1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,620 We have sung about our life being consecrated alone to thy matchless glory, and that is 2 00:00:13,620 --> 00:00:18,200 the theme I'd like for us to follow today in the message from God's Word entitled, 3 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,440 A Determined Heart. 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:26,900 Would you turn with me please to the book of Acts, the eleventh chapter, and focus your 5 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:30,560 attention on the twenty-third verse. 6 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:41,760 It is talking here about one of the great men of the New Testament days, Barnabas, and 7 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:49,800 it says in verse twenty-three, Then when he had come and witnessed the grace of God, he 8 00:00:49,800 --> 00:01:00,880 rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. 9 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:06,720 Barnabas was concerned that these new believers in the city of Antioch with determined or 10 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:13,120 resolute heart remain true to the Lord. 11 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:19,620 You and I usually do what we truly desire to do, don't we? 12 00:01:19,620 --> 00:01:26,680 When we use the statement, but I didn't have time, what we're usually meaning by that 13 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:31,500 is other things seem more important. 14 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:39,320 We determine in our hearts what is important to us, and we normally make our decisions 15 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:41,880 based upon that. 16 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:48,360 Now in light of that truth, I think it's interesting, if not a bit humbling, for us to listen to 17 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:53,000 some of the expressed reasons that all of us perhaps have used from time to time as 18 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,600 to why we do or don't do certain things. 19 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:02,200 I gleaned these from a conversation I had this week with some pastors in this area, 20 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,880 and some of them come out of my own experience as well. 21 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,440 There was this statement that was heard by one of the pastors in another church. 22 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:16,080 The family said, we didn't come to church last Sunday because it was my wife's birthday. 23 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,800 He thought to himself, now what's the deal there? 24 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,520 How does that compute? 25 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,080 What difference does that make? 26 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:30,120 Someone else said, we didn't make the services last week because we had company come from 27 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,840 out of town. 28 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,720 The pastor looked at me and he threw up his hands and he said, but why couldn't the company 29 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,160 come too? 30 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:44,120 Or at least they could say, we're going to church tonight, you have the run of the house, 31 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,960 the refrigerator is there, make yourselves at home. 32 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,400 But our priority is the Lord's house. 33 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,120 Another statement, I can't be involved because that's the opening of fishing season. 34 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:01,760 Got that in just a week ahead of time, didn't I? 35 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,840 The kids just aren't interested, so we're not coming on Sunday nights. 36 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,920 I remember back a few years when I was a kid and wanted to watch television on Sunday night 37 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:20,680 and my mother and father controlled our home and they said, you're going to church. 38 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:26,880 They're too hard to control and they haven't learned to sit still in church yet. 39 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,280 And so the logic seems to be, we'll keep them out of church until they learn to sit 40 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,720 still in church. 41 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:40,100 I can't go on the retreat, I have to work to earn some money. 42 00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:47,880 My giving isn't what I'd like it to be, but I have too many other important bills. 43 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:54,400 It's my life, no one else can tell me how to live it. 44 00:03:54,400 --> 00:04:03,680 Don't nag me, that's just the way I am, parenthesis and the way I intend to keep being. 45 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:05,180 You're just legalistic. 46 00:04:05,180 --> 00:04:11,020 I have the freedom to choose the lifestyle that I want. 47 00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:14,560 And then this statement from students that you hear occasionally, especially those in 48 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:22,160 Christian colleges or schools, these rules are dumb and don't reflect my convictions. 49 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,440 If I obey them, I'll be a hypocrite. 50 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,720 That is a choice example of rationalization, isn't it? 51 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:35,280 I genuinely thank God, dear people, for the level of commitment to Jesus Christ that is 52 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:37,480 found in our church. 53 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:44,800 I believe that it is far above the average as I listen to other pastor friends of mine. 54 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:50,640 The fact is that in the Church of Jesus Christ in a broad sense, there are some who are very 55 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:58,840 accustomed however to excusing, pampering, and pleasing themselves, who have become experts 56 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:06,800 at maintaining a comfortable Christianity that sabs the conscience without getting in 57 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,760 the way of the life. 58 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:16,840 And these usually are offended if anyone dares question their self-serving priorities. 59 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:21,600 There are some of us who have mastered the art of talking the language without walking 60 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,520 the life. 61 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:31,660 We have learned well the art of being acceptable in polite Christian circles without coming 62 00:05:31,660 --> 00:05:37,160 close to the danger of being considered a radical. 