Our Home to Your Home
Date: June 7, 2024
We will not be hanging doors out of the cold weather. Hopefully, we are going to try to change that to March the 6th. I haven’t got confirmation on that yet from Mother Kayla Terry. Of course, going to Gallatin, Tennessee, and starting City Light Baptist Church. Oh, what a blessing to be a part of a church starting up! You want to be a part of that. And Lord willing, we will be able to change that. We will be praying to be warmer on March 6th.
That is a Saturday, and that would be a great day. I will let you know about that. If we cannot change it, I will send an email out, but I tend to think we can change that to March the 6th, so keep in tune for that if you would.
And then March the 9th, it is that Saturday after they are having get-acquainted services. It is just at the beginning of a church, trying to have just some people gathered together before they have their grand opening Sunday. And that night, March the 9th, that Tuesday, we are going to head up there, whoever can go.
And our church will kind of be hosting a little bit, if you will. We will do the music. Our men will be the ushers; our ladies will be the nursery workers. We are providing refreshments for people who might come. If you help us with that, we will have a sign of seat for that. We want to be a blessing. It is a good setting. If there are all around 30 for a meeting like that, when people come in, they will not think they are the only ones there; they are not overcrowded. So, we are going to work at that. And I kind of marked that out on the calendar, if you would. I would love for you to come, and that would be a great, great night to be with us at that get-acquainted service there.
Then couples retreat, just right around the corner—a week from tomorrow, the 25th into the 27th, and to be in Gatlinburg, at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. I think you will get a blessing. Couples love it; you just say, “Get away.” Something about that. I do not know about you, but for me, I have to get away for a day, so just kind of totally unwind, if you will. And something about getting out of town helps you do that. So I would encourage you to go to it. Temple Baptist Church is hosting it, and they will do a good job. A lot of different speakers there at the marriage retreat. Then they will have special sessions: ladies teaching ladies and men teaching. If you want more information on that, go to Faith for the Family, if you like.
And then, of course, see Brother Kevin. Brother Kevin, you have…
…for our church people. So please do that. That would be great.
And then Brother John and Ms. McKenna, of course, are moving. And Sunday will be their last Sunday. So Sunday night we will have a go-away fellowship for them. And Brother John is here. He says bring a whole couple thousand dollars each person for them, and he said he will take that. But if we want to have it be a blessing and maybe buy them a car, the car would be awfully special.
Then team activity Saturday, 3 o’clock at church, game night. I am ready for that.
And let us continue to pray. Of course, Brother Boucho. He is at home. I texted Ms. Boucho just a touch today with word. It seems okay, but they are still waiting for a game plan. Would you just pray for that? I pray for Ms. Gini Fontaine’s recovery. They are trying to send her to [unclear word]. Some liquid is still going down for that, if you would please. Ricky Anderson, I had not talked to him, and you be praying—say, would you do that? Bond together on that.
Then the two acres—now, you did not get to drive in and pass by tonight, but we can pray, and you be praying I would sell those two acres, and God is able, my friend. Praise the Lord, we get to go to a God that can do anything. I think about Jeremiah, and the Lord says there is anything too hard; He is able.
Let us go to the Lord in prayer there in your living room. You pray. I am going to pray here in my living room. And then I have to get done by John saying a special song for us. And then I will give us a devotion from the Bible. Get your Bibles out and get ready to go, if you would. Now, I know it is a little bit tougher at home, but try to get all the distractions taken care of and get your Bible out, get ready to go. Try to focus and pray. You pray there; I will pray here. We will meet at the throne.
Father, Lord, we come to you. Thank you, Lord, what a privilege you have given us. And it is amazing, Lord, how you are here, and yet you are there with our people in their homes. Thank you for being a God that is everywhere at one time. We love you. Father, we bring every burden and request to you. Lord, give the doctors wisdom. Lord, if you will, as otherwise, would you give him extra grace, supernatural kind of grace? Bless Ms. Gini, Lord, would you touch her lungs? Lord, maybe your throat needs strengthening. Father, Brother Ricky, would you increase his lung usage, Lord, to 50%? Father, you could do that. I heard you would. Lord, we will not act like we are great prayer warriors; we act like you are a great God if you do that.
