How is Your Heart?

Well, good afternoon and happy Sabbath to everyone. And I want to say thank you to Andrea for that special music. It's hard enough to sing before a group with music, but then to sing acapella and all those words that, you know, they just kept coming and coming. It's very fine. Thank you very much. Well, again, good afternoon and happy Sabbath to all and greetings to those who are watching on the Internet. And as was mentioned previously, yes, the back of the room is well occupied.

The front of the room is kind of sparse. But no worries. I can still see you there at the back, so that's no problems at all. Well, brethren, one of the things that many of us do is to have an annual physical, a checkup on our bodies to see how they're functioning and to detect any potential problems. It's preventative maintenance to nip a problem or a potential problem in the bud. We determine the frequency for this physical. Many of us have it yearly, some by yearly, some at different intervals, and probably some not at all.

But in any case, we get to choose that. But more importantly, God wants us to have a spiritual checkup. He wants us to examine ourselves. And this can be done on an ongoing basis, but the minimum. The minimum requirement is once per year. It's important that we have a checkup, and I'll say a spiritual checkup once a year before the Passover. So this is the time of year when we examine ourselves.

It's not the only time, but it's certainly a time when we need to examine ourselves to have a checkup. It's a time when we all go through this process. Now, in a physical, one of the things that people, the doctors check, I should say, is the heart. They check to see how it's functioning. They have various tests run to make sure that it's functioning properly and well, to detect a problem, you know, if there's one that exists. Well, Christ also checks our hearts. It turns out that He's an expert cardiologist. He performs a major examination on us, if you will.

He's a master cardiologist, as I said. One of the hospitals here in Cincinnati likes to be known as a heart hospital. Well, Christ is a heart specialist. Christ knows hearts. Turn to 1 Samuel 16, and we'll see a couple of scriptures about God knowing our hearts. 1 Samuel 16, and I'll start reading in verse 1. This is the account where God has rejected Saul from being king of Israel, and He's going to select one of Jesse's sons to be the next king, and He's sending Samuel to go anoint the son.

1 Samuel 16, starting in verse 1, it says, Now the LORD said to Samuel, How long were you mourned for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? And then dropping down to verse 6, it says, So it was, when they came, that's when they came. That's the sons of Jesse coming before Samuel. It says, When they came, he looked at Eliab and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.

So Eliab must have looked really good. He probably looked kingly. Maybe a little taller, athletic, muscular. He may have had a good physique, may have had a good personality. Samuel thought, This is the next king. But no, God did not choose him, as it says in verse 7, continuing on. But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as a man sees. The man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

God sees our heart. He knows hearts. His criteria for a king is different. He looks at character. He looks at motivation. He looks at our character. He looks at our motivation, sees what's going on inside us.

Turn ahead to Luke 16. Luke 16, we'll see something else about Jesus Christ and about what God has to say about hearts. Again, they know hearts, and they know hearts very, very well. Luke 16, and I'm going to start reading in verse 14. Luke 16, not quite there yet, turn too many pages. Luke 16, starting in verse 14, says, Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard of these things, and they derided him.

And he said to them, You are those who justify yourselves. In other words, you want to look good on the outside. You justify yourselves not before then. But God knows your hearts. God knows hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. God knew hearts back then, and of course, God still knows our hearts today. He knows us very, very well. Then continuing on in verse 16, it says, The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

It takes effort to be a Christian. It takes effort to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to be a follower of God. These men, the Pharisees, they wanted to look good on the outside. They justified themselves, made themselves look righteous before men. But actually, they weren't kidding God. They weren't fooling Him at all. So brethren, as we prepare for the Passover, one of the things we need to do is to examine ourselves and like to encourage all of us to examine our hearts.

And with that, I'll say, how is your heart? How is your heart? And again, how is my heart? Something I have to ask myself as well. I'm not going to talk so much about specific issues or actions or words or deeds, although as I go along, obviously, things like that will be mentioned. We're going to refer more to the motivation, the attitude, refer to the heart. We're going to look today at the root cause of some of the problems that were within us, of what's really inside us, and why we do what we do when we do the wrong things.

Again, do we have a hard heart? Is our heart hard and stony? Are we stiff-necked, like some of the Israelites that are referred to in the Old Testament? Or do we have a soft, fleshly heart? Are we teachable? Are we trainable? Even perhaps as we've been in the church for a long, long time, are we still teachable and trainable?

Are we angry or bitter or loving or kind? Seems like some people, you go up to them, and you know before they open their mouth or before you open your mouth, you're going to hear of some problem, some complaint, something that is wrong, you know, just something's wrong. That's the type of person that they are. And you know before you ever go up to them, but again, you want to go up to them and be friendly and warm in any case.

Again, are we angry or bitter? Are we teachable after many years or after many years in the church? Do we decide, well, I'm really a judge of the church now. I can figure out what is best and what is right. It all comes from the inside. It comes from the heart. The word heart is mentioned over a thousand times in the Bible. A few examples are, well, the New Covenant.

