Heartology
February 23, 2026
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Samuel chapter 16. I appreciate young people being involved; they did a great job of that. Special note: If you could help us with food for the funeral service afterward—we want to feed the family out at the graveside—Miss Mickey is heading it up.
If you could bring some—maybe even some sides or whatnot—if you said, “Well, I’ve got to work tomorrow,” you can bring it even tonight, leave it in the kitchen, whatnot. But we could use some more food. The problem is, after that graveside service, we’ll be coming back here, and the preacher’s going to eat too, and he eats too much. That’s the problem there, you know. If you can help us, that would be great. See Miss Mickey for details on that, and that will be a wonderful, wonderful help.
Very familiar passage here at the beginning. We’re going to start there. We’ll be in a lot of different places in the Bible this morning. By the way, if you need one—one of those chairs in front of you underneath—there should be a Bible there. We’re going to talk about heartiology. You say, “What in the world is that?” Well, we don’t use a fancy term, cardiologist or cardiologist. You know, someone in the email to the PA guys said, “Hey, we make up words in service all the time. We might as well make up words for our titles of our sermons,” you know. So, heartiology.
This morning, we’ll talk about your heart for a bit. We’re going to start over here, of course, most of you will know this, kind of getting us going. But it is Samuel the prophet, and God said, “Samuel, I want to go over there to Jesse, and one of his boys is going to be the next king.” All right. I think it helps a little bit to understand what’s going on.
The king at that time was Saul. And Saul was not five-eight like me. He was head and shoulders above the rest. Now, I don’t know who the tallest is here. Brother Don is not here this morning. Let’s see. Is anybody here six-three? Okay, we got any others?
All right, so Brother John’s the tallest here. I never forget one year for Valentine’s Day Sunday—what did I say? I don’t know. Ain’t know. Ain’t telling. No telling. We’ll find out later on when we get home, you know. But I never forget one year for Valentine’s Day, we had the shortest and the greatest difference between spouses. And we thought it would be the Kases, and for sure they won. They got a heart of gold on that, you know. One of those pots of gold we gave out last week. But anyway, so if he’s six-three, well, Saul was head and shoulders above the rest. So his shoulder would come at six-three. Saul was a tall man, a big man. I don’t think he was—you know, some of us, and I’m short and all that, so I don’t think I’m talking about you. I always want to be taller.
But some people are just bean poles, you know what I’m talking about? I don’t think Saul was like that. I think he was just a large man. Anyway, I just kind of get that thinking there: you’re talking about the king at that time, a tall, large, probably muscular man. And then Samuel was supposed to come and anoint the next king here. All right, so that was that mindset there. Would you look at 1 Samuel 16 and look at verse number six, if you would please? And would you stand, if you’re able, to show the Word of God respect? They did that in the book of Nehemiah, so we do it here in the church when we read the text here.
16 in verse number six. How many have I already started reading it? We haven’t started it. How many? Come on. Yeah, there you go. Here it is: Verse number six. “And it came to pass when they were come that he looked on Eliab”—that’s the oldest of Jesse’s boys—“and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” By the next verse, we know Eliab was tall and kind of like the king at that time, probably muscular looking.
And look what God says, verse number seven: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance.” By the way, some will use this to justify dressing wrongly and immodestly and whatnot. But it calls—the Lord looks at the heart. But do notice, he says, “Man looks on the outward appearance.”
And I am to be an ambassador for Christ, and I am dressed modestly. Come on now. Man does look on the outward appearance. That’s what it says right there. But that’s not where after. That was just a free message right there, all right? We’re going to pass the offering around a little bit later on here for another, you know, two messages here. But notice, he says, “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance.”
But the Lord looketh on the what?
Your heart’s key for him. It’s really—someone said your heart is the heart of the matter. Your heart. The Lord looks at your heart. That is just—we’ll take a little time at the beginning of the message to kind of go through that, but that’s so very, very important.
