1 Kings chapter 8. I have a pew Bible that is on page
417. I want to read verses 48-43. 38-43 of 1 Kings chapter 8. This
is the words of Solomon. And He said in 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, and shall spread forth his hands towards this
house. Then heareth 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 givest unto our fathers. Moreover concerning a stranger
that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country
for thy namesake, for they shall hear of thy great name, and of
thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm, when he shall come and
pray towards this house. Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling
place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to
thee. For that all people of the earth may know thy name,
to fear thee as do thy people Israel, that they may know that
this house which I have built is called by thy name." This
chapter has to do If you've read this, you understand this, with
the dedication of this beautiful temple that Solomon had just
finished. And he calls it the Temple of
the Lord. And they spent 14 days in the dedication of this temple
and celebrating what the Jews call the Feast of Tabernacles,
where they brought their tents with them. And they camped out
and lived in their tents for seven days. And this was a great
festival and a great congregation. Look here in verse 65 of this
chapter. He begins to tell us something
about how great the congregation was. And at that time Solomon
held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation
from the inner end of Hamath. That's in the extreme northern
part of the land of Israel. unto the river of Egypt, which
is in the extreme southern part, before the Lord our God seven
days and seven days, even fourteen days." So the Jewish nation here
was assembled at Jerusalem because this is the place where they
were designated to offer this one sacrifice throughout all
the land of Israel. This was the place God had chosen
to put His name in. If you offered a sacrifice, you
had to bring it here to this temple. There was one altar and
one temple. And to offer a sacrifice any
other place in the land of Israel was one of the most dangerous
things you could do. This was very serious. There's
a reason I want you to see this because I want to show you how
serious this was that this one place, was where the children
of Israel always gathered to present their sacrifices before
the Lord. I want you to look in a couple
of places. Look in Joshua, just over to your right, in the 22nd
chapter of Joshua. And I want you to look in verse
19 and verse 29. Joshua chapter 22 and verse 19. This is where the children of
Israel had gone into the land of Canaan. The two and a half
tribes had gone in with them to fight there. Then they came
back across Jordan to their own land. And there next to Jordan
they built this altar. And it looked like the altar
at Jerusalem. But they built it there to remind
their children, we've got a part with the children of Israel.
This is the altar just like they sacrificed on up there in Israel. But they didn't build that altar
to sacrifice on. They built it to remind their
children that they had a part with the children of Israel.
But those other tens and a half tribes, they misunderstood why
they built that altar. And so they called a meeting
together, and you're in verse 19, look what they said to them.
They said this to those two and a half tribes that had built
this altar. Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession
be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession
of the Lord, were in the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take
possession among us. But rebel not against the Lord,
nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar
of the Lord our God." And here was part of the answer in verse
29. These two and a half tribes answered them. God forbid that
we should rebel against the Lord. and turned this day from following
the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, and for meat
offerings, and for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord
our God that is before the tabernacle." See what they were saying? They
knew that there was only one place of sacrifice where they
were to bring their offerings, and that was not only at Jerusalem,
but more specifically to this altar. where they offered their
sacrifices on. Look over just a little further
to your left in Deuteronomy. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 17. I'm sorry, not Deuteronomy, Leviticus.
Leviticus. Just over to your left in Leviticus
chapter 17. This was the Lord's purpose all
along, to have one altar that He was to offer these sacrifices. Look in verse 3. The Lord told them there in verse
2 to speak this to the children of Israel. And in verse 3, What
man shall ever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth
not an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or that killeth
it out of the camp, and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation, to orphan and orphan unto the Lord before
the tabernacle of the Lord, blood shall be imputed unto that man. He hath shed blood, and that
man shall be cut off from his people." to the end that the
children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer
in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the
Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the
priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord. So see what he's saying there.
