Ezekiel chapter 36, we're gonna begin reading in just a moment. And here we see that Ezekiel is, his words or his writings Ezekiel is talking about is, it's dealing with people that had been in Babylonian captivity and how that they had gone through a very trying time in their life. Now I want you to follow with me for just a minute. Our title this morning would be The Heart of the Gospel. Gospel is good news. That's what the word gospel means. It's good news. When we say the heart of the gospel, you see, when this, when we read Ezekiel is writing about a time where people had gone through the Babylonian captivity and they were going through some, what we would call some pretty bare, some pretty hard times in their life. Matter of fact, they were going through such hard times, Ezekiel said, that they were worried that God's judgment was going to get worse. Have you ever been in a situation where things got bad and you could only pray, Lord, please don't let it get worse? And it does. What we're gonna see that Ezekiel said is, is that he's gonna transition from God's judgment to God's restoration. Now, when we talk about the heart of the gospel this morning, I want you to realize is that if these people were going through such extreme times, could you imagine being able to be given the news, the welcome news, that things do not have to stay that way? This morning, I want you to know something. If you're here this morning, if you've never been saved, you do not have to stay that way. If you're here today and we get outside of the will of God, or if we're here today and we're not doing the things that maybe we feel like that God should have us to do, we remember this, is that things do not have to stay that way. The heart of the gospel this morning. I'm gonna read to you just a minute what Ezekiel talks about instead of the judgment of God, a promise that God is gonna give unto his people. And I want you to listen to this this morning. I don't know if any of you were like I was, but all of my life, when I was raised in church and when people began to testify and people would, when the preachers was preaching and people were singing and people were shouting, I didn't know what they knew. I did not feel what they felt. Matter of fact, I would pretty much think a lot of times they were either putting on a show or they were faking or there was not something genuine about them. But I wanna tell you about a night, and that night's gonna soon be 30 years ago. I began to feel what those saints began to feel. And you know what? Those people were not crazy. God is real. When I understood that people were moved by God, I really get to understand is that, folks, God stirring in your heart's a real thing. God speaking to you is a real thing. The heart of the gospel this morning is, is that things do not have to stay the way that they are. Things can change, and with God, he can change them. Ezekiel chapter 36, and I want you to skip down to the 26th verse, the promise that he made. He's gonna give them a message of hope that they're gonna have. Instead of the judgment of God, a hope that they're gonna have and the restoration, he said, a new heart. also will I give unto you. A new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. Folks, the Bible teaches us that there were angels that would fall and God did not give them the ability or the means by which they could be restored. Aren't you glad today as human beings, God gives us a chance at restoration? Aren't you thankful today that if you're in a place that you do not want to be, aren't you thankful today that God can change things? Maybe I asked the wrong question. Do you believe God can change things? Absolutely do I believe in that. And I believe today that no matter where you are, no matter what you feel, or maybe in this context, maybe it's what you don't feel, aren't you glad today that God can change you to where you can feel? We talked about this the other night about how that God, when He begins to work in the ground, He talks about the rain that He sends. Do you know that the farmers would go through two phases? They needed rain to fall upon the ground to do what? It would break up the ground, it would soften the ground so that seeds could be planted. But every farmer would tell you that once the ground is softened, once the ground is broken up, seeds will be put in and then you need more water on top of that. Aren't you glad today that God can soften the hearts of a man? Aren't you thankful today that not only can God soften the hearts of man, He can also plant seeds in your life. Aren't you thankful that when seeds are planted in your life, God can water them and bring forth growth? For those that have been in captivity for so long, For all those years, 70 years they've been in captivity and they thought, Lord, how can we restore back to what we had? Lord, how can we experience these things? And God is gonna offer them a renewal of how they can be restored. Now here's one thing that Ezekiel is gonna make very plain. He said, you're gonna be restored not because of who you are, you're gonna be restored because of who God is. The heart of the gospel. It's not to change you and to change your life because of who you are, but it's about who God is. And God is a person that can change who you are. But he's a God today of change. He's a God today that can work in our lives. And here, what Ezekiel is prophesying about is that God is gonna work through them, and God's not only gonna work through them, that God's gonna work through all the human race that have a faith and believe in God. In the 36th chapter and in the 26th verse, he said, I'm gonna give you a new heart. Also will I give you. Can I ask you a question this morning? What is the human heart outside of God? Have you ever wondered about that? A human heart or the desires of us. Let's turn back to Jeremiah for just a minute in the 17th chapter. What is your heart by nature? So when we talk about the heart of the gospel, we're not talking about what the gospel is or who Jesus is. The good news is what you feel and what you have, that there is a chance for change. Things don't have to stay the way that they are. Jeremiah chapter 17. What is it that Jeremiah teaches us? What the heart of man is. Skip down to the ninth verse. