Look here in verse 26, A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a harder
flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do
them. Now God's talking to Israel,
but He's also speaking to spiritual Israel. Also speaking to us,
God's people. Spiritual Israel. This is a gracious,
gracious word from our covenant God. Our covenant God. It was spoken to a graceless,
graceless people. And that's what God does. We
went our own way, but he said there in verse 21, he said, I
had pity for my own namesake. I had pity. You know why I said
we had pity? Had pity because we need pity.
We're a pitiful people. You know, the Lord says, when
that infant was cast out in Ezekiel 16, he says, none I pitied thee,
none I pitied thee. But when I passed by, it was
a time of love. And you know the Lord Jesus Christ,
the scriptures tells us that God as a father pitieth his children,
even so the Lord pitieth him that fear him. You know why?
He knows our frame, and we're just nothing but dust, frail
dust. And a woman came to him one time
with her daughter and said, Lord, have pity on me. for my daughter's sake. So you
know, we come before God and we always, He pities us because
we're a pitiful people. And then everything about His
work, God does it of grace. Without grace, there'd be no
salvation. Without God, there'd be no salvation. His work, His work from start
to finish is His work. 12 times, it says, I will. God, everything you find here
says, I will, I will, I will, I will, I'll do it. So when we
talk about will being done, it's his will. And I'll tell you what,
12 times his will is mentioned, his will. And you go through
this whole chapter and you'll find out how many times he talks
about his will and what he does for his own namesake. And who's
his namesake? His blessed son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it's a personal work. He
said, I'll give you a new spirit. I'll put within you a new spirit. I gotta do this. You don't have
the ability to do it. And he does this great and blessed
work upon individuals, upon people, personal people, people that
are individuals. Now God said here in verse 26,
a new heart will I give you. A new heart will I give you.
Why a new one? Why a new one? Because the old
one is so stony. Ain't that what he said? I'll
take away the stony heart. The earth is a heart of stone.
Stony heart, a heart of stone. Stones are cold. There's no warmth
in stones. No affection in stones. No feeling
in stones. Stones are hard, hard. You keep this and look over with
me in Job chapter 41. Look in Job chapter 41. See what
it says here about stones. Stones are hard. They're callous. They can't feel. They can't feel
at all. Job 41. It's the last chapter
almost before the Psalms. And the stone is hard, it's unfeeling,
callous, can't feel. Look what he said here in verse
24. Job 41, 24. When his heart is
as firm as a stone, yea, hard as a piece of the nether millstone. Oh my, hard as a millstone, hard,
hard. You've heard of people being
hard-headed. Well, he's still talking about people that are
hard-hearted. I've heard people over the years many times, you
know, talking about unconverted people, that unconverted people
say, they got a tender heart. That's not true, that's not true. They may cry, they may act tender-hearted,
they may even have compassion, but it's all of the flesh. Because
they have a hard heart, they have a stony heart, and they
do it for one motive, to be noticed, to have people say those things
about them. But we have a stony heart, born with a stony heart,
cold heart, dead heart, hard heart, callous heart. lifeless
heart. And I tell you what, and I tell
you the heart, men are born with a hard heart. I tell you how
hard it is. If God don't take it out, you'll die with it. You'll
die with a heart just as hard as a millstone. And I tell you
when something's stony, it's dead, dead, incapable, incapable
of having any spiritual motion whatsoever. Have you ever seen
a rock move itself? Have you ever seen a rock fill
anything? Take a rock and hit it with a sledgehammer. It don't
fill it. You may break it, but it don't fill it. And that's
the way it is with the gospel. The gospel comes as a hammer,
comes as a fire. But people don't feel the hammer
and they don't feel the fire. There's no vitality in this heart. And not only is the heart dead,
no spiritual motion to it, cold and lifeless, but it's deaf. Stone can't hear nothing. It's
dumb. It can't hear. It can't speak.
Stones don't talk. When they can't speak, they can't
hear. They can't hear God's Name. They can't hear God's Word. A
stone's dead. Have you ever went out and talked
to a stone? Has anybody ever talked to a rock and expected
it to talk back to you and to hear you? And that's what he's talking
about here. He said, your heart's so stony. And I tell you what
in the world don't happen then. If we got such a stony heart,
what's gonna happen? Well, there's gotta be a miracle
performed. Gotta be something absolutely supernatural. It has
to be a work that's so powerful. And look what God says here.
