Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000007S
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Father in heaven, we thank You so much, once again, 01:18 for the privilege of being here for this session 01:22 to study Your Holy Word. 01:23 We ask that as we try and decipher what is happening 01:28 in this world; the causes for what's happening, 01:31 that Your Holy Spirit will instruct us and help us 01:35 long all the more for that great day when evil and suffering 01:39 will come to an end. 01:40 So open our minds and our hearts. 01:43 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:46 I'd like to begin our study at the book of Genesis 1:31. 01:55 We've read this before, but we want to read it again. 01:58 Genesis 1:31. It's speaking here about the conclusion 02:06 of God's work of creation. 02:08 And at the end of creation we find these words: 02:12 Then God saw every thing that he had made, and, indeed, it was 02:21 very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 02:27 So at the conclusion of creation week, with the exception of the 02:32 seventh day, which we will discuss later on, we're told 02:35 that everything that God made was very good. 02:40 Now this includes the vegetable kingdom. 02:46 The garden of Eden was kind of like a botanical garden. 02:51 The Bible tells us that there were no thorns. 02:54 There were no thistles. 02:55 There were no weeds before sin. 02:58 It included also the animal world. 03:01 According to Genesis 1:30 all animals before sin 03:08 were vegetarians. 03:10 It includes also the kingdom of human beings. 03:17 They were in perfect harmony, in perfect accord. 03:22 The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve were one. 03:25 They were created one by God. 03:27 But God placed a test in the garden of Eden. 03:31 And if Adam and Eve passed the test creation would continue 03:37 as God had intended. 03:39 But if Adam and Eve did not pass the test, then creation would 03:45 fall into chaos, into disarray. 03:50 Now that test was found in a tree. 03:52 Go with me to Genesis 2:16, 17, Genesis 2:16, 17. 04:21 So God placed in the garden of Eden a test. 04:24 He said creation will continue very good, as I created it, 04:29 as long as you abstain from eating from the tree; 04:33 As long as you keep my commandment. 04:36 And as we've seen, all of the commandments were contained 04:39 in that one commandment. 04:42 The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve sinned, and as a result 04:50 creation, to a great degree, was thrown into disarray. 04:54 As we're told in Genesis 3:18, the earth began producing thorns 05:02 and thistles, which were unknown before sin. 05:06 The Bible also indicates, as we move along, that the animal 05:13 kingdom became a violent kingdom. 05:15 Animals started killing animals for food. 05:18 We also find that in consequence of sin, that oneness between 05:23 Adam and Eve was broken, because as we mentioned 05:27 in our last lecture, Adam began blaming God for giving him Eve, 05:33 and Eve began blaming God and blaming the serpent. 05:37 In other words, that oneness was broken in consequence of sin. 05:43 Something terrible had happened to this world 05:48 as a result of sin. 05:49 You see, what happened is that before sin entered into this 05:56 world, everything was other centered; was centered towards 06:02 helping others, living for others. 06:06 But in consequence of sin, self took the throne. 06:12 The core of man was changed from others to self, 06:19 and this was in consequence of Satan telling Eve, 06:24 you don't have to depend on God, 06:26 you don't have to worship God, 06:28 you don't have to obey God, 06:29 you can be God yourself. 06:32 And so the core of man was shifted from God, 06:37 and from others to self. 06:40 In other words, the heart of man was sickened 06:45 and became spiritually diseased. 06:48 And in consequence, to the condition of the heart of man, 06:52 now his behavior reflected the condition of the heart. 06:57 Go with me to Genesis 4:8, Genesis 4:8. 07:04 Here we have the first murder of human history. 07:08 We're told there in verse 8: 07:26 First murder in human history! 07:30 Now what we're not told in Genesis, but we are told 07:34 in a text that we're going to read in a moment, 07:36 is that something happened to Cain before he actually 07:41 committed the act of murder. 07:42 Go with me to 1 John 3, 1 John 3. 07:48 You see the problem with Cain was not a problem with 07:51 his behavior, it was a problem with his heart, with his core 07:55 nature. He became irate with his brother because something 07:59 was wrong with his heart, with the inside. 08:02 We're told there in 1 John 3:12, (and then we'll jump down 08:09 to verse 15), the following: 08:11 Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, 08:16 and murdered his brother. 