See why all the children of Israel gathered here at this one place
to offer these sacrifices. Because there was one place that
God would accept an offering. And that was upon this altar
that was here before this temple. And this day of dedication, the
priest had brought the tabernacle that Moses had made, from the
city of David, just a few hundred yards from this temple. They
had brought these holy vessels, they had brought the Ark of the
Covenant, and they placed all of this in this beautiful new
temple. And they had put the most holy
place there, the mercy seat with a golden cap over it. And when they did all of this,
our text tells us here in verse 10 of chapter 8, what I was reading
to you, that the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord
filled this tavern out. Look what he said back over in
our chapter, 1 Kings chapter 8. Look at this. This was the
dedication of this temple. And he says here in verse 10
of chapter 8, And it came to pass, when the priests were come
out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the
Lord, so that the priest could not stand to minister because
of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house
of the Lord." So they were not able to minister for the glory
of the Lord. And Solomon, you read here in
this passage that he has this platform sort of like the one
that I'm here on, only a lot smaller, not much lower than
his platform. And he got down on his knees
and he lifted up his hands towards heaven and he began to pray and
make supplication and his supplication was to this end, Lord, when your
people or when a stranger is in trouble and they look towards
this house Hear thou in heaven and forgive them and meet their
needs according to your riches and glory. But one of the things
you'll notice as you read through this passage, it was always this
in reference to this house. In reference to this house. When
they look to this house, hear their prayer and forgive their
sins. and do. You find that here in
the passages. One of the texts here that I
read to you made that so plain, didn't it? When they look to
this house, when they look to this house. We were studying
through the book of Jonah, and that's one of the things that
we noticed about Jonah. Remember when he was down in
the bottom of the mountains, and he was in darkness in that
whale's belly, but the Scripture says he looked again. to the
holy temple. And when Daniel was in captivity
and they were going to throw him in the lion's den for worshiping
and serving his God, remember what he did? He went into his
room and opened his windows towards Jerusalem. What was he doing? He was looking towards this house. The temple was the one place
of God's divine and special presence. This was the place of one altar,
one sacrifice, and one mercy seat where God had promised to
meet with the people and commune with the children of Israel above
that mercy seat, that bloodstained mercy seat. I've often wondered
when they went in there and sprinkled the blood upon that mercy seat
if they went around and washed it off. I doubt it. They probably
just kept sprinkling it, didn't they? Sprinkling the mercy seed.
And that's where God met with them at. And the reasons these
things carried such significance was because of what they signified
and who they represented. All these things are gone now.
The priesthood's gone. The temple is gone. mercy seat
with a gold plate over the top of it and those cherubims with
their wings stretched out over it, all that is gone. There are
no sacrifices being offered there now. The material and earthly
temple is gone. There is none. Unless you folks
that are in Christ are the temples of Christ, there is no other
temple now in this world. But one place is no more holy
than another. You and I have dedicated this
building to the worship of God. This is the place where we gather
publicly to worship. But you know in and of itself,
this building is no more sacred than meeting down there in a
bar somewhere. The Lord's going to burn this place. This is not
the temple of the Lord, is it? It's not the temple. This building
here is set aside, but it's no more sacred than any other building.
The time came when this Jewish temple and its altar and its
priesthood and its sacrifices and its mercy seat were looked
upon just as the rest of the ceremonial law was looked upon
as weak and beggarly elements that passed away. They were replaced
by spiritual things. They were replaced by wonderful
things that they only signified. And what was it that they signified? The person of Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I was amazed as I was reading
this chapter, and I hope you go home and read it. I didn't
take time to read it. But I was amazed at the number
of animals that they sacrificed in these two weeks. They sacrificed
22,000 Bullocks. 22,000 oxen. I went by a field
that had a couple of hundred cows in it, and you said, man,
what a herd of cows. Can you imagine going by a field
and there's 22,000 cows out in that field? And when they sacrificed
those 22,000 oxen, then they turned right around and sacrificed
120,000 sheep. You wonder where all that blood
went to. They eat most of the meat and
burned a lot of it, but why did they take this so serious? Why
was everybody from the northernmost part of Israel to the southernmost
part gathered there? Why did they take the expense
and the labor and the time of offering all of these sacrifices?