Where is the law written in the New Covenant? It's written on our heart. Also in Deuteronomy 5.29, speaking of Old Testament Israel and really speaking of all people, God is saying, oh, that they would have such a heart within them, that they would obey me always. And again, it says that, it would go well with them. Oh, if they had such a heart. Jesus Christ said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And likewise, He said, where your treasure is.

There your heart will be also. That's just a few examples of the word heart and the way that it's used. And we're going to encounter many more today. So again, brethren, how is your heart? How is my heart? Not talking about a physical checkup here as we're well aware. Talking about a spiritual checkup as we still continue to prepare for the Passover. So before going on, let's define what I mean by the word heart. Again, I'm not referring to an organ in our body that pumps our blood and gives us blood pressure and keeps us going.

Not referring to that, I'm referring to our attitude of what's going on inside of us. In the Baker's Evangelical Dictionary under the subject of heart, it says heart, and talks about the Hebrew word being labab or lab, or the Greek in the New Testament being cardia. It says heart occurs over a thousand times in the Bible, which I've mentioned, making it the most common anthropological term in the Scripture.

It denotes a person's center for both physical and emotional and intellectual activities. It talks about our inner being. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says the heart in Scripture is variously used, sometimes for the mind, sometimes for an understanding, sometimes for the will, sometimes for affection, sometimes for conscience. But again, basically, when you talk about the heart, we're talking about what's going on inside of us, our motivations, our attitudes, our thoughts, which ultimately will lead to actions or words.

Turn back to Genesis 6, and we'll start seeing some things that God has to say about the heart. Genesis 6, this is the time during the days of Noah, where God was looking down upon the earth. Genesis 6, and I'll start reading in verse 3. You still hear a few pages turning. In Genesis 6, 3, again, this is the time of Noah, where God is looking down and seeing what men are doing about the evil.

The subheading in my Bible of this chapter says the evil hearts grieve the Lord. So Genesis 6, starting in verse 3, it says, Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet the days of his flesh shall be a hundred and twenty years. Then I'm going to drop down to verse 5, and it said, Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Everything inside. That's all he did was think of evil things, wrong things, bad things to be doing.

It's only evil continually. And just looking at that and thinking about that, and this was the hearts of people back then, I have to ask the question, are the hearts of people any different today at this time? Obviously, a muscle is not evil, or whatever pumps our blood, which is our heart, is not evil, but our attitude is it can be. And it's only evil continually. Obviously, Satan was at work, and he was very, very effective back then. I'll also say he's very effective today as we look around and see what's happening. A while ago, I saw an advertisement on TV for a movie that was on TV, and as a man conducting at that, what he was conducting was a Sunday school class.

We'd say a Sabbath school class. And the children were about, I don't know, five years old, give or take, somewhere, you know, small children. And he was talking about Noah, you know, the flood in the days of Noah, and how Noah built the ark and got into the ark, and you know, all him, all Noah and his family was saved. Well, then this cute little girl, you know, nice little dress, you know, sticking out with petticoats, and curly hair, and all that sweet little thing, she looks and she says, well, what happened to everybody else?

And there was a boy, you know how boys are smart, and I said, they all drowned. And the little girl said, well, that's really disappointing. Now, that was supposed to be the punchline of a funny segment of this particular movie. Well, I tend to agree with the little girl. It is disappointing. It's very disappointing. God was most disappointed with what was going on. Let's continue to read on in verse 6.

It says, And the Lord was sorry, that it had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. Now, this is God's heart now. So the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air. For I am sorry that I made them. And it says, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

So God was very, very disappointed. He was sorry that things had turned out the way that they were turning out. Now, I'm sure God looked down the road and he thought that, yes, sin is going to multiply, problems are going to multiply, things are going to get bad. But I get the sense from reading this that it happened quicker than God had intended. Things had gotten very, very bad. And as far as we look back, near creation, obviously this is several hundred years after creation. But things had gotten so bad that God had to essentially start over, if you will.

He was disappointed. He was greatly disappointed in what had happened and how fast it happened. He had a plan and all of this was running away, way ahead of what He had planned. Turn over to Jeremiah 17th chapter. Jeremiah 17. And we'll read verses 9 and 10. Again, familiar passages of the Scripture that are quite often read and especially at this time of year.

Jeremiah 17. We'll read verses 9 and 10. But as we think of the way that the hearts were in the time of Noah and shortly thereafter, I ask the question, are hearts of men and women any different today? And of course the answer is no. Humans are humans are humans. Jeremiah 17 starting in verse 9. God says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? So our heart is not only evil, it's deceitful. It likes to think that it's good or it likes to get others to think that it's good. It says, who can know it? Now, I was trying to think of analogies of how to illustrate this. And one of the things that comes to mind is sports. I like sports. Over this weekend is the culmination of the college basketball season. And of course, a lot of people here aren't aware of that, I realize. No, actually you are. But I'm always amused when there's a foul call on somebody or they're playing and there's a foul call. And the person that the foul is called on is like, me?