Don’t get stuck on your looks or your talents or abilities, all the rest of that—your heart. That’s the key right there. For a bit, let’s just talk about our hearts this morning. Would you do that? Pray with me that the Lord would speak to our hearts as we talk about the heart this morning. Lord, forgive me, Lord, if I have a desire to preach a good message and look good and all the rest of that. Lord, help me get all that out of there, fully on that, Lord. Father, I do ask, let somebody get help this morning. Lord, that’s what it’s all about. And, Lord, help where they may take on some practices for years to come, Lord, and then change their life. Lord, would you do so? Would you help us this morning? And help me to divide. Help me to say everything you want said, but nothing, Lord, you don’t want said. And would you help people through your Spirit, your Word, and a simple preacher? And Lord, we’ll thank you for what you do. It’s in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
Look over, if you will, in 2 Timothy chapter number 2. Second Timothy. We’re just talking here about the beginning, about the importance of your heart when he’s going to anoint someone to be king. He says the heart. By the way, later on the Bible tells us about David’s heart. He was a man after God’s own heart. But just the importance of the heart for just a minute here. So it determines very much how much God can use you, not by your talents and abilities and all the rest of that, but your heart. Now look over here in 2 Timothy, 2nd Timothy chapter number 2.
Look in verse number 19—2:19, 2:19, 2:19. You’re there this morning? Praise the Lord. Good, good. Here we go. He said, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” By the way, we talk about knowing the Lord, and I do the same thing, but more important than that is that the Lord knows you.
Remember, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” He knows you through Jesus, by the way. That’s the only access you have right there. But if you’re saved, you’re saved. You’re a child. All right. It’s a done deal. That’s the foundation. So he’s talking to Christians here, all right? Now, notice what he says: “And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from what?” Iniquity. Okay. Now, keep right there. Don’t go, but I want to reference another verse. I think you’ll know it. If I remember Psalm 61:8—don’t look over there, but if you want to look it up later on, make sure I’m upfront about it all. But over there, the Bible says, “If I regard in my what?” Heart. So iniquity, where is it at? It’s in your heart.
So over here in 2 Timothy, he’s talking about getting rid of the iniquity. Iniquity is that thing inside your heart, your thinking that causes you to transgress. I think even our recent preacher mentioned that; he did a good job. But iniquity is that inside. It’s the thing that allows you, if you will, to sin and causes you. It’s in your heart. I kind of want to emphasize that for just a minute. He said, look, he said, “Now, everyone that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.” That’s things in your heart. All right. Are you with me? Look at the next verse, verse number 20: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; some to honour, and some to dishonour.”
You know, some Christians, they do a good job of representing the Lord to this world. They’re a good testimony. They’re good ambassadors. But in a great house, there’s not only vessels of honor, but there are vessels of dishonor. Still saved, by the way. Still in the house. He knows them. But they’re a poor testimony for the Lord.
I was at the store the other day—this is Tennessee—I was at the Dollar General, amen, you know. And there was a man in front of me purchasing something. And I’m not saying this is the worst thing in the world, but he was there and he was getting cigarettes. There was a guy, you know, back there, the cashier guy, and he’s trying to get the right cigarettes, and he kept… ah… and he was a little bit, you know, pouring that cigarette there.
And then he saw the guy’s name, and it had “I Am,” and he starts really preaching at the young guy about God being the I Am God. And he even knew, in Exodus—I don’t know, Exodus 3:5, I think it was—and he knew, and he could quote it and all that, and yet he’s really just saying, “Hey, give me that cigarette.” And you could tell it was turning off that young guy. By the time he got done, I didn’t witness to the guy, and I was just trying to get him back happy a little bit. And he’s saying sometimes in a house, or all the time, in a great house, there are some vessels to honor, and there are some vessels to dishonor. And they’re just a poor testimony for the Lord, still saved. It’s amazing how—I never forget, an older pastor told me one time, he said, “Paul,” he said, “Christians can be very hurtful. They hurt different people.” And there are vessels of honor and dishonor here. It’s what I was talking about. Watch this. Here’s what I’m trying to get to: Verse number 21. “If a man therefore purge himself from these…” What’s the “these”? It’s iniquity. Where’s the iniquity at? Yeah. Can I put it in our everyday language? Get your heart right. Get the sin out of your heart.