Father, the two acres, Lord, we lift them up again to you. Thank you, you are able. Thank you, you have led this far; you have led us in the midst of this. Grow us in the meantime. Father, have us get closer to you in the meantime. Thank you, Lord, thank you for the technology, the means, the ability to meet together with your people tonight. Please do speak to our hearts. I thank you for all those that made it happen tonight. We love you, Lord. Thank you, Father, for loving us in Jesus, and we pray these things. I would rather have than silver, rather have Jesus than a house. I would rather be led by his hand than to be held in sin’s trance. When’s shape that morning, and I am kind of intruding into her territory a little bit, all about it.
Your Bible, if you would, and look over in Jeremiah chapter number 17. Jeremiah chapter number 17, and the first verse is a familiar verse; I think once we read it, you will know it. But I also want to get that next verse in there, and we are kind of leaving the subject of David, the life of David, tonight, just focused on this. And really, the title I put for tonight is just heart—how important, vital.
Let us just read, if you would, Jeremiah 17, and verse number nine, if you are there. Now, wherever you are, would you say amen? I could not hear you. Could you say anything? Amen. Good, I got one for my wife at least there, you know. Jeremiah 17, look at verse number nine. And the Bible says the heart—let us just stop there. I am going to stop throughout these passages. Tell you what, let us do this: we will read through the two verses, then we will go back and we will talk about them, so let us just kind of get an overview. He will read the verse and go back. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.”
Now let us just go back and we are going to just dissect it a little bit. That first verse: the heart. Heart in the Bible has to do with the center of you. It is the very core of you, the innermost being.
It is interesting, the Bible lets us know that your heart has thoughts. Now, you have thoughts that just may be off the top of your mind, will you say? But your inner thoughts from your heart—your heart can think. A couple of verses just kind of let you know how biblical that is. We sing this song sometime, Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Verse we often mention the first part, Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.” It goes on, the last part of that verse, and it says, “and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Your heart can have thoughts and intents. Your heart, so crucial, the very innermost part of you, that is your heart. Out of it flow the issues of life, the Bible says, your heart. So it starts off and he says the heart is deceitful, very deceiving. Notice it just does not just say deceit, but it says deceitful above all things.
Now, friend, that is not just someone else’s heart; that is my heart, that is your heart. And interesting, 1 John 1:1, and Ray, it talks about it. It says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” Your heart is very deceitful above all things. My heart is too. You see, when you get to the heart issues—motives and why you are doing, why I am doing what I am doing—it is very deceitful, very tricky. Deceitful above all things. It is amazing. That is what the Lord is saying. Then it says it is desperately wicked.
It is pretty strong language. This old world, if they could just—they just do not get it—that man is sinful. And we will never have a utopia until we get to heaven and God rules and reigns in our hearts fully then. We call it the Adamic nature; we get it from Adam, that sin nature.
Friend, you do not have to teach a child how to do wrong; it is just born with them in the heart. You have to train. “Train up a child in the way he should go.” That train needs to narrow up the way. “No, do not go there. No, do not go there. No, no, no, no, no.” And you narrowing, you keep them in the guidelines. You have to do that. They are not going to do it on their own. “A child left to himself brings his mother to shame,” the Bible said. It was not that? Because a heart is wicked. What a wrong? That is your heart.
Now watch this. What is this? It says, “Who can know it?” It is kind of like, can anybody know your heart? Well, it is desperately wicked; it is deceitful above all things. No, I cannot know my heart on my own. But notice what it says. Very interesting, verse number 10. Look at verse number 10. It is all God’s word, this book is. But God very directly is saying, “I”—what is it?—God says, “I, the Lord.” That is capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That is Jehovah. That is why it is so important we do not change anything in the book. That is why we use the Old King James Version Bible; it has not been tampered with or messed up. The Lord, Jehovah. See, all the capital letters means Jehovah. And the Lord says, “I, the Lord, search.”