I didn't touch them. I didn't do it. You know, I'm innocent. I'm just not at all. I'm innocent. Now, the poor person or player that's been fouled on, he can be lay on the floor with a broken nose or a black eye. But I didn't touch him. I didn't touch him. Next thing you know, there's the jumbotron. And it looks like the player that had the foul call on him, he mugged the other guy.

He just absolutely mugged him. And I used to think, now this is my theory, and take it for what it's worth, I used to think that, well, they're really just acting. He's acting. He's pretending that he didn't touch the other guy. And sometimes they do pretend. I won't say that they don't. Likewise, the person who lays on the floor, sometimes he falls down when it's not necessary, but that's a different story. But I will say that the way a person that has a foul call on them, they protest.

They seem so sincere and genuine and convinced that I'm thinking, in his mind, he really doesn't think he did anything. This is a deceitful heart. Obviously, he did do something, but in his own mind, he does not see it. We want something to be true so badly, or something to not be true so badly, that we tend to deny reality. And that part is true whether you agree with the analogy or not. We do tend to deny reality. A similar situation that several of us in this room, and maybe many of us in this room, have encountered.

Here's a small child again, and I'll say, you know, five, seven, something like that, that misbehaves and does something very bad. It could be a girl, it could be a boy. Either one makes no difference. And someone, an adult, could be a teacher, could be a minister, could be a policeman, takes the child and goes up to the parents and said, you know, your son or your daughter did this.

Well, the reaction of the parent is, not my child! My child could never do anything like that. It just wouldn't happen. You must be mistaken, you know, you grabbed the wrong child. I'm sure somebody did that, but, you know, not my child. Again, the parent, because the child is an extension of itself, they so badly want that child, you know, to be perfect.

In the eyes of others, they're, well, you know, it couldn't possibly be my child. But children are capable of a lot of things. And those of us who are parents know the children are capable of a lot of things. Now, I'm not automatically saying that if someone brings a child to a parent, that their parent should automatically assume that their child is guilty just because, you know, someone says. There may be times when the child's innocent, but on the other hand, the parent should have an open mind and realize that, yes, their child is capable of this, and they need to be objective, they need to understand more about the situation to see whether the child is actually guilty or not.

This is our heart. It's tricky. It's deceitful. It wants to look good. It wants to really be seen as being nice. Although, as we saw from Genesis, it really isn't. It really isn't too nice at all. Continuing on in verse 10, Jeremiah 17 verse 10, well, just backing up, I'll read verse 9 again. The heart is deceitful, and yes it is, above all things, desperately wicked. So it's wicked, but it wants to appear good. It says, who can know it? Then in verse 10 it says, I, the Lord, search the heart.

Again, God is the master cardiologist. He searches the heart. He tests the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. God knows our hearts. He sees us better than we see ourselves, and He knows us better than we see ourselves. Turn ahead to James the first chapter, James the first chapter, and we'll see the progression of sin.

As I mentioned, sin is the outward action of something that is going on within us. Sin doesn't necessarily begin at the end point. Sin begins earlier and then grows and develops. James the first chapter, I'll start reading in verse 12. It says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Again, God doesn't tempt, as we'll see as we go read on. It says, Let no one say when he has tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he... See, I still hear a couple pages turning. I'm in James the first chapter. I'm in verse 13 now. It says, Let no one say when he has tempted, I am tempted by God.

For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. It starts in the mind, starts in the heart, and then enticed. We tend to turn it over a little bit. We think about it. That would be kind of nice. Our own desire is enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And then when sin is full grown, it brings forth death. See, we've gone through this passage before. I'll use a couple of examples to illustrate it.

One kind of a light-hearted example, and one not so light-hearted. But I have a friend who likes to go out to eat, and when he does, he likes pie a la mode for dessert. And when we're going out, we know before we ever get to a restaurant, he's going to have pie a la mode for dessert. Now sometimes he'll be a little tricky, you know, like a fudge brownie with ice cream for dessert.

But basically, it's pie a la mode for dessert. It's not really a question, it's a given. Again, it's in his mind. Think of sin in this way, but obviously pie a la mode is not a sin. And just to dot the I's and cross the T's and such are foremost people. You know, if you've got diabetes, you shouldn't be having pie a la mode. If you're allergic to ice cream, you shouldn't be having pie a la mode. And if it's a graham cracker crust during the days of unleavened bread, you shouldn't be having pie a la mode, if there's leavening in that crust. Now with all the exclusions pushed aside, there's nothing wrong having pie a la mode.

But he's got his mind set on it. That's the way sin works in our mind. We start thinking about something, kind of like that. So after dinner, when the server cleans up the dishes, before they ask for if anyone wants dessert, he knows he's going to have pie a la mode. Before the server says, would anyone care for dessert? He knows. Before they say, what kind of pie does that have? He knows he's going to have pie a la mode. And sure enough, he has pie a la mode. It started in the mind, he meditated upon it, and now it's meditating, he turned it over in his mind, and then ultimately he orders the action, follows the thoughts.

