Well, I'm glad to see all of you this morning. We'll be in Hebrews chapter 4 is where we'll be today. We have my message this morning is entitled Intents of the Heart. When we as disciples of Christ seek to be profitable to our Savior, which is what we discussed last week, there's more to this equation than we can see. We can see the outward things. But that's not what Christ looks at. Christ looks at the heart. What I do is important, but why I do it and for whom I do it is more important, really, than what I do. We can be profitable to our spouse and our children and our employers in a worldly way. We can be profitable in this fleshly life and still be unprofitable to the Lord. And that's where I wanted to kind of finish the thoughts. And this is, of course, a stand-alone sermon, but it does kind of go with what we talked about last week. So as clear as I can state it is why you do what you do is the defining factor Christ will judge service by. Oh, you can do all the great things in the world, but if it's done for the wrong reason, It's useless when you take it before the Lord. So we're going to be talking about today and on February the 11th, 1962, Parade Magazine published a brief account about someone that many of you will know. Many of you will not because of your age. But you can look this guy up because we still feel his ramifications in our country this very day. It says, Still Munching Candy was the name of the article. It says, At the village church in Kalifnica, Russia. Attendance at Sunday school picked up after the priest started handing out candy to the peasant children. One of the most faithful was a pug-nosed, pugnacious lad who recited his scriptures with proper piety, pocketed his reward, then fled into the fields to munch on it. The priest took a liking to the boy, persuaded him to attend church school. This was preferable to doing household chores from which his devout parents excused him. By offering other inducements, the priest managed to teach the boy the four Gospels. In fact, he won a special prize for learning all four by heart and reciting them nonstop in the church. all four gospels he memorized and recited in the church. Now, 60 years later, he still likes to recite scriptures, but in a context that would horrify the old priest. For the prized pupil who memorized so much of the Bible is Nikita Khrushchev, the former premier, the first premier of the Soviet nation of Russia, right? He memorized the whole four Gospels and could recite them. As this anecdote illustrates, the why behind memorization is fully as important as the what. The same Nikita Khrushchev who nimbly mouthed God's Word when a child later declared God to be non-existent. Why? Because his cosmonauts had not seen God while in space. Khrushchev memorized the scriptures for the candy, for the rewards, for the bribes rather than for the meaning it had for his life. Artificial motivation will produce artificial results. Later in his speeches, Nikita Khrushchev would quote, We say the name of God, but that is only habit. And he would recite scripture in many of his speeches. If you're a person of history, you can read those. And he would use scripture, but not in the way that you and I would agree with. You understand how important it is for the intent of your heart when you see how this is played out. They laid out a way that they were going to overcome America. And you see that playing out in our society today. It's important, the motivations that we have. Turn with me in Hebrews chapter 4. Beginning in verse 1, we're going to read some select verses 1 and then 10 through 13. We'll finish up with a couple of verses at the end. But first, verse in chapter 4 of Hebrews says, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. then over in verse ten. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. As you read these verses here, we understand that Paul is writing to Jewish who have been under persecution, and they're thinking, man, I don't know if this is worth it. All we have to do to take this persecution off is to just go back to being the Jew that we were, that we know, that we loved. And all of that would stop. And Paul is saying, no, stay with the Lord. Stay with The Word of God. Stay with Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And there is a peace that you will have and there will be a promise that you will receive of eternal life in the end. Eternity in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. And hang in there is what he's saying. And he goes on to say that, look, when you enter your rest, When you know that you can cease from a works-based salvation, you can be at peace in your heart and it will pass all understanding that you have held in the past. And that's important. We need to claim these promises today. We need to enter that rest. Paul is encouraging his readers to really grab hold of the promise that God has given through His Son Jesus Christ in which we can rest. This rest is pictured as an example earlier that he's talking about in verse 4 of what we read. It says, For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. God did rest the seventh day from all His works. You and I, we have been working and working and working through this life until we meet Jesus Christ who is the agent of salvation And then we can lay down all of those tools that we've been using to try to get back into the good