08:18 And why did he murder him? 08:21 Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 08:27 But now let's jump down to verse 15, where we're told what 08:31 happened with Cain before he killed his brother. It says: 08:35 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that 08:42 no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 08:46 Now that's interesting. 08:48 Not only is the act of murder a violation of the commandment 08:55 that says, Thou shalt not kill. 08:57 But according to 1 John 3:15, hating your brother is already 09:02 murder committed in the heart. 09:04 In other words, the act that Cain committed was actually 09:09 a consequence of the condition of the hatred which he harbored 09:13 in his heart. The problem that Cain had was not with his 09:17 actions, it was with his heart. 09:20 Go with me to Genesis 6, moving on through this book, 09:25 Genesis 6:5. This is speaking about the pre-flood race; 09:32 the antidiluvia race. 09:34 They had become very, very wicked, very evil. 09:38 But I want you to notice where the problem began. 09:41 It says in Genesis 6:5: 10:00 Where did the problem begin? 10:02 In the thoughts of his heart. 10:05 Now notice what came as result of that. 10:08 Let's jump down to verses 11 and 12, verses 11 and 12. 10:14 It says: 10:31 When the Bible uses the expression, the way, it means 10:34 that the earth had corrupted its behavior. 10:37 Its actions were corrupted. 10:40 But you notice that the root cause was that every intent, 10:43 or thought of the heart was evil continually. 10:46 In other words, the problem was not with behavior. 10:49 The problem was with the root, with the heart, 10:53 which led to this wrong behavior. 10:55 Now let's move on a little bit to Genesis 8:21, Genesis 8:21. 11:04 This is after the flood. 11:06 And notice what we find in this verse; very revealing. 11:11 This is after Noah offers a sacrifice. It says: 11:16 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. 11:20 Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse 11:25 the ground for man's sake; although the imagination 11:30 of man's heart is evil from his youth. 11:34 Did you catch that? 11:36 The imagination of the heart of man is evil from his youth, 11:42 according to this. 11:43 Once again we find that the problem with human beings 11:47 is with the heart, whereas before the heart went out 11:51 towards God, in love for God. 11:54 Whereas the heart went out in love for Eve, and Eve for Adam, 11:59 now as a result of sin everyone turned their look inward 12:05 towards self. Notice also Genesis 27:41, Genesis 27:41, 12:14 this same idea that the problem is heart disease. 12:18 The problem is not with evil actions. 12:21 The problem is with the root. 12:23 You see, if you have a bad root you will have bad fruit. 12:27 And sometimes we try to deal with the fruit before we deal 12:31 with the root. Go with me to Genesis 27:41, and we'll find 12:38 the same idea again in the book of Genesis. 12:41 And this will be our last example from Genesis, 12:44 because we want to see how this idea is developed 12:46 throughout the rest of the Bible as well. 12:49 Here Esau is speaking after Jacob stole his birthright. 12:56 It says there in verse 41: So Esau hated Jacob. 13:03 What did he do? He what? 13:06 He hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father 13:11 blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning 13:18 for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob. 13:28 Where did murder start? 13:30 Murder did not start when Esau went with 400 men to try 13:35 and kill his brother. 13:36 Murder began when he had the intention of killing his brother 13:41 long before he attempted to perform the action. 13:45 And so the book of Genesis clearly reveals that because of 13:50 sin the heart of man was ruined. 13:54 By the way, the Bible calls it the sinful flesh. 13:59 The Bible calls it the old nature, the sinful man. 14:05 Man who is focused only on himself; that wants everything 14:09 for himself. Selfishness, the opposite of love, as we noticed 14:15 in our last lecture. 14:17 And the problem is that we are born this way. 14:22 Go with me to Psalm 51, and let's read verse 5, Psalm 51:5. 14:30 The Bible tells us that we are born with heart disease. 14:34 And you thought we did it as a result of our diet! 14:37 Ha ha, we do! It gets worse as a result of our spiritual diet. 14:43 But we're born with the disease. 14:45 Notice Psalm 51:5. Here David says: 15:00 Now this doesn't mean that we actually are guilty of Adam's 15:04 original sin. What it means is that we inherit from Adam 15:08 a sinful nature, a selfish nature. 15:12 In other words, we are born selfish. 15:15 You say, no we're not. 15:16 Is there anything more selfish in the world than a baby? 15:21 For a baby there's no one on planet Earth except him or her. 15:28 If you don't believe it, just don't give the baby his bottle 15:33 when he feels like you should give it to him. 15:35 He says real nicely, Mom would you please give me 15:39 my bottle now? You know it's not that way! 15:42 The baby screams, and kicks, and gets red, saying, 15:49 don't you know that I'm hungry? 