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Take your Bibles this morning, 
if you will, turning them to 

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Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 36, 
Ezekiel chapter 36. 

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I did not have the liberty to 
preach a message on Memorial 

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Day. 
For Memorial Day specifically, 

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of course, we want to remember. 
And I hope you'll take some time

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to do that tomorrow, especially 
if you have children and just 

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remind them, remind yourself 
about the fact that we have the 

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freedoms to do what we're doing 
here right now. 

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Because somebody was willing to 
give and many, somebodies were 

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willing to give their lives in 
defense of that freedom. 

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And that's why it's important 
that we stand up for the 

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freedoms that we have. 
There was, there's too much 

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blood that was, that's been 
shed. 

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There's, there's too much 
sacrifice that has been made for

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us to just let it go. 
That's why it's important that 

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we stand up for the freedoms 
that we do have in this country.

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But I, I'm going to focus a 
little bit more on, on those 

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things around the July 4th 
holiday. 

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I have a message that I've been 
working on for the last few 

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weeks that God's just really 
been burning my heart about. 

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And here in Ezekiel chapter 36, 
we actually, we actually came to

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this passage a couple of weeks 
ago when I was preaching the 

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message on prayer where two or 
three are gathered. 

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And we we focused on the last 
part of that. 

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Thus saith the Lord God, I will 
yet for this be inquired of by 

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the House of Israel to to do it 
for them. 

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And of course, I'm not going to 
focus on that this morning. 

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I want to go in a different 
direction, but this just to just

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to kind of remind you again 
about what is happening in this 

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passage as we as we lead up to 
it. 

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And and you know, when Ezekiel 
penned the words to Ezekiel 

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chapter 36. 
He is speaking to a people whose

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hearts have become very hard. 
And it's sad that that God did 

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so much for the nation of 
Israel. 

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God, God LED them out of Egypt. 
He led them through the 

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wilderness. 
He did miracles that that he 

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never did for anybody else. 
And the things that he did for 

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them when they got into the 
promised land and just the the 

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way that he established them and
it kept his promise to them and 

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did all of these things for him.
And yet every time we turn 

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around, it seems like they're 
just hardening their hearts 

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again against God and they're 
going directly against the 

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warnings that he gave them. 
Hey, if you do this, this is 

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going to happen. 
And they would turn around and 

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do it. 
And then God followed through. 

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He had to follow through. 
Otherwise it would have just 

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been idle threats. 
But the nation of Israel hadn't 

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just made mistakes, which is 
often what we like to call our 

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sin many times. 
But they had repeatedly resisted

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God. 
They had idols in their homes. 

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They they had compromised in 
their worship. 

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They had, they had rebellion in 
their hearts and in many cases 

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they just would not turn back to
God. 

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And so God had warned them over 
and over through his prophets, 

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but they wouldn't listen to him.
They refused. 

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And so God had to execute 
justice. 

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He had to execute judgment or 
his threats would have just been

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idle threats and it wouldn't 
have meant anything when he 

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said, if you don't follow me, 
I'm going to do this. 

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And so God had to do that. 
And eventually that judgment 

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came in the form of them being 
carried away into Babylon, and 

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they were humiliated in that 
process. 

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But they had brought dishonor to
God amongst the heathen by their

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choices and by their sins and by
their actions. 

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Their problem was not a 
political problem. 

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Their problem was not an 
economic problem. 

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Their problem was not a military
problem. 

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Their problem was a internal 
problem. 

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They had a heart problem. 
And that's the setting of of 

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Ezekiel 36. 
But what's amazing is that God 

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after all of that doesn't just 
pronounce judgement on them and 

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write them off. 
He doesn't just, this is going 

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to happen, this is going to 
happen, this is going to happen.

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Right in the middle of their 
failure, God begins to make 

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promises to them. 
And it goes all the way back to,

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to verse #8 of Ezekiel chapter 
36. 

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And I'm not going to read 
through all of that. 

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I, I did kind of do that just a 
couple weeks ago. 

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But he gets to be begins to 
promise them a physical 

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restoration. 
But that was only the very 

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beginning. 
Starting there in verse #25 God 

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begins to tell them about a 
spiritual transformation. 

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He says, then will I sprinkle 
clean water upon you? 

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You and ye shall be clean from 
all your filthiness and from all

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your idols. 
Will I cleanse? 

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You see, He says he's going to 
cleanse them, He's going to 

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restore them, He's going to 
gather them. 

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And then he gives them one of 
the most hope filled promises in

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all of Scripture there in verse 
#26 a new heart also will I give

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you, and a new spirit will I put
within you. 

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And I will take away the Stony 
heart out of your flesh. 

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And I will give you a heart of 
flesh, and I will put in my 

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spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes, and ye 

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shall keep my judgments and do 
them. 

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God was saying to them, your 
greatest need is not a new 

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location. 
Your greatest need is a new 

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heart. 
Your greatest need is not 

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improved circumstances. 
Your greatest need is an inward 

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transformation. 
One of the greatest dangers in 

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the Christian life is not 
necessarily always open 

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rebellion, although that is a 
danger. 

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And there are some young people,
there are some old people and 

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everybody in between who are 
living in open rebellion against

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God even in, even in a, in a, in
a Baptist Church. 

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But many times the greatest 
danger in a Christian life is 

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not open rebellion. 
It's a hardened heart, and a 

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hard heart can still sit in 
church. 

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A hard heart can still sing 
hymns. 

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A hard heart can still carry a 
Bible and can still dress up and

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and do all the things and even 
no doctrine. 

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But somewhere along the way, 
that tenderness toward God 

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disappears. 
A hard heart resists the 

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conviction that God brings 
through through the Word of God 

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and through the messages that 
are being preached. 

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A hard heart excuses sin. 
A hard heart grows cold toward 

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God, but God specializes in 
doing what people cannot do. 

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He can take a heart of stone and
he can make it soft again. 

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God's promise in Ezekiel 36 is 
not just behavior modification. 

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He didn't, he's not saying I'll 
teach you how to act better. 

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He said, I'll give you a new 
heart. 

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And what I've seen over the 
years, and it's, it's a danger 

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even in even in this church, is 
that it becomes very easy to 

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learn how to play the game. 
You know, it becomes very easy 

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to let your heart get hard while
making it appear soft. 

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And a lot of us have, have, 
have, have mastered that 

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technique, right? 
We let bitterness get in. 

