Living in This World of Sin

 A Living Faith in Trials and Temptations

Book of James Chapter 1

We know that this James was the half-brother of Jesus Christ.

Mat 13:55  Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 

Mar 6:3  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 

It was this James who was one of eyewitnesses to the resurrected Lord.

1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 

It was this James who became the Pastor of the first Christian Church after Peter had to flee for his life, which was in Jerusalem.

This is also when Peter started a mission for Jesus Christ.

Act 12:16  But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. 

Act 12:17  But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place. 

It seems it was this James that took over for Peter who actually began this first church of Christianity.

It was this James who was the presiding officer of the first Jerusalem Counsel.

Act 15:13  And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 

Act 15:14  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 

It was this James who was named one of the pillars of the early Church.

Gal 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. 

Gal 2:9  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

We can see that the half-brother of our Lord was held to a high standard to be mentioned along with Peter and John.

We know that this James was well versed in the Old Testament.

We know that this James knew how to apply the Old Testament to the New Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that this James was really familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, because he has included much of it in this first Book of the New Testament named after him.

We can trust this Book of James to be written under the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit!

This Book was written to the Christians who were scattered because of the persecution of the Jews.

*****Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. 

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

We can imagine it took a lot of faith for a brother to confess that his brother was actually the Messiah and the Creator of this Universe.

That faith came when he saw his brother, the Lord Jesus Christ after his death, as He was resurrected from the grave, because the grave could not hold Him because death could not hold Him!

No doubt James was proud to say he was a servant to his half-brother Jesus because he did so.

We know that Moses was a slave to God, along with Joshua, and David, and Paul, and Jude, and all the Apostles and this James along with all the Prophets and now each of us who believe the truth and are all called Christians.

James had a calling to reach out to all Christians.

God used this letter so James could remain with the early Church when Peter had to flee from Herod and begin his own mission to reach the lost.

We should understand that it is not always easy to be a Christian in this world and it has been that way since the beginning of the Church.

We should expect trials and temptations and prepare for them because they will surely come!

When we think about having joy in these things, it first seems ridiculous, but in truth, life is not an easy walk for most people to begin with.

We should also understand that temptation also means to test, to try, and to prove, so we can have a better understanding of it.

When we conquer temptation and the trials of life, we become a much purer person, more holy, more righteous and more just.

We become a stronger person and become ready to be that servant the Lord can use.

The more we conquer these things, the more we become like the Lord Jesus Christ which must be our goal after salvation!

Remember the Lord Jesus told us take up our own cross and follow Him. That cross is a sign of death.

Mar_8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Then the Lord teaches us:

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Joy is not one of the things we feel while we are going through these things.

But Joy is the attitude that is needed.

The Lord is saying that when we look back on the things that have made us more Christian, we will find that some of our reactions were indeed laughable.

In reality, we should have joy in the fact that the world sees us as a Christian.

One of the greatest rewards we can receive upon this earth is patience!

We should understand that the Lord did not send us temptations nor trials in this life, but He will chasten us for our sin.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

Will the Lord test our faith? We can be certain that He will!

An untested faith is a faith that may not exist.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

The Lord is seeking to improve our endurance to all these things.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 

Notice the Lord says, if it gets too bad in some areas, we may have to flee, but we can be assured that the Lord is coming back to get those who have not already gone home to Heaven.

This is called the rapture of the Church.

In all things we must allow patience to be our rule in this life!

*****Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

We should understand that if we truly want to become a citizen of Heaven, we must not refuse to enter the school of suffering which the Lord Jesus Himself has established here on earth!

When we look at these things as opportunities to get the blessings of the Lord, then we will see that we can have joy as we go through them.

When we can conquer our trials and temptations and get stronger, then we have fulfilled the purpose that God sent them.

We can see how these words become real in this day we are living.

Listen to the Lord Jesus:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 

God's purpose for us is to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

We cannot say we are Christian if we are not becoming more like Jesus. Do not let this world fool you! 

The more like Jesus that we become the more this world will hate us, because this world hates the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we stand firm in our faith in Christ, then we have conquered death just as He conquered death!

This is when the Lord opens the windows of Heaven and pours out more blessings than we can absorb while we are upon this earth.

We will have an eternity of perfection.

We will have an eternity of fitness, of completion, and fulfillment and all these things throughout eternity and that mansion will not be a bad thing either.

My pastor once preached that some of the people left behind might be injured for all those false teeth, those old joints that have been replaced with steel, all those glasses we need on this earth, all those braces, and crutches and any other thing that was placed in our bodies while we were living on this earth as they fall down as we are going up.

It will be the strangest rain they have ever seen!

We will lack nothing.

We will want for nothing.

We will have the abundance and the fullness of this life, but it cannot compare to those days of eternity in God's Heaven in His House!

We cannot reach this fullness of life if we lack the wisdom of the Lord!

*****Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

We will not be able to conquer anything in this life without the wisdom of the Lord!

Wisdom means far more than knowledge.

Wisdom is far more than just being intellectual about life of some area of this life.

Many people in this world have much knowledge; they are very common.

Many knowledgeable people fail trials and temptations because all that knowledge did not help them.

Only wisdom can grasp the great truths of life.

Scientists of today when they do not understand life they just add another billion years or so to it.

They may have knowledge, but they lack wisdom and they certainly lack understanding in the truth of God, at least most of them do!

Wisdom is seeing and knowing what to do about life!

Wisdom grasps the great truth of life without having to make up some false idea about life.

Wisdom sees the trials and temptations that surround life and death, the Lord and mankind, time, and eternity, good and evil, the deep things of the universe and the reality of the Lord our Creator.

Wisdom not only understands these things but wisdom knows what to do with these things!

Wisdom gains victory over all these things!

Psa_111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Pro_2:6  For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Pro_3:19  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

The Lord is willing to share all His wisdom with us, but it can be too much for us, so he shares it a little at a time.

Asking wisdom of God is the way to conquer our trials and temptations and the Lord will always, will always, provide a means to escape.

God will never scold us for not knowing how to handle some trial or some temptation!

We must understand there is no question that the Lord cannot answer.

We must also understand if we cannot believe that the Lord has those answers we dearly need, then He will not provide that answer.

*****Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

If we are making a cake, then flour would be a necessary ingredient.

If we are making sweet tea, then sugar would be a necessary ingredient.

If we are praying to the Lord our Father in Heaven, then "faith" is a necessary ingredient.

