Heart Complications

If you have your Bible, please open it to Luke Chapter 16. A little girl from Alabama went to church for the first time ever when she was visiting her grandparents in Michigan. When the pastor announced it was time for the Lord’s Supper, she was excited–and hungry. The congregation filed up to the altar rail, and the child watched in confusion as her grandparents received a wafer and small plastic cup of wine. She could hardly wait to get back to the pew to tell her grandma that Jesus wasn’t from Alabama. “How do you know that dear?” asked her grandma. “Because that was the poorest meal I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Mama would’ve at least given everybody some corn bread and sweet tea.”

It is great to be back at Liberty today. I think it has been about a year since I last preached here. Today, we are going to look at a message that I believe is critical. The title of the message today is “Heart Complications.” I believe that the world gets worse and worse because the issues in the hearts of people today are getting worse and worse. Let us look at Luke Chapter 16 starting in verse 13.

READ LUKE 16:13-15

Here, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees who had this big issue. They loved money. They had a love for money. Guess what folks... people today also have a love for money. Most people are willing to do whatever it takes to earn a quick buck. For example, look at politicians. All it takes is a little bit of money to corrupt a politician. A little bit of cash and you can have them in the palm of your hand. Despite what many may believe, that is both parties. It is not just the Democrats, and it is not just the Republicans. It is both of them.

Another major issue in America is that many Republican Christians are more focused on being a Republican than they are being a Christian. Listen folks, the Bible does not call us to identify in a political party, it calls us to identify in Christ. Meaning, politics should not have our focus, Christ should have our focus. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if Republican Christians would stop focusing on and talking about the 2020 election and instead focused on telling others about Christ? A revival would sweep across the nation. Listen folks, the election may have surprised you, but it did not surprise God. God knew it would happen. God planned for it to happen. It was not an accident and like everything else that God does, it is part of His plan, and He has a reasoning for it. We are more focused on an election that happened 3 years ago than we are focused on the people around us that are lost and headed to hell. The people around us that have a heart issue. Look back at the second half of verse 15.

“But God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

God knows your heart... God knows your true intentions. Listen folks, you can come in here with a big smile on your face, sing with your eyes closed and hands raised toward Heaven, you can say the most elegant prayer that has ever been said, but none of that matters if your heart is not right. Like a bad apple, you can look really good on the outside and be rotten to the core on the inside. You can have this great appearance and look like one of the best apples to have ever been grown and on the inside, you are completely rotten. Outside appearances do not matter. What does your heart look like? Are you rotten to the core? Many people who go to church today look good on the outside but bad on the inside. They go to church and put on a really good show, but as soon as they leave the building, the appearance begins to change into what they really look like. I am a firm believer that if you should not say it in church, then you should not say it outside of church. If you should not say it in front of a pastor, then you should not say it at all.

God knows our heart. Let us look at 4 Characteristics that should define our Hearts:

1. A Clean Heart

As Christians, we should have a clean heart. Matthew 15:18 says this:

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

What is in a person's heart will come out of their mouth. If a person talks corruptly, they have a corrupt heart. If a person talks peacefully, they have a peaceful heart. Remember what I said earlier. I am a firm believer that if you should not say it in church, then you should not say it outside of church. If you should not say it in front of a pastor, then you should not say it at all. So, your words are a direct reflection of your heart. Earlier, we talked about the rotten apple on the inside. Your words show rather you are rotten are not. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people in church singing and praising the King of Kings and worshipping Him, but when they leave the church, they cuss up a storm. Ephesians 4:29 says this: