Teaching Notes

TH1056: I CHRONICLES

As we come to the last two chapters of I Chronicles we are also coming to the end of David's life. David was called a man after God's own heart, not perfect, but his desire was to serve the Lord. And in his life we saw him as a shepherd boy, a giant killer, a warrior, the sweet psalmist of Israel, an administrator, and a king. And now David is advanced in years and he is going to turn the kingdom over to his son Solomon, the next king in Israel and the one who will build the temple or house for God.

I CHRONICLES 28

VERSES 1-4

1. As David sees his life coming to an end, he calls for the leadership to gather around so that he can encourage them to support and assist Solomon, their new king, in the work that was to be done.

2. Now this is important, here we see God chose David, not because David deserved it, but out of God's sovereignty and grace. All of us can only stand in that fact, and not because we are so good and worthy to receive God's blessings. You see, the rest of our life is like a construction project in which God is shaping us into the men and women He wants us to be. And that project will be completed right on time, when we go home to be with the Lord. Now some feel that the building project is completed or there is just a few odds and ends to finish up on. Bill Bright, with Campus Crusade for Christ and signer of the document uniting Catholics and Evangelicals together in the work of God, feels he has sin under control. Two years ago he took a 40-day fast and afterwards this is what God showed him. "Since I learned how to breath spiritually many years ago, I frankly do not have that much to confess." What about pride? Martin Luther warned many years ago about constantly "Striving after a righteousness so great that you no longer appear as a sinner in your own eyes." That is a dangerous place to be.

3. Also, if God took everything away from you except your salvation, could you still praise Him? Far to often we complain about what we don't have instead of thanking God that he has saved us. Do you need anything more than Jesus? I don't think so. The blessings He does give us beyond salvation go beyond what we need. David was thankful that God had chose him, and we should also be thankful in that regard.

VERSE 5

1. David had some 10 sons, but out of those 10 sons God chose Solomon to be the next king over Israel.

VERSES 6-8

1. As Joshua, and Moses before him, David is giving his farewell address to the people, encouraging them to follow after the Lord. And in doing so they would be blessed and remain in the land. But if they turn from the Lord they will be cursed and they will be removed from the land.

2. Remember that the nation was living in prosperity and it was only going to get better in Solomon's reign. What happens during these times is that people turn from God, they no longer depend on Him to supply their needs, for they have an abundance already. And David is warning them to walk after the Lord and not be self-seeking or dependent upon anything but Him.

3. Also, we are not living just for ourselves but to pass those blessings on to our children and grandchildren. In this country our focus is self, to get all that we can, and in doing so we are robbing our children and our grandchildren of the blessings. We have a debt that is out of control, both personal and as a country. We have placed our children in the hands of others to raise them so we can climb the corporate ladder. And the list goes on. David is warning Solomon not to foster this selfish attitude in the hearts of the people, for it will destroy them.

VERSE 9

1. David's instructions to Solomon are simple. He tells his son not only to know the Lord, but to serve Him with all your heart, be focused on Him. Make a conscious decision to do these things and you will find true joy. The tragedy is that it took Solomon his whole life to figure out that what his dad said, was true. Solomon thought he would find joy in building projects, books, studies, material possessions, entertainment, but none of these brought him joy. Then, at the end of his life, this is the conclusion he came to: "...Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13. We too have the same information as Solomon, may we learn from his mistakes and be obedient to the Lord's command, for that is where true joy is found. KNOW THE LORD AND SERVE HIM!

2. Another important point we see here is related to this pattern we see in peoples live today. They are running all over the place, from one church to another, from one program to another trying to find God, trying to regain that joy they once had. We are told that if you seek after God, He will be found by you, He is not hiding from you. The problem we see is that people are trying to approach or find God through programs or activities. But if you feel distant from God and are trying to restore that relationship you once had with Him, listen to what James 4:8 has to say. We read "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Sin can break that fellowship you had with God. And James is telling us to come before Him and repent, and draw near to Him, not running all over the place to try and find Him. You see, you have to want to draw near to Him, and understand this, He wants to draw near to you! Don't let sin hinder or break that fellowship with God, for if you do, that joy will be gone, His presence will no longer be felt, and then instead of running to find Him, fall to your knees and talk with Him, He is listening.