15:51 We're born selfish. 15:55 And then that baby grows to about 3 years old. 15:59 The parents go to Wal-Mart. 16:01 That's about the only place I can afford. 16:03 Give a good plug here for Wal-Mart: go to Wal-Mart. 16:09 Little Johnny goes to the toy department, and he sees a 16:14 little truck that he likes. 16:16 He grabs the truck and he comes to Mommy and he says, 16:21 Mommy, I want this truck. 16:23 Mommy says, No, not today, Johnny. 16:25 Mommy, I want this truck. 16:28 No, not today Johnny. 16:30 Mommy, and he starts screaming, and he gets red. 16:38 And I've seen some children throw themselves on the floor 16:41 and start kicking, because Mommy did not buy ME the truck, 16:48 of all things! And then, of course, little Johnny grows 16:52 until he's about 21, and he gets married. 16:56 And things last real nicely for about two months. 16:59 And then he starts complaining. 17:06 She doesn't iron MY clothes. 17:08 See, I'm old fashioned. 17:11 She doesn't wash my clothes. 17:13 She burns the potatoes. 17:17 She doesn't provide sexual satisfaction. 17:22 And what is the idea? 17:24 She's not doing it for me, for me, for me, for me. 17:28 Selfishness! 17:31 In sin we are conceived, according to David, 17:35 because we are born selfish, and therefore we can never 17:41 trust our heart. Notice what we find in the book of 17:44 Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah 17:9. 17:50 Here we find an additional detail about our condition 17:54 in consequence of sin. 17:57 It says there, in Jeremiah 17:9: 18:11 That's quite a description of the heart. 18:13 Once again, he says, The heart is deceitful above all things, 18:18 and desperately wicked: who can know it? 18:22 Notice Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 28:26. 18:30 This is good counsel for young people who are thinking about 18:37 courting and getting married. 18:39 Notice what the wise man, Solomon, says. 18:43 Proverbs 28:26: He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. 18:54 Of course, if it's desperately wicked, if you trust in your own 18:57 heart you are a fool. Right? 19:00 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool: but whoever walks 19:06 wisely, will be delivered. 19:08 It makes me think of some young people, you know, 19:11 they fall in love. Interesting that you say they fall in love. 19:17 Ha ha ha ha ha. And they don't look at any danger signals. 19:22 Those are like Sampson. Hello! 19:25 Who saw Delilah and he said, she's beautiful! 19:29 She makes my heart beat faster. 19:31 And his parents say, Yeah, but is she an Israelite? 19:36 Well, no, but I might convert her. 19:38 The Bible doesn't say that, but, you know, he probably believes 19:42 every argument in the book, to have an excuse to get married 19:46 with Delilah, and with this other Philistine woman. 19:49 And he fell in love. 19:51 And he got married. 19:53 And as a result, by the way, he said, Get her for me, because 19:58 she's pleased my eyes, and that very act made him lose his eyes, 20:02 because his eyes were poked out, and he became a servant, 20:09 grinding grain in the mill, because he followed his eyes, 20:16 because he followed his heart, and the heart is deceitful, 20:20 because we are conceived in sin. 20:24 Do you know that Jesus knew how much power the heart has? 20:29 I'm amazed at the number of times that Jesus speaks about 20:34 the heart as the source of all evil, or the source of all good. 20:41 Mostly He speaks about the heart being a dangerous thing to 20:46 trust in, because it leads to evil, because evil springs from 20:51 the heart, from this selfish nature, from this self-centered 20:54 nature, from this iniquitous selfishness. 20:59 Now let's read some statements of Jesus where He speaks about 21:02 the heart. Notice Matthew 6:21, Matthew 6:21. 21:09 Here Jesus is speaking about money. 21:13 Is that a big problem in the world today? 21:17 The love of money? 21:19 The apostle Paul says that the love of money is the root of all 21:24 evil. I think that you could agree with that. 21:29 Notice Matthew 6:21. Jesus says: 21:45 Do you know what? It does no good for me as a minister 21:52 to twist people's arms to give money to the church. 21:56 It does no good, because if money is going to come 22:02 it needs to come from where? 22:04 It needs to come from the heart. 22:06 And people who hoard money, who are selfish with their money, 22:12 who are always thinking of a rainy day, and hoarding their 22:18 resources. Their problem is not money, their problem is 22:24 with their what? with their heart, their selfish heart. 22:28 Selfishness leads to hoard money, to save for a rainy day. 22:33 Jesus says, Therefore lay up treasures in heaven. 22:37 Don't lay them up on earth. 