63 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:46,840 Frankly, cynicism is the typical response of some professing Christians toward those 64 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:53,760 who are excited about their faith and determined to live without reserves, without regrets, 65 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,960 without retreats. 66 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:07,120 I am convicted that we need to awaken to several realities concerning the lukewarmness which 67 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:14,400 characterizes all too much of professing Christianity today. 68 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:21,480 Reality number one, lukewarm Christianity is nauseating to Jesus Christ. 69 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:28,800 Revelation chapter three, he says, because you are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, 70 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,440 I will vomit you out of my mouth. 71 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,320 Literally is what he said. 72 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:42,600 Reality number two, lukewarm Christianity is ineffective in making a positive impact 73 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,280 upon our culture. 74 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:53,120 It is impotent at best and destructive at worst. 75 00:06:53,120 --> 00:07:00,560 Reality number three, it is out of step with a long line of faithful servants who have 76 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:08,960 gone before us and laid down their all for the sake of the kingdom of God. 77 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:15,880 Revelation number four, lukewarm Christianity is achieving no significant results nor is 78 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:21,320 it gaining any eternal rewards. 79 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:29,080 I believe that the hour is later than any of us today can possibly imagine. 80 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:36,880 There are some of us who are living in a Disneyland world with trinkets and toys, joy rides and 81 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:43,160 fantasies, cheap fun and superficial fellowship. 82 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:50,840 While around us the world burns and the coming of Jesus Christ is imminent and our day of 83 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,640 opportunity is closing out. 84 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:01,600 The church of Jesus Christ is in desperate need today for people with hearts determined 85 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,480 to be true to the Lord. 86 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,720 That was the concern of Barnabas in the city of Antioch and that is God's concern I believe 87 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,120 today in the city of Minneapolis St. Paul. 88 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:19,160 For people whose hearts are determined to be true to the Lord. 89 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,080 What is a determined or resolute heart? 90 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:29,520 Well the word that is used in the original language means to set before. 91 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,360 That's the verb form of it. 92 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:40,240 It is a heart that has set before it a certain purpose or goal. 93 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:45,600 A determined heart is a heart that has purpose to it. 94 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,000 It knows what direction it wishes to go. 95 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:56,080 The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter seven and verse 37 is talking about a completely 96 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:01,000 different subject which we don't have time to go into but he uses some phrases in this 97 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:07,400 verse which amplify what a determined or resolute heart means. 98 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:18,000 He says in 1 Corinthians 7 37, but he who stands firm in his heart being under no constraint 99 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:26,880 but has authority over his own will and has decided this in his own heart. 100 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,760 You see those phrases? 101 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,520 What is a resolute heart? 102 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:38,640 Well Paul is saying a resolute heart is one that stands firm. 103 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:44,680 It belongs to a person who has authority over his will. 104 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:51,760 A determined heart is one that has decided to do something. 105 00:09:51,760 --> 00:10:01,880 A determined heart refers to a predisposition of one's will to take certain actions whatever 106 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:03,840 the consequences may be. 107 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:05,960 I repeat that. 108 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:15,720 A determined heart refers to one that has a predisposition of will to take certain actions 109 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,600 whatever the consequences may be. 110 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:28,240 The key to that definition is predisposition. 111 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:33,880 The predisposition is determined by one's priorities. 112 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,540 That is those things that we have said before us that are important. 113 00:10:37,540 --> 00:10:47,000 What you and I determined to do will likely get done. 114 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,600 There are some illustrations of this in the Bible. 115 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,280 I'd like to look at several of them and begin in the Old Testament. 116 00:10:52,280 --> 00:11:02,120 So turn back with me please to the book of Ruth. 117 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,700 Joshua judges Ruth. 118 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:11,360 And the first chapter of the book of Ruth. 119 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:16,080 You recall the story of Elimelech and his wife Naomi. 120 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,160 They took their two sons and went down to the land of Moab to live. 121 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,840 And the two boys got married. 122 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,040 And then all the men died. 123 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,880 The women were left alone. 124 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,280 Naomi determined to go back home to Palestine. 125 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:39,000 One of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, decided to stay with her family in Moab. 126 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:46,040 But the other, Ruth, determined to go with Naomi back to Palestine. 127 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:47,120 Verse 15. 128 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:56,520 And she said, Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. 