A New Heart

cmp.2008.06.26
ed.2008.08.05.01 (Public Review)

Organization
1. The Promise Of A New Heart
2. Hearts Of Stone
3. A New Heart To Hear
4. A New Heart To Obey
5. A New Heart To Know

The Promise Of A New Heart

It is evident throughout Scripture, hearts of flesh and hardened hearts of stone are symbolic of two contrary natures. Our hardened hearts are hearts of stone, and because of the state of our hearts, we rebel against God. But, the heart of flesh is that nature that seeks the Word of God and eagerly submits to His will.

It is written that God has promised to give us a new heart, a heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone. And, as a result, we know that by having hearts of flesh, God has the opportunity to write His law upon our hearts so that we can live in obedience.

God Promises To Give Us Hearts Of Flesh

Ezekiel 36:26 (NASB)

"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Hearts Of Stone

Scripture teaches us over and over again that a hardened heart is a heart that does not fear God and a heart that rebels against God.

The conclusion of Ecclesiastes is that the whole duty of Man is to fear God and to obey Him, and this is exactly what a hardened heart of stone does not do.

A Hardened Heart Is Rebellious

2 Chronicles 36:13 (NASB)

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.

A Hardened Heart Strays From God And Does Not Fear Him

Isaiah 63:17 (NASB)

Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

A Hardened Heart Brings Death

Ephesians 4:17-18 (NASB)

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

A New Heart To Hear

In Zechariah, God does not simply compare the hearts of those who cannot hear to stone, but He compares their hearts to flint stone. It cannot be coincidence that God is comparing their hardened hearts to a stone that is harder than granite.

But God promised us a new heart of flesh, where the roots of His seed in us, His word, can grow in order to withstand tribulation. He promises to give us a heart of flesh so that His word will grow in us. And if our hearts are sensitive, we will be able to see with our eyes, hear with our ears, understand with our hearts, and return and be healed.

A Hardened Heart Cannot Hear

Zechariah 7:12 (NASB)

"They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

If We Want To Hear His Voice, We Cannot Harden Our Hearts

Psalms 95:7-8 (NASB)

For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness .

God Promises To Write His Law On Our Hearts

Jeremiah 31:33 (NASB)

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

A New Heart To Obey

Throughout Scripture, God consistently expresses His will towards us through His commandments. But over and over again the will of God falls upon our hearts of stone.

We know that the word of God is life. And, because of this, we receive His word with joy. But, when His word has no firm root within our hearts, and because we are only temporary in our steadfastness, we fall from obedience to His word when persecution or affliction arises because of the word given to us.

When He Takes Away Our Hearts Of Stone, We Can Keep His Ways

Ezekiel 11:19-20 (NASB)

"And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

If We Have Hearts Of Felsh, God Will Cause Us To Obey

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NASB)

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

A New Heart To Know

The singular expressed passion of God towards us is that we may know Him. But how can we know God if we don't even know His will? Unless we have hearts of flesh, God cannot fully reveal His will towards us. If we do not know the will of God, we cannot obey. And, if we do not obey His will, we cannot claim to know God.

God Promises To Give Us A New Heart So That We Can Know Him

Jeremiah 24:7 (NASB)

'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

The New Covenant Is A Promise To Know God

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NASB)

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

We Cannot Know Him If We Do Not Obey

1 John 2:3-6 (NASB)

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.