Gooding, David: 1 - 1 & 2 Chronicles

It is a delight to be with you here this evening and to be visiting you once more in Woodside Chapel. It calls to memory in my heart the warmth of your welcome on previous occasions. And I thank you heartily for taking the trouble and making the effort to join us here in these studies, to think together upon the first, and if we get time, some part of the second book of Chronicles. As you have heard, I shall not be attempting to preach you s- uh, polished sermons. I shall be inviting you to work very hard with me in the study of these historical books. In our English Bibles, the last book in the Old Testament is the prophecy of Malachi. In the Jewish scriptures, the order of the Old Testament books at the end of the third division of the canon is somewhat different. The last books in the Hebrew canon are the first and second books of Chronicles. There, for one obvious reason, that together they sum up history from the time of Adam through the rise of Israel, and cover almost all, not quite all, the historical period embraced by the Old Testament. And therefore they have a particular slant upon history, and it will be our main objective to try to understand the particular philosophy of history that is enunciated by the historian of these two books. So just let us refresh our memories of how First Chronicles begins, and then of how it ends. And we read in First Chronicles to start with, and chapter one and verse one. First Chronicles one um and verse 1. Adam. And that will do for that. And now for chapter twenty two. Chapter twenty two and verse eight. hm This is King David speaking in his old age, and he says, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast made great wars. Thou shalt not build an house unto my name because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his day. He shall build an house for my name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Chapter twenty three and verse one: Now David was old and full of days, and he made Solomon his son king over Israel. Then in chapter twenty nine of the book, chapter twenty nine and verse twenty two and halfway through the first. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be prince, and Zadok to be priest. Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David, his father, and prospers. And all Israel obeyed him. And all the princes and the mighty men and all the sons likewise of King David submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. And may God give us good understanding of his word. It is no secret, I think, or if it is, it's not a very big secret, that the first and second books of Chronicles are not every Christian's favorite reading. Indeed, it has been rumored, with what truth I cannot tell, that some believers, as they pursue their regular and systematic reading of the Bible, when they come to First Chronicles, lose their nerve and jump over the first nine chapters unread. Because, as you see, the first five, nine chapters of the book of First Chronicles are full of names, and it wouldn't be so bad, would it, if you could pronounce them, but most of them are unpronounceable and belong to people that we have not a ghost of a notion, whoever they were. For us, they are merely names on a piece of paper. And while things improve in the middle of the book, alas, when you come towards its end, in chapters twenty four to twenty seven, four more chapters solid of unpronounceable names. Of course, I suppose if it's your grandmother's name could be found somewhere in these chapters, we should hear a great deal about it from you. But as it is, for the most part, with few exceptions, just names, names on a bit of paper. It is a melancholy thought when you first greet it, for every one of those names, once upon a time, represented a living personality, born the pride and joy of its parents, with all the hopes and fears and loves and abilities and ambitions and joys and sorrows that go up to make a normal human life, throbbing with interest and desire. Now, as I repeat, just names on a bit of paper. Of course, it is, I suppose, two and a half thousand years ago and more. Wonder what your name will become in two and a half thousand years from now. Will you be anything more than a name on a bit of paper? Which raises other melancholy, uh, ideas into our heads this night, doesn't it? These names in Chronicles, only a few of who could count how many billions of name. As wave after wave of human beings have broken on the shores of the history of our little planet Earth. Each wave breaking full of people intending to make their mark in the world, so soon swept aside, pushed on by the waves coming on behind them. What is it all about? And where is the whole process getting us, if anywhere particular? It is questions like this, perhaps, that come to our mind as we try valiantly to plow through these long lists of names at the beginning and the end of the first book of Chronicles. Is there any pattern in life? Is there any purpose in the great flood of humanity upon our planet from the year one till now? Where is it all going? Going. And with thoughts like that in our hearts, we come to the historian of First and Second Chronicles to inquire of him if he can help us. Has he discerned any pattern in history? Has he any guide to where humanity might be heading? And here it is, the First and Second Chronicles, inspired, of course, by the Holy Spirit, comes a source of immense joy and gladness and wonder to our hearts. You see, First Chronicles begins with the forefather of our race, Adam, it says, brusquely introducing us to the beginning of human history. And then comes the