Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Perfect Heart

Hallelujah! Amen! It's good to be in His presence. We're excited about a lot of the testimonies the Lord's been doing in our midst and looking for some great things ahead.

We want to pray tonight. Ronnie is going to be¾ let's see, what is it? Eight, seven, fifteen-Ronnie is going to see the RG again at, I think it was two o’clock in the afternoon, their time. They're seven hours ahead of us. His little note in the E-mail said, "I think this is the time," for the third or fourth time.

We're believing the Lord to open the doors of utterance for us. Amen? You know, the hesitation, the timing of God is perfect; and I believe a lot of what's going on in our lives, the stirring, is going to be right in direct timing with God's purpose for us in Africa. We're going to be going and moving with weapons that are not carnal, but they’re mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Amen? The spirit that we're dealing with, the spirit of religion that they're dealing with in Africa, is not warfare of flesh and blood. These are deep-rooted demonic powers that have held that nation in its control for centuries. You're not going to be successful with man's methods. I believe God is stirring our hearts and the hearts of Ron and Tony and preparing us for a supernatural warfare that's going to be able to affect some of those areas in ways that they have not been effected before. So your intercession, the prayers, I believe is going to make all the difference in the world; and God's timing is perfect, praise God. We're believing for this, tomorrow, for the doors to open up. If not, then we're ready when God's ready. His timing is always perfect.

Let's pray for them right now that we'd receive favor. This is truly the heart of the king being turned by the hand of the Lord; and we need to believe. Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus for the privilege of sharing this Gospel, Father. The doors that are being open supernaturally for us, and we ask that you give Ron wisdom and that there would be a favor for the king that their eyes would be opened to the hand of God. We know that your purposes cannot be thwarted, Father, so we rest in divine assurance that you will open doors that no man can open; and for that we give you the glory Father. We bind all principalities and powers that would oppose the Name of Jesus. We go, Father, in the Name that is above every name. We go in peace, Father, that passes all understanding; and we will give You all the glory; for in ourselves Father, we can do nothing; but we can do all thing through Christ which strengthens us. Father, we give You the praise. Amen! Amen!

Exciting! How many of you are looking forward to going to Africa? Are you? Any of you that are going looking forward to coming back and you haven't gone yet? You will once you go.

We were able to get some good rest on our cruise. The family—I was sharing with you before we left, my family said, "Do you want to go on a cruise?" "I don't think I want to go on a cruise. There isn't any way I'm going to sit on a deck for seven days and not do anything." They said, "It's not really like that any more." I said, "I'm not interested." They said, "Well, we're paying." I said, "When are we leaving?" So, we were able to go and had a very good time. Not uneventful. We were in Ft. Lauderdale—Janet and I went a few days early just to rest up before we had to meet the family. They're an interesting group. It came to—at the very end you tip the stewards and waiters and all of these people. They have little envelopes that says steward and this kind of stuff. My grandmother was all concerned. Grandma went—she is 91. She is just cranking. She hasn't slowed down a bit. Well, for 91 hasn't slowed down a bit, she’s a little slower than she was at 80. She said, "We have to tip all of these and do all of this." Yeah, okay—so as usual, my cousin and my brother and I were giving them all a hard time about the different things and went on teasing them. So finally my cousin Tim said, "Bob, are you going to be able to do this? This requires putting money in envelopes." I said, "No, I don't know how to do this. We just take money out. In fact, we have a guy we pay full time to take money out." So we won.