It is interesting. God says, “I search.” He says that in other places of the Bible. I read one other place, several places, many times it says that. Psalm 7:9: “For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.” Now here is the fault. I want to be honest with you about things, and you be honest with me about things. But I find myself saying this: God knows everything. We have been told earlier about Him being omnipresent; He is also omniscient. He knows everything. So He knows my heart. So why does He search or try my heart? Proverbs 17:3, I think, shines some light on that question, all right?
Proverbs 17:3, I can read it for you; you can turn over there if you like to. But that is what it says, Proverbs 17:3: “The fining pot is for silver.” Right? Now you get that. They take that silver and they want to make sure it is pure or it is truly silver, and they want to refine it, make it pure. And they put the silver in the fining pot, all right? “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold.” I have a gold ring on; I believe it is just 10-carat typical. If it gets to two to higher, 18, 20, it gets very—this has already been on love, and it has been so much easier then. But if we wanted to take it from 10 to maybe 14 or 18, a little bit purer, they will put it in the fire longer. And the impurities come to the top. And it reveals what the true gold is and what is the dross. See, I do not think so much God is trying and searching our hearts for Him to know what is there; He already knows. Two reasons: number one, to improve our heart. That fining pot improves the silver. That furnace makes the gold pure. So He puts you through trials to make your heart pure, more like Him. And also, I believe He tries and searches your heart to show us what is in our heart, to reveal to us what is going on. Is that because it is deceitful above all things, it is desperately wicked? So God must show us what is in our hearts. And He searches and tries our hearts.
Now let us go back over here, Jeremiah 17. Look at verse number 10 right there. He said, “I, the Lord, search the heart. I tried the reins.” Now, what does this mean? It actually, if you check the word out strictly, it has to do with your kidneys. He says, “Well, what?” In Bible times, it was very emotional. It has to do with your longings, your desires. And God says when your desire is something, I try that. Your passions. What you are always trying to get in life, what you are after. The very core of you, your heart, and all these desires you have. Some, unfortunately, all of us from time to time can have a little bit of love—have a love of money. And that is your reins, your desires, your longing, your lusting after me.
And he says, “I search the heart. I try the reins.” Now, I notice this. It is very interesting. Stick with me here. You stay, stay focused with me. We are going to just do a little Bible study. I am going to draw two conclusions here, all right, so do not lose me. But let us keep back here in verse number 10. Let us go back there. And he says, “Even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.” Now that is—that is just, I am just being open with you; you be open with me, honest with each other. I am, thought, well, wait a second, He is searching my heart, trying my reins. But to give every man according to his ways. You see, a heart is inside; that is why we do not work at our heart. Nobody can see it. We think we keep it hid. Put your ways, nobody can see it. The fruit of his doings, that is what you are doing. So, wait a second, why is He searching? This is what I think I am saying here. We can find verses, many verses allude to it. You will end up doing what is in your heart. And temporarily I can bypass that. I can do what I know is right to do. And sometimes you do that on purpose and your heart will follow. But sometimes my heart has just been on the wrong thing and I am all right with that, but I am deceiving and my outside is different than the inside. Now if the inside is right, your outside is going to be—but if your inside is wrong, sometimes you can keep your outside right because that is only temporary. More often than not, what is on the inside comes out.
A couple of verses I just read for you. Proverbs 3:1: “My son, forget not my law, but let thy heart keep my command.” Talking to his son. Parents, can I say this: be so very discerning the best you can and praying about your child’s heart. Work at their heart the best you can.
I think of a young man—I told this story before in church several times. Somebody said he was a likable young man, I should say. His dad was a pastor years ago. But you could tell if you knew him—we played sports together—you knew his heart was not right with God; the heart was always bent to do wrong. But when he was in Christian school and under his mom and dad’s rules, he did the right thing because he had to. But graduation night, he had the bottle, and he went downtown, and his car did a dance in the middle of the town, drunk. What a shame. He said, his heart. If you knew him much, you knew it was his heart. I just had a chance to live out. And more often than not, what is in your heart comes out, and that is what God is saying.