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We let pride get in. 
We lose our sensitivity to the 

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preaching and to God's word. 
We get into a certain point in 

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our walk with Christ, and then 
we dig our heels in and we 

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defiantly tell him that we're 
not going any farther. 

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And we cover all that hardness 
under a soft layer of a smile 

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because I'm here, right? 
I brought my Bible this morning,

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right? 
I dressed up for church, right? 

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Everybody, everybody knows to 
me, knows me to be a good 

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Christian, right? 
But inside the heart is hard. 

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And we can we we can learn how 
so well to play that game, 

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especially if you've been in 
church for any length of time. 

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Religion can clean the outside, 
but only God can soften the 

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inside. 
Alexander McLaren, in talking 

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about this passage, said this. 
There are so there are no 

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sentimental illusions about the 
grim facts of humanity here. 

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Superficial views of sin and 
rose tinted fancies about human 

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nature will not admit the truth 
of the scriptural doctrine of 

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sinfulness and alienation from 
God. 

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They diagnosed the disease 
superficially and therefore do 

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not know how to cure it. 
The Bible can venture to give 

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full weight to the gravity of 
the sickness because it knows 

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the remedy. 
No surgery, but gods can perform

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that operation of extracting the
Stony heart and inserting a 

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heart of flesh. 
No system which cannot do that 

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can do what men want. 
The Gospel alone deals 

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thoroughly with man's ills. 
See, a soft heart is not 

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produced by your efforts. 
It's produced by the work of 

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God. 
But you have to let him. 

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You have to let him. 
I want to take a few minutes 

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this morning to preach to you 
about a soft heart. 

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What is required if we are going
to have a soft heart? 

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Heart towards the things of God,
toward the toward the conviction

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of God's Word and God's message,
a soft heart. 

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Let's talk about that for a few 
minutes this morning after we 

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have a word of prayer. 
Father, again, we thank you so 

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much for your goodness to us. 
Thank you for allowing us to be 

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here together this morning. 
It's no accident that you have 

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everybody that's here this 
morning sitting right here under

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the sound of my voice and under 
the Word of God this morning. 

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God, may you help every one of 
us to evaluate ourselves. 

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See where we are in light of 
God's Word. 

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See where we are in light of 
God's holiness and evaluate 

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whether we have a heart that's 
that that's getting hard, or a 

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heart that is already hard, or a
heart that's soft and tender 

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toward the things of God. 
May you help us this morning to 

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make the decisions that are 
necessary to be where You want 

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us to be. 
Thank you again for all you do 

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for us in Jesus name. 
Amen #1A soft heart, first of 

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all, requires dependence. 
A soft heart lives in daily 

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dependence upon Jesus Christ. 
No, perhaps you're sitting here 

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this morning, you're fighting a 
battle in your heart. 

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You know that you're not where 
you should be or in many cases 

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where you want to be. 
And I say this all the time, you

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are as close to God right now as
you want to be. 

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Because if you really wanted to 
be right with God, you would set

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aside the sin. 
You would set aside the things 

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that are keeping you from having
that relationship with God. 

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But I think all of us would say,
no, I, I want to grow closer to 

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Christ in my relationship with 
him. 

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And maybe you're sitting here 
and you know you're not where 

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you should be, but sometimes you
get too prideful to admit it in 

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the open. 
So you sitting there thinking, I

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can handle this. 
I can, I can get it figured out.

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I know how to live this life. 
It'll just take a little bit of 

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time. 
I'll fake it until I finally 

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figure out how to have V1 of 
these days. 

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I'll have victory. 
And you just live in that defeat

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and you live in that, in that 
hardness of your heart because 

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you're trying to do it all in 
your own strength. 

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That's the tell tale sign of a 
hard heart. 

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Many Christians try to live the 
Christian life through their 

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through through self effort. 
I can do this. 

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It's amazing. 
I've been for 2345 weeks without

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reading my Bible and I haven't 
really prayed and looked. 

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I, I haven't destroyed my life 
yet. 

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It's not really that difficult 
to do all of this on my own. 

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I can handle this Christian life
thing. 

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Nobody knows that I haven't read
my Bible. 

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Nobody knows that I've got 
bitterness in my heart. 

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Nobody knows that the that the 
pride has welled up so much in 

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there because they can't see it.
But look, nobody knows any 

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different. 
It's not that difficult. 

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I can do this on my own. 
And so they begin to rely on on 

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yesterday's experience. 
They rely on yesterday's prayer 

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time. 
They rely on yesterday's 

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victory. 
But the Christian life was never

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designed to be lived in your own
power, independently of God's 

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power. 
They might work for a little 

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while because you've done it for
so long that you've learned how 

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to to play the game, but 
eventually it's going to run 

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out. 
Eventually it's going to show 

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itself. 
Eventually you're going to get 

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to the point where you're you're
farther down than you ever 

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thought you'd be and now you're 
stuck in a big hole. 

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Marie Shipley, he died in 1899, 
but he said this. 

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We may have wanted a clear and 
mental conception of how we are 

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delivered, but I've learned that
I have greater strength and 

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victory by realizing Christ as 
my present Savior this moment 

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and then the next moment without
thinking how it is. 

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So not relying on thought, but 
on Him not taking up, as it 

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were, a sponge full of water in 
the morning to last through the 

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day, but realizing Him as the 
living spring in my heart moment

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by moment, delivering me from 
this little temper or that great

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temperature temptation. 
And that's exactly the way that 

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we ought to be living our life. 
Turn over to John chapter 15. 

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I'm not going to take the time 
to read the whole passage. 

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I want to just read one verse to
you this morning. 

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But the whole passage is 
talking. 

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I think the whole passage kind 
of hinges on this one verse here

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in John chapter 15. 
But verse #5 John chapter 15 and

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verse #5 the Bible says this. 
I am the vine, Ye are the 

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branches. 
He that abideth in me, and I in 

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him the same bringeth forth much
fruit. 

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For without me ye can do 
nothing. 

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That doesn't mean that you can 
do some things and be all right 

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with it. 
No, he said, without me ye can 

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do nothing. 
A soft heart stays near the 

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vine. 
So many Christians are trying to

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survive spiritually on 
yesterday's filling. 

