Heart: Christ Changes What You Love

Ezekiel 36:26-27
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Pastor Colin references various scriptures to illustrate that God’s illumination of the heart brings understanding to the mind, highlighting examples from Corinthians and Ephesians.

He delves into the scriptural definition of the heart, describing it as the control centre and fountain of motivation in our lives. The condition of the heart, whether set on peer approval, money, cherished sins, or self-gratification, can resist following Jesus Christ.

Pastor Colin calls on the congregation to seek God’s transformation, quoting God’s promise from Ezekiel to remove the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. This change is crucial for truly following Christ, as a new heart aligns our desires with God’s will.

He concludes with a reflection on the integrated nature of the mind and heart in experiencing and embodying the love and knowledge of God, urging listeners to claim the promise of a transformed heart and live a life driven by Christ’s love and commandments.

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1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,060 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible to contact us 2 00:00:08,060 –> 00:00:17,660 call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website openthebible.org let us get to the message 3 00:00:17,660 –> 00:00:24,980 here is Pastor Colin well we are continuing our series on this marvelous subject of regeneration 4 00:00:25,059 –> 00:00:31,820 the miracle of grace by which God makes new creations in Jesus Christ and we have been 5 00:00:31,820 –> 00:00:38,060 learning and enjoying this wonderful truth that to become a new creation means God brings 6 00:00:38,060 –> 00:00:43,040 into being something that did not exist before and we are learning a little more from the 7 00:00:43,040 –> 00:00:49,540 bible about what that actually is. last week we thought together about the new mind a mind 8 00:00:49,680 –> 00:00:56,680 that now sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ . It’s totally new because 9 00:00:56,680 –> 00:01:03,360 before you came to Christ you did not see anything of his glory at all . and today we 10 00:01:03,360 –> 00:01:09,360 are going to look in the scriptures at this marvelous subject of the new heart. Now before 11 00:01:09,360 –> 00:01:15,639 we get into it the danger that lurks in a series in which we have one week on the mind 12 00:01:15,639 –> 00:01:20,660 one week on the heart and one week on the will is that it would be very easy for us 13 00:01:20,660 –> 00:01:25,480 to slip into the idea the wrong idea that these are somehow separate departments in 14 00:01:25,480 –> 00:01:32,660 your life that operate independently. So I want us all to understand very clearly that 15 00:01:32,660 –> 00:01:37,820 when we talk about the mind and the heart and the will we are talking about your inner 16 00:01:37,820 –> 00:01:44,480 life viewed really from different angles. The Bible uses the word mind and the word 17 00:01:44,480 –> 00:01:50,540 heart in different ways and frankly it’s not always easy to tell them apart. Sometimes 18 00:01:50,540 –> 00:01:54,139 the Bible uses the word heart while you think it would use the word mind and mind where 19 00:01:54,139 –> 00:01:59,459 you think it would use the word heart. When we talk about God changing the mind of the 20 00:01:59,459 –> 00:02:05,019 heart and the will we are talking about one miracle viewed from different angles rather 21 00:02:05,059 –> 00:02:08,699 like different facets of a diamond. We are not talking about three different things that 22 00:02:08,699 –> 00:02:15,699 have to happen in sequence. The mind, the heart, and the will are one as the father, 23 00:02:16,720 –> 00:02:22,320 the Son, and the spirit are one. I’ve found that a helpful way of thinking about this. 24 00:02:22,320 –> 00:02:26,320 In other words, if you think about the heart, the mind, and the will being one in the same 25 00:02:26,320 –> 00:02:30,820 way as the Father, the Son, and the spirit are one, that will help us to remember that 26 00:02:30,820 –> 00:02:37,820 they may be distinguished but they can never be separated. They fulfil different functions 27 00:02:38,720 –> 00:02:45,380 but they never operate independently. This is important because it reminds us that a 28 00:02:45,380 –> 00:02:50,839 person’s heart and mind and will are always in the same, spiritual condition. They are 29 00:02:50,839 –> 00:02:57,619 either with Christ or without Christ, they never separate from one or another. When Christ 30 00:02:57,639 –> 00:03:02,339 brings light to the mind, which is what we thought about last week, he brings life to 31 00:03:02,339 –> 00:03:07,020 the heart and he brings strength to the will. He never does one without the other. Why? 32 00:03:07,020 –> 00:03:14,020 Because the Lord Jesus Christ is about redeeming you and you are a person with mind and heart 33 00:03:15,259 –> 00:03:21,000 and will that can be distinguished but never be separated. They function differently but 34 00:03:21,000 –> 00:03:26,520 they never actually act independently. So, in other words, if your mind has been regenerated 35 00:03:26,520 –> 00:03:31,460 so has your heart and so has your will because Christ deals with you as a person. He saves 36 00:03:31,460 –> 00:03:37,240 you, not just a part of you. There is no such thing as a person who is half regenerated. 37 00:03:37,240 –> 00:03:43,860 Either you’re in Christ or you’re not yet in Christ but it is either one or the other 38 00:03:43,860 –> 00:03:49,539 and never part and part. And that makes sense if you think about it because if you think 39 00:03:49,539 –> 00:03:54,500 about your own life you’ll soon become very aware that your heart, your mind and your 40 00:03:54,500 –> 00:04:00,419 will are inseparably interconnected. What you think and what you feel and what you 41 00:04:00,419 –> 00:04:05,500 desire and what you do, they are woven together so that though they may be distinguished they 42 00:04:05,500 –> 00:04:13,100 can never be separated. They are wrapped around each other distinguishable and yet inseparable 43 00:04:13,100 –> 00:04:19,820 like the Sun’s heat and the Sun’s light. They are distinct but the one never exists 44 00:04:19,820 –> 00:04:25,519 without the other.” Now I want you to see this in the Bible and I want to show you why 45 00:04:25,519 –> 00:04:31,440 it is very important in just a moment’s time and to explain how my own understanding of 46 00:04:31,440 –> 00:04:36,279 the Bible has changed quite radically in regard to this point and for some of us I hope that 47 00:04:36,279 –> 00:04:43,200 may be the case for you too. Let’s just start then with Second Corinthians in chapter four 48 00:04:43,200 –> 00:04:47,160 which was really the passage that we looked at last week and I wonder if you noticed this 49 00:04:47,420 –> 