There’ll be a handoff between a couple rookies.
Please turn to Hebrews chapter 11. I mean, I’m sorry, Hebrews chapter 1.
Hebrews chapter 1, starting in verse 1. I’ll be reading from the New King James.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Now, Hebrews chapter 11—the verse our brother shared on last week, and Bobby just touched on about being fully persuaded. Verse 1:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I’m going to read a few passages from 1 Chronicles. First, 1 Chronicles 23:1-2:
So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
Now, 1 Chronicles 28 is our main focus for this morning. Starting in verse 1:
Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the leaders of Israel, the officers of the tribes, the captains of the divisions who served the king, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officials, the valiant men, and all the mighty men of valor.
Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people.”
Now, down to verse 8:
Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.
And over to verses 11 and 12:
Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat;
and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things.
Finally, 1 Chronicles 29:1-5:
Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great; because the temple is not for man but for the Lord God.
Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance.
Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses;
the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen.
Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”
Let’s pray.
Lord, we come just as we are—those You have chosen, those You have gathered together, those You have provided for. Lord, You’ve done so much.
And so we come to You right now and ask for that portion that You have for us right now, this portion as we look into Your Word and consider the great things You have done. We just ask that You would bring life and light, and help me to convey what You have on Your heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.
When I was in California, at the fellowship in California, about three or four times every year, my son and I and a couple of brothers would go fly fishing up in the mountains.
As we fly fished, as we hiked around to find a spot to fish, a lot of times we were on trails that had a very steep grade. We’d look down and try to find spots to fish. “That looks like a good spot.” But we’d have to be fully committed, because it was so steep. Once we got down there, it was very difficult to get back up. So, you know, we wanted to be wise about this.
When we got down there and were fishing, we had our waders on and everything. We usually headed upstream because the fish are aiming upstream. We could be a little more stealthy.
But we’d come to these big pools—big pools that we couldn’t get around—so we’d have to get out of the river and work our way through the brush or something, moving to some shallower water.
The shallower waters were places where we could maneuver a little better. It was an easier place to fish, and we were more experienced at it. The deeper waters were a little more difficult and had a certain element about them.
Well, that’s what we’re going to do this morning. There’s a little spot that the Lord’s taken me to, but we’re going to have to maneuver around some deeper pools—some pools that some of you, like my son or some of those brothers I’d fish with, would like to fish there.
But another thing that we learned is that when you’re out in the wilderness, it’s good to stay within eyesight of each other. It’s really easy to wander off. So I’m hoping you can stay with me and not wander too far, and that I don’t wander and get down somewhere where it’s very difficult to get out.
A couple of things I forgot to mention: the shallow waters are abundant during the daytime. Make no mistake about what I’m saying: when light penetrates, there’s abundance of life.
The deeper waters and the deeper pools are for shelter and protection for the fish. But the shallow waters are feeding areas. They come out of those deeper pools and feed.
Something that I’ve learned, not only in fly fishing but as a Christian, is that sometimes there are big fish in shallow waters. I’ll put it this way: the simple truths of the gospel are pillars of our faith. That’s a paraphrase from Hudson Taylor, and something that was expressed by Melanie during our Friday night group. Wherever she is, thank you.
First, I want to give a little background on 1 Chronicles. It’s just going to be a broad stroke, quickly going through a few things so we can be on the same page.
It’s complementary to Samuel and Kings. It’s different, but it’s complementary. Samuel and Kings are books of forbearance and mercy. God’s people reject Him as their King, and He forbears.
Samuel and Kings seem to show the complete breakdown of man, as seen in the nation of Israel. In Chronicles, God’s purpose is more prominent, and that was to bring His only begotten Son through the human line. The genealogy proves that.
Chronicles shows us where sin, rebellion, and ruin are met by God’s purpose. That is: His King shall reign.
In Samuel and Kings, David and Solomon are more prominent. They are shown as types of Christ, even in rejection.
David’s pathway to the throne was suffering, and this was the pathway that Christ needed to take to His kingdom also.
However, in Chronicles there is no rejected David. Concerning David and Solomon, Chronicles begins with the transfer of the kingdom from David to his son Solomon, the establishment of his throne, and then a sense of apparent ruin when the kingdom is committed to the responsibility of man. In the end, grace is seen as the only sure foundation of God’s will.
G. Campbell Morgan suggests, and I quote, “The preeminent value of 1 Chronicles is to reveal the supreme importance of the recognition of God in the national life of His chosen people.”
There’s a progression of pictures in 1 Chronicles. When I share these, I want us to consider our own current generation.
It begins with the importance of this recognition of God nationally that G. Campbell Morgan speaks of. In effect, take God out of the national way of thinking, and you have no moral standard, as it is today.
The second picture is a stronghold thought to be impossible to overcome, and God bringing victory and transforming that stronghold into the very center of life for His people.
The third picture is through the mighty men: the King’s influence on their personal character, making them who they are.
Lastly, there is the picture of those well trained, those prepared for battle, and then marching to the standard of their new King.
To me, 1 Chronicles 28 is about issues of the heart. Do we have the heart for a dwelling place for God, like David did? Do we have a heart for a place of worship, His footstool, where He gathers us?