129 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,000 Return after your sister-in-law. 130 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:05,240 But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you. 131 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,520 For where you go, I will go. 132 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,680 And where you lodge, I will lodge. 133 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:13,880 Your people shall be my people and your God my God. 134 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,920 Where did you hear those words last? 135 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,360 Probably in a wedding. 136 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,080 Beautiful song based upon these words. 137 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,600 As though it were sung from a bride to her bridegroom. 138 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:31,360 But actually it was said from a daughter-in-law to the mother-in-law in the biblical context. 139 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,580 And yet the commitment here is a beautiful one for a marriage as well. 140 00:12:35,580 --> 00:12:38,320 She goes on to say, Where you die, I will die. 141 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,600 And there I will be buried. 142 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:48,080 Thus may Yahweh, the Lord, Jehovah, do to me, and worse if anything but death parts 143 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:49,880 you and me. 144 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:57,720 When she, Naomi, saw that she, Ruth, was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. 145 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:03,360 So my first illustration of a determined heart is this young woman, Ruth. 146 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:11,920 Her priority was that of identifying and staying with Naomi. 147 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,120 Now why did she want to do that? 148 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,720 She wanted to care for her mother-in-law for one reason. 149 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:17,720 That's clear. 150 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,620 What happens following this? 151 00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:24,760 She wanted also to be identified with the people of Israel. 152 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:31,960 But most importantly, she wanted to be identified with Yahweh, the God of the Israelites. 153 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:37,400 She had come to believe in the God of Naomi. 154 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,760 Therefore she had a priority of staying with her mother-in-law, whatever the cost might 155 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,120 be. 156 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,280 Therefore she would not leave Naomi. 157 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:58,080 She was willing to forsake her home, her family, her culture, her familiar things to do what 158 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,880 was important to her. 159 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:08,320 As I think of that description, I think of a missionary. 160 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:13,640 Someone who has set it as a priority of his heart to tell the tribes and the peoples that 161 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:20,800 have never heard, where there is not a viable work of Jesus Christ in some other culture, 162 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:28,800 and who because of that priority determines in his heart or her heart that they will go 163 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:35,800 and leave behind culture and family and familiar things and home to get the job done. 164 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:41,480 But not only in that application, but in many applications that could come to this congregation 165 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,380 this morning. 166 00:14:43,380 --> 00:14:46,200 How is it that you and I need to be like Ruth? 167 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:51,880 Set the priority in our heart and determine in our hearts that we are going to pay whatever 168 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:56,000 the cost may be to do the job that God has called us to do, to be what God has called 169 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,080 us to be. 170 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:07,640 Turn with me please to 1 Kings and the fifth chapter. 171 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:16,640 Now we come to Solomon, 1 Kings 5 and verse 2, who sent word to Hiram saying, You know 172 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:22,600 that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God, because 173 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:27,720 of the wars which surrounded him until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 174 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:33,400 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. 175 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,720 There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 176 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:44,960 And behold I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God. 177 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:51,800 As the Lord spoke to David my father saying, Your son whom I will set on your throne in 178 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:56,120 your place, he will build the house for my name. 179 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,080 What is the priority? 180 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:02,380 What is the predisposition of the heart of Solomon? 181 00:16:02,380 --> 00:16:09,040 It is the word that God gave to his father. 182 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:14,600 That word rang in his heart that God had said to David, Your son will sit in your place 183 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,800 and will build a house. 184 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:23,900 And Solomon in these early years at least of his reign set that before him. 185 00:16:23,900 --> 00:16:29,240 That was his priority to do what God told him to do in the word. 186 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:30,920 Because of that he had a determined heart. 187 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,720 He said, I intend to build this house. 188 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:40,720 And now he writes to Hiram that he might employ his services in helping to get the job done. 189 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,380 Here is a man with a determined heart. 190 00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:48,880 God make many of us follow in his train. 191 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,840 Turn over with me please to the book of Daniel. 192 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,960 How could we talk about a determined heart and skip Daniel? 193 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:04,920 You recall the story of Daniel and his friends who were taken from their homeland to far 194 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,080 off Babylon. 195 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,120 There they were made eunuchs. 196 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:19,440 They were set aside for special service to the king of Babylon. 