Anatomy of a Man of God: His Heart

Introduction: The Intimate Connection Between Heart and Mouth

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, September 25th, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Those of you who were with us in the previous hour, unless you sat in the auditorium of phase one, in a state in which you are grievously quenching the Holy Spirit in your own life, could not help but be conscious that God was speaking to us, that God was underscoring afresh the great and awesome privilege that is ours to be surrounded with gospel light and a plenitude of Christ's gifts to his church. And I frankly find it very difficult after a season such as that season when our brother Martinez spoke to us to wrench all of the evidence. The energy of the soul and the emotions of the heart, and to pull them in another direction. And if you were not there for that previous hour, may I urge you, please, as soon as it's available, to get the tape of that hour, and though it will not fully capture that dimension

1:21 of the Lord's presence in the midst of his gathered people, obtain it and listen to it with the prayer that God would speak to you and draw out your heart with fresh and intense prayer. I have been in large concerns for the work of the gospel in the Philippines. However, in the providence of God, we come in the ministry of the word in this hour to continue our consideration of what I have chosen to call a study in the anatomy of a man of God. Two Lord's Days ago, in conjunction with our annual Academy Night, I began this brief series of studies.

2:04 And the rationale for considering this subject is quite simple. Since God has given to us as a congregation the great privilege and awesome responsibility of carrying on in this assembly a four-year program of ministerial training, it is vital that three concerns should constantly be brought before you as the people of God in conjunction with the Lord. First of all, we need to keep a biblical standard before the minds of the men who are in the academy. What is the great end of all of their involvement in the life of the academy and in the life of the church? That vision must constantly be etched in their minds. And secondly, we must set before the newer members who come amongst us a biblical basis

3:18 for this ministry of the academy and what it is that their brothers and sisters are excited about as they begin to become aware that within the life of this church there is such a thing as the trinity ministerial academy and then thirdly it is vital in the language of peter to stir up the pure minds by way of remembrance of those of you who are long-standing members of in this church for it is relatively easy to have vision and excitement and commitment on the threshold of any new endeavor but it is only by a strict spiritual discipline that that vision and excitement can not only be maintained over the long haul but be increased and intensified by the power of god so in pursuit of these concerns we are considering those spiritual graces and character traits and also those gifts of the spirit which comprise the basic spiritual anatomy of a man of god you By the use of the term a man of God, I mean one who is made by Christ into an able minister of the new covenant.

4:43 And in our two previous studies, we have examined the anatomy as it pertains to the head of a man of God, the eyes of a man of God, and the ears of a man of God. Now, this morning, we shall proceed to examine his heart, and then, God willing, next Lord's day, his mouth. Now, before taking up these two parts in that order, I believe I ought to give you a biblical rationale for the order and for the close connection of these two elements of the anatomy of a man of God, his heart and his mouth. Now, were we to do, as I originally suggested, move from the top of his head to his feet, we would move from his head, his eyes, his ears, to his mouth, and then to the heart. But to stick to that order would be to fly in the face of a very clearly established biblical truth, namely, that the heart is the key to what happens. in the mouth. And so I ask you by way of introduction to look at two passages in the

6:03 Old Testament with me and then two in the New. First of all, Proverbs 16 and verse 23. We are seeking simply to establish the intimate connection between the heart and the mouth and the propriety of addressing first of all the heart and then the mouth. In Proverbs 16 and verse 23, the wise man Solomon, writing by the inspiration of the Spirit, informs us that the heart of the wise instructs his mouth and adds learning to his lips. It is the heart of the wise that gives instruction to his mouth, and it is the state of the heart that renders the learning for his lips that becomes a means of edification. You see the same emphasis in Psalm 37, verses 30 and 31. Psalm 37, verses 30 and 31.

7:22 The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom, and his tongue, speaks justice. Well, why is it that the mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom and his tongue speaks justice? Well, the answer is given in verse 31. The law of God is in his heart.

