Probably some of you would expect me to speak on 1 John. But I am not. The reason is that 1, 2, and 3 John are all connected to one another, and I do not think it is good to speak on 1 John and then, a few months later, on 2 John. So we will try to put them all together, God willing, later on.
This morning, it will be something different. Will you please turn to 1 Samuel 16, verse 7?
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth;
for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Turn also to 2 Chronicles 16:9.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.
And Psalm 139:23-24.
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Dear Heavenly Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do desire to see Thy face, that the light of Thy countenance may shine upon our hearts; that Thou mayest reveal Thy heart to us, that we may be drawn deeper and deeper into Thy very heart. We commit this time into Thy hand and look to Thee for Thy blessing and unto Thy glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This morning, we would like to share on this matter of the perfect heart.
In 1 Samuel 16, we find that it is said, “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart.” You know, we as human beings always look at outward appearance. As a matter of fact, this is the only way that we know where to look. We do not know the heart—not even our own heart.
It is said in Jeremiah 17 that the heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable: who can know it? But God is the One who searches the heart and tries the reins, and gives to each one according to his way, according to the fruit of his doings.
Human beings have a natural inability. We cannot look upon the heart. We are not able to; we do not know how. The only way that we know is outward appearance—what our eyes can see. That is all we can do.
Because of this natural disability, we find that even in our relationship with God, in our view of God’s work, and, of course, in our relationship with one another, it is inevitable that we always look at outward appearances.
When we come to God, we may come to honor Him with our lips, but not with our hearts. Do you remember our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 15:
This people honoreth Me with their lips;
But their heart is far from Me.
But in vain do they worship Me.
When our Lord Jesus was in Samaria, you remember He talked to a Samaritan woman. When the conscience of that Samaritan woman was stirred, she began to ask this question: “You Jews worship in Jerusalem, but we Samaritans worship in this mountain, Mount Gerizim. Now, where should we worship?”
In other words, worshiping God is a matter of time and place: when do you worship, and where do you worship? These are the important factors in worship. But the Lord Jesus said, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship neither in Jerusalem nor in Mount Gerizim, but the true worshippers shall worship God in spirit and truth.”
That is to say, you worship God with your heart.
The same thing is true when we look at God’s work. Now, dear brothers and sisters, when you consider the work of God, what do you look for?
Probably we are looking for numbers—bigness. If you have large numbers, you are successful in God’s work. If the number is small, then probably God has not blessed. We measure God’s work by outward appearance.
We forget what the Bible says: when you build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, some build with gold, silver, and precious stones, and others may build with wood, hay, and stubble.
Now, you remember, if you build with wood, hay, and stubble, you can build a big house because they are cheap. They do not cost you a lot, and you can build a big house to be seen by everybody.
But if you build with gold, silver, and precious stones, they are so costly that you cannot afford to build it big. Probably all you can build is just a tiny little thing, and people hardly notice it.
But, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord tells us that one day, at the judgment seat of Christ, fire shall appear. Wood, hay, and stubble are just good for fire; they will be completely burned. You will be saved, but so as through fire.
But gold, silver, and precious stones, when they are tested by fire, glow. They become brilliant, and you shall be rewarded.
The same thing is true in our relationship with one another. When we look at one another, we look at outward appearance. That is the reason why on Sunday every Christian looks like a saint.
Now, of course, I am saying something unscriptural because, as a matter of fact, every Christian is a saint, no matter whether you look saintly or un-saintly. You are a saint; you are one sanctified by the Holy Spirit. But, brothers and sisters, when we look at one another, we look at outward appearance.
I remember once, when I was in the Philippines, I went to a mountain. As I wandered around, I saw a chapel, so I went into it. When I entered, I stood at the end of the chapel and looked toward the front. I found there was an altar there, and a few white statues kneeling before the altar.
No movement—statues. But when I looked again, I saw they were not statues. They were nuns in white. They were there praying, meditating, contemplating—I do not know what they were doing—but there they were, without any movement.