VERSE 10

1. Here we see that controversial subject of the sovereignty of God and man's free will. These two explosive and potentially divisive doctrines came to be formed into two groups back in the 1500's. Followers of John Calvin, known as Calvinism, believe that God has chosen you, sustains you, and you don't have any choice in the matter. In extreme views they don't even believe in witnessing for if God has chosen you, He will save you. I saw this view with a group of Plymouth Brethren, and it is extreme. Thus, God's atonement is limited for only those whom He has chosen, but the Bible says that he died so that all may be saved, but not all receive it!

The other view is that of Jacob Hermann, best known by the Latin form of his last name, Arminius, from which we get the Arminianism view. This view is focused totally on man's responsibility. If you stop living the holy life, you lost your salvation. It is all on your shoulders!

Now who is right? Neither, for I believe that both views are off balance. The Bible teaches that it is 100% God and 100% man, not 50-50. And I do understand that it is difficult to reconcile this in our finite minds, but that is what God's word says. In Joshua 24:15 we read "... choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Sounds like man's free will to chose who he wants to serve. But then in John 15:16 we read "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." And here it sounds like the sovereignty of God, and it is. These both are parallel truths that don't' intersect or meet. They both are 100% true.

The best explanation I have heard regarding this issue is by Ironside. He said to imagine walking down a long corridor with many doors on either side. As you come to this one door it says "whoever wills may enter." So you enter through this door and inside the room you see a huge banquet hall with a table that seems to extend forever. On this table that is set for a banquet you see name tags by each plate. And one of the name tags has your name on it. As you turn towards the door, which is now closing, you see these words written on the inside of that door, "predestined before the foundations of the world." You see, you entered by your own free will, but as you entered you then realized that this was all predestined!

2. Also, out of this verse, Solomon is called to go and build the temple. In the New Testament our bodies are called the temple of God in which the Holy Spirit dwells in. What does your temple look like? Is it a slum, filled with all kinds of filth and garbage? Notice what Peter calls for us to do in I Peter 1:13-16. He says "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" We should strive to live after the things of God, to be transformed into His image. Obviously this can only be done by the grace of God working in our lives as we submit to the Holy Spirit's direction. The thing is we must be willing or we can quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can be conformed to the former lusts instead of being transformed by God. Make your temple a place in which God will feel comfortable to dwell in!

VERSES 11-12

1. This verse corresponds to what we were just saying. God gave David the blueprints for the temple and he has given us the blueprints for our temple, our lives, how our temple should be built. That blueprint is the word of God - if we know it our temple will be magnificent, if we don't it will be like a slum!

2. Also, God has given us the blueprint for the church, and it is simple. It is found in Acts 2:42 and 47, and it says "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers...And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

VERSE 13

1. God also gave David the blueprint of what all the people were to do - their ministry. He has done the same for us, and it is found in His word. I Timothy chapter 3 tells us that the leadership within the church was simple, elders and deacons.

VERSES 14-19

1. Now God did not take control of David and force him t draw up these plans. What we see here is a good definition of inspiration. David was writing, and he was in control, but God was inspiring him to pen the words and the blueprints for the temple. We see this in the New Testament as Peter tells us in II Peter 1:20-21, "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." God did not change their writing styles but used these men, inspired them, to pen the words of God, and sometimes they did not even understand what they were writing. Thus, if these are the words of God we are holding in our hands, then we can't make our own interpretation of them, for they have a specific message, a specific meaning. Nor did man sit down to write these words by his own will, these are not the words of man, but of God written through man.

VERSE 20

1. Once again David is encouraging his son to continue on with the work of God, Don't give up, because God is with you, He is your strength. You will complete the work He has called you to do. And understand this, God does not remove us from ministry, from the work, we do that ourselves. We do it by falling into sin, or not going through the door of opportunity, or by not walking with Him. God wants to use us!

VERSE 21

1. Not only is God with us, but God has placed others by our side to assist us in the work of ministry. I am totally blessed here at Calvary because well over 90% of the people that come here are involved in some ministry here. That is unbelievable, that is the Lord! God has given me people who are ministering in the body, and no one is more or less important in the work they are doing, all God asks is that you do it faithfully and with the right motives.

I CHRONICLES 29

VERSES 1-3

1. David is saying that he not only put all the treasures he obtained from his military victories, the spoils of those battles, into the house of the Lord, but out of his own resources, his own personal treasuries, he gave to the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." You see, whoever or whatever you worship, you will serve. David loved the Lord and he gave freely to the work of the Lord.

