SPIRITUAL HEART SURGERY
We hope today’s message was encouraging and helpful. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or to be used for a Bible/sermon group study. Enjoy!
Main Scripture: MALACHI
The book of Malachi has revealed many valuable lessons about a relationship with God. For instance: 1. Mankind struggled and cannot keep God’s law faithfully. 2. God is eternally patient and merciful to us. 3. We needed an intervention, such as spiritual heart surgery, to truly love and obey God with all our hearts. Thankfully, the Old Testament ends exactly where it needed to for Christ to come and offer a new covenant and the law written not on tablets of stone but on our hearts so we could have a faithful relationship with God.
Notes:
The Problem: Sinful hearts incapable of obeying God’s laws perfectly
We find an interesting statement in the book of Deuteronomy after God had given the people of Israel all the laws they would need to observe to stay in fellowship with him. “But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear” (Deuteronomy 29:4). Israel could not understand the things of God, nor could they truly obey them fully because their hearts were not right. After this verse, God tells them that, in the near future, they are going to break his covenant and fall under his wrath. As we read the rest of the Bible, this is exactly what happens.
Why couldn’t they keep the covenant? Because the law was outside them. It was not inside them. “Laws on the outside can’t change the inside. There must be a change on the inside to obey the law on the outside. We try to change ourselves with outside influences all the time. Through all kinds of rules, disciplines, routines, and restrictions, we try to change our actions. We try to fight sin, become holy, and transform our behavior by laws exterior to ourselves. But this will never work, laws can’t change hearts.” -David Bowden, Rewire Your Hearts
So what hope did they have? What hope do we have? If we can’t follow God’s commands and stay in the right relationship with him, what needs to be done? We need new hearts.
Can we change our own hearts? Are we capable of doing the inner work of heart transformation necessary to follow God, love Jesus, and listen to the Spirit? No.
Thankfully, in the next chapter of Deuteronomy, God makes a promise to fix our hearts. Deuteronomy 30:6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!
The Solution: Spiritual Heart Surgery through the New Covenent, The Gospel
The new covenant would be different. God writes the law of this covenant on his people’s hearts. It would be inside them. We receive a heart transplant, if you will.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
What was needed, as God revealed through Jeremiah in this passage, was not another covenant renewal but an internal transformation of the people based upon the divine provision of complete forgiveness…This new covenant relationship would not be “skin-deep” and subject to the waywardness of the people but “heart-deep” and permanently enduring. Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, pp. 280–281). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
V. 31-32
The exact phrase “new covenant” is found nowhere else in the OT, although the ideas associated with it are frequently expressed. A covenant is an agreement between two or more parties in which obligations are placed on one or both. One type common in the ancient near east (a “treaty”) was between parties of unequal power, in which the stronger placed obligations on the weaker party (e.g., 1 Sam 11:1–2; Exod 19–24). Another type (a “contract”) was between parties of equal bargaining power and consisted of mutual obligations (e.g., Jacob and Laban’s agreement in Gen 29:15–18). Perhaps the most interesting type theologically, the type most applicable in this passage, was the “grant.” It was between parties of unequal power in which the stronger obligated himself for the benefit of the weaker party without reciprocal demands (e.g., with Noah in Gen 9:8–17, with Abraham in Gen 12:1–3, and with David in 2 Sam 7:11–16).Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 281). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
The substitution would not come immediately, however (note “the time is coming” in v. 31). The Mosaic covenant would remain in effect, governing the lives of the people until the inauguration of the new one, which the incarnate Lord of the covenant declared would be at his crucifixion (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; cf. Heb 10:1–8). Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 283). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
The five “I wills” in the passage, together with references to “my covenant,” “my law,” and “my people,” demonstrate clearly that as in the other major theological covenants, it would be God taking the initiative. Human history since the garden of Eden (Gen 3:8–10) has been the story of humankind’s flight from God and his pursuit of us. The God who speaks in these verses is a pursuing God, who refuses to leave his people alone to follow their own self-destructive paths. He is a God of new beginnings (v. 22; Isa 42:9; 43:18–19; 48:6) who will never give up but will always do whatever is necessary to work out his best in our lives (Rom 8:28)...When Israel proved to be incapable of relating to God according to the Mosaic covenant, he provided a new one that would compensate for their lack. He is a God who not only comes down to us (Phil 2:6–8) but in the process lifts us up toward him (Eph 2:5–7). Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 284). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
V. 33-34 Written law on their hearts…
V. 33 Rather than on tablets of stone (Exod 31:18; Deut 4:13), God promised to write the law on “minds” (qereb, better “inmost being,” a more general term than “heart”) and “hearts” (cf. 17:1–2; Rom 7:4–6; 2 Cor 3:3, 6–16). The radical nature of this change is emphasized elsewhere by speaking of a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ezek 18:31; 36:26; cf. Ezek 11:19; Jer 24:7; 32:39). It is to be performed by God’s Spirit (Ezek 36:27; 37:14) and can be called in NT terms “regeneration” or “rebirth” (see John 1:10–13; 3:1–10; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 1:3, 23; 1 John 4:7; 5:18).
