2 Chronicles Overview Part 4 - Committing the Whole Heart For The Temple That Is Built
Format up our conditions
Are you willing to format? Prepare your heart
Christian Living = building temple + preparing the heart to expand from it
66 Books of bible = Jesus Christ -> Life ideology = building the temple = format
1 Chronicles Overview
1. Genealogy of Promise - chosen
2. United the kingdom - told to
3. Safe-kept the Ark of Covenant in the centre - love to God
4. Overcame all enemies - over time
5. Built the temple (prepare) - authority for unity
2 Chronicles Overview
1. Solomon who inherit David (build the temple) <1-9>
1) Wisdom
* 1000 sacrifices vs "laziness"
2) Format the (bits and pieces of) wisdom received (36 lessons): Fixed perspective
3) Sacrifice offerings (prayer)
Lifestyle developed
4) Evidences (submission) * 4 gospelization
Moved so things not taken lightly
5) Testimony (Bless all nations)
=>
Articles of gold -> Temple as root and foundation -> format living, interpersonal -> perfect will -> God-driven -> Bless all nations
Has the Lord chosen this temple? If so, just check again the contradictions
1) Mystery of Born Again: most blessedly loved heart
God is never cold to us -> bring most blessed loved heart to come to Him
2) Promise of 4 gospelization (make covenant) => Safe-keep covenant in the centre
Irresistible grace -> decision to make covenant -> all evidences "activated"
3) The heart of relying on the Holy Spirit
Fixed perspective = about the heart
Motives tires us, kills everything in the Most Holy Place
4) Converse with God (Perfect will)
Loved, test and approve, supplications/intercessions, cleanse, receive fulfillments
5) Walk with God (Submission)
Prepare prayer topics - there are many
6) Evidences must come
Blood to shed and be drained, continue -> character changed, evidences
Difference: eyes
7) Evangelism (Emmanuel)
By evidences
2. 20 kings <10-36:21>
3. Restore <36:22,23>
Format up our conditions
This week has been a difficult one for me as I struggled a lot in my very heart. I know that Satan attacked me from last Sunday. There are a lot of complaints in my heart: I am so upright in loving God and loving men, but why did unfair things happen to me? I thought a lot in all these. I prayed this week and wanted to understand what was going on. Is the Lord giving me the whole universe, the 4 gospelizations? Why is it that we cannot stand up many times? I asked the Lord to give me the process that is experienced by many brothers and sisters, "We wait and wait but it never comes." The Lord has already loved us, but the important thing is whether we have the heart to discover the love. Then the Lord will show us His love. Though our conditions are the same, which of my conditions will God not work? More accurately, no matter what conditions the Lord gives us, are we willing to format that up to the Lord for the reason of God? I went jogging with a heart of complaint. Even though I went on praying, unlucky things really happened such that my car received a summon ticket in those few minutes of jogging. "Lord, why is it that you give us this summon when I come to You in prayers?"
Are you willing to format? Prepare your heart
Actually the Lord has already said. But do we have the heart to seek Him? If we do not have the heart, how can we receive? Let us ask ourselves, "Do we love the Lord?" "When we see the pastor, brothers and sisters, are we filled with gladness?" Or do we have hatred in our hearts? We have wrong emotions because we have not formatted our hearts. Therefore, we cannot control our emotions from running about. Man is like grass. Therefore, if we do not have a holy temple, we will run about. When our heart is hurt, we will definitely be in sorrows. However, if we have the temple but do not prepare our heart to think and judge by the temple, we will just do as we wish.
Christian Living = building temple + preparing the heart to expand from it
Christian living is just these two things: building the temple of the Lord and preparing the heart to think and judge from it. Today, I am emphasizing on the "heart". Abraham was a very weak person, but when he worshipped God, he put everything down and sacrificed. What is so great about Solomon? But he was so cut up in his heart that he sacrificed 1000 burnt offerings. The Lord said, "If my people seek Me wholeheartedly, I will open My ears and heal them." The word of the Lord says, "Know me, and seek Me with all your heart, soul and strength." It is okay if we are weak, but we got to have the heart.