Not just any faith, but faith in His ability to answer our prayers.

How can we ask in Christ's name, which is another ingredient, if we do not believe the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Joh 16:23  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 

There will be no answer for those who are not true believers!

Joh 9:31  Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 

The things we ask for must be an object of our faith!

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 

1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

That word wavering means being in doubt.

How can anyone who rejects the truth of the Lord even think that our Father in Heaven would even consider answering their prayers when He has said He will not?

No matter how great the storms of life are to the unbeliever, they do not bother our Savior.

Mat 8:24  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 

He was asleep, because these twelve men had no faith and the things of this world, no matter how severe they seem to be they do not bother the Lord!

Those that pray without faith, how can they expect their prayers to be heard?

Those that reject the Lord, how can they expect to go to Heaven?

Prayer is the greatest gift the Lord gives to believers after the gift of salvation that comes by faith and faith only!

*****Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Unbelieving prayer is useless.

Though they may receive something it did not come from the Lord and they certainly have no right to blame the Lord either way.

They cannot expect anything more because they are not under the assurance of God's promises as is the believer.

Now the believer may not receive an answer they expected, but the Lord will listen to their prayers and His answer will be what is best for them.

God will never reward doubt!

God cannot answer the prayer of a doubting person because if He did, He would be rewarding doubt.

We must believe that God is who He says He is!

God will not hear nor can He answer any person who wavers in his faith!

Those who waver in their faith do not know the value of the gifts of God and cannot receive those gifts!

Those who waver in their faith are unstable in all their ways.

We cannot live our lives up and down, or back and forth and say we belong to the Lord, because we are not sure of anything.

We cannot be unstable in our Christian life and still insist we are living in the will of God. It is not God's will that we live in such a way!

This is the very reason so many saved people receive so little from the Lord.

Some have enough faith to be saved, but they remain babes in Christ all their days, never taking that next step of being Christian, a servant of the Lord trying to be like Him.

We must understand that the fruits of our prayers are received from the nail scared hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the middle person by whom God conveys His blessings!

Our strength comes from our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

We must understand that we will face the temptations of Satan, the Devil.

We must also understand that we will face the temptations of those who are lost in this world, our fellow human beings who are the children of the Devil whether they recognize it or not.

We must also understand that we will be tempted by the actions of those of this world that is so full of sin!

The Lord expects us to endure temptation no matter who we are.

It is true that sometimes, the strongest among us fail because they felt like they could not fail.

We must rejoice in the Lord no matter our circumstances!

Even the lowest Christian on the face of this earth will be exalted as a king and prince when the Lord returns.

No one has rank in God's New Heaven except the Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowing this, then if we are poor in this life we can think of ourselves as kings when the Lord returns.

All kings live in mansions and the Lord is building us all a mansion.

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

We must never accuse the Lord of things that He cannot do!

We must never think our temptations come from the Lord!

*****Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 

So, where does temptation come from if not from God?

Because we still have that sin nature, sometimes the desire and the craving for things upon this earth are almost unbearable.

This is what temptation is: the desire and the craving for wrong things, things that the Lord forbids, and are harmful to our bodies, and to our spirits.

Just because some man justifies it, and says that it is acceptable, does it make these things right for us.

Such as alcohol, the Lord will never approve the drinking of any alcoholic beverage!

Pro 23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 

Pro 23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 

Certainly if we are not to look upon alcohol, then we should not be drinking it!

It does not matter that some religions allow the consumption of alcohol when the Lord says no to partake of it. They are wrong!

In this case the Holy Spirit uses wine and He says to not even look upon it.

We must not take into our bodies anything that dulls our senses and lowers our moral tone.

We must not yield to the temptation of anything that influences us to go against the Word of God!

God will never tempt us to go against Him!

We always want to blame someone else for our failures, but our failures are our own and we are the blame for all of them.

*****Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

Jas 1:16  Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

While we are in these bodies with that sin nature that we cannot avoid, evil thoughts and immoral desires will rule our lives if we allow them to.

These things will lure us into sin!

Even the unbeliever cannot use other excuses for rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is their decision to make and their opportunity to miss.

God cannot ever induce anyone to act against His will.

God will never go against anything He causes to be written down for us.

There is never a modern Gospel and there never will be a more modern Gospel than we have now. God never changes!

The Word of God is a Living Word that is real and is the truth, in all ages.

We must understand that some of our desires can be a sin, even if we do not act upon them!

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 

When we face temptation from the normal and natural desires of man or woman, and think we cannot turn away from them, then these things become sin.

There is no person who is not a man or a women based upon the sex with which they were born.

Those that desire to be someone of the opposite sex is living in sin just as much as any of those desires that goes against the Word of God.

We cannot desire to do what sinners do and still say we are the children of God!

We are never to given in to our desires if they go against the Word of God!

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

We must understand that it is the intention of the Word of God to be our guide in living the way that God has decided what is best for us, because we prove over and over again that we do not make good decisions based upon the rules of this world.

*****Jas 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 

The Lord Jesus does not see us as wise unless we are keeping the Word of God!

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Our house is this body we have been given, and it is this house we are to build upon with that Rock of Jesus Christ!

We must understand that just because we sit in God's house and listen to that sermon God gave to our pastor, that these things make us acceptable to Him.

It is not these things that make us safe and secure!

When we slip into some sin, we must not believe that God will forgive us just because we ask this of Him.

We must never think that God will not reject us.

We must clearly understand, God does not accept us because we hear and know the Word of God nor because we confess our sins.

These things are necessary and are very important but God accepts us because we confess our sins and then repent of them.

Repentance is turning away from sin and turning toward God!

God accepts us because we turn to Him and live for Him.

When we truly believe the Lord Jesus, then we will trust and follow Him and doing exactly what He says.

So many believe they can hang on to that pet sin they keep hidden and ask for forgiveness when we slide into it, but repentance is still required.

We are only deceiving ourselves when we think that God will just forgive us because of His grace!

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 

Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

There is no sin that we can continue in claiming God's Grace to be forgiven!

It is the doer of the Word of God who is blessed and not those who just hear the Word of God!

We are deceiving ourselves if we believe otherwise!

We are attempting to defraud the Lord Jesus Christ when we attempt to do these things.

We owe Him all we are and all we have!

*****Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 

Jas 1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 

When we see the Word of God as our mirror, we can see just how great a sinner we have been since our birth

This holds true to every human being upon the face of this earth, no matter who they are.