00:04:54,420 last week. The God of this age, that was Satan remember, has blinded the minds of unbelievers 50 00:04:54,920 –> 00:04:58,700 so they cannot see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 51 00:04:58,700 –> 00:05:05,720 Okay they can’t see Him. So what does God do to cure a blinded mind? Verse six, God 52 00:05:05,720 –> 00:05:10,679 who said let light shine out of darkness made his light shine in our hearts. Well that’s 53 00:05:10,679 –> 00:05:16,480 a surprise isn’t it. The blindness is in the mind, what does God do about it? He shines 54 00:05:16,480 –> 00:05:23,500 his light into the heart. For God’s light in the heart brings sight to the mind because 55 00:05:23,500 –> 00:05:29,320 they’re inseparably connected, you see. Let’s look at Ephesians chapter four in verses eighteen 56 00:05:29,320 –> 00:05:34,359 and nineteen, another example of how closely these are bound together in scripture. Paul 57 00:05:34,359 –> 00:05:39,440 begins with a statement about the mind, about the understanding. He says, they are darkened 58 00:05:39,440 –> 00:05:43,279 in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of ignorance that 59 00:05:43,440 –> 00:05:50,440 is in them due to what? The hardening of their hearts. So now Paul is telling us that behind 60 00:05:52,299 –> 00:05:57,299 darkness in the mind, behind the inability to see the glory of Christ lies what? A hardening 61 00:05:57,299 –> 00:06:03,559 of the heart because these two are wrapped up together. Here’s something very fascinating. 62 00:06:03,559 –> 00:06:09,619 I wonder if you’ve noticed it. In Mark chapter twelve and verse thirty where the Lord Jesus 63 00:06:09,700 –> 00:06:16,100 has been asked. What is the greatest commandment? The Lord Jesus answers by quoting from Deuteronomy 64 00:06:16,100 –> 00:06:21,339 chapter six and verse five and you’ll remember what he says. He says the greatest commandment 65 00:06:21,339 –> 00:06:28,339 is that you love the Lord your God with all heart and soul and mind and strength. Take 66 00:06:28,739 –> 00:06:35,200 him straight from Deuteronomy 6 and verse 5. Except that when you look back to Deuteronomy 67 00:06:35,200 –> 00:06:39,619 6 verse 5 and you can check this out if you want to. You will find that what it says 68 00:06:39,859 –> 00:06:46,859 there, what Moses says is, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength. 69 00:06:47,399 –> 00:06:54,399 Moses never mentions the mind. So why does the Lord Jesus add the mind to Moses best 70 00:06:54,679 –> 00:06:59,559 known commandment, the commandment of God through Moses? Why when Moses doesn’t mention 71 00:06:59,559 –> 00:07:05,820 the mind does the Lord say heart and mind. Oliver Barclay explains, I quote from him, 72 00:07:06,720 –> 00:07:13,720 the range of meaning of the Hebrew word translated heart, that’s the word that Moses used, translated 73 00:07:14,839 –> 00:07:21,839 heart narrowed so much over time that Greek needed two words, heart and mind, to say what 74 00:07:22,739 –> 00:07:28,079 was covered in the Old Testament by the one word heart. In other words, when you read 75 00:07:28,079 –> 00:07:32,839 the word heart in the Old Testament what Oliver Barclay is saying is you need to read heart 76 00:07:32,899 –> 00:07:37,760 stroke mind because we tend to think of them as two separate compartments, the Jews never 77 00:07:37,760 –> 00:07:43,600 did. They understood that what you think and what you feel are inseparably bound up together. 78 00:07:43,600 –> 00:07:47,220 And if you think about the reality of your own life you will realize that, of course, 79 00:07:47,220 –> 00:07:53,899 that is a profound insight into human personality. So, I put it this way, there is more of the 80 00:07:53,899 –> 00:08:00,899 heart in the mind and more of the mind in the heart, than is commonly supposed. You 81 00:08:01,399 –> 00:08:06,679 cannot change the one without the other. There’s no such thing as truly changing a person’s 82 00:08:06,679 –> 00:08:11,679 mind without changing their heart or truly changing a person’s heart without changing 83 00:08:11,679 –> 00:08:18,679 their mind. Now, that discovery has been profoundly important for me. It has changed the way 84 00:08:19,500 –> 00:08:24,940 that I try to help people. It has changed the way in which I think about my own spiritual 85 00:08:25,019 –> 00:08:32,020 life and growth. Let me tell you how. I was brought up with teaching that said—here 86 00:08:33,539 –> 00:08:40,539 was one way it was put. See if you recognize this. The longest journey in life is the 18 87 00:08:42,760 –> 00:08:48,280 inches between your head and your heart. Anyone heard that sort of thing said before? Oh yes. 88 00:08:48,280 –> 00:08:53,760 A lot of us have been brought up on that. The longest journey in life, eighteen inches 89 00:08:53,859 –> 00:08:59,820 between your head and your heart. Now think about what that is saying. It is saying that 90 00:08:59,820 –> 00:09:06,080 what you think and what you feel are completely different. They are disconnected. They’re 91 00:09:06,080 –> 00:09:13,080 a long way apart and that leads people and there are people all over church world who 92 00:09:14,539 –> 00:09:21,539 say this kind of thing. Well it’s in my head but it’s not in my heart. Ever heard that 93 00:09:21,739 –> 00:09:28,739 said? I think maybe my head’s converted but I’m not sure my heart is. Ever heard that 94 00:09:29,260 –> 00:09:36,260 said? Many Christians feel that the gospel somehow hasn’t really changed them so here’s 95 00:09:37,659 –> 00:09:42,380 what happens. They spend the rest of their lives running around looking for emotional 96 00:09:42,380 –> 00:09:49,380 experiences that somehow will change them. Now let me ask you this. Think about this. 97 00:09:49,400 –> 00:09:54,840 If someone said to you you know Christianity is in my head but I don’t think it’s in 98 00:09:54,840 –> 00:10:01,340 my heart how would you try to help them? Cause I’ve completely changed as I’ve tried 99 00:10:01,340 –> 00:10:06,679 to learn from the Bible how to answer that question. How would you help someone who said 100 00:10:06,679 –> 00:10:10,799 it’s in my head but it’s not in my heart? See at one time I would’ve said well let’s 101 00:10:10,799 –> 00:10:16,380 pray together that it will get into your heart. Now I do something different. I say well now 102 00:10:16,380 –> 00:10:23,619 wait a minute you tell me about the faith that’s in your head and here’s what I’ve 103 00:10:23,619 –> 00:10:30,460 found. When I ask that question it immediately becomes very obvious that the problem isn’t 104 00:10:30,460 –> 00:10:35,840 that the truth needs to make the long journey from the head to the heart. The problem is 105 00:10:35,840 –> 00:10:40,440 that the truth that has been grasped in the mind simply isn’t big enough to capture 106 00:10:40,599 –> 00:10:46,320 the heart. What happens when one asks that question invariably is a person begins to 107 00:10:46,320 –> 00:10:52,260 speak some very general platitudes about God that are no where near the dimensions of the 108 00:10:52,260 –> 00:10:57,719 glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason that it’s not living in the heart is it’s 109 00:10:57,719 –> 00:11:03,059 not living in the head either. What has been grasped is not the gospel of our Lord and 110 00:11:03,059 –> 00:11:09,859 Saviour Jesus Christ. Do you know Jonathan Edwards says a great picture that has helped 111 00:11:09,900 –> 00:11:19,940 me in this so much. He says you can know that honey is sweet by reading about it in a book. 112 00:11:20,039 –> 00:11:25,840 But you don’t really know that honey is sweet until you have tasted it in your mouth. It’s 113 00:11:25,840 –> 00:11:30,700 very profound. What he’s saying is that there are two different kinds of knowing. James 114 00:11:30,700 –> 00:11:37,280 reminds us that the devil knows that there’s one God. That’s not going to be life changing. 