Lord Search My Heart.

Lord Search My Heart.

Pastor Jim Parisi March 2, 2003

It is possible to walk before the Lord with a perfect heart! God said to Abraham,

(Genesis 17:1). When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless

The King James says in the place of blameless the word perfect"

God also said to the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 18:13" You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.

David determined in his heart to obey this command. He said in, Psalm 101:2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

Scripture also points out that Solomon fell short of God’s command to be perfect: 1 Kings 11:4 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

We see the Lord’s command to be perfect in the New Testament as well. Jesus said, Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Paul wrote, (Colossians 1:28);" Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

Perfection does not mean a sinless, flawless heart.

Man judges by outward appearances, by what he sees. But God judges the heart, the unseen motives

David was said to have had a perfect heart toward God "all the days of his life,"

Yet he failed the Lord often. His life was marked forever by adultery and a notorious murder.

The basic definition of perfect is: completeness, maturity.

In the Hebrew and Greek, the definition includes: uprightness, being without spot, without blemish, totally obedient.

It means to finish what was started; a complete performance. Wesley called it "constant obedience."

A perfect heart is a responsive heart.

It quickly and totally answers the Lord’s Call, whisperings and warnings.

This heart says at all times, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.

Show me the path and I will walk in it."

"There is such a thing as a perfect heart. I want to show you what it is so you can seek after it!"

These three things distinguish such a heart.

Searchable ……Trusting and Broken. This week we will discover how

A Perfect Heart is Searchable

(1 Chronicles 28:9). "for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts"

The perfect heart cries out with David, Psalm 139:23-Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; God also said to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17:10 "I the Lord search the heart".

The Hebrew meaning for this phrase is, "I penetrate; I examine deeply."

Scripture says, 1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Jesus, in Revelation 2:24, speaks about "the depths of Satan," of going down into the profound deepness of sin.

He was saying that evil goes down deep into the soul –

That it has roots that go down into hell. David said of the wicked ones: "The inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep"

These passages all are holy warnings:, profound. This path leads to away from our God."

In these final days sin has become complicated, subtle, sensuous and more sophisticated.

It comes disguised as art, culture and education.

I believe there are new depths to sin now.

It has taken on stronger, deeper roots.

Our children are confronted with depths of sin that we never did or never will know!

(Isaiah 29:15). "Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark"

The perfect heart wants the Holy Spirit to come and search out the depths of the innermost man, to shine into all hidden parts,

To investigate and dig out and expose all that is unlike Christ.

Shallow sermons will not dig deeply enough to do this.

And those who hide a secret sin do not want to be convicted, searched or probed.

Multitudes of Christians today want a Blood covering - but not a cleansing!

The ritual of the Old Testament tent tabernacle provides a clear example of the kind of walk with God the Church should have.

The tabernacle had an outer court where the sacrificial animal was slain.

This provided the blood covering for sin. But outside, too, was a laver where cleansing took place.

No priest could enter the Holy of Holies and commune with God face to face without being cleansed and making the commitment of the holy place.