Jesus Christ, The Discerner of Hearts: Part 2

The Heart-Searching Word of God and the Holiness of God

Jesus Christ, He's our all-in-all, isn't He? And we're talking about that Jesus Christ is the discerner of hearts, the discerner of hearts. This is a powerful truth that's found all through the Word of God, but specifically here in the fourth Gospel, in John's Gospel.

So please turn with me, if you have your Bibles, and open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 2. In today's message, I'm going to conclude this wonderful chapter, not only conclude the sermon, but conclude this chapter.

And God willing, we'll begin in chapter 3, which really, this is a follow-up, if you look at it in context, it goes right into chapter 3, where we meet a man of the Pharisees by the name of Nicodemus.

He obviously had to be there at the feast of Passover, and as he went to the temple, and he probably witnessed, more than likely, seeing Jesus cleanse the temple. So we will embark on that wonderful chapter, Lord willing, next Lord's Day.

But the text that's before us today is very hard searching, beloved. As I was studying this, I could not help but be very convicted and search my own self. As David cried out, search me, O Lord. Try me, test me, and see if there be any wicked way in me.

That should be the cry of all of our hearts. Because our heart, we really don't know ourselves, we really don't know our sin as God sees it. And that's why we have the Word of God. Actually, R .C. Sproul said this, the gospel is only good news when we understand the bad news.

Let me say that again, the gospel is only good news when we understand the bad news. So many times you hear a lot about the love of God, but very seldom do you hear about God's wrath, God's holy righteousness, His justice.

He's holy, holy, holy.

Even in heaven right now, the church triumphant sings and praises God before the thrice holy God. And they praise Him and say,.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

It's not mercy, mercy, mercy. Even though God's merciful, it's not love, love, love, even though God is loving. God is all those great things, but everything about God and all of His attributes, His love, His mercy, His grace, His kindness, His patience,.

It's all holy, isn't it?

It's holy love, it's holy justice, it's holy mercy. So keep that in mind as we look at our text today because it being so heart-searching for every one of us, and especially to this preacher. I'll just stand amazed when I went through these scriptures and I said, Lord, search me out.

But God always wants to search us out by His Holy Spirit through the Word of God to expose our sin so that the sin can be dealt with, you see. That the remedy would be applied, and the remedy is the gospel.

That's the remedy. But we must present the bad news in order to understand truly what the good news is. So, the verses before us we're looking at speaks of God being all knowing that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Trinity, and that's already been established, hasn't it?

In chapter 1. That Jesus Christ is deity. And He came and was tabernacled among us. The Word, the Word, the Logos, became flesh and dwelt among us, pitched His tent with us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten Father, full of grace and truth.

And now, that's in chapter 1 verse 14, and now here we come, we went through all of chapter 1, and now pretty much all the way to chapter 2, and we have seen Jesus, all focused on Jesus. It's all about Christ, isn't it?

It's Christ and Christ alone. So, as we come to this text, Jesus is the discerner of all hearts, of all people. He knows all men. He knows our motives. He knows all the intents of the hearts. He searches us out.

So, chapter 2, let's look at three verses. Verse 23 to verse 25. Verse 23 to verse 25. Hear the word of the living God. Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. May God richly bless the reading of His word from the hearing of our ears to our hearts this morning.

Please bow with me in a moment of prayer as we seek the Lord's face and His blessing within this hour of worship. Our Father in heaven, holy is Your name, glorious is Your name, but above all, Your name is holy.

And Lord, we thank You for Your goodness. Your goodness is holy. So good and kind You are, but yet just so powerful, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present. And Lord, help us then within this hour to take our focus on any of our problems that may come to our minds.

And may our minds be wholly seeking Your face. Lord, we thank You for Your word this morning. Your word alone is truth. And Lord, we pray that by Your Holy Spirit that You will sanctify us through and through, through and through by Your words.

Transform us, cleanse us, make us, break us. In the end, Lord, I pray that You use us for Your honor and for Your glory. And we would ask this in Jesus' name, the name that is above all names, Amen and Amen.

