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Keeping Your Heart

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• All right, it's a joy to be here tonight. I'm thankful for the opportunity, and I'm certainly glad to see each one of you here. I trust the Lord will bless our studies this week and that His name will be honored and glorified. The very first time you preach in a church is sometimes a very difficult time, only because you don't know where to begin. Do you realize, out of all the churches I've ever preached in, the two most difficult messages are the first one and the last one? The first one, you don't know where to start. And by the time you get to the last one, you've got so much you want to preach, you only have one shot left.

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• So today we're going to start in Proverbs chapter 4. And I want you to look at this text with me, please, because I'm going to be dealing with what I'm going to call one of the most elementary and fundamental subjects that every child of God should know. And that is keeping the heart. Look in Proverbs 4 and verse 23. The Word of God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

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• "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil."

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• Now go back, if you would please, to verse 23 where he says very plainly, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Do you realize the most difficult and yet the most needful exercise is that of keeping the heart? Someone has said that our hearts are like water. They always follow the course of least resistance, and they very quickly run out of bounds. How few indeed really and truly keep their hearts based upon the truth of the Word of God. I want you to hold the book of Proverbs 4 and verse 23 and look in your Bibles, if you would please, to 2 Chronicles 16 and look at verse 9. Note, if you would please, this statement. 2 Chronicles 16 and verse 9.

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• The Bible declares in this particular passage, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." Note carefully, if you would please, that the eyes of the Lord are running to and fro through the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. So it is as if God is looking for individuals who have a good heart that He might show Himself strong in them.

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• So here's the doctrine that I want to be teaching tonight, and that's simply this: The keeping and the right managing of the heart under every situation, under every circumstance, is the greatest business of the Christian's life. You see, the greatest difficulty in conversion is winning the heart. The greatest difficulty after conversion is keeping the heart. Now, let me give you a broad overview tonight. I want you to only see three things. First of all, I want you to see a clear command: Keep thy heart. Keep thy heart with all diligence. Secondly, a personal responsibility: You keep your heart. And thirdly, an explanatory reason: for out of it are the issues of life. So let's go to this clear command. God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." I believe anyone who could read would agree with me that the Word of God is very plain when God commands us to keep our hearts. Literally, the emphasis in the Hebrew is simply this: Keep with all keeping thy heart, or set double guards about your heart.

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• In other words, keep your heart above and before all things. So God very clearly commands us now to keep our hearts. The only problem is this: When God commands us to keep our hearts, before we can keep them, we have to know exactly what our heart really is. I've asked people all through the years, "Well, what is your heart?" But very obviously, it does not refer to the physical organ in our chest. I don't know about you, but I am thankful that that is an involuntary muscle. I don't have to lay awake at night saying, "Beat, heart, beat. Pump, heart, pump."

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• No, it just does it. It keeps doing it. And one day it will stop. And very obviously, there's nothing I can do about it. So when God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence," He's not talking about the physical muscle inside your chest. So what is the heart? Well, I've had that question asked many times and I've asked people, "What is the heart?" And someone says, "Well, you know, the heart is the soul." Well, okay, what is the soul? "Well, you know, it's the innermost being of man." Well, what is the innermost being of man? "Well, you know, it is the heart." And you just keep going around and around in circles and no one ever really tells you what your heart is. How in the world can you keep your heart if you don't know what it is?

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• So I want you to turn with me to a number of scriptures real quickly, and I want you to see what the Bible says. And I hope by the time we get to the last one, you'll be able to deduce from the Scripture what your heart really is. So if you look in your Bible to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, this is the law first mentioned. This is the very first time the word "heart" is even mentioned in the Bible. It's found in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And the Bible simply says this. Watch carefully. Genesis 6 and verse 5: "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." Note, if you would please, God saw—notice what He saw—that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So whatever the heart is, it can think and it can imagine, because God saw the thoughts and He saw the imaginations of the heart.

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• If you would turn right over to the book of Genesis chapter 27 and look in verse 41. Here's another scripture. Everybody knows the story of Jacob and Esau and how Esau was planning to murder his brother Jacob. But notice this passage, Genesis 27 and verse 41: "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.'" Now, notice what the Bible says: Esau said in his heart. Not only can the heart think and imagine, according to Genesis 6 and verse 5, the heart can speak. For Esau said in his heart. If you look in Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 12—Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 12—I want you to notice, if you would please, Proverbs chapter 5, notice, if you would please, verse 12, and notice what the Bible says here concerning the heart. Proverbs 5, and notice, if you would please, verse 12, the Bible says, "And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof."