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He said, you know, you wake up 
and you get that one sponge full

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of water and you think that's 
going to last you throughout the

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day. 
They they got wet ones, but now 

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they're dry again because 
they're not abiding in Christ 

250
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moment by moment. 
Jesus never intended for us to 

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00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,440
carry enough grace for the weak.
He intended us. 

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He intended for us to walk with 
him step by step by step by 

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step. 
The softened heart is not 

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self-sufficient. 
It is Savior dependent. 

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00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,160
I read a story about a famous 
tightrope Walker in the 1800s by

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00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:47,640
the name of Charles Blondin, and
he became known for crossing 

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over the Niagara Falls on a 
tightrope. 

258
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I don't think you can get away 
with that now. 

259
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,120
But he used to do that and 
thousands of people would gather

260
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to watch him do just just 
unbelievable feats. 

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He would, he would cross 
blindfolded. 

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He would push a wheelbarrow 
across. 

263
00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:02,360
He would carry things across the
rope. 

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00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,520
And at one point he was he was 
performing for thousands of 

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00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,120
people that were standing there 
at the at the top of the falls. 

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And he had just walked across 
that rope with a wheelbarrow. 

267
00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,200
And of course, everybody 
cheered, wow, what a what a 

268
00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,320
great feat. 
And he turned to the crowd and 

269
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,480
he said, do you think I could 
put a person in this wheelbarrow

270
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,800
and walk across? 
Then they said, oh, absolutely. 

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00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,120
We've seen you do all these 
things. 

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00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,240
You just walked there. 
Absolutely you can walk across 

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00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,680
with a wheelbarrow. 
And they said, all right, who 

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00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:31,840
wants to get in? 
And the crowd went silent. 

275
00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:38,040
See, they believed in his 
ability, but trusting in him was

276
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,560
completely different when they 
had to climb in. 

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That's the Christian life. 
A lot of people believe, Oh, 

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00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,640
Jesus Christ has the power to 
save me. 

279
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,080
He has the power to give me 
strength. 

280
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:48,640
He can guide me. 
He can sustain me. 

281
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,760
He can do all these things. 
But day after day, they try to 

282
00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,560
carry themselves spiritually. 
They they'll trust Christ for 

283
00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:58,240
eternity, but they won't trust 
him for Monday morning, right? 

284
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,560
And Tuesday morning and 
Wednesday morning and all the 

285
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:03,840
rest of the week, Jesus never 
intended for us to wheel 

286
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:05,520
ourselves across the Christian 
life. 

287
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,520
John chapter 15 teaches abiding,
not striving. 

288
00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,680
It's not you doing that work 
yourself. 

289
00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:15,800
It is you abiding in Christ. 
And as you abide in him, he's 

290
00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,240
the vine. 
You're the branch. 

291
00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,160
You're connected to, to the to 
what gives you the life that you

292
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,160
have Without me, you can do 
nothing, can you? 

293
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,880
What is a branch that's not 
connected to A to a tree? 

294
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,840
It's a stick, right? 
And it's dead, right? 

295
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,840
You go pick up the sticks in the
yard and you burn them because 

296
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,600
that's what a branch that's not 
connected to the tree is. 

297
00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,640
And there's a lot of little 
sticks walking around pretending

298
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,680
to be a branch. 
And those that have the eyes to 

299
00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,120
see can tell that you're not a 
stick. 

300
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:49,680
They can tell that you're not a 
branch. 

301
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,680
They can tell you're a stick 
because you're not connected to 

302
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,280
the vine. 
But you think because I look 

303
00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,080
like a branch, because I have 
all the characteristics of a 

304
00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:02,640
branch, but you're a stick. 
No, the, the, the, the branch is

305
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,520
connected to the vine and it's 
abiding in Christ. 

306
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,360
What I want you to understand in
this first point is that you 

307
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,920
have to come to the realization 
that you cannot do it on your 

308
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,920
own. 
I hope that everybody in here 

309
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,000
has a desire to not have a hard 
heart. 

310
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,320
I hope that everybody in here 
has a desire to have a soft 

311
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,840
heart. 
But I'm not under any illusion. 

312
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,680
I don't I, I would never be able
to give you a percentage of how 

313
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,280
many people sitting in here have
a hard heart. 

314
00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,600
But I know that it's, it's 
probably more than 1015, twenty,

315
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,960
30% of people, right? 
Because if you have a soft 

316
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,360
heart, everything, everything is
open to God, right? 

317
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,320
If you have anything that you're
not willing to surrender to him,

318
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,720
then your heart is not soft the 
way that he wants it to be soft.

319
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,200
If you have not surrendered to 
Him, then you have hard places 

320
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,640
in your heart, if not a hard 
heart completely. 

321
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,560
You'll never get victory over 
sin on your own. 

322
00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,400
You will never be conformed to 
the image of Jesus Christ on 

323
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:01,880
your own. 
You will never walk in the 

324
00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,760
Spirit on your own. 
You will never have the power to

325
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,880
do God's work on your own. 
And on your own, you will 

326
00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:09,760
utterly fail in this Christian 
life. 

327
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,880
So our goal, our job, if, if God
is going to use you, you must 

328
00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:20,360
remove the dependence on 
yourself and everything you know

329
00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,800
about the Christian life. 
And you must place your complete

330
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:28,200
dependence upon Jesus Christ. 
And so I say first of all, that 

331
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,680
a soft heart requires 
dependence, but #2A soft heart 

332
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,000
requires death. 
A soft heart requires death. 

333
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:42,080
A soft heart dies daily to self.
There are two great obstacles to

334
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,240
a spirit filled life and the 
first obstacle is sin. 

335
00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,280
I'll go back to Ezekiel chapter 
36. 

336
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,240
I should have asked you to keep 
your finger there. 

337
00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,520
But sin is the hard ground that 
often does not allow the seed of

338
00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,160
God's Word to be planted in a 
way that allows it to grow. 

339
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,280
And it may not always be outward
sin, a sin that that is obvious,

340
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,839
like pornography or anger or or 
bitterness or bad attitude. 

341
00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:08,960
It may not be one of those 
things that everybody looks on 

342
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,440
the outside and says, obviously 
there's a problem. 

343
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,760
There may not be one of those. 
But the root of a hard heart 

344
00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,000
very often is pride. 
It's pride that says, well, 

345
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,200
you're just a pastor. 
You can't tell me what to do. 

346
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,400
I don't have to read God's Word 
if I don't feel like it. 

347
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,560
I don't have to follow it if I 
don't feel like it. 