Eze 33:31  And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 

Eze 33:32  And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 

Many of those who are lost do see the Words of God as great words to live by, but they go their own way because they do not see the Word of God applying to them.

They have made themselves self-righteous.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 

Much of this world believe the Word of God is too harsh to live by, and they go their own way doing what suits them.

In either of these cases these who are lost forget that they are sinners in need of a Savior and the Bible says that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ and there are no other saviors.

They forget the destruction of this world that the Bible says will happen.

These are the loudest voices when the world speaks of "climate change" or "nuclear war” because they see this world as savable when the Lord says it is not savable.

Rev_21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The Lord would not make all things new if this world were worth saving!

The greatest gift we can give to our pastors or preachers who preach the message God has given to them, is obedience.

When they preach, they must be looking for fruit.

As hearers we must carry out what we hear, or the preaching of the Word is falling upon deaf ears and that preacher will get discouraged and quit.

There are not enough true preachers today, but there are many impostors.

We cannot get the blessings of God from an impostor!

If we cannot find faith in the Word of God then as hearers, we also become impostors.

Then there are some who find the truth of God.

*****Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

What is the Word of God? It is the perfect law of liberty. Liberty from the bondage of Satan!

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can make us free from the bondage of the wickedness of this world.

When we live according to the Word of God, we will find that we can be freed from all the things that enslave our souls upon this earth.

We are free to know and fellowship with the Lord forever and ever.

We must continue in the Word of God all our days.

The trouble with this world is that those who deny the Lord Jesus, deny that there is life after the death of our bodies.

You would think that even the greatest believer in evolution could see that the miracle of life must extend after death.

They see animals of many kinds that can go dormant for periods of time and then come back to life and this is what God is telling them, there is life after death!

The Lord promises us that it is in this life that we are to prepare for the next life which is eternal!

The Word of God is the truth.

Heaven and Hell are real places!

Amen

How Will You Be Remembered

 David's Last Days

Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 29

Most of us are just ordinary people, but even as insignificant as we are in this world, we will leave behind a legacy, either a good one or a bad one.

We may be remembered only by friends and family, but to some of those we may be important to them.

So, we should ask ourselves what kind of legacy will we leave behind?

As long as we are alive, we can improve our legacy!

After we have been in the family of God for many years, we hope our past life will be forgotten just as the Lord has forgotten it.

So, again, what contribution have we made since our salvation?

We know that the Lord called all His brothers and His sisters into the Church, to begin working for His glory.

This is a much greater task than what David encouraged his son Solomon to do.

Our job is to take the Gospel to the entire world so, did we contribute to this work, we can ask ourselves?

The Lord called His entire Church, individually and collectively, to take part in this ministry!

This may not mean much to the world but it will certainly mean much in the realm of Heaven!

The Lord God our Creator builds much greater temples than the one Solomon built!

Every Temple built by the Lord is for the Lord because it is for the worship of the Living God!

This worship extends outside to the telling of the world "How Great Is Our God"!

Many people have forgotten the purpose of our gathering together.

We gather for the worship of our Creator and our Savior and all other things are secondary to this!

We should love the opportunity and the privilege to gather in the name of the Lord, and to be a part of the continuation of His ministry!

David told Solomon:

*****1Ch 29:3  Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, 

Our greatest goal should be to undertake a work for the glory of our Savior!

I admit my failure to do so but I am still working on it, to get better at it.

Many are called to specific things for the Lord, but all of us are called to be obedient to the Word of God that teaches us how to be a witness for the Lord.

Many will say, well the I have not heard the Holy Spirit speak to me but the Holy Spirit speaks loudly and boldly to us in the Word of God!

We may not have great riches to give to the House of God, but God would rather have Living Sacrifices than great riches!

Riches maybe of gold and silver but we are God's jewels!

Rom_12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

David set his affection to the house of his God and his God is Jehovah, who came down from Heaven and took upon Himself the Body of Jesus Christ just so He could save a useless beggar like me!

On David's death bed, he was still encouraging the nation of Israel to get closer to the Lord.

We can never get too close to the Lord!

It was time for Israel to build a house where the Lord God of all this world would come down to visit with His people!

It was a great sum of riches that King David had accumulated for this work yet, it would not be enough so, all the leaders of the twelve tribes were to share their own riches.

They would have no riches if were not for King David!

We should understand that until King David, Israel had no riches.

It was by the economy of King David that these men had accumulated their riches.

They were not to forget the blessings that God had shared with them.

We seem to forget that it is by the blessing of the Lord that we are blessed with what we have, and He only expects us to give back ten percent of those blessings.

David wanted these elders to realize that giving to the construction of the Temple would be the greatest work these leaders would ever undertake!

1Ch 22:14  Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. 

David had given all his treasures to the building of the Temple.

If we figure the weight of a talent was around ninety-five pounds, a hundred thousand talents would weigh four thousand seven hundred and fifty tons of gold.

A talent of gold was double the weight of silver so a talent of silver was about forty-five pounds.

The silver that David gave had a weight of twenty-two thousand and five hundred tons.

We can only imagine what the values of just these two valuable metals would be worth today.

After hearing this, the chiefs of the tribes and the princes of the tribes and the captains of military in those tribes with the rulers of the king's work, gave willingly.

*****1Ch 29:6  Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly, 

David challenged the national leaders to personally dedicate themselves to the Lord.

We need to challenge our own national leaders today to personally dedicate themselves to the Lord.

We need to do the same in America today! 

We must stand up for Jesus and there will be a great turmoil, but until we do this, we certainly cannot claim to be Christian nation.

Remember it was Obama who said he would make sure that America would not be a Christian nation ever again, and it is he who is pulling the strings today, but he does not know the power of God or the Lord Jesus Christ and this battle is His and not ours but we must have a part in it.

If we cannot make a personal re-dedication to the Lord, we do not deserve Him!

We must be willing to consecrate our relationship with the Lord!

So much wealth was given to build the Temple that a treasurer had to be appointed to watch over it.

We should understand that the work of the Lord is enormous, and we as God's children must give and give willingly to this work of reaching lost souls.

Far too much of God's resources are used for elaborate buildings and many other things, other than reaching souls for Christ.

The Church has two jobs.

Reaching souls for Christ, and making disciples so they can reach souls for Christ.

Many so-called churches have forgotten the mission the Lord Jesus has given us to do!

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

The people of Israel rejoiced that there would be a "House of Prayer" built in Jerusalem.

