Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts

Prepared Hearts Part 1

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2004-10-24

Synopsis: John Weaver examines why so many Christians fail, arguing that the root cause is a lack of heart preparation. Using Proverbs 16:1 and Hosea 10:12, he teaches that all true preparation originates from God's sovereign grace, yet believers are responsible to actively seek the Lord by breaking up the fallow ground of their hearts—dealing thoroughly with sin, hardness, and rebellion. Without such continual preparation, individuals, families, churches, and nations will break down rather than break up.

[John Weaver] Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 and verse 12. The subject is prepared hearts, so look in verse 1 of Proverbs 16. The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Then if you look at Hosea 10 and verse 12, the Bible says so to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your foul ground, For it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you."

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a simple question. I don't know if you've ever pondered this or not, but here it is. Why are there so many failures in the Christian life? How is it that so many seem to stumble and fall by the wayside? The highway of life is littered not only with what you and I would refer to as ordinary everyday Christians, but with elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, seminary professors, counselors, and even pastors. When we hear the vulgarity, the immorality, and the outright rebellion of many who profess Jesus Christ, it does not surprise us any longer. And the question is why?

[John Weaver] And the answer is because such has turned into a daily occurrence and we've actually grown immune to the horribleness of such conduct. In fact, we've almost developed an attitude when we hear about a preacher falling into sin as just simply making a game and saying, well, who's next? Have you ever wondered why in the world there are so many failures in the Christian life? And it seems as if teaching, preaching and counseling or to no avail. You look around and it seems as if the entire world has gone mad and Christians have gone mad with it. Many times I talk to Brother McCurry and especially if there is a counseling situation involved and sometimes I just say to him, Has the whole world gone crazy and you and I are the only two sane people left in it? And he says, well, I'm not so sure about you sometimes. Well, when he asked the question, then I repeat that same answer back to him. But it is astounding that so many professing Christians are blinded to reality.

[John Weaver] Their senses are dulled and they're totally confused as to what is right and what is wrong. When you stop and look at, I'm not just talking about the world or the country or the nation as a whole, but I'm really talking about professing Christianity. Not only have we lost our work ethic, but our basic decency and common sense as well. The average Christian is blown and tossed to and fro.

[John Weaver] with every slight of man and every possible doctrine. You don't know how many calls I get every month of people telling me about the dreams that they had and the importance of their dreams.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm not going to tell you that sometimes a dream may or may not have some significance, but I'm going to tell you this. If you want to really dream some dreams, You just eat your peanut butter mayonnaise pickle and mustard sandwich before you go to bed. And you're going to really dream some dreams. And let me tell you, it's a fact. Whatever is constantly and consistently on your mind, when you go to bed at night, if you go to bed tired, with that on your mind, usually that's what you're going to dream about. And everybody dreams. You just simply may not remember some of them. But the point I'm trying to make is, We put more stock in our dreams than we do in the word of God. Now. The point I'm trying to make is this, it's simply time to get back to basics. And for you and I to understand some fundamental truths from the word of God, and I want you to see today the absolute importance of prepared hearts.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles, whole Proverbs 16 of course and Hosea 10, we're coming back there, but look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14. Then we're going to the book of Ezra chapter 7. So notice if you would please 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14 and then we're going to turn right over to the book of Ezra. 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14, look at what the Bible says. 2 Chronicles 12, verse 14, we're talking about King Rehoboam and King Rehoboam was Solomon's son. So the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14, and he, that is King Rehoboam, did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Isn't that amazing? King Rehoboam did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Ezra. Right over a few pages, Ezra chapter 7, and notice if you would please verse 10, what is said concerning Ezra. Ezra 7 and verse 10. Here the word of God says this, Ezra 7 and verse 10, For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

[John Weaver] Now note, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Now, we're talking about prepared hearts. The Bible said in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14 that Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart. And the Bible tells us that Ezra did that which was right. And the answer to why is because he did prepare his heart. In other words, there was a fundamental demand for what you and I would call heart preparation. As you read through the Bible, you're going to find these phrases occur quite frequently. For instance, look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 3. 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 3. We're talking about heart preparation, having a prepared heart. 1 Samuel chapter 7 and look at verse 3. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, Then put away the strange gods and ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

[John Weaver] Now look what he says, prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only. You know what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, verse 3, here referring to King Jehoshaphat, here is what the prophet said to him. He says, Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God. He had not only taken away their groves, but he had prepared his heart to seek God. Now, as you read through Scripture, the important thing to note is, here's one man who prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Here's another individual who prepared his heart to seek the Lord. And another phrase that is closely connected, which I'll be dealing with next Lord's Day, is that he prepared his ways to seek the Lord. And sometimes you'll read in the Bible about a wicked man who prepared not his ways to seek the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask that you turn to Second Chronicles, Chapter 20. Very quickly, because there's a couple of passages I want you to see. Second Chronicles, Chapter 20, and look in verse 33. I'm just emphasizing this fact, 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33. Notice what the scripture says. 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33. Howbeit the high places were not taken away. Why? For as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. So they allowed some idolatrous high places. Why? Because the people had not prepared their hearts to seek the Lord God of their fathers. Now look in Second Chronicles 27 and verse 6. I'll be quoting this passage next week I'm sure. Second Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6. Look what the Bible says about Jotham. In Second Chronicles chapter 27 verse 6. So Jotham became mighty. Why? Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Now, we're talking about prepared hearts.

[John Weaver] Someone has aptly said that a prepared heart is much better than a prepared sermon. A prepared heart will make a prepared sermon. And a prepared heart will also make the necessary application to one's life from a sermon. That is, they will learn to take the truth of God and apply it into every area and every sphere of their lives.

[John Weaver] Now I've given you two texts for today. Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 in verse 12. Now these two texts show us some vital and important truths concerning heart preparation.

[John Weaver] Now the very first thought I'm going to give you is this. The rise of heart preparation. In other words, Proverbs 16 in verse 1 teaches us that all true biblical and godly preparation has its origin, has its rise in the sovereign grace of God. Now, if you look in Proverbs 16 in verse 1, the Bible simply says this, the preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue are from the Lord. Now, note that first phrase in verse 1. The preparations of the heart in man, then if you'll skip down to the last phrase, is from the Lord. So if you and I then are going to inquire as to the source and the origin of heart preparation, the answer then would be revealed in Proverbs 16 in verse 1. Everything originates with God. He's the center from which everything flows. May I remind you of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 11 and verse 36. Listen carefully. Paul said, For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.

[John Weaver] Now let me break that down for you. For of him, that is originally, and through him, that is providentially, and to him, that is ultimately, are all things. So all things then stem and flow from the sovereign grace of God. You see, also the doctrine of total depravity necessitates the fact that the rise of heart preparation originates with God. You say, what are you talking about? Well, turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 3 very quickly. Romans chapter 3.

[John Weaver] And there are a multitude of passages. This one should be sufficient. Look in Romans chapter 3, beginning there with verse 10. Romans 3 verse 10. Look what the Bible says. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understand it. There is none that seeketh after God. They're all going out of the way. They're together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Now, let me go back and just ask this one question based upon verse 11. How many really understand? None. How many really seek after God? None. Then it's absolutely necessary that the origin of heart preparation originate with God, because man is absolutely, totally praved And he's not going to see God initially or originally. That's why the Bible says the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. So very obviously, when we're talking about heart preparation, we must understand the true source of heart preparation is from God himself.

[John Weaver] Let me give you two quick quotes. The first one is from John Gild, who is an old expositor, and he's giving a statement regarding Proverbs 16, verse 1, especially the preparation of the heart and man is from the Lord. Here's what he says. The sense of these words, according to our version, depends upon the next clause. And the meaning of the whole is that man can neither think nor speak without God.

[John Weaver] the orderings or the marshallings of the heart, as it may be rendered, that is, of the thoughts of the hearts which are generally irregular and confused, the arranging them in order, as well as an army and battle array, or as things regularly placed on a well-furnished table, the fixing them on any particular subject, though about things civil and natural, so as closely to attend to them and proceed in a regular manner, and the consideration of them are not without the concurrence of divine Now, what did he just get through saying? He's saying the meaning is this, that a man can neither think right nor speak right without God. John Trapp, another old exposter, said this, he saith not of man, as if it were in man's power to dispose of his own heart, but in man, as holy wrought of God For our sufficiency is not of ourselves, but in him." Isn't that interesting? Here are these men saying very clearly that everything originates with God. Now, let me explain this very simply. When the Bible says the preparation of the heart and manner from the Lord, it means simply this.

[John Weaver] If our hearts are ever prepared to do what's right, God prepared them. If our hearts are ever prepared to pray, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to repent, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to turn to the Lord, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to trust Christ, God prepared the hearts. The preparation of the heart in man are from the Lord.

[John Weaver] You and I cannot do anything initially or originally. Everything originates with God himself. May I remind you what the Bible says in Isaiah 64 and verse 6. In fact, once again, here's a verse that makes this absolutely necessary because the scripture says, but we are all as an unclean thing and all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Very clearly, then, if all of our righteousnesses are nothing but filthy rags, we cannot do anything.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 29, because here's an excellent illustration of God preparing the hearts of a people. Now, there was a great revival under King Hezekiah. In 2 Chronicles 29, verse 36, the Bible says this,"...and Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly." For God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly." In other words, when there was a great awakening, when there was a great revival, when there was a turning back to God, it was because God had prepared the people. Now look in chapter 30 and verse 12.

[John Weaver] You'll see the same truth repeated again, but just stated a little differently. Also in Judah, the hand of God was to give them one heart. to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord. So the king and the princes were commanding that which was right and biblical, and note what the Bible says, also and due to the hand of God was to give them one heart to obey. What is that saying? That is saying that God was preparing the heart. So the great revival under Hezekiah was the result then of God sovereignly, graciously moving upon the people and preparing their hearts to seek Him and obey Him.

[John Weaver] That's the only thing that you can say. The source and the origin of all true heart preparation is of God. the one true and the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. So very clearly then, the rise of heart preparation then originates from God himself. Now secondly today, and this is going to be the only point I'm going to cover today, I'm going to spend the rest of my time on it, and that is the responsibility of heart preparation.

[John Weaver] So if you look in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12, now, lest any think that all that you and I are responsible and accountable to do is to just simply sit around and wait upon the Lord to suddenly break forth upon us, then we need to meditate on Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what Scripture says. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. Break up your fallowed ground. For it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you. Now, I want you to note that when Hosea said this, he was saying it to a wicked people. Look in verse 13.

[John Weaver] He says, You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in my way and in the multitude of mighty men. So he's telling these wicked people, it's time for you to sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your foul ground. For it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you.

[John Weaver] Now, you say, Brother Weaver, I don't understand. How can Proverbs 16 and verse 1 tell me that the preparation of the heart is managed from the Lord? And now I come to Hosea 10 and verse 12, and it tells me that I am to break up my fallow ground and I am to seek the Lord. Well, the answer is very simple. Proverbs 16 and verse 1 speaks about ability. And Hosea 10 and verse 12 speaks about responsibility.

[John Weaver] Those are two totally separate things. Just because someone has responsibility does not necessarily mean that he has ability. We can say it like this, to God belongs the grace, to us belongs the responsibility. Or we could say it another way, to God belongs the ability, to each of us belongs the responsibility.

[John Weaver] Now, it is true that God must prepare our hearts. Yet on the other hand, Scripture teaches us that we're responsible to seek Him to prepare our hearts. We are His creatures. Because we are His creatures, because we are created in His image, we owe Him glory and obedience. Because we are fallen creatures, we owe Him repentance and faith. Now here's the question. You say, Brother Weber, now hang on. If I am responsible to do something, and yet I don't have the ability to do it, then I must be absolved of my responsibility.

[John Weaver] Oh no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that in the Scripture. It doesn't work like that in real life. You may go to the bank and borrow fifty thousand bucks. And you sign that little note at 10% interest or whatever it is, and you pledge your house against that loan. Okay?

[John Weaver] Now you've entered into a contract. Now, whether or not you're really getting any substance is not the point. I'm just making an illustration. And so you leave the bank, and all the way out of the bank, you have a wreck. And 30 days later, you wake up in ICU. And not only are all your savings gone, but even the money that you borrowed from the bank for your business investment, even that's now gone. And finally, two or three months later, when you're in a wheelchair, someone pushes you down to the bank and you look at the bank loan officer and say, sir, I realize I borrowed this money and I realize I owe it to you, but as you can see, I was in a wreck and

[John Weaver] now I am unable to work and so I'm no longer responsible to pay my bill, so just write it off. Is that what the banker's going to do? He'll probably say to you, sir, you either have that money in here by six o'clock tomorrow or get out of my house. You see what I'm saying? Just because you have lost your ability does not mean that you've lost your responsibility. We've got to remember that when man sinned, and I'm talking about the original sin, When man sinned, the sin was not God's, it was man's. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that God has lost his ability to command. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that he has lost his responsibility. We might have lost our ability to obey, but God did not lose his right to command.

[John Weaver] And therefore, he commands that we seek him. Now, when you get to a passage like John 6 and verse 37. When our Lord says, no man can come unto me except the father who sent me draw him. What is he talking about? He's talking about ability. No man has the ability to come to Christ savingly in and of himself. But then he goes on to say in that passage that the father draw. In other words, what you and I must do, and this is part and parcel of our responsibility, is to seek God for grace and ability to fulfill our responsibility. Part and parcel of our responsibility is to say, God, I can't. You've commanded me, but I can't. I don't have the ability. Lord, you must even give me the ability to fulfill my responsibility. Let me ask you, what did our Lord say in John 15 in verse five? It seems to me like he said this.

