We will be in the book of Proverbs
chapter four. Proverbs chapter four. What do you believe to be the
root of human problems? What do you believe to be the
root of human problems? Everybody has problems, but what's
the root of our problems? You've heard me say this before
many times. A dog does not become a dog the
first time that it barks. It doesn't become a dog the first
time that it scratches itself because it flees. A cat doesn't
meow to become a cat. A cat's not a cat because it
sheds. It sheds because it's a cat.
A dog barks because it's a dog. A cat meows because it's a cat. That's the same in all of the
animal kingdom, including sinners. We're not sinners because of
what we do. We're sinners because of what we are. And that's our
problem. We're sinners because of what
we are. And because that's what we are, we can't fix it. We can't
fix it. We can't change it. We can't
add one good thing to it to make it better. As a matter of fact,
if we try to do anything good to fix it, it's called iniquity.
The Lord won't have that. Mankind do not become sinners
because of what they do. All men are born dead in trespasses
and in sin with depraved hearts. That word depraved means perverted,
immoral, unholy. And above all, depraved means
unable to please God in any way, shape, or form. Men and women,
they live their life doing in order to get favor with God.
Maybe if I sit a little higher than my peers, maybe if I'm able
to be noticed more because of the works that I've done, the
Lord will have mercy upon me. And that's not mercy at all.
That's called merits. That's called merits. No men
are born to pray. We cannot please God in and of
ourself. We cannot please him in what
we do or do not do. We have a sin problem. And the
root of that sin problem is our heart. It's our heart. That's
really our topic tonight, is the heart. But that's our problem,
isn't it? We're born with a depraved, deceived
heart. I've titled this message, The
Issues of Life. The Issues of Life, and it's
found in our text. Let's read it together. Proverbs 4, verse
23 through 24 says, keep thy heart with all diligence, for
out of it are the issues of life. That's what we titled it, Issues
of Life. Put away from thee a forward mouth and perverse lips put far
from thee. Keep thy heart with all diligence
for out of it are the issues of life. What are the issues
of life? It comes from the heart. That's where all the issues come
from. All the wars, all the evils, all the sin, it comes from the
heart. comes from the heart. Jeremiah
17, nine says, the heart is deceitful above all things. What does all
things mean to you and I? The Lord said, prophetically
by Jeremiah, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked, who can know it? What does all things mean? That
means all things, doesn't it? The heart's more deceitful than
anything. Deceitful above all things. The
heart is why we have problems. It's why we have issues in life. Did you know there was time when
mankind didn't have issues? They didn't have problems. It
was in the garden. And man, you talk about having
it made. They did. They had the presence of the Lord that they
could walk with in the cool of the evening. They had all the
food that they needed. You know, they didn't have to hunt. Death
hadn't entered in. They didn't have to hunt for the food. I mean,
it was all, Lord provided everything for them. But he gave them one
rule, didn't he? Can't eat the tree. The day that
you eat of the tree, you shall surely die. And because of our
depraved heart. Now, yes, they were created sinless,
but they were capable of sinning. We see that. And that's exactly
what happened. They sinned. Why? We have a depraved
heart. We think of things upside down
than what they really are in God's eyes. God sees things totally
different than we see things. In the garden they were sinless.
Here's what Romans tells us about that. Wherefore, as by one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
on all men, for all have sinned. All have sinned. So what is the,
what is the, What is the issues of life? That's
the heart, isn't it? That's the issue. That's the
issue, the heart. This is the problem. It's sin,
but not conduct. I'm not talking about conduct.
Yes, we do sin by our conduct. We do sin by things we say or
things we think or things that we do. And the scripture even
tells us, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
things are spoken that are ugly, they're mean, it's because it's
in our heart. You have people that do live
moral lives and you have some that don't, some that are religious,
extreme religious like Pharisees and some that are completely
religious. So I'm not talking about what we do or what we do
not do, I'm talking about it being a heart issue. I've said this to us before,
being born with a heart of stone, we need a replacement. We don't
need the Lord to perform a quadruple bypass and fix this one. We need
a brand new one. We need him. We need a brand
new. And the only thing that he accepts is what he provides. We need
a heart that he gives, that looks to him, that believes him by
faith. And that's exactly what he does
for his people. It's exactly what he does for his people.
