Hear the word of God from Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter, beginning at verse 1. Now this is the commandment. And these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord, your God, has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates. The Word of the Lord. Thank thee to God. Let us pray together. Father, it is our heartics that need the work, and again, very gladly, we're happy to admit our own weakness and frailty and inability, and we're glad to acknowledge our need of your spirit, and so we pray that you would commission your spirit again, and that you, Holy Spirit, would do this work which you alone can do, cause our hearts to receive your Word, cause your Word to be sealed to our hearts, and then cause our hearts to rejoice and be glad in what we have received. Visit us with your presence. We need you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Several weeks ago, I began this series from Proverbs 4, verse 23, keep the heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Keep the heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. And I want to return to that theme today, and I want to spend again a few weeks considering it. And what I want to do today is consider that the heart really is central to biblical religion, to New Testament religion and Old Testament religion. It's central to the Christian faith. The heart of the matter is the heart. Now you may remember when we started this a month or so ago, that I referred to an article which a friend sent me concerning a home which mutual friends had built. And that home, and I looked at the picture again last night, that home reminds me of an English manner, you know, a manner of state, something that you would imagine seeing in the countryside in England. Beautiful, perfectly symmetrical, big, and I remember talking with you about these internal movings and heavings of my soul as I looked at that picture for the first time. Now let me set this up for you. Let me set this up for you. Here I am, a Christian. There you are, Christians. And think about all of what that means. What that means is that my sins are forgiven. What that means is that every offense that could be, or can be, or might be, brought against me, every offense, every violation of the law, every single one, the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2, has been nailed to the cross. And the imagery is graphic, poignant, and for the Christian glorious. Because in that imagery, the Apostle is saying that all of these accusations have been laid upon Christ, who was impaled upon that cross, who suffered the full measure of the wrath of God, so that every single violation of the law, and the justice that has to be satisfied by those violations, all of that has been addressed. The justice of God has been upheld. Not one violation has been set aside, but all of it has received its proper and due reward. Every single sin of mine has been dealt with. And so there is no condemnation for me, and I have nothing to be afraid of. Because the only audience in the whole universe who really matters is the God of heaven and earth, who holds my life in his hands, and who because of Jesus looks at me and says, this one is forgiven. And beyond that, because of the life of obedience which Christ has lived, Christ has secured the favor of the Father, and he's been my substitute in his life just as he was in my death, I say this over and over and over again, to myself and to you, and because Christ has lived that life and secured the favor of the Father, secured righteousness, he has given me that righteousness, and I'm all wrapped up in that righteousness. So that as the Father considers me, he looks upon me and speaks of me in the same way that he spoke to my son. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, not on the basis of my merit, but on the basis of the merit of Christ, and I'm all wrapped up in that merit. But that isn't all. That isn't all. This one who declares me forgiven, this one who declares me righteous on the basis of the finished work of Christ, is also my Father, and be reminded who that Father is. He is the God of heaven and earth. He has placed the stars in the heavens, he's arranged them in the heavens, and he sustains their places in the heavens by the word of his power, everything that he's made, he upholds by the word of his power. He possesses all wisdom, all my authority, all glory. He is the King of the Kings and the Lord of the Lords, and he is my Father, and he is Father to everyone who names the name of Christ. But there's more than this. I have an assurance, a promise from that Father who loves me that one day the battle will be over. I look around here, and I see the battle scars. I know they're there. And your Father promises you that one day this battle will be finished, and the tears will be wiped away, and you will enter into a joy you cannot even really begin to imagine. Even your highest moments of delight in Christ, even your greatest joys in fellowship with Him. Pale, when compared and contrasted, with the day of glory that Christ has promised, will be ours a day that will last forever, and the battle will be done, the internal battle we wage, and the battle we wage against the flesh and the devil and the world. It'll all be done. But that's not the end of it. This Father who loves me now, and this Father who has made that promise to me, has loved me before the creation of the world. He set me apart for Himself, and has determined to accomplish all of this for me in His Son. And His glory, His glory is put on display as He accomplishes salvation for you and for you and for you and for you and for me. That's some of what it means to be a Christian, and the Father who loved me then and who loves me now and who will love me into eternity promises to be with me, though I don't see Him by His Spirit, He accompanies me, He protects me, He defends me, He cares for me, and He will get me home. That's what it means to be a Christian. Now when I consider all of that, I have to ask myself, why do I experience envy? Why do I experience jealousy? Why am I afraid? Why do I let expectations, real imagine those of other people, those that get stirred up from my soul? Why do I let these things crush me and take away my joy? Why am I so frantic? And the answer is simple. Simple and hard. It is these hearts of ours. One Puritan writer has said, I have a wild heart. I have a wild heart like an untamed cult that needs to be mastered. You know the hymn. It's a great hymn. It's a favorite of some of yours. Robert Robertson penned these words in 1758. We sing them, O to grace how great a debtor daily on constraint to be. Let that grace now like a feather, like a chain, like handcuffs. Let that grace now like a feather bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart for heaven's sake, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. What is it that gives us trouble? It's our hearts. It's our hearts. The first thing to establish is that this is what has to be addressed. This is what has to be dealt with. The first thing to establish is that Christianity, true religion, the religion of the Bible, is a religion of the heart. It isn't ultimately a religion of the mind. It is in the first place a religion of the mind. It is a religion of truth and that truth has to be heated and it has to be returned to. And it has to be meditated upon and reflected upon. The outcome of all of that is that our hearts might be corralled. These wild colts might be tamed. Christian religion isn't ultimately about our wills. It's not ultimately about what we do. It matters very much what we do. There are admonitions all throughout the scriptures which encourage us to live in particular ways. It matters infinitely what we think. It matters infinitely what we do. But