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Folks, do you know where the wickedness is? We talk about how mean people are with what they do with their hands. Now, you don't have to have a very deep imagination, but folks, people are pretty mean with their hands. People are pretty mean with their mouths. People are mean by the things and the deeds that they say and they do. Is it their flesh that's mean, or is it their heart that has wickedness? Folks, it's not a physical problem we have, it's a heart problem that our society has. It's a heart problem. And look what he says. Folks, do you know where the gospel is aimed for? When I talk about the heart of the gospel, that was very intentional this morning because the gospel is not meant to aim at your physical needs. The gospel of the good news is for your soul. Aren't you thankful today that the gospel can pierce your soul? Folks, I wouldn't trade it for anything else. A gospel that is mere something we think about or something that we do. The gospel is something that changes us and it works from within. One of the true signs of God working in your life is it's not just the circumstances around you changing, it's about something changing with inside of you. And he said, the heart is deceitful above all things. Paul said in Ephesians 3 and 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That's what Paul said. He said that Christ might dwell in your hearts. He's not in my pocket. He's not on a pew. Folks, Jesus Christ, for those of us that have been saved, he is inside of us. Remember what we said in the very beginning, a new heart also will I give you, because it's the heart that needs to be changed. A heart is deceitful above all things. You know what I found out about the heart? And I say I found out, this is not a new revelation, but as I begin to grow up and I begin to have a self-awareness about things, I begin to understand that the heart is really good about sinning against God. The heart, it's just natural. I love children. I love to watch them as they grow, but you know what I've learned about children is they do not have to be taught sin and wrong. That is something that dwells in all of us. Now we may think that it's environmental and that may play into things, but the truth is there is sin and there is wrong and there is unrighteousness that dwells in us. And that's why when we read that Jeremiah said that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. That's a pretty bad problem right there that the heart is deceitful. And he goes on to say deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I really want to stop right there for just a minute when we say desperately wicked. Do you know what the word desperately wicked means in the Hebrew language? If you was to take the English word and pull it out and look at what the true means of that is, it means that the heart of man has something that is incurable. Wait a minute, let's just open that up for just a minute this morning. You mean to tell me than the innocence of a child that's born into this world. These sweet, adorable children that we love to just, we're in awe about that. You mean to tell me that they have something inside of them that's incurable? Absolutely. Every human being is born with the seed of sin. Every one of us, we're born with sin. But aren't you glad today that things can change? Weren't you thankful this morning for the heart of the gospel that there was a time in my life that a God began to reveal unto me who I was? Not that I was bad because I had lied or I'd stolen or I had cheated, but it was my nature how I rebelled against Him. And God, at the very heart of the gospel, began to speak unto me and show me my need for Jesus Christ in my life. You know what today, folks? I still believe, right here and right now, that there is something in every human being that is incurable by their own means. But instead, it needs to be replaced. Aren't you glad today that God can remove and God can give you something that's different? A new heart also will I give you. Aren't you thankful today? Not just for God putting a bandaid on the sin of man, but God completely defeating and replacing sin in our life. Aren't you thankful for that this morning? Listen to what he said that Jeremiah talked about. He said that the deceitful of all things, he said, and desperately wicked. Oh, all the evil and all the things that we face in our life. I thank God today that he is able to overcome that. But look at what Jeremiah goes on to say. He said, and he said, it is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Oh, look at the 10th verse of Jeremiah chapter 17. Who can know what's on your heart right now? How many of you have experienced this in your life? I, the Lord, search the heart. You know what? Today, folks, I'm not trying to say anything bad about anybody that's here. I'm not trying to say anything bad about the society in which we live. But you know what, folks? You can hide things from people, but God looks upon your heart. God can see these things. And he said, I, the Lord, search the