HEALTHY INDEPENDENCE-VIII—Jeremiah 17:10(:1-14)
Attention:
Graduation Speech Notes:
When a young man was graduating from high school, he had to give a speech. He began by reading from his prepared text. “I want to talk about my mother & the wonderful influence she has had on my life,” he told the audience. “She is a shining example of parenthood, & I love her more than words could ever do justice.”
At this point he seemed to struggle for words. After a pause he looked up at his audience with an embarrassed grin & said, “It's really hard to read my mom's handwriting.”
The young man needed a Healthy Independence from his mother’s influence.
In a similar way, you & I need a Healthy Independence from the influence of the world...From that which has potential to destroy you/us? Are you inviting & encouraging your own spiritual demise?
The prophet Jeremiah contrasted two major aspects of Independence—Independence from God versus independence from the world.
*Dependence upon YHWH brings independence from worldly influence.
What can be gleaned by contrasting healthy & unhealthy independence?
*How can I be independent of worldly influence?
So far we’ve found that A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...
1. A RESIDENT REBELLION(:1)
2. An ABERRANT EDUCATION(:2)
3. BLINDLY SIGHTED BENEFITS(:3-4)
4. An ANGERING LIFESTYLE(:4e)
5. MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUSTS(:5)
6. The ‘CURSE’ Of MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUST(:6)
7. A CORRECTED TRUST(:7)
8. A TELLING PLANTING(:8)
9. INTERNAL DECEITFULNESS(:9)
10—A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...
A THOROUGH & DECISIVE SEARCH(:10)
Explanation:(:10)
:10—“I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.”
Verse 10 answers the question 9c poses—“Who can know it?” The answer is heavily implied in the contrast between :5-6 & :7-8—
“I the LORD, search the heart,”
YHWH Himself let’s us know that He is ever in the process of “searching”(active participle) the human “heart.” Thus YHWH is the only one who can can properly know man’s “heart”(:9). Thereby, if man is to have any kind of discerning ability restored to himself, then he/she must go to the eternal God.
I have no power/ability to ‘naturally’ discern due to the internal deceitfulness(:9) of my flesh. However, “the LORD” Himself IS able to discern, & actively involves Himself in “searching” the very motives(“heart”) which are so baffling to you & me! Therefore I must approach Almighty God directly in order to know & act on my own heart’s leading!
?Is your heart being led by God or by the flesh?
1Cor. 2:9-16—“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
“I test the mind,”
YHWH not only “searches the heart”, but also, in a related act, thoroughly “tests”(examine) the personally emotional attachment(“mind”/reigns) which a person has to YHWH Himself. The King James Version translates “test the mind” as, “Try the Reigns”—it’s not a direct translation but is a good picture of what is involved in His testing. Consider what it might be like for you to “try the reigns” of a horse on which you are riding or which is pulling a vehicle.
•The Hebrew word translated in English as “mind” actually more properly concerns the ‘kidneys.’ And was considered by the Hebrews to be ‘the seat of emotion & affection.’ Consider what a person does when they receive a sudden fright—they might ‘pee their pants’(kidneys involved)!...
*It describes the Eternal God fully comprehending the ‘motivations’ behind one’s true passions.
My INABILITY in the flesh(:9) is made ABILITY in Christ! And only in Christ, do I possess/have “the mind of Christ”(Php. 2:5; 1Cor. 2:14-16). So only the actions driven by the motivations of those given to “the mind of Christ’ can survive the fire of God’s testing(1Cor. 3:11-15; Lk. 3:16(Mat. 3:11)). Every other action is false & from flesh & the devil, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Php. 2:5—“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”
1Cor. 2:14-16—“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
1Cor. 3:11-15—“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; & the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Lk. 3:16—“John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit & fire.
1Sam. 16:1-7—“Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, & go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”.....“So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab & said, “Surely the LORD’S anointed is before Him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Ps. 139:1-6, 23-24—<<For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.>> “O LORD, You have searched me & known me. You know my sitting down & my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path & my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind & before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”.....“Search me, O God, & know my heart; Try me, & know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
Rev. 2:23—“...& all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds & hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”
“Test/Try/Examine”—Nxb baw-khan'—Qal Participle Active—1) To examine, try, prove—1a) (Qal)—1a1) To examine, scrutinize, 1a2) To test, prove, try (of gold, persons, the heart, man of God). Strong—a primitive root; To test(especially metals); generally & figuratively--To investigate.
“Mind/Reigns”—hylk kil-yaw' or (plural) twylk—Noun Fem. Plural—1) Kidneys—1a) Of physical organ(literally), 1b) Of seat of emotion & affection(fig.), 1c) Of sacrificial animals;2) (TWOT)--Reins. Strong—A kidney(as an essential organ); figuratively--The mind(as the interior self); feminine of ylk(only in the plural)[something prepared, i.e. Any apparatus(as an implement, utensil, dress, vessel or weapon)]. Used 31X.