weary set of names and some more history until, did you notice that phrase in the last chapter of the book of First Chronicles? They made Solomon the king, writes the Hebrew historian. They made him king the second time. And Solomon, what a breathtaking concept follows next. And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord. Really, we say, haven't you exaggerated a little bit with your oriental tendency to exaggerate things? You didn't really mean that, did you? Not, uh, not Solomon. I mean, he was a bright king, but he was only human with flesh and blood like we. Are you really suggesting that Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord. The while we work out as to whether he was exaggerating and in what sense he may, he meant it, our Christian hearts begin to stir, don't they? For we have a fuller range of history to follow, and we start in the same place, Adam. Oh, but with what stirrings of spirit. We observe that as we sit here tonight, human history has advanced so far that at this very moment, a man, a real man, as human as we are human. Sit, verily sit, on the throne of the Lord, in the highest possible sense of that term. Speaking to one of his churches in his exalted state, he reminded them how he has overcome and has sat down on his father's throne. Oh, immediately our hearts begin to sense the lesson that First Chronicles is going to tell. There is a future. It is just not billions of human beings flooded onto our planet only to go out into oblivion. For human history is moving someplace, and already its grand objective has begun to be achieved. There sits a man who once walked Nazareth Street and trod the marketplace of Jerusalem. There sits a man on the throne of the Lord. And there's a rumor going about, and it's a solid rumor. I know not if you heard it. But one of these days, you too, if you know the Savior, have hope of sitting on that throne with him. At any rate, when we examine the central parts of First Chronicles, we find this, that they have, they are hauntingly interesting books, for they describe what was perhaps the most wonderful period in the whole of Israel's history, except, of course, those unique years when the holy feet of God's Son fought the roads of Palestine. For central to the two books at the end of First Chronicles and the beginning of Second Chronicles, we have described for us that golden age in the past that Israel once experienced. Had with tremendous interest the writer described it, let me remind you. King David had grown old, the King David that had fought the battles of Israel and conquered and subdued all their enemies around and brought, uh, Israel from being a tiny, insignificant people to a point in history where they were within reach of becoming a worldwide empire. David, being old, gave place to Solomon, and with the accession of Solomon, there dawned this golden age for Israel, such as they had never experienced before, or never were to experience again until a future day. The first mark was that there was peace. Oh, the bliss of peace. When war was a thing of the past, and the fear of war was, for the time being, completely banished. There was peace, so that the nations didn't have to give themselves, the nation of Israel didn't have to give itself to the endless manufacture of armaments, wasting so much economic power and wealth. Now there was peace, and not an adversary or an enemy occurrence. And with peace, they began to experience a reign under the wisest of all the monarchs that ever sat upon the throne of Judea. A wisdom that showed itself first in justice. You will remember some of the stories that are told about the wisdom of Solomon in the execution of justice. His tremendous understanding of human personality and psychology. Remember the story of those two harlots that they came before the king and the way the king decided about their babe? What a world it would be, wouldn't it? If everywhere there reigned unchallengeable wisdom, and everybody felt they got a real fair deal, and justice was everywhere. We couldn't boast that our modern civilizations have attained it yet, could we? They did for a brief while in Israel. And with peace and with justice reigning, then there dawned an age of riches and wealth utterly unique. It wasn't only that now they had peace to develop the resources of the country, they did that. But as Solomon's fame and wisdom spread into the four corners of the then known world, the kings of the earth came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and the kings of the earth and of the nations brought their glory and honor into the great capital city of Jerusalem. And as they came to hear his wisdom, they brought him offerings to do him honor of horses and timber and silver and gold. Oh, what wealth they were. If you saw a bit of silver on the road, you kicked it down the drain. You didn't bother to pick it up because you had so much gold bulging in your back pocket, you'll see. Wouldn't it be nice to be like that and live like that just for a day or two, wouldn't it? Have you never thought you'd like to live as a millionaire for just a day and didn't have to bother anything about expense? I mean, if you wanted to go off and see what Mars was like, you had the expense to go and do it. Or whatever occupation you wanted to do, you needn't worry about wealth or resources or people starving anywhere. With a good conscience, oh, what life would be like. It began to be like that in Solomon's day. And then the art. Oh, ha. Ha. Under Solomon, a nation that had begun a little bit, uh, primitive as far as the arts were concerned, woke up to the marvel of the arts. You remember, don't