Here's what the Lord says in Jeremiah 17, I, the Lord searched
the heart. I try the reins. I search the
heart. I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his way and according to the fruit of
his doing. Did you know the Lord is not
gonna give out participation trophies on Judgment Day? He's
not. He's a sovereign, holy, just God. If there is one sin
in his presence, that punishment is eternal death. Do we see that?
It's eternal death. He's not gonna let any of it
slide. He's not gonna let anybody get by that has any sin. I'm
not talking about what they do. I'm talking about what they are.
See, we need a substitute. And that's where we start getting
into the good news of the gospel. We need a substitute. I need
a new heart. I need to be made the righteousness of God in Christ.
I don't, I don't have any righteousness. If I'm focusing on what I'm doing,
I'm looking at this heart as if I can offer this to God, God's
going to reject it because I'm a sinner, a depraved, immoral,
self-righteous sinner by nature. That's what we are. That's what
we are. You and I must be as holy as God is. You and I must
be as good as God is. You and I must be as righteous
as God is. And thanks be to God, that's
exactly what substitution did on the cross of Calvary. He gave
us a new man made in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes,
this sin still sin, or his flesh still sins, doesn't it? The Lord
don't see it, he's put it away. He's put it away. He said, everything
you need, I've provided in one person, my son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We must be spotless and pure
as he is. We don't, there's no way that
we can really understand A dog doesn't really know it's a dog,
does it? Think about that. They're not conscious of the
thought, hey, I'm a dog. They just do dog things. A sinner
really doesn't know they're a sinner until the Lord says, hey, you're
a sinner. And when that happens, he gives
repentance and he gives faith. That's what he has to do, because
you and I will never understand Even after we're made to believe
the gospel, we still don't understand how ugly and wretched our sin
is in his presence. It's how putrid and vile, and
there's so many words we could try to use, but we just wallow
in it, don't we? We just wallow in it because
it's our nature, just like the dog goes and wallows in the mud.
The dog likes doing that. Scripture even says the dog returns
back to its vomit. That's us. That's what we do
by nature. Oh, I need a new heart. I need
a new heart. I don't need a moral reformation. I don't need for
somebody to tell me, man, you're really doing a good job now.
The Lord must be really proud of you. I don't need to hear
that. You know what I need to hear? Christ Jesus. That's who I need to hear. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, not the righteous. And I didn't come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. They that are whole need not
a physician. We had a little bout of sickness come through
our house. We went to the doctor. I don't need to go to the doctor
right now. I'm fine now. I don't need any medication.
Well, that's the point. If the Lord doesn't make us sick, what we
are, not what we do. And we'll never need him as the
great physician, we'll never need him. The Lord says this
about the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23, well, when to you
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are likened to whited
sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are
within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness." It's
a picture of the Lord looking down the throat, as if we look
up to glory and we open our mouth and he can see all the way down.
We don't have to do that for him to see all the way down,
but that's what a whited sepulcher is talking about. They whitewashed
the sepulchers. They bleached them. So the outside
of this tomb was pleasant to the eye. It was a nice white
color. What was on the inside? Uncleanness and dead men's bones.
He said, that's what you are. There's no life in you. I haven't
given you a heart. You're still dead and trespasses
and in sin. And so the Lord gives us that heart that believes him. We'll never believe. We'll never
believe. He tells us without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. There's no remission for our
sin. It took the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in
the Old Testament, it took the blood of the lamb, didn't it?
