“Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust?”Isaiah 36:4 NKJV
Reflection: how do you know if you have received Jesus “in your heart”?
I was listening to a sermon yesterday, that shed some additional light for me on Jesus “Sermon on the Mount”, found in Matthew chapters 5-7. The preacher started with the verse in 5:20, but let’s read a few verses before for context ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV.
So Jesus was talking here about the need to fulfill the requirements of the Law. And notice in verse 20, he is talking about “exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees”, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. But what action was he then referring to? As you probably remember, the scribes and Pharisees were the most strict followers of the “law”; they prided themselves of a perfect adherence and practice of the law. So how would it be possible to “exceed” that? We read in the next couple of verses ““You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”Matthew 5:21-22 NKJV. Jesus is starting with a law coming out of the Ten Commandments, do not murder. But, Jesus is really saying here that murder begins in the heart. And, he brings up several other examples, of laws, rules and religion (“you have heard it was said”), and turns that into a problem that is so much deeper (“but I say to you”). He is really saying,
That sin is in the heart.
The defiance against God, against God’s perfect law, is in the heart of man. That it doesn’t matter how well we try to do in our actions, however religious or perfect we live our lives. Without a changed heart, it is all for nothing. And, that of course speaks to all people who follow religion, as opposed to actually seeking God, asking God to enter in to the most precious, the most private place we have. Our “hearts”. Because, without an internal change, a new heart, it is all for nothing. Paul put it this way “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV. It doesn’t matter how Christian, how religious we are without a changed heart.
You might be wondering what in the world is the connection here to the focus verse from Isaiah? Perhaps the greatest military might of the day, the Assyrian empire, had surrounded the small kingdom of Judah, and Jerusalem. The Assyrian king was taunting Hezekiah, mocking the Lord God, basically saying that Hezekiah’s God had told him to come and destroy the land. That no nation, no god, could stand up to their might, so they needed to just surrender. So his question to Hezekiah was “What confidence is this in which you trust?” There is no humanly possible way that Hezekiah and his small kingdom could stand against this great army. And it was a true test for Hezekiah. So what does he do? “As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.” Isaiah 37:1-2 ESV. He did not surrender, but instead turned to the Lord. A huge display of faith, in a moment when he easily could have just taken the easy path and surrendered. And in this, in his actions of seeking God, we really see
the shape of his heart.
He knew the Lord, which is who he put his trust in. He also knew that the Lord God was above any earthly king, including the Assyrian king. We will look at what he did in more detail next. But for today, we need to take an account of our own hearts, whether we have truly let Jesus in. The only way our sinful, selfish hearts can be transformed, is to ask God in, to the innermost of our beings, past all the protections, beyond all the secrets, to truly let Him in to our hearts. To ask Him for a new heart, to shape it according to His ways, His laws. He promises “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 ESV. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Hebrews 8:10 ESV.
This isn’t something we can do on our own, regardless of what we say and how religious we try to be. We might be able to fool others, but we cannot fool God who actually sees the motivations of our hearts. It is only through a complete surrender, letting Him in and change us from the inside. So how can we know whether we have actually let Him in? Well, ask yourself some difficult questions. Do you honestly desire to please God, forsaking yourself (Matthew 22:37-40, 16:25)? Do you actively seek to know His ways (“laws, precepts”) because they are good, so that you can better follow Him (Matthew 6:33)? When you learn of His ways, do they deeply “resonate” with you, like food for your soul (Psalm 119)? If you have not already done so,
Let Him in. Let Him create in you a new heart. Let Him shape your heart.