A new heart Well, I give you. I got to give it to you. You
know, we said, you know, I'm going to
take out the stony heart. I'm going to take it out. Nothing
can be done with the stony heart. Nothing can be done. Now, you
can polish a stone. You can carve, you know, we buy
headstones and we have things carved in these headstones. We
have our name carved in them. Versus scripture sometimes. When
we're born, when we die. Children's name carved into them.
You reckon that stone feels that? You reckon that stone knows what
year it is, what day it is? Whose name's on it? And they
polish it up and make it so shiny, make it so nice. You can polish
it. But you still can't make it living.
You still can't make it living. Oh, I see some beautiful headstone.
I saw, there's a headstone that's got pictures on it. They take the pictures of the
person and put on it. And you can see them, they're
there, that's their picture. And all the things that's interested
in, hunting, there's a deer there, ginseng's over here, and dogs
over there, and they got all this stuff. But that thing's
just as dead as the person in the ground. Just as lifeless
as in the ground. Huh? Polish it up! That ain't
gonna make it no better. And that's all religion can do
is polish you up. Polish you up. That's what it's
gotta do. It's gotta just polish a person
up. Make them look good. But it's still a stone. And God
says, listen, I'm gonna give you a heart of flesh. He says,
I'm gonna give you a new one. A new one. Oh my, got to have
a new one. Got to have a new one. And you
noticed it was a gift of God. He said, I will give you a new
heart. That means it's a gift. That's
a gift of God. If you got a heart that can be
touched with the word, with the gospel, with the word of God,
can be touched with the scriptures, be touched when we sing that.
My God, how great thou art. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Oh my. And he takes and look
what he says here. I will take away the stony heart. I'm gonna have to take it away.
I've got to reach in there and get it out. You know, you hear people say
this all the time. Give Jesus your heart. Now I
want to know how in the world somebody does that. How does
somebody give Jesus the heart? How does that happen? How does
that happen? How does a dead man give somebody's
heart? How can a stone give anybody
a heart? Oh, let him into your heart.
How do you do that? How do you let him into your
heart? How is that accomplished? How is that done? How can anybody
open their heart? How can anybody let Jesus in
their heart? How does that happen? Our Lord said, I've got to come
in there and I've got to reach in there by my power, by the
Spirit, by the Word, by the Gospel. I've got to reach in there and
take out that stony heart. And then I've got to turn around
and put a brand new one in there. And you know that's what he's
talking about. I gotta put a brand spanking new one in there. And
it's a gift of God. And this new heart is a life-giving
change. And guess what it does? It changes
the whole man. Oh, I tell you what happens is
God brings into existence a new soul. He brings into existence
something that never was there before. Huh? And he gives him,
it's a gift, he said, I give it to you. I give it to you. And when he gives you a heart
of flesh, gives you this new heart, it becomes a soft heart
then. Before it was hard, now it's
soft. It can be touched now. It can
be touched. It becomes sensitive. It becomes
sensitive to sin, becomes sensitive to self-righteousness, It becomes
sensitive to no accomplishment on your part, no works on your
part. It becomes very, very sensitive.
And it becomes so sensitive that it is easily impressed by the
things of God. Now it pays attention to the
things of God. And in fact, when God gives this
new heart, you know what happens? You become like a child. You
become like a child. My father-in-law didn't get converted
till he was 75 years old. And before that, he knew everything.
Before he got saved, he knew everything. So I talked to him
about the gospel. Oh, I know that. I know that.
Oh, yeah, I understand that. I know that. He knew everything.
But after God saved him, He said, I'm a baby. Oh my goodness,
I'm so ashamed of thinking I knew anything. I'm just a baby, 75
years old, 80 years old. I'm a baby. And that's what we are. We're
like children. You know why we're like children?