Tim's little wife, they own half of Salt Lake City. Every time Salt Lake City airport expands they have to buy land from them. Tim's mother-in-law, I think, is worth about 185 million dollars, or something. I told him to make sure to make his offerings appropriate. We did find some offering envelopes at the last dinner that Tim had made up; and we had different envelopes with a dollar in them. He said, "How come people don't give more?" He said, "Now the Mormon Church, they require ten percent. Do you guys require ten percent in your church?" I said, "No we don't require anything. God requires it." He said, "How come in a lot of churches, people don't give?" I said, "They don't preach on Hell enough!" So we had a good time, enjoyable time. I got sun poisoning in Ft. Lauderdale while we were waiting for the cruise, so I wasn't able to spend a lot of time in the sun, but it was kind of cool. We stopped at St. Martins and virtually everybody went ashore. So Janet and I had a 950-foot yacht to ourselves. I swam in all five swimming pools and nobody else was there. I'd swim in one for a while—nobody was around so we'd get up, walk down, nobody was there—we ordered hamburgers and everything at the grill. We were the only people on board. We were just cruising around. I'm in the video games—nobody was there. We were up playing gulf—nobody was there. It was great. If you can afford a 950-foot yacht, you know, it's pretty nice. We enjoyed ourselves on that and had a great time.

A lot of shows going on—we were in this one show, the guy was a singer, impersonator. The guy was good. You could close your and couldn't tell if this guy wasn’t Nat King Cole. He did Sammy Davis, Jr. He did Ray Charles. He was really, really good. So he's doing his thing and singing along. He was singing a lot of good '50s songs. I was just enjoying myself and like I do sometimes, I just close my eyes and went away to myself. I'm sitting there and Janet goes "Bob! Bob!" I said, "What?" I opened my eyes and he was standing right there. He was singing this sing-a-long thing "Charlie Brown." "He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see..." Then the guy sticks the mike in my face—ha, ha—so I said, "Why’s every body always pickin’ on me?" And a thousand people erupted cheering. This guy said, "What's your name?" I said, "Star!" He had trouble with that one. So afterward, people were stopping us in the halls, we were signing autographs. So they booked us on the next cruise—I'll be singing on the¾ we did have a good time.

Let's turn to the book of II Chronicles. Jeff was jealous. I told him how nice it was on the cruise. In fact, he almost couldn’t stand it. About 7:30 or so we'd have pre-breakfast delivered. So we'd have some pre-breakfast: half a grapefruit, juice. We'd go up for breakfast. They had everything you could imagine. It was just eat, eat, eat. The last day—I try to watch, because I can put on weight just by looking at it. It's nice, the last dinner I had was four lobster tails, chateaubriand, baked Alaska. Just your normal type meal. It was an interesting time.

II Chronicles 25. As the Spirit of God has been moving in our midst and stirring our hearts, we've been dealing with, of course, that Biblical principal of II Timothy 1:6, to stir up the gift that has been given us by the putting on of hands by the anointed of God. The Holy Spirit has truly been stirring us up; and the gifts that are in us because of the gifts that are among us and the Word that has been taught to us. The example that has been set before us in these years and God is stirring us up. The key, though, is to remain stirred up. Amen? It's easy to get excited for a moment; and yet we're not in a sprint, we're in a marathon. The key is finishing the race.

We want to talk a little bit and take this moment in the midst of stirring, and go back and deal with a lot of the move of God in our midst and the power of God. To set our heart and make sure we don't in any way get puffed up as begin to see the hand and the power of God moving in our midst; because without him we can do what? Nothing, absolutely nothing. What we're going to be seeing manifested in our lives isn't going to have to do with out abilities, how much faith we have in our faith, but how much relationship we have with our Lord. It's going to be in direct correlation to the relationship that we have with Jesus. Not some kind of formula or effort that we make on our own, but more an awareness of God's desire to do these things in our midst. We don't make God do it; He wants to do it and we allow it in our lives because we trust Him. God wants you healed. God wants us to move in victory and in authority in this world. We need to understand that it's a finished work by the blood of Jesus; and we need to rest in that. So we're stirring that up in our lives, but we're living in a time when the affluence of this nation is so dangerous to us. There are so many distractions that are there that are vying for our energy and attention; so we want to finish this course.