That's the way that that works. That's the way sin works within us. We see something, again, with our desires, we get enticed, leading to an action which leads to sin, and as it says, leads to death. But on a more serious type of note, let's say that we oversleep in the morning, we're really tired when the alarm goes off, and we hit this news button once, or we hit this news button twice, and we stay in bed too long. Well, then we get up, and now we're rushed, we're in a hurry.

We don't take time to pray or study as we know that we should. We go flying out the door, and we're driving or getting on a bus or whatever, but let's say that we are driving, and we get behind a school bus. A school bus isn't moving very fast, and so finally that gets out of the way, and then something else happens, and someone cuts you off or does this. Meanwhile, our stomach's churning, we're getting anxious, I've got to get either to work or school, wherever I'm going, on time.

And then, as I said, someone cuts you off. What's your reaction? What's your reaction? Do you either mentally or verbally call that person some sort of derogatory name? The name, the calling the name is the end result of a long line of a situation. It didn't start there, it started a long time ago. Perhaps if you'd gotten up earlier, if I'd gotten up earlier, stayed, and studied, as we know we should, someone could cut us off and think, well, you know, it's not a good thing, but you wouldn't necessarily lose your temper, you wouldn't get angry, you wouldn't get upset.

This is the type of thing with sin. Sin starts well before the action. It ends in an action hardly ever, you know, just like that. It's a progression. It happens. It happens in our heart. Christ has a lot to say about the heart, and I'll just ask the question again. Let's turn back to Mark 7, Mark the 7th chapter. I'll ask the question, you know, how is our heart? You know, what do we focus on? What do we concentrate on? What is our motivation? You know, what is our attitude? These are things that we should think about and consider, and especially leading up in these few days leading up to the Passover. Mark the 7th chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 14.

Mark 7 and verse 14. This is the account where the Pharisees observed the disciples eating with unwashed hands. And it's not that their hands were dirty necessarily. They didn't go through the hand-washing ritual ceremony, and the Pharisees, ah, they've got to do that. They've got to do that. This is where the Pharisees' heart was, and a bunch of rules and regulations.

So starting to read in verse 14. It says, When he had called the multitude to himself he that Christ said to them, Hear me, everyone, and understand. There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him, but the things which come out of him. And again, Christ is talking about perhaps a little fleck of dirt or something that, you know, would be on your hands. But to come out of him these are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

And then in verse 17, When he had entered into a house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. So he said to them, Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from the outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated?

And he said, What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. What comes out of us, not what goes in. For from within, out of the heart of men, and then he proceeds to talk about one of the sin lists in the Bible. There are several of these lists. Perhaps you have looked at some of these lists in preparing for the Passover. But I'll read through this list. It says, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

And he said, All of these things come from within and defile the man. Well, as I said earlier, and I'll repeat again, I'm not going to talk specifically about most of these sins that are here. These are the end result of thoughts inside the heart. These are what comes from the heart. But I do want to comment about one of the items that Christ has mentioned here, one of the items on this sin list, which is a little bit different, a little bit unusual.

I thought it was anyway. It's the last one in the list. Again, re-reading verse 22, just starting again, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. Foolishness. How many of us would have called foolishness a sin before, let's say before right now? Obviously, I know most of, if not all of us, have read the Scripture before. But foolishness. If we had a list of various behaviors and labeling them sins or not sins, obviously, you know, everything on this list is a no-brainer. But how many would have said foolishness?

Yes, that's a sin. It's something for us to think about. Foolishness. I doubt that any of us think that it's good. No one wants to be foolish. But why is it considered a sin? Let's turn back to Matthew the fifth chapter, and we'll start to get the answer to this. Matthew 5, verse 21. Again, a passage of Scripture that's familiar to many of us. Matthew 5 and verse 21. It says, You have heard that it was set of old. You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.

And that's true. Murdering is violating one of the Ten Commandments. It means it's a sin. It means it's worthy of death. It earns the death penalty. Verse 22. But Christ says, But I say unto you, Whoever is angry with his brother, and again, I'm talking about the person that was driving to work, got angry with someone who would cut them off. Angry. Whoever is angry with his brother, and it says, Without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Rocka. Rocka. Now, this is a word that's not familiar to most of us. I'm saying practically all of us.

It talks about being empty-headed. I guess an analogy today would be calling someone stupid. Again, it's not a polite word, but it's empty-headed. It says, Whoever would call someone Rocka, or empty-headed, shall be in danger of the counsel. So again, you're on thin ice when you call somebody that. But whoever says, You fool, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. So there's a progression that is going on here, when Christ ends up with being a fool, or calling someone a fool, that's in danger of hellfire.