When I saw that, my first reaction was, “How tired these nuns are!” Why? I looked at outward appearance. I did not know the heart.
But God looks upon the heart. He does not look upon how good a thing appears. But we are human beings; this is natural to us. Do not say that you always look at the heart and do not look at outward appearance. You do. This is our disability. This is what we are.
We always look at outward appearance. We measure things, we measure people, we measure success or failure, and we even measure our relationship with God by outward appearance, because we do not know—not even our own heart.
But God is very different. God looks upon the heart because our God is the God of the heart.
When you read the Word of God, you find it is sometimes very challenging and puzzling. You find that there are people whom we consider good from the record, but God rejects them. There are other people whom we consider bad, or perhaps not so good, and yet God loves them.
It seems as if, with some people, God is willing to overlook their faults, even their sins. Does God condone sin? Never.
But with some people, you find that God seems able to ignore their wrongs—not in the sense of completely ignoring them, but in the sense that, even with all these wrongs, God still accepts them. Why? Because God looks upon their heart.
If their heart is right with God, God knows that, with all their faults, all their sins, and all their shortcomings, He is able to deal with them and bring them to Himself. But with other people, they may be quite good, and yet God looks upon their heart and finds that their heart is wrong. If their heart is wrong, no matter how good they are, one day it will come out to be completely wrong.
Let me use an illustration: Saul, King Saul. Do not be prejudiced against him. Actually, if you look from the human standpoint, he was not a bad person.
He had a good appearance, of course. He was one head above all the other people. In the beginning, you find that he was a humble person too, because when he was chosen king, they could not find him. Why? He hid himself among the baggage. Not a bad person.
But something was wrong with his heart.
You remember in 1 Samuel 13, God, through Samuel, told him that he was to wait in Gilgal for seven days, and then Samuel would come and offer sacrifices. Saul waited and waited until the seventh day, and Samuel did not show up.
But the Philistines were gathering, and Saul felt, “Samuel did not come. If the Philistines come to Gilgal and we have not sacrificed yet, we have not prayed yet, what will happen to us?” So he forced himself, he said, to offer the burnt offering and sacrifice to God. He felt that he had to pray to God first before the battle. Very religious.
But just when he finished offering, Samuel arrived. Samuel was not late; he was still within the seven days. But Saul could not wait.
Samuel said, “You did a foolish thing. Now the kingdom is to be taken away from you, and God will find for Himself a man after His own heart.” In other words, you are not a man with a heart toward God. Your heart is wrong.
Again, in 1 Samuel 15, God gave Saul another chance. God sent him to destroy the Amalekites. He went with his army and destroyed the Amalekites, but he spared the best of the flock and the herd. He thought it was a pity to devote these good things to destruction. He even spared the life of Agag, king of the Amalekites.
When Samuel arrived, Saul said, “I have done what the Lord commanded me to do.” Samuel said, “What then meaneth this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
Saul said, “I really destroyed everything, but the people wanted to keep the best to sacrifice to God.” And I believe you all remember the word:
Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to hearken than the fat of rams.
In these two instances, you can see that even though Saul was not bad if you judged by outward appearance, God looked upon his heart and saw that his heart was not right. Because of that, eventually you find that Saul wanted to murder David, and finally he even consulted a witch.
Then you think of David. Here was David, King David, a man after God’s own heart. But what a man he was! You find that in David’s life he committed hideous things.
In 2 Samuel 12, you find that he murdered. He took another man’s wife. He committed adultery. But, of course, all the time his heart was soft.
So when Nathan came to him and said, “Thou art the man,” he said, “I have sinned against God.” If you read Psalm 51, which was written because of this, you find how he cried unto God, asking God to give him a clean heart and a steadfast spirit.
He said, “God, Thou art looking for a broken and contrite heart. That is what Thou art looking for.” David, even though he sinned grievously, had a heart that was broken before God. In other words, God could still touch him and restore him.
On another occasion, in 2 Samuel 24, when David was reigning and had overcome all his enemies, somehow pride came into his heart, and he wanted to number the people of Israel. In other words, he wanted to know how many soldiers he had, how great he was.
