The Heart of The Matter

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” - Psalm 51:10

If you listen close to news commentators, talk show hosts or political leaders, you'll be surprised how similar their approaches are to describing and resolving the challenges of our world. While their message and application may be strikingly different, even polar opposites, their overall message remains the same. They believe that the answer to society's woes can be solved by wealth, legislation or education.

They either try to throw money at the problem (wealth), pass new laws to accomplish their mission (legislation) or stress the importance of carefully planned schools (education). At times, their solutions sound impressive. But when you dig deeper into the problem, you find that they aren't addressing the main issue.

You see, the problems plaguing our world are caused by sin. It is a spiritual problem. Spiritual problems cannot be solved by worldly means. Let me give you an example. How do we stop school violence? By banning guns? By helping those with mental or emotional problems? By passing legislation making prison sentences tougher? While each may seem to have merit to their supporters, it doesn't change the problem, does it? If you take away guns, it won't stop violence. Criminals will find ways of finding a weapon that will accomplish their goal. Monitoring potential mental and emotional problems won't stop crime either. Many crimes are created by smart, stable people. Longer prison sentences won't stop violence either. It hasn't up till now.

While there are cases of mentally and emotionally disturbed criminals, the real issue is a matter of the heart. Violence occurs because of wicked men. Sinful, depraved hearts are the cause of violence and other crimes. Sin is the issue. You'll not hear Republicans or Democrats speak of this at a convention. News commentators are clueless about this because they are deceived and have sinful hearts, too.

Although it makes most people cringe to hear it, the problem is sin and the answer is Jesus.

King David committed adultery. When his cover-up attempts failed, he resorted to a deceptive way of disposing of his problem. When he was confronted about his wickedness, David confessed his sins and repented. Psalm 51 is his psalm of repentance. In this prayer, David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” David recognized that changes were needed. He didn't need new advisors. Neither did he need more servants. He didn't even need a better set of circumstances. He needed a new heart.

Most of the time, we seek for changes around us, but few look within. Until a man's heart is changed, he is in deep trouble. David looked within and saw a sinful, dirty heart. He looked within --- but then he looked up. The change he needed wouldn't come through self-reform or self-improvement. He needed a change that only God could provide.

Americans tend to seek immediate solutions. We like quick action. We want things to improve overnight. This often leads to a band-aid approach to our problems. When a person realizes he needs a new heart, it is obvious that a band-aid won't help. Massive change is required.

Thankfully, God is in the business of heart transplants. He has an impeccable record of changing lives. He always does this by changing the heart of the individual.

The Great Physician is a heart specialist. He performs open-heart surgery daily. Desperate, dying people have sought His care and found Him to be more than adequate for their need. He does surgery without anesthesiology or even opening the chest cavity. Many can testify that He changes a person's life by removing a heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. This Surgeon has never lost a case. Furthermore, He never charges for His services. The cost has already been paid at Calvary.

If your heart is not right with God, you don't need superficial solutions. You need a supernatural miracle. The good news is that God specializes in miracles.

The Great Physician's office is open right now. He is taking new patients. Your heart may be filled with anger, lust, jealousy and selfishness. You need more than an improvement. You need a change of heart. Bring your condition to Him. Lay your case bare before Him. Submit to His treatment.

He can create a new heart in you today.

To Tell The Truth

TO TELL THE TRUTH

“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” - Psalm 51:6

In the last couple of years, I've had the joy of watching old episodes of the TV game show, “To Tell The Truth.” I can recall watching the show when I was a little boy. With the aid of Youtube, I am able to watch many of those old episodes again. In fact, the first season of the show is online from 1956. While I remember the show from the 1970's, the very early episodes were in black and white. The show has been revived numerous times through the years and just finished another run a couple of years ago.

The show's overall format has remained the same. A panel of four “celebrities” would question three contestants who all claimed to be the same person. The host of the show would read a brief biography of the person who was appearing before them. Only the real contestant was sworn to tell the truth, the two impostors were not. Each panelist would be given a short period of time to question each of the contestants and at the end of questioning, the panelist would vote for the person they thought was the right contestant. It was a show of deliberate misrepresentation.

The show was interesting because of the different contestants they had. In one program, the panel was searching for the man who invented the game, Monopoly. In another show, the real contestant had been a double-agent in World War II.

The original show was hosted by Bud Collyer. At the end of the show, he would sign off by saying, “This is Bud Collyer reminding you to tell the truth.”