7:48 None of his steps shall slide. What happens in the realm of the mouth of the righteous is but a revelation of the truth. The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom, and his tongue, of the unseen but real state of his heart. And it is because the law of God is in the heart of the righteous that the mouth of the righteous speaks of wisdom. And now two equally clear texts in the New Testament. First of all, Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34b, in a context in which our Lord is exposing the shallowness of the heart of the righteous. And it is because the law of God is in the heart of the righteous that the mouth of the righteous speaks of wisdom. And now two equally clear texts in the New Testament. First of all, Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34b, in a context in which our Lord is exposing the shallowness and the hypocritical nature of the religion of the Pharisees. Our Lord says in Matthew 12 and verse 34b, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The mouth is but the revelation of the overflow of the heart. Out of the abundance or the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

8:58 And in a parallel passage, just turn over to Matthew 15 and verse 18, but the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart. And here our Lord states in language that is not at all figurative. It is straightforward instruction telling us that the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart. And here our Lord states in language that is not at all figurative. It is straightforward instruction telling us that the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart. And then in that well-known passage concerning what we would call the way in which sinners are saved in the psychology of conversion, Romans 10 verses 9 and 10, here there is such a close conjunction between the true state of the heart and the mouth that the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be integral, but the activity of the mouth is said to be in any true conversion experience. In Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, we read as follows.

10:12 Because if you shall confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And here the apostle makes it plain that apart from those instances where a man might be mute and unable to articulate words, so intimate is the conjunction between the heart and the mouth, that wherever there is true faith in the heart, there will be the expression of that faith by the verbal confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, most likely a reference to that formal public confession of the lordship of Christ made in the institution of God's own will and choice, the institution of baptism, more of which you will learn concerning which more you will hear God willing this evening. Well, I need not weary you with more text, but surely these suffice to anyone sensitive to the authority of Holy Scripture

11:38 that there is indeed this very intimate connection between the heart and the mouth, the mouth and the heart, and in terms of order it is the condition of the heart that is revealed in the act. Now, granted, I am fully aware of what the Bible teaches concerning the hypocrite. In the case of the hypocrite, his mouth is a calculated effort to cloak the true state of his heart. We find that articulated in a passage I read last Lord's Day in Ezekiel 33-31.

12:16 For in that passage it says, With their mouth they speak fair, but their heart goes after their idols, or after covetousness. And again, in Mark 7 in verse 6, Jesus said, This people draws near to me with their mouth, but their heart is far from me. So the Bible does not say that the mouth is always an accurate reflection of the heart. No, in the case of the hypocrite, the mouth is a deceptive reflection of the state of the heart.

12:49 But you see, we're studying the anatomy of a man of God, not a hypocrite. Not a harley. Not one of those spoken of in 2 Corinthians 2 who make merchandise of the word of God, who talk of Christ and religion and salvation and the blood and conversion and the Holy Spirit, only to cloak the foul, wretched, base and devilish demons of ambition and lechery and pride and personal aggrandizement. But in the natural state of things, where hypocrisy has not entered in or physical limitations have not cut short the connection, the Bible clearly indicates that a man's mouth is the echo chamber of his heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good. And in a very real sense, is this nowhere more true than in the case of a man of God?

14:04 His mouth is the audible echo chamber of the silent state and condition of his heart. Or to change the imagery, his mouth is the visible pool that is fed by the invisible springs that flow out of his mouth. That flow out of his mouth. That flow out of his mouth.

14:24 That flow out of his mouth. That flow out of his mouth. That flow out of his mouth. heart. Well, having established, I trust, to the satisfaction of every fair-minded man or woman, boy and girl, that it is right to connect the heart and the mouth and to consider first of all the heart as that which is echoed in the mouth, let us address this morning this subject, the anatomy of the heart of a man of God. Now, when I use the term heart, in what sense am I using it? In what sense are we analyzing the heart of a man of God? I know of no better answer to that question than the one I found in my preparation in

Defining the 'Heart' in Biblical Terms

15:11 an Old Testament commentator writing on one of the texts we shall consider, and this is what he writes concerning what the Bible means when it speaks of the heart. The scripture names the heart as the intellectual soul center of man in its concrete central unity, its dynamic activity, and its ethical determination on all sides. All the radiations of the physical and of the spiritual life, the physical and of the spiritual life, concentrate in the heart, and again unfold themselves from the heart. The heart is the instrument of the thinking, the willing, and the perceiving life of the spirit. It is the seat of the knowledge of oneself, of the knowledge of God, of the knowledge of our relationship to God, and also of the law of God impressed upon our moral nature. The heart is the workshop. of our individual spiritual and ethical form of life brought about by self-activity.

