I can say this sincerely, isn't
it great to be here? Turn to Exodus chapter 25. I'm going to try to preach on
this subject. The heart. That God accepts. I don't know how many different
marriage ceremonies are performed, performed a number of them. And
I always say, when giving the vows, with this ring, they repeat
after me, with this ring, I thee wed, and with it give to thee
the love of my heart and all my earthly goods. And I believe
when I'm giving those vows, the people listening, the people
getting married know what I mean when I say, I give the love of
my heart and all my earthly goods. Now with that in mind, let's
read verses 1 and 2 of Exodus 25. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly
with his heart. You shall take of my offering."
Now, you will remember from last week that Moses has gone into
the very presence of God on the top of Mount Sinai in the cloud. And God is giving Moses instructions
regarding the tabernacle and the furnishings of the tabernacle.
And I'm very excited about getting into the tabernacle this time.
We're given such a beautiful portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the tabernacle. If you want to really know what
he looks like, he tells us what he looks like in this tabernacle. And in this tabernacle, he tells
us how a sinner can be saved. I appreciated so much what Chuck
said when he prayed, save us by your grace. I want to be saved,
don't you? I want to be saved by His grace.
And in the tabernacle, he tells us how a sinner can have communion
with the living God. And in these first nine verses
of this chapter, God tells Moses to take up an offering from the
children of Israel for the materials that we're
going to make the tabernacle and the furniture of the tabernacle
and the clothing of the priest. We're going to consider verses
three through nine next week. Lord willing, but I couldn't
get past verse two. Speak unto the children of Israel
that they bring me an offering. Of every man that giveth it willingly
with his heart, he shall take of my offering. Now, what a blessed
privilege. that the Lord would allow us
to give to him. Take an offering of the children
of Israel. Now, that word offering is a
present. He's not talking about a sin
offering at this time. He's talking about a present
that he allows the children of Israel to give to him. And never forget in giving, we
are the ones who are blessed. He who needs nothing allows us
to give unto him. And he is pleased with what we
give. With such sacrifices, God is
well pleased. He who is not worshipped with
men's hands as though he needed anything. He who says the cattle
on a thousand hills is mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you about it. He allows us to give back a part of that
which He has so freely given us. Now, notice He says in verse
2, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring Me an
offering or a present of every man that giveth it willingly
with his heart. Willingly. In other words, they're
going to want to do this. It's not going to be a duty.
It's not going to be something that they are constrained to
do. They're going to do this willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Isn't it wonderful to be willing?
I love what Paul said, to will. is present with me and it is
present with me. I desire, I want to do God's
will, don't you? And I want to do it willingly
because I want to. I want to serve the Lord because
I want to. I want to give because I want to. I want to preach because
I want to. I want to have fellowship with
you because I want to. I'm going to have to preach because
I want to because I tell you I'm I'm feeling kind of poorly right
now, so bear with me. I'm going through one of those
things where I start feeling weak and perspiring, but I'll
be all right. So if I start sweating, don't
start thinking, what in the world is wrong with him? It's just
one of those things that happens to me from time to time. But
I think I'm going to be OK. Yes. Sometimes apple juice helps
me. She's going to go get me some
apple juice. So good wife. The wise man said in Proverbs
chapter four, verse 23, we've already read that passage of
scripture. Keep thy heart. With all diligence, watch over
it, keep it guarded, look over it very carefully, and I hope
that's what we're going to do this evening. We're going to
take a look at our heart. It's kind of scary thing, isn't
it? Keep watch over your heart. With all diligence, for out of
it, out of the heart are the issues of life. Now, this is
what God looks at when he looks at me and when he looks at you,
he looks at our heart. Remember what he said, the same
on first Samuel, chapter 16, would you turn with me there? Thank you. I'm going to drink all this. This
will make me feel better, I'll assure you. 1 Samuel chapter 16. Verse 7, that the Lord said unto
Samuel, look not on his countenance. or on the height of the stature,
because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart." David, this man who the Lord looked
at, is said to be in the Scriptures a man after God's own what? Don't you want to be that? A
man, a woman, after God's own heart. Now that's the heart that
is spoken of, that we give to God with. Every believer is a
man or a woman after God's own heart. You know what that means?
