                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                              A Perfect Heart

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By David Wilkerson
October 2, 1989
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          It is possible to walk before the Lord with a perfect
          heart! God said to Abraham, "I am the Almighty God;
          walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Genesis 17:1).

          God also said to the children of Israel, "Thou shalt be
          perfect with the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 18:13).
          David determined in his heart to obey this command. He
          said, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way...
          I will walk within my house with a perfect heart"
          (Psalm 101:2).

          Scripture also points out that Solomon fell short of
          God's command to be perfect: "His heart was not perfect
          with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his
          father... [He] went not fully after the Lord, as did
          David his father" (1 Kings 11:4-6).

          We see the Lord's command to be perfect in the New
          Testament as well. Jesus said, "Be ye therefore
          perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
          perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

          Paul wrote, "That we may present every man perfect in
          Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28); and, in the same
          letter, "...that ye may stand perfect and complete in
          all the will of God" (4:12).

          And Peter said, "But the God of all grace, who hath
          called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
          that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
          stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).

          Perfection does not mean a sinless, flawless heart. Man
          judges by outward appearances, by what he sees. But God
          judges the heart, the unseen motives (1 Samuel 16:7).
          David was said to have had a perfect heart toward God
          "all the days of his life," yet he failed the Lord
          often. His life was marked forever by adultery and a
          notorious murder.

          The basic definition of perfect is: completeness,
          maturity. In the Hebrew and Greek, the definition
          includes: uprightness, being without spot, without
          blemish, totally obedient. It means to finish what was
          started; a complete performance. Wesley called it
          "constant obedience."

          A perfect heart is a responsive heart. It quickly and
          totally answers the Lord's wooings, whisperings and
          warnings. This heart says at all times, "Speak, Lord,
          for your servant heareth. Show me the path and I will
          walk in it."

          Once, during a long drive from the Teen Challenge farm
          in Pennsylvania to New York City, the Lord spoke to my
          inner man: "There is such a thing as a perfect heart. I
          want to show you what it is so you can seek after it!"

          At that time God revealed to my spirit that Christ
          commits Himself to those who walk before Him with a
          perfect, responsive heart - and that three things
          distinguish such a heart.

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                       A Perfect Heart is Searchable

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          "The Lord searcheth all hearts" (1 Chronicles 28:9).
          The perfect heart cries out with David, "Search me, O
          God, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any
          wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:23-24).

          God also said to Jeremiah, "I the Lord search the
          heart" (Jeremiah 17:10). The Hebrew meaning for this
          phrase is, "I penetrate; I examine deeply." Scripture
          says, "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the
          deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10).

          Jesus, in Revelation 2:24, speaks about "the depths of
          Satan," of going down into the profound deepness of
          sin. He was saying that evil goes down deep into the
          soul - that it has roots that go down into hell. David
          said of the wicked ones: "The inward thought of every
          one of them, and the heart, is deep" (Psalm 64:6). "For
          a whore is a deep ditch" (Proverbs 23:27).

          These passages all are holy warnings: "You don't
          realize how deeply this association with evil affects
          you. It takes you down into the depths of Satan
          himself, depths that are mysterious, bottomless,
          profound. This path leads to hell."

          In these final days sin has become complicated, subtle,
          sensuous and more sophisticated. It comes disguised as
          art, culture and education. I believe there are new
          depths to sin now. It has taken on stronger, deeper
          roots. Our children are confronted with depths of sin
          that we never did or never will know! "Woe unto them
          that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and
          their works are in the dark" (Isaiah 29:15).

          The perfect heart wants the Holy Spirit to come and
          search out the depths of the innermost man, to shine
          into all hidden parts, to investigate and dig out and
          expose all that is unlike Christ. Shallow sermons will
          not dig deeply enough to do this. And those who hide a
          secret sin do not want to be convicted, searched or
          probed.