115 00:11:37,280 –> 00:11:43,340 The devil knows that Jesus died on the cross and that he rose again. So when we talk about 116 00:11:43,340 –> 00:11:47,119 knowing God, it has to be something more like that. 117 00:11:47,239 –> 00:11:53,000 Otherwise, it’s simply going to be like knowing that honey is sweet because you’ve read a book but you’ve never tasted it in your mouth. 118 00:11:53,440 –> 00:11:59,440 The Bible makes it very clear that we are to taste and see that the Lord is good. 119 00:11:59,460 –> 00:12:03,679 And tasting, as it were, involves the mind and the heart—the head and the heart. 120 00:12:03,940 –> 00:12:10,000 It touches the reality of the inner life of a man or a woman or a young person. 121 00:12:10,000 –> 00:12:15,900 There are many people who are going around assuming because they have heard certain Christian truth that that makes them Christian, 122 00:12:15,900 –> 00:12:18,799 whereas in actual fact, the life of Jesus Christ isn’t there. 123 00:12:22,460 –> 00:12:27,960 I heard Tim Keller make this point recently. I thought very helpfully—he said, 124 00:12:28,479 –> 00:12:30,559 Suppose someone says to you, 125 00:12:30,559 –> 00:12:34,000 I know that God loves me, but I hate myself. 126 00:12:36,059 –> 00:12:39,880 You ever heard anyone say that? I have. 127 00:12:39,880 –> 00:12:46,219 He says that if Jonathon Edwards were trying to help that person, 128 00:12:46,219 –> 00:12:49,479 he would say, 129 00:12:49,500 –> 00:12:52,640 You don’t really know that God loves you. 130 00:12:52,640 –> 00:12:54,859 You think you do. 131 00:12:54,859 –> 00:12:57,299 But you don’t really know that God loves you, 132 00:12:57,299 –> 00:13:02,760 because if you were living in the knowledge of the love of God right now, 133 00:13:02,760 –> 00:13:08,260 you would not say that you hate yourself. 134 00:13:08,260 –> 00:13:13,500 Not if you know the love of the sovereign king of the universe, 135 00:13:14,719 –> 00:13:16,940 touching the reality of your experience. 136 00:13:20,460 –> 00:13:27,320 Now the interpenetration of the mind and the heart are so deep 137 00:13:27,320 –> 00:13:31,340 that it is hard to tell them sometimes apart. 138 00:13:31,340 –> 00:13:33,840 And the wonderful truth 139 00:13:33,840 –> 00:13:36,340 that we’re trying to get at over these three weeks, 140 00:13:36,340 –> 00:13:38,539 and it would be an awfully long sermon if we did it in one, 141 00:13:38,539 –> 00:13:41,140 so we’ve got to get at it in three, 142 00:13:41,140 –> 00:13:43,099 is that through the gospel, 143 00:13:43,099 –> 00:13:46,979 the Lord Jesus Christ brings new life 144 00:13:47,020 –> 00:13:49,380 to the mind, the heart and the will to you. 145 00:13:50,539 –> 00:13:51,940 Not just to a part of you, 146 00:13:51,940 –> 00:13:54,400 not to a department of your life. 147 00:13:55,780 –> 00:13:57,780 But to you, making you a new person, 148 00:13:57,780 –> 00:14:00,340 a new creation in Jesus Christ. 149 00:14:00,340 –> 00:14:01,739 So Christ changes what you think. 150 00:14:01,739 –> 00:14:03,299 Christ changes what you feel. 151 00:14:03,299 –> 00:14:06,859 Christ changes what you choose. 152 00:14:06,859 –> 00:14:09,679 And these are not separate Works of the Holy Spirit. 153 00:14:09,679 –> 00:14:14,299 These are the dimensions of the miracle of regeneration 154 00:14:15,099 –> 00:14:17,859 that is the very centre of our focus in the Bible. 155 00:14:17,859 –> 00:14:20,380 Now I hope that’s stimulating to your mind. 156 00:14:20,380 –> 00:14:22,520 I hope that helps you to think freshly 157 00:14:22,520 –> 00:14:25,080 about yourself and about helping other people. 158 00:14:25,080 –> 00:14:29,979 It has been profoundly helpful and life-changing to me. 159 00:14:29,979 –> 00:14:32,979 Now then, let’s focus it in on the great promise of God 160 00:14:32,979 –> 00:14:35,700 as it relates particularly to the heart. 161 00:14:35,700 –> 00:14:38,500 Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26. 162 00:14:38,500 –> 00:14:40,440 Look at what God says. 163 00:14:40,520 –> 00:14:44,200 I will give you a new heart 164 00:14:45,320 –> 00:14:47,919 and put a new spirit in you. 165 00:14:47,919 –> 00:14:51,679 I will remove from you your heart of stone 166 00:14:51,679 –> 00:14:56,679 and I will give you a heart of flesh. 167 00:14:56,679 –> 00:14:59,219 Now, just for a moment, let’s begin by trying 168 00:14:59,219 –> 00:15:03,500 to identify what is meant by the heart. 169 00:15:03,500 –> 00:15:06,559 Many people of course associate the heart purely 170 00:15:06,559 –> 00:15:08,500 with feelings and with emotions 171 00:15:08,500 –> 00:15:10,020 and it certainly includes that. 172 00:15:10,020 –> 00:15:12,640 It’s a very important dimension of our life 173 00:15:12,640 –> 00:15:14,979 but the heart of course is much more 174 00:15:14,979 –> 00:15:17,539 than our feelings or our emotions. 175 00:15:17,539 –> 00:15:20,280 I find a helpful way to define it is simply this, 176 00:15:20,280 –> 00:15:24,500 that your heart is the control center of your life. 177 00:15:24,500 –> 00:15:28,619 It is the fountain of motivation 178 00:15:28,619 –> 00:15:32,960 that drives, guides what you do, what you choose. 179 00:15:34,739 –> 00:15:37,739 Proverbs, chapter four in verse 23 puts it this way. 180 00:15:37,840 –> 00:15:40,500 Above all else guard your heart 181 00:15:40,500 –> 00:15:44,020 for it is the wellspring of your life. 182 00:15:44,020 –> 00:15:45,179 That’s it right there. 183 00:15:46,119 –> 00:15:48,780 Your whole life flows from the heart 184 00:15:49,659 –> 00:15:53,099 and therefore from where the heart is set. 185 00:15:53,099 –> 00:15:55,919 You remember Woody Allen’s famous phrase. 186 00:15:56,840 –> 00:16:00,580 The heart wants what it wants. 187 00:16:00,580 –> 00:16:03,359 And Woody Allen was absolutely right. 188 00:16:03,359 –> 00:16:05,700 What the heart wants will be the fountain of life. 189 00:16:05,700 –> 00:16:07,820 That’s what Proverbs is saying. 