So why would he do that? Why is that? That's because it's an attack against an individual, against their character, against their attitude. Again, Christ said that, you know, you shall not murder because the sin begins in the mind. Thinking someone's a fool also begins in the mind. All of the mentioned sins begin in the mind. But according to Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, it says, The fool is not so much stupid, and again, this is their words, and then it says, unless the context would demonstrate that.

The fool is not so much stupid as immoral or pernicious, in other words, an evil individual. The fool's problem is not so much intellectual as practical and spiritual. In fact, the terms wise and fool are used by the sages to designate, respectively, the faithful and the sinners. Skipping ahead, it says, A further insight into the nature of a fool is provided by the Hebrew word Nabal. This word is used in Psalm 14.1, where it says, The fool declares in his heart, There is no God. This is that type of fool. His mind is closed to God. And then, skipping ahead, it says, The gravity of the condition of the fool can be seen in the warning of Jesus, that to call a person such as to be in danger of the fire of hell.

The designation fool is considerably more derogatory than any other terms of abuse. And you could think there's a lot of words of abuse. This is more derogatory. Clearly, to be a fool in this biblical sense is a very serious matter. It reminds me of the first chapter of Romans. Turn over to Romans 1. Romans 1. We'll explore this a little bit further. Although this really has the essence of it, basically, the fool has said, In his heart, there is no God.

In his heart is where the fool is saying this. I will also mention, in turning to Romans 1, that when Mr. Rhodes was here a couple weeks ago, he gave a sermon entitled The Great Turning Point. He spent a lot of time in Romans 1.

At that particular time, the ladies were away, so most of the audience did not hear that. But it was a very good message, especially at this time of year. So Romans 1. I'll start reading in verse 20. It says, For since the creation of the world, his, as God's invisible attributes, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his internal power in Godhead. In other words, look around at the creation.

Look around. You can see what God has done, so that they are without excuse. But although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in the thoughts of their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts.

He gave us free moral agency. That's what you want to do. He's not going to stand in their way at this time. He's going to let them do it. To dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And then following this passage is another of the list of sins, another sin list where various actions are mentioned.

But again, I'm not talking about specific actions. The actions are a result of what's in here, of what's in our mind, of what's in our hearts. There was a theologian back in the 1960s, and I know this is ancient history for several in this room, but anyway this theologian declared, you know, his theory was, God is dead. Kind of an interesting, you know, you say something like that and you really mean it, you want to stand back before the lightning hits.

But anyway, he was fearless. He declared that God is dead, and he was part of the God is dead movement. His name was William Hamilton, and I thought it was interesting. The reason why I bring his name up now is he died about a month ago. So God is still alive, but William Hamilton is not. According to Nancy Haught, a writer for the Oregonian, Hamilton saw himself as a Christian who no longer went to church. I'm a Christian. I'm a theologian. I can do whatever I want. You know, there is no God, he's dead. If there's no God, there's no rules. And if there's no rules, have at it. I can do whatever I want.

Do whatever my heart desires. And we've seen what our heart desires is not a good thing. It leads to problems. And again, in Romans 1, you can read through these problems. God gave them over to uncleanness and all sorts of abominable behaviors. Turn to verse 28, Romans 1, verse 28. It says that they do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Again, God is dead. He's out of here. We don't have to worry about Him anymore. God gave them over to a debased mind, which is really what I just said, to those things which are not fitting. And then it talks about a sin list, and I'm going to skip over those because those are specific actions.

Not that they're not important that we look at, but looking at something else today. And then in verse 32, it says, Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but they approve of those who practice them. So if somebody does something wrong, you think, well, you know, they say that's a good thing. And if someone does something right, well, you know, why do you want to do that?

It reminds me of a scripture in Isaiah. It's Isaiah 5, verse 20, which I'm not going to turn to. But the first time I encountered this scripture, which is decades ago, it basically what it says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. That's Isaiah 5, 20. And I thought, how could that be? I just didn't understand that at all. It didn't make any sense to me.

I read this, you know, decades ago. How could that be? Well, the answer, I still don't have the answer other than it is. Turn on your radio. Turn on your TV. You know, look at a newspaper.

The news is all around us. Those who are those who call evil good and those who call those those who do good evil. It's all around us. As I said, Satan is very good at what he does, and he's deceived many, many people. I say, I did not understand this, but I do now by experienced by looking around in seeing. Well, just seeing, as I mentioned, what's on TV, what's on the radio, what's in our daily newspaper.

So brethren, these are a couple more words to think about. I mentioned heart. These are a couple more words to think about in our examination. How is our heart? Is it foolish? Or is it a wise heart, which is just the opposite of being foolish? Is it foolish or being wise? People in Romans 1 turn back to verse 21.

Romans 21, and I'll pick up a couple of more words. We've read this once, but I'll read it again. It says, Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Their hearts were darkened. They didn't have hearts with light. They had hearts that were darkened. Bad actions lead to bad hearts lead to dark hearts. Now we can think about light and darkness for a little bit.

Let's say over here is light. Let's say God is over here, and evil is over here, and is dark. Where do they meet? Is there some place in the middle that is gray? The answer is no, they don't. They don't meet at all. If the light up here is bright enough, there is no darkness.