[John Weaver] Without me, you can do very little. Is that what he said? Without me, you can do a tiny bit. Is that what he said? Without me, you can do what? Nothing. Not one thing. That means we must have Him to enable us to even seek Him to fulfill our responsibility.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. I'm going to try to set the stage for what I want to impress upon your hearts not only this week, but next week. When you get up each morning, do you plan on committing wickedness? Do you just sit down and say, now let me see, what can I do today? Can I lie? Can I steal? Can I commit adultery? No, you don't do that. Not as Christians. You don't get up every morning and plan on committing wickedness. Yet the truth is, many times you do commit wickedness. So the question is, why? How is it That I'm talking about real, genuine Christian people, and I'm not talking about those false professors. But how is it that real, genuine Christian people can seemingly just fall into things when they should not?

[John Weaver] How can something like that happen? How is it that you fail to stand when you need to stand? How is it you do what's wrong when you should do what is right? How is it that you can be so easily persuaded sometimes into doing that which is wrong when you know it's wrong? The answer is you haven't prepared your heart. Do you realize a prepared heart is a heart that keeps you from falling? A prepared heart is a heart that allows you to stand when you need to stand. A prepared heart is a heart that allows you to do what's right in the face of what's wrong. That's why it's called a prepared heart. Let me ask you, if you knew a hurricane was coming through, And they're saying it's going to be a bad one.

[John Weaver] And there's a possibility we're going to be out without electricity for a week or two. Would you just simply go on about your business? No, you'd store up some water, some flashlights, batteries, some food, maybe try to get a generator. What would you be doing? You would be preparing so that you could withstand what was coming. The same thing is true spiritually. We have to have a prepared heart.

[John Weaver] Now, look in Hosea 10 and verse 12. Watch carefully. He says, So do yourselves in righteousness. Reap in mercy, break up your foul ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you.

[John Weaver] Now, I've got some bad news for you. Here it is. Hosea 10 and verse 12 speaks of work. Hard. Backbreaking work. It speaks of plowing, breaking, harrowing, sowing, reaping, seeking.

[John Weaver] Now, if you've never been raised on the farm, you don't understand the metaphors that our Lord is using here. Let me show you something. Hold Hosea 10. We're coming right back there. We'll look in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 9. I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said concerning the church of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 9. Paul says, For we are laborers together with God.

[John Weaver] That is the preachers, the apostles, the teachers. We are labors together with God.

[John Weaver] Now it just makes a distinction. You are God's husbandry. You are God's building. So the very first thing when he says you are God's husbandry, guess what the word husbandry literally means. You are God's tillage. He's using the illustration affirming. So the word husbandry actually means tillage. Here then are plowing, fouling, sowing, harrowing, watering, reaping, threshing, and feeding on what you and I would call well-directed labor.

[John Weaver] All of these pictures are applied to the human heart and the work of God upon the human heart. Actually, this passage speaks then of correction, contrition, conversion, receiving the grace of Christ, bringing forth fruit, and living a godly, obedient life. That's what this verse basically speaks about. But I want to show you what the most fundamental requirement really is. He said in verse 12, so do yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, Break up your fallow ground. Now, know that phrase, break up your fallow ground. All of us know about sowing. We know about reaping. We know about seeking. We know about raining. But most of us really do not know what he means when he says break up your fallow ground. Now, the word fallow in the context refers to unplowed or unbroken or unprepared ground.

[John Weaver] Everyone in this room knows it's absolutely necessary to prepare ground before you plant. There is no farmer, there is no gardener that just simply goes outside and throws his seed on top of the ground and turns around and walks off and says, well, I can hardly wait until harvest time. It just doesn't work like that. You know, Our Lord tells us in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. We'll look at some of it in just a moment. He tells us what happens when people just throw seeds upon the ground like that.

[John Weaver] The fowls of the air come and take them away. And when they fall, they fall on that hard, packed ground where nothing ever can penetrate. So our Lord is telling us that if there is to be a reception of the seed, then the ground must be prepared. So when he says break up your foul ground, literally what he's telling you is to plow thoroughly your foul ground. Break it up totally, completely.

[John Weaver] Now, hold Hosea, but look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 14. Jeremiah chapter 14. And look, please, at verse, I'm sorry, Jeremiah 4, not 14. Jeremiah 4 and verse 3, look what God says, same truth, Jeremiah 4 verse 3, for thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fowler ground and sow not among thorns. Break up your fowler ground and sow not among thorns. Isn't that interesting? You know what breaking up the ground is? Breaking up the ground means that you rid the ground not only of the weeds and the roots and the stumps. You clear that ground and you make it possible for that ground to be planted in. I remember when I was a boy, we had to blow stumps. Anybody here ever had to blow stumps?

[John Weaver] You just go down and buy dynamite. And what you would do is you had a long piece of iron and you would pack or make a hole down under that stump. And then you would put that stick of dynamite under that stump and light that fuse and then run like mad. I remember one time I tried to do that. It was wet, rainy weather and I bogged down.

[John Weaver] I got about 10 feet and my foot went down in the mud and I couldn't get out. You know what I did? I kissed the ground. I mean, I came up with mud all over me. I'd rather do that than have that stump blow all over me, see? But I'm just saying, all that is involved. And if you've ever had to clear a field of stumps, which I have done, you're talking about hard, back-breaking work. Because you have to dig what the dynamite doesn't blow up.

[John Weaver] And then you have to pull the remaining. He said, break up your foul ground and sow not among thorns.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will turn your Bibles to the book of Joel, let me show you another picture. Hosea, Joel. Right after the book of Hosea, Hosea, Joel, Amos, look in Joel chapter 2 and verse 13.

[John Weaver] Now, this is another metaphor, but he's teaching the same truth. Joel 2 verse 13. God says, and rend your heart, and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repented him of evil. Note what he says, and rend your heart, and not your garments. In other words, God had rather have a broken heart than a rent garment. So when he says, rend your heart, he's giving you the same metaphor, or different metaphor, but the same truth, break up your fallow ground.

[John Weaver] Now the word rend literally means to tear thoroughly. Break up means to plow thoroughly and completely.

[John Weaver] Now look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 8 if you would very quickly. Because he told the men of Judah and Jerusalem that they were to break up their foul ground and sow not among thorns. Now, when he says, so not among thorns, what does that mean? That means the thorns are already there. The thorns already have a foothold. One of these days, I'm going to preach an entire message just on thorns, because there's so much that you can learn from thorns in the Bible. Thorns are distractful for one thing, and they can be deadly, by the way. But he says, don't sow among the thorns. Now here's why. Look in Luke chapter 8 and verse 7 when our Lord is talking about the four types of hearers. He says in verse 7 and some that is some seed fell among thorns what happened and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Now look in verse 14, our Lord interprets that, and He says, And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and the pleasures of this life, and bring forth no fruit to perfection.

[John Weaver] Now what happens then when you sow seed among the thorns? The thorns are usually so tightly packed in the ground that it chokes out the seed. No plant, no seed can germinate because of the root system that's already there by the thorns. So when he's saying that you are to break up your fallow ground and sow not among the thorns, what is he saying? He's saying that you and I cannot be contented with a passing, casual, light, and useless harrowing.

[John Weaver] You know what a harrow is, don't you? I know Ed does and some of the others. But I have an eight-foot harrow. And I have a place where I plant a feed plot every year. And there's a certain section that is red clay. And I can have my harrow down in the ground, and I can be cutting three and four inches down in the ground until I hit that red clay. And guess what? All it'll do is just kind of break the crust on the red clay. I have to plow that red clay seven, eight, nine times to break it down just to get it where it can receive seed.

[John Weaver] Now, things will grow there, but it is so hard and so firmly packed it has to be harrowed. Now, what is really better than harrowing is a turning plow. Harrow may go down that deep, but a turning plow will go down that deep.

[John Weaver] Now, this is what God is saying. When he says, break up your fallow ground and break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns, he says, do not be contented with a shallow harrowing. In other words, it is insufficient just to get emotional. It is insufficient just to be slightly moved, it is insufficient to have light use of sin and wickedness. What God is saying is this, I want the ground thoroughly, completely, totally broken. I want the weeds dealt with. I want the thorns rooted out. I want everything in your life that is contrary to my Word to be uprooted and taken out of your life. And in other words, what God is saying, we must deal with our hardness, our impenitence, our bitterness, our rebellion, our wickedness, our individual sins thoroughly and completely.

[John Weaver] We are not to allow any roots to remain. You know what happens when you leave roots in a field? Someone tell me. They come right back. Anybody here ever hear of Johnson grass? Yeah. There's an old story about Johnson grass. And Johnson grass really builds soil, it really does. Well, the seed salesman came along to the farmer and said, you need to plant this Johnson grass out in your fields. It'll really build that soil. The farmer said, well, what if I ever want to get rid of it? He said, well, if you ever want to get rid of it, just ask me and I'll tell you how to get rid of it. He said, fine. So he took and planted it in his field.

[John Weaver] And all that stuff multiplies and multiplies and gets so thick. And finally, the farmer just couldn't plant. So he called the salesman and said, how do I get rid of the Johnson grass? The salesman says it's very easy. Move off and leave it. That's the only way you can get rid of it. Move off and leave it. Why? Because you can't get all the root system. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15. Look what the Bible says. Hebrews 12 verse 15. The Bible says, looking diligently, Lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be you defiled." Note, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any, any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. You leave the roots, and you've got problems. Hebrews 12 verse 15, he says, the root will spring up and trouble you and many will be defiled. So when you leave the root, please understand this, folks, it does not just trouble you.

[John Weaver] It troubles many as well. So God says the ground must be thoroughly, totally and completely broken.

[John Weaver] Now, let me try to tell you, in fact, I want you to follow me very quickly through the Bible. I want to show you what God is talking about. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to Psalm 34. Here's what God is looking for when He's talking about a prepared heart. Watch carefully. In Psalm 34, beginning there with verse 18. Psalm 34, verse 18.

[John Weaver] Notice what the Scripture says. Psalm 34, verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save as such as be as a contrite spirit." You know what a broken heart and a contrite spirit are? Those are the evidences of a prepared heart. You know what a broken ground is? It's ground that is soft and pliable and easy and ready to receive seed. Look in your Bible to Psalm 51 and verse 17. Look what David said. Psalm 51 and verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Did you hear that? A broken and contrite heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise. A broken and contrite heart is a prepared heart. It has the fallow ground all plowed up.

[John Weaver] It has the roots and the thorns taken from it. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 57. and verse 15, Isaiah 57 and verse 15. Here's a passage that is so wonderful, so beautiful. Look what the Bible says concerning God Himself. Psalm 57 and verse 15. For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity. So God is saying, here's what I say. Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity.

[John Weaver] whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isn't that interesting? God said, I dwell in the high and holy place, but that's not all, says God. I dwell in a broken and contrite heart. I'm going to revive the heart of the broken and the heart of the contrite.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Oh, you're talking about a powerful verse. Here it is. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look. You want God to pay attention to you? Here it is. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word. You want God to pay attention to you? God said, you have a broken and contrite heart. You tremble at my word. That is, you want my truth and you want my word more than anything else. and you break your heart and you plow your heart and you get rid of the thorns and the weeds to receive my word, God says I'll pay attention to you. I'll pay close attention to you.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to the book of James, chapter one, because I want you to see that James says essentially the same thing. It's stated a little differently, but it's the same truth. James one. Look, if you would please, at verse 21. James 1, verse 21. Look what he says. James 1, verse 21. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Look. Wherefore, lay apart. That is put aside all filthiness and overflowing of naughtiness. That is all wickedness. You put that aside. What does that mean?

[John Weaver] It means you pull up the thorns and the weeds and the roots. You get all that out of your heart. And then he says you receive the engrafted word with meekness, which is able to save your soul. By the way, there's no way in the world you can truly and really receive the word of God without dealing with the thorns and the weeds in your life. That has to come first. So he says we must break up our foul ground. We must lay apart before we can ever receive.

[John Weaver] Now listen to what I'm about to say. The breaking up of sinful hearts. The breaking up of sinful hearts is a singular means to prevent the breaking down of the family. You know why most families are broken down? Because their hearts have never been broken up. The breaking up of the heart is one of the most singular means to prevent the breaking down of the church. The breaking up of sinful hearts is one of the most singular means to prevent the breaking down of the nation.

[John Weaver] Let me put it to you very plainly. We must either break up or break down. That is true individually. It is true in our families. It's true in our churches. It's true in our nation.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just show you something, and I'm going to make some applications, but I want you to think with me just for a moment. The truth is we must either break up or break down. You look at where we are in our nation. I could dwell on this for an hour, but you look at the condition that our government is in. An email to some of you.

[John Weaver] Some of you have heard it. Some of you haven't heard it. And I don't watch the night show. And I don't watch Jay Leno. I wouldn't stay up that late for any committee. But I'm going to tell you, I did like one thing. Someone sent me what Jay Leno said this past week. He said if God had intended for us to vote, he would have given us candidates. Well, you understand. the humor in that.

[John Weaver] But you just look at the state of our government. You look at the state of our economy. You look at the state of our judicial system. You look what is happening in our churches and in our homes.