God says regarding David, his heart beats with mine. His heart has the same desires
that my heart has. Now don't you want to have a
heart like that? Men and women after God's own heart. Proverbs
chapter 23 verse 7 says, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is
he. That's what you're made of. What
goes on in your heart, that's what you are. Can you say with
David, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and
see if there be any wicked way in me. Lord, know my heart. Show me what I am made of. Now, remember, it is with the
heart that we serve God. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
6. Ephesians chapter 6, beginning
with verse 5. Servants. Servants, be obedient
to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ. Yes, you're serving them, but
you're truly serving Christ, not them, not with eye service
as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God. Where? From the heart. Oh, I want to do that, don't
you? to do the will of God from the heart. Now, what is meant
by the heart in the Bible? When the Lord took these offerings,
He took them from everyone who gave willingly with their heart. They gave with their heart. What
in the world is meant by the heart in the Bible? You know,
it's mentioned over 800 times in Scripture. That's a lot, isn't
it? My son, give me your heart. You know, it doesn't simply mean
the muscle in our chest that pumps the blood. It means the
whole man. It means the soul. It means the understanding. It means the affections, what
you love. It means the will, what you desire,
what you choose. It has something to do with sincerity.
When we speak of the heart, you know, we talk about when we say
somebody is half hearted. You know what we mean by that?
They're insincere. Somebody that's wholehearted
is sincere. But if somebody's half-hearted,
they're just playing games. Now, the heart. The heart. Because of the fall of our first
father, Adam, we're born into this world with wicked hearts. You know, when I said your heart's
what you are, some of you thought, uh-oh. Uh-oh. And I understand that, because
listen to these scriptures. I'm going to give you two scriptures.
The first time the heart is mentioned is in Genesis chapter 6 verse
5. It says, And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Would that describe your heart?
Listen to Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9. Jeremiah says the heart is desperately
wicked and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? You know, the proverb says he
that trusts his heart is a fool. Now, this heart we're talking
about, the natural heart, my understanding, you know, by nature,
I can't understand the gospel. I can't figure it out. It's above
me. It's above me. I cannot understand. I have no
will for it by nature. I have no affection for the things
of God by nature. The natural heart is bad. So,
obviously, when God says, let every man give to me who gives
willingly from his heart, he's not talking about the natural
heart, is he? Because that natural heart's no good. You know, preachers
say, won't you give Jesus your heart? What would he want with
that thing? So what would he want with it? I didn't know you
asked him to give you a new heart. That heart of yours, that natural
heart, it's no good. Now, what he's speaking of is the new heart that he gives. He will accept nothing from the
natural heart. God doesn't want a gift from
his enemies. The heart spoken of in our text is the new heart
that he gives. Exodus, Ezekiel, turn with me
there, Ezekiel chapter 36. I'm feeling better, so don't
anybody worry that I'm a fainter or anything, I'm feeling a whole
lot better now, that apple juice helped me. God says in verse 26, a new heart
also will I give you. And a new spirit I'll put within
you, a new heart. A heart that was not there before. Look what he says in verse 37.
Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by
the house of Israel to do it for. You know you're going to
ask the Lord to give you this new heart. If you have it, you're
going to ask the Lord to give it to you. You're going to say,
created me a clean heart, oh God, give me a new heart. My
heart is no good. Now God cannot and will not accept
anything from the old heart. An old heart doesn't offer an
offering willingly, a present to God that he would accept.
But this new heart, let me show you another scripture. Turn to
first Peter chapter three. First Peter chapter three, this
is a description of the new heart beginning in verse two. Or verse
three. Who's adorning? Let it not be
that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold
or putting on apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart,
that which nobody can see, the hidden man of the heart in that
which is not corruptible. This heart is not corruptible.
That's something, isn't it? It's a holy heart. It's a pure
heart. It's the gift of God's grace. It's what's given to the
believer in regeneration. It's that new heart. This is
the new heart that offers an offering willingly to God. And
God accepts it. The great God of glory will accept
it. That's remarkable, isn't it?
