Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom

The Art Of Preparation

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2021-12-15

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver teaches from 1 Chronicles 22:19 that spiritual preparation must precede any work for God. Using the building of Solomon's temple as a backdrop, he emphasizes that believers are the true temple of God and must set their hearts to seek the Lord through His Word. The message contrasts the prudent who prepare with the pathetic who suffer, and calls Christians to give God the reality of holy, obedient service, not merely the shadow.

[John Weaver] Open our Bibles today to 1 Chronicles chapter 22, and we're going to read verse 19. I'll come back and give you the context momentarily. But 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, the title of the message is The Art of Preparation. preparation. So notice 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, and David is actually talking to Solomon and all the princes of Israel, and he says, 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.

[John Weaver] I saw a sign recently and all the sign said was this, the meeting for Procrastinators Anonymous has been postponed until further notice. Well, the truth of the matter is this, that everyone is a procrastinator in one sense of the word. We postpone and we put off everything that we dislike or that creates confrontation or that is hard or difficult or that we just simply don't think is urgent or absolutely necessary. In fact, the truth of the matter is most of the time we live our lives based upon ease and convenience, not necessarily on things that just need to be done and have to be done. So our attitude usually is if it can wait, it will wait, especially if it's something that we dislike or something that's going to create confrontation. But on the other hand, there are also times of preparation as well. We prepare to shop. We prepare to play. We prepare to fish, we prepare to hunt, we prepare to do a lot of things. In other words, these things usually take just a little bit of forethought.

[John Weaver] And we begin to think what we're going to need to enjoy ourselves or what we're going to need to accomplish this little task. And usually we think about it and we lay everything out and we simply get ready to use whatever we need to use. Unhappily, the preparation for most people does not go beyond those few things. Proverbs chapter 22 in verse 3 is a principle that some have really understood, but most have not. It simply says this. A prudent man foresees the evil, but he says and hideth himself. The prudent man foresees the evil, hideth himself, but the simple passeth on and is punished. So the prudent man is the man who foresees the evil and he hides himself from the evil. But the foolish man, is the man that simply passes on and is punished.

[John Weaver] So there are some that do indeed prepare for emergencies like storms and hurricanes and tornadoes and other disasters. Very few plan ahead and prepare for life or sickness or old age or death. I recently read where the average American could not come up with 1,000 Federal Reserve notes in a case of an emergency. And many people have said that the average American home is three days away from starvation. By that, they simply mean most people have not prepared. Most people no longer have pantries.

[John Weaver] I remember we had a pantry growing up, and my mother always kept it stocked full of canned goods and all kinds of things like that. But today, most women have no idea of how to can or how to preserve anything. Hence, the truth of the matter is, we are actually dumber than the insects. How can I say that? Well, whole 1 Chronicles, but look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 6, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 6, and look what the Bible says. And we are here being compared, or actually counseled, to go to insects to learn. So in Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6, Look what the Bible says.

[John Weaver] Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. So what does the ant do? Watch verse 7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provided their meat in the summer, and gathered their food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands of sleep, So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, not as one that is an armed man."

[John Weaver] So it tells us to go to the ants, go to the insects and learn. Why? Because those insects do not have rulers, they don't have princes, they don't have governors, and yet they have sense enough to know that they are to put up and preserve in times of harvest for times of want, especially during the times of the winter. So the truth of the matter is that some people prepare and others suffer.

[John Weaver] Years ago, I preached a message based upon Proverbs 22 and verse 3, which I titled, The Prudent and the Pathetic. And each one of us will usually fall into one of those two categories. We're either going to be prudent and prepare, or we're going to be pathetic and we're going to end up suffering. Preparation is an absolute necessity. There must be preparation for life, preparation for worship, preparation for necessities, and preparation for emergencies, and of course, preparation for death.

[John Weaver] Now in our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, David is preparing Solomon to build the temple of the Lord. When you stop and think about the temple, all of the skill, workmanship, materials, preparations that were made for the building of the temple, is absolutely mind-boggling. I'm going to show you some of that just momentarily. Now, in this chapter, 1 Chronicles 22, in verses 6 through 13, David is charging Solomon to build the temple of the Lord and to obey His commandments. In fact, he is telling Solomon that the only way to prosper is to obey. Now, when you get to verses 15 and 16, There is also a personal exhortation and a word of encouragement to Solomon. Look in verse 15. He says to Solomon, moreover, there are workers with thee in abundance. Now we're talking about building the temple.

[John Weaver] Workers in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work 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."

[John Weaver] Now, I love the way David speaks to Solomon. I like when he said, arise therefore and be doing. So we could put that in our modern day colloquialisms and we could say that David is looking at Solomon saying, get off your duff, get up and go to work, get busy boy, don't stand around here doing nothing, arise and build. In this same chapter, David also exhorts the princes and the rulers to help him.

[John Weaver] Look at verses 17 through 19. David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon, his son, saying, Is not the Lord your God with you? And have they not given you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise, therefore, and build you 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."

[John Weaver] Now we're going to get to our text very shortly, but I want you to consider something with me on the building of the temple. The building of the temple with David was not some spur-of-the-moment thing. David was not just lying awake one night and saying, hey, I think I'll build a temple unto God. Obviously not. there was indeed a lot of planning and a lot of preparation. And moreover, God specifically gave David the pattern for that temple and how it was to be built. If you will look in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, at verses 10 through 12, David says this, he's talking to Solomon, and in verse 10 he says, For the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary.

[John Weaver] Be strong and do it. 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 the inner parlors thereof, and the place of the mercy seat, 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, and of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things." So, David now has received all of this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as well.

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is this. Solomon is being charged to build this temple. And he's been given the pattern that God has given to David. David makes an interesting statement in chapter 22 and verse 14. I want you to look at it. Look what he says. Chapter 22 in verse 14.

[John Weaver] Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord. Now look at this. A hundred thousand talents of gold and a thousand thousand talents of silver. That's a million talents. And of brass and iron without weight, for it is in abundance. Timber also and stone have I prepared, and thou mayst add there too. So notice if you would now, here we have all of this that has been prepared by David, but look if you would at what he said in verse 14, Behold now in my trouble I have prepared. The word trouble is the word affliction. What kind of affliction, what kind of trouble did David have?

[John Weaver] Well stop and think, all of the wars that were outside He fought with the Edomites. He fought with the Moabites. He fought with the Philistines. He fought with the Syrians. I mean, there were wars on every hand. Moreover, there were insurrections and seditions on the inside that he had to deal with. So clearly then, in all the trouble that he had on the outside of the kingdom and on the inside of the kingdom, he was still preparing and he was giving all of this in order for the temple to be built. Here's a question.

[John Weaver] Where in the world did all this silver and gold come from? I mean, a million tallots and, you know, if we just said a million pounds, a pound, our pound would be 16 ounces. I forget the Troy ounce poundage, it's a little different. But still, a million tallots and a tallot was Far more than a pound. And where does all this money come from? Well, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27. 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27.

[John Weaver] Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord. So there were a lot of wars, and there was an awful lot of booty and an awful lot of spoils. And therefore, a lot of that booty and a lot of that spoil was given to God as an oblation, that is, as an offering. So if you look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 20, the Bible says that of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God and over the treasures of the dedicated things.

[John Weaver] He was the main man. But if you'll skip down to verse 26, there were some others under him. which Shulamith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king and the chief of the fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the hosts had dedicated." So obviously, there's an awful lot of money that has been raised from the wars with all of these kingdoms that David has fought.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles 29, and I would encourage you to read 1 Chronicles 29 when you get home. So in light of all of that money that had been gained through booty and spoils, David gave an awful lot of his personal wealth, and so did all of the rulers. So if you'll look in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, beginning there with verse 2, look what David says, Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things to be made of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and stones to be set, glistering stones and of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance." Now watch verse 3. "'Moreover, because I have sent my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good that is out of his own pocket, 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, even 3,000

[John Weaver] talents of gold, the gold of Ophir, which was the best, and 7,000 talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the house withal, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day And if you read the rest of the chapter, you'll find that the princes then each gave gold and silver and oxen and everything for the work and for the house of the Lord. Wow.

[John Weaver] So the building of the temple is no easy thing. I think just from what I've shared with you, you could easily see the cost, the work, the trouble, the service, the preparation, and the blessing that went into the building of the temple. Moreover, it required an awful lot of dedication and consecration and deliberation. I hope that you know that it took seven years for the temple to be built completely.

[John Weaver] Let me show you something else. I want you to hold verse Chronicles, but turn back in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 6. 1 Kings chapter 6, and I want you to look at verse 7. This is absolutely an astounding fact. You're talking about preparation. These people knew what preparation was all about. So in 1 Kings 6, look at verse 7. Here it is. And the house, that is the temple, when it was in the building, was built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building."

[John Weaver] So all the stones were squared, everything was prepared, it was moved to the site, and everything was put in place. No hammer heard, no axe, no saw, no tool. There was real preparation. I think you can see that there was an awful lot to go in building the temple.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look back at our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 22, and verse 19. I want you to look at what David said. He tells Solomon and he tells the rulers, he tells the people, 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.

[John Weaver] We must take note of the fact that it was not simply materials and physical preparations that were needed for the temple. There were also spiritual preparations that were necessary. And it's imperative that you take note of the order of verse 19. Look at verse 19 now. He says, Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. That's number one. Here's number two. Arise, therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God." In other words, there would not be any building of the sanctuary if the people had not prepared their hearts, if they had not set their heart. The arise and build was only after set your heart.

[John Weaver] Now the word set is from the Hebrew word klon, and it literally is translated in our Bibles as prepare, establish, and direct, and to order. So literally he's saying, prepare your heart, direct your heart, establish your heart, order your heart.

[John Weaver] Now, there are two very important observations that need to be made. Here's the first one. I believe the reason that most Christians are not really concerned with the work of God, the church of God, dominion, the advancement of the kingdom of God, is revealed in this passage. The reason most Christians are not really concerned about the advancement of the Kingdom of God is they have never, ever prepared their hearts. Their hearts are not set. Their hearts are not in it. Notice he said, you set your heart, and then he said, arise and build. So the fact is, most Christians have no idea what heart preparation is. They have no idea what is involved in preparing their heart, and therefore they never will arise and build.

[John Weaver] The second observation is this. There must be an understanding of the cost that is involved in any undertaking. Now, I've just shared with you some of the cost that was involved in building the temple. But our Lord spoke of other costs. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Luke, chapter 14. And if you'll hold 1 Chronicles 22, we're coming back there. But look in Luke, chapter 14, if you would, please.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse 28. Luke 14, verse 28. Look at what he says, For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish it? Lest, haply, after ye have laid the foundation, and he is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh again with twenty thousand.

[John Weaver] Or else, while the others yet are a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh him all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, But men cast it out, and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

[John Weaver] What is our Lord telling us? Our Lord is telling us there is a cost in preparation. It doesn't matter what you're doing. He said if you're going to build a house, you better consult and see whether or not you have enough money to build the house or to finish the house. Alice and I have traveled for many years, and there's one place that we went by Years and years ago, a fellow started building a castle, or at least it looked like a castle. And you know, had the tower like that. And we went by it for years. Never finished.

[John Weaver] Finally, I guess it deteriorated and fell down. And then again, there's another house that we used to go by. The man started building it up on a hill. It was a very beautiful location. I don't know whether he died or what happened, but finally the house just deteriorated and fell down. somebody cleared it out and put a mobile home up in there. So I'm just saying this is what our Lord is saying.

[John Weaver] We need to count the cost. And just like the man of the king who has 10,000 soldiers and someone's coming against him with 20,000, you better count the cost. You better see whether or not you can finish the job.

[John Weaver] Now, he said, so likewise, whosoever be of you that forsake not only that cannot be my disciple. In other words, if you want to be a real true disciple, there is going to be a cost. Then he said, salt is good when the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned.