you, when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, she bought him almug trees. And out of those almug trees, Solomon made, amongst other things, musical instruments, harps and psalteries. And oh, what music there was in, in Israel in those days, and what singing and what choirs. It was magnificent. And then they used the wooden architecture he made, so we're told, terraces for the house of the Lord. And he made a throne that was utterly spectacular as a work of art, of wood and ivory and lions on it. My, it was tremendous. And for people who had been used to nothing but the outback, it seemed fairyland. Uh, and then there were signs. What a man he was. You know, you got asked to dinner to, uh, King Solomon, you were sitting at the table after the olives and the main dish, you know, and he got talking to you. He'd say, perhaps, now, have you considered the daisy? Would you say, oh, I've seen hundreds of daisies. No, he'd say, have you noticed the formation of the daisy? Well, I, well, I can't, your majesty, I claim really I take much notice of it. You haven't. Have you not noticed what a spectacularly beautiful thing it is? And he would start talking to you about daisies or, or the hyssop that sprang out of the wall or the cedar in Lebanon. And before you know where you were, instead of finding botany an utterly boring thing, you were all transported at the wonders of the world that were around you that you hadn't noticed before. Oh, what, uh, what an occasion it was to have dinner with King Solomon. And superb and supreme among the wonders of his day was this, that he built a house for the Lord God and the transcendent Lord of creation deign to come and dwell in that house. Marvelous that, isn't it, to think that God was living up the road and around the corner. And you could share life with him. I wonder if you've noticed that when you're enjoying things, suppose you've gone on your lifelong trek and you're standing on the rim of the great canyon, and you see it's spectacularly beautiful. You want to tell somebody, don't you? I mean, they can see as well as you can it's beautiful, but you say, oh my dear, isn't that beautiful? You'll say, and my dear replies, oh yes, it's marvelously beautiful, and that increases the, the joy of it, doesn't it, that you share it with somebody else. When in all the splendor of this magnificent reign, this age, this golden age of bliss and peace and plenty, Israel found their little hearts and minds bursting with enthusiasm and joy. Their joys were a billion times increased that the living God, the creator of it all, had come and deigned to dwell in their midst. Ah. Did I hear you say, didn't last though, did he? Now, of course it didn't last. I know that, and so does the chronicler. He tells us that himself, it didn't last. Laugh. Ah, but it's left a haunting memory, has it not? In many a heart. Oh, tell me, my friend, you've imagination enough, haven't you? And intelligence enough, of course, to see what a marvelously beautiful thing this world could be and human life in it. If it weren't for sin and evil and pain and sorrow and And death. death. What a terrible haunting of the human mind that is, isn't it? To suffer from some grave handicap. To be able to see with your heart and mind and imagination what life could have been without the handicap. And yet ever to be frustrated and mocked by that handicap. And all of us have known, have we not? If not physical handicaps or psychological handicaps, yet that cursed blight of sin that mars our farewell. The memory of that golden age under Solomon, brief as it was, and perhaps, as you may say, lowly, haunts our memory. In the end, are all things, all hopes to come to nothing? No, indeed, says Holy Scripture, there shall come another golden age, more glorious by far than Israel ever knew. How do we know? Well, first of all, we know, as I have already said, because while history has gone on with its apparent successes and its terrible disasters, yet now already there sits a man on the throne of the universe, and his name is Jesus. He did not follow cunningly devised myths, says Saint Peter, as he tells us about the majesty of our Lord that he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. These are no old wise tales given us to keep up our pecker and to get us whistling in the dark. Jesus Christ, who walked our world, died and was buried, has risen again, and mortal eyes saw him ascend to the glories of heaven. For there shall most certainly come a golden age of glory. And to that the New Testament witnesses solidly, doesn't it? We are told, for instance, by Luke the historian, that during the forty days after the resurrection, when the Lord from time to time visited his people, the apostles eventually asked him, Lord, is it at this time that you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Our Lord's reply was not to tell them, no, you are mistaken, the kingdom will never be restored to Israel, but rather to tell them that it wasn't to know- for them to know the actual time when the kingdom would be restored. They had to go out, meanwhile, and witness for the Lord Jesus. But listen to Peter, as Luke records him in chapter three, as he was addressing the crowd in, of all places on earth, Solomon's porch. And having cured a lame man who was congenitally lame from his mother's womb and given him soundness of limb and body. Peter announced that this was but evidence that one day there should come times of refreshing. Our Lord has ascended, said he, until the times of the restoration of all things that the prophets have spoken. As we think of those things, we think not only was Isaiah and Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophets, but according to Jewish estimates, the historians were prophets too. Solomon's reign can prove to us a prototype of a coming age of bliss. When the reign of our blessed Lord for his thousand years upon earth shall be finished, then shall dawn an eternal age of indescribable bliss. Oh, what will it be to dwell above and with the Lord of glory reign? To say goodbye to pain and suffering. To find no genuine appetite given of God unfulfilled. To dwell there is where there is no curse, nor sorrow, or any abomination, or anything that maketh a lie. And the wealth of it. Mm. When John comes under the Spirit's direction to describe that eternal glorious day, he exhausts the whole universe, doesn't he, of metaphors to describe its wealth. You ever seen gold so pure that it is translucent? Have you ever seen a pearl so colossal that one pearl could form a gate of a city? Purity and the size of the wealth staggers our wildest imagination. Uh, but talk about singing. Elmo trees will have gone out of fashion by then, I'm sure, will they not? But oh, they shall be such singing up in heaven as angels never heard. And as for science, I don't know about you, but I'm looking for time off from singing in the choirs, aren't you, when you get home to heaven and glory? I want to take a little wander around the galaxies and and be allowed to examine what they're doing up there, black holes and all. And if in the new heavens as well as the new earth they've got more galaxies, oh, what fun it's going to be. What else? You will say, my man, my preacher, spare us. We don't talk about fun in heaven. Don't you really? Do you suppose God has all the universe out there for? I remind you, God doesn't have to work to earn a living. So why does he do all these things? Well, perhaps fun is too light a word to use with the Almighty, but for the sheer interest and glory and fascination of it. And what will it be when with redeemed hearts and minds, they're able to travel God's universe along with the Savior and have the master of the universe explain his universe to us. I tell you, physics then will be a marvelously interesting topic, will it not? So how shall we get there? You see, it is an occupation for a wet Monday afternoon, isn't it, to construct a utopia? And serious thinkers have given themselves to constructing possible utopias here on Earth. Old Plato did it, didn't he, in his book The Republic. If you were given a clean sheet from today onwards to engineer an age of bliss, where would you start and how would you go about it? The great philosopher Plato gave himself to construct such a utopia and devise how the thing would work. And our Marxist friends tell us in all seriousness that they have the answer to it, don't they? They assure us one day, by the inevitable laws of history, so they say, given a helping hand by them themselves, of course, the inevitable laws of history will bring us to the age of bliss. Which is all very nice, of course, except, as far as I'm concerned, it has a very big snag. I shan't be there to see it, according to them. But according to them, my time will soon be up, my few seventy years or more will be finished, long before their utopia comes into being. And how and why they keep exhorting me to struggle for the coming of this utopia that I shall never see, I can't make out, can you? But any sensible person will say, yes, it's all right to imagine great golden ages ahead. But if we're going to believe it, if we're going to pin our hopes for it, on it, then you must have some serious program that But works works. and And can can a assure us via its responsible program that it will lead us and our world to that desirable golden age. Otherwise, it's all a pipe dream, isn't it? By what steps then shall man rise to sit upon the throne of the Lord. It is here, perhaps, that our study of the Book of Chronicles can help us. For it marks, from its early chapters onwards, the stages by which history advanced from the first man, Adam, to that early height where Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord. And if we are careful ourselves to notice the stages by which history moved then, we shall find, it seems to me, a prototype of the bigger program that God has for the redemption of mankind and the eventual glorification of his people, sharing the throne of the universe with his son. Let's have a look, shall we? Just let's take our Bible in hand and turn over the pages. It will help now to keep us awake at this late hour of night to do a little work. Let's look at, uh, First Chronicles chapter one again. And there we start with Adam. And there follows the list of names recording briefly the Gentile nations, then the rise of Israel out of the nation, then Israel's first king, whose name was Saul. And finally, in chapter ten, let us read verses thirteen and fourteen: So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not, and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit to inquire thereby, and inquired not of the Lord. Therefore he slew him and turned the kingdom unto David, the son of Jesse. I suggest to you there lies the first major stage in the course of man from Adam to the point where man would sit upon the throne of the Lord. The first king of Israel proving a disaster. God found David a man after his own heart and transferred the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. Now look at chapter fourteen verse two if you will. And this marks the end of the second stage of this process. One Chronicles fourteen two, and David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, for his kingdom was exalted on