          A brother came to me weeping during a prayer meeting.
          He had left Times Square Church a few months before
          because he felt that the Word coming forth in the
          messages was too piercing. All the while he had been
          going on with the Lord and growing in spite of himself.
          But finally he left and went to a church where a smooth
          word is preached.

          Soon this brother backslid into his old sins. he went
          through all the motions at church and was told by
          others that all was well with him - but he knew better!
          He was going down deeper into his old sins! Now, at the
          prayer meeting, he had come back for the pure Word of
          God.

          That same night, right next to this man, a man was
          sitting in a wheelchair. His wife was with him. They
          had come many miles simply because they wanted to hear
          a convicting word! This man had hungered to have his
          innermost being shaken by God. He said, "It's been so
          long since I've heard a message that convicted me!"

          Multitudes of Christians today want a Blood covering -
          but not a cleansing! The ritual of the Old Testament
          tent tabernacle provides a clear example of the kind of
          walk with God the Church should have.

          The tabernacle had an outer court where the sacrificial
          animal was slain. This provided the blood covering for
          sin. But outside, too, was a laver where cleansing took
          place.

          No priest could enter the Holy of Holies and commune
          with God face to face without being cleansed and making
          the commitment of the holy place.

          The gospel as we hear it today goes something like
          this: "Just go to the altar and, by faith, trust in the
          Blood shed there. Then go boldly into the Holy of
          Holies. The veil is rent, your Daddy loves you, He is
          waiting. He sees only Jesus in you."

          Christians who embrace this thinking believe they can
          bypass the laver - which, for us stands for the washing
          by the water of the Word. They believe they can push
          past the commitment of the holy place with sin caked
          all over them and sinful habits deeply imbedded in
          their hearts, walk right in and boast, "I am the
          righteousness of God in Christ."

          The perfect heart is after more than security or a
          covering for sin! It seeks to be in His presence to
          have communion! Communion is talking with the Lord,
          sharing sweet fellowship, seeking His face. And that is
          what you get in the Holy of Holies! It comes in this
          order: covering, cleansing, commitment, communion.

          Many believers, however, want nothing more than to be
          covered - a quick ticket to glory! No pain, no cross,
          no cleansing! They go about crying, "I'm under the
          Blood, under the Blood! I'm safe!"

          Yet they quote only one-half of the verse: "And the
          blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleansesth us from all
          sin" (1 John 1:7). Read all of it: "If we say we have
          fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and
          do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is
          in the light... the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
          cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:6-7). Jesus said,
          "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
          unto you" (John 15:3).

          We hear preaching that says, "You don't need to be
          searched. All your sin is under the Blood anyway! All
          this digging and searching out of sin brings only
          condemnation and guilt."

          But Scripture says David had a perfect heart - yet he
          cried out, "Search me, O God!"

          In Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, "All the churches shall
          know that I am He which searcheth the reins [minds] and
          hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according
          to your works." Beloved, He was addressing the Church!

          The Lord's searchings are not vindictive but
          redemptive. His purpose is not to catch us in sin or
          condemn us - but rather to prepare us to come into His
          holy presence as clean, pure vessels. "Who shall stand
          in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure
          heart... he shall receive the blessing from the Lord"
          (Psalm 24:3-5).

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                    A Perfect Heart is A Trusting Heart

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          God has been showing me something recently about
          trusting Him that I've never seen before! The psalmist
          wrote, "Our Fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and
          Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were
          delivered: they trusted in Thee and were not
          confounded" (Psalm 22:4-5).

          Over and over David testified, "In the Lord put I my
          trust... " (Psalm 11:1), "O my God, I trust in thee"
          (Psalm 25:2). The Hebrew root-word for trust suggests,
          "to fling oneself off a precipice" - that is, to be
          like a child who hears his father say, "Jump!" and who
          trustingly obeys, throwing himself off the edge and
          into his father's arms.