348
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,480
It's pride that says in your 
heart, come and make me do this,

349
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,920
or come in and make me stop 
doing this. 

350
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,320
It's pride and sin that says, 
I've taken as many steps as I'm 

351
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,480
going to take. 
Let me just go back to Egypt 

352
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,960
where everything was comfortable
and you end up living in the 

353
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,720
wilderness of desperation. 
Not yet back in Egypt where you 

354
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,960
can completely indulge in your 
sin, but certainly not living 

355
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,640
the victorious Christian life 
and enjoying the blessings of 

356
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,480
the promised land. 
And so for years and years and 

357
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:59,560
years, you wander in the 
wilderness, always wanting to go

358
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,400
back to Egypt, always hoping 
that maybe someday you'll get to

359
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,520
the Promised land. 
But you spend 40 years living in

360
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:11,320
a dry, dusty spiritual life 
because of foolish pride. 

361
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,000
There is no salvation and 
there's no sanctification 

362
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,240
without repentance. 
In fact, right there in that 

363
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,320
passage in Ezekiel chapter 36 
and verse #31 then shall you 

364
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:25,560
remember your own evil ways and 
your doings that were not good 

365
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,120
and shall loathe yourselves in 
your own sight for your 

366
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,920
iniquities and for your 
abominations. 

367
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,760
See repentance is to acknowledge
your evil ways before God. 

368
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:40,760
And most of us want to just call
it a a little white liar, just a

369
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,080
it's just a small sin. 
It's it's not really that big of

370
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,600
a deal, but when you realize 
that even the little small sins 

371
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,720
in the little white lies or what
put Jesus Christ and the cross, 

372
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,720
you will loathe your sin. 
You will loathe yourself. 

373
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,720
It's repentance is to 
acknowledge that I am not 

374
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,520
righteous and I am not 
deserving. 

375
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,040
I am deserving of God's 
judgment. 

376
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,760
It's as he says here to loathe 
yourselves in your own sight for

377
00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:09,720
your iniquities in your 
abominations. 

378
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,640
We can see example of that in 
the in the prodigal son, and I 

379
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,720
don't want to take the time to 
to to look at it. 

380
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,800
But in Luke chapter 15, he said 
I have sinned against heaven. 

381
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,160
He said, and against you. 
He's talking to his father. 

382
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,760
Of course he had sinned against 
his father, but his first 

383
00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,360
recognition was that he had 
sinned against God. 

384
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,640
The second greatest obstacle to 
the Spirit filled life is self. 

385
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,720
And I suppose that the last 
point could have very easily 

386
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,080
gone with this one. 
But the root of sin is pride, 

387
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:50,440
and the root of pride is self. 
Evan Hopkins quoting Romans 725 

388
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,320
said this. 
So then with the mind, I myself 

389
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:56,720
serve the law of God, but with 
the flesh the law of sin. 

390
00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,320
And then he said this. 
The I myself is one thing, but 

391
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,000
the Christ life is another. 
There are multitudes of 

392
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,080
Christians who are living the I 
Myself life. 

393
00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,960
They know what pardon is. 
They know what it is to come to 

394
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,920
the fountain. 
They know what it is to look to 

395
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,880
Jesus Christ in times of 
difficulty and perplexity and to

396
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,400
come back again to Him with 
their guilt and get forgiven. 

397
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,320
But they are living the I Myself
life instead of the Christ life.

398
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:28,360
The solution to those great 
obstacles of sin and self is 

399
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,000
surrender. 
There's many Christians who have

400
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,400
received forgiveness and they're
saved, but they don't know 

401
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,760
surrender. 
They've trusted Christ for 

402
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,960
salvation and they may have 
given up a few things that God 

403
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,640
has asked them to give up, but 
they still live every day 

404
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,160
controlled by self will and 
controlled by self pity or self 

405
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,640
promotion or self-reliance. 
The I myself is exhausting 

406
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,600
because self was never meant to 
carry the Christian life. 

407
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,040
And so many people get so 
discouraged in the Christian 

408
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,840
life because they're trying to 
do it on their own. 

409
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:07,640
They get so they they get so 
weary of living the Christian 

410
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,520
life because it's just so 
difficult to be a Christian. 

411
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,680
It's just so difficult to live 
in this wicked world and to and 

412
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,600
to really do what's right. 
Not if you're connected to the 

413
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,440
vine, not if you are abiding in 
Christ, not if you are 

414
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,680
surrendered to him. 
It's not hard to stand up to the

415
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:25,520
things that that the world is 
promoting. 

416
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,160
It's not hard to stand up to the
wickedness in the world. 

417
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,120
It's not hard to put those 
things aside. 

418
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,360
It's not hard to truly want to 
be holy. 

419
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,360
Not if you're truly surrendered.
The reason it's hard is because 

420
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:38,280
you're still trying to do it 
yourself. 

421
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:40,360
You're still relying on 
yourself. 

422
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,200
You're still trying to hold on 
to the things that you just 

423
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,040
won't let go of when you 
surrender to God. 

424
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:51,840
It's not hard if you find 
yourself struggling every single

425
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,160
day to live the Christian life. 
And oh man, I failed again. 

426
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,160
Oh man, I messed up again. 
God, I'm sorry, it's me again. 

427
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,600
Please forgive me. 
If you find yourself in that 

428
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:03,960
situation, there's probably one 
reason why. 

429
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,840
It's because you are not 
surrendered to God. 

430
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:11,120
You're trying to do it on your 
own. 

431
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,520
A soft heart is a surrendered 
heart. 

432
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,520
Luke Chapter 9 and verse 23. 
If any man will come after me, 

433
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:26,840
let him deny himself and take up
his cross daily and follow me 

434
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,680
that word daily. 
The Christian life is not a life

435
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,280
of a dramatic surrender and then
independence afterward. 

436
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:41,280
It is continual surrender, 
continual surrender every day. 

437
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,360
Paul said I die daily. 
I wake up in the morning and my 

438
00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:50,360
life is yours to control. 
I give you my heart and my soul.

439
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,040
I'll seek your will. 
Never mind, right? 

440
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,720
That's daily surrender. 
Andrew Murray illustrated this 

441
00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,920
beautifully. 
He said this someone said to me 

442
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,840
yesterday when talking of these 
things. 