[John Weaver] Now, the truth of the matter is this. There's a cost in preparation. There's a cost involved in keeping our saltiness. There's a cost involved in being holy, godly, and obedient. There's a cost involved in keeping one's testimony clean before the lives of others.

[John Weaver] Now, here's a truth that we need to see, we need to grasp, we need to understand. I want you to think about this. I shared with you a lot of the trouble that went into building the temple. OK, the money, goodness gracious, the workman, seven years. Do you realize out of all the money, out of all the workmanship, out of all the skill, out of all the trouble, out of all the dedication that went in building the temple, All it was was a picture. It was not reality. Now, I'm not saying the temple was not real. Yes, I know the temple was a real building, but what I am trying to tell you is this. The temple was nothing more than a shadow. It was nothing more than a pattern. It was nothing more than an emblem. It was nothing more than a type.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Hebrews, chapter 8. Let's begin there. chapter 8 of Hebrews. And let's begin reading, if you would please, with verse 1. I'll show you a number of passages, and let's try to put this together. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 1.

[John Weaver] Now the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Now watch verse 2. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Well, let's see, Moses pitched the earthly tabernacle, and Solomon pitched the earthly temple, but our Lord says, that was not the real one. The true tabernacle, or the true temple, is the one that the Lord has pitched, and not man.

[John Weaver] Skip down to verses 4 and 5. We're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 4. For if he were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law."

[John Weaver] Now look at verse 5,"...who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For seeth he that thou make the tabernacle and all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount." Now, in verse 5, We're told that everything was a shadow of heavenly things. A shadow is not the real thing. The shadow is not reality. I parked my car in the shadow of that oak tree, but my car is not in the oak tree. The shadow is not reality. An example is not reality.

[John Weaver] I could try to explain something to Steve and he says, I don't understand. I said, well, let me give you an example. And I could just make one up out of the top of my head. But an example is not a reality. It's just something to try to help you see the truth. And a pattern is certainly not reality. My wife has many dress patterns and she has made many dresses over the years, but I've never ever have seen her wear a pattern. Because the pattern's not the reality. The dress is the reality. So he's saying that everything that we had in the Old Testament was merely a shadow, a type, or a pattern.

[John Weaver] Look, if you would, in chapter 9 and verse 1. He said,"...then verily the first covenant also had an ordinance of divine services, and a worldly sanctuary." So he refers to the ceremonial law and everything therein as a worldly sanctuary." Remember, it was pitched by man. It had to be worldly. Now skip down to verse 8. Hebrews 9, verse 8. The Holy Ghost is signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, here it is again, which was a figure, or a type, for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him

[John Weaver] that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscious, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation." Here's the distinction. But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, That is to say, not of this building, and now here we're talking about His body, not made with hands, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. So again, we're talking about patterns, we're talking about figures.

[John Weaver] Now, skip down, if you would, to 22 and 23. Hebrews 9, verse 22, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Wow. Again, he says. that everything on the earth was nothing more than a pattern. And then if you look in chapter 10 in verse 1, for the law having a shadow, we're talking about the ceremonial law, for the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year, continually make

[John Weaver] the comers there unto perfect. Now, over and over in this book, we have seen that The Old Testament tabernacle and temple are nothing more than patterns and types and shadows and figures. They are not reality. They were just patterns. You say, why are you emphasizing this? Why are you pushing this? And the answer is so that I can show you. The real temple of God. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians because of their carnality. Believe it or not, their carnality was not what the world calls carnality. Their carnality was not adultery and fornication and theft and no, no, no, no, no. Their carnality was arguing over preachers.

[John Weaver] Who was the best preacher? Some liked Apollos, some liked Peter, some liked the Apostle Paul. And so Paul is trying to straighten this mess out. So look what he says in verse 4. Well, in fact, we'll go back and read verse 3. He says, For you are yet carnal, forwares there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions. Are you not carnal and walk as men? Well, what were they fighting about? Here it is. For while one saith, I am of Paul, that is, I'm a follower of Paul, and another, I am of Paulus, I follow Paulus, I like him. Are you not yet carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is of Paulus, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?"

[John Weaver] Now I want you to note very carefully, he's talking about ministers. He's talking about preachers, okay? Now watch. He says in verse 6, I have planted, he's a preacher, of Paulus watered, But God gave the increase. Verse 7, So then neither is he that planteth a preacher anything, neither he that watereth a preacher anything, but God that showeth or giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth the preachers are one. And every man or every preacher or every minister shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Now look what he says in verse 9, For we, the preachers, the pastors, the ministers, For we are laborers together with God." Now here's the distinction. Here's the contrast. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building. So the apostle then draws a distinction between the ministers in this chapter and the people being ministered unto. He said, we are the laborers. We are the workers. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.

[John Weaver] Now we're going to leave 1 Corinthians 3, but we're coming right back. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 3 and turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2. Because Paul said to the Christians, you are his building. Well, what building is he talking about? Well, let's look in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning there with verse 19. Ephesians 2 verse 19. The Apostle writes, and he says, Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and with the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that's what he's talking about actually in 1 Corinthians 3, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, here it is, in whom all the building, remember you were God's building, And all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." So Paul says you're God's building. What building is that?

[John Weaver] It is a holy temple under the Lord, and you are being built as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Now, go back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. So the Apostle Paul has said, we're God's laborers, we're working together with Him. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.

[John Weaver] Now, skip down, if you would, please, to verse 16. Let's read 16 and 17. Look what he says. In verse 16, Paul says, Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

[John Weaver] Now, we don't understand the impact of these verses until we understand two Greek words. There are two words for temple in the Greek language. The first one is hieron. And the word hieron refers to the outward facade or the outside of the temple. it would also include the common area where people went into the temple, and the porches, and that kind of thing. So when you read in the Greek the word hieron, it's just talking about basically a temple, the outside of it, or just describing it as an edifice, okay? Now, the second word is the word naos.

[John Weaver] You remember in the Old Testament, Once a year, the high priest went into the most holy place, or sometimes called the Holy of Holies. And once a year, he sprinkled blood on the mercy seat. That would be the naos. The naos is the Holy of Holies.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at verse 16, okay? Let me read it to you. Here's what he says. Know you not that you are the naos, you are the holiest of holies of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the naos, the holy of holies of God, him shall God destroy. For the naos, the holy of holies of God, is holy, which temple you are." What is he saying? He is saying that we as Christians are the real genuine temple of God on this earth.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19. Here it is again. What? Know you not that your body is the naos of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For your boat with a price Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Look at verse 19. What? Know you not that your body is the Holy of Holies of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God?

[John Weaver] Remember what he said in Ephesians 2? He's building a holy temple for the habitation of God. Let me give you some very pressing questions, some questions that you really need to consider and think about. I showed you from the scripture, the money, the time, the work, the dedication, the consecration that went into building the physical temple. The first question is this, will you give God any less for the spiritual temple than they did for the physical temple? Will you be less dedicated to the reality than the Old Testament believers were to the shadow, to the picture?

[John Weaver] I have a good friend, He hasn't been married too long. And he was asking me about the difference between the Old Testament. Ordinances and in the New Testament, and I looked at him and I said, son, let me ask you, how long have you been married? He said, nine months, sir. I said, do you have a picture of your wife in your. Bill, he said, yes, I do.

[John Weaver] I said, may I see it? Of course, I knew his wife. Yes. He showed it to me. I said, all right, I'll tell you what. I said, when you go home tonight and you go to bed with your wife, I want you to open your billfold and take out her picture and kiss her picture goodnight. He said, why would I do that when I had the real thing right beside me?

[John Weaver] I said, that's exactly the point. in the New Testament, we have reality. They had the picture in the Old Testament. Now, here's the question. Will you not arise and build based upon the fact that you now know that you are the temple of God? That God resides in you, you have Him and He has you. Will you not prepare your heart to seek the Lord? So here's my question. How do we prepare our hearts?

[John Weaver] Do you remember what David said in 1 Chronicles 22 and 19? Set your heart to seek the Lord. How are you going to set your heart? Well, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Chronicles chapter 27. 2 Chronicles chapter 27, and I want you to look, please, at verse 6. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6.

[John Weaver] We're going to read about Jotham. Jotham was a king, but I want you to note what the Bible says concerning Jotham. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6. So Jotham became mighty. Why? Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. So Jotham became mighty. Why? Because he prepared his ways before the Lord His God." Well, what does it mean to prepare your ways before the Lord your God? Well, it simply means this, that He directed His way, His counsels, His actions by the rule of God's law. He was constant.

[John Weaver] He was consistent in a holy cause. Everything that He did, He examined in light of the Word of God. And he did it as in the sight of God. Look at verse six again. So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. In other words, what Jotham was doing was this. He was living as though he was in the very presence of God. Here's a good question. Are we in the presence of God? And the answer is yes, because God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And so we need to learn, like Jotham, to live in the presence of God.

[John Weaver] Now, remember, David said, set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord. How do we do that? Well, we prepare our hearts, but how did Jotham do it? He prepared his ways. I want you to look back, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, at verse 46. Deuteronomy, chapter 32, and verse 46. Here it is. Deuteronomy 32, verse 46. And He said unto them, Moses is talking to the people, And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law." So Moses has given them the law, and now he says, set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day. Set your heart. In other words, set your heart to learn and to live by the principles of the Word of God. Now, I want you to turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 6. He said the same thing, in a more lithy discourse, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand what he's saying and what he's doing. What he is saying is that our lives are to be permeated with the Word of God. So, verse 1 of Deuteronomy 6.

[John Weaver] Now, these are the commandments the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land whether you go to possess it, that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, what is fearing him, here it is, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee, thou and thy son and thy sons' sons, all the days of thy life, and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, And that you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Now watch carefully. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. Set your heart. What did he say? Set your heart according to the words which I have spoken.

[John Weaver] These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house, and on thy gates, and it shall be When the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities that thou buildest not.

[John Weaver] And he goes on and tells them, but note what he's saying. He said, when you sit down, you should be talking about the word of God. When you rise up, you should be talking about the word of God. You should have it on your walls and your houses. You should have it, uh, on your doorpost. You should have it where you can teach your children and your children's children. In other words, he's saying that your life is to be permeated with the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn right over a few pages to Joshua 1, because God Himself says basically the same thing to Joshua. He's giving Joshua a charge after Moses is dead. So in Joshua 1, look at it, if you would. I like verse 2. Look what God said to him. to Joshua. Moses, my servant, is dead.

[John Weaver] Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan now, and all this people and the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel." So he said, Moses is dead, now it's your turn. You get up and you go. But look if you would, verse 7. In fact, we can read verse 6. God is speaking to Joshua. He says, Be strong and of good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success.

[John Weaver] Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." Note what he said. For then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success. When? When the Word of God is His rule. When the Word of God is in His heart and in His mind.

[John Weaver] So let me ask you another question. How then do we center our lives So that the Word of God is going to be central, and the Word of God is going to permeate every area of our lives, I understand that we have to work. I understand that we have to make a living. I usually tease, I usually say, you know, some folks have to work for a living and others get to preach. Well, you know, and I've laughed about this for years and years, When I was a boy, I actually wanted to be a preacher because you only had to work on Wednesday and Sunday and the rest of time you could play. I found out it surely didn't work out like that. That is for sure. But but, you know, even at work.

[John Weaver] When you have a problem. What is to stop you from mentally asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment and direction and for resolution of that problem? What what is the what is to stop you from saying, I wonder if there's a principle in the Word of God that would help me to better reach a solution to this problem. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, even in our work, we can still maintain a centralization of our thoughts on the Word of God.

