You take your Bibles and turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, we'll be
looking at verses eight and nine this morning. The title of the message is the
heart established with grace. The heart established with grace. The scripture says in verse eight,
Jesus Christ. the same yesterday and today
and forever. 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." And the apostle in
the previous verse we had studied last week, he exhorts the body
of Christ to remember God's gift, God's gift to them of pastors,
of those that have the rule, those who have been given the
authority of Christ to preach the gospel to you. Remember them
because It is for your good. It is for your good. The Scripture says that Christ
led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men, some apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers, which is
the same thing. And this was for the edification
of the church. How is it that pastors and preachers
edify the church, the body? They do it by the means of preaching
the same gospel. This is why it follows with Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. We preach that Jesus
Christ is an immutable high priest, an unchangeable king. an immutable
king. His words, as the immutable prophet,
are unchangeable words. And therefore, we preach the
same gospel to you over and over again, because Christ and His
gospel does not change. And this is for your establishment. This is for your comfort, for
your peace, for your edification. And so I would encourage you
again to remember me. Remember me for you. Remember
me for you so that you are encouraged and edified that I preach the
same gospel. Remember to pray for my faithfulness. I desire to be a faithful pastor,
a faithful preacher of the gospel. But truly, I desire that you
pray for the end that I would be faithful. to continue to preach
the same gospel that doesn't change. Now, in verse 9, he gives
us a warning. We who are the body of Christ,
he says, be not carried away with strange or different doctrines. Believers in Christ should not
be concerned about the false church. We should not be so concerned
as to be carried away by their strange doctrines. We should not spend our time
trying to correct the false church. Now, this week I went to the
chiropractor. I love it. It's great. They go
in there, they pop my back, and I don't know, it seems to be
working for me. I enjoy it. It makes me feel
good. They align my spine, and then
I feel better. But if my neck was broken and
I was dead, don't send me to a chiropractor. He can align
my spine all he wants to. I don't need a chiropractor.
I need a resurrection. I need a miracle. The false freewill
works religion does not need to be adjusted by Calvinism. This is a problem. Many have
been carried away trying to adjust the false church. No, they're
dead. They don't need adjustment. They
need life. They need life. The people of
God. These people need to be born
again of the Spirit of God by the immutable, unchangeable gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. They need life. They
don't need to be corrected. They don't need to be instructed
in righteousness as how to do things or how to obey better
or how to be this or how to be that. They need life. And then
as brethren, We are concerned about our brethren if they fall
into sin and things. We are concerned and we give
them counsel as to the Word of God and instruct them. But really,
the false church doesn't need our instruction. They need the
life that comes by the grace of God. This is why pastors have
one purpose. We have one purpose, and that
is not to teach you the false gospel so that you can defend
against it. I've used this illustration before.
Counterfeiters never study counterfeits. They always study the real. We study the truth. And when
the counterfeit comes, you know it. You don't have to study it.
You don't even have to know what it is. You don't have to be carried
away by their strange doctrines. If it's strange, run away from
it. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. You know it's strange. You know
it's false. You know it's of works. I've
told you before that there are only two religions in the world,
works and grace. If it's works, leave it alone.
Leave it alone. Run away from it. Jesus told
the disciples concerning the Pharisees, He said, let them
alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind and both shall fall into the ditch. And this is why pastors
have one purpose to preach the truth that salvation is of the
Lord. It is by the grace of God through
faith in Christ alone and therefore so that you are not carried about
by strange doctrines." The Apostle says, for it is a good thing,
in our text, he said, don't be carried away by strange doctrines,
for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. With grace. Now these three words,
I want us to focus on these three words this morning. establish and grace. What are these three things?
What is the importance of the heart? Well, the work of God
in the salvation is a heart work. It is a heart work. This does not have to do with
the education of the mind or the redirection of the will.
It is a matter of God to work in the heart of a man. Both education and redirection
are useless unless God gives a new heart. God does not come,
when I say this is a heart work, it is not that God comes and
fixes the old heart. That is a false doctrine. God does not fix up the old man. He does not patch up the old
heart. What he does is he takes that
stony heart away and he gives us a heart of flesh, a new heart,
a new nature. This is what it is called being
born again. Being born again of the Spirit
of God. This is no outward sign. No ritual of religion can do
this. You can be baptized all you want
to. Baptism does not give you a new heart. You can perform
as many rituals as you please. You can make as many decisions
for Jesus as you want to. That does not give a new heart.
