Sermon Notes
“The God Who Knows The Heart”
Kent Simmons
Acts 15:1-21
AC 15:1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." [2] This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. [3] The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. [4] When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
AC 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
AC 15:6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. [7] After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. [8] God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. [9] He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. [10] Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? [11] No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
AC 15:12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. [13] When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. [14] Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. [15] The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
AC 15:16 " `After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
AC 15:17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’
AC 15:18 that have been known for ages.
AC 15:19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. [20] Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. [21] For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
INTRODUCTION
Intent: (American Heritage Dictionary) That which is intended, aim; purpose. Firmly fixed, concentrated. A stretching out, to stretch toward.
We are a people of intent. A people of intentions. We judge others based upon their intentions. We take action based upon our own intentions.
EXAMPLES
1. In criminal court cases. Premeditation Vs Absence of Malice.
2. As a father with a daughter’s date.
3. Wrong understanding... New Year’s Eve resolutions.
THESIS
If we are nothing else, we are a people of intentions. We stretch out or stretch toward various actions that we accept as important to us. We base our opinions on the values and character of our nature and instinct. So, if intent is central to our understanding of our world, how much more important is the issue of intent to our God? Our God knows our hearts. Why? Because he is able to know our hearts, he needs to know to know our hearts, and because he wants to know our hearts.
BACKGROUND ON PASSAGE
I. God is able to know our hearts.
a. Psalm 139
PS 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
PS 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
PS 139:3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
PS 139:4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
PS 139:5 You hem me in--behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
PS 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
PS 139:7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
PS 139:8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
PS 139:9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
PS 139:10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
PS 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
PS 139:12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
PS 139:13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
b. Christ knew the thoughts of men... Matthew 9:4 at the healing of the paralytic, he knew the thoughts of the teachers of the law; Matthew 12:25 again he perceived the thoughts of the Pharisees at the healing of the demon possessed, blind, mute; Luke 9:47 at the argument as to who would be the greatest in heaven, Jesus knew their thoughts. Another example of his Lordship.
c. Growing up I thought it might be fun to know other people’s thoughts.
ILLS Gilligan’s Island, What Women Want. Minority Report-- Tom Cruise.
The reality is, is that we can never fully know other people’s thoughts, but we can know our own thoughts and intentions and so can God.
He is able to know our hearts.
II. God needs to know our hearts.
a. Not because of his need, but because of our need.
b. As I said before, it is the intent of a man-- what he stretches out for that God is able to see. And having seen the condition of the human heart fully, he is able to act.
ILLUSTRATION A Doctor (needing to know the physical condition of a given patient)
c. What did God see when he looked into the hearts of men? A sick heart. A heart without the intention of stretching itself out to God....
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
RO 3:11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
RO 3:12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
And the cure?
RO 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
d. Do we believe that our hearts are not full of sin?
1JN 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [10] If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
God is able to know our hearts, God needs to know our hearts and...
III. God wants to know our hearts.
a. God is not fooled by outward actions. While it is true that we can know if the love of Christ dwells within a person by seeing the fruit in their lives, we can also be deceived. There are numerous examples of warnings to watch out for false prophets and wolves among the family of believers. But God sees the intention of the heart.
ILLUSTRATION The Sixth Sense (fooled by the ending)
b. Returning to Romans 5:8-- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
c. We are created for relationship with God. That occurs at the moment of faith in him. Hebrews 11:6
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
SUMMARY 1. God is able to know our hearts, 2. God needs to know our hearts and 3. God wants to know our hearts.
Conclusion: It is important to note that God is looking deeply into the hearts of his people. It is our intent that he focuses upon-- our stretching out to him. The significance of our intent is just this: Intent indicates a course of action, not a final destination. God knows that we will fail him even after our acceptance of his Son, but what matters most is whether we intend to continue to stretch out to him for forgiveness and for restoration.
What about you? Are your intentions to seek out and know the God who knows your heart? You can know him today. He knows you better than you know yourself and still he loves you. Will you come to him today?
EPH 2: [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- [9] not by works, so that no one can boast.