[John Weaver] But there is a passage, and I want you to turn there, and it's found in the book of Colossians chapter 3, and I want you to look, if you would please, at the first three verses. Colossians chapter 3, the first three verses. Look at it. Colossians 3, beginning there with verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ, let me just stop right there. If you then be risen with Christ, that's just a colloquialism in one sense of the word of saying, if you're saved, if you're a Christian. Because Romans chapter 6 teaches that we have died in Christ and we were raised to newness of life in Christ. And so he's saying, if you then be risen with Christ, that is, if you're genuinely His, if you're genuinely converted, seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. Why? For you are dead, read Romans 6, and your life is hid with Christ in God. So what he's telling us is this.

[John Weaver] We must learn to seek those things which are above those heavenly things, those spiritual things, which are true and genuine and real. We must set our affections, our love and our desires and our will upon those things. They must become our passion. Now, he said, set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. Do you realize the wealthiest man in the world, when he dies, He leaves everything. The most beautiful house in the world will eventually rot or fall down. The earth is transitory. Everything we have is transitory.

[John Weaver] You may have something today and not have it tomorrow. What he's trying to tell us is reality is where Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ is reality. Heavenly things are reality Spiritual things are reality. All of this earth is going to pass away in other words. We're not to be controlled by man We're not to be controlled by our lust We're not be controlled by the pride of life and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh We're to be controlled by Jesus Christ by his word and by his principles He is to become our

[John Weaver] all in all I like the way David expressed it in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, when he said, As the heart panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. And then he makes this statement, My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before him? Now, think about this. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, I've lived in areas where deer hunters were allowed to chase deer with dogs. I've seen some of those deer.

[John Weaver] I mean, they've run, their tongues are hanging out. If they can ever escape the dogs and the hunters, the first thing they want is water because they are just simply so dry from running for so long. This is what David is saying. As the heart panteth after one of the brooks, so panteth my soul that my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When we get thirsty for Him, that is when our lives are going to be centered upon Him.

[John Weaver] We have to learn to seek Him to prepare our hearts. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 10 and verse 17, Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble, thou shalt prepare their hearts. And then in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 1, the Bible says, The preparation of the hearts in man are from the Lord. So when David told Solomon and those men, set your hearts, they would have never ever built the temple if their hearts had not been set on God and on the things of God.

[John Weaver] Let me make a couple of applications. Think about this. We have today the reality in Jesus Christ. We are His temple. He lives in us. How can we not carefully, purposefully, and deliberately prepare our hearts and our lives and to render and to give to Him a holy, obedient service? How can we not make our bodies temples of praise and worship unto Him who loved us and saved us by His grace? How can we give Him less in the reality than the Old Testament believers did in the picture and the type and the emblem and the pattern? Another thing. If the Word of God is central, and if Jesus Christ is central in your life, if there's ever a question on anything, you would be more than willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt.

[John Weaver] I don't care if we're talking about finances, health, family, whatever. You ought to always be willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt. I tell people, and I'm not ashamed to say it, but when I get money, the first thing I do is I tithe it. And you know, the older I get, sometimes I think, Lord, did I tithe that? I don't really remember. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll tithe it again. If I didn't do it, Then here it is. If I did do it, Lord, I can't outgive you and I can't outgrace you. And I can say with Jacob, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. Just thank you, Lord. I'm just saying we need to learn to give God the benefit of the doubt. Go the extra mile.

[John Weaver] Do what we should do. We have to understand that if our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, The reality of what David said in Psalm 66 and verse 18, when he said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. How in the world can we expect God to bless us if we regard iniquity? If there's unconfessed sin, if there's lingering hatred and bitterness and ill will, how can we expect God to bless us? And how can we render unto God a holy temple if we allow that in our lives?

[John Weaver] We need to learn to honor Him. We need to learn to repent. We need to learn to keep our hearts and our lives unto Him.

[John Weaver] Now, here's what I want you to do in closing. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to look at them. The first one is 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14. If you'll go ahead and find 2 Chronicles, Chapter 12. And then I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles, Chapter 27. Okay? 2 Chronicles, Chapter 27. Okay? Okay? So, 2 Chronicles, Chapter 27. Look at verse 6. We've already read this. But I'm going to read it again. 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6. Watch this.

[John Weaver] He said, So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God. Let that sink in. So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.

[John Weaver] Now look in 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14, and we're talking about Rehoboam, who was also a king. And he, Rehoboam, did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. So here's the whole crux. Your life, your actions, your attitudes will reveal whether or not your heart is prepared. If your heart is prepared, it's going to be evident. If your heart is unprepared, it's going to be evident. Because Jotham became mighty because he prepared his heart before the Lord, and Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart. If we are the true temple of God, we should make sure our hearts are prepared and set and established and directed toward God and the things of God. We need to seek Him to prepare our hearts. Let's pray.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for Your grace and Your mercy. Help us, Lord, to realize, number one, that our bodies are indeed the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. And You have told us to grieve, not the Holy Spirit, quench, not the Spirit. You've told us to walk pleasing in Thy sight, Help us to do that, Lord. You've commanded us to seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. You've commanded us to set our affection on things above. Help us to do that, Lord. And Father, help us to seek Thee to prepare our hearts, knowing that the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. Give us Your grace and give us Your mercy. Help us to love Thee and live for Thee and honor Thee. and all that we say and do, in Christ's name we pray, Amen.

[John Weaver] so

The Art Of Preparation

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	uG0jm7eWv8c
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-12-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 085: Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	88

Formatted Transcript

Opening

Open our Bibles today to 1 Chronicles chapter 22, and we're going to read verse 19. I'll come back and give you the context momentarily. But 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, the title of the message is "The Art of Preparation." So notice 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, and David is actually talking to Solomon and all the princes of Israel, and he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 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."

Introduction: The Problem of Procrastination

Weaver opens with a humorous sign about procrastination and notes that people tend to postpone difficult or unpleasant tasks, living by ease and convenience rather than necessity.

I saw a sign recently and all the sign said was this: "The meeting for Procrastinators Anonymous has been postponed until further notice." Well, the truth of the matter is this, that everyone is a procrastinator in one sense of the word. We postpone and we put off everything that we dislike or that creates confrontation or that is hard or difficult or that we just simply don't think is urgent or absolutely necessary. In fact, the truth of the matter is most of the time we live our lives based upon ease and convenience, not necessarily on things that just need to be done and have to be done. So our attitude usually is if it can wait, it will wait, especially if it's something that we dislike or something that's going to create confrontation. But on the other hand, there are also times of preparation as well. We prepare to shop. We prepare to play. We prepare to fish, we prepare to hunt, we prepare to do a lot of things. In other words, these things usually take just a little bit of forethought.

The Prudent vs. the Pathetic

Citing Proverbs 22:3, Weaver contrasts the prudent man who foresees evil and prepares with the simple who pass on and are punished. He notes that few prepare for life, sickness, old age, or death.

And we begin to think what we're going to need to enjoy ourselves or what we're going to need to accomplish this little task. And usually we think about it and we lay everything out and we simply get ready to use whatever we need to use. Unhappily, the preparation for most people does not go beyond those few things. Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 3 is a principle that some have really understood, but most have not. It simply says this:

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 22:3

"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."

So the prudent man is the man who foresees the evil and he hides himself from the evil. But the foolish man is the man that simply passes on and is punished.

So there are some that do indeed prepare for emergencies like storms and hurricanes and tornadoes and other disasters. Very few plan ahead and prepare for life or sickness or old age or death. I recently read where the average American could not come up with 1,000 Federal Reserve notes in a case of an emergency. And many people have said that the average American home is three days away from starvation. By that, they simply mean most people have not prepared. Most people no longer have pantries. I remember we had a pantry growing up, and my mother always kept it stocked full of canned goods and all kinds of things like that. But today, most women have no idea of how to can or how to preserve anything. Hence, the truth of the matter is, we are actually dumber than the insects. How can I say that? Well, hold 1 Chronicles, but look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 6, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 6, and look what the Bible says. And we are here being compared, or actually counseled, to go to insects to learn. So in Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6, look what the Bible says.

Learning from the Ant

From Proverbs 6:6-11, Weaver points out that ants prepare in summer for winter without any overseer, and calls those who fail to prepare 'dumber than the insects.'

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." So what does the ant do? Watch verse 7. "Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."

So it tells us to go to the ants, go to the insects and learn. Why? Because those insects do not have rulers, they don't have princes, they don't have governors, and yet they have sense enough to know that they are to put up and preserve in times of harvest for times of want, especially during the times of the winter. So the truth of the matter is that some people prepare and others suffer.

David's Preparation for the Temple

Weaver details the immense material and spiritual preparation David made for the temple, including gold, silver, and workmen, and notes that David prepared 'in my trouble' (affliction).

Now in our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, David is preparing Solomon to build the temple of the Lord. When you stop and think about the temple, all of the skill, workmanship, materials, preparations that were made for the building of the temple, is absolutely mind-boggling. I'm going to show you some of that just momentarily. Now, in this chapter, 1 Chronicles 22, in verses 6 through 13, David is charging Solomon to build the temple of the Lord and to obey His commandments. In fact, he is telling Solomon that the only way to prosper is to obey. Now, when you get to verses 15 and 16, there is also a personal exhortation and a word of encouragement to Solomon. Look in verse 15. He says to Solomon, "Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance." Now we're talking about building the temple.

"Workmen in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. 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." Now, I love the way David speaks to Solomon. I like when he said, "Arise therefore, and be doing." So we could put that in our modern day colloquialisms and we could say that David is looking at Solomon saying, "Get off your duff, get up and go to work, get busy boy, don't stand around here doing nothing, arise and build." In this same chapter, David also exhorts the princes and the rulers to help him. Look at verses 17 through 19. "David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 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. 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."

Now we're going to get to our text very shortly, but I want you to consider something with me on the building of the temple. The building of the temple with David was not some spur-of-the-moment thing. David was not just lying awake one night and saying, "Hey, I think I'll build a temple unto God." Obviously not. There was indeed a lot of planning and a lot of preparation. And moreover, God specifically gave David the pattern for that temple and how it was to be built. If you will look in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, at verses 10 through 12, David says this, he's talking to Solomon, and in verse 10 he says, "Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it." "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, 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." So, David now has received all of this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as well.

Now, the interesting thing is this. Solomon is being charged to build this temple. And he's been given the pattern that God has given to David. David makes an interesting statement in chapter 22 and verse 14. I want you to look at it. Look what he says. Chapter 22 in verse 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." So notice if you would now, here we have all of this that has been prepared by David, but look if you would at what he said in verse 14, "Behold, in my trouble I have prepared." The word trouble is the word affliction. What kind of affliction, what kind of trouble did David have? Well stop and think, all of the wars that were outside: He fought with the Edomites. He fought with the Moabites. He fought with the Philistines. He fought with the Syrians. I mean, there were wars on every hand. Moreover, there were insurrections and seditions on the inside that he had to deal with. So clearly then, in all the trouble that he had on the outside of the kingdom and on the inside of the kingdom, he was still preparing and he was giving all of this in order for the temple to be built. Here's a question.

Where in the world did all this silver and gold come from? I mean, a million talents and, you know, if we just said a million pounds, a pound, our pound would be 16 ounces. I forget the Troy ounce poundage, it's a little different. But still, a million talents and a talent was far more than a pound. And where does all this money come from? Well, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27. 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27.

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 26:27

"Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord."

So there were a lot of wars, and there was an awful lot of booty and an awful lot of spoils. And therefore, a lot of that booty and a lot of that spoil was given to God as an oblation, that is, as an offering. So if you look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 20, the Bible says that "of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things."

The Cost of Preparation

Using Luke 14:28-35, Weaver explains that any undertaking requires counting the cost, and that discipleship demands forsaking all. He applies this to the cost of holiness and keeping one's testimony.

