We're back now to Luke 24. Luke
24. And we've read verses 13 through
35. And this is concerning two of
our Lord's disciples as they encountered a man they did not
know. And this, and evidence that they didn't know is, is
it not on? I got it. You're right. Thank
you, son. Got it. All right. They didn't know this
man, but this happened three days after Christ was crucified
on Calvary. And let's talk about the heart. These fellas said, when he talked
to us and he opened the scriptures to us, didn't our heart burn
within us? And it's critical that we realize
there's no S on that word. He didn't say it's our hearts
burned within us. It's not what these two fellas
said. And now we all know that the most critical organ in the
body is the physical heart. You know, your heart, if it keeps
beating, It'll keep you alive. Your brain can go dead and different
other organs can go, can die. And you can still have life in
you if your heart's beating. But if the heart stops, then
we're dead indeed. And the word heart in the scriptures
most often refers not to the physical heart, but to the spiritual
heart. The spiritual heart is the center
or the controller of our affections. The heart controls what we think,
it controls our desires, and it controls ultimately what we
do, everything we do. And I want you to see, turn back
to Genesis chapter 3. And when Adam disobeyed God,
Adam was born with a perfect heart. Absolutely with a perfect
heart. He didn't desire anything he
shouldn't. He didn't think anything he ought
not. He didn't do anything he shouldn't
do. But when Adam disobeyed God, his heart changed. His physical heart kept right
on beating. God had told him in the day you eat thereof, you'll
surely die. Well, he ate and he didn't die physically. So
that heart just kept on going. But what happened was that his
spiritual heart died. And Adam has a dead spiritual
heart. And because we're the sons and daughters of Adam, we're
born with one heart just like that. We have the same heart
Adam does. You see in Genesis 3 verse 11,
the scripture says, and he said, who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou should not eat? And the man said, the
woman who thou gavest, To be with me, she gave me of the tree
and I did eat. The first thing this ought to
show us is there's been a change in Adam's heart that quick. One
minute, Eve is the most wonderful thing that God ever made. He just, wow! The gift God made
in Eve for Adam. He loves her, he adores her. She's just amazing. He eats that
tree and God comes looking for him and said, Adam, did you eat
of that tree? It was her. She made me do it. You see he
threw her under the bus that quick. What happened? His heart
changed. His spiritual heart died and
all he's got now is that heart that sinned. That heart that
will do anything to escape. He would gladly have Adam killed.
I mean have Eve killed if he gets away with it. And do we
see that in our children? Children ever do something, your
children, you go, Now, honey, I know you did this. No, I didn't.
She did it. Your brother's sister did it.
Isn't that how we are? We're just like Adam in that
regard. Nothing's changed. And God told Adam, in the day
you eat thereof, you'll surely die. And boy, he did. I'll tell
you, he actually thinks he can outmaneuver God by blaming Eve. See, his desires and what he
wants and what he does is all changed in this. And what I want
us to see is in Genesis 6, a few pages over, this is the very
first time the word heart is used in the scriptures. In Genesis
6, verse 5, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth. After Adam ate, he's all wicked. And that every imagination of
the thoughts of what? His heart. Any S on that? No,
no, no, no. Adam's got a heart. Eve's got
a heart. We all got the same heart. And what is it? Only evil
continually. Don't let it shock you when people
do things. We ought not just go, well, I
can't believe he did that. It's easy to believe. It's what
we are. I mean, have you done something
that later you went, I can't believe I did that. Of course
we have. What's wrong? It's that heart.
It just leaps. It leaps to the front and always
leaps the wrong way because it's wicked. It's an evil heart. It's
an evil heart of unbelief. Turn to Jeremiah 17. Don't ever be amazed by anything
that another human being has done or will do. It does not
amaze me that Adolf Hitler killed six million Jews. What amazes
me is that the whole world didn't join in to kill them all. Do
we know that about ourselves? Don't look at those Nazis and
go, boy, they're just unbelievable. No, no, no, no, no. Do we know
that about ourself? Has God shown us our heart enough
to know that if we'd been there, we'd have probably joined up?
