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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/marvin-derksen/the-heart/
I'd like to read in the book of Genesis chapter five. The book of Genesis chapter five, and we'll read at verse number six. I'm sorry, Genesis six, verse five. I've got it backwards here. Genesis chapter six, verse five.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.
Now let's go to the book of first Samuel chapter 16. Read these in the order that they come in the scripture. First Samuel chapter 16, takes us to Bethlehem, verse number six. First Samuel 16 and verse number six.
In fact, Jesse has called some of his sons in. Samuel is there. And it came to pass when they were come and he looked upon Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him.
For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. The book of Psalms, Psalm 139. Psalm 139 and verse number 23. This is part of David's prayer.
Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Just over the page to Proverbs chapter three. Very well known verse, verse number five.
Proverbs three, verse five. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Chapter four, verse 23. Proverbs four, verse 23.
Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. And finally, the book of the Acts where our brother Smith is already read from. Acts chapter 11. Let's take this to Antioch. Barnabas is calm and he has seen the grace of God.
Verse number 22. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord for he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost.
I trust that what's before me won't take away from the ministry that we have heard today. But I'd just like to look at some of the realities of the heart. We don't pay a lot of attention to this little fist-sized muscle that's beating so regularly in our innermost being until something goes wrong.
We fail to understand that in the course of a normal lifetime it'll pump about 48 million gallons of blood. That's a pretty good pump. But I don't have the stats for the U .S. but I know in Canada a few years ago that annually there are 70 ,000 heart attacks every single year in the U .S. every single year.
In fact, from the time that this meeting started in Canada to two o 'clock till 4 .30 there'll be 21 people in Canada that will die from either a heart attack or a stroke, 21 people in the course of two and a half hours.
In fact, cardiovascular disease claims about one in three as far as death in Canada. And when I think of the fact that our population is about a 10th of your population you can only amplify the numbers 90-fold.
So that when it comes to the condition of our hearts physically it's pretty important, isn't it? No one wants to have a heart attack. And when that takes place the alarm bells start going off. But really when it comes to a conference we're dealing with the spiritual heart conditions.
And as someone has said and it's an old phrase, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. We've been hearing of a number of individuals, Leah and Moses and various other ones. Their hearts for the most part were in tune with God's heart.
A young man by the name of Moses made some far reaching choices, some decisive decisions because his heart valued what God valued. And so today as we have gathered for the Heightsville Conference, I think really it's with a number of purposes in view.
We wanna know a little more of the heart of God, don't we? To appreciate all that he is and I wanna speak briefly about that. But I think the conference is a time of assessment as to our heart condition, what our hearts are like.
And I think, I trust anyway that we will ask ourselves if the stethoscope of God was put to our spiritual hearts, what would he find? Steady beat, a faint beat, coldness, lethargy, indifference, or a vibrant heart that's in tune with the purposes of God.
I have found that this little truth of the heart is a far reaching truth. There's over a 1000 references to the heart in the scriptures. In fact, 27 out of 31 Proverbs include the word, the reality of the heart.
And so it touches a variety of concerns and of facets in our life. It's really the, it's the source, isn't it, of human depravity. We have read in Genesis chapter six that God saw that the imagination of men's hearts was only evil continually.
And as the Lord unveils and unfolds who we really are, he says, out of the heart, out of the heart, proceed. And he gives a long list of terrible, terrible realities. It's the source of human depravity.
It's the sphere of divine influence. God moves upon hearts. God affects hearts. And you'll recall in Acts chapter 16, as the gospel came to Philippi, it speaks about Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened.
She was ready, she was prepared, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the message. It's the sphere of divine influence. And it's really the, it's the site of true character. I think a brother Murray mentioned about the actual deportment of our sisters.
And we want to say a note of appreciation to the sisters who are dressed so, in such a God-fearing way here. We appreciate that. But you remember that 1 Peter chapter three speaks about the hidden man of the heart.
The hidden man of the heart. The site of the true character of a person. Speaking of the women there, but I think we can certainly include the men in that. The hidden man of the heart, what we really are.
