Ezekiel 36, there in verse 26,
it says this, And a new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you. And I will take 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, we know that
this is to Israel, natural Israel. God's talking to them. But it's
also here a spiritual word for spiritual Israel. Spiritual Israel. Those that God does a work of
grace for. And first of all, this is a gracious
word from our covenant God. He says, a new heart will I give
you. A new spirit will I put within you. I'll take away the
stony heart, and I'll give you a heart aflesh, and I'll put
my spirit within you. And you know why it was a gracious
word from our covenant God? Because it was spoken to a graceless
people. A graceless people. It says there
in verse 21, it says they went their own way. He says, you know,
they profaned my name, whither they went. They went their own
way. And ain't that the way we've always been? We always went our
own way. We, like sheep, have gone astray.
Every man went to his own way. Every man, we've all went to
our own way. Even yet now, we have to say, Lord God, keep me
in the way. Please don't let me have my way.
Keep me from my own way. And yet, and he says in there,
but he said in verse 21, I had pity for my own namesake. I had
pity on you. As a father pitied these children,
even so the Lord pitied them that fear Him. And you remember
that infant was cast out into the field. God came and says,
you know, none I pitied thee. No, I pitied you. But God said
here, I had pity on you for my namesake, my namesake. So in
the second thing about this, His being a gracious Word, everything
that God, about this Word, God does it, and it's all of grace. You go through this, and I went
through it Friday, and counted the I wills, or the wills of
God in this. You know how many wills of God
is in this? I will, I will, I will, will
I, will I, will I? It's will. It's God's will. That's
all that's in this thing. It's like last week when he says,
He foreordained, He predestinated, He called, He glorified, He,
He, He. I will, I will, I will, I will. That's what he told Abraham.
I will, I will, I will, I will. And Abraham just stood there
and kept his mouth shut. Now that's what we do. We just, God's
will says, we just keep our mouth shut. And we say, Bless His holy
name. And then it's a personal work.
What he says in New Heart, verse 26, A new heart will I give you.
I'll put a spirit within you. I'll take the stony heart out
of you. Each individual is something God does for every person, and
He must do it for every person. He has to be the one who does
it. He does this great and blessed work upon individuals. And here's
the first thing He says about it, and that's why my message
is a new heart and a new spirit. He says, A new heart also will
I give you. And a new spirit will I take
within you, and I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I'll give you a heart of flesh." He says, a new heart
I'll give you. Why a new one? Well, I'll tell
you why a new one, because the old one's made out of stone.
It's stony. It's stony. What is it about
a stone heart? I mean, you know, a heart of
stone, what an awful thing, a heart of stone, a stony heart. Let
me tell you something about stones. A stone is cold. No warmth to it. No affection. No feeling. Especially towards
God. It's hard as a stone. Cold as
a stone. Lifeless as a stone. Towards
God. Ain't that what a stone is? A
stony heart? And not only is it cold, but
it's hard. Hard, hard, hard. You keep this
and look with me over in Job 41, just a moment. It's so hard. How many times have you said
about somebody, said, boy, he is so hard-hearted, or she is
so hard-hearted. Seems like they have no feeling.
Job 41, verse 24. You know, a stony heart is hard.
It's implacable. It's immovable. It's callous. It can't feel. And how many times,
I could tell you right off the top of my head, some people that
I've often said, said, boy, how in the world could anybody have
that? Their heart is so hard, it's untouched, it's unmoving.
They seem to have no mercy, no ability to show any mercy. They
don't seem to have the ability to have any feelings about anybody
but themselves. They're hard toward their children,
they're hard toward anybody. And oh, for folks to have a hard
heart, And that's why this heart is so hard toward God. If it's
hard towards other people, imagine how hard it is toward God. It
manifests itself in bitterness toward God. In hatred toward
God. I don't like what God's doing.
I don't like the fact that He works in this world. I don't
like the fact that I'm in His hands to do with me as I will.
