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.
The gospel as we hear it today goes something like this:
"Just go to the altar and, by faith, trust in the Blood shed there.
Then go boldly into the Holy of Holies.
The veil is rent, your Daddy loves you,
He is waiting. He sees only Jesus in you."
Christians who embrace this thinking believe they can bypass the laver - which, for us stands for the washing by the water of the Word.
They believe they can push past the commitment of the holy place
With sin caked all over them and sinful habits deeply imbedded in their hearts, walk right in and boast,
"I am the righteousness of God in Christ."
The perfect heart is after more than security or a covering for sin!
It seeks to be in His presence to have communion!
Communion is talking with the Lord, sharing sweet fellowship, seeking His face.
And that is what you get in the Holy of Holies! It comes in this order: covering, cleansing, commitment, and communion.
Many believers, however, want nothing more than to be covered - a quick ticket to glory!
No pain, no cross, no cleansing! They go about crying, "I’m under the Blood, under the Blood! I’m safe!"
Yet they quote only one-half of the verse: "and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. " (1 John 1:7).
You Have To Read all of it: "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. " (1 John 1:6-7).
Jesus said, You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3).
We hear preaching that says, "You don’t need to be searched. All your sin is under the Blood anyway!
All this digging and searching out of sin brings only condemnation and guilt."
But the bible says David had a perfect heart - yet he cried out, "Search me, O God!"
In Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, " all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.." Beloved, He was addressing the Church!
The Lord’s searching’s not vindictive but redemptive.
His purpose is not to catch us in sin or condemn us - but rather to prepare us to come into His holy presence as clean, pure vessels.
"Who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart... he shall receive the blessing from the Lord" (Psalm 24:3-5).
Communion Sunday