Do we have a heart to prepare—to prepare for service, to prepare for the building of the church, and to prepare for the maintenance of God’s house? All battles against the flesh.
And do we have the heart for God’s priests, that they should be clothed with righteousness and have the freedom to shout for joy? These are all summarized in Psalm 132, a Psalm of Ascents that comes right before the unity of the brethren dwelling together.
Our focus this morning is the phrase, “the substance.” Honestly, I was a little nervous when Kenny started talking on Hebrews 11:1 last week, knowing that I was going to touch on it.
But I believe the Lord is going to kind of dovetail them together. It was an encouraging word about being fully persuaded, like we mentioned earlier.
What caught my attention is the phrase, “the substance of things hoped for.” I found myself saying, “What’s the substance of my hope?”
As our brother pointed out last week, substance can be translated “assurance” or “confidence,” as some of your translations will read.
But the interesting thing is, when you look at the phrase “the substance,” or “the assurance,” or “the confidence,” it becomes a compound word in Greek. That compound word is hypostasis—probably not pronouncing that correctly.
Hypo means “under,” and histēmi, which is the root word, means “to cause or make stand,” even “to cause a person to keep his place.” It’s supportive.
Keeping this in the back of our minds, I want to look at 1 Chronicles 28. I would like to draw your attention to a particular group of leaders that David gathers together. It’s in verse 1, and the group is the stewards of all the substance of the king’s possessions and his sons.
After I was thinking about Hebrews 11:1 and the substance, I saw these stewards of all the king’s substance. It’s different from the Greek definition; here it means possession or property. It was the king’s property—his possessions.
In fact, if you look at 1 Chronicles 27:25-31, you have a sample of some of the king’s possessions and property, and those who were appointed to oversee them. Some of them are treasuries, storehouses, vineyards, produce, wine, olive trees, sycamore trees, oil, herds, camels, donkeys, and flocks.
Verse 31 says, “These were the appointed officials over King David’s properties.”
Can you imagine what it was like for them to be hands-on, to care and manage, protect, and appreciate the opportunity to be stewards over King David’s property?
Our response should be a resounding yes, because we too have been called to be stewards of our King’s substance—His possessions. No, the King of kings. What greater position is that? What greater opportunity? Think about that.
It’s an overwhelming privilege. Peter said:
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
That is 1 Peter 2:17. I think that’s a summary of what God wants His possessions used for.
Think about this. There are museums with ancient possessions of kings and kingdoms that are long gone. You can see them. They are for display. You can’t touch them; you can’t use them. They would probably fall apart in your hand if you did. They are protected by glass.
So I want to look and narrow it down even more. We’re in the shallow waters, just looking at some of these things—what the Lord would have for us today.
I want to look at a few treasuries that are listed here, seen in 1 Chronicles 28:11-13. You have the treasuries of the house of God; you have treasuries for dedicated things; and you have the plans handed down to the next generation—a treasury also to God, for Him.
So, treasuries of the house of God. I’m not going to go into the treasuries they had in the Old Testament—their pictures and types—as this would be way too deep of water for me.
But I will mention that there are many examples of how they spent these treasuries: for the purchase of peace, for example, when they were under siege; for treaties; for equipping and preparing for battle; and for the building and repair of the house of God.
I would like to zero in on one, one that has always been on God’s heart.
Let’s look at Exodus 19.
Exodus 19:5-6:
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
Brothers and sisters, the way I read it, God says that one of His treasuries is us—each and every one of you.
And He has invested greatly toward this transformation.
We don’t have to turn there, but I’ll read Titus 2:11-14 for your reference:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Speak these things, exhort.
Remember, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It’s the underlying support that enables us to stand and look for His appearing in every situation—not just for His return, but in everything we find ourselves in.
I’ve read—and I think it was Oswald Chambers—that everything Jesus does is redemptive and transforming. I believe that.
I’m going to give you a practical example of what I’m saying. First, I need to apologize to the group formerly known as A, because they’ve heard this, and my wife has heard it hundreds of times.
Years ago, I had a problem with a brother. Thank goodness, by the grace of God, I don’t even remember what it was. But it was something that deeply bothered me, something that offended me—something he was saying or doing—and I was struggling with how to deal with it.
I was struggling with how I could even try to be humble. I had a difficult time with it. So I went to the Lord, and He brought me to a very familiar passage: Matthew 7:3-5.
That’s where the Lord says you’re trying to remove a speck from your brother’s eye when you have a plank in your own. A very familiar and very clear verse that speaks to being critical, proud, or hypocritical.
But He showed me yet another layer. My brother is a part of His treasury, or His use in His house. This is how He told me, and I’ll never forget it. He said, “You know that speck in your brother’s eye? That’s just residue left over from the plank I’ve already removed.”
I was immediately convicted. It transformed and redeemed my way of thinking and my relationship with my brother.
Do you see the treasure that’s in your brother and sister? You look like treasure.
Because when we do, when we have that mindset, we store up treasures in heaven.
This is God’s own special people. We