The only ones who didn't is those whom God hedged about and by
His grace kept from being Nazis also. Look here in Jeremiah 17, verse
nine. It says, the heart, no S on it,
is there? The heart of natural man is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? I thought
of this illustration of desperately wicked. When I was a teenager,
I was a lifeguard for a while at a swimming pool, and I had
to take these courses, of course. And they taught you that when
a child, or an adult for that matter, is in trouble in the
water, you go in and you jump in a certain way so you can keep
your eye on them and you go to them. But the one thing you never
do is just swim right up to them because you know what they'll
do? They are so desperate for another breath, they'll grab
you and they'll drown you in order just to keep their head
above the water just enough to get a few more breaths. You say,
that's the dumbest thing in the world. Kill the lifeguard that's
coming to save you. That's how desperately wicked
we are. We're just desperately wicked. The heart of natural
man will always do the desperate and the wicked thing. That's
what this scripture is teaching us. Now, all of us by nature
are so desperate to do evil, we imagine new and more wicked
things all the time. Turn a little further over to
Ezekiel chapter 11. Have you ever heard of a particularly
Somebody does something just really, really despicable, really
just nasty. And did you ever hear somebody
say, now this is a common saying now, say, boy, he's one sick
puppy. You ever hear that? I'll tell you, we'll do anything
to dress up our sin, make it seem not as bad as it is. The
truth is, we are not sick puppies. We're mad dogs, is what we are. As a boy, about, I was about,
eight or nine years old, I suppose, and a bunch of us boys were out
playing in this backyard up against the field, and out of that Johnson
grass comes this big, jowly dog staggering out, and he's slobbering
foam out of his mouth, and he's looking, and I remember a breeze
came by, and this fellow was real proud of his fig bushes
he had in his backyard along that row of that field. And the
wind blew one of those, and that dog all of a sudden It turned
and it leaped on that fig tree and lit into it and tore it all. It was moving. And he just was
a mad dog. He had rabies. And he tore that
fig bush plum out of the ground, just shook it everywhere or whatever.
Well, fortunately, one of the moms looking out her window saw
that dog and those boys and she came out and got us inside. And
they called the sheriff and the sheriff came and did what you
do to a mad dog. He shot and killed him. He put
him down. All of us need to realize if
God doesn't give us a new heart, you know what's going to have
to happen one day? Because we're mad dogs, He's going to put us
down. He's going to put us in a place
where we'll do no more harm. And it's a terrible place and
we don't want to go there. That is unless God gives us a
new heart. If you've got Ezekiel 11, look
at verse 17. Therefore say, thus saith the
Lord God. This is what God tells His preachers
to tell His people. I will even gather you from the
people and assemble you out of the countries where you've been
scattered and I'll give you the land of Israel and they shall
come thither and they shall take away all the detestable things
thereof and all the abominations thereof from hence and I'll give
them one heart." There's no S on that, is there? No, God's not
going to give His people a bunch of new hearts. He's going to
give them one new heart. And you say, I don't understand
this. Well, stay with me and let's see if the Word doesn't
explain it. He said, I'll put a new spirit within you and I'll
take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart
of flesh. that they may walk in my statutes
and keep my ordinances and do them. And they shall be my people
and I'll be their God. But as for them, whose heart
singular walketh after the heart of their detestable things, those
who won't don't want a new heart and don't get a new heart, therefore
I'll recompense their way upon their own head, saith the Lord.
He'll put down the mad dog and the rest he'll adopt. The rest
he'll make his own. You remember the woman who came
to him and said, Lord, can I, I want, I need some
help. I've got, I got a child and I
need help. And he, and he ignored her. You
say, well, why would he do that? And then she said again, you
know, Lord, I need your help. Have mercy on me. And he said,
well, it's not right to give the children's bread to dogs.
What did she say? She said, Lord, even the dogs
get the crumbs from the master's table. She's saying, I'll be
your dog. Tell you what, if you give me a new heart, I'll be
his dog. I'll be happy to sit at His feet, to lick His hand,
His boots, and He can just, any crumbs He shoves my way, I'm
so glad to get them. I hope we come tonight and He
gives us some crumbs. That's all we need, isn't it?
Well, do we see that He has mercy on those who are His. He gives
them a new heart. Turn to John chapter 3. And I'll show you how we get
a new heart. John chapter 3. We need to know where the first
heart came from. The very first heart, where did
it come from? If we've all got one heart, well where's that
one heart? Whose is it? In John 3 verse
One, a man came. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said to him, Rabbi. Now there's the first clue. He
doesn't know who this is. He doesn't know who this is because
he calls him Rabbi, teacher. He's what he calls him. He doesn't
say Lord. He said, we know that thou art a teacher come from
God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be
with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus saith unto
him, how can a man be born when he's old? You know what Nicodemus
is doing here? He's reasoning like those two
fellows were on the road. He's trying to figure this out.
He wants to reason it out. And how silly is this? He said,
can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?
That's ridiculous, isn't it? But that's what reasoning will
take you to. And the Lord answered him, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. The old heart of Adam is flesh.