66 Books of the Bible
Not only 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, the whole bible is testifying Christ. The lifetime goal of Christians is to know Christ, and live their lives for Christ.
Jesus Christ -> Life ideology = building the temple = format
We must build the life ideology. This is the meaning of the bible testifying Jesus Christ. This is because man is born in chaos. We are born not knowing who our Father is, not knowing who accuses us day and night, not knowing Who our help is. Therefore, we walk our own ways. The people of the world just love, do and chase after the things they desire. This is called the carnal desires. In the past, I was like this. I do not even know that I was filled with worldly desires. Building the temple is the most important. We must find the Lord's only channel. This avenue is that the Lord is telling His people to build His temple.
Therefore, the Lord calls Jesus Christ to become the seed of the woman. The whole theme of Chronicles is on building the temple. After today's meeting where we have heard about building the temple, if we just remain in our sufferings and be in this situation, the Lord will discipline us. However, if we go back knowing that our lives are so lustful and so flirtatious, but we desire so much to build the temple rather than to have our problems resolved, the Lord will anoint us from this day forth.
<1,2 Kings>
<1, 2 Chronicles>
Ezra wrote Chronicles to tell the Israelites that if they restored the Lord, the temple they built could be greater than the temple David and Solomon built. From the beginning of the year till now, where we are approaching year end , do not continue to grumble that you arenot able to see the Lord. There is GodÕs voice emphasizing to you. Therefore, do not remain in sorrows.
1 Chronicles Overview
1. Genealogy of Promise
This means that no matter whom and what circumstances I faced, I am chosen by God.
2. United the kingdom
Because I have received this genealogy and have assurance in that, we will be asked to unite the kingdom. We must be told by people to build the kingdom.
3. Safe-kept the Ark of Covenant in the centre
Did David love to be a king? He would rather serve the Lord in the temple. Therefore God raised him up. Do we place the Ark of the Covenant in the centre of our families?
If we do not have this in the centre, we will not think aright.
4. Overcame all enemies
When we safe-keep the Ark of the Covenant in the centre for some time, our enemies will all be won over.
5. Built the temple (prepare)
Solomon only built the temple structure. David set the commands, hierarchy, glory of the temple and the kingship. David fixed the kingdomÕs authoritative system. David did not do this for himself, but he did this so that the people of God could understand the unity of economy, military and politics. How can there be many voices in the church? God will just vomit such a church out. I love my family and I hold on to the authority God has given me with my life. Some people say that our church is like the Singapore government. However, I tell you, the church shall be more "government" than the Singapore government. Which small group is the most blessed? How can there be many voices in the small group? A sister told me that when I scold on the pulpit, she hears the Lord scolding. She is really a blessed sister. We must let the Lord lead us directly. If there are things that are wrong, then it is easy to see straightaway. Everyone must acknowledge and see the leader's prayers and shepherding. No one prays and shepherds for the church more than me. But when the word is to be preached, the word of the Lord must be known. I tell my children that they cannot struggle when I tell them to do as I say. One word from me and they actually listen. However, after that, we become the best of friends. This is possible.
2 Chronicles Overview
1. Solomon who inherited David (built the temple) <1-9>
2. 20 kings <10-36:21>
3. Restore <36:22,23>
The most important is point number one.
1. Solomon who inherited David (built the temple) <1-9>
1) Wisdom
The things we hear and do now are the wisdom of God. The Wisdom of Solomon is not for us to be greedy after and admire only.