It was because of who they represented. They represented the Son of God
and His sacrifice. an atonement that He made for
sin. They were aware of that. And
every time they killed a bullock, and every time they slew a lamb,
they looked through that and saw the Son of God dying upon
Calvary's tree to atone for our sins. Jesus Christ is the true
temple. He is the true temple, isn't
He? He is the temple of God. He said, destroy this temple,
that old temple that stood there that Herod had built. destroy this old temple." But
he said, there is a temple. There is a temple that this temple
only represents. And what was that? His body.
And he said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise
it up again. Jesus Christ is the temple. He's
the sacrifice. He's the priest. He's the altar. We have an altar, Paul said,
didn't he? And He's the mercy seat where God meets and communes
with us and looks upon us with tender mercy? Whither could we
flee for aid when tempted, desolate, and dismayed? Oh, if suffering
saints had no mercy seat. And we do, don't we? It's Jesus
Christ. He is the temple where God dwells. The Bible says that God was in
Christ. reconciling the world unto Himself. And the Bible says that in Jesus
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Jesus Christ
we have the divine and ever-presence of God in Him. Some folks ask
me one time, will we see God in heaven? Will we see the Father
in heaven? Yes. He's in Christ, isn't He? He
is in Christ. Just as His presence filled this
old temple of old, His presence is fully in Jesus Christ our
Lord and Savior. And Christ has offered Himself
to God as that one sacrifice for sins forever. And He is the
priest that offered that sacrifice. He is the atonement that He offered.
And He sits there this morning at the right hand of God. And
if you and I would be accepted, If we would have our worship
accepted, if we would have our needs met, then we must look
with an eye of faith to Him. It's to Him that we must look.
Just as surely as men of old looked to that temple and found
mercy, you and I must look to Jesus Christ. And there is where
we'll find acceptance. There's where we'll find deliverance
from our problems. And if God heard the supplications
of those who look towards this material temple of old, how much
more will He hear those who by the eye of faith look upon His
Son. Old Solomon said, O great God,
let Your eye be upon this temple day and night. Look upon it to
care for it. and to protect it. And if God
did that to some material temple, how much more is His eye towards
His Holy Son in whom His soul is wrapped up? He loves Him,
doesn't He? And He says, Son, set at My right
hand. And He's always looking upon
Him and giving Him the desires of His heart. But we have the
advantage over those of old. They couldn't enter the most
holy place. This the priest is the only one that could go in
there, and he went in there one time a year, but you know, we
can go into the most holy place 24-7. Listen to what Hebrews
10, 19 says, Having therefore, brethren, boldest to enter the
holiest. What is the holiest? Even God's
presence. How do we do that? Through the
blood of Jesus. by this new and living way that
he has made for us through the veil that is his flesh. And he
says in Hebrews 4, seeing then that we have such a great high
priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help us in the time of need. Having an high
priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true
heart, with an honest heart and sincere heart, in full assurance
of faith. Brothers and sisters, when you
and I come to God, looking only to Jesus Christ, we can come
expecting God's mercy. We can come not only hoping in
His grace and deliverance and peace, but we can come expecting
that. with full assurance that for
the sake of His dear Son, He will meet our needs, He will
deliver us, and grant us peace. That's why they look to this
temple, and that's why we look to Christ, isn't it? That's why
we look to Jesus Christ. And those who attempt Those who
attempted in the days of old to approach unto God and make
their request and supplication without looking to this temple
were cut off. They were cut off. And you know
it hasn't changed, has it? Those who attempt to come to
God any other way and make their supplications known to Him in
any other way besides this one sacrifice, This one altar, this
one priest, this one temple, they'll be cut off too. Not changed
has it. It's not changed. We rear no
altar. Thou hast died. We deck no priestly
shrine. What need have we of creature
aid? The power to save is Thine. And the reason this is so important,
the reason I dwelled upon it for as long as I did this morning,
is because our text talks about people praying and making their
supplications to God. And every case that you read
of here that did that, these people were in a jam. Boy, they
were in a fix. They were in trouble. And everyone
he mentions had need of some kind. Look what he says again
in verse 30. I didn't read this to you, but
look in verse 30 of chapter 8. And hearken thou to the supplications
of thy servant, and of the people Israel, when they shall pray
towards this place, and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
when thou hearest, forgive. When they pray towards this place,
hear thou in heaven, and forgive. And look in verse 33. And when
thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy. Because
they have sinned against thee, and have turned aside, and when
they shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and make
supplications unto thee in this house, then hear thou in heaven,
and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again
to the land which thou givest them." And he goes on and on,
and down in the text that I read to you, He says in verse 38 again,
What prayer and supplication shall ever be made by any man,
or by thy people Israel, which shall know, look at this, every
man, the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward
this place. Then hear thou in heaven thy
dwelling place, and forgive and do. Everybody was in trouble
that was playing here. And in my text, what I want to
dwell on just for a few minutes, knowing the plague of their hearts. They were in all kinds of trouble.