It's the hidden man of the heart. Even the ornament. Here's another
description of this hidden heart. A meek and a quiet, tranquil,
restful, Restful. Resting in Christ. Thank God,
right now, I have a meek and a quiet spirit. I'm meek. Everything God does is right,
and I believe that. Every believer is meek. This
is not bragging. This is what a believer is. I'm
meek. Whatever God does to me is right. I really believe that. And I'm tranquil. I'm quiet. God's on the throne. And I'm
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm tranquil. That's every believer. That's the new heart that he
gives, the hidden man of the heart. Now, remember how Paul
says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. He's a new
creature. He's something that he was not
before. Now, I still have the same flesh. It's not new. I still have this
same natural mind. I still have what I was born
with. It's not new. But the new heart
is the new creation. The heart that believes. The
heart that loves. The heart that worships. The
heart that bows down before God. The heart that says it's the
Lord. Let Him do what seemed to Him
good. The heart that loves His people. The heart that loves
to meet with His people. That's the new heart that He
gives. I wasn't born with that heart.
But when I'm born again, born of His Spirit, this is the new
heart He gives. And God can only accept that
which comes through Christ. Through Christ. Let me repeat
that. Through Christ. This new heart. Because it's
that which actually comes from Him. The heart that comes from
his heart. Same heart David had. A man after
mine own heart. Now you think about what God
said regarding David and God says this regarding every single
one of his children. Their heart beats with mine. They have the same desires I
have. They have the same agenda I have.
The glory of my dear son. a man after God's own heart. Now what I want to do is give
you every description I could find of the heart of the believer
in the Bible. I'm not going to say much about
any of them, but I'm going to give you every description in the Bible
I could find of the heart of a believer. This heart, this
gift of God's grace, this new heart that can willingly offer
something to God, and the holy God of glory can accept it and
be pleased with it. You see, he's got to be pleased
with the heart before he's pleased with the gift. This is the heart
that he gives. Now, here's the first description. A willing
heart. A willing heart. About the best way I know how
to describe a willing heart is this. Paul said the will is present
with me. Here's what I want. Here's what
I desire. I'm willing to be saved by the
grace of God, are you? I'm willing to be saved on God's
terms. I'm willing to be saved by Christ
in a way where He gets all the glory and I don't get any. I'm
willing. To will is present with me. It's my will. It's my desire
to not sin anymore. To will is present with me, Paul
said. Now how to perform that which is good? He said, I don't
find that. But to will is present with me.
As God is my witness, I would never sin. I would give willingly
to Him. Cheerfully. God loveth a cheerful
giver. And then we read in Exodus 35,
21 of a stirred-up heart. The heart that's stirred by the Gospel,
when enabled by divine grace, it's moved. It's stirred by the
Gospel. Now, I realize, I realize, and
you hate yourself when you're like this, when you can read
the account even of the death of Christ and be unmoved. I realize
that. Or you can hear the Gospel and be unmoved, and you think,
what in the world is wrong with me? Everybody goes through that.
I realize that. But it's also true, when by the
grace of God, aren't you moved when you see that Christ became
sin for you. You know, I was thinking about
that scripture in Psalm 51. Remember, whenever we read the
Psalms, the first application is the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. And I thought of what David said
in Psalm 51 when he said, Against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight. And you know David was talking
about his own sin, but the first application of that, you think
of the Lord Jesus Christ when He bore our sin in His own body
on the tree, and He was made to cry before His Father against
thee, and thee only have I sinned. And my filth was placed upon
Him, and He was made to feel the grotesqueness of it and pray
like this to His Father. Aren't you thankful He did that? You know, because He was made
sin, I'm made the very righteousness of God in Him. I'm stirred by
the gospel. I know what Paul meant when he
said, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom I'm crucified in the world, the world
and me. You know, the gospel stirs my soul. The grace of God
stirs my soul. Now, it's only when God enables
it to be stirred, I realize that. But it does stir my soul. I know
that faith is not a feeling, but faith's got plenty of feelings,
doesn't it? It surely does. And I'm stirred by the gospel. We read in Romans, Chapter 2,
verses 28 and 29, of a circumcised heart. Would you turn with me
there? Romans, Chapter 2. I just want to read it. This is that heart that God gives.