And of course, as you go down through the scriptures, and I'll just give you a very, very brief list of them, we find that the heart encompasses a vast variety of truths. It refers in a very general way to physical life.
As Paul has gone to Lystra, he speaks about the God who has filled our hearts with food and gladness. Now we know that God doesn't fill our hearts with food. We fill our stomachs. But of course, it's just referring to physical life.
God has filled our hearts with food and gladness. It refers to the grief that Christians and people experience. You recall in John 14, the Lord says, let not your heart be troubled. He sensed that there was a difficulty in that upper room.
There was an uneasiness. There was a heaviness. Let not your hearts be troubled. It involves the grief and the sorrow. It, of course, involves joy. John 16, again, the upper room ministry. Your heart shall rejoice.
Your joy no man taketh from you. Your hearts shall rejoice. And the joy of the Lord in the heart, of course, is our strength. It involves the base desires. The Sermon on the Mount speaks about the lusts of the heart, again, taking us back to the source of human depravity.
It involves spiritual response. And of course, in Luke chapter 24, there's two travelers. I don't know if they were male or female or whoever they were. They were walking along and they were sad. And a stranger, as you know, came alongside.
He says, why are you sad? You haven't heard the news? No, what news? And they unburdened their hearts to him and he began to talk to them. And of course, something transpired on that journey. And as they thought back, they said, did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us by the way?
Spiritual response. And that'd be a wonderful, a wonderful blessing, a wonderful result of this day's activities here in Heightsville. If we got a little bit of a heartburn, a spiritual response, our hearts gladdened again.
It involves our thoughts and intentions. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12, speaks about the word of God, quick, living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
There it is again. It involves the thoughts and intentions of our heart. It involves the understanding. And the Lord is speaking in Matthew chapter 13 about the sower and the seed. And he actually quotes Isaiah chapter six.
Thus they should understand with their hearts. He's speaking, of course, about a nation that was, well, their ears have been closed and their wills have been turned. They had been afflicted with spiritual blindness and darkness, lest they should understand with their hearts.
It involved, it involves our imagination. Again, Luke chapter one, verse 15, he scattered the proud on the imagination of their hearts. Remember, it involves the conscience. Acts chapter two that Mr. Smith read from.
They were pricked in their hearts. As Peter preached, something happened. There was an arrow that reached this mark. It struck the very heartbeat of these individuals. He realized he's talking about us.
He's talking about me. They were pricked in their hearts. It involves the purposes. And we have read in Acts chapter 11 that with purpose of hearts, they would cleave unto the Lord. It just goes on and on.
It involves our will, doesn't it? Romans chapter six, you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine. And brethren, could I just say this that just head knowledge will not hold us? Thank God for the truth that we have been taught.
Thank God for all that we have, that had revealed to us, but just truth in the head, in the mind, will not ultimately hold us. Here are believers and they had obeyed from the hearts. They understood, they purchased the truth.
It was from the very heart and they lived it. And of course, it involves faith with the heart. Man believes under righteousness and so on. I think really there are three things that this whole subject brings into view.
Number one, his hearts. Number two, my hearts. Number three, our hearts. I won't get to number three. I hope to get to number two anyway. But his hearts, my hearts, our hearts. What is the heart of God like anyway?
If we had to describe the God of heaven, what would he say about him? You know, if we only had creation, we would only understand that he's a God of tremendous power, a God of beauty, a God of variety, a God of tremendous ability, but we wouldn't know his heart, would we?
Like looking at an oil painting or some presentation that maybe you might have in your wall and down in one corner, there's a signature. You hardly know what the signature says. We don't know very much about the person who has done that painting, apart from the fact they really know how to mix colors.
They know how to put things in proportion. They have tremendous ability, but we don't know what they're really like. Creation tells us about the God of power, his ability, his variety, and so on. We don't know his heart, but the God of the Bible has revealed his heart.
And wondrously, in the incarnation, he drew near to us. He visited us. He walked with us. He talked with us. We could actually touch and handle him. John could say our very hands have handled. We saw him.
