This week we come to the last four messages in 1 Thessalonians. Praise the Lord for all He has imparted into us!
Today’s message is titled: “Our Heart to Be Established Blameless in Holiness (2)”
The verses covered are 1 Thes. 3:6a, 10, 12-13; Prov. 4:23; Jer. 17:9; Psa. 73:1; 78:8; Ezek. 36:26; Matt. 5:8; 15:8, 18-19; 12:34-35; 22:37; Acts 28:27; 2 Cor. 3:15-16; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 4:12; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22
The sections of the message are:
I. THE POSITION OF THE HEART
II. THE FUNCTION OF THE HEART
III. A RENEWED HEART
A. Turning to God
B. Seeking Purity
IV. A HEART ESTABLISHED BLAMELESS IN HOLINESS
For our heart to be established blameless in holiness includes much more than simply for our heart to turn to the Lord and to be pure toward the Lord. This is to have our turned and pure heart separated unto the Lord, occupied by the Lord, and saturated with the Lord. Such a heart not only has turned to the Lord but it also has a pure motive. It is separated unto Him, fully occupied by Him, and thoroughly saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will be no longer movable or changeable. Furthermore, when our heart is in such a condition, it will become blameless.
Lord Jesus, we open to You, gain this in all Your saints, we need You to work this out in us. We look to You Lord Jesus. Praise You Lord.
I enjoyed learning that the soul is the person himself, but the heart is the person in action. This means that whenever you act, you act by your heart. Like the activities and movements of our physical body depend on our physical heart, so our daily living depends on our psychological heart. The way we act and behave depends on the kind of heart we have.
I was encouraged about the matter of our hearts being established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will be no longer movable or changeable. Turning to God and being pure toward God are the two matters that govern our heart.
Oh Lord Jesus!! How important the state of our heart is!! We see in this portion that our daily living depends on whether or not our heart is switched on or off. All the issues of our daily life come out of our heart. WOW! As our physical body depends on our physical heart, our daily living depends on our psychological heart. “The way we act and behave depends on the kind of heart we have.”
I also enjoyed that to be those pure in heart we must have a single aim. “Our goal, our aim, should be God Himself, and we should not have any other motive.”
Bro Lee also told us how important it is that we have a renewed heart. Without this heart we CANNOT turn to the Lord or be pure. These are the two characteristics of a renewed heart. “If we turn to God and seek purity, we shall have the proper way to “switch on” our heart toward God. By turning our heart to Him and by being pure in our motive toward Him, the switch of our heart will be turned on and the divine electricity will flow within us.”
What a wonderful needed word! Lord, gain our hearts and our entire beings fully!!
We can praise the Lord that, through His mercy and grace, we are now on the way to being separated fully unto the Lord, to being occupied wholly by Him, and to being saturated thoroughly with Him. When this process has been completed, our heart will be in the state of being holy, in the state of holiness.
I got a lot of help from this message regarding our heart. “The way we act and behave depends on the kind of heart we have.. and because we are fallen, our psychological heart is deceitful above all things(Jer.17:9) but God in His salvation promises to give us a new heart(Ezek. 36:26). This new heart does not refer to another heart but it refers to a renewed heart.” Praise the Lord! Day by day we need our heart renewed by turning to the Lord, by seeking and loving only God and by having the element of holiness added to it. “For our heart to be holy means that it is separated unto Him, occupied by Him, possessed by Him, and saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established and it will become blameless.” Amen!
“If our heart is established by Him, we shall be those whose heart has been separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him, and saturated with Him. Then our heart will be set, established, built up, in holiness. Here, in this state of holiness, the state of being made holy, our heart will become blameless.”
I enjoyed seeing the connection between our spirit, our soul and our heart. How close our heart is to our spirit and soul. How important it is to have our hearts turned to the Lord and pure toward the Lord! Our heart is our person in action. Out of our heart flows and issues in many things. Thus, what fills our heart, saturates our heart, establishes our heart, occupies our heart will determine in a practical way how we live our Christian life. Lord, do remind us to turn our heart to you, to have a pure heart only for you. Lord, do establish our heart, sanctify our heart! Keep our heart in this state of holiness!
“In God’s salvation the renewing of the heart is once for all. However, in our experience our heart is renewed continually because it is changeable.
If we turn to God and seek purity, we shall have the proper way to “switch on” our heart toward God. By turning our heart to Him and by being pure in our motive toward Him, the switch of our heart will be turned on and the divine electricity will flow within us. Otherwise, the switch of the heart will be turned off, and God will be cut off in a practical way from our daily living. Then evil things will come out of our heart.