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• So the heart then can think and imagine, the heart can speak, and the heart can either receive or despise reproof or correction and instruction. Now let me show you something else. You don't have to turn there. You'll remember this passage. In Matthew chapter 5, our Lord said, "Thou hast heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." So now watch this. Not only can the heart imagine and think, not only can the heart speak, not only can the heart either receive or despise correction, somehow there's an intimate connection between the eyes and the heart. For our Lord said, if you look upon a woman to lust after, you've committed adultery already in your heart.

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• Now, if you haven't put two and two together yet and found out what the heart really is, I want you to turn to the book of Daniel, chapter 4, and let's begin to look at it and try to tie this together. Daniel, chapter 4. And notice, if you would please, verse 16. This is about Nebuchadnezzar. Here is what God says when God is going to judge wicked Nebuchadnezzar. I want you to note very specifically what God says. Daniel chapter 4 verse 16: God says, "Let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him." So seven times is just simply the Chaldean way of saying seven years. So what God was going to do was going to drive Nebuchadnezzar insane for seven years. For seven years, he's going to eat grass like an ox, his fingernails are going to grow, his hair is going to grow. In other words, he's going to be literally insane.

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• The condition is called boanthropy. So, God says for seven years. But note in verse 16 He said, "Let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him." Now skip down, if you would please, to verse 28. Daniel chapter 4, verse 28. Notice, if you would, the Bible says, "All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar." That is everything that God decreed. At the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, "O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken.

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• The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

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• Now, let me ask you, do you remember what God said in verse 16? "Let his heart be changed from a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him." Now, if you want to know what the heart is, I want you to look at the next verse, verse 34. "At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me.

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• And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou?" Watch. "And at the same time my reason returned unto me." Wow!

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• I thought it was his heart that was changed. Well, it was. But the heart, according to the Scripture, is the understanding. It's the mind. It's the reasoning faculty of our being. In fact, in Proverbs 4, verse 23, when God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence," the Hebrew word for heart there is the word "leb." And that word "leb" that is translated "heart" in Proverbs 4, verse 23, is translated "mind" 11 times in our Bibles and "understanding" 20 times. So you can go all through the Bible and you will find out that the heart is the mind. It's the understanding.

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• Now, the interesting thing is this. The Apostle Paul said this in Acts chapter 24 and verse 16. He said, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." And I've often asked people, "What in the world is your conscience?" Have you ever stopped to think about your conscience? I've had people answer, "Well, I can tell you what the conscience is. The conscience is when you start to do something wrong, it says you better not do that. Or when you do it, you know you're doing wrong." Well, let me tell you why. You see, the Greek word for conscience is "suneidesis." "Sun" is a preposition which means "with." "Eidesis" means "to know." The word conscience means that which you know with. Look at your English word "conscience." "Con" is a preposition "with," "science" to know. Your conscience is that which you know with. So your conscience basically is your understanding. It's your mind. And when God says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence," what He's commanding you to do is to keep your mind, to keep your thoughts, to keep your understanding.

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• The interesting thing is this, as you read through the Word of God, there are so many verses that are dealing with the mind. For instance, the Bible tells you in 1 Peter 4, verse 1, that you're to arm yourselves with the mind of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells you in Philippians 2, verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." The Bible says, "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Do you remember that passage in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5? He says that we are to bring every thought and every imagination into subjection and captivity to Jesus Christ. Now, here's my question.

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• What is He telling us? When He commands us to keep our hearts, He's telling us to keep our minds. To keep our understanding. That's why in Proverbs chapter 4, He talks about the mouth, He talks about the lips, He talks about the eyes, He talks about the feet. I'm going to show you before I conclude tonight how all of these things simply work together. You see, God has laid down everything for us in His Word. And we have an obligation, we have a duty, we have a responsibility to bring our minds into conformity to the Word of God.