We're sitting here waiting on our Father to do something for
us. Waiting on our Father to speak to us. Waiting on our Father
to make Himself known to us. Waiting for our Father to speak
to us. Waiting for our heart, our Father, to come and show
us some love and some kindness and some compassion. We're children
sitting here waiting for our Father. waiting to hear from
our blessed Father, huh? Oh my. And then not only is it
a gift of God and it's a soft heart, but it's also warm. It
starts getting warm. It starts getting warm. It's
not cold and lifeless anymore. Oh no, no, no. It's warm. It's warm, you know. This old saying, and people tell
me this all the time, my hands stay cold all the time. My hand
just cold as ice right now. It's cold as ice. I can feel
it. Everybody shakes my hand, they'll say, boy, your hands
are like ice. They say that means a warm heart. No, it don't. Having
cold hands just means you got cold hands. That's all it means. So let's don't say that anymore.
Warm hands, cold hands means you got a warm heart. I don't
think that's so. If I've got a warm heart, it's
because God gave it to me. That's where I got it from. God
gave it to me. And you know why it's warm? Because
the Holy Ghost is shed abroad the love of God in our hearts.
Oh, He shed abroad the love of God in our hearts. Oh, my. And love makes you warm. Love
makes you kind. Love makes you tender. Love makes
you do things for people and be interested in doing for others.
And it's warm. It's warm towards others now.
Oh, it's warm toward others now. You want to be friends, you want
to be brothers, you want to be sisters, you want to be kind,
you want to be warm to the people around you. And I tell you what,
in this warmth of God's Word, you know what? How many times
have you come in here and you felt like your heart was just
as cold and lifeless when you left here? You felt like those
two disciples on the mass wrote, oh, our hearts did burn within
us. You come in here cold and you
leave and said, oh, our hearts did burn within us. Oh my, our hearts get warm when
we come in here. And then it's a living heart.
It's living. It was once dead. Now it's alive. It's alive under God. Never knew
God before, but now, now it thinks of God. When we sing that song,
My God, How Great Thou Art, we all sing, we all think that,
we all believe that, we all stand in awe of how great God is. How glorious God is! How sovereign
God is! How almighty He is! How glorious
He is! How majestic He is! He's God! And oh my! Once dead, but now
we have a heart that's alive. It's alive and it's alive under
God. We have a heart now that seeks the Lord. And it has desires. We have a heart that has desires.
You know what it desires more than anything? It desires to
be made like Christ. It desires to be done with this
world and be done with the things of this world. It don't want
nothing to do with. It has desires for the gospel. Desires to honor
God. Desires to glorify God. And it
has needs. Every one of us this morning
has our heart has needs, has needs, has needs. It has needs that it never had
before. It has needs. It has needs to
be fed, needs to be nourished, needs to be loved. Wives ask
their husband all the time, do you love me? Well, you know I
do. Well, you don't tell me often
enough. You ever heard that? God tells us all the time how
much He loves us. Huh? Oh, we have needs that it
never had. We have needs now that never,
never existed. Most of you all have heard of
Sir Walter Raleigh. He was an explorer, sea captain,
came to America, went back to England, and he was executed. Cut his head off. And the executioner
said, just your head here on this block. Get your head just
right on this block. You know what he told him? He
told him this. It don't matter how my head lays
on this block as long as my heart's right. And that's the truth. It don't matter what my head's
like on that block as long as my heart's right. That's all
that matters. And that's the usual thing, either
a man's got a heart of stone or a new heart. No middle ground. No middle ground. But boy, I
tell you what, God's got to make that thing right. People say,
well, I've got to get right with God. Let me ask you again, how
in the world does that happen? How do you get right with God? How does it happen? God has to make us right. He's got to do it for us. If
we're ever made right, God's got to be the one to do it. If
we're ever made alive, God's got to be the one to do it. If
we ever see God, He's got to show it to us. If we ever hear
His voice, He's got to give us ears to hear. He's got to do
it all. And all I tell you, where there's a new heart, look what
else He says now here. and verse 26, I will put my spirit,
down in verse 27, and I will take away the star, give you
a new spirit, and down in verse, and I will put my spirit within
you. There's another thing he's gotta
do, he takes out the heart, this stony, and then he has to come
and give us a new spirit. Why do we have to give us a new
spirit? Because we're lifeless. We don't know God. We couldn't
possibly know God. And when he puts his spirit within,
you know what the spirit does? Spirit manifests new life. You
hear people all the time say, boy, he's, you know, he's got
such a good spirit. He's so, such a, got a good spirit. You know, your spirit is what
animates you. The soul is what is alive under
God. The spirit, that's what animates
us. That's what makes us who we are
and makes us manifest whatever we are. And when the spirit comes
in, the Holy Spirit comes within you, and he said he puts his
spirit within us. The spirit manifests life. When you put
the spirit within you, automatically life starts coming. Life starts
coming. And I tell you, it's a new life.