And if there's no light over here, the darkness will cover the whole, in this case, the front of the electron. Light and dark cannot exist at the same place at the same time.

It doesn't work that way. Again, they had dark hearts, not light hearts. Think about when you come into a room at night, say you come into your bedroom, it's dark. You turn on the switch. It's light. It's not light and dark. It's either dark or it's light. I'll say the same thing as far as our heart is concerned.

Is it a dark heart, or is it a light heart? It's something for us to think about as we go forward and again as we prepare for the Passover. Turn to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2. There are many scriptures I could turn to at this particular point, but I'll just look at one more. 1 Peter 2, reading verses 9 and 10. It's a passage, again, that's familiar to many of us, but it's always good to read and reread and reread, to rehearse what we know to know it even better.

1 Peter 2, starting in verse 9, it says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. God has called us to be his own special people. And this is that. And again, this is a joining word that what went before has a purpose, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, who have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

God has called us out of darkness to not have dark hearts, to not function in darkness. He's called us into light. God is light. He's called us to share that light, to be a part of that light. So here are two more words for us to think about. I've mentioned wisdom and foolishness, a foolish heart. I've mentioned heart. And now we have light, now we have darkness. So then, brethren, how do we go about establishing or receiving a right heart? Turn back to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, we'll start reading in verse 33. How do we have a good heart or a right heart?

How do we obtain such a heart? Psalm 119, starting in verse 33. There are many prayers of David in the Bible, and of course, they're very instructive. We can learn much from the prayers of David. He was an unusual and well servant of God, and he wrote down words that are very profitable for us. Psalm 119, starting in verse 33, says, Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes. We have a song that we sing that is similar to this.

And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, I'll say, a wise heart. I shall keep your law. Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. And then verse 36, it says, Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not towards covetousness. Incline my heart to your testimonies. This is a prayer that we all can pray to have a heart inclined towards God, towards His law, towards His ways, and not towards that which is sinful, that which is covetousness, or murderous, or anger, or adultery, or any of those things.

To have a heart inclined towards God. This is something that we can all pray for. As Jeremiah said, the way of man is not within himself, but God knows our ways. God knows how to lead us in the right ways. He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And then I'll hasten to add as well, for our very great benefit.

I'm not going to turn there, but Psalm 51, the Psalm of Repentance, another prayer of David. Psalm 51, in verses 10 and 11, David says, Creating me a clean heart, a new heart, a pure heart. Again, this is a prayer that we can pray, that we all can pray, that have a heart that is inclined towards God and towards His ways, towards righteousness, and not towards that which is unrighteous.

So again, I'll ask the question, how is our heart? How is our heart? Turn to Ephesians 3. We'll start reading in verse 14. Ephesians 3, we'll read verses 14 to 17. Ephesians 3, starting in verse 14, we'll get some instructions from the apostle Paul, where he says, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. They would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with the might through His Spirit in the inner man.

This is how we go about getting, obtaining, receiving a right heart. They will be strengthened with God's Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. We have a very heart that is filled with light, not darkness, being rooted and grounded in love. And that we may be able to comprehend with all of the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.

There's an interesting phrase there, the love of Christ which passes knowledge says that you may be filled with all fullness of God. But the love of Christ which passes knowledge, some of us who are coming in the church, we're learning all sorts of new things. This was different. I guess I'm really referring to mostly first-generation Christians at this time, although there comes a point with second-generation Christians where the realization kicks in. But we're learning all sorts of new things that we never even thought about before.

Certainly we weren't hearing them wherever we were going to church before and we have knowledge. This is great. And we still have those among us who tend to be more scholarly. Well, scholarship is good and I'm not going to say anything bad against it in that sense, but it's not the most important thing. Here it talks about the love of Christ passing knowledge. You don't have to be a scholar to be in the kingdom of God. Now, there are certain things that we need to know and I think we all understand that.

But on the other hand, we don't need to be scholars or scholarly in that sense. We see our calling, brother. None of us were scholars to begin with. Some of us have become that way, some have not. But in any case, the love of God passes knowledge.

God gives us a new heart, a right heart, a clean heart, a heart inclined towards Him and towards His ways. Well, brother, thinking ahead now as far as the Passover is concerned, let's look at the first Passover and I'm not going to turn there, but back in Exodus, what do you think would have happened if the Israelites did not keep that Passover? If they didn't put the blood on the North Post and on the Linfel, what would have happened to them? Obviously, what would have happened is they would have died, where the firstborn would have died, along with the firstborn of the Egyptians. This feast is a very important feast.

It was important for them. It's important for the people of God through history and certainly it's important for us today. This feast is so important that there is a make-up day. I'm going to say a second Passover every year. Now, in the sermon that Mr. Rangel talked about a second Passover, but that he took one Passover one year and then the second Passover was the next year. But there's a second Passover a month after the first Passover, where there's a make-up day because this day is that important.

