I've entitled this message, Keeping
the Heart. Keeping the Heart. Now, I've got a lot of scriptures
that I've written down that I'm just going to read. I'm not even
going to ask you to turn to them. I'm going to quote them. And
I ask that both myself and you pay very careful attention. to this message on keeping the
heart. Keep the heart with all diligence,
for out of it, out of the heart, are the issues of life. Now, by the heart is meant the
whole man, the understanding, the affections, and the will
or the desire. Keep your heart. with all diligence. My marginal reading says, keep
your heart above all keeping. Of all the things that you watch
over, of all the things that you guard, this is what you guard
the most, your heart. Keep your heart with all diligence. One version says, above all else,
guard the For it is the wellspring of life. Now, why do we need
to guard the heart? Why do we need to watch over
it like we would a prisoner who, if he escapes, can do great damage? And that's what that means when
it's talking about guarding and keeping the heart. Well, that's
an easy question to answer. because it can go bad so easily
and so quickly. Perhaps you know that by experience,
how your heart can go bad so easily and so quickly. Somebody says, trust your heart.
The scripture says, he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. Jeremiah said regarding the heart,
The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. You can't trust your heart. You
can't trust the things you think. Watch out. Guard over your heart. It has to be guarded ever so
carefully. And we can think everything is
okay when it's not. That's why it says, keep your
heart with all diligence. For out of it are the issues
of life. Now, I look at my own heart. I watch my heart. I look at the
heart as much as I can of those whom I preach to. And I've seen
people lose their watchfulness over their own heart and go bad
without them even knowing it. Now, I don't want that to happen
to me. And I don't want that to happen to you. Now, would
you turn with me to Revelation chapter three? This is what inspired
this message. Revelation chapter three, as
you know, in Bible study, we've been going through the book of
Revelation and I'm getting ahead of myself because this is what
I want to deal with next Sunday. But I was looking at the letter
to the church at Sardis. Chapter three, verse one. And
unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things
saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven
stars, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that ye live. But you're dead. You're living
on the past. You're living on past experiences. You're living on past understanding. Your faith is old. It's stale. You're living on the past. You see, faith is always in the
present. If I'm looking back to yesterday's
faith, it's no good. He said, you've got a name that
you're living. You're looking back to the way
you used to be and you're trying to find some assurance that Everything's
okay. You've got a name that you live,
and look what the Lord says to this church, you're dead. Now that's the assessment of
the Lord Jesus. He says to this group of people, you are dead. You look like people who are
dead in trespasses and sins. You're thinking like people who
are dead in trespasses and sins. You're acting like people who
are dead in trespasses and sins. Now, he says this to his church.
Now, look what he says next. In verse 2, he says, Be watchful
and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. They seem like you're on life
support. He said, For I have not found thy works. perfect
before God. Now, when I read that, what my
mind went to was the Kings. You remember how many of them,
Jehoshaphat, David, the man after God's own heart, Josiah, Hezekiah,
it says they served the Lord with a perfect heart. A perfect heart. They weren't
half-hearted. They served the Lord with a perfect
And then we're warned of those who did not serve the Lord with
a perfect heart like David did. And when I read of those kings
who did not serve the Lord with a perfect heart, they went through
the motions. They said the right things. They did the right things,
but not with a perfect heart. That was God's assessment, not
with a perfect heart. I thought, could that be me?
Would that describe me? I do not want to serve the Lord
like that. I really don't. I think of what
said of David, the man after God's own heart. Remember where
it says God looks on the outward appearance or man looks on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart. Once he see. when he sees my
heart. Does he see someone who serves
him but not with a perfect heart? And listen, that's a bad thing
to not serve him with a perfect heart. There's nothing good about
that. Or does he see someone like David, someone like Hezekiah,
someone like Josiah, somebody like Jehoshaphat who served him
with all of their heart? Now, what is this perfect heart? Now, he said to the church at
Sardis, your works are not perfect. They're not complete before me.
And that's what he had against this church. Your works are not
complete before me. What is this perfect heart? Now,
it's only in keeping our heart with all diligence that we'll
serve the Lord with a perfect heart. And out of this heart
are the issues of life. Now let's ask the Lord that He
will speak to us upon this subject. Keeping the heart. Now I want to look at the biblical
descriptions of a perfect heart. And I'm going to say a lot, and
I'm going to stay real brief. So hold on as the Lord enables
you and listen. In 1 Kings 4, verse 29, we read
where God gave Solomon largeness of heart. Largeness of heart
as opposed to a narrow heart. You know what that means. Some
people have such a narrow view. They're so self-focused. And
some people have largeness of heart, all embracing. I want to have largeness of heart
with regard to the things of the Lord, don't you? And then
in 1 Kings 22, 19, Josiah was said to have had a tender heart
that was humbled by what God said in his word. Tender, responsive
to what God says in his word, and humbled, broken by what he
says, as opposed to hard-hearted and unresponsive, where the word
bounces off your heart like water off of a brick. and it makes
no penetration. I don't want to have that kind
of heart, do you? I want to have a tender heart that's responsive
to what God said. Remember when they brought the
law back and read it before Josiah, and the Scripture says his heart
smote him, and he was tender before the Lord by what was said. In 2 Chronicles 19.3, Jehoshaphat
prepared his heart. to seek the Lord, a prepared
heart. Now, there's some effort involved
in a prepared heart. I got to thinking about, you
know, the way we come into a worship service. Now, it's easier for
me to come in prepared to a worship service because I'm the one doing
the preaching. I realize that. I mean, I'm going over my notes.
I'm thinking about it. But how do I come in to a worship
service? Do I come in with a prepared
heart? Prepared to seek the Lord? Do I come saying, speak, Lord? Thy servant heareth. Do I come
with an empty cup, saying, Lord, fill my cup? Anybody that comes
with that attitude, the Lord's not going to send them away empty.
A prepared heart. He prepared his heart to seek
the Lord. I want to always have my heart
prepared, ready to seek the Lord. And then we read in 2 Chronicles
29, 31 of a willing, a free, a voluntary heart. Some people's
religion is really not voluntary. They do what they do out of duty.
They do what they do out of habit. They do what they do because
they're perhaps afraid of what will take place if they don't
do it, or they do what they do because of what people will say
if they don't. But it's not really voluntary.
There's not a willingness about it. These Levites spoken of in
this passage of scripture, they had willing hearts, voluntary
hearts. Psalm 110.3 says, Thy people
shall be volunteers in the day of thy power. Now, I don't for
a second believe in free will. You know that. Your will is controlled
by your nature. Why, the very thought of free
will is absolutely ridiculous. There's no such thing. But I
believe in a heart made willing by the grace of God. Willing
to be saved God's way. Willing to serve Him. Come here
for instance. Come in here. If you don't want
to come here, don't come. Seriously, if you don't want
to be here, don't come. If you don't want to give, don't
give. Do you think the Lord wants our
unwillingness? Not in any way. Oh, to have a
willing. A willing heart. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. All the people who gave
to the construction of the tabernacle did so with a willing heart. Now, that's what I want to be.
I want to be willing. I don't want to just do what I think
I have to do. I want to do what I want to do.
God works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Oh, for a willing heart. And then in 2 Chronicles 29,
34, and we read this phrase over and over in the scripture, those
who are upright in heart. Straight as opposed to crooked
and deceitful. Upright before God in heart. This is the new heart that he
gives. And then we read in Job 23, 16
of a soft heart. A soft heart as opposed to a
calloused, desensitized, hard heart. Have you ever looked at
your own heart and see how desensitized you've become towards sin? How
it doesn't really bother you, perhaps the way it once did?
Have you ever seen when you hear the gospel, you no longer hear
it as a joyful sound, but hardly? Oh, for this soft heart that
Job speaks of. And then Job also spoke in Job
37.1 of a trembling heart. God said in Isaiah 66, to this
man will I look, even to him that trembles. He has such a
respect for my Word that he trembles when he hears it. Oh, for this
trembling heart where God's Word is preached And I tremble as
I hear His Word read. I tremble. A trembling heart. Psalm 116, verse 9 speaks of
being glad of heart. Now, this trembling isn't a depression.
I can tremble at the Word of God. But I tell you what, I'm
glad. I'm glad that God's on the throne,
aren't you? I mean, right now, I'm glad that he's in control.
I'm glad that he's the first cause behind everything, and
it makes me glad that everybody, me and you, were in his hand.