But as soon as he numbered them, his heart smote him. He knew he was wrong, and he cried out to God: “I have sinned. Take away my iniquity. It is my sin. Do not allow the people to suffer because of me.”
Now, dear brothers and sisters, you find here was a man who, from outward appearance, was not as good as Saul—or at least was not better than Saul. As a matter of fact, the things he committed, from a human viewpoint, were more grievous than the sins Saul had committed. But here you find the difference: God looks upon the heart.
God saw David’s heart. His heart was tender and soft, broken and contrite—a heart that could be touched, a heart that would return to God, a heart that really sought God’s will. But Saul’s heart was hard.
God looks upon the heart, but men look upon outward appearance. If this is the case, dear brothers and sisters, where should we look? Should we look at outward appearance, or should we look upon the heart?
Of course, we should look upon the heart and not upon outward appearance. In other words, we need to realize that outward appearance is undependable. It is only the heart that God looks at and measures.
Therefore, do not let us measure things, people, or work by outward appearance. We need to repent of that, and we need to learn to look upon the heart of things, the heart of people, and the heart of God.
Now, of course, we cannot change ourselves. God can. If only we are willing to be changed, He can change us.
In Romans 12, it says:
Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
In other words, through the renewing of the mind, your mind can be changed, your viewpoint can be changed, and the way you look can be changed. How? Through presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice.
If we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, God will change our viewpoint, and by His grace we will be able not to judge by outward appearance, but learn to measure by the heart.
Now, why the heart? Physiologically speaking, the heart—the cardiac organ—is the center of your physical life. You find that the blood, which is your life, goes in and out through the heart. It is the very center of your physical being.
Because of this, the Bible uses the term heart in a moral and spiritual way. The heart, according to the Word of God, speaks of the center of your moral and spiritual being.
Vine says that the heart is “the hidden spring of all the personal life.” It is the center of human depravity, and, thank God, it is also the sphere of divine influence.
The heart is the hidden spring of personal life. In other words, all your life has its spring in the heart; it comes from the heart. When you think of human depravity, you find that man is so depraved that his heart is deceitful above all things and incurable. That is human depravity.
But, thank God, the heart is also the sphere of divine influence. In other words, God is able to work upon that heart and even put His law in that heart, so that you will do the will of God.
Professor Delitzsch says that the heart is the center of bodily life, the center of psychological life, and the center of spiritual life. In other words, it is the center of the entire man.
Watchman Nee said that even though the spirit is the highest part of your being, it is the heart that is the center. It is the heart that represents you. The heart is the real “I.”
It is the passage of life. In Proverbs 4:23, it says:
Keep thy heart with all diligence;
For out of it are the issues of life.
In other words, life comes into us through the heart, and life goes out of us through the heart. How do you come to receive the life of God? First of all, you find that the Word of God is heard.
When the seed—that is, the Word of God—is sown, Matthew 13 says that a sower goes out to sow the seed, which is the Word, and the seed is sown upon the heart. The Word of God is sown upon the heart.
When we hear the Word of God, the Holy Spirit convicts our conscience. Our conscience is convicted; then our emotion is stirred, and we begin to repent, which is a change of mind. Then we decide with our will to receive the Lord Jesus. The Bible says that you receive with your heart.
This is the way that life comes into us. It is the same way that life goes out of us, because out of the fullness of the heart you speak.
Some people say that thought does not come from the brain; it comes from the heart. The brain is only the mechanism.
The heart is not only the passage of life, through which life goes in and out, but the heart is also the switch of life. In other words, you can switch life on and off, just like you switch on the light.
You can block the light, or you can let the light grow and develop. It all depends upon your heart. If you shut up your heart, your life is shut in. If you open your heart to God, then you find God’s life will flow into you and overflow through you. It is the switch of life.
The heart is the center of all our body, soul, and spirit. All the activities of the body, soul, and spirit are centered upon the heart.
It is like an altar, and the body is like the outer court. Whatever you offer on the altar will eventually tell in the extremities of your body.