It was always pointing to the Lord, and it's what it takes
now for your sin to be gone. You can't make your sin disappear,
and you're not getting better, you're getting worse. We need
the blood. And it is true, the older we get, the more we do
loathe ourself, the more we say, oh, wretched man that I am. That
is true. Our Lord exposes our sin more and more. We see our
unbelief more and more. We get frustrated with ourself
more and more. Yet the Lord said, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. Fear not. Fear not. I've put away your sin. You shall
not die. That's what he tells his people. This is the issue of life. This
is the issue of eternal life and eternal death. By one man
sin entered in death by sin, for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. Boy, aren't
you glad he didn't stop there. The wages of sin is death. Well,
I'm in trouble. Preacher just told me I'm a sinner, I'm in
trouble. The wages of sin is death, but I love the Lord's
interjections, don't you? But God, who is rich in mercy,
that's what he tells us, for within his great love, for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. while we were yet sinners. That's
something, there's an article in your bulletin this Sunday.
I didn't write it, but it was,
I can't remember who wrote it at the present moment, but it's
talking about the love of the Lord and how he loved us, I believe,
actually it was Don Fortner, yeah. He talks about how he loved
us before we loved him, how he cared for us before we knew him,
how he, all the things that he did before we even knew there
was a God, before we even knew we were sinners, before we were
even, what did he say? Before you were formed in the
belly, I loved you. That's who our God is. That's
what he did for his people. He, I loved you with an everlasting
love. And because of that, you're not
consumed. Because I changed not, you're not consumed. I'm going
to take that heart of stone, and I'm going to give you a heart
of flesh that you can believe with. Every man has come short of what? The glory of God. The glory of
God. Every woman's come short of what?
The glory of God. But who is that glory? It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. So if we ever try to approach
the Lord, understand this, if I ever try to approach the Lord
with my good works, how I live, what I don't do, what I haven't
done, if I'm looking at that as my righteousness, what I'm
doing is I'm comparing myself to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
I am saying I'm as good as He is. That's not true, is it? He's
the only one that pleased the Father. He's the only one that
could have saved his people from their sin because he was perfect,
he was righteous, he's holy, he's just, and he's good. Psalm
24 says, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He, and he tells us, he that hath clean hands and a pure
heart. Does that describe you? Clean
hands and a pure heart? No, not enough myself. No, he just told me my heart's
deceitful above all things. So who's he talking about here?
Only the Lord can stand in the holy hill. Only the Lord can
stand in the presence of God. And the good news is, is if Christ
died for you, you were in him when he died. So you're right
there right now in his presence. You're right there seated in
the heavenlies right now with him. And one day the glory that
he's placed in us will be revealed. It'll come forth. This old flesh
won't be able to hold it back any longer. Who shall ascend
into the holy hill, or the hill of the Lord, who shall stand
in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart,
who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully,
he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness
from the God of his salvation. There's a problem, though, if
we ever think that we have clean hands and a pure heart, that
if we haven't, we've spoken vanity today already, haven't we? We
speak deceitfully all the time, don't we? Problem is, is we deceive ourself.
That's who we talk deceitfully to. If we left to ourself, we
would deceive ourself. He said, all we like sheep have
gone astray. You ever been around sheep? They're not very intelligent
creatures. I like sheep. They need a shepherd,
don't they? They have to have a shepherd.
And if you leave them to themselves, what do they do? They wander
off, they get lost, they get eaten. They can't defend themselves. And that's us. That's us. We just wander off and get lost. And we would get eaten by the
lion, wouldn't we? We'd get eaten by our adversary. Scripture says
that Satan is as a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he
may devour. We would be destroyed, wouldn't we? But the Lord won't
let that happen. Why? Because he's the good shepherd and the
shepherd looks after his sheep. We swear deceitfully when our
flesh betrays us in unbelief. We need a substitute. We need
the good shepherd to rescue us. We need one who is the very righteousness
of God. John was in glory and heard a
voice that said, who's worthy to take the book and open the
seals thereof, the book of the Lamb. And John said, I looked
and there was none found worthy in heaven and hell and on earth
and under the earth. And he said, I begin to weep
much. He said, one of the elders touched me and said, weep not,
John, for behold, there is one that's worthy. Behold the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, the Root of Jesse, the
King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He's right there. He can do it. He can open it. What was that
a picture of that book? Well, it was the judgment of
God for whoever's in the, in order for us to be saved, in
order for you and I to be born again, in order for us to receive
this new heart by the Lord's doing, by his grace, he had to
take the place of those individuals in the book. He had to die in
their room instead. That's what that's a picture
of. He was agreeing to endure the wrath of God for whoever's
written in that book. He alone is able to save God's
chosen people. I love the thought that the father
chose the son and then the father chose his people and they've
always been chosen. So it's not like it actually.
