A. In Jeremiah 17:9, the Lord Jehovah asks, "The heart is
more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
1.
This question
addresses the root cause of man's problems, which is a heart corrupted and sick
with sin. Such a heart is deceitful to
all, including its owner.
2.
The answer to the
question is found in verse 10, in which God says, "I, the LORD, search the
heart, I test the mind..." Indeed, God
understands the heart of every man, and if we are to understand our own hearts,
then we must listen to the word of God.
a. How did man's heart become sick? What problems arise from a corrupted
heart? How can the heart be made well
again?
b. Only God has the answers to these questions. Man cannot find them within himself. He must go to God or else remained deceived
by his own heart.
B. The goal of this series of lessons will be to gain an
understanding of our hearts by letting the light of the Scriptures illuminate
our eyes.
1.
God's word will
teach us the truth about our hearts that we cannot otherwise know.
2.
When we learn
this truth and apply it to our own hearts, we will be brought closer to God
than ever before.
C. In this first lesson, we will consider the questions
from the hymn "Is Thy Heart Right With God?" as an introduction to this series.
1.
These questions
serve as a good introduction because they address many of the points we will
consider in the series.
2.
As we consider
these questions, let us also consider the answers that are found only by
applying the wisdom of the Scriptures to ourselves.
II. IS THY HEART RIGHT WITH GOD?
A. "Have thine affections been nailed to the cross?"
1.
In Galatians
5:24, the Bible says, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires."
2.
What are those
passions and desires of the flesh? See Galatians
5:19-21 -- "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts
of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and
things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that
those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
3.
Are these "nailed
to the cross" in your own heart, or does your heart still desire them?
B. "Dost thou count all things for Jesus but loss?"
1.
In Philippians
3:7, the apostle Paul said, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things
I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (see vv. 8-11 for more
explanation).
2.
What has your
heart given up for Christ? Are you
willing to give up everything for Him?
C. "Hast thou dominion o'er self and o'er sin?"
1.
Self-control is
counted among the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) and the necessary additions
to our faith (2Pet. 1:6). If your heart
is to be right with God, then you must have self-control.
2.
Just as God told
Cain that sin's "desire is for you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7), so also
He tells us. Consider Romans 6:14 -- "For
sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
3.
What and who has
control over your heart?
D. "Over all evil without and within?"
1.
The battle for
dominion against evil can be won only by the ways of God. Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good."
2.
Specifically, it
is through faith in Christ Jesus that we may overcome evil without and
within. Notice these verses from 1John.
a. 1John 4:4 -- "You are from God, little children, and
have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the
world."
b. 1John 5:4 -- "For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith."
3.
The theme of Revelation
is the victory for those who overcome the evils of this world (Rev. 2:7, 11,
17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7). Will that be
you?
E. "Are all thy pow'rs under Jesus' control?"
1.
For a Christian,
self-control is actually submission to Christ's control. This is what should be meant when we call Him
"Lord" as He indicated in Luke 6:46 -- "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do
not do what I say?"
2.
Indeed, Jesus has
all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). This power was given to Him when the Father "raised
Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far
above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His
feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church" (Eph. 1:20-22).
3.
Jesus has
authority over you, and He will judge you, but has your heart submitted to Him?
F. "Does He each moment abide in thy soul?"
1.
Jesus gave this
wonderful promise in John 14:23 -- "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with
him."
2.
Likewise, Ephesians
3:17 tells us that "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
3.
Thus, it is by
love, obedience, and faith that Christ may dwell in your soul. Is your heart given to these things so that
Christ may dwell in you each and every moment?
G. "Is thy heart right with God...right in the sight of
God?
1.
When Simon had
sinned, Peter said to him, "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your
heart is not right before God" (Acts 8:21).
Truly, the cause of every sin is a heart that is not right before God.
2.
We must
understand that "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1Sam. 16:7). Superficial religion and the outward
appearance of righteousness will not hide a corrupted heart from the sight of
God.
3.
How can we make a
sick heart right with God?
a. David wrote to God, "The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Ps.
51:17).
b. Consider Isaiah 57:15 -- "For thus says the high and
exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy
place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the
spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"
c.
Follow the
example of Ezra in Ezra 7:10 -- "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of
the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in
Israel."
H. "Washed in the crimson flood, cleansed and made holy,
humble and lowly..."
1.
Most importantly,
every sinful heart must be cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ, for the saved
in Christ "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"
(Rev. 7:14).
2.
Consider Hebrews
9:11-14:
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good
things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the
blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place
once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the
cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?
3.
Is your heart
cleansed in the blood of Jesus? Is this
evident in your own personal holiness, humility, and lowliness?
III. CONCLUSION
A. This hymn and these questions can cause us to be
"pierced to the heart" (Acts 2:37) if we think seriously about them. May we do so during the course of this
series.
B. Only God and you can answer these questions with
certainty and truth. May none of us be
deceived by a sick and corrupted heart, but may we all see our hearts clearly
as God sees them.
C. Lord willing, in the next lesson we will consider more
carefully the fact that God knows the heart.