190 00:16:07,820 –> 00:16:10,400 Where the heart goes you go ultimately. 191 00:16:11,460 –> 00:16:13,520 Therefore the Bible says guard your heart 192 00:16:13,520 –> 00:16:16,859 for it is the wellspring of your life. 193 00:16:16,859 –> 00:16:19,760 The prevailing desires of your heart 194 00:16:19,760 –> 00:16:23,599 will govern the direction of your life, period. 195 00:16:25,719 –> 00:16:27,219 It’s true of every human being 196 00:16:27,219 –> 00:16:31,700 so it is so important to know our own hearts. 197 00:16:31,700 –> 00:16:33,080 Having defined what the heart is 198 00:16:33,080 –> 00:16:35,580 let’s move on quickly now to ask the question 199 00:16:35,580 –> 00:16:38,440 why does the heart need changing? 200 00:16:38,440 –> 00:16:41,159 And I want you to notice in this verse here 201 00:16:41,159 –> 00:16:45,000 that the Sovereign Lord speaks to us 202 00:16:45,000 –> 00:16:47,479 about a heart of stone. 203 00:16:47,479 –> 00:16:50,780 Do you see that in Ezekiel 36, 26? 204 00:16:52,280 –> 00:16:57,280 I will remove from you your heart of stone. 205 00:16:59,440 –> 00:17:01,200 Now let’s think about this stone. 206 00:17:01,200 –> 00:17:02,940 Stones come in many varieties. 207 00:17:02,940 –> 00:17:06,920 Some of them are worthless, you know, clog up the garden. 208 00:17:06,920 –> 00:17:08,719 Others are beautiful, granite. 209 00:17:10,040 –> 00:17:11,599 Some are cherished. 210 00:17:12,900 –> 00:17:16,939 Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, 211 00:17:16,939 –> 00:17:21,619 stones that become symbols of our life. 212 00:17:23,599 –> 00:17:28,599 I want us to understand how the stone of the human heart 213 00:17:28,760 –> 00:17:32,640 keeps people from following Jesus Christ. 214 00:17:32,739 –> 00:17:35,020 And I think it’s more helpful to be specific 215 00:17:35,020 –> 00:17:37,479 in this from the Bible than to kind of general. 216 00:17:37,479 –> 00:17:39,300 So let me offer to you here, 217 00:17:39,300 –> 00:17:41,099 thinking about the stony heart 218 00:17:41,099 –> 00:17:43,140 that God says he’ll take away, 219 00:17:43,140 –> 00:17:48,140 I want us to see six rocks that resist Jesus Christ. 220 00:17:50,040 –> 00:17:53,540 Six conditions of heart, settings of heart 221 00:17:53,540 –> 00:17:56,219 that actually keep many people 222 00:17:56,219 –> 00:17:59,819 from following Jesus Christ in their lives. 223 00:17:59,819 –> 00:18:01,599 And I’ll give you scripture for each of them. 224 00:18:01,599 –> 00:18:04,400 Here’s the first, peer pressure, 225 00:18:04,400 –> 00:18:06,540 John chapter five and verse 44, 226 00:18:06,540 –> 00:18:08,780 Jesus says to a crowd of people. 227 00:18:08,780 –> 00:18:10,540 It’s a large crowd, that’s very important. 228 00:18:10,540 –> 00:18:13,339 He says, how can you believe 229 00:18:13,339 –> 00:18:15,300 if you accept praise for one another 230 00:18:15,300 –> 00:18:17,119 yet make no effort to obtain the praise 231 00:18:17,119 –> 00:18:18,939 that comes only from God? 232 00:18:19,780 –> 00:18:21,119 You see what he’s saying? 233 00:18:21,119 –> 00:18:22,420 Here you are, a big crowd, 234 00:18:22,420 –> 00:18:24,000 and what really matters to you folks, 235 00:18:24,000 –> 00:18:28,420 Jesus said to them is that you are praised by one another. 236 00:18:28,420 –> 00:18:30,160 That’s the big thing that you’re after. 237 00:18:30,160 –> 00:18:32,500 You want to be approved by other people. 238 00:18:32,500 –> 00:18:34,540 It’s very difficult to stand out from a crowd, 239 00:18:34,540 –> 00:18:37,640 but how can you believe if the set of your heart 240 00:18:37,640 –> 00:18:39,459 is on the approval of other people? 241 00:18:40,819 –> 00:18:42,459 Now, friends, it is always difficult 242 00:18:42,459 –> 00:18:44,920 to stand out from a crowd, isn’t it? 243 00:18:44,920 –> 00:18:48,260 It’s difficult in high school. 244 00:18:48,260 –> 00:18:50,180 It is every bit as difficult 245 00:18:50,180 –> 00:18:52,800 for professors, academics, in a university. 246 00:18:53,760 –> 00:18:56,000 For the intellectual elite, 247 00:18:56,380 –> 00:19:00,880 it’s do not believe, and for one professor 248 00:19:00,880 –> 00:19:03,239 to stand out in a secular university 249 00:19:03,239 –> 00:19:06,839 and to live under the banner of Jesus Christ 250 00:19:06,839 –> 00:19:08,619 is extremely difficult to do. 251 00:19:09,819 –> 00:19:11,199 It’s the same in public life, 252 00:19:11,199 –> 00:19:14,079 wherever political correctness reigns. 253 00:19:15,040 –> 00:19:18,380 And it is as true in business 254 00:19:18,380 –> 00:19:19,979 as it is on the building site. 255 00:19:20,020 –> 00:19:24,979 So the desire for others to think well of you 256 00:19:24,979 –> 00:19:27,880 in the crowd with whom you find yourself, 257 00:19:27,880 –> 00:19:30,300 if that’s the prevailing desire of your heart, 258 00:19:30,300 –> 00:19:32,140 it will determine the direction of your life 259 00:19:32,140 –> 00:19:35,140 and it will keep you from following Jesus Christ. 260 00:19:35,140 –> 00:19:37,180 It keeps many, how can you believe 261 00:19:37,180 –> 00:19:39,439 if this is what matters to you? 262 00:19:39,439 –> 00:19:40,280 Jesus says. 263 00:19:41,260 –> 00:19:44,020 Number two, money. 264 00:19:44,020 –> 00:19:46,459 Jesus is very specific about this. 265 00:19:47,420 –> 00:19:49,060 Mark 10, 25. 266 00:19:50,040 –> 00:19:55,040 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 267 00:19:57,060 –> 00:20:01,739 than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 268 00:20:01,739 –> 00:20:03,540 These words of Jesus are so stark, 269 00:20:03,540 –> 00:20:08,180 we almost need to pause and just let them sink in. 270 00:20:08,180 –> 00:20:13,199 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 271 00:20:13,239 –> 00:20:18,040 than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 272 00:20:20,000 –> 00:20:22,640 Now remember that Jesus spoke these words 273 00:20:22,640 –> 00:20:24,859 immediately after a conversation he had had 274 00:20:24,859 –> 00:20:26,920 with a young person who was very wealthy. 275 00:20:26,920 –> 00:20:28,780 We call him the rich young ruler. 276 00:20:29,780 –> 00:20:32,680 And what Jesus is teaching to his disciples here 277 00:20:32,680 –> 00:20:36,280 after he challenged that person about giving up money 278 00:20:36,280 –> 00:20:39,339 in order to follow Jesus Christ, 279 00:20:39,339 –> 00:20:41,239 Jesus is telling his disciples, 280 00:20:41,959 –> 00:20:46,959 if your heart is set on money and what it can buy, 281 00:20:48,619 –> 00:20:51,900 you will not be able to enter the kingdom of God. 282 00:20:54,180 –> 00:20:59,180 Being wealthy had captured the rich young rulers heart. 283 00:20:59,959 –> 00:21:02,219 And that is why when Jesus challenged him, 284 00:21:02,219 –> 00:21:03,060 he walked away. 285 00:21:03,060 –> 00:21:04,520 He was very sad about walking away, 286 00:21:04,520 –> 00:21:07,219 but he walked away nonetheless. 