WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:07.330 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:07.330 --> 00:00:09.970 Sermons. This week we're continuing our sermon 00:00:09.970 --> 00:00:13.029 series, The Bible Doesn't Say That, where we 00:00:13.029 --> 00:00:16.230 look at things that sound really spiritual but 00:00:16.230 --> 00:00:19.850 aren't actually scriptural. Follow your heart. 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:22.230 That's something you've probably heard in the 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:24.489 world. It's something that is the topic of a 00:00:24.489 --> 00:00:28.269 lot of popular music. But is that really in the 00:00:28.269 --> 00:00:31.350 Bible? Turns out it's not. In fact, the Bible 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:33.969 says your heart is deceitful above all else. 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.140 So are we supposed to follow our heart? What 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:41.320 is the way of Jesus? Tune in as Rob unpacks these 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:48.880 questions and more. Today's reading is from the 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.799 Gospel of John, chapter 16, verses 7 and 8 and 00:00:52.799 --> 00:01:05.810 12 to 15. Jesus said, the Holy Spirit won't come. 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:10.250 If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 00:01:11.049 --> 00:01:14.030 And when he comes, he will convict the world 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:17.370 of its sin and of God's righteousness and of 00:01:17.370 --> 00:01:21.170 the coming judgment. There is so much more I 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:24.510 want to tell you, but I can't bear it now. When 00:01:24.510 --> 00:01:27.250 the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:31.150 into all truth. He will not speak on his own, 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:35.549 but will tell you what he has heard. He will 00:01:35.549 --> 00:01:39.150 tell you about the future. He will bring me glory 00:01:39.150 --> 00:01:42.209 by telling you whatever he receives from me. 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:46.469 All that belongs to the Father is mine. This 00:01:46.469 --> 00:01:50.230 is why I said, the Spirit will tell you whatever 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:55.840 he receives from me. The word of the Lord. in 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.579 the middle of a teaching series that we're calling 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:00.840 The Bible Doesn't Say That. And you guys know 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.719 there are certain phrases or verses in the Bible 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:05.700 that maybe actually aren't in the Bible. We just 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:07.340 always thought they were in the Bible. Or they 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:09.319 are in the Bible, but they don't actually mean 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:12.259 what we thought that they meant. Like, you know, 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:14.960 God helps those who help themselves. It's actually 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.719 not in the Bible. Or do not judge. It kind of 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:19.860 is in the Bible, but maybe it doesn't mean what 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:22.740 we think it meant. We've been seven weeks at 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:25.939 this now, and there's no end in sight. We're 00:02:25.939 --> 00:02:27.460 going to keep on going. We're going to keep on 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:31.280 going. And today, we are tackling a phrase that, 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.860 you know, I think many of us have heard. In fact, 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.419 in some ways, it's a bit of a creed that our 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:40.460 culture lives by these days. And that is follow 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:44.340 your heart or just follow your heart. You see 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:46.360 this in books. You see it in movies. You hear 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.639 it on talk shows. People put it on art and they 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:51.300 stick it on their wall. People get little pieces 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:53.520 of jewelry and they hang it around their neck. 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:57.219 And of course, we also love to sing about following 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:59.340 our heart. I did a little search and there are 00:02:59.340 --> 00:03:02.439 some songs out there that are called follow your 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.979 heart. I don't know why, but a lot of them seem 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:08.159 to be by these like metal bands that like love 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.379 to do these rock ballads. So you got Triumph. 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.909 They sing about Follow your heart. There's this 00:03:13.909 --> 00:03:17.090 other band called Scorpions, right? It's just 00:03:17.090 --> 00:03:21.379 such a weird title. Scorpions. Follow your heart. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:23.620 It doesn't seem to fit. I don't know. But anyways, 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.139 there they are. One that we are probably all 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:28.699 familiar with is Rock Set, right? How many people 00:03:28.699 --> 00:03:30.759 here know or remember Rock Set? Do you remember 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.860 this big hit by Rock Set? It wasn't called Follow 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:37.520 Your Heart. It was called Listen to Your Heart. 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.060 I don't know where you're going, and I don't 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:44.620 know why, but listen to your heart. Come on, 00:03:44.620 --> 00:03:49.479 sing it with me. Before you tell him goodbye. 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:56.919 Yeah, off it goes, right? Now, perhaps the most 00:03:56.919 --> 00:03:59.719 interesting title I came across for a song about 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:02.020 this was where Reba McEntire and Vince Gill sang 00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:05.639 a beautiful country duet called The Heart Won't 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:07.840 Lie. The thing that's interesting about this 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.349 title, though, is that's exactly... What I'm 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:13.370 going to say to you today is actually the heart 00:04:13.370 --> 00:04:18.189 does lie. And for that reason, I'm sorry, Triumph. 