They had made a false oath. They looked to this temple and
they made supplications and the Lord forgave them. They had sinned
and went off into war and they went into captivity but they
turned their eyes back towards this temple. The Lord here and
forgave them and restored. And here he talks about if there
is anybody that knows the plague of his heart and he looks to
this temple, forgive him and deliver him. The plague I want
you to think about this just for a minute with me this morning.
The plague of his own heart. And the definition of a plague
that Webster gets, something that troubles and vexes and causes
pain. Something that vexes us and troubles
us and causes us pain. Leprosy was said to be a plague
because it had a vexing nature to it. It daily eat away at the
body and cause pain. It cause concern. It cause anxiety
and trouble. And fear is one of the things
that cause pain and anxiety more than anything else about this.
I mean to tell you, when you got it, you died. There was no
natural cure for it. If God didn't cleanse you from
leprosy, boy, you were gone. Can you imagine when you got
leprosy? And the priest said, you've got
leprosy. That was a death sentence, wasn't it? And it was called
the plague, a plague of leprosy. I remember, I don't know what
year it was, but you can read about the bubonic plague that
hit here in the United States and hit Europe. I think it's
like one quarter of the people in the world died, if I remember
right, from that plague. Plague, it's a thing of pain,
isn't it? It causes concern and anxiety. And our text talks about not
anything that's associated with the flesh, but the plague of
the heart. We may be afflicted in our members,
have some plague in the flesh. And that's one thing, usually
we can get some help from that, can't we? We can get some medication
or ointment or something to help us with our flesh. But I tell
you, if you've got a plague of the heart, man, that's something
that no human can help you with. A plague of the heart. Solomon said, a crushed spirit
who can bear it. Pain of the heart and weary and
grief and a troubled mind. Boy, that's pain. That's a plague
indeed. Everybody in his natural state
has a plagued heart. But most people don't know it.
The disease of sin is eating away there, and it will soon
kill them. But they don't know it. There
are people who are ready to have a heart attack, but they're not
aware of the symptoms. Or they brush the symptoms aside. But our text says these know. They know of the plague of their
heart. It's been discovered to them.
They've experienced the pain and the worry and here they come
and spread their hands in prayer towards this temple of the Lord. Let me give you some of these
plagues of the heart. Three or four different things
right quickly and see if you learn these. What's the worst
plague of the heart that you and I can think of? Is it not
guilt? Is it not guilt? What is guilt? It's the memory being stirred
up of transgressions against God. That's all guilt is. Remembering that I have sinned
against God. David cried in Psalms 51, ìLord,
deliver me from blood guiltiness.î Heíd went a whole year and didnít
realize the sin against God that heíd committed. And all of a
sudden his memory was stirred up and guilt overwhelmed him
and Iím telling you his heart was plagued. And he said, ìLord,
Iím guilty. My heart is guilty. Cleanse me
from this blood guiltiness.î Boy, the memory! There's nothing
that afflicts the heart like an evil conscience. You remember
when the Lord Jesus was talking about that rich man in hell?