He said, “If a man therefore purge himself from these”—and has a lot of talent and charisma and a good personality? No, he just says that: get the iniquity out of there. Get your heart right. “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” That’s the New Testament principle over here. David illustrates that principle over there when God says that’s the man that I want to be the next king because of his heart. If I get the iniquity out of a heart, God says, “Well, here, then hey, you’re prepared and ready for God to use you in every good work.” It’s a matter of your heart. I’m just briefly trying to talk about the importance of our heart.
Friend, I’m telling you, that’s the key. It’s amazing. I’ve seen some guys who are great pulpiteers—they can preach paint off the walls, they’re great preachers—and just seem like God doesn’t use them that much. And I don’t know everything about it, but I do know the biblical principle: it’s not about how good you can preach or how good of a mom you are and a dad and all the rest of that, how you got everything just right. It’s the matter of your heart.
It’s true. Your heart. I’m not saying I’m against these things. I’m for all those things. But, friend, your heart—your heart, your heart, your heart—it’s where the issues of life come out. Out of it are the issues of life. You know, you hang around the people you hang around for the most part because of what’s going on in your heart, and that’s why you kind of link to them. Issues about your marriage—you say, “I want to have a good marriage”—man, you get your heart… Issues of life come out of your heart. Yes, your heart, your heart. How much you see God in your life? What Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall what?” Shall see God. I would like to see God. I’m talking about years ago, a good man, a relative of mine…
And I don’t think it was anything that happened in my life. I can’t remember what we were talking about, something. And he said, “Paul, I wish I could see God work more in my life like that.” And it’s a matter of the heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Your heart, your heart—it is so important, your heart, friend. Now here’s the thing about our hearts. We’re going somewhere. Stick with me here. We all have a natural bend towards sinful things in our heart. That’s up to us what we do with that. But that’s why when a baby’s born, you don’t have to teach the baby how to tell a lie. Ever have a child and you’re like, “Man, how did they learn to be such a good liar?”
I see someone back there shaking their head and saying, you don’t have to teach your child how to be ungrateful. You have to say, “Now, what do you say?” And you say, “Thank you.” You have to teach them to do the right things. That’s what I mean. “Train up a child in the way he should go.” It talks about “narrow.” If you look up Strong’s, according to “train,” it means narrow, according to him. You narrow up the way. Hey, that’s the way you’re going to go right here. And because we have that natural bend in our heart… Now, it’s so important about that. Can I say this? Be honest about your natural tendency. I like this verse: Psalm 94:18. When I said, “When I said my foot slippeth,” then—let me just get it right—“then thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.”
If you have a natural tendency towards lust, okay. Now, I’m not talking about broadcasting everybody in the world, but at least to the Lord and to yourself and the people that you can trust that want to help you. If you have a natural tendency to lie—I think David had a tendency to lie, to be honest about it. If you have a natural tendency to addictions, be honest about it. If you have a natural tendency to be critical and sharp-tongued, be honest about whatever, whatever it may be, just be honest. We all have. I got a bunch of them. Ask my wife about it. She’ll tell you, man. We all do. I think it’s important for us just to kind of own it: “That’s my weakness,” you know, and God helps us then. By the way, talking about your heart: Your heart can be very deceiving. “The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked: who can know it?” That’s why I’ve got to get the Lord involved when you try to get your heart right. You’ve got to have the Lord involved. David, he said over in Psalm 139:23 and 24, “Search me, O God, and know my what?” My heart.
