A New Heart
A Sermon on Ezekiel 36:26
Scripture
26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Sermon Description
What does it take to change a person? Many in modern society say people simply need political change, or to change their environment. In this sermon on Ezekiel 36:26 titled “A New Heart,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that Scripture gives a very different answer. Scripture tells that a person’s greatest need is not that they should be wealthy or emotionally fulfilled. The greatest need is to be made right with God. For all are naturally born with a sin-hardened and corrupted heart. They desire sin continually and reject God and His ways. This cannot be remedied by shallow and external change, but it requires true change. What is this change? According to the prophet Ezekiel, it is a change brought about by God granting a new heart to sinners. This is when God miraculously changes people from sinners to children of God. This wholly new orientation frees people from the bondage of sin and immorality, and gives them new desires for what is righteous, beautiful, and good. This is the free gift of salvation for all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Sermon Breakdown
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The passage under consideration is Ezekiel 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
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There are two views on man's nature and needs:
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The popular view: Man is fundamentally good but fails to live up to his potential. He needs instruction and help.
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The biblical view: Man is radically corrupt and needs a new nature and heart.
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According to the Bible, man's heart is "stony" - hard, unresponsive, and impervious to truth. This is due to sin.
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A "stony heart" means man is dead to:
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God and spiritual things
- His own soul and eternal destiny
- The truth of the Bible and gospel
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The glory of Christ
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Man's spirit is also wrong - it is antagonistic to God and the things of God. There is enmity against God.
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Nothing can be done for those with hard hearts through teaching, appealing, or example alone. A new heart and spirit are needed.
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A new heart and spirit are given by God alone through regeneration and the new birth. This is a miracle of grace.
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A "heart of flesh" means a new ability to see and understand truth, a new delight in God and desire for Him, and a new spirit that loves Him.
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The gospel offers hope for the hardest of hearts. We must cry to God to give us new hearts and renew our spirits.
Old Testament
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.