Young People's Service. Quality Good

[0:00] In dependence upon the Lord, I ask your prayerful attention to the second book of Chronicles, chapter 9, and especially the latter part of verse 19.

[0:23] The second book of Chronicles, chapter 9, and the latter part of verse 19.

[0:35] There was not the like, that is Solomon's throne, there was not the like made in any kingdom.

[0:48] There was not the like made in any kingdom. I would like as the Lord enables to speak especially to our younger friends and to the children this evening.

[1:08] It has been said that lambs need the same food as sheep, but they need it broken up a little small.

[1:21] I remember years ago, at Lake and East nearly 30 years ago apologising to the deacon long since in glory saying, I think this morning I've spoken all the time to the children.

[1:36] He said, that won't matter. That sheep won't starve on lambs' food. Now I felt somewhat tried in bringing this subject of Solomon and his throne before you, but I felt it confirmed by this afternoon's service.

[2:02] Your pastor read from Matthew 5. Consider the lilies of the field.

[2:35] Especially concerning Solomon's throne that I desire to speak from. And there is a difference, as I may point out in the record here, from the record in the book of Kings.

[2:53] But I read from the book of Kings because that record goes on to speak of Solomon's sad falling away.

[3:05] As we know from the first chapter of this book, God appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and said, Ask what thou wilt and I will give thee.

[3:29] Solomon asked for wisdom. He said, Give me now, and we heard this afternoon concerning I want, in its various aspects.

[3:47] Solomon rightly here, as it were, said I want. He desired. He desired. He desired. But he wasn't seeking, as it were, for his own self, but seeking it for the people of God.

[4:03] Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people. For who can judge this thy people that is so great?

[4:18] And the Lord answered his prayer, Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee. And I will give thee riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there be after thee, have the like.

[4:42] Just a few remarks, then upon these riches that came to King Solomon. We read of how his servants fetched gold and precious stones and so on.

[5:03] And in the thirteenth verse, the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred, three score and six talents of gold.

[5:21] A talent for you younger ones was something between fifty and a hundred pounds in weight. Or if you think in modern terms, about twenty-five to fifty kilograms.

[5:36] And I suppose doing a little mental arithmetic, this six hundred and sixty-six talents would amount to something like fifty million pounds value in our present currency.

[5:56] A vast sum. I want to say more about gold when I come to the throne. But in meditating upon this, and I must have read it scores of times, and I'm sure the Lord's servants find it as I do, sometimes something is shown you that you've never seen before, and you've seen it now so plainly.

[6:25] The number of talents of gold that came to King Solomon were six hundred and sixty-six in one year.

[6:37] And that number is recorded for a purpose. Must be. Because it wouldn't be in the Word of God. And my thoughts went to the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, where we read of the number of the beast.

[6:59] The beast, of course, sets forth the devil and all his servants. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is a number of a man.

[7:18] His number is six hundred three score and six. That was the number of talents that came to King Solomon in one year.

[7:33] Thus not it set forth this truth. The love of money is the root of all evil. Not money itself, but the love of it.

[7:47] The root of all evil. How much did Solomon take with him when he died? He didn't take one talent.

[7:58] He didn't even take one shekel, which is half an ounce. Sometimes we read in the paper of some wealthy man who has left so many millions of pounds.

[8:12] And I thought, yes, they did leave it. They didn't take one penny with them. We brought nothing into this world. And it is certain we can take nothing here.

[8:29] Lay up for yourselves treasures where moth and rust do not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.

[8:40] Let us search our hearts. You search yours, I search mine. Bring yourself to this test.

[8:50] When you wake in the night, or first thing in the morning, where do your thoughts generally go?

[9:03] Divide them into two groups. Do they go to your homework, the lessons at school for the next day, that bullying, teasing you may have, the burdens of business, the shopping list?

[9:20] Or do they go to spiritual things? The scripture that you read before you went to bed come back to your mind. Prayers for loved ones and their souls.

[9:35] Prayers for forthcoming services. And so on. Which group do your thoughts go to? Generally speaking. The things of time or the things of eternity.

[9:50] There is your heart and there is your treasure. Where the heart is, there is the treasure. Where the treasure is, there is the heart.

[10:05] But leaving now these riches of Solomon just to pass on and I felt I just had to read from the book of Kings concerning Solomon's fall.

[10:20] Solomon had known the scripture and indeed God had specifically told him that he should not take wives from other nations about.

[10:34] But they will surely turn away your heart. You have it I think in Exodus 34 in the book of Deuteronomy in the book of Joshua. Thou shalt not give thy daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters unto thy sons.

[10:54] Don't want to develop in post-personal things but I personally had to refuse to give my daughter away in marriage. She was marrying a worldly man and she's had to bitterly regret it.