It's a circumcised heart. Look in verse 21 or 28. For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision
is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. We read in 2 Corinthians
chapter 6. I think it's verse 11. Let's
turn with me there. I'll get the verse. I got verse
1. I know that's not what it is. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Verse 11, O ye Corinthians, our
mouth is open unto you. Our heart is enlarged. An enlarged heart. An enlarged
heart. Now what in the world is an enlarged
heart? Well, an enlarged heart receives all that God is. Everything
that God is, an enlarged heart receives it. An enlarged heart
receives all of His Word, and an enlarged heart receives all
of His people. Every single one of them. You
see, an enlarged heart is no respecter of persons. It receives
all of God's people, an enlarged heart. And then, in Matthew chapter
5, verse 3, we read, Blessed are the pure in heart. Now, that
one used to always bother me so much before I understood it.
Blessed are the pure in heart, because I'd look at my heart
and say, well, it sure doesn't seem very pure. Well, I realize that, but
also know by faith that if God gave me a new heart, what comes
from God is pure. A holy heart. I know that by
faith. I've got a pure heart. That's
the same heart David was asking for and crying for when he said,
created me a clean heart. Oh, God. And renew a right spirit
within me. A pure heart. The gift of God's
grace. And there's a perfect heart.
I want you to look at these scriptures. Turn to 1 Kings 11. 1 Kings 11. I think these passages
of scripture are very interesting. There's several of these throughout
the Kings. 1 and 2 Kings. But look in 1 Kings 11. Look what the Lord says. In verse four regarding Solomon.
For it came to pass when Solomon was old. That his wives turned
away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect
with the Lord, his God, as was the heart of David, his father. Turn to first Kings 15. Verse 2, three years reigned
he in Jerusalem, talking about Jeroboam. And his mother's name
was Mekah, the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins
of his father, which he had done before him. And his heart was
not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David, his
father. Turn to 2 Chronicles, chapter 25. What is a perfect heart? Well,
it's a whole heart. It's a whole heart. You know, if you read
Kings and Chronicles, you run across this several times. Look
in verse 2 of 2 Chronicles 25. He's talking about Amaziah, verse
2. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. He went through the motions,
but not with a perfect heart. You see, God doesn't look at
what you do. He looks at the heart you do it with. He said
he didn't do it with a perfect heart. Now, what is this perfect
heart? It means a whole heart. A whole heart. Not a half heart,
but a Whole heart. These other scriptures that I'm
going to give will explain to us what a perfect heart is. What
about a broken heart? There's a wonderful description
in the Word of God of a believer's heart. God save us such as be
of a broken heart. The sacrifices of God are a broken
heart and a contrite spirit, a broken heart. Oh, God, thou
wilt not despise. What's a broken heart? Well,
it's a heart that's broken over sin. And here's the best way
I know how to explain that. Something that's broken, it doesn't
work. It can't work. It's no good.
It's no good. And a believer knows his heart's
no good. That's what a broken heart is.
It can't perform that which is pleasing to God. It's broken
over sin. My sin. My sin, my personal sin, my iniquity,
my transgression, my sin is ever before me. Then we read in Psalm
62, eight of a poured out heart, trust in the Lord, all ye his
people and pour out your heart before him. We read in Psalm
86, four, this statement, unite my heart. I don't want to have
a divided heart going in two different directions. Unite my
heart to fear thy name. A united heart as opposed to
a divided heart. We read in Proverbs chapter 8
verse 5 of an understanding heart. And we read in Proverbs chapter
10 verse 8 of a wise heart. Now this is the right use of
knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. know that salvation is by grace. I understand that salvation is
by grace and I don't want anything else. That's an understanding.
That's a wise heart made wise unto salvation. We read in Proverbs
15, 13 of a merry heart. A merry heart. Singing and making
melodies. in your heart before the Lord. Do I know anything about that?
Rejoicing in God my Savior. You know, it makes me happy.
The salvation is in the Beloved, that I'm accepted in the Beloved,
that salvation is by sovereign grace. Makes me happy to be with
you. It's a merry heart. Every believer has a merry heart. And then we read of that honest
and good heart in Luke chapter 8. Remember, that's the seed.