*****1Ch 29:9  Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. 

It takes a perfect heart to serve the Lord and God is working on us every day to clean our hearts up to be good servants.

People must be reached with the "Gospel of salvation"!

The people of this world are suffering and only the Lord can help them!

The people of the world need the Word of God to become a part of them.

There has never been another such man as King David, who has a legacy of giving to the Lord as he did, except the Lord Jesus Christ who gave up the riches of Heaven to come to this earth to die on a wooden cross to save the people of this earth from a place called Hell!

On a day near his death, King David stood before a massive crowd of national leaders overflowed with joy with the generosity of those who were seeking a relationship with the Lord.

King David realized just how blessed Israel was to have Jehovah as her God.

The House of Prayer that was to be built for the Lord was also to be for the presentation of God's Word and God's worship.

Our Lord deserves to be worshiped!

Worship must include adoration.

Worship must include thanksgiving.

Worship must include confession.

Worship must include supplication.

Worship must include witnessing.

Worship must include intercession.

Worship must include petition, a deliverance from evil.

Now we do not need a building to appear before the Lord, but if you are a child of God you will want to join with the many others who truly want to worship the Lord!

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

The Lord God Jehovah is the God of all true believers and there are no other gods, but those of the mind of the non-believers!

*****1Ch 29:10  Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

1Ch 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Keeping in mind that the word Israel means "the people of God", then Jehovah is certainly the God of all His people and He is our Father for ever and ever.

That word "blessed" means that our Lord is the Living picture of Holiness!

He is the Father of all true believers in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ!

He will be our Father forever and ever with a life that has no ending!

Another thing we see is, just like most of us here today, the closer we get to going home the more we like to talk about it.

It is our Lord God who controls all things because all things belong to Him!

He possesses all power and all greatness.

He possesses all glory, all majesty, and all splendors.

He possesses all that is in Heaven and on Earth.

He possesses all greatness.

He is truly exalted above all!

There are many of these things He will share with us if we love Him!

*****1Ch 29:12  Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 

1Ch 29:13  Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. 

We must clearly understand that any wealth and any honor that comes to us in this world, came by the hands Jehovah God!

Our Lord God is the source of all things good that comes to us in this world! 

One of the reasons, the main reason, is so we can give back to the Church for the work of reaching out to lost souls.

Those who have been blessed with such riches should glorify the Lord for those things!

Those who have obtained honor in this world should use it in proclaiming the truth of God!

Those who have been given the strength to overcome life's obstacles should teach those of little strength how to do the same!

We must all be thankful for the things God has shared with us.

We may not understand why some seem to be better off than others, but we must understand that the Lord is Omnipotent and He always knows what is best for each of us! Amen.

King David acknowledged that his kingdom actually belonged to the Lord.

We need to acknowledge that the United States of America also belongs to the Lord.

Everything upon this earth belongs to the Lord because He created it all!

So many laughs at these things today, but they will one day see the truth of the Word of God!

King David then thanked the Lord for enabling the people to be able to give.

One of the reasons that our government wants us all to not have money is so we will not have to give to our God!

They are so foolish; the Lord does not need our resources! 

He allows us to give for His work in order to earn rewards and we earn greater rewards from giving when it hurts us financially.

Isa_55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Isa_55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

If the swamp in Washington DC and in many states, capitols could understand this, they could do something beneficial for our nation rather than trying to destroy our nation.

Satan is in full control in America because the Church has been so weak!

This is why the Lord tells us this world is not worth saving and He will make all things new.

Heb_11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Why did King David give so generously? Because God was testing the hearts of His people!

1Ch 29:16  O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. 

1Ch 29:17  I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. 

Everything we have belongs to God and God will test us time to time to see if our hearts are still in the right place!

God gives wealth as a test to see if that person will return that wealth to Him if He ask for it back.

David knew that God test the hearts of His people from time to time.

We should understand that without a "test", we will never have a "testimony"!

Without making a "mess" with our lives, we will never understand God's "message"!

God does not try to hide the terrible things in the life of King David even when He knows much of this world will exploit our mistakes to use against us.

With all the things we have read about King David we could say that David was never really a child of God but we must know that not one of us are perfect.

Not one of us can stand before the Lord and say we are worthy of His love, because we know we are not.

Those that do are self-righteous and will never get to Heaven!

So again what kind of legacy will we leave behind?

When we are in our very last days, what will we tell our children and grandchildren and many of us are blessed with great grandchildren.

In a world that is going to pots, family is still the greatest blessing the Lord gives to us!

We all need to take a pad and pen and record the time each day we spend in prayer for one week.

Most of us would see that we do not spend a lot of time talking to our Heavenly Father.

I am so guilty Lord, help me to do better!

Solomon became the third King of Israel and he sat upon the throne of his father David but watch how our Scripture words this.

1Ch 29:23  Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. 

Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord instead of his father David.

That throne in Jerusalem is reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ and many impostors have tried to rule from that throne and the worst of all those impostors will soon attempt to sit upon that throne and the Lord Jesus Himself will boot him off!

Solomon was coronated a second time and the people celebrated with boundless joy.

Knowing all these things about King David, we should ask ourselves, how loyal are we to the Lord?

How committed are we to serving the Lord?

What kind of lives are we living?

We are all still sinners but we must realize that sin damages our legacy and also shames the name of the Lord.

The traits that we need to serve the Lord are loyalty, allegiance, commitment, dedication, and obedience!

As we go through our day, we must continually magnify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For the most part David had lived a good life.

*****1Ch 29:28  And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. 

All the things about King David were recorded.

The Book of Samuel was recorded and we have his records.

The Book of Nathan the prophet of which the Holy Spirit deemed not necessary to be included in the Bible.

The Book of Gad the seer which the Holy Spirit decided was not necessary to be included in the Bible.

This does not mean those records do not exist, it only means that the Holy Spirit did not see it necessary to include those records in the Word of God though He did include bits and pieces.

David clearly understood that the Lord was the only living and true God and that it was He who had appointed him to be King of Israel.

If only our leaders would realize this today!

We could make America great again!

Amen

Best Advise Keep the Law of Jehovah

 David's Wise Counsel

Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 22

At the end of our last lesson we know that after David bought the threshing floor of Ornan, turned it into an altar and he sacrificed to the Lord to stop the plague that the Lord had placed on Israel.

2Sa 24:24  And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 

After buying the threshing floor from Ornan, King David then bought that parcel of land that is now known as the Temple Mount.