You’ve got to do that. I’ve got some pictures here. I used this in chapel last Thursday, so let’s see here. Ms. Patterson was there, Brother Adam, and Ms. Marlene—y’all can go to sleep if you want to now. They’ve already heard this part here now, you know. I hear that snoring back there, you know. I tell you what, but anyway, I want to show you some pictures here of my dog. You had to show the bad one first. You know, this is when she got sprayed by a skunk. I’ll tell you for sure, I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t know if she did get sprayed by a skunk; she’s been sprayed so many times, and when she does, she finds something else to wallow in that’s not quite as bad as a skunk smell. I imagine that was a skunk picture. I don’t know, but…
Let’s go to some others. Let’s get a better picture of my dog. Come on now, you know. This is when she was a puppy. Yeah, my wife got her for me for one Christmas. We were having devotions together. And she prayed, by the way, that morning. She got saved that morning? No, I’m joking. Sometimes the way she acts, I don’t think she’s saved for sure, you know. But can we just—we’re just scrolling through. There’s Christmas time, and she wasn’t happy that—it’s all Sarah’s fault. Sarah put that on her, made her wear it. Dixie wasn’t happy about it there, you know. But we just scroll. That’s Dixie. Trying to get a better picture of us from this morning. There’s some more of it. Good, good. She runs and jumps on her dog house. That’s her dog house. And she thinks if she jumps up there, she’s going to get petting. And usually I’ll pet her; she jumps up there, you know, and so she runs and jumps up there and she wants a pet. Is that all of them? That’s all of them there? Well, let’s turn it off because they’ll be looking at the dog, not at me, after that, you know. She’s cuter than me, Amy. Doesn’t take much, you know. But anyway, that’s Dixie. That’s Dixie.
Well, a couple weeks ago, we went out in the morning. And not always, but sometimes I’ll go out in some woods and just walk for my prayer time, whatnot. And we’re out there, and Dixie, while we’re taking our walk, she takes off. I don’t know what all she gets into during those walks. She has come back with blood on her, I think, from something else, and blood on her from her. You know, I mean, I thought about putting a GoPro on her, you know. I mean, start one of those videos, you know, one of those things, and people watch, you know. But she’s into—I’ve seen her chase deer many a time, and squirrels, and turkeys, and skunks. She didn’t win on those. All that, you know, and neighbor dogs—not good—all this stuff, you know. Anyway, that morning she went out. And when she came back, she had—everybody calls them different. You know, some, the smaller ones will call them hitchhikers all over her. Some will call it, but this was the bigger ones. Some will call them cockleburs. I look like you know that good. Y’all are educated people out there, you know. Your Tennessee people is the problem, you know, that’s the problem. And she had those cockleburs all over her.
And here’s the thing: if you don’t get them out quickly, they get down in that fur. And man, you know, it’s just hard to get that fur apart and get that out of there, you know. And so I saw her; she came back with those cockleburs all over, you know, and I said, “Hang on, Dixie,” you know. And she’s pretty good. She’ll just kind of sit there, and I had to go through and dig out all those. And both the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, “Paul, that’s what I have to do to your heart.” Boy, it’s just so important. That morning I spent some time: “Lord, would you get all the cockleburs out of my heart?”
Your heart is the key. It’s the key. Let’s kind of try to unpack it out. What does it look like God reaching down and getting the cockleburs out of our heart? It begins—this process begins—at salvation. Okay? That’s when there’s a major, major change. Look over, if you will, in Acts chapter number 15. Acts chapter number 15.
