Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The heart of the matter Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA May 16, 2004 Main Scripture text: Ezekiel 36:24-27. I've been reading the book, Waking The Dead by John Eldredge, and God is using it to refine my understanding of some things, especially of what the Bible calls "the heart." The Bible sees the heart as the source of all creativity, courage and conviction; it is the place from which emanate faith, hope, love; it is the "wellspring of life" within us; it is the very essence of our existence and the center of our being -- that is, who we really are on the inside. In light of that, there is a frightening truth in Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." Here is where many Christians get confused. Jeremiah 17:9 is an Old Testament description of the condition of fallen humanity. It does not take into account the promises of the New Covenant with regard to the heart. These promises are found in Ezekiel 36. The prophet says that God is going to: cleanse us from all impurity; remove our heart of stone (i.e. a heart set hard in rebellion against God); give us a heart of flesh (i.e. one that is soft, pliable, teachable and has an inclination to obey God); Give the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live a holy life (i.e. power to obey the inclinations of our new, pure, good hearts). These promises have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ! We are not just "sinners saved by grace," we are now saints of the living God. We've not only been given new hearts we've been given the very Spirit of the living God to empower us to live a holy life! If you are born again God has wrought a change in you. You've been transformed from a sinner to a saint. You now have a good heart! Read your Bible. In the New Testament, believers are consistently called "saints." But you say, "I still do bad stuff sometimes. Why is that so if my heart is good and pure?" The answer: that old, crummy, sinful heart trained your mind to think like a sinner and your body to act like a sinner. Now that you have a new heart, you must work with God to re-train your mind and body to think and act like a saint. How do you think of yourself? Are you just an old black-hearted sinner saved by grace -- or are you a former sinner now transformed by the power of God into a saint with a pure, good heart? The Bible says that if you've repented of your sin and come to Christ, you've been changed. You are a saint with a good heart! Believe it -- and act on it day by day! Supporting texts: Proverbs 4:23 | Jeremiah 17:9 | Psalm 139:23-24 | Proverbs 23:7 | Romans 12:1-2 | Romans 4:17 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 040516a: The Heart of the Matter. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us