Now we begin here in Hebrews
13 and verse 9. Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace, not with meats which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. Now, most of
your parents have Pastor Henry Mahan's commentary on Hebrews. And when you go home this evening,
you can take that commentary and turn to this chapter in Hebrews
and this verse and you'll see most of what I'm going to tell
you this morning. I got right from that. and my outline especially. There's three key words here
that I want you to write down if you're taking notes and I
want you to focus in on these three words. The first one is
heart. Heart. The second word is established. And the third word is grace. established with grace Now we'll
start here. First of all, it says it is a
good thing now when you hear The Word of God say it is a good
thing This is something that we need to pay special Attention
to we need to make this our utmost concern because God says it is
a good thing It is a good thing that the heart be established
with grace. Now, there's some contrast here. If you grab the bulletin, and
if you didn't get one, if we run out of them, I've sent it
to your parents and you can get it on your computer when you
go home and you can look. There's some contrast pointed
out here, brought out here. The heart and the flesh is a
contrast in scripture. The heart is not this. It's not the heart and the lungs
and the liver. It's not that. It is the inner
part. It is the innermost being that's
created by the Holy Spirit. It's called the new birth. It's
something that is created by God that we don't have by virtue
of our first birth. That's what the heart is. The
flesh is what we have, that's what we're born with from our
mothers, is the flesh. That's all we are by our first
birth is the flesh. Now, the various, that vary,
that diverse and strange teachings that men teach, They go only
as far as the flesh. They're meant to appeal to the
flesh. They're not meant to appeal to
the heart. Who can I get to stand up here
by me just a minute? Can I get somebody to stand up
here by me? Will I embarrass you too bad? Vincent, can I get
you to just stand here? All you got to do is stand here.
You don't have to do anything else. Stand right here. Vincent, in
your flesh, you're a sinner. There's nothing good about you. There's nothing whatsoever that
you can come to God with. You have nothing whatsoever to
come to God with in your flesh, you're a sinner. But Vincent
here, he's a good boy. He minds his mom and daddy. He
does his chores. He's good at school. He does
his homework like he's supposed to. And Vincent here, he's got
a lot going for him. He's a good-looking boy. He's
a nice-looking boy. He's handsome. He's got nice
haircut, nice clothes. He's always dressed nice. He's
got his clothes all in order. When I'm talking about that which
he is in the flesh, did you notice how His expression don't change
a whole lot. I probably picked the wrong person.
But have you noticed how when I talk about his flesh, he's
pretty serious. But when I start talking about
him and good things about him, his lips kind of turn up at the
corner. They kind of turn up a little
bit. We like that. You can sit down there. So that's
the flesh. That's what we like. We like to be told we're good
at something. We like to be told we can do
something. We don't like to be told that in our flesh does nothing
good. We don't like to be told that
unless God regenerates us and gives us a new heart, we can't
come to God. We don't like to be told that
all the righteousness that God demands, He provides. We don't like to be told that.
We like to be told we can do something. The teaching that
man teaches only goes right here. It only goes to these hands.
It only goes to the outward. It's all about the exterior and
what the eye can see and what the senses can perceive. And
that's what we like. That's what we all like by nature. But God says it's good that the
heart be established. The heart is that which He's
created. It's the innermost being that
He creates in righteousness and true holiness. And it's different. And all of God's teaching teaches
the heart. It's directed right to that inner
man, that new man that He's created. Because the fleshly man is not
subject to God, He won't submit to God, he won't hear God, and
he can't hear God. The heart that God has created
is where we worship God. It's where we desire God, where
we delight in God's Word, in the heart. With the heart, man
believeth unto righteousness. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. And with the lips, confession
is made unto salvation. We can confess with the lips
that we believe that Christ is all the righteousness of God
and that He's the end of the lawful righteousness, but our
heart is betrayed. Our innermost true feelings are
betrayed whenever we say that with our lips, but then we go
about with our hands trying to establish and work out a righteousness
ourselves. is where salvation is. The heart
is where righteousness is. It's in the heart. Okay? That's
the first thing. God says it's a good thing that
the heart be established with grace. Now look at the second
thing here, verse 9. It's a good thing that the heart
be established. Established with grace. The warning
that came just before it here is be not carried about. That
means those very strange teachings, they'll carry you out of the
way. They'll toss you this way and
that way. You know why they will? Because
what are they directed toward? They're directed toward the flesh
and there's no stability in this flesh. There's none. The only established,
the only anchored part of a believer is the heart. That's what's anchored. That's what's established. And
God said it's a good thing that the heart be established. Man
changes. And so when men teach, their
doctrines change. Sometimes they change over periods
of time and sometimes they change Actually when they're in the
process of preaching a message They'll change from what the
beginning of the message what they say to the end of what they
said It's designed. It's that variety pack we talked
about so that everybody in the house can come to that Variety
pack and there's something there's a flavor in there for everybody
in the house Everybody can find something that they like but
not with God God said that is the clouds without water carried
about of winds. You know how you see the clouds?