1Ch 21:15  And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

1Ch 21:18  Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

1Ch 21:25  So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 

We can see that there were two separate transactions for the place where Solomon built the Temple that was intended to be a House of Prayer for all of Israel.

We also know that the Muslim have built a false temple that is known as the Dome of the Rock built right upon the threshing floor of Ornan that belongs to the nation of Israel because it was a place given to the Lord by King David.

For all intents and purposes, the Lord has the threshing floor of Ornan safe and secure and protected by a building provided by the Muslims.

These things cannot be denied!

1Ch 22:1  Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. 

The Lord would not allow David to build this House of Prayer because it would have sent the wrong message, but Solomon David's son, would build this House of God.

*****1Ch 22:6  Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel. 

We should understand that as fathers we do not have the right to dictate the career path of our sons or daughters.

God in His wisdom has given us all the freedom of choice in our lives.

We can, as fathers and mothers, recommend a path we would love for our children to follow.

The best thing that we can do is to be a good example to our children and pray that they learn from the mistakes that we have made in our lives so that they will not make the same mistakes that we made.

If we have been wise fathers, then maybe we can provide the means by which our sons and our daughters may carry out our purpose and some friends to help him in it.

A wise father and mother can largely shape the influences under which our children grow up!

King David could not build a Temple for the worship of the Lord but Solomon could, and King David began assembling most all the materials that would be needed, for the Lord had provided King David with the plans to build such a Temple and the finances to do so.

*****1Ch 22:7  And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: 

1Ch 22:8  But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

As far as meetings go, this is the most important meeting that Solomon would have in all the days of his life!

This was not David trying to tell Solomon how to live his life.

When David was made King of Israel, the nation was weak militarily, and economically and politically.

Solomon would now inherit a kingdom that had a solid foundation.

You see, we live in a land that is becoming weak militarily, and becoming weak economically, and weak politically but as the children of God, we will inherit the things of our King Jesus that is built upon a solid foundation.

Luk_6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

In the time of David, he did not have time to build upon the infrastructure of Israel for battling with Israel's enemies, but Solomon would inherit a kingdom that was at peace and the enemies of Israel would not be prone to attack Israel.

He could take on worthy projects and the Temple of God should be first on his lists and David would be gathering the building materials for him and would give him the plans for the building of the Temple, which came from Jehovah.

The Temple would never have been a proper place of worship if it were built by bloody hands!

We could say the same thing about the Muslims places of worship today.

The builder of any place to worship the Living God, must be a man of peace and a saver of life and not a destroyer of life!

Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

We can see that only the Lord Jesus Christ meets these requirements and it is the Lord Jesus Christ who builds all the Temples of God today!

We will see many times Solomon as a type of Jesus Christ.

Why was King David giving this request to his son Solomon?

*****1Ch 22:8  But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. 

1Ch 22:9  Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

1) David had a burning desire to personally build a Temple to worship Jehovah.

2) Jehovah would not allow David to Him such a Temple due to the way he had lived his life.

3) David shared to his son Solomon that Jehovah had chosen Him to be the next King of Israel and for Solomon to build this Temple.

Remember all of David's sons who were born before Solomon had become worthless human beings who had no cause to change their ways and two of them had died in their wickedness.

God would give him a son who would be a man of peace, a man free from enemies and warfare.

For David, Solomon was this son, but we know that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the true fulfillment of this promise made to David!

What had God said?

"I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his day":

*****1Ch 22:10  He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

These words were never about Solomon!

These words were about the Lord Jesus Christ and are still in our future. 

The days of Solomon were at peace until he had finished the construction of the Temple, but just as soon as Solomon began to turn his back on God those days of peace ended.

Remember Solomon had over seven hundred wives and he was pulled into false religion by them.

1Ki 11:5  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 

1Ki 11:6  And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. 

1Ki 11:7  Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 

Peace began to fade away and Solomon's enemies began to show up.

1Ki 11:23  And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

1Ki 11:26  And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

Jehovah does not say things that are not true!

In the days of the Millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be true peace in this world for one thousand years, for the Lord Jesus will rule with a "rod of iron".

Moses was the first man of importance who had a rod, a wooden staff sometimes called the "rod of God".

Exo 4:20  And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 

The brother of Moses, Aaron, was the one that bloomed. A dry stick came to life, which was a type of the nation of Israel but it could also be said to be a type of the lost come to the new life, that Born Again life by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Num 17:8  And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 

Aaron's rod was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant to save for future generations.

Heb 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 

But it was another Son of David and not Solomon that would one day rule this world with a rod of iron.

A rod then is the symbol of power and authority!

Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 

Psa 2:10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 

Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Rev_12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Rev_19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

These things are still in our own future, for the Church must first called out of this world and shortly after this there will be seven years of tribulation with the last three and a half of those years being terrible until the Lord Jesus returns to put down all rebellion.

Then the Lord Jesus will sit on the throne of His Father David and these things written here will come to be true!

And we know that wise King Solomon did not ever build a true house in the name of Jehovah, and the throne of Solomon did not last forever!

These things the Lord Jesus did!

1 Co_6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Then the Lord will remove His Church before the Tribulation years begin.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Then there will be those years of tribulation.

Mat_24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

The Lord will put down the rebellion upon this earth and then He will sit upon the throne of His father David, and not of the throne of Solomon.

Because David's heart was for the Lord and Solomon's heart was for his wives!

Luk_1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Solomon's job was to build a worldly Temple for the worship of Jehovah that was supposed be a House of Prayer for all the people of Israel.

So, David completes his prayer and his blessing for his son Solomon.

We know that Moses and Jacob gave dying blessings which were prophetical, and so, would be this blessing from King David.

When we have communion, it is said that we are partaking of the "Cup of the Lord's blessing".

*****1Ch 22:11  Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee. 

1Ch 22:12  Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.

The Almighty Living God did give these things to Solomon.

Solomon became the richest most prosperous man in the world.

Solomon became the wisest man in the world, accept for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Solomon became the most understanding man in the world in his days.

But Solomon did not keep the Law of God all his days!

One of the most important things that we can learn from the Word of God is discernment!

It is discernment that enables us to judge what is the correct and proper way to act in our everyday lives!

The Bible says we must guide every decision we make with discretion.

Psa 112:5  A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. 

And our enemies cannot stand it when the Word of God is always right!

Psa 112:10  The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish. 

Our lives will be so much better if we are obedient to all the Word of God!