“Even to give to every man according to his ways,”
YHWH’s searching of the heart as well as His testing the motivator of one’s true passions(“mind/reigns”) is not without good purpose. YHWH is not trying to ‘find dirt on you’ so that He can destroy you. He is instead attempting to reveal to you the ‘dirt’ that is in your life, so that you will repent of it! His purpose is to measure the commitments of individuals. The commitments of individuals is directly tied to the groups formed thru them(witness—the Church). “Every man” will rightly answer for him/herself to the Eternal God. “Every” individual will personally give an account of himself to YHWH God(Heb. 4:12-13).
Heb. 4:12-13—“For the word of God is living & powerful, & sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul & spirit, & of joints & marrow, & is a discerner of the thoughts & intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked & open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
*A key concept here is that: One’s “ways” spring from the commitments & determinations of one’s heart. That ‘outward’ human ‘behavior’(religion/self-determination) is always a bare minimum of concern for God. That is to say YHWH’s primary concern regards the focus of the human “heart.” God’s relational determinations flow from that knowledge.
A person indeed ‘makes their own bed’ in which they must ‘sleep.’ Eternal individual destinies are hinged upon one’s individual decisions.
Lk. 6:43-46—“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; & an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ & do not do the things which I say?”
Everyone in “accordance” with their “ways” is ‘rewarded’ by God. He “gives” to you based on your “ways”, which He knows intimately.
•Everyone has an opinion, & that opinion—whether you admit it or not—is built upon what you truly believe in the depth of your of heart.
?Do your “ways” ‘flow from’ God or do they instead ‘flow from’ self?
?Are your “ways” surrendered to God or are they instead surrendered to self?
“According to the fruit of his doings.”
“The fruit of his doings” is another means of saying, “according to his ways.” It gives the reader a broader &/or deeper understanding of the eternal significance of how one’s actions play into the Kingdom of God.
•Keep this in mind—Everything that a person does bears “fruit.” From your thinking to your actions & everything in-between, everything you do speaks to others & effects other people.
That is, a person’s actions both ‘feed’ others & ‘reproduce’ your “ways” & “doings.”
?What “fruit” for others springs from your “doings”?...
?Does your ‘fruit’ honor God?...
?Does what you ‘propagate’ honor God?...
?Does what you ‘feed’ others, honor God?
Illustration:
Not too many months ago, the remote to Hershey’s(our semi-uncontrollably barking dog) shock collar disappeared/I couldn’t find it anywhere!/I looked all over the house & the yard ‘with a fine toothed comb’/I finally discovered that I had left it in my pants pocket & you know what happened next—I had washed it with the rest of the clothes!/We had to order another one/If I had undertaken a truly thorough & decisive search, the remote would have been in good shape & we wouldn’t have had to order another one/A THOROUGH & DECISIVE SEARCH
•You must recognize that your heart’s worst point of weakness is intimately known by God. But will you surrender that knowledge to Him?...Instead of squirming, wriggling out of His saving grip? Will you then freely & willingly submit your free choices to His desire, instead of your own?
You may suppose yourself to be a ‘good’ person—You console yourself with not having killed anybody(for the wrong reason), Take out the trash, Have your kids in the best school, Work hard, Help others, etc...ad nauseum. But what is your criteria for determining what you consider “good?”...Is it subjective? Is it based on your opinion? Is it possibly even based on God’s revelation?...but STILL your opinion? OR-- is it based on your constant personal relationship with the living revelatory God?/A THOROUGH & DECISIVE SEARCH
Application:
?Are you properly engaging A THOROUGH & DECISIVE SEARCH of your own heart, by Christ?
?Are you exhibiting A Healthy Independence from flesh & the world?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The young man’s statement,—“It’s really hard to read my mom's handwriting.”—made it obvious that he needed a Healthy Independence from his mother’s influence.
Action:
A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...
10. A THOROUGH & DECISIVE SEARCH(:10)
1. A RESIDENT REBELLION(:1)
2. An ABERRANT EDUCATION(:2)
3. BLINDLY SIGHTED BENEFITS(:3-4)
4. An ANGERING LIFESTYLE(:4e)
5. MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUSTS(:5)
6. The ‘CURSE’ Of MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUST(:6)
7. A CORRECTED TRUST(:7)
8. A TELLING PLANTING(:8)
9. INTERNAL DECEITFULNESS(:9)
Pt# 10 only! Presented 10/11/2020am to:
1BCCbelle(Video to YouTube shared to Facebook @ ‘Byron Sherman’ & ’First Baptist Church Carrabelle’)
206 SE Ave. A(Storrs Ave.)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