22:40 Notice also what we find in Matthew 12:34, continuing with 22:48 what Jesus had to say about the heart. 22:50 Matthew 12:34. Here Jesus says this: 23:08 Why couldn't they speak good things? 23:10 Because they were evil. Hello! 23:24 So what determines the words that you speak? 23:27 The condition of your heart. 23:29 What determines the way that you use your money? 23:32 The condition of your heart. 23:35 You know, when I was a kid sometimes I would get in trouble 23:41 in school for saying some naughty things. 23:47 I don't do that anymore. 23:48 Yeah, right, you say. 23:52 When I used to get home, you know, it was a double whammy 23:57 because I got punished at school, and then my parents 23:59 punished me at home. 24:00 They didn't side with the transgressor. 24:03 You know, sometimes parents side with their kids, 24:07 even though they know that they're guilty. 24:09 Well, I got punished when I got home, too. 24:13 And, you know, my Mom, what she would do if I spoke words 24:19 that I wasn't supposed to speak. 24:20 She'd take me to the bathroom and she would wash 24:22 out my mouth with soap. 24:26 And, you know, after many years I one day told my Mom, 24:29 I said, Mom, I remember when you used to wash out my mouth with 24:33 soap. You got it wrong, because the Bible says that what you 24:39 needed to wash was my heart. 24:41 Because if you wash my heart my words would be good. 24:45 See, washing the mouth is the wrong thing. 24:48 When the source is wrong, the words will be wrong. 24:51 The problem is not with the words, it's with the heart. 24:54 The problem is not with the money, it is with the heart. 24:58 We have heart problems. 25:00 We're born selfish. 25:02 Something has to happen to that selfish heart, or we are going 25:06 to be miserable all our lives, and we are going to lose 25:10 everlasting life on top of it. 25:12 Notice also what we find in Matthew 15:19, Matthew 15:19. 25:20 Jesus had a lot to say about the heart, and the influence that 25:25 it has upon our actions. 25:26 Matthew 15:19. Notice His words: 25:40 Did you catch that? 25:59 Where do all of these evil actions come from? 26:02 From the heart, by the way, and these are the things that 26:06 defile a man according to Jesus. 26:07 Now, let me ask you, is this list a list of violations of 26:12 the ten commandments? 26:13 Did you notice that? 26:15 Which commandment is murders? 26:21 Thou shall not kill? 26:23 How about adulteries? 26:25 Thou shall not commit adultery. 26:27 How about thefts? Thou shall not steal? 26:29 How about false witness? 26:31 You shall not bear false witness. 26:34 In other words, where does the transgression of God's law 26:36 come from? It comes from the heart. 26:39 So if you're going to change from being a transgressor 26:44 of the law, to being a law abiding citizen in God's 26:48 kingdom, where does the problem need to be solved? 26:53 The problem needs to be solved in the heart. 26:56 Because all of these transgressions of God's Holy 27:00 law, of God's ten commandments, come according to the Bible, 27:04 from the heart. Notice Matthew 5. 27:09 You know, Jesus had so much to say about the heart as the 27:12 source, as the evil source of actions. 27:16 Matthew 5:17, 18. Here Jesus is speaking about adultery, 27:23 and He says this... Matthew 5: 27, 28. 27:31 You have heard that it was said to those of old,... 27:39 Is that one of the ten commandments? 27:44 It sure is. But now notice: 28:03 Wow! If we applied this definition, how many male 28:09 adulterers would there be in this world, who never have 28:14 committed the act of adultery, but who have certainly coveted, 28:20 or lusted after another woman other than their wives? 28:24 And it works the other way around as well, because women 28:29 also do the same thing from their side. 28:31 You notice that Jesus doesn't say that lusting leads someone 28:37 to commit adultery. 28:38 He says that lusting is adultery. 28:42 He says a person who lusts after another woman, other than his 28:47 wife, has already committed adultery in his heart. 28:51 Adultery is committed when we have the feeling, 28:56 or the thought, in our heart even before the action 29:01 takes place. Wow! Jesus raised the bar! 29:06 You know some people say that Jesus did away with the 29:09 ten commandments. Jesus intensified 29:12 the ten commandments. 29:14 He says, You heard that you should not commit adultery. 29:16 And you think that because you haven't gone to bed with someone 29:19 else's wife, you haven't committed adultery. 29:21 He says, let me raise the bar just a little bit. 29:23 That commandment also reaches into your evil thoughts. 29:27 He says, You have heard from antiquity that you shall not 29:31 kill. But he says, Listen, if you call your brother a fool, 29:34 and you hate your brother, you've already committed murder 29:36 in your heart. Jesus, instead of getting rid of the 29:40 ten commandments, intensified, and amplified, 29:43 the ten commandments. 