I'm glad of that. And I am glad that salvation
is by grace. I'm glad that all that God requires
of me, he looks to his Son for. I'm glad about the precious blood
of Christ that makes me holy and without blame before God. You see, there's gladness and
joy in the heart of that person who believes, isn't there? If
there's no joy, there's no grace. Grace causes rejoicing in the
gospel. Now, don't try to manufacture
joy. Well, I better start rejoicing. Don't put it that way. No. You
look to Christ and you will rejoice. Now, if you start trying to rejoice,
you'll just get depressed and think, what's wrong with me?
But you look to cry. You hear the gospel. You believe the gospel.
You will rejoice. And then in Psalm 34, 18, we
read of the broken in heart. God save us such as be of a broken
heart, a broken heart. Same thing David spoke of in
Psalm 51, 10, when he said the sacrifices of God are a broken
heart, a broken and a contrite spirit. Oh, God, thou wilt not
despise. Now what's a broken heart? A
broken heart worketh not. You want to know what a broken
heart is? A broken heart is one that doesn't work. It's no good. It doesn't work. It believes
on him that justifies the ungodly. That's what a broken heart is.
If your heart can work, it's not broken. But if it can't work,
if it can't please God by its own warps and efforts, and it's
totally dependent upon Christ, that's a broken heart. And that's
the heart that God will not despise. And then we read in Jeremiah
37, 24 of the wise in heart, wise as opposed to foolish. Now,
every believer, every believer. from the least to the greatest.
Everything in between is a wise person. I'm looking at some wise
men and women. You see, wise people know and
believe that Christ is their salvation. They really do. They believe that. You see, God
has made them wise. Christ is their wisdom. And they
really believe that Christ is their wisdom, their righteousness,
their sanctification and their redemption. And that's what wise
people believe. We read of the wise in heart
as opposed to the foolish in heart. Psalm 57, seven speaks
of a fixed heart. Salem, not moving back and forth
all over the place, but fixed. Settle on the rock, Christ Jesus,
as opposed to movable. You know, I'm not looking to
make a move. I'm settled on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not looking
anywhere else. And then in Psalm 62, 8, we read
of a poured out heart. Poured out. Pour out your heart
before the Lord. Oh, what a blessing it is to
pour your heart out before the Lord. He knows you. He knows
what's in your heart right now. He knows all the weaknesses.
He knows the sin. Pour your heart out before him, as opposed to
a heart that refuses to do this and doesn't pour itself out and
empty itself out. In Psalm 8611, the psalmist said,
Unite my heart. Unite my heart. to fear thy name."
Don't let my heart be divided. Don't let it be going in this
direction and that direction and all over the place. Oh, unite
my heart to where it has one desire and one goal, to know
Christ and to be found in Him. Oh, to have this united heart
that's not divided and going all over the place. And then
in Psalm 112, verse 8, we read of an established heart. An established
heart. And that word established means
one that leans hard, one that rests, one that is settled. Now listen, an established heart,
all my weight right now as I speak to you, all my weight is upon
the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm resting in Him. And then in Psalm 119, verse
36, David said, incline my heart. Incline my heart to the statue,
to not the covetousness. Now David says, I know that my
heart will go after covetousness if you don't incline my heart.
I want the Lord to incline my heart in every good way. I want
to be a robot. I do. I want to be a willing
robot, but I want to be a robot. I want the Lord to incline my
heart in whatever direction he'd have it go. an inclined heart. And then in Proverbs chapter
8, verse 5, we read of an understanding heart. I want to have this, an
understanding heart. One, not just that has stuff
memorized and notes. I can show you the doctrines
of grace. I believe the doctrines of grace. I see the doctrine
of grace is in the scripture and I can quote you the doctrine
and so on. Now, that's good. That's good.
But I want to understand. I want to understand that I'm
totally depraved. Not just the doctrine of total
depravity, but that I'm totally depraved. Therefore, I need His
grace. I need electing grace. I need His successful atonement. I need His grace to be irresistible
and invincible. I need Him to enable me to persevere. I understand that. An understanding
heart as opposed to a foolish heart. And then, in Psalm 1722,
we read of a merry heart. A merry heart. That's Proverbs
1722, I'm sorry, as opposed to a despairing heart. And then
in Ecclesiastes 8.5, a discerning heart. A discerning heart. Someone who knows the difference. Someone, when I hear something,
I know whether it's of God or of man. I know whether it's grace
or whether it's law. Now, a discerning heart. What
does it take to be able to have this discerning heart that I'm
speaking of? To where I can see the difference.