VERSES 4-5

1. David's gift to the Lord is hard to imagine. He gave 3,000 talents of gold or some 110 tons. And 7,000 talents of silver or some 260 tons. This is above and beyond what he gave from the spoils of his military victories. Now you can understand why Solomon's temple was so magnificent.

2. David, as king, was setting an example and saying "I am not asking you to do or give anything that I have not done. Who is going to follow after my example?" Here at Calvary we don't have pledge drives, we don't hound people for money, we don't take an offering, but we receive one. And I don't believe that tithing is a New Testament principle. It was part of the law from the Old Testament, and the reality is that it was more than 10%, more around 21 or 22%. Thus, anything above that was an offering to the Lord. And this was for the free man, and we are not free, for the Bible tells us we are bondslaves to Christ. That means that we don't own anything, it all belongs to our master, our Lord! Everything is God's. What we must do is ask the Lord how much He wants us to keep and how much He wants us to give to Him. And if you are under an obligation to give, do you always feel joyful about it? I doubt it. I bet there are times when things are tight and you become frustrated about giving 10% or whatever you have pledged. Paul tells us the way we should give in II Corinthians 9:6-7. He says "...He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." God wants us to give cheerfully or out of a hilarious heart. It should be a joy to give to the Lord, and understand this, God is not broke, nor has He ever been broke, nor will He ever be broke.

We have all heard that old motto, "give till it hurts!" That is an insult to God and it is not His motto. If you can't give out of joy, then don't give. And that speaks not only of our money, but our time also.

VERSE 6

1. The people followed after David and gave from a willing heart. But if the leaders are carnal or selfish, so too will be the people. My heart breaks when I hear of a six year old boy who innocently kissed a little girl and they slapped him with a sexual harassment charge. But then a grown man, a baseball player, can spit in the face of an umpire and he is told basically, "bad boy!" Something is wrong with the leadership of this country, and as the leaders go, so do the people.

VERSES 7-9

1. 5,000 talents of gold = 190 tons. 10,000 darics of gold = 185 pounds. 10,000 talents of silver = 375 tons. 18,000 talents of bronze = 675 tons. 100,000 talents of iron = 3,750 tons. Plus precious stones. When we add I Chronicles 22:14, 29:4, 7 together we come up with more than 46,000 tons or 93.22 million pounds of gold, silver and bronze, not including some of the other metals, stones and lumber.

2. When people give willingly there is great rejoicing for there is no pressure to give. As I said, we don't take an offering here, we receive it from you.

VERSES 10-11

1. How right David is, everything belongs to the Lord. Notice what Asaph says in Psalm 50:10-15. He says "For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." Again, all is God's, He owns everything. And He does not need us, nor or gifts, but we need Him! Give back to Him out of a joyful heart.

VERSES 12-14

1. This is an interesting truth. God blesses us and then He gives us the privilege of giving back to Him with that which is already His. Think about it this way. Remember when your children were small and your birthday or holiday would come up, you would give them some money and they would go t the store to buy you a gift. And what joy they had buying and giving it to you. And all they were doing was giving back to you that which was already yours, and that is what the Father does with us, and it does bring us great joy in giving back to Him.

VERSE 15

1. David's point is this, without God there is no hope. David says in Psalm 39:7 "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." You see, our hope is not in this world nor the things in this world, not even this life, but it is only found in the Lord.

VERSES 16-17

1. You can't fool God, He knows your heart. And David loved the Lord, he never went after idols. He was truly a lover of God. Yes David had a problem with his flesh, but his desire was to serve the Lord.

VERSE 18

1. What a great day it was, the people were freely giving to the Lord, there was great joy, and David is asking the Lord to burn this into the hearts of the people so that they would never forget it. Tragically, during the reign of Solomon, during a time of peace and prosperity, there hearts did turn and they forgot all that God had done, and they drifted from Him.

VERSES 19-20

1. They gave honor to God by laying face down on the ground with their arms extended- a sign of adoration.

VERSES 21-22

1. Solomon is now officially king in Israel.

2. These sacrifices were like a giant barbecue, only the sin offering was not to be eaten. What a celebration was going on.

VERSES 23-30

1. The book of I Chronicles closes with the death of king David and his son Solomon now on the throne. And God blessed Solomon tremendously, and the nation was also blessed. But again, with all the wisdom Solomon had, it took him his whole life to figure out that true joy is only found in the Lord.

2. It says of David that he died being "full of days" and that is how I want to die. Not necessarily going to be with the Lord at the age of 80 or 90, but that my work has been completed and now it is time to go home, my days are fulfilled.