Introduction

By the time we are done with today's sermon you will feel much like John Newton did in his hymn I asked the Lord.

We may have come here today looking for a word of encouragement to help us in our battle with sin. At first, you'll think that the sermon was intended to bring discouragement upon you. Yet, at the end I hope you will be tremendously encouraged by what the Scriptures have for us today.

I. Overview of the Passage

A. Jews from Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra in order to disturb Paul and Barnabas's ministry, 19.

B. Going back to the text, notice the fickleness of the human heart.

II. The Human Heart

A. The word heart appears 833 times in the NKJV and it describes several aspects of the human being.

B. The most common use of the word heart, however, is a representation of innermost part of a person, the core of who we are.

C. God made man perfect with a heart that was inclined to good and righteousness.

D. Because the fall, the human heart is no longer good.

E. We must realize the depth of our wickedness and our ability and desire to sin because that is the only way to fight it.

F. The realization of how sinful and capable of sin we are leads to a greater reliance on the grace of God and diminishes our reliance on self.

III. Practical Applications

A. Since our problem is our heart, only a heart change can solve it.

B. Since what really matters is what is in the heart, we need always to address the issues of the heart.

Conclusion

The prophet Jeremiah says, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." How true that is! He also asks, "Who can know it?" The answer in 17:10 is that God knows the heart. God knows each one of our hearts and will "give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." In the same book God also says that he will give his people a new heart capable of loving him and obeying him.

http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-human-heart-acts-148-20.html


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