[John Weaver] Now, is it not common sense as well as biblical understanding to assume That one of the main reasons that we have not reaped a biblical revival and that we've not reaped a spiritual awakening in our homes and churches and nations is that we've never prepared our hearts to receive such a blessing. There's never been a breaking up. And we either break up or we break down. How in the world can you sow? How in the world can you water? How in the world can you harvest something that was never planted to begin with? You can't. And you can't even plant until you break up the fellow ground.

[John Weaver] Now, here are my applications. I'm going to go over them very quickly. The first one is this. I want you to see the duties that we're called to. And the duties that we're called to are given to us. Under the color of husbandry or tillage, that is, we must. Borrow the expressions from the farmer, we must learn to plow, we must learn to break up, we must learn to sow and to reap.

[John Weaver] Now look in your Bible, go back in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10. Let me show you this Hosea chapter 10. The interesting thing is this. You know the truth of Deuteronomy 28, but here it is again. He says in verse 12, sow yourselves into righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fowler ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and reign righteousness upon you.

[John Weaver] You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because I did trust in thy way and in the multitude of thy mighty men. If you and I would not be brought into bondage to sin and to tyrants and oppressors, We must learn to do what God says and return to God's service. And how to return to God's service? And the answer is by breaking up our fallow ground initially. So we break up the fallow ground.

[John Weaver] We cleanse our hearts from all the corrupt affections and lusts as weeds and thorns. We get rid of them. We deal with them. We repent of them. And as God said, a broken and contrite heart. He will not despise. And then, of course, we sow to ourselves in righteousness. How do you sow to yourself in righteousness? The answer is simple. By obeying the word of God. By doing that which God commands.

[John Weaver] It is obedience to him. That's why he said, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Now listen, he that soweth of the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. But he that soweth of the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. How do you sow the righteousness? You sow by obeying the Scripture. And do you realize that every action that you and I perform basically is a seed sown? We're going to reap from our attitude and our words and our actions.

[John Weaver] And then he says, let us seek the Lord. Let me tell you. My dad, I got so tickled at him, he's been dead for about 12 years. But he was he was a farmer. And he came home one day, he was spitting mad. And then he started laughing. I said, what in the world is wrong with you? He said, well, I just got mad at a bumper sticker that I saw.

[John Weaver] He said, then the more I thought about it, he said, the more I realized the truth of it. I said, what did the bumper sticker say? He said, the bumper sticker said legalized gambling. Farmers should not be the only ones that have all the fun. He says, you know, there's more truth to that because it is a gamble without the blessings of the Lord. Let me tell you something.

[John Weaver] You may plow your garden and you may plant your seed and you may fertilize and you may water, but if God doesn't bless it, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. So we must seek God to bless us in doing that which is right, in using the means that God has ordained. So he says we must seek the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point something else out. And I wish I had time to really develop this. But do you realize it is not only time that you and I prepare our hearts, it is High time that we prepare our hearts.

[John Weaver] Now, if you want a spring garden. Are you going to plant that garden in January? Well, of course not. There's a season for planting a spring garden. Would you plant the spring garden in autumn? And the answer is no. You wouldn't plant it in August or in autumn. If you want a spring garden, there is a certain time that you must plant that garden. If you want to reap in the summer, you've got to plant it in the spring. It's just that simple. And like Alice and I, sometimes we are gone when planting time arrives, and that means when we get back home, she has to double up. I tell everybody that's our garden.

[John Weaver] I plow it, she plants it. But you understand what I'm saying. When time is almost gone, you better hurry up if you won't get any seed in the ground. Do you realize we should always be preparing our hearts? And we should always be planting good seed. But the truth is, there are special times of planting And we must plant those seeds when God's grace and God's mercies are abounding. What did he say?

[John Weaver] Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous men his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him." In other words, there's a special designated time that many times God gives us to seek Him. And if we do not seek Him in that time, we miss all of His blessings. Now, one last thought.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles to Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what he says. 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 look in verse 13. You have plowed wickedness. You've reaped iniquity. You've eaten the fruit of lies that calls out its trust in the way of the multitude of thy mighty men. Here's the question. If we have served sin, And if we have served ourselves and the enemy with such hard, arduous work as plowing iniquity, shall we not give at least the same amount of effort to God in plowing and planting righteousness? You see, folks, farming is hard, necessary, and constant work.

[John Weaver] You know, we live in a day and age when people think that they just go to the store and buy what they want to eat. It wasn't like that a hundred years ago. It really wasn't like that fifty years ago. And most people have no earthly idea that without farming there is no food. You've seen the bumper sticker when you criticize farmers, don't talk with your mouth full.

[John Weaver] Well, you understand what I'm saying. Without farming, there is no food. In other words, it must be done or we are undone as a nation. The same is true of heart preparation. It must be done or we are undone. Are you listening? Heart preparation has to be something that is constant and continual. I cannot live off the garden that we planted 10 years ago. Because everything that we planted 10 years ago is gone. I can't even level off the garden that we planted three years ago because it's gone. If I want food on my table, I must plow and plant and harvest and water and reap constantly and continually. Likewise, I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now. I can't live off prayer that I gave six months ago. I must pray now. I can't live off seeking the Lord ten years ago. I must seek the Lord now. Heart preparation is something that is constant and consistent. It is continual. When you get up in the morning, you must say, Lord, I want you to prepare my heart.

[John Weaver] Lord, I want you to help me to prepare my heart by seeking you, breaking up my foul ground, dealing with wickedness and sin in my life and giving me the principles of your word so that I may obey them. Now, Lord willing, Next week, I'm going to show you the reality of heart preparation. I will show you whether or not and how you can tell whether or not your heart is prepared. But I'm going to tell you, folks, without heart preparation, you cannot face the world. You cannot face the devil. You cannot face sin. Or at least you cannot face them successfully. David said it, and I'll quote it next week, my heart is fixed, oh God. And that's what we need, is a fixed heart. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that you would help us, teach us, Lord, not just simply build us up in the most holy faith, but may we have a prepared heart.

[John Weaver] If our hearts are unprepared, we'll fail. Lord, I pray that you would work in each of our lives. May we be determined by the grace of God we're going to do that which is right, and we're going to seek you on a daily basis to prepare our hearts. As thou didst tell us to do, to stand, and having done all, to stand in a wicked and evil day. May your life and your love and your grace and mercy be in us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Prepared Hearts Part 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11110410363
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-10-24
Dictation Name
Book	Book 166: Prepared Hearts — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	88

Formatted Transcript

Opening

Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 and verse 12. The subject is prepared hearts, so look in verse 1 of Proverbs 16.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Then if you look at Hosea 10 and verse 12, the Bible says, "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 reign righteousness upon you."

Introduction: The Problem of Christian Failures

Weaver asks why so many Christians, including leaders, stumble into sin, noting that such failures have become common and we have grown immune to their horror.

Let me ask you a simple question. I don't know if you've ever pondered this or not, but here it is. Why are there so many failures in the Christian life? How is it that so many seem to stumble and fall by the wayside? The highway of life is littered not only with what you and I would refer to as ordinary everyday Christians, but with elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, seminary professors, counselors, and even pastors. When we hear the vulgarity, the immorality, and the outright rebellion of many who profess Jesus Christ, it does not surprise us any longer. And the question is why?

And the answer is because such has turned into a daily occurrence and we've actually grown immune to the horribleness of such conduct. In fact, we've almost developed an attitude when we hear about a preacher falling into sin as just simply making a game and saying, well, who's next? Have you ever wondered why in the world there are so many failures in the Christian life? And it seems as if teaching, preaching and counseling are to no avail. You look around and it seems as if the entire world has gone mad and Christians have gone mad with it. Many times I talk to Brother McCurry and especially if there is a counseling situation involved and sometimes I just say to him, "Has the whole world gone crazy and you and I are the only two sane people left in it?" And he says, "Well, I'm not so sure about you sometimes." Well, when he asks the question, then I repeat that same answer back to him. But it is astounding that so many professing Christians are blinded to reality.

The Need to Return to Basics: Prepared Hearts

He emphasizes the need to get back to fundamental truths, introducing the concept of prepared hearts as essential for standing firm.

Their senses are dulled and they're totally confused as to what is right and what is wrong. When you stop and look at, I'm not just talking about the world or the country or the nation as a whole, but I'm really talking about professing Christianity. Not only have we lost our work ethic, but our basic decency and common sense as well. The average Christian is blown and tossed to and fro with every slight of man and every possible doctrine. You don't know how many calls I get every month of people telling me about the dreams that they had and the importance of their dreams.

Now, I'm not going to tell you that sometimes a dream may or may not have some significance, but I'm going to tell you this. If you want to really dream some dreams, you just eat your peanut butter mayonnaise pickle and mustard sandwich before you go to bed. And you're going to really dream some dreams. And let me tell you, it's a fact. Whatever is constantly and consistently on your mind, when you go to bed at night, if you go to bed tired, with that on your mind, usually that's what you're going to dream about. And everybody dreams. You just simply may not remember some of them. But the point I'm trying to make is, we put more stock in our dreams than we do in the word of God. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, it's simply time to get back to basics. And for you and I to understand some fundamental truths from the word of God, and I want you to see today the absolute importance of prepared hearts.

Biblical Examples of Prepared and Unprepared Hearts

Contrasts Rehoboam, who did evil because he did not prepare his heart, with Ezra, who prepared his heart to seek the Lord, and cites other Old Testament examples.

I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Proverbs 16 of course and Hosea 10, we're coming back there, but look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14. Then we're going to the book of Ezra chapter 7. So notice if you would please 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14 and then we're going to turn right over to the book of Ezra. 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14, look at what the Bible says. 2 Chronicles 12, verse 14, we're talking about King Rehoboam and King Rehoboam was Solomon's son. So the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14, "And he," that is King Rehoboam, "did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 12:14

" Isn't that amazing? King Rehoboam did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Ezra. Right over a few pages, Ezra chapter 7, and notice if you would please verse 10, what is said concerning Ezra. Ezra 7 and verse 10. Here the word of God says this, Ezra 7 and verse 10, "

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."

Now note, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Now, we're talking about prepared hearts. The Bible said in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14 that Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart. And the Bible tells us that Ezra did that which was right. And the answer to why is because he did prepare his heart. In other words, there was a fundamental demand for what you and I would call heart preparation. As you read through the Bible, you're going to find these phrases occur quite frequently. For instance, look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 3. 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 3. We're talking about heart preparation, having a prepared heart. 1 Samuel chapter 7 and look at verse 3.

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 7:3

"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

Now look what he says, "prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only." You know what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, verse 3, here referring to King Jehoshaphat, here is what the prophet said to him. He says,

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 19:3

"Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God."

He had not only taken away their groves, but he had prepared his heart to seek God. Now, as you read through Scripture, the important thing to note is, here's one man who prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Here's another individual who prepared his heart to seek the Lord. And another phrase that is closely connected, which I'll be dealing with next Lord's Day, is that he prepared his ways to seek the Lord. And sometimes you'll read in the Bible about a wicked man who prepared not his ways to seek the Lord.

Now, let me ask that you turn to 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. Very quickly, because there's a couple of passages I want you to see. 2 Chronicles, chapter 20, and look in verse 33. I'm just emphasizing this fact, 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33. Notice what the scripture says. 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 20:33

"Howbeit the high places were not taken away."

Why?

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 20:33

"For as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers."

So they allowed some idolatrous high places. Why? Because the people had not prepared their hearts to seek the Lord God of their fathers. Now look in 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6. I'll be quoting this passage next week I'm sure. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6. Look what the Bible says about Jotham. In 2 Chronicles chapter 27 verse 6. "So Jotham became mighty." Why? "Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." Now, we're talking about prepared hearts.

The Rise of Heart Preparation: Its Origin in God's Sovereign Grace

Proverbs 16:1 teaches that the preparation of the heart is from the Lord; man's total depravity necessitates that God must initiate heart preparation.

Now the very first thought I'm going to give you is this. The rise of heart preparation. In other words, Proverbs 16 in verse 1 teaches us that all true biblical and godly preparation has its origin, has its rise in the sovereign grace of God. Now, if you look in Proverbs 16 in verse 1, the Bible simply says this, "The preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue are from the Lord." Now, note that first phrase in verse 1. "The preparations of the heart in man," then if you'll skip down to the last phrase, "is from the Lord." So if you and I then are going to inquire as to the source and the origin of heart preparation, the answer then would be revealed in Proverbs 16 in verse 1. Everything originates with God. He's the center from which everything flows. May I remind you of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 11 and verse 36. Listen carefully. Paul said, "For of him, and through him, and to him are all things."

Now let me break that down for you. "For of him," that is originally, "and through him," that is providentially, "and to him," that is ultimately, "are all things." So all things then stem and flow from the sovereign grace of God. You see, also the doctrine of total depravity necessitates the fact that the rise of heart preparation originates with God. You say, what are you talking about? Well, turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 3 very quickly. Romans chapter 3. And there are a multitude of passages. This one should be sufficient. Look in Romans chapter 3, beginning there with verse 10. Romans 3 verse 10. Look what the Bible says.

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:10-12

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Now, let me go back and just ask this one question based upon verse 11. How many really understand? None. How many really seek after God? None. Then it's absolutely necessary that the origin of heart preparation originate with God, because man is absolutely, totally depraved and he's not going to seek God initially or originally. That's why the Bible says the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. So very obviously, when we're talking about heart preparation, we must understand the true source of heart preparation is from God himself.