God alone can give and create a new heart. The Scripture says
that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Not by good works, but unto good
works. We are created. It's a new heart. This is when God comes in the
conviction power of the Holy Spirit, when a man is convinced
of his sin. The Holy Spirit convinces us
of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He convinces us that sin is not
just what we do, but sin is all we are. All we are is sin by
nature. That there is no good thing in
us. The old heart is corrupt. The
old heart is deceitful. The old heart is desperately
wicked and deceived constantly. We need a new heart. When God
comes in conviction, our heart is broken. Have you been broken-hearted
about your sin? It's one thing to fear God. Many
men have feared God's hell. And yet there was no change.
There was no change in their life. There was no change in
their desires. They continued on in their sins,
although they did have a conviction. But to be convinced of sin is
to be brokenhearted concerning God's goodness. We have sinned against a good
God. Scripture says, "...a broken
and a contrite heart thou wilt not despise." He broke our heart
concerning sin. Is your heart broken because
of sin? My heart is broken because of
my sin. Friends, this broken heart because
of sin comes from a new heart. It doesn't come from that old
heart. The new heart given to us by
God, its affections are set on things above. The new heart is
moved by the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What does the Scripture say concerning
the heart? It says, with the heart man believeth. It's with the heart man believeth. And with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. We believe in the heart. It's
easy to confess with the mouth. It may be easy to redirect the
mind to certain doctrines. But friends, it is impossible
for us to give someone a new heart for the things of God. I can't make you love the things
of God. Only God can give you that. And
if you love the things of God, it is because He has given you
a new heart, a new life, that was not there before. When people
tell me, ask them how long they've been a Christian, I accept the
answer, I don't know. That's a good answer sometimes.
I just don't know. But I believe now. I believe
right now on Jesus Christ, with all my heart, I believe on Him.
But when people tell me I've been a Christian all my life,
that's too long. That's too long. The seed of the gospel falls
on the good ground that has been prepared by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prepares the
heart to receive the seed. What do you think all that time
was before we heard the gospel? The Spirit of God was preparing
our hearts. He was plowing up the hard ground. He was preparing the heart to
make ready for the seed of the gospel. And at the appointed
time, the seed was cast, the Spirit planted it, and it grew
life and faith in Christ. Salvation, friends, is established
by a new heart. Do you have a new heart? If you
don't have a new heart, none of this other stuff is going
to matter. A new heart comes from the grace of God. Second
of all, the word established. Established. It is a good thing
that the heart be established, confirmed, strengthened with
grace. That we should be rooted and
grounded in this truth. so that we are not carried about
with strange doctrines. Friends, if a doctrine is not
founded on grace, it is a strange doctrine. I want you to be established
and confirmed in this. I want you to be set in your
heart concerning this, that if it is not rooted, if the message
of Jesus Christ is not rooted in grace, in freedom, sovereign
grace, then it is a false doctrine. Don't be carried away by that.
I would that you be established, that you be confirmed in this
truth that your heart, that your salvation comes by grace. I want you to be confirmed in
this. Established. It's good. Notice this word. That you be
not carried away with strange doctrines. You don't have to be a grammar professor
to understand that's plural. Many strange doctrines. Why is this plural? Because strange
doctrines are always mutable and many. Strange doctrines are
always changeable and many. They change with the opinions
of men. They change with the current
of time. These doctrines morph into various
generations. They're called doctrines because
they believe there are many ways of salvation. A dear friend of
mine told me of a woman left her husband for another woman. And when she had plainly confessed
the truth of Scripture to her, that this was sin, that this
was wrong, yet she continued on in it and wrote her and told
her that the Word of God is true, but, you know, who can know it,
right? It's just a matter of interpretation.