In fact, how long we will get to spend time with our families will depend on how well we keep the Word of God!

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 

Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

David told his son Solomon that it was his duty to build that first Temple as a place to worship.

David then told his son Solomon that he had already purchased the building materials for this Temple.

David had already assembled a great work force who were already working upon those great marble stones and the timber that would be needed.

Solomon's duty was to supervise the construction of the Temple by following God's plan and put this plan into action.

1Ch 22:16  Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee. 

The greatest thing we can give back to the Lord after the salvation gifts He has given to us, is obedience to the Word of God!

David had more children than Absalom and Amnon, and David commanded all the princes of Israel to help his son Solomon.

There were also each tribe of the sons of Jacob that had princes.

1Ch 28:1  And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.

*****1Ch 22:17  David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 

1Ch 22:18  Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people. 

Before David died, he issued a private charge to his son Solomon, but he also issued a private charge to all the leaders and the princes of the twelve tribes, to help Solomon to build the Temple we know as Solomon's Temple.

God had certainly been with all of Israel the days David was King of Israel.

God had certainly given them peace throughout all the land and had subjected their enemies under the rule of Israel.

In a way, these tribal leaders were heavily obligated because of the blessings down through the years of David's rule.

In comparison, just as David challenged the leaders of his day, we the Church are challenged today.

Of all the blessings that had come to Israel none of them had been given the gift of salvation as we have been given.

We owe far more dedication to our Savior than these who had certainly been blessed but not with eternal blessings.

Every mission that our Church is involved in and the ministry of our own church deserve our wholehearted dedication!

We must be faithful in supporting every project because the Lord is still building Temples at the same time, He is building human lives!

*****1Ch 22:19  Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD. 

At this time David gave Solomon the plans for the construction of the Temple and in a lot of ways it followed the plans given to Moses for the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

1Ch 28:11  Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, 

1Ch 28:12  And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: 

1Ch 28:19  All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. 

1Ch 28:20  And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD. 

We should understand that when God plans it will be a perfect plan and our job is to "Be Strong And Of Good Courage And Do It".

When God is involved in the planning, then it is God's pledge in the accomplishment because God's plans never fail!

God has never asked but one thing from us and it is "FAITH"!

It is "faith" that gets us saved!

Once we are saved, then that same faith will carry us to the work of God which is building temples, human temples.

Rom_12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

After our salvation God is asking for the use of our bodies.

Our sacrifice is being dead to sin, but living for the work of the Lord.

God just asks for our reasonable service.

God just ask us to continue the work that the Lord Jesus Christ was doing before He gave His life for us!

Amen

The Size of God's Army is Irrelevant

 David Takes a Census

Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 21

A census is taken in any nation to determine the number of people in that nation. 

When a census is used for any other purpose, then it is not a true census!

In Israel, the number of people would be separated by those people over the age of twenty to determine the amount of men capable of being in the army which was a requirement if they were called upon.

This is still done in Israel today!

Not by census but by law! 

Every man and I believe every woman over the age of eighteen is required to serve a tour in the military of Israel and from then to the age of fifty they would be the reserves if Israel were called into war as they are in now with Hamas.

Every eighteen-year-old man in America is still required to register in America today, but right now we still have a volunteer military.

Another fact is that, in the time of the exit of Israel from Egypt, every man above twenty years was required to pay a half shekel as a ransom for his soul, that there should be no plague whenever a numbering of the people took place.

This numbering by King David was uncalled for! God had not told David to number the people of Israel.

Israel was at peace and David did this thing just so he could boast. It was the sin of pride. 

It seemed that David just wanted to boast about how large his army was, when the size of his army was never important.

Did David require that half-shekel? It does not seem so, and the Scriptures do not say.

We do know that God sent an angel to bring judgment upon Israel for this act of King David.

God showed to David that it was He who determined the size of that nation.

This is what Joab reminded David of, and it was a fact that when a nation is at peace, more children are born but the abortion industry has destroyed this truth.

This is also why during the time of COVID we never heard how our military fared against this man-made disease.

Some nations are still working on plagues that would hinder the military of the United States!

We only heard that demand came for our militaries to be vaccinated and we lost troops from both directions.

Some to this disease and some because they refused the vaccine.

Our government is so foolish!

As God does, He will almost always cause something good to come out of something that is done against Him, if we repent.

The size of the army of Israel was never important when they were close to Jehovah. 

The Lord Jesus Christ was the true Captain of the army of Israel then and now!

Jos_5:15  And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

At this time David was the human captain over the armies of Israel as the Lord explained to King Saul.

1Sa_13:14  But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

What we can understand is that a census was not to be taken of Israel unless it was directed to be done by Jehovah.

Exo 38:26  A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

The size of the army of Israel was not relevant when the Lord was leading that nation and I believe this is still true today!

Then, why did King David call for a census of Israel.

*****1Ch 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. 

Why did Satan stand up against Israel? Israel was God's people as the name suggest!

What was the result of this census? “And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,” 

We should remember the Book of Job because our God does not ever change!

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 

The Book of Zechariah:

Zec 3:1  And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 

Satan is in reality an angel of the Lord who rebelled against the Lord and has become the adversary of God's creation, especially all mankind.

But Satan is still a tool that the Lord uses in the fulfillment of Scripture. Satan does not have free reign to hinder God's people but those opposed to the Lord can be used of Satan and there is nothing they can do about it until they repent and come to the Lord.

2Ti_2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Those who are caught up in the snares of the Devil do not have the ability to say no to him!

Satan is the very opposite of a guardian angel!

It was to Joab, the General of all the armies of Israel who was to conduct this census, which means David wanted to know how large an army he could raise if he went to war.

Joab knew this was not a good thing and Joab did not get a complete count.

Joab had seen what it means to have the Lord on your side in the many battles of Israel.

We already know that the size of David's army was irrelevant when David obeyed the commands of God!

Rom_8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

David's pride began to cause him problems!

When we think of ourselves as better than others it is always sinful!

Most of our politicians are like this today and this is the reason they cannot form a government for the people.

The little power we have given to our government has become a monster demanding more and more power when this was never the intention of our Constitution!

It is not the people who are deplorable, it is the politicians themselves!

David was a king, but David was not the best king to rule Israel.

That position is reserved for the Lord, who when He returns, will rule this world with a Rod of IRON which means by His Own Power!

There will be no rebellion against the Lord in those days!