graces of God and we can receive that through the grace that Jesus Christ offers. And we can rest just like Christ, just like God finished creation in six days and then He rested. That's the rest that we have when we have that promise of salvation from Jesus Christ. Our profitability then is to fill out the thoughts of last week. Our profitability was based upon a relationship with Christ and then we have salvation. That relationship then takes maybe the same things that we're doing, it changes the intent for which we are doing them and makes them right to offer to God. And that's what we're talking about today. In that rest, in that relationship to Christ in which we receive salvation is also the relationship in which we stay in a restful relationship with Christ. It's the same. You don't get saved one way. and then change the way that you receive rest. It is still by the relationship of Jesus Christ our Savior. We know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, renders us profitable after salvation because we are now in relationship to Him. We must walk with Him, and talk with Him and listen to Him and depend on Him and love Him because He is just and righteously doing that for us before we ever get to the point we can do it for Him. And all we're doing is requiting the love that He has given to us. You see, our hands and our feet are only profitable if the intent of the heart is based in that relationship of love and flows from Jesus into us to other people. If you love me, keep my commandments. And the one is, love one another as I have loved you. So we can't receive the love and not pass that love on and say that we're in the will of and in the rest of God. It can't be that way. If we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, it will implore us to pass that love on and mention Him to other people and invite them into the rest that I have. You see, our hands and feet... Look at Galatians 2.20, if you would. We have here Galatians 2.20. He says, I am crucified with Christ. This is salvation. I die with Christ, I'm buried with Christ, and I raise in newness of life with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved me and gave Himself for me. See, I'm not living the way I lived before I was saved. I'm not talking about actions. I'm talking about my dependency. I'm not living dependent upon my own knowledge, my own strength, my own desires. I'm living now with Christ flowing through me and His desires and His strength and His righteousness are now what I hold what I depend upon. That's Christ living in me. People who are profitable for the Master are so because of true love for the Master and they seek His best interest. And in doing that you begin to realize, wait a minute, all of these things that Christ is asking of me are for my best interest. Praise Him for keeping me safe. And now I know I can rest in true peace, in true love. And I can have those things in life that many other folks will never get to. One of the elements of rest is to have real joy about our relationship with Jesus. The Christians, it's so easy to walk around with our lip poked out and mad and sad and legalistic and judgmental, all those things. But those things are not synonymous with joy. They're not synonymous with rejoicing. Did you know that rejoice and joy, just those two forms, just in the New Testament are mentioned over a hundred times? I think that we as Christians, if we were to truly look at the Word as a whole and understand how much joy is spoken of, then we ought to have joy. We ought to be a happy people. And I was in the truck quite sometimes this past week. We listened to a lot of different things. Chuck Swindoll was preaching and he said this. He said, when I became president of Dallas Baptist Theological Seminary, which was 1994. You see, when I got there, I just noticed that there was something missing. I just didn't know. So I went and I looked and we prayed. I looked and I realized no one smiled. At the seminary, no one smiled. So I went to the secretary and I said, why is it that There seems to be no joy here. She said, well, this is the seminary. He said, well, what's that got to do with anything? He said, I set about bringing back joy to the seminary. He said, the very first thing I did was change the dress code and free up a little bit. and let folks enjoy being and learning about the Word of God. He said the second thing that I felt like I needed to do was take all of the signs all over campus down that said, Stay off the grass. And we began to have picnics on the grass. We began to have frisbee thrown on the grass. We began to have volleyball on the grass. We began to hear laughter on the grass. And I thought, man, that is absolutely true. We as Christians have something that is powerful, that is beautiful, that is joyful, and we walk around so sad. Oh, poor me. No, not poor me. I'm victorious. I have a joy in me that nothing in this world can overcome. Hallelujah. And I thought that was a great story that he told. See, you cannot fool God. You can't say one thing and act another way and fool God. You can't act one way and say what everybody wants to hear and fool God. It can't happen. You see, when a person really acquires the promises, when you truly have rest, when you truly have joy, when you truly have love and knowledge of the Word of God, knowledge of the freedom that now I'm free from