You Gotta Have Heart
When Sir
Walter Raleigh was led to the block, his executioner asked him if his head lay
right. Raleigh answered, "It matters little, my friend, how the head lies,
provided the heart is right." Here in the presence of God, here before him
through whom are revealed the secrets of all hearts, here before the Cross of
mercy and of love, what does your heart speak, how does your heart lie?
Matthew 13:3-9 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was
scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it
up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much
soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the
sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no
root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked
the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a
crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown.
9 Whoever
has ears, let them hear." …
Matthew 13:15-23 For this people's heart
has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand
with their hearts and turn, and I would
heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but
did not hear it. 18 "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
19 When
anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the
seed sown along the path. 20
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone
who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since
they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed
falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries
of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it
unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who
hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
I.
A Dark Heart
Have you ever been in a room that had no windows,
and when you shut off the lights it was so dark you could feel it? It is our
human nature to fear the darkness. Some will say that they don’t fear the
darkness, but, just try to navigate in a strange room with no lights. Is it not
fear that assails you, that lost feeling? We don’t like that. We don’t know
what we may bump into. We don’t have control of the situation when we are in
that kind of position. We like to think that we are in control. On the other hand
John says, "the light shines in the dark," This statement is
even more exciting when you finish it with, "and the dark has never
extinguished it." If you take a light into the dark room I mentioned
moments ago, you will find that no matter where in the room you put the light
or no matter how small the light, the darkness can’t hide the light. Like
putting red pigments into a base white paint, no matter how much white you put
in the paint is no longer pure white. Once light enters a dark room it can be seen
by all.
Romans 1:20-25 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God,
they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking
became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they
became fools 23 and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being
and birds and animals and reptiles. 24
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual
impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a
lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
a. It is the Nature of Darkness!
b. Evilness is a product of the Dark
Heart.
c. There is a choice…
John 1:4-5 In him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of
all mankind. 5 The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
II.
A Hard Heart
My cardiologist diagnosed me with having a “STIFF
HEART.” In that condition calcium takes away the flexibility of the heart
muscles to contract properly. … That is much better than having a hard heart.
You frequently see it. The Holy Spirit working on the lost sinner. During the
invitation they grip the pew or chair so tightly that their knuckles turn white
so they went move under the wooing of the Holy Spirit. The invitation and
church service end. There is only a limited number of times the scene will be repeated.
Once that number is reached that heart is proclaimed “Hardened” and the Holy
Spirit never calls again.
Exodus 9:25-35 Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields
and stripped every tree. 26 The only place it did
not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were. 27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron.
"This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the
right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28
Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go;
you don't have to stay any longer." 29
Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my
hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more
hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's. 30 But I know that you and your officials
still do not fear the LORD God." 31
(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax
was in bloom. 32 The wheat and
spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.) 33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of
the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail
stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail
and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their
hearts. 35 So Pharaoh's heart
was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said
through Moses.
What we have in this
verse is an example of God’s punitive judgment against a wicked man. Pharaoh
was already wicked. Pharaoh already had an evil heart, out of which came evil
continually. Pharaoh delighted in doing evil. If Pharaoh ever did anything good
at all, it was as a result of the constraining and restraining work of God’s
common grace. One of the ways God punishes evil is to allow men to do what they
really want, which is to become even more evil. God “gave them over” to the
evil they want to do. God does this by withdrawing His restraint, which has the
result of allowing men’ hearts to harden against Him. Thus, God does not cause
men to sin, nor does He make them bad. Rather, He simply lets them harden
themselves, as a punishment for their wickedness.--R.C. Sproul
a. By Sin
III.
A Humbled Heart
2 Kings 22:18-19 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD,
'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:
19 Because your heart was
responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I
have spoken against this place and its people—that
they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and
wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.
a. Through Grace
In Kansas City, during the
great Gipsy Smith revival years ago, an old preacher came into the room where
the Gipsy was sitting after the service. Thousands were being blessed and
hundreds saved. The older minister placed his hands upon the evangelist's head
and felt about it. 'I
am trying to find the secret of your success,' he said.`Too high! Too high! My friend, you are too
high,' Gipsy said. 'The secret of whatever success God has given
me is not up there but down here,'
and he placed his hand upon his heart. The other day I heard this man preach,
this Gipsy born in a tent, won by his Gipsy father who never had a day's
schooling from men, and yet who preached to multitudes for sixty years. And as
he preached, again and again the tears coursed down his cheeks, and my own
heart was stirred and warmed and blessed.
b. Humility made his heart great. Great
humility allowed him to be greatly used by God.
IV.
An Open Heart
Take my will, and make it
Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.—Frances R. Havergal
a.
There are many examples of great callings and
surrenders in God’s Word.
Acts 16:13-14 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river,
where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to
the women who had gathered there. 14
One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a
dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her
heart to respond to Paul's message.
b. It was By the Spirit that Ly7dia’s
heart was opened to the word of God as preached by Paul.
c. It is by that same word that God can
reach you and open your heart.
V.
A Loving Heart
a. Love can conquer all!
1 Peter 1:21-23 Through him you
believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your
faith and hope are in God. 22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have
sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
23 For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring
word of God.
Some years ago, a
couple decided they could not live together anymore. They separated and started
divorce proceedings. Through their lawyers, they agreed to meet at the home and
divide the property. As they went through the home and sought to divide up the
property, they came across the shoes of their little boy. The child had died in a traffic accident and left them both broken
hearted. As they stared at his little shoes, they began to sob. The husband reached over and put his arm around his wife; she
returned the embrace to him. They stood together in that house holding on to
each other, as tears streamed down their faces. They each held in their hand a
little shoe. The couple changed their mind about divorce and stayed together.
The love of the son had broken down the wall between them. The human family is separated from the Creator because of sin.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to die in our place [on] Calvary. If we will come
with humble heart and repentant attitude to the Cross, the Son of God will
break down the wall and place you in a right relationship with God, the Father.
The love of the Son can and will break down the wall of separation!
b. Through Regeneration
VI.
A Sincere Heart
Hebrews 10:22-23 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the
full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.
a. Is God the Captain of your ship or is
He just a crew member?
Close –
In Salzburg, Austria, an engineer
says that a heartbeat detector which he has invented will help find people
buried by avalanche under as much as sixty-five feet of snow. He said it would
be used in rescue work.
How much more worthwhile is it
for us to know that:
I Samuel 16:7"The Lord looketh on the heart".
Jeremiah 11:20 "The Lord trieth the heart".
Psalm 97:11 "Light is sown for the righteous, and
gladness for the upright in heart".
We are able to say:
Psalm 119:11"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against thee".
We can remember:
Proverbs 4:23"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out
of it are the issues of life".
We are warned by these words:
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
We know that
Ephesians 3:17"Christ dwelleth in your hearts by faith".
We are to be found
Ephesians 6:6 "doing the will of God from the
heart" .
We can believe that
Hebrews 4:12 "the Word of God is quick and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart" .
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