* 1000 sacrifices
It tells us that God will give wisdom to those who hunger so much for it. Wisdom knocks at our door every day, and God gives us wisdom even in our sufferings. Do we desire it? How do we manage our families, our health, and our career paths? Actually there is no need for us to attend seminars of marriage, health, etc. However, in this era, many Christians attend such things because they do not hear it in their church. The church must be able to teach every single thing. Our Minister Mentor has his own views on health, on gays, on teaching children, etc. His understanding does not come from the Lord, but from science, or the science of New Age. Look, we Christians know the Lord, yet many saints do not have wisdom. The reason why we are not blessed is because we are lazy. There is wisdom in newspapers if we just read it.
2) Format the (bits and pieces of) wisdom received (36 lessons): Fixed perspective
It is not that we have no wisdom. We hear it every day, but we do not have the heart. If we do not format, our wisdom will just be lying around in pieces here and there. There is no such thing as "roughly" understand and believe. We must definitely format, or we will never be able to handle problems that come to us. Solomon formatted wisdom so that he could manage 1000 wives, and all peoples come to him.
Therefore, I encourage you to format up by the 36 lessons. Then all peoples will come to you. If you bring 1000 sacrifices to come and hear, your belief and faith will increase. If you hear only 50% but bring 1000 sacrifices so that you are so cut up in your hearts that says, "This IS the answer" and "This IS the only way for me", then you are indeed blessed. David believed and therefore, he could win over Goliath.
If we do not have 1000 sacrifices, but we ask for wisdom, God may give it to us a few times. After some time, we will not receive anything. If we format clearly, the conviction of the Holy Spirit will be ever clearer. I always format up my time in the weekdays, eat and exercise so that I can live a peaceful lifestyle. There is surely an after-effect. When we fail a few times, we will know. We can just come to the Lord and learn how to preserve the heart and mind. If we talk in a way that causes people to dislike us, we will know a few times later and we can learn. We will know how to adjust and balance. I see that you are getting better when I confirm for the 1 year of discipleship training that some of you come.
This format is the fixed perspective. When we fix it out, our lives will be different. For example, when we come for meetings, we come early and prepare. This is definitely different from coming to meetings in anxiety.
3) Sacrifice offerings (prayer)
Remember that Solomon prayed that God would listen to Israel when they call upon the Lord by the temple? This is the meaning. Without the temple, we will easily go into mysticism, legalism and humanism. If there is no temple, we cannot pray easily. What is the purpose and method of the Lord? If we format, we will be able to see easily. Sometimes when I counsel brothers and sisters, I am surprised that there is no foundation in them. Their difficulties come from their own bias and stereotypes. If you know that such a road comes from yourself, and you continue to think in this way, it will become worse. This week, my struggles are all because I think and pray starting from the unfairness I received. Therefore there was no way I could receive freedom. The same thing happens to our bodies. Other than the thorn in the flesh, we will definitely be healthy. The Lord says that if we are joyful, sickness will go away. God will only use sickness to tell us to pray. Our wisdom is not about science. No matter how healthy a person is, will eventually leave the world. Therefore, roughly know, and then eat, exercise and sleep.
4) Evidences (submission) * 4 gospelization
Evidences must definitely come then. They do not come because there is something the Lord wants you to renew. Another reason is that you cannot see the timetable of evidences coming to you.
When you sing hymns, do not take it lightly. The Lord gives me the four gospelizations. My life is the greatest. The family I manage and the place I am going to is the best. Do we have such convictions? Some people have eyes to see this. Some people can see everything being accomplished when 4 gospelization is preached. In the current conditions that are given to you now, the long-term plan can be seen. When we meet someone, we just want to bless him greatly. For some, when they meet others, hatred and frustrations come immediately. I do not understand why my wife and many sisters call each other, "hey, woman". Treating each other with dignity comes from understanding the four gospelization. The doors of evangelism come this way.
We must drive out demons today. Do not say that there are no evidences. Evidences are all in front of us.
5) Testimony (Bless all nations)
The Queen of the South should be someone quite important at that time. However, she was still a barbarian. When she saw the Solomon's splendor, she said, "How happy your men must be!" We should become like this. When we have the heart to want to bless all nations, how can doors of evangelism not come?