[11:09] But she was determined to go ahead. She was too old to be refused. But I would not give her away. I could not do so. The word of God is against it.

[11:24] And Solomon for all his wisdom did this. Always notice the word thought. it draws your attention to compare that which was before with that which followed.

[11:43] But King Solomon loved many strange women of whom the Lord had said thou shalt not go into them nor let them come in unto you.

[11:58] And he with all his wisdom worshipped their gods. Now you dear younger friends you might perhaps be attracted to someone and you perhaps tell your parents we're only just friends.

[12:17] Nothing more than that. We're only friends. Ah but before long you fall in love. And then the testing time comes.

[12:28] we nearly fell into that trap ourselves in our year. But the Lord mercifully preserved us. You may think we shall get on all right together.

[12:43] We have the same views on money. We have the same views on this that and the other. Ah but when like dear Hannah of old it was when she went up to the house of the Lord her enemy provoked her.

[13:00] When you want to go to the house of the Lord and bring the children there and your husband or wife wants to take them to the seaside ah what bitterness comes into the family then.

[13:15] Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers they will surely turn away your mind. Well we leave that thought with you I want to come more especially to this throne of Solomon there was not the like in any kingdom and I draw your attention and your meditations to that which we read in the epistle to the Hebrews for we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities in other words he is very much touched with the feeling of our infirmities that human heart he still retains though thrown in highest bliss who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin are you tempted so was the

[14:35] Lord but he did not succumb David succumbed to temptation Solomon succumbed to temptation and so did many others even of the Lord's people but not the Lord himself let us therefore because we have such a high priest because he was tempted as we are yet without sin because he has that feeling of our infirmities let us therefore come boldly now want to look at that unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need this throne of

[15:37] Solomon as we meditate upon it sets forth this throne of grace the mercy seat is another name for it which we approach in our prayers in our spiritual prayers prayers we have to emphasize that the unregenerate and some of us in our unregeneracy prayed in times of providential distress and danger but for spiritual prayers the Holy Spirit has to guide and inspire us in those prayers and they have to be prayed with faith which is set forth by coming boldly in that confidence of faith to this throne of grace moreover we read in verse 17 the king made a great throne of ivory a throne is of course a seat but it is a most important seat

[17:09] I sometimes go with one of my sons who is in the legal system to crown courts and similar places and the judge will sit in a most imposing seat compared with that occupied by the barristers and others round about it is a symbol an emblem of his power and authority and a throne is that seat occupied by a king Christ is a greater king than so this king made a great throne of ivory now ivory as you children will know comes from elephants tusks primarily though of course any tooth is ivory years ago piano keys were made from ivory nowadays of course from plastic this throne was made of ivory that which had been living you know we don't want to go into physics but things can be divided into organic substances and inorganic ivory is organic it has been living gold is inorganic now the

[18:45] Lord Jesus came into this world he took our human frame upon us upon him sin accepted we read in John 4 of him being weary with his journey when he sat upon the well upon the parapet surrounding the well we read of him weeping at the grave of Lazarus we read of him being asleep in the vessel he had our human nature he took upon himself our infirmities as we read and I believe that seems set forth as it were by this ivory but this throne was overlaid with gold now I want to just say a few things concerning gold it is not a metal of course that we deal with every day in our lives as we might deal with iron steel brass and so on gold is very precious

[20:04] I did read some time ago of the volume of gold that has been estimated that has been mined and refined through the centuries and I calculated it would fit in our chapel at Oakland about the same size as this chamber not much compared with the vast volume of steel or iron of course from which steel is derived a comparatively small amount a rare you won't find it thrown away in the street you might find an old horseshoe in your garden but you are not likely to find a gold ring it is scarce it is precious and it is weighty a cubic foot of iron weighs 400 of cast iron weighs 465 pounds a cubic foot of lead 700 pounds but a cubic foot of gold if you ever found such a thing would weigh over half a ton 1200 pounds it is weighty but then and this is most important and always think of this when you read of gold in the word of god pure gold does not tarnish gold the purity of gold is defined by so many carrots c a r 18 24 carat gold is pure and we read this gold this throne was overlaid with pure gold in kings we read the best gold now pure gold cannot tarnish or oxidize iron will rust which is oxidizing of course copper zinc and so on all those things will tarnish so will silver but not gold we read in lamentations how is the gold become dim but it's not the pure gold it's the base metals the copper or silver as it were that may be mixed with the gold that tarnishes not the gold itself

[22:48] I have a golden guinea a coin that was made two or three hundred years ago that was buried in the garden for over a century and it's as bright now as it was when it was minted overlaid it with gold now silver in many parts of the word of God sets forth providential blessings silver is valuable yes so providential blessings of health strength sufficient of this world's goods and so on but sooner or later they will be taken from us or us from them they will not last but pure gold sets forth spiritual blessings spiritual blessings and they do not tarnish you read much in revelations of the new