Remember what He said about him? Abraham said to him, Son, remember
in your lifetime. That's a worm that will never
die. The memory of my sins upon earth that I committed against
God. My dad told me a story when I was young and it made such
an impression upon me, I've not forgotten it to this day. He
was telling me about a man being shoved over a cliff way back
there close to where they lived and killed the man and nobody
found out who did it. And several years later, There
was an old man dying, and he called for the sheriff of that
county. And he said, something has bothered me, and I can't
die with this on my conscience. And when the sheriff got there,
he confessed that when he was a young man, that he was the
one that shoved that man over that cliff and killed him. And
he said, I cannot die with this on my conscience. That's a plague,
isn't it? Guilt of sin is a plague. That you're stirred up and reminded
and it causes pain, worry, and anxiety. I've sinned against
God. What can I do? What can I do? I remember when Peter had denied
the Lord Jesus. Cursed and swore that he didn't
know Him. And the rooster crowed and the Scripture says, Peter
remembered the words of Jesus Christ. And he went out and wept
bitterly. That's the plague that I'm talking
about. One of the worst plagues, the
most burdensome plague that one can imagine. Guilt for sin. If you're here this morning, the
memory of your sins are a plague to your heart. And you know something,
what a blessing to know it. What a blessing to know it. Because
there's a cure for this plague. whatsoever prayer and supplication
be made by any man which shall know the plague of his own heart,
when he spreads forth his hand towards this house, hear thou
and forgive." There is forgiveness with the Lord that He may be
feared. The blood of Jesus Christ God's
Son cleanses us from all sins. If there wasn't a cure for this
plague, I'd never tell you about it this morning. No sense in
me afflicting anybody any further. But there's a cure. Old John
Newton wrote a hymn, a beautiful hymn. And this is what he said
in it. Physician of my sin sick soul,
to thee I bring my case, my raging malady control, and heal me by
thy grace. and anguish I endear. See how
I mourn and pine, for never can I hope a cure from any hand but
Thine. Lord, I am sick. Regard my cry
and set my spirit free. O, canst Thou let a sinner die
who longs to live to Thee?" Boy, guilt is a plague, isn't it? David talked about it being wounds
that stink. And he said, my loins are filled
with a loathsome disease. But there is a cure for this
plague. And it is looking to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Sins are forgiven. I went down,
Joe and I did, to visit my nephew. He had bought an old mansion
down in Tennessee. It was built in 1830. an old
log house, and during the Civil War, they turned it into a hospital.
And one room upstairs was the amputation room. It's where they
amputated the legs and the arms. And there was a huge stain on
that floor. Were you with me? You weren't
with me. Well, you missed this. You missed this. But there was
a huge stain. I said, David, what is that?
And he said, that's a blood stain. They told him that was a blood
stain. And it's down so deep, the guy that redid the floor
said, I can't get it out. It's laid there and soaked in
down in the wood, and I can't get it out. The stain's too deep.
And it's still there. The blood of some poor soldier
probably had his arm or leg amputated. The deep, deep stain of sin. Boy, it goes deep, doesn't it?
It goes deep. It goes to the bottom of the
heart. I'm telling you, if you felt the pain of this, you know
how deep this thing goes. But listen, there is something
that reaches deeper than the stain is gone. And that's the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It cleanses from what? Sin. Sin. God had to have something that
would take the stain away. And the only thing that would
do it was the blood of His precious Son. There is a balm in Gilead. There is a physician there that
can heal our soul's diseases of sin. And bless God, when He
washes it, He removes all stain of sin. The plague is gone. If you're here and you've got
this plague, Don't leave with that plague. Look here to the
Son of God, risen and exalted at the Father's right hand. Look
to Him and say, Oh, Father, for His sake, wash this stain. Wash my sin. Cleanse me. Heal me of this plague. Here's another plague. I was
talking with a young lady yesterday and I thought of this. I've been
reading about it. That's the plague of indecision.