The Word of God as a Two-Edged Sword

This is a very short and powerful verse that's before us. A very brief passage, and it's packed full of powerful truths. Life-changing truths. Actually, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 11 -13 says this about the written word, concerns God's written word.

Jesus is the living word, but you cannot separate the two. The written word says this, the writer of Hebrews, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

And then he says this statement about the word of God. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.

And notice what he says here. And is a discerner, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there's no creature hidden from his sight. So sobering, isn't it? There's no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

So in short, what he's saying is the word of God discovers our true condition. We don't know our true condition. No one knows our true condition. We think somehow there's inherent good within us, but when you start reading the Bible, it's very clear that men are totally depraved.

Actually, when Martin Luther speaks of this verse here, the great reformer,.

He said this,.

The Bible is alive. It speaks to me.

It has feet.

It runs after me. It has hands.

It lays a hold of me.

And how true that is. Amen. The word of God is actually, if you notice the text, the writer of Hebrews says, it is even sharper. A two-edged sword is sharp. But think about what he's saying here.

It is sharper.

It's even sharper than a two-edged sword. It is a two-edged sword, but it's even sharper. While the word of God can give great comfort to us, and it does. And our hardships and our trials and afflictions and all that we go through, great comfort.

There's no other greater place that we can go than to the word of God, than to know that God gives great comfort. Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd. He's all that I want. I shall not want. No greater place to go than Psalm 23.

Just six verses packed with great comfort, especially when one's at their death, on their deathbed. We've been there. It brings comfort and nourishment to our souls, doesn't it? But it's to those who believe.

But also, there's another side of it. It's a two-edged sword. It may bring comfort and nourishment to our souls, but it's also a tool of judgment and execution for those who have not committed themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And again, you always have those two sides of the word of God. One Puritan said it this way, It comforts the afflicted, but it afflicts the comfortable. It has a razor-sharp two-edged sword. Scripture says it's sharper.

In other words, it cuts, it exposes our shallow beliefs and even our false intentions and motives. And I'm so aren't you glad it does, because literally that's how much God really loves us. He warns us and He wants to cut a good surgeon, a good doctor, when he is trying to remove something, a cancer, so to speak.

He will operate and cut to the core and to get them to remove the cancer or whatever it may be that is diseasing the body. A good doctor will do that. And then after it's done, the operation, the surgeon, after the sword and the cutting and the knife, then there's the sewing up and the healing process.

And that's the way the word of God is.

It also pierces, it pierces,.

As actually as it cuts,.

It pierces to the division of soul and spirit and it says of the joints and the marrow. In other words, it's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the very heart. Think of that. There's nothing else as powerful as the word of God that can cut to the very core of our hearts, to our intentions, our motives,.

Our very thoughts.

And each of us is judged not only by the word of God, but Jesus said this in John 12, 48, even though the written word judges us and it will judge us on the last day as we stand before Him. Jesus said this about the judgment, He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has that which judges him.

The word which I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Notice what He says,.

Will judge him. We will all stand one on one,.

Just no one else will be there on the judgment day as you stand before God to give an account before the Creator and the Savior. Judgment is actually, the Father has appointed Jesus to be the judge of judges.

He will judge the entire human race, all the way from Adam to the very last person that will ever be born, whenever that will be in the future. That's incredible. That's billions of people. Think of that.

And He's going to call them all up on the resurrection day. And many that are lost, and there will be more that are lost because Jesus made it very clear that many will go into the broad road of destruction.

Many.

But very few will enter into the straight and narrow gate. That's very sobering. But that's the words of Jesus. So God's word judges us, doesn't it? And that's a very sobering thing. As I set this before you, as I was examining my own heart, I said, Lord, You know the feeling as well as I do.

We have all fallen so short. More than just fallen short with mistakes, but we have sinned against the Lord. But it's so wonderful because as you see this, and the backdrop that God's wrath abides on such sinful human beings as us that deliberately disobey and hate God with a hatred.

And a lot of people say, What do you know? I don't hate God. Well, they haven't really searched their heart. Naturally, we are born with an endemic nature that has a rebellion against God. I've used this illustration so many times.