443
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:07,040
And must we then die every day? 
As if the thought was, is it not

444
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,680
enough to die once for all with 
Jesus in order to live the 

445
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,920
resurrection life? 
My brother would that I could 

446
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,640
help you to see that the death 
of Christ is a thing for every 

447
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,560
day, as really as His life is. 
They are inseparable. 

448
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,240
I cannot make it plainer than by
pointing you to some splendid 

449
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,280
oak tree. 
Where was that oak born? 

450
00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,680
In a grave. 
The acorn was pushed under the 

451
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,520
ground. 
It had its grave there. 

452
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,240
And in that grave it sprouted 
and sent its buds upward in that

453
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,600
tree. 
I ask you, was it only one day 

454
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,280
that it stood in that grave? 
No. 

455
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,880
That oak stood for 100 years, 
but it stood every day in that 

456
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,360
grave in that place of death. 
And in that place of death it 

457
00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,400
has found its life and its 
beauty. 

458
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,840
See, that's, that's the, the oak
draws life from the very place 

459
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,480
where the acorn died. 
The acorn doesn't go into the 

460
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,760
ground and die and then walk out
and say, well, I died and 

461
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,920
nothing happened, right. 
The acorn stays dead and because

462
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:07,800
it died, that's where the life 
comes from. 

463
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,840
And in the very much the same 
way a believer finds spiritual 

464
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,400
beauty in the place of 
surrender, You don't die to 

465
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,600
yourself once and and then come 
up out of the grave and say, I 

466
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,240
don't know what happened. 
I, I surrendered yesterday and 

467
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,760
nothing crazy happened. 
God didn't do anything wonderful

468
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,440
in my life. 
I don't, I don't see what 

469
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,120
surrender is going to do because
you got to stay in the grave. 

470
00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:30,080
You got to stay dead to 
yourself. 

471
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,880
We want the resurrection life 
without crucifixion. 

472
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,360
We want victory without death to
self. 

473
00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:38,080
We want the crown without the 
cross. 

474
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,440
And you can't have it both ways.
The point, we must come to the 

475
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,520
point where our heart is soft, 
says Lord, not my will, but thy 

476
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,200
will be done. 
Are you surrendered to God? 

477
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,440
All right now? 
I'm not just asking if you're 

478
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,280
surrendered to God's will for 
your life. 

479
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,520
Most of you are probably doing 
what God wants you to do for 

480
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,920
your life as a whole. 
I'm asking you, are you 

481
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,800
surrendered today? 
Did you surrender yesterday? 

482
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,160
Will you surrender tomorrow? 
Because that's what's required 

483
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,560
of us if we are going to have a 
soft heart that God can use. 

484
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,680
So a soft heart requires 
dependence. 

485
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,320
A soft heart requires death, but
number 3A soft heart requires 

486
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,080
devotion. 
Turn over to Isaiah 55. 

487
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,280
See, one of the quickest ways 
for a heart to harden is 

488
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,440
disappointment with God. 
Sometimes we obey God because we

489
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:35,560
expect the immediate results 
from Him. 

490
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,000
All right, that happens a lot of
times when people are newly 

491
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,680
saved, they start making changes
and they see God bless them or 

492
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,200
somebody that's that's been away
from the Lord for a while. 

493
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,720
And so they, they start coming 
back to God and they start, they

494
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,200
start really, really, really 
getting right with God and they 

495
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,480
start getting the things out of 
their life that need to be 

496
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,720
gotten out. 
And they start putting the 

497
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,760
things into their life that need
to be put in. 

498
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,960
And they start seeing God bless 
them because of those choices 

499
00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:01,560
and those decisions that they're
making. 

500
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,800
And then they make a change and 
they don't see as much of A 

501
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,000
blessing from it, so they start 
to go back on what they 

502
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,320
previously had been convicted 
about and made changes about. 

503
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,840
And it can take place over a few
years, but the heart begins to 

504
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,320
grow hard. 
We expect immediate healing 

505
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,040
because I came to God and I 
asked him to heal me, or I asked

506
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,360
him to heal somebody, and I 
didn't see any answers. 

507
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:27,480
Or we expect immediate success 
or immediate answers or 

508
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,080
immediate fulfillment of our 
dreams. 

509
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,240
And when we don't see it happen,
we begin to give up on what we 

510
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,200
started on with God. 
But God often works very 

511
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:40,160
differently than what we expect 
in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 

512
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,960
#8 The Bible says, For my 
thoughts are not your thoughts, 

513
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,600
neither are your ways my ways, 
saith the Lord. 

514
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:49,480
For as the heavens are higher 
than the earth, so are my ways 

515
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,720
higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts. 

516
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,360
Stuart Holden said this. 
I know a man, I have him in mind

517
00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:01,800
tonight, who, being disappointed
in, disappointed in his 

518
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,680
experience, nervously begins to 
pity himself. 

519
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,040
The man to whom self 
consequences everything. 

520
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,400
When God contradicts his 
expectations and longing, his 

521
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,240
faith is staggered and his 
backsliding begins. 

522
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,080
I know the man is willing to 
accept the shallow answer to a 

523
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,880
great question. 
The man to whom disappointment 

524
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,440
becomes disbelief. 
The man who measures God in the 

525
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,280
tiny scales of his own self 
consciousness. 

526
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,480
Many a one such has gone from 
revival services to be utterly 

527
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,080
disheartened, utterly 
despondent, and ultimately A 

528
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,160
deserter. 
He has never learned to say but 

529
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:42,120
if not, my God, but if not. 
That phrase comes from Daniel 

530
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:45,800
chapter 3. 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 

531
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,600
were forced to bow before the 
king, and they determined that 

532
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,720
they were not going to do that. 
And so the music played and they

533
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,640
didn't bow. 
And the king sent his 

534
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,000
messengers, and he said, maybe 
you didn't hear what you're 

535
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,240
supposed to do when you hear the
sound of that music. 

536
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,400
You're supposed to bow down. 
And they said, we're not going 

537
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,640
to bow down at all. 
You can play all the music you 

538
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,080
want to. 
We're not going to bow down. 

539
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:19,160
And Daniel chapter 3 and verse 
#17 The King's men said, well, 

540
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:20,800
you know what the punishment for
that is, right? 

541
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:22,680
You get thrown in the fiery 
furnace. 

542
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:28,320
They said this, If it be so, our
God whom we serve is able to 

543
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,960
deliver us from the burning 
fiery furnace, and he will 

544
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,720
deliver us out of thy hand, O 
King. 