16:25 The life in its higher and in its lower sense goes out from the heart and receives from it the impulse of the direction which it takes. And how earnestly, therefore, must we feel ourselves admonished, how sacredly bound to preserve the heart in purity so that from this spring of life may go forth not mere seeming life and a caricature of life, but a true life well-pleasing unto God. To summarize the words of this commentator, the heart is the seat and the source of our thinking, of our willing, of our choosing. It is the very center of our being. And therefore it is vital that we examine from the Word of God the anatomy of the heart of a man of God. If we could dissect that element in a man of God which constitutes his heart, if we could analyze, if we could project its condition into visual images, what would we think?

Characteristic 1: A Constantly Guarded Heart

17:43 What would we find that heart to be? Well, in the time allotted, let me suggest three things this morning. We would find, first of all, that it is a constantly guarded heart. If we could visually conceptualize the condition of the heart of a man of God, we would find it a heart that is constantly surrounded with alert sentries.

18:11 We would find it a heart, constantly set about by armed guards jealously guarding every inlet to its being. And here the pivotal text is Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Why do I say that the heart of a man of God will be, first of all, a constantly guarded heart?

18:43 Why do I say that the heart of a man of God will be, first of all, a constantly guarded heart? And here the pivotal text is Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Why do I say that the heart of a man of God will be, first of all, a constantly guarded heart? Why do I say that the heart of a man of God will be, first of all, a constantly guarded heart?

18:45 Why do I say that the heart of a man of God will be, first of all, a constantly guarded heart? Keep thy heart with all diligence, or as the marginal reading in the 1901 renders it, above all that you guard, for out of it are the issues of life. Now, there are many things, according to Solomon, that are worth being guarded as a precious commodity. How carefully you parents guard.

19:15 Guard your children, and rightly so. To fail to do so is to come under the indictment of Scripture without natural affection. How carefully we guard our own physical well-being. Let someone or something threaten our well-being, and we immediately spring to the defense not only of our children but our own physical well-being.

19:40 And there are many things that are worth guarding. But now Solomon says to his son, Guard your heart with all diligence or above everything that you guard. For it alone has this unique function. Out of it are the issues of life.

20:06 Your life, my son, in all of its various streams, has one common source, and that is the state. The state and condition of your heart. Therefore, above all that you guard, guard your heart. And if that is true for every single Christian, regardless of his station in life, how much more is it true of the man of God with all of the additional temptations to which he is subject on the one hand, all of the additional responsibilities and burdens placed upon him on the other.

20:56 The man of God must constantly look upon his heart as a garden that like the garden in his backyard will of itself without any effort on his part become nothing but a weed bed unless it is constantly carefully guarded, pulling out the fraytions of the weeds of pride, the weeds of secret sin and carpition, secret lust and envy and covetousness, bitterness and unforgiveness and resentment and a host of other sins to which he is not only subject as an imperfectly sanctified saint, but to which he is positioned. Mission in the work of the ministry makes him more evil, for he pours out the good of his people only to have his motives maligned, vulnerable to the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness in a way that the ordinary Christian may not be, because much of his life is a life alone in the privacy of his study, where his mind is not drawn to the labor of his hands, but where his labor is.

22:24 When he is carried on in the workshop of his mind, how much more vulnerable is he to rising with grandiose thoughts of himself or with lecherous thoughts that are hidden upon the walls of his memory by the activity of the prince of darkness who will come to plague and to afflict him even when he is pouring over his Bible. You see the heart of a man of God if he be a man of God. He must of necessity be a constantly guarded heart. For the moment he ceases to guard his heart under the imagery of the garden that is not weeded, that heart will choke out plantings of God's love and perhaps worst of all that discipline and privilege which is the very essence of his strength. Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18.

23:37 Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18.

23:41 Psalm 66 verse 18. And when a man of God hath access to the throne of God, there to wrestle pork, there to have vital intimate wheels, there to take of the stores of God's grace and wisdom and power, once access to the throne of God, is impeded by sin regarded, yet the sight seems to� the veil of their table. For the heart which has no power, nor anyattle as to the power of God, either of them that haunteth or tastes Christian最患者. man of god the moment he regarded iniquity in his heart mark it down and never forget it you men preparing for the ministry the greatest struggles you will ever in the ministry struggles that will

24:46 pursue sins of baron in your most blessed season will be the struggles qualify christian ministry reflecting upon this text in proverbs 4 23 and looking back of ministry my mind went back to the spring of 1956 when a 21 year old senior at a bible college in the southern part of our country had to preach his senior chapel sermon one of the requirements of the bible college that i attended and from which i graduated was that every senior student somewhere in the course of his last year would preach

