July 13, 2014 Providence DISTANT HEARTS Ezekiel 33:30-33; Isaiah 29:13 INTRODUCTION: We all are familiar with the statement: You only get out of something what you are willing to put into it. If you are never all in and do what you do with all your heart, you can never expect to experience the full pleasure and benefit of it. All of us are expected to do many things that we frankly do not give our best because our hearts are not really into it. When we only do what we do because we have to, and not because we really want to, the results will show it! ILLUS. Earlier this year I had to take the GRE. I needed to take it to get into a study program but since I had not taken a standardized test like that since high school, my heart was not in it! As I tried to gear myself up for it, I was told that the math portion would not matter and to focus only on the verbal portion of the exam. All of a sudden, my perspective changed! I went into the exam knowing that my heart did not have to be in the math so I could really focus on the verbal. The results showed where my heart was I did not really care about the math score and it was abysmal! But my heart was in the verbal and I did better than I would have expected! If your heart is not in something, the outcome will reflect it! In our spiritual lives, we often go about our pursuits of the Lord in a half-hearted manner. Instead of having hearts wholly engaged in longing to know the Lord, our hearts are distant remote indifferent. Even if we go through the motions of the outer behaviors, we cannot overcome hearts that remain far from the Lord. THESIS: Even the most distant heart can be drawn near to enjoy the delights and fullness of God through Jesus Christ. The problem of distant hearts lingers still. Jesus spoke to the same issue and quoted the Isaiah passage when He said: Matt. 15:7-9 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Obviously we need to seek a solution in our own lives. Distant hearts always lead to counterfeit and coldhearted religious experiences. They deceive us into thinking our words and actions are sufficient even when our hearts are shut off from the Lord. I. RELIGIOUS FORMS REPLACE THE NEARNESS OF GOD --For all their great privileges as God s chosen people, Israel and Judah demonstrated a brazen disregard for His promises to be near them by His empowering presence. --Not only did they frequently abandon Him and replace Him with other gods, even when they returned to Him it was often merely to the rituals and forms of religious practices, not to the relationship He offered them by His grace. 2 Tim. 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. --In the days of the prophets, such was the case sacrifices for sin without repentance, ritual washings and sabbath observance without any heart for holiness, repetitious recitations of memorized liturgy without any expressions of love for God or for His people and God was grieved! Amos 5:21-24 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 23 Take away from me the noise of your
songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Isa. 1:13-15 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. ILLUS. What if God looked at your worship that way!! How would you feel? Would he be justified in His assessment? None of us can claim to be innocence of such a charge! While it is easier to point out the hypocrisy of others, the fact is that all of us occasionaly treat God as an after thought some have called it practical atheism where we give little if any thought to God as we go about our daily business. The existence of God plays virtually no part in life during those time even in the outwardly religious parts of our lives meal-time and bed-time prayer that is more rote habit than real devotion church activity that is based more on routine than reverence moral and ethical choices founded more on pragmatics than on godly principles. Singing a hymn without thinking about one single word of it passing the offering plate without one single thought of godly stewardship listening to a sermon with a critcal ear for structure and style but without one single expectation to hear a word from God reciting prayers but not praying these happen every week when we gather together for corporate worship! --No, the reality to which the prophets spoke about the distant hearts of Israel and Judah continues to this day! II. DISTANT HEARTS RETREAT FARTHER FROM GOD --Words and actions mean nothing until the heart draws near to God otherwise we are guilty of a faith that pretends to be genuine and worship that only poses as real. --It remembers the structures and forms and rituals, but loses sight of the heart connection with the God who invites us to come to Him, draw near to Him, worship and adore Him with all our hearts! --Two distinctive impacts of distant hearts are felt on how we respond to the Lord with our acts of service and our acts of worship. --This morning, I only have time to address one of these but I must at least mention the other one (acts of service) before going into greater detail on the one which will be our focus (acts of worship). A. ACTS OF SERVICE: GIVING IN TO CONTRADICTIONS Ezek. 33:31-32 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ILLUS. Our life experience is filled with examples In the mundane day to day world, we often see business people who profess to follow Christ while using foul language, deceptive practices, callous disregard for people who get in the way of their greed and lust for more in their compensation and treatment [Christians should always be the best people to work for!]. We find a disconnect between the Saturday night activities of socalled believers and their Sunday morning practices. We see little evidence of Christ when competitiveness at athletic events for both spectators and participants is dishonoring. We all know what it is like to be victimized by the malicious gossip of those who pretend to speak for good while tearing others to shreds with their words.
