The condition of the heart.
heart - Center of the emotions and feelings
Psalms 86
1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that
trusteth in thee.
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
I do not find it strange that these are the first words in the bible to mention the condition of the heart.
Genesis 6
5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
This is our carnal nature.
Rotten to the core.
Evil imaginations predominate the heart of the carnal man.
Thank God we have Jesus Christ, our Victorious Warrior, to overcome our emotions.
We know by faith that we are being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
So that we no longer have to succumb to the emotional turmoil of our evil imaginations.
Isaiah 55
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Wait a minute, man of sorrows, acquainted with grief ? ? ? ? ?
He was torn with emotions.
I thought emotions were our enemy.
That was part of the message delivered by the Word of the Lord just a few weeks ago in Victorious Warrior.
Was I wrong?
Did I misunderstand your Word O Lord?
What am I missing Lord?
Genesis 20
1. And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
4. But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
5. Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
6. And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
7. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
Lord I don’t understand.
Abraham tells a half truth here.
Sarah is his half sister but he denies that she is his wife.
On the other hand Abimelech with integrity of heart nearly looses his life.
Look to what God says to Abimelech, "Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me."
Is it possible Lord, to have integrity of heart and still sin against you?
Apparently, YES.
Abraham lies and God ignores his sin, but Abimelech, who has believed the lie and is innocent in this matter, God will strike him down.
Am I missing something here?
Have I totally misunderstood Psalm 24.
Psalm 24
Or is it Lord, that pure in heart has nothing to do with integrity?
Psalms 24:4
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.OK, shun vanity, humility, got it.
OK, don’t lie, got it.
Proverbs 20:9
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?By grace I am save and not by my works. Got it.
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.Sure, I understand that, but how do I get that pure heart?
There is the rub.
Psalms 10: 17. Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
It is the Lord who prepares our hearts.
It is the Lord who causes us to hear.
If you look back to Abimelech, note that God spoke to him.
God spoke to a non-believer because of Abimelech’s heart and said that he had stayed Abimelech’s hand from sinning.
But also note that God gave Abimelech a choice.
Here is what is required, obey or die.
Having a pure heart doesn’t stop one from sinning.
A pure heart only allows you to hear from God, to have the truth revealed.
Having gotten that far, one would think that obedience wouldn’t be a problem.
2 Corinthians 7
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while--
9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
The first purpose of Godly sorrow is to bring us to repentance.
1 Timothy 1:5
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:The end of the commandments, the point of it all, the goal, is love from a pure heart
2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.It would seem the pure heart is the result of a believer earnestly seeking the Lord
Hebrews 10:22
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.A shedding of the light of the Holy Spirit into a darkened heart.
Repentance
Forgiveness
1 Peter 1:22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:But that really doesn’t explain why Abraham got away with lying to Abimelech.
1 Samuel 2
1. And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
2. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
3. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
4. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
5. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
6. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
7. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them.
9. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
10. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
It is through Hannah’s prayer that I see that the will of the Lord and the will of the Lord alone determines of dispensation of grace.
The condition of our hearts has nothing to do with the dispensation of grace.
Numbers 32
1. Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
2. The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
3. Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4. Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:
5. Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
6. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
7. And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?
8. Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land.
9. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10. And the Lord's anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,
11. Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
12. Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.
If I read the Lord right in this, then the condition of our hearts is to encourage our brothers, to exhort them, not to discourage or cause them to stray from the path.
Proverbs 2
1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2. So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3. Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4. If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
6. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11. Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
For He has given us His heart, that we should care what He cares about.
Love what He loves.
Having a heart like David, having a heart after God . . . .
Is to have God place on our hearts those things which He wills.
But it is such a thin line, our own feelings and those things which He places on our heart.
How are we to know the difference between the two?
Jeremiah 32
37. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
One heart, one way, the narrow door, fear God forever.
The only thing that can tie all this together and give any assurance of walking in the way is to submit every decision to the Lord.
No matter how right and good.
No matter how simple.
No matter how seemingly unimportant.
Because we cannot trust the integrity of our own hearts to keep us from sinning against God.
That means total submission,
But as with Abimelech, the choice is still ours.
Knowing this
Fearing God
I am not prepared to say I know the mind of God.
His thoughts are not like our thoughts
His ways are not our ways.
I should not presume to know
Just because I have a warm fuzzy.
God said He would cause us to fear Him forever.
So that we would not depart from His presence
That we should abide in Him continually.
That we should have one mind
HIS
One heart
HIS
One life
HIS
Lord as we close I ask you to draw us together in
unity,
That we all have one heart
That we all have one Mind
That we all have one will
Your's Lord.
Amen