And let's begin reading there with verse 28. Luke 14, verse 28. Look at what he says,

Scripture Reading — Luke 14:28-35

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?" "Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

What is our Lord telling us? Our Lord is telling us there is a cost in preparation. It doesn't matter what you're doing. He said if you're going to build a house, you better consult and see whether or not you have enough money to build the house or to finish the house. Alice and I have traveled for many years, and there's one place that we went by years and years ago, a fellow started building a castle, or at least it looked like a castle. And you know, had the tower like that. And we went by it for years. Never finished.

Finally, I guess it deteriorated and fell down. And then again, there's another house that we used to go by. The man started building it up on a hill. It was a very beautiful location. I don't know whether he died or what happened, but finally the house just deteriorated and fell down. Somebody cleared it out and put a mobile home up in there. So I'm just saying this is what our Lord is saying.

We need to count the cost. And just like the man or the king who has 10,000 soldiers and someone's coming against him with 20,000, you better count the cost. You better see whether or not you can finish the job. Now, he said, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." In other words, if you want to be a real true disciple, there is going to be a cost. Then he said, "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?"

Now, the truth of the matter is this. There's a cost in preparation. There's a cost involved in keeping our saltiness. There's a cost involved in being holy, godly, and obedient. There's a cost involved in keeping one's testimony clean before the lives of others.

The Temple as Shadow and the Believer as Reality

Weaver shows from Hebrews 8-10 that the Old Testament temple was a shadow, pattern, and figure. He then turns to 1 Corinthians 3 and 6 and Ephesians 2 to prove that believers are the true temple (naos) of God.

Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Hebrews, chapter 8. Let's begin there. Chapter 8 of Hebrews. And let's begin reading, if you would please, with verse 1. I'll show you a number of passages, and let's try to put this together. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:1-5

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

Well, let's see, Moses pitched the earthly tabernacle, and Solomon pitched the earthly temple, but our Lord says, that was not the real one. The true tabernacle, or the true temple, is the one that the Lord has pitched, and not man.

Skip down to verses 4 and 5. We're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 4. "For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law." Now look at verse 5, "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." Now, in verse 5, we're told that everything was a shadow of heavenly things. A shadow is not the real thing. The shadow is not reality. I parked my car in the shadow of that oak tree, but my car is not in the oak tree. The shadow is not reality. An example is not reality.

I could try to explain something to Steve and he says, "I don't understand." I said, "Well, let me give you an example." And I could just make one up out of the top of my head. But an example is not a reality. It's just something to try to help you see the truth. And a pattern is certainly not reality. My wife has many dress patterns and she has made many dresses over the years, but I've never ever have seen her wear a pattern. Because the pattern's not the reality. The dress is the reality. So he's saying that everything that we had in the Old Testament was merely a shadow, a type, or a pattern.

Look, if you would, in chapter 9 and verse 1. He said,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:1-12

"Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary."

So he refers to the ceremonial law and everything therein as a worldly sanctuary. Remember, it was pitched by man. It had to be worldly. Now skip down to verse 8. Hebrews 9, verse 8.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:1-12

"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him

that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." Here's the distinction. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." So again, we're talking about patterns, we're talking about figures. Now, skip down, if you would, to 22 and 23. Hebrews 9, verse 22,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:22-23

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

Wow. Again, he says that everything on the earth was nothing more than a pattern. And then if you look in chapter 10 in verse 1, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make

the comers thereunto perfect." Now, over and over in this book, we have seen that the Old Testament tabernacle and temple are nothing more than patterns and types and shadows and figures. They are not reality. They were just patterns. You say, "Why are you emphasizing this? Why are you pushing this?" And the answer is so that I can show you the real temple of God. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians because of their carnality. Believe it or not, their carnality was not what the world calls carnality. Their carnality was not adultery and fornication and theft and no, no, no, no, no. Their carnality was arguing over preachers.

Who was the best preacher? Some liked Apollos, some liked Peter, some liked the Apostle Paul. And so Paul is trying to straighten this mess out. So look what he says in verse 4. Well, in fact, we'll go back and read verse 3. He says, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" Well, what were they fighting about? Here it is. "For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?"

Now I want you to note very carefully, he's talking about ministers. He's talking about preachers, okay? Now watch. He says in verse 6, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." Verse 7, "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." Now look what he says in verse 9, "For we are labourers together with God." Now here's the distinction. Here's the contrast. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." So the apostle then draws a distinction between the ministers in this chapter and the people being ministered unto. He said, we are the laborers. We are the workers. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:3-9, 16-17

Now we're going to leave 1 Corinthians 3, but we're coming right back. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 3 and turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2. Because Paul said to the Christians, you are his building. Well, what building is he talking about? Well, let's look in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning there with verse 19. Ephesians 2 verse 19. The Apostle writes, and he says, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens 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: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." So Paul says you're God's building. What building is that?

It is a holy temple in the Lord, and you are being built as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Now, go back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. So the Apostle Paul has said, we're God's laborers, we're working together with Him. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.

Now, skip down, if you would, please, to verse 16. Let's read 16 and 17. Look what he says. In verse 16, Paul says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

Now, we don't understand the impact of these verses until we understand two Greek words. There are two words for temple in the Greek language. The first one is hieron. And the word hieron refers to the outward facade or the outside of the temple. It would also include the common area where people went into the temple, and the porches, and that kind of thing. So when you read in the Greek the word hieron, it's just talking about basically a temple, the outside of it, or just describing it as an edifice, okay? Now, the second word is the word naos.

You remember in the Old Testament, once a year, the high priest went into the most holy place, or sometimes called the Holy of Holies. And once a year, he sprinkled blood on the mercy seat. That would be the naos. The naos is the Holy of Holies.

Now, I want you to look at verse 16, okay? Let me read it to you. Here's what he says. "Know ye not that ye are the naos, you are the holiest of holies of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the naos, the holy of holies of God, him shall God destroy. For the naos, the holy of holies of God, is holy, which temple ye are." What is he saying? He is saying that we as Christians are the real genuine temple of God on this earth.

Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19. Here it is again.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"What? know ye not that your body is the naos of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Look at verse 19.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"What? know ye not that your body is the Holy of Holies of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God?"

Remember what he said in Ephesians 2? He's building a holy temple for the habitation of God. Let me give you some very pressing questions, some questions that you really need to consider and think about. I showed you from the scripture, the money, the time, the work, the dedication, the consecration that went into building the physical temple. The first question is this, will you give God any less for the spiritual temple than they did for the physical temple? Will you be less dedicated to the reality than the Old Testament believers were to the shadow, to the picture?

Preparing the Heart through God's Word

Weaver explains that setting the heart means directing one's ways by God's law, as Jotham did (2 Chronicles 27:6). He cites Deuteronomy 6 and Joshua 1 to show that life must be permeated with Scripture.

I said, "That's exactly the point. In the New Testament, we have reality. They had the picture in the Old Testament." Now, here's the question. Will you not arise and build based upon the fact that you now know that you are the temple of God? That God resides in you, you have Him and He has you. Will you not prepare your heart to seek the Lord? So here's my question. How do we prepare our hearts?

Do you remember what David said in 1 Chronicles 22 and 19? "Set your heart to seek the Lord." How are you going to set your heart? Well, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Chronicles chapter 27. 2 Chronicles chapter 27, and I want you to look, please, at verse 6. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6.

We're going to read about Jotham. Jotham was a king, but I want you to note what the Bible says concerning Jotham. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 27:6

"So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God."

So Jotham became mighty. Why? Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Well, what does it mean to prepare your ways before the Lord your God? Well, it simply means this, that he directed his way, his counsels, his actions by the rule of God's law. He was constant.

He was consistent in a holy cause. Everything that he did, he examined in light of the Word of God. And he did it as in the sight of God. Look at verse six again. "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." In other words, what Jotham was doing was this. He was living as though he was in the very presence of God. Here's a good question. Are we in the presence of God? And the answer is yes, because God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And so we need to learn, like Jotham, to live in the presence of God.

Now, remember, David said, "Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord." How do we do that? Well, we prepare our hearts, but how did Jotham do it? He prepared his ways. I want you to look back, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, at verse 46. Deuteronomy, chapter 32, and verse 46. Here it is. Deuteronomy 32, verse 46.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:46

"And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law."

So Moses has given them the law, and now he says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:46

"Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day."

Set your heart. In other words, set your heart to learn and to live by the principles of the Word of God. Now, I want you to turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 6. He said the same thing, in a more lengthy discourse, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.

I want you to understand what he's saying and what he's doing. What he is saying is that our lives are to be permeated with the Word of God. So, verse 1 of Deuteronomy 6.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:1-9

"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."

Set your heart. What did he say? Set your heart according to the words which I have spoken.

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not." And he goes on and tells them, but note what he's saying. He said, when you sit down, you should be talking about the word of God. When you rise up, you should be talking about the word of God. You should have it on your walls and your houses. You should have it on your doorposts. You should have it where you can teach your children and your children's children. In other words, he's saying that your life is to be permeated with the Word of God.

Now, I want you to turn right over a few pages to Joshua 1, because God Himself says basically the same thing to Joshua. He's giving Joshua a charge after Moses is dead. So in Joshua 1, look at it, if you would. I like verse 2. Look what God said to him. "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel."

So he said, Moses is dead, now it's your turn. You get up and you go. But look if you would, verse 7. In fact, we can read verse 6. God is speaking to Joshua. He says,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 1:6-9

"Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Note what he said. "For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." When? When the Word of God is his rule. When the Word of God is in his heart and in his mind.

Seeking Things Above

From Colossians 3:1-3, Weaver urges believers to set their affections on heavenly realities, not earthly transitory things, and to thirst for God as a deer pants for water (Psalm 42:1-2).

But there is a passage, and I want you to turn there, and it's found in the book of Colossians chapter 3, and I want you to look, if you would please, at the first three verses. Colossians chapter 3, the first three verses. Look at it. Colossians 3, beginning there with verse 1. "If ye then be risen with Christ," let me just stop right there. "If ye then be risen with Christ," that's just a colloquialism in one sense of the word of saying, if you're saved, if you're a Christian. Because Romans chapter 6 teaches that we have died in Christ and we were raised to newness of life in Christ. And so he's saying, "If ye then be risen with Christ," that is, if you're genuinely His, if you're genuinely converted, "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." So what he's telling us is this.

We must learn to seek those things which are above, those heavenly things, those spiritual things, which are true and genuine and real. We must set our affections, our love and our desires and our will upon those things. They must become our passion. Now, he said, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Do you realize the wealthiest man in the world, when he dies, he leaves everything. The most beautiful house in the world will eventually rot or fall down. The earth is transitory. Everything we have is transitory.

You may have something today and not have it tomorrow. What he's trying to tell us is reality is where Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ is reality. Heavenly things are reality. Spiritual things are reality. All of this earth is going to pass away. In other words, we're not to be controlled by man. We're not to be controlled by our lust. We're not to be controlled by the pride of life and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. We're to be controlled by Jesus Christ, by his word and by his principles. He is to become our

all in all. I like the way David expressed it in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, when he said, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." And then he makes this statement, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" Now, think about this. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks," I've lived in areas where deer hunters were allowed to chase deer with dogs. I've seen some of those deer. I mean, they've run, their tongues are hanging out. If they can ever escape the dogs and the hunters, the first thing they want is water because they are just simply so dry from running for so long. This is what David is saying. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." When we get thirsty for Him, that is when our lives are going to be centered upon Him.

We have to learn to seek Him to prepare our hearts. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 10 and verse 17, "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart." And then in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 1, the Bible says, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." So when David told Solomon and those men, set your hearts, they would have never ever built the temple if their hearts had not been set on God and on the things of God.

Applications and Contrasting Kings

Weaver applies the message by urging believers to give God the benefit of the doubt, tithe faithfully, and avoid regarding iniquity. He contrasts Jotham, who became mighty by preparing his ways, with Rehoboam, who did evil by not preparing his heart.

