Calvary Road Baptist Church

“PRECONDITION TO FORGIVENESS”

First Kings 8.38-39 

We know that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Indeed, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, Solomon declared 3000 years ago. But God did grant to David permission for his son Solomon to build for Him a Temple. And so, with materials gathered by King David while he was still alive, King Solomon set the entire nation of Israel to work, with skilled artisans loaned to him by Hiram, king of Tyre, completing the Temple in seven years.[1]

When it came time to dedicate the Temple, the Ark of the LORD was brought up to the Temple mount in a grand procession of priests, with unnumbered sheep and oxen being sacrificed along the way. And when the priests had placed the Ark in the holy of holies and drew out the staves, those poles used to carry the Ark, as the priests were coming out of the holy of holies the Shekinah glory of God filled the entire Temple, so that the priests could not perform their carefully rehearsed duties.[2]

It was then that Solomon began to speak, declaring to the multitudes who had gathered for the dedication of the Temple, 

“The LORD said he would dwell in the thick darkness,” 

First Kings 8.12. He then spoke to the LORD directly, saying, 

“I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.” 

A moment later, Solomon turned and faced the assembled Israelites and began to rehearse to them how the Temple came to be built as a place to house the Ark of God, upon which rested the mercy seat, and between the two cherubim of the mercy seat, of course, hovered the glory and essence of God. Still standing before the people and the altar of the LORD, Solomon spread his hands upward and began to praise and pray to God. And although Solomon’s prayer is far too long for us to read together, I commend it to you for private reading and worship.[3]

I direct your attention to a portion of Solomon’s prayer. Please make your way to First Kings 8.38-39. Leading up to these two verses, Solomon acknowledges two things; that God’s people are prone to sinning and being judged by God for sinning, and that God will forgive according to a specific prescription. With that in mind, let’s stand and read together First Kings 8.38-39: 

38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39 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;) 

Before my message, and by way of introduction, let me spend a few moments making sure we are settled in our understanding of three words found in verse 38, the words “plague” and “heart,” and “house.”

First, the word “plague.” This word refers to a spot or mark left by contamination or disease, or wound.[4] The word is found in Exodus 11.1 about the plagues that God brought upon Egypt: 

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.” 

In Leviticus, the word is frequently used to describe the visible symptoms of dreaded leprosy. Leviticus 13.2-3: 

2  When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:

3  And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. 

“Plague,” then, refers to that which is left by contamination, that which is symptomatic of a disease, that which obviously and visibly defiled a person and rendered him unfit to participate in the worship of God, when the plague was external, such as when it existed in the form of leprosy, it required that the afflicted person be separated from the people and cast out to prevent the contamination from spreading and afflicting others.

The second word I want to draw your attention to is the word “heart.” In the Bible, we have the word “heart” used in two ways. There is the “heart” as a physical organ, and then there is the “heart” as something which is immaterial, something which is more difficult actually to define, but which everyone seems to understand.[5] To make sure we really do understand this nebulous and challenging to define thing called “heart,” let’s take note of a few things about the heart we find in the Bible.

Especially in the Old Testament, the “heart” and the soul should never be considered the same thing. In the Bible, it’s called the “heart” which is the seat of emotions, passions, and appetites. The “heart” is also the seat of the human conscience. Thus, it is the “heart” that is wicked, it is the “heart” that contaminates the whole life and character of a person, and it is the “heart” that must be changed, regenerated, made new before any man can willingly obey God.

An interesting aside. When someone is commanded in Scripture to love God, they are commanded to love “heart” first. It is with your “heart” and soul and might that you are commanded to love God, and always in that sequence. And it is with the “heart” that man believes unto righteousness. Salvation, then, is a matter of the “heart.”

Third, we have this word “house.”[6] Specifically, Solomon specifies that he is referring to “this house,” which house is, of course, the Temple whose dedication this portion of God’s Word records. But what is the Temple here? What was the Temple in God’s economy for that day?

The Temple was, first and foremost, the place where God dwelt. In that inner sanctum, the holy of holies, behind the veil, on top of the Ark of the covenant, above the mercy seat atop the Ark, and between the golden cherubim of the mercy seat, dwelt the essence and glory of Almighty God. Though the physical universe cannot contain this immense Creator, we call God. Yet, in a very special and peculiar sense, He chose to take up a unique residence and maintain a remarkable presence in that place, among those people. The Temple was also the only place where God was to be sought for forgiveness through atoning sacrifices for sins, for trespasses, in the mornings, in the evenings, and on holy days according to the Law.