II Chronicles 25:2, speaks concerning Amaziah, and it says, "And he did that which was right in the sight of Lord, but not with a perfect heart." He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. We're doing some stuff that is right, but the issue is no, do we have the perfect heart? The perfect heart here isn't speaking just about our attitudes that are involved. It doesn't have to do just with is the origin behind why we're doing what we're doing. You see, a lot of people are pulled along by the crowd. We're moved to and fro by the crowd and the people who are around us, and it doesn't necessarily have to do with our own character. It doesn't necessarily have to do with the pursuit of our own lives, but we're being influenced by those who are around us. So that can bear some good fruit, yet we need to understand do we have the perfect heart? So important for us to understand. In fact, look back, if you would, just a couple of chapters in the Chronicles passage. II Chronicles as you are studying these different kings we have Jehosaphat and some of the others that are at hand. It is important to see that in the midst of these things there are those that are influenced by their leaders and the others that were in their midst; but their own hearts weren't perfect before God. As you look at these particular passages, it is a reminder to us, I think, that each of us has to prepare our hearts, our lives, before God. We have to dig our own wells as we have seen over the years, and YOU are going to stand before the Lord.

In this particular king and this particular life here in chapter 25, it's a man not well known, Amaziah. We say, what was it that caused him to lack the perfect heart? We see in chapter 24, between Joash and Jehoiada, some of that same spirit. Chapter 24:2 says, And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of his life. Is that how your Bible reads? "And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of [What?] Jehoiada the priest." Joash was doing what was right not because he had a perfect heart, but because he had pressure on him. He had an example that was walking before him, and someone that he could follow. As long as Jehoiada was there leading the way and keeping him motivated, Joash was doing what was right. "And it came to pass after this, [verse 4 says,] that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord." What an admirable thing that was taking place. They brought in the money. We've all heard of the Joash chest that was there. We realize that in addition to the tithes and the offerings unto the Lord, the Joash chest was established, and it was there for one thing. The Joash chest was there to put money to refurbish the House of the Lord. Jesus said, The zeal of your house has done something. What? It's eaten me up. The House of the Lord is the visible meeting place between God and his people. It is where the sacrifices are offered, where the Spirit¾ the shechina glory¾ descends and we encounter God. It's something that is to be referenced. The House of the Lord is something that is to receive priority in our lives. So from year-to-year they ministered to the Lord with these offerings. In the midst of all of this, then, the House of the Lord being in disrepair, verse 7 says, "For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God...." They emphasize their own lives and their own prosperity, living in sealed houses, as the prophet of God said, when the House of the Lord was in disrepair.

That spirit is so prevalent in our day. We've done something just recently to combat that spirit in our own midst. You see what we did was not just to freshen up the Sanctuary, it was to deal with a spirit. That spirit that so emphasizes self, self-interest, and as Isaiah the prophet said in verse 47:8. You might want to look over there, but keep your finger there in Chronicles. This passage is so powerful. It says, "Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me...." "...I am, and none else beside me...." You see, that is the spirit that we're combating when we're in pursuit of the perfect heart; because the greatest among us is who? The servant of all. Not the one who promotes themselves, but the servant of all. The first and great commandment is: Love the Lord your God with—Do you love God this morning? Or this evening? If we love God with a perfect heart its with all of our heart. The Lord just doesn't occupy certain areas, certain cabins, of our heart—compartments is the word I was looking for. He oversees all of our heart. He occupies all of our thoughts and everything that we do, we do by His strength and aware of His presence and for His glory. We may not be aware that we're ministering something eternal at the time, but our lives are testimonies. Our lives are epistles that are read of men. Whether you know it or not, we’re different. We effect people differently because our treasures aren't here on earth. So we can speak to people truthfully. We can make comments to employers and family members and even enemies that natural men can't make, because we don't fear their faces and they don't own us; but if we're moving with an attitude of I am and none else beside me…

If what we're looking for is a person who is given to pleasure and that pleasure isn't just the chateaubriand that we were speaking of, or whatever. We're not speaking about that. We're speaking of the pleasure of the ease on ourselves. What makes life easy for me? The path of least resistance. You see, what we need to be aware of is in this last day, the path that you and I are going to be traveling is a path of opposition. People should be hating us for His name’s sake. I'm talking about the majority. Of course, there is going to be a remnant that's going to be drawn to us and say, "Man, I want to be like you. What I've seen in you is Jesus and that's the void that's in my life." There are going to be those in the remnant, but it's not going to be the majority. What kind of a spirit is this that is trying to dominate our lives? One that is given to pleasure, that dwells carelessly, that says "...I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children...." Someone who can't foresee any adversity or tragedies in life—the universe revolves around me and my well being. We need to be very careful of those kind of philosophies that are in the world that can effect our lives. The "gain is godliness."