          That is one aspect of trust. Some of you are in that
          place even now. You are on the edge, teetering, and you
          have no other option but to fling yourself off the edge
          and into the arms of Jesus! Some have simply resigned
          themselves to their situation - which in reality is no
          more than fatalism. They call this trust. It is not
          trust, though - it's numbness. Trust is much more than
          passive resignation! It is active belief!

          Some of you have made our Lord out to be come kind of
          cosmic fire-and-rescue company. It is as if Satan sets
          your house on fire and you are stranded on the roof
          yelling, "Lord, help! Save me!" So along comes the
          Lord, with His angels holding a big net, and He says,
          "Jump!" You do jump, the house burns down, and you say,
          "Thank you, Lord, for getting me out!"

          Many of us limit our trust to these rescue operations.
          It is as if we say to the Lord, "I trust you to come
          and put out all my fires, save me from all my troubles,
          and deliver me out of all my trials. I know You'll be
          there, Lord, when I need You."

          In doing this we think our faith is stretched and
          pleasing to God. But we don't realize that we merely
          have credited the devil with being the causer and the
          Lord as the reactor. We see Satan as causing and
          planning all our tests, chastenings and hard times. We
          say emphatically, "The devil is causing it!"

          This viewpoint makes God look like He simply reacts to
          all the devil's well-laid plans. But our God never
          reacts - He initiates!

          If you have a true walk with Christ you are not the
          devil's punching bag! He has no free access to harass
          or touch you. What kind of father would I be if I
          allowed a child molester, pusher or bully to have free
          access to any of my children? Yet we go about saying, "
          The devil did this to me... he shut this door... he put
          this or that on me!"

          Believer, where is your Father? Sleeping? Doesn't He
          care about you? You mean to tell me He lets you be open
          prey to rapists and killers? Never!

          Satan could not touch Job without God's permission. God
          had to lower the wall around Job in order for Satan to
          kill him! Jesus was "led up of the Spirit... to be
          tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4:1).

          God is always in control. Not for one moment was - or
          is - Satan outside the power of God's word!

          Christ revealed Himself to Paul as He who "open(s)
          their eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from
          the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:18). A messenger
          of Satan came to buffet Paul, but only because God
          allowed it. He would not allow His servant to be lifted
          up in pride because of the great revelation he had
          received. God was in control.

          At least twice Paul tried to go to Thessalonica, "but
          Satan hindered" (1 Thessalonians 2"18). Yet the devil
          could not stop God's work. The believers in
          Thessalonica later became Paul's "crown of rejoicing."

          The trust heart says, "All my steps are ordered by the
          Lord! He is my loving Father. He permits suffering,
          temptation and trial - but never more than I can bear,
          for He always makes a way of escape! He has an eternal
          plan and purpose for me. He has numbered every hair on
          my head. He numbered every cell and formed all my parts
          when I was in m mother's womb. He knows when I sit,
          stand or lie down. I am the apple of His eye. He is
          Lord - not only of my life, but over every event and
          situation touching my life!"

          God has everything under control!

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                     A Perfect Heart Is A Broken Heart

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          I once thought I knew what a broken heart was. I
          thought I had experienced much brokenness - until the
          Holy Spirit opened my eyes to a deeper meaning of the
          word.

          David said, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a
          broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite
          [crushed] spirit" (Psalm 34:18). He also said, "The
          sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
          contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise" (Psalm
          51:17).

          Brokenness is more than weeping, more than sorrow, more
          than a crushed spirit, more than humility. Indeed, many
          who weep are not brokenhearted. Many who lie before God
          and groan are not broken in spirit. True brokenness
          releases in the heart the greatest power God can
          entrust to man - greater than power to raise the dead,
          greater than power over sickness and disease!

          The Spirit said to my heart, "I will show you what God
          sees as brokenheartedness - so that I can release in
          you the kind of power needed in a time of ruin." It is
          a power to restore ruins - a power that brings a
          special kind of glory and honor to our Lord in troubled
          times!