Only at the Temple could atonement be made, and only at the Temple could the priesthood function. For this reason, Solomon indicated in his prayer that when sin was committed, when the plague of the heart was known, forgiveness could be sought when the repentant sinner looked toward the Temple, God’s dwelling place, and sought forgiveness with outstretched hands.

Today, of course, there is no Temple. There’s a reason why there is no Temple. And it’s not because the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, and it hasn’t been rebuilt. There is no Temple because no Temple is needed. You see, God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.[7] But Jesus, the Son of God, does dwell in a body prepared for Him by God the Father.[8]

With no Temple where God dwells, where is a person seeking forgiveness to look? With no Temple where priests minister, where is atoning sacrifice to be made? With no Temple where God abides, where do the people of God gather and rally for worship of the most high God? Remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said shortly before His crucifixion: 

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”[9] 

But the Jews thought He was speaking of the Temple made with hands. Oh, no. He was speaking of Himself, of His Own body. You see, He is the fulfillment of that which the Temple only typified. He is the reality of which the Temple was only a foreshadow.

This understood, what, then, are the lessons to be learned in these two verses? First, there is the “plague” of the “heart,” which is an indwelling spiritual disease called the sin nature. Second, there is the precondition to forgiveness, which is that every man “shall know the plague of his heart.” Third, there is seeking forgiveness, by which the sinner must spread his hands toward God’s unique and solitary place of access to Him and worship of Him, the Temple.

With careful thought and analysis of their beliefs about salvation, I declare that Roman Catholicism is not Biblical Christianity. It is with careful thought and analysis of their beliefs about salvation that I declare to you that much of the self-described evangelical Christianity is not Biblical Christianity, that Charismatic Christianity is not in its essence Biblical Christianity, and that Pentecostal Christianity is not in its essence Biblical Christianity. Not that those systems are embraced by none who are Christians. But I maintain that those faith systems do not characteristically reflect Gospel truth. Because this Gospel issue and the salvation of your soul are so important, and so many people entertain false hopes, I am forced to conclude as a Gospel minister.

I am persuaded that I must challenge you, that you ought to be challenged, concerning your belief that you are a Christian in the true Biblical sense. That’s right. I believe that I must challenge you and that you should be challenged whether or not you are a Biblical Christian, a true child of God. I think I ought to be so challenged. So important is this matter that I think I am correct in recalling from his biography that, on his death bed, the great Second Awakening evangelist Asahel Nettleton urged his best friend, Bennett Tyler, “Examine me.”

Not that you couldn’t convince most everyone you know that you are a Christian. Not that you couldn’t convince most pastors of most Churches, or most priests of most parishes, that you are a wonderful Christian. I just wonder how many professing Christians can convince God that they are Christians. And God is the only One Whose opinion counts.

An analysis of Roman Catholicism will reveal that, for all intents and purposes, their system is built on a program of sacraments and good deeds and acts of contrition, by which means they claim they can move from a position of unforgiven sins to a state of grace. Their whole system of salvation by works is built on the erroneous notion that original sin is cleansed by an infant’s baptism so that from that point onward, the sinner only needs to be concerned with the sins he commits and not his sinful nature.

Evangelical Christianity is, for the most part, little better. No, the Charismatics and the Pentecostals do not own up to a Pope (not formally anyway), and they deny the Catholic fiction of purgatory. But for all practical purposes, there is little difference between Southern California style evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism, particularly concerning justification by faith.

Roman Catholics believe the stain of original sin has been removed. So, they deal with the indwelling sinful nature of man by ignoring it and pretending it’s not there. And while most evangelicals, and with them, all the Charismatics and Pentecostals pay some moderate lip service to the sinful nature of man, for all practical purposes, they, too, ignore this profound Bible truth.

What is the result of ignoring what the Bible says about man’s sinful nature, the depravity of man, the wickedness of man’s heart? The precondition for forgiveness is not met by the sinner. And when sinners go through whatever motions sinners go through to obtain what sinners think of as salvation, it will only be to discover, when in Hell sinner lift up their eyes being in torments, that they were greatly mistaken.