I want to talk about gain, I'm just not talking about monetary things. We're talking about personal exaltation, ease of life, all of these things that the flesh is so desirous of; and tragically, regardless of what course we may be on now and how well our performance may be now, what we want to ask this evening is this: Is it because we have a perfect heart? Or is it because we're following Jehoiada? What is going on inside of you as the Spirit of God is moving in our midst? Chapter 24, as we look at this story again. Joash, under the influence of his mentor, his personal prophet and priest, is doing that which is right in the eyes of the Lord; and they ministered to the Lord day by day, verse 11 says, and gathered money in abundance for the house of the Lord. They finished the work that was at hand. Verse 14, "...And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord all the days of [Joash.]" How does yours read? "...all the days of [Who?] Jehoiada. But Jehoiada waxed old...." Verse 17, "Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and...the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them...but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada...." Aren't you glad for a godly generation that is being raised up? The son of Jehoiada, a prophet of God. Oh, would to God that our children would be prophets that could speak against the age that we're living in. That our lives would be such an example to them that they would be influenced by our zeal for God and not the wealth of the throne. Living in a day when people spell God: D-O-W! Mesmerized by all those little initials running across the screen. How's the DOW doing today? How's the DOW.... You would think it was an entity. Where's your trust? Who is your God? And be careful when Jehoiada is gone, counselors will come and turn you in another direction.

The prophet speaks, Zechariah son of Jehoiada, verse 20, "...Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord...." Following the world you can never prosper. Look at verse 20. Get it into your hearts. Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord that you can not prosper? The moment you go against the word of God, you can not prosper. To a friend of the world is to be what? The enemy of God. We were talking about the world system, their ideology.

There is a lot of debate today over the gun issue. They're trying to take away the Second Amendment rights that we have in this country. They're doing a pretty good job. Who knows what the outcome is going to be politically? Of course, the premise of this humanistic approach is completely wrong. The premise is that guns are bad and people are good; and if we can get rid of the bad guns the good people wouldn't get hurt. But as I read the Bible, Cain didn't shoot Able. You don't need a gun to kill your brother. The first murderer who was moved out of envy and lust, the son of Adam, of whom we are all children. Those of us who the Bible says live in total depravity with sin in all of our members. In me, the apostle says, that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. Without Jesus we're all capable of that murderous spirit. To hate your brother, the Bible says, makes you a murderer. To love them less than you love yourselves. To love them less than you are commanded by His lordship, makes us murderers. The false premise is man is basically good; and we all know that man in inherently evil and in need of a savior; and that there is no good thing. That good isn't just good deeds that are done, it's the reliance on the finished work, the blood of Jesus Christ, that makes us acceptable in God's sight and not, in fact, our behavior or deeds. So, as we look through the Scriptures, we understand that to oppose the commandments of God, you can't prosper; and yet we're living in a society that wants God to be dead. Wants to be free to do their own thing, to set their own standards; the existential thought, of course, the life without absolutes. Everything being relative. There is no prosperity because the greatest treasure we all know we can have is the presence of God, the assurance that we are accepted in the beloved. None of these other things matter. The prophet speaks to him and says there is no gain, there is no prosperity, there is no peace outside the commandments of God; but verse 22 says "...Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it." He did! The Lord knows how to reward the wicked and to preserve the righteous, so where is your trust today? What's the heart attitude that is driving us? Is it one of Joash that is being moved by externals and as soon as that's gone, we're at the mercy of the spirit of this world? Or, is there another spirit in us like there was in Caleb? Have you spent long enough to look at your own heart? Have you been quiet before God in these last weeks, as the stirring is taking place in our midst, and ask the question: Lord, how does this all relate to me? What you're doing this moment in our midst. What is it you're trying to reveal to my heart; because the whole issue, beloved, is not how much can we do that is seen, but how much rest is there working in us now to rely upon God in all of these assaults that we face on a daily basis.