287 00:21:07,219 –> 00:21:08,239 So we draw from that, 288 00:21:08,239 –> 00:21:10,099 Jesus draws from that this principle. 289 00:21:10,719 –> 00:21:15,219 That if your heart is set on becoming wealthy 290 00:21:15,219 –> 00:21:16,939 or staying wealthy, 291 00:21:18,939 –> 00:21:21,500 it will keep you from following Jesus Christ. 292 00:21:21,500 –> 00:21:23,699 I see no other way to understand this. 293 00:21:25,619 –> 00:21:26,859 If your heart’s set there, 294 00:21:26,859 –> 00:21:29,420 remember the new testaments says the love of money 295 00:21:29,420 –> 00:21:31,180 is the root of what? 296 00:21:31,180 –> 00:21:32,140 All kinds of evil. 297 00:21:33,160 –> 00:21:35,780 So if your heart is set on money, 298 00:21:35,780 –> 00:21:38,660 you’re not followed far after Jesus Christ, can’t be. 299 00:21:38,660 –> 00:21:41,119 Will be a rock that will stop you in your heart. 300 00:21:43,699 –> 00:21:46,500 Third, loved ones. 301 00:21:46,500 –> 00:21:47,660 Boy, these are tough. 302 00:21:48,920 –> 00:21:50,939 Matthew 10 37. 303 00:21:50,939 –> 00:21:53,119 There never were words quite like the words of Jesus. 304 00:21:53,119 –> 00:21:54,880 No one ever spoke like this. 305 00:21:56,060 –> 00:21:59,020 Anyone, Jesus says, who loves his father or mother 306 00:21:59,020 –> 00:22:00,859 more than me is not worthy of me. 307 00:22:02,319 –> 00:22:05,119 And anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me 308 00:22:07,099 –> 00:22:08,319 is not worthy of me. 309 00:22:09,540 –> 00:22:11,619 Now, there are many folks, 310 00:22:11,619 –> 00:22:14,160 I think right now some folks I know well, 311 00:22:14,160 –> 00:22:17,800 there are folks who will not become followers of Christ 312 00:22:17,800 –> 00:22:21,180 because of loyalty to a loved one, either dead or alive. 313 00:22:22,760 –> 00:22:23,599 It’s a reality. 314 00:22:23,599 –> 00:22:25,839 It’s what Jesus is talking about right here. 315 00:22:28,000 –> 00:22:32,520 A husband or wife has died and they did not follow Christ 316 00:22:32,520 –> 00:22:35,199 and now you’re continuing and you feel that 317 00:22:35,199 –> 00:22:37,400 if you did follow Christ you’re being disloyal to them, 318 00:22:37,400 –> 00:22:39,000 you won’t do it for that reason. 319 00:22:40,280 –> 00:22:41,880 You have a husband or a wife living 320 00:22:41,880 –> 00:22:43,640 that they’re not a Christian and you know 321 00:22:43,640 –> 00:22:45,719 that following Christ would introduce attention 322 00:22:45,719 –> 00:22:47,000 to your marriage that isn’t there now, 323 00:22:47,000 –> 00:22:48,119 so you won’t do it. 324 00:22:49,979 –> 00:22:51,780 That’s what Jesus is speaking about. 325 00:22:53,800 –> 00:22:56,420 Previous generations, perhaps for many years 326 00:22:56,420 –> 00:22:59,979 in your family history, have not been Christian, 327 00:23:01,239 –> 00:23:03,040 and now you’re drawn to Jesus Christ 328 00:23:03,040 –> 00:23:06,060 but it’s going to mean a break with your whole heritage. 329 00:23:07,599 –> 00:23:10,040 And it is really hard for you to step out 330 00:23:10,040 –> 00:23:11,300 and follow Jesus Christ, 331 00:23:12,359 –> 00:23:13,599 and there may be great cost for it. 332 00:23:13,599 –> 00:23:17,839 You may well find yourself cut out of an inheritance, 333 00:23:21,079 –> 00:23:23,119 or you have given your heart to a boyfriend 334 00:23:23,119 –> 00:23:26,260 or to a girlfriend or even to a group of friends 335 00:23:26,260 –> 00:23:28,660 who do not love Jesus Christ, 336 00:23:29,800 –> 00:23:33,400 and that keeps you from following Him. 337 00:23:33,400 –> 00:23:37,199 There’s a rock right there in your heart, stone. 338 00:23:37,199 –> 00:23:38,839 You’re stumbling on it. 339 00:23:38,839 –> 00:23:40,300 You make no progress. 340 00:23:40,300 –> 00:23:42,040 That’s what Jesus is talking about. 341 00:23:43,599 –> 00:23:44,760 A stony heart. 342 00:23:47,800 –> 00:23:49,500 Folks, if another person, 343 00:23:51,020 –> 00:23:52,560 even the one you’re married to, 344 00:23:53,599 –> 00:23:56,000 keeps you from following Jesus Christ, 345 00:23:56,000 –> 00:23:58,520 you are being controlled by that person, 346 00:24:01,040 –> 00:24:03,920 and in effect, they are functioning as your God. 347 00:24:06,099 –> 00:24:06,939 That’s the reality. 348 00:24:07,359 –> 00:24:08,800 That’s what Jesus identifies here. 349 00:24:10,359 –> 00:24:11,199 That’s three. 350 00:24:11,199 –> 00:24:13,239 Can you handle three more? 351 00:24:13,239 –> 00:24:14,479 Tough stuff, isn’t it? 352 00:24:14,479 –> 00:24:15,780 But we’re talking about a stony heart, 353 00:24:15,780 –> 00:24:16,839 we’re talking about something real, 354 00:24:16,839 –> 00:24:19,020 we’re talking about why millions of people 355 00:24:19,020 –> 00:24:20,560 do not follow Jesus Christ. 356 00:24:23,660 –> 00:24:25,420 Number four, comfort. 357 00:24:25,420 –> 00:24:26,839 What about this one? 358 00:24:26,839 –> 00:24:29,000 Jesus speaks directly to this. 359 00:24:30,099 –> 00:24:32,560 Anyone, that’s universal, 360 00:24:32,560 –> 00:24:37,160 Anyone who does not carry his cross 361 00:24:37,160 –> 00:24:40,239 and follow me cannot be my disciple. 362 00:24:40,239 –> 00:24:42,859 These are categoric statements, aren’t they? 363 00:24:45,160 –> 00:24:47,119 In other words, carry your cross, 364 00:24:47,119 –> 00:24:49,640 that’s gonna be painful, that’s what Jesus is saying. 365 00:24:49,640 –> 00:24:51,260 I’m gonna be crucified. 366 00:24:51,260 –> 00:24:53,079 And if you’re going to follow me, you’re going to suffer, 367 00:24:53,079 –> 00:24:54,699 you’re going to experience pain 368 00:24:54,699 –> 00:24:57,459 that would not otherwise be in your life because of it. 369 00:24:58,599 –> 00:25:00,920 Everyone who honors Jesus Christ 370 00:25:00,920 –> 00:25:02,739 will be persecuted in this world. 371 00:25:04,199 –> 00:25:06,079 And so if your heart really is set 372 00:25:06,079 –> 00:25:08,160 on maintaining a comfortable life, 373 00:25:08,160 –> 00:25:11,599 it will keep you from following Jesus, inevitably. 374 00:25:11,599 –> 00:25:13,319 Because there will be a cost, Jesus said, 375 00:25:13,319 –> 00:25:15,199 there will be pain, there will be sacrifice 376 00:25:15,199 –> 00:25:16,300 in following him. 377 00:25:16,300 –> 00:25:20,959 If your heart always moves you to choose the easiest path, 378 00:25:20,959 –> 00:25:22,699 you cannot follow Christ far. 379 00:25:22,699 –> 00:25:25,800 The broad road will be more to your inclinations. 380 00:25:26,380 –> 00:25:31,380 Number five, I’ve called this one a cherished sin. 381 00:25:34,579 –> 00:25:38,660 And I’m thinking here of John 3, verse 19, 382 00:25:39,640 –> 00:25:42,219 where John says, this is the verdict that light, 383 00:25:42,219 –> 00:25:44,839 he’s referring to Jesus, has come into the world. 