Message for THE LORD’S DAY MORNING, JULY 30,, 2017 (Good Revival Message)

Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina

by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister

Is Your Heart Right With God?

Matthew 6:19-24 (NKJV)

Our scripture text comes to this morning from the Gospel of

Matthew chapter six. And I will be reading verses 19-24.

MATTHEW 6:19-24 (NKJV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your
whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that
darkness.
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and mammon.

PRAYER

*********************************
 INTRODUCTION

Do you know the one thing GOD wants from you and me more than
anything else is OUR HEART.
HEART

-More than our faithful Church attendance.

attendance
-More than the giving of our tithes and offerings.
offerings
-More than giving our time and our talents.
talents
-More than our good works and good deeds.
deeds

GOD WANTS YOUR HEART AND MINE!

The Greek word for heart in the New Testament is the word
kardia,
kardia from which we get our English words CARDIAC and
CARDIOLOGY.
CARDIOLOGY

But when the BIBLE talks about the HEART, it is talking about
more than the “physical organ” that pumps blood throughout our
bodies.

In his book, “Fanning The Flame” Joseph Stowell explains it this

way:

The heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the
authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate,
and decide. It has been described as "the place of conscious and decisive
spiritual activity," "the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his
feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will," and "the
center of a person. The place to which God turns."

J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 13.

The word of GOD tells us how critically important it is that you
and I give special attention to our heart as it relates to our
relationship with our heavenly Father.
-PROVERBS 4:23 (NKJV) “Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of
it spring the issues of life.

-PROVERBS 16:9 (NKJV) A man’s heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

-PROVERBS 21:2 (NKJV) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but
the Lord weighs the hearts.

MOSES
When GOD gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the very first
commandment involved THE GIVING OF ONE’S HEART TO GOD.

EXODUS 20:3 (NKJV) “You shall have no other gods before Me.

In His Divine wisdom, GOD already knew how difficult it

would be for man to give his heart completely to Him.
Remember at the same time Moses was on top of Mt. Sinai
receiving the Ten Commandments from God, the children of
Israel were at the bottom of the mountain giving their hearts
and their worship to the golden calf made by Aaron.

DAVID
When GOD sent the prophet Samuel to the home of Jessie to
choose from among his sons a new king for Israel, GOD didn’t
want Samuel to choose the TALLEST or the STRONGEST or the
MOST HANDSOME. God wanted Samuel to choose the one who had
THE RIGHT KIND OF HEART.

Of course we know the man GOD wanted was David, the man GOD
Himself calls, “The man after MY own HEART.”
HEART.” (Acts 13:22 )
 THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
When the Pharisees questioned JESUS about which of the
commandments was the “greatest”, Jesus said….

MATTHEW 22:37 (NKJV) “Love the LORD YOUR GOD with all
YOUR HEART,
HEART, and with all your SOUL and with all your
STRENGTH.

Notice JESUS puts THE HEART right at the very top of the
list!

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

In JESUS’ “Parable of The Sower” in Matthew 13,
13 Jesus talks
about seed being sown on four kinds of soil. Those four kinds of
soil represented “THE HEARTS” of people and how they respond to
the Gospel.

THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS

In REVELATION chapter 2,
2 Jesus addressed His first of seven
letters to THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS. In that letter, JESUS
commended the Ephesian Church for their GOOD DEEDS……their
DEEDS
HARD WORK…….their
WORK PERSEVERANCE……and
PERSEVERANCE their DOCTRINAL
SOUNDNESS.

But after commending the Ephesian Church for these things,

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have
Jesus said, “Nevertheless
left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4)
What Jesus was saying to the Ephesian Church was this: “You
have given me everything, but the one thing that matters most.
You haven't given me your heart!”

*****************************************

Brothers and sisters, if GOD doesn’t have our heart, then what
does He really have?

How meaningful is my WORSHIP if I don’t truly LOVE the GOD

-How
I claim to WORSHIP?

How meaningful is my GIVING if I don’t truly LOVE the GOD

-How
to whom I give?

How meaningful are my PRAYERS if I don’t truly LOVE the

-How
GOD to whom I pray?

How meaningful is my CHRISTIAN SERVICE if I don’t truly

-How
LOVE the GOD I serve?

Ask yourself this soul-searching question: “Does God really have my

heart?”