Let me give you two quick quotes. The first one is from John Gill, who is an old expositor, and he's giving a statement regarding Proverbs 16, verse 1, especially "the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord." Here's what he says. "The sense of these words, according to our version, depends upon the next clause. And the meaning of the whole is that man can neither think nor speak without God." "The orderings or the marshallings of the heart, as it may be rendered, that is, of the thoughts of the hearts which are generally irregular and confused, the arranging them in order, as well as an army in battle array, or as things regularly placed on a well-furnished table, the fixing them on any particular subject, though about things civil and natural, so as closely to attend to them and proceed in a regular manner, and the consideration of them are not without the concurrence of divine providence." Now, what did he just get through saying? He's saying the meaning is this, that a man can neither think right nor speak right without God. John Trapp, another old expositor, said this, "He saith not of man, as if it were in man's power to dispose of his own heart, but in man, as holy wrought of God. For our sufficiency is not of ourselves, but in him." Isn't that interesting? Here are these men saying very clearly that everything originates with God. Now, let me explain this very simply. When the Bible says "the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord," it means simply this.

If our hearts are ever prepared to do what's right, God prepared them. If our hearts are ever prepared to pray, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to repent, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to turn to the Lord, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to trust Christ, God prepared the hearts. The preparation of the heart in man are from the Lord. You and I cannot do anything initially or originally. Everything originates with God himself. May I remind you what the Bible says in Isaiah 64 and verse 6. In fact, once again, here's a verse that makes this absolutely necessary because the scripture says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 64:6

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Very clearly, then, if all of our righteousnesses are nothing but filthy rags, we cannot do anything.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 29, because here's an excellent illustration of God preparing the hearts of a people. Now, there was a great revival under King Hezekiah. In 2 Chronicles 29, verse 36, the Bible says this,

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:36

"And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly."

For God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly. In other words, when there was a great awakening, when there was a great revival, when there was a turning back to God, it was because God had prepared the people. Now look in chapter 30 and verse 12. You'll see the same truth repeated again, but just stated a little differently. "Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord." So the king and the princes were commanding that which was right and biblical, and note what the Bible says, "also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to obey." What is that saying? That is saying that God was preparing the heart. So the great revival under Hezekiah was the result then of God sovereignly, graciously moving upon the people and preparing their hearts to seek Him and obey Him.

That's the only thing that you can say. The source and the origin of all true heart preparation is of God, the one true and the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. So very clearly then, the rise of heart preparation then originates from God himself. Now secondly today, and this is going to be the only point I'm going to cover today, I'm going to spend the rest of my time on it, and that is the responsibility of heart preparation.

The Responsibility of Heart Preparation: Man's Duty to Seek God

Hosea 10:12 commands believers to break up their fallow ground and seek the Lord, showing that while ability comes from God, responsibility rests on man.

So if you look in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12, now, lest any think that all that you and I are responsible and accountable to do is to just simply sit around and wait upon the Lord to suddenly break forth upon us, then we need to meditate on Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what Scripture says. "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 reign righteousness upon you." Now, I want you to note that when Hosea said this, he was saying it to a wicked people. Look in verse 13. He says, "You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of mighty men." So he's telling these wicked people, it's time for you to 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 reign righteousness upon you.

Now, you say, Brother Weaver, I don't understand. How can Proverbs 16 and verse 1 tell me that the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord? And now I come to Hosea 10 and verse 12, and it tells me that I am to break up my fallow ground and I am to seek the Lord. Well, the answer is very simple. Proverbs 16 and verse 1 speaks about ability. And Hosea 10 and verse 12 speaks about responsibility. Those are two totally separate things. Just because someone has responsibility does not necessarily mean that he has ability. We can say it like this, to God belongs the grace, to us belongs the responsibility. Or we could say it another way, to God belongs the ability, to each of us belongs the responsibility.

Now, it is true that God must prepare our hearts. Yet on the other hand, Scripture teaches us that we're responsible to seek Him to prepare our hearts. We are His creatures. Because we are His creatures, because we are created in His image, we owe Him glory and obedience. Because we are fallen creatures, we owe Him repentance and faith. Now here's the question. You say, Brother Weaver, now hang on. If I am responsible to do something, and yet I don't have the ability to do it, then I must be absolved of my responsibility.

Oh no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that in the Scripture. It doesn't work like that in real life. You may go to the bank and borrow fifty thousand bucks. And you sign that little note at 10% interest or whatever it is, and you pledge your house against that loan. Okay?

Now you've entered into a contract. Now, whether or not you're really getting any substance is not the point. I'm just making an illustration. And so you leave the bank, and all the way out of the bank, you have a wreck. And 30 days later, you wake up in ICU. And not only are all your savings gone, but even the money that you borrowed from the bank for your business investment, even that's now gone. And finally, two or three months later, when you're in a wheelchair, someone pushes you down to the bank and you look at the bank loan officer and say, "Sir, I realize I borrowed this money and I realize I owe it to you, but as you can see, I was in a wreck and

now I am unable to work and so I'm no longer responsible to pay my bill, so just write it off." Is that what the banker's going to do? He'll probably say to you, "Sir, you either have that money in here by six o'clock tomorrow or get out of my house." You see what I'm saying? Just because you have lost your ability does not mean that you've lost your responsibility. We've got to remember that when man sinned, and I'm talking about the original sin, when man sinned, the sin was not God's, it was man's. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that God has lost his ability to command. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that he has lost his responsibility. We might have lost our ability to obey, but God did not lose his right to command.

The Meaning of Breaking Up Fallow Ground

Explains the agricultural metaphor: fallow ground is hard, unplowed soil that must be thoroughly broken, cleared of weeds and thorns, to receive seed. Spiritually, it means dealing radically with sin, hardness, and rebellion.

Everyone in this room knows it's absolutely necessary to prepare ground before you plant. There is no farmer, there is no gardener that just simply goes outside and throws his seed on top of the ground and turns around and walks off and says, "Well, I can hardly wait until harvest time." It just doesn't work like that. You know, our Lord tells us in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. We'll look at some of it in just a moment. He tells us what happens when people just throw seeds upon the ground like that. The fowls of the air come and take them away. And when they fall, they fall on that hard, packed ground where nothing ever can penetrate. So our Lord is telling us that if there is to be a reception of the seed, then the ground must be prepared. So when he says "break up your fallow ground," literally what he's telling you is to plow thoroughly your fallow ground. Break it up totally, completely.

Now, hold Hosea, but look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 4. Jeremiah chapter 4. And look, please, at verse, I'm sorry, Jeremiah 4, not 14. Jeremiah 4 and verse 3, look what God says, same truth, Jeremiah 4 verse 3,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:3

"For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns."

Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns. Isn't that interesting? You know what breaking up the ground is? Breaking up the ground means that you rid the ground not only of the weeds and the roots and the stumps. You clear that ground and you make it possible for that ground to be planted in. I remember when I was a boy, we had to blow stumps. Anybody here ever had to blow stumps?

You just go down and buy dynamite. And what you would do is you had a long piece of iron and you would pack or make a hole down under that stump. And then you would put that stick of dynamite under that stump and light that fuse and then run like mad. I remember one time I tried to do that. It was wet, rainy weather and I bogged down. I got about 10 feet and my foot went down in the mud and I couldn't get out. You know what I did? I kissed the ground. I mean, I came up with mud all over me. I'd rather do that than have that stump blow all over me, see? But I'm just saying, all that is involved. And if you've ever had to clear a field of stumps, which I have done, you're talking about hard, back-breaking work. Because you have to dig what the dynamite doesn't blow up.

And then you have to pull the remaining. He said, "break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns." Now, if you will turn your Bibles to the book of Joel, let me show you another picture. Hosea, Joel. Right after the book of Hosea, Hosea, Joel, Amos, look in Joel chapter 2 and verse 13.

Now, this is another metaphor, but he's teaching the same truth. Joel 2 verse 13. God says,

Scripture Reading — Joel 2:13

"And rend your heart, and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of evil."

Note what he says,

Scripture Reading — Joel 2:13

"and rend your heart, and not your garments."

In other words, God had rather have a broken heart than a rent garment. So when he says, "rend your heart," he's giving you the same metaphor, or different metaphor, but the same truth, break up your fallow ground.

Now the word rend literally means to tear thoroughly. Break up means to plow thoroughly and completely. Now look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 8 if you would very quickly. Because he told the men of Judah and Jerusalem that they were to break up their fallow ground and sow not among thorns. Now, when he says, "sow not among thorns," what does that mean? That means the thorns are already there. The thorns already have a foothold. One of these days, I'm going to preach an entire message just on thorns, because there's so much that you can learn from thorns in the Bible. Thorns are distractful for one thing, and they can be deadly, by the way. But he says, don't sow among the thorns. Now here's why. Look in Luke chapter 8 and verse 7 when our Lord is talking about the four types of hearers. He says in verse 7, "And some," that is some seed, "fell among thorns." What happened?

Scripture Reading — Luke 8:7,14

"And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it."

Now look in verse 14, our Lord interprets that, and He says, "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and the pleasures of this life, and bring forth no fruit to perfection."

Now what happens then when you sow seed among the thorns? The thorns are usually so tightly packed in the ground that it chokes out the seed. No plant, no seed can germinate because of the root system that's already there by the thorns. So when he's saying that you are to break up your fallow ground and sow not among the thorns, what is he saying? He's saying that you and I cannot be contented with a passing, casual, light, and useless harrowing. You know what a harrow is, don't you? I know Ed does and some of the others. But I have an eight-foot harrow. And I have a place where I plant a feed plot every year. And there's a certain section that is red clay. And I can have my harrow down in the ground, and I can be cutting three and four inches down in the ground until I hit that red clay. And guess what? All it'll do is just kind of break the crust on the red clay. I have to plow that red clay seven, eight, nine times to break it down just to get it where it can receive seed.

Now, things will grow there, but it is so hard and so firmly packed it has to be harrowed. Now, what is really better than harrowing is a turning plow. Harrow may go down that deep, but a turning plow will go down that deep. Now, this is what God is saying. When he says, "break up your fallow ground" and "break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns," he says, do not be contented with a shallow harrowing. In other words, it is insufficient just to get emotional. It is insufficient just to be slightly moved, it is insufficient to have light use of sin and wickedness. What God is saying is this, I want the ground thoroughly, completely, totally broken. I want the weeds dealt with. I want the thorns rooted out. I want everything in your life that is contrary to my Word to be uprooted and taken out of your life. And in other words, what God is saying, we must deal with our hardness, our impenitence, our bitterness, our rebellion, our wickedness, our individual sins thoroughly and completely.

We are not to allow any roots to remain. You know what happens when you leave roots in a field? Someone tell me. They come right back. Anybody here ever hear of Johnson grass? Yeah. There's an old story about Johnson grass. And Johnson grass really builds soil, it really does. Well, the seed salesman came along to the farmer and said, "You need to plant this Johnson grass out in your fields. It'll really build that soil." The farmer said, "Well, what if I ever want to get rid of it?" He said, "Well, if you ever want to get rid of it, just ask me and I'll tell you how to get rid of it." He said, "Fine." So he took and planted it in his field.

The Evidence of a Prepared Heart: Brokenness and Contrition

A prepared heart is evidenced by a broken and contrite spirit, as seen in Psalms and Isaiah; God dwells with and revives the contrite.

Now, let me try to tell you, in fact, I want you to follow me very quickly through the Bible. I want to show you what God is talking about. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to Psalm 34. Here's what God is looking for when He's talking about a prepared heart. Watch carefully. In Psalm 34, beginning there with verse 18. Psalm 34, verse 18.

Notice what the Scripture says. Psalm 34, verse 18. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." You know what a broken heart and a contrite spirit are? Those are the evidences of a prepared heart. You know what a broken ground is? It's ground that is soft and pliable and easy and ready to receive seed. Look in your Bible to Psalm 51 and verse 17. Look what David said. Psalm 51 and verse 17. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Did you hear that? A broken and contrite heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise. A broken and contrite heart is a prepared heart. It has the fallow ground all plowed up.

It has the roots and the thorns taken from it. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 57 and verse 15, Isaiah 57 and verse 15. Here's a passage that is so wonderful, so beautiful. Look what the Bible says concerning God Himself. Isaiah 57 and verse 15. "For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." So God is saying, here's what I say. "Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,

whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isn't that interesting? God said, I dwell in the high and holy place, but that's not all, says God. I dwell in a broken and contrite heart. I'm going to revive the heart of the broken and the heart of the contrite. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Oh, you're talking about a powerful verse. Here it is. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. "For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look." You want God to pay attention to you? Here it is. "But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." You want God to pay attention to you? God said, you have a broken and contrite heart. You tremble at my word. That is, you want my truth and you want my word more than anything else. And you break your heart and you plow your heart and you get rid of the thorns and the weeds to receive my word, God says I'll pay attention to you. I'll pay close attention to you.

Now, I want you to turn to the book of James, chapter one, because I want you to see that James says essentially the same thing. It's stated a little differently, but it's the same truth. James one. Look, if you would please, at verse 21. James 1, verse 21. Look what he says. James 1, verse 21. "Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls." Look. "Wherefore, lay apart." That is put aside all filthiness and overflowing of naughtiness. That is all wickedness. You put that aside. What does that mean?

Applications: The Urgency and Continuity of Heart Preparation

Heart preparation is constant work; we must break up or break down. It involves daily seeking God, repenting, and obeying His Word. Without it, we cannot stand against sin.