And this is Peter, and he’s talking to some Jewish people in Jerusalem about a revival that took place in Caesarea and some Gentiles got saved. He’s talking here about people getting saved in the verse we’re going to read, all right? And I want you to notice how he words it, through the inspiration of God, Acts 15, verse number nine. Acts 15, verse number nine. And he says right there, Acts 15:9, “And put no difference between us and them,” talking about Jews and Gentiles. Talking about the Lord, he didn’t put a difference between us. Well, here’s what he says, talking about their salvation: “purifying their what?” Their hearts by faith. You get saved by faith. Now…
The beginning of your heart. Now, lost people can kind of clean their act up and they can straighten some things out, but really having a major change in the heart… Have you seen some people that have changed and made a big, great, great change, and they’re proud of it? Was their heart right? Help me out—is your heart right? What’s original sin? Pride, if you will. I’ve got a heart full of pride. You can’t really get your heart right without the Lord. And it begins at salvation. So someone does not say they really don’t have the tools they need to have their heart transformed. And they’re trying. It’s a tough battle, but they need the Spirit of God because they just have that natural heart, if you will, that’s bent. Yes, they’re making a decision about it, whether they’re saying it or not, but it’s bent to go that way. That’s what Jesus said over there in John 3: “You must be born again.” He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
It’s not going to be just that fleshly birth. It’s going to change your heart. It’s going to be the birth of the Spirit. It’s when the Holy Spirit moves inside of you and brings new life. He regenerates your heart. You say, “Well, you got that in your genes,” but He regenerates. He reigns in you when you get saved. And now you’ve got a new heart. That’s what the Bible means over there in Corinthians. He says, “Hey, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.” Because at salvation is the beginning of your heart just being transformed.
By then, someone gets saved. They may not get in church and grow like we want them to, but there ought to be somewhere—somewhere in the line—there ought to be something that’s changed in the heart. I mentioned Sunday school. Man, they don’t come to church anymore; they got saved years ago. He said, “I know I don’t come to church, but hey, that church and the Lord—what—it changed my life.” Now he doesn’t come to church like I want him to, but in the heat of the moment, in the situation, he said, “Hey, that changed me.” It changed his heart by salvation. And so the beginning of God getting those cockleburs, if you will, is salvation, when you’re regenerated. All right? I understand. So, very, very important. Let me say this: Don’t try to change to get saved. You get saved, and let God change you.
I went to someone yesterday, and they said, “Well, I’m not ready. I don’t think I can be ready to do that and whatnot.” And I said, “No, don’t try to change. You get saved, and God will change you.” My Granny, Granny Lee—that’s a very important doctrinal term right there, Granny Lee. She had pigs, typically. And we’d go down there, and we would have pig feed, and then we had pig slop, and that’s a five-gallon bucket over off the pantry there. When you get done, there are leftovers, whatnot, and it’s too old, you’re not going to eat it. You put it in that pig-slop bucket. And then you might put some corn, you know, in there with it and mix it all up, you know. But you go down there to the pigpen, and those pigs have the trough turned over and muddy and stinky—and it’s always stinky down there, you know. And you go down there and you pick up the trough, you turn it over, there’s a water hose down there, you clean that trough out, you clean it all up, you set it upright, you know, and then you pour that slop in there. Come on, you eat bacon and sausage too. Come on now. After all that, you’ve heard all the stories, yet you still eat it. I do too, you know. You pour it in there, and you know those pigs do it—they don’t come over and eat it like that, or they take that snout, they flip that thing over, and they get that pig slop all mixed in with the mud, and then they eat it. That’s just—it’s their nature. And sometimes we’re working at trying to change the nature of somebody, and what they need is the major change that comes—that salvation—it changes their heart.
The heart’s the key, by the way. I’m for keeping some laws and rules, and you have to do that to legislate the outside, but the change in the heart—it begins at salvation. All right? Y’all want me out there? It’s a matter of hearts. Now let’s maybe get a little bit closer to home for a lot of the people here this morning, I think. This old world—Dixie will leave and she’ll just run through if there’s a rabbit. There’s this one field I walk through, and over on the side, there’s a fence, and on the side of the fence, on the other side of the fence, there’s just, you know, blackberry bushes and stickers and all that, you know. And there’s a rabbit, and she’ll just take off through that. And as she runs through that, she just picks up hitchhikers and cockleburs and everything in the world.