I can understand what I'm hearing. Well, our Lord said in John chapter
17, if any man will do his will, he'll know the doctrine, whether
it be of God. And if I have a lack of discernment,
it's because of a lack of desire to do his will. Because if any
man will do his will, he'll know the doctrine, whether it be of
God. I want to have this discernment
so I can understand what I'm hearing and understand the difference
between that which comes from God and that which comes from
man. Now, all of this is what Ezekiel
calls in Ezekiel 36, a new heart. A new heart. He said, A new heart
also will I give thee. And that's the heart I want.
Lord, give me this new heart. It's a heart that was not there
before. Now, this heart that we're to
watch over, this new heart, is not the old heart. That heart's
just no good. There's nothing good about it.
It's desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. It's the new
heart that he gives in the new birth. Lord, give me this new
heart. Mine's no good. I say with David
created me a clean heart. Oh, God, give me this new heart. Now, this new heart, it's something
that was not there until God put it there. What is this new
heart? Well, it's described in the New
Testament first by these words, blessed are the pure in heart. You know, that verse of scripture
used to disturb me so much, blessed are the pure in heart, because
by looking at my heart and trying to be honest, my heart sure doesn't
seem very pure. So what's he talking about when
he says blessed are the pure in heart? Well, this is that
new heart that he gives in the new birth. This is that One who
does not sin, that Paul speaks of in 1 John 3, verse 6. He can't
sin. His seed remains in him. Every
believer has a pure heart. Now, that pure heart is housed
in an evil body of sin and unbelief. So you can't look at it and say,
well, I know it's pure. Well, I see that part is pure.
No, you don't see it that way. Not in your experience, but you
know it's what God has given you. The reason you believe is
because He gave you a new heart that you didn't have before.
The reason you love God, the reason you repent, is because
He's given you this new heart, this pure heart. Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. This is what our Lord
called in Luke chapter 8, verse 15, an honest and a good heart. An honest and a good heart. This is the good ground soil. You remember the soil that fell
on the wayside? You remember the soil that fell
on the stony ground and burned up quickly? You remember the
thorn-choked hearers that it was soil with a bunch of thorns
and competition and choked the Word? And then our Lord talks
about that good ground, an honest and good heart. Now, what is
this honest and good hearted language of Scripture? Well,
first, you're honest. You're honest before God. You
don't pretend to be what you're not. You don't try to talk yourself
into something that you are, that you're really not. No, you
come into God's presence in honesty, knowing that in and of yourself
you're a weak, sinful individual. That's the highest thing you
can claim for yourself. You're honest before God. And
you're honest before His people. You don't try to put on some
kind of super piety to impress people. You're just like them,
a sinner saved by grace, and you're honest with the Scriptures.
You're honest with the message of the Bible. You really believe
salvation is of the Lord. And you stand for that. You believe
it. You're honest before God. This is the good heart prepared
to hear the Word of God, prepared to receive the seed. This is
the only heart that can receive the seed, that one who is made
honest by the grace of God. Now, in Luke chapter 24, verse
32, we read of a burning heart. You remember when our Lord was
opening the scriptures to these people, these two on the road
to Emmaus, and they said after he left them, did not our hearts
burn within us? While he spake with us and opened
the scripture, by the way, Oh, I want this blessed heart burned,
don't you? I want my heart to burn as I
hear the gospel. Oh, a burning heart. And then
we read in Acts chapter 2, verse 46 of the disciples. They were
all described with singleness of heart. I love this singleness
of heart. They only had one purpose. To follow Christ. to know him. Singleness of heart. They weren't
spread out all over the place. You know, the scripture says
they sold their possessions and everybody lived together. Now,
I'm not suggesting that. I'm really not suggesting that
because that's the church actually ended up getting into trouble
over that. And that's why they were always so poor. It was kind
of the opening of cognitivism and so on. And any way you look
at it, when you have people doing that, you'll have people taking
advantage of that. I realize all that stuff. But look at this
initial motive they had. They sold everything they had
to give to those who have need. And they had singleness of heart.