It's his spirit. Romans 8 and 9 says this, without
His Spirit, without the Spirit of Christ, He said, you're none
of His, you're none of His. And Romans, Galatians 4.4, it
says this, that God sent forth the Spirit, sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into our hearts. And you know what we say? Abba,
that's what you do when you're a baby. Babies, you know, they
start calling you, you know, they start calling you some name,
they don't even, you can't understand what they're saying. And then
all of a sudden, one day, they get up and say, hey, Daddy, Dad,
Mom, and that's what it is. We're babies, we just say Abba,
Abba, Abba. And when we get up big enough
to talk, we say, Father? That's the difference. That's
the difference. And this is the way we know we're the children
of God. You know, the Spirit himself bears witness with our
spirit that we're the children of God. Now you keep Ezekiel
and look with me over in Romans 8. Let's look together here in
Romans 8. Let me show you something. And
all I tell you, where I put a spirit within you, the spirit makes
us free, makes us have life, manifests that life. Oh my. Look what he says here in Romans
8, 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, Now where does the Spirit of God lead a person? Where does
He lead you to? The scriptures tell us plainly
that the Spirit reveals Christ to us, leads us to Christ. But
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God. And oh, that's how we know we're
God's son, the Spirit's within us. And then listen to this,
you've not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear. We're
not afraid. We're not afraid of God in the
sense that you know He's going to punish us. We're not afraid
that we're going to lose some kind of reward. We're not afraid
that God's going to reject us when we get there. We're not
afraid that we're going to be left out, that God's not going
to do anything for us. We're not in bondage anymore.
We're free from sin. We're free from Satan. We're
free to worship and bless His holy name. Listen to this now.
But you have received the spirit of adoption. That means we're
sons whereby we cry, like I just told you. Abba, can't say father. Not old enough, but father. And the spirit itself bears witness
with our spirit. What does it bear? That we're
the children of God. How do you know you're a child
of God? The Holy Spirit's the only one that can bear witness
to that. I can't tell you if you're a child of God. You know,
a man that's trying to give assurance to another man, he's really trying
to give assurance to himself. You know, I can't give assurance.
If the Holy Spirit can't give you assurance, I certainly can't
do it. I can't even give myself assurance.
But oh, I tell you where the Spirit of God is, the Spirit
of God lets you know whether you're a child of God or not.
And how can you tell you're a child of God? By the Spirit of God
in you. How do you respond to the Gospel? How do you respond
to the Holy Spirit? How do you respond to the Word
of God? How do you respond when you're at home alone and you're
listening to a message off of the internet or somewhere? How
do you respond? Your mind and heart says, yes,
yes, yes, that's true, that's so. Don't it? Amen. Well, you know, amen. That's the way it is. That's
what we say in our hearts. Some people have told me, they
say, that's all I can do is from getting up and hollering sometimes.
You know why that is? That's the Spirit of God in you
setting you alive and setting you on fire and blessing your
heart. Now the preacher can't do that,
but the Holy Spirit in you can. And I tell you, it changes our
spirit. Not only it puts a new spirit,
but it changes our spirit. Changes our nature towards God,
His Word, and also His ways. Look what he says there in verse
27. I'm going to put my spirit, and
listen to this, and I'm going to cause you, I'm going to cause
you to walk in my statutes. I'm going to make you walk in
my Word. You know, the steps of the Lord
are ordered by the Lord, steps of a man. And you know, it's
God which worketh in you both to will and to do. God created
us unto good works in Christ Jesus. And he said, I'm gonna
cause you to walk. I'm gonna cause you to walk.