Now, here are my applications. I'm going to go over them very quickly. The first one is this. I want you to see the duties that we're called to. And the duties that we're called to are given to us under the color of husbandry or tillage, that is, we must borrow the expressions from the farmer, we must learn to plow, we must learn to break up, we must learn to sow and to reap.

Now look in your Bible, go back in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10. Let me show you this Hosea chapter 10. The interesting thing is this. You know the truth of Deuteronomy 28, but here it is again. He says in verse 12, "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 reign righteousness upon you." "You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of thy mighty men." If you and I would not be brought into bondage to sin and to tyrants and oppressors, we must learn to do what God says and return to God's service. And how to return to God's service? And the answer is by breaking up our fallow ground initially. So we break up the fallow ground.

We cleanse our hearts from all the corrupt affections and lusts as weeds and thorns. We get rid of them. We deal with them. We repent of them. And as God said, a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. And then, of course, we sow to ourselves in righteousness. How do you sow to yourself in righteousness? The answer is simple. By obeying the word of God. By doing that which God commands.

It is obedience to him. That's why he said, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap." Now listen, he that soweth of the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. But he that soweth of the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. How do you sow to righteousness? You sow by obeying the Scripture. And do you realize that every action that you and I perform basically is a seed sown? We're going to reap from our attitude and our words and our actions.

And then he says, let us seek the Lord. Let me tell you. My dad, I got so tickled at him, he's been dead for about 12 years. But he was a farmer. And he came home one day, he was spitting mad. And then he started laughing. I said, "What in the world is wrong with you?" He said, "Well, I just got mad at a bumper sticker that I saw."

He said, "Then the more I thought about it," he said, "the more I realized the truth of it." I said, "What did the bumper sticker say?" He said, "The bumper sticker said 'Legalized gambling. Farmers should not be the only ones that have all the fun.'" He says, "You know, there's more truth to that because it is a gamble without the blessings of the Lord." Let me tell you something. You may plow your garden and you may plant your seed and you may fertilize and you may water, but if God doesn't bless it, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. So we must seek God to bless us in doing that which is right, in using the means that God has ordained. So he says we must seek the Lord.

Now, let me point something else out. And I wish I had time to really develop this. But do you realize it is not only time that you and I prepare our hearts, it is high time that we prepare our hearts. Now, if you want a spring garden. Are you going to plant that garden in January? Well, of course not. There's a season for planting a spring garden. Would you plant the spring garden in autumn? And the answer is no. You wouldn't plant it in August or in autumn. If you want a spring garden, there is a certain time that you must plant that garden. If you want to reap in the summer, you've got to plant it in the spring. It's just that simple. And like Alice and I, sometimes we are gone when planting time arrives, and that means when we get back home, she has to double up. I tell everybody that's our garden.

I plow it, she plants it. But you understand what I'm saying. When time is almost gone, you better hurry up if you want to get any seed in the ground. Do you realize we should always be preparing our hearts? And we should always be planting good seed. But the truth is, there are special times of planting and we must plant those seeds when God's grace and God's mercies are abounding. What did he say?

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him." In other words, there's a special designated time that many times God gives us to seek Him. And if we do not seek Him in that time, we miss all of His blessings. Now, one last thought. Look in your Bibles to Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what he says. "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 reign righteousness upon you." Now look in verse 13. "You have plowed wickedness. You've reaped iniquity. You've eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of thy mighty men." Here's the question. If we have served sin, and if we have served ourselves and the enemy with such hard, arduous work as plowing iniquity, shall we not give at least the same amount of effort to God in plowing and planting righteousness? You see, folks, farming is hard, necessary, and constant work.

You know, we live in a day and age when people think that they just go to the store and buy what they want to eat. It wasn't like that a hundred years ago. It really wasn't like that fifty years ago. And most people have no earthly idea that without farming there is no food. You've seen the bumper sticker, "When you criticize farmers, don't talk with your mouth full." Well, you understand what I'm saying. Without farming, there is no food. In other words, it must be done or we are undone as a nation. The same is true of heart preparation. It must be done or we are undone. Are you listening? Heart preparation has to be something that is constant and continual. I cannot live off the garden that we planted 10 years ago. Because everything that we planted 10 years ago is gone. I can't even live off the garden that we planted three years ago because it's gone. If I want food on my table, I must plow and plant and harvest and water and reap constantly and continually. Likewise, I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now. I can't live off prayer that I gave six months ago. I must pray now. I can't live off seeking the Lord ten years ago. I must seek the Lord now. Heart preparation is something that is constant and consistent. It is continual. When you get up in the morning, you must say, "Lord, I want you to prepare my heart."

"Lord, I want you to help me to prepare my heart by seeking you, breaking up my fallow ground, dealing with wickedness and sin in my life and giving me the principles of your word so that I may obey them." Now, Lord willing, next week, I'm going to show you the reality of heart preparation. I will show you whether or not and how you can tell whether or not your heart is prepared. But I'm going to tell you, folks, without heart preparation, you cannot face the world. You cannot face the devil. You cannot face sin. Or at least you cannot face them successfully. David said it, and I'll quote it next week, "My heart is fixed, O God." And that's what we need, is a fixed heart. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that you would help us, teach us, Lord, not just simply build us up in the most holy faith, but may we have a prepared heart.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Necessity of Heart Preparation

Summary: A prepared heart is essential to avoid failure in the Christian life; without it, believers are prone to stumble into sin.

Evidence: Weaver asks why so many Christians fail and answers that they have not prepared their hearts, citing Rehoboam and Ezra as contrasting examples.

Sovereign Grace as the Source of Preparation

Summary: All true heart preparation originates from God; man cannot prepare his own heart apart from divine grace.

Evidence: Proverbs 16:1 states 'the preparations of the heart in man...is from the Lord,' and Romans 3:10-11 shows none seek God on their own.

Human Responsibility in Seeking God

Summary: Though ability comes from God, believers are commanded to actively break up their fallow ground and seek the Lord.

Evidence: Hosea 10:12 commands 'break up your fallow ground...seek the Lord,' and Weaver explains that responsibility remains even when ability is lost.

Radical Dealing with Sin

Summary: Breaking up fallow ground means thoroughly uprooting sin, hardness, and rebellion, not merely a shallow emotional response.

Evidence: Weaver explains that fallow ground must be plowed deeply, weeds and thorns removed, and that God desires a broken and contrite heart.

The Consequences of Unprepared Hearts

Summary: Failure to prepare the heart leads to personal, familial, church, and national breakdown.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We must either break up or break down,' and applies this to families, churches, and the nation.

Continual Nature of Heart Preparation

Summary: Heart preparation is not a one-time event but a daily, ongoing discipline of seeking God and repenting.

Evidence: Weaver compares it to farming: one cannot live off last year's harvest; we must continually plow, plant, and seek the Lord.

Key Arguments

Christian failures stem from unprepared hearts

Summary: The prevalence of moral failures among professing Christians is due to a lack of heart preparation, not merely weak teaching or counseling.

Evidence: Weaver asks why so many stumble and answers, 'The answer is you haven't prepared your heart.'

God must initiate heart preparation due to total depravity

Summary: Because no one seeks God naturally, the rise of heart preparation must originate in God's sovereign grace.

Evidence: Cites Romans 3:10-11 and Proverbs 16:1, and quotes John Gill: 'man can neither think nor speak without God.'

Responsibility is not nullified by inability

Summary: Man's loss of ability through sin does not remove his responsibility to obey God's commands; he must seek God for the ability to obey.

Evidence: Uses the illustration of a bank loan: inability to pay does not cancel the debt; likewise, God's commands remain binding.

Breaking up fallow ground requires thorough, painful work

Summary: Spiritual preparation involves deep repentance, uprooting sin, and removing all hindrances, not superficial religious activity.

Evidence: Explains the agricultural process of plowing, removing stumps and thorns, and cites Jeremiah 4:3 and Hebrews 12:15.

A broken and contrite heart is the mark of preparation

Summary: God looks for and dwells with those who have a broken spirit and tremble at His Word, which is the result of heart preparation.

Evidence: Cites Psalm 34:18, Psalm 51:17, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2.

Heart preparation must be continual, not occasional

Summary: Just as farming requires annual cycles, spiritual life demands daily repentance, seeking, and obedience; past devotion is insufficient.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 16:1

Context: The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Hosea 10:12

Context: 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 reign righteousness upon you.

2 Chronicles 12:14

Context: And he did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Ezra 7:10

Context: For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

1 Samuel 7:3

Context: And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only.

2 Chronicles 19:3

Context: Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

2 Chronicles 20:33

Context: Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 27:6

Context: So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.

Romans 11:36

Context: For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.

Romans 3:10-12

Context: There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Isaiah 64:6

Context: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

2 Chronicles 29:36

Context: And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

2 Chronicles 30:12

Context: Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.

John 6:37

Context: No man can come unto me except the Father who sent me draw him.

John 15:5

Context: Without me, you can do nothing.

1 Corinthians 3:9

Context: For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

Jeremiah 4:3

Context: Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.

Joel 2:13

Context: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.

Luke 8:7,14

Context: Some fell among thorns...choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life.

Hebrews 12:15

Context: Looking diligently lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

Historical References

King Rehoboam

Context: Son of Solomon who did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord (2 Chronicles 12:14).

Ezra

Context: Prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach it (Ezra 7:10).

King Jehoshaphat

Context: Commended for preparing his heart to seek God (2 Chronicles 19:3).

King Jotham

Context: Became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord (2 Chronicles 27:6).

King Hezekiah's revival

Context: God prepared the people's hearts, leading to sudden revival (2 Chronicles 29:36; 30:12).

John Gill

Context: 18th-century expositor quoted on Proverbs 16:1: 'man can neither think nor speak without God.'

John Trapp

Context: Old expositor quoted: 'He saith not of man, as if it were in man's power to dispose of his own heart, but in man, as holy wrought of God.'

Jay Leno

Context: Comedian quoted: 'If God had intended for us to vote, he would have given us candidates.'

Important Quotes

The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Significance: Foundational text for the sermon, establishing that heart preparation originates with God.

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 reign righteousness upon you.

Significance: Key command for human responsibility in heart preparation.

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Significance: Positive example of heart preparation leading to right action.

Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.

Significance: Command to thoroughly deal with sin before receiving God's Word.

But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.

Significance: God's promise to attend to those with prepared hearts.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think so many professing Christians, including leaders, fall into serious sin?

Context: Weaver opens by asking why failures are so common, even among elders and pastors.

How does the truth that 'the preparation of the heart is from the Lord' affect your view of personal responsibility?

Context: Weaver explains that ability comes from God, but we are still commanded to seek Him.

What does it mean practically to 'break up your fallow ground' in your own life?

Context: Weaver describes the hard work of plowing, removing thorns, and dealing with sin thoroughly.

Why is a broken and contrite heart so valuable to God?

Context: Weaver cites Psalms and Isaiah to show God dwells with the contrite.

In what areas of your life might you be 'sowing among thorns'?

Context: Weaver warns against allowing cares, riches, and pleasures to choke out the Word.

How can we cultivate a daily habit of heart preparation?

Context: Weaver stresses that heart preparation must be continual, like farming.

What is the relationship between personal heart preparation and the health of the church and nation?

Context: Weaver states that breaking up hearts prevents breakdown in families, churches, and nations.

How do you respond to the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility in spiritual growth?

Context: Weaver addresses this tension using Proverbs 16:1 and Hosea 10:12.

Applications

Examine your heart for unpreparedness

Summary: Recognize that many failures come from not preparing the heart; honestly assess areas of hardness or neglect.

Evidence: Weaver asks why Christians fail and answers, 'you haven't prepared your heart.'

Depend on God for the ability to prepare your heart

Summary: Acknowledge that you cannot prepare your own heart; cry out to God for grace to seek Him.

Evidence: Proverbs 16:1 and the quotes from Gill and Trapp emphasize divine enablement.

Actively break up your fallow ground

Summary: Engage in the hard work of repentance: identify and uproot specific sins, attitudes, and idols.

Evidence: Hosea 10:12 commands breaking up fallow ground; Weaver explains it means thorough dealing with sin.

Cultivate a broken and contrite spirit

Summary: Pursue humility and trembling at God's Word, not mere emotionalism or external religion.

Evidence: Isaiah 66:2 and Psalm 51:17 show God looks for contrition.

Remove thorns before receiving the Word

Summary: Lay aside filthiness and worldly distractions so that God's Word can take root and bear fruit.

Evidence: James 1:21 and the parable of the sower illustrate the need to clear hindrances.

Make heart preparation a daily discipline

Summary: Do not rely on past repentance; each day seek the Lord, confess sin, and obey His commands.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now.'

Seek the Lord while He may be found

Summary: Respond to seasons of special grace and conviction; do not delay repentance and seeking.

Evidence: Isaiah 55:6-7 is cited to urge immediate seeking.

Sow righteousness through obedience

Summary: Actively obey God's Word in every area of life, knowing that actions are seeds that will produce a harvest.

Evidence: Hosea 10:12 commands sowing righteousness; Weaver explains it means obeying Scripture.

