Heart, spiritually clean
1. The human heart is amazing.
a. 5 inches long & weighs 9 to 11 ouches.
b. It is about the size of your fist.
c. This amazing muscle pumps 17,200 quarts of blood a day.
d. That equals to 6,278,000 a year.
e. Or over a 70 year life span 439,460,000.
2. Every cell in your body needs oxygen in order to live and function. The role of the heart is to deliver the oxygen-rich blood to every cell in the body.
3. But diseases related to the heart kill over a million yearly in the U.S.A.
a. Heart disease is America’s leading health problem and cause of death.
b. At least 55.8 million people in this country suffer from some for of heart disease.
c. Every 34 seconds a person in the US dies from heart related disease.
d. More that 2,500 people die each day.
e. Almost 6 million are hospitalized each year for cardiovascular disease.
f. Since 1900, Cardio Vascular Disease has been the number 1 killer in the US for every year but 1918.
4. We can have a healthy heart, a good heart or a bad one.
5. We all need to be aware of the state of our health.
6. Conditions that produce heart problems:
a. Too little exercise.
b. Diet – Mainly fats – many Americans’ diets has 40% bad fat in it.
c. Overweight
d. Stress
e. Genetic disposition
7. Heart disease can cripple, handicap or kill us. Could we have a heart attack?
8. Could we have a spiritual heart attack?
a. How sound is our spiritual heart?
b. Could we be suffering from a spiritual sickness?
9. What makes for a sound, healthy spiritual heart?
10. And how can you tell when your heart is not sound?
BODY:
WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES OF A BAD HEART?
1. Notice why God had to bring the flood on the earth and destroy everyone before the flood.
a. Gen.6:5 – The inclination or intent of the heart was evil.
b. The time of Noah is compared to the end time – same today.
c. Man cut off from the tree of life is good & evil.
2. Gen.8:21 – Thoughts evil from youth.
3. Mat. 15:7-9 – Heart far from God.
a. V.17-20 – Defiled by what comes out of the heart.
b. The spiritual diet of this world or society is from Satan. He is the master chef who concocts the diet that people imbibe.
c. He serves up attitudes, approaches, wrong desires, temptations, abuse of fleshly desires and motives.
d. It is high in SPIRITUAL FAT – every time we eat at spiritual fast food places – diet high in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
e. Eph. 2:2-3 shows that the Devil is constantly working on a diet of disobedience that allows us to eat of the forbidden fruit of the lust of the flesh and of the mind.
f. The influences of society encourage wrong attitudes and approaches. They become a way of life.
g. We become defiled by what comes into our minds.
4. DEFINITION of the heart. Read from “Dictionary of N.T. words” by Vines.
5. Mat. 13:13-15 – Heart is waxed or grown dull.
a. GK – “To make thick, fat or fatten.”
b. This condition can lead to spiritual death.
c. We can have spiritual hardening of the arteries.
d. Those who resist God harden their hearts. This is a stubborn & unrepented approach.
6. What is the human heart like naturally?
a. Psa.39:5 – Man at best state is all vanity.
b. Jer.17:9 – Man is deceitful & desperately wicked.
c. Isa.64:6 – All our righteousness as filthy rags.
d. Rom.8:7 – Man in carnal states is enmity against God.
THE HUMAN HEART HAS TO BE HEALED!
1. Number of procedures to handle heart problems by the medical profession.
a. By-pass surgery
b. Stints
c. Insert a balloon to flatten the fatty deposits.
d. In severe cases – heart transplant.
e. Have to change your way of life.
i. Diet
ii. Exercise
2. Spiritually, God begins with surgery.
a. Ezek. 36:25-27.
i. God starts with a radical procedure – a heart transplant.
ii. He puts a new heart and spirit within us.
iii. Not the spirit of this world, but the spirit or nature of God dwells in us.
iv. First we have to be cleaned up – He sprinkles clean water on you.
b. Rom.2:28-29 – In the NT it is compared to another operation – circumcision. A little different analogy, but the same meaning.
i. When we are converted, God cuts away the hostility, rebellion, self-will, hardness of the heart, etc.
ii. We are willing to give up our way and put God first.
c. Rom.6:6, 12, 14, 16-18. Sin no longer dominates us.
d. God breaks the grip that Satan has on our life.
3. God changes our diet – just like a doctor will recommend to a heart patient.
a. Heb.4:12-13. We now feed on God’s word.
b. We have different standards to live by.
c. Our minds are to be filled with spiritual things, attitudes, approaches, thoughts, desires, etc.
d. We get away from the fast foods of this world.
e. We grow day by day – it is a growth process or one of maturity.
f. You would never think about eating only once a week. We must eat daily or a regular diet of spiritual food. The old man must die daily.
4. He will also have us exercise.
a. 1 Tim.4:8 – We will begin to exercise Godliness.
b. The more we do, we practice, we live this way of life – it becomes second nature to us.
c. We must grow to love God’s law.
5. There may be times when we begin to slip back into the old ways – eat a wrong diet, stop exercising, etc.
a. A heart patient might have to go back to a doctor for additional help – a new stint, cleaning out the arteries, etc.
b. There may be times when we need to do the same spiritually. May need to take measures that go beyond what we normally do.
c. Or there are times that we just want to ensure that our spiritual health is what it should be.
d. Joel 2:12-14 – Rend our hearts & not our garments.
i. Fasting is one way God has given us to help clean up the heart.
ii. Fasting is for the purpose of getting close to God.
iii. To Humble ourselves and become attuned to the will and purpose of God.
iv. We need the forgiveness, mercy, deliverance and help from God.
v. We also need to have the proper attitude to help others and to serve them.
e. 1 Kings 21:25-29 – Ahab humbled himself.
i. Humility is a quality we all strive for and seek to maintain.
ii. Humility is the basis of our approach toward God and the proper service and treatment of others.
LET’S LOOK AT SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD A RIGHT HEART.
1. JC example
a. Mat. 11:28-29 - Meek & lowly in heart.
i. Humility & not vanity.
ii. Not exalting the self. He gave His Father the credit.
iii. He was under His Father’s authority.
2. Notice what JC taught!
a. Mat. 5: 8 – Pure in heart.
i. Can not be involved with porno, weird TV programs, wrong sexual approaches, lust, etc and be pure in heart.
b. V. 28 – Lust in heart – commit adultery.
c. Mat. 6:19-21 – Your treasurer.
i. This is an indication of the direction of your life.
ii. If you believe in a cause, you will support it.
d. Luke 8:15 – Growth will occur with a honest and good heart.
e. Mat. 22:36-37 – Love God with whole heart.
3. David’s example
a. Acts 13:21-22 – Man after God’s own heart.
i. WHO WILL DO ALL MY WILL.
b. 1 Sam.16:7 – God looks on the heart.
4. Psa. 40:6-8 – David & JC had the law in their heart.
CONCLUSION:
1. Need to know the state of our health.
2. We need check ups. You may get an annual physical.
3. Psa. 139:23-24 – Search and know me.
a. We need to daily ask God to show us what might be hurting our spiritual heart, our spiritual growth and approach.
4. Our thoughts, approach, attitudes, desires, motivations, and whole being must be right and healthy.
5. If not, lets do as David did in Psa. 51 when he said in verse 10 to “create a clean heart” in him.