You know what you're doing right now? You're walking. Every one
of us are walking. And we're not moving a muscle,
but we're walking. Hell, we're walking by faith. And we now walk in newness of
life. Oh, we got a life that never
existed before when God puts in that heart and that new spirit.
You know one thing? We love God's ways right now.
Whatever way He does, we love it. I'm telling you what, I don't
get angry at God over nothing. Listen, whatever He does is right. If He comes in there and takes
somebody out of your home and your family, it's the right thing
to do. It's just His way of taking them
home. Oh my, we love God's ways. He said, I want you to go that
way. Maybe I want to go this way. No, no Lord, you just, you
just, Lead the way. And you know in the scriptures
how many times it says, they follow Jesus in the way? And that man, that man who had been
blemished, the Lord cleansed him and said, they followed him
in his way. Whatever his way is, is the right
way, ain't it? Oh my, ain't you glad that he
causes us to walk in his way? We ain't got sense enough to
walk in his way. I remember when I was a kid,
used to go coon hunting all the time. Used to go coon hunting
with my uncle all the time. Oh my goodness, wasn't nothing
getting two or three coons and a big carrier. I had to carry them.
And we'd go through the, we had an old carbine light. Do you
remember them old carbine lights? We'd go through the woods with
an old carbine light and they'd stink. And you just barely could
see where you was going. You know, and you'd have to hold
that light way up there, see if you could see some shining
eyes. Well, that's how, that's how we was. We didn't even have
a car blind light. We just stumbling around in the
dark. And then the Lord comes and he says, listen, I'm going
to put in a new heart, put in a new spirit within you. And
you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to light the way. And
that's the way you're going to go. And I'm glad to go. Oh my, we love God's way. We're
saved from our ways. Saved from our ways. Our ways
was sin, His way's righteousness. Our way was death, His way's
life. Oh, bless His name. And the scriptures
tell us, as you have received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him.
How'd you receive him? You received him as a sinner
in need. You received him as a helpless
person and he had to help you. You received him as the only
person that could do anything for you. As you received him,
you walk that way. You know, Enoch walked with God
for over 300 years. How did he do it? Same way we're
walking right now by faith. I'm telling you, every one of
us here this morning's walking. We're sitting here, we're listening,
but we're walking. You know why we're walking? We're
walking by faith. We're living the way we receive
Christ, by faith. And then look what he says in
verse 28. And then he says this, and you
shall dwell. In other words, he says a lot
of wills, but he said you shall. You shall dwell in the land.
Oh my, what land's he talking about? He gave Israel a promised
land. Land floored with milk and honey.
Well God said, we're gonna dwell in the land. We've got a promised
land too. We do. Not only we got a new land promised,
but we got a new heaven promised. He said, I'm gonna make a new
heaven. And I'm going to make a new earth. And he said, that's
what you're going to dwell on. You know, these pre-millennials
and all that, they say, boy, when you get on there, we're
going to raise watermelons big as Volkswagens. Well, if we're going to have
to raise great big gardens and tend to them You know, grow grapes
and all that. If we're going to have to do
all that stuff, then you know, you know what I want to do? I
want to make knives to cut them watermelons with. That's how, that's how absurd
it is. How absurd it is. You think God
is going to put us someplace where there's a new heaven and
a new earth and righteousness dwells in there? Oh my, walk around in this new,
whatever the Garden of Eden was, it is nothing compared to what
God's gonna put us in. Nothing, nothing. And oh my,
you're gonna be on this new heaven. Isaac and Jacob and Abraham,
they looked, they traveled, and they lived in a tent. And we're
living in a tent. When this earthly tent be dissolved,
this earthly house is to be devolved, we'll be clothed of bone with
a new house, not made with hands. And it's eternal in the heavens.
And the scriptures tells us, that in that new heaven and new
earth that there will be and there we will enjoy God and everyone
that's there will be just as righteous as they are now but
only in Christ and you will not never ever break another sweat. You'll never stink under your
arms again. You'll never have to brush your
teeth again. You'll not wear glasses. You'll
not wear false teeth. You say, that's crazy. Well,
does God fail at anything He does? If He makes a new heaven
and a new earth, He's got to put new people on it. He just
gave us a new heart. He put a new spirit in it, so
everything's new. Oh, we got the most blessed future.