They don't like the fact that their will, or their power, or
their rights has no influence with God whatsoever. They don't
like the fact that their position, or their power, or their glory,
or their will has no effect on God whatsoever. And if God does
something in their family that they don't like, that hearts
hard towards Him. Instead of sometimes, sometimes
you know that that God will do something and folks just say,
oh, it's not time. Why did he do it to me? And oh,
beloved, look what Job said here in Job 41, 24. He said, his heart is as firm
as a stone and as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. Y'all
ever been to a mill, wash stone, grind corn, grind wheat? Put that stuff in there and they
just go grinding, grinding, grinding. Grind it to powder. And that's
hard, that's a hard stone. That's a hard stone. And that's
what he says, their heart is as firm as a stone. Tell you
something else about this hard stone, this dead stony heart,
why we have to have a new one. A stone is dead. It's lifeless. It's lifeless. No, it's not. It's incapable of any spiritual
motion. Absolutely incapable of going
toward God. No vitality. It's dead to the
call of God, dead to the Word of God, dead to the Spirit of
God, dead to the call of God. It can't hear. It can't speak.
He cannot call on God's name. And so if something happens,
and this is what's so sad about preachers today. I was flipping
through the channels and I heard two or three different preachers,
and every one of them was talking about serving God, doing something for God, doing
a work for God. And they're calling on dead,
stony-hearted sinners to do something for God that they don't have
the ability to do. Do not have thee a dead, stony,
a dead, lifeless, dead. You hit a rock, does it feel
it? Talk to a rock, does it hear it? Call to a rock, does it hear
it? Show it the cross of Christ,
does it see it? Show it the blood of Christ,
does it have rejoicing in it? No. No lines, no vitality. They just
sit. They were lifeless when they
come, they're lifeless when they go, and they'll stay lifeless
until a miracle, until a miracle takes place, until a powerful
work from God is performed upon them. But oh, bless His holy
name. Look what He says. A new heart
will I give you, and a new spirit will I take within you. And watch
what He says. I'll take away. I'll take it away. Here's God's
way of doing heart surgery. He takes a... People say, give
your heart to Jesus. You can't... You can't give Him no... He got
to give you the one. You can't give Him one. Yours
is stony. You don't even know what... Give your heart to Jesus? Let
Him into your heart? There's no life in a stony heart.
He's got to take it out. And oh, bless His name, and He
does. And He reaches in there and takes
it out. And I mean, He takes it away.
And what does He replace it with? A heart of flesh. A new heart. Let me tell you something. Nothing
can be done with a stony heart. Nothing can be done. You can
polish it. You know, that's what religious do it. It's polishing
stones. You can carve in it. You can
carve in it. Put all kinds of names in it. You go to the graveyard,
and that's exactly why they've got these stones, and they've
been graving. Got people's names and everything, and you can take
it and buy it, spend a lot of money on a stone. Buy a diamond,
buy a ruby. I tell you still, no matter how
valuable it is, it's dead, it's lifeless. It doesn't see, it
doesn't hear, it doesn't feel. Polish it, carve it. The only thing it'll happen,
God takes it away. And gives you a heart of flesh.
And I'll tell you something else about this heart of flesh, about
this new heart. First thing about it, it's a gift of God. He said,
I will give it. Ain't that what He says? I'll
give it to you. You don't deserve it. You didn't want it. You didn't
know you even needed it. But I'll give it to you. You're
sitting there just as dumb as a rock. You know what we say
about people. They're dumb as a box of rocks. Well, that's
the way they are. Until God comes and gives, I
will give you. He gives it to you. By grace
are you saved. Through faith. And that's not
of yourselves. Nothing of this business of salvation
is of ourselves. A good thought is not of ourselves. A feeling towards God is not
of ourselves. This is a hard business, beloved,
and that's what salvation is. It's a hard work. It's a hard
work. It's something that God must
do for a man's heart. Nicodemus says, Lord, I know
that you are a teacher sent from God. Thought he was really commending
the Lord. Thought he was bragging on the
Lord. Thought, boy, I really know something about you. Oh,
you're a great teacher sent from God. No man can do these miracles
unless he sent you. Our Lord just interrupted him.
Said, just shut up and shut your mouth. Said, you know, I'll tell
you something. Except the man be born again,
he can't even see the kingdom of God. You can see teaching. You can see discipleship. You
can see serving the Lord. You can see tithing. You can see
church membership. But you can't see where God's
kingdom is at in the Lord Jesus Christ and His ruling reign in
a man's heart. You can't see that. And oh, beloved,
a new heart. And I'll tell you something,
you know, in the heart, out of the heart are the issues of life.
