Is Your Heart a House or a Home?

Sunday 05/07/17

Series: Doers of the Word

Message – Is Your Heart a House or a Home?

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Home or House?

We’re going to start off with a question….

What is the difference between a house and a home?

(Let that churn a while in the back of your brain – We’ll come back to that later)

Two weeks ago we started talking about HOW we hear…

We did this because James told us that HOW we hear determines whether or not we are a doer…

James 1:23-25,

“(23) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. (24) For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (25) But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Non-Doers are often lazy hearers

So we ended two weeks ago with 1Cor. 2:11-16,

“(11) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (13) These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. (16) For “WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

& 1 Cor. 3:1-3,

“(1) And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; (3) for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

Our ending point was that Spiritual growth was NOT one way – there could be both advancement and regression.

Hebrews 5:11-14,

“(11) of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. (12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (14) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

These Hebrews were slow, sluggish, and numbed in their apprehension of the teaching of New Testament truth. This made it difficult to teach them. The difficulty lay therefore not in the writer but in them.

But they had not always been in that condition, as is shown by the words translated “have become” The word is in the perfect tense – so this speaks of a process completed in past time having present results. Something they had done in the past eventuated in this outcome of being dull hearers with NO PUSH to learn or retain.

How many of you have your list of Christian Maturity with you?

Let’s go over it again, because these passages reveal that doers are mature Christians while babies and children in Christ are only partial in their diligent obedience.

This week we are going to go back to our first analogy we brought up two weeks ago in John 15 but we are going to look at it and compare it to what Heb. 5 says.

John 15:1-14, “(1) I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (3) You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Q> Didn’t MANY people hear Jesus speak to them? Why couldn’t He say this about all of them?

(4) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

(5) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (7) If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (8) By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

So – remember the question I asked you to think about?

What is the difference between a house and a home?

Conformity to the owner’s wills and desires

It is a place of rest as opposed to just a place

It romances you – it draws you in and makes you feel at (what word am I going to use here? “home”)

So in order to make Jesus’ words be “at home” inside our hearts…What has to happen?

Remember babies and children always have an excuse as to WHY NOT! Their wills are unyielding to His advances. A heart that is unyielding is NOT a home, and in fact can barely be called a house.

Yesterday I spent some time seeking repentance – yes seeking it. It is something granted to you, not just something you grab or conjure anytime you please. It is a sovereign work of God within the heart.

So whatcha repenting over Mark? (None of your business)

At any rate I was going over scriptures concerning a change of heart and was asking God to create that condition within me and something dawned on me (the Holy Spirit spoke) – My heart is not my own – it belongs to Him. In that moment I became very sad – nearly sick at heart because I got the picture of be asked to watch and tend to someone’s home for them as they go away for a vacation and I took the opportunity to through a wild party in their home – people freely wandering through all the rooms of their home, people drinking and eating everywhere spilling drinks and food on the carpet, being careless with the objects in the home and trampling the yard – and my heart just got sick.

First off, it is something I would never do to anyone much less a trusted friend who honored our relationship with this trust. But I do it all the time with what I allow in this heart of mine which belongs to Him and Him alone. This is just one example of the difference between a heart that is a HOME for Christ and His words spoken to us and a heart that is no more than four walls and a ceiling.

You see, there really is NO excuse for callousness in the heart of a child of God. Regardless of spiritual maturity and experience – a child of God is BORN with an inner sensitivity to right and wrong – a desire to love God and please Him and this has to be unlearned by example and neglect!

We will pick up here next week…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!