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• So it's just like this. Let's suppose that we're going to build a new building to meet in. And we've got the money and we're just going to do it. And so we start saying, "Well, let's just meet out here in the morning at eight o'clock and we'll start laying the foundation." And everybody comes and they bring different tools and there's no plan, there's no blueprint. Everybody just kind of does what they wanted to do. And then as they begin to erect some type of edifice, somebody says, "Well, I think we ought to have a log building." Someone else says, "Well, I like brick." Someone else says, "Well, I don't see anything wrong with concrete." And "I don't see anything wrong with concrete blocks." Somebody says, "Well, I just like pine wood." And you just start building anywhere and anyway with any materials that you want to build with. And then finally someone's wife says, "Well, I'd like a big window right there." "Well, all right, honey, I'll put us one in. It doesn't matter." Now, if everybody's building out of their own materials and doing their own thing, if the building is ever finished, what would you have?

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• An absolute monstrosity. Now, let me tell you something. It's the same way in the church. It's exactly the same way. I could take you through the Bible. The Apostle Paul says, "Be all of one mind." How can you be of one mind? The answer is very simple. You submit your mind to the Word of God. You bring every thought, every imagination into captivity to Jesus Christ. If we took a blueprint and laid a foundation, you could have men start on various parts of that foundation building. If everyone followed the blueprint, guess what? The building would match perfectly. It would be exactly the way it should. God has laid it out for us.

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• And He commands us to keep our hearts with all diligence. We're to bring every thought, every imagination into captivity to Jesus Christ.

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• Now you know what your heart is. I want you to notice, secondly, this personal responsibility. When He says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence," literally, here's what He's saying: You, keep your heart with all diligence. It's your responsibility. God gave you your mind. He gave you your understanding. He gave you your reasoning faculties. In fact, you're the only one who can keep it under God. Your pastor can't keep your mind. No priest can keep your mind, no committee, no deacon can keep your mind. God gave it to you and you're responsible to keep it. So He says, keep your heart or keep your mind, keep your understanding with all diligence. Now, I want you to understand something. If you perceive and if you comprehend the fact that the heart is the mind, it's the understanding.

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• Then you have to come up with this realization: There are no such things as sudden sins. You know, I've had people tell me all these years, "Brother Weaver, I didn't mean to run off with that woman. It just happened." That's not true. It didn't just happen. You thought about it. You desired it, you wanted it, you planned it. "Well, I didn't mean to steal that money. It was just there." No, no, no, no. You thought about it before you ever did. There's no such thing as a sudden sin.

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• When God commands you to keep your mind, I'm going to show you it's only your personal responsibility, but He's telling you that you must keep it in conformity to the Word of God. Now, let me tell you, here's one of our problems. In fact, we've got old sayings down in South Georgia, and I'm sure you probably have them here. But we've got old sayings like this: "You can't keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair." Okay?

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• Now, what does that mean? It just simply means this: You can't stop a thought from entering your mind. A thought can come into your mind as quickly as lightning can flash. The problem is not necessarily a thought entering into your mind. The problem is when you back that thought up and you say, "Yeah, wait a minute, let me think about this." When you see things you ought not to see, when you hear things you ought not to hear, things just simply pop into your mind. You can't control what pops in your mind. But you can control what stays in your mind. Now, let me just show you something. This is so simple. We make things so complex.

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• If I were to ask you, "What do I have in my hand?" Everyone says, "Well, it's a tube of chapstick." Sure it is. Now, you see this tube of chapstick, OK? Now, I want you to tell me what you see. You say, "I see the Bible."

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• Now, let me show you something. If you're really following me, when you were thinking about this chapstick, you were not thinking about the Bible. When you were thinking about the Bible, you're not thinking about the chapstick. Do you realize no matter how hard you try, you can't think of more than one thing at a time? That's all—one thing at a time. So when an ungodly thought comes in your mind or something that's contrary to Scripture, what you have a responsibility to do is say, "Lord, I refuse to think that thought. That's wicked. That's ungodly. That's contrary to Scripture." And I purposely and deliberately put my mind upon You or Your Word or Your promise. In other words, you put the wicked thing out and you put that which is holy and righteous in. That's why the Apostle Paul said, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." You have a responsibility. Now, let me show you something.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 15, and I want you to see how all of this works out. Matthew, chapter 15. And let's begin reading there with verse 16. I'm just trying to show you, you have a responsibility to keep your heart, to keep your mind, to keep your thoughts, and to make sure that they're biblical and godly. So look in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 16.