And when God puts a new heart in a man, it changes his whole
character. It changes his whole life. Ain't
that right? I mean, when he puts a new heart
in there, there comes a new character, there comes a new life, there
comes a new person with that new heart. If it's a new heart,
then there's a new person. You take out a hard stone, put
it in a lot harder place, and beloved, you got a whole new
character, you got a whole new person, you got a different,
it's different day and night. Ain't that right? And oh, it's
new to the soul. It's something that he never
knew before. And here's the thing about it. When God gives you
this new heart, He gives you a heart that's soft. It's a heart
of flesh. It can be touched with the Word of God now. It can be
touched with the Spirit of God now. It becomes sensitive to
sin. It becomes sensitive to the Word.
It becomes sensitive to the Spirit of God. It becomes sensitive
to the Word of God. And it can be impressed with
things now. In fact, it becomes childlike.
Don't it? It becomes dependent on the person
who gave it. Not only is it a soft heart,
but it's a warm heart. It was dead and cold and lifeless
before, but now it's coming. It's got life and it's warm. Oh, it's warm. You know what
made it warm? Blood, new, flesh, not stone
anymore. Not cold and whiteless anymore.
And oh, it's warm. It's warm, beloved. The love
of God is shed abroad in it. Ain't that right? Christ now
dwells in it. Oh, it's warm towards God now. Used to be cold toward God, unmoved
toward God. Consent the service and be untouched
altogether. Come in and leave and never be
touched by anything. Now, beloved, it comes in, and
it may be cold, but the moment it gets on the sound of the gospel,
gets on the sound of the word, and hears a few hymns sung, and
it starts warming up. And because it's warm, it makes
us warm toward other people. It's warm toward other people.
And I'll tell you something about this warm heart. You never knew
you had a cold heart until God gives you a warm one. And then when it starts getting
cold again, you know what you're interested in? Oh, God, do something
for this cold heart of mine. Warm this heart of mine up. A
stony heart don't feel those things. Does it? And oh, beloved,
and it's warm towards God's Word. Oh, it's warm towards God's Word.
And I tell you, beloved, this new heart, this heart of flesh,
it's a living heart. Living. It's living. It was once dead. Now it's alive
under God. It's alive under God. It's a
heart now that never sought the Lord. Now that's all it does
seek. David says, My heart panteth for thee. as the heart panics
after the water broke. And he says, my heart is fixed.
Oh God, fix my heart on you. And oh beloved, listen, now it's
alive under God. It's a heart that seeks the Lord.
It's a heart that has desires that it never had before. It's
a heart that has needs that it never needed before. It has wants
that it never wanted before. And none of these things never
existed. Now, beloved, it's alive to God. It desires God. It desires the
Scriptures. It desires fellowship. It desires
life. It cries out, Oh God, please,
please work in me. And don't never stop working
in me. That's a heart that's alive.
I read an illustration the other day. Sir Walter Raleigh. You know, he was executed, they
beheaded him. And when he's got his head on
the block, they ask him, says, you know, move your head, just
your head on the block. Just, you know, we can't get
a good hit on it the way it is. You know what he said? This is
what he said. He said, it matters little how
the head lies, if the heart is right. This is as good one way on the
block as it is if the heart's right. And a man can't put, you
know, this whole idea, you know, get right with God. Get your
heart right with God. Oh, my. Ain't nobody ever got
right with God on this side of eternity. Oh, no, no. Only God makes a man right. God
gives him a new heart. God makes the peace. God reconciles
to Himself in Christ. God did it. And I tell you, beloved,
the only way we know that's truth is if you've experienced it yourself.
Ain't that right? And oh, beloved, in this situation,
we all either have a heart of stone or a heart of flesh. A new heart. There's no middle
ground. It's either dead or it's alive. It's stone or it's flesh. And if it's stone, that's what
she's born with. If it's a heart of flesh, that's what God gives
you. And that's a miracle. That is
a miracle. And look what else it says here
in Ezekiel 36. Not only will I give you a new
heart, I'll give you a new spirit. But he says there in verse 27,
I will put my spirit within you. I'll put my spirit within you.
Did you have to go back and pray through to get that spirit? Did
you have to start speaking in tongues? Did you have to start
jerking all over and running owls, tearing up the altar until
you got sanctified? No, no. No, God says, I will
put my spirit within you. Huh? Oh, beloved. And where there's
a spirit, That's what manifests this new life. You know, this
new life. It's His Spirit. It's His Spirit.
Look over with me in Galatians. Galatians chapter 4, just a moment.