We talked about the need to trust God for our healing, and all we were addressing there was the lack of reliance and peace in our lives that God was going to provide, and our tendency towards the natural and the quick fix. That God wasn't being glorified in our reliance, trust, in Him. So we've stirred our hearts up and the evidence of it is seen. It brings a joy. Obedience brings a joy. It brings an excitement of anticipation of what God is going to do next. But beloved, there are going to be those times of adversity and trial where there has to be that rest. If you will see this phrase the perfect heart. It says he did not have a perfect heart. He did what was right, but did not have the perfect heart. You'll see this phrase used through out the Scriptures and it speaks of a heart that endures or continues in what is right. The perfect heart is one that finishes the course, that continues in the goodness of God. It's not just an attitude. It's not just a momentary obedience and manifestation of a work, it's a lifestyle. The perfect heart is a lifestyle. The perfect heart is that childlike innocence that we approach Him as little children. Now, not the bazaar way that is going on in Europe right now. People can really mess some stuff up.

There is this group over in England that took this Scripture, and because of approaching Him as a child, they are wearing diapers; and using them! Now, you sit there and say, "This is stupid!" and you're right. But people get off course in so many different ways. We've talked about in the 60's and 70's, the people who were casting out demons and everybody was vomiting in bags in church, and those were the demons coming out. People do bizarre things. The reason people get off course in all these things is because they miss the basic premise of "relationship, not performance." Relationship, not performance. We are the sons of God, heirs and joint heirs in Christ Jesus. Beloved, it's the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Amen? We're not trying to earn or gain things. It's not a performance, it's an assurance and a reliance; but, if you don't have it you have to imitate it. It's that lack of relationship that creates the hearts of an Ananias and Sapphira who needs to been seen as one as whose part though not able to give all; and God will ultimately judge that. He judged it there instantaneously. In some of our lives it will be ultimately. You know your heart. Until God revealed the heart of Ananias and Sapphira, nobody else knew it; but God knew it.

Joash's heart was known of God. Nobody knew it. He was following in the steps of Jehoiada. Everything looked great until he was left on his own. So when there is a move of God and it's moving us along, it can give us a false image of ourselves. It's like the people in the stands during the football game that are saying, "We're number one!" and they didn't play a down. That vicarious association. What is your relationship with Him this evening? Is your heart one that is perfect before God, set to finish this course regardless of what else happens around us? That's the bottom line in moving in those ways that are pleasing to the Lord.

The 20th chapter of Chronicles—you may want to look back there for just a moment. Chapter 20, verse 33 talking about the time of Jehoshaphat. It says, "Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers." You see, there were a lot of things that were happening that were visible, that were immediate; but there were the high places, up in the obscure areas that hadn't yet been pulled down. Yet it's the little foxes that spoil the vine. The things that are in the deep recesses of our heart that have to be dealt with. How are the high places—let's use a different term, the hidden places? So often we can get caught up in a move of God and we begin to turn and focus and we forget that all of these moves were ultimately to deal with the high places, the hidden places, to where all of the idols were to be driven out of our lives. Thank God for the stirring up and thank God for the dealing with the obvious, but what about the obscure? As his move in our midst reveals our hearts to us, not necessarily others, but to ourselves.

