Heart Issues
Submitted by Pastor Kevin Stevicks
Fellowship Baptist Church, Bearden, AR
July 18, 2024
1Jo 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
The commandments of the Old Testament under which Israel lived were primarily focused on outward behavior. Actions that were wrong were prohibited. People were told not to make idols, not to take God's name in vain, not to murder, not to lie, not to commit adultery, and not to steal.
Actions that were right were commanded. People were told to worship God alone, to keep the Sabbath, and to honor their parents. But there were also commandments regarding the heart.
People were told to love and worship God alone, and that they should not covet what belonged to others.
Over time outward compliance to the visible commandments became the only thing that mattered. Tradition grew up around the law, and pious acts in public took the place of actual obedience to God in the heart.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for this practice. Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
It is not enough for our outward actions to be in minimal compliance with what God expects. Obedience always starts in the heart, and if what is inside is not right, eventually it will become apparent on the outside. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus raised the standard. It's not enough to just not murder someone, not commit adultery, or to not steal. We must not hate, not lust, and not covet to be right in the eyes of God.
God will not excuse wrong or evil attitudes in the heart just because we have not yet acted on them. He will not hold us guiltless just because no one else can see what we are thinking or feeling.
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Meditation – The attitudes and thoughts we allow to rule our hearts will eventually rule our actions as well.