*****1Ch 21:2  And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. 

The Lord is always displeased with our sin and He should be, but the sin of any national ruler is an even greater sin!

Rom_13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

We should know by now that even the greatest Christian can slip and fall and bring God's judgment upon them.

We are aware of God's forgiveness, but we must be aware of God's judgment because it will certainly come for disobedience.

We need to be praying for God's mercy, after we have been forgiven because we know He is also full of mercy because He cares for us!

It is easy to say how stupid King David was, but how many of us have sat down and counted our money just to see how much we have after our needs have been met.

It is unimportant after God has provided enough to meet our needs!

The size of David's army was never important! It was the fact that David was a man whose heart was with God.

It is more important that we know our Savior, who is Christ the Lord, than to put our faith in money or in other humans, or in anything else.

Israel was surrounded by its enemies and we would think that it was important for David to know the size of its army, but God's people cannot be defeated by any army if God is on or side.

We must never yield to any temptation by Satan!

We cannot follow the Word of God and yield to the Devil, these are two different paths!

Even Joab had now realized that the strength of David was in His God and not in the number of people of Israel.

2Sa 24:3  And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? 

Either we are going to allow the Lord to rule our lives, or we are going to give in to Satan and these are the only choices we have.

It is far better to allow the Lord to rule in our lives!

Joab could not change the mind of the king!

Joab did not do a complete count because he knew this thing was not important and the king was wrong.

We should understand that Satan has never had even one clever idea!

There is not one good thing in the heart of Satan!

*****1Ch 21:7  And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. 

We must understand that Israel has always been surrounded by nations who had greater armies so, there has been nothing greater than the survival of the Jews.

What we have seen throughout history is, that those neighbors of Israel that have been defeated, time after time, and there is only one answer for that and it is that Jehovah has always been on their side.

God did allow for the scattering of the Jews and God has seen fit to bring them back to their land.

In fact, one of the great prophecies of the Bible began May 14, 1948, when Israel again became a nation and were located upon the land that God had given to them.

Now the world can say what they will, but these things cannot be denied!

All those who want war with Jehovah God are foolish and it will only lead to their own death.

King David had forgotten these things himself.

It has never been about the size of Israel's army; it has always been about their faith in Jehovah God.

It is the same today and we should be extremely cautious in finding truth in any public opinion of the nation of Israel.

There is great danger in so-called righteous socialism because we would be in danger of losing our personal convictions in our relationship with our Holy God.

This is what is going on in America today, just as King David was about to fall into this trap in his day.

David had pride in the empire he thought he had built, when it was Jehovah God who had caused it to happen because even God will never go against His own written Word.

The Lord would not stand for it!

Yielding to temptation is never a good thing!

We hear our president tell us every day of the things he has done and his Bidenomics.

If Donald Trump has a fault, it is also in saying the things that he would do.

He needs to be saying the things that God is directing him to do!

It is too late for the demnocrats as they all have left the Word of God for Marxism.

The Republicans are bathing in the Washington Swamp and it will not wash off!

Pride and conceit leads to terrible evil and David realized his sin.

*****1Ch 21:8  And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 

Confession is the first step to a renewed relationship with the Lord!

The sin had been committed so; the chastisement of the Lord would still have to take place.

This is another thing we, as God's people should realize today.

When sin has been committed then a penalty must be paid!

It is foolish to ignore the Word of God and America will find this out just as King David did!

Just as God sent the Prophet Gad to David, God sends His Pastors and Preachers today.

Of course, God has not sent any of those who ignore the Word of God, those are of course Satan's children including the Pope when he goes against the Word of God.

There is no modern Gospel, there is only the Living Word of God that comes from the Living God!

The prophet Gad had been informing David even before David became king so, the Word of God does not change, ever!

God allowed David three choices:

1Ch 21:12  Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 

David knew that he had to depend upon the "Mercy" of God!

This what we have to do today because God's "Mercy" brings God's "Grace".

The Lord sent the plague as King David had chosen.

The Lord allowed David to see something that many who are left behind will see after the Church is called to Heaven.

1Ch 21:16  And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 

David begged for "mercy" to be shown to the people for he knew he was at fault and he only.

David knew he needed to make a sacrifice to the Lord and David was on the threshing-floor of Ornan.

In the time of David, the top of a large bare rock was used as a threshing-floor.

The sheaves were carried to this rock floor in carts and spread upon that rock and a yoke of oxen would be driven round over that crop of sheaves.

Sometimes these oxen were yoked to a sort of machine consisting of a heavy board with pieces of steel or rock fasten to the bottom of the board.

*****1Ch 21:21  And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 

1Ch 21:22  Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. 

No matter what is going on in our lives, we can ask God for His Mercy!

What did the Lord Jesus say about "mercy"?

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

If we show "mercy" then we can obtain the mercy of God!

We find if we read the Scriptures that "mercy" and "truth" are linked together most all the time.

A "mercy" that is constant and "faithful" will not deceive!

All the things we receive from the Lord are because of His "Mercy"!

What is the truth of God?

Pro 14:34  Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. 

America is under the influence of sin and immorality and it is these things that keep our nation from being a righteous nation and our nation may never be a righteous nation ever again!

One thing we had better do is to mend our divisiveness and get back to trusting in the Lord as we approach these end times.

We must change the leadership in the White House!

Corruption cannot be healed it must be removed!

Regardless of what the Muslim say, this threshing floor of Ornan is the exact same place where the Muslim built the Dome of the Rock, just to keep it from God’s people!

In fact, that whole piece of land that was bought from Ornan is the place called the Temple Mount today

Threshing floors were an integral part of agriculture in biblical times.

A threshing floor was a specially prepared outdoor surface where harvested grain crops were beaten or trampled to separate the grain kernels from the straw and chaff.

Threshing floors in the Bible served both practical and symbolic purposes related to harvesting, purification, judgment, and the covenant with God.

What did the Lord Jesus say?

Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 

Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 

After crops were harvested in the field, they would be brought to the threshing floor to be threshed. 

Threshing is the process of separating the edible grains of wheat and barley from the inedible chaff that surrounds them.

The laborers of the harvest were to bring the sheaves to the threshing floor.

This is a type of witnessing for the Lord. We can find many things in typology in those sheaves and the threshing floor.

Remember that old Gospel song, “We will come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves”  witnessing for the Lord and bringing those sheaves to God’s threshing floor, where we find that “Rock” threshing floor.