--Hearts that drift far from the Lord contradict in action whatever they may say with their lips! B. ACTS OF WORSHIP: GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS Is. 29:13 And the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment [man-made rules] taught by men [tradition learned by rote], --People whose hearts are far from God go through the motions in their worship, in their service and in their relationship with Him. Their minds drift slip into neutral become critical Their feelings shut down remain dry-eyed and joyless emotions reined in Their posture stiffens signaling their withdrawal mind and emotion limiting the body s response 1. Mind Our Mental Engagement --When the heart is engaged a. Thoughts are not drifting, but focused --Whether we are in a time of congregational worship, or in a Bible study group, or even in our own personal time of devotions (Quiet Time), our minds will tend to drift from the subject at hand. --But if our hearts are engaged and we have drawn near to the Lord, our focus is clear and our attention is set on the matter at hand. --The only remedy to a drifting mind is to find a point of focus that is so riveting that it pushes all else aside and such is the heart and mind whose focus is on the Lord! b. Thoughts are not in neutral, but fully in gear --Sometimes, however, our thoughts are not drifting, but are just stuck in neutral completely in a fog, empty and totally zoned out! --Once again, the remedy is found in a Christ-centered fascination with every revelation of His truth and demonstration of His glory! c. Thoughts are not critical for what is not, but grateful for what is --A universal problem among church folks that is not a problem for those whose hearts are fully captivated by Christ is that of a critical spirit minds that are more in tune with all that is not right, than with all that is wonderful and good! --When your mind next follows a path toward being overly critical, rein it in and redirect it toward gratitude and see what happens! ILLUS. I once heard the late Vance Havner say that he made a decision early in his Christian life. He decided that he would never listen to a sermon without finding something good to take away from it. When I heard him preach in his 80 s he said he had never failed to find something to learn and be grateful for in every sermon there had been some close calls but he always found something! Hearts far from the Lord have no interest in anything but criticism and a self-righteous, self-congratulatory spirit of superiority!
--So when hearts are near the Lord, our words and our thoughts will flow in a Godward direction and be consistent with the mind of Christ. 2. Feelings Our Emotional Engagement --When the heart is engaged --As people created with emotions, our heart leads us to feel deeply about the things that matter most. a. Gladness rises and expressions reflect the light of Christ ILLUS. This past week in the comic strip Rose Is Rose cartoonists Don Wimmer and Pat Brady made the point quite well! [show cartoon on screen] A little girl in view Clap, clap, clap stomp, stomp, stomp Hooray! Two birds watching say, She s exhibiting all the classic symptoms. She s happy and she knows it! The happiness of a little boy with a new prized possession: Tom with his new golf clubs! --When we are glad in the Lord, our faces cannot hide that fact! Anymore than glowering and sour faces cannot hide the fact that there is no gladness no happiness in the heart since their hearts are far from God! b. Tears well up and lumps form in our throats --When our hearts are near God s heart, something happens that often brings us to tears. Sometime it is the tears of broken-hearted contrition and repentance. Ezra 10:1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. Sometime it is the tears of gratitude. --Welling up within us during times of extreme thanksgiving, our hearts overflow with gratitude and we cannot contain the tears of grateful joy that rise to the occasion! ILLUS. Many a crusty, callous man whose heart is normally untouched by emotions will shed a tear of thanks when he first meets his grandchild is given a special honor by his peers gives away his daughter in marriage to a good man! Tears have a way of saying what words cannot! And their absence has a way of signaling that the heart has moved far in its affections from what should matter. --If your relationship with the Lord consists of dry eyes and emotionless responses, it is time to draw near! --This is no appeal for sappy emotionalism or sentimentalism, but a cry from the heart to allow the Lord access to that part of your heart that sometimes has the capacity to move you tears! c. Inexpressible joy desperately seeks a way to express itself! --A teary eye, a raised hand, a bowed knee, a heartfelt word of awe, a shout of praise, a song of delight the inexpressible must find a way to vent the heart that has drawn near to the Lord!
3. Posture Our Physical Engagement --When the heart is engaged --Only the most inhibited can hold back from some kind of physical response. --We are not only a mental and emotional people, but God created us as physical people whose bodies often find outlets for the heart engagement of mind and emotion. ILLUS. Our excitement usually cannot be contained when our heart is stirred in a joyful, grateful way. I remember the way one bride reacted with her entire body when I declared they were husband and wife! The fist pump has become a recent means of expressing that excitement when the putt falls, the tax return arrives, the day of graduation, or the wedding, arrives few can maintain an air of disinterest and keep the smile from breaking out on their faces when their heart finds something to get excited about! Ezek. 1:28 As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. Rev. 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid --So does God deserve a response of polite reserve, or a response of humility and reverence? a. Responding to holiness demands a posture of humility kneeling, bowing, or in many cases falling on one s face! --All through the Bible, when people have a genuine encounter with the Lord, there is a physical response stemming from an immediate sense of their own unworthiness. b. Responding to glorious love demands some tangible expression Verbally: shouts of joy, songs of praise, words of adoration. Bodily: raising or clapping hands, kneeling, swaying, embracing, (even hi-5 s!) ILLUS. Many who protest that they just do not express themselves in those ways actually mean that they only express themselves in those ways about things that really matter to them sports events, concerts, dances, triumphs at work, etc! Somehow the Lord does not get the same reaction as those things that we really have our heart in!! Can some of the outward expression be just for show, a mere mimicking of the behavior of others? Of course! That is exactly the point! When our hearts are far from God, we either do nothing or we do what we do only as an outward expression with nothing in the heart to back it up! CONCLUSION: Is you heart close to the Lord or is your heart far from Him? Has there been a time when you were closer and your pursuit of Christ was more genuine than now more meaningful than now even more passionate than now? It is time to draw near again! Others may say, I have never been that near my heart has always been parked in the remote lots as far as the Lord is concerned! It is also time for you to draw near!
God is not satisfied with distant hearts. He wants your whole heart and He wants it all the time! Today, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you! July 13, 2014 Providence Baptist Church David Horner, 2014 Sermon outlines are copyrighted in the event of future publication. They may be used for preaching and teaching purposes but may not be published or sold.