And John could even have said, well, I felt his heartbeat. What is God like? So we look at the scriptures, we find that, first of all, that God is a God whose heart loves to give, the God who gives. And I don't think I have to certainly belabor this point.
I can only quote John 3 in verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And of course, many of us have come to the last part of that verse, and that takes us in that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
He is the God who gives, who delights to give. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask the God who giveth to all men, who loves to do it and abradeth not. There's no reluctance on his part to give. We find that the very heart of God is the heart of a giver, of a giver.
And as someone has said, we are never more like God than when we give. I'm not just talking monetarily, but it reminds me of the, it happened in World War II. There was a little street boy in, I think it was the city of London.
He had his eye pressed up against a bake shop glass. On the other side of the glass were the doughnuts and the jelly squares and the cakes. And he couldn't get at them. Just could look at them through the window.
Little fellow was hungry, hungry, like he didn't have lunch that day. And there was a soldier who was walking by and he just size up the situation very quickly. And something touched his heart and he just turned around, went into the bake shop and bought six jelly doughnuts.
Came back out and tap a little boy on the shoulder. He says, here son, here's for you. This is for you. And he walked away. Little fellow opened up the bag and couldn't believe his eyes. Six jelly doughnuts.
Can you imagine? I know we're about to go for supper, but anyway, six jelly doughnuts. I don't think they'll have it on the menu downstairs. He was overwhelmed. And then the thought struck him. The man walking away gave it to me.
And so he ran after the man, tapped him on the shoulder and he just said, mister, are you God? And we are never more like our God than when we give because he is a God whose heart delights to give. God spared not his son, but freely delivered him up for us all.
How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Amazing truth, isn't it? The heart of God is the heart that gives. It's a heart that groans, groans. Interestingly, when we come to John chapter 11, we come to a sound that didn't come often from the Lord Jesus, innermost being.
His friends had, of course, you can recall the account, his friends had called him. Lord, our brother is sick. Would you please come? He whom thou lovest is sick, is ill. Now the message was obvious. Please come.
We need you now. And as those two sisters looked down the road day after day, as their brother only grew worse, their hearts became more and more heavy. Why has he not come? We thought he would come. We asked him to come.
He's always come in the past. Why would he not come now? And of course, you understand that the inevitable came, the brother died and the funeral took place. And the sisters went back to their house with heavy hearts.
The Lord finally did come, didn't he? Too late, too late. And as he entered into that home, he was met by two sorrowing sisters. Lord, if thou had been here, my brother had not died. Both of them said the same thing.
Was that true? Was that statement true? Yes, it was, it was. If he had come, Lazarus, do you know of anybody that died in the presence of the Lord Jesus? Nobody, nobody. Even at the cross, it was the Lord who died first.
Nobody died in the presence of the Lord Jesus, of the Lord of life and glory. So their statement was true. And you recall how we said, where have you laid him? They said, come and see. And as we go to that graveside scene, it just says that the Lord Jesus groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
Who was he groaning for? For Lazarus? Not at all. He was well aware of what was about to transpire, but he was identifying with those who were sorrowing. He was deeply moved. And this is a word that comes from the innermost being.
He groaned. He was deeply moved by what sin had wrought, by bringing sorrow and separation to those loved ones. And perhaps there are individuals, Christians here, and that's where you are. I don't know my audience.
I haven't been in Heightsville in years. But perhaps that's where you are. I trust you'll understand that the heart of our God is the heart that groans, groans. He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
And I find it interesting that there are, there are four groaning realities in the scripture. There's a groaning creation. Romans chapter eight, the world is singing in a minor key. Things are not right.
And I think as we see all that's going on, these natural disasters, typhoons, these tsunamis, these earthquakes, we're just made aware that the entire creation is groaning, groaning, a groaning creation.
We could read about a groaning comforter, the same chapter, Romans chapter eight. He maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, a groaning, a groaning comforter. We could read of groaning Christians, groaning.
Now, I didn't say growling, not growling. Vance Havner said, if you growl all day, you're gonna go to bed dog tired. All right, don't growl, but groaning, groaning. Because redemption hasn't really met our bodies.