Let me make a couple of applications. Think about this. We have today the reality in Jesus Christ. We are His temple. He lives in us. How can we not carefully, purposefully, and deliberately prepare our hearts and our lives and to render and to give to Him a holy, obedient service? How can we not make our bodies temples of praise and worship unto Him who loved us and saved us by His grace? How can we give Him less in the reality than the Old Testament believers did in the picture and the type and the emblem and the pattern? Another thing. If the Word of God is central, and if Jesus Christ is central in your life, if there's ever a question on anything, you would be more than willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt.

I don't care if we're talking about finances, health, family, whatever. You ought to always be willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt. I tell people, and I'm not ashamed to say it, but when I get money, the first thing I do is I tithe it. And you know, the older I get, sometimes I think, "Lord, did I tithe that? I don't really remember. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll tithe it again. If I didn't do it, then here it is. If I did do it, Lord, I can't outgive you and I can't outgrace you. And I can say with Jacob, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. Just thank you, Lord." I'm just saying we need to learn to give God the benefit of the doubt. Go the extra mile.

Do what we should do. We have to understand that if our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, the reality of what David said in Psalm 66 and verse 18, when he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." How in the world can we expect God to bless us if we regard iniquity? If there's unconfessed sin, if there's lingering hatred and bitterness and ill will, how can we expect God to bless us? And how can we render unto God a holy temple if we allow that in our lives? We need to learn to honor Him. We need to learn to repent. We need to learn to keep our hearts and our lives unto Him.

Now, here's what I want you to do in closing. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to look at them. The first one is 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14. If you'll go ahead and find 2 Chronicles, chapter 12. And then I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles, chapter 27. Okay? 2 Chronicles, chapter 27. Look at verse 6. We've already read this. But I'm going to read it again. 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6. Watch this.

He said, "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." Let that sink in. So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Now look in 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14, and we're talking about Rehoboam, who was also a king. "And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." So here's the whole crux. Your life, your actions, your attitudes will reveal whether or not your heart is prepared. If your heart is prepared, it's going to be evident. If your heart is unprepared, it's going to be evident. Because Jotham became mighty because he prepared his heart before the Lord, and Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart. If we are the true temple of God, we should make sure our hearts are prepared and set and established and directed toward God and the things of God. We need to seek Him to prepare our hearts. Let's pray.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Spiritual Preparation Precedes Work

Summary: Before building the sanctuary, David commanded the people to set their hearts to seek the Lord. Spiritual heart preparation is the necessary foundation for any work for God.

Evidence: 1 Chronicles 22:19: 'Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary...'

Believers as the True Temple of God

Summary: The Old Testament temple was a shadow; New Testament believers are the reality—the naos, the Holy of Holies, where God dwells by His Spirit.

Evidence: 1 Corinthians 3:16: 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?'

The Cost of Discipleship

Summary: Following Christ requires counting the cost and forsaking all. Preparation involves sacrifice, dedication, and a willingness to give God our best.

Evidence: Luke 14:28-33: 'whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.'

Permeating Life with God's Word

Summary: Setting the heart means directing one's ways by Scripture, meditating on it day and night, and teaching it diligently to the next generation.

Evidence: Deuteronomy 6:6-9: 'these words... shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children...'

Living in the Presence of God

Summary: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord, living as in God's sight. Believers must cultivate a constant awareness of God's presence.

Evidence: 2 Chronicles 27:6: 'So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.'

The Prudent Prepare, the Pathetic Suffer

Summary: Wisdom is seen in foresight and preparation for both temporal and eternal matters. Failure to prepare leads to poverty and punishment.

Evidence: Proverbs 22:3: 'A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.'

Key Arguments

Heart preparation is the prerequisite for building God's kingdom.

Summary: David's command to set the heart before arising to build shows that spiritual readiness must precede action. Most Christians fail to advance God's kingdom because their hearts are not prepared.

Evidence: 1 Chronicles 22:19: 'Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore, and build...'

The Old Testament temple was a shadow; the church is the reality.

Summary: Hebrews repeatedly calls the tabernacle/temple a shadow, pattern, and figure. Paul identifies believers as God's building and temple, making them the true habitation of God.

Evidence: Hebrews 8:5: 'Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things...' and 1 Corinthians 3:9,16.

If the shadow required such cost, the reality demands more.

Summary: David and Israel poured immense wealth and labor into the physical temple. Believers, as the spiritual temple, should give God no less dedication and consecration.

Evidence: 1 Chronicles 22:14: 'behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord...'

Preparation of heart is achieved through saturation in Scripture.

Summary: Jotham prepared his ways by God's law; Moses commanded Israel to set their hearts to the words of the law. Heart preparation comes from meditating on and obeying God's Word.

Evidence: Deuteronomy 32:46: 'Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day...'

A prepared heart is evidenced by a life that seeks heavenly things.

Summary: Colossians 3 commands believers to seek things above and set affections there. A heart set on God will thirst for Him and prioritize eternal realities over earthly pursuits.

Evidence: Colossians 3:1-2: 'seek those things which are above... Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.'

The state of one's heart determines the course of life.

Summary: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his heart; Rehoboam did evil because he did not. Heart preparation or lack thereof inevitably manifests in actions and outcomes.

Evidence: 2 Chronicles 27:6 and 12:14.

Scripture References

1 Chronicles 22:19

Context: David commands Solomon and the princes to set their heart and soul to seek the Lord and then arise to build the sanctuary.

Proverbs 22:3

Context: A prudent man foresees evil and hides, but the simple pass on and are punished.

Proverbs 6:6-11

Context: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. She prepares her food in summer.

1 Chronicles 22:14

Context: David says, 'in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord' a hundred thousand talents of gold and other materials.

1 Chronicles 26:27

Context: Out of the spoils won in battles they dedicated to maintain the house of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 29:2-5

Context: David prepared with all his might gold, silver, and precious stones for the temple, and gave of his own proper good.

1 Kings 6:7

Context: The temple was built of stone made ready before it was brought, so no hammer or tool was heard in the house.

Luke 14:28-35

Context: Jesus teaches counting the cost of discipleship, using the examples of building a tower and a king going to war.

Hebrews 8:1-5

Context: Christ is minister of the true tabernacle; earthly priests serve as a shadow of heavenly things.

Hebrews 9:1-12

Context: The first tabernacle was a figure; Christ entered the greater tabernacle by His own blood.

Hebrews 9:22-23

Context: It was necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens be purified, but heavenly things with better sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:1

Context: The law had a shadow of good things to come, not the very image.

1 Corinthians 3:3-9, 16-17

Context: Believers are God's building; they are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in them.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Context: Believers are built into a holy temple in the Lord for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Context: Your body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Ghost; glorify God in your body and spirit.

2 Chronicles 27:6

Context: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.

Deuteronomy 32:46

Context: Moses commands Israel to set their hearts unto all the words of the law.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Context: Love the Lord with all your heart; these words shall be in your heart; teach them diligently.

Joshua 1:6-9

Context: God commands Joshua to meditate on the law day and night to prosper and have success.

Colossians 3:1-3

Context: Seek things above; set your affection on things above, not on earth; your life is hid with Christ.

Historical References

Building of Solomon's Temple

Context: David prepared materials and gave Solomon the pattern; the temple took seven years to build and was constructed without sound of tools on site.

David's wars and spoils

Context: David fought Edomites, Moabites, Philistines, Syrians, and faced internal insurrections; spoils from battles were dedicated to the temple.

Jotham, King of Judah

Context: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord; his reign is contrasted with Rehoboam's failure.

Rehoboam, King of Judah

Context: Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord, serving as a negative example.

Important Quotes

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.

Significance: This is the key verse of the message, establishing the order: heart preparation before building.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Significance: Weaver uses this proverb to frame the contrast between those who prepare and those who suffer.

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.

Significance: Shows the immense cost and personal affliction involved in David's preparation.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

Significance: Demonstrates the meticulous preparation that went into the physical temple.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Significance: Central to Weaver's argument that believers are the true temple, demanding holy living.

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.

Significance: Positive example of heart preparation leading to strength and blessing.

And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Significance: Negative example showing the consequences of neglecting heart preparation.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to 'set your heart' to seek the Lord, and how can we practically do this daily?

Context: Based on 1 Chronicles 22:19 and the command to set heart and soul before building.

In what ways are we tempted to give God less in the reality (as His temple) than the Old Testament saints gave to the shadow?

Context: Weaver contrasts the cost of the physical temple with the spiritual temple of believers.

How does understanding that our bodies are the 'naos' (Holy of Holies) change the way we view sin and holiness?

Context: From 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:19-20, where Paul uses the term naos for the inner sanctuary.

What are some practical ways to permeate our lives with God's Word as described in Deuteronomy 6?

Context: Weaver emphasizes talking of the Word when sitting, walking, lying down, and rising up.

Why is counting the cost essential for discipleship, and what costs have you encountered in following Christ?

Context: From Luke 14:28-33, where Jesus speaks of building a tower and a king going to war.

How can we cultivate a thirst for God like the deer panting for water, especially in times of spiritual dryness?

Context: Weaver references Psalm 42:1-2 as an expression of longing for God.

What does it look like to 'give God the benefit of the doubt' in areas like finances, time, and relationships?

Context: Weaver applies the principle of going the extra mile in tithing and trusting God.

Contrast Jotham and Rehoboam: How does heart preparation (or lack thereof) manifest in a person's life and legacy?

Context: Weaver uses 2 Chronicles 27:6 and 12:14 to show the outcomes of prepared vs. unprepared hearts.

Applications

Prioritize heart preparation before service

Summary: Before engaging in any work for God, we must first set our hearts to seek Him through prayer and the Word, ensuring our motives and affections are aligned with His will.

Evidence: 1 Chronicles 22:19: 'Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore, and build...'

Live as the temple of God

Summary: Recognize that your body is the Holy of Holies where God dwells, and therefore pursue holiness, avoiding anything that defiles this temple.

Evidence: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God... If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.'

Saturate your life with Scripture

Summary: Make God's Word central by meditating on it day and night, teaching it to your family, and letting it guide every decision and conversation.

Evidence: Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and Joshua 1:8.

Count the cost of discipleship

Summary: Before committing to any endeavor for Christ, consider the sacrifices required and be willing to forsake all that hinders your walk with Him.

Evidence: Luke 14:28-33: 'whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.'

Set your affections on heavenly things

Summary: Deliberately focus your desires and passions on eternal realities rather than temporary earthly pursuits, seeking Christ above all.

Evidence: Colossians 3:1-2: 'Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.'

Give God the benefit of the doubt

Summary: In matters of giving, obedience, and trust, go the extra mile and err on the side of generosity and faithfulness, knowing God cannot be outgiven.

Evidence: Weaver's personal testimony on tithing: 'I'll tithe it again... Lord, I can't outgive you.'

Examine your heart for unconfessed sin

Summary: Regularly confess and repent of any iniquity, bitterness, or ill will, so that your prayers are not hindered and your temple remains holy.

Evidence: Psalm 66:18: 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.'

Prepare for both temporal and eternal realities

Summary: Be prudent like the ant by preparing for emergencies, old age, and death, but supremely prepare your heart to meet God.