26:04 at one of the chapel services and as i prayed and sought the face of god lord what shall i say first of all to myself and then to my fellow students what is the note that needs most desperately to be sounded you know what text i preached on that morning more than 32 years ago proverbs 4 23 keep thy heart above all that thou guardest for out of it are the issues of life. And among the things I said that morning are some of the very things I've said today. I said them then in prospect, not knowing years God would give me to minister, not knowing what the circumstances would be, but I did assert experience or four under my belt being chased of seeking a second work of grace in the baptism and the deeper lie abundant life and having

27:22 praise rating and come to a set that there was but one way for some blessing of God upon my life and my ministry. And that was to have a constantly guarded heart. 32 years later, dear people, I have to say, little did you know, young man, but I have no occasion to regret that I preached on that text for the 32 years have simply confirmed me in the conviction that it is here that the battle is won or is lost. And so I say to you men in the academy, settle it before God. If you would be a man of God, this part of your anatomy must be one of great concern, your heart, and it must be a constantly guarded heart, not out there sometime in the future, but here and now you must learn the discipline. of tracking dial, recipient confidence arranging of your brotherhood year red.

28:41 and lost an ambition and envy of your brethren's gifts set them out into the light of God before the cross can vaporize before the power of his blood and the purifying influence of his spirit. What you indulge now may rise up and slay you. 20 years from now, market man in the academy, you may indulge in Infinite Love, giving you hope the power of The Holy game fleeting sexual fantasies and no one that those but market if 20 it will be because you didn't heed what you heard this morning market who's got that unmortified ambition that horrible

29:49 ambition you want to be somebody you know it's there but oh you seem so humble and so laid back and so non-assertive but god knows and you know that that ambition is there market someday you'll sell the truth for the sake of your reputation you'll sell for a name because you didn't heed what you heard this morning guard your heart above all that you guard and i say to you people in the congregation as you pray for these men and i know many of you pray for them fervently and regularly oh as you pray god give them strength and grace to apply themselves to their studies give them grace and strength to be good husbands and good fathers oh dear people cry to god that god will make these men those who are committed to have a constantly

31:09 guarded heart and then i say to you who sit here with no thoughts of the ministry how can you how can you how can you how can you pray that someone else will guard his heart if you're not guarding your own if you're not acquainted with the fact that this is the area is won or lost and you pray for others one of the old writers said that the greatest work in conversion is to win the heart to god and the greatest work of the christian life is to keep the heart with god the old man knew his bible and knew his own heart what's the great work in conversion without which there is no true conversion it's to win the heart it's no big deal to get people to make decisions and pray the prayer and raise the hand and walk an aisle or absorb the climate of their christian home in language and parrot the talk but to have

32:23 this hard yet nothing but a birth from above a resurrection from the dead an intrusion of divine and gracious disruption upon the human spirit of the church and by die long may god keep what we do it can ever effect. That's the great work of conversion is to win the heart for God. And what's the great work of the Christian life? It's to keep the heart with God.

32:58 That's why John closed his first epistle by saying, My little children, guard yourselves from idols. Guard yourselves from idols. For an idol is any person or thing that would take my heart from single, focused devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Characteristic 2: A Continually Tender Heart

33:27 Well, I must hasten to the second characteristic of the heart of a man of God. If we could dissect it and analyze it, we would find it not only to be a constantly guarded heart, but we would find it to be a continually tender heart.

33:47 A continuously tender. A constantly tender heart. The Bible speaks of a hard heart. It speaks of a slow and unresponsive heart.

33:59 It speaks of an evil heart of unbelief. And in these descriptions, various issues are at stake. You remember with Pharaoh and his hard heart, the issue at stake was he would not respond to the voice of God or submit to the judgments of God. Every time he heard the voice of God and saw the judgments of God, Scripture says, he hardened.

34:21 He hardened his heart. That is, he resisted the natural flow of that voice and that judgment which would have been to cause him to release God's people. And then our Lord in Luke 24 said, O fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have written. A foolish and a slow heart is one that is sluggish in laying hold of all that God has said and rejoicing in it.

34:54 But now a tender heart has a peculiar reference to a man's sensitivity to sin. And follow closely now the immediacy of his response to the first awareness of that sin. And it is upon that aspect that I want to focus this morning because it has peculiar reference to a man of God. And I want you to turn to 2 Kings, chapter 22, for a living picture of a tender heart.