But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, every once in a while, they'd
have to pick up stakes, get their tent, roll it up, and start moving. And what was they doing? Every
time they moved, they was looking for a city. They said, I'm going
to find that city one of these days. What city are you talking
about? That city which hath foundations.
whose builder and maker is God. Boy, I tell you what, we have
got some kind of future. We have got some kind of future.
Oh my. And then look what he says here
after that. He said, you're going to dwell
in the land. And listen to this, in verse 28, you shall be my
people. You shall be my people. We talked
about that wiz tonight. Comfort you, comfort you. My
people, saith your God. You shall be my people. Well,
I don't know if I want to be your people or not. What are
you going to give me if I become one of your people? What are
you going to reward me with? What are you going to give me?
What are you going to pay me? If you want me to be one of your
people, what's in it for me? That's what most people think.
That's what most people say. But God said, you're going to
be my people. And he said, you know what? I'm going to be your
God. And that's the covenant, the
long and short of it. You're going to be my people,
and I'm going to be your God. He didn't say you want to, you'd
like to, you hope you are. He said, that's what's going
to happen. You're my people, and I'm your God. Oh my, bless his name. And then
look what, look at all these precious promises he gives us
now. Oh, look what he gives us. He says in verse 29, he said,
I'm gonna save you from all your uncleannesses. Well, every time
we come to a service, he saves us from our uncleanness. You
come here on Wednesday night, come in here on sometimes Sunday
morning, come in here sometimes Sunday night, and you feel so
unclean. You feel so unclean. I feel that way. I mean, my thoughts
are unclean. My words are unclean. My attitude's
unclean. And what and all the thing that
can cleanse it. God said, I will cleanse you. I will save you. Well, all the time you feel unclean,
I'm gonna save you from it. I'm going to wash you all over
again. I'm going to cleanse you again. I'm going to cleanse you
again. And then look what else he says.
And I'm going to call for some corn. He said, you know what
I'm going to do? I'm going to feed you. I love corn. I love sweet corn.
I really, really do. But he said, I'm going to call
for corn. I'm going to call for it. You ain't going to have to
plant it. You ain't going to have to raise
it. You're not going to have to pick it. He said, I'm going to call for
it, and it's going to be yours. I'm going to be responsible to
feed you. And everything you know, breads
made out of it, or so many things, cornbread,
oh my goodness. He said, I'm going to call for
corn. I'm going to call for corn and I'm going to feed you. And
then look what he says. He said, I'm going to increase
it. About the time you think it's gone, he said, I'm just
going to give you some more. I'm just going to increase it. About the time you think, well,
I'm hungry, I'm just going to give you some more. increase
it. And then look what else he says
here. He said, I'm gonna lay no famine on you. I'm not gonna
cause you to have a famine. Now there is a famine in this
land, there's no doubt about that. A famine for hearing the
Word of God. But he said, you're not gonna
be that way. He said, you're not gonna be that way. I'm not
gonna send a famine on you. Oh my, I'm responsible for you. I'm not gonna let you starve.
I'm not gonna let you do without. I'm not gonna let no famine come
upon you. It's like Israel. When they had
that seven years of plenty and then the seven years of famine,
you know who had the only person who had any food for anybody
in the whole world? It was Joseph. You know who got any food for
all his elect? The Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? He gonna feed his people. I ain't
gonna lay no famine upon you. And then look what else he says
here, in verse 30. He said, I'm going to multiply
the fruit of the tree. Oh my goodness. Oh my, the fruit of the tree.