The way for our heart to be blameless is for it to be established by the Lord. If our heart is established by Him, we shall be those whose heart has been separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him, and saturated with Him. Then our heart will be set, established, built up, in holiness.”
Amen.
“But God in His salvation promises to give us a new heart”! Praise the Lord!!
A heart should not only be turned to the Lord but also has a pure motive. It is to be separated unto Him, fully occupied by Him, and thoroughly saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will be no longer movable or changeable. Furthermore, when our heart is in such a condition, it will become blameless.
To be blameless is not the same as to be perfect. The way for our heart to be blameless is for it to be established by the Lord. If our heart is established by Him, we shall be those whose heart has been separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him, and saturated with Him. Then our heart will be set, established, built up, in holiness. Halelujah! Praise the Lord!
Here in Thessalonians we have a panoramic view on a holy life for the churchlife praise the Lord !
Till so far the matter of the heart has puzzled me for years but now is fully clear , blessed are the pure in heart our acting agent. Its of no use to exercise our spirit if the heart is dormant or asleep, first comes the heart then the spirit.
“For our heart to be established blameless in holiness includes much more than simply for our heart to turn to the Lord and to be pure toward the Lord. This is to have our turned and pure heart separated unto the Lord, occupied by the Lord, and saturated with the Lord. Such a heart not only has turned to the Lord but it also has a pure motive. It is separated unto Him, fully occupied by Him, and thoroughly saturated with Him. It is here in such a state that our heart will be established. Once our heart has been established, it will be set, and it will be no longer movable or changeable. Furthermore, when our heart is in such a condition, it will become blameless.”
The footnote for 1 Thessalonians 3:13 reads, “The establishing of the believers’ hearts blameless issues from faith and love, as mentioned in the preceding verses. This spontaneously produces the hope of the coming back of our dear Lord, in whom we believe and whom we love. Hence, again we see that faith, love, and hope are the implied factors in the construction of this Epistle.” This is the reason Paul had the burden to visit the Thessalonians again and again, face to face, and from house to house (Acts 20). His visitation was for the encouragement of faith, love, and hope.
Our heart being established blameless in holiness means our heart is separated unto Him, occupied by Him, possessed by Him, and saturated with Him. With God, holiness is His holy nature; with us, holiness is our sanctification, our being separated unto Him and infused with His holy element. A great example of this can be seen in drinking tea!!! When you put the tea bag into the hot water, the tea mingles with the water. You may say the water becomes “tea-ified”! This is tea-ification! 🙂 Lord, saturate our heart with your holy nature!
The process of our heart being established blameless in holiness is related to faith and love. 1 Timothy 1:5 says, “But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith;” This love is out of unfeigned faith which purifies the heart. Furthermore, both faith and love can be seen in the verses prior to 1 Thess. 3:13. Here we see the need for faith to be completed and for love to increase and abound. Our faith is perfected through the ministering of the word of faith which carries the reality of the contents of God’s New Testament economy. Whereas, our love increases and abounds as we grow in the divine life so that we mature in the divine love (2 Peter 1:5-7). For this we need to stand firm in the Lord, so that He may establish our hearts blameless in holiness (1 Thess. 3:13). Only the Lord can produce such faith and love.
Lord, duplicate your heart in us!
I was impressed that a renewed heart is one that seeks purity. Purity is matter of motive that is to have a single motive, a single purpose, and a single goal. What does it mean to be pure in heart? It means “to be single in purpose, to have a single goal of accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory”. This is marvelous and wonderful. Lord, renew our heart that it would seek only You, and Your goal and purpose for Your glory!
Our soul is who we are. Our heart is who we are in action. For example, when we love someone or something, we love with our heart and act accordingly. But the Bible reveals that the Lord desires to give us a new heart of flesh to replace the stony heart (Ezekiel 36:26) we inherited from fallen Adam. This heart is pure (without mixture), and turns to the Lord easily. May the Lord have mercy on us and renew our hearts day by day!
Praise the Lord~ Praise the Ministry!
Today, I was really impressed with ‘A RENEWED HEART’. According to the outline, A Renewed Heart consists of both Turning to God and Seeking Purity. I’d like to write the abundant supply and the light of Life-Study of Msg 21 to share with saints.
“Turning to the Lord is the first characteristic of a renewed heart.
The second characteristic of a renewed heart is that it seeks purity.