Evidence: Proverbs 6:6-8 and Proverbs 22:3.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:48:10Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:08:08Z

Clean Transcript

The Art Of Preparation

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Open our Bibles today to 1 Chronicles chapter 22, and we're going to read verse 19. I'll come back and give you the context momentarily. But 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, the title of the message is "The Art of Preparation." So notice 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, and David is actually talking to Solomon and all the princes of Israel, and he says, "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."
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I saw a sign recently and all the sign said was this: "The meeting for Procrastinators Anonymous has been postponed until further notice." Well, the truth of the matter is this, that everyone is a procrastinator in one sense of the word. We postpone and we put off everything that we dislike or that creates confrontation or that is hard or difficult or that we just simply don't think is urgent or absolutely necessary. In fact, the truth of the matter is most of the time we live our lives based upon ease and convenience, not necessarily on things that just need to be done and have to be done. So our attitude usually is if it can wait, it will wait, especially if it's something that we dislike or something that's going to create confrontation. But on the other hand, there are also times of preparation as well. We prepare to shop. We prepare to play. We prepare to fish, we prepare to hunt, we prepare to do a lot of things. In other words, these things usually take just a little bit of forethought.
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And we begin to think what we're going to need to enjoy ourselves or what we're going to need to accomplish this little task. And usually we think about it and we lay everything out and we simply get ready to use whatever we need to use. Unhappily, the preparation for most people does not go beyond those few things. Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 3 is a principle that some have really understood, but most have not. It simply says this: "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." So the prudent man is the man who foresees the evil and he hides himself from the evil. But the foolish man is the man that simply passes on and is punished.
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So there are some that do indeed prepare for emergencies like storms and hurricanes and tornadoes and other disasters. Very few plan ahead and prepare for life or sickness or old age or death. I recently read where the average American could not come up with 1,000 Federal Reserve notes in a case of an emergency. And many people have said that the average American home is three days away from starvation. By that, they simply mean most people have not prepared. Most people no longer have pantries.
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I remember we had a pantry growing up, and my mother always kept it stocked full of canned goods and all kinds of things like that. But today, most women have no idea of how to can or how to preserve anything. Hence, the truth of the matter is, we are actually dumber than the insects. How can I say that? Well, hold 1 Chronicles, but look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 6, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 6, and look what the Bible says. And we are here being compared, or actually counseled, to go to insects to learn. So in Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6, look what the Bible says.
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"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." So what does the ant do? Watch verse 7. "Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."
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So it tells us to go to the ants, go to the insects and learn. Why? Because those insects do not have rulers, they don't have princes, they don't have governors, and yet they have sense enough to know that they are to put up and preserve in times of harvest for times of want, especially during the times of the winter. So the truth of the matter is that some people prepare and others suffer.
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Years ago, I preached a message based upon Proverbs 22 and verse 3, which I titled, "The Prudent and the Pathetic." And each one of us will usually fall into one of those two categories. We're either going to be prudent and prepare, or we're going to be pathetic and we're going to end up suffering. Preparation is an absolute necessity. There must be preparation for life, preparation for worship, preparation for necessities, and preparation for emergencies, and of course, preparation for death.
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Now in our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 22 and verse 19, David is preparing Solomon to build the temple of the Lord. When you stop and think about the temple, all of the skill, workmanship, materials, preparations that were made for the building of the temple, is absolutely mind-boggling. I'm going to show you some of that just momentarily. Now, in this chapter, 1 Chronicles 22, in verses 6 through 13, David is charging Solomon to build the temple of the Lord and to obey His commandments. In fact, he is telling Solomon that the only way to prosper is to obey. Now, when you get to verses 15 and 16, there is also a personal exhortation and a word of encouragement to Solomon. Look in verse 15. He says to Solomon, "Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance." Now we're talking about building the temple.
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"Workmen in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. 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."
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Now, I love the way David speaks to Solomon. I like when he said, "Arise therefore, and be doing." So we could put that in our modern day colloquialisms and we could say that David is looking at Solomon saying, "Get off your duff, get up and go to work, get busy boy, don't stand around here doing nothing, arise and build." In this same chapter, David also exhorts the princes and the rulers to help him.
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Look at verses 17 through 19. "David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 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. 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."
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Now we're going to get to our text very shortly, but I want you to consider something with me on the building of the temple. The building of the temple with David was not some spur-of-the-moment thing. David was not just lying awake one night and saying, "Hey, I think I'll build a temple unto God." Obviously not. There was indeed a lot of planning and a lot of preparation. And moreover, God specifically gave David the pattern for that temple and how it was to be built. If you will look in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, at verses 10 through 12, David says this, he's talking to Solomon, and in verse 10 he says, "Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it."
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"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, 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." So, David now has received all of this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit as well.
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Now, the interesting thing is this. Solomon is being charged to build this temple. And he's been given the pattern that God has given to David. David makes an interesting statement in chapter 22 and verse 14. I want you to look at it. Look what he says. Chapter 22 in verse 14.
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"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." So notice if you would now, here we have all of this that has been prepared by David, but look if you would at what he said in verse 14, "Behold, in my trouble I have prepared." The word trouble is the word affliction. What kind of affliction, what kind of trouble did David have?
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Well stop and think, all of the wars that were outside: He fought with the Edomites. He fought with the Moabites. He fought with the Philistines. He fought with the Syrians. I mean, there were wars on every hand. Moreover, there were insurrections and seditions on the inside that he had to deal with. So clearly then, in all the trouble that he had on the outside of the kingdom and on the inside of the kingdom, he was still preparing and he was giving all of this in order for the temple to be built. Here's a question.
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Where in the world did all this silver and gold come from? I mean, a million talents and, you know, if we just said a million pounds, a pound, our pound would be 16 ounces. I forget the Troy ounce poundage, it's a little different. But still, a million talents and a talent was far more than a pound. And where does all this money come from? Well, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27. 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 27.
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"Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord." So there were a lot of wars, and there was an awful lot of booty and an awful lot of spoils. And therefore, a lot of that booty and a lot of that spoil was given to God as an oblation, that is, as an offering. So if you look in 1 Chronicles 26 and verse 20, the Bible says that "of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and over the treasures of the dedicated things."
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He was the main man. But if you'll skip down to verse 26, there were some others under him. "Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated." So obviously, there's an awful lot of money that has been raised from the wars with all of these kingdoms that David has fought.
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Now, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles 29, and I would encourage you to read 1 Chronicles 29 when you get home. So in light of all of that money that had been gained through booty and spoils, David gave an awful lot of his personal wealth, and so did all of the rulers. So if you'll look in 1 Chronicles chapter 29, beginning there with verse 2, look what David says, "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance." Now watch verse 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, Even three thousand
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talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal: The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" And if you read the rest of the chapter, you'll find that the princes then each gave gold and silver and oxen and everything for the work and for the house of the Lord. Wow.
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So the building of the temple is no easy thing. I think just from what I've shared with you, you could easily see the cost, the work, the trouble, the service, the preparation, and the blessing that went into the building of the temple. Moreover, it required an awful lot of dedication and consecration and deliberation. I hope that you know that it took seven years for the temple to be built completely.
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Let me show you something else. I want you to hold 1 Chronicles, but turn back in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 6. 1 Kings chapter 6, and I want you to look at verse 7. This is absolutely an astounding fact. You're talking about preparation. These people knew what preparation was all about. So in 1 Kings 6, look at verse 7. Here it is. "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building."
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So all the stones were squared, everything was prepared, it was moved to the site, and everything was put in place. No hammer heard, no axe, no saw, no tool. There was real preparation. I think you can see that there was an awful lot to go in building the temple.
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Now, I want you to look back at our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 22, and verse 19. I want you to look at what David said. He tells Solomon and he tells the rulers, he tells the people, "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."
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We must take note of the fact that it was not simply materials and physical preparations that were needed for the temple. There were also spiritual preparations that were necessary. And it's imperative that you take note of the order of verse 19. Look at verse 19 now. He says, "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God." That's number one. Here's number two. "Arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God." In other words, there would not be any building of the sanctuary if the people had not prepared their hearts, if they had not set their heart. The arise and build was only after set your heart.
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Now the word set is from the Hebrew word kun, and it literally is translated in our Bibles as prepare, establish, and direct, and to order. So literally he's saying, prepare your heart, direct your heart, establish your heart, order your heart.
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Now, there are two very important observations that need to be made. Here's the first one. I believe the reason that most Christians are not really concerned with the work of God, the church of God, dominion, the advancement of the kingdom of God, is revealed in this passage. The reason most Christians are not really concerned about the advancement of the Kingdom of God is they have never, ever prepared their hearts. Their hearts are not set. Their hearts are not in it. Notice he said, you set your heart, and then he said, arise and build. So the fact is, most Christians have no idea what heart preparation is. They have no idea what is involved in preparing their heart, and therefore they never will arise and build.
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The second observation is this. There must be an understanding of the cost that is involved in any undertaking. Now, I've just shared with you some of the cost that was involved in building the temple. But our Lord spoke of other costs. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Luke, chapter 14. And if you'll hold 1 Chronicles 22, we're coming back there. But look in Luke, chapter 14, if you would, please.
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And let's begin reading there with verse 28. Luke 14, verse 28. Look at what he says, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?"
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"Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
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What is our Lord telling us? Our Lord is telling us there is a cost in preparation. It doesn't matter what you're doing. He said if you're going to build a house, you better consult and see whether or not you have enough money to build the house or to finish the house. Alice and I have traveled for many years, and there's one place that we went by years and years ago, a fellow started building a castle, or at least it looked like a castle. And you know, had the tower like that. And we went by it for years. Never finished.
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Finally, I guess it deteriorated and fell down. And then again, there's another house that we used to go by. The man started building it up on a hill. It was a very beautiful location. I don't know whether he died or what happened, but finally the house just deteriorated and fell down. Somebody cleared it out and put a mobile home up in there. So I'm just saying this is what our Lord is saying.
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We need to count the cost. And just like the man or the king who has 10,000 soldiers and someone's coming against him with 20,000, you better count the cost. You better see whether or not you can finish the job.
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Now, he said, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." In other words, if you want to be a real true disciple, there is going to be a cost. Then he said, "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?"
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Now, the truth of the matter is this. There's a cost in preparation. There's a cost involved in keeping our saltiness. There's a cost involved in being holy, godly, and obedient. There's a cost involved in keeping one's testimony clean before the lives of others.
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Now, here's a truth that we need to see, we need to grasp, we need to understand. I want you to think about this. I shared with you a lot of the trouble that went into building the temple. OK, the money, goodness gracious, the workmen, seven years. Do you realize out of all the money, out of all the workmanship, out of all the skill, out of all the trouble, out of all the dedication that went in building the temple, all it was was a picture. It was not reality. Now, I'm not saying the temple was not real. Yes, I know the temple was a real building, but what I am trying to tell you is this. The temple was nothing more than a shadow. It was nothing more than a pattern. It was nothing more than an emblem. It was nothing more than a type.
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Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Hebrews, chapter 8. Let's begin there. Chapter 8 of Hebrews. And let's begin reading, if you would please, with verse 1. I'll show you a number of passages, and let's try to put this together. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 1.
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"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Well, let's see, Moses pitched the earthly tabernacle, and Solomon pitched the earthly temple, but our Lord says, that was not the real one. The true tabernacle, or the true temple, is the one that the Lord has pitched, and not man.
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Skip down to verses 4 and 5. We're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 4. "For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law."
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Now look at verse 5, "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." Now, in verse 5, we're told that everything was a shadow of heavenly things. A shadow is not the real thing. The shadow is not reality. I parked my car in the shadow of that oak tree, but my car is not in the oak tree. The shadow is not reality. An example is not reality.
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I could try to explain something to Steve and he says, "I don't understand." I said, "Well, let me give you an example." And I could just make one up out of the top of my head. But an example is not a reality. It's just something to try to help you see the truth. And a pattern is certainly not reality. My wife has many dress patterns and she has made many dresses over the years, but I've never ever have seen her wear a pattern. Because the pattern's not the reality. The dress is the reality. So he's saying that everything that we had in the Old Testament was merely a shadow, a type, or a pattern.
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Look, if you would, in chapter 9 and verse 1. He said, "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." So he refers to the ceremonial law and everything therein as a worldly sanctuary. Remember, it was pitched by man. It had to be worldly. Now skip down to verse 8. Hebrews 9, verse 8. "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him
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that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." Here's the distinction. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." So again, we're talking about patterns, we're talking about figures.
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Now, skip down, if you would, to 22 and 23. Hebrews 9, verse 22, "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Wow. Again, he says that everything on the earth was nothing more than a pattern. And then if you look in chapter 10 in verse 1, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make