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Clean Transcript

Prepared Hearts Part 1

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 and verse 12. The subject is prepared hearts, so look in verse 1 of Proverbs 16. "The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." Then if you look at Hosea 10 and verse 12, the Bible says, "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 reign righteousness upon you."
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Let me ask you a simple question. I don't know if you've ever pondered this or not, but here it is. Why are there so many failures in the Christian life? How is it that so many seem to stumble and fall by the wayside? The highway of life is littered not only with what you and I would refer to as ordinary everyday Christians, but with elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, seminary professors, counselors, and even pastors. When we hear the vulgarity, the immorality, and the outright rebellion of many who profess Jesus Christ, it does not surprise us any longer. And the question is why?
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And the answer is because such has turned into a daily occurrence and we've actually grown immune to the horribleness of such conduct. In fact, we've almost developed an attitude when we hear about a preacher falling into sin as just simply making a game and saying, well, who's next? Have you ever wondered why in the world there are so many failures in the Christian life? And it seems as if teaching, preaching and counseling are to no avail. You look around and it seems as if the entire world has gone mad and Christians have gone mad with it. Many times I talk to Brother McCurry and especially if there is a counseling situation involved and sometimes I just say to him, "Has the whole world gone crazy and you and I are the only two sane people left in it?" And he says, "Well, I'm not so sure about you sometimes." Well, when he asks the question, then I repeat that same answer back to him. But it is astounding that so many professing Christians are blinded to reality.
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Their senses are dulled and they're totally confused as to what is right and what is wrong. When you stop and look at, I'm not just talking about the world or the country or the nation as a whole, but I'm really talking about professing Christianity. Not only have we lost our work ethic, but our basic decency and common sense as well. The average Christian is blown and tossed to and fro
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with every slight of man and every possible doctrine. You don't know how many calls I get every month of people telling me about the dreams that they had and the importance of their dreams.
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Now, I'm not going to tell you that sometimes a dream may or may not have some significance, but I'm going to tell you this. If you want to really dream some dreams, you just eat your peanut butter mayonnaise pickle and mustard sandwich before you go to bed. And you're going to really dream some dreams. And let me tell you, it's a fact. Whatever is constantly and consistently on your mind, when you go to bed at night, if you go to bed tired, with that on your mind, usually that's what you're going to dream about. And everybody dreams. You just simply may not remember some of them. But the point I'm trying to make is, we put more stock in our dreams than we do in the word of God. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this, it's simply time to get back to basics. And for you and I to understand some fundamental truths from the word of God, and I want you to see today the absolute importance of prepared hearts.
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I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Proverbs 16 of course and Hosea 10, we're coming back there, but look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 12 and verse 14. Then we're going to the book of Ezra chapter 7. So notice if you would please 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14 and then we're going to turn right over to the book of Ezra. 2 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 14, look at what the Bible says. 2 Chronicles 12, verse 14, we're talking about King Rehoboam and King Rehoboam was Solomon's son. So the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14, "And he," that is King Rehoboam, "did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." Isn't that amazing? King Rehoboam did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Ezra. Right over a few pages, Ezra chapter 7, and notice if you would please verse 10, what is said concerning Ezra. Ezra 7 and verse 10. Here the word of God says this, Ezra 7 and verse 10, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."
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Now note, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Now, we're talking about prepared hearts. The Bible said in 2 Chronicles 12 and verse 14 that Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart. And the Bible tells us that Ezra did that which was right. And the answer to why is because he did prepare his heart. In other words, there was a fundamental demand for what you and I would call heart preparation. As you read through the Bible, you're going to find these phrases occur quite frequently. For instance, look in your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 3. 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 3. We're talking about heart preparation, having a prepared heart. 1 Samuel chapter 7 and look at verse 3. "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."
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Now look what he says, "prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only." You know what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19, verse 3, here referring to King Jehoshaphat, here is what the prophet said to him. He says, "Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God." He had not only taken away their groves, but he had prepared his heart to seek God. Now, as you read through Scripture, the important thing to note is, here's one man who prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Here's another individual who prepared his heart to seek the Lord. And another phrase that is closely connected, which I'll be dealing with next Lord's Day, is that he prepared his ways to seek the Lord. And sometimes you'll read in the Bible about a wicked man who prepared not his ways to seek the Lord.
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Now, let me ask that you turn to 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. Very quickly, because there's a couple of passages I want you to see. 2 Chronicles, chapter 20, and look in verse 33. I'm just emphasizing this fact, 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33. Notice what the scripture says. 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and verse 33. "Howbeit the high places were not taken away." Why? "For as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers." So they allowed some idolatrous high places. Why? Because the people had not prepared their hearts to seek the Lord God of their fathers. Now look in 2 Chronicles 27 and verse 6. I'll be quoting this passage next week I'm sure. 2 Chronicles chapter 27 and verse 6. Look what the Bible says about Jotham. In 2 Chronicles chapter 27 verse 6. "So Jotham became mighty." Why? "Because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." Now, we're talking about prepared hearts.
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Someone has aptly said that a prepared heart is much better than a prepared sermon. A prepared heart will make a prepared sermon. And a prepared heart will also make the necessary application to one's life from a sermon. That is, they will learn to take the truth of God and apply it into every area and every sphere of their lives.
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Now I've given you two texts for today. Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 in verse 12. Now these two texts show us some vital and important truths concerning heart preparation.
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Now the very first thought I'm going to give you is this. The rise of heart preparation. In other words, Proverbs 16 in verse 1 teaches us that all true biblical and godly preparation has its origin, has its rise in the sovereign grace of God. Now, if you look in Proverbs 16 in verse 1, the Bible simply says this, "The preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue are from the Lord." Now, note that first phrase in verse 1. "The preparations of the heart in man," then if you'll skip down to the last phrase, "is from the Lord." So if you and I then are going to inquire as to the source and the origin of heart preparation, the answer then would be revealed in Proverbs 16 in verse 1. Everything originates with God. He's the center from which everything flows. May I remind you of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 11 and verse 36. Listen carefully. Paul said, "For of him, and through him, and to him are all things."
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Now let me break that down for you. "For of him," that is originally, "and through him," that is providentially, "and to him," that is ultimately, "are all things." So all things then stem and flow from the sovereign grace of God. You see, also the doctrine of total depravity necessitates the fact that the rise of heart preparation originates with God. You say, what are you talking about? Well, turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 3 very quickly. Romans chapter 3.
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And there are a multitude of passages. This one should be sufficient. Look in Romans chapter 3, beginning there with verse 10. Romans 3 verse 10. Look what the Bible says. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Now, let me go back and just ask this one question based upon verse 11. How many really understand? None. How many really seek after God? None. Then it's absolutely necessary that the origin of heart preparation originate with God, because man is absolutely, totally depraved and he's not going to seek God initially or originally. That's why the Bible says the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. So very obviously, when we're talking about heart preparation, we must understand the true source of heart preparation is from God himself.
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Let me give you two quick quotes. The first one is from John Gill, who is an old expositor, and he's giving a statement regarding Proverbs 16, verse 1, especially "the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord." Here's what he says. "The sense of these words, according to our version, depends upon the next clause. And the meaning of the whole is that man can neither think nor speak without God."
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"The orderings or the marshallings of the heart, as it may be rendered, that is, of the thoughts of the hearts which are generally irregular and confused, the arranging them in order, as well as an army in battle array, or as things regularly placed on a well-furnished table, the fixing them on any particular subject, though about things civil and natural, so as closely to attend to them and proceed in a regular manner, and the consideration of them are not without the concurrence of divine providence." Now, what did he just get through saying? He's saying the meaning is this, that a man can neither think right nor speak right without God. John Trapp, another old expositor, said this, "He saith not of man, as if it were in man's power to dispose of his own heart, but in man, as holy wrought of God. For our sufficiency is not of ourselves, but in him." Isn't that interesting? Here are these men saying very clearly that everything originates with God. Now, let me explain this very simply. When the Bible says "the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord," it means simply this.
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If our hearts are ever prepared to do what's right, God prepared them. If our hearts are ever prepared to pray, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to repent, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to turn to the Lord, God prepared it. If our hearts are ever prepared to trust Christ, God prepared the hearts. The preparation of the heart in man are from the Lord.
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You and I cannot do anything initially or originally. Everything originates with God himself. May I remind you what the Bible says in Isaiah 64 and verse 6. In fact, once again, here's a verse that makes this absolutely necessary because the scripture says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Very clearly, then, if all of our righteousnesses are nothing but filthy rags, we cannot do anything.
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Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 29, because here's an excellent illustration of God preparing the hearts of a people. Now, there was a great revival under King Hezekiah. In 2 Chronicles 29, verse 36, the Bible says this, "And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly." For God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly. In other words, when there was a great awakening, when there was a great revival, when there was a turning back to God, it was because God had prepared the people. Now look in chapter 30 and verse 12.
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You'll see the same truth repeated again, but just stated a little differently. "Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord." So the king and the princes were commanding that which was right and biblical, and note what the Bible says, "also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to obey." What is that saying? That is saying that God was preparing the heart. So the great revival under Hezekiah was the result then of God sovereignly, graciously moving upon the people and preparing their hearts to seek Him and obey Him.
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That's the only thing that you can say. The source and the origin of all true heart preparation is of God, the one true and the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. So very clearly then, the rise of heart preparation then originates from God himself. Now secondly today, and this is going to be the only point I'm going to cover today, I'm going to spend the rest of my time on it, and that is the responsibility of heart preparation.
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So if you look in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12, now, lest any think that all that you and I are responsible and accountable to do is to just simply sit around and wait upon the Lord to suddenly break forth upon us, then we need to meditate on Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what Scripture says. "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 reign righteousness upon you." Now, I want you to note that when Hosea said this, he was saying it to a wicked people. Look in verse 13.
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He says, "You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of mighty men." So he's telling these wicked people, it's time for you to 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 reign righteousness upon you.
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Now, you say, Brother Weaver, I don't understand. How can Proverbs 16 and verse 1 tell me that the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord? And now I come to Hosea 10 and verse 12, and it tells me that I am to break up my fallow ground and I am to seek the Lord. Well, the answer is very simple. Proverbs 16 and verse 1 speaks about ability. And Hosea 10 and verse 12 speaks about responsibility.
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Those are two totally separate things. Just because someone has responsibility does not necessarily mean that he has ability. We can say it like this, to God belongs the grace, to us belongs the responsibility. Or we could say it another way, to God belongs the ability, to each of us belongs the responsibility.
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Now, it is true that God must prepare our hearts. Yet on the other hand, Scripture teaches us that we're responsible to seek Him to prepare our hearts. We are His creatures. Because we are His creatures, because we are created in His image, we owe Him glory and obedience. Because we are fallen creatures, we owe Him repentance and faith. Now here's the question. You say, Brother Weaver, now hang on. If I am responsible to do something, and yet I don't have the ability to do it, then I must be absolved of my responsibility.
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Oh no, it doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that in the Scripture. It doesn't work like that in real life. You may go to the bank and borrow fifty thousand bucks. And you sign that little note at 10% interest or whatever it is, and you pledge your house against that loan. Okay?
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Now you've entered into a contract. Now, whether or not you're really getting any substance is not the point. I'm just making an illustration. And so you leave the bank, and all the way out of the bank, you have a wreck. And 30 days later, you wake up in ICU. And not only are all your savings gone, but even the money that you borrowed from the bank for your business investment, even that's now gone. And finally, two or three months later, when you're in a wheelchair, someone pushes you down to the bank and you look at the bank loan officer and say, "Sir, I realize I borrowed this money and I realize I owe it to you, but as you can see, I was in a wreck and
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now I am unable to work and so I'm no longer responsible to pay my bill, so just write it off." Is that what the banker's going to do? He'll probably say to you, "Sir, you either have that money in here by six o'clock tomorrow or get out of my house." You see what I'm saying? Just because you have lost your ability does not mean that you've lost your responsibility. We've got to remember that when man sinned, and I'm talking about the original sin, when man sinned, the sin was not God's, it was man's. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that God has lost his ability to command. And just because man has lost his ability does not mean that he has lost his responsibility. We might have lost our ability to obey, but God did not lose his right to command.
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And therefore, he commands that we seek him. Now, when you get to a passage like John 6 and verse 37. When our Lord says, "No man can come unto me except the Father who sent me draw him." What is he talking about? He's talking about ability. No man has the ability to come to Christ savingly in and of himself. But then he goes on to say in that passage that the Father draws. In other words, what you and I must do, and this is part and parcel of our responsibility, is to seek God for grace and ability to fulfill our responsibility. Part and parcel of our responsibility is to say, "God, I can't. You've commanded me, but I can't. I don't have the ability. Lord, you must even give me the ability to fulfill my responsibility." Let me ask you, what did our Lord say in John 15 in verse five? It seems to me like he said this.
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"Without me, you can do very little." Is that what he said? "Without me, you can do a tiny bit." Is that what he said? "Without me, you can do" what? Nothing. Not one thing. That means we must have Him to enable us to even seek Him to fulfill our responsibility.
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Now, let me ask you a question. I'm going to try to set the stage for what I want to impress upon your hearts not only this week, but next week. When you get up each morning, do you plan on committing wickedness? Do you just sit down and say, "Now let me see, what can I do today? Can I lie? Can I steal? Can I commit adultery?" No, you don't do that. Not as Christians. You don't get up every morning and plan on committing wickedness. Yet the truth is, many times you do commit wickedness. So the question is, why? How is it that I'm talking about real, genuine Christian people, and I'm not talking about those false professors. But how is it that real, genuine Christian people can seemingly just fall into things when they should not?
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How can something like that happen? How is it that you fail to stand when you need to stand? How is it you do what's wrong when you should do what is right? How is it that you can be so easily persuaded sometimes into doing that which is wrong when you know it's wrong? The answer is you haven't prepared your heart. Do you realize a prepared heart is a heart that keeps you from falling? A prepared heart is a heart that allows you to stand when you need to stand. A prepared heart is a heart that allows you to do what's right in the face of what's wrong. That's why it's called a prepared heart. Let me ask you, if you knew a hurricane was coming through, and they're saying it's going to be a bad one.
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And there's a possibility we're going to be out without electricity for a week or two. Would you just simply go on about your business? No, you'd store up some water, some flashlights, batteries, some food, maybe try to get a generator. What would you be doing? You would be preparing so that you could withstand what was coming. The same thing is true spiritually. We have to have a prepared heart.
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Now, look in Hosea 10 and verse 12. Watch carefully. He says, "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 reign righteousness upon you."
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Now, I've got some bad news for you. Here it is. Hosea 10 and verse 12 speaks of work. Hard. Backbreaking work. It speaks of plowing, breaking, harrowing, sowing, reaping, seeking.
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Now, if you've never been raised on the farm, you don't understand the metaphors that our Lord is using here. Let me show you something. Hold Hosea 10. We're coming right back there. We'll look in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 9. I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said concerning the church of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 9. Paul says, "For we are laborers together with God."
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That is the preachers, the apostles, the teachers. We are laborers together with God.
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Now it just makes a distinction. "You are God's husbandry. You are God's building." So the very first thing when he says "you are God's husbandry," guess what the word husbandry literally means. You are God's tillage. He's using the illustration of farming. So the word husbandry actually means tillage. Here then are plowing, fallowing, sowing, harrowing, watering, reaping, threshing, and feeding on what you and I would call well-directed labor.