According to the Bible, to have a pure heart is to have a heart with a single motive. Purity, therefore, is a matter of motive. If we do something with a double motive, our heart is not pure. Whatever we do must be with a single purpose, a single motive, for God Himself. We love God, and because we love Him we do certain things for Him without any other motive. If this is our situation, then our heart is pure.
In Matthew 5:8 the Lord Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To be pure in heart is to be single in purpose, to have the single goal of accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory. According to this verse, those who are pure in heart shall see God. In order to see something clearly, we need to focus on it. This is to be pure in our seeing. In like manner, to be pure in heart is to have a single aim. Our goal, our aim, should be God Himself, and we should not have any other motive. If we trun to God and seek purity, we shall have the proper way to “switch on” our heart toward God. By turning our heart to Him and by being pure in our motive toward Him, the switch of our heart will be turned on and the divine electricity will flow within us. Otherwise, the switch of the heart will be turned off, and God will be cut off in a practical way from our daily living. Then evil things will come out of our heart. It is the source, the spring, and the issue of all manner of evil things; evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies.
We have already pointed out how both the Lord Jesus and Paul stressed the importance of a pure heart. We need a heart turned to God and a heart that is pure toward Him. Amen ~ PTL!
Our heart is our representative. The way we act depends on what kind of heart we have. In Adam, our heart is corrupted and even incurable. But praise the Lord for the renewed heart! This renewed heart (Ezek. 36:26) has two characteristics. First it turns to God. When our heart turns away from God, our heart become corrupt. But when our heart turns to Him, it is being renewed. Secondly, this heart is pure, which means it has only one motive-God. Oh Lord give us a pure heart! But that’s not all. In addition to a renewed heart, we need a heart that is holy, which is to be separated unto the Lord, occupied by Him and saturated by Him! It is in this condition that the Lord establish our heart. Then our heart shall be blameless. Oh Lord give us a renewed heart that is blameless in holiness! Amen!
How particular the apostle Paul was in praying that the hearts of the Thessalonian believers would be established blameless. The heart, which includes a man’s entire soul as well as his conscience, is the source of the “issues of life” (Prov. 4:23) and all the things we may utter (Matt. 12:34). Therefore it is reasonable to say that the heart is man’s entire acting and living out of his soul.
Since our heart is such a crucial aspect of our entire being, how we need to turn our hearts day by day and moment by moment! When our heart turns we can see the spiritual things clearly (2 Cor. 3:16). It also gives us a focused and centered view, a pure motive in what we see. Therefore the pure in heart SEE GOD! (Matt 5:8).
Once we are in this turned and purified position, with our heart fixed on God, He will then infuse us, saturate us, and permeate our entire being with His holy element, establishing our hearts blameless in holiness! Praise the Lord!
Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also I will give you…” The new heart here refers not to another heart but a renewed heart. Lord! Renew our hearts! Having a renewed heart is so simple. The sign of a renewed heart is a heart that is turned toward God!
Matt 15:8 quotes “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart stays far away from Me;” Oh Lord. He knows when our heart is far away from Him. He knows whether our praising, praying, speaking is genuine or not. We don’t want to grieve His heart. We want to have a heart that is turned to Him and is seeking Him.
I was impressed that God doesn’t want us to have a perfect heart (I think in the Psalms or in the OT somewhere someone wanted to have a perfect heart and utterly failed…). God wants us to have a pure heart and a heart open to God! Our heart needs to be purified from any other motive than God Himself, and it has to have a single aim. How much we need to have our heart renewed, so that we would seek God with our heart and we would be single and pure in heart when we seek Him! Amen, Lord, we want to cooperate with You in keeping our heart, for from it are the issues of life!
I’m really enjoying these life studies, along with the 26 min. program that goes with them at lsmradio.com.
Our heart is rotten, but is renewable! In God’s salvation the renewing is once for all but in our experience “our heart is renewed continually because it is changeable.” I enjoyed the words “continual process.” A process of being fully saturated with Him.
Our heart is also the switch, we can turn our heart back to the Lord.
The fact that we turn our heart to the Lord is a sign that our heart is being renewed. This is the first characteristic of a renewed heart. Our heart turns again to the Lord, perhaps in a meeting of during some fellowship with the saints. The second characteristic of a renewed heart is that it seeks purity, having only one goal, The Lord Himself.
And when our heart turns to the Lord we should pray as we were encouraged in the message, “How I thank You, what a mercy, You have visited my heart and have turned my heart to You [again]”