And a cloud that's full of rain will come and it'll just sit
over a city. But a cloud that has no water
It's just a big, white, beautiful, fluffy cloud. It's just moving
along, floating along in the breeze, in the wind. And I'd
say that's what we are in this flesh, and that's what the doctrines
of men are, and those who teach them. Clouds without water carried
about with the winds. He calls it raging waves of the
sea foaming out their own shame. It's shameful. It's shameful
that we would think that when the judgment of God comes upon
us, And we understand that we're guilty and that God's judgment
has convicted us that we would turn to the law to try to get
out of that. We're going to see this later in our sermon this
morning, but you know, in the country right now, we're under
the judgment of God. is what's going on. And with
the economy like it is, and with the laws that we have in this
country, we're suffering the judgment of God. But you know
what we think, you know what the whole nation thinks can get
us out from under the judgment of God? Law. We'll make laws
and we'll fix it. We'll go to the law and we'll
fix it. Is it any wonder that the whole nation thinks that
when that's exactly what's being taught in the churches in this
nation? If God's judgment comes upon you, the only way to fix
it is go to Mount Sinai and go to a law. The law can't fix it.
The law only says, you got a problem. Only Christ has fixed the problem
for his people. So, be not carried about. Be
not carried about. And when he says here, established,
this word means anchored. It means rooted. It means grounded.
Let me show you the first place the word established is used.
Genesis chapter 6, verse 18. The Lord was passing judgment
upon the whole earth because He said that all men The heart,
the natural fleshly heart of men is only evil continually. But there was a man in that generation
named Noah. And the Lord said of Noah in
Genesis 6.18, But with thee will I establish my covenant. I will establish my covenant
with thee. And thou shalt come into the
ark Thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with
thee." That's where God's covenant was established with Noah in
the ark. Now, you have your place there
in Hebrews? Look at Hebrews 10. Look back
at Hebrews 10. The first, the old covenant said,
I see that the hearts of men is only evil continually, and
I'm going to destroy it. But the new covenant that God
establishes in the heart says, I've taken away all of your sin. I've taken away everything that
old covenant said about you, and I've established my covenant
with you, and you shall come into the ark. Now look at Hebrews
10 verse 9. Then said He, this is Christ,
I come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first. He
taketh away the judgment. He taketh away what the law says
about us that He may establish the second, the new covenant.
The covenant God said, I'll make my covenant with you. You'll
come into the ark and you'll be saved there. Christ is the
ark. Christ is the one in whom God
establishes the heart, the new man. Let me show you a few places. Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3. Do you have that place marked
there? Ephesians chapter 3. This is
what Paul said. For this cause, Ephesians 3.14,
For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."
Now, here's what Paul said he prayed for, that he would grant
you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might. You know what that phrase means,
strengthened with might? Established. How? by His Spirit. That's how we're established.
The heart is a spiritual part of man that God's created. And
it's only established through the Holy Spirit. Where is it? Look at the next phrase. In the
inner man. And what's the establishing of
the heart? That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. Now here's some more words for
establish. That ye being rooted big big oak tree There's one
there's one on uh next time you guys come to my house And you
turn on curless have you seen that big tree that leans out
over? Curless and it looks like it
looks like it's defying gravity It comes up and it just goes
right out over the street like that And it looks like there's
no way that that tree you can't reach around it It just looks
like there's no way that tree could stand like that And there's
a lady that lives there and she keeps her car parked under it
all the time. I think she's hoping it'll fall eventually. She'll
get a new car. But you know what's holding that
tree there? What's holding that tree there is a big root that
goes down deep into the earth and it won't let that tree fall.
That tree is rooted. That's what it is to be established.
God said it's a good thing that the heart be rooted. rooted. How is it? It's through the Holy
Spirit. It's by Christ and it's in the
heart. It's the inner man. Now look
at the next one. And grounded in love. When you hear the word
grounded, you think that means you're not going to get to do
something, don't you? Your mom and dad ground you. Well, this
grounded means the same thing as rooted, the same thing as
established. You have a foundation. You're
grounded, firm on the ground. You can't be moved, can't be
shaken or moved or tossed at all. You're established. And
you're rooted and grounded in love, in Christ's love for you. That's what you behold when God
establishes a heart that God loved you. He said, God said
this of his people. He said, you didn't love me.
I loved you. That's great. I loved you. I
chose you. I set my son for you. You didn't
do that for me. I did that. And we'll see that
in a moment. And it's that we may be able
to comprehend with all the saints how broad and how long and how
deep and how high the love of Christ is. It passes knowledge. It passes our understanding.