And then he says, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If you get a spiritual heart, a new heart, that's different.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but cannotst tell whence it cometh, and whither it goes. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit." I can't explain this thing to
you. I really can't. All I can do is declare it as
it's in God's word. And don't try to reason it out.
Simply believe. God's people get a new heart.
And Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things
be? He wants to understand it rather than believe it. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and
knowest not these things? He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have
seen, and you receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly
things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell
you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of
Man, which is in heaven." You see, it's obvious that Nicodemus
was not able to believe. His problem, he's trying to desire
and to think and to do with a dead heart. Now, this man's obviously
intelligent, isn't he? He's a master in Israel. He's
well-educated. There's nothing wrong with his
brain or his head. His problem is with his heart.
He cannot believe because he's got an old heart. And I'm much
more sympathetic to Nicodemus in that day than I am in this
day. Do you know it's been 30 years
ago that I met a man named Robert Jarvik. You know what he did? He was the first man to invent
a mechanical heart and put it in the chest of a man. He took
that man's corrupt, dying heart out of his body and put a mechanical
heart in that man's chest. Now, if a man can do that, do
we really think God can't take a rotten, dead, stinky flesh
heart out and put a new one in? I mean, really? I'm so much more
sympathetic with poor Nicodemus in that day going, how can these
things be? Than I am in our day. It ought
not be hard for us to understand what this is saying. The Spirit
of God comes. He doesn't ask permission because
he's God. And if he asks permission, do
you know how sick the old heart is? I tell you what, if that
sheriff had walked out across that field to that mad dog and
said, now, you know, won't you be good? Won't you come with
me? Let me put a collar on you and
walk you over here and put you in the back seat of my car, take
you down to the vet. That mad dog would have tried
to kill him, wouldn't he? And I tell you what, you can
go to folks in this day and say, I've got good news. God's got
a new heart. He'll give it to everybody. If
you ask for a new heart, he'll give you one. And they'll go,
mm-mm, I won't have it. So God doesn't ask your permission
to give you a new heart, because we'd say no. We'd say, I don't
want one. I like the one I got. It seems
fine to me. It's doing what I want, when
I want, as much as I want. It's sick, it's a sick puppy,
isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Well, God's done whatsoever He
pleases among the inhabitants of man, and it pleased Him to
redeem a people. And the way He does it, in so
doing, He gives them a new heart. No S, no S. And we read in Luke,
don't turn back to Luke 24 right now, a clear example of what
I'm talking about. Let me repeat it plainly. We're
born with a bad heart, and we need a new heart. And a heart
that desires the glory of God, thinks with a new mind, and seeks
to do the will of God. And when you get it, here's what
happens. These two fellas go and sit in
there, and the Lord's opened the scriptures to them. And when
they leave, you know what they're saying? Didn't our heart burn
within us? Something's happened in here.
I'm lit up. I'm on fire. What's happened? They got a new heart. And that's
what God does. Turn back to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. So God's
people get a new heart. And the question is, whose heart
do we get? Notice these men got a new heart
singular. And notice in Ezekiel 36, heart
is singular. And this may seem impossible
to natural man, but don't try to reason it out, simply believe
it. God actually gives every one of his children an identical
heart. It's the same heart. You say,
I don't understand. Don't understand it, believe
it. Look here in Ezekiel 36, verse 27. Ezekiel 36, I'm sorry,
verse 26. It says, a new heart also will
I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I'll take
away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you an heart
of flesh and I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statues and keep my judgments and do them. We get it says right
there, a heart of flesh. So let me tell you what that's
telling us. We're not getting a mechanical heart. We're not
getting some heart that God you know, put together or created
in glory or something, which he could have done, I suppose.
You know what we get? We get a heart of flesh. That
means it was the heart of a man who was born and lived in this
world. Who do you think's heart we get?
The Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of God, actually takes
reaches into the chest of every believer and lifts out that stony
heart. That's heart that's turned to
rock. That spiritual heart that died in Adam, God lifts that
out of you if you're one of His. And what He does is He takes
the heart of Jesus Christ and puts it in you. You say, that's
a miracle. Yes, indeed it is. It's a miracle
of God's grace that He would do that for such a one as we
are. And it's a heart of flesh, so it's got to be the heart of
a man. And this heart always has always kept God's judgments
and walked in his statutes. It's always pleased. God has
behaved perfectly has done all it needs to be done so that when
we come into the presence of God, do you know what? Yeah. When your children do something
they shouldn't do, if you'd be patient, they'll give themselves
away. I won't tell you. Every time they'll, they'll go.