Your heart, you can say, is “me.” That is the simplest way of putting it: it is me.
So far as the heart is concerned, I think we are clear on one thing: it is the center of man.
According to the Word of God, the heart, in a sense, stands between and links the spirit and the soul of man.
We find that in the soul of man there are three main functions: emotion, mind or intellect, and will. These are the functions of our soul.
Then you find that in our spirit there are such functions as communion, intuition, and conscience. But if you read the Word of God, you find that the heart seems to include all the functions of the soul plus the conscience of the spirit. So the heart links together our spirit and our soul.
For instance, in Hebrews 10:22, it says that our hearts are “sprinkled from an evil conscience.” Here you find that when the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses us, it actually cleanses the evil conscience of the heart.
Within our heart there is a conscience, and our conscience bothers us. But the blood of the Lord Jesus comes and cleanses the evil conscience of our heart, so that our heart comes to peace.
Then, in Hebrews 4:12, it says:
For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow,
and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
In other words, you find that in the heart there are thoughts—the mind—and intents—the will or volition. So in the heart you find all the functions of the soul, plus the conscience of the spirit.
Emotion is very clear. Your heart rejoices; your heart is glad; your heart is sad. As you find, for example, in Psalm 16, “My heart rejoiceth.” Emotion is also in the heart.
So the heart is the link between your soul and spirit. It is the passage of life, the switch of life, or, as Watchman Nee says, the rendezvous of your personal life. That is the heart.
You can see how important the heart is. It is the very spring of your personal life. All your life depends upon the condition of your heart.
That is the reason why God looks upon the heart. God knows that outward appearance is nothing, but the heart is the very center, the root, the spring, the key to everything.
Now, what kind of heart is God looking for? In 2 Chronicles 16:9, it says:
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.
The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth. In other words, the eyes of the Lord are like a searchlight searching through the whole earth. What is God looking for? He is looking for people whose heart is perfect toward Him.
If He can find anyone whose heart is perfect toward Him, then He will show Himself strong on their behalf. In other words, you find that He is for you. He is committed to you.
Now, if this is what God is looking for, and He is searching, this is what He is looking for in you. He is not judging you by your outward appearance. He is looking at your heart, wanting to find out whether your heart is perfect toward Him.
If your heart is perfect toward Him, then He is perfect toward you. He will show Himself strong on your behalf.
Now, whose heart is perfect? What is perfect?
The Hebrew word is shalem, related to shalom. It has the meaning of complete, whole, right, ready, peaceful, and just.
A perfect heart does not mean sinless perfection, because no one is sinlessly perfect except One—our Lord Jesus Christ. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. But aside from the Lord Jesus, none is sinlessly perfect.
Yet the Bible does teach perfection. In Matthew 5, it says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Now, perfect there means full-grown, mature.
You know, God uses David as the standard of the perfect heart. God found a man according to His heart. God found David, a man whose heart was right toward God, whose heart was open to God, whose heart was with God, and whose heart sought God and His will.
Here was a man who had a heart relationship with God. Here was a man whose heart was tender, soft, broken, and contrite toward God. He was a man who sought to satisfy God’s heart.
God found in David a man with a perfect heart. He was not perfect, but he had a perfect heart.
God measures all the kings according to the standard of David. Do you remember how David exhorted his son Solomon? “My son, serve God with a perfect heart, and then you will find He will bless you.”
But unfortunately, we find that Solomon, even though he was the very embodiment of wisdom, was led astray by his foreign wives into idolatry. The result was that he did not serve God with a perfect heart. That is the verdict the Holy Spirit gave on Solomon.
In the Bible, you find a few other kings. King Asa served God with a perfect heart all his days. God looked in his heart and found that his heart was perfect toward God. But, of course, we know later on that because God blessed him, he began to be proud of himself and began to do things that were not right.
Hezekiah had a perfect heart toward God. When God sent Isaiah to him and said, “You are going to die; set your house in order,” he turned his face toward the wall and wept, saying to God, “I have always served Thee with a perfect heart.”