197 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,680 And to prepare them for this. 198 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:30,880 The one who was charged for their care gave them a special menu. 199 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:35,080 And that was a menu directly from the king's house. 200 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:42,400 They would have the very best of all of the food of Babylon to help prepare them for standing 201 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,760 before the king. 202 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:49,640 But in verse 8, Daniel made up his mind. 203 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,560 Or as the King James puts, I like it better. 204 00:17:52,560 --> 00:18:01,280 So purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food 205 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,120 or with the wine which he drank. 206 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:08,800 So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile 207 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,480 himself. 208 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:12,720 What was Daniel's priority? 209 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,720 Just to be different? 210 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:16,520 No. 211 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:23,280 Daniel's predisposition of heart was to keep the law of the Lord his God. 212 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,200 The laws dealing with diet. 213 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:31,960 He was determined that he might obey what God said in his word. 214 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:38,400 And because that was the determination of his heart, he refused to defile himself or 215 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:44,560 to compromise himself with something that would seem as innocent as food put on the 216 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,240 table. 217 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:48,560 What was wrong with that food? 218 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:53,120 It was not prepared according to the Jewish dietary laws. 219 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:56,160 Or as we might say it today, it was not kosher food. 220 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,400 But wait a minute. 221 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,520 He's hundreds of miles from Palestine. 222 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,080 There is no more government in Judah of Israel. 223 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,720 I mean, who's going to know? 224 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:15,760 And what difference does it make at this point when his culture has been destroyed? 225 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,560 Or so it would seem by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. 226 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,480 It made no difference to Daniel. 227 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:32,360 The historical circumstances he lived through did not change the abiding word of God. 228 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:40,560 He said it was a priority to do what God said and he made the decision, a hard decision, 229 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,800 to say no to the food that was put before him. 230 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,920 Now he did that in a very tactful way which you undoubtedly are familiar with, or if you're 231 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,800 not you can read it on your own. 232 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,240 He was not willing to compromise himself whatever the cost may have been to him. 233 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,920 Now there are other examples of Daniel's heart. 234 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:07,400 But let's move ahead to the New Testament to Luke in the ninth chapter. 235 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:16,960 Here we have none other than the Son of God Himself who in the Gospel of Luke has been 236 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:23,840 moving toward Jerusalem, toward the climax of the offering of Himself for the sins of 237 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:24,840 many. 238 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:32,160 And it says in verse 51 of Luke 9, and it came about when the days were approaching 239 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:41,880 for His ascension that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem. 240 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,800 What is the priority of our Savior at this point? 241 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:51,360 It is the priority that He had from the moment of His birth, the cross. 242 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:57,000 That was the reason He was sent into the world. 243 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,800 That is the predisposition of His mind. 244 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:06,800 Everything was aimed to the cross, the reason that He was here. 245 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:13,880 And now as the days become few before the cross, as He sees it looming there on the 246 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:23,560 horizon as it were in the city of Jerusalem where He's headed, He resolutely set His face. 247 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:29,560 One translation says that it was like a flint that He set His face in fulfillment of what 248 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,800 Isaiah said regarding Him. 249 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:39,680 Like a rock, His face was set toward Jerusalem and nothing would keep Him from that city 250 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,960 and what He was to accomplish there. 251 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,160 A determined heart. 252 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,920 Then one final example is the great Apostle Paul. 253 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:55,640 It was to Timothy that the Apostle wrote the words, you have followed my purpose. 254 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,400 Now there were numbers of other things in that list that Timothy had followed, but one 255 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:08,480 of the things that Paul commended Timothy for was that Timothy had become a man of purpose. 256 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,960 Second Timothy 3.10, you have followed my purpose. 257 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,880 Now what kinds of purposes did Paul have? 258 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,440 Well look first in Romans chapter 1. 259 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:24,760 It seems very mundane and yet I think it's important. 260 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:33,360 Romans 1.13 he says, and I do not want you to be unaware brethren that often I have planned 261 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:39,880 to come to you and have been prevented thus far. 262 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,040 The Apostle Paul planned his ministry. 