God wants us all to experience the Passover every year. But it's only if you miss the Passover for a valid reason. It's not that, well, you know, I'm really busy this Thursday and it's not convenient.

That's not a valid reason. Not a valid reason at all. Say you're traveling, you know, that you want to be, well, let's say you're in ABC and you want to travel to wherever you're traveling to for the spring Holy Days and there's bad weather and, you know, you're stuck in an airport someplace. Even if you planned ahead, things happen.

Let's say you're sick or in a hospital or have the flu or even on your way to the Passover service, you have car trouble and you don't make it. These are valid reasons for not keeping the first or the Passover. But there is a make-up day, the second Passover.

God has provided it as it's that important to Him. It's important for us to keep the Passover. Now, it's kind of interesting. There are those, I would say, among us. Well, they're not among us today. But let's say there are those Church of God members who understand that the Passover is very important and they need to keep it. And they'll be here. But that's the only time you see them.

They understand the importance of the Passover, so they come and take the Passover. What about all of the others of God's feasts? Again, the Passover is very important, but so is the weekly Sabbath. That's also a holy day. What about Pentecost, trumpets, tabernacles, last great day? Those are also very important. There was a time when, you know, we would look around at the, I'll say, traditional Christianity and talk about people that only came to church once or twice a year, you know, being Christmas and Easter.

We have those people among us today, not keeping Christmas and Easter. They come for the Passover and then very often they'll also come for the Day of Atonement. What's in their heart? Why they think that's all that God wants them to do? I have no idea. But, again, we have those people with us today. Let's take a quick look at Leviticus 23, the instructions for the feasts. Leviticus 23. This is where all the feasts and holy days are mentioned in one chapter in the Bible.

And there's a lot in this chapter that's very instructive. As I said, the Passover is important, but what about the rest of God's feasts and holy days? Chapter 23, Leviticus 23, starting in verse 1, it says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, The feasts of the Lord, which shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. Just going back, notice first off who is doing the speaking. It says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, These are my feasts.

God says, These are his feasts, the days that he is instituting. They're not feasts for the Jews. They're not feasts for Israel. They're not feasts of Moses. And they're not feasts of the church. These are God's feasts. Now, maybe sometime a relative may come up to us, and you know, when we're going to go to the Feast of Tabernacles, and they'll say, Oh, you know, your church feast is coming up. And that's their way of understanding it.

But we understand it. It's not a church feast. It says, God's feast. It says, The feasts of the Lord, which shall proclaim to be holy convocations, that which is holy. And according to the King James Version, the Old Testament lexicon, the word holy is set apart.

God makes these days different. They're not like every other day or any other day. They're holy, and they're convocations. What is a convocation? A convocation, according to an online dictionary, is you're summoned to an event. It's a summons. It's not an invitation to say, Well, you know, I'm kind of busy this year. I don't think I'm going to do that, or I don't want to go to that. You know, well, there's seven days. Maybe if you only take two of them, you know, that'll be enough. No, it's not an invitation. It is a summons. So you're driving down the road, and you know, you're going a little too fast. The policeman pulls you over, and he gives you a ticket, and you are summoned to appear in court. You can't say, Well, you know, I'm really busy then. You know, that's not convenient for me. I don't want to go. It doesn't work that way. A summons, a holy convocation. And then God says, These are my feasts. And I think that last phrase is kind of interesting. God is not repeating what he said in the first part of the verse. He's saying that, You want a list of my feasts? These are my feasts. Here they are. What follows, these are my feasts. You don't have to look elsewhere. This is where they're at. Sometimes, and you know, we get enamored with various things, and there are those in the church who will say, Well, how are the Jews observing this? You know, well, what about the Feast of Purim? It's not on the list.

What about new moons? That's one that can come up. That's not on the list either. We don't want to be looking to the Jews or really anyone else as far as how we serve God. The standard is right here. It's the Bible. It's God's Word. Again, just an example of looking at the Jews. You can go in the store, and you find a box that says, Matzoh's, you know, kosher for Passover. And it is. It's kosher for Passover, but you read the label, and it's got leavening in it. Well, that may be kosher for Passover for them, but it's obviously something that we don't want to touch. Not at all during the days of Unleavened Red. We don't need to look to the Jews. We don't need to look to others to see how to worship God. We need to look to God and to Jesus Christ and see how they want to be worshiped.

And then it's the first feast that is mentioned, six days shall work be done. But the seventh day is a Sabbath, a solemn rest, a holy convocation. Again, the weekly Sabbath. Just because there's 52 of them on an average in the year doesn't mean if we make half of them, you know, that's okay.

Doesn't mean we can decide when to come and when not. It's a holy convocation. It shall do no work on it. It's the Sabbath of your Lord in all your dwellings. And it says, verse 4, these are the feasts of the Lord. Again, holy convocations commanded assemblies which shall proclaim at their appointed times. It says, on the 14th day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the 15th day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread. So here, as I mentioned, you have some people that decide to come to the Passover only for whatever reason they don't make it to the days of Unleavened Bread. There's no difference. They're all together.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 11 chapter. We'll get some more instruction as far as the Passover.