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All of these pictures are applied to the human heart and the work of God upon the human heart. Actually, this passage speaks then of correction, contrition, conversion, receiving the grace of Christ, bringing forth fruit, and living a godly, obedient life. That's what this verse basically speaks about. But I want to show you what the most fundamental requirement really is. He said in verse 12, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground." Now, note that phrase, "break up your fallow ground." All of us know about sowing. We know about reaping. We know about seeking. We know about raining. But most of us really do not know what he means when he says "break up your fallow ground." Now, the word fallow in the context refers to unplowed or unbroken or unprepared ground.
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Everyone in this room knows it's absolutely necessary to prepare ground before you plant. There is no farmer, there is no gardener that just simply goes outside and throws his seed on top of the ground and turns around and walks off and says, "Well, I can hardly wait until harvest time." It just doesn't work like that. You know, our Lord tells us in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. We'll look at some of it in just a moment. He tells us what happens when people just throw seeds upon the ground like that.
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The fowls of the air come and take them away. And when they fall, they fall on that hard, packed ground where nothing ever can penetrate. So our Lord is telling us that if there is to be a reception of the seed, then the ground must be prepared. So when he says "break up your fallow ground," literally what he's telling you is to plow thoroughly your fallow ground. Break it up totally, completely.
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Now, hold Hosea, but look in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 4. Jeremiah chapter 4. And look, please, at verse, I'm sorry, Jeremiah 4, not 14. Jeremiah 4 and verse 3, look what God says, same truth, Jeremiah 4 verse 3, "For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns." Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns. Isn't that interesting? You know what breaking up the ground is? Breaking up the ground means that you rid the ground not only of the weeds and the roots and the stumps. You clear that ground and you make it possible for that ground to be planted in. I remember when I was a boy, we had to blow stumps. Anybody here ever had to blow stumps?
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You just go down and buy dynamite. And what you would do is you had a long piece of iron and you would pack or make a hole down under that stump. And then you would put that stick of dynamite under that stump and light that fuse and then run like mad. I remember one time I tried to do that. It was wet, rainy weather and I bogged down.
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I got about 10 feet and my foot went down in the mud and I couldn't get out. You know what I did? I kissed the ground. I mean, I came up with mud all over me. I'd rather do that than have that stump blow all over me, see? But I'm just saying, all that is involved. And if you've ever had to clear a field of stumps, which I have done, you're talking about hard, back-breaking work. Because you have to dig what the dynamite doesn't blow up.
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And then you have to pull the remaining. He said, "break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns."
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Now, if you will turn your Bibles to the book of Joel, let me show you another picture. Hosea, Joel. Right after the book of Hosea, Hosea, Joel, Amos, look in Joel chapter 2 and verse 13.
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Now, this is another metaphor, but he's teaching the same truth. Joel 2 verse 13. God says, "And rend your heart, and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of evil." Note what he says, "and rend your heart, and not your garments." In other words, God had rather have a broken heart than a rent garment. So when he says, "rend your heart," he's giving you the same metaphor, or different metaphor, but the same truth, break up your fallow ground.
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Now the word rend literally means to tear thoroughly. Break up means to plow thoroughly and completely.
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Now look in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 8 if you would very quickly. Because he told the men of Judah and Jerusalem that they were to break up their fallow ground and sow not among thorns. Now, when he says, "sow not among thorns," what does that mean? That means the thorns are already there. The thorns already have a foothold. One of these days, I'm going to preach an entire message just on thorns, because there's so much that you can learn from thorns in the Bible. Thorns are distractful for one thing, and they can be deadly, by the way. But he says, don't sow among the thorns. Now here's why. Look in Luke chapter 8 and verse 7 when our Lord is talking about the four types of hearers. He says in verse 7, "And some," that is some seed, "fell among thorns." What happened? "And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it." Now look in verse 14, our Lord interprets that, and He says, "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and the pleasures of this life, and bring forth no fruit to perfection."
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Now what happens then when you sow seed among the thorns? The thorns are usually so tightly packed in the ground that it chokes out the seed. No plant, no seed can germinate because of the root system that's already there by the thorns. So when he's saying that you are to break up your fallow ground and sow not among the thorns, what is he saying? He's saying that you and I cannot be contented with a passing, casual, light, and useless harrowing.
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You know what a harrow is, don't you? I know Ed does and some of the others. But I have an eight-foot harrow. And I have a place where I plant a feed plot every year. And there's a certain section that is red clay. And I can have my harrow down in the ground, and I can be cutting three and four inches down in the ground until I hit that red clay. And guess what? All it'll do is just kind of break the crust on the red clay. I have to plow that red clay seven, eight, nine times to break it down just to get it where it can receive seed.
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Now, things will grow there, but it is so hard and so firmly packed it has to be harrowed. Now, what is really better than harrowing is a turning plow. Harrow may go down that deep, but a turning plow will go down that deep.
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Now, this is what God is saying. When he says, "break up your fallow ground" and "break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns," he says, do not be contented with a shallow harrowing. In other words, it is insufficient just to get emotional. It is insufficient just to be slightly moved, it is insufficient to have light use of sin and wickedness. What God is saying is this, I want the ground thoroughly, completely, totally broken. I want the weeds dealt with. I want the thorns rooted out. I want everything in your life that is contrary to my Word to be uprooted and taken out of your life. And in other words, what God is saying, we must deal with our hardness, our impenitence, our bitterness, our rebellion, our wickedness, our individual sins thoroughly and completely.
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We are not to allow any roots to remain. You know what happens when you leave roots in a field? Someone tell me. They come right back. Anybody here ever hear of Johnson grass? Yeah. There's an old story about Johnson grass. And Johnson grass really builds soil, it really does. Well, the seed salesman came along to the farmer and said, "You need to plant this Johnson grass out in your fields. It'll really build that soil." The farmer said, "Well, what if I ever want to get rid of it?" He said, "Well, if you ever want to get rid of it, just ask me and I'll tell you how to get rid of it." He said, "Fine." So he took and planted it in his field.
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And all that stuff multiplies and multiplies and gets so thick. And finally, the farmer just couldn't plant. So he called the salesman and said, "How do I get rid of the Johnson grass?" The salesman says, "It's very easy. Move off and leave it." That's the only way you can get rid of it. Move off and leave it. Why? Because you can't get all the root system. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 15. Look what the Bible says. Hebrews 12 verse 15. The Bible says, "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." Note, "looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." You leave the roots, and you've got problems. Hebrews 12 verse 15, he says, the root will spring up and trouble you and many will be defiled. So when you leave the root, please understand this, folks, it does not just trouble you.
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It troubles many as well. So God says the ground must be thoroughly, totally and completely broken.
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Now, let me try to tell you, in fact, I want you to follow me very quickly through the Bible. I want to show you what God is talking about. Look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to Psalm 34. Here's what God is looking for when He's talking about a prepared heart. Watch carefully. In Psalm 34, beginning there with verse 18. Psalm 34, verse 18.
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Notice what the Scripture says. Psalm 34, verse 18. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." You know what a broken heart and a contrite spirit are? Those are the evidences of a prepared heart. You know what a broken ground is? It's ground that is soft and pliable and easy and ready to receive seed. Look in your Bible to Psalm 51 and verse 17. Look what David said. Psalm 51 and verse 17. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Did you hear that? A broken and contrite heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise. A broken and contrite heart is a prepared heart. It has the fallow ground all plowed up.
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It has the roots and the thorns taken from it. Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 57 and verse 15, Isaiah 57 and verse 15. Here's a passage that is so wonderful, so beautiful. Look what the Bible says concerning God Himself. Isaiah 57 and verse 15. "For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." So God is saying, here's what I say. "Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
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whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isn't that interesting? God said, I dwell in the high and holy place, but that's not all, says God. I dwell in a broken and contrite heart. I'm going to revive the heart of the broken and the heart of the contrite.
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Look in your Bibles to Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Oh, you're talking about a powerful verse. Here it is. Isaiah 66 and verse 2. "For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look." You want God to pay attention to you? Here it is. "But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." You want God to pay attention to you? God said, you have a broken and contrite heart. You tremble at my word. That is, you want my truth and you want my word more than anything else. And you break your heart and you plow your heart and you get rid of the thorns and the weeds to receive my word, God says I'll pay attention to you. I'll pay close attention to you.
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Now, I want you to turn to the book of James, chapter one, because I want you to see that James says essentially the same thing. It's stated a little differently, but it's the same truth. James one. Look, if you would please, at verse 21. James 1, verse 21. Look what he says. James 1, verse 21. "Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls." Look. "Wherefore, lay apart." That is put aside all filthiness and overflowing of naughtiness. That is all wickedness. You put that aside. What does that mean?
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It means you pull up the thorns and the weeds and the roots. You get all that out of your heart. And then he says you receive the engrafted word with meekness, which is able to save your soul. By the way, there's no way in the world you can truly and really receive the word of God without dealing with the thorns and the weeds in your life. That has to come first. So he says we must break up our fallow ground. We must lay apart before we can ever receive.
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Now listen to what I'm about to say. The breaking up of sinful hearts. The breaking up of sinful hearts is a singular means to prevent the breaking down of the family. You know why most families are broken down? Because their hearts have never been broken up. The breaking up of the heart is one of the most singular means to prevent the breaking down of the church. The breaking up of sinful hearts is one of the most singular means to prevent the breaking down of the nation.
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Let me put it to you very plainly. We must either break up or break down. That is true individually. It is true in our families. It's true in our churches. It's true in our nation.
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Now, let me just show you something, and I'm going to make some applications, but I want you to think with me just for a moment. The truth is we must either break up or break down. You look at where we are in our nation. I could dwell on this for an hour, but you look at the condition that our government is in. An email to some of you.
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Some of you have heard it. Some of you haven't heard it. And I don't watch the night show. And I don't watch Jay Leno. I wouldn't stay up that late for any committee. But I'm going to tell you, I did like one thing. Someone sent me what Jay Leno said this past week. He said if God had intended for us to vote, he would have given us candidates. Well, you understand the humor in that.
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But you just look at the state of our government. You look at the state of our economy. You look at the state of our judicial system. You look what is happening in our churches and in our homes.
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Now, is it not common sense as well as biblical understanding to assume that one of the main reasons that we have not reaped a biblical revival and that we've not reaped a spiritual awakening in our homes and churches and nations is that we've never prepared our hearts to receive such a blessing. There's never been a breaking up. And we either break up or we break down. How in the world can you sow? How in the world can you water? How in the world can you harvest something that was never planted to begin with? You can't. And you can't even plant until you break up the fallow ground.
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Now, here are my applications. I'm going to go over them very quickly. The first one is this. I want you to see the duties that we're called to. And the duties that we're called to are given to us under the color of husbandry or tillage, that is, we must borrow the expressions from the farmer, we must learn to plow, we must learn to break up, we must learn to sow and to reap.
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Now look in your Bible, go back in your Bibles to Hosea chapter 10. Let me show you this Hosea chapter 10. The interesting thing is this. You know the truth of Deuteronomy 28, but here it is again. He says in verse 12, "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 reign righteousness upon you."
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"You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of thy mighty men." If you and I would not be brought into bondage to sin and to tyrants and oppressors, we must learn to do what God says and return to God's service. And how to return to God's service? And the answer is by breaking up our fallow ground initially. So we break up the fallow ground.
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We cleanse our hearts from all the corrupt affections and lusts as weeds and thorns. We get rid of them. We deal with them. We repent of them. And as God said, a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. And then, of course, we sow to ourselves in righteousness. How do you sow to yourself in righteousness? The answer is simple. By obeying the word of God. By doing that which God commands.
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It is obedience to him. That's why he said, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap." Now listen, he that soweth of the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. But he that soweth of the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. How do you sow to righteousness? You sow by obeying the Scripture. And do you realize that every action that you and I perform basically is a seed sown? We're going to reap from our attitude and our words and our actions.
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And then he says, let us seek the Lord. Let me tell you. My dad, I got so tickled at him, he's been dead for about 12 years. But he was a farmer. And he came home one day, he was spitting mad. And then he started laughing. I said, "What in the world is wrong with you?" He said, "Well, I just got mad at a bumper sticker that I saw."
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He said, "Then the more I thought about it," he said, "the more I realized the truth of it." I said, "What did the bumper sticker say?" He said, "The bumper sticker said 'Legalized gambling. Farmers should not be the only ones that have all the fun.'" He says, "You know, there's more truth to that because it is a gamble without the blessings of the Lord." Let me tell you something.
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You may plow your garden and you may plant your seed and you may fertilize and you may water, but if God doesn't bless it, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. So we must seek God to bless us in doing that which is right, in using the means that God has ordained. So he says we must seek the Lord.
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Now, let me point something else out. And I wish I had time to really develop this. But do you realize it is not only time that you and I prepare our hearts, it is high time that we prepare our hearts.
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Now, if you want a spring garden. Are you going to plant that garden in January? Well, of course not. There's a season for planting a spring garden. Would you plant the spring garden in autumn? And the answer is no. You wouldn't plant it in August or in autumn. If you want a spring garden, there is a certain time that you must plant that garden. If you want to reap in the summer, you've got to plant it in the spring. It's just that simple. And like Alice and I, sometimes we are gone when planting time arrives, and that means when we get back home, she has to double up. I tell everybody that's our garden.
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I plow it, she plants it. But you understand what I'm saying. When time is almost gone, you better hurry up if you want to get any seed in the ground. Do you realize we should always be preparing our hearts? And we should always be planting good seed. But the truth is, there are special times of planting and we must plant those seeds when God's grace and God's mercies are abounding. What did he say?
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"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him." In other words, there's a special designated time that many times God gives us to seek Him. And if we do not seek Him in that time, we miss all of His blessings. Now, one last thought.
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Look in your Bibles to Hosea 10 and verse 12. Look what he says. "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 reign righteousness upon you." Now look in verse 13. "You have plowed wickedness. You've reaped iniquity. You've eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way and in the multitude of thy mighty men." Here's the question. If we have served sin, and if we have served ourselves and the enemy with such hard, arduous work as plowing iniquity, shall we not give at least the same amount of effort to God in plowing and planting righteousness? You see, folks, farming is hard, necessary, and constant work.
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You know, we live in a day and age when people think that they just go to the store and buy what they want to eat. It wasn't like that a hundred years ago. It really wasn't like that fifty years ago. And most people have no earthly idea that without farming there is no food. You've seen the bumper sticker, "When you criticize farmers, don't talk with your mouth full."
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Well, you understand what I'm saying. Without farming, there is no food. In other words, it must be done or we are undone as a nation. The same is true of heart preparation. It must be done or we are undone. Are you listening? Heart preparation has to be something that is constant and continual. I cannot live off the garden that we planted 10 years ago. Because everything that we planted 10 years ago is gone. I can't even live off the garden that we planted three years ago because it's gone. If I want food on my table, I must plow and plant and harvest and water and reap constantly and continually. Likewise, I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now. I can't live off prayer that I gave six months ago. I must pray now. I can't live off seeking the Lord ten years ago. I must seek the Lord now. Heart preparation is something that is constant and consistent. It is continual. When you get up in the morning, you must say, "Lord, I want you to prepare my heart."
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"Lord, I want you to help me to prepare my heart by seeking you, breaking up my fallow ground, dealing with wickedness and sin in my life and giving me the principles of your word so that I may obey them." Now, Lord willing, next week, I'm going to show you the reality of heart preparation. I will show you whether or not and how you can tell whether or not your heart is prepared. But I'm going to tell you, folks, without heart preparation, you cannot face the world. You cannot face the devil. You cannot face sin. Or at least you cannot face them successfully. David said it, and I'll quote it next week, "My heart is fixed, O God." And that's what we need, is a fixed heart. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that you would help us, teach us, Lord, not just simply build us up in the most holy faith, but may we have a prepared heart.
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If our hearts are unprepared, we'll fail. Lord, I pray that you would work in each of our lives. May we be determined by the grace of God we're going to do that which is right, and we're going to seek you on a daily basis to prepare our hearts. As thou didst tell us to do, to stand, and having done all, to stand in a wicked and evil day. May your life and your love and your grace and mercy be in us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
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Prepared Hearts Part 1