[24:02] Jerusalem the streets were paved with gold as it were clear glass it was overlaid with pure gold the example of our Lord Jesus Christ in his days on earth but especially as he suffered for sinners as he laid down his life a ransom for many do you and I approach this throne this throne of grace seeking for mercy there were six steps to the throne

[25:03] I do not have any explanation for the meaning of six I have no doubt it is some in the word of God for some reason but I do know there are various steps leaving providential things as I say we shall soon all be finished with providential things even the youngest and we shall soon be in eternity we have that poem displayed upon one of our clocks at home when I was a babe and wept time crapped when I became a boy and talked and walked time walked when I became a man time ran the older I grew the more time flew soon it will be eternity what then have you been brought as it were to climb this first step to the throne of mercy to the throne of grace and what will that first step be spiritually it will be that prayer that the publican prayed in the temple two men went up to the temple to pray the one a pharisee the other a publican we won't repeat the pharisee so called prayer but you see he didn't ask God for anything he didn't as we heard this afternoon want anything he felt quite self sufficient thank God he was not as other men are but he fasted twice a week he went to weeknight services yes he fasted twice a week he went to weeknight services as well as on the Lord's day he paid all his taxes but the publican could not so much as lift up his eyes to him but smote upon his breast and cried

[27:42] God be merciful to me the sinner have you dear young ones been brought to pray that prayer and as we heard you will only pray for it as you feel your need as you feel your need sinners can say and none but they how precious is the saviour Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance do we know ourselves to be sinners by the teaching of the Holy Spirit I emphasize that when I was the age of some of you dear youngest children I knew I was a sinner I knew that to tell a lie or to be disobedient to my parents was sinful and I knew

[28:50] I had done those things but it did not concern me only the fear of punishment if I was caught out I resolved to do better in my own strength and all was quickly forgotten now I do not know whether anyone here is 14 years of age but when I was 14 years of age and I could take you to the very room of the school that I was in three of my grandchildren go there now when I was cut down in my sins and I feared I sinned the unpardonable sin I said something to a fellow school boy and in retrospect I said far more worse things but that one was fastened in my heart the soul that sinneth it shall die I went into that room so low in my feelings I needn't have opened the door

[29:51] I could have gone underneath it God my was God be merciful to meet the sinner I took as it were that first step towards this throne of grace and perhaps we should have expounded on what is meant by grace Grace spiritually speaking Means the free unmerited Favor of God through Jesus Christ There are things we earn and deserve The scripture speaks of them as wages The wages earned and deserved Of sin is death But by contrast The gift of God is eternal

[30:51] Life through Jesus Christ We desire Nothing better for you than this That you may know the experience of the young man In lamentations I remember how comforting it was to me I don't want to speak of myself A minister's own experience Must not be in front of his teaching But it does need to be behind it He humleth his mouth in the dust If so be there may be hope Giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him He is filled full of repentance For the Lord will not cast off forever And then he goes on to say Notice this Though he cause grief Yes if you are by the Spirit's teaching

[31:52] A Holy Ghost conviction Weeping and mourning over your sins It is God that has caused that grief Though he cause grief Though he cause grief Yet will he have compassion According to his tender masses But someone may be saying I know I am a sinner But is it a Holy Ghost conviction Or a natural conviction Do you acknowledge the justness Of your condemnation We have with Adam and Eve An example of a natural conviction God said to Adam Hast thou eaten of the tree Whereof I commanded thee Thou shouldest not eat The woman thou gavest me She gave to me And I did eat It's all her fault All her fault Or yours for giving her to me

[32:54] Not mine And the woman said The servant begot me Don't blame me A natural conviction But if it is of the Holy Ghost You will say with that dear man on the cross We indeed justly For we receive the due reward Of our deeds But this man hath done nothing amiss Oh how sweet that verse was to me I believe it was my soul's true desire And understanding Should sudden vengeance seize my breath I must pronounce thee Just in death And if my soul were sent to me Thy righteous law approves it

[33:54] Well Oh may the Holy Spirit bring you as it were To this first step In real religion As the newborn babe feels distress Without doubt That cry Of the newborn babe Is because it feels distress But that cry rejoices The mother's heart Because it proves that's life And how is a cry made Just as the same way That my voice is heard By air being expelled From the lungs Over the vocal cords For that babe To make a cry Air has first been breathed in Setting forth the new birth

[34:57] God took dust of the earth And breathed into it And Adam became my living son What a mercy to take that first step As it were There are indeed three prayers Three short prayers That are constantly I believe In the Lord's people's souls From the time they are born again To their journeys in The one we have mentioned God be merciful to me The sinner Lord save me That Peter cried And we read And that was one of the few prayers That were answered immediately In the scriptures Immediately The Lord put forth his hand And caught him He didn't catch the Lord's hand The power

[35:57] The saving power Was in the Lord's hand The Lord caught him And that other prayer Lord help me These are as it were Other steps That you will have to approach This throne of grace with Then there are many other things In the spiritual path We don't expect a newborn babe To walk Do we?