Amos 6:1 says, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion...." You know, when things are going well, this momentum is taking place, he says be careful that you don't ever come to that place to where you're at ease, that you understand that need of reliance upon Him for our daily bread. Do you remember in Matthew, 22, the teaching of the Lord concerning the invitation, and how in Matthew, 22:5, those who were bidden "...made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise." They made light of this call to the presence of God. The Spirit of God isn't calling us into this area of this walk in the Spirit and the supernatural to entertain us to just to preserve us, or make life easier. It's to bring us into his presence in this last day to prepare us for his soon coming; to separate us unto himself, a people who are going to hear the words, "…Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Mat. 25:23) I believe that God is calling us again into the supernatural because that's the only thing that's going to preserve us in the time to come. I believe that God, while we still have the seven years of plenty, is preparing our hearts to be wise and not be found wanting in the days of the justice of God. So let's see it for what it is, this move of God in our lives, a preparation to where there would be no ease in Zion. That we would examine our hearts and prepare ourselves for what's ahead.

I Corinthians 9 says it this way—as we're looking at the preparatory work that is taking place. Look at verses 24 - 25, a passage that we're all familiar with. It's one that's so appropriate, I think, for what the Spirit has been doing in our midst, stirring us—I Corinthians 9:24 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain."

Over all the years it's been really the emphasis of the ministry here. People over the years have perceived us as being hard. Some have perceived us as being hard, others—egotistical, others that were observing and talking about legalism and all of these different things that people who have not wanted to be obedient have attached to ourselves and others who wanted to be. Really, if you want to deal with it for what it is, all it's been these many years have been a zeal for God. A desire for excellence, and nothing else being acceptable. I don't know any other way to do things but to give it your best shot! I know that in some people these are things that are instilled in us as children, but whether it's instilled in you as a child or not isn't the issue. We're all responsible for that kind of a pursuit of God. Weather it's instilled in us as a child or whether it's kind of a natural tendency to us isn't the issue. It can be put into us. We've used the illustration so many times: the Bible uses it with different coaching.

What about this thing with coach Knight out in Indiana? Is that a joke? Is that an indication of our day? The guy choked me! He didn't kill you, he just choked you. You're saying, "that dude doesn't—he's not going to choke me!" Of course he's not going to choke you if you don't go on the court. He choked a guy that came to play basketball for him that said, "I want to play for a winning team. How do you produce winning teams?" "I choke my players." "I don't want to win that bad." "Okay, then go play in Podunk and lose; but I will motivate you any way necessary to win. If I’ve got to kick you, choke you, beat you—we will win!" So then you get people who want to move in that kind of environment because they want to win, and there is a common spirit and guess what? You know, they were lucky all those years, that he was coaching there, to win. You say, "Pastor, do you believe in choking people?" If necessary! Why do you think all of those thousands of people have left here? We choked them; and they went and told the papers, and everybody wanted to say, "You can't do that!" and when they told us we can't do that, we choked them. That's a little extreme, I understand, but I'm getting the point across. It may not be too extreme, but anyway—run to obtain. Are you going to do what is necessary to win? Your flesh opposes God! Somebody has to help you, if you're not doing it yourself, to bring this flesh under. It's not acceptable! It must die daily. There is a cross to be taken up and a price to be paid; and there is a life to be won. Amen? Are you willing to pay the price? Most people are not. Run to win!

People jog. I hate jogging! What's that all about? I want to race. If I'm going to jog, I want to race. I want a trophy at the end; and I want to win. I want to work hard. I want to train myself. You say, "Well, I'm running, I'm training myself." If you're running for your health and these different things, that’s good, but you'll probably die anyway. You will; and eight fat people will carry your casket. They'll be eating a hamburger carrying you along there. The excellency of heart. The heart that understands that there is a race to be won, there is a price to be paid, there is a finish line that we're working towards.