263 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:48,960 There are some folks who have the idea regarding ministry that there should be no plan. 264 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,960 We should just kind of roll with the punches. 265 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,160 But I see here an Apostle who said, this is what I planned to do. 266 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:56,920 I said before me these goals. 267 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,640 I didn't always accomplish them. 268 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:05,120 Here he was prevented from coming to them as he had planned to do and he makes it clear 269 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:08,040 in other places that it was Satan who had hindered him. 270 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:09,840 But he had plans. 271 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,480 He had plans regarding his ministry. 272 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:20,760 He was determined to do something in terms of itinerary, in terms of preaching, in terms 273 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,280 of reaching people. 274 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,840 He had a plan. 275 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:32,580 What an example that is to us as a church and what our future holds and in us individually 276 00:23:32,580 --> 00:23:35,040 in our own personal ministry that God has for us. 277 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:41,660 What are we planning to do in the next 25 years with our lives or the next 10 years 278 00:23:41,660 --> 00:23:42,660 or 40 years? 279 00:23:42,660 --> 00:23:46,040 You say, well we don't know how much time we have. 280 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,880 We don't know how much time we have to do, but we are to plan nonetheless. 281 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,800 And then 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 282 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:00,120 Here we see another determination of the Apostle. 283 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:10,620 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 2, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ 284 00:24:10,620 --> 00:24:12,120 and Him crucified. 285 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:20,560 Paul was riding to a city that prided itself in human wisdom, in philosophy, human learning, 286 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,440 and intellect. 287 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,040 Paul being one of the most educated and brilliant men of his day could have gone there and snowed 288 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:34,000 them on a human level if he had wanted to do that, if that had been the determination 289 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,120 of his heart, but it wasn't. 290 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,240 His priority was the gospel. 291 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,560 And he said, I determined there in your midst to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him 292 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:52,240 crucified, which was to the average person there in Corinth foolish and weak. 293 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:57,920 But Paul said, that was my priority and my message among you. 294 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:03,040 And so not only did he have a priority and a determination regarding where he was going 295 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,720 to go and what he was going to do, but he had a determination of what he was going to 296 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:08,720 say. 297 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:14,800 It was the message of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins. 298 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:20,120 And then in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, we have another occasion when the Apostle speaks about 299 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:26,080 purpose and determination. 300 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:33,760 Regarding giving, the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 6, now this I say, he who sows 301 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:40,400 sparingly, that is he who gives sparingly, shall also reap sparingly. 302 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:46,040 And he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. 303 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:54,880 Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, 304 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,340 for God loves a cheerful giver. 305 00:25:58,340 --> 00:26:04,000 And so in this matter of giving, the Apostle Paul lays down as a principle that is to be 306 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,640 as one purposes or determines in his heart. 307 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,480 I am to plan what I am to give. 308 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:16,200 I am to purpose and determine what by God's grace I am going to do. 309 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,660 That's a principle of our giving. 310 00:26:19,660 --> 00:26:25,800 Now as you think about these illustrations that we've talked about, consider with me 311 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:34,720 that the determination of one's heart affects personal plans such as Ruth. 312 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:39,440 It affects projects like Solomon. 313 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,900 It affects lifestyle like Daniel. 314 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:48,060 It affects life goals like Jesus. 315 00:26:48,060 --> 00:26:51,880 It affects ministry plans like Paul. 316 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,360 It affects the message we proclaim as in Paul. 317 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:03,000 And it affects our stewardship as Paul exhorts here. 318 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:12,060 A determined heart, I say to you, is absolutely a foundation of our Christian experience. 319 00:27:12,060 --> 00:27:19,400 And what we are determined to do, we usually will do. 320 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:28,880 We are at a point in our church when our heart's purposes will be manifested by our responses. 321 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:35,940 Our priorities, our resolve, our determination will affect what we do and the commitments 322 00:27:35,940 --> 00:27:43,360 that we make over the next two weeks as we come now to the climax of sharing the vision. 323 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:51,000 I say again that it is our priorities, our determination, our resolve that will affect 324 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:59,680 what we do individually and the commitments that we make in praying, giving, and serving 325 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,720 over the next two weeks when we'll have the opportunity to make those commitments. 326 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:09,720 I believe the challenge that is before us today is immense. 327 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:17,400 It is the challenge of a determined heart, a heart that has the right predisposition 328 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:23,000 so that what it determines to do is the right thing. 