29:44 In fact, we're told in Isaiah 42:21 that Jesus would 29:49 magnify the law, and he would make the law honorable. 29:56 So are you seeing the problem that the world has today? 30:00 The problem is not with wrong actions, the problem is with 30:04 what? with the heart. 30:06 You hear a lot of people today thinking that the government is 30:10 going to resolve the moral issues in society. 30:12 They say if the government could just pass a law that says that 30:16 gays cannot be married, you would have the problem solved. 30:21 If you could just get the government to outlaw 30:24 pornography, the problem of pornography would be solved. 30:28 Let me tell you something, the government can propose all kinds 30:32 of laws against gay marriage, and against adultery, 30:35 and against pornography, and against all of these things, 30:39 but unless there's a change in the heart, 30:41 people will continue to do those things. 30:44 Because the heart of man is desperately wicked, 30:47 and a bad heart leads to bad behavior. 30:52 Notice Matthew 7:16-20, Matthew 7:16-20. 30:59 Jesus expresses it with another illustration, 31:03 or another example. 31:04 It says there in Matthew 7:16, Jesus speaking: 31:10 You will know them by their fruits. 31:13 Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 31:19 Even so every good tree bears good fruit; but a bad tree 31:27 bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, 31:32 nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 31:35 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down, 31:39 and thrown into the fire. 31:41 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 31:47 Because our tree is evil, our fruit is evil. 31:50 If the tree was good, the tree would produce what? good fruit. 31:56 But the problem is that we have a wicked, evil, corrupt heart. 32:03 We are suffering from heart problems, 32:08 and we need a cardiologist. 32:15 Before we claim the cardiologist though, we need to find out what 32:21 our real condition is. 32:22 We need to see our real condition, right? 32:24 Let me ask you, what is it that diagnoses our heart, 32:28 and shows us what our heart is like; what we truly are like? 32:31 Notice Romans 7, Romans 7:7. 32:38 We're going to study about the mirror of the heart; 32:41 that which shows our heart exactly the way it is. 32:45 You see, you can't get healing until you realize you're sick. 32:48 You won't look for a physician unless you know what 32:52 your disease is. And so you need someone to diagnose your disease 32:57 to find out what the problem is. 33:00 And we have a mirror that shows us what our problem is. 33:05 Notice Romans 7:7. 33:09 Here the Apostle Paul says, What shall we say then? 33:15 Is the law sin? Certainly not. 33:18 On the contrary, I would not have known sin, 33:23 except through the law: for I would not have known 33:28 covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not what? 33:33 You shall not covet. 33:34 How do I know that covetousness is wrong? 33:36 Because the law tells me so. 33:39 How do I know that stealing is wrong? 33:42 Because the law tells me so. 33:44 How do I know that committing adultery is wrong? 33:47 Because the law tells me so. 33:50 In other words, the law diagnoses my problem. 33:54 The law says, Listen, you've got heart problems. 33:57 You've got an evil, selfish heart, which is breaking 34:02 God's Holy law, and the law does not lie. 34:06 Now I want you to notice that God's Word, or His law, 34:11 goes very deep. It searches into the depths of our hearts, 34:16 and shows us exactly how we are, and what we need. 34:20 Notice Hebrews 4, Hebrews 4, and let's read verses 12 and 13. 34:26 Hebrews 4:12, 13. 34:30 Here the apostle Paul is speaking about the diagnostic 34:36 power of the Word of God. He says: 35:06 What does the Word of God do? 35:07 It comes in, it goes deep, and what does it seek out? 35:12 The thoughts and the intents of the heart. 35:15 Verse 13: And there is no creature hidden from his sight. 35:21 But all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom 35:28 we must give an account. 35:33 So who shows us that we're sick? 35:35 God through His Word, or through His law. 35:40 He says you've got heart problems. 35:43 And if you don't take care of those heart problems 35:46 you're going to have a cardiac arrest. 35:48 You need help. And, by the way, let me just tell you something. 35:56 When God changes someone, He changes them 35:59 from the inside out. 36:03 Do you believe that? 36:05 He cannot impose change from outside. 36:07 The changes has to come from inside. 36:08 It has to change the heart. 36:10 Let me give you an example. 36:14 I've used this before in another context, but how many of you 36:19 bake bread? You can raise your hand. 36:23 If you bake bread, I want to know where I can come 36:25 for lunch one of these days. 36:28 My wife makes very good bread. 36:30 And I want to tell you how she makes the bread so delicious. 