That truth is somehow relative. You see how that is mutable,
it's changeable, it's relative to my situation? No, the gospel
is not relative to our situation. The gospel is not relative to
the individual. As a matter of fact, Peter said
in the Scriptures, the Word of God is of no private interpretation. Even the people who wrote the
Scriptures, it was not their interpretation. It was the Word
of God by the Holy Spirit as they were moved to write it.
Well, if the Scriptures are true, and they are of no private interpretation,
what are they about? We know from Luke chapter 24
that Jesus, He said, beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
He expounded unto them All the Scriptures concerning Himself. What are the Scriptures? What
is this book about? This book is not about history.
It's not about circumstances or time. It's about Christ. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what this book is about. I encourage you, every time you
read the Word of God, that you find Christ immediately. You should seek Christ first.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be
added unto you. You want comfort, you want peace, you need joy,
you need help, you need deliverance from your troubles. Guess what?
First look for Christ and His righteousness and all of these
things will be added unto you. The gospel is about Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. The gospel of Jesus
Christ is the same. We know this, that Jesus Christ,
in some manner, did change. Because He was the Son of God,
and yet He was made flesh. So this is not talking about
His condescension. His incarnation, but rather His
attributes didn't change. When Jesus Christ condescended
to become a man, His attributes did not change. His offices did
not change. He was always the High Priest
of God. He was always the Prophet of
God. He was always the King of God. The King that God established.
And friends, this didn't change today, and this won't change
forever. That's a wonderful thing, isn't
it? that our high priest is established. It doesn't matter if I live or
die, because our high priest is the same. I'm not your priest. In the Old Testament, those priests
died. You didn't know what you were
getting next. But we know this, our high priest is the same.
This is the message that doesn't change. Our gospel is always
the same because the object of our gospel is the same. That
you should come by faith and repentance and trust Christ. And that was by the grace of
God, if you've done that, if you believed on Christ and you
repent of your sins, that's by the grace of God. And therefore,
if you continue, if we continue to establish you in the faith,
faithful preaching of the gospel, this is good for you. This is
good for you. Believers must be established
in the truth. You must be. Do you suppose that if you stop
hearing the Word of God, if you stop, do you suppose you would
be able to withstand the winds of this world's doctrine? This is why God has provided
the safe haven of His church. This is why He has provided the
Gospel. So that we would be established. When? How often do we? As often
as we meet together. Be established in this. To establish
you in the grace of God so that you are not carried about. So
that you are not tossed. This doctrine. We are not to
be carried away with doctrines. But we are to be established
with the doctrine. singular, the doctrine of Christ,
the doctrine of grace. Believer, it's good that your
heart be confirmed with grace by the preaching of the immutable,
unchangeable word of God. Now, this term carried away its
opposite from being established. They're completely opposite.
It's a poetic reference that has to do with a light wind that
would blow a ship off of course. These Jews, they were being lightly
pushed in a different direction. They were saying, OK, well, Jesus
is good. We believe in Jesus, too. But
now what you have to do is you've got to establish this by following
the dietary law. That's what he says next. He
said, and not with meats that have not profited them that are
occupied therein. You see, they were being pushed
lightly. I said, Jesus is good. We like grains. We like this.
But you just need to move over a little bit here and you need
to make sure that you establish the law. You need to honor the
law. You need to obey the law. In
Galatian, it wasn't meets, it was circumcision. Jesus was fine. You just need to be circumcised.
Today, it's progressive sanctification. Jesus is good, but you've got
to establish your grace by sanctifying yourself, setting yourself apart
by obeying the Ten Commandments. Friends, the law is the law is
the law. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in
the law to them." If you want to be under the law, you've got
to be under the whole law. You need to go there, you need
to take a bulldozer, crush that mosque that stands over the top
of where the temple was, you need to rebuild the temple, sew
up the veil, and you need to start sacrificing if you're going
to try to obey the Ten Commandments to establish your righteousness. No, we're not established by
this. We're not established by our
obedience to the law. Our obedience to the law has
already been established by Jesus Christ, who is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Don't be blown
off course. These were tempted to be blown
off course. Don't be blown off course by such trivial things
as debating eschatology. I'm not here to debate anything. If anybody wants to debate, they'll
have to go find some other guy to do it, because I'm not debating
anything. This is the gospel. I know this, and I'm not going
to tell you what I don't know. I'll tell you what I know. I
know that Jesus Christ is all my righteousness and salvation.
