Good morning. Would you turn
to First Kings Chapter 8? And. I'm somewhat. Amazed that. When I read this passage of Scripture,
there's a phrase in here that I don't think I've ever used
after preaching for 35 years. And I'll point it out when I
read this passage of Scripture, but let's begin. Reading in verse
33. Verse 33 of 1 Kings chapter 8. When thy people Israel be smitten
down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee,
and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name and pray
and make supplication unto thee in this house. Then hear thou
in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring
them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
When heaven is shut up and there's no rain because they've sinned
against thee, If they pray toward this place, the temple that Solomon
had just built that had taken the place of the tabernacle and
represents looking to Christ, if they pray toward this place
and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou afflictest
them, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants
and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way
wherein they should walk. and give rain upon thy land which
thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. And if there
be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, a disease, blasting,
the failure of crops, a blight is what that means, mildew, locusts,
or if there be caterpillar that's eating all the food, If their
enemy besieged them in the land of their cities, whatsoever plague,
whatsoever sickness there be, what prayer and supplication
so ever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, which
shall know every man the plague of his own heart. Now that's
the passage I don't remember ever having even brought up.
Maybe I have, but I don't remember it. every man that should know
the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward
this house, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and
forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways,
whose heart thou knowest, for thou, even thou only knowest
the hearts of all the children of men, that they may fear Thee
all the days that they live in the land which Thou gavest unto
our fathers. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into Your presence
in the name of Your Son. And Lord, we come with confidence
in Him, not confidence in ourself. the confidence in him, that he
is all in our salvation. And we look to him only. And
Lord, we ask in Christ's name that we might be enabled to know
the plague of our own heart. That we might be caused to look
only to thy son. Lord, accept our thanksgiving.
We're so thankful for the salvation that's in your son. We're so
thankful for the forgiveness of sins. We're so thankful for
the gospel of your grace. Lord, enable us to worship. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Now, when I was reading that
passage of scripture, you will notice on three different occasions,
it was said that the people were to look to this house. this house,
this house. This was the temple that Solomon
had built whenever they were to pray. They were to look in
the direction of that temple. Now, that temple had taken the
place of the tabernacle. Now, the great high priest was
there. The altar for sacrifice was there.
And this temple represents looking to Christ. That's its purpose.
It represents looking to Christ. When you pray, you are to actually
point your body in the direction of that temple. When you ask
for mercy, you are to point your body in the direction of that
temple. You are to look only to Christ.
That's what this was given to represent, looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, beginning in verse 30, Three, when thy people Israel
be smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against
thee. How often is that our story? When the people of Israel be
smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against
thee. and shall turn again to thee."
Now, this is what faith is. They'll turn again to thee. And that's really our prayer,
isn't it? Lord, turn us. We find that in the scripture.
Jeremiah said, turn me and I'll be turned. The psalmist said,
turn us again, oh God, and cause thy face to shine and we'll be
saved. We want to be turned by God. And the reason we ask the Lord
to turn us is because we know that in and of ourselves, we
won't turn unless he turns us. We know that, don't we? And that's
why we cried, Lord, turn me, don't leave me to myself, turn
me. Now, when we're smitten because of our sin before the enemy and
they shall turn again and confess thy name, I'm confessing right now that
I am only saved for his name's sake. I really believe that all
of salvation is found in his name. His name is who he is.
Now, when you think of Todd Nybert, I hope you think about me every
now and then, I hope you, there's a certain individual, you don't
think of the name, you think of the person behind the name.
And when we speak of the name of the Lord, we're thinking of
the person behind the name, the one who's sovereign, the one
who's gracious, the one who's just, the one who's merciful,
the one who's all powerful. And we confess his name is everything
in our salvation, that's who he is. When I confess His name,
all I say is, Jesus Christ the Lord is all in salvation. He's all I have. And that's what
we see when we turn, when we're turned. Let's go on reading. When thy people of Israel be
smitten down before the enemy because they've sinned against
thee and shall turn again to thee and confess thy name and
pray and make supplication unto thee in this house, or as my
marginal reading says, toward this house, looking to Christ
only, looking only toward this house. Verse 34, then hear thou
in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel. and bring
them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. Hear, forgive, and bring back."