36:34 She blends the water with flour and with the other ingredients. 36:39 She makes a big ball of dough, and she puts it in the pan, 36:44 and then she sprinkles yeast on top of the bread, 36:48 and puts it in the oven. 36:52 You snicker! You say, Pastor Bohr, you haven't watched 36:55 your wife make bread. 36:57 If she made bread that way, they would be more like the 37:01 stones that Jesus talked about. 37:02 Man shall not live by bread alone. 37:06 The devil said, turn these stones into bread. 37:09 You would need a miracle. 37:11 Where do you put the yeast, or the leaven? 37:15 You put the yeast or the leaven inside the dough. 37:18 And then what happens with the lump? 37:21 It grows from inside out. 37:26 And that's the way that human beings are changed. 37:29 They cannot be changed by legislation. 37:33 They cannot be changed by external means. 37:37 They can only be changed when the heart is changed. 37:42 And then the life and the behavior will be different. 37:47 Now let's read what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:18, 19, 37:54 Romans 7:18, 19. 37:58 And you tell me if this is your experience sometimes. 38:02 I know it's my experience. 38:04 Romans 7:18, 19. The apostle Paul says: 38:36 Have you ever had the experience of blurting out some words to 38:41 someone and afterwards you think, why did I say that? 38:46 Or have you ever done something and you say, why in the world 38:49 did I do that? Where did that come from? 38:52 Of course, that's my experience. 38:53 You've probably never had that experience, right? 38:56 Yeah, right! We all have it. 39:00 What's the problem? 39:02 The problem is with our inside. 39:05 The problem with it is with our heart. 39:07 And so our heart needs to be changed. 39:11 Now the question is, how can our heart be changed? 39:16 There are two steps: 39:19 Step 1. We're told in Romans 3: 23 that all of us have sinned, 39:29 and come short of the glory of God. 39:32 The first thing that we need to recognize is that we are what? 39:37 That we are sinners. 39:39 The second point that we need to recognize is in Romans 6:23, 39:44 where we are told: 39:51 Step 1. The Word of God shows me that I am a what? 39:56 That I am a sinner. 39:57 And because I am a sinner, I deserve death. 40:02 Which death? Everlasting death, eternal death, death from which 40:08 there will never be a resurrection. 40:09 And when I see myself in this desperate condition, 40:13 a sinner before God, deserving God's wrath to fall upon me, 40:19 deserving death, I cry out: who can save me? 40:24 And then I look at the cross of Jesus. 40:29 Do you know what I see at the cross of Jesus? 40:31 Go with me to Galatians 3:13, Galatians 3:13. 40:38 Here the Apostle Paul tells us what we see when we go to 40:42 Calvary; when we go to the cross. He tells us: 40:59 What has Christ done? 41:02 Redeemed us from the curse of the law. 41:04 Is the law bad? Why does it curse us then? 41:08 The reason why the law curses us is because we're sinners. 41:13 The law tells me, you're a sinner. 41:16 You're cursed. You deserve to die. 41:19 But it says here that Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of 41:25 the law. And how did he do it? 41:36 So when I come to the cross of Calvary, and I see Jesus 41:40 on the cross, what do I see? 41:43 I see One who took my sin upon Himself. 41:47 Undeservingly! He took it upon Himself. 41:52 He suffered the curse that I should suffer. 41:55 He suffered the death that I should suffer. 41:58 And when I see Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, 42:02 sweating great drops of blood, and when I see Him on the cross, 42:07 I hear Him crying out, My God, My God, 42:09 Why hast thou forsaken me? 42:11 And when I see Him beaten, when I see Him agonizing, 42:16 I say to Jesus, why is this happening to You? 42:20 And Jesus says, the wages of sin is death. 42:25 I am bearing your suffering, and your death. 42:30 I am taking my curse upon myself. 42:34 When I see Jesus in that fashion I say, 42:37 Lord, sin is a terrible monster. 42:39 Look what it did to You. 42:41 I hate sin! I love You! 42:44 And at that moment a change takes place in my heart. 42:48 Now my heart ceases to be a selfish heart, 42:53 and it becomes a heart filled with love as a result of seeing 42:59 what Jesus was willing to do for me. 43:01 A change now takes place in my life. 43:04 As it says in Zachariah 12:10, that they will look upon him 43:11 whom they have pierced, and they will what? 43:16 They will cry out like one who has lost an only begotten son. 43:22 That's what should happen when we come to the cross, 43:25 and we see Jesus suffering the curse for us. 43:29 We should cry out and say, Sin is horrendous, Lord. 43:32 I don't want anything more to do with sin! 43:35 And, you know, lo and behold, when we come with that attitude, 43:40 1 John 1:9 tells us what the result is. 43:45 1 John 1:9 says: 44:01 In other words, I contemplate the cross, and I can go home 44:05 with the certainty of forgiveness. 