Their one purpose was to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their
one desire was to be found in Him. And then in Acts chapter
11, verse 23, Barnabas exhorted them that with purpose of heart,
they cleave to the Lord. This was their purpose. This
was their resolve. This was their purpose, to cleave
to the Lord. Oh, I want to be somebody who
cleaves to the Lord. And then we read in Acts 16,
verse 14, regarding Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened. Oh, a blessed opened heart, opened
by the grace of God so that she heard what was preached. Her
heart was opened. And here's the clincher. Romans
10, 10. A believing heart. A believing heart. With the heart,
man believeth unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. A believing heart. With the heart, man believes. You know, we've used the term,
we've talked this way before, I have, you have, well, I'm afraid
I believe with my head, not with my heart. And I understand there's
thinking that way when we see how hard hearted we can become. It's just head knowledge and
not heart faith. Well, that's a real fear, I realize
that, but understand this too. If you really believe something
in your head, if you really believe it, you believe it in your heart
too. There's not a difference in that sense. It's with the
heart man believes. You believe with your understanding.
You believe with your affections. You're glad it's that way. You
believe with your will. This is the way you want it to
be. I understand that Jesus Christ's righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. Do you understand that? I understand
that. I understand I'm not saved by
my own righteousness. I understand I'm saved by his righteousness.
But not only do I understand this, I love it. I love being saved by His righteousness. And not only do I love it, it's
my choice. You give me the choice. You want
to be saved by your own righteousness or Christ? Oh, His righteousness. This is what I desire. With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness. I think of Philip speaking to
the Ethiopian eunuch, and he'd been preaching the gospel to
him from Isaiah 53, and they come to some water, and the eunuch
says, see, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized?
Now, obviously, he thought, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe there's something
wrong with me. Maybe there's something about
me as to why I shouldn't confess Christ in baptism. Maybe I'm
too sinful. Maybe I'm too stupid. Maybe I don't know enough. What
hinders me? Philip said, If you believe with
all your heart, you may." And he replied, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. And I do too. This believing heart is that
heart of which Paul spoke of, singing and making melody in
your hearts to the Lord. This is that true heart that
the writer to the Hebrews spoke of, a true heart that draws near
in full assurance of faith. It's only the true heart that
draws near. The Lord's not going to let The fake heart, the phony
heart, the false heart draw near. But that true heart draws near
in full assurance of faith, being fully assured that what Christ
did, who he is, is enough to enable me to draw near. Here's
where assurance comes from. Not I'm looking for assurance.
No, you really believe that Christ is all you need to make you accepted
before God. And that true heart draws near
in full assurance of faith. Hebrews chapter 13, 9 says, Let
the heart be established with grace. There's the established
heart, that heart that's established with grace. Now, what care is
involved in keeping the heart? Now, this is something we ought
to be very jealous over. our own heart. We can go so bad,
so quick, so easy in so many different directions. Now turn back to Revelation chapter
3. Maybe you're still there. Perhaps your heart has gone astray
and you say with David, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. Verse 1, And
to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith
he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars,
I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and
art dead. Be watchful and strengthen those
things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not
found thy works perfect or complete before God. Now, here's what
he tells them to do. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received. Now, how did you receive? How
did you receive the gospel? The Lord tells us freely you
received. Freely you received. You received
as a sinner. You received in great need. You received thankful for the
freeness of it. Freely you received. Now, you
remember how you've received and how you've heard. Quit living in the past. and
hold fast and repent. If thou therefore shalt not watch,
and that's what he's talking about when he's talking about
keeping the heart, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Now, may the
Lord enable us. May the Lord enable me. I'm preaching
to myself. May the Lord enable me and may
the Lord enable you to keep our hearts with all diligence. For out of it, out of the heart,
are the issues of life. There isn't anything more important
than watching over and keeping your heart. And if you know anything
about yourself, You know that it's filled with horrible things
ready to break out and take you in a wrong direction. And that's
why you've got to watch it. You'll watch over your heart
like you'd watch over someone in a prison who, if they escape,
they'll destroy the world. Well, you'd watch that person
carefully, wouldn't you? Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it, the heart is the
issues of life. Let's pray together.