Talking about the Spirit. You know, if any man had not
the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. And I'll tell you this, and that
is so sad. People are trying to get folks
to do something without the Spirit of God. You can't do it. You've got to have the Spirit
manifest that live. With the heart, you know, the
heart and the Spirit want to animate you, move you. And the
heart can't be seen, but it's the Spirit that in you shows
that you've got life moving you about. And look what it says
here in Galatians 4. It says this, when the fullness
of time, verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son of a woman made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law. Now watch this, that we might
receive the adoptions of sons. Now listen, and because you are
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. And what's the first thing you
do? You cry, Father, Father! First word out of your mouth,
Father, Father. Oh, me. And wherefore thou art
no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God. And oh, let me look over here
in Romans chapter 8. And this is the way, when they
said, I'll put my Spirit within you, this is the way that we
know we're the children of God. We know we're sons because He
sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. And how do we know
we're the children of God? And what I mean, this is what
he says, I will do it for you. You know you. And so what? How do you know that you're a
son of God? He sent forth the Spirit. How
do you know you've got a new heart? He put that in you, and
then he gave you the Spirit. And look what he says here in
Romans 8.16. This is how we know we are the
children of God. The Spirit itself bears witness
with our spirit that we are what? The children of God. When the gospel is being preached,
the Spirit of God is in the service, the Holy Ghost is among us. He
gives you evidence that you are a child of God. And then look
over here in Romans 8 again. We look down at verse 14. And
we know not only are we have His Spirit, we know we're now
sons and we're now children, now we're free. How do you know
that you've got the Spirit of God and you're free? Free from
what? Well, watch what happens here. For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now watch this.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.
What's the spirit of bondage? Sin, law, death, Seeking to be
justified by yourself, that's the bondage. You're in bondage
trying to establish your own righteousness, in bondage trying
to produce your own work, in bondage trying to make peace
with God. You've not received the spirit of bondage again,
but you've received the spirit of adoption. And that spirit
of adoption sets you free from being a slave, sets you free
from that bondage, sets you free from that bondage you lived under.
And now you cry, my father, my father! And oh, beloved, and not only
that, but I'll tell you something else about it. Where there's
this new heart, there's this spirit. God said, I'll put my
spirit within you. And it changes our spirit, our
attitude, our nature. When God's Spirit comes within
us and He puts His Spirit within us, it changes our spirit. What kind of spirit did we have
before God saved us? You know, when you find people
living in malice, hateful and hating one another, envious of
one another, arguing one another, dividing all the time, finding
fault all the time, critical all the time, you found somebody
God ain't put His Spirit in. Huh? And, oh, beloved, it causes
us, what does God say here? He says, in verse 27, I'll put
my spirit within you, and watch this, and cause you to walk in
my statutes. I'll cause you to do it. You
don't have to be encouraged. You know, you don't have to be
browbeaten into doing something for God. God said, I will cause
you to walk. Ain't that right? It's the way
of the transgression that's hard. And whenever we start going against
the Scripture, start going against that nature that's in us, start
going against and start yielding to the flesh, next thing you
know, it gets hard. God said, I'll cause them to
walk in it. And we don't get up on the day
and say, now I'm going to start living right. I'm going to really,
really witness for God. I'm going to really live for
the glory of God. I'm going to really do something. I'm going
to really start letting everybody know where I stand. Oh, no, no,
no, no. We get up every day, and it's
God's day. It's the Lord's day. It's the
day that we worship Him, whether we're on our back porch, whether
we're washing dishes, whether we're riding in our automobile,
whatever we do. God is our God every day, and
His Word is our commandment every day. He said, I'll cause them. And
I said, you know what, God said, Paul said, yes, it's he which
worketh in you. What does he do when he works
in you? Both to will and to do. Ephesians 2 says this, that God
created us in Christ Jesus for two good works. Anybody here know they've done
any good works lately? If you ever do, it ceases to
be good. You've already messed it up.
But God calls us to do that. Totally unconscious. We live,
you know, just how many things do we do
that we do unconscious? Do we just do it out of habit?
Just do what we do? We just move about and go about
our business? And that's the way this business of spiritual
life is. We go on and do what we do. Everything we do is in
light of us being believers, and being the children of God.
We're conscious all the time that we're God's children, and
yet we don't tell people, we don't brag about it, we don't
glory it, we don't go around butthole people. We just live
our lives, and we cannot help but live the life that God put
in us. You just can't help it. Can't
do it, can you? Let me ask you, stop believing
if you can. Stop praying if you can. Stop reading the Scriptures if
you can. Stop seeking God if you can. Stop wanting God if you can.