35:31 And it's in this context that that very terminology is found.

35:36 2 Kings, chapter 22.

35:42 We read in verse 1, Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. And he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adiah, of Bethlehem. Bozkoth.

35:59 And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. Then in the next paragraph we read what happened in the area of the restoration of concern for the house of God, for the temple. And now in verse 8, And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I found the book of the Lord, the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan to read it.

36:35 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. Now notice, God's word is simply being read in the ears of the king.

37:05 The law of God, the word of God, the book of the law has been rediscovered and now it's read in the ears of King Josiah. And notice what happens. And it came to pass when the king of the book of the law that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan and Achbor the son of Micaiah and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah the king's servant saying, Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found.

37:47 For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book to do according unto all that is written concerning us. Now pause for a moment and follow.

38:03 The book of the law has been discovered. It is simply read in the hearing of the king. The moment he hears it, his heart is so sad as he identifies with the sin of his people that he tears him of inward humiliation. And he is concerned that this book and what it contains be known among God's people.

38:30 And then we read God's assessment of this response. He says in verses 14 and following, the nation has, gone beyond my showing mercy. Wrath must indeed fall. The captivity will come.

38:47 But now verse 18. But unto the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, as touching the words which you have heard, because heart was tender and you did humble yourself before the Lord, when you heard what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, then God goes on to say as a result of it, the judgment will not come in his day, but in the days of his successors. But now I want you to focus upon God's assessment of what lay at the root of this immeasurable meaning of the book of the law. He says, because your heart was tender and the indication his heart was tender was this, you humbled yourself when you heard. That's all he needed. He just needed to have his heart become conscious of the discrepancy between what God said and where he...

40:15 That's a tender heart.

40:19 A heart that doesn't need to have the word read. Expounded, thundered, illustrated. It just needs to hear the word of God. And it responds.

40:34 It doesn't need to have the word heard and resisted and resisted and then have stroke until finally the person says, Oh God, I capitulate. You are mightier than I know. A tender heart that the moment it feels the slightest strike of its chambers, it responds. In humbling itself before God.

41:09 Now that's a tender heart. And a tender heart is a commodity which a man of God must have. He must have. If he himself is to keep a conscience void of offense to God.

41:27 If he is to do anything other than preach himself into the condition of being the worst hypocrite in the world. If he is to dive with authority and with incisiveness into the condition, the consciences of others, he must first of all have known what it is to dive into his own conscience with the light of God's word striking all the dark places and revealing anything that is displeasing unto God.

41:57 That's a tender heart.

The Frightening Loss of Tenderness: David's Example

42:00 And the frightening thing is, the frightening thing,

42:07 may God help me to somehow convey it, is that a man may have a tender heart at one point in his life and so lose that tenderness that he can be marked by a hardness of heart that is nothing short of shocking and indescribable. And now I want us to look at such an incident in the Old Testament. Turn back to 1 Samuel 24. We're going to see a tender heart in a young man named David.

42:44 He's already been marked out through the ministry, if the prophet Samuel as the next king of Israel.

42:53 But Saul in his envy and jealousy is chasing around the wilderness of Judea like he were some kind of an outlaw or some kind of an insurgent, the head of some kind of guerrilla force. And in the midst of that horrible envy and jealous passion driving him to chase David, we have an incident recorded in chapter 24 of 1 Samuel that shows the state of David's heart at this time in his life. It came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines that it was told him saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi. Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheep coats by the way where was a cave. And Saul went in to cover his feet, a euphemism to relieve him. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.

43:57 And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day of which the Lord said unto you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand and you shall do to him as it seems good unto you. You see what his men were saying? And you trace out the sacred record. There's no record of any such oracle ever being delivered by a prophet.

44:17 Now whether a prophet had delivered that oracle and it's not recorded, we don't know. But David said, His men come to him and said, Look, the word of promise, either one they made up by inference that God had already clearly marked him out by the anointing which took place at the hand of Saul or by an unrecorded prophecy and the scripture is silent and so we must not be dogmatic. But they seek to encourage David, said, Look at the providence of God. Your enemy is delivered into your hand.

44:46 Right now, David, God's put him in your hand.

44:50 You can slay him and take the throne. And apparently the thought at first took root in David. And so what did David do? And David arose and apparently tempted if nothing more than to show up Saul and maybe the seeds of murdering Saul were still unchecked in his heart.

45:13 We can't tell. David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.