********************************************
Our scripture text in Matthew chapter six, comes at about the half
way point of Jesus' Sermon on The Mount. In this great sermon,
Jesus lays down the principles of Kingdom living. And in verses
19-24 of this sixth chapter, Jesus focuses special attention in this
matter of the heart.

There are just two key thoughts I would like to share with you
from these verses.
First of all, let’s consider…………..

I. THE CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL HEART PROBLEMS v. 24

v.24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

1. The number one cause of “spiritual heart problems” is

“divided loyalty.”

In a marriage relationship, if a man is married to

one woman, but mentally......emotionally......and
physically he is in love with another woman, his heart
doesn't really belong to his wife, does it?

2. The same thing is true in our relationship with GOD.

Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Mammon refers to “money.” You and I cannot be both
“a lover of God” and “a lover of money.” And that is
also true of anything else we allow to compete with God
for our heart.

3. One reason why so many Christians never grow and

mature in their faith is because they are still in love
with the things of this world, while professing to be in
love with GOD.

1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone

loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of
the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever.
 4. This is why Satan's greatest goal for your life and mine
is NOT to get us to HATE GOD, but rather to get us to LOVE
THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD so we won't love GOD with all
of our heart, soul, and strength.

5. Satan knows the more we cram our hearts full of love

for worldly treasures and worldly pleasures the less room
we will have in our hearts for GOD.

6. This is why JESUS is issuing this stern warning, “Do not

lay up for yourselves treasures on earth!” (v.19)

Jesus is telling us, “Don’t treasure earthly treasures!”

“Don’t put too much stock in earthly stuff!” “Don’t let the
things of this world come between you and God!”

ILLUSTRATION
Mrs. Bertha Adams was seventy-one years old when she died alone in West Palm
Beach, Florida on Easter Sunday 1976.
1976

The coroner's report read, "Cause of Death... malnutrition." After

wasting away to fifty pounds she could no longer stay alive. When the
state authorities made their preliminary investigation of her home,
they found a veritable "pigpen...the biggest mess you can imagine."

One seasoned inspector declared he had never seen a dwelling in greater

disarray. Bertha had begged food at her neighbors' doors and had gotten
what clothes she had from the Salvation Army. From all appearances she
was a penniless recluse - a pitiful and forgotten widow. But such was not
the case! Amid the jumble of her filthy, disheveled belongings were found
two keys to safe-deposit boxes at two different local banks. The discovery
was unbelievable. The first box contained over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus
hundreds of other valuable notes, bonds, and solid financial securities, not to
mention cash amounting to $200,000.
The second box had no certificates, just cash - $600,000 to be exact. Bertha
Adams was a millionaire and then some! Yet she died of starvation.

Bertha Adams had “a heart problem”…..A SPIRITUAL HEART PROBLEM.

While “laying up treasures for herself here on earth” she died spiritually
bankrupt!

7. As you look inside your own heart right now, what do you
see? Is your heart filled with all kinds of “worldly
clutter” that is keeping you from loving GOD with all your
heart?

***************************************

Well now that JESUS has identified THE CAUSE OF SPIRITUAL

HEART PROBLEMS, He now focuses on ………..

I. THE CURE FOR SPIRITUAL HEART PROBLEMS vs. 20, 21

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

1. As with most matters relating to our Christian life, God’s

cures to our spiritual problems are a lot easier
to talk about than they are to put into practice.

2. JESUS’ cure for our spiritual heart problems sounds

pretty simple: VALUE HEAVENLY TREASURES MORE THAN
EARTHLY TREASURES.

Analogy: When someone is afflicted with a physical

heart problem, sometimes major surgery is required.
And the goal of the surgeon is to remove whatever is
causing the blockage in the heart.
 Jesus' “cure” for “spiritual heart problems” is the
same. Whatever is blocking our heart and greatly
restricting “the flow of our love for God” has got to
be removed; more specifically “our love for worldly
treasures.”

3. The late, G. Campbell Morgan said it so eloquently……..

“You are to remember with the passion burning within

you that you are not the child of today, you are not
of this earth, you are more than dust, you are a
child of tomorrow, you are of the eternities, you are
the offspring of the Deity. The measurement of your
life cannot be circumscribed by the point where the
blue sky touches the green earth. All the fact of
your life cannot be encompassed in this one small
sphere upon which you live.