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• Our Lord has been teaching and now His disciples come up and ask Him a question. They say, "Declare unto us this parable." And He asked in verse 16, "And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?" You don't understand what I'm teaching? Let me explain it. Here it is. Watch verse 17. "Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?" Now watch. "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."

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• I want you to note what comes out first. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." Note what He says comes out of the heart. The very first thing is evil thoughts. What do you think in your mind, in your understanding, in your reasoning faculties? And that's when you begin to think murders and fornications and evil thoughts and idolatries and blasphemies and all of these things. And our Lord says they come out of the heart. So you have a personal responsibility to keep things out of your mind. You have a personal responsibility to keep things out of your understanding. I absolutely, totally refuse to watch anything that's contrary to Scripture. I don't care if TV says, "This is the story of Jesus."

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• I got news for you. TV can't teach anything about Jesus Christ. At least they can't teach it correctly. They can't teach it biblically. And I'm not going to sit there and watch some movie or some story about sodomites, and I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to sit there and watch something about fornication and adultery. I'm not going to do it. The truth is, we don't even have TV, so I can't watch it, and I don't want to watch it. But I'm just saying, I'm not going to have those things in my mind. We have a responsibility to keep those things out of our minds. I want you to look in the book of Jude, right before the book of Revelation, Jude, verses 20 and 21. You not only have a certain responsibility to keep things out of your mind, you also have a responsibility to keep certain things in your mind. I want you to look at this. The book of Jude, verse 20 and 21. In Jude, he says this in verse 20, "But ye, beloved."

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• Now, watch this. This is amazing. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith." You, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Watch. "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Now, wait a minute. Do you realize you have a responsibility to keep yourself in the love of God? You see, the problem is this, most people think the love of God is some little ethereal thing floating around somewhere or some kind of feeling or some type of emotion or some type of sentimentality. No. You know what the love of God is? He tells you in 1 John 5 and verse 3, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." So how do you keep yourselves in the love of God?

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• You just refuse any and everything that's contrary to God and His Word. And you keep and you preserve in your life everything that is in conformity to the Word of God. So obviously you have a responsibility.

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• Now, I want you to look at two passages. I want you to turn to Proverbs, chapter 16, and at the same time, I want you to turn to the book of Hosea, chapter 10. Hosea, chapter 10. Daniel, Hosea—go ahead and find Hosea, chapter 10, and just hold it and then go in your Bibles to Proverbs, chapter 16, in verse 1. I want you to see two concepts here. I want you to see the concept of ability and the concept of responsibility. So in Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 1, the Bible says this: "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." Now, let me just stop with the first half of this. The preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord. Do you realize if your heart is ever prepared, God prepared it? If you're ever prepared to pray, God prepared you to pray. If you're ever prepared to preach, God prepared you to preach. If you're ever prepared to study, God prepared you to study.

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• All the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. It is His ability.

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• Now, look in the book of Hosea, chapter 10, and notice, if you would please, verse 12. Hosea 10, verse 12.

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• Now, He says it like this: "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you." Now, wait a minute. If the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord, how can He say, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you"?

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• Well, we have a responsibility, but His is the ability. We have a responsibility to seek His ability to keep our hearts and prepare our hearts. I want you to go back to the book of Proverbs, chapter 23, and I want you to see how this is kind of fleshed out for us in this passage. Proverbs, chapter 23. And I want you to note, if you would, first of all, verse 12, and then we'll go to verse 19. Proverbs 23 and verse 12. He says this:

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• "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge." So let's just take the word "apply" there and just change it momentarily to "govern." He says, "Govern thine heart unto instruction." Hmm. Skip down, if you would, please, to verse 19. In verse 19, he says this: "Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way." Now, wait a minute. He just told me to govern my heart. Now He tells me to guide my heart. Now, wait a minute. If the preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord, how am I to govern my heart? How am I to guide my heart? Well, skip down, if you would, to verse 26. He says, "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." So the only way I can govern and guide my heart is by giving it to Him and seeking His ability to enable me to fulfill my responsibility. So the preparation of the heart in man is God's work.