But as children are born into this world, as precious and sweet looking they are with angelic faces, within their heart is a seed of rebellion, folks. Think of that. You never teach it. I've had five children, and some of them are here today.

Three of them are here today. My boys are not here. But that's why parents are given the great responsibility and the privilege to train up a child in the way that they should go,.

To teach them.

And that goes, that we must teach them the word of God, the truth. We never teach them to follow their own hearts and inclinations because that will lead them right into hell on a wayward way. But my illustration is this.

You never have to teach a child to say no. Even the little ones. You know parents, what I'm talking about, that's had children. It comes naturally.

No.

That's when you have to start getting out the little rod.

And okay,.

You've got to teach them. You don't say no to your daddy and your mommy. It's a natural inclination. So we're all born naturally, conceived with that Adamic nature. And this is why Jesus is the unique person because born of a virgin, He did not carry with Him the Adamic nature.

He did not have that Adamic nature. It's separate. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin. So Jesus one day will judge all the world and Himself, He's the judge of judges and the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the scripture says, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

That's going to happen. So we're all going to be accountable to the living and the written word of God who is its author. Turn with me very quickly. Let's look at something in John chapter 6 as we just turned a few pages down.

We're heading through the book of the gospel. John's incredibly powerful. But I'd like for you to see this situation here that happened in John 6. Look at me in just a few verses. Chapter 6. Look at the beginning of verse 60.

And I want you to see that this is a day that many disciples turned away from the Lord and started to fall away. Verse 60 says, Therefore many Notice that many of His disciples when they heard this and what they heard basically Jesus was saying that that whoever eats my flesh in verse 54 and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is food indeed my blood is drink indeed he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him as the living Father sent me I live because of the Father so he who feeds on me will live because of me and this is the bread which came down from heaven not as your father ate the manna and are dead he who eats this bread will live forever.

Very powerful. And then He says and notice He says many of the disciples when they heard this said this is a hard saying and who can understand it? And then when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this notice that He knew He knew their intentions He knew their motives and they complained about this and He said to them does this offend you?

Notice the question that the Lord gives to them does this offend you? He knew it offended them. He knew the answer was yes. Of course it offended them. Did Jesus compromise with them? Notice the questions He asked and then again He asked another question what then if you should see the Son of Man ascend.

Where He was before?

Ascend to the throne. And then He says this powerful statement it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you.

Are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. Notice these are the so called disciples following Him. They really did not have.

The true belief.

But there are some of you who do not believe but Jesus knew from the beginning. No here it is omniscience of Christ. He knew from the beginning.

Who they were.

Who did not believe and who would betray Him. And He said therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father. A powerful statement. As we have been looking at this morning on the doctrines of grace.

This is actually an ice breaker of laying the foundation. He was talking about the sovereignty of God and here it is one of those great verses. Jesus said therefore I have said to you that no one no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father sovereignty of God and salvation.

And notice this in verse 66. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him. No more. Then Jesus said to the twelve the core group do you also want to go away?

Wow.

Listen to that question.

But.

Aren't you glad of that. But but Simon Peter answered.

Lord.

To whom shall we go? Where are we going to go? To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life you know what Peter is actually saying.

You are our only hope.

You all are.

This is the way it must be when we come to Jesus Christ and as the Father would grant that and His sovereignty that we would see Jesus as our only hope.

Folks.

Not just the best hope but the only hope. Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ the Messiah.

The Son of the Living God.

And Jesus answered them did I not choose you the twelve and one of you is the devil. And He spoke verse 71 of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon for it was he who would betray him being one of the twelve one of His very handpicked.

Apostles.

It's amazing but that gives. That text gives great insight on. Jesus is the discerner of our hearts.

False Faith, True Faith, and the Need for New Birth

Now.

As we look at our text.

These great truths.

We keep in mind verse 23 back to John 2. Look at verse 23 now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast and the scripture tells us many believed in His name when they saw the signs the miracles.

In other words.

Which He did.

They were following Him.

For the wrong intentions the wrong motives the wrong reasons. So we know. During His stay there in Jerusalem we looked at this Lancelot's day. He performed a number of miracles which are not recorded in the scripture because there are so many of them.

That He did.