I mean, one time I came in and, and my son had chocolate all
over like this. Okay. Luke did. And I said, well,
you've been doing, I said, you've been in the cookies, chocolate
chip cookies. I mean, he just had it all over his face and
denied it. You know what? Bless his heart. He needed a new heart. That lion
heart's going to deny it every time. But God's people, when
He gives us a new heart, we don't have to lie anymore. We don't
have to cheat and steal. It's already been done. We don't
even have to behave. We want to, don't we? But our
salvation is not dependent on our behaving. Our salvation is
dependent on what Christ did. What He's already done. And the
new heart He gives us, it's a miracle. Now notice that these two men
both said, our heart. our heart. And you know, it's
a miracle that one heart is sufficient for the multitude, the multiplied
millions of God's people. That's how big that heart is.
That's how perfect that heart is. It's big enough. It's big
enough. And you know, it's a miracle
of God's mercy. We call the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God did surgery on his son, and he does it on every one of his
people. Now, my mother had two open-heart surgeries. Buddy,
I'm telling you, they cut her from here to her navel, and they
spread those ribs out, and they went in there. She had rheumatic
fever as a child, and therefore, The mitral valve on the back
side of her heart stopped working right. It wouldn't seal off right.
They went in there and you know what they did? They put a Teflon-coated
aluminum valve in her heart and it worked great. My daughter
Carrie, when she was little, would lean against her grandma
and she'd say, what is that? And that was that valve, that
metal valve seating, it had a ball in it, a metal ball that would
seat there. And after so many years, about
eight or 10 years, that scar tissue grew around it. She had
to have it replaced. And they went back and cut her
again like that. And this time, you know what
they did? They put a pig's valve in there. And it lasted the rest
of her life. But I tell you what, she had
scars there, there, she had them in her groin, in her arms, she
had to hook her up on this heart machine to keep her alive while
they did the surgery. But as she bore the scars of
that, what about you and me, God's people? Do we bear the
scars of that surgery? No, sirree. No, no, no. He does this surgery miraculously
in a way that when you and I appear before God in glory, we'll appear
to be perfect. There won't be a scar on us from
that heart surgery, not a one. But you know who is scarred?
What was happening at Calvary? What was going on there? We know
that they took a man and tried him and convicted him of something
he didn't do. that said he was guilty. He didn't
protest. He stood and took it, didn't
he? Then they marched him up that hill and they nailed him
to a tree. They drove nails through his
wrists and hands and feet. And then that fellow ran that
blade up through there. And we tend to think, well, he
just sort of jabbed him, right? Nah, you know what he did? He
ran that Roman spear up there and ripped him. cut him open,
all the blood and fluids came out of his body, drained to the
ground. And you know what? He bears the
scars to this day. Why? Because that's the scars
you and I should have by rights. But he took them for us. He died
that death So you and I one day don't have to come into the judgment
of God and hear him say, bind him up, cast him hand, foot,
throw him into the lake of fire. That's what we deserve. But you
and I come into glory and there's not a scar on us. They never
put a tube in one in us. And yet we got the perfect heart
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when these two fellows said,
didn't our heart burn within us? Isn't it wonderful when Gabe
Listen, I love to listen to your pastor preach. I walk most mornings,
and boy, if there's a new message up on the sermon audio, your
pastor's preach, that's the first thing I want to hear. And he
preached that message the other day about the flies, the plague
of the flies. I'm telling you, I'm walking
down the road with my thing in and going, and I'm just, boy,
is that good. Oh, I like that. What's going
on? Did any of y'all react that way
when you heard it? I mean, I know in the service
here you don't start laughing out loud, but it was such good
news to me, and nobody was around. I could behave the way I wanted
to. I could shout. I could, and whatever. What is it? I can see some of
you getting like, yeah, that was really great. What is it
that you like it so much and I like it so much and you like
it so much and you like it so much? What is it? Folks, we got
one heart. We're not trying to think this
thing through. We believe by the grace of God
and we rejoice when we hear it. It is like believers who are
married. We're one man, one heart, and
a lot of folks get along and things, but two believers, they
love each other like nobody else can on this earth because they
got the same heart. Got the same heart. Well, I got
ahead of myself, but let me close by giving you a couple of things. Turn to Acts chapter 4 real quick. Acts chapter 4. Where does one become the recipient
of a new heart? You say, where? Why is that important?
Well, if you were going to have heart surgery, would you want
to have it done in the back seat of a car or in your basement?