00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.870 I'm sorry, Scorpion. I'm really sorry, Roxette. 00:04:20.889 --> 00:04:23.470 I'm sorry, Reba. But we are going to say that 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:27.129 following your heart might make for a great soundbite 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:29.550 or a great song, but it is not a great way for 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:34.430 you to live your life. Today is actually a really, 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:37.149 really good day to talk about this because today, 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:40.129 as we've already heard, is the day of peace. 00:04:40.089 --> 00:04:43.149 Pentecost. And it's the day that we celebrate 00:04:43.149 --> 00:04:46.569 that God has actually given us something better 00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:50.050 to follow than our hearts. He has given us his 00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:53.970 very self in the form of his spirit, his Holy 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:58.189 Spirit that can guide our hearts. So we're going 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:00.230 to get to that in a minute. But the way we're 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:02.470 going to structure today is basically this. I'm 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:04.649 going to talk about the meaning. I'm going to 00:05:04.649 --> 00:05:06.170 talk about the mistake, and then I'm going to 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:07.750 talk about the message. What do I mean by that? 00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:10.029 Well, what is the meaning of follow your heart? 00:05:10.149 --> 00:05:13.370 What do we mean when we say that? Secondly, why 00:05:13.370 --> 00:05:15.629 is it a mistake? Why is it really bad advice 00:05:15.629 --> 00:05:17.329 to follow our hearts? And then thirdly and finally, 00:05:17.449 --> 00:05:20.629 what is the real message? The message of Pentecost? 00:05:20.790 --> 00:05:23.939 The message of the Bible? That we should... have 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:26.240 in our hearts as we leave this place today. All 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.420 of this is kind of part of the notes that you 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:30.019 were given on the way in. I encourage you to 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:32.459 follow along. We're going to jump right in by 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:35.740 talking about the meaning. What is the meaning 00:05:35.740 --> 00:05:37.839 of follow your heart? When we say, hey, just 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.220 follow your heart, what are we really saying? 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.980 Well, Heart equals desires. That's what the word 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:48.339 heart kind of connects to, this idea that if 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:50.399 we follow our heart, what we're really following 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.120 is our wants. We're following our feelings. We're 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.939 following all of our emotional impulses. We're 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.220 letting our emotions get into the driver's seat 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:03.660 of our life, and we're letting them take the 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:06.600 wheel. We're giving them authority over the decisions 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:11.120 that we make in life. In other words, to follow 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.420 your heart is this philosophy that would say 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:16.500 that the heart is actually a very true and reliable 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:21.899 guide of what you really need and want in life. 00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:25.180 That's right. To follow your heart means do what 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:29.759 you want to do. Do what feels right. Trust your 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:35.040 gut. Go with your intuition, right? This sounds 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:39.519 so real. And it sounds so authentic. We love 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:41.160 this. This is the kind of thing that you might 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.899 expect to find in the Bible. Because lots of 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:46.240 times, you can probably think of times when this 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.120 worked for you. You followed your heart and it 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:51.639 worked out. However... It doesn't always work 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:53.680 out, does it? In fact, I would say that most 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.160 times it doesn't work out for us to follow our 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.660 heart. I'm going to give you a little example. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.800 Let's say you're an accountant and you're a good 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.600 accountant. You make a decent salary. You bring 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.939 home the bacon for your family. But deep in your 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:11.120 heart, you say, no, that's not my passion. Accounting 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.939 is not my passion. My passion is food. I love 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:17.740 food more than anything. And so you've kind of 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:19.240 been thinking about this for a while and you're 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:20.720 like, you know what? I don't want to be an accountant 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.699 anymore. I want to be a chef. I'm going to be 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:25.459 a chef and I'm going to open a restaurant. The 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:28.220 only problem is you can't cook. You're a horrible 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:31.500 cook. In fact, like your signature dish is burnt 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:36.060 