Do we need to be reminded to tell the truth? I think so. Our world is so corrupt that lies, falsehoods and misrepresentations are common and expected. Although most people are offended when they are lied to, they have little or no remorse when lying themselves.

Sadly, we expect politicians to lie to us. We aren't surprised when a salesman uses hyperbole in selling a product. Truth is rare these days.

As Americans, we tend to compartmentalize our lives. It isn't uncommon for a businessman to lie to a customer. When confronted about his lie, he responds, “O, that's just business.” Should truth be confined to only our personal lives? If you aren't honest in business, you aren't honest.

As the old saying goes, “honesty is the best policy.” Although that saying does not come directly from Scripture, the Bible has much to say about honesty.

Whether we like it or not, our sinful, fallen nature is very dishonest. As a result, we must train children to be honest. Honesty is a core principle to teach young people. As adults, we need to be reminded to tell the truth. Whether we are on a witness stand in a trial, responding to criticism or responding to a spouse, we need to be truthful.

Most of all, we need to be honest with God and ourselves. After David's great sin, he prayed, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts.” God expects us to be transparent before Him. He already knows the truth, but He wants us to be honest before Him.

The reason we aren't seeing revival in America is due, in part, to a lack of honesty among believers. We think that “other people” need to change, but not ourselves. We believe that our neighbors may need a convicting message, but we don't. Repentance is for wicked sinners, not for those of us who attend church regularly. These beliefs reflect the kind of deceit that God wishes to expose. We aren't being honest with God or ourselves.

David refused to own up to his immoral behavior. His actions were probably hidden from most of the people, but God was aware of them. He was given time to be honest and repent. After about a year, God sent the prophet, Nathan, to confront David. When his sin was exposed, David finally got honest with God.

God has a way of getting your attention. The same One who stopped Saul on the road to Damascus is the same One who can stop you in your tracks. The same God that halted Jonah's disobedient journey can bring your life to a halt. The One who brought Nathan to sinful David is the same God that may bring a friend, neighbor or preacher to confront you about your sins.

Confrontation often leads to denial and anger. We'd rather protect our image than come clean with God. We'd prefer to travel a road of deceit and defeat than get right with God and walk in victory. Sad, isn't it?

Yet those who get honest with God find help, hope and healing. Confession leads to cleansing. Surrender leads to victory. Honesty leads to liberty.

There's no greater fool than a man who genuinely believes his own lies.

Getting To The Point

 GETTING TO THE POINT

“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” - Psalm 51:4

Last week, I began writing about experiencing personal revival. While we prefer talking about revival at our church or a spiritual awakening across our country, few are really interested in personal revival. As I wrote last week, revival comes with a cost. Most think the cost is too high. Personal revival requires repentance of sin. Rather than responding with repentance, most practice worldly sorrow instead.

There is a difference between repentance and worldly sorrow. On the surface, worldly sorrow seems good. There is contrition and confession. Yet there is no real change in the person's heart.

What is the difference between Biblical repentance and worldly sorrow? It primarily comes down to motives.

A person who demonstrates worldly sorrow may confess his or her sins with bitter tears and anguish. Yet the reason for the tears is often very selfish. They are sorry they were exposed for their sins. Or perhaps they are sorry for the penalty of their sins. They could be sorry they are facing public embarrassment, loss of a marriage or a term in prison. They may even be sorry for the fallout on their family members. While all of this may sound good, there is a fundamental problem. They don't hate the sin itself.

Biblical repentance goes much deeper than this. Biblical repentance includes a sorrow for the sin that was committed, including a hatred of the sin. Furthermore, repentance includes a deep sorrow for the fact that they sinned against God Himself. You see, with worldly sorrow, the sinner never thinks about sin's impact on God. Most of the sorrow revolves around the sinner himself and the things that matter to him. In repentance, his primary grief is the knowledge that he has sinned against God. When a person repents, he realizes that he has personally offended God.

When David confessed his sin to God in Psalm 51, he stated, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Why did David say he sinned only against God? Didn't he sin with Bathsheba? Didn't he sin against her husband? Of course he did. Yet David realized that he primarily sinned against God.

Joseph refused the immoral appeals of Potiphar's wife, saying, “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Notice what Joseph didn't say. He didn't say he would sin against Potiphar if he committed adultery with her. He didn't say that he would sin against the teachings of his parents. Instead, he said that adultery would be a sin against God.