45:21 So mighty and skillful a warrior was David, that he was able to sneak up close enough to the place where Saul had laid his outer cloak and cut off a piece of that garment. But now notice what happens. Verse 5, And it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt. He had even done a deed which at its worst could have been an expression of just the fact that the little seed upon his life or could have been at the least an attempt to show him up and stick it to him.

46:11 But it says his heart smote him. Verse 6, Was David going to stand upon his reputation and his dignity? No, he's man enough with his tender heart to confess his sin to his men. He said to his men, God forbid that I should do this thing unto my Lord Jehovah's anointed to put forth my hand against him seeing he is the Lord's anointed.

46:36 So David checked his men with these words and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way. What a picture of a tender heart. No sooner has his knife done the work was but a cutting off of the hem of his heart because it was a tender.

47:15 Now I want you to turn over to 2 Samuel. Same man, now the king, years richer in experience, years richer in the privileges of grace,

47:31 in the confer of God's goodness and mercy and the triumphs of his military conquest. A man who has lived under the canopy of the smile of God, the psalmist of Israel who has been an organ of direct revelation to give us the psalms, many of them mighty king in Israel. Man,

47:59 and if this were not the word of God, we'd say surely someone wrote this and inserted it to slander that good and godly man. For we read in 2 Samuel chapter 11 these sad words.

48:14 Came to pass at the return of the year at the time when kings go out to battle that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at the time of the return of the king. At Jerusalem and would God the next verse read, but his heart smote him.

48:41 This was not a time for kings to be tarrying at Jerusalem. It was the time for king to go forth to wars of physical debilitation and the passing of the years had not so eroded his vital powers that it was no longer for him to be leading his armies for whatever reason when kings go forth to war and when God's kings should be warring in God's name but his violence and his heart smote him and repenting he girded on his armor summoned his armor bearers went forth to battle but it doesn't say that. Verse 2 And it came to pass at eventide that David arose from off his bed what in the world is he doing lying in bed till evening walked upon the roof of the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman bathing and would God the text then said and his heart smote him that he should have looked upon another woman long enough once he saw that she was naked and bathing would God that a tender heart would have caused him

50:09 to be smitten but he didn't and so the scripture says the woman was very beautiful to look upon and lust began to burn and would God the next part of that verse had said and his heart smote him but it didn't and David sent and inquired after the woman he already had six wives he was already a gourmet of fine flesh why did he need another course on his table he sent and inquired after the woman and one said is not this Bathsheba the wife the wife the daughter I'm sorry of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite the wife of Uriah the Hittite and the moment he heard wife coveted another man's wife but it doesn't say that verse four and David sent messengers and took her and when she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned to her house would God the next text said and his heart

51:30 and that his heart smote him and the woman conceived and she sent and told David and said I am with child would God that it then read and his heart smote him his heart smote him the swelling his heart had been smitten but no what does he do he sends for the woman's husband calls him back from the battle says have a little R&R go down and enjoy the benefits of home and bed and intimacy with your wife you know what that noble man said look at verse 11 and Uriah said unto David the ark in Israel and Judah things that at one time were David's most precious commodities the ark the symbol of God's special presence and Israel and Judah abide in booths and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open field here's a man who was a native Hittite that is one of the pagans who's become obviously an Israelite in heart

52:58 and from the mouth of this converted pagan David hears these words Israel, Judah in booths Joab and the servants encamped shall I go to my house and eat and drink and lie with my wife as you live and your soul lives I will not do this thing oh dear people if anything should have smitten David think of those words here's a man who says I will not even enjoy the soldiers and leaders David's heart should have smitten him no record that his heart smote him he then stoops to trying to get Uriah drunk take note he knows that self-control and drunkenness never are found together so he says if I can get enough alcohol in his brain I'll neutralize these noble convictions this is David the man whose heart smote him when he just cut a little cloth off the kid's heart and he said David's heart is not a thing in a cave now he's calculating to get a man drunk

54:21 so that the man to be submerged so that he'll go home and have intercourse with his wife and when he sees her belly begin to swell he can say well that one night stand was productive that's David's mind at this point you're beginning to feel sick you're beginning to feel sick then my friends you read on to the end and if you can keep down your breakfast here's the height of it David's plot fails so then he sends a message message up to the front of the battlefield saying hey take this fellow Uriah put him up in the front ranks and we'll make sure that he's taken quote in the hard providence of war you win some you lose some and after the messenger comes back and tells him that his plot has succeeded will you look at his calloused response in verse 25 then David said unto the messenger thus shall you say unto Joab let not this thing displease you for the sword devours one as well as another make your battle more strong against the city and overthrow it and encourage him