I don't like to exercise. I don't like exercise. I don't mind—to me, I love to play racquetball. I love to compete against somebody. I hate just working out. I want to work out with somebody else and be able to see if you can push yourself beyond what you were able to do last time. Of course, you're working out with other people. I know that not everybody is this way, but to me working out is not enough. If I'm going to be working out I want to move more weight than everybody else in there. You say, "That's pride." It's excellence. It's saying, I won’t settle for anything less than my best; and my best should be better than everybody else’s. Why should you think that? Why shouldn't I? What is it that causes us to settle for less? Lot of times we think it's a humility, when in fact it's a pride that won't let you try your best because you might not finish on top. You know, the one that appears proud isn't always the one who is proud. Run to obtain, and every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in everything that takes away from the prize that he is pursuing. How temperate are we then—we’re talking about stirring up the gift that is in us. How temperate are we as we’re pursuing this walk of the supernatural? We begin to watch now our lives and say, "Okay, this thing is taking away from my pursuit. This is taking away from my pursuit." We know that there are a lot of things in our lives that in and of themselves are amoral, they’re not bad. It’s not sin. The question is: Is it in some way hindering this pursuit or my involvement in the kingdom? Now, if everything we do is for the kingdom¾ heart attitude¾ then we have a lot greater latitude because God can use us in so many different avenues. You see, teaching the children in Children’s Church is all there is to ministry. You can minister in so many different areas. You can minister on the job. You can minister as you’re out playing golf or cruising the malls for the new sale. (Hums theme from "Jaws") You’re going through looking for that new sale that you can attack. I guess somebody has to reach all of those people who work in those stores.

Look at it, verse 25, the perfect heart—mastery. Are you striving tonight for the mastery or are you satisfied? Are you satisfied with the ease in Zion, or do you understand that there is more to be obtained in our pursuit? Is this sufficient? Is what we have sufficient? Is what we had sufficient? I think not, because there is no way to exhaust the resources of God, His presence in our lives. We have the example, Jesus, of someone whose life was totally reliant upon the Father. Beloved, the ability to sleep in the back of the boat in the midst of the greatest storms. A wisdom to be able to be quiet when people are accusing you, or to speak at the right time and say, "You can’t take my life, I have to lay it down." You better be careful when you make a statement like that that you’re not just shooting your mouth off. You may find out—whoops, that was not necessarily representing the kingdom. I was just kind of blowing smoke and they took me out. Jesus knew when to be silent and He knew when to speak. When He spoke, the Scriptures says, no man ever spoke like this man. What is that talking about that no one ever spoke. It says He speaks as one having authority. He speaks like someone who is assured, who knows who he is. Do you know who you are this evening? The perfect heart knows exactly how we relate to Father. Knows and understands the process of excellence, the pursuit of the mastery, the running to obtain; because of those things, confident that Father is going to confirm his word with signs following. Natural does it for a corruptible crown. We for an incorruptible. It’s amazing what they go through for those corruptible crowns.

I was just looking a car magazine this morning. The guy is standing there, he is all proud, he has his check. It was one of the biggest shows in Detroit, Rods, and different cars. The guy has this check there for $7,500.00. I said look, Janet, that guy spent a $150,000.00 to get that $7,000.00 check. That’s not smart! Corruptible crowns! What a beautiful little thing that Rod was, and he got his corruptible crown. A lot of time and effort—hundreds and thousands of hours¾ all of the people's work. The Scripture says it all burns up. They have their reward, they have their god; but verse 26 says¾ and Paul referred to it as a game¾ As they run, so I run. They run for a corruptible, we for an incorruptible.

My cousin—his house—he was telling me he sits on his back deck and can see the ski jump for the Olympics that are coming up in Sun Valley, or wherever, Park City. You look at different Olympic games—these ski jumper guys—those guys—I would like to know the guy who thought that up. You know what? They always get their friends to do it. If you put these things on, I’ll go down there and measure how far you went. There is always somebody to encourage you.

My brother was always the encourager. I'd be okay, yeah! Blaak!!!! Good idea! When I was a kid we had some yellow jackets had a big hole in the backyard. A bunch of them. He told me, "Look, if you take this quart jar out there and pour that water in there you will drown them all." I said, "Okay." I went out there and poured that water in there—here they came! They were in my hair, down my shirt—I ran to obtain. External motivation. Running for your life instead of a corruptible crown; and that's what we're doing. Keeping, verse 27, as we end for this evening, our bodies under. Bring it into subjection lest by any means we preach to other and I myself should be a castaway, the apostle in saying.