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the comers thereunto perfect." Now, over and over in this book, we have seen that the Old Testament tabernacle and temple are nothing more than patterns and types and shadows and figures. They are not reality. They were just patterns. You say, "Why are you emphasizing this? Why are you pushing this?" And the answer is so that I can show you the real temple of God. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians because of their carnality. Believe it or not, their carnality was not what the world calls carnality. Their carnality was not adultery and fornication and theft and no, no, no, no, no. Their carnality was arguing over preachers.
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Who was the best preacher? Some liked Apollos, some liked Peter, some liked the Apostle Paul. And so Paul is trying to straighten this mess out. So look what he says in verse 4. Well, in fact, we'll go back and read verse 3. He says, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" Well, what were they fighting about? Here it is. "For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?"
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Now I want you to note very carefully, he's talking about ministers. He's talking about preachers, okay? Now watch. He says in verse 6, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." Verse 7, "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." Now look what he says in verse 9, "For we are labourers together with God." Now here's the distinction. Here's the contrast. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." So the apostle then draws a distinction between the ministers in this chapter and the people being ministered unto. He said, we are the laborers. We are the workers. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.
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Now we're going to leave 1 Corinthians 3, but we're coming right back. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 3 and turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2. Because Paul said to the Christians, you are his building. Well, what building is he talking about? Well, let's look in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning there with verse 19. Ephesians 2 verse 19. The Apostle writes, and he says, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens 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: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." So Paul says you're God's building. What building is that?
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It is a holy temple in the Lord, and you are being built as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Now, go back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. So the Apostle Paul has said, we're God's laborers, we're working together with Him. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building.
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Now, skip down, if you would, please, to verse 16. Let's read 16 and 17. Look what he says. In verse 16, Paul says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
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Now, we don't understand the impact of these verses until we understand two Greek words. There are two words for temple in the Greek language. The first one is hieron. And the word hieron refers to the outward facade or the outside of the temple. It would also include the common area where people went into the temple, and the porches, and that kind of thing. So when you read in the Greek the word hieron, it's just talking about basically a temple, the outside of it, or just describing it as an edifice, okay? Now, the second word is the word naos.
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You remember in the Old Testament, once a year, the high priest went into the most holy place, or sometimes called the Holy of Holies. And once a year, he sprinkled blood on the mercy seat. That would be the naos. The naos is the Holy of Holies.
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Now, I want you to look at verse 16, okay? Let me read it to you. Here's what he says. "Know ye not that ye are the naos, you are the holiest of holies of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the naos, the holy of holies of God, him shall God destroy. For the naos, the holy of holies of God, is holy, which temple ye are." What is he saying? He is saying that we as Christians are the real genuine temple of God on this earth.
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Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19. Here it is again. "What? know ye not that your body is the naos of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Look at verse 19. "What? know ye not that your body is the Holy of Holies of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God?"
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Remember what he said in Ephesians 2? He's building a holy temple for the habitation of God. Let me give you some very pressing questions, some questions that you really need to consider and think about. I showed you from the scripture, the money, the time, the work, the dedication, the consecration that went into building the physical temple. The first question is this, will you give God any less for the spiritual temple than they did for the physical temple? Will you be less dedicated to the reality than the Old Testament believers were to the shadow, to the picture?
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I have a good friend, he hasn't been married too long. And he was asking me about the difference between the Old Testament ordinances and the New Testament, and I looked at him and I said, "Son, let me ask you, how long have you been married?" He said, "Nine months, sir." I said, "Do you have a picture of your wife in your billfold?" He said, "Yes, I do."
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I said, "May I see it?" Of course, I knew his wife. Yes. He showed it to me. I said, "All right, I'll tell you what. I said, when you go home tonight and you go to bed with your wife, I want you to open your billfold and take out her picture and kiss her picture goodnight." He said, "Why would I do that when I had the real thing right beside me?"
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I said, "That's exactly the point. In the New Testament, we have reality. They had the picture in the Old Testament." Now, here's the question. Will you not arise and build based upon the fact that you now know that you are the temple of God? That God resides in you, you have Him and He has you. Will you not prepare your heart to seek the Lord? So here's my question. How do we prepare our hearts?
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Do you remember what David said in 1 Chronicles 22 and 19? "Set your heart to seek the Lord." How are you going to set your heart? Well, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Chronicles chapter 27. 2 Chronicles chapter 27, and I want you to look, please, at verse 6. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6.
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We're going to read about Jotham. Jotham was a king, but I want you to note what the Bible says concerning Jotham. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6. "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." So Jotham became mighty. Why? Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Well, what does it mean to prepare your ways before the Lord your God? Well, it simply means this, that he directed his way, his counsels, his actions by the rule of God's law. He was constant.
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He was consistent in a holy cause. Everything that he did, he examined in light of the Word of God. And he did it as in the sight of God. Look at verse six again. "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." In other words, what Jotham was doing was this. He was living as though he was in the very presence of God. Here's a good question. Are we in the presence of God? And the answer is yes, because God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at once in the totality of His being. And so we need to learn, like Jotham, to live in the presence of God.
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Now, remember, David said, "Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord." How do we do that? Well, we prepare our hearts, but how did Jotham do it? He prepared his ways. I want you to look back, if you would, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, at verse 46. Deuteronomy, chapter 32, and verse 46. Here it is. Deuteronomy 32, verse 46. "And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law." So Moses has given them the law, and now he says, "Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day." Set your heart. In other words, set your heart to learn and to live by the principles of the Word of God. Now, I want you to turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 6. He said the same thing, in a more lengthy discourse, in Deuteronomy chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.
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I want you to understand what he's saying and what he's doing. What he is saying is that our lives are to be permeated with the Word of God. So, verse 1 of Deuteronomy 6.
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"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." Set your heart. What did he say? Set your heart according to the words which I have spoken.
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"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not."
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And he goes on and tells them, but note what he's saying. He said, when you sit down, you should be talking about the word of God. When you rise up, you should be talking about the word of God. You should have it on your walls and your houses. You should have it on your doorposts. You should have it where you can teach your children and your children's children. In other words, he's saying that your life is to be permeated with the Word of God.
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Now, I want you to turn right over a few pages to Joshua 1, because God Himself says basically the same thing to Joshua. He's giving Joshua a charge after Moses is dead. So in Joshua 1, look at it, if you would. I like verse 2. Look what God said to him. "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel."
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So he said, Moses is dead, now it's your turn. You get up and you go. But look if you would, verse 7. In fact, we can read verse 6. God is speaking to Joshua. He says, "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
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"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Note what he said. "For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." When? When the Word of God is his rule. When the Word of God is in his heart and in his mind.
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So let me ask you another question. How then do we center our lives so that the Word of God is going to be central, and the Word of God is going to permeate every area of our lives? I understand that we have to work. I understand that we have to make a living. I usually tease, I usually say, you know, some folks have to work for a living and others get to preach. Well, you know, and I've laughed about this for years and years. When I was a boy, I actually wanted to be a preacher because you only had to work on Wednesday and Sunday and the rest of time you could play. I found out it surely didn't work out like that. That is for sure. But, you know, even at work.
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When you have a problem, what is to stop you from mentally asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment and direction and for resolution of that problem? What is to stop you from saying, "I wonder if there's a principle in the Word of God that would help me to better reach a solution to this problem." I'm just simply pointing out the fact, even in our work, we can still maintain a centralization of our thoughts on the Word of God.
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But there is a passage, and I want you to turn there, and it's found in the book of Colossians chapter 3, and I want you to look, if you would please, at the first three verses. Colossians chapter 3, the first three verses. Look at it. Colossians 3, beginning there with verse 1. "If ye then be risen with Christ," let me just stop right there. "If ye then be risen with Christ," that's just a colloquialism in one sense of the word of saying, if you're saved, if you're a Christian. Because Romans chapter 6 teaches that we have died in Christ and we were raised to newness of life in Christ. And so he's saying, "If ye then be risen with Christ," that is, if you're genuinely His, if you're genuinely converted, "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." So what he's telling us is this.
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We must learn to seek those things which are above, those heavenly things, those spiritual things, which are true and genuine and real. We must set our affections, our love and our desires and our will upon those things. They must become our passion. Now, he said, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Do you realize the wealthiest man in the world, when he dies, he leaves everything. The most beautiful house in the world will eventually rot or fall down. The earth is transitory. Everything we have is transitory.
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You may have something today and not have it tomorrow. What he's trying to tell us is reality is where Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ is reality. Heavenly things are reality. Spiritual things are reality. All of this earth is going to pass away. In other words, we're not to be controlled by man. We're not to be controlled by our lust. We're not to be controlled by the pride of life and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. We're to be controlled by Jesus Christ, by his word and by his principles. He is to become our
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all in all. I like the way David expressed it in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, when he said, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." And then he makes this statement, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" Now, think about this. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks," I've lived in areas where deer hunters were allowed to chase deer with dogs. I've seen some of those deer.
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I mean, they've run, their tongues are hanging out. If they can ever escape the dogs and the hunters, the first thing they want is water because they are just simply so dry from running for so long. This is what David is saying. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." When we get thirsty for Him, that is when our lives are going to be centered upon Him.
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We have to learn to seek Him to prepare our hearts. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 10 and verse 17, "Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart." And then in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 1, the Bible says, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." So when David told Solomon and those men, set your hearts, they would have never ever built the temple if their hearts had not been set on God and on the things of God.
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Let me make a couple of applications. Think about this. We have today the reality in Jesus Christ. We are His temple. He lives in us. How can we not carefully, purposefully, and deliberately prepare our hearts and our lives and to render and to give to Him a holy, obedient service? How can we not make our bodies temples of praise and worship unto Him who loved us and saved us by His grace? How can we give Him less in the reality than the Old Testament believers did in the picture and the type and the emblem and the pattern? Another thing. If the Word of God is central, and if Jesus Christ is central in your life, if there's ever a question on anything, you would be more than willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt.
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I don't care if we're talking about finances, health, family, whatever. You ought to always be willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt. I tell people, and I'm not ashamed to say it, but when I get money, the first thing I do is I tithe it. And you know, the older I get, sometimes I think, "Lord, did I tithe that? I don't really remember. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll tithe it again. If I didn't do it, then here it is. If I did do it, Lord, I can't outgive you and I can't outgrace you. And I can say with Jacob, I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. Just thank you, Lord." I'm just saying we need to learn to give God the benefit of the doubt. Go the extra mile.
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Do what we should do. We have to understand that if our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, the reality of what David said in Psalm 66 and verse 18, when he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." How in the world can we expect God to bless us if we regard iniquity? If there's unconfessed sin, if there's lingering hatred and bitterness and ill will, how can we expect God to bless us? And how can we render unto God a holy temple if we allow that in our lives?
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We need to learn to honor Him. We need to learn to repent. We need to learn to keep our hearts and our lives unto Him.
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Now, here's what I want you to do in closing. I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to look at them. The first one is 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14. If you'll go ahead and find 2 Chronicles, chapter 12. And then I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles, chapter 27. Okay? 2 Chronicles, chapter 27. Look at verse 6. We've already read this. But I'm going to read it again. 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6. Watch this.
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He said, "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." Let that sink in. So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
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Now look in 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14, and we're talking about Rehoboam, who was also a king. "And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." So here's the whole crux. Your life, your actions, your attitudes will reveal whether or not your heart is prepared. If your heart is prepared, it's going to be evident. If your heart is unprepared, it's going to be evident. Because Jotham became mighty because he prepared his heart before the Lord, and Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart. If we are the true temple of God, we should make sure our hearts are prepared and set and established and directed toward God and the things of God. We need to seek Him to prepare our hearts. Let's pray.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for Your grace and Your mercy. Help us, Lord, to realize, number one, that our bodies are indeed the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. And You have told us to grieve not the Holy Spirit, quench not the Spirit. You've told us to walk pleasing in Thy sight. Help us to do that, Lord. You've commanded us to seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. You've commanded us to set our affection on things above. Help us to do that, Lord. And Father, help us to seek Thee to prepare our hearts, knowing that the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. Give us Your grace and give us Your mercy. Help us to love Thee and live for Thee and honor Thee in all that we say and do, in Christ's name we pray, Amen.
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so
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:48:10Z

The Art Of Preparation

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver teaches from 1 Chronicles 22:19 that spiritual preparation must precede any work for God. Using the building of Solomon's temple as a backdrop, he emphasizes that believers are the true temple of God and must set their hearts to seek the Lord through His Word. The message contrasts the prudent who prepare with the pathetic who suffer, and calls Christians to give God the reality of holy, obedient service, not merely the shadow.

