The Heart (Part 2)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Now, let's look at proverbs, chapter 16. There are two sections that I would like to go over today, two. Two subjects maybe, to cover. We're going to look at various verses in proverbs and a couple other places as well to cover these two subjects. You know, when you, to be honest, when you look at this subject and a number of subjects in proverbs, but the heart is kind of a broad subject. It's not very specific. It covers a lot of different things. So it's kind of hard to nail down how the verses relate to one another. So this is what I've tried to do, though, and hopefully it'll be a help to you. So in chapter 16, we're going to read verse number two. But before we do that, let's pray and ask the Lord to meet with us and bless our lesson this morning. Lord, in heaven, thank you so much that you have allowed your people to gather that you've given a measure of health and just good strength that you've given to us here to meet together. And I know there are some who are just afflicted right now or sick or have other issues that are listening in. Lord, I thank you for them as well, and I pray that you would enable them to be strengthened and to grow through your word just the same. Lord, please bless our study today. Lord, you have given us, especially in this subject on the heart. You've given us insight into. You've allowed us to see inside of ourselves in a way that we would not be able to have done outside of your revelation. Thank you for that, Lord, that you have x rayed us. You've allowed us to see what's there. And, Lord, help us to respond appropriately in a way that would be honoring to you. So, Lord, would you please teach us and meet with us in Jesus name. Amen. All right, proverbs 16 and verse. We're actually going to look at two verses kind of together and then make some comments on it. Proverbs 16, verse two. The Bible says, all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits. The Lord weigheth the spirits. Now, what I want you to note in verse two before we look at the next verse, which is in chapter 21, says, this is the word ways of a man. Ways. Now, what does that refer to normally in scriptural language, when you talk about a way? Another word for that would be a path. Right. What is that talking about? What is its application? Spiritual meaning? Somebody help me now. Help me. Yes, ma'am. Manner of life. Anybody else? What's that? I couldn't hear you. But I'm referring to the definition of the word ways, like as our ways. Sister Lynn said it was the manner of content. Okay, so this is kind of where we're going to kind of see a connection. So that's why I want you to note the word ways, generally speaking, when we talk about the path. Now, follow the scriptural language, because it'll help you. When you understand the metaphor, it'll help you understand other passages of scripture that use it. When you're talking about a way. Another word for that is path. That is, you think of a literal path. How many of you, when you were growing up, you like to go play in the woods? I loved it. I loved it. And in the woods, you would have a path, right? We would call it a what? What do we call it down here in Granville? A trail. It's a trail. That's what we call it. But it's a way. It's a path. It's not so much a road. A road is going to be bigger and more developed, but a path is just a walking path away. So what do you usually do on a path or on a way or on a road? You walk. And so that metaphor of path and way is a reference to the way we walk, the direction we're going, where we're going, and how we're going. So the walk, just like Sister Lynn said, refers to what we do. Now, if I could put that in plain language, it would be our works. Okay? What we actually do, the decisions we make, and the works we do. Now, those things are important because those things, the works, the decisions we make, the choices we make, and the way we apply those things in life have great effect on ourselves, on our children, on our grandchildren, on our church, on our finances. You could even say it has even a greater effect on society at large and all those kinds of things. So it matters. The way we live matters. The choices we make, the works we do matter. They matter. And see, there is an idea, a philosophy that's being pushed and taught that the only thing that matters is your heart. Really, what they mean by that is not your heart. As we'll see in just a minute. They're not really talking about the heart. They're really talking about the way they. So, yesterday, brother Ben and I met a lady, and I felt stupid because I should have had an answer, and I didn't have an answer ready. But she said we knocked on her door, or anyway, we met her at her house. And she came out on the porch and we offered her a gospel tract. And she says, oh, no, I'm spiritual. I'm not religious. And so Ben and I discussed it a while and tried to understand what she meant by that. And I talked to my wife about it, tried to figure out what she meant by that. And a lot of times, that idea is just a cover for, well, the way I feel is all that matters on any given subject. And really, what I do is not all that matters. Because anytime you talk about what people do, you're getting judgy and religious, and I don't like religion, okay? That's not what the Bible says at all. It does matter. The way we live, God is paying attention to that just as well as he's paying attention to the inside, all right? So our works matter. The Lord saved us. The Bible says he created us unto good works. And that's not even a reference to his creation of us as in a human being, but his new creation. When he saved us, he saved us so that we would have good works, okay? So it matters to the Lord. All right? All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes. All right? Keep that in mind. But the Lord weigheth the spirits. Now, look at 21, verse two, says essentially the same thing, a little bit different wording. 21, verse two, says this. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Is that not? And I just pause for a minute. Is that not true? Does not every person think that what they do is right all the time? I mean, just as a matter of human nature, does that not infect us as well? In other words, every time we come to a situation or a circumstance, we always assume we're right. We always assume we made the right decision, we did the right thing, and we are loathe to consider anything other than that right every time. And that is, of course, much of the source of conflict comes from that heart that says, yeah, I'm right. Obviously I'm right. It's just a fact of human nature. But notice the second part. It says, but the Lord pondereth the hearts. Now, the word ponder, when we think of the word ponder, we think of the idea of somebody, like the famous statue of the guy with his hand on his chin thinking you're meditating or thinking upon something. But this word ponder, according to the dictionary, it means this to estimate. Of course, the Lord is not pondering in the way we would sit and think, especially as it relates to the heart. Here's what the word means to estimate or reckon. The worth, value, or amount of. To appraise, it means to judge or to evaluate. In other words, you have this idea of the Lord is watching and the Lord is considering, and the Lord is weighing. Remember the verse we just read? 1616? Was it 316? Two. He weigheth the spirits, he pondereth the heart. It's the same idea. It's the same idea. The Lord is looking at our heart, and he is paying attention to what's there. But that's not all that's in the verse. The works and the way of a man is also in the verse. In the beginning of the verse, every way of a man is right in his own eyes. But note the order. Note the order. And I'll say more about this in just a minute. But notice this man looks at his ways, his works, his life, the way he lives. Man looks at his ways and says, I'm clean. By contrast, God looks inside of the man. All right? So the man is looking on the outside, and he looks at the good things. Of course, he conveniently ignores all the evil that he does. Of course, because I'm right, obviously. So while conveniently forgetting the evil that he does and making that light and little, he magnifies the good in his own sight that he does the good works that he does, and he looks at those things that he does and says, see, I've done these good things, therefore I am good. I've done these good things, therefore I am clean. This is God giving it, giving us an insight of the way people think. All right. By contrast, the Lord looks not on the outside at what the man does because we have to look only on the outside. But the Lord doesn't have to do that. He can cut through the muck straight to the heart and see the condition of the spirit, the heart, as we've read and know exactly what it is. He's not deceived like we are. When someone appears to be doing like you hear people, especially when they pass away, every evil thing they've done is, like, gone. It's like it never happened. And of course, I'm not saying that we should pull out everyone's skeletons out of their closets when they die. I'm not saying that, but sometimes we describe someone in a way that's really not accurate about how good they are because of the good things they've done. It's just the reality of the way we deal with people. Yeah. [00:11:59] Speaker B: You know what I think about that way? That path is in place of destination for me, when I'm taking my path through the woods, it's always going to. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Creek or going to the treehouse. [00:12:09] Speaker B: Everybody's got a destination that they're going on. When you're speaking to that lady there, her door, she's spiritual. It's like we're living in a day where people don't want to be questioned. It's like, how dare you question my spirituality? And that's a sense of pride that's inside of the heart that doesn't want to look through the lens of reality. They'd rather look through the lens of their deception, the world that they have made up, which for the most part is not really. [00:12:41] Speaker A: If you ever interact with organized religion, which to her is bad, what you'll find is you'll find people that challenge what you think because you know what, you're around other people. It's easy to be right when you're the only person talking right, isn't it? And see, this is why, as a believer, you need the church. I need the church. You say, well, there's people in there who have messed up. Yeah, I know. I'm one of them. Yeah, I know we are. So it's no surprise when you say something that bothers me or I say something that bothers you. That's beside the point. The point is that we need that bumping into one another. It helps us. It helps us. The Lord even uses the unpleasant parts of that to help us, to teach us, to humble us. Right? That's just how God uses it. So he knows better than we know. Okay? Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord Pondereth the hearts. Now, I want to bring out one particular point. I'm going to call this. This is a uniquely relational point of Christianity, biblical Christianity. What do I mean by that? Is there's an aspect of Christianity that is, people view Christianity as love your neighbor, right? Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I know I bring up the media a lot, but listen, this is what is being pumped into our minds all the time. What is Christianity? Well, Christianity, like, I remember Bill O'Reilly, he said, christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a philosophy. Christianity is a philosophy. And basically love your neighbor as yourself. You have missed the boat, because before you ever get to, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. What does the verse say right before that? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul. That's the relational part. In other words, the biblical Christianity which is what our faith is. Not the outward religion. But what our faith put upon the scripture. Is primarily about our relationship with God. Not with others. Primarily about our relationship to God. This is what I mean about when I say Christianity is uniquely relational. Now, if you compare, you do comparative religions. What you'll find is even christian religions, christian denominations, their primary consideration is there is little emphasis on the inward condition of the heart as seen by God. There is a great emphasis put on the ritual, on the duties, on the festivals. They put a great emphasis on looking the part. They put a great emphasis on participation. [00:15:42] Speaker B: Amen. We got to be careful there. [00:15:47] Speaker A: This is what kind of man made religion emphasizes. In other words, because man made religion does not really. There's no real God aspect. And there's no relational aspect to it. So as a man, if I see you all here, you all look nice, you all are well dressed or whatever, you're good. So I come into the room, I see you, you're happy. But from a biblical perspective, I should. Shouldn't we all care if we come into this room, we looked apart. But God sees our heart. And it's not consistent with what the out that should bother us. And it does bother God. That's the point. God weigheth the spirits. He pondereth the hearts. It matters. It's not just about the way we look. But see, man made religion puts all the emphasis there. And so if you looked apart. Now, follow me. If you looked apart, then it is assumed then that the heart is good. After all. If my heart wasn't good, why would I do all these things? But you got it totally backwards. Think of the pharisees and the sadducees. They had every ritual. They had every law, every t crossed, every I dotted. Everything was good. Everything was just so. And Jesus said they were children of the know. He looked through all that muck and all the phylactories they would tow on their arms, on their foreheads and their stashes and their fringes of their garments. And the way they prayed. And how they appeared to men. And in that society, the Pharisees were highly regarded. It wasn't just. I mean, people actually did revere them. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Think about this. Jesus'disciples, apostles. But it was not hard. [00:17:42] Speaker A: That's true. Yep. You see, the Pharisees among them, no one had a more correct and systematic outward form. That was correct. Right. But inwardly, they were children of the devil. All right, here's what we learned from this. It reminds us that what God sees inside of us is what is paramount. And so that should be our highest concern. [00:18:14] Speaker B: Amen. [00:18:15] Speaker A: Now, just because you say that doesn't mean the works don't matter. No, the works matter. But God's view of our heart matters most. That's the key. So you and I can come into this room and we can wear our suit and our tie. And I'm for that, obviously. We can come in and we can dress modestly, and we can be the nice wife and mom and grandmother, grandfather. We can look the part. But if God sees a heart that is not right with him, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Our faith is primarily a relational faith with God. And here's the reality, and we're going to see this in just a minute. Whenever our heart is right with God, all the outside things work themselves out naturally so you don't have to put on. It just happens. It's the outworking. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. That means everything flows out of that. That word issue means to flow flows out of it. All right, look at first Samuel, chapter 16 real quick before we return to. We will come back to proverbs. First Samuel 16. You all know this verse, but we're going to read it just to cover our bases. One Samuel 16. Talking about Saul. Saul, of course, was head and shoulders above in stature, above those around him. Let me get back to the verse here. First Samuel 16, verse number six. Bible says, and it came to pass when they were come, that he looked on Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. You notice that? You see the assumption? You see in that language? Assumption. Surely this is it. Surely, surely Sister Lynn is so and so. Surely Pastor Wood is so and so. Surely brother Vernon is so and so. That's an assessment from the outside, right? It might be right, it might be wrong, right? But the reality is, that's not the primary thing that matters. What matters is what God says of us. All right, he says verse seven. But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height of his 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. And a lot of people, they dance on that verse. Lord looks on the heart while they go and do whatever. And they think that because they feel good that God approves of what they're doing. And I'm not joking when I say this, people think that they are good and right. Because they feel good that God approves because of their feelings. I mean, there's plenty of people that commit adultery with happy feelings. Well, he just treats me so bad. Well, she's just a terrible wife. It has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it. You see, as I said, people dance on this verse. But they forget the gravity of the Lord looking on the heart, they think that's going to come out in their favor, and it's not. All right, look back at proverbs, chapter 24. So we embrace that verse. But that verse is not properly used as way people use it to say. Well, it doesn't matter what people think. Well, that's not what that verse says at all. All it says is, this is not the way God sees things. That's all it's saying. At no point does one, Samuel 16 seven say nothing on the outside matters. It doesn't say that. It just says that this is the way God sees it versus man. All right. Proverbs 24, verse twelve says this. If thou sayest. Let me start in verse eleven. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain. If thou sayest, behold, we knew it not. Doth not he that pondereth. There's that word it again. Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his. What's that next word? That's interesting. Now, follow me. I want you to get this point. Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it. Shall he not render to every man according to his works? So here's what, Sam. God, who is weighing and appraising the heart of man. Is going to reward man according to his works? I would expect it to say God's going to reward it according to his heart. But it says works. You see that connection between the heart and the works? Look at Jeremiah 17, if you would. Jeremiah, chapter 17. This is not alone and isolated verse in the Bible. On this subject, verse nine. Of course, we studied last week. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins. The reigns is just a reference to the inside. That's just what it's referring to. Even now. Notice, God says he searches the heart and he tries the reins. Why even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. So God looks at the heart to reward the works. So do the works matter? I would say so. His reward is on that grounds. Right? Look at revelation, if you would. We are going back to proverbs, so just hold your place there. Revelation, chapter two, verse 23. Jesus says in this letter to the church at Thyatira, he says, and I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. It's interesting because we read it in Jeremiah, and now we're reading Jesus say it in revelation, which tells us that Jesus is Jehovah because he's doing the same thing. Right? We'll see more of that, brother Joseph. That's part of what we're going to talk about tonight a little bit, Lord willing, so God will reward the works. But there is a connection that God examines the heart as he rewards the works. See, mankind has it backwards. They say, I have works, so my heart must be good. God says, on the contrary, they have works. But do those works come out of a clean heart? So God doesn't look at the works, the outside, the doings, the way, independent of the heart, like we do, because we can't see the heart. So man assumes and God examines. All right, look back at proverbs 17. Actually, just for time's sake, I'm going to skip this section here and just go to the next major point. So the first thing we wanted to cover, you can go to proverbs chapter three. So the first thing I want you to cover is wanted to study is the Lord's view of our heart versus our view of our heart and how that plays into our works. All right? When our heart is right with God, our works will follow. Man is tricked and deceived because man concentrates only on what's on the outside without much consideration of the heart, because they can't see the heart. But God looks at the works in connection with the heart. All right. All right, proverbs three. Now, I'm going to remind you of the key verse in this section here. I want to. Want to look at which is the verse that someone quoted. It's proverbs four, verse 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Here's the principle. Okay, you ready? The heart goeth before the feet. The heart goeth before the feet. You'll see what I mean in just a minute, based upon that verse, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it, there are issues of life. The word issue can be used to refer to, like a river. You think of a source of a stream, a source of a river, that water issues out of its source, and it becomes a river. It becomes a stream. So basically, the Lord puts the heart as the source, and the way of life, the works, the doings, flow out of that. That's all it's saying. And if that's the case, imagine if you had a point, you had a problem in which someone had poisoned or polluted the source of a river. My dad and I used to go to Blue Springs National park. You guys know of that place down in Florida? It's somewhere in central Florida. I can't remember where. But anyway, there was a natural spring that came up out of the ground there. Florida has a lot of those. And you think about what if that spring was polluted or if that spring at the source, that is, the heart, was polluted. Well, that means everything that issues out is going to be polluted. And that's the point being made here. Now, look at proverbs three, verse five. Remember the principle, the heart goeth before the feet. Proverbs three five says this, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Here's that pesky little word again. In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths, a connection again, being made between the ways, the paths, the doings, the works with the heart. Now, if you look at the context, look at the next verse. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. The idea being that the contrast being made between being wise in your own conceit and trusting the Lord, those two things are set opposite in these verses. So, in verse number five, our heart trusts in the Lord, right? We're trusting in him, his wisdom, his word, his guidance, and that trust of our heart. Remember, we're talking about the heart guides our decisions and determines our choices. And because our heart trusts in the Lord, when we make decisions, those decisions are not based upon our own understanding, which is verse seven, but in the confidence that God will intervene to direct us. And of course, we know one of the primary ways God directs us is through his word. But there are other ways the Lord directs us as well. So again, we're talking about the heart. The principle here that I'm trying to convey is the heart goeth before the feet. So if our heart is trusting in the Lord. And again, I don't mean that in the feel good way. Like, well, I think God is nice. That's not what it means to trust in the Lord. To trust in the Lord means we are relying on him, on his wisdom, on his guidance, on his word. We are acting upon that right to make our actual decisions. So someone mistreats you because they're having a bad day, maybe in the drive through or at the restaurant or in your family or whatever, they're having a bad day. See, if you believe that what God has told you, told all of us what should be our response in that situation. If we trust in God in that way, then we will respond in the right way to that person instead of in the way that is according to our own understanding. That's just one example. I mean, it could be many things. Could be many, many things. But where is our heart? Our heart is in trusting God. It's placed in his trust. I call this heart trust. Right? But in order to have heart trust, what do we have? We have to yield our way to God's way. Right? We have to yield our way to God's way. We have to make choices that are consistent with God's word. You can't say you're trusting God if you do contrary to what his word says, because when you have the word of God, our trust and our faith and our reliance upon the Lord is based upon his word. In other words, we're doing what he says because even though we can't see the outcome, we believe it is the right way because he told us so. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Amen. [00:32:55] Speaker A: It's that simple. So we're making choices that are consistent with his word, and then we are waiting, which is also done in faith upon him, to direct us personally. But again, we're all talking about our heart. This is our path. Verse seven. Right. I'm sorry. Verse, verse six. Our path, our ways being determined by our heart trust. That's what this is teaching. Okay, look at proverbs, chapter number 18. I'm sorry? 14. Proverbs 14. Verse 14. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied from himself. 1414. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. There's that heart and ways. You see it? Heart and ways, the connection before our foot slides. Our heart slides. [00:34:22] Speaker B: Pastor, why do we want to make a distinction when it comes to the things of God rather than the basic principles of life? How we govern ourselves? I mean, how we bake a cake? There's directions that we must follow for that cake to turn out. But somehow or another, when it comes to our relationship with God, all the rules can be thrown out. And it really doesn't matter as long. [00:34:50] Speaker A: As my heart is, as long as I feel like it. Yeah, that's true. Before our foot slides, our heart slides. Psalm. You don't have to look at this verse. Psalm 37, verse 31. Just listen, if you would. The law of God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide. See that? Just know that if at any moment we start to slip away from the Lord, our heart has gone first. This is why from a pastoral perspective, you know, I'm just being transparent here. And you might feel the same way with your children as an example. You know that by the time that you see the path change, the works change. By the time you see somebody withdrawing from the church, by the time it's evident, the sad thing is, you already know. You know that the heart has already been affected. That's the alarming thing. That's one reason why I try when I'm preaching the word and trying to teach and things is I try to make sure I lay most of my emphasis on the heart, because if it's not on the heart, it's just on getting everybody to fall in line. Eventually it fails because there's nothing behind it. But by the time you see them slipping away in a way that's obvious to people, it's too late. Because the heart has slid already. And that goes for us personally. That's why we should. The Bible says, keep your heart with all diligence, because if your heart has begun to slip, your feet aren't far behind. That's why you got to be looking at that. Well, I still came to church. I still read my Bible today. But if you do that and there's no interest, there's no heart involved in it. The heart's already slipping. You see? It's already slipping. Look at proverbs, chapter 18, verse two. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. That word discover doesn't mean find, it means reveal. So the fool's heart will reveal itself. Yeah. How? By the works. In other words, it's going to be shown for everybody to see. Look at chapter 26, verse 25, verse 24. I'm sorry. He that hateth dissembleth. Dissembleth just means. It means to fake, to conceal one's intentions under a feigned guise. He that hateth, dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him. Notice all these things are happening in his heart. When he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart whose hatred is covered by deceit. And his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. His hatred shall be showed. You see that the heart's wicked, and eventually it's going to be visible. Look at mark seven, if you would. This will be our last verse. Mark, chapter seven, verse 20. They were talking about whether you're defiled by what you eat. Jesus is having this discussion with the people of his day. Verse number 20 says, that which cometh. Mark seven, verse 20. That which cometh out of the man that defileth the man for from within. Notice that for from within. Now, in verse 20, he talks about that which cometh out. That's related to the word issue that we talked about earlier. And in verse 21 it says, for from within, out of the heart of man. So the heart of man, as we saw last week, reminds us it is a reference to the internal part of man, the invisible part. For from within, out of the heart of man, men proceed. Notice this. Evil thoughts. Adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. You know how many there are just by chance? 13, of course, the number of confusion and sin in the Bible. But notice of these, five of these are internal, such as evil thoughts. The other eight are all external. The other eight are external, but all of them exude from the heart. So here's the lesson from these verses. No one of us can characterize our sin as a simple mistake. That doesn't define who we are. Why not? You see, if sin just came was something that came from our body, from the outside. In other words, it was an outside temptation. Or it was just something that happened externally. We might be able to say, well, it was just a mistake. But what the Lord is saying is all of all sin comes from within. It demonstrates who we are. If it's coming from the inside, you can't say, well, you as an oopsie, because it's testifying to our inner wickedness. That's a frightening thing to think about. See, the reality of the connection between our sins and the inner man shows that we are defiled according to our lord. It's not just the outside that defiles us. The outward is just clear evidence of the inward. And this fact is exactly what men deny. They want to separate the two and say, well, this is a mistake. But I have a good heart. But Jesus says the exact opposite. He says this evil thing that you have done has come out of your heart. It testifies to what's there. This is why you have proverbs 423. Keep thy heart. With all diligence, keep thy heart. Let's pray.