329 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:29,120 If the predisposition of my heart is worldly and self-centered, then my heart's determination 330 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:33,680 is going to be in those directions. 331 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:41,600 But if the predisposition of my heart is to serve and please Jesus Christ as Lord, as 332 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:47,760 the preeminent one, then that too is going to affect what I determine with my heart I 333 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,160 will do. 334 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,680 I think the challenge to us today is not unlike that which Joshua voiced back in the book 335 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:56,680 that bears his name. 336 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:04,000 Would you turn again to the book, the Old Testament, to the book of Joshua this time, 337 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,480 the 24th chapter. 338 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,000 Joshua gathered the people together. 339 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,120 He was their leader at this point. 340 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:19,760 The mantle had been passed to him by Moses years before this. 341 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,200 Now they have entered the land. 342 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,680 They have conquered at least part of it. 343 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:30,440 They have begun establishing their own civilization, their own culture there in Palestine. 344 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:36,080 And he gathers the people together, and this is what he says among other things as we begin 345 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,840 reading in verse 14, Joshua 24. 346 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:50,560 Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods 347 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:57,080 which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 348 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:03,200 And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today 349 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:09,440 whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the 350 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:14,840 river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. 351 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:20,400 But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 352 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,560 He gathered the people together in a time when their religion, their faith was becoming 353 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,800 lukewarm. 354 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:34,460 And he said to them, people, choose who you will serve. 355 00:30:34,460 --> 00:30:40,080 If it is disagreeable to serve the Lord, then serve the false gods. 356 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:47,800 But he said, as for me and for my house, we are going to serve God. 357 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,600 We will serve the Lord. 358 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,000 I believe that's where some of us are today. 359 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,920 It's decision time, folks. 360 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:01,640 As a friend of mine said to me, it's time to fish or cut bait. 361 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:08,320 We're at that point when we need to decide what direction we really are going, whose 362 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:14,960 it is we really belong to, what our priorities really are. 363 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:20,120 We can no longer afford just to go through motions, use language, show up at the right 364 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,080 time, say the right things. 365 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:38,000 It's time now to decide whose we are and whom it is we will serve, the Lord or ourselves. 366 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:43,140 It's time for us to examine our hearts to see what influence is there. 367 00:31:43,140 --> 00:31:48,500 What are our hearts predisposed to do? 368 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:52,960 What are the things that determine what we do, where we go? 369 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,120 What are the bottom lines in our life? 370 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:57,740 What are the things that really matter? 371 00:31:57,740 --> 00:32:01,440 How do we measure what is important? 372 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:07,280 The answer to those kinds of questions will mold and shape what your heart, my heart, 373 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,800 determines to do. 374 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:16,560 If there is an ungodly and worldly priority in our lives, then our hearts are going to 375 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:18,440 determine those kinds of things. 376 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:23,920 And we'll be robbed of a life of maximum usefulness to God. 377 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:29,000 And our need is to repent. 378 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:33,680 That was the message that Jesus had to the church at Laodicea, whom He threatened to 379 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,120 spew from His mouth. 380 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:43,280 He said to them, repent and return. 381 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:48,640 It may be that like a sheep that has wandered off and gotten caught in a thicket somewhere, 382 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:53,640 you today are crying out, miserable and lost and separated. 383 00:32:53,640 --> 00:33:02,560 The Good Shepherd today is seeking you for your good because His heart beats for you. 384 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,120 He loves you. 385 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:09,640 He wants to return you today to the fold. 386 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,400 Will you cry out to Him? 387 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:16,280 Will you allow Him to rescue you, to bring you back to Himself? 388 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:17,280 Will you repent? 389 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:23,720 Will you establish today the Lordship of Jesus Christ? 390 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:31,300 Will you test your priorities, your heart's determination against His Word? 391 00:33:31,300 --> 00:33:35,120 We need to realize that it is the blessing of the Lord that rests upon those who serve 392 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,400 Him with a determined heart. 393 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,640 Consider Ruth. 394 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:47,840 This Gentile woman came into the line of a Jewish Messiah and is named as a part of His 395 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,560 genealogy because of a determined heart. 