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• But it is man's agency and our obedience is His instrumentality. Now, I want you to look in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3 and verse 12, because I'm trying to explain this simple concept of keeping the heart and your responsibility in keeping the heart. Note, if you would, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3 and verse 12. Here's a very interesting passage. Hebrews, chapter 3. And look, if you would please, at verse 12. The apostle spells it out very plainly, Hebrews 3, verse 12, when he says this: "Take heed, brethren."

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• So he's talking to believers. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Wow. He said you better take heed, brethren. Then he tells you in verse 13 that we're to exhort one another daily. But notice he talks about an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Let me explain something to you.

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• We have a unique ability. I don't care if you're young, I don't care if you're old. Each one of us has this unique ability. It is called blame-shifting. You remember when God came to the garden and said, "What hast thou done?" Adam said, "It's the woman which Thou gavest to be with me." And she said, "It's the serpent. He beguiled me, and I did eat." Have you ever noticed that whatever happens, no one's responsible for it?

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• It is so amazing to me, I've seen this so many times all through my ministry. I've heard of people leaving churches. And here is their excuse: "Well, you would have left, too, if they had said about you what they said about me." Oh. Really.

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• Now, let me tell you something. You have a personal responsibility to keep your heart. I know this is not going to happen. I'm just using this for an illustration. Let's suppose your pastor jumped up from where he's sitting and cussed me out—not cursed me out, but cussed me out. That's a good old-fashioned South Georgia term. He cussed me out. Every one of you heard him. He not only was ugly and rude to me, he cussed me. Now, here's my question. Just because he stood up and cussed me, does that give me the right to cuss him back? Does it? No. Just because he's ugly and rude and mean, does that mean I have a right to be ugly, rude, and mean? No. Now, let me tell you something, folks, I have to keep my heart, whether he keeps his heart or not, it's immaterial.

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• You see what people do. The people always say, "Well, so and so happened and it's their fault because this happened and that." No. We have to learn to assume responsibility for ourselves and for our actions. We are responsible for every thought that goes through our minds. We're responsible for what we retain in our mind. We're responsible for what we do. We used to be in a church building where when you came in the doors, there were two little cubby holes on the side that went back and they had about two pews each.

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• We had one man come in to the service late. In fact, I had just stood up to preach. The singing was over. He came in late. He came back and got in one of the cubby holes over in the corner where no one could see him but me. When I got through preaching and church was dismissed, he sat in that same spot hiding in that corner. None of our people even knew he was there. Everyone left. He finally came out of that corner and he told me—he's a preacher—he said, "I just want to tell you, I will not be back to your church."

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• I said, "Oh, and why is that?" He said, "Because this is an unfriendly church. No one spoke to me and no one shook my hand." I said, "Sir, let me tell you something. I said, first of all, I saw you come in late and you sat in that corner and hid yourself. I said, you know as well as I do that none of our people even knew that you were there. You never even came out when service was over. You sat there and waited purposely until everyone left."

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• I said, "Secondly, the Bible says, 'He that hath friends must show himself friendly.' I said, did you offer to speak to anyone? Did you offer to shake anyone's hand?" I said, "No, you did not, because I observed you. I saw you. I said, thirdly, let me tell you this. You don't come to church to shake people's hands. You don't come to church to greet people. You come here to worship the one true and the living God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. And I said, sir, if the only thing you're interested in is shaking hands, I said, you come back next week. I'll pin a mule tail on that wall and you can stand back there and shake it the whole time I'm preaching."

  #50 | 34:05 to 34:42 | cleaned

• Do you realize it was everybody else's fault but his because he never got spoken to? No, it was his fault. Do you realize our sins are our own? And just because someone else does wrong, just because someone else gossips about us, just because someone spreads a rumor about us does not give us the right to get upset and go running off and doing the same thing. I want to show you a passage. I want you to turn, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 25.

  #51 | 34:47 to 35:17 | cleaned

• Look, if you would please, at verse 28. Proverbs 25, verse 28. I want you to see this. Proverbs 25, verse 28. The Bible says, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." If you don't have any rule over your own spirit, you're like a city that's broken down without walls. What does that mean? A city that's broken down or a city that doesn't have walls—you can walk in, get what you want, and walk out.