[36:36] But if it was three or four years old And wasn't walking How concerned we would be? Is it having the wrong food?

[36:48] A wrong example? Is it being discouraged from walking? And so With each rightly exercised child of God There will be To a greater or lesser extent A desire to walk in his commandments And what a great step is this It was forty years ago last Thursday That I came before the church And oh what a great step it seemed to be And I want to speak of these lines Remember there were lines on every step Every step Your adversary the devil Goeth about as a roaring line Seeking whom he may devour On that first step

[37:51] Of repentance There will be a line on each side There will be a line on the one hand That will say You've sinned unpardonably There's no hope for your soul Go and have your fill of the world's pleasure Before you drop into hell And the line on the other side will say You've lived a good life as most people You don't do this sin You don't do the other sin You need not be concerned about eternity You don't need to take that step to the throne of grace We are not ignorant of his devices There is a line on either side It takes one's mind And you that were given The pilgrim's progress Will read of it How Christian After he had ascended the hill difficulty He met a man called Mistrust

[38:53] With his back to the celestial city Running back to the city of destruction And he said to Christian Don't go any further There's a line on either side of the path You'll be devoured But Christian could not Dare not Turn back And he went onwards And he saw the line One either side of the way And he still went forward And as he drew nearer He saw those lines were chained And their chains were not long enough For them to harm him if he kept To the middle of the way And so though frightened

[39:56] He passed safely through those lines On to the house mountain There were lines on Every step Now to return There were lines as it were On this step of making an open profession The devil will say on the one hand You're doing this in presumption You're doing this in pride Because you want to be somebody Or to be thought well of people And on the other hand You'll say Well you make a profession And before long You'll bring a disgrace Upon the church Upon yourself You'll be left To fall back into sin Now these lines do indeed frighten

[40:57] But they make us more urgent At this throne of grace Begging for mercy Well we'd like to elaborate on more steps But the reason I turn to the second book of Chronicles Instead of the first book of Kings We read Something here Not in Kings There were six steps to the throne With a footstool of gold Which was fastened to the throne You don't read that in Kings The footstool I like this The footstool was fastened to the throne We sometimes sing Low at his footstool Bear This is where we desire to be found And the footstool of mercy Cannot be separated From this throne of grace

[41:59] And There was not the light made in any king I want just before I close To refer you to the Book of Esther In the book of Esther We read that The law had been passed That all Jews And Jewesses of course Should be put to death On a certain day And Esther Who was at US Sent a message to Mordecai Her uncle Saying I will go in unto the king Which is not according to the law And if I perish I perish She knew there was no hope for her Under the law Consider it spiritually There is no hope for your soul Under the law

[42:59] And she went in unto the king To beg for mercy At this throne Have you ever noticed What she wore When she went to the king She put on her royal apparel She wasn't wearing Her own garments She was wearing The royal apparel That her kingly husband Had bestowed upon her She wore those When she went to the throne There was no hope for her There was but one law That anyone Who came to the king Who had not been bidden Should be put to death Unless He held out the golden scepter The king saw her Standing in the court He held out the golden scepter To her

[44:00] And she touched it Her life was spared Thou art coming to a king Large petitions with thee bring For his grace and power Are such None can ever Ask too much And also In the book of Revelation You read much there Of God's throne We read Of that throne Of glory And of the lamb In the midst of the throne As it had been slain Setting forth Christ Showing the wounds As it were That he suffered For his people's sins Though of course It was his soul That made atonement For sin

[45:00] And you read In that 22nd chapter How John records He showed me We should never see it By ourselves Unless we are shown it He showed me A pure river Of water of life Clear as crystal Proceeding out of the throne Of God And of the lamb This pure river This pure river Sets forth God's Eternal love To his people It proceeds out of the throne The throne of God And of the lamb Well One feels how short we come And many other things Might be considered But we hope In bringing this Before you It is Not in any Deserve And novelty

[46:01] We pray To be kept From the spirit Of the Athenians You read How the Athenians Always wanted Something new May the Lord Preserve us From that In pulpit and peer Every scribe That is instructed Into the kingdom Of God Bringeth forth From his treasury Things new Things that may not Have been seen In that particular aspect And things old That we need to hear Time and time again Well we leave it there There was not the like In any kingdom May you and I Come humbly I think it is Hymn 382 Which concludes We bless thee For thy word And laws We bless thee For thy peace And we do bless thee Lord

[47:01] Because There is A throne of grace There is not the like In any kingdom Amen