=>
Articles of gold -> Temple as root and foundation -> format living, interpersonal -> perfect will -> God-driven -> Bless all nations
How can the wisdom of the Lord, who holds the universe together, not come? The "treasures" in the temple represents the wisdom. Format the wisdom received. After being rooted and founded by this temple, you will see the Lord's perfect will coming right out of it.
When the preacher is speaking earnestly, we must really listen clearly. If we cannot hear well, the Lord may instruct us the next time we go back. I dislike it most when the meeting is ritualistic. I can see that the brothers and sisters have earnest hearts that are 10 times better than last year. However, I know there are some great potential that is still missing in you now. This is where I dwell on building the temple. Without this, how can we have heart to pray?
Passage Reading
2Ch. 7:11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace,
2Ch. 7:12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: ÒI have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
2Ch. 7:13 ÒWhen I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
2Ch. 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2Ch. 7:15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
2Ch. 7:16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
The Lord says that He has chosen this temple, and His eyes and concern are all on this temple. Therefore, if we have grasped the correct way to ask for forgiveness, then our hearts will be freed. Some people ask again and again. This is because they have never turned to God. They must see where they have been disobeying. It is not about receiving tomorrow, but what God gives is an absolute solution. When we do correctly, God will definitely reply us. Sometimes, when I ask the Lord why I cannot receive an answer. But I said to myself, "Never mind, let me check the temple again." Then I discover that God is not wrong and where the gap is.
1) Mystery of Born Again: most blessedly loved heart
Born again is everything. If we just only know about "we must receive blessings and must be blessed no matter what", we cannot start to build at all. God does not love you because you believed or do certain things. It is because you are loved by God that you can believe. People are born in chaos, therefore they do not know about this. My children are loved because they are my children. Because I am loved by God, I will be in sufferings if I do not do things by the 4 gospelization and do not pray for God's sheep. Our life is like this. Sometimes I feel troubled when I hear some news of brothers and sisters. This is because there are some debts between God and myself that is unsolved. But when I rethink, I discover that I could think this way because I am blessed. When I bless some brother or sister, I see how satisfied my life is. Have you confirmed your life this way? My value and my dignity come when I have confirmed my assurance. Many of our beliefs are wrong. We thought that we will be accused because we never do certain things. No, but we are accused because we forget that we are loved by God.
What is the opposite of love? It is being cold. If you still hate, it may be because you still love. God is never cold towards us. Our bliss is in this. Our temple must be built like this. We must always bring the most blessedly loved heart to come to God.
2) Promise of 4 gospelizations (Make covenant) => Safe-keep covenant in the centre
Our good circumstances (family peace, job, etc) are not considered blessings. When we are loved, it is called irresistible grace. However, from then onwards, you make covenant with God. The faster you make covenant with God by the 4 gospelization, the faster you make decision on your lifetime goal, the faster your sorrows will end. From that day onwards, God will give you all evidences. Do we still have some ambitions? But these are only found in the promise of 4 gospelizations. We must confirm today that the goodness of the Lord is not in other places.
3) The heart of relying on the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is about the heart. I
know I am blessed, but I know that the world causes us to lose the heart of
relying on the Holy Spirit. If we have started to pray for 4 gospelizations, but
have lost the heart to rely on the Holy Spirit because the world continues to
pull us, we will lose. If we lose the heart to come to the prayer meeting, the
meeting is going to be the most boring. What is fixed perspective? It is about
the heart. In order words, if you already have such a perspective, you need to
have the heart to fix it in.
So why do we lose the heart of mourning and the heart of hungering for righteousness so easily? It is that we have motives. There is something we regard as more important than God. Are these our ambitions, dignity, or family? These will tire us in the meeting. It is because we still hold on to our timetable and our own things in our hearts. In the most Holy Spirit, other than the blood of Jesus Christ, all things will die.