55:50 you see what he's saying blind fate orders some are taken some come back alive so Uriah was taken dear people how did this happen is this the same man that went in the cave and stands as a sentence for the people of Israel and stands as a sentence for the people of Israel and stands as a sentence for the people of Israel between them and Saul now he becomes a calculating shirker of his duty a calculating adulterer a calculating murderer and then for all intents he becomes a confessing pagan who says the world is run by chance how in God's name did he get from there to there I'll tell you how listen to me I'll tell you how I'll tell you how he thought the first time his heart smote him he could resist the smiting and not build a callous on the folds of his heart and the second time and the third

57:16 and I don't know what the instances were I have often studied the narrative and I have some tentative convictions as to what those incidents were that led to this hardness and I have not time to go back to that into what is but my own theory of the skimpy biblical data but this much is clear if the first time after the cave when David's heart smote him for that sin just watching one TV program that he knew was borderline in its purity and his heart smote him but he said oh well you know no harm just looking at one magazine and several pages on it that cause if someone could have come to David and said David do you know that a few years from now you will be rising from your bed at eventide you will look upon another woman your lust will burn and your burning lust will lead to adultery and your adultery will lead to a vicious horrible cover-up plot and the cover-up plot when failing

58:43 David would have what are you talking about you don't know me the problem was David forgot to know himself folks I didn't write this and that ain't written so you and I can throw stones at David it's written first Corinthians 10 for our admonition let him that thinks he stand take heed lest he fall what is the anatomy of a man of God when we focus all we will find that it's not only a well but it is in every instance a heart but it is in every instance a heart but it is in every instance a heart but it is in every instance a heart but it is in every instance a heart God continues that word Pouring it upon the conscience a lowered adjuster another man

60:11 now you market men preparing for the ministry if you aren't ready for a lifetime of dealing that way with your heart to keep it tender bail out will you because when you fall become a public scandal to the whole church of christ but you will fall it's only a matter of time and i say to you god's people this doesn't just apply to david if with all his privileges and all his light and all his understanding and all his experience he could stoop so low what will happen to you if you go on playing with sin that's why some of you are such a mass of inconsistency you've got your checklist of right and wrong but in matters that are so evident to anyone with a conscience made sensitive by the word of god what you say and do because you've got such a track record of resisting the word of god when it's read in this place when it's preached in this place you have become the most clever skillful person in pulling out the arrows breaking them over the knee of your pride and going as you were when you came and one day

61:39 it's going to be manifest unto all keeping a tender heart my friends is wearisome in my youth i was naive to think that as i got older the struggles would get fewer but i got news for you i got news for you this wasn't any boy 17 recorded in second samuel chapter 11 this was a man probably in his late 50s maybe that's why the passage scares me dear people when you pray for your elders what do you want to pray for them lord make them all sweet and nice so they never step on our sins no lord keep them with tender hearts at any cost well i must bring this to a close let me at least give you the third heading the heart of a man of god is an increasingly long-lasting love of god it's not an easy love it's an increasingly long-lasting love it's an increasingly loving, responsive, and vulnerable heart.

Characteristic 3: An Increasingly Loving, Responsive, and Vulnerable Heart

63:04 You men aspiring to the ministry, read periodically 1 Corinthians 13. If I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love, I'm nothing. If God were to combine in you all of the passion of a Whitefield, the eloquence of a Spurgeon, the brilliant analytical mind of a Jonathan Edwards, and the thunderous voice of a Chalmers, roll it all together in one preacher, hold down a pulpit and preach to packed auditoriums for 50 years, and if it doesn't flow out of love, God says it's like clanging on the top of a garbage can.

63:44 That's what God says.

63:47 And if you're to be a man of God, you must have an increasingly loving, responsive, and vulnerable heart. And what do I mean by responsive and vulnerable? There's need everywhere, people. And the scripture says the moment we face spiritual, spiritual need and temporal need, we do one of two things.

64:07 1 John 3, 17, He that seeth his brother have need and shuts up the bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him. The moment you perceive need, remember the eyes of the man of God, they see reality. They see men in their true need. And the moment it's seen, a demand is made upon the heart.