And as you go through this world, this sinful world, Satan does his best to use everybody, everything he can, to put those cockleburs in your heart. It’s just going to happen to the best of us. It happens. And as you go through this sinful, hurtful world, Satan—he’s after that. And sometimes Satan tries to use those people closest to you to bury it the deepest. I was saying it’s interesting: Satan used Peter as Jesus was getting close to the cross, and Jesus was saying, “Hey, I’m about to go and die.” And Peter said, “No, no, no, you’re not going to die. You ought not do that.” And Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He was saying Satan’s using you. Satan often tries to use those people close to you. I think of a lady, a wonderful, precious lady, in her church, and her mom told her, she said, “I never wanted you. I don’t want you. I try not to have you.” I understand the devil uses a whole lot of things trying to bury those cockleburs deep in your heart.
And Sandy will come out of those woods or whatever, and praise the Lord, for the most part—unless there’s a skunk or squirrel or something around—she’ll sit there, and I have to dig through. And sometimes those cockleburs, if they get deep down in there, man, sometimes you’ve got to take scissors or something. And you have to pull the fur back, and you have to get those out. And if you want a heart that’s right, that God can use, a pure heart, a clean heart, you’re going to have to come to the Lord. Nobody else can do it. He’ll use people, but it’s the Lord that takes you on the journey of getting your heart right. And sometimes it hurts, and you’ve got to be patient. Not too long ago, Dixie was in the laundry. We let her in the laundry room if it’s cold at nighttime. You said, “What did your preacher preach about his dog?” Amen, you know? A man and his dog, you know. Don’t watch those movies. Every man in the world gets a little dust in his eyes in those dog movies, you know. And come on, you’re the same way, you know. But anyway, Dixie was in the laundry room, and there was some little—the next morning—there was some bottle of… it was ceramic tiles. It was okay, but, man, what’s going on? And a lot of dogs won’t let you, but Dixie, I got her all over there, you know, and she’s laying out, and she let me kind of dig through her paws. And actually, it was a dewclaw. You know, but sometimes it’s painful, and sometimes it’s painful when God starts going through your heart, especially if it’s major wounds. But you’ve got to let God—God’s the one that will dig through. And as you grow in your journey, and God is purifying your heart, He will dig down in there and get some of those cockleburs out of your heart.
Some of those out of there are the issues of life, and it’ll change your life and your trajectory if you let God deal with those things in your heart. Look over, if you will, in Psalm 62 real quickly here. I think it’s just a good passage. I’m going to try to move along quickly, but dealing with that. Some are major cockleburs. Some are just a little bit of hitchhikers, but you get these things in your heart, and a good way to get them out of there… And look at—look at—look at this. Look at Psalm 62. And look in verse number eight, Psalm 62, and look in verse number eight back there.
Psalm 62. Look at verse number eight. He says right there, he says, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your what?” Your heart before him. “God is a refuge for us. Selah.”
Part of me getting my heart—I want a heart that’s right. I want a heart that God can say, “I can use them, use them to help somebody else; you can make a difference.” Part of that is pouring our heart out before the Lord, especially with these major things. I mean, just pour your heart out to the Lord. I’m talking about when you’re attacked. He says, “God is a refuge.” You need a refuge when you get attacked. And he’s saying, “Hey, if you want your heart to be right, God’s the one that will dig through the fur, if you will, and get them.” But you’ve got to pour your heart out to Him. Let Him deal with those things, whether they be big things or little things. But you’re in the habit of that. We said it begins at salvation, and then this old sinful world has a way of putting burrs in your heart.
And just two more faults, and we’re going to move on. We’re going to be done. We’re going to go eat somewhere, amen. But sinful lifestyle—just allowing things in our lives that contaminate our heart. Remember David? Now, David, he was that young man anointed to be king; his heart—the Lord looks at the heart. But later on, David fell into major sin. He had done it a couple times, but remember the sin of David: adultery with Bathsheba. And then after that, he lied and was so deceiving about Uriah, had Uriah killed—basically murdered Uriah. And then that baby, that baby ended up—well, he was already born—and remember Nathan the prophet had to go say, “Hey, thou art the man.” And so I say all that to say, David may have been deceiving for at least nine months, you know, from conception to birth. And I don’t know how old that baby was when it died and Nathan came to him. And when I allow things in my life, it’s amazing how those sinful things I allow in my heart just contaminate my heart.