Solomon did 1000 sacrifices and therefore, he had the heart. In the church, I am the best father, as I am the most gentle. However, sometimes, I too get frustrated with my children if they struggle for my attention at times when I am busy. When work makes us so tired, I fund it so hard to just smile at the people taking the lift with me. I find that it is so easy to lose the heart.
God already said that we are already loved. There are all sorts of peace, blessings and lessons in 4 gospelization. Do we want to struggle? We can just start aright by knowing aright.
4) Converse with God (Perfect will)
Loved, test and approve, supplications/intercessions, cleanse, receive fulfillments = the Lord's Prayer
When we acknowledge the Lord and want to converse with God, God will immediately give us the heart of being loved. We can then test and approve by this and we ask the Lord for the things we need. If we have committed adultery by the heart, how can God forgive us if we never turn to God? The conversation with God that is done with heart is really different.
Prayer, in other words, is discovering God's perfect will and praising Him. Being loved is the perfect will of God. Testing and approving is the perfect will. Discovering such perfect will of God and praising God through it is prayers. We learn to like the Lord during prayers.
5) Walk with God (Submission)
When we come to meetings, have we prayed and known that God has loved us and want to bless us, and thus prepare our prayer topics? It is totally different for those who prepare and those who did not prepare. In my daily morning prayers, there are a lot of things to pray about. Therefore, I use 1 hour to pray. I must test and approve God's perfect will in order to continue. I must pray for the brothers and sisters whom I care about and receive an answer. I never do prayers that are ritualistic. To people whom have not started scheduled prayers, you may never know what I am talking about. To those who have, you will know that this is about praying in the spirit.
6) Evidences must come
Evidences come through our present conditions. We have about 20 people in this discipleship training. This may be a small number. However, I use my whole heart to prepare and preach. What I see is the world gospelization behind the brothers and sisters I preach now. If I give half-heartedly, nothing will happen. For those who come for this meeting, we must not come half-heartedly. If we come for prayer meetings, do not attend flippantly. What does it mean by the blood of the lamb? The blood must be shed and be drained completely. We must seek the Lord with all our hearts so that we may be found by God.
Sometimes, we may get some answers when we come for meetings hoping for miracles. This is because we have experienced God giving us comfort even when we hear half-heartedly at timesYes, this may happen when God wants to tell us that He is alive, but if we continue at this, we will stop coming for meetings and fewer and fewer answers will come.
Having 3 kids is really not easy. In the past, I also want to admit the troubles I face to to those having 3 kids. However, my eyes continue to seek for evidences. If I lead my children with thoughts that troubles increases as I serve, this suffering will never end. However, when I see the evidences that are gathered through raising the 3 kids, I received a perspective. From raising 3 kids, I received wisdom received. My character changed due to the sufferings I went through and I received many messages through understanding parent-child relationship, In the past, a sister questioned whether I could be a pastor because I could not take sufferings. She is really correct. However, with the difficulties of raising children and leading the church, my character changed. This is not seeking sufferings, but being changed through the vision. Therefore, I discover that all that God gives us are evidences.
Sometimes, some brothers and sisters tell me that I do not understand them because their jobs are different from mine. They changed jobs 20 times but still no job suited them. However, sometimes, when I am "pissed off", I want to tell them, "The only job suitable for you is to be god." Which saint has not gone through sufferings before? Immediately, we can see the glory. The lessons tell us to learn. The difficulties mould us. The difference is in the eyes.
7) Evangelism (Emmanuel)
If we do not spread evidences that God is with us, we are preaching principles. If we can explain the evidences that God has found them that they do not know about, it is called evangelism. Many churches do not know about this.
=>
These are the 7 structures of the bible. Other than these structures, the rest are our own ambitions and concerns. Even though better conditions are given to us, we will never be able to see evidences and we will not be able to evangelize. If we have the heart, we will be able to build up today. May the Lord bless us with His Holy Spirit and may the people God wants to use be raised up.
Taken from 2 Chronicles Overview Part 4 Discipleship Training on 19 Oct 2007.