64:28 It must either move out in appropriate action, and it always costs a lot. Or it tightens itself in a kind of self-defense mechanism called in the Bible, shutting up the bowels of compassion. And right in this second letter to the Corinthians, we'll have some of the most vivid illustrations of a man who had an increasingly loving, responsive, and vulnerable heart. One of the most moving passages in all of this book we'll come to in chapter 6, God willing, where Paul says, O Corinthians, our mouth is opened and enlarged.

65:04 Our heart is enlarged. Though we have been squeezed out of your heart, you're not squeezed out of mine. Though my love is unrequited, and he goes on further to say, though the more I love, the less I be loved. That's what it is to be vulnerable.

65:20 And I tell you, pastoral love is a very vulnerable thing. When you can say in the secret place before God, God thou knowest with all my sin and failure, I live, I labor, I pray, I preach, I count, I counsel, I shepherd with one passion to take as many people to heaven as much like your son as your grace will make them.

65:48 And then to have the very people for whom you're pouring out your life when you know God's given you the ability that, humanly speaking, could have made you wealthy, could have made you at least somewhat well-known in certain circles. And when before God you know you've turned your back upon all of that to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, to spend and be spent for the good of God, and you reach out the bread of life to feed them and they snap at your fingers. You reach out your physician's fingers to cut out their cancers and they cut off your hand and call you harsh and cruel and unfeeling. My friend, you'll never stay in the ministry unless you have a heart that is an increasingly loving, responsive, and vulnerable heart.

66:34 That's all I'll say about it because our time is gone.

Call to Dealings at the Throne of Grace

66:39 Anyone want to stay in the academy? No resignations accepted today.

66:47 But you better have dealings at the throne of grace.

66:51 Far better that God would turn out one man of God every four years than 15 play preachers a year.

67:03 God's problem has never been the number. Just the opposite. When he would conquer through his servant Gideon, he says, you've got too many. Tell all the sissies to go home.

67:14 And that thinned out the ranks by about 50%. He says, still too many.

67:19 The Lord says, got down 300? Well, looks like now if I get a victory, everyone will have sense enough to know I did it. That's always God's way. That's always God's way.

67:29 That's always his way. And oh, you dear men in the academy, cry to God to give you this kind of a heart. A well-guarded and constantly kept heart. A heart continually kept sensitive.

67:47 And a heart suffused with love that is vulnerable and self-giving.

Warning to Unbelievers and Final Prayer

67:55 And it wouldn't hurt for every one of you who name the name of Christ to have a heart like that. And if you've sat here this morning and you've said, well, you know, for the life of me, I can't figure out that preacher. I mean, he's talking about little piddling things in a heart, like a little jealousy, a little lust. I mean, we're all just human, my friend.

68:13 Listen to me. If you've been thinking that way, you know what your problem is? You're lost as the devil. Because you've never seen your sin in the light of God's holiness and in the light of the cross of Christ.

68:24 And once you see your sin in the light of the law of God and the cross of Christ, you'll never think anyone's too careful to guard his heart from sin. Sin is that ugly moral commodity that is an affront to God's holiness that caused the incarnate God to waltz in his own blood and be anointed in the sea of God's wrath. And you're going to call it a little thing? No.

68:55 When the Holy Ghost gives you eyes to see your sin.

68:59 So if you've sat here and said, what a bunch of foolishness, my friend, hear me. You're the fool. For the scripture says, fools make a mock at sin.

69:11 True Christians take their sin seriously because God takes it seriously now and in the day of judgment.

69:20 Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. Ask him to give you eyes to see what your sin is and what you're doing wrong. What he has done for needy sinners.

69:32 And may we all with renewed understanding pray, God, give this generation what it most desperately needs but most viciously resists, an army of true men of God with the kind of head we've described, the kind of eyes, the kind of ears, and the kind of heart upon which we've meditated today. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word.

70:11 We confess as we study it together our renewed confidence that no man would have ever written such a book. Oh, how it finds us and searches us. And we pray that this day the Holy Spirit will seal it to every heart and that not a one of us will pillow our heads tonight until we've had dealings with you in the light of your word. Oh, Lord, in mercy, in mercy, give to every man, in the academy, this kind of a heart by whatever secret discipline you choose through whatever path of suffering.

70:50 Oh, God, give us men with hearts like this. You can give them, Lord, and we ask you to do it. Hear then our prayer. May your blessing rest upon us as we leave this place.

71:03 We plead in Jesus' name. Amen.