toast. Or pizza with the cardboard still stuck 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:38.620 to the back of it, right? You want set off a 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:40.980 smoke detector while you are boiling a pot of 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:43.860 water. You are not a good cook, but you want 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:46.420 to follow your heart. So what do you do? You 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:48.680 take out another mortgage on the house. You quit 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:52.120 your job. You take all of your savings and you 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:57.300 open your dream restaurant. The heartbeat. And 00:07:57.300 --> 00:08:01.199 you are all in. You are so invested. Now, you 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.180 have never run a restaurant before. You've never 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:08.060 done anything like this before. And your menu 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:12.480 is really not so great because somehow you managed 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.839 to create spaghetti that is both crunchy and 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:19.060 mushy at the same time. And one of your customers 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:22.579 found a melted plastic spoon inside their lasagna. 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:27.000 And pretty soon, the critics are giving you all 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.920 sorts of horrible one -star reviews on Yelp. 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:33.179 They are just absolutely eating you alive. They're 00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:35.919 just savage. And pretty soon, nobody's coming. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.120 Pretty soon, your money dries up. Pretty soon, 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:42.039 you have to close the restaurant. And now you 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:47.259 and your family are broke. What went wrong? What 00:08:47.259 --> 00:08:50.929 went wrong there? Well, it turns out... Following 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:54.350 your heart can actually be really bad advice. 00:08:54.830 --> 00:08:58.909 You probably know someone, or maybe it's been 00:08:58.909 --> 00:09:02.090 you, and you followed your heart once into a 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.169 career you thought was going to be so fulfilling 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:07.450 because you just followed your heart and you 00:09:07.450 --> 00:09:09.230 had that sense this is where God was leading 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:12.370 you, but only you soon were overwhelmed and you 00:09:12.370 --> 00:09:14.899 were completely unqualified. Or you followed 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:18.179 your heart into a relationship. Oh, your eyes 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:20.279 locked across the room and you knew just like 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:22.679 that, this was the person for you. You followed 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.639 your heart. And then a little while later, when 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:27.820 things got really toxic, you were like, what 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:31.009 have I done? Or maybe you followed your heart 00:09:31.009 --> 00:09:33.970 into a big purchase. You know, I feel like it's 00:09:33.970 --> 00:09:37.090 time to upsize. It's time to kind of get a bigger 00:09:37.090 --> 00:09:39.710 house or to get a bigger car. And you followed 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:43.070 your heart. But in the end, you just wound up 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:46.799 broke. Or maybe you followed your heart because 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:48.740 you had this sense that God was calling you on 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:51.200 an adventure to move to a brand new city. I have 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.279 this sense God is calling me. My heart is telling 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.460 me you're going to start over in a new city, 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.320 but only to find out later that you felt really 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.539 isolated and really lonely and disconnected. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:06.139 What is going on? How does this happen? Well, 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:10.120 it first happens because of this. Our desires 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:14.340 might be real, but they are not always reliable. 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:17.799 Just because you feel something deep down doesn't 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:21.820 mean it's true. Desires are real, yes, but the 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:25.360 Bible tells us they can also deceive us. Your 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.080 desires can actually convince you that something 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:32.799 harmful is good, that something temporary is 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.379 worth giving it all for, that something selfish 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.580 is noble. You know, your heart plays tricks on 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:42.940 you. That's why Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:46.399 above all things. That statement is exactly the 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.580 opposite of Reba McEntire's song title. She said, 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:53.039 the heart doesn't lie. This says, the heart is 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.759 deceitful above all things. I'm so sorry, Reba, 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:00.500 but you know this is true because you yourself 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:03.580 have convinced yourself. at times, to do things 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:06.600 that you knew were wrong, right? And you just 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:10.840 have this way. We all have this way of deceiving 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.559 ourselves. Here's an example. On every street 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:17.100 corner in this town is a Tim Hortons. You walk 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:19.299 into a Tim Hortons and there's this big tray 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:23.789 of donuts that are staring up at you. You don't 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:26.590 need a donut. You don't. No one has ever in the 00:11:26.590 --> 00:11:28.409 history of the world needed a donut, but that 00:11:28.409 --> 00:11:31.789 doesn't matter. You want the donut. You want 00:11:31.789 --> 00:11:35.250 the donut. And so you're going to now go through 00:11:35.250 --> 00:11:38.009 this exercise where you're going to convince 00:11:38.009 --> 00:11:41.009 yourself that you actually should get the donut. 