FINDING THE PLAN OF SALVATION - Part II

KEY VERSES: THE PLAN OF SALVATION

And of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. (1 Chron 28:5-7)

  KEY VERSES I: Like David, God has many sons. David chose one specific son – Solomon. His name means “peaceful!” His reign was a time of growth and peace. During Solomon’s reign, God rested. Solomon’s reign is symbolic of the Millennial Reign of Christ, and represents the Sabbath, or seventh “day.” Why was Solomon picked rather than the others? Because God has foreknowledge; He knew that Solomon would serve his/His Purpose.

  Solomon was chosen, not really to be king, but to build for God a “house.” The key word is chosen. Paul said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Solomon was chosen because he had a purpose. God saw that he was the one to build a “house” for Him.

As Solomon was chosen to build for God a house, Christians are chosen to build for God a Church, according to scripture: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God” (Rev 3:12a). Each Christian is a pillar in the House, not the one that Solomon built, but the House that God built.

  Solomon was chosen to be God’s son, and He would be Solomon’s Father. When sinners become Christians, they are emancipated from their father, the Devil (John 8:44), and are adopted by God (Ephes 4:1-6). Like Solomon, Christians are predestined to be adopted in a sense that God knows who will be His sons and who will not be. Solomon would be; the others would not be.  With God’s foreknowledge, He does not need to wait around to see, but they are ordained before the foundation of the world (Ephes 1:4).

  It is to be noted that God knew Solomon would be the right person to build His House, and that was Solomon’s purpose. God knew that David and Bathsheba would sin, and used their sin to His advantage. Would God make David sin for that purpose? No… Satan is the author of sin, and God just knew it in advance.

  The same applies to Christians. All are predestined (John 3:16) but few respond. God knew that Solomon would respond and chose him. God knows who of us sinners will respond, and calls us. Sinners have a choice in responding or not. However, the Lord knows our hearts, and is not confined by time. He knows it in advance!

  Christians are needed to build the invisible Church; we are pillars for the “roof.” Sons uphold fathers, and Christian sons uphold the Father. What makes a “pillar?” It is, “You who love the Lord and hate evil.” (Psalm 97:10a).  If evil is not hated, the pillar collapses and “the roof” falls. Psalm 97 says, “He (God) preserves the souls the saints,” and “saints” are those who hate evil!

Thus “preservation of the saints” is dependent on loving God and hating evil.  Those who do not love God and hate evil are weak pillars in the Church and are bound to fail. I suppose that pillars of a strong Church depends on its foundation: “And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock” (Exod 33:21), and if not, then there may be a collapse. The Rock on which the pillar stands is imperative in upholding the Roof: “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” (Luke 6:48).

  Solomon could have built God’s House on sinking sand, but he built it on the Solid Rock of the threshing floor stone, which by the way, is still extant beneath the Dome of the Rock! For now, Solomon’s Temple is long gone, but it was replaced by the second and Herod’s Temple, all on the same rock! Then, along came Jesus, who replaced the Temple and He is the Foundation Stone of the Church. Is that coincidence that Jesus is the Foundation Stone of the Church and Solomon built God’s House on The Foundation Stone? I don’t think so!

  Solomon built on the Rock of The Foundation Stone for an everlasting church building. Satan tore it down many times, but the foundation remains. Jesus is now the Rock of our salvation, and the Church is everlasting.

  When God provided David direction for building for Him a House, He was also providing direction for building for God a Church. God provided the foundation, then needed pillars. Cedars would not suffice; He wanted lively stones according to scripture: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:5a). God ordained the material for His House, and His Church.

  Solomon finished the House, but the Church was not complete until apostolic times:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. (Ephes 2:19-21)

  It wasn’t really The Foundation Stone of Ornan’s threshing floor; it was the prophets and apostles! Solomon only perceived that the House was completed. It was soon destroyed, but the Church lasts forever!

  The Foundation Stone is a datum. So is a cornerstone. The foundation of the House that Solomon built was the datum. It was The Foundation Stone. And Jesus was the Cornerstone Datum on which the Church was built!