We can't understand what I'm about to say, but you know it's
true. The Lord doesn't have new thoughts. He knows everything. How do you explain that? Well,
you don't. You just believe it. You just believe it. We've always
been chosen in Christ. And Christ was always chosen
as the Lamb of God. He's a chosen redeemer of his
elected sheep before time. I love the thought. God looked
down. God looked down through time that he hadn't even created
yet. And he chose some people into eternal life. That's amazing
to me. And then he creates time. And
he speaks everything into existence that there is, except one thing,
mankind, the creature, the creature. God formed man out of the dust
of the ground and breathed into his nostrils and man became a
living soul. I love that in his infinite wisdom
and his power, by his hand and his will, he created everything.
He made everything, because he's God. It's his. It's his. I love that he hung the earth
on nothing. He hung the earth on nothing. I love that he put
the stars in the sky on nothing. They're just floating there.
Can you explain that? No, but I believe that's exactly,
I know who did it. Why did he do that? You know
why. You know why, that he might redeem
his people from their sin. That he might give them a new
heart. See, this is the issue of life.
This is the issue of life. If I have a heart problem, it's
a heart of unbelief, that's the problem. But oh, if the Lord's
given us a heart of faith, we believe and look to him. We rest
in him, we hope in glory in nothing but him. Think about the thought, you
and I, think about how the Lord made this creature, Adam, knowing
that that creature was gonna be a generational, was gonna
be generations later, but that was gonna be the creature that
would crucify his son, crucify the king of glory. He did that
for his people, think about that. He had all the power. Even they
yelled at him on the cross, didn't they? Said, if you be Jesus,
save yourself. And one said, he cannot. That's the most truest
statement, because if he did, we would be in trouble. We would
be in trouble, but he could not save himself. It's what they
said. Others he could save, but he can't save himself. That's
it. He saved you and I, only because he did not save himself. The fullness of time has come.
God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law
to redeem them that were under the law, that why did he do that?
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him, in him. As the book of life was open,
judgment was required for everyone that was in there written. Sin
existed, and the Lord had to agree to come and die. He had
to come and agree to take their place. He had to be robed in
the likeness of sinful flesh, the scripture says, and for sin,
condemn sin in the flesh. He had to become the creature.
The creator had to become the creature. And he did. He became the creature. And that
night, as he's in the garden, you can see the account that
took place. He knows it's coming. He knows
he's doing business with his father. He's praying. He says
unto his father, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And
the Lord wouldn't let him. Why? It was the only way for
you to have a new heart. It was the only way for you to be born
again. It was the only way for you to be saved from yourself. Somebody says,
well, I want to be saved from hell. Yeah, well, I understand
that. Ask any believer what they really want to be saved from.
They want to be saved from their self. We want to be saved for ourself,
don't we? Because if we're saved from ourself, we're encompassed
in that. We're saved from hell. We're saved unto salvation. And
as the Lord thought about the terrors that were compassing
him about, as he thought about the agony of the separation from
the father, he'd never been separated from his father. We don't understand
that, because we've never actually been in his presence as as a
being, we've experienced grace, we've experienced peace, and
we've experienced worship and those kind of things, but I'm
talking about whenever we actually have a spiritual, that new man,
that spiritual being comes forth, the glory's revealed, and we
get to be face to face with him. See, that's what Christ, that's
what he had. And he chose to come down to
this dust ball that we live on, and live 33 and a third year,
getting mocked, getting ridiculed, Getting accused, but he never
took his eyes off of his father, not one time. He always believed
his father. You know why? Because you and
I can't. That's why he did it, because you and I can't. He did
it in our place. And then he drank of that cup,
the bitter dregs of our sin, all the disgustingness that we
are. He drank the cup dry, the cup
of damnation. He drank it dry so that there's
no more damnation. There is now therefore no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. There's now no condemnation.