You can't do it. Stop loving the people around
you. Stop loving the saints of God. You can't do it. Stop praying and having compassion
for those that are in need. Don't hurt your heart for the
selfish. Stop that. Can't do it, can you? You know
why? It's God in you. It's God in
you that makes you like that. And you can't stop. Can you? Ain't you thankful it's that
way? Ain't you thankful that you came? That it's God's work?
And oh beloved, he said, I'll cause you to walk in my statutes.
And now we walk in newness of life. We walk in newness of life. I know I've turned to a lot of
scriptures, but look with me again, Romans 6. I want you to
see it. Romans 6, talking about we now walk in newness of life.
It's a new life. It's a new life. You know, when
God starts working in a person, it is. It's a new life. It's
a new life. We're new creations in Christ
Jesus. We now walk in newness of life. We now love God's Word.
We love His ways. Seek to be saved from our old
ways. Look what he says here in Romans 6, verse 13. Talk about walking in newness
of life. He says, neither yield your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin. And if you notice, it says, neither
yield your members as instruments or arms or weapons. Don't use
your mind, don't use your tongue, don't use your hands, don't use
your thoughts as instruments or weapons. Don't use them against
God, don't use them against one another as weapons. Don't lie,
don't steal, don't cheat, don't cuss, don't mistreat, don't be
dendist, don't be jealous, don't mistreat, don't have malice.
Now watch this. But yield yourselves unto God
as those that are alive from the dead. And your members now as instruments
of righteousness. Love and mercy and grace and
compassion and contentment and peace and joy. Now watch this,
for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under
law. You know how in the world you
can tell the minute you go under law, sin starts raining in you.
When you're under the law, you're trying to establish your own
righteousness, you're trying to please God, you're trying
to do a work to make yourself acceptable to God, you're trying
to quit some kind of a sin that you're committing, and that's
why sin has dominion over people that are under the law. They
always feel guilty. But you're not under the law,
you're under grace. And that grace takes away the
guilt. Grace takes away the condemnation. Grace takes you away from that
bondage. And the very minute you go under law, the very minute
you start looking to yourself, you go under bondage. Now, ain't
that right? Yes, sir. How many times... That's why, you know, we... But
you're not under law. You're not under it. You're not
under that yoke. You're not under that weight.
You're not under that condemnation. You're not under that guilt.
Why? You're under grace. Now watch
this. What then? Shall we sin because
we're not under the law but under grace? God forbid. And what the law does is it draws
a line. And you just keep crossing it.
Keep crossing it. But grace has no lines. Grace is free. Grace is abounding. Grace is full. And watch what
he says now. Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves service to obey, his service ye are to whom ye obey?
Now, what's that mean? If you obey sin, death will be
the end. If it's obedience and God's worked
obedience in you, He's made you obedient, worked in you the will
and the do, gave you a new heart, gave you a new spirit, it's righteousness. But God be thanked, God be thanked
that you were the service, the slaves of sin, but you have obeyed
from the heart. Now where do you get that heart
to obey from? You had a story arc. You couldn't
even debate nothing. But from the heart, that form
of doctrine which was made, delivered unto you. Now watch this. Being
made free from sin, now what do you do? You're in the service
of righteousness. You love righteousness. You delight
in righteousness. Oh beloved, as you, back over
in our text now, as Paul said, as you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in Him. How did you receive Him? By faith, helpless, hopeless,
needed Him for everything. To be your Savior, to be your
Redeemer, to be your mediator, to be your justification, to
be your right, to be everything to you. Well, that's the way
you walk in Him. He didn't walk with God, how
did He do it? God gave him a new heart, gave him newness of life.
And then back over here, he says in verse 28, look at this, what
he says about it. He said, not only I put my spirit
in you and cause you to walk in my stature, I'll cause you
to do it. And then you shall dwell in the land that I gave
you to your fathers. Now, what's this land he's talking
about here? It was the promised land. He promised them a land.
Well, God's promised us a land. You had it in His hymn this morning.
You know, God says, Christ says, I will that they be with me where
I am. And God's promised us a land. He said, a new heaven and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And I mean, beloved, the heavens
is going to pass away. He's going to fold this up like
folding up a grave. And He's going to lay it aside.