And John actually says at the end of the book if they were recorded the books could not contain them. So He did other miracles there in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover so John says many believed in His name.

Many believed.

But for the wrong reasons of course.

This belief. This faith.

So called beliefs. This so called faith.

Was a shallow superficial faith.

It was really not a living dynamic faith that God grants.

To those who truly believe.

And love the Lord Jesus Christ it is a faith that they follow Jesus just for the benefits just for the supernatural just for the miraculous.

The spectacular.

It was not a saving faith and it is very obvious here that it is not a saving faith because verse 24.

But Jesus says this.

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men. That is the reason why He did not commit Himself to them. Though they believed in Jesus Jesus did not believe in them. He had no faith in their superficial faith.

Many believed in Jesus but Jesus did not commit Himself to them. These were unsaved believers. They had a false profession they had a false faith because they were believing for the wrong reasons the wrong motives and they were not following the Lord Jesus Christ out of a love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now.

Although many claimed to believe there was always a claim Jesus knew that mere intellectual knowledge about God proves nothing.

Why? Why?

Well as we looked at last week again from James chapter 2 verse 19 the Bible even says James says you believe that there is one God.

You do well.

It is almost like he is saying big deal. Even the demons believe and they tremble.

Wow.

What a powerful verse.

Isn't that so revealing?

Isn't that so revealing?

Even the fallen angels and actually if you think of it the demons that here are.

Among us.

They are real aliens.

If you want to really look at an alien.

They are fallen angelic beings.

That come to this world.

And I have a lot of people have asked me questions about this.

About.

In the supernatural realm and the people that believe in the spooks and superstitious and all this and people that they have seen from the past and stuff did you know demons can actually make themselves look and appear as people.

Scripture even says an angel.

Of light.

They appear as an angel of light. They appear as an angel of light. And Paul even made it clear that even if an angel from heaven not a false angel but a fallen angel even if an angel came from heaven or to preach any other gospel let him be accursed.

Wow.

So what not to put our.

Our faith.

Even if an angelic being were to come and preach another gospel and that's actually how the cults had come into play and come into being.

Is because.

Of angelic beings coming to them and they were the people that saw this believed and were deceived. The demons believe what is he saying. In other words what he's saying. It's not enough for us to be orthodox about God just to know about God.

We must know God personally. We must know God intimately. And greater than that just not knowing God should be our, that is the focal point. Because Jesus is that they may know, he prays in John 17 that they may know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

But also at the judgment day many will stand before him and confess, Lord, Lord, did not. We do these things, these miracles and these prophecies, I prophesied in your name we did miracles in your name and we cast out demons in your name.

And then Jesus will have a profession to give to them. I never knew you depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I believe that is the most tragic words found in the scriptures. It's the words we do not want to hear after we pass out of this life into eternity, we want to hear well done, good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord.

So really, knowing God is first and foremost. But does Jesus know us? Does God know us? And I'm not talking about just know about us, because he knows everything about us. I'm talking about intimacy. Does he know you?

Are you known of him?

Really and then.

In the last, that's all that's going to matter.

Does he know you, and do you know him?

It's not enough folks to be orthodox, and actually Thomas Watson said this the light of the truth just becomes a torch to light people to hell. That's scary that's terrifying. It's tragic because I know people today as I'm speaking to you from this pulpit, that are actually deceived in their own sins and think that they're going to heaven but they're on their way to hell because, well who made you to judge?

Pastor? I'm not the judge, the scripture says you know them by their fruits Jesus said, in other words and that's what the book of James is all about. It's not enough just to acknowledge that there's a God.

The demons know that there's a God. They even know about the theology and all about God much more than us. And Tozer said he says actually the devil is a greater theologian than any of us, and he's a devil still.

It's not.

Enough just to know about God. Again, even the fallen angels that were cast out of heaven know about the truth of God, they know about Christ, they know about the Holy Spirit and tragically they are on their way to perdition.

There are many people even within the evangelical circles and within our circles in which we know that think that they're on their way to heaven and yet they're on their way to eternal damnation and hell, because of deception.