Opening

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 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."

Introduction: The Problem of Procrastination

Weaver opens with a humorous sign about procrastination and notes that people tend to postpone difficult or unpleasant tasks, living by ease and convenience rather than necessity.

The Prudent vs. the Pathetic

Citing Proverbs 22:3, Weaver contrasts the prudent man who foresees evil and prepares with the simple who pass on and are punished. He notes that few prepare for life, sickness, old age, or death.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 22:3

"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."

So the prudent man is the man who foresees the evil and he hides himself from the evil. But the foolish man is the man that simply passes on and is punished.

Learning from the Ant

From Proverbs 6:6-11, Weaver points out that ants prepare in summer for winter without any overseer, and calls those who fail to prepare 'dumber than the insects.'

David's Preparation for the Temple

Weaver details the immense material and spiritual preparation David made for the temple, including gold, silver, and workmen, and notes that David prepared 'in my trouble' (affliction).

Scripture Reading — 1 Chronicles 26:27

"Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord."

The Cost of Preparation

Using Luke 14:28-35, Weaver explains that any undertaking requires counting the cost, and that discipleship demands forsaking all. He applies this to the cost of holiness and keeping one's testimony.

And let's begin reading there with verse 28. Luke 14, verse 28. Look at what he says,

Scripture Reading — Luke 14:28-35

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?" "Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

The Temple as Shadow and the Believer as Reality

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:1-5

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

Look, if you would, in chapter 9 and verse 1. He said,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:1-12

"Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary."

So he refers to the ceremonial law and everything therein as a worldly sanctuary. Remember, it was pitched by man. It had to be worldly. Now skip down to verse 8. Hebrews 9, verse 8.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:1-12

"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:22-23

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 3:3-9, 16-17

Now we're going to leave 1 Corinthians 3, but we're coming right back. So I want you to hold 1 Corinthians 3 and turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2. Because Paul said to the Christians, you are his building. Well, what building is he talking about? Well, let's look in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning there with verse 19. Ephesians 2 verse 19. The Apostle writes, and he says, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens 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: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." So Paul says you're God's building. What building is that?

Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 19 and 20. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19. Here it is again.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"What? know ye not that your body is the naos of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Look at verse 19.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"What? know ye not that your body is the Holy of Holies of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God?"

Preparing the Heart through God's Word

We're going to read about Jotham. Jotham was a king, but I want you to note what the Bible says concerning Jotham. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 27:6

"So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:46

"And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law."

So Moses has given them the law, and now he says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:46

"Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day."

I want you to understand what he's saying and what he's doing. What he is saying is that our lives are to be permeated with the Word of God. So, verse 1 of Deuteronomy 6.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:1-9

"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."

Set your heart. What did he say? Set your heart according to the words which I have spoken.

So he said, Moses is dead, now it's your turn. You get up and you go. But look if you would, verse 7. In fact, we can read verse 6. God is speaking to Joshua. He says,

Scripture Reading — Joshua 1:6-9

"Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

Seeking Things Above

From Colossians 3:1-3, Weaver urges believers to set their affections on heavenly realities, not earthly transitory things, and to thirst for God as a deer pants for water (Psalm 42:1-2).

Applications and Contrasting Kings

The Art Of Preparation

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	uG0jm7eWv8c
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-12-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 085: Proverbs-Related Topical Wisdom — Chapter 16
Source Timed Segments	88

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Problem of Procrastination: Weaver opens with a humorous sign about procrastination and notes that people tend to postpone difficult or unpleasant tasks, living by ease and convenience rather than necessity.
The Prudent vs. the Pathetic: Citing Proverbs 22:3, Weaver contrasts the prudent man who foresees evil and prepares with the simple who pass on and are punished. He notes that few prepare for life, sickness, old age, or death.
Learning from the Ant: From Proverbs 6:6-11, Weaver points out that ants prepare in summer for winter without any overseer, and calls those who fail to prepare 'dumber than the insects.'
David's Preparation for the Temple: Weaver details the immense material and spiritual preparation David made for the temple, including gold, silver, and workmen, and notes that David prepared 'in my trouble' (affliction).
The Cost of Preparation: Using Luke 14:28-35, Weaver explains that any undertaking requires counting the cost, and that discipleship demands forsaking all. He applies this to the cost of holiness and keeping one's testimony.
The Temple as Shadow and the Believer as Reality: Weaver shows from Hebrews 8-10 that the Old Testament temple was a shadow, pattern, and figure. He then turns to 1 Corinthians 3 and 6 and Ephesians 2 to prove that believers are the true temple (naos) of God.
Preparing the Heart through God's Word: Weaver explains that setting the heart means directing one's ways by God's law, as Jotham did (2 Chronicles 27:6). He cites Deuteronomy 6 and Joshua 1 to show that life must be permeated with Scripture.
Seeking Things Above: From Colossians 3:1-3, Weaver urges believers to set their affections on heavenly realities, not earthly transitory things, and to thirst for God as a deer pants for water (Psalm 42:1-2).
Applications and Contrasting Kings: Weaver applies the message by urging believers to give God the benefit of the doubt, tithe faithfully, and avoid regarding iniquity. He contrasts Jotham, who became mighty by preparing his ways, with Rehoboam, who did evil by not preparing his heart.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Heart preparation is the prerequisite for building God's kingdom.

David's command to set the heart before arising to build shows that spiritual readiness must precede action. Most Christians fail to advance God's kingdom because their hearts are not prepared.

1 Chronicles 22:19: 'Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore, and build...'

The Old Testament temple was a shadow; the church is the reality.

Hebrews repeatedly calls the tabernacle/temple a shadow, pattern, and figure. Paul identifies believers as God's building and temple, making them the true habitation of God.

Hebrews 8:5: 'Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things...' and 1 Corinthians 3:9,16.

If the shadow required such cost, the reality demands more.

David and Israel poured immense wealth and labor into the physical temple. Believers, as the spiritual temple, should give God no less dedication and consecration.

1 Chronicles 22:14: 'behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord...'

Preparation of heart is achieved through saturation in Scripture.

Jotham prepared his ways by God's law; Moses commanded Israel to set their hearts to the words of the law. Heart preparation comes from meditating on and obeying God's Word.

Deuteronomy 32:46: 'Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day...'

A prepared heart is evidenced by a life that seeks heavenly things.

Colossians 3 commands believers to seek things above and set affections there. A heart set on God will thirst for Him and prioritize eternal realities over earthly pursuits.

Colossians 3:1-2: 'seek those things which are above... Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.'

The state of one's heart determines the course of life.

Jotham became mighty because he prepared his heart; Rehoboam did evil because he did not. Heart preparation or lack thereof inevitably manifests in actions and outcomes.

2 Chronicles 27:6 and 12:14.

Scripture References

1 Chronicles 22:19: David commands Solomon and the princes to set their heart and soul to seek the Lord and then arise to build the sanctuary.
Proverbs 22:3: A prudent man foresees evil and hides, but the simple pass on and are punished.
Proverbs 6:6-11: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. She prepares her food in summer.
1 Chronicles 22:14: David says, 'in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord' a hundred thousand talents of gold and other materials.
1 Chronicles 26:27: Out of the spoils won in battles they dedicated to maintain the house of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 29:2-5: David prepared with all his might gold, silver, and precious stones for the temple, and gave of his own proper good.
1 Kings 6:7: The temple was built of stone made ready before it was brought, so no hammer or tool was heard in the house.
Luke 14:28-35: Jesus teaches counting the cost of discipleship, using the examples of building a tower and a king going to war.
Hebrews 8:1-5: Christ is minister of the true tabernacle; earthly priests serve as a shadow of heavenly things.
Hebrews 9:1-12: The first tabernacle was a figure; Christ entered the greater tabernacle by His own blood.
Hebrews 9:22-23: It was necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens be purified, but heavenly things with better sacrifices.
Hebrews 10:1: The law had a shadow of good things to come, not the very image.
1 Corinthians 3:3-9, 16-17: Believers are God's building; they are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in them.
Ephesians 2:19-22: Believers are built into a holy temple in the Lord for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: Your body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Ghost; glorify God in your body and spirit.
2 Chronicles 27:6: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
Deuteronomy 32:46: Moses commands Israel to set their hearts unto all the words of the law.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9: Love the Lord with all your heart; these words shall be in your heart; teach them diligently.
Joshua 1:6-9: God commands Joshua to meditate on the law day and night to prosper and have success.
Colossians 3:1-3: Seek things above; set your affection on things above, not on earth; your life is hid with Christ.

Historical References

Building of Solomon's Temple: David prepared materials and gave Solomon the pattern; the temple took seven years to build and was constructed without sound of tools on site.
David's wars and spoils: David fought Edomites, Moabites, Philistines, Syrians, and faced internal insurrections; spoils from battles were dedicated to the temple.
Jotham, King of Judah: Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord; his reign is contrasted with Rehoboam's failure.
Rehoboam, King of Judah: Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord, serving as a negative example.

Important Quotes

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.

This is the key verse of the message, establishing the order: heart preparation before building.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Weaver uses this proverb to frame the contrast between those who prepare and those who suffer.

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.

Shows the immense cost and personal affliction involved in David's preparation.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

Demonstrates the meticulous preparation that went into the physical temple.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Central to Weaver's argument that believers are the true temple, demanding holy living.

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.

Positive example of heart preparation leading to strength and blessing.

And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Negative example showing the consequences of neglecting heart preparation.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to 'set your heart' to seek the Lord, and how can we practically do this daily?

[Context]

Based on 1 Chronicles 22:19 and the command to set heart and soul before building.

[Question]

In what ways are we tempted to give God less in the reality (as His temple) than the Old Testament saints gave to the shadow?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts the cost of the physical temple with the spiritual temple of believers.

[Question]

How does understanding that our bodies are the 'naos' (Holy of Holies) change the way we view sin and holiness?

[Context]

From 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:19-20, where Paul uses the term naos for the inner sanctuary.

[Question]

What are some practical ways to permeate our lives with God's Word as described in Deuteronomy 6?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes talking of the Word when sitting, walking, lying down, and rising up.

[Question]

Why is counting the cost essential for discipleship, and what costs have you encountered in following Christ?

[Context]

From Luke 14:28-33, where Jesus speaks of building a tower and a king going to war.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a thirst for God like the deer panting for water, especially in times of spiritual dryness?

[Context]

Weaver references Psalm 42:1-2 as an expression of longing for God.

[Question]

What does it look like to 'give God the benefit of the doubt' in areas like finances, time, and relationships?

[Context]

Weaver applies the principle of going the extra mile in tithing and trusting God.

[Question]

Contrast Jotham and Rehoboam: How does heart preparation (or lack thereof) manifest in a person's life and legacy?

[Context]

Weaver uses 2 Chronicles 27:6 and 12:14 to show the outcomes of prepared vs. unprepared hearts.

Applications

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