00:11:41.090 --> 00:11:42.409 You're going to say something like, oh, well, 00:11:42.470 --> 00:11:44.549 they're so small. I mean, look, they're just 00:11:44.549 --> 00:11:47.110 tiny little, tiny little donuts. Plus, they have 00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:50.950 a hole in the middle. It's mostly air anyways 00:11:50.950 --> 00:11:54.889 in there, right? And, you know, maybe if I get 00:11:54.889 --> 00:11:57.190 a Diet Coke or a Diet Pepsi or something with 00:11:57.190 --> 00:11:59.029 it, then it'll kind of cancel each other out. 00:11:59.110 --> 00:12:01.830 And if I look at my Fitbit, it says that I've 00:12:01.830 --> 00:12:05.889 already walked like 6 ,000 steps today. And then 00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:08.389 sometimes people even get biblical about it. 00:12:08.450 --> 00:12:11.070 They'll be, oh, well, you know, God. The Bible 00:12:11.070 --> 00:12:13.929 does say God gave us all things for our pleasure 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:17.230 and our enjoyment, and I want to enjoy a donut. 00:12:17.330 --> 00:12:19.129 And so there you have done it. Your heart has 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.210 done this little deception thing, convinced you 00:12:21.210 --> 00:12:23.970 to do something that you really don't need to 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:28.470 do. Now that, of course, silly example. But it's 00:12:28.470 --> 00:12:33.090 not silly when your heart convinces you to pursue 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:36.230 a relationship that you shouldn't pursue. It's 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:39.230 not silly when your heart convinces you to purchase 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:42.899 something. you really shouldn't buy. To visit 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:47.799 a website, you really shouldn't go to. See, our 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:52.179 hearts lie to us. And if we follow them, we will 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:56.679 end up in a very bad place. You know, James said 00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.539 this. He said, each person is tempted. When they're 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:03.039 dragged away by what? By their own evil desire 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:07.299 and enticed. And then after desire, this is our 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:10.120 hearts he's talking about, has conceived, it 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:12.940 gives birth to sin. And sin ultimately gives 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:18.019 birth to death. Now that is something. Sin and 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:21.159 death. You trace it back, it all starts with 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:25.639 our misplaced desire. That is the first mistake 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:28.000 we can make and why we should never just follow 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.179 our hearts. And that is because our desires may 00:13:31.179 --> 00:13:35.600 be real, but they are not reliable. But secondly, 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.379 a second mistake why we shouldn't just follow 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:41.960 our hearts is that... Our hearts aren't as pure 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:45.039 as we think. Now, I know that motivational speakers 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.799 and musicians tell us that in our hearts, that 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:51.620 is ground zero for purity. You want to know where 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:54.559 the pure you is, where all goodness really resides? 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:59.500 Go to the heart. That's what we are told. But 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:04.159 in truth, our hearts are not always beautiful. 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:08.299 In fact, they can be pretty messed up places, 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:12.679 our hearts. Jesus said, for out of the heart 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:18.139 come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:22.460 immorality, theft, false testimony, lying, cheating, 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:28.399 slander. Our hearts are a dumpster fire and these 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:31.340 are all the fumes that are like floating up into 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:35.799 the air. All of our spiritual problems ultimately 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:41.080 trace back to our heart problems. And if you 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:44.600 take it all the way to the end of the road, ultimately 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:47.700 our hearts are willing to rebel against God completely. 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:51.740 A fool says, not in his mind, a fool says in 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:55.879 his heart, there is no God. That is your heart 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:58.379 speaking. Your heart can turn its back on God. 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:01.679 So I'm just trying to say, your heart's not always 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.360 a pretty place. There's lots of gross stuff going 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:07.120 in there all the time. Even think about the last 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.370 week. Think about your own heart this past week. 00:15:10.429 --> 00:15:13.809 How were your thoughts and your attitudes? Were 00:15:13.809 --> 00:15:15.509 they always kind? Were they always generous? 