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver examines why so many Christians fail, arguing that the root cause is a lack of heart preparation. Using Proverbs 16:1 and Hosea 10:12, he teaches that all true preparation originates from God's sovereign grace, yet believers are responsible to actively seek the Lord by breaking up the fallow ground of their hearts—dealing thoroughly with sin, hardness, and rebellion. Without such continual preparation, individuals, families, churches, and nations will break down rather than break up.

Opening

Proverbs 16 in verse 1 and Hosea 10 and verse 12. The subject is prepared hearts, so look in verse 1 of Proverbs 16.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 16:1

"The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Introduction: The Problem of Christian Failures

Weaver asks why so many Christians, including leaders, stumble into sin, noting that such failures have become common and we have grown immune to their horror.

The Need to Return to Basics: Prepared Hearts

He emphasizes the need to get back to fundamental truths, introducing the concept of prepared hearts as essential for standing firm.

Biblical Examples of Prepared and Unprepared Hearts

Contrasts Rehoboam, who did evil because he did not prepare his heart, with Ezra, who prepared his heart to seek the Lord, and cites other Old Testament examples.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 12:14

" Isn't that amazing? King Rehoboam did evil. Why? Because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Ezra. Right over a few pages, Ezra chapter 7, and notice if you would please verse 10, what is said concerning Ezra. Ezra 7 and verse 10. Here the word of God says this, Ezra 7 and verse 10, "

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 7:3

"And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 19:3

"Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God."

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 20:33

"Howbeit the high places were not taken away."

Why?

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 20:33

"For as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers."

The Rise of Heart Preparation: Its Origin in God's Sovereign Grace

Proverbs 16:1 teaches that the preparation of the heart is from the Lord; man's total depravity necessitates that God must initiate heart preparation.

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:10-12

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 64:6

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Very clearly, then, if all of our righteousnesses are nothing but filthy rags, we cannot do anything.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:36

"And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly."

The Responsibility of Heart Preparation: Man's Duty to Seek God

Hosea 10:12 commands believers to break up their fallow ground and seek the Lord, showing that while ability comes from God, responsibility rests on man.

The Meaning of Breaking Up Fallow Ground

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 4:3

"For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns."

Now, this is another metaphor, but he's teaching the same truth. Joel 2 verse 13. God says,

Scripture Reading — Joel 2:13

"And rend your heart, and not your garments. And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of evil."

Note what he says,

Scripture Reading — Joel 2:13

"and rend your heart, and not your garments."

Scripture Reading — Luke 8:7,14

"And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it."

The Evidence of a Prepared Heart: Brokenness and Contrition

A prepared heart is evidenced by a broken and contrite spirit, as seen in Psalms and Isaiah; God dwells with and revives the contrite.

Applications: The Urgency and Continuity of Heart Preparation

Heart preparation is constant work; we must break up or break down. It involves daily seeking God, repenting, and obeying His Word. Without it, we cannot stand against sin.

Prepared Hearts Part 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	11110410363
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts
Genre	Sermon
Date	2004-10-24
Dictation Name
Book	Book 166: Prepared Hearts — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	88

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Problem of Christian Failures: Weaver asks why so many Christians, including leaders, stumble into sin, noting that such failures have become common and we have grown immune to their horror.
The Need to Return to Basics: Prepared Hearts: He emphasizes the need to get back to fundamental truths, introducing the concept of prepared hearts as essential for standing firm.
Biblical Examples of Prepared and Unprepared Hearts: Contrasts Rehoboam, who did evil because he did not prepare his heart, with Ezra, who prepared his heart to seek the Lord, and cites other Old Testament examples.
The Rise of Heart Preparation: Its Origin in God's Sovereign Grace: Proverbs 16:1 teaches that the preparation of the heart is from the Lord; man's total depravity necessitates that God must initiate heart preparation.
The Responsibility of Heart Preparation: Man's Duty to Seek God: Hosea 10:12 commands believers to break up their fallow ground and seek the Lord, showing that while ability comes from God, responsibility rests on man.
The Meaning of Breaking Up Fallow Ground: Explains the agricultural metaphor: fallow ground is hard, unplowed soil that must be thoroughly broken, cleared of weeds and thorns, to receive seed. Spiritually, it means dealing radically with sin, hardness, and rebellion.
The Evidence of a Prepared Heart: Brokenness and Contrition: A prepared heart is evidenced by a broken and contrite spirit, as seen in Psalms and Isaiah; God dwells with and revives the contrite.
Applications: The Urgency and Continuity of Heart Preparation: Heart preparation is constant work; we must break up or break down. It involves daily seeking God, repenting, and obeying His Word. Without it, we cannot stand against sin.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Christian failures stem from unprepared hearts

The prevalence of moral failures among professing Christians is due to a lack of heart preparation, not merely weak teaching or counseling.

Weaver asks why so many stumble and answers, 'The answer is you haven't prepared your heart.'

God must initiate heart preparation due to total depravity

Because no one seeks God naturally, the rise of heart preparation must originate in God's sovereign grace.

Cites Romans 3:10-11 and Proverbs 16:1, and quotes John Gill: 'man can neither think nor speak without God.'

Responsibility is not nullified by inability

Man's loss of ability through sin does not remove his responsibility to obey God's commands; he must seek God for the ability to obey.

Uses the illustration of a bank loan: inability to pay does not cancel the debt; likewise, God's commands remain binding.

Breaking up fallow ground requires thorough, painful work

Spiritual preparation involves deep repentance, uprooting sin, and removing all hindrances, not superficial religious activity.

Explains the agricultural process of plowing, removing stumps and thorns, and cites Jeremiah 4:3 and Hebrews 12:15.

A broken and contrite heart is the mark of preparation

God looks for and dwells with those who have a broken spirit and tremble at His Word, which is the result of heart preparation.

Cites Psalm 34:18, Psalm 51:17, Isaiah 57:15, and Isaiah 66:2.

Heart preparation must be continual, not occasional

Just as farming requires annual cycles, spiritual life demands daily repentance, seeking, and obedience; past devotion is insufficient.

Weaver says, 'I cannot live off repentance that I gave ten years ago. I must repent now.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 16:1: The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
Hosea 10:12: 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 reign righteousness upon you.
2 Chronicles 12:14: And he did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.
Ezra 7:10: For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
1 Samuel 7:3: And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only.
2 Chronicles 19:3: Nevertheless, there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
2 Chronicles 20:33: Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 27:6: So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
Romans 11:36: For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.
Romans 3:10-12: There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Isaiah 64:6: But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
2 Chronicles 29:36: And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
2 Chronicles 30:12: Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.
John 6:37: No man can come unto me except the Father who sent me draw him.
John 15:5: Without me, you can do nothing.
1 Corinthians 3:9: For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Jeremiah 4:3: Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.
Joel 2:13: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.
Luke 8:7,14: Some fell among thorns...choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life.
Hebrews 12:15: Looking diligently lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

Historical References

King Rehoboam: Son of Solomon who did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord (2 Chronicles 12:14).
Ezra: Prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach it (Ezra 7:10).
King Jehoshaphat: Commended for preparing his heart to seek God (2 Chronicles 19:3).
King Jotham: Became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord (2 Chronicles 27:6).
King Hezekiah's revival: God prepared the people's hearts, leading to sudden revival (2 Chronicles 29:36; 30:12).
John Gill: 18th-century expositor quoted on Proverbs 16:1: 'man can neither think nor speak without God.'
John Trapp: Old expositor quoted: 'He saith not of man, as if it were in man's power to dispose of his own heart, but in man, as holy wrought of God.'
Jay Leno: Comedian quoted: 'If God had intended for us to vote, he would have given us candidates.'

Important Quotes

The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Foundational text for the sermon, establishing that heart preparation originates with God.

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 reign righteousness upon you.

Key command for human responsibility in heart preparation.

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Positive example of heart preparation leading to right action.

Break up your fallow ground and sow not among thorns.

Command to thoroughly deal with sin before receiving God's Word.

But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.

God's promise to attend to those with prepared hearts.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why do you think so many professing Christians, including leaders, fall into serious sin?

[Context]

Weaver opens by asking why failures are so common, even among elders and pastors.

[Question]

How does the truth that 'the preparation of the heart is from the Lord' affect your view of personal responsibility?

[Context]

Weaver explains that ability comes from God, but we are still commanded to seek Him.

[Question]

What does it mean practically to 'break up your fallow ground' in your own life?

[Context]

Weaver describes the hard work of plowing, removing thorns, and dealing with sin thoroughly.

[Question]

Why is a broken and contrite heart so valuable to God?

[Context]

Weaver cites Psalms and Isaiah to show God dwells with the contrite.

[Question]

In what areas of your life might you be 'sowing among thorns'?

[Context]

Weaver warns against allowing cares, riches, and pleasures to choke out the Word.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a daily habit of heart preparation?

[Context]

Weaver stresses that heart preparation must be continual, like farming.

[Question]

What is the relationship between personal heart preparation and the health of the church and nation?

[Context]

Weaver states that breaking up hearts prevents breakdown in families, churches, and nations.

[Question]

How do you respond to the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility in spiritual growth?

[Context]

Weaver addresses this tension using Proverbs 16:1 and Hosea 10:12.

Applications

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