I was talking to this young lady yesterday, and she said, I was
talking to her about her need of being saved, her need of knowing
the Lord. And she said, I've been seeking
the Lord. I said, when? She said, every
night I seek Him. Every night I seek Him. I said,
what do you do during the daytime? I don't seek Him, she said, during
the daytime. Just in the nighttime, she seeks Him. She's hauled in
between two opinions. And she seeks Him in the night
time because she's afraid. But in the day time she don't
seek Him. She's sort of like King Agrippa. Almost thou persuadest
me to be a Christian. It's in this place of am I going
to give myself up to Christ or am I going to not give myself
up to Him? And you know that's a plague. You talk to some people,
and boy, they've got right in this place. They begin to feel
something of their sins. They know that they should seek
the Lord. They're afraid not to, but they won't give themselves
up to Him. And they're right in this middle
ground. And man alive, it's a terrible
place to be. It's a terrible place to be,
to be almost a Christian, because you're altogether lost. And a
man just can't live without can he? Being in this valley of decision. But you know something? Jesus
Christ can heal this plague too. You know the trouble with that
young lady that I talked to yesterday? Here's her whole problem. She
don't see any beauty in Jesus Christ. She don't see any beauty
in Him. And my advice would be to her
and all of those that are in this place of indecision, I would
go to Him, lift my eyes towards Him and say, Lord, win my heart. Show me Yourself. I'm telling
you, He's so beautiful and He's so glorious. When you see Him,
your heart will be won. I've heard ladies talk. about
when they first met their husband and they said, I couldn't stand
him when I first saw him. He was the ugliest fellow I've
ever seen in my life. I didn't like his attitude, but they said,
when I got to know him, he just kept on until finally he won
my heart and now I love him to death. That's the way it is with
some people. They hear about the Lord Jesus
and they know as much as they can that they need Him. But boy,
they try to hang on to the sin and the pleasure and it's because
He just needs to woo them. He needs to flirt with them.
He needs to reveal Himself and show Himself to them. And when
He does that, that indecision will be gone. They'll fall head
over heels in love with Him. But I tell you, when that indecision
rules in a person's heart, you talk about a wretched play. They're
miserable in this world, and if the Lord don't save them from
that indecision, they'll be miserable in the next world. Almost you
persuade me to be a Christian. Almost you persuade me to give
myself up to Christ and look to Him to save me. Thirdly, there's
another plague, and that's the plague of unrest. Unrest. There's people who can't rest
in their hearts. And this unrest is a plague to
them. It's a source of pain. It's a
source of anxiety. They're like Martha, who was
cumbered about many things. And the Lord Jesus said to her,
Martha, Martha, you're troubled. You're troubled. You got this
plague in your heart. And I bet you she knew it, didn't
she? She knew it because she was upset. She had a bad attitude
about it. She was mad at Mary because Mary
wouldn't come and join in this plague. And the Lord said, She's
chosen the good part. which shall not be taken away
from her." Maybe Mary had this plague to it one time, but she
found the cure for it. And you know what the cure for
this plague of unrest is? Finding yourself at the feet
of Jesus Christ and hearing His Word. Hearing His Word. There are anxieties that we all
bear, isn't there? But when it turns into the plague
of our heart, Then we need to spread our hands towards the
Savior. We'll all have cares in this life. There's times that
we'll worry about this or that. But brothers and sisters, when
it comes upon us like a plague, and we can't think of anything
else but all of these things that we're worried about, then
we should go to Him with a plague and spread our hands towards
Him and say, Lord, hear me and forgive me and deliver me. Charles
Spurgeon made a good suggestion about these things. He said,
what we ought to do is write them down. He said, he'd known
people that were lost. And write down how you feel. Write down why you won't come
to Christ. Write down why you should. And
he said, if you have this unrest and anxiety, take you some paper
and write down exactly what is bothering you. What is the plague
of your heart? And then take it and lay it before
the Lord. You know, there's Joanne that
tells us about this. You've got to be diagnosed before
you can find out what kind of medication, don't you? And if
we've got a plague, then let's stop long enough to diagnose
it and see what it is. And then take it, just take it
there before the Lord. That may seem strange, but take
the letter and say, Lord, read it to us. if you have to. Here,
Lord, is my plague. And you remember when Shemasherib,
that general over Assyria, he came in and sent a nasty letter
to Hezekiah. And Hezekiah took that letter
and laid it right before the Lord. He was scared to death.