00:15:16.269 --> 00:15:18.990 Or... When that guy, or you know, that guy who 00:15:18.990 --> 00:15:21.409 cut you off in traffic, were you like, oh, it's 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:23.090 okay, sir, don't worry about it. You must have 00:15:23.090 --> 00:15:25.070 a medical emergency. I'll pray for you. I hope 00:15:25.070 --> 00:15:28.269 everything's going well for you. No, you probably 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:31.570 were far less sympathetic, far less pastoral, 00:15:31.570 --> 00:15:33.529 said a whole bunch of things that you wish you 00:15:33.529 --> 00:15:35.750 hadn't said, right? Because our hearts are actually 00:15:35.750 --> 00:15:38.509 this really messed up place. And speaking of 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:41.690 words, look back on your last week. How were 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:44.960 your words? Jesus said that our words spring 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.019 from our hearts. So if you look at your words, 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:48.519 you know what's going on in your hearts. Were 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.360 all your words encouraging and truthful and nice 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.720 and gracious? Or were they critical? Were they 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:59.600 judgy? Were they sarcastic and mean? I am just 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.919 saying all this to say that if we actually just 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:05.299 acted out on all the impulses and stuff that 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:07.220 are going on in our heart, even if we did that 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:10.419 just for one week, we would be in such a load 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:15.149 of trouble by now. So no, our hearts aren't as 00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:20.269 pure as we think. So the third reason, though, 00:16:20.309 --> 00:16:22.549 why we can't just follow our hearts, why that 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:25.169 is a mistake, is simply this, that our hearts 00:16:25.169 --> 00:16:31.330 are built to follow, not to lead. Another way 00:16:31.330 --> 00:16:35.389 to say this, our hearts are built to be led, 00:16:35.509 --> 00:16:41.320 not to lead us. Right? Let me show you a couple 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:44.320 examples here. If you look in the book of Proverbs, 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:49.360 Solomon says, listen, my son, and be wise and 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.860 direct. Your heart and the way. Notice he says, 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.919 you have to direct your heart. You can't just 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:57.059 follow your heart. You have to steer your heart 00:16:57.059 --> 00:17:00.100 in the right way. Or trust in the Lord with all 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.039 your heart. He doesn't say trust in your heart 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.920 and let that be your compass. No, he says you 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:08.299 have to trust in something bigger and greater 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:10.980 than your heart. You have to trust in the Lord, 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:14.759 right? There's a huge difference, right? Our 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:18.759 hearts were never meant. to be in the driver's 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.119 seat. And when we ask our hearts to lead our 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.079 lives, we're asking something of them that they 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.880 were never meant to do. Only God can lead your 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.339 life. So why is following our hearts a mistake? 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:35.099 One, because our desires, though real, are not 00:17:35.099 --> 00:17:37.759 reliable. Two, our hearts are not as pure as 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.619 we think. And three, our hearts were designed 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:45.480 to follow something, not to lead us. All those 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.769 reasons. The Proverbs sum it all up by saying, 00:17:49.849 --> 00:17:53.970 he who trusts in his own heart is a fool. So 00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:55.730 we're going to end the sermon there today. Thanks 00:17:55.730 --> 00:17:58.289 for coming, everybody. It's been a great Sunday, 00:17:58.390 --> 00:18:01.349 and I hope you have a great time out there trying 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:03.589 to follow your hearts and being so foolhardy. 00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:06.869 Now, we can't end there, because all we've now 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:09.319 done is name what the problem is. But what we 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:11.059 really came here to do is to figure out what 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:14.180 the solution is, right? If my desires aren't 00:18:14.180 --> 00:18:16.519 reliable, if my passions can't be trusted, if 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.660 my heart can't be followed, then what do I do? 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.759 Who do I follow? How do I live? That is a really 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:28.160 great question. Now, this scripture reference 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:34.160 is wrong. It should say Ezekiel 36, 26, and 27. 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:39.130 Point is, thousands of years ago, A prophet named 00:18:39.130 --> 00:18:43.849 Ezekiel predicted a solution to the problem of 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:48.609 the human heart. He said, one day God is going 00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:54.549 to send his spirit to change our hearts, even 00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:59.529 better, to guide our hearts. God said, one day 00:18:59.529 --> 00:19:04.059 I will give you a new heart. And put a new spirit 00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:06.019 in you. And I will remove from you your heart 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:08.900 of stone. That's that divided and deceitful heart 00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:11.700 that we have. And I will give you a heart of 00:19:11.700 --> 00:19:16.599 flesh. And I will put my spirit in you. And get 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:22.859 this. And I will move you to follow my decrees. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.819 You know what he's saying? He's predicting a 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:28.599 day when we will no longer have to stumble around 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:31.059 in the dark trying to follow our warped and twisted 00:19:31.059 --> 00:19:35.960 hearts. No, he is saying a better guide is coming. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.579 And people, they waited and they wondered, what 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:41.259 will it look like when this new guide arrives, 00:19:41.339 --> 00:19:44.279 this spirit that was predicted? Well, it was 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.960 about 2 ,000 years ago. On the day of Pentecost, 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:49.740 and all the disciples were gathered together 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:52.700 in the room, Jesus had risen from the dead. He 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:56.359 had ascended into heaven. And then, with a rush 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.400 of wind, and with tongues of fire, and with the 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.779 speaking of many different languages, the Holy 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:10.180 Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, came upon the disciples 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:14.079 in a way that he had never come, the world had 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:19.450 never seen. And now we celebrate that even today. 00:20:19.509 --> 00:20:23.089 The good news of Pentecost is this. You don't 00:20:23.089 --> 00:20:27.730 have to rely on your heart anymore to lead your 00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:30.710 life. Because now you can follow and you can 00:20:30.710 --> 00:20:35.049 rely and you can walk in the way of the Spirit 00:20:35.049 --> 00:20:42.069 instead. It is hard for me to imagine this, but 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:45.490 Jesus actually said it's better to have the holy 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.650 spirit with us than to have jesus himself which 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:51.210 is he actually told his disciples he said very 00:20:51.210 --> 00:20:54.910 truly i tell you it is for your good that i am 00:20:54.910 --> 00:20:58.250 going to go away because unless i go the advocate 00:20:58.250 --> 00:21:00.809 which is another word for the holy spirit will 00:21:00.809 --> 00:21:05.910 not come to you but if i go i will send him to 00:21:05.910 --> 00:21:11.250 you right in our reading today from john's gospel 00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:13.960 i want to end by showing you three ways that 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:17.480 the Holy Spirit coming actually helps us steer 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:22.839 our lives in a better direction. First, the Holy 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:27.579 Spirit leads us by convicting us. That is what 00:21:27.579 --> 00:21:31.220 Jesus said he would do, the Spirit. He said, 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:35.420 when the Spirit comes, he will convict the world 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.140 concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. 00:21:39.159 --> 00:21:41.440 Some of you, you see that word convict and you 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.400 immediately have a negative feeling about it. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:45.839 You think of condemn or something like that. 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.180 But that's not what it means. Conviction is... 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.440 actually a really, really good thing. It is far 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:55.839 better to be convicted by the Holy Spirit than 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.759 to be left to the meanderings of your heart. 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.799 If we follow our feelings, who knows where they're 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:05.180 going to lead us. But when the Spirit convicts 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.859 us, we know we're being led in the right way. 00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:12.339 It says the Spirit will convict us of sin. In 00:22:12.339 --> 00:22:15.079 other words, the Spirit will come and will tell 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:17.900 you what is right and wrong in your life and 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:20.799 what is right and wrong in this world. The Spirit 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.079 will come and convict us of righteousness. In 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:25.680 other words, He will show us a better way to 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.980 live. The Spirit will show us a more godly way 00:22:27.980 --> 00:22:30.240 to live. And the Spirit will also convict us 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.119 concerning judgment, we're told, which means 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:35.059 that the Spirit is going to show us that our 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:38.440 decisions, our choices, make a difference. For 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.759 this world and for the next world. While the 00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:47.839 heart waffles this way and that, the spirit convicts. 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:50.859 Have you ever gone driving with someone and they 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:52.759 were in the passenger seat and they said they 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:54.799 knew the way? They said they knew the way, but 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.140 they didn't know the way. They were just like, 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.900 I think you turn left here. Or I feel like we're 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:03.980 going in the right direction. That's what it's 00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:07.029 like to follow your heart. But when the Holy 00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:11.289 Spirit comes, it's like a GPS. A GPS does not 00:23:11.289 --> 00:23:16.029 guess. It knows the way. It reroutes you when 00:23:16.029 --> 00:23:18.730 you're going the wrong way. It makes sure you 00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:22.150 get to your destination. That is the Holy Spirit. 