Over there in Proverbs chapter number 23, there is this man eating with a rich, wealthy man. And the wealthy man is saying all kind of kind things. And he said, “Be careful. Do not be desirous of deceitful means.” It makes this statement in Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” You may say, “Eat and drink; everything is wonderful.” But he said, “Oh, no, no, no, be careful.” He is saying that, but his heart is different. And as he thinketh in his heart. Did you notice that? Thinketh in his heart.
Over the New Testament, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees. They were saying some wicked things, and at one point, blasphemies against the Holy Ghost. And Jesus said, look, they are not going to be able to say good things because the heart, the tree, is not right, and you do not have good fruit. Let me read it for you. It is also in Matthew, I believe, but he will read for you from Luke, Luke chapter 6:43: “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do gather figs, nor of a bramble bush, gather they grapes.” You do not get thorns from the fig tree. You do not get grapes from a bramble bush. No, no, no. He is too much about the heart. Let me finish. Verse number 45: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil.” For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
So God says, I search the heart, I try the reins—why? I am going to give them according to their ways, because what is in your heart is going to come out. Your way is your pattern of living, your ways. And what is in your heart, it is going to come out—the fruit of your doings. It kind of lines up with that, “By the fruit you shall know them.” So much your heart over there. So let me just draw two conclusions here, two conclusions, and we are done for the night.
Number one, stick with me. I know in your living rooms, I know probably things are going on, but tune in here for a second. Number one, stay with me on this. You and I, we cannot make our heart. Did you get that? Verse number nine: The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. You cannot; I cannot. Have you ever watched the folly of the world when they try it? They try, and I think they sincerely try sometimes to have a good heart. You will watch them. You will watch—this is what we will do sometimes. They will give money for animal rights. By the way, I am for treating your animals right. But they will just go extravagantly spend millions, and then they will turn around and murder babies by the meal. And they are trying so desperately to get a right heart. Friend, it is folly. They are deceived.
You will hear some sports players, sports stars. And they will hear—they hear another sports player got hurt. And I think it is right and kind of, and they will tweet them or Facebook or somewhere and they will say, “Hey, I am praying for you,” whatnot. And same thing, same thing. They will be very much for abortion and candidates that are for abortion. You see? And, you know, even if we could get our hearts right for just a little bit, you know what happened? And it is vain, us trying to make our heart right. You cannot make your heart right. I cannot make my heart right. No, no, no. Even if you could make it right.
I used to think about it, David over there in Psalm 139:23-24. He said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me as to my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” I used to think, why did God put that tag on there, “and lead me in the way everlasting?” Because once God gets your heart right, He is the only one that can keep it. So He says, “Lead me in the way,” because you are the only one to make it right. You are the only one to keep it right. Yeah. So let me say this: we want a right heart. Oh, that is the core of you. Out of it flow the issues of life. God is going to be able to bless you. God is looking for a king. And he said, “Hey, I do not look at how big and strong you are and all that.” Excuse me. He said, “No, no. He said, do not look at the height and the stature of the Eliad”—the oldest boy there, that little shepherd boy there—“I am looking at his heart; that is who I want to make a king.” He likes to make you a king.
So you cannot make your heart right? So what do we do, preacher? Man, if I cannot make my heart right, what do we do? Can I say this, friend: you take your heart the best you can. If you have to physically act like you are taking it, and you say, “Lord, I am taking my heart to you. Oh, would you make my heart right? I have a deceitful heart; it has been deceiving me. I have a desperately wicked heart, but you make my heart right.” It begins in salvation, and it is a day by day, moment by moment thing. Oh, can I ask you tonight to give your heart, your desires, your future, your passions? Would you give it all? Husbands, wives, children, young people, would you do it? God is the only one to keep your heart right. They like to make you king, but He is the only one. “I, the Lord, search the heart and try the reins.” The only God that is that.