condemnation, I don't have to worry about the wrath of God. When I have all of these things and I begin to show that, in a truthful manner. You know what's going to happen? Other people are going to see it. And they're going to say, what does that person have that I don't have? But you know what happens a lot? That's the way Christianity is. I don't need any of that. Right? And we're not showing the truth of the joy and the power and the rest and the love that Christ gave us through His death, burial, and resurrection. And folks who see people like that, they want to know and be like that. Go with me to Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8 and verse 13, we're not going to read a lot but just a few verses. Verse 13 says, Then Simon himself believed also. This is Simon the sorcerer. He saw what was going on. Then it says, Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and the signs which were done. Wow! It sounds like he believed, doesn't it? Received the promise. Look on down a little further to verse 18. And when Simon saw that through laying on the hands of the apostles, hands of the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. He doesn't really understand what this salvation is all about, does he? Having been kind of controlling through the sorcery and the things that I knew how to do, people listened to me. I had a place of power. Now I want to be able to do what you do, and I'll pay you for me to do that. Right? Man, I don't think what his lips saying was what his heart Those will look too different, right? Look on over in verse 23. This is them talking. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. Oh, I don't want to be judged. I mean, what you said would happen to me is terrible. And I can just hear the apostles would say, Psalm, I can't pray this for you. I can't give this to you. I only have it for myself. You can only get this by giving your life to Jesus Christ and understanding you cannot buy this. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit. So see, He wanted what they had but he was unwilling to give up his self to receive it. And that's where many people are. I don't want to quit being what I am. I don't want to stop doing what I'm doing. I just need to know that I'm not going to be condemned in hell forever. But I still want to live the life that I want to live. No, no, it doesn't work that way. You give yourself to the Lord and it brings you peace and comfort and joy and love like you've never had before. We also understand there are those who will not receive that, considering that the heart is deceitful above all. That's Jeremiah 79. The heart is deceitful above all who can understand it. Right? We quote that verse, boy, we understand that verse. Our hearts are deceitful. But there's another part to that that you've got It's important. Verse 12 of Hebrews says, For the word of God is alive, it's quick, it's powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of what the heart. See, Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit can take the deceitfulness of your heart, separate out the soul from the spirit, give you a proper spirit, and then you are saved by your belief in the heart which is no longer deceived. Now it's clear. because the Holy Spirit has given you the ability to discern the Word of God. And that's what we're talking about. How important is it that you see? Look at Matthew 16, verse 22. You can get so intertwined with flesh and spirit that you can't discern that and you need help. This is Peter. 1622. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. This is Jesus, by the way, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord, this shall not be unto Thee. Jesus is saying, I've got to go to the cross and die. Peter takes Him aside and rebukes Him. He said, No, Lord, that ain't happening to You. I'm going to take the sword. We're going to fight. We're going to be Your disciples. No, Peter, the flesh is talking. Put that aside. Untwine your heart from the flesh and let the Spirit guide and you'll see that I must go to the cross. He that lives by the sword dies by the sword, right? And so we begin to see here we can get so entwined, we can love the Lord, we can do the wrong things trying to do the right thing. He did it in another place. Jesus said, Peter, come in here and we'll wash your feet. Teach about servanthood. Peter said, No, Lord. You know I ain't washing my feet. And he said, Well, Peter, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part in me. And Peter said, Well, wait a minute. In that case, wash my head, my hands, my feet, and all of me. And Jesus said, Peter, you're thinking with your flesh again. You don't need to be washed in the heads and hands. You already received salvation. Just when you walk, your feet got dirty. You need to confess your sin, and I'm faithful to forgive it. All you need is your feet washed. So you see, he's separating these fleshly thoughts from these spiritual thoughts. And that heart eventually, Peter, got that spirit of the heart. Deceitfulness is overcome in Christ. Your deceived heart is overcome by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit that comes to your heart. makes you alive to Christ, it quickens you by the Word, and now you're alive to Christ. We love that Jeremiah 17, 9, the horse deceived. But look at Romans 10, 10. Because this is the part that we ought to say hallelujah about. for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Yeah? You don't have to live a deceived life. The same heart that deceives you can be opened by the discerning Spirit of God and He can give you a transformed nature that allows you to what? For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. We believe it with our heart. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Because that's what's in my heart, then it comes out of my mouth and we begin to understand that with this, this confession is based upon what Peter said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's what I have. That's my confession. He's Jesus. He's my Savior. I'm depending on Him wholly. That's the confession. The heart is where that starts. Then it comes out of your mouth. Your mouth is not what saves you, it's your heart. And that's where we are. I hope your heart is open to the Lord. This is why we caution to believe not what someone says but watch the action they take and the truth will be revealed about them. When our heart is resting in the Lord, when our heart is filled with the joy of our union with Christ, when our love is preeminent in our spirit for the Lord and for others, we will be like the psalmist. My cup runneth over. See, when you're asked to show the love of God, to show the peace of God, to show all these things that you're supposedly supposed to have as a Christian, He's not asking you to pour your cup out and you have nothing and you give it to that person. That's not the way the psalmist has it right. I am so full of the Spirit. I have such peace. I have such love. I have such confidence in the promise of Christ that my cup is running over. And that which runs over, I don't get a bigger cup and try to hold on to it like the man who built bigger barns. I take what runs out of my cup because of the love of the Lord and I give it to those who it would benefit. You have a full cup. What runs over, use it for honoring the Lord Jesus Christ. And that brings peace and joy and comfort and love and all those things that you read in Galatians 5.22, all of those fruits of the Spirit. Luke 6.45, a good man out of a good treasure of his heart, bringing forth that which is good. You're speaking what's running over in your heart. Praise the Lord. But an evil man out of an evil heart speaks that which is evil. Doing the right thing for the right reasons leads to rest. You can lay down at night and not have to remember the lies you told to try to make other people think you're something you're not. It brings to peace. It brings you to joy. You just live in truth. Every day you wake up, you don't worry about what you said yesterday because it was true. And now I can move forward with Christ today feeling the same peace and joy and comfort I felt yesterday. Take up thy cross daily and follow me, he said. On the other hand, doing the right things for the wrong reason leads us to miss the promise. Look back where we are here in Hebrews 4 verse 1. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us when Christ left this earth And he went back to heaven after his resurrection, his ascension, after he's there, he left us a promise. What's the promise? He said, I go to prepare a place for you. If I go, I will come again. and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." I promise you a relationship with me in heaven for all eternity, to be with me in a perfect environment, just like God created the earth in the beginning. That is our promise. And He's saying here, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left to us of entering into His rest any of you should seem to come short of it. Now that's a nice way to say that any of you remain under the judgment of Christ the righteous judge and end up in hell separated from God for all eternity. You realize God does not send people to hell. Every person who's ever born is already headed away from God, because it's our sin nature. And those then who would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ received the promise and the peace and the love and the joy. It's our choice whether to receive punishment or to be under grace. And in that I ask that choose the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be like those who would miss the promise. Matthew 18, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Is what you say congruent with your heart this morning? Is the life that you lead when you leave church the same as what you say you are? That's when the peace, the joy, the comfort, the love, the promise of eternity, that's when the relationship is strong, when all is in Christ, when our hearts are hidden in Him. I want to ask our musicians to come. And I want to implore you today to not miss the promise. If you have questions, we would love to visit with you, talk to you. If you have been sitting in a church all your life and you're hearing this, but upon this occasion the Holy Spirit has opened your understanding in a way that it never has before, and all of a sudden you feel that conviction in your heart and you need to do something about it, please do it today. For we're not promised tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation, Isaiah said. Continue to search and seek. And the Holy Spirit, ask and you shall receive, the Bible said. He wants all men to be saved, but only if you voluntarily love him. Would you stand as we sing?