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THE MIRACLE of a HEART TRANSPLANT Derek

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THE MIRACLE OF A HEART TRANSPLANT Title: Derek Westmoreland Ezekiel 11:14-21 HBC 11-5-17 Written by Lori Neely, Administrative Assistant to the I love the Word of God. God speaks to us through it. It is living President, NTS, Kansas City, Missouri, USA and active. It is sharp. It corrects and encourages, it pierces yet It was 1980 – the end of my freshman year at college. I sat down edifies. It reveals hope to the hopeless. I love God’s Word. minutes before class started. Dr. Marks walked in and made an exciting announcement: A The Mind of God volcano had erupted in the middle of Washington State. An unknown writer said, “This Book is the mind of God, the Mount Saint Helens (MSH) had blown up. I was as excited as state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the Dr. Marks! happiness of believers. Immediately Terri, a friend of mine sitting just a seat down the Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are aisle, was in tears – she began to wail in class! When the volcano erupted, a good chunk of the top of MSH’s true, and its decisions are immutable. blew off. Lava flowed for seventeen miles. Volcanic ash filled Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It the air. Fifty-seven people were killed. Thousands and contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to thousands of animals died. Infrastructure evaporated – cheer you. hundreds of miles of highway and miles of railroads were wiped It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, out. Hundreds of homes disappeared. Teri told me later, that MSH was located near her home, and the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. that she had spent a lot of time on MSH in summer camps – …Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory both as a camper and as a worker. Camps that were no more. of God its end. Terri grieved the loss of the camp, the loss of one of her favorite It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. places of spiritual growth and renewal. She also didn’t know Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. about the fate of some of her close friends who lived at the camp. This was devastating news! I started to get…and share It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of in…Teri’s grief. pleasure. Source unknown www.bible.org It was a devastating loss! Terri’s favorite camp was covered I love God’s word! with lava, hardening to stone. Today we study the Word of God! The lava had ruined everything. The lava hardened anything for miles. Turn to: A text that was in our assigned reading for yesterday. If you The reality is, the human heart, referring to _______________ were unable to read it. I encourage you read this afternoon to can harden as well. In the book of Exodus, we learn that reinforce what is preached today. Pharaoh had a hardened heart. In the book of Ezekial we find the Hebrews with hardened hearts; but praise be to God; that he is in the heart transplant business. He replaces cold hearts of W. Jones wrote, stone with warm hearts of flesh. They have often felt the supreme importance of religion, but have not yielded to its claims. Read: They are wavering and undecided. Ezekial 11:19- “And I will give them one heart, and put a new They have religious emotion, but not religious spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their resolution. Sermon by W. Jones, Ezekial 11:19, www.biblehub.com flesh and give them a heart of flesh, Pray: When God restores Israel, He will give them one heart. They will be completely devoted to the Lord and His mission. Ezekial 11:19 is one of the most precious verses in all the Bible. It reveals both the grace of God and the power of God. It 2. He gives them a NEW SPIRIT, NEW HEART speaks of what He removes and what He gives. Let’s look at The rest of Ezekial 11:19 refers to this new heart that God will verse 19, part by part. give. We find in the book of Jeremiah additional references to the 1. He gives them ONE HEART heart that God will give them. “And I will give them one heart, Jeremiah 24:7- ‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am The reference to one heart is not something unique to this text. the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, Ezekial 32:39a- and I will give them one heart and one way, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. that they may fear Me always, Jeremiah 31:33- “But this is the covenant which I will make Jeremiah, who prophesied at the same time, wrote with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I (Jeremiah 32:38-39) “They shall be My people, and I will be will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good God promises to give a new heart. He promises a heart of their children after them. transplant. The “one heart” speaks of unity with one another, but that unity 3. He removes the HEART OF STONE is an overflow of the unity they will have with God. I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh Many Hebrews and many today waver between two opinions. This promise is repeated in They want God in their life as long as they pick what aspects of Ezekial 36:26 where it says, “Moreover, I will give you a new their lives, He is a part of. heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the They want God to be who they want Him to be. heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. They want to combine service of God with service of self- A heart of stone is a hard and stubborn and rebellious heart. exaltation. They currently have a divided heart. The hard-hearted longs to have company; but sits in a dungeon Today, many non-Hebrews have divided hearts as well. of his/her own making, alone and critical. Are you of hard heart? Those in Jerusalem felt that they were accepted by God because they were left in Jerusalem where the Temple was. They A heart of stone- Lee Strobel thought they were God’s favored. God promised to replace their hard hearts of stone. They had been warned that if they did not repent, they would Has God replaced your heart of stone with a heart of flesh? die at the border of Israel; but they rejected such warnings. They 4. He gives a HEART OF FLESH were conceited and deceived themselves. and give them a heart of flesh, Those left in Jerusalem would suffer the most severe judgment The New Bible commentary says, “the use of the term ‘flesh’ of all of the Hebrews. You learned of this in Bible Fellowship here should not be confused with its use in other parts of the this morning. That judgment studied in Bible Fellowship from Bible, where it often denotes frailty or corruption.” McGregor, L. J. (1994). Ezekiel. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Jeremiah 52 occurs shortly after this in Ezekiel 11 is revealed. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 740). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. The reality is, the presence of God was not with those in In the book of Romans, flesh is contrasted with spirit and Jerusalem. The Temple building, in Jerusalem, could never be therefore flesh is referred to as the negative aspect of Christian as important as having the presence of God. The Temple only living. That is not how Ezekial is referring to flesh. Here in had spiritual value if God occupied it, which at that time, He Ezekial, the flesh is sensitive and warm; not cold and hardened. didn’t. God promised to give a new; a heart of flesh, a united heart to Listen to what God reveals about the exiles. the Hebrews. Now let’s look at what led to the Lord’s promise. Verse 16- “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I Let’s back up to had removed them far away among the nations and though I Verses 14-15- Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom The Hebrews in Jerusalem misinterpreted what God had done. the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; Yes, God was judging all the people from Judah; but he did not totally abandon the exiles.
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