These are instructions from the Apostle Paul regarding how to keep the Passover and some additional points. 1 Corinthians 11 starting in verse 17. It says, now in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

The Corinthians, as we know, that was a church that had many problems, a congregation that had many problems. Paul had to write to them a lot to straighten them out, to try and help them, to get them back on track. And then dropping down to verse 23, it says, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take heed. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. In the same manner he took the cup, after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Now obviously what they were doing was keeping the New Testament Passover. So when you do that is on the night of the Passover. It's not again whenever you feel like it or every week or whatever. You do it when the time comes. Then in verse 27 it says, therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Every year, this seems like the question comes up. Well, am I worthy to take the Passover?

You know, am I worthy to be a part of this service? And I'll just answer the question right now in case that any of you are wondering or have that question in your mind. No, you're not worthy.

None of us are worthy. I'm not worthy. None of us are worthy to take the Passover.

And that's why we need to take it. The Passover is for sinners. It's not for someone who is righteous. It's for sinners. So none of us are worthy. All of us need to take the Passover.

But in order, continuing on in verse 28, in order to take it in a proper manner, it says, let a man examine himself. Which this is what I've been talking about today, of examining our hearts.

And of course, today is not the first day we're hearing about this. We've been hearing about this for weeks, about examining ourselves. Let a man examine himself. So let him eat of that bread and drink of the cup. And then it says there's a warning that goes with this, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Again, as I mentioned in the introduction a while ago, I had mentioned that this checkup is not optional. God expects us. He instructs us to do it. It says, for this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. In other words, they've died. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chased by the Lord.

Excuse me, but when we are judged, we are chased by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. So here, brethren, this is how we take the Passover, I'll say, properly, in a worthy manner.

Not that we are worthy, but it's the way we take it. And the way we're able to take it properly is to examine ourselves ahead of time, and then to go forward and keep the Passover. The instructions are clear. Examine yourself, and then eat and drink. Again, there's no options that are mentioned there. So as we examine ourselves in the next few days, I hope I've given us some things to think about. I've mentioned some words. I've talked about the heart. I've talked a lot about the heart. I've talked about wise a little bit. I've talked about foolishness. I've talked about light. I've talked about darkness. Again, how is our heart? Is it a wise heart or a foolish heart? Is it a heart that is filled with light and glowing? Or is it a dark heart? And remember, it can't be both at the same time. God knows about our heart and its condition, but He wants us to know something more about ourselves so that we can be better children of His, so that we can serve Him better.

Let's turn back to Jeremiah the 10th chapter. Jeremiah the 10th chapter. We'll see something else Jeremiah had to say regarding our hearts. Sometimes at this time of year, as I mentioned, our hearts are deceitful. We understand that our hearts are deceitful. And so we pray, and we ask God to help us to see, help us to understand, to more show us our heart. So in Jeremiah 10, starting in verse 23, says, O Lord, I know the way of man is not within himself, that normally and naturally we don't know how to go. The way of man is not within himself. It is not a man who walks to direct his steps. He says, O Lord, correct me, but with justice, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. So Jeremiah is praying, and again, this is a prayer that we can pray to correct me, help me to more see myself, to understand what you want me to see and understand at this particular time of year. Also, it says with justice, I'll say, you know, and it depends on you, correct me gently, help me to learn the lesson easily, as opposed to learning it in a hard or difficult way. Now, there are those that wonder sometimes, I doubt any here, but some wonder, you know, does God really answer prayers? Does he answer prayers?

Well, if you ever think that sometime, you know, maybe you're out and you're kind of discouraged or in despair, does God answer prayers? You can pray this prayer. O God, correct me. And you'll find out God does answer prayers. You'll definitely get an answer, and you will know and understand.

But as I mentioned, sometimes as we do examine ourselves and we pray, and God reveals things to us, we can get discouraged. We can get down the, oh man, you know, look at all this that's wrong, you know, how can we go forward? You know, what does it take to make this right? Well, our God is a positive God. He wants us to see ourselves. He wants us to more see and understand our heart, but He wants us to go forward with Him. So as we examine ourselves, you know, let's look at ourselves, look at our heart. Now, there are actions, and again, remember, actions are a result.

The real problem starts in here. It starts inside of us. There are problems, and we need to look at us, look at ourselves, but also look to God, you know, look to Jesus Christ, to look at His plan.

God is in the process of adding children to His family, and the Passover pictures that to us year by year. Pictures the first step of that plan year by year as we keep it. We need to look to Jesus Christ in His sacrifice. He laid down His life for us that we might live. Yes, the Passover is a sobering time of year, but it's also positive. It's very encouraging. It's on the road to eternal life. So, brethren, I want all of us to prepare properly for the Passover, to examine ourselves, and then to go forward and take the Passover with full confidence and assurance.