44:07 No more guilt! I don't have to be walking around carrying guilt 44:12 all of the time. I can have the assurance of forgiveness 44:16 in Jesus. Now many Christians would like to end there. 44:20 They say, Oh yeah, Jesus paid so I don't have to. 44:24 Jesus died so that He could forgive me. 44:27 But many Christians continue living the way that they used 44:33 to live before they came to Jesus. 44:36 Now is that possible? 44:37 If our heart has been changed by coming to Calvary, 44:41 is there going to be a change in our life? 44:46 There has to be! And if there isn't, it's because we truly 44:51 have not come to the feet of Jesus. 44:53 Our heart has not truly been changed. 44:55 Now notice Ezekiel 36 what else God promises to do. 45:01 Ezekiel 36:26, 27. This is a wonderful promise 45:07 that God gives. Ezekiel 36:26, 27. He says this: 45:20 What does God promise? 45:22 To give us a new heart. 45:28 That means your selfish heart. 45:38 And now notice; will we obey the Lord now? 45:42 Oh, yes, but we will obey Him from the heart. It says: 45:55 Not because we have to, but because our heart has been 46:00 what? Because our heart has been changed. 46:03 You know, it makes me think about Adam. 46:05 Can you imagine when Adam had to offer that first sacrifice, 46:08 what it must have been like? 46:09 There was no death in the world. 46:12 And now the Lord tells them to take this innocent little lamb; 46:17 to take a knife and slit the throat of the lamb. 46:25 And the lamb profusely looses its blood. 46:29 And suddenly that lamb is limp in the arms of Adam, 46:38 in a world where there was no death? 46:42 And God tells Adam, that lamb represents your Creator. 46:49 It's much worse than just killing that animal. 46:52 You think that's terrible. 46:54 That lamb represents the Lamb of God who takes away 46:58 the sin of the world. 46:59 Do you think Adam looked at sin differently from that point on? 47:02 Oh, he understood the terrible nature of sin. 47:06 That it was going to take the life of Jesus. 47:08 And, by the way, at that moment Adam was regenerated. 47:12 He was born again! 47:15 His heart was changed. 47:17 Notice the beautiful promise of Jeremiah 31:33, 47:22 Jeremiah 31:33. This is a wonderful promise 47:28 that God gives. And I'm sure that we've read it many times, 47:31 but let's read it again, because it is a wonderful promise 47:35 that God gives. Jeremiah 31:33. It says: 48:05 Where does God promise to write His law? 48:09 He promises to write His law in our minds, and in our hearts. 48:14 And then if the law is in our heart, what is our behavior 48:18 going to be like? Our behavior is going to reflect 48:22 the condition of our heart. 48:24 By the way, many Christians are confused on this point. 48:27 They say, God got rid of the ten commandments written on 48:31 tables of stone. He nailed those old commandments to the cross. 48:36 Let me tell you something. 48:39 God did not get rid of the ten commandments. 48:43 The new covenant is not a covenant of grace, 48:48 while the Old Testament was a covenant of law. 48:50 In the Old Testament the law was written on tables of stone. 48:55 In the New Testament the law doesn't change. 48:58 It's the place where the law is written which changes. 49:02 Did you catch my point or not? 49:05 It does no good to have laws written on tables of stone. 49:09 You can't offend tables of stone. 49:11 You can't hurt tables of stone. 49:12 And no matter how much you try to measure up to what you find 49:16 written on stone, you say, okay let's see how I am doing? 49:19 And you make lists to see how your life compares with that 49:22 code on tables of stone. 49:24 It's useless if you have a bad heart, because you can't keep 49:27 that code. But when God takes His law, when you're converted, 49:31 when you come to Jesus, when you see how expensive sin is, 49:35 how much it hurts the heart of God, 49:36 how much it hurts others, that love is the fulfilling 49:40 of the law. Then God takes His law and He writes it 49:43 in your heart. And then it is a delight, it's a privilege, 49:47 it's a joy to observe God's law. 49:50 Not because we have to, but because we want to. 49:55 This is the reason why Jesus said, in a very well known 50:02 verse, John 14:15: If you love me, you will keep 50:07 my commandments. Incidentally, that's also the reason why 50:11 in Psalm 40:8, which is a messianic prophecy, 50:15 it's quoted in the book of Hebrews. 50:17 Jesus, when He's actually about to be incarnate 50:21 into the world says: 50:30 I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is where? 50:36 Your law is within my heart. 50:38 I like to think of God as the great cardiologist. 50:44 Better than the doctors at Loma Linda. 50:48 But you know what? 50:50 God does not put in pacemakers. 50:55 God does not do bypasses. 50:58 God does not put in pig valves. 