Poor man was trembling. He thought the city was going
to be overwhelmed and people killed. And so he just took that
letter and said, Lord, here is what I'm worried about. And laid
it right there before. What's the plague of your heart?
Is it unrest? Are you worried about everything?
I've never seen such a time that so many true Christians are worried
about so many things. We're worried about this election,
aren't we? We're worried about who's going to fill the Supreme
Court slot. We're worried about war. We're
worried about ISIS. We're worried about the economy.
We're worried about our jobs. We're worried about our health.
We're worried about so many things. Listen. Take it and spread it
before the Lord. and say, Lord, here's my plague,
heal me. We often apply Matthew chapter
11 to lost people, but it can be applied to anybody that needs
rest, that's become restless. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden. And listen, I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, set where Mary sat, and learn of me." Listen,
is there anything outside our Lord's control? Is there anything that He cannot
subdue? Is there anything that He doesn't
rule over? Nothing. Nothing. He feeds the
birds in the air. He clothes the lilies of the
field. He is in control of every grain of sand that flies through
the air. Learn of Me, and you shall find rest for your souls. Paul said, I have learned that
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Because he had
found rest in Him who forgives all sin and feeds the ravens
and clothes the lilies. And we'll do the same for Him.
And this just freed Him up to seek first the kingdom of God
and all His righteousness. See, when you have the plague
of unrest, you're not free, are you? You're just not free. But
when He gives you rest from that unrest, you're free. You're free. And the last thing is this. The
last plague is this. There's that plague that will
never be healed from in this lifetime. We'll have to bear
with it and endure it. And that's the plague of war
between the new man and the old man. Never be free from that
plague. You ever get war weary? I do,
don't you? I get war weary. I'm weary of
this old hard heart. Weary of unbelief. Weary of every
time I would do good, evil's present with me. You get tired
of fighting, don't you? It's painful. Oh, wretched man
that I am is a painful plague. Sometimes the believer sees corruption
bubbling up within his heart of every color and size and shape
and it stinks and it's horrifying and it's painful. It's a plague. And we'll never be delivered
from it in this life. Listen to this, there's victory
over the old man. He don't rule anymore, does he?
He's been taken off the throne. He's been dethroned. He used
to rule, but he don't rule anymore. There's a new nature that delights
in God and delights in spiritual wholesomeness. And the grace
of Christ is able to strengthen that new man and hold him up
in the way of faith and enable him never to give up, never to
quit believing and cleaving to Christ until it's time to lay
his armor down. Here's the way the covenant of
grace runs and I love this. I love this. I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness. Isn't that wonderful? You'll
never get rid of this unrighteousness. There are weights that we lay
aside. And there are sins that we lay aside. You'll never lay
aside this old unrighteous nature. He'll bother you. He'll plague
you until you die. But listen. Here's what the Lord
said. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. Hebrews chapter 8. And I need
that, don't you? I need that. If I can't see His
mercy, I almost despair. The warfare is too great. But
when I see His mercy, that His heart is full of mercy, and that
He's promised mercy, that strengthens me. It strengthens me. And listen
to Ephesians 3.16. Strengthened with might by His
Spirit in the inner man. Oh, come and spread your hands
out and say, Lord, I have this plague. And you know what He'll
do? He'll say, I know it. And I've
been merciful to you and I'm going to continue to be merciful
to you. And I'm going to strengthen you with my might in the inner
man. My grace is sufficient for you.
And you can just keep going back. Just keep going back and looking
in His direction. Looking. and said, Lord, I need
you again. This plague, this plague, this
plague, and He'll just keep giving you grace, keep showing you mercy.
Isn't that wonderful? Do you know anything about these
plagues of your heart? That Jesus Christ can heal us
of our plagues. May the Lord bless His Word.
Let's pray.