David was so good when he said, “Lord…” David knew, that great David, the one that God earlier in his life said, “Hey, I see his heart; I want to make him a king.” And yet David had let that heart get defiled, lustful, sinful, lying, deceitful. And David said, “Oh, God, you are the only one that can make me right. Would you create in me a clean heart?” Some of us tonight need to go to the Lord and say, “Lord, would you create in me a clean heart?”
I can do that. David Brainerd, a great missionary years ago, early America, missionary to the Indians, just spent his life. And God really took his life, even after his death, and used it greatly to influence America. Great missionary. David Brainerd said one Sunday night, he was on the trail on his horse. It was a rainy, muddy night. And he is traveling—I take it was after church, I am not sure. And he said, “I couldn’t help it; something inside of me, I was so burdened. I wanted to surrender completely to the Lord.” The neighbor Bender said I couldn’t help it, but it just kept growing in my heart. And he said, “I got down off my horse, and I kneeled in the mud, and I said, Oh, Lord, I want to surrender my heart. I want to give you everything: my thoughts and my desires, my future, my possessions, and my goals, my dreams.” He said, “I want it in the mud.”
David Brainerd said—he said in that rainy night, he said a light came to my soul. He said, “I knew God had answered my prayer, and I felt as if I was accepted into the inner circle of Him.” I wanted to be wonderful with all of us in our living rooms all over. But get on our knees tonight and say, “Lord, I want to surrender.” He is the only one that can keep your heart from pride and selfishness and all about me and all about—God is the only one that can. Can you sing that? I mean, could you honestly sing it from your heart to Jesus? “I surrender all to Him; I freely give. I will ever love and serve Him in His presence daily.” Can you sing that? I surrender, oh.
Number one, you cannot make your heart right; only God can. Number two, I am done. Number two, ask God to deal with your heart. David, we mentioned David several times, didn’t I? David said that. I have already quoted it one time. He said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Would you ask God to search your heart? You know, our hearts are just so deceitful above all things. That is why you must, you must, you must ask God, “I, the Lord.” If you ever think when you are doing something—maybe you are doing something good and right—have you just stop and think, does it matter if others are around or not?
One of my favorite books, probably my favorite book, is Power Through Prayer. He invounds, and he uses this phrase in that book a lot: “a lover of praise.” It is a book to preachers, and all us preachers can so quickly, if we are not letting God work in our hearts. It is right for God’s people to encourage the preacher; that is right. But it is right for the preacher to take that and say, “Hey, Lord, that really belongs to you, not to me. Any good things in me, it is not, Lord, you know, it is you.” We are not careful, old girl, become a lover. You know, we can, all of us, can be—I can be a—what are my desires? Two things, two things—many things you could do, but two things along this line.
Number one, when you read your Bible, hopefully every day, maybe in the morning time, as you read the Bible, would you say, “Lord, would you reveal to me?” You see, that verse I mentioned earlier, Hebrews 4:12: “For the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” You see, that sword of God. So as you read it, would you say, “Hey, Lord, show me what is in my heart”? Two things that, everyone: as you read the Bible, ask Him to reveal your heart to you, and then would you put it on your prayer list? “Lord, help me. Make my heart right. Clean my heart. Show me what is in my heart.”
It is an interesting story. I have tried to find it again, and I have not had success at that. I have heard it, and I may not get it exactly right. I apologize if I misquote it; it is not on purpose. There is a story of a great evangelist years ago. He traveled, and he would often go to a motel. They knew him there. He went to a motel, and they said, “Hey, brother, we had this woman serving at the motel. And she is the meanest, most hateful and nasty lady, just awful. The things that come out of her mouth are just dirty.” And nobody wants to be around her. She is so hateful. See if you can do something. We are going to have to get rid of her soon." And so the preacher said, “All right.” And the preacher went and talked with her a little bit. He left. They said when he left, she had just fits of crying, mean and hateful. The preacher came back months later, and they said, “Oh, we don’t know what you said, but it didn’t work. She made it worse than ever. She’ll just break down and cry.” He talked to her again. And he left, and just a little while later, she changed, and she became a sweet, sweet, godly lady. The first person and the second person did not resemble each other. The evangelist came back much later, and they said, “We’ve got to know. That mean lady is so sweet, so full of life. What did you say?” Well, the first time, he asked God to reveal to her what she was like. Those first months when she had fits of crying and was so meaningful, God was revealing to her. Then he came back the second time, and they said, “What did you say the second time?” And he said, “I asked her, ‘Would you pray to God now? God, I know myself. God, now, would you reveal to me?’” And it was when she saw how wonderful and life-changing and heart-changing God was that she accepted the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, and moved into her heart. They gave her sweet fellowship.