There are many false Churches today because some threshing floors use only hard dirt, or some even use a wooden floor and some modern churches today use a concrete slab, but if you do not go to the “Rock”, the Rock threshing floor you cannot be threshed to reveal that perfect wheat that is usable to God.

Those sheaves are useless unless they go to the threshing floor.

You can get a special blessing by doing a Bible study of the sheaves and the threshing floor!

By spreading the harvested stalks out on the threshing floor and beating them with sticks or having oxen walk over them to crush the stalks, the loosened grains would then be tossed into the air using winnowing fork or a fan, so that the lighter chaff would blow away in the wind, leaving only the heavier grain kernels behind.

Threshing floors needed to be durable enough to withstand the trampling hooves of oxen and the repeated beating of the grain stalks.

These “Rock” floors were often located on hills or other elevated sites that were exposed to more wind. The increased airflow helped blow away the chaff during winnowing.

One common way to thresh grain was simply beating it with a stick, rod, or threshing tool. 

The threshing tool was usually made of wood and was several feet long with one end flattened like a paddle.

We should remember Ruth in the Bible.

Rth 2:17  So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. 

Another threshing method, often done along with beating, was to have oxen walk over the stalks and crush the grain out with their hooves.

Deu 25:4  Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

Allowing the animals to eat some of the grain motivated them to crush it out efficiently with their heavy steps. 

Using animals was faster than beating the stalks by hand.

After threshing by beating and/or animal trampling, the farmer still had to separate the crushed kernels of grain from the discarded stalks and husks, known as chaff. 

They would toss the threshed material into the air so that the wind could blow away the lighter chaff while the heavier grain fell back down.

Rth 3:2  And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. 

We know Boaz as a type of Christ.

This work of winnowing corn was usually ended with a feast just as one day we will sit at the table of the Lord.

Threshing was essential to make grain edible for cooking and baking. 

Without removing the inedible stalks and husks, the grain would have little value as food. 

Any study of the Bible will reveal that God frequently uses imagery of threshing and winnowing to picture God separating the righteous from the wicked, God’s people from their enemies.

Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Isa 41:16  Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 

This is a picture of the “judgment” of God.

Jer 15:6  Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

Jer 15:7  And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

This is a picture of God’s judgment as the Lord’s fan will clean up the threshing floor after He has separated the righteous from the unrighteous.

In Bible times it required intense labor to thresh a harvest on the threshing floor.

We are to be diligent in the work of the Lord!

What was the importance of threshing God’s people. Removing the undesired, those that were not God’s children.

Gen 30:32  I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

Gen 30:33  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 

God will only accept those He can make perfect!

Threshing floors were important places!

King Solomon requested grains and oils in Babylon’s threshing floors for his inheritance. 

As key locations that embodied productive harvests, threshing floors also took on wider symbolic meanings around fruitfulness and reward.

Threshing floors also are used to indicate the judgment of God as we have seen. 

Jer 30:23  Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

Jer 30:24  The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

In the end God will gather all His enemies to His threshing floor which is Jerusalem!

Mic 4:11  Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

Mic 4:12  But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

Mic 4:13  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. 

God expressed commands David to build the altar at Araunah’s threshing floor on Mount Moriah specifically.

2Sa 24:18  And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 

This transaction solidified the site’s role as location of temples and sacrifices in Jerusalem for years, including the First and Second temples.

Later, David’s son Solomon would build the Lord’s temple on this same threshing floor, establishing this as a very holy site in Jerusalem.

2Ch 3:1  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

This shows us the importance of the threshing floor as a place of meeting between God and His people.

God appeared to Solomon and told him that he had chosen this place for the Temple and the Altar.

When we come to Church, here at Gethsemane, we are coming to the threshing floor God has chosen for us!

Today this world sits on God’s threshing floor and God will thresh this world one day soon.

In fact, God may take the enemies of His people back to the threshing floor of Ornan!

The study of the threshing floor and the separation of the wheat from the chaff is a great study for all of us.

*****1Ch 21:23  And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. 

1Ch 21:24  And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: "for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost". 

David, hearing that so many thousands of the people were being fatally stricken by the plague, David humbled himself before the Lord.

David had been given three choices to make concerning the Census he had taken:

1Ch 21:12  Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

The parallel chapter in 2 Samuel says this:

2Sa 24:13  So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

And David's choice was:

2Sa 24:14  And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. 

Most every Christian would choose the same as David!

“They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and humble their souls in his sight, saying, We will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men: for as is his majesty, so is his mercy.”

The Scriptures say that David actually saw the angel doing all this destruction:

2Sa 24:17  And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. 

David changed his mind, but his greatest need was for him to offer a sacrifice for that sin of pride, and God commanded him to build an altar and to build this altar upon the land where this plague had been stopped.

This is why King David bought this land and this is why the Muslim have no claim to this piece of land.

The place of the Dome of the Rock is a place where God commanded David to build this altar.

Notice David refused for these things to be given to him and he also refused for Ornan to give him a discount for these things, David asked for the full price to be paid for these things!

In reality, this in typology means, we will offer up our sins to the Rock who is the Lord Jesus Christ, all sin not clinging to those pet sins we try to hold on to.

Deu 32:3  Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 

Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

2Sa 23:2  The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. 

2Sa 23:3  The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 

A Psalm of David:

Psa 18:2  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 

Psa 18:3  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 

So David bought all the land from Ornan and built an altar to the Lord and later King Solomon built the Temple, called the Temple of Solomon, but it was a House of Prayer because King David had prayed to God to stop the plague that was killing so many of the Jews.

Satan is that plague that needs to be stopped today!

*****1Ch 21:25  So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 

1Ch 21:26  And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 

1Ch 21:27  And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 

God accepted the atoning sacrifice offered by David, the Lord forgave David of his sins and God answered the prayer of David.

The Lord stopped His hand of chastisement at this place of the Rock.

We can see that in typology, we know this Rock floor of Ornan's threshing floor represents the true Rock of Grace, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As the Jews return to know the truth of Jesus Christ, they will find a way to rebuild the House of Prayer that once stood on that site and the Muslim will have no say in the matter.

Another thing we had better remember, we must never offer to God some sacrifice that did cost us nothing.

If there is no cost, there is no real sacrifice!

Remember the Jews had to offer their best animals who had no blemishes at all.

King David used this place as his place of worship the remainder of his days out of his "Fear of God".

1Ch 21:28  At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. 

1Ch 21:29  For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. 

1Ch 21:30  But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD. 

Amen