545
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,440
But if not, be it known unto 
thee, O King, that we will not 

546
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,560
serve thy gods, nor worship the 
golden image which thou has set 

547
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,320
up. 
That's the language of a soft 

548
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,360
heart. 
That's the language of devotion.

549
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,520
I'm not serving God for what I 
can get out of Him. 

550
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,360
I'm not serving God because of 
what He gives me. 

551
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,240
I'm not serving God because of 
the benefits that come from 

552
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,240
serving Him. 
I'm serving God out of a heart 

553
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,120
of love. 
I'm serving God because I want 

554
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,080
to live for Him. 
I'm serving God because I want 

555
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,880
to be right with Him. 
I'm serving God because this is 

556
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,640
only temporary. 
There is eternity coming, and I 

557
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,560
want to be able to stand before 
Him and tell Him I did 

558
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,880
everything I could, whether He 
blessed me or not, whether I 

559
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,320
felt like I was I was mistreated
or not, whether I felt like I 

560
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,000
had everything that God promised
that He was going to give me or 

561
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:24,440
not. 
I'll keep serving him. 

562
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,400
That's devotion, and that only 
comes from a soft heart. 

563
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,760
So many people are only willing 
to serve God when everything is 

564
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,480
going their way. 
Somebody with a hard heart 

565
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:39,320
follows God only as long as God 
cooperates with His plan, As 

566
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,520
long as it, as long as 
everything goes my way, then 

567
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,360
I'll serve God. 
As long as everybody does 

568
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,960
everything that I want to do, 
then I'll serve God. 

569
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,720
But as soon as it starts to turn
a little bit and and I don't get

570
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,480
what I want, as soon as it 
starts to turn a little bit and 

571
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:58,360
I don't see God blessing me the 
way that I think he should, As 

572
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,240
long as the conviction I'm 
feeling doesn't interfere with 

573
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,600
what I already think, long as it
doesn't make me do something 

574
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,680
that I feel is uncomfortable, 
then I'm good. 

575
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,480
But the minute God asked me to 
do something that I don't want 

576
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,040
to do, the heart begins to grow 
cold. 

577
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,240
A soft heart says, even if the 
prayer is not answered. 

578
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:22,400
A soft heart says, even if the 
dream dies. 

579
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,440
The soft heart says, even if the
furnace grows hotter. 

580
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,680
The soft heart says, even if 
it's not what I had hoped or 

581
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,880
planned. 
The soft heart says, even if it 

582
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,000
pulls me out of my comfort zone.
The soft heart says I will still

583
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,560
surrender and I will still trust
in Him. 

584
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,160
If you only follow Christ as 
long as he fulfills your dreams,

585
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,400
then eventually you're going to 
stop following him. 

586
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,680
Often the way God works is this.
He gives you a dream and you 

587
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,320
pursue that passionately and it 
crashes and burns and you 

588
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,720
realize that He was the point 
all along and begin pursuing Him

589
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:00,760
instead of the dream. 
And then he gives you something 

590
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,040
deeper and something better than
you originally had ever 

591
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,400
imagined. 
But many never make it past the 

592
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,800
but if not stage. 
They become bitter instead of 

593
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,160
broken, become cynical instead 
of surrendered. 

594
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,840
Their disappointment hardens 
them. 

595
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,920
But a soft heart keeps trusting 
even when it doesn't understand.

596
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:27,400
William Carey spent years in 
India translating the Bible into

597
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,080
the local languages. 
It was very painstaking work. 

598
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:34,240
This was long before computers. 
This was long before printing 

599
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,200
was easy. 
Every page had to be handwritten

600
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:41,760
and then edited by hand. 
And after years of working on 

601
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:46,520
these Bibles, one night a fire 
broke out in the print shop and 

602
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,840
it destroyed all of his 
manuscripts, everything that he 

603
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,160
had spent all of those years 
working on, all of his notes, 

604
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,240
all of his translation work, all
of the dictionaries. 

605
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,920
Years of effort gone in just a 
couple hours. 

606
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:04,360
And William Carey, one of his Co
workers that was there, said he 

607
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,360
stood there quietly just looking
at everything. 

608
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,320
Everything was just in ashes at 
that point. 

609
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:12,880
There was nothing left, nothing 
that he could even salvage. 

610
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:19,320
And he simply said this the Lord
has laid me low that I may look 

611
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:25,360
more simply to him. 
And then he said, we have all 

612
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:30,840
the work to do again. 
No bitterness, no quitting, no 

613
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:32,840
accusations. 
Think about that. 

614
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,560
He had prayed, he had 
sacrificed, he had obeyed. 

615
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,760
He was on the mission field. 
He was doing God's work. 

616
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,160
He was doing what God had told 
him to do. 

617
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,680
God allowed the very thing that 
William Carey had poured his 

618
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,440
life into to be reduced to 
ashes, but he refused to let 

619
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,520
disappointment become unbelief. 
He essentially said, Lord, I 

620
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:55,840
thought you would do it this 
way. 

621
00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,720
But if not, I'll trust you and 
I'll keep serving. 

622
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,200
Faith is not just believing that
God can. 

623
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:08,000
Faith is continuing when God 
doesn't do what we expected. 

624
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,240
William Carey's faith wasn't 
built on God protecting the 

625
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,120
manuscripts. 
It was built on God Himself. 

626
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,160
And that's what our faith is 
needs to be built on as well. 

627
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,600
Now, if you will go back to 
Ezekiel chapter 36, a soft heart

628
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,000
requires dependence. 
A soft heart requires death, 

629
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:34,160
soft heart requires devotion, 
and lastly a soft heart requires

630
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:39,600
decision. 
Verse #36 The Bible says this. 

631
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,880
Then the heathen that are left 
around about you shall know that

632
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,440
I the Lord build the ruined 
places, and plant that that was 

633
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,800
desolate. 
I, the Lord have spoken it, and 

634
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,200
I will do it. 
Thus saith the Lord God. 

635
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,000
I will yet for this be inquired 
of by the House of Israel to do 

636
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,560
it for them. 
I will increase them with men 

637
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,640
like a flock. 
But back in verse 26 he says 

638
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,920
this, a new heart also will I 
give you, and the new Spirit 

639
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,320
will I put within you. 
And I will take away the Stony 

640
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,800
heart out of your flesh, And I 
will give you a heart of flesh, 

641
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,800
and I will put my spirit within 
you, cause you to walk in my 

642
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,280
statutes, and ye shall keep my 
judgments and do them. 