heart. Oh, I remember the night when the Lord began to convict me deeper and deeper. And I was in trouble, folks. And I want you to tell you something, that night when God saved my soul, I knew between me and God that I needed something different in my life. Maybe you're here today and God has exposed your sin and God is showing you that there's a need for Jesus. I'm thankful today that the heart of the gospel today can change us and the heart of the gospel can change you. Gospel means good news. Aren't you thankful for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ? He said, who can know it? Today, I'm thankful today that God is able to give us what we need, and God's able to provide the things that only He is able to provide. This morning, this last several days, I've been thinking about, and again this morning, about how that God, through the Babylonian captivity, how that He promised them that there was a chance that they could be restored, a chance that they would be able to have something new. Turn over, if you will, to the book of Joel for just a minute. In the book of Joel, chapter 2, I want you to notice what God's going to do. Man has something that's incurable. We do. It's deceptive. It's a wicked heart about us that is sinful that needs to be saved. But in the book of Joel, chapter 2, I read these verses the other night, and they've just continued to stick with me. Joel chapter 2 into verse 28 said, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Again, Joel 2 and 28 said, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. You know the word pour out means, pour means not to sprinkle or just to dampen folks, it means that God today in great abundance is able to pour out what we stand in need of. Aren't you thankful today if you're here and saved that God poured out his mercy and his grace upon you? And I don't mean just a little bit, but God today means that he pours out, that it means that he... Let me back up before I make this statement. To pour out means in an abundance. If I have a very limited supply, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna ration it, and I'm gonna be very skimpy, I guess you would say, and slim about how we're gonna distribute that. Aren't you thankful today that God has an abundance of a rich supply that he is able to give unto mankind? Aren't you thankful today that if the heart is wicked, that God is able today to give us the riches of these things? He said, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. God said I'm going to give you something today and it's going to be for everybody. But I want you to listen to something today. I want to read just a little bit more here of the book of Joel chapter 2 and verse 28. He said and your sons and your daughters In other words, there's no respecter of male or female. Doesn't matter whether you're boy or girl, male or female, man or woman. Regardless of who you are, he said, God's presence and grace is going to be sufficient. Let's keep going here. Your sons and your daughters, he said, they shall prophesy. He goes on to say, and he said, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men. In other words, God's grace is not gonna be restricted to an age. He said, it's gonna be for all. He said, your young men shall see visions and also upon the servant and upon the handmaids. In other words, regardless of what your social status is, Listen to what he said, I'm going to pour this out. He said it's not based upon your gender. He said it's not going to be based upon your age. It's not going to be based upon your social status. He said it's going to be based upon your need. Can I ask you something today? How many people need Jesus? I want you to think about that. And I know that sounds like a very simple question, but the answer needs to be profoundly studied in our heart today. How many people truly need Jesus and know it? Here we see that the heart of the gospel is that there are people today that don't even know that they need Jesus. Church, there's work to be done. Church, there's people today that need to hear the gospel. And we see that Joel is talking about that it doesn't matter who you are. that gospel is gonna come unto you. For the Bible teaches us, the apostles said, there was neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, syntactin, bond or free, but Christ is all in all. I'm thankful today that God wants all of us to be able to experience his presence in our life. John chapter 14. I want to turn over for just a second. I don't want to wear your patience on this, but John chapter 14. And in verse 16, and I will pray the father. This is what he says. 14th chapter 16th verse. And I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter. So in other words, outside of the relationship of Christ, we don't find comfort. that He may abide with you forever. Comforter, somebody called alongside of you. Somebody called to be there with you. Do you know what I've learned about the Holy Spirit of God and the presence of Christ in our life? That the Holy Spirit of God does not work instead of us or in our place. or in spite of us, but the Holy Spirit of God works right alongside of us. Did you process that right there? Isn't it aren't you thankful today that the Holy Spirit is not doing a work for us, it's doing a work with us because there are some things in life that God is requiring us to do. This morning I want you to know something. God is requiring you. God is requiring mankind to repent or they will perish. Now can the Holy Spirit repent for you? Yes, but the Holy Spirit is called alongside of us. to help us to repent and to cry out unto God, for I will send you another comforter. Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. God gives us the presence that we need in our life. And I thank God that he gives us the promise of another comforter that's gonna come in our life and that God wants to give us what we need. But I wanna close this morning in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter five. That's where I wanna get over and read and we're gonna spend a minute here, but I really felt the need this morning to get over to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter five and listen to what Paul said. Remember what we said to you there in the very beginning that Ezekiel talks about, a new heart will I give you, a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. Listen to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter five. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Now, To me, it's pretty plain. There's a difference in you getting hand-me-down shoes versus new shoes. There's a difference in you getting a used vehicle versus a new vehicle. And I'm gonna say it once better than the other. What I'm saying is, used means somebody else had it and discarded it. Folks, your salvation experience is not something that somebody else discarded. It is yours and all yours. When God saved my soul, It's not like he went around this world somewhere and said, I need somebody that's a member of the church, that's really struggling in life, that you either want to die and leave it to Scott or that you want to get rid of it and give it to Scott. But you know what? God did not find somebody in the same situation I was and take their experience and give it to me. You know what God did? God gave me my own experience with Jesus. This morning I want you to know that you, in your life, that you have your own experience with Jesus. One of the magical questions people often ask is, how do I know I'm saved? Folks, a change happens. A change, and it's a change. Some people think, well, that's just me deciding I wanna do better, or that's just me, that I've done this or that. There's a change that happens not in your actions, but it's in the drive, or it's in the spirit that's behind those actions. There's a change, and it's a new heart. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Now, the word creature means he's a new creation. Remember what we said a while ago about earlier that a person has something that is incurable? So God didn't say, I'm just gonna clean that up. He said, I'm gonna give you something new. Folks, there's a creation of God, but then there's a new creation. That's why when you read in John chapter three, it talks about a man must be born again. It's a new creation that happens, not from a fleshly birth, but it's a heavenly birth that happens. And Paul said there, he said, therefore, if any man be in Christ. Today, folks, the great change happens not because we go to church. The change happens not because we know that we've got good people in our life, or the change doesn't happen because we had good parents or grandparents or next door neighbors, folks. The change happens because we have Jesus Christ in our life. Now let me ask you this, do you believe that we can be influenced by those around us? Absolutely, do I do that. But you know what else I believe, folks? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, folks. We can have a greater influence in us versus those around us. Folks, let me just say this in a plain sentence. May we be influenced by what's inside of us instead of what is around us. May we be influenced. May we be persuaded. May we feel what God has inside of us. For the heart of the gospel is, is that God is working inside of us. May we listen to him. May we be sensitive to him. May we do what he would have us to do. For he said, if any man be in Christ. People want to know, how do you change? You don't change on your own, folks. You've got to let Christ in. You've got to let Him be a part of that. And it doesn't just happen because we make some decision. You know, that is one of my deepest concerns, is that people want to go to heaven so bad that they get this carnal idea. They get this carnal concept that I just decide I want to do something. But the question is not what have you decided to do, have you had that new heart? Something that's real, something that sticks, something that's gonna last a while. But Christ, he said, but if any man be in Christ. Let me ask you something. Could you imagine, for just a minute, a person in Christ, What would that person in Christ look like? Christian, that's what the word Christian means today, to be Christ-like. If a person is in Christ, what does that look like? Now let's go to the other side of that. What happens to a person that is not in Christ? Now Christ-like or Christian means about the things of the Father, things of God. Our nature is the things that are against God. Remember what I said, let's rewind time. Remember what I said a little bit earlier, by our nature we sin against God, the things that are against Him, but all of a sudden when you get saved, then you want to please God. How many of you have had experience in your life where your want to changed? One of the fruits of the spirit, and we talked about that in Sunday school just a little bit, the fruits of the spirit is love. Now, instead of naturally rebelling against God, now we love God and what he wants. For he is a new creature. He's different. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are new. You know what happens to a person? All of a sudden, their dedication, their devotion to something has changed. You know what, folks? I'm gonna confess this to you. I used to just go to church, because that's just what you're supposed to do. Sunday morning, you just got up and you went to church. I want to tell you, and it wasn't a gradual change. When God saved my soul, I immediately wanted to go to church. I wanted to be in the Lord's house. I wanted to serve him. People today sometimes act like that. If you go to church, it's because you don't want to or there's no desire there. Let me ask you this. How many of you wanted to be in the Lord's house this morning? Folks today, one of the changes that happens is we have a desire for him. The world doesn't have that desire. The world is against him. He's a new creature. He's changed in what he is dedicated to, what he is devoted to, what his desires are. But he also goes on to say that I'm gonna change, which means I'm gonna get rid of some things in my life. I didn't mean it intentionally, but there was some things I got rid of in my life when I got saved. Now, some people might say, well, you got rid of those because those are a bad influence on you. No. Yes, that is a true statement. But the truth is I had to make room for Christ. And that means there were things I had to get rid of in my life. You know, some people think that to make room for Christ that you've got to get up things that you want. Folks, I'll tell you this. I got rid of everything I wanted because all I wanted was Jesus. He was it, and no matter how much I gave up of the world, when we talk about space, no matter how much I gave up of the world, do you know how much space He occupies? He'll occupy everything we give Him room for. He'll occupy your church life. Do you believe in that? If you give Him reigns and let Him reign and rule right here this morning, He'll reign and rule in your life. Do you believe He'll reign and rule in your houses? Will we give Him our houses? Do you think that He can reign and rule in your lives to the public? Do you believe in that? Yes, if we'll surrender to Him. In all aspects of our life, whatever we surrender to Him can be filled with His presence. And can I just say this? Let me give you my deep conviction of this. Everything that I gave up and was placed by Jesus, I did not lessen myself, and I regret one thing, folks. It is far better to have His presence than it was the presence of anything else. If you're here today and God is trying to do a work at the heart of the gospel, and God's trying to work in your heart, and maybe you're here this morning, and you're teetering right on the edge of that surrender and you're just clinging and you're just holding on. I assure you today that if you'll let go of the things of the world and let Christ move in, I assure you, you'll feel a whole lot greater peace than you'll get from this world. At the heart of the matter, Paul said, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold, all things are new. One of the greatest things that happens when we get saved Is it not only are all these things changing about us? Preacher, you've talked about a lot of changes this morning. But I cannot leave this morning without telling you the greatest change that happened. My destiny. I sat at that church house that night and I knew that my destiny was hell. I don't know what it was like with you. Nobody had to tell me I was lost. I knew that I was lost. I began to seek after the Lord that night, March the 18th, 30 years ago. And God saved my soul. And folks, from that very moment in time, I had just as sure that I knew I was going to hell. That's as sure as I am today to know that when I leave this world, I'm going to heaven. But this morning of all the changes that happened to me, just knowing where I'm going is worth all the praise that I can ever give Him. For people that live in doubt and uncertainty and unsurities of so many things, how many of you this morning are thankful that you can know where you're going when you leave this life? Anybody else on board with that? I'm glad this morning to know, and I want to be a testimony to you to this. If you ever hear that I have taken my last breath and I have slumbered in death, I want you to know something, folks. I am not going to a place called hell. I'm going to go to heaven, and it's not because what I've done, but it's because of that new heart, it's because of that change that happened inwardly. And then we went and expressed it outwardly. And here in the book of Ezekiel chapter 36, God's going to do a work in the hearts of the people that had gone through some pretty hard times in their life, and here's the situation. Coming out of the captivity, they were in a place that they did not want to stay, and they wanted things to change. This morning, if you want things to change, can I tell you something? Can I give you some good news? The gospel, the good news? Things can change for you, but it's gonna take you surrendering your heart to Jesus. Today, I'm thankful for that new heart that he gives us. I'm thankful for that new spirit, and it's a heart of flesh. You know what that flesh just means? He said, flesh is a word that means to feel. When I got saved, folks, I felt something. I felt it. It's hard to describe it, but you sure can feel it. You've heard me say this before. It's kind of like pain. You can't see it. You can't describe it. But boy, when you feel it, you know that's what it is. Folks, God's presence is much the same way. I can't describe exactly what it's like. I cannot let you see what pain in the presence of God is. But I can tell you this, it's something you will feel. Today, do you feel God knocking at your heart's door? I pray that if it is God, that you would just surrender to him. That's what I had on my heart this morning. I pray that God would just bless his word this morning. Let's get a song if we could.