  #52 | 35:17 to 35:45 | cleaned

• Let me tell you something. Listen very carefully. I cannot make you angry unless you allow me to make you angry. I cannot make you jealous unless you allow me to make you jealous. I cannot make you vindictive unless you allow me to make you vindictive. If you have no control over your own spirit, if you can't control yourself, God says you're like a city broken down without walls.

  #53 | 35:48 to 36:26 | cleaned

• I want you to look in Proverbs 16 and notice verse 32. Proverbs 16 and verse 32. In Proverbs 16 and verse 32, the Word of God says this: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Did you hear that? He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. So God says, if you can control yourself, if you can keep your heart, if you can keep your mind, your understanding, you're better

  #54 | 36:27 to 37:05 | cleaned

• than the most powerful warrior. You have a responsibility to keep your heart. Let me tell you something, folks, if you ever get mad and leave mad and get angry and get upset, the sin is yours. Because you didn't control your heart, you didn't keep your heart. I don't care what I do. I don't care what I say. If you can control your heart, there's no way in the world I can upset you. But if you ever get upset, if you ever get angry, if you ever get mad, you mark it down. It's your sin because you failed to keep your heart. You have a personal responsibility. Now, let me tell you why. Here's the explanatory reason.

  #55 | 37:06 to 38:02 | cleaned

• Back in Proverbs 4, verse 23, he said it like this: "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Why? "For out of it are the issues of life." Out of your heart are the issues of life. Let me tell you how this Hebrew word is translated in our Bibles. It is translated "going forth" one time. It is translated "going out" eleven times, "issue" two times, and "outgoing" seven times.

  #56 | 38:03 to 38:35 | cleaned

• So here's what he's saying: Everything about us comes out of our hearts, just like our Lord said in Matthew chapter 15, "For out of the heart proceed." Everything that we are and everything that we do comes out of our heart. Have you ever stopped to think about this? Without knowledge, a man is absolutely helpless. The Bible says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Our Lord said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." But now, wait a minute, if you don't know the truth, you're not free. If you don't have knowledge, very obviously, you're destroyed. Here's a very simple illustration. I'm not a mechanic. I'm not mechanically inclined whatsoever.

  #57 | 38:35 to 39:22 | cleaned

• But if my car breaks down beside the road, I know enough to lift the hood and check, see if the spark plug wires are on and, you know, that kind of thing. Back when you used to have distributor caps, I remember you used to pop them off and wipe the moisture out of them. That was it. But since I'm not mechanically inclined, I know nothing about mechanics. If my car breaks down, I'm sitting beside the road waiting and praying. But you let a man who is a mechanic—let the same thing happen to his car. He pulls over, lifts the hood, fixes it, gets in, goes on about his way.

  #58 | 39:25 to 40:07 | cleaned

• What was a problem to me was not a problem with him. You know why? He knew the answer. He knew what to do. You don't have problems if you know the answer. You only have problems when you don't know the answer.

  #59 | 40:07 to 40:18 | cleaned

• Now, let me explain it like this. Do you realize you do what you do because you think the way you think? You do what you do because you understand the way you understand. You look at all the young people, you look at all the adults that are on drugs. Think about that. Why in the world would anybody in their right mind induce things in their body that ought not to be there? And when you know and I know it's going to mess up their mind or mess up their body.

  #60 | 40:20 to 40:52 | cleaned

• Why would they do that? And the answer is because they don't think the way we think. They think that somehow they're going to be the exception to the rule. They think that somehow they're going to have a great experience. They think that somehow they can handle this. Other people may be ensnared and other people may become addicts, but not them. I never will forget when I was in the university. I forget, I think it's the four or five years that I was there.

  #61 | 40:52 to 41:27 | cleaned

• There were 11 bank robberies. Not one robber ever got out of the city limits. They caught him before they got out of the city limits. You know why there were 11 bank robbers? Because all the other thieves thought the ones before them were stupid and they got caught, but they are the exception and they'll never get caught. The truth of the matter is, folks, we do what we do because we think the way we think.