Friend, would you ask God to search your heart? Would you put that on your prayer list? As you read the word, would you say, “Lord, would you show me the thoughts and intents of my heart?” It is amazing. Our heart gets right. He wants to give. Did you notice that? To give. God likes; He is the greatest giver there ever was. And back over there, that is the intention: He searches the heart and He tries the reins even to give. If He gets our heart right and then our ways get bad and the fruit of our doings get bad, He wants to get—He’d like to make you king.
Would you do this? Would you realize that God—sometimes we just focus on that verse number nine, Jeremiah 17:9—would you realize God can give you? I understand you have a bent in the wrong direction in your heart like I have; that came from that. We all have that. But God came to you. That is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” God can give you a pure heart. He knew that.
I was talking, if we are going to get this from Matthew, we read it from Luke, but earlier about the tree, and God said the tree is your heart. If you want good fruit, get a good tree. If you want good doings and good ways, get a good heart. Let me read it for you. Matthew 12:35: “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.” You see, God wouldn’t say that. “And an evil man out of the evil treasures bringeth forth evil things.” God gives a good heart. He can get that to you.
Now, would you do this? Would you imagine with me, imagine with me our hearts being right? Think about that. Think about it as if men, if our hearts—we weren’t all about us. We weren’t what we could get out of our life or kids or life. Think about it, moms and wives. God, He could do that. Church members, think about that. Young people, think when you are young, God gave you a heart. Oh, think about the joy in our homes, the sweetness in our marriage, the revival in our churches. God could use us, how His Spirit could fill us, anointing us.
You give your heart to the Lord tonight? Well, you say, “Yes, preacher, I’ve been saying, praise you, Lord.” I am so thankful. That is the beginning of it. But I am talking about more than that day by day, moment by moment, tonight, a complete surrender. Would you take your heart out? Oh, would you create in me a clean heart? Would you say, “Lord, search me”?
Would you bow your heads right there? I want you to think about it. I say, are you living in wherever you may be? And I want you to think about David Brainerd, that missionary, that muddy trail, Sunday night. The rain coming. David Brainerd said it was in my heart. I couldn’t shake it loose. I just had such a strong desire to surrender, give everything to the Lord. Would you go to the Lord, “Lord, I give you all. I want you to have my future, my possessions, my selfishness. I want you to have it; take it all, Lord. I ask you, Lord, reveal to me my heart. Search my heart. Lord, when you show me the sins of my heart, the iniquity of my heart, I won’t regard it. I’ll confess it. Lord, I’d like to have a heart that’s right with you. Oh, Lord, search my heart.” I’m afraid. Now I’m going to be thoroughly right as I pray.
Now, Lord, would you take our hearts tonight? You take every part. There is a part or piece not given to you. Would you reveal that to us? Lord, maybe a passion here or there, a dream, a desire, a goal, a selfish will. Lord, all that, would you take it? Maybe a love of money, a love of praise. I want you to have it all. And then, Lord, would you search it, Lord? Would you guide us? You lead us.
Now there is by nice goals. If you do not know Christ as your Savior, would you ask Him to, “Lord, I want you to come in my heart. Would you be my personal Savior?” If you ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior, your Savior will move into your heart. Before that is on the outside, knock you, but salvation moves in. And if you ask Christ as Savior, would you—would you, just a little below there on YouTube, there is a place you can click there and join with you.
Original File: Our Home to Your Home - Wednesday Evening Service