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:
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
As Christians, we should not be talking corruptly. We should be talking in ways that advance the Kingdom of God and build up those around us. That is what should be dwelling within us, not corrupting talk. Cussing, tearing down others, or spreading rumors is not what a Christian is supposed to do. Even when the world does it to us, we are not to do it back. Listen, I understand that it is tough at times. It is not always easy. Trust me, I coach football and I am an Auburn fan. I know that it is not always easy. It may not always be easy, but it will always be worth it. When you talk peacefully, build up others, and advance the Kingdom of God, there is nothing you can regret. I never hear of people regretting using a moment to talk about Christ or spread peace, but I do hear of people regretting saying something in the heat of the moment.
The end of verse 18 says that the corrupt talk that is coming from your heart will defile you. It gives you a defiled heart. A defiled heart is a heart full of evil thoughts which combine with our will to produce evil words and evil actions. Basically, a sinful heart leads to sinful living which leads to sinful talking. If you are talking corruptly, there are some heart complications that you need to deal with before it is too late. If you let heart complications go on without fixing it, you will likely die. Likewise, if you let this heart complication go on for too long without fixing it, it will also cause you to die. Not just an earthly death, but an eternal death in hell. Corrupt talk comes from a corrupt heart. A corrupt heart comes from sin and evil. As Christians, we are to live like Jesus who did not have a defiled heart.
2. A Treasured Heart
Matthew 6:21 says this:
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Your heart will be wherever the thing is that you treasure the most. If you treasure your job the most, that is where your heart will be. If you treasure money the most, that is where your heart will be. Your heart will be wherever the thing is that you treasure the most. So, what do you treasure the most? Listen folks, if the thing that you treasure the most is something of this world, at some point you are going to be disappointed. Things of this Earth will disappoint you, but God will never will. We should treasure God the most. Not our families, not our churches, not our jobs, but God should be what we treasure the most. Now, do not get me wrong, those other things are extremely important, and we should treasure them, but we should treasure God more.
Our hearts should be with God and our hearts should belong to God. Your family will let you down. We have all either been disappointed by someone in our family, or we have disappointed someone in the family. Your church will let you down. I imagine that either most of us or all of us have experienced this at some point in our lives. It happens. The only thing that I despise more than politics is church politics. You can escape and avoid regular politics. That is easy. It seems just about impossible to avoid church politics, especially the more involved you get with serving. Churches will let you down. I do not think it will take much explanation of our jobs letting us down. We probably experience that regularly. As important and as big as these things are to us, they will all let us down at some point, but we serve a God that will never let us down. We serve a God that loves us unconditionally. We serve a God that is always there for us.
We serve a God that knows our name. Do y`all ever stop and just think about how amazing that is? That the God of the universe who created the heavens and the earth not only knows my name, but also knows the exact amount of hair on my head. There are currently around 8.1 billion people here on the earth and He still knows your name. Every time I think about that, I am just in awe. That He knows me in this world that has 8.1 billion people in it. Folks, that is what we should treasure the most. When you treasure God the most, you cannot lose. You cannot. You will not be disappointed. You will not be let down. God will not fail you. Your heart will be at the place or thing that you treasure the most. So, what do you treasure the most? I am a firm believer that you are as close to God as you choose to be. You are as close to God as you choose to be. If you are far from God, it is because you chose to be and if you are close to God, it is because you chose to be. If you treasure God the most, you will be close to Him. If you treasure someone or something of this world the most, you will be far from Him. Where is your heart at today?
3. A Guarded Heart
As Christians, we should guard our heart. Psalm 4:23 says this:
“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.”
The New Living Translation says this for Proverbs 4:23:
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
This goes back to what we just talked about. Your heart will be where the thing or person you treasure the most is, and that will determine the course of your life. If you have a positive outlook on life, then you will have a positive course. If you have a negative outlook on life, then you will have a negative course. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love history, especially when it comes to wars. I love it.
We all know the events that happened on December 7, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War 2, a man by the name of Chester Nimitz was the commander of Allied Naval Forces in the Pacific. On December 7th, he was attending a concert in Washington D.C. when he got a phone call from President Roosevelt that he would be commanding the naval forces. On Christmas Eve of 1941, Nimitz landed in Pearl Harbor. On Christmas Day, Nimitz took a boat tour around the harbor to assess the damage. A young man was driving the boat for Nimitz, and he asked Nimitz what he thought about the destruction and his response shocked the young man. Here is what Nimitz said:
“The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or maybe God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?”