at the core of this, at the heart of this, at the center of this, the Christian faith is about our hearts and taming our hearts. The Christian faith is about who we love. Did you see this in Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy chapter six. Here's the context of Deuteronomy chapter six. The context is that Moses is about to pass from the scene. Moses has been leading Israel for a generation and more. Any time there is a change in leadership in Israel, there is a rehearsal and a repetition of the law. And there is an acknowledgment on the part of the people of God that under this new human leadership, they will again commit themselves to observing the law which God has given to them. And that's what's transpiring here. Moses is moving from the scene and this Deuteronomy is a second hearing of the law, a repetition of the law. And at the end of this, the people will subscribe to it and say yes, Lord, we will do all that is in your law. What precedes this rehearsal, this repetition of the law, this restatement of the law is a deliverance from bondage in Israel or in Egypt, the deliverance of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. And God then for the next generation and more after having delivered them walks with them. And in his walking with them, he performs miracles and he displays his power, he shows his glory. He sets forth his tenderness, his love and affection for his children, he meets their physical needs, he protects them from their enemies, he even defeats their enemies, the ammonites and the Moabites and lots of otherites. Repeatedly he shows himself faithful to his people and then God after he delivers them brings them out of their bondage in Egypt, brings them to himself and gives them his law, having redeemed them, having promised to be with them to protect them, to display his power to meet their needs, he gives the law to them. And this law is given to them that their lives might be ordered and regulated, that they might know life and not death, listen to how it's put in Deuteronomy 6, verse 2, all of these statutes, all of these commandments are given to you, your son, and your grandson, all the days of your life that your days may be prolonged. Verse 3, hero Israel, be careful to observe it that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord the God of your fathers has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey. God redeems his people, God brings his people to himself, God promises to provide for his people and then he gives the law and he gives this law to order their lives. Let's be clear about what the purpose of the law is, let's not confuse this, there is a first use of the law and the first use of the law is that our inability might be exposed. But once our inability has been exposed and we've been driven to Christ, we don't discard the law, we don't discard the righteousness of it, we don't discard the wisdom of it. We don't cast it aside, like an old useless relic, the law which once and first exposed our need now becomes our friend to guide us in righteousness that we might know life, that we might know life. Read the New Testament, when we think of law, we tend to think of the Ten Commandments, we tend to think of all these regulations that flow from those Ten Commandments, but look at the New Testament. Every time, in every letter, the work of Christ and its benefits are described, the apostle who writes the letter will then say, now, because of who you are, live in this way. Don't do this and do do this. All of these admonitions are there that our lives might be ordered, we've got to always have a right view of the law, it exposes who we are, but then it becomes a friend by which our lives are ordered. And that is why God gives His law, the lives of the people might be lives characterized, not by death, but by life. But having said that, having acknowledged it that God redeems them and then gives the law to them that their lives might be ordered, having said all of that, what is it that constitutes real religion? What is the admonition that stands at the center of all of these admonitions? Verses 4 and 5. Here, O Israel, the Lord, your God is the only and one true God, and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. What is it that stands at the center of all testament religion, new testament religion, the Christian religion? It is the love of God. And when we encounter this, when you come into contact with this text, it forces you to ask yourself, what is it that I love? What is it that I care about? What is it that I'm trusting? What is it that will give me joy and delight and peace and contentment even when these other things, joy and delight, seem to be stripped away by the circumstances that press in upon me, by the devil of hell who would rise up in my conscience and accuse me? What is it that will stand at the center of all of that? What do I love? What do I care about? What do I long for? To what have I attached my heart? It looks the thing that God is after in us, the thing that he desires in us, the thing that he desires for us, is that all of these attachments, all of these fears, all of these anxieties, the snipped away, bit by bit one at a time, in order that our hearts might be given fully. To the Lord, the heart is like a garden, a garden is designed to be fruitful, it is designed to be orderly and beautiful, but a garden grows weeds, and in order for the heart truly to bring forth the fruit that is both delightful to God and satisfying to us, the heart, the garden has to be tended. And those weeds have to be abrooted, those thorns and fizzles have to be poisoned and hacked that and chopped down, it is hard, it is arduous work. The heart is like a piano or a violin, you can tune it, but if you set it aside and don't pay attention to it, and don't keep it tuned, and don't use it and it grows out of tune, and rather than producing things of beauty, it produces sounds that are not harmonious and that are grating, and the weeks to come. What we want to pay attention to is how we keep the heart so that it might bear fruit, and please remember this, so that it might bear fruit which is both pleasing to God and delightful to us. That's what we want to pay attention to in the weeks to come, but right now this is the thing for us to consider, what is at the center, what is at the heart, what is it that I should be preoccupied with, and it is my heart. As we come to this table this morning, as we consider the great grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in these next moments as we pray and as we prepare for that table, please let me encourage you to pay attention to your hearts. Let us pray together. Father, this work of getting beneath our skin, getting past the things that we know and can recite to one another, getting beyond the obligations and the duties which we perform every week, this work of getting into our souls, getting into our hearts is a work that you alone are able to do. Lord, thank you that you've redeemed us and made us your own. Thank you that you have given your word that by it our lives might be ordered. Thank you that you are patient, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness. Father, for the sake of your own name and for our great joy and gladness, may we find, in the days, weeks and months, the years and the decades to come, may we find. That we have great cause to praise you and thank you that bit by bit, row by row, you have tended the gardens which our hearts are and you've rooted out those things which don't bear fruit. And you've cultivated the life within us, planted there by your spirit, which does bear fruit, a fruit which brings glory to you and gladness to our hearts. Father, above everything else, I pray that you would do this work in us and for us and for the sake of your name.