A New Heart, by Pastor D. Patrick Ramsey
Below the sermon highlight points is a 27-minute mp3 sermon by pastor Ramsey. I provided a lot of points because it is a very significant sermon in my opinion.
Sermon text: Deuteronomy 30, and Colossians 2
Sermon Highlights:
*The church is not monolithic, each congregation and individual believer has a unique story
*Our stories, congregations and individual Christians, are not finished yet
*We don’t know the future; how long we will be faithful…
*We do know that the church, like Israel, is a mixed multitude: wheat and tares have been sown together
*Some start well and turn away; some never return, some do
*Christian organizations tend to go downhill over time; things are always changing
*For example, the churches in Revelation 1-3, no longer exist
*Jesus’ church still survives, but individual churches and believers come and go
*How then shall we live? We need to be faithful to the Lord
*Moses’ warnings to Israel indicate that they will turn away and be cursed by God for breaking His covenant, as in, for example, Deuteronomy 31:16-18
*Israel did profess their faith to the Lord at Sinai and at Moab; however, their faith was apparently very shallow, like the seeds that Jesus spoke of in His parable of the Sower, the seeds that fell in rocky soil: Mat 13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, Mat 13:6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
*That is why the Lord said in Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!
*The first generation out of Egypt after the exodus, rebelled again and again because of their shallow faith
*Hence, Moses said in Deuteronomy 29:4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
*So, what was Israel to do in light of this?
*They had to do as we have to do, abide by Deut. 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
*The ‘secret things’ of God, include: the future; answers to our prayers; God’s providence to us; to our family, our nation, the world…
*We know much more than Old Testament believers, but much still remains unknown to us
*What does belong to us? All that has been revealed in the Old and New Testaments, so that we might abide in it and learn to trust and obey the Lord, REGARDLESS of what happens in our lives, our society, the world
*We know that we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, keeping His commands
*Israel did break His covenant and was sent into exile by the Lord. Why did that happen?
*Not because what God required of them was incomprehensible or impossible
*That is, the law that God gave them was not a secret thing of God’s; nor was it something they couldn’t do; it was not unknowable, inaccessible or unknowable
* Deu 30:11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Deu 30:14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
*Verses 12ff are likely a reference to the Epic of Gilgamesh: he was a king that wanted to find the secret of eternal life and conquer death. He went on a quest for immortality which took him to a distant land wherein he was instructed, thereafter he performed all the tasks he had been given yet never obtained eternal life. He returned home, became old and died.
*Via such a reference, Moses was saying to Israel – You do not have to make such an impossible journey because God has given you the words of eternal life and Himself
*The apostle Paul referred to Moses’ words in Romans 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. Rom 10:6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) Rom 10:7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). Rom 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); Rom 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Rom 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” [please read the chapter]
*Israel needed to believe the Lord and confess the Lord’s words with their mouths; it is the Lord who delivered them from slavery in Egypt, and He would continue to deliver them if they put their trust in Him
*That is, the word of life was not at the end of some impossible journey in some far-away place; but it was very near them – we need to believe in our hearts that Jesus rose from the dead, and confess with our mouths that He is Lord and we shall be saved
*Because Israel abandoned the covenant with the Lord via their unbelief, they were exiled: the message they heard from God, they did not mix with faith (Hebrews 3 and 4), it was not in their heart or mouth
*Why did they refuse the message? Because, as Moses and Paul stated, they had an uncircumcised heart which prohibited them from turning from unbelief/disobedience to belief and obedience
*How may one get a circumcised heart; as He did in the cases of believers like Moses, Caleb and Joshua
*True, He did not give the majority of Israel such a heart, hence they were inevitably exiled
*But God is not responsible for their unbelief, nor ours; we are responsible for our choices, having been created in God’s image, we are morally responsible
*Thus, Moses pleaded in Deut. 30 Deu 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. Deu 30:16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Deu 30:17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, Deu 30:18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
*Even though God must circumcise a believer’s heart; there is a real tension between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility [I think pastor Ramsey is saying that both are true, we must know that although God is sovereign in our salvation, we are responsible to diligently seek God’s grace via acceptable channels: prayer, reading His word, hearing the gospel preached at a biblical church, fellowshipping with believers via prayer meetings…via His grace, believing His promises]
*In the following passages, God promises to give such a heart: Deu 30:6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Jermiah 31:33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer 31:34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Eze 36:28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Eze 36:29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
*[Please read the entire chapters for context and for more complete understanding]
*The above was accomplished via the Lord Jesus Christ and the new covenant established in His blood
*The apostle Paul used the language of circumcision in Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, Col 2:7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, Col 2:10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Col 2:11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, Col 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [please read the entire chapter]
*God, in Christ, is the one who grants / gives repentance and faith to His people so they might turn to the Lord and be saved: Acts 5:31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
*Acts 10:44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. Acts 10:45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
*Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
*The New Testament says that God must give repentance and faith but that it is also our responsibility
* Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
*The above was true for the apostle Paul and is true for us
*But what if you have been, or are unfaithful to the Lord now or in the future, abandoning the covenant you had with the Lord Jesus Christ?
*You may repent, and turn back to the Lord and He will forgive you [If you were in such a state, it seems natural that you would pray to the Lord for the grace to turn back to Him; as prayer is a chief channel via which He gives grace, you could expect to be heard in His time – I speculate, based on my own experience, sermons I’ve heard and the word of God]
*God is still a forgiving God who will restore repentant hearts
*God restored Israel after He had exiled them for their sinfulness, He can restore you from your rebellion also
*Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son seems to be based on Deuteronomy 30 – in his rebellion, he came to his senses and returned to his father, who welcomed him with open arms
* Luke 15:14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need… Luk 15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you [the picture of a repentant heart]. Luk 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ Luk 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him [a picture of forgiveness]. [See Luke 15:11-32 for the whole parable.]
*That is the God we know and serve. Amid our unfaithfulness, we might think that God could never forgive us, that we have been too rebellious, but God is not like us (we tend to be unforgiving of others’ sins against us…)
*When you find yourself in a foreign place because of your sin, remember that God is gracious and merciful
For other sermons by D Patrick Ramsey, click the following link:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=nashuaopc