I like that, don't you? Hear, forgive, and bring back. Verse 35, when heaven is shut
up and there's no rain, Because they've sinned against
thee. Now, here are some national calamities
that are affecting everybody. When heaven is shut up, no rain. You know, the Lord, if he caused
it to not rain, we're in trouble, aren't we? There's nothing we
can do about it. And he says this national calamity
is because they've sinned against thee. When heaven is shut up
and there's no rain because they've sinned against thee, if they
pray toward this place and confess thy name and turn from their
sin when thou afflictest them, then hear thou in heaven and
forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel and
that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk
and give rain into thy land, which thou hast given to thy
people for an inheritance. Now, no rain. And the reason
for no rain is sin. You know, when people ask the
question, how could a good God allow this to happen? I think,
who in the world do you think you are? God's good, whatever
he does. I believe that. God's good. And
everything that happens is the fault of our sin. I believe that.
I'm not going to say, well, how could a good God allow such horrible
things to happen? Anytime something big happens,
how could God allow this to happen? Like a hurricane or the death
of many people. And I want to be very sympathetic. And I know that everything that's
brought on is because of human sin. And if the rain is withheld,
it's because of human sin. And if I think of the rain of
His grace being withheld, the reign of his word coming down
and watering us. And if it's withheld, it's because
of human sin. And my sin is my problem. I mean,
I don't look and say, God, why does God let this happen? I know
that the reason behind every problem I have is my personal
sin. It's all my fault. Would to God that every one of
us could stay right there. because it's only then. that
will, when heaven is shut up and there's no rain, because
they've sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place,
there it is again, looking to Christ. I don't care how bad
it is, if they pray toward this place and confess thy name and
turn from their sin, where they turned away from you, when you
afflict them, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin
of thy servants and of the people of Israel. And you teach them
the good way wherein they should walk, the way of grace, the way
of Christ. He is the way, isn't that the good way? Christ said,
I am the way. That's the good way. As you've
received Christ Jesus, the Lord, how'd you receive him? As a sinner
needing his grace with nothing else. As you receive Christ Jesus,
the Lord, so walk ye in him. Verse 37. If there be in the land famine,
where he names all kinds of horrible things that could be in the land.
Famine, not enough to eat. If there be pestilence, a disease.
If there be a blasting, that's a blight, the crops being destroyed
and not yielding their food. If there be mildew or locust,
or if there be caterpillar eating all the crops. if the enemy besieged
them in the land of their cities. That's where the enemies would
just surround a walled city so nobody can get out and try to
starve them to death or try to keep them from having anything
to drink. Whatsoever plague, whatsoever
sickness there be, if there's a plague, what prayer and supplication
so ever be made, verse 38, what prayer and supplication so ever
be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall
know every man the plague of his own heart. Now here he's
asking the Lord to hear the prayers of those who know the plague
of their own heart. Now this is something not too
many people know anything about. The plague. The disease, literally
the leprosy, this is what leprosy is always called in Leviticus,
the plague. The plague of your own heart,
the disease of your own heart, the evil of your own heart. Let me give you a couple of scriptures.
These are scriptures that I quote a whole lot, and I hope they'll
come home. In Genesis chapter six, verse
five, we read, and God saw the wickedness of man was great in
the earth and that every imagination every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart. He's not even talking about the
actions right now. He's talking about everything
that passes through the heart. And God saw the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's God's testimony. Of my
heart? That's God's testimony of your
heart. When he looks into your heart, what does he see? Only
evil continually. In Jeremiah chapter 17, verse
nine, here's another scripture that I quote quite often. Jeremiah,
God's prophet, makes this statement with regard to the human heart.