And sinful things—by the way, my eye affects my… I’m always watching. Yes, it’s so important. Someone said, “I was going to watch a movie last night, but I couldn’t find anything.” Watch one, and just a little bit into her life, I watch that. They tried another one. “I can’t find anything clean.” Better to watch nothing than to watch something that’s going to contaminate your heart. Hard to find in our day and time. And we all battle those things. But if I allow those sinful things, they contaminate my heart. And so the preacher—Nathan pointed at him, “Hey, thou art the man.” And David’s trying to get right in Psalm 51, what we call the repentant Psalm. And in verse number 10, he says, “Create in me a clean what?” All of us have to do that from time to time. All of us.
When I wasn’t pastoring, I think you’d think I was the dirtiest sinner in all the world. And I probably was, because I came to the altar all the time. Because I needed it, man. Whether you come to the altar or not, the honest truth is we all need it. And coming, “Lord, I want you to get this sin out of my heart. Create in me a clean heart, O God.” If I’m going to have the right kind of heart, we all sin, we all watch things here and do things we shouldn’t do. But I must go back to the Lord and say, “Hey, would you get my heart back right?” If I’m going to have the right kind of heart. And the heart’s the key. Out of it are the issues of life. And it must be—it must be often, very, very often—that we do that. Don’t let sin get a stronghold in your life. If it does, take it to the Lord; let Him get that out. And we must learn to be very honest about these things. Last thing, we’re done here. Look over in Psalm 139. Psalm 139.
We’ve already mentioned the first part of this thing here, but Psalm 139. And look at 23, 24. By the way, God’s amazing at cleaning our heart up. He applies—the Lord applies a special medicine, if you will, to get our heart right. It’s called the blood of Jesus. It’s a miracle. I don’t mean any disrespect, but it’s a miracle drug, if you will. It’s just amazing: the blood of Jesus. That gets your heart right. And He’s so good—the Holy Spirit—in applying it to our hearts when we allow Him to. But look over here in Psalm 139, look in verse number 23. Psalm 139, verse number 23. He says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” I used to think, why have God put that: “Lead me in the way everlasting”? And the Holy Spirit said, “You big dummy, because every day I’m going the wrong way. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.” And He says, “Hey, I want this continually. Lead me in the way everlasting.” Look over, if you will, in James 4. James 4. Last passage we’re going to look at. For the hour—next hour, you know, at noon we’ll look up another one. That was a joke, all right now, people. James 4, look at verse number eight. James 4, and verse number eight.
He says right there at James 4, verse eight: “Draw nigh to God.” Notice this: getting close to the Lord, this process—draw nigh to God, draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. He’s so good about that. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your what?” Hearts. You’re double-minded. By the way, if I’m double-minded, it’s a heart matter. Purify your hearts. And as I get closer to the Lord, the Lord says, “Hey, you’ve got some hitchhikers on there. You’ve let some sin contaminate your life there. You’ve got some cockleburs embedded in you. We need to get that out of there.” And you do that often—often let the Lord do that. Dixie is an affectionate dog. She’s a fighter at times. She doesn’t win all her fights, but she’s a fighter. She’s fought with our neighbor dog too much, friend. But anyway, she’s affectionate, though. She likes petting. I mean, some dogs are food-oriented, forget petting—affectionate. “I want food,” you know. Dixie wants petting. She’s a very affectionate dog. My wife says she’s our favorite dog we’ve ever had because she’s so affectionate. She’ll just let you hug her if you can put up with her stink, you know, and you can hold her, and she won’t move. She’ll—she’s good at coming and putting her—she’ll put her nose on you, you know, rest it on your knee if you’re sitting down your hand. You know, she’ll do anything for petting, you know. That’s just her. She’ll sit real still if you pet her. And as you pet her… Oh man, I missed that one.