384 00:25:44,839 –> 00:25:47,319 But men loved darkness instead of light, why? 385 00:25:47,319 –> 00:25:49,439 Because their deeds were evil. 386 00:25:50,500 –> 00:25:52,760 In other words, the reason that certain people 387 00:25:52,760 –> 00:25:54,880 did not follow after Jesus Christ 388 00:25:54,939 –> 00:25:58,000 was because of specific things they were doing, their deeds. 389 00:26:01,439 –> 00:26:02,280 How many people, 390 00:26:02,280 –> 00:26:04,479 I’ll take one example that’s a very obvious one. 391 00:26:05,719 –> 00:26:10,719 How many people have been kept from following Christ 392 00:26:12,040 –> 00:26:15,500 because their heart is set on pursuing 393 00:26:15,500 –> 00:26:18,939 whatever their sexual impulse may be? 394 00:26:22,239 –> 00:26:23,959 Jesus was a single man. 395 00:26:25,479 –> 00:26:28,060 He was never intimate with anyone, 396 00:26:29,479 –> 00:26:34,479 yet, he loved more deeply and lived more fully 397 00:26:37,280 –> 00:26:40,199 than any person who has ever lived before or since. 398 00:26:40,199 –> 00:26:41,099 Think about that. 399 00:26:43,280 –> 00:26:47,359 But we live in a culture that has made 400 00:26:47,359 –> 00:26:50,599 a God of gratifying sexual appetite, 401 00:26:50,599 –> 00:26:52,280 whatever form that may come in. 402 00:26:52,939 –> 00:26:56,160 That has become a God for many people. 403 00:26:56,160 –> 00:26:58,979 If that is what matters to you most, 404 00:26:58,979 –> 00:27:02,140 it will keep you from following Christ. 405 00:27:03,280 –> 00:27:08,280 Men would not come to Christ because their deeds were evil. 406 00:27:09,839 –> 00:27:12,939 Here’s number six, it’s, perhaps, the most obvious of all. 407 00:27:12,939 –> 00:27:16,900 It’s the self and this goes right back 408 00:27:16,900 –> 00:27:20,439 to the very first temptation in the garden of Eden. 409 00:27:20,479 –> 00:27:22,859 Remember that at the beginning of the Bible, 410 00:27:22,859 –> 00:27:25,040 Satan questioned, did God really say 411 00:27:25,040 –> 00:27:27,400 that you weren’t to eat of the fruit of the tree 412 00:27:28,560 –> 00:27:30,219 and Eve says, well, there’s going to be judgment 413 00:27:30,219 –> 00:27:33,079 and so forth, oh, no, no, you will not surely die. 414 00:27:33,079 –> 00:27:37,219 These first two suggestions undermined Eve’s resolve 415 00:27:37,219 –> 00:27:39,900 to obey God but it was the third temptation 416 00:27:39,900 –> 00:27:42,979 that really hooked her and what was that? 417 00:27:42,979 –> 00:27:44,459 Genesis three, five. 418 00:27:44,459 –> 00:27:46,140 God knows that when you eat of it, 419 00:27:46,140 –> 00:27:49,459 your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. 420 00:27:51,439 –> 00:27:52,439 See, what Satan was saying, 421 00:27:52,439 –> 00:27:54,880 why should God be God and not you? 422 00:27:54,880 –> 00:27:56,719 Why shouldn’t you be God, Eve? 423 00:27:56,719 –> 00:27:58,239 Be God of your own life? 424 00:27:58,239 –> 00:27:59,459 Rule your own life, you can decide 425 00:27:59,459 –> 00:28:01,199 what’s good and evil for yourself. 426 00:28:04,099 –> 00:28:06,880 You cannot be a worshipper of God 427 00:28:06,880 –> 00:28:09,359 if you’re set on being your own god for yourself. 428 00:28:11,800 –> 00:28:15,359 The desire to be our own god is a stone in the heart 429 00:28:15,359 –> 00:28:19,739 that resists Jesus Christ to the last 430 00:28:21,439 –> 00:28:25,239 So folks, what may keep you from following Christ? 431 00:28:25,239 –> 00:28:28,099 There must be a good number among us 432 00:28:28,099 –> 00:28:32,800 who are not following Jesus Christ, 433 00:28:32,800 –> 00:28:36,119 who are not living in the joy of his Gospel 434 00:28:36,119 –> 00:28:38,119 and what is it that is holding you back? 435 00:28:39,359 –> 00:28:44,280 What form of stone is at the very core of your being? 436 00:28:45,199 –> 00:28:47,800 Peer pressure, money, 437 00:28:48,060 –> 00:28:50,079 what is it that keeps you from doing it? 438 00:28:50,079 –> 00:28:51,119 Is it loved ones? 439 00:28:53,000 –> 00:28:55,319 Is it comfort, is it a cherished sin 440 00:28:55,319 –> 00:28:56,920 that you don’t want to give up? 441 00:28:58,599 –> 00:29:00,920 Or is it simply that you wanna be your own God? 442 00:29:02,199 –> 00:29:05,199 You know, Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Seminary 443 00:29:05,199 –> 00:29:06,839 has a very good way of putting this. 444 00:29:06,839 –> 00:29:10,400 He says, our culture always tells us 445 00:29:10,400 –> 00:29:14,699 that the problem is out there and the answer is in here. 446 00:29:14,699 –> 00:29:15,540 And you know that? 447 00:29:15,540 –> 00:29:16,839 The problem’s always other people. 448 00:29:16,839 –> 00:29:19,060 What this person did to me and I was, 449 00:29:19,060 –> 00:29:20,719 you know, that happened to me 450 00:29:20,719 –> 00:29:22,579 and it’s always someone else’s fault. 451 00:29:22,579 –> 00:29:24,260 And what’s the answer, what our culture says? 452 00:29:24,260 –> 00:29:25,979 Well, you need to find it inside of yourself 453 00:29:25,979 –> 00:29:27,880 and so forth and so on. 454 00:29:27,880 –> 00:29:32,880 The culture says to us that the problem 455 00:29:33,099 –> 00:29:35,640 is always out there and the answer’s always in here. 456 00:29:35,640 –> 00:29:37,819 What the Bible says to us is exactly the opposite. 457 00:29:37,819 –> 00:29:39,500 The Bible says the problem’s in here 458 00:29:40,660 –> 00:29:42,819 and the answer’s out there in Jesus Christ. 459 00:29:43,780 –> 00:29:45,219 The problem is in my eart, 460 00:29:45,219 –> 00:29:46,680 the heart that we’re born in nature. 461 00:29:47,300 –> 00:29:48,760 The heart of stone. 462 00:29:48,760 –> 00:29:51,800 And God says, I will take away from you 463 00:29:51,800 –> 00:29:52,800 your heart of stone. 464 00:29:52,800 –> 00:29:55,099 Here’s the heart of the problem. 465 00:29:55,099 –> 00:29:57,160 Here’s why you do not make progress 466 00:29:57,160 –> 00:29:59,160 in the life that I’m calling you to. 467 00:29:59,160 –> 00:30:02,180 There are six rocks that resist Jesus Christ 468 00:30:03,199 –> 00:30:07,160 and they’re buried deep within the very nature 469 00:30:07,160 –> 00:30:11,699 that is ours as a result of the fall. 470 00:30:11,699 –> 00:30:13,719 Now, that was all asking the question, 471 00:30:13,719 –> 00:30:16,199 why does the heart need change? 472 00:30:16,579 –> 00:30:18,099 It’s asking the question, 473 00:30:18,099 –> 00:30:19,040 how can then the heart be changed? 474 00:30:19,040 –> 00:30:22,040 And I want you to notice the power of this verse. 475 00:30:22,040 –> 00:30:25,599 Do you notice how God says that He will do it three times? 476 00:30:25,599 –> 00:30:28,099 He says, I will give you a new heart 477 00:30:28,099 –> 00:30:29,640 and put a new spirit in you. 478 00:30:29,640 –> 00:30:31,819 I will remove from you your heart of stone 479 00:30:31,819 –> 00:30:33,239 and give you a heart of flesh. 