My task, therefore, is to convince you, to persuade you, to bring you to realize, with God’s help and by God’s grace, that you may not be converted, that your sins may not be forgiven, and that the wrath of God may yet abide on you. Why? Because you have not yet met the precondition for obtaining God’s forgiveness.

Let us go back to our text and read again First Kings 8.38-39: 

38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39 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;) 

God knows your heart. Only He knows your heart because you do not know your own heart. Oh, you think you know your heart. You’re very smart and obviously sophisticated and intelligent so that the broad and sweeping comments of God’s Word that are applicable to all mankind are likely thought by you to apply to everyone except you. Listen to me, my friend. That’s the deceitfulness of your heart speaking when you think like that. That’s pride and arrogancy and self-deception, for God cannot lie, Titus 1.2. God is true and those things which He asserts in His holy Word are truth without any admixture of error.

Predicated on the fact that God knows your heart, knows it far better and more thoroughly than you do, knows it to a depth and to a degree unimagined by you, I have three assertions to make from Scripture about your heart that I hope will convince you that you may not yet have met the preconditions for forgiveness.

Of course, I say this while hoping that you will meet the preconditions for forgiveness and that you will be converted if you are not yet converted: 

First, SCRIPTURE ASSERTS THAT YOUR HEART IS PLAGUED 

Please, let us not undervalue the importance of the word “plague” in verse 38. So often we become antiseptically clinical when we consider spiritual things, especially as they apply to our own case. To make that mistake here is to commit a fatal error.

My dear friend, you need to understand what is being said here about your heart. For your heart to accurately be described as plagued means that your heart is terminally diseased, means that your heart is a festering and putrefying sore, means that your heart has an incurable spiritual leprosy called indwelling sin.

Were the Law of Moses applied to the condition of your heart, you would be required to avoid the main streets of society. You would be required to skirt about in the shadows and alleys and back streets. And on those chance occasions when you unavoidably encountered another person you would be required to cover your face with a cloth and cry out “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!”

Were your heart’s condition assigned an emotion, it would be revulsion. Were it assigned a physical symptom it would be nausea. Were it assigned an olfactory smell, it would be sewage. Were it assigned a taste, it would be vomit.

Notice that I have not once described the deeds of your heart occasioned by such a plague as this. No mention has been made of blasphemous speech, impure thoughts, immoral actions. I have not alluded to that which is illegal as to behavior or untrue as to belief. I speak only of the condition of your heart apart from anything you have ever said, have ever done, or have ever thought, which things have only been sinful.

And by what right do I describe your heart in this fashion? By the right of truth according to God’s holy and infallible Word. Remember, it is God and God only who knows the hearts of the children of men. And it is God who describes your heart, apart from any deed your heart has ever done, as a heart that is hateful to God, full of evil, desperately wicked, far from God, darkened, unbelieving, blind, deceitful, hard, haughty, subject to the devil, carnal, covetous, despiteful, foolish, idolatrous, mad, mischievous, proud, rebellious, stiff and stony.

These, along with many other descriptions that are also found in God’s Word, shows us what God’s opinion of your heart really is. So much for people being basically goodhearted. Amen? But these facts from God’s Word affect or influence you not one bit unless the Holy Spirit of God creates in you a heartfelt awareness of the condition of your heart. 

MY SECOND ASSERTION HAS TO DO WITH THE PRECONDITION FOR FORGIVENESS 

You will notice in our text that Solomon declared that forgiveness will come to that man whose prayers and supplications are prompted by the fact that he knows the plague of his heart. But you who believe the Bible to be God’s Word, without error, know the plague of your heart. You just heard me describe the plague of your heart.

But to know a fact is not to appreciate its significance is not to recognize its implications is not to be moved by the force of the truth. Such only happens, and Solomon did not make mention of the cause of this knowledge when the Holy Spirit of God performs His first work on your heart. And what is the Holy Spirit’s first work in a sinner’s heart? According to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit’s task is to reprove you of sin.

But what does it mean to reprove someone of sin? To reprove means to expose, to convict, to cross-examine to convince an opponent. So, the Holy Spirit’s task is to disclose to you the condition of your own heart, to convict you of your own guiltiness of heart, to so cross-examine you that you become convinced of the horror of the plague that stains and contaminates and defiles your own heart. It’s that kind of knowledge that’s needed.