  #62 | 41:29 to 42:02 | cleaned

• Look back in Proverbs 4. Look what he said now. Watch carefully. Proverbs 4, verse 23. He says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Now watch. If you're keeping your heart, what will you do? Verse 24, you'll put away from you a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from you. Verse 25, if you're keeping your heart, you will not let your eyes look to the right. You will let your eyes look right on, and your eyelids will look straight before thee. If you're keeping your heart, you'll ponder the path of thy feet, and you'll let all thy ways be established. If you're keeping your heart, in verse 27, you'll turn not to the right hand or to the left, and you will remove thy foot from evil. All I'm trying to show you is this: your actions are a manifestation of your heart.

  #63 | 42:03 to 42:49 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to turn to a passage, please, Acts chapter 8. I want you to turn there because I'm going to make a statement and I know—I know—that you're probably going to take exception with what I'm going to say, so I'm going to show you the Scripture in just a moment. So here's what I'm going to tell you. Are you listening? I can tell you what is in your heart. You say, "Oh, come on, Brother Weaver, you can't tell me what's in my heart." Yes, I can. You say, "Now, Brother Weaver, the Bible says that nobody knows what's in the heart of man but God." No, the Bible doesn't say that. The Bible does say that the Lord knows the heart and He's the only one that knows it perfectly. But I can tell you what's in your heart. And you can tell me what's in my heart. How? Well, let me show you an illustration. Look in Acts chapter 8 and let's begin reading there with verse—oh, let's begin reading there with verse

  #64 | 42:50 to 44:06 | cleaned

• 12. You remember Simon the sorcerer? Verse 12: "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done."

  #65 | 44:07 to 44:34 | cleaned

• Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Now watch carefully. "For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." Oh, Peter, how can you say that? Oh, nobody knows the heart but God. Nobody can judge.

  #66 | 44:35 to 45:29 | cleaned

• Peter, how can you say your heart is not right with God? How can you tell him, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee"? And look what he said in verse 23: "For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." Now, let me go back, if you would, and look in verse 20. And Peter said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee." The word "perish" in the Greek is a very strong word. I want to tell you what Peter literally said. Here's what he said. Here's what he meant. Here's what Simon understood.

  #67 | 45:30 to 46:08 | cleaned

• This is South Georgia language, but it's still plain. Here's what Peter said: "Your money go to hell with you, because that's exactly where you're going." That's what he said. "For thy heart is not right in this matter. Your heart is not right in the sight of God." How did Peter know that Simon's heart was not right in the sight of God? Because of what he said. Because of what he did. Because of his attitude. Because of his actions. Listen, I can tell you what's in your heart.

  #68 | 46:08 to 46:49 | cleaned

• All I've got to do is watch you. Listen to you, observe you. Because out of the heart the mouth speaks. Out of the heart, the feet move and the hands move. Our actions, our attitudes, are manifestations of our hearts. You go through the Bible. You take every good king that ruled in Judah. And you know what the Bible will say? His heart was right with God, as was David his father's. How did they know his heart was right with God? By the way he ruled. By the way he lived. By the way he acted. You take every wicked king and you'll find this statement: "But his heart was not right with God, as was David his father's." Well, how did they know his heart wasn't right with God? By the way he ruled. By the way he lived. By the way he acted.

  #69 | 46:49 to 47:52 | cleaned

• The truth of the matter is this, folks. Our hearts are manifested in our lives. And here's what God says: You better keep your heart. For as a man thinketh in his heart—help me out—so is he. You actually live out what is in your heart, what is in your mind, what is in your understanding.

  #70 | 47:52 to 48:18 | cleaned

• Now, let me make a few applications and tie this together. The first one is this. I want you to understand that keeping the heart is an absolute requirement for obedience to God and for an understanding in the things of God. I want you to look in the book of Mark, chapter 4, if you would, please. Mark 4. Look, if you would, beginning there with verse 24. Mark 4, verse 24. Now, I'm just trying to show you that keeping the heart is an absolute requirement for obedience to the Word of God and understanding the things of God. In Mark 4, verse 24, he says this: "And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given."

  #71 | 48:20 to 49:13 | cleaned

• Now watch. "For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." By the way, let me just tell you something. Do you know why most Christians never grow in grace and never grow in knowledge? The answer is because they don't obey the truth of God. Why would God give you any more truth if you're not going to obey that which He's already given you?