00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:26.049 The Spirit convicts us when we're going the wrong 00:23:26.049 --> 00:23:29.450 way. The Spirit steers us in a better way. And 00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:33.650 the Spirit is not meant to be the passenger in 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:37.450 our car, but we can actually surrender our life 00:23:37.450 --> 00:23:40.930 to the Holy Spirit. He can take the wheel and 00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:45.289 reorient all of our desires, pointing us in the 00:23:45.289 --> 00:23:51.230 right way. So that's how the Holy Spirit guides 00:23:51.230 --> 00:23:55.950 us. by convicting us. But Jesus actually uses 00:23:55.950 --> 00:23:58.569 the word guide when he speaks of the Holy Spirit 00:23:58.569 --> 00:24:01.269 as well. He says, the Holy Spirit won't just 00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:06.789 convict you, he will also guide you into all 00:24:06.789 --> 00:24:11.170 truth. Now, that means the Holy Spirit's not 00:24:11.170 --> 00:24:13.329 just like saying, Rob, you need to go that way, 00:24:13.410 --> 00:24:16.869 but he's actually going to guide me as I go that 00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:20.279 way. You might say, Tell me what that looks like. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.119 I would love to know how God would guide me along 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:25.220 life's journeys, and we can't spend enough time 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:26.819 on it, but I would say that one of the best things 00:24:26.819 --> 00:24:29.140 you can do to be guided by the Holy Spirit is 00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:35.019 learn how to pray. What is a guide? A guide is 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:36.900 not just someone who gives you information then 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:39.660 walks away. No, a guide is someone who walks 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.640 with you on the journey, and you are in constant 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:46.039 conversation with them as you are moving along 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:51.539 your trip. Prayer is that way that you have a 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:55.319 running conversation with God as he guides you 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:57.500 each and every day in the big decisions you're 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:00.180 making, but also in the little decisions too. 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:04.599 That is the most important way that God the Holy 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:08.680 Spirit directs your life. When you pray, when 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.319 you really pray, you are not just offering up 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:15.180 God a list of things you want him to do, you're 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:19.259 entering a conversation. And over that time of 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:21.480 conversation with God, you start to recognize 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.839 his voice, and you can follow his leading. My 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:28.259 sheep listen to my voice, Jesus said. I know 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:33.059 them, and they follow me. The more we pray, the 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:36.460 more we learn to recognize his voice guiding 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:41.960 our life. Have you ever been praying, and all 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:45.200 of a sudden, God puts something on your heart? 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:47.339 And you're like, where did that come from? Maybe 00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:51.039 it was a feeling or this sense of peace or he 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:53.619 dropped the name of someone into your thoughts 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:57.880 or he gave you this burden to do something, to 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:02.799 act in a certain way. That is often how the Holy 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:08.480 Spirit guides us in our times of prayer. So one 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.559 of the best prayers we can learn when we come 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.039 before God is something like spirit of truth. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.880 I want to hear what you have to say today. Spirit 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:23.059 of Jesus, show me the way to go. Because to follow 00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:25.140 the Spirit, we've got to listen to the Spirit. 00:26:25.299 --> 00:26:28.140 To listen to the Spirit, we have to make time 00:26:28.140 --> 00:26:32.900 for prayer. So, don't follow your heart. One, 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:36.440 let the Spirit convict you. Two, let the Spirit 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:40.140 guide you through prayer especially. And three, 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:46.450 let the Spirit speak to you. Jesus said, the 00:26:46.450 --> 00:26:49.089 Spirit will not speak on his own. He will speak 00:26:49.089 --> 00:26:52.609 only what he hears. And he will tell you what 00:26:52.609 --> 00:26:56.089 is yet to come. Two things. One, do you guys 00:26:56.089 --> 00:27:00.329 know the Spirit speaks? And secondly, the Spirit 00:27:00.329 --> 00:27:03.109 will not speak anything on his own, but will 00:27:03.109 --> 00:27:06.950 only speak what God the Father and God the Son 00:27:06.950 --> 00:27:12.529 are also saying. Which says something very, very 00:27:12.529 --> 00:27:14.910 important. I want you to understand this. But 00:27:14.910 --> 00:27:18.390 that means that when we read the Bible, which 00:27:18.390 --> 00:27:21.029 is how God has spoken to us, the Holy Spirit 00:27:21.029 --> 00:27:23.569 will never speak something radically different 00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:27.410 than what we find in the flow of the Bible, right? 00:27:27.589 --> 00:27:32.190 Because the Bible is God's inspired word, and 00:27:32.190 --> 00:27:34.990 it was inspired by the Holy Spirit when it was 00:27:34.990 --> 00:27:37.890 written, but it is also inspired by the Holy 00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:39.990 Spirit when we read it. If we were to read something 00:27:39.990 --> 00:27:41.609 in the Bible and it went in a total different 00:27:41.609 --> 00:27:44.170 direction than the Bible itself, or if we had 00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:45.849 a sense that the Spirit was speaking to us and 00:27:45.849 --> 00:27:47.269 telling us something very different from the 00:27:47.269 --> 00:27:49.339 Bible, then that would mean that the Spirit is 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:52.220 actually speaking on his own, which is exactly 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:53.759 what we were just told the Spirit would never 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:55.539 do. The Spirit would never speak on his own. 