He drank it all. He endured the wrath of God.
He was forsaken by his father. He was stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted. He was wounded. on the outside
by all the men ridiculing him, plucking his beard and doing
all the things physically they did to him. That was nothing
compared to the father making his soul an offering for sin.
This is the issue of life. This is how life was brought
to the Lord's people. And after he had finished doing
business with God, after the father was satisfied with the
sacrifice of his son, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from top to bottom, signifying that his sacrifice was perfect.
His sacrifice actually accomplished salvation. Now there's no condemnation
for the Lord's people. There's none. There's no condemnation. At the cross, he was the shepherd
taking place for the sheep, wasn't he? He was the creator taking
the place of the creature. He was the king of kings taking
the place of of his people, his men. But what are we compared
to the king of kings? You see what I'm saying? He created
everything and yet he condescended to a point insomuch and humbled
himself even at the death of the cross that you and I might
be saved. Now wrath's been extinguished
and justice has been satisfied and the father is well pleased.
Father's pleased with the sacrifice of his son insomuch that he's
justified the Lord's people. If you're His, you've been justified. Justified doesn't mean just as
if I had never sinned. Justified means you've never
sinned one time in the eyes of God, not once. That you no longer
have a depraved heart. You have a heart of faith. That's
what justified means. that when the Lord looks upon
you, he sees his son and he is well pleased to pardon you because
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy. According to his
mercy, he loved us. According to his mercy, he saved
us. According to his mercy, he washed us. According to his mercy,
he gave us eternal life. I love about our new heart. It's.
Stony heart can't beat, can it? Not for him. Heart of flesh beats
for the Lord beats by him. It beats for him. It beats to
him in all things looks to him in all things. He's made his
people. The very righteousness of God
in Christ right now. Right now, not in the flesh,
but the new nature he's given. We made the very righteousness
of God just as holy as he is. I can't see it and you can't
see it, but that's what he declares to us. For when we weren't as
holy as he was, he would never allow us into his presence without
destroying us. And that's exactly where we're gonna go one day
is to his presence. When this mortal shall put on immortality,
this corruptible shall go back to the dust from which it's came,
then we're gonna be made just like him, be made just like him. And that glory that he's given
to us freely by his grace, it's gonna come busting forth. He says, when he had by himself
purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. He by himself purged our sin. They're gone. They're
gone. Let's read our text one more
time. Verse 23 and 24 of Proverbs 4. Keep thy heart with all diligence,
for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a
forward mouth and perverse lips. Put far from thee The issues
of life are a heart issue. That's what he just told us.
Our heart's deceitful. You know his heart wasn't deceitful.
His heart was pure for the Father in every way. Can you imagine?
He never had a bad thought. Never had a wrong thought. Never
had a sinful thought. The Lord didn't. I love that.
He didn't have our fallen nature, did he? He had the Father's nature.
He had a holy nature. A righteous nature. And he had
to do what he had, we had to do what he did in order to give
us that same nature. In order to give us that same
nature. When the Father put the Lord's
people in the Son and the Son died, they died in Him, they
were resurrected in Him to live life anew with Him forever. We now have His nature that looks
to Him. Our God declares clearly, I have
loved you, with everlasting love. Everlasting means it never had
a beginning, never had an end. It doesn't matter what's going
on in the world. Doesn't matter what's going on in life. The Lord says,
I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, therefore he
gives us a heart that pleases him because there's no more sin. There's no more condemnation.
There's no more death. Why? There's no more issue. You
remember the woman with the issue of blood? 12 years she had the
issue of blood. She went to all the doctors.
And the ironic part, I researched this a little bit, the ironic
part was, you went to the physician back during the Lord's time,
you know what they would do? They would bloodlet. Well, she didn't
need to lose more blood. That was the issue. And that's
all that religion can do is it just cuts more and it makes bleed
more. It doesn't do any good. Lord
ain't looking for our blood. He's looking for the blood of
Christ. They spent all that she had, and she heard that Jesus
was walking by, Jesus was coming by, but it was a big crowd. So
she just starts pressing through the crowd, and she said in her
heart, what heart was that? Was that a heart of stone? It's
a heart of faith, wasn't it? If I could just touch the hem
of the garment, I know I'll be made whole. Why? Because she
did it? Because she touched him? I know if I do it, I'll be made
whole. No. Because of who I'm touching.
