Bible Text: 1 Kings 6:1-38 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: 1 Kings, The Heart of a Building Program

1.  “It is essential to understand that the Temple was only a resident symbol to stimulate worship as a way of life.  If you don’t comprehend that you miss the whole point of the Temple.  Temples are symbols, not realities, just like the sacrifices and the Sabbath system were symbolic of greater realities.” (John MacArthur)

2.  God reminds Solomon that it was not about walls, floors, ceiling, materials, not about going through the motions, but rather about where Solomon’s heart was and the hearts of the people of Israel.  The Temple’s worth was in proportion to how much it stimulated true worship and obedience in the hearts of God’s king and people.

3.  Today we are God’s temple (our bodies, I Cor. 6:19,20; our local church, I Cor. 3:16ff; the church universal, Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4ff), buildings made not of wood and stone but of character, witness, love, grace and obedience.