And that, my friend, has never happened to you. Oh, you’ve agonized over the consequences of sins you’ve committed, of horrible decisions you’ve made, of foolish choices in your life. But never have you been so profoundly convinced of the contamination of your heart apart from anything you’ve done. You’ve never, ever, agreed with God’s estimation of you, though you will heartily agree with God’s estimation of your deeds.

But do you see our text, my friend? It’s quite one thing to commit sins. And never let it be said that I am minimizing the seriousness of sins. Sins are horrible. Sins are defiling. Sins are damning. Sins are debilitating. But in order to actually seek God’s forgiveness the person who has committed sins has to know the plague of his own heart. You’re not saved, you’ve not ever experienced the forgiveness of God because you’ve not ever known the plague of your own heart.

You still think there is goodness in you somewhere. You still think there is redeeming value in you someplace. You still fancy you’ve got something other than plague and contagion in your heart. Well, you’re wrong. The Bible says you’re wrong, the Holy Spirit seeks to convince you that you’re wrong, and until you become powerfully persuaded that you are wrong, you will never meet the precondition God has laid down for a person to be forgiven, you will never be converted.

And most of you who are lost will never be so convinced by the Spirit of God. And why is this? Because you object to the Holy Spirit’s ministry of making you feel bad about your sin. You oppose His work of creating in you a guiltiness of the heart that truly knows the plague of your heart. You complain and protest at the idea of being made guilty. You insist on protecting your facade of pretended goodness and spirituality. And such resistance of the Spirit of God will only guarantee your ultimate damnation. 

MY FINAL ASSERTION IS THAT YOU MUST SEEK FORGIVENESS 

Let it not once be denied that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. But understand, as well, that certain predictable responses occur when one’s heart has been prepared by the Holy Spirit of God.

When a sinner knows the plague of his own heart, he realizes his desperate need for God’s forgiveness, not just for the things he has done that was wrong and the things that were right that he has not done. Those are sins, sins of omission, and sins of commission. When a sinner knows the plague of his own heart, which is to say when he is thoroughly reproved by the Holy Spirit of God, he will then become one who seeks God’s forgiveness with great eagerness and energy.

To the Israelite Solomon ordered, when you know the plague of your own heart, you must seek God’s forgiveness by spreading forth your hands toward the Temple. And when you do that, God, Who alone knows the hearts of the children of men, will forgive.

But we have no temple. And we know that God dwells not in temples made with hands. And there is no unique and solitary place on this earth where God has appointed worship and sacrifices for sins and the sprinkling of the blood of atonement. So, what is our course of action?

Just as Jesus told us that a better than Solomon is here, so we have a better sacrifice, and a better priesthood, and something better than atonement or covering of sins. We have Jesus Christ Who, as the temple is the place where man meets God, Who, as the sacrifice is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and who, as our great high priest, offered up one sacrifice for sin and sins, and is now sat down at the right hand of God because there is no more offering for sin, Hebrews 10.17.

But you will not strive to enter in at the strait gate, as Jesus commanded. Neither will you search the Scriptures, where He is shown. You will not seek Him, not really. Not after a fashion He has prescribed. Why not? Because you are not one who knows the plague of your own heart.

 

To summarize, everyone acknowledges the sinfulness of their own sins. Of course, you admit the wrongness of your wrongs. But where do such deeds come from? From your heart.

Will you condemn your own heart? Can you condemn your own heart? Is it possible for you to see and perceive and understand the plague of your own heart? No. Such things are appreciated only by someone who is reproved by the Spirit of God, convicted by the Spirit of God, under confrontational Gospel preaching, usually.

Will you resist this? Will you avoid this? Will you deny this? Will you go from here and distract yourself from this? Then you shall not seek after rightly, nor obtain, the forgiveness of God.

To seek forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ, you must meet the precondition for forgiveness that God has prescribed. You must know the plague of your own heart, and that is the precondition for forgiveness.

__________

[1] 1 Kings 5-6

[2] 1 Kings 8.1-11

[3] 1 Kings 8.23-61

[4] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 619.

[5] Ibid., page 523.

[6] Ibid., pages 108-110.

[7] Acts 7.48; 17.24

[8] Hebrews 10.5

[9] John 2.19

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church