396 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,880 She said to her mother-in-law, where you go, I will go. 397 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:56,280 Where you lodge, I will lodge. 398 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,600 Your God will be my God. 399 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:05,340 Because of that determined heart, her name is listed in Matthew as one of the ancestors 400 00:34:05,340 --> 00:34:08,600 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 401 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:15,880 Solomon, with a determined heart, he built that temple. 402 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:20,280 There was not a king in all of the world that had greater glory than Solomon did in his 403 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:21,280 day. 404 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:30,640 And Daniel, the man who determined not to compromise his lifestyle, that man became 405 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:40,000 the prime minister of the whole pagan nation of Babylon. 406 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:46,560 He influenced a whole culture because he was willing to stand alone with a determined heart. 407 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,720 And Jesus, what need we say? 408 00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:57,640 With a determined heart, he went to Jerusalem and laid down his life for our sins that we 409 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,760 might be saved from hell. 410 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:07,960 Then the apostle Paul, who with a determined heart served Jesus Christ, what of him? 411 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:14,600 Well, he became the human author of 13 books in the New Testament. 412 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,720 He became the apostle to the Gentiles. 413 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:27,120 The man who at his execution in Rome was able to say, I have fought the fight. 414 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,880 I have finished my course. 415 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,040 I have kept the faith. 416 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:37,580 And I submit to you, there is not a greater statement that any man or woman could make 417 00:35:37,580 --> 00:35:42,360 on his deathbed than that. 418 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,920 It's time today to choose whom it is we will serve. 419 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:56,240 Oh, may it be God so that we may experience his blessing and glorify his great name. 420 00:35:56,240 --> 00:36:04,040 Let's pray together. 421 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:09,240 What is your heart determined to do? 422 00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:19,280 That's going to tell whether you'll be at the banquet next Sunday night, whether you'll 423 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:23,080 participate in the cluster meetings. 424 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:30,520 That's going to influence the decisions you make on the cards regarding serving, praying, 425 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:35,560 and giving in the next couple of weeks. 426 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:43,920 It's time today for us to choose whom we will serve. 427 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:51,400 Will you renew your determination of heart to serve Jesus Christ? 428 00:36:51,400 --> 00:37:02,360 Will you say to him today, Jesus, I declare you Lord the number one priority, the preeminent 429 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:06,280 one in my life. 430 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:11,360 Because of that, my heart is determined to do what you want me to do and to be what you 431 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,120 want me to be. 432 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,880 Will you renew that lordship today? 433 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:19,280 It may not have lapsed. 434 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:23,200 It may be that you have sat through this message knowing that he is Lord. 435 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:28,040 By the uplifted hand, will you say right now, yes, my hand is up to Jesus Christ. 436 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:32,600 I am saying to him by this action of my body, he is Lord. 437 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,880 Will you lift your hand? 438 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:39,800 No one is looking around, including me. 439 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,600 Alice, put them down. 440 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:50,240 My friend, if you could not lift your hand, is it because you're not a believer? 441 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:51,520 You've not trusted the Savior. 442 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,320 Will you do it today? 443 00:37:55,320 --> 00:38:01,000 Is it because you are a lukewarm Christian? 444 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,320 If you're lukewarm, you need to examine your heart whether you'd be in the faith. 445 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:09,580 That's what the Word of God says. 446 00:38:09,580 --> 00:38:18,280 There is no confidence regarding salvation in a lukewarm Christian. 447 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:27,080 There is no reason for security in a lukewarm Christian. 448 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:34,120 Choose you today whom you will serve. 449 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:42,360 Lord we only have one shot at life as we sang before we began the message. 450 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:43,360 We forget that. 451 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:49,120 We think that we somehow are going to last on and on and on how soon we become the missing 452 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:50,120 face. 453 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:56,800 We are the one that is taken. 454 00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:04,360 Lord remind us, I pray, of the brevity of life, the soonness of the coming of the Savior, 455 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,160 the critical nature of the hour in which we live. 456 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:14,840 A weakness, I pray, to the realities that we need to see in this day. 457 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:25,600 Make us each one a person with a determined heart to be true to the Lord. 458 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:32,520 Encourage us in that direction today, helping us to realize that when we make that determination 459 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:38,920 by your grace there is reward, there is blessing. 460 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:44,920 May that be our experience not only in this life but in that which is to come. 461 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:54,560 Lord give us, I pray, to follow, to follow after Ruth and Solomon and Daniel and Paul 462 00:39:54,560 --> 00:40:03,600 and our Lord Jesus in this matter of a determined heart. 463 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:04,600 This we pray in Jesus' name. 464 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:26,600 Amen.