And this establishing of the heart, look there at the last
phrase, is being filled with all the fullness of God. The
fullness of God. God's teachings in the heart,
first of all. Secondly, God establishes the
heart. He establishes it, roots it,
grounds it, settles it, anchors the heart. And He does it this
way. Here's the third word, Hebrews
13, 9, with grace, with grace, with grace. Now, I said there's
opposites here. There's opposites here. And we
see the opposite found right here in the next phrase. Look
here, Acts 13.9. Are you there? Acts 13.9? It's a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. Now, he tells us what's not good. Not with meats. Not with meats. Do you see that? Hebrews 13,
9. It's good that the heart be established with grace, not with
meats. You know what meats are? Everything
opposite of grace. Everything opposite of grace.
Meat. What does... We're going to eat
some dinner. What does meat do? It feeds what? It feeds its body, doesn't it?
It feeds its flesh. The meats that are spoken of
here are those services, those observances, those ceremonies,
those things that feed this flesh. They don't profit. You want to
occupy yourself in those things and they won't profit you. But
it's good, a good thing that the heart, the spirit, be established
by the Spirit of God, by Christ, by His love for us in the heart,
in the inner man, And that's done with grace. That's done
with grace. That means God. The word here
is truly the doctrine of grace. That's what the word here is
talking about, because we just looked at how the doctrines of
men. are taught. Here we're talking
about the doctrine of grace. You know how God's grace is going
to strengthen you and establish you? It's through the preaching
of the doctrine of God's grace. It's the teaching that teaches
you that God establishes your inner man by grace. I'm teaching
you the doctrine of grace. I'm teaching you the doctrine
of Christ. I'm teaching you that God saves
by grace. And it's through the doctrine
of grace that God establishes the heart with grace. Let me
give you an example of meats and how this will establish. There's a new thing now, a new
idea in the churches. Let me give you this. Just listen
to me. The new idea is this, is we need
to get more strict in the church. We need to be more strict in
disciplining believers. Because the last generation became
very relaxed in their discipline. And that's why we got so many
problems in the church now. Because they were relaxed. Well,
that generation was relaxed because the generation before them said,
we need to be strict. And they created a generation
of people that became holier than thou. They said, don't come
near me. And they began to unchurch people, put people out of the
church. That's what we do when we begin this strict discipline.
And then, folks, Quit coming. So the next generation said,
well, we need to be more relaxed, get folks to come back. Now this
generation is saying, well, we've become too relaxed, we need to
be more strict now. You know what the next generation will
say? That generation before was too strict, now we need to be
more relaxed. You know what that is? That's
meat that does not profit. God establishes grounds, roots,
the heart of men, the inner man, through the doctrine of Christ,
the doctrine of grace, the teaching of Christ in Him crucified. You
know what that generation before and that generation now and the
next generation, you know what they're doing? They're trying
to find a way to make men look as if they believe God in their
heart by making them do something on the outside. That's no establishing
at all. That's no profit at all. Christ
preached, Christ preached continually that he is the one God sent,
that he is the only one who can, who could come and purchase his
people from all their debts, buy them by the price of his
own blood. enter into them through the Spirit
and create life within them, and send His preachers with the
message of the doctrine, the teaching of grace, and through
that message continually establish the heart with grace. That's
the only message. That's the only way sinners are
going to be saved. And for some reason, the very
understanding of why we need our hearts established with grace
is because right here clearly God says it is a good thing that
the heart be established with the doctrine of grace. And yet
we go on trying to establish the flesh with meats that don't
profit. Isn't that proof that we need
this doctrine of grace? That's proof we need it. It's
the only thing that will establish us in truth and in spirit. Okay. Let me turn you to one
last scripture. One last scripture. Ephesians
4, verse 14. Ephesians 4, verse 14. Here is the governor, the lawgiver,
the rebuker, the one who does the establishing. Here he is.
He just said he'd given some pastors and some teachers to
come and teach this doctrine of grace. And here's why. Ephesians
4.14, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro
and carried about. See that? with every wind of
doctrine, last generation's tactics, this generation's tactics, the
next generation's tactics. Isaiah called it changeable clothes
of apparel. No more of that, by the slight
of men and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to
deceive. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him, into Christ in all things, which is the head,
He's over His church. He's doing the work. If we just
preach Him, if we preach Him, He said, I'll do the work. You
just go forth and hold up the ark. You just go forth and hold
up the staff. I'll do the work. From whom? From Him. This is what I mean
when I say He'll do the work. From whom? From Him. The whole
body is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supply of according to the effectual. That means he's
doing it. That means he's not hindered
at all by these men's cunning craftiness of men at all. It
doesn't hinder him whatsoever. He's got his pastors. He's got
those that are preaching his gospel, that he's effectually
calling in sin, and they're doing it. And he's effectually strengthening
the heart, establishing the heart. working in the measure of every
part, and he's making increase of the body unto the edifying
of itself in love. You see that? You see that? I
hope that's a help to you.