  #72 | 49:13 to 49:46 | cleaned

• If you cannot do this one fundamental elementary exercise—keep your heart day in, day out—if you're failing to keep your heart, why would God give you anything else? If you want to be an obedient child of God, your most fundamental exercise is learning to keep your heart in every situation, in every circumstance. Here's the second application. Listen carefully. Keeping the heart supplies one of the best evidences of our genuineness in salvation.

  #73 | 49:49 to 50:32 | cleaned

• What am I talking about? Do you remember what our Lord said about the Pharisees? He says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" He says, "Ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." "Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones." You see, a Pharisee wants to show, "Look at me," he wants everyone's approval. But the real child of God really could care less about everyone's approval. He's more concerned about being right with God internally when people cannot see him and people cannot understand him. See, I've known teenagers.

  #74 | 50:34 to 51:18 | cleaned

• Oh, they're perfect around their pastor. They're perfect around their parents. They get away from their parents and they're devils. They get back around their parents, around their pastor, their perfect little angel. Let me tell you something, if you're a genuine child of God, I don't care if you're around your parents, around your pastor or whoever you're around, you're responsible and you're accountable and you really desire to be true and holy on the inside as well as on the outside. Keeping your heart supplies one of the greatest evidences that we're genuine children of God because we want holiness. Thirdly, I want you to understand it's only as we keep our heart that we're enabled to discharge our spiritual duties as we ought. You know something, folks? You cannot even worship if you don't keep your heart. I know of husbands and wives who fuss and fight

  #75 | 51:19 to 52:26 | cleaned

• on the way to church. And then somehow when they get out of the car and get into the church building and sit down, somehow they think they're automatically going to be worshiping God. No, they're not. No, they're not. I never will forget, I was preaching in South Carolina one time and I was asked to go visit this home. And so I went to visit the family. So I parked my car out on the street, on the curb, and I would imagine it was a good 25 yards to the house. So help me, by the time I got out of the car, I could hear the man and the woman screaming and hollering and fussing and fighting at each other. I mean, 25 feet outside of their own home or 25 yards outside, I could hear it.

  #76 | 52:28 to 53:16 | cleaned

• So I just walked right straight up to the door. I ring the doorbell. They both come to the door. "Oh, hello, Pastor. How are you today? It's so good." What? I know they were screaming and hollering, I heard them. Is it strange that people can control their anger when someone is around that they don't want to know how they really are, and they won't control it around someone they have to live with?

  #77 | 53:17 to 53:50 | cleaned

• I got news for you. I'd rather be at odds with your pastor than at odds with my wife. I've got to live with her. I don't have to live with him. We can't worship. Listen, I don't necessarily agree with Dwight L. Moody, but I do agree with one thing that he wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible. He wrote, "Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book." You can't function, you can't worship, you can't study, you can't pray if you don't keep your heart. David said in Psalm 66 verse 18, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." You cannot even fulfill the most fundamental duties if you don't keep your heart.

  #78 | 53:53 to 54:47 | cleaned

• Fourthly, I want you to notice this. I want you to see the fallacy, the error, and the theological misrepresentation when people ask other people, say, "Well, what you need to do is just open your heart to the Lord." Oh. Really? You know what the Scripture says? You remember that lady by the name of Lydia in Acts chapter 16? Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, whose heart the Lord opened, with the result that she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. Why did she listen to Paul? God opened her heart. Do you remember those two on the Emmaus road? "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" And then when you get to verse 45, "Then opened he their understanding," or their heart, "that they might understand the scriptures." Do you realize, folks, if God does not open the heart, if God does not open the understanding, it's never, ever going to be open. The best thing you can do if you have lost loved ones is pray that God would have mercy upon them and that God would open their heart.

  #79 | 54:49 to 56:19 | cleaned

• God would open their eyes. God would open their understanding. But you have a responsibility to keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Let me just put it to you like this: If you believe right, you will act right. If you believe wrongly, you'll act wrongly. If you believe right, you'll keep your heart, and you'll want to honor and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ and the so great salvation that He's given to us. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are thankful for Your love, Your grace, Your mercy, Your truth. We're thankful for life, so great salvation. Enable us, Father, to keep our hearts and to live holy, godly lives in Thy name, we pray. Amen.

  #80 | 56:19 to 57:25 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T01:22:50Z