high for his people Israel's sake. And David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David begat more sons and daughters, which is not written for you to follow the pattern, but in the way of oriental monarchs, when now the monarch son felt himself secure on the throne, and his throne was established, and in the way of an oriental monarch, he took a lot of wives, begat a lot of sons in order to build a very powerful royal house. Second stage there in this great progress. Look over, if you will, to chapter eighteen, verse forty, where after the announcement of certain victories that David achieved, we are told, and David reigned over all Israel, and he executed judgment and justice unto all his people. And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, and so forth and so on. And now at the end of this third stage, David is not only king, his kingdom is not merely established, but now he has his kingdom organized so that he can do justice and judgment, and you are given a list, not now of his sons, but of the officers of the realm. Third major stage in the rise of man towards the throne of the Lord. Then look, if you will, at chapter twenty three that we have already read, verse one. Now David was old and full of days, and he made Solomon his son king over Israel. Not that David ceased altogether to have a hand in things political. Solomon appears to have been co-regent with his father, and was so for the intervening year. While Solomon looked after the kingdom, David gave himself to the work that lay nearest his heart, the work of preparing for the eventual building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem city. And then when David was very old, and gathered the nation together and set before them the program for building the great age of peace and plenty and bliss. We read, as we read before, one Chronicles twenty nine and verse twenty two, they made Solomon the son of David king the second time. Verse twenty three: then Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord. Five major stages of the history as recorded in First Chronicles that lead to this great age of bliss. And in the Lord's will, we shall be considering, considering them together each evening, looking there to see what are the necessary steps if man is to sit upon the throne of the Lord? Not only Solomon in his lesser sense, but we too. By what kind of process, my Christian brother and sister, do you hope to reign with Christ one day. There's no good being starry-eyed, is it? By what down-to-earth, realistic program and progress do we hope one day to share the throne of the Lord, the throne of the universe, with our blessed and exalted Lord? Perhaps First Chronicles could go a little way towards the answering of those questions. So in our brief remaining minutes, let us think about the first stage that Chronicles records. It begins with Adam, proceeds to the creation of the early Gentile nation. But then, as you notice, very swiftly comes in verse seventeen following of chapter one, to the rise of Israel from among the nations. And pray, why is that important? Well, let me ask you to consider for a moment. If, as an observer of men and affairs, and with knowledge of history, you were asked to say whether there is discernible in human history any pattern that could suggest where the human race might be going and give us hope for the future, what would you reply? Is there discernible in, in, in human history? Among the mass of names, among the clash of arms, in the chaos of political strife. Is there discernible in human history any pattern that might suggest where we're going. Oh, you say, I don't know about patterns in history, but Mr. Preacher, I put my faith in the, uh, uh, in the progress of science. Oh, very good. Science is very good, isn't it? I hope you're not pessimists and think science is very bad. I noticed some of you had the very latest watches on your wrists. They're good, aren't they? And I noticed that most of you didn't come in donkey carts tonight, but in very elegant cars. They're supposedly good too, I suppose, aren't they? And you, sirs, I think I see even from here how brightly your shirt shines. Washed, I think, in an automatic washer with a electronic control mechanism, wasn't it? Yes. Ha. And I, you can remember as a child running out of school to see an airplane. It was such a marvel, cannot find it in my heart to think that all scientific progress has been wicked or something and is going to come to nothing. Is it all going to come to nothing? Ah, but you'll say science is flawed, Mr. Preacher. It is, isn't it? One minute it gives you an electric shaver and seems to offer promise for a beautiful utopia to come, and the next minute it's manufacturing hydrogen bombs, making you fear for the very continued existence of the, of the world. And if our only hope were science, where should we be? How could you say I have great hope in justice? You have? Well, in a sense, so am I. I'm glad to be here in America rather than in some other countries that sometimes I visit. Well, we've lived long enough to know that justice is a very double-edged affair, haven't we? What? Does everybody get justice infallibly in the States? And sometimes when the oppressed rise up against their oppressors, you can understand it until they themselves in turn turn to be oppressors themselves. And if our only hope for the future were in science and the progress of human justice, we might well be pessimists. Are we the bigger hope? There is a pattern to be observed in history. At least a very significant thing in history. The rise out of the Gentiles of that altogether unique nation called