He says, the heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all things. Listen, my dear friends, you
and I will lie to ourselves so quick and deceive ourselves so
quick. That's what the scripture says. The heart is desperately
wicked. and deceitful above all things.
Don't trust your thoughts. Somebody says, trust your heart.
You better not. Your heart will deceive you so quickly. Who can know it? Turn with me
to Psalm 14. Now, what I think is interesting
about this psalm is it's quoted verbatim. This psalm is in the
Bible twice. There aren't any other psalms
that are two times in the Bible. But this psalm is Psalm 14 and
Psalm 53, exact same Psalm. Beginning in verse two. If I get there. Well, it's beginning in verse
one. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Now notice there is as in italics.
What the fool is saying is, no God, no. I won't have this. No God. Now that's the fool.
He says, no God. I read in the paper this week
about a fellow that was saying that the atheists in the service
ought to be looked upon in compassion, just
like the religious people, which everybody ought to be looked
on in compassion, everybody in the service, I agree with that.
But he was saying, he was saying, it's not true that there are
no atheists in foxholes. And he said, yes, the atheists
that are atheists, they're atheists even in the foxholes. No, they're
not. No, they're not. The fool has
said in his heart, no, God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there's none that doeth good. Verse two, the
Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men. I like
trying to picture this, the Lord looking down from heaven at everybody. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand,
to see if there were any that did seek God. They are all gone
aside. They are all together become
filthy. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Now that's repeated in Psalm
53 and Paul quotes it in Romans chapter three, beginning in verse
10. You remember that. If any man
knows the plague of his own heart. While this is certainly true
of all men, we really are totally depraved. The mind, the will,
the affections, everything about us, by nature, by birth, by choice,
by practice, we really are totally depraved. But very few people
really believe that. People think they're good people,
basically good people, who happen to do some bad things. I got
a good heart, but I know I committed this crime, and I did this bad
thing, and I did that bad thing, and I wasn't, but still basic. I was just put in a position
where I was tempted, and I failed before, but you know, everybody's
human. Everybody make mistakes, but everybody thinks that basically
they're good. They're good. Oh, I know I have
problems. I know I commit sins. I know
I do people wrong, but still basically I'm a good person who
happens to do some bad things. Kind of like Naaman. Naaman thought
he was a great man who happened to be a leper. He didn't realize he was a leper
who happened to be a great man. Very few people know the plague
of their own heart. But how blessed is that man that
knows the plague of his own heart. How blessed by God you are if
you see that your heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all
things. That you can't trust your thoughts,
you can't trust anything about you. That you see that when God
looks into your heart, what you are, there's nothing but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. Now the only way you're ever
gonna see this about your heart is by seeing Him. It's not simply by listening
to the preacher and saying, yeah, I see the Bible says that. I
can't deny those scriptures. The only way you're going to
see the plague of your heart is by seeing him in the gospel. You remember what Isaiah said
in the year the King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. High and lifted up. And his train filled the temple,
the seraphims Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The
whole earth is full of His glory. What did Isaiah say? Woe is me. That's the only response to seeing
who He is in His holiness, in His glory, in His perfections,
in His justice. Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm cut off. I'm a reprobate. When Peter saw the Lord for the
first time, really, he was impressed with him, no doubt. But when
he finally saw who he really was, he said, depart from me,
Lord. I'm a sinful man. You don't want
to have anything to do with somebody like me. Now that's the response
of someone who really sees the Lord. You're not going to say,
how could a good God allow this to happen? You know, he's holy. He's right. Whatever he does
is right. There's no law over his head
that he has to live up to. Whatever he does is right. And
whatever you do is wrong. You really believe that, personally. Every man who knows the plague,
the disease of his own heart. Now if you're, if the Lord ever
does anything for me or you, we're gonna know the disease
of our own heart. And what a blessing that is because
that man who knows the disease of his own heart, he has nowhere
to look but Christ. He doesn't have any other options.