480 00:30:33,239 –> 00:30:35,500 I will put my spirit in you and move you 481 00:30:35,500 –> 00:30:38,280 to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 482 00:30:38,280 –> 00:30:40,760 This is marvelous good news folks 483 00:30:40,760 –> 00:30:43,339 because when we look at the intensity 484 00:30:43,339 –> 00:30:46,540 of the problem in our own hearts, 485 00:30:46,540 –> 00:30:48,420 what we begin to see very quickly is, 486 00:30:48,420 –> 00:30:51,140 I can’t change this. 487 00:30:51,140 –> 00:30:53,640 But what the sovereign Lord is saying to us here 488 00:30:53,640 –> 00:30:55,780 in this marvelous promise is He is saying, 489 00:30:55,780 –> 00:30:58,500 I can and I will. 490 00:30:58,500 –> 00:31:01,560 I will do for you what you cannot do for yourself, 491 00:31:01,560 –> 00:31:04,599 I will bring a fundamental change to your very nature. 492 00:31:04,599 –> 00:31:06,619 That is what regeneration is. 493 00:31:09,599 –> 00:31:12,040 So I want to encourage you here and invite you. 494 00:31:12,880 –> 00:31:15,359 You see stone in your own heart? 495 00:31:17,339 –> 00:31:21,920 Think about what Christ offers to you in the gospel. 496 00:31:24,300 –> 00:31:27,079 And now come to Him and tell Him the problem. 497 00:31:28,500 –> 00:31:30,359 You can come to Him today like this. 498 00:31:30,359 –> 00:31:32,300 You can ask Him to change your heart, 499 00:31:32,300 –> 00:31:34,540 you can hold Him to this promise. 500 00:31:34,540 –> 00:31:38,280 You can say, I see in the Bible this is what you have said 501 00:31:39,280 –> 00:31:42,239 and I’m claiming this promise right now. 502 00:31:44,380 –> 00:31:48,560 Release me from the fear of what other people think 503 00:31:49,640 –> 00:31:54,560 and let me live for the praise that comes from you alone. 504 00:31:56,579 –> 00:31:59,959 Sever in me the love of money 505 00:32:01,380 –> 00:32:03,599 that is the root of all kinds of evil 506 00:32:03,699 –> 00:32:08,699 and set me free to be a wise and a generous steward 507 00:32:09,540 –> 00:32:13,060 of whatever you may trust to me in my life. 508 00:32:13,060 –> 00:32:14,699 Do that in me. 509 00:32:14,699 –> 00:32:16,800 Lord, because I can’t change my heart. 510 00:32:16,800 –> 00:32:18,300 We’re just greedy to the core. 511 00:32:20,160 –> 00:32:23,780 Break the power of other people controlling my life 512 00:32:23,780 –> 00:32:28,439 dead or alive and let me live for you alone. 513 00:32:28,479 –> 00:32:34,219 Redeem me from the constant compromise of a life 514 00:32:34,219 –> 00:32:36,859 that always chooses the easiest path. 515 00:32:38,900 –> 00:32:41,579 And make me ready to take up my cross to follow you. 516 00:32:43,500 –> 00:32:49,500 Deliver me from a life of gratifying my own lusts 517 00:32:49,500 –> 00:32:52,439 and desires and lead me with joy 518 00:32:52,439 –> 00:32:54,099 into the path of purity. 519 00:32:54,199 –> 00:33:01,040 And save me from the idolatry of seeking to be my own God 520 00:33:01,040 –> 00:33:04,160 and bring my life under your Sovereign rule.” 521 00:33:05,979 –> 00:33:07,619 You can come to God like that right now. 522 00:33:07,619 –> 00:33:08,680 Look at His promise. 523 00:33:11,040 –> 00:33:17,520 God says, I will remove your heart of stone. 524 00:33:20,800 –> 00:33:21,939 And if that’s not the case, 525 00:33:22,619 –> 00:33:25,680 and if that’s the promise of the Creator God, 526 00:33:27,300 –> 00:33:30,199 who sent His Son into the world for you. 527 00:33:31,640 –> 00:33:35,520 Why should you not come and claim that promise 528 00:33:35,520 –> 00:33:38,959 and receive the good of it today? 529 00:33:41,680 –> 00:33:45,280 Now in these very last moments I’ve got one more question. 530 00:33:45,280 –> 00:33:47,839 Because not only does God say, 531 00:33:47,839 –> 00:33:49,979 I will remove from you the heart of stone, 532 00:33:49,979 –> 00:33:50,880 that’s wonderful, 533 00:33:52,599 –> 00:33:53,839 but He says something else. 534 00:33:53,839 –> 00:33:57,420 He says, to all who will come in this promise, 535 00:33:57,420 –> 00:34:00,760 He says, I will give you a new heart. 536 00:34:01,739 –> 00:34:05,319 I will give you a heart of flesh. 537 00:34:05,319 –> 00:34:07,439 So in these last moments, let’s ask the question, 538 00:34:07,439 –> 00:34:09,060 if you were to come to Jesus Christ, 539 00:34:09,060 –> 00:34:11,780 if you have come to Jesus Christ, 540 00:34:11,780 –> 00:34:14,540 if you have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, 541 00:34:14,540 –> 00:34:15,959 if by God’s grace that is 542 00:34:15,959 –> 00:34:18,719 what is happening to you right now, 543 00:34:18,719 –> 00:34:20,719 then what is the new heart that He gives 544 00:34:20,760 –> 00:34:22,979 as He takes away the heart of stone, 545 00:34:22,979 –> 00:34:24,580 as He makes you a new person 546 00:34:24,580 –> 00:34:26,439 at the very core of your being? 547 00:34:26,439 –> 00:34:27,379 What’s it like? 548 00:34:27,379 –> 00:34:29,820 I found it helpful to think of it this way. 549 00:34:30,699 –> 00:34:32,320 You know, your heart, your physical heart 550 00:34:32,320 –> 00:34:35,419 in your body has four chambers. 551 00:34:35,419 –> 00:34:36,340 And just thinking about 552 00:34:36,340 –> 00:34:38,100 what the Scripture has to say about this, 553 00:34:38,100 –> 00:34:40,120 I find it just very helpful to say 554 00:34:40,120 –> 00:34:44,699 the new heart, what Jesus Christ gives to a person 555 00:34:44,699 –> 00:34:47,419 in this recreation of your inner life, 556 00:34:47,419 –> 00:34:49,939 the new heart has four chambers. 557 00:34:49,959 –> 00:34:52,020 Four chambers of the new heart. 558 00:34:52,020 –> 00:34:55,500 Very, very briefly, number one, it is a humble heart. 559 00:34:55,500 –> 00:34:57,860 When Christ says, I will give you a new heart, 560 00:34:57,860 –> 00:34:59,580 it’s a humble heart, why? 561 00:34:59,580 –> 00:35:02,780 Because the Gospel excludes all boasting. 562 00:35:04,260 –> 00:35:06,239 You didn’t generate this heart. 563 00:35:07,139 –> 00:35:08,300 It’s given to you. 564 00:35:09,300 –> 00:35:11,419 You did not earn it. 565 00:35:11,419 –> 00:35:13,699 It’s the gift of God’s grace, 566 00:35:13,699 –> 00:35:16,760 which is why Paul says, when he writes to the Corinthians, 567 00:35:16,879 –> 00:35:21,280 what do you have that you did not receive? 568 00:35:22,280 –> 00:35:25,520 When a man or a woman is regenerated, 569 00:35:25,520 –> 00:35:28,159 the first instinct of the new heart 570 00:35:28,159 –> 00:35:31,639 is to recognize that all my good is in Christ 571 00:35:31,639 –> 00:35:34,560 and all that I have comes from him. 572 00:35:36,879 –> 00:35:39,399 And, then, it’s a believing heart. 573 00:35:39,399 –> 00:35:41,760 Romans 10 in verse nine and 10, 574 00:35:41,760 –> 00:35:44,239 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord 575 00:35:44,239 –> 00:35:46,040 and believe in your heart, 576 00:35:46,040 –> 00:35:47,600 not just believe in your heart 577 00:35:47,600 –> 00:35:50,120 that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, 578 00:35:50,120 –> 00:35:52,120 for it is with the heart that you believe 579 00:35:52,120 –> 00:35:54,239 and are justified and it is with the mouth 580 00:35:54,239 –> 00:35:56,159 that you confess and are saved. 