A New Heart

A New Heart

Sunday October 22, 2000

Ezekiel 36:23-27

23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name you dishonored among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD.

24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.

26 And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.

27 And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

Our sermon today is: A New Heart, the word translated heart has a very wide meaning and is used here denoting the will, the feeling, the center of intellect of an individual.

As we consider A New Heart, today, we are thinking about your feelings toward God, your knowledge and acceptance of God as your creator and your attitude toward God.

God is telling us that He will take us out from this old world of sin, and give all who ask Him a life eternal!

God wants to bring you to Himself.

He does not want you to suffer the bondage of a world of sin.

He wants you to learn of Him and to live a life that is filled with righteousness, peace and joy.

He knows that the only way for you to really enjoy life is for you to be free of sin so He has gone to great lengths to devise a plan for you.

His son, Jesus Christ, has come and died in your place as a sacrifice for your sin so that you can be forgiven your sin.

The Holy Spirit has been sent to empower you to break the bondage of sin and enable you to live a holy, godly life in this present world.

To accept Jesus Christ as your savior and to repent of your sin to live a holy, godly life is likened to having a change of heart.

Therefore Ezekiel’s prophecy that when God takes you from this old world of sin, He takes out your stony heart and replaces it with a heart of flesh.

You get a change of heart.

Your feelings and knowledge of God, the creator changes.

You become a new person.

The old person you used to be passes away.

Your feelings are changed.

Now you can enjoy living holy and godly in this life.

You enter into the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy through the holy Ghost.

Like it tells us in,

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

In this scripture, Paul is explaining that with the new heart, we become new creatures.

This is a mystery that the sinful man cannot understand.

In fact unless you yourself become a true Christian, you will never understand how a person can be completely changed from a vile, dirty sinner to a clean, righteous saint.

The sinful does not believe that this can happen to him.

As a sinner, you cannot believe it can happen to you.

You see others that it has happened to, and the devil convinces you they were somehow different than you.

That is where your understanding of God comes in.

If you will study the scriptures, you will find that the only thing different about the Christian is that he has learned to believe and trust God.

You will find that everyone can be saved.

You will find that everyone can be a real Christian.

You will find that all are invited to be Born Again!

This is the Will of God, that no one should perish!

God wants for each and everyone of us to live for Him all of the time.

Now let’s read on in,

Matthew 11:27-30

27 “My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.