If you make your fortune on the earth poor, silly

soul, you have made your fortune and stored it in a
place where you cannot hold it. Make your fortune,
but store it where it will greet you in the dawning of
the new morning. We cannot lay up our treasures
on earth, that is not characteristic of those in His
kingdom. People in My kingdom don’t lay up their
treasures on earth.
4. Think of VERSES 19 and 20 as a pair of scales.

On one side of the scales you have EARTHLY

TREASURES, things that are temporary at
best…..things that can be destroyed by moths or rust
or stolen by thieves.

On the other side of the scales you have HEAVENLY

TREASURES…..the things that are ETERNAL…..the
things that can’t be “touched” by the destructive
forces of this world.

Now Jesus asks us to WEIGH the TWO……

(hold up hands like weighing) EARTHLY TREASURES or

HEAVENLY TREASURES? TEMPORARY THINGS or
ETERNAL THINGS? Well its obvious which way the scales
tip isn’t it?

5. In verse 21 Jesus says, For where your treasure is, there

your heart will be also. That simply means MY HEART
will pursue what I value most. If I value the temporary
pleasures and treasures of this world the most,
most that is
what my heart will pursue!

if I value the eternal more than the

If on the other hand,if
temporary,
temporary that is what my heart will pursue.
ILLUSTRATION

Martin Lloyd-Jones used to tell the story about an old farmer.

The farmer walked into his kitchen one day and joyfully
announced their finest cow had just given birth to twin calves,
one brown and one white.

The farmer told his wife he felt compelled to dedicate one of

calves to the LORD. He said, “I’ll bring the calves up together and
when they reach a marketable age, I’ll sell them and we’ll keep the
proceeds from one and we’ll give the proceeds from the other to the
LORD.

His wife said, “Well which one belongs to the LORD, the brown one or
the white one?” The farmer said, “There’s no need to worry about
that now dear, I’ll decide that later.”

Several months went by and the farmer walked into his kitchen
one day with his head hanging low and a dejected look on his
face. His wife asked, “Why the sullen look, dear?” The farmer said,
“Well, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.” His wife asked, “What’s
that?” He said, “I’m afraid the LORD’S cow died.”

6. Why is it always “the LORD’S cow” that dies?

-Why do we always seem to have MONEY for the things we

want, but when MONEY is needed to do the LORD’S work,
we never seem to have enough?

-Why is it we can always MAKE TIME to do the things we

want to do, but when it comes to giving our TIME to the
LORD’S work, there never seems to be enough time?
-Why do we always seem to have plenty of ENERGY to go
shopping or go to ball games or go out and enjoy our
favorite recreational activities, but when it comes to
spiritual matters, we’re too tired and run down?

Why does it always have to be “the LORD’S cow” that dies?”

7. You see, it all comes down to A MATTER OF THE HEART!

We must make a conscious, willful decision to value the

eternal more than the earthly.

Someone once said it this way………..

MONEY will buy you a BED, but not SLEEP.

SLEEP
BOOKS,
BOOKS but not BRAINS.
FOOD,
FOOD but not an APPETITE.
BEAUTY, but not CHARACTER.
A HOUSE, but not A HOME.
MEDICINE,
MEDICINE but not GOOD HEALTH.
LUXURY,
LUXURY but not CULTURE.
AMUSEMENTS,
AMUSEMENTS but not TRUE HAPPINESS.
RELIGION, but not SALVATION.
A SOLID GOLD CROSS,
CROSS but not a SAVIOR.
 CONCLUSION

The rabbis of ancient Israel used to tell the story of King Monobaz.

When Monobaz became king he inherited incredible riches from

his forefathers, the previous kings. But during the time of his reign
he gave all of his fortune to the POOR, the NEEDY, and the SUFFERING.

When his angry brothers questioned him about giving away the
family fortune, King Monobaz replied………

“My fathers gathered treasures for below, I have gathered

treasures for above. They stored treasures in a place over
which the hand of man can rule, I have stored treasures in a
place over which the hand of no man can rule. My fathers
collected treasures which bear no interest; I have gathered
treasures which eternally bear interest. My fathers gathered
treasures of money, I have gathered treasures in souls.
My fathers gathered treasures in this world, and I have
gathered treasures in the world to come.”

You see, King Monobaz's heart was right with GOD. He lived by this
truth that Jesus has taught us here in Matthew 6 ; and that is he
understood that one cannot divide his love between GOD and the
things of this world.

How about you? Is your heart right with GOD this morning?
I ask you to prayerfully consider your answer to that
question as we come to our time of decision this morning.