He was not perfect. God answered his prayer and gave him fifteen more years, but during those fifteen years, if he had known what would happen, he would not have asked God to give him fifteen more years. He showed all his treasures to Babylon through pride, and he had a son, Manasseh, whose sins became the reason for the destruction of Judah.
A few kings served God with a perfect heart, and David is always the standard. Of course, we find other people who did things right but did not serve God with a perfect heart. Everyone is judged according to the heart—whether there is a perfect heart or not.
Now, of course, we know David is but a type of Christ. Our Lord Jesus is the Son of David and greater than David. Our Lord Jesus had a perfect heart, and His perfect heart is absolute perfection.
How He served God His Father with a perfect heart—all the time and in all things. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is our Lord Jesus. He served God with a perfect heart.
Now we need a perfect heart. With the Lord, His perfect heart is absolute perfection. With us, our perfect heart is according to the light we have.
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
In other words, our heart can be perfect so far as the light we receive. Whatever God has shown us, we obey. We walk in that light, and God considers it a perfect heart.
First, a perfect heart is a complete heart. In other words, it is a whole heart.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.
It is a heart that is not divided.
Purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Sometimes we are double-minded. In other words, we think of this and we think of that. We think of God, and we think of ourselves. What will become of God? But what will become of me? We are double-minded, and when you are double-minded, your heart is divided. The problem is in the heart.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
What is purity of heart? Purity of heart simply means that your heart is completely, wholly toward God.
The Lord Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon.” If your heart is single, if your eye is single, then your whole body is full of light. If your heart is double, if your eye is double, then your whole body is in darkness. How great is that darkness!
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to be single-eyed toward the Lord. We see the Lord and nothing else.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He saw the Father only. He did not see circumstances; He did not see man; He did not see anything else. He only saw His Father—single-eyed toward the Father.
That is the reason why, in the Song of Songs, you find how the Beloved praises the virgin because she has dove’s eyes. A dove’s eye is very pretty, but what is more important than its appearance is that a dove can only see one thing at a time. Single eyes.
What God requires of us is a perfect heart—in other words, a wholehearted heart. Is your heart wholly toward God, purely toward Him, with no ulterior or particular motives, no other consideration, undivided? That is a perfect heart.
Number two: a perfect heart is a clean heart, because the word means just or right—a clean heart.
Now, how can we have a clean heart? A clean heart is cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb.
It is true that sometimes we find our heart being defiled—defiled by sin, by the world, by self, by the flesh. We need to be clean.
Like David prayed, “O Lord, create in me a clean heart”—a heart that has been cleansed and washed by the blood of the Lamb.
If your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart. But if your heart does not condemn you, then you have boldness before God, and you know that whatever you ask, He will grant it.
You find that Paul always testified that he served before God and man with a conscience void of offense. That is a clean heart: that you can stand before God and before man, and there is nothing in your heart that condemns you. According to the light you have, you have obeyed. That is a perfect heart.
Number three: a perfect heart is a joyful heart.
I mentioned Psalm 16. There you find it said:
I have set the Lord always before me:
Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in safety.
A perfect heart is a joyful heart. Why is it that our heart is not joyful? Because we look around. We look at people. How can you see people and be joyful? How can you look at yourself and be joyful? How can you look at your circumstances and be joyful? You cannot.
But if your heart is perfect toward God, you will only set Him before you, and all you see is Him. Therefore you rejoice. You rejoice no matter what happens, no matter who hurts you. You see the Lord.
Because your heart is completely occupied with Him, you cannot but rejoice, knowing that He is with you and for you. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose.
Number four: a perfect heart is a peaceful heart—a heart that is at peace with God.
There is no controversy between you and God because you have done whatever He has commanded you. There is no struggle, no controversy between you and God. Your heart is in perfect peace. That is a perfect heart.
When the peace of God guards your mind and heart, you know your heart is perfect toward Him.
Number five: a perfect heart is a willing heart, because the very word perfect means made ready. In other words, your heart is always ready for Him—made ready.