And, beloved, He's going to bring in a brand new heaven. There'll
never be no clouds in that heaven. There'll be no coldness in that
heaven. There'll be no... And you know what? You won't even need a sun. You
know Christ is going to be the light in that place. Huh? And I'll be like... New heaven
and a new earth. And we promised that. Promised
that. That's why I can lay down at
night and go to sleep and, boy, If I don't wake up in the morning,
I'll wake up in a new land, a new place. God said a promised land. He promised it to Abraham when
he was looking for a city. You know what? He wasn't looking
for a city on this title. He said he was looking for a
city whose builder and maker was God. He wasn't looking for
a city this side of eternity. He went around as a stranger
and a pilgrim, and, beloved, he never owned a spot of ground
except the place he was buried in. Oh, listen. And then look what
else he said here in verse 28. This is the whole covenant. And ye shall be my people, and
I will be your God. He said, listen, you shall be
my people. What if I don't want to? You're
going to be my people. I don't have your will. You're
going to be my people. I don't know anything about it.
You're going to be my people. And I'm going to be your God.
You ain't going to have no other God. You ain't going to have
no idols. You ain't going to worship things. I'm going to
be your God. And look at all these promises
we rest in here. Precious promises. He said in
verse 29, I will also save you, save you from all your uncleannesses. Oh my, that means, beloved, every
day I'm going to save you. You have an uncleanness, you
have an unclean thought, I'm going to save you. You have an
unclean feeling, I'm going to save you. You do something you
ought not to do, I'm going to save you. And then what's this? And he
said, I'll call for the corn. I said, what then? And I'll multiply it. He said,
I'll call for the corn and we'll increase it. That means, beloved,
I'm going to feed you. I'm going to feed you. I'm going
to feed you and I'll increase it. You will not go hungry. I'll feed you. I'll take my responsibility
for you. I'll give you corn and I'll increase
it. And watch this. And I'll lay no famine upon you.
Now, I know that in this United States, in the whole world, there's
a famine. There's a famine for hearing
the Word of God. But not among God's people there ain't. No,
no. God's got some preachers that's
true and faithful. I mean, there are some men in
this world, beloved, that have not and will not compromise the
gospel of the free grace of God. And God's people is not going
to go hungry. Ain't that right? They're not
going to go hungry. I mean, beloved, when they get
hungry, they go where they get food. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He's making me lie down where?
Green pastures. And watch what this, he says,
and I will, in verse 30, and I will multiply the fruit of
the tree. You know, the Scriptures tells
us that we're trees of the Lord's planting. He called us one place,
he says, trees of the Lord's planting, trees of righteousness.
And then he says, and watch this, and I will multiply the fruit
of the tree. Either make the tree good and his fruit good, and a corrupt tree cannot bring
forth good fruit. And you know what our Lord said,
and I won't have you look at it, but you look at it when you
get home. John 15, 16 says this, You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you, and listen, and ordained that you should
bring forth fruit. You reckon we will? And people
looking for, you know what kind of fruit they're looking for?
That's what preachers say all the time. I'm a fruit inspector. Oh, you know what kind of fruit?
We're talking about spiritual fruit. Love and joy and peace
and grace and kindness and tenderness, forgiveness. All these wonderful
spirits. Faith, goodness, love, tenderness,
meekness, gentleness. And then what he says here, that
you shall receive no more reproach. Oh, my. Never going to be reproached
again. Who's not going to reproach you?
God reproached them, and now He said to give them a new heart,
a new spirit, and said, you'll not be reproached anymore. And
then he says this in verse 32. Not for your sakes do I do this.
I didn't do it for your sakes. No, no, not for your sakes. And
then let me say this in closing here. This is an effectual work. Did these things actually happen? Did you get a new heart? Did
you get a new spirit? Do you walk in His ways? Can
God do anything that fails? Can he fail putting a new heart
in? Can he fail taking the stony heart out? And he says, I will,
I will, I will, I will. You shall and I will. And look,
I want you to see this. One of the greatest evidences,
one of the greatest works he has done by this new heart and
this new spirit. Look down at verse 31 and see
if you don't agree with this. Then shall you remember your
own evil ways. and your doings that were not
good, and shall loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities
and for your abominations." You never knew what sin was until
you was made righteous. You never knew what an abomination
you was until God cleansed you. And now you understand what you
were, and you loathe yourself. You loathe yourself. You don't loathe somebody else,
you loathe yourself. You don't loathe somebody else's
evil ways, you loathe your evil ways. Now, somebody else is not
doing good, but yours is not doing good. Has God taken out
that stony heart out of you? Has He put in a heart and flesh
in you? Has He put His Spirit within
you? The only person that can answer
that is you. Ain't that right? Only person
to answer that is you.