No, you'd want to go to the hospital, wouldn't you? Because that's
where you know you'd get the care you needed, right? Okay,
so where do we receive this? Turn to Acts chapter 4 and look
at verse 31. Acts 4, 31. And when they had
prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the word of God with boldness. And the multitude to whom they
believed were of what? One heart and of one soul. Neither
said any of them that of the things that he possessed was
his own, that they had all things common. Do you see some folks
here got a new heart? And where was it? Where the gospel
was preached. If you want a new heart, you're in just the right
place to get one. This is where spiritual heart surgery is done
every Sunday and Wednesday. It's right here in this building.
And where the gospel is preached is where you're going to get
that new heart. That's where. And I turn back a couple pages
to Acts 2. Acts chapter 2. And here's another
illustration of where you get this new heart. You see in Acts
chapter 2, Verse 36, this was Pentecost. Therefore, let all
the house of Israel know assuredly that God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And when they heard,
you see where you get it is where the gospel is preached. And when
you get it is when you hear it. And it says now, when they heard
this, they were pricked what in their heart. You've got an
S on yours? Nope, me neither. There's 3,000
people here, Bob. You're saying they got one heart?
Absolutely. If God revealed Christ to them,
that's what they got. The Spirit came and gave them
one heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
men and brethren, what'll we do? You notice he didn't say,
he didn't try to reason it out. He didn't say, this doesn't make
any sense to me. No, they got right to it. They were like,
I see I'm the problem. My old heart's the problem, and
I need a new one." And when they heard it, they said, oh, what
do we do? And look at verse 38, and then Peter said to them,
repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. What's that? What do you suppose
that gift is? A new heart, the heart of the
Lord Jesus Christ. For the promise is unto you and
to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call." And with many words did he testify
and exhort saying, save yourselves from the untoward generation.
And then one last thing in Acts 8, Acts chapter 8, just a few
pages over. And here's another example of
where and when a believer gets a new heart, Acts chapter 8. This poor eunuch had come all
the way from Ethiopia down in Africa up to Jerusalem desiring
to know of the things of Christ. And the Holy Spirit sent Philip
to the place where the eunuch would be and preached the gospel
to him. What did he do? He opened the
scriptures to him just like the Lord did to those two fellows
on the road to Emmaus, just like those fellows did on the day
of Pentecost. Listen, this is not, This is not rocket science,
if I can put it that way. This is so simple. God's not
made it complex. He's not made it so hard for
us to get a new heart that we can't, that it can't be done.
Aren't you glad it doesn't say you got to go to the moon and
back, or you got to go to the holy land and back, or you got
to, you got to get up and pray seven times every morning to
the east. Aren't you glad you don't have
to, what if you oversleep and miss one? You missed your heart. No, this is so simple. What it
says is, I'll come to you and open the scriptures to you. Acts
8, look at verse 35. Then Philip opened his mouth
and began the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus.
And as they went on their way, They came unto a certain water,
and the eunuch said, Well, here's water. What doth hinder me to
be baptized? You see, he heard, he got a new
heart, and the first thing he wanted to do was be baptized.
He said, I want to be baptized. And Philip said, Well, if thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. If you've got a
new heart, you can be baptized. And he answered and said, I believe. What did he say he believed?
He didn't say, I believe in baptism. I believe in this doctrine. I
believe in that doctrine. I believe in this and that. No,
no. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. He didn't say, well, I think
you're a prophet. I think you're a teacher. I think you're the,
the I think has nothing to do with it. It's who he is. And God's people, when they get
a new heart, they believe that. They believe who he is and they
bow to him. And he commanded the chariot
to stand still, and they went down both to the water, Philip
and the eunuch, and he baptized them. And when they came up out
of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and
the eunuch saw him no more. But you know what he did? He
went his way. But what was his way now? Rejoicing. I tell you
what, if you've got a new heart, you've never had a bad day since.
I understand we've had some tough ones, but we're not going to
have the bad day. You know what the bad day is?
I never knew you. That's the bad day. You brought
that old rotten heart to me, I'll not have it. Depart from
me. That's a bad day. But if you've
got a new heart, all the days are good days. Waiting on the
return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We'll see him come and the eunuch,
it happened to him. It happened to 3000 at Pentecost.
And I'll tell you what, I trust there are many in Kingsport.
That's what this is all about. We realize this is not about,
this is not about. A building, it's not about a
place, it's not about, yeah, I'm important over there at Kingsport
Sovereign Grace. No, it's not about anything but
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might come here and use
this place and this pulpit and this word to call out his people
and give them a new heart. And you know what? Every time
it happens, every time it happens, everybody who's got a new heart
goes, I'm so glad he got one too. I'm so glad she got one
too. And we have all things common
then, don't we? Because we believe on Him. All
right, may the Lord bless His word. Chris, if you want to come
and lead us in a closing hymn.