This completely shocked the young man driving the boat. He said the Japanese made 3 huge mistakes in their attack.
One – They attacked the fleet while it was still docked. So instead of the ships sinking deep water where they could not be salvaged, they were sunk in shallow water and could be repaired and put back to use. This also saved the lives of 35,000 men.
Two – The pilots got caught up in sinking the big battleships and ignored the dry docks and repair facilities. This meant all the ships could be repaired there at Pearl Harbor instead of being towed all the way back out to California. This caused several ships to be fully repaired and fighting again in the time that it would take to tow them back.
Three – 5 miles from the naval base was about 4.5 million gallons of fuel. This was the entire fuel reserve for the Pacific fleet. If the Japanese would just have dropped one single bomb on this, it would have destroyed the entire fuel reserve, and we would have no fuel for the entire fleet.
There Nimitz was in an awful situation. Everyone's head was hung in defeat but instead of having a negative attitude towards the situation, he chose to find the positive in it. Having a positive attitude towards life does not mean that you will avoid negative situations. It means that you will find light in the darkness. We will all face negative situations. Times where things do not go the way we wanted them to.
Earlier this year, my mom passed away from cancer. She fought that thing tooth and nail and we all prayed and prayed and prayed that she would be healed. Yet, she passed on April 26th at 10:35 pm. It is an awful situation that still hurts today, but as dark as it is, there is some light in the darkness. Before the cancer came, my mom was not a Christian. She was not. She was one of the best people that I knew, but she was not saved. During her 13-month battle with cancer, God drew her near and during her battle, she accepted Christ. She had even talked about getting baptized before she got bad and went unresponsive. My mom may be gone, but I know that I will one day see her again.
Listen folks, troubled times and darkness will come. The Bible tells us that. It is not if they come, it is when they come. You must guard your heart. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate guards your heart. You must guard your heart for your heart will determine the course of your life. Romans 12:21 says:
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
When evil and darkness come, you must guard your heart. It is going to come, do not be overcome by it.
4. A Peaceful Heart
As Christians, we should have a heart full of peace. Philippians 4:7
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Is this life filled with war, Jesus gives us peace. We face war on a daily basis. Ephesians Chapter 6 makes that clear. Ephesians Chapter 6 makes it clear that we are at war. We as Christians are in a spiritual war. Ephesians Chapter 6: 10-13 says this:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
If you are a true and born-again Christian, you have a battle to fight. Paul told the Ephesians to put on the armor of God. Listen folks, you do not put on armor for times of peace. You put it on for times of war. Notice what else Paul said there:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood”
Our fight is not with each other. So many churches today are failing because they focus on fighting each other instead of focusing on fighting the devil together. That is why church unity is so important. Jesus says this is Matthew 12:25:
“Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
A divided kingdom cannot stand. A divided city cannot stand. A divided house cannot stand, and a divided church cannot stand. Folks there is a reason that united churches are continually growing. Can you imagine how many churches would flourish if they quit fighting each other and started fighting the real enemy? I believe that no church would close its doors again. I believe people would stop getting burned out by serving. I believe pastors would stop leaving the ministry completely. If we could only start fighting the true enemy instead of each other. Oh, what a day that would be. John 14:27 says this:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Jesus gives us peace. That is why you cannot find Him in a divided church. If there is no peace, Christ is not in it. That goes for churches, but it also goes for other things as well. Families. Work. Government. Marriages. Relationships. Friendships. If you cannot ever have peace in it, Christ is not in it. Remember what Paul told the Philippians in Chapter 4 verse 7.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Peace will guard your heart and mind. Not worldly peace, but peace that only comes from Christ. If you cannot ever have true peace in your life, my question to you is how is your relationship with God? Are you close to Him and walking with Him, or are you far away?
2nd Timothy 3:1 says this:
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty”
And verse 13 says this:
“While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”
Folks, I am a firm believer that we are in the last days. Everything points to that. I believe the rapture will happen in my lifetime. This also means that our time here on Earth is running out. Rather the rapture happens or, the Lord calls you home, either way your time here on Earth is running out. Are you ready for when that moment comes? How is your heart? Is it a clean heart? What are you treasuring the most? Is it being guarded and full of peace? If the answer to those questions is no, I encourage and urge you to get right with God today while you still can. I want y`all to understand something else also. Your heart cannot be clean, treasure God the most, be guarded and full of peace if you do not have a relationship with Christ. That is the most important part. Things and pleasures of this world will pass away but your relationship with the Father will not. So, if you do not know Christ, let today by the day.
Let us pray.
