoms. And if you just look around our country over the last few weeks, the last month, you can see that every wall we build on this side of heaven eventually falls. So would we anchor our lives? Would we anchor our hope in Christ?27:00The one who never fails. So moving on, as we continue to examine Solomon's blueprint, and we start to see God's blueprint a little closer, the next thing that we see here is that God desires to dwell with his people, and that desire stretches to the nations. God desires to dwell with and to dwell among the nations.27:30We come to chapter 8, and it's a dedication. And this is what he prays starting in verse 39. He says, "God, may you here in heaven, your dwelling place, may you forgive, act, and give to everyone according to all of their ways,27:57since you know each heart. For you alone know every human heart, so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the land that you gave your ancestors." And here's this verse, verse 41. He says, "Even for the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a distant land because of your name, for they will hear of your great name, your strong hand, your outstretched arm, and they will come and they will pray towards this temple.28:26And may you here in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks. And then all peoples of the earth will know your name." Read this, and what a prayer. And this section of 1 Kings, it comes in the very middle of Solomon's dedication. And it's important to see this moment in the history of the people of Israel,28:54that the temple is now built as a place for God's glory to dwell in the middle of these people. But what we need to see, and this was Solomon's vision, was that this temple was never about God's glory being made known only among the people of Israel. But it was about God's glory being made known among all peoples of the earth.29:21And this is a theme that we see cover to cover in the Bible, and we certainly see it here. When Solomon built this temple, he envisioned it as a place where people from all nations everywhere would come to know God. So as we read Solomon's prayer and his words here, would it resonate in our hearts and in our church in a few specific ways.29:50Number one, let us see and grasp that God desires for the whole earth to exalt his name. And this is a truth that we see echoed all throughout the Psalms, that the psalmist would constantly unite their hearts with God with a prayer and with a praise that the whole earth would praise the name of the Lord.30:17You see this in Psalm 66. Psalm 67, 96, 113, 148. And we could go on to even more, but they all echo the praise that from the rising to the setting of the sun, would the name of the Lord be praised and would his name be praised over the entire earth. And would that be our hearts. And like Solomon, number two, would we pray, would we pray for the nations.30:42Would we unite our hearts with God and unite our hearts with the word. And when we wake up in the morning and lay our heads down at night, when we're around the dinner table with our family, would we pray for God to wake us up to this reality that there are people all around the world31:08that do not know the saving work to be found in Jesus. And would our prayer be God, would you, would you make your name known among them and would you use us and send us to that end. Would you lead your family to pray for the nations. Moms and dads, would you lead your children to pray for the nations.31:37Would we lead our small groups to pray for the nations. Would we unite our hearts with God and would we pray. And number three here, just as Solomon envisioned this temple as a place for the foreigner. Would we envision this church, these people, the people in this room as a place for the foreigner.32:05As a place for the stranger or the person that is far from God. And I'm not saying that we're not doing that, but would we let a text like this push us to lean more into this mission. And like point number two, as we pray, would we say God send us, but also send them here. The people who feel like they don't have a place.32:34And the people who feel like they don't belong. The people who say, hey, when it comes to the blueprint in my life, I've really messed up. Would our prayer be, God send them here. And would our heart, behind everything that we do, every ministry, every small group, every worship service. Would we have a desire to see people who are far from God come to find life in Christ.33:01And if that is our heart, it seems like a pretty good blueprint for a church who desires to live on mission. Would our pursuit of holiness translate to a pursuit of people who do not know Christ. And lastly, today, as we see this text and we see God's blueprint for our lives, going back to chapter 6, verse 12.33:30To be reminded of this promise. Where God tells Solomon, if you walk in my statutes, if you observe my ways, I will fulfill my promise to you. Which I made to your dad. I will dwell among you.33:59I will not abandon you. Church, I believe that this is a promise that we see from God made to his people all throughout the Bible. It is a promise that he has made to us and we can trust that God is always faithful to his promises. As we walk closely with God, he draws near to us and we can trust that his blueprint never falters.34:21His blueprint never makes a mistake. And we can trust that his plans aren't only right, but they're good. And I think that's the difference between the plans that we tend to make and the plans that God makes.34:43Earlier in this sermon, I mentioned that there was a Christmas Eve that I stayed up putting together this little, actually it was bigger, Barbie Dreamhouse for my daughter Presley. And I had the directions, but I didn't think I'd need them. So I threw them away.35:12It turns out I didn't need them. I went and I found them and I tried to use them and I did my best. I remember that me and Anna Claire stayed up till 3 a.m. that night putting it together. And you see, as her dad, I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted her to wake up the next day, see it and love it. But don't get me wrong. She's 7. She did love it.35:41She played with it. But I'll tell you this. It wasn't long before she found the flaws. Because she's 7, but she's smart. And the night before, I definitely cut corners. I definitely tried to do things my way. And soon enough, on Christmas morning, we were fixing my mistakes. Now, here's the reality of our lives. Is that our blueprints and our plans, even our perfect houses, all have cracks.36:13And in our lives, in your life, we'll never measure up because we are broken. We are sinners. And we have a great need for Christ to redeem us. And if you just look at Solomon, the one who built this seemingly perfect temple,36:37not to give you too much of a spoiler, but next Sunday, you're going to see that his humanity and his brokenness start to show. And I think that we're tempted sometimes to play the game of how long. That morning, that Christmas morning, I was asking the question, well, how long until my daughter finds the flaws in her present?37:01And you might be here today thinking, well, how long until somebody finds the cracks in my house? How long until somebody finds the cracks in my life? And, you know, sometimes these cracks, they start to seep in quietly. But, friend, it always starts with sin. Quiet sin, secret sin.37:30And I'll just tell you that if you're waiting and wondering when someone is going to find the cracks in your life, there's this truth that somebody probably already has. Because me and you, man, our houses are made of glass more than we know. So would we realize this and would we begin to confess our sin and turn to Christ?37:59Who the Bible says is faithful to cover our sin. And to leave you with a blueprint for the gospel. That there is this truth that you are a sinner in need of a great Savior. And maybe you're here today and you've never given your life to Christ. And Romans 3, 23 says that we've all sinned. That we've all fallen short because everyone has cracks in their lives.38:28But those tiny cracks are enough to keep you from God because it's called sin. But would you know that God sent his son Jesus to live a life you could not live and to die a death in your place. So that if you come to him in full faith and repentance that he can give you new life. The Bible says this is the blueprint for salvation and it is the only way through Christ.38:55So today, if you are far from God, our invitation to you is that you would come to find life in Christ. Let me pray.← Previous in Kings and KingdomsKings and Kingdoms – When Blankets Can’t Keep You Warm (1 Kings 1:1-4)Next in Kings and Kingdoms →Kings and Kingdoms – “Why did you tear my new clothes?” (1 Kings 11:26-43)
