Ephesians overview – 3:14-19, part 31: Inner man; the good heart.

So occupied with life on earth that we become bored with God.

Isa 43:22-24

“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.”

23 You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings;

Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

Nor wearied you with incense.

24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,

Neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,

You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

I was struck by this psalm in its connection to our study of the heart.

How does a believer develop a good heart?

Psa 116:1-4

I love the Lord, because He hears

My voice and my supplications.

2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death encompassed me,

And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;

I found distress and sorrow.

4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:

"O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life!"

It is generally agreed that this is an individual thanksgiving psalm in which the writer praises Yavah for deliverance from some life-threatening situation. Vs. 15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”

Every Christian finds himself in a life-threatening situation. Perhaps not as to his physical life, but the continual pursuit of his spiritual life. Dangers of deceit, distraction, complacency, false doctrine, temptations, persecutions, etc. are all around him. So what can we do? For certainly, none of us are powerful enough or smart enough to defeat all of these foes. The psalmist called upon the name of the Lord. Prayer.

What do we pray for? Could we pray for the Lord to take all the lies, deceit, foolish attacks, temptations, the flesh and Satan away?

Deliverance in the midst of all these comes from knowledge, understanding that knowledge, and obedience to that knowledge. Deliverance comes from laying aside everything that has to do with the old man, even the desires deemed to be good or acceptable, in favor of the Lord’s will. That is obedience in everything. We pray for the Lord to show us this deliverance and to help our faith to trust in Him to deliver our souls and transform our hearts and strengthen our inner man. God does the work and all the changing within us. We do the learning and obeying.

Psa 116:5-16

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

Yes, our God is compassionate.

6 The Lord preserves the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.

7 Return to your rest, O my soul,

For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For Thou hast rescued my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

My feet from stumbling.

9 I shall walk before the Lord

In the land of the living [upright].

10 I believed when I said,

"I am greatly afflicted."

11 I said in my alarm,

"All men are liars."

12 What shall I render to the Lord

For all His benefits toward me?

13 I shall lift up the cup of salvation [thanks and witness],

And call upon the name of the Lord.

14 I shall pay my vows to the Lord,

Ohmay it be in the presence of all His people [obedience].

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord

Is the death of His godly ones.

16 O Lord, surely I am Thy servant,

I am Thy servant, the son of Thy handmaid [slave forever],

Thou hast loosed my bonds [worldly cares].

If a Hebrew slave was given a wife by his master and they had children, at the end of his six year servitude when he is set free, he must go out alone, Exo 21:4. Therefore, “the son of Thy handmaid” means a man who has been a slave his whole life, from childhood and he has lived on the estate of his master always. When the Master is Yavah Elohim and the estate the kingdom of God, then we can see how beautiful this picture is and we can see how the next line, “You have loosed my bonds” applies so tenderly. The Master and His kingdom have forever been my providence and my home. I have been loosed from worldly cares.

Psa 116:17-19

To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And call upon the name of the Lord.

18 I shall pay my vows to the Lord,

Ohmay it be in the presence of all His people [witness],

19 In the courts of the Lord's house,

In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

All believers are called to be holy. We are made holy at salvation by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We live holy when the heart is good. Only God can make it good as our whole self desires His will.

Luk 6:43-45

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

self isn’t life.

Col 3:4

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

God is not in the business of helping you to overcome some things, making those areas of your life better, and leaving the rest of your life to your own charge.