But the bible wants to expose by the love and tell us how we can search ourselves how we can test the spirits to see whether they're of God. To examine ourselves to see if we're of the faith how we can come to know the truth.

And the truth will make you free. This is so important. Well, many, many professing Christians know all about these great truths. And yet, in their sins and serving sin and Satan, well pastor that sounds like an oxymoron, it sounds like an apparent contradiction doesn't it, but it does to us, but not to God.

So.

As I read in Hebrews chapter 4 anybody can deceive others and put on a good front on the outside, but what about the inside. That's what it really matters, doesn't it. Our heart and the word of God deals with the heart.

More than anything, it deals with the heart the mind, the soul, but the heart.

Is the issue.

God knows the hearts of all men. Jesus is the discerner of all hearts, he searches the hearts. Listen to these scriptures that I bring before you. Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 and 10.

The.

Heart is deceitful above all things.

And is desperately wicked.

Who can know it, listen to that question. Who can know it, yeah. But some people say I thought I was really a good person, I hear he had such a good heart. No, the bible says actually, the heart.

Is deceitful.

Above all.

Things, listen to that.

And desperately.

Wicked.

Wicked.

Even on the outside, people that do good deeds do it sometimes for wrong motives and a lot of times for wrong motives but that they may be seen of men or that they may get some accolade, they don't do it for the glory of God, do they.

Beloved, I'm telling you we need to think again and this is what deceived people say about us, so men interpret the definition of what goodness is and righteousness is, but what about God's interpretation of goodness and righteousness.

What.

Good is.

That reminds me of the story of the rich young ruler that comes to Jesus and he said good master, good master and he comes to Jesus and actually if you think of it Jesus was good, but Jesus immediately caught his flattering.

While he was.

Trying to flatter Jesus about goodness and he said why call us, Jesus responds.

Why call us good.

There's only one good and that's God. So he was actually pointing him to the father and then he gives him the truth and then he walks away and scripture says as he walked away and denied what Jesus.

Told him that what he must do.

To have eternal life. He didn't like it because it basically was the cost of discipleship and Jesus looked at him and loved him. But you don't think of what this text here.

Says.

Who can know it? Verse 10, God himself answers his own question through the prophet. Listen to what he says, in verse 10 I the Lord, Yahweh, search the heart, I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

So.

By the Lord, the Yahweh the actions are weighed. First Samuel chapter 2 verse 3. Listen to this talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord, Yahweh is the God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed.

Listen to Job chapter 10 verse 13 through 16, Job 10 13 through 16. And these things you have hidden in your heart. I know that this was with you if I sin. If I sin. If I sin, then you mark me and I will not acquit me of my iniquity.

If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace see my misery. And if my head is exalted you hunt me like a fierce lion. And again you show yourself awesome against me in the light of God's presence.

Psalm 1 chapter 1 verse 6. The whole introduction. Psalm.

To the whole book of.

150 Psalms of the Psalter, the Lord Yahweh knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 69 verse 5, O God you know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from you. Psalm 90 verse 8 you have set your iniquities before you.

And listen to this.

Our secret sins in the light of your countenance and all sin, see get this all sin is clear in view before the face of God, nothing escapes the eye of God Psalm 139 1 through 6. As you well know that wonderful chapter, he says this, O Lord you have searched me and known me, you know my sitting down and my rising up, you understand my thought afar off you comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways and there is not a word on my tongue but behold O Lord you know it all together, you have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for.

Me, it is high.

I cannot attain it it just goes right into David, goes right into worship of the greatness of the knowledge, all knowledge all knowing searching, beaming eye of God that tries him and he goes right into.

Worship, such knowledge is too wonderful.

I cannot attain it. Listen to Proverbs 5 21 as Solomon says to the spirit for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he ponders or observes ways, all his paths.

Ecclesiastes.

Chapter 12. That last chapter in the last verses of that book of wisdom. In chapter 12 verse 13 -14 let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments for this is man's all for God will bring every work into judgment including every secret thing whether good or evil.

Now if we don't know the Lord and don't know the Lord Jesus Christ that could be a terrifying thing folks. And actually it is the scripture says in Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews says it's a terrifying terrifying a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God.