          Brokenness has to do with walls: broken-down,
          crumbling, ruined walls. "The sacrifices of God are a
          broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart... Do good
          in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of
          Jerusalem" (Psalm 51:17-18). God associated the walls
          of Jerusalem with brokenheartedness.

          Let me show you an example of a truly brokenhearted
          man: "And I went out by night, I and some few men with
          me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my
          heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast
          with me, save the beast I rode upon... Then went I up
          in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and
          turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and
          so returned" (Nehemiah 2:13, 15).

          Nehemiah in the dark of night "viewed the walls." The
          Hebrew word shabar is used here. It is the same word
          used in Psalm 51:17 for "broken heart."

          Some would think Nehemiah became so broken when he "sat
          down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted,
          and prayed before the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 1:4).
          Yet his weeping and confessing was only the beginning
          of the breaking. Nehemiah's heart was not fully broken
          until he came to Jerusalem, saw the ruin - and set
          himself to do something about it!

          Nehemiah could have stayed in the king's court at
          Shushan palace, having weeping spells and times of
          mourning, fasting for days, confessing and praying -
          and still he would not have had a broken heart!

          Word spread far and near that "there was come a man to
          seek the welfare of the children of Israel" (Nehemiah
          2:20). Nehemiah said, "I told no one what my God had
          put in my heart to do at Jerusalem."

          He rode a donkey around the outside and "viewed the
          ruin." In Hebrew the meaning of this is, "his heart was
          breaking in two ways." It broke first with anguish for
          the ruin - and second with a hope for rebuilding
          ("bursting with hope")!

          This is a truly broken heart - one that sees the church
          and families in ruin and feels the Lord's anguish. Such
          a heart grieves over the reproach cast on the Lord's
          name. It looks deep inside and sees, as David did, its
          own shame and failure, and cries out, "Lord, I've made
          a breach in the wall! I've disregarded your holy
          testimony. I am crushed by my sins. This cannot go on!"

          But there is one other element to brokenness: hope. The
          truly broken heart has heard from God, "I will heal,
          restore and build. Get rid of the rubbish and get to
          work rebuilding the breaches!"

          Three years ago I walked through Times Square, weeping
          and mourning because of all the sin. I went back to my
          home in Texas, and for more than a year I wept and
          mourned. Then God said, "Go and do something about all
          the ruin."

          I had come and seen the destruction, but I was not
          fully broken until I was moved with hope to begin to
          rebuild the wall!

          Have you been "viewing the ruin" in your own life? Like
          David, have you sinned and brought reproach on His
          name? Is there a breach in your wall, something that is
          not repaired?

          Beloved, it is good to fall on the Rock (Jesus) and be
          shattered - to be broken into little pieces. when you
          see Christ in all His glory, the sight of Him will
          indeed shatter you. Even the good things in you - the
          talent, efficiency, all your abilities - will be
          shattered when you stand or lie before Him, helpless
          and drained!

          Daniel said, "There remained no strength in me... for
          my comeliness [strength] was turned in me into
          corruption [ruin], and I retained no strength" (Daniel
          10:8). Brokenness is the total shattering of all human
          strength and ability. It is recognizing the full
          reality of sin and the reproach it brings on Christ's
          name!

          However, it is also recognizing this: "Stand upright:
          for unto thee am I now sent" (Daniel 10:11). It is the
          absolute assurance that things are going to change -
          that healing and rebuilding are going to come. Your
          ruins are going to be reclaimed for God!

          It is a holy faith that says, "God is at work in me!
          Satan cannot hold me. I am not going to deteriorate or
          fall. My sin has grieved me, but I have repented. Now
          it's time to rise and rebuild!"

          Until you take hold of that hope, zeal and
          determination, you will not get past your tears. Your
          life may still appear to be a rubble heap, with mounds
          of dust piles and broken-down places that need repair.
          But remember - you have His sword and tools in hand.
          And above you there is a big sign, posted by the Lord's
          own hand, that says:

          God at work. Enemies, beware!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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