  Catholics believe that Peter was the rock on which the Church was built (Mat 6:18). Surprise…   He was! He was one of the apostles who were the foundation, but we must not forget that Jesus was the Datum! Ironically, it is believed that Peter is buried beneath Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. God seems to like puzzles and has a sense of humor as well.

KEY VERSES II: And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it. (1 Chron 28:9-10)

  To build the House for God, Solomon was to know God, serve God with a perfect heart and a willing mind. “Knowing God” is communing with Him pertaining to all things (2 Cor 6:4). Solomon, in his wisdom, turned to God in building His Temple. Christians must know God and turn to Him in all things!

  “A perfect heart and a willing mind” are a pair. The flesh is imperfect and weak, but the spirit is willing (Mat 26:41). Our flesh most often fails us, but God selected Solomon because he was willing to build God’s House to His plans. Solomon’s flesh failed him often, but in the end, his spirit did not (Book of Ecclesiastes).

  As pillars of the Church and Christians, although we are imperfect in matters of the flesh, our souls must be willing. Of course, the mind referees the spirit and flesh. Christians must control their minds! Solomon had to focus on God’s Will to build the Temple, and we must focus on God to be His Temple, as is written, “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?” (1 Cor 6:19).

  “Holy Ghost” refers to Jesus’s Ghost which he gave up when he died. Jesus’s glorified flesh resides in Heaven in God’s House, but his Ghost lives in our “house.” Sin cannot co-dwell with righteousness. We are unable to evict Satan’s law of sin because of our flesh, but the flesh must be willing to evict the evil.

  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son to God. God did not require the sacrifice when He saw Abraham’s willingness. That was accounted to him as righteousness. (Rom 4:9). We are to be willing to sacrifice ourselves as Abraham did and as Solomon was willing to do! “Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). Solomon was willing to do that to build God’s House and we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves to be God’s and the pillars of the Church!

  How is the sacrifice made? Not by circumcision of the flesh, but the heart. (Rom 2:29). Sacrifices were made yearly (Lev 16:34) in Solomon’s Temple, but Jesus made the sacrifice for our Temple once and for all (Heb 10:10). Then, our “reasonable service” is to give our flesh to Him one time. That is rebirth, and all “must be,” to be saved (John 3:7).

  King Solomon diminished himself and elevated God by building for Him a house. He served God although he was a king. However, Jesus is King of kings! Solomon served the King as king, and as mere servants, we too must be willing to serve Him!

  Warning: Solomon was told: “If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.” That is our warning as well. God, of course, calls everyone, but we must be willing to be found. Solomon’s mind was occupied on God and building for Him a House. We must be willing to be a “pillar,” and what do pillars do? Support a load.

  “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mat 6:24). Implied therein, is that our service is burdensome. That cross-carrying is your reasonable service. That cross-carrying makes you the “pillar” to God’s House as a Christian!

KEY VERSES III: All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.

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. (1 Chron 28:19-20)

  Solomon was not on his own. God was with him until His House was built. The building took only a few years, but God’s House was not finished until it was full and utilized for His service. Likewise, the Church is not finished until everyone has heard the Word and made their decision: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Mat 24:14).

  The Church will be complete when everyone has had the chance to get aboard God’s “Ark.” Yes, Noah’s Ark represented God’s House and the Church. Somewhere the Ark still exists, and likewise, the Church will exist until the world either accepts or rejects Jesus. Like the Ark, the Temple had a straight gate and a narrow way, as do we who endeavor to enter the Church (Mat 7:12-14).

  Not only that, but cherubim guard the gate to the Church as they did to God’s seat on the Ark of the Covenant. The narrow gate for the Temple was Jesus, and it still is! His Doctrine is the Straight Gate into the Church, and the path to the Church is Jesus. Cherubim still guard the Church, and the only password to enter-in is “Jesus” for he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” (John 14:6).

  The Way to build God’s House would not be easy: “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.” Like Solomon, Christians must endure to the end (Mat 10:22). If Solomon had given up, God’s House would not have been completed. If we give up, one pillar is missing from the Church!

Solomon had to be strong. We have it easier. (Mat 11:30). It is not cumbersome to build God’s temple within us, but Solomon had to do the construction whereas with us, God does it all!

Note: This is getting lengthy. To be continued tomorrow.