Ezekiel 36:25-27 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
This is why striving to be Holy or to obey God's commands doesn't work. Eventually, any zeal and discipline will fade away. But Jesus and the Holy Spirit renew the heart so that it actually has a desire to love and serve God.
External law is burdensome. Fallen human nature rebels against bowing to external demands or threats to obey. Those under the new covenant will obey God not out of duty or fear but out of a God-given desire and ability to do so (cf. Rom 8:1–4; 2 Cor 5:14). Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, pp. 284–285). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
V. 34 The result of the new covenant is to be the universal knowledge of God. The Mosaic law required the people to teach the law to their children (e.g., Deut 6:4–9; 11:19)...To “know the Lord,” however, is the result of faith rather than instruction (cf. 2:8; Exod 5:2; 1 Sam 3:7; Isa 11:9; Hos 4:1; Hab 2:14; Isa 54:13 as quoted in John 6:45). It is exhortation rather than instruction that is to be rendered superfluous by the new covenant…The result is said to be not just the knowledge of the law but the knowledge of the Lord, i.e., a relationship with the Lord of the covenant by faith, the goal of all the earlier covenants. Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 285). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
The description of the accomplishments of the promised covenant:: (1) an inner inclination to obey (God will put His laws in their minds and write them on their hearts), (2) a firm relationship with God (I will be their God, and they will be My people), (3) the knowledge of God (they will all know Me), and (4) the forgiveness of sins (I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more). Hodges, Z. C. (1985). Hebrews. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 800). Victor Books.
I love this scripture, it reveals this whole surgery process: Hebrews 10:1-18
The Result: A new heart that desires to love and serve God
The point of the operation: that we may love him with our whole hearts (Deut. 30:6).
Mark 12:28-31 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
The ongoing journey: God continues to work on us every day through the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Jesus) and the Word. He operates on our hearts daily.
Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
Hebrews 13:21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
Colossians 1:29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.
The Christian Life is letting God continue to work on our hearts so that we will grow in our love for Him and love for others.
The Way To A New Heart: Through humble faith in Christ
By Faith
Gal. 3:19-29
Romans 3:21-22
There's hope for everyone's heart to change and be able to love God with all their hearts. Heart change is what God does, but the key is that people have to acknowledge they need a change, believe in Christ died and rising again for the forgiveness of our sins, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and then you’ll be reborn through the Holy Spirit and receive a new heart!
The ABC's of heart change…
Acknowledge your need for a new heart
Believe in Jesus for the salvation of your heart and to come in and make you a new person
Confess Him as your Lord and Savior.
Surrender your life to worship and serve God
Discussion:
What is one thing from the message that resonated with you?
Why do you think external laws are ultimately ineffective in changing human behavior and the heart?
What’s the difference between the Old Covenant written on stone and the New Covenant written on hearts? How does that impact your relationship with God today?
In what ways do you see the Holy Spirit working in you today — giving you both the desire and power to live for God (Phil. 2:13)?
How do the promises in Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 3:20, and Hebrews 13:21 encourage you in your daily walk with God?
What are the “ABC’s of heart change” and why are they essential to entering a true relationship with God?
What’s one area of your life where you’re asking God to continue His “heart surgery”?
What additional notes did you make during the sermon?
What can we pray for regarding the sermon? Do you have any prayer needs?
The most important decision you will ever make!
If you’re ready to trust in Jesus for salvation and eternal life we encourage you to process this decision with a strong believer and when you’re ready say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, Amen!
We would love to know if you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hope you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!