If there's any hope for sinners, it's through Jesus Christ, and
it must be by the grace of God, not by works. I know this. I'm
not debating this. Don't be blown off by new things,
new revelations, new novelties. Man, there are new novelties
everywhere. Have you ever been to what they
call a Christian bookstore? You walk in and they've got all
these new revelation things coming up in the front. You may go to
the back and you'll find a little section here that has books by
good authors You know, you might find one or two that talk of
the gospel of grace, the immutability of Christ. But everything else
is new. It has to be new to catch their
eye. Don't be caught by the glimmer of this new revelations. There are no new revelations.
The book is sealed. You can read Daniel. You can
see that in Daniel chapter 9. It says that 70 weeks are determined,
and then after that a week would be determined. A prophetical
week, which means that the canon would be closed. Done! The Word of God is sealed. Anybody
that had anything to it, take anything from it? We don't want
any of that. These things would cause us to
be dashed against the rocks of doubt. And many have been dashed
against the rocks of apostasy by being carried away by such
frivolous things. Believers, we are confirmed. We are established by the old
path. I want you to see this in Jeremiah.
Go to Jeremiah, chapter six. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 16. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye
in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk
therein. And you shall find rest for your
souls." But they said, we will not walk
therein. Ask for the old paths. Flip over to chapter 18 of this
same book. Chapter 18 and verse 15. But the Lord said, for because
my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity,
and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the
ancient paths, to walk in paths in a way not cast up, not exalted,
a way that God has not exalted. How old is this gospel? This
gospel I'm preaching to you of grace, how old is it? It is from
ancient eternity. That's the gospel I'm talking
about. The gospel that was from ancient eternity, the gospel
that was told to Adam, the gospel that was told to Moses, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, the gospel that was preached of by David, The
gospel that was preached by the prophets, the gospel that was
proclaimed by Jesus Christ, the gospel that was proclaimed by
the apostles is the same gospel. It is an ancient gospel and it's
good enough for me. The old path of grace was established
when God chose us It was accomplished when Christ redeemed us. It was
established in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we will
keep being established by this same gospel until we die. This salvation is a spiritual
matter and it begins in the heart. It begins in the heart. Joy comes
from being established by grace in the heart, peace, contentment,
these things. Do you seek these things? Do
you desire to have peace? It only comes by the old paths.
It only comes by being established in grace. Timothy, Titus was
wrote by Paul. He said, I would that thou affirm
these things. How often? Constant. And the last word is grace. Let your hearts be established
with grace. Grace is important because grace
is the unmerited favor of God. And may God open our understanding
today of His generosity. Grace means generosity. How generous has our God been? to us. He who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? You have righteousness, how do
you have it? You have salvation, you have
justification, you have sanctification, you have wisdom. How is this
given? Freely. When you pray and your
prayers are accepted and heard by God, how are they heard? They
are heard freely, generously, graciously. Has not God given
you more than you've asked for? Now, you've asked for a lot of
things and God said no, but has He not replaced them with better
things? Yes. He always does, always does. This is grace. Believe or be
established, be confirmed in the immutable, unchangeable,
eternal truth of God's grace, that God purposed to give us
all things just as he's given them to his son. How much does
God the Father love his son? That's how much he freely loves
you. You can't chew on that for a
while. Believer, look for no cause of
this grace in yourself. You want to find despair, start
looking in your own heart. Looking in that old carnal heart
that you still have, look inside and see what you find is nothing
but despair. You'll find nothing but every
reason as to why God should throw you in hell. But when we look
to grace, we find every reason why God should accept us. Let the heart be established
by grace. There's no joy outside of grace. Grace is an inward thing. It's
an inward work of God. And it is by this same gospel
the Holy Spirit gives us life and faith so that as we travel
through this life, we sing the song, O soul, are
you weary in trouble? No light in the darkness you
see. There's light for a look at the
Savior. and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Believer, be established with
grace and not carried away by the other things. May God bless
this to your heart.