Think of the serious implications of sinning against God. You can offend me and seek my forgiveness. That shouldn't be too difficult. However, when you sin against God, it is a much more serious matter. When we sin against God, we offend His position. He is supreme. We tend to downplay this, but we shouldn't. The consequences become more severe when you offend someone of greater authority. God has ultimate authority. Offending Him is the most serious matter of all. Furthermore, when we sin, we offend Him personally. It is a personal attack on Him. When we sin, we are offending a holy God.

Let's go even further. It was your sins that caused Jesus to suffer. When we sin, it is like we are personally driving the nails in His hands. The deep gashes on his back from the whip was caused by us. The torn flesh on his forehead from the crown of thorns was due to our offense. When we consider this, it should cause us to hate our sins and run from away from them. It is not the consequences we face, but the consequences He faced that should cause us to repent. He faced the consequences for OUR sins.

Personal revival requires genuine repentance. The reason that personal revival is rare is because that Biblical repentance is rare. We want a quick fix for our problems and not a change of heart that transforms us.

We need to be reminded about the Gospel continually. We need to think about the cross and the price paid for our sins. It is one thing to desire deliverance from the penalty of sin, it is another thing to desire deliverance from the sin itself.

In this age of moral decay, believers need to treat the sanctification process seriously. While others may be careless about sin, we need to treat it like the vicious, deadly foe it really is. God intends for us to be holy people, set apart for every good work. It all begins with genuine repentance.

Today is a good day for this to take place.

Experiencing Personal Revival

 EXPERIENCING PERSONAL REVIVAL

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” - Psalm 51:1

When I mention the word, “revival,” most of us have a mental image of a tent crusade or special weeknight meetings in a small church. We tend to think of revival in terms of special singers performing and an evangelist preaching. We also imagine long, extended altar calls, with the evangelist appealing for people to make a public response.

While this is a popular view of “revival,” it may surprise you to know that Biblical revival is more of a personal matter. While churches, cities and even nations experienced revival and awakenings in the Bible, revival itself begins on a personal level.

Whether your church has a “revival” scheduled this summer or not, you can experience revival yourself. Although this sounds rather simple, the process may be very difficult. You see, most of us want the results of revival but we don't necessarily want to invest in the process of revival.

Here's the problem. Revival has a cost. We want others to pay that price, but we don't want to pay it ourselves. When others pay the price, they experience the blessing of revival.

Last week, I wrote about David's transgressions. His adultery with Bathsheba and his attempted cover-up of the affair had caused a great chasm to exist in his fellowship with God. For a year, David refused to own up to his sins. Finally, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him. Convicted by the truth, David repented.

Repentance is a hated word today, even within the Church. In spite of the negative feelings we have about repentance, our practice of it is actually liberating and thrilling. Repentance leads to revival. Often, repentance is the price we pay for revival.

Psalm 51 captures David's prayer of repentance. It is a chapter that every believer needs to read often. The psalm is broken down into two parts: repentance and renewal.

In the first part of the psalm, David appeals to God for mercy. In no way does David mention any past accomplishments or victories. Instead, he acknowledges that he is guilty before God. He begs for mercy. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

David does not pray that God will have mercy because of David's good deeds of the past. Rather, he prays that God will have mercy, “... according to thy lovingkindness.”

Today, many think that their good deeds will cancel their bad deeds. David knew that wasn't true. It wasn't true for him then and it isn't true for us today. As a guilty man, he threw himself on the mercy of God.

Just as a guilty man throws himself on the mercy of the court, we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of God in true repentance. David did not excuse his sin. He owned up to it and took responsibility for it. We should do the same.

David sought and received the forgiveness of God. Perhaps you have failed the Lord and sinned greatly. Let me recommend that you read Psalm 51 over and over again. Seek the Lord's mercy just as David did. God is merciful to those who come to Him in humble repentance.

We can experience personal revival by coming clean with God and being made clean by Him. Rather than hiding our sins, we need to confess them. Instead of excusing our failures, we need to own up to them. Adam and Eve tried to use the blame game when they were confronted with their sin in the garden of Eden. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. The blame game didn't work then. It doesn't work today.

Revival requires a thorough dealing with personal sin. Too many take a band-aid approach to repentance. They only want quick relief. Meaningful revival occurs when there is meaningful repentance.

You don't have to wait until a “scheduled revival,” is held at your church. There's no need to wait for a long altar call at a tent revival. Come to the Lord right now. Honestly and humbly pour out your heart to Him. Confess your sins before Him. Truly repent. Ask for His mercy and grace.

Real personal revival may occur in your life today.