We're living our lives, each one of us. As we encourage those around us in pursuit. The question at hand is for each of us personally; do we have a perfect heart? Is the course set? Is the goal clear? Is the effort being made, one that is acceptable to God? Are we laying aside every weight, and the sins that so easily beset us, as the writer of Hebrews tells us? Where are we in pressing on towards the mark, the prize, the high calling of God. So as we stir in our midst, let's look way beyond the natural stirring and the benefits of it which would be healing. Let's even look past the so important aspect of the godly seed in the next generation. How important that is, and the emphasis needs to remain on that. Let's realize what we're really talking about is the crown that waits us, so that with II Timothy 4 we can say, "I fought a good fight, I've finished the face, I've kept the faith." Because the minute we begin to stir these things up there is going to be opposition. Establish your hearts. Wait for the counterattack. Don't be moved, but in fact fortify, become more diligent, press with all of your might towards the prize, and in due season if you don't faint we're going to reap.

Father, we thank you for the word of God. We ask that each one of us would search our hearts this evening and understand the course that is before us, the war that is at hand, the excitement of battles won; but there is a war to be won. It is not enough to win battles; the war must be won. There must be a resolve that we will stand in that last day. Having done all, stand. For those of us who strive for the mastery become temperate in all of those other areas. Father, make it clear tonight, the prize. Let us see Jesus clearly tonight. Father, put in our hearts a hunger to see your face and to hear well done; and nothing else could carry that weight in our lives, but just hearing those words "I’m proud of you. Well done. Enter in." The perfect heart is one of right relationship who lives not for himself but for the glory of his Father. Grant it, Father, in each of us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. As Gary plays for us and we allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. I had a coach like Bobby Knight. He's my favorite coach. He was one of the great motivators I've ever seen. He knew how to be gentle and encourage, and at the same time he could very caustic. I thank him because as a young man, at that time in my life, wanting everything to come easy, he was able to teach that excellence is at a price. The men that make it look so easy in public are the ones like a Larry Bird that stay when everyone else has gone in has a goal to be obtained. The Jerry Rice's who run the mountains when no one else is around. There are no newspapers around. They are running to obtain, working to achieve. Yes, natural skills, but honed, that make you stand out. Those things don't happen, they are obtained.

Moses paid a price. Joshua and Caleb paid a price. Paul and Peter and John paid a price, and it's not free to us. Grace is provided freely to enable us to endure, to prepare. Faith, imparted by the promises of God, sustains us as the revelation by grace motivates us; and we say I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Trust, reliance, assurance in His great victory, appropriates it. Stir up the gift and let Him give us a new heart of flesh—a heart of excellence and perfection, a perfect heart in Jesus name. Let's sing it together.

"Jesus Draw Me Close."

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, Lord, that we would glorify your name. We love you, Jesus. Sing it one more time. Lord, that you would be glorified in our lives.

"Jesus Draw Me Close."

Lord, that you could show yourself mighty in our midst. Lord, that we would show your glory. Hallelujah! Just take a moment. Just worship Him. Thank Him for working in our lives. Thank Him for the opportunity to serve Him and to go into the highways and byways with the power of this Gospel compelling men to come. Jesus, as we move in the power and authority of your name, as the sick are healed, Lord, as the demons are cast out, we stand in that assurance of a course set, a life and a heart prepared, a victory won. People look at our lives and say, "You’re different. You speak differently, as one having an experience, one with authority." It's only because He is alive. Jesus is risen. The life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. What I have I freely give. In the Name of Jesus, be healed—be loosed; and when the perfect heart speaks, the heart of compassion because others are as frail as we are but dust, the heart of assurance in the finished work of Jesus. When the perfect heart speaks, mountains are removed to the sea, dead are raised, blind eyes are opened, the poor receive the Gospel. Give us perfect hearts, Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "When you seek Him, you'll find Him." Go in peace, God's love go with you in Jesus’ name.

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