51:01 God doesn't reform our heart. 51:06 The only kind of surgery which God performs 51:10 is heart transplants. 51:13 He promises when we're converted when we come to Jesus, 51:18 to take out that heart of stone, that selfish heart, that old 51:22 human nature, which is selfish and always wants its own. 51:26 And when we come to Jesus our focus is shifted from self 51:33 to Christ. And then we're not concerned about our own thing, 51:38 we're concerned about the good of others. 51:40 We're concerned about the kingdom of God. 51:46 By the way, do you know that in Matthew 5:8 we are told by Jesus 51:52 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 51:58 The opposite side of the coin is not blessed. 52:04 I hesitated in using the word cursed, which is the antonym. 52:08 ...are those who have an impure heart, for they shall not see 52:13 God. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. 52:19 You say now, Pastor, how can my heart be cleansed? 52:22 Well, the first step is to come to the cross of Jesus, 52:24 and see what sin costs, and ask Jesus to get rid of sin, 52:30 to forgive you of your sin, to cleanse you from all 52:32 unrighteousness. But then, you know, we have to keep 52:36 our heart in good shape. 52:37 We have to eat the right stuff, because even a new heart can 52:40 develop a lot of cholesterol if we feed it the wrong things. 52:45 Just because He gave you a new heart doesn't mean that you 52:48 have a new heart forever. 52:49 You have to feed yourself with the right things spiritually. 52:54 What am I talking about? 52:56 Go with me to Psalm 119, Psalm 119:9-11, Psalm 119:9-11. 53:06 Here David, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 53:12 wrote these words particularly for young people. He said this: 53:19 How can you cleanse your way? 53:26 With my whole heart I have sought you. 53:32 Oh let me not wander from your commandments. 53:36 And now comes the key verse: 53:46 What is the secret for overcoming sin, which is the 53:50 transgression of the law? 53:51 Hiding God's Word where? 53:53 In our hearts. And how does it get into our hearts? 53:57 Through our eyes and through our ears. 54:02 By listening to His Word, and by reading His Word. 54:06 That's the way it gets into our hearts, 54:09 and it gets into our minds. 54:10 And you know what happens? 54:11 At first I start reading the Bible, and as I read the Bible 54:18 the Bible starts reading me. 54:20 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 54:24 Because as I study scripture, scripture starts showing me 54:29 the way that I am. 54:30 It says, this is the problem you have. 54:32 You have this problem. 54:33 And you've got that problem. 54:35 And so if I let the Word come into my life, into my heart, 54:39 it is going to expel wickedness from the heart, 54:43 and I'm going to have good spiritual health. 54:46 Believe me, we're not going to have good spiritual health 54:47 if we're sitting down watching soap operas all day, 54:50 or if we're watching violence, and marital unfaithfulness, 54:58 and lying, and cheating. 55:00 If we expose our minds to those things our heart is going to 55:05 get sick. Even if God did give us, at some point, a new heart, 55:09 the new heart has to be taken care of. 55:11 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 55:13 It's not enough to come to the cross and say, Jesus forgive me. 55:16 Jesus says, I forgive you. 55:18 Okay Lord, and I go and continue living the way I've always 55:21 lived. The heart must be guarded. 55:25 The heart must be taken care of. 55:28 In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tells us, 55:31 that God cleanses the church by the washing of the water 55:36 through the Word. 55:38 Jesus said in John 15:3, He says, These are all clean 55:43 through the word that I have spoken unto them. 55:45 See, time and again the Bible tells us that the way in which 55:49 God cleanses our heart is through His Word. 55:51 I've hidden my word in your heart that I might not sin 55:54 against you. In Ephesians 5 we're cleansed by the water 55:59 through the washing of the word. 56:00 In 1 John 3:1-3 we have the same idea. 56:06 John 15:3 Jesus says that His Word, He's given His Word 56:12 to His disciples and His Word has cleansed them. 56:16 I'd like to conclude by mentioning a great hero 56:20 from the Bible. His name was David. 56:22 After David committed his terrible act, adultery, 56:28 and then having Uriah killed in battle after he took his wife, 56:40 David repented of his sin, and he wrote Psalm 51. 56:44 And David asked for two blessings. 56:48 The first blessing is in verses 1 and 2 where he says to God, 56:52 Please forgive me my sin. 56:55 He asked for forgiveness. 56:58 But then David said in verse 10, he says: 57:05 A what? 57:12 He knew that forgiveness was not enough. 57:14 That forgiveness had to go along with a change of heart. 57:19 May God give us that change. |
Revised 2023-10-07