643
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:24,159
God says, I'll take your Stony 
heart away and I'll give you a 

644
00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,920
soft heart. 
The Stony heart is cold, it's 

645
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,159
resistant, it's self reliant, 
it's prideful, it's easily 

646
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:36,280
offended, it's easily 
discouraged, it's very quick to 

647
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,679
quit. 
Soft heart though, is tender 

648
00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:44,320
toward God. 
A soft heart is yielded to God. 

649
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,840
It's dependent upon Christ. 
It's willing to die to self. 

650
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,199
It's faithful through 
disappointment. 

651
00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:54,040
Question I'm asking you this 
morning is not are you 

652
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:55,440
religious? 
It's not. 

653
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,000
Have you figured out how to 
weigh? 

654
00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,320
Have you figured out a way to 
make everybody think you are 

655
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:03,440
doing things the right way? 
Not asking you if you're good 

656
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,040
enough? 
I'm not asking you if you are 

657
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,400
better than a majority of the 
people in your life. 

658
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,960
Question is, is your heart soft 
before God? 

659
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:17,680
Is your heart soft before God? 
Answer that question honestly. 

660
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,440
Is your heart soft? 
Maybe somewhere along the way, 

661
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,680
pain hardened to you, or 
disappointment hardened to you, 

662
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:36,280
or pride hardened to you, or sin
hardened to you, or unanswered 

663
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,880
prayer hardened you. 
There's any number of things 

664
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,480
that that we allow in that that 
starts to harden our heart. 

665
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:46,920
But the God who removed the 
Stony hearts in Ezekiel's day 

666
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,000
can still soften hearts today. 
He can make you tender again. 

667
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:55,960
He can make you trusting again. 
He can make you surrendered 

668
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,760
again. 
And the softest hearts are not 

669
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,200
the hearts that never suffer. 
They're the hearts that suffered

670
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,040
deeply in some cases, but they 
stayed yielded to God anyway. 

671
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,240
Many people want the blessings 
of God without the 

672
00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:13,800
transformation of God. 
We want peace without surrender.

673
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,280
We want victory without 
obedience. 

674
00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:20,120
We want changed circumstances 
without a changed heart. 

675
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,640
God's promise does not stop in 
verse #26 look at verse 27. 

676
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,800
I will put in My spirit within 
you and cause you to walk in my 

677
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,360
statutes, and you shall keep my 
judgments and do them. 

678
00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:36,040
Look at that progression. 
Verse 26, God gives a new heart.

679
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:41,200
Verse 27, God gives a new 
spirit, and that new heart and 

680
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,440
that new spirit produces a new 
walk. 

681
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,200
You shall keep my judgments. 
You shall walk in my statutes, 

682
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,880
and you shall keep my judgments 
and do them. 

683
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,400
See, here's what you have to 
understand. 

684
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:55,680
A soft heart is not the finish 
line. 

685
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,040
A soft heart is the starting 
point. 

686
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,560
If all you're trying to do is 
have a soft heart, it's not 

687
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,480
going to get you very far. 
It's the starting place. 

688
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,520
When God softens your heart, 
convictions become conviction 

689
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,480
from from the preaching of God's
Word and conviction from the 

690
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,240
Word of God becomes welcome 
instead of resisted. 

691
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:22,160
When God softens your heart, 
obedience becomes joyful instead

692
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,680
of burdensome. 
When God softens your heart, 

693
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:28,080
worship becomes real instead of 
just just routine, just 

694
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,240
something that you do because 
this is what I do every Sunday. 

695
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,320
When when God softens your 
heart, holiness becomes desired 

696
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,560
instead of avoided. 
And that's what I that's the 

697
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,280
point that I was making earlier.
When you are surrendered to God,

698
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,440
when you have a soft heart, when
he has all of you, it's not hard

699
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:51,160
to live the Christian life. 
It's not hard to say yes to him.

700
00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:55,200
We sang that song. 
I'll say yes, Lord, yes to your 

701
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,080
will and to your way. 
But will you really say yes? 

702
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:02,720
Not if you have a hard heart. 
God never intended us for us to 

703
00:38:02,720 --> 00:38:06,400
simply look changed. 
He changes us from the inside 

704
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:08,520
out. 
And maybe your heart has been 

705
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:12,680
hardened by disappointment or 
sin or busyness or hurt or just 

706
00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:15,080
time. 
Over time, you've allowed your 

707
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,080
heart to grow hard. 
But the invitation in this 

708
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:22,800
passage is not just try harder. 
Get out there and and see if you

709
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:28,360
can make something happen. 
Oh, the invitation is let God do

710
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,920
open heart surgery on you. 
Let him come in and change the 

711
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,480
heart of stone into a heart of 
flesh. 

712
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,800
Let him take that bitterness. 
Let him take that pride. 

713
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,120
Let him take that sin. 
Let him take that unsurrended 

714
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,120
thing in your life and let him 
have it. 

715
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:50,560
And he'll take that hard heart, 
and he'll turn it into a heart 

716
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:55,360
of flesh. 
And he'll begin to use you, and 

717
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:58,480
he'll begin to mold you into 
exactly what he wants for you 

718
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,120
instead of what you want for 
yourself. 

719
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:06,280
And you'll find out that the 
heart that God moulds is going 

720
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,200
to be far better than a heart of
stone that just will not be 

721
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,200
moved. 
Only God can remove stone. 

722
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:17,000
Only God can breathe life. 
Only God can place his spirit 

723
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,160
within you. 
And when He does, your life is 

724
00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,200
going to begin to show what your
heart has become. 

725
00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:25,760
But that's why I say that a soft
heart requires decision, because

726
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:27,400
that's a decision that you have 
to make. 

727
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:30,800
Well, you allow God to do that 
work in your heart. 

728
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:32,760
That's the decision this 
morning. 

729
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:35,920
Will you allow God to work in 
your heart? 

730
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,040
I'm done, but I want you to get 
this. 

731
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:47,200
A soft heart receives God's 
touch and a spirit filled life 

732
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,520
reveals God's work. 
There's so much left in this 

733
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:53,680
passage, but notice what 
happened when God changes the 

734
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,480
heart of stone into a heart of 
flesh. 