581 00:35:57,199 –> 00:35:59,340 So, when God gives you a new heart, 582 00:36:00,520 –> 00:36:04,800 that heart has the chamber of faith 583 00:36:06,760 –> 00:36:10,320 that pumps and beats the very core of your life 584 00:36:11,120 –> 00:36:14,120 so that you trust in the atoning death 585 00:36:16,760 –> 00:36:19,280 of the Lord Jesus Christ for your sins. 586 00:36:19,280 –> 00:36:22,679 You find peace through him, you feed on him. 587 00:36:23,919 –> 00:36:27,080 You are drawn to him, you find him to be sufficient, 588 00:36:27,080 –> 00:36:32,080 you have confidence in him, you are thankful for him. 589 00:36:34,840 –> 00:36:36,760 The new heart is a loving heart. 590 00:36:37,939 –> 00:36:40,300 You know, when Christ gives a new heart, 591 00:36:40,340 –> 00:36:43,300 the new heart loves him and loves others. 592 00:36:43,300 –> 00:36:45,800 One Peter 1 in verse eight, 593 00:36:45,800 –> 00:36:47,860 though you have not seen Christ, 594 00:36:47,860 –> 00:36:49,620 not one of us have seen Jesus, 595 00:36:50,659 –> 00:36:52,959 yet, if you’re regenerated by the spirit of God, 596 00:36:52,959 –> 00:36:55,419 you love him, you really do. 597 00:36:55,419 –> 00:36:59,219 When you are a new person in Christ, you love the savior. 598 00:36:59,219 –> 00:37:01,899 Not only do you love the son, but you love the father. 599 00:37:01,899 –> 00:37:05,340 The spirit within us cries out, Abba, Father 600 00:37:05,340 –> 00:37:06,760 and having that love that comes 601 00:37:06,760 –> 00:37:09,060 from God and is reflected back to God, 602 00:37:09,120 –> 00:37:13,419 the new heart has a new source of love for other people 603 00:37:13,419 –> 00:37:17,120 including those who are not very loveable. 604 00:37:18,360 –> 00:37:19,800 And fourthly, it’s an obedient heart, 605 00:37:19,800 –> 00:37:22,679 you see that most clearly I think right here in Ezekiel, 606 00:37:22,679 –> 00:37:25,399 I will give you a new heart, I will put my spirit in you 607 00:37:25,399 –> 00:37:29,719 and I’ll move you, what, to follow my decrees 608 00:37:29,719 –> 00:37:32,239 and be careful to keep my laws. 609 00:37:32,239 –> 00:37:33,879 In other words, when you are regenerate, 610 00:37:33,879 –> 00:37:36,340 the Christian life is not some kind of massive effort 611 00:37:36,340 –> 00:37:37,540 to a new morality. 612 00:37:39,300 –> 00:37:43,040 It is the outflow of a heart that so loves Jesus 613 00:37:43,040 –> 00:37:46,179 that as Paul says, we make it our aim to please him. 614 00:37:46,179 –> 00:37:47,840 That’s why David even in the Old Testament 615 00:37:47,840 –> 00:37:49,500 because he had the new heart said, 616 00:37:49,500 –> 00:37:53,439 oh how I love your law, how I love your law. 617 00:37:55,020 –> 00:37:57,379 I will give you a new heart 618 00:37:58,620 –> 00:38:01,320 and I will put a new spirit in you. 619 00:38:01,320 –> 00:38:04,620 I will remove from you your heart of stone 620 00:38:04,620 –> 00:38:07,280 and I will give you a heart of flesh. 621 00:38:07,320 –> 00:38:09,020 I will put my spirit in you 622 00:38:09,020 –> 00:38:11,600 and I will move you to follow my decrees 623 00:38:11,600 –> 00:38:13,800 and be careful to keep my laws. 624 00:38:13,800 –> 00:38:16,120 Isn’t this the most marvelous promise 625 00:38:17,479 –> 00:38:22,479 of real transformation from the inside of your life out. 626 00:38:24,719 –> 00:38:27,139 What do you know of this in your life? 627 00:38:27,139 –> 00:38:28,520 What do you really love most? 628 00:38:28,520 –> 00:38:29,560 What’s driving you? 629 00:38:31,840 –> 00:38:33,739 What is the thing you’re really after? 630 00:38:34,620 –> 00:38:39,620 Is it the heart of stone or is it the heart of flesh? 631 00:38:43,439 –> 00:38:45,540 You know C. S. Lewis’s marvelous story, 632 00:38:45,540 –> 00:38:46,939 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 633 00:38:46,939 –> 00:38:49,699 some of the kids would have seen the film 634 00:38:49,699 –> 00:38:50,520 and many of us will. 635 00:38:50,520 –> 00:38:52,179 You remember towards the end of that story 636 00:38:53,479 –> 00:38:57,340 when in this land of Narnia where it’s always winter 637 00:38:57,340 –> 00:38:59,899 and it’s never Christmas. 638 00:39:00,320 –> 00:39:04,580 And Aslan comes into that world to Aslan, the lion, 639 00:39:04,580 –> 00:39:06,280 who speaks to us of Jesus Christ. 640 00:39:06,280 –> 00:39:10,580 He goes to the table where his life is laid down 641 00:39:10,580 –> 00:39:14,139 and then marvelously speaking of Christ, he rises again. 642 00:39:14,139 –> 00:39:15,060 And after that, 643 00:39:15,060 –> 00:39:18,379 the children go with him to the palace of the White Witch 644 00:39:18,379 –> 00:39:19,879 and when they reach the courtyard, 645 00:39:19,879 –> 00:39:21,080 they find that the witch 646 00:39:21,080 –> 00:39:24,719 has turned all the animals into what? 647 00:39:24,719 –> 00:39:26,060 Stone. 648 00:39:27,020 –> 00:39:31,479 And there, they stand lifeless and powerless. 649 00:39:33,000 –> 00:39:38,080 And Louis simply says Aslan breathed on them. 650 00:39:40,300 –> 00:39:44,540 And the breath of his life brought new life to them. 651 00:39:47,379 –> 00:39:50,060 And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying here, 652 00:39:51,139 –> 00:39:54,379 he can bring new life to you. 653 00:39:55,139 –> 00:39:57,100 Let’s pray together, shall we? 654 00:39:58,560 –> 00:40:00,020 Father, we thank you right now 655 00:40:00,020 –> 00:40:03,860 for this amazing, amazing promise. 656 00:40:05,580 –> 00:40:07,699 And some of us are wanting in this very moment 657 00:40:07,699 –> 00:40:11,260 to say, I recognize the heart of stone, 658 00:40:13,699 –> 00:40:15,979 and I’m asking that by your grace, 659 00:40:17,060 –> 00:40:21,159 you will do this transforming work in me. 660 00:40:21,840 –> 00:40:26,120 Give me a heart of flesh and move me 661 00:40:27,320 –> 00:40:29,879 in the direction of your decrees and of your laws. 662 00:40:32,280 –> 00:40:34,120 Breathe on me breath of God, 663 00:40:35,280 –> 00:40:36,840 fill me with life in you, 664 00:40:37,760 –> 00:40:41,320 that I may love what thou dost love and do. 665 00:40:42,639 –> 00:40:46,000 What thou wouldst do through Jesus Christ our Lord, 666 00:40:46,000 –> 00:40:47,679 we ask these things. 667 00:40:47,679 –> 00:40:49,800 God’s people said amen. 668 00:40:49,840 –> 00:40:50,679 Amen. 669 00:40:53,479 –> 00:40:54,719 You’ve been listening to a sermon 670 00:40:54,719 –> 00:40:57,120 with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 671 00:40:57,120 –> 00:41:02,120 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 672 00:41:02,399 –> 00:41:05,899 or visit our website, openthebible.org.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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