That is, the parable of the sower, there were the different kinds
of soils, but the one that received the seed and brought forth fruit
was an honest and good heart. Now, what's an honest and good
heart? Well, I like what Barnard said, and I believe it with all
my heart. He said, honest people don't
go to hell. Honest people, you know what
honest people are? They're honest before God concerning what they
are. They're not pretenders. They're honest that they're nothing
but sin. That's the good heart, the honest heart. It's made good. It receives the gospel. It believes
the gospel by the grace of God. It's an honest and a good heart. Same heart that's spoken of in
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22, where we read of the true heart,
not the false heart, but the true heart that draws near in
full assurance of faith. And then we read several times
in the New Testament of singleness of heart. Singleness of heart. Well, what's singleness of heart?
Well, I know the answer to that question. A single heart looks
only to Christ. A double heart looks to Christ
and something else. A single heart looks to Christ
only and nowhere else. We read in Acts 2, verse 37,
of pricked hearts. Remember when their hearts were
pricked and they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? We're
in a mess. That's a heart convinced of sin,
pricked by the Holy Spirit. I think of Simon Magus. What
did Peter say regarding Simon Magus? He said, your heart is
not right in the sight of God because you thought the gift
of God could be purchased with money. A right heart knows that
the gift of God can't be bought. It's the gift of His grace. And
then we read of Lydia in Acts chapter 16, whose heart the Lord
opened. It was closed, just like all
of our hearts are naturally closed to God, closed to His truth.
They've got a sign saying, keep out. But when God opens it, you
receive everything He's got to say. Open. You know, a believer
truly is open-minded to everything God says, and they're closed-minded
to everything else, aren't they? Every believer is an open target.
Now, turn with me. Here's the last one we're going
to look at. Turn with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 verse 9. If thou should confess. With
thy mouth. The Lord Jesus. Well, before we go on, I'm doing
it right now. I'm confessing I'm speaking with
my mouth and you're doing just as much as I am being here and
identifying with this. I'm confessing the Lordship of
the Christ. I'm confessing before the world,
before you, before everybody I can, the Lord Jesus. I confess with my mouth the Lord
Jesus. But what's he say next? And shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead. Do you believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the dead? Now that means more
than believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ. You believe
that the reason God raised Him from the dead is He did what
God sent Him to do. He fulfilled all righteousness
and He put away the sins of God's elect. He satisfied God's justice
and God raised Him from the dead. Do you believe that? Do you really
believe that? Well, look what it says. If you
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. Now take that for what it says.
Believe that. Do you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus? Do you, as God looks in your
heart, does He see someone who believes that God raised Him
from the dead? You'll be saved. You already
are saved if you really believe that. Isn't that wonderful? Verse
10, for with the heart, with the heart, man believeth under
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now, with the heart, man believeth
under righteousness. Now, remember what the heart
is. This is the heart that God gives. This is not the natural
heart. The natural heart doesn't believe under righteousness,
but that new heart that God gives, it believes under righteousness.
Now, that word righteousness, that's the righteousness of God.
I'm saved by the righteousness of God. That's my righteousness
before God. Now, with my heart, I believe
in the righteousness. That means, first of all, I understand. And I do. I understand that the
righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ is my righteousness before
God. I understand that. You understand that? You understand?
It's not your righteousness. You believe that, don't you?
Not only do I understand that, I love it. I love being clothed in His righteousness. I love being saved by His righteousness.
I love not standing before God in my own righteousness. I have
such confidence in His righteousness. I love it with my heart. I love
it. And with my will. That means, and you've heard
me say this a hundred times, but I hope it comes home in power.
If I'm given a choice between being saved by my righteousness
or His righteousness, I know which way I'm going. There's
no doubt in my mind I want to be saved by His righteousness. Now with the heart, this new
heart that He gives, man believeth unto righteousness and confession
is made unto salvation. Now do you have this heart? Well, if you do, ask God to give
it to you. I said that right. I said that
right. If you do, ask God to give it
to you. If you don't, ask God to give
it to you. Because He says regarding this
new heart, I shall yet be inquired of, of the house of Israel, to
do it for them. So I'm inquiring right now, Lord,
do it for me. Give me this heart that offers
willingly. And He'll do it. Let's pray.