It hasn't reached our bodies yet, has it? We're anticipating being released from this temporary shell that served us well, but really, we're heading for better things, aren't we? We're heading for a new body, to be free of all the ravages of sin and all the limitations that this sphere has brought.
Groaning Christians, we've read about a groaning Christ. Tremendous to think that he groaned with those that were sorrowing. Groans with you too, and groans with me as we face the difficulties of the journey, a groaning Christ.
That's his heart, but he's also the God who grieves. I find it interesting that the very first reference to the heart is Genesis chapter six, verse five, about the imagination of men's hearts was only evil continually.
First mentioned, very next verse speaks about the fact that it grieved, it repented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him, it grieved him at his heart. Can God be grieved? Yes, definitely.
Chapter six of Genesis, the very start of this wonderful volume tells us it grieved God at his heart, that he even made man. I find it interesting that when we come to Ephesians chapter four, it speaks about grieve not the spirit of God.
Are we able to grieve the spirit of God, God the spirit within? Yes, we can. And we've been hearing some practical exhortations and instruction today as to how we should conduct ourself. And Ephesians chapter four tells about wayward practices on the part of those believers.
Some are getting drunk, chapter five and so on. Grieve not the spirit of God. It's possible that the very heart of God can be grieved. Yes, he grieves over a resisting world. When men resist his word and do despite to all that he's provided, it grieves God at his heart.
Any wonder that the Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem? He looked at that city and he says, I long to embrace you just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. That's why you've come. Oh, Jerusalem, the city of peace.
You could have had so much and you have resisted. And it grieved the very heart of our savior so much that he wept. I don't know of too many people, even too many Christians that grieve and weep over the cities in which we find ourself.
Would be good if we did a bit more of that, wouldn't it? A heart that grieves. His heart is the heart of one who governs, governs. He gives, he groans, he grieves, he governs. And I find it interesting in Revelation chapter two, verse 23, he's writing to the church of Thyatira and he writes that all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the rings and the hearts.
He's the God who governs. He moves with sovereign omnipotence. Great God to be linked with, isn't it? His heart is the very one who moves with sovereign power. We've been hearing about power this morning and to me, it's one of the thrilling truths and realities of the Bible.
God uses so many different things and different ways to move in the affairs of man. We've been hearing of Moses. And as those parents placed that little basket, that mother placed that little basket in the river, commending it to her God, praying that God would preserve her son by faith.
There was a God who heard that prayer. And of course, you know the story as that basket is unveiled, brought to the shore, unveiled. Remember what it said? And the baby wept, the baby wept. The right time, likely in the right way.
And the princess's heart was touched. He says, you're coming home with me. And the entire tide of history was changed by baby's tears. Is that reality? Is that science? No, that's not science fiction.
That's the God whose heart is revealed with sovereign omnipotence. Sometimes he removes sleep from a person. Sometimes he puts soldiers to a deep sleep and so on. You can go through the scriptures. He's the God who governs with sovereign omnipotence.
He's the God who moves with searching omniscience. He knows everything. That's both comforting and that's very, very disturbing in some ways. We can be, we can pose as what we're really not on many occasions, but we can't hide from the all-seeing eye of our God.
And as he moves among the seven golden lampstands over and over and over again, he says, I know, I know, I know, I see what you are, I know. And I've made an assessment. Ephesus, you've lost your first love.
Laodicea, you're neither hot nor cold and spew the out of my mouth. I know. That's wonderful to be linked with a God who knows, who knows every detail of our life, but he also knows every detail of who we really are.
Sovereign omnipotence, searching omniscience. That's his heart. We haven't gotten very far. I'll just say this in four minutes. What about our hearts? Or what about my heart? What about your heart? What's the barometer read on your heart?
I would just suggest that there's a variety of conditions that's very likely evident in this meeting. There could well be some very cold hearts, callous hearts. And if that is the case, we're really, really glad you're here.
We really are. Maybe you didn't even wanna come. Maybe the conference is not all that tasteful to you, but anyway, you're here. Cold hearts. The world will chill you. It'll promise you everything and give you nothing, really.