I'm going to make that tree just bloom and bring fruit and bring
forth more fruit and more fruit and more fruit. He said, I'm
going to cause it. I'm gonna bring fruit on the
tree. You can go pick anything you want. Now, I don't know what
kind of fruit he's talking about, but whatever it is, it's got
to be good. It's got to be good. And we're
trees of the Lord's planting. And if we have any fruit whatsoever,
I heard a preacher preaching the other day, I got to listening
to him, and he done so good till he got down there, and he talked
about separation, and he talked about bearing fruit. Bearing
fruit. But here's the thing, if we bury
any fruit, God's gotta be the one to produce it. He said, without
me, you can do nothing. He said, the branches abide in
the vine. Separate from that vine, it's
dead. And our Lord Jesus said, you know that we're trees of
the Lord's planting, trees of righteousness. And he has to
produce the fruit. Brad preached on this one time
several years ago, John 15, 16. No, you're not. You've not chosen
me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should
bring forth fruit. Now, what do you think about
that? You know, the only people who don't think they got any
fruit is people's got it. You know, you talk about all
these fellows that's got all this fruit. Boy, I tell you what. You say, I don't think I got
any fruit. Oh, I see all kinds of fruit around me. I see love. I see peace. I see joy. I see
gentleness. I see kindness. I see love. I see faith. Oh, I see, I see,
I see, I see fruit. I see fruit. I see fruit. And then look what else he says
here. Not only with verse 30, where I multiply the fruit of
the tree and the increase of the field. And he said, you're
not gonna have no more reproach. I'm not gonna reproach you anymore.
There's gonna be no reproach. Oh no, when you get where I'm
bringing you in this new land, there'll be no reproach there.
And then look what he says. He said, not for your sakes,
over here in verse 22. He said, O house of Israel, but
for my own holy namesake, that's why I do these things. That's
why I do these things. And then let me say just this
and I'll be done. It's an effectual work. It's
an effectual work. God said, I will, I will, I will,
I will, I will, I will. You shall, you shall, you shall. I will and you shall. That's
my theology right there. I will, and you shall. If I shall,
you will. Whatever God wills for his people,
that's gonna happen. Yeah, mark it down. It's an effectual
word. He said, I will. I will take
away the stony heart. I will put in a heart of flesh.
I will put a new spirit within you. I will cleanse you. I will
feed you. I'll cause the corn to increase.
God can do anything. Can God do anything that fails?
Not absolutely no. One of the greatest works he
does in this world People talk about miracles, miracles and
miracles. The greatest work he does for anybody in this world
is to give them a new heart. Give them a new heart. A new
spirit, a new spirit. And let me give you some, look
what he says here about this, and I've got to hurry. Look in
verse 31. When he does this, you know what you do? You remember
your evil ways. Oh my, my ways were so sinful. My ways were so evil. And your
doings, they weren't good. And here's some evidence, you
know, of God putting a new heart in it. You loathe yourselves.
Oh my. How many times have you said
like the Apostle Paul, oh wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man
that I am. Oh, God save me from such evil
ways. Anything I've done wasn't a good
thing I've ever done. Oh, my. And he said, you shall
remember. A dead, stony heart can't remember
anything. Only a living heart can remember. Oh, my. You won't know somebody
else, their evil ways, but your own. Let me ask you. Is God taking out that stony
heart? Has he put in a new heart? Has he put his spirit within
you? You know the only one that knows that is you. The only one
that knows that is you. Ain't that right? Our Father, we bow our hearts
again in your holy presence. Thank you for meeting with us
today. Thank you for the gospel. Thank
you for our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the wills of God,
the high wills of God. Thank you that you made us your
people and you're our God. Oh Lord, you did this work. And
Lord, we know that whatever work you started, you're going to
finish it. And we know it's a good work because that's all you can
do is good. And Father, bless this message
to the hearts of those who are here today. Thank you for the
gospel. Thank you for your people. Thank
you for your word. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. Houston, teach me thine own way. Teach me thine own. Teach me
thy way. Let's sing that wherever it's
at. Teach me thy way. What is it? Teach me thy ways. Let's stand
together. Number 337. 337. Help me to walk the right, nor
by pain bless my soul. Help me, Lord, teach me Thy way. When I am sad at heart, teach
me Thy way. When earth rejoices, Lord, In times of dire distress, infill
your success. Teach me thy way. When doubts and fears arise,
teach me thy way. Shining through the clouds and rain, Through sorrow, toil,
and pain, Yes, my life shall last. Teach me, I pray. Where'er my lot may pass, teach
me, I pray. run, until the journey's done,
until the crowd is gone.