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:59.220 So therefore, when you open the Bible, you're 00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:02.660 hearing... the Spirit speak to you. These are 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:06.279 God's words written to you, inspired to guide 00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:10.339 your life and to direct your steps. If you want 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:14.440 to know what the Spirit is saying, start by looking 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:18.779 at what he's already said. Develop the habit 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:22.200 and develop the pattern of reading the Bible 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.859 every day, okay? That's one way the Spirit speaks. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.319 But there's actually another way I think that 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:29.900 the Spirit speaks, at least I've experienced 00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:34.660 this. It's when someone else says something to 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:40.160 you that we can't hear for ourselves. Maybe you've 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:42.619 had a moment where a friend says something to 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:44.119 you, and they didn't know what they were saying, 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:47.319 but boom, it went right to the heart of you. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:51.079 Or maybe you had a moment where you were listening 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:54.019 to a sermon, and man, it felt strangely personal. 00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:57.059 Or you were talking to a mentor, and that mentor 00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:59.740 said something to you, and it was something you've 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:02.000 been trying to ignore, but they just brought 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.519 it up. In all those ways, that is how God uses 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:11.119 his people to speak. into each other's lives. 00:29:11.259 --> 00:29:15.660 The church, the body of Christ, the Spirit speaks 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:19.759 through his people. So yes, today we celebrate 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.680 that the Holy Spirit has come to you and to me 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:27.819 and to you, but also to us as a community. So 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:31.440 all that to say, the question is not, does the 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.940 Holy Spirit speak? Jesus already told us, the 00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:37.480 Spirit speaks, right? The question is, are we 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:41.089 listening? Are we reading his word so we can 00:29:41.089 --> 00:29:44.809 hear what he has already said? And are we being 00:29:44.809 --> 00:29:48.289 part of community so he can speak to us in the 00:29:48.289 --> 00:29:52.170 lives of others? That's how you follow the voice 00:29:52.170 --> 00:29:55.430 of the Spirit. You open your Bible and you open 00:29:55.430 --> 00:30:01.269 your life to others. So then, how do we end? 00:30:01.710 --> 00:30:06.849 Should we follow our hearts? Well, I'm afraid... 00:30:07.369 --> 00:30:09.930 The answer, I think, for the most part is no, 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:14.390 right? And your heart, though very powerful, 00:30:14.509 --> 00:30:17.470 is often deceitful. It can inspire you, but it 00:30:17.470 --> 00:30:20.150 can also trick you. It's a great passenger, but 00:30:20.150 --> 00:30:23.029 it is a horrible driver for your life. And that's 00:30:23.029 --> 00:30:25.309 why the message of the Bible is not follow your 00:30:25.309 --> 00:30:29.130 heart. It's follow Jesus and be filled with the 00:30:29.130 --> 00:30:31.130 spirit of Jesus. In fact, I would say that the 00:30:31.130 --> 00:30:34.890 only time you should follow your heart is when 00:30:34.890 --> 00:30:41.460 your heart is following the Holy Spirit. What 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:43.299 this means is, let's say you're new to church 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:46.440 or you're new to Christianity. Maybe one takeaway 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:49.759 for you today is to ask yourself, have I ever 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:54.660 really opened up my life to the Holy Spirit? 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:59.579 You may want to pray as Britton leads us in just 00:30:59.579 --> 00:31:01.680 a few moments. You may want to pray a prayer 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:08.089 like this. Jesus, I open my life. to you. Holy 00:31:08.089 --> 00:31:13.849 Spirit, I open my heart to you. That prayer will 00:31:13.849 --> 00:31:18.450 put your life on a brand new journey. But others 00:31:18.450 --> 00:31:20.069 of you, maybe you've been a Christian for a long, 00:31:20.109 --> 00:31:22.170 long time, but let me ask you a question too. 00:31:23.130 --> 00:31:25.890 Is the Holy Spirit leading your life right now? 00:31:26.410 --> 00:31:29.150 And not just occasionally with a nudge here and 00:31:29.150 --> 00:31:32.109 a nudge there, but truly leading you. If you're 00:31:32.109 --> 00:31:36.059 anything like me, Man, there are still lots of 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:39.779 times, lots of places when you're just following 00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:43.160 your heart and hoping for the best. Pentecost 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:45.559 tells us there's a better way. We don't have 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:49.059 to be slaves to our passions. We can be led by 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:51.900 the Spirit. He will convict us. He will guide 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:58.119 us. He will speak to us. So, don't follow your 00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:03.519 heart. Follow the one who made your heart. Follow 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:08.480 Jesus who knows your heart. Follow the spirit 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:14.019 who wants to change your heart. Thanks be to 00:32:14.019 --> 00:32:20.119 God. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's 00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.920 episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:25.579 at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga, 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:28.400 Ontario on June 8th, 2025.