Nothing that will last. Could I just say this, that sometimes believers' hearts are chilled by unrighteous acts of other believers. I'm not gonna amplify that, but I just recall one sister. And make a long story short, in the course of a number of years, because of a transfer, she went from one assembly to another assembly, many, many miles away on the opposite side of the continent.
So I'm not gonna mention names. She wrote me an email a while back, and she said, she's just loving where she is right now. She says, you know, I have lost a ton of ice around my heart. Her heart had grown so cold by what was not right in that assembly.
And she went to another assembly and her heart began to be warmed. And if there's a cold heart here today, I trust that this conference will warm it. Sometimes there are crushed hearts. Crushed hearts.
And again, the Lord said, sorrow hath filled your hearts. Maybe there's a crushed heart here. Maybe absolute discouraged. Thank God you're here. But you've lost courage. You've lost your strength. You've been crushed.
Christians desperately need encouragement. Desperately need encouragement. And one of the tremendous realities that other believers are able to give is just a little word of encouragement on occasion.
Don't worry about swelling their head. Just encourage them. Little paper boy was standing on the side of a road in Chicago, bitterly cold night. It was getting dark. He had about six papers left and nobody was coming until finally a businessman came by and noticed this little boy and he was shivering and he had six papers and it was dark.
And he said, son, how many papers do you have? He said, I have six, sir. He said, I'll take them all. Little fella looked at him, take them all. Yeah, he gave him a good tip. And as the businessman went to leave, he said, it's certainly a cool night, isn't it?
Little fella says, it's a lot warmer since you came around. That's great when some believers come alongside and they warm up the temperature. A little bit of encouragement. Perhaps there's crushed hearts here.
Maybe there's critical hearts, caustic hearts. Remember what Caleb said when he came to Joshua? He said, I brought him word again, as it was in my heart. He'd gone back to Moses actually. Nevertheless, my brethren went that went up with me, made the heart of the people to melt.
Critical, we cannot go. You've seen the great, but you have not seen the giants. Forget it. We can't go, we're finished. If we go up, and they set aside faith. They undermine the purpose of God. There was criticism.
And you know, there's an awful lot of criticism around these days, isn't there? All kinds of criticism to tear people down, to cut them off at the pass. And sometimes when there's a heart that's been criticized, they just give up.
Sometimes mouths are closed for years, because someone just criticized what they had said or what they had done. Now, we all need to be corrected. And I'll be the first that you can go at. But we need to be careful about our criticism.
If a person is doing their best, don't criticize them. And if a person hasn't done their best, instruct them and build them up. But here were 10 men, and they turned the entire nation of Israel back into the wilderness because of unbelief.
There's a compromising heart. You can only go to Samson. You know, I think really we're living in a Samson generation. You say, what's that? The Samson generation is a generation with a link with heaven, and a love for the world.
A link with heaven, coupled with a love for the world. And we watch as this man who began to deliver Israel, he could have done so much, but oh, there were other things that enticed him. And finally, we see him lying on Delilah's lap.
And you know what it says? You recall what he said? It says, he told her all his, you got it, heart, heart. And in that moment of moments, she knew he had told the truth. All the fabrications he had said before went out the window.
She called these men, he says, I've got it now. I've got the real McCoy. He told me all his heart. And a man goes down to the darkness, a believer who could have done so much, but his heart was compromising.
Maybe there's compromising hearts here. I trust as we leave this afternoon meeting that we'll have committed hearts. Daniel purposed in his heart. Yeah, soul, body, mind, purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat.
And despite the obstacle, despite the cost, despite the trials, despite the valley, despite the lion's den, despite everything, this held him. He purposed in his heart. He was committed long-term. And God validated that faith and that confidence and God rewarded him.
God brought him out of that lion's den and vindicated his man. It all started with a young man and he purposed in his heart. I trust that we might just examine our hearts today. His heart would only lead to more worship, wouldn't it?
Our hearts, my heart, your heart. We need some inspection. We need an evaluation. And then of course, there's the other picture, our hearts in a collective sense. What are our hearts like? I trust that God will encourage our hearts to go on for himself.