I'm touching him. I'm touching the one that was
worthy to open the book. I know if I can touch him, he'll
make me whole. That's exactly what happened.
She touched the hem of his garment. He said, who touched me? And
then the disciples looked at him. They were confused. They
were like, Lord, there's people everywhere. I mean, everybody's
bumping into you. distraught a little bit about that. Weren't
they taken back? He said, no, somebody's touched me. For I
perceive virtue has went out for me. Don't you love the fact
that our, I want to say this the right way. We cannot touch
God without being destroyed. Christ can touch God without
being destroyed. We cannot touch Christ And we
can't defile him. We can't defile him. He takes
all that defilement he did on the cross of Calvary and he gave
us his righteousness and he put all that sin away. When she touched
him, she knew if I touch him, If I touch Him, I'll be made
whole. He'll take all the bad out of me. And that's how we
come to the Lord by faith, is we know He's all good and we
are all bad. We're false and full of sin,
but He's full of truth and grace. If I could just but touch the
hem of His garment, my issue will be taken care of. The issue
of my heart will be taken care of. The issue of my life will
be taken care of. The issue of death will be taken care of because
of the eternal life found in Him. there is no sin, no condemnation,
no more death, there is no longer an issue. He took care of the
issue. Now I do want to touch just briefly on these a couple
of things that he says here. Notice it says, put away from
thee, verse 24, a forward mouth and perverse lips put far from
thee. A forward mouth and perverse lips are crookedness and distorted. Both of them mean crookedness
and one of them means crookedness and distorted. What does he say?
When we declare the Lord's gospel, we declare it simply and truly
and plainly as we can. We preach Christ is all. We don't
add to and we don't take away. We don't talk about grace and
then at the very end of it say, okay, and you also have to do
this. We don't do that. Why? Because we don't speak perversely
and we don't speak crookedly. That's exactly what he's saying
here. Put that away. We don't talk like we used to talk when
it comes to the gospel or the Lord's truth, do we? No, we believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ now is all in salvation, all in salvation. That's what he's saying, declare
Christ is all, that he accomplished all by himself. He saved his
people on purpose. He didn't accidentally, you think
about how silly it is whenever somebody says the Lord died for
everybody. If that's the case, he's accidentally saving people.
That's not true, he saved them on purpose. Who he died for,
he saved them. He really saved them. That was his whole purpose
of coming. He fixed the issue of life. He fixed the issue of death,
so that no matter what we face in this life, we know we had
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We
preach Christ and him crucified, having no confidence in the flesh.
We don't make the gospel crooked. We don't pervert it. We don't
distort it. There's a lot of distortion going
on. You know what distortion is? We have a little bit going
on in these speakers, I think. It keeps popping. Sometimes you watch
TV, and I don't know, some of you remember this. I know everybody
in here remembers this. I don't think my kids will remember
this, but rabbit ears on TV. It'd get distorted, wouldn't
it? Sometimes I was the antenna. I had to move it wherever. And
that's how men preach. Now, you can't exactly get the
clear picture. No, when we preach, when we come together and we
worship, we want to hear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth. And we trust that the Lord will
show us our sin and show us that he put it away. Lord reveal to
me I'm the sinner. Show me the truth. Only the Lord's
people want the truth. Only the Lord's people need the
issue fixed because they've been shown that by his grace. We tell all men and women the
truth in love, plainly and simply. You're born with a heart issue.
You have a heart of stone that's deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. You're born with an issue of life and death,
but by his grace, he saved his elected people from their sin. The issue's gone. The issue's
gone. He did it all. Thank God he fixed
the issue of life. We couldn't have fixed it. We
could never fix it. He fixed it. The issue of life. Let's pray. Father, we are thankful
for your words. We pray that you'll bless them
to our understanding