And it’s so true. As you draw nigh to God, by the way, we all need affection, if you will, from the Lord. David said, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” And you get close to the Lord, and you feel His love, His grace, His mercy, His kindness toward you, and you just—and part of that process, as God said, “Hey, I felt something as I was getting close to you. We’ve got to get that out of your heart.” It’ll manifest itself in a million different ways, but it’s a heart matter. Your heart is it for Him. Martin Luther, the German reformer, used to say, “Keep short accounts with God.” Go to Him often and get close to Him, and as you do, He has said, “We’ve got to get that out of your heart.” He’ll work at it. And at the end of the day, your heart’s what matters. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Our heads are bowed, eyes are closed.
If you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, God spoke to me. I admit it, I have a sinful bend. I want to just face it—this is my bend in it. There are sinful burrs in my heart. I have a sinful lifestyle that contaminated my heart. I just need to bring my heart daily to the Lord.” But somewhere along the line, God spoke to my heart. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up. You slip it up. “Preacher, God spoke to my heart this morning.” “Me too, me too. God convicted me weeks ago about this thing.” Anybody else? God spoke to my heart about this matter? Anybody? You just slip your hand up. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your hearts. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, I’ve never been saved. And I need the beginning, the foundation of it all, where He just changes my heart—He regenerates it. I need that. I’ve never truly been saved. I need the Spirit of God to come inside of my heart and bring a new life. I want to be that new man. Preacher, I need to get saved.” Did that reach you this morning wherever you may be? You meant it? You’re a sinner. You understand there’s a penalty on your sin: death and hell. But Jesus—you believe Jesus died for you. Three days later, He rose again. You say, “I want to trust fully in Jesus to pay my sin debt.” Would you call on Him right now? Wherever you are, call on Him. It could be something along this line: “Dear Lord, I admit it. I have a sinful heart, and I’ve played that out in my life. I have sins. I want to come to You right now and ask You to forgive me all my sins. Would You come into my heart? Would You regenerate me? Would You save me? Jesus, I’m trusting in You. Would You be my personal Savior?” In Jesus’ name.
Our heads are bowed, eyes are closed. You said, “Preacher, I just asked Jesus to be my Savior. I just trusted fully in Him.” If that’s you this morning, just lift your hand up. Anybody like that? “Preacher, just ask Jesus to be my Savior.” Anybody? Just lift your hand up. I don’t see any hands. Hey, Christians, let’s go to Him often and let Him clean our hearts up. Let’s stand, would you please? We’ll have a quick word of prayer. Let’s spend some time. Might be a good time to go by His hand. Let His hand pet you a little bit, and let’s ask Him to take those things out of our hearts. Would you do that? Father, thank You for Your goodness. Lord, I pray that You would deal with our hearts right now. Let us leave with cleaner hearts, washed with the water by the Word. Would You work in our hearts in these few minutes? We’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
As your instruments play, would you come? Just spend some time with the Lord, however God guides you. You need to be obedient to Him. Great time to do this is the invitation time, bringing your heart before the Lord, whether it be standing, whether it be down to the altar. Altars are a great place, but however the Lord leads you. Bringing your heart before the Lord is so key. If I’m going to have a right kind of heart, I must bring it to the Lord often. “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.”
Good to see every person here this morning. And appreciate to be in the house of the Lord. Make sure you’re back tonight, 6 o’clock, and looking forward to that. Be in prayer for the Gates family. If you can help with food, please see Ms. Mickey about that. That’d be so very, very helpful. Just a great, great family. Good to have some guests with us. I’m honored to have them with us today. Appreciate y’all being here. And good to see everybody out today. Brother Lloyd Usselton, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please, brother?
Original File: 2026-02-23 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Heartology＂- Sunday AM 2⧸22⧸2026