Israel. Whose history the Book of Chronicles summarizes. And if in his day the nation was unique in its morals, and unique in its belief in the one true God, monotheism. Today it is seen to be even more unique, isn't it? This was the nation that promised all down the centuries that through them God would one day send Messiah, the savior of the world. And of that nation was born, of the seed of David, of the seed of Abraham, the only figure in the whole of human history that's come anywhere near offering evidence that he is indeed the Messiah, the Messiah and the savior of mankind. You mustn't think that the Old Testament Israel, in claiming that it was the specially chosen vehicle of the purposes of God for this world, is claiming to be God's blue-eyed spoiled boy. For Israel's historians and prophets are the most severe of Israel's critics. Tell us that that nation favored of God, constantly sinned against God and apostatized, and had to be brought under the severest of disciplines by God himself. And the Chronicle is no exception, is it? With Adam, Gentile nation, the rise of Israel out of the nations, the historian follows the developing history until he appears to come to the peak. Here we have a king. Oh, what a tremendous man, head and shoulders above everybody else. His name is Saul. Surely the age of bliss has dawned. Alas, for Israel's first king, proved to be a disaster like the very first man. And he disobeyed the word of the Lord. And not only disobeyed the word of the Lord, but went over to the other side and consulted, uh, a witch. God had to depose him as a disaster. Raises a big point, doesn't it? Man shall sit upon the throne of the Lord, the question of man's obedience to God must be settled and secured, surely. Arrogant, disobedient, fallen man shall never sit upon the throne of the Lord. Tell me. Did I hear you say that you're hoping to sit upon the throne of the Lord? Really? How are you getting on with your obedience to the word of the Lord? For it surely is obvious that if, uh, our obedience and our undeviating obedience can eventually be secured, there is no hope that any one of us could ever be allowed to sit upon the throne of the Lord, surely. All of us, without exception, know the curse, don't we, of the human heart, that all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. What hope of an age of bliss, either on earth or in eternity, unless God has some answer to this curse and perversity of human disobedience. With what pessimism could we sit here tonight if we hadn't heard the gospel? That as by one man's disobedience, sin entered into the world, and by sin, death, and the ugly dominions and tyrannies of sin, death, and the law. Alas for Adam, alas for Saul. By one man's disobedience, the many were constituted sinners. Ah yes, but God has found an answer, hasn't he? Dismissing Saul, God said, I found a man after my own heart who shall do all my will, and appointed David to take his place. Even so, what a poor specimen he was in the end. We value him chiefly for this, that he became a prototype of his greater son, of whom it is written thus, that as by one man's disobedience sin entered into the world, and by the disobedience of the one, the many were constituted sinners, so by the obedience of the one shall the many be constituted righteous. All praise God for his marvelous son. For God has found the answer to the problem. This is no pie in the sky, unrealistic fiction. God has the answer to human disobedience, the disobedience of the race. It is found in the heads of that new race. By his disobedience, by his obedience, have we been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, and can be accepted by God on the grounds of his great act of obedience at Calvary. And that being secured and eternally secured, our blessed Lord has made possible that program by which, in the course of bringing many sons to glory, he will perfect in the hearts of all his people that obedience that is necessary if we are to share the throne of glory with him eternally. Listen to how it is written. Having himself being tempted and, of course, triumphant, he has become the author of eternal salvation unto those who obey him. This then the first and elementary stage. May God use his word to stoke the fires of our Christian hope and fill us with joy and peace in believing that God is a God of hope and holds before us the stimulus of the guarantee of a coming age of glory. God used that same word to enlarge our appreciation of the wonder of the salvation that there is in Christ, by whose obedience we have been redeemed and sanctified. God use his word tonight and in the ensuing evening to work within us realistically. That advance in obedience to the Son of God practically, as shall prepare us for active participation in his coming government of peace. Shall we pray? Lord, we thank thee for thy holy word. We thank thee from its obscurest pages there shines forth the glory of Jesus Christ, thy son. And as we have read these pages about a past bygone age of glory, we thank thee for the assurance given us by thy spirit in our hearts that there shall come a time of restoration of all things, that creation herself should be delivered from her bondage of corruption into the glory of the sons of God. So bless thy word to encourage our faith and hope, we beseech thee, to magnify the work of the Savior on our behalf, and to lead us in paths of practical righteousness for his name's sake, that when he comes, he may find us pleasing to himself and invite us to share the throne of his glory eternally with him. We give thee our evening worship and our prayers through that same Lord Jesus Christ.