Whatever the will of God may be, I am willing. Whether you are able or not, that is another matter; but at least you are willing. You are always willing. That is a perfect heart.
When you sum up all these things, you find what God is looking for in you and in me. Dear brothers and sisters, may I repeat: it is not our outward appearance; it is the heart.
Now, I do not say that outward appearance does not matter at all. It does. It reveals what is in the heart. If the heart is right with God, it will tell even in your outward appearance.
So finally, how can we have a perfect heart?
I think, in order to see this, probably we have to go back a little bit to the very beginning. Before we were saved, what was the condition of our heart? The Bible says our heart was a stony heart.
Ezekiel 36:26 says that our heart was a stony heart. In other words, our heart was hardened through sins.
But, thank God, even the hardened heart can be melted by the love of God. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, something happens to our heart. God says, “I will take away from you your stony heart. I will give to you a new heart.”
This new heart is a heart of flesh. In other words, it is a soft, tender, sensitive, touchable heart.
So, brothers and sisters, thank God for that. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you do not know how much you receive when you believe in Him. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you receive a new heart—a heart of flesh.
That is the reason why, after you believe in the Lord Jesus, whenever the name of Jesus is mentioned, it touches you. Why is it so? Because your heart is a heart of flesh. It is touchable, sensitive, and tuned to God. You have a new heart.
But unfortunately, even this new heart, the heart of flesh, can be hardened.
Gradually, you find that the world begins to crowd upon your heart—the cares of this life. Gradually, even sin begins to creep in. Gradually, you find self beginning to rise up. Gradually, you find your heart beginning to be hardened.
Each time the voice of God is heard and disobeyed, your heart hardens a little bit. That is the reason why the exhortation is: “Today, if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
Whenever you hear the voice of the Lord, whenever the Lord speaks to you, and you melt before Him and obey Him, then your heart is kept soft. But when you hear the voice of God and resist it, you harden it a bit.
The next time, it is not as loud anymore. The next time, it is not loud anymore. The next time, you do not hear it anymore. Your heart is hardened.
So the problem is this: thank God, we have a new heart, but how can we keep it?
The Bible says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” There is nothing that we need to keep more diligently than our very heart. But we cannot keep it.
Thank God, there is One who is able to keep it. The One who gives it is the One who can keep it.
Therefore, you find in Proverbs 23:26 that it says:
My son, give me thy heart,
And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
Brothers and sisters, after God has given us a new heart, do not try to keep it by yourself. You are not able to. But when God gives you a new heart, you give it back to God: “Lord, here is my heart. I give it back to Thee to be kept for Thee.”
God is able to keep our heart from being hardened. Let Him keep your heart. Do not keep it in your own hands. Surrender it. Give it to God. Let Him keep it, and you will find He is faithful. He will keep it.
But, of course, there is something you need to do daily. After you have given your heart to God, daily you need to turn your heart toward God.
In 2 Corinthians 3, it says that when our heart is turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. We shall see the glory of the Lord with unveiled face and be transformed from glory to glory according to His image, by the Lord the Spirit.
So daily we need to turn our hearts toward the Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, this is our responsibility. We cannot keep it; we have given it to Him, but still we need to turn our heart to Him every day.
Then we need to pray every day the prayer of the psalmist:
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Brothers and sisters, we need to ask the Lord to search our heart. There is no sense for us to search ourselves, because we do not know our heart. But let God search us. He is the One who searches the heart.
So we need to ask Him to search our heart and know our thoughts, to see if there is any wicked way in us, and to lead us in the way everlasting.
Brothers and sisters, I do believe that if we really give our heart to the Lord, learn to turn our heart to Him daily, and ask Him often to search our heart, you will find that God will show Himself strong on your behalf.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, oh, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast given us a new heart. It is a heart of flesh. But we acknowledge that we cannot keep it.
We look to Thee to keep us. We pray that Thou wilt remind us always to turn our heart toward Thee and let Thy light search us, so that we may be kept in purity, in holiness, and in righteousness toward Thee.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.