735
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,720
Verse 27 The Bible says you'll 
walk in his statutes and you 

736
00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:00,120
shall keep my judgments and do 
them. 

737
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,600
Verse 28 You shall dwell in the 
land that I gave to your 

738
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,320
Father's, and you shall be my 
people, and I will be your God. 

739
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,320
You're going to enjoy fellowship
with God. 

740
00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:12,200
Verse 29 You'll have that 
fruitfulness and that growth. 

741
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,080
I will also save you from all 
your uncleanness, and I will 

742
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,080
call for the corn, and we'll 
increase it, and lay no famine 

743
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,120
upon you. 
And I will multiply the fruit of

744
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,120
the tree, and the increase of 
the field, that ye shall receive

745
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,440
no more reproach of famine among
the heathen. 

746
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,880
Verse 33 It says that will be a 
testimony to others. 

747
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,960
Thus saith the Lord God, in the 
day that I shall have cleansed 

748
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,000
you from all your iniquities, I 
will also cause you to dwell in 

749
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,800
the cities, and the wastes shall
be builded, and the desolate 

750
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,920
land shall be tilled, whereas I 
lay desolate in the sight of all

751
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,520
that passed by. 
And they shall say, This land 

752
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,920
that was desolate has become 
like the Garden of Eden, and the

753
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,240
waste and desolate and ruined 
cities are become fenced and are

754
00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:55,760
inhabited. 
Then the heathen that are left 

755
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,960
round about, you shall know that
I the Lord, build the ruined 

756
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,280
places and plant that that was 
desolate. 

757
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,720
I, the Lord have spoken it, and 
I will do it. 

758
00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:12,600
Soft hearts obey. 
Soft hearts bear fruit. 

759
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,160
Soft hearts point others back to
Christ. 

760
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,880
When God softens a heart, He 
changes a life, and change lives

761
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,360
become a testimony that can be 
used for the glory of God. 

762
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,120
What about your heart? 
What about your heart? 

763
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:33,840
Do you have a soft heart this 
morning? 

764
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:39,560
Or if you allowed it to become 
hard, maybe it's not. 

765
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:44,200
Maybe it's not an entire heart 
of stone, But you've allowed 

766
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,840
some things to get in there that
have kept you from being 

767
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:49,520
surrendered the way that God 
wants you to be. 

768
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,120
What about your heart? 
Is it soft? 

769
00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:55,640
Is it tender? 
Is it surrendered? 

770
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,240
Is it pliable? 
Can God use it? 

771
00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:00,320
Can God do whatever He wants to 
with you? 

772
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:05,240
Until it is, you're going to 
find that you're just spinning 

773
00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:07,560
your wheels. 
I can't get out of this rut, and

774
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,440
I don't know why I can't get out
of the rut because you have a 

775
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,480
heart of stone and it's not 
surrender to God. 

776
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,760
What about your heart? 
Let's pray. 

777
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:19,840
Father, again, we thank you so 
much for your goodness to us. 

778
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:23,640
Thank you for the message that 
we find here in Ezekiel 36. 

779
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:30,200
Thank you so much that you are 
willing to work on us, to not 

780
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,400
give up on us even when we give 
up on you. 

781
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:39,880
God, may you help all of us to 
have soft, tender, moldable, 

782
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:44,160
surrendered hearts. 
God, where our hearts have grown

783
00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,120
hard, may you help us to 
surrender that to you. 

784
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,360
Thank you again for all that you
do for us in Jesus name, Amen. 

785
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,320
If you would please stand at 
your seats with your heads bowed

786
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:57,080
and your eyes closed, I want to 
give you an opportunity to 

787
00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:59,440
respond to the message as God 
spoken to your heart. 

788
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,200
As the piano plays the 
invitations open, you come. 

789
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:37,080
Amen. 
Well, thank you for being here 

790
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:39,960
this morning. 
And I know that there's a lot of

791
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,440
places you could have chosen to 
bend besides here and you came, 

792
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,480
so I appreciate it and I trust 
that it was a help to you 

793
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:47,880
tonight. 
We'll be back here at 6:00. 

794
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:51,080
We'll have our communion service
and we'll do all of our regular 

795
00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:55,720
regular singing and all of that,
but with a focus and a mind to 

796
00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,840
remember what Christ did for us.
So think about that this 

797
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:00,880
afternoon. 
Make sure your heart's prepared 

798
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:03,800
and ready for that tonight, and 
we'll be back here and looking 

799
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:05,600
forward to it. 
Brother Brian's going to close 

800
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:06,920
this out and then we'll be 
dismissed. 

801
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:07,560
All right. 
That's. 

802
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,280
Right, Father, I thank you for 
the state giving us, thank you 

803
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,360
for the opportunity and 
privilege have to be in your 

804
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:19,160
house today and God the 
responsibility that comes with 

805
00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:21,360
it. 
I thank you for the message that

806
00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:25,160
we heard today and I do pray 
that you would help each one of 

807
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,680
us as you worked in our hearts 
this morning to gather. 

808
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:33,080
We wouldn't just want to make 
some reformation in our heart, 

809
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:36,760
but that we would want you to 
give us a new heart, that one 

810
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:40,360
that is totally dependent on you
and one that's surrendered to 

811
00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:44,480
you and God surrendering daily. 
I pray God that you would help 

812
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:51,320
us as Christians never to get in
that groove where we just begin 

813
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:55,680
to act and, and to act the part 
and not actually surrender our 

814
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:58,840
hearts and be the part. 
And so God, I just pray that as 

815
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:02,040
we heard this morning, you would
that our prayer and our desire 

816
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:04,760
would be for you to give us a 
new heart and that we would be 

817
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:07,040
asking you for that each and 
every day. 

818
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:10,960
Got to pray that you would just 
be with us this afternoon as we 

819
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:13,360
prepare our hearts for the 
communion service tonight. 

820
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:18,520
I got to pray that you would 
meet with us tonight and just 

821
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:22,640
the seriousness of of what we 
are doing there and remembering 

822
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,280
your death on the cross. 
God, I thank you so much for 

823
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:29,040
that sacrifice and I pray that 
you would help us never to 

824
00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:32,520
forget it in the busyness of of 
life. 

825
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,400
And I pray that be a reminder to
us this evening. 

826
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:37,000
Pray that you give us a good 
afternoon. 

827
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:38,840
In Jesus name I pray. 
Amen.