He doesn't have anywhere else to head. That's it. Now look what this scripture
says in verse 38. What prayer and supplication so ever be made
by any man or by all thy people Israel, which shall know everyone,
verse 38, the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands
toward this house. Now that word spread forth, it
doesn't simply mean go like this. The word means literally break
apart, chip in pieces, lay open, break. Now, what this is a reference
to is truly confessing your sin before God. That's what it means
to spread forth your hands. It doesn't just mean to hold
them out like that. It means before God, you are
broken. You're broken. What's something
that's broken? It doesn't work. It's no good. What do you do with broken stuff?
You throw it away. That man who is seeing the plague
of his own heart and he confesses his sin before God, he's broken,
he takes sides with God against himself. He agrees with what
God says with regard to him. That's what everybody does who
sees the plague of their own heart. They agree with God. The only people who agree with
God are the people who have seen, by His grace, by seeing who He
is, the plague of their own heart. Now what does that person do?
He spreads forth his hands toward this house. That's looking to Christ. The
temple represents Christ. That's where the sacrifice was.
That's where the altar was. That's where the high priest
was. Christ is our sacrifice. Christ is our altar. Christ is
our priest. He's all those things. You look
only toward this house. Here's what Solomon prayed that
they would do at that point. Then, then, hear thou in heaven
thy dwelling place. and forgive, and do, and give
to every man according to his ways whose heart thou knowest.
For thou, even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children
of men, that they may fear thee all the days that they live in
the land which thou gavest unto our fathers." Now, four requests. Hear. Hear me. I want the Lord to hear me, don't
you? When I cry for mercy, oh, I want him to hear me. When I
ask him to turn me, I want him to hear me. When I ask him to
give me the grace to look only to Christ, I want him to hear
me. I need to be heard. Hear me. Next, he says in verse
39, hear and forgive. Forgive me. Put away my sins. Cause my sins not to be. Let
me be accepted in the beloved. Forgive me. Forgive me. Hear
me. Forgive me. What's he say thirdly? And do. Do. I need him to do something for
me. I can't have him just stand off and leave me to myself. I
need him to do something for me. Lord, do give me faith in
your son. Give me repentance. Turn me,
cause your face to shine. I need you to do something for
me. Do and give. Oh, I need him to give. Now,
notice how he says, give every man according to his ways. Now,
what's your way? What's your way? Don't don't
start thinking about, you know, walking in a certain way. That's
just forget that for a second. What's your way? My way is Christ. Now your way is either Christ
only or your works. There's no in between. And God
will meet you the way you want to come. What's your way? Give
every man according to his way. Well, if you want to come into
his presence on the basis of your works, he'll meet you there
if that's what you want. If you want to come with Christ
as the only way, he'll meet you there. He really will. And I
love what Solomon says, give every man according to his ways
whose heart thou knowest. You're the only one who knows
the heart is the Lord. You don't know your own heart
except that it's deceitful and you can count on that. And you
sure don't know anybody else's heart. I sure don't know anybody
else's heart. We don't know what's going on
in somebody's heart. But there's someone who does.
The Lord. For thou, even thou only knowest
the hearts of all the children of men. And here's what happens
to those who know the plague of their heart and look only
to Christ, that they may fear thee all the days that they live
in the land, which thou gavest unto our fathers. And the fear
of the Lord is so, I hesitate to use the word simple,
but it really is simple. When you're afraid of the Lord,
And this is the fear that's the beginning of wisdom. This is
a good fear. This is not a bad fear. This is a good fear. The
fear of the Lord makes you afraid to look anywhere but Christ. Now, if you can look anywhere
but Christ, you don't really have any respect. You don't have
any fear. You don't have any reverence
of the Lord. And you've got an awful high opinion of yourself.
And I hope the Lord breaks you from that. But if you have the
fear of the Lord, you are afraid to look anywhere but Christ only. And I'll tell you what, everybody
that knows the plague of their own heart, what a statement that
is, the plague of your own heart. Everybody who knows the plague
of their own heart looks to Christ only. Amen. th th