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[0:00] I should call your attention to a subject you will find in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36 and verse 26.

[0:15] 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.

[0:38] Chapter 36, the book of Ezekiel, and the 26th verse. This is a word in which you and the preacher too must have an interest, or else you and I will be lost.

[1:05] A very solemn consideration. It brings us to what is the starting point in the life divine.

[1:18] Ye must be born again. And when that mighty miracle takes place in a sinner's breast, then what this word declares is fulfilled.

[1:35] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.

[1:46] This is a declaration from the God of all grace. And I hope grace will be given to us to think on it.

[2:01] Weigh it up. And oh, that many of us might be brought to realize before God with whom we have to do, that he has wrought this mighty miracle within.

[2:18] And that we are here in the attitude of worship, possessing a new heart, a new spirit. And our concern is to win Christ and be found in him.

[2:38] I would look at the subject as grace is given from three or four viewpoints. You must ponder, as grace is given you to do it, the word new.

[2:57] It is nothing to do with what you are by nature being patched up, reformed, renovated.

[3:09] Remember that. It is a new heart altogether. The matter needs thinking about because the word of God is very surging.

[3:22] Concerning this all-important matter. I've thought many times of what the word of God says concerning Saul, Israel's first king.

[3:35] And mark the word in, And the Lord gave unto Saul another heart. And as the outcome of it, Saul behaved for a while as a different man altogether to what he really was.

[3:55] But it was not a new heart. Saul lived his life as he was born. And he never did worship God aright.

[4:10] Nor did he love God with whom he had to do. And at the end of his life, he went down into eternal misery. But the word of God says that there was an outward change in Saul that other folks looked on.

[4:29] And it proceeded from another heart. But it was not a new heart. And now as a contrast to that solemn illustration, I like to think of King Asa.

[4:48] It has been a help to me in my ministerial life, if I turn aside a moment, to think of King Asa, Judas King, and when he ascended the throne, the word of God says, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

[5:12] And it is good reading to read about his early reign. In Judah. But, in his later life, he fell a prey to what he was by nature.

[5:27] And the word of God states about Asa being in a rage. And that he was left in that rage to oppress some of the people over whom he reigned.

[5:41] A very solemn blemish it was on good King Asa's character. And it is recorded in the word of God.

[5:52] And then you read this. Nevertheless, mark that word. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa remained perfect all his days.

[6:07] and underneath he was still right at heart. And now that is to show us that sometimes godly men, and it can include godly women too, may be left to do things which bring a reproach upon their profession.

[6:25] But underneath, their heart is still right with God. And ere they die, they are brought back unto God, and die in the faith.

[6:42] It might help you to remember that sometimes. If you should ever be stumbled by some things that godly folks may be left to do. Oh, they are still godly, but God will deal with them, and chasten them, for whatever inconsistency there may be, observable, in their profession of his dear name.

[7:10] Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort in the scriptures might have hope. And now the text tells us about a new heart.

[7:25] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost.

[7:40] It was a wonderful day, was the day of Pentecost. And it is not to be read or thought on once a year as something that happened long ago, a piece of history to be remembered as history.

[8:02] But it is to be remembered that if ye be in evil, know how to give good things unto your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.

[8:22] What is needed nowadays in the Church of Christ is another day of Pentecost. O how good it would be to have the Spirit poured out upon us from on high, and for people taught of God to be made lively in things divine.

[8:45] O you may well sing, Holy Ghost, we look to thee, raise the dead, the captive free. you and I who are taught of God can say Amen to such a petition.

[9:01] And now this new heart, I read to you that when God did this on the day of Pentecost, you will observe that Peter was inspired of God to preach the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven.

[9:21] And then you read also that as a blessed outcome of it when they heard this heard the Gospel set forth they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do?

[9:47] and Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

[10:05] I want you dear young people to observe one thing especially older people can remember it too. It was not until these people were pricked in their heart that the word was given to them repent when they were brought into that frame of mind that they were able to heed the word which was spoken.

[10:32] Peter did not address them as they were dead and tell them to repent but when they were pricked in their hearts and began to inquire concerning these all important matters men and brethren what shall we do then and not till then Peter said unto them repent change your minds and be baptized every one of you to show that your mind is changed and that you now believe in Jesus Christ and you have faith in him for who he is verily God verily man do remember that it will help you to understand what is sound doctrine and there is another scripture which comes to my mind that will help you there and show you how the gospel is preached and what is the outcome of it and now when the children of

[11:37] Israel were about to return from their Babylonian captivity God raised up Cyrus to be a deliverer and Cyrus having conquered the Babylonian kingdom had it put in his heart to set the children of Israel free that they might return unto the land of promise and so you read concerning Cyrus king of Persia who is there among you of all his people is God be with him let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel he is the God which is in Jerusalem and now the response do listen to it then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites with all them who spirit

[12:40] God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem all them who spirit God had raised all the others remained in Babylon and lived out their lives there and were just Babylonized but those who spirit God had raised put it like this every Israelite indeed who had got this new heart and new spirit found there was an immediate response because it was just in accord with their souls exercises that they should be found again in the land of promise which was their homeland and their worship God as Israel's God and this word before us actually gives us a little light upon it in the continuation of it and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your

[13:58] God you see dear friends young and old when it says ye must be born again what the margin reading is is wonderfully true ye must be born from above a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven and it tells us to in the epistle to the corinthians the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned and now if you were here before god this sabbath morn and in your heart you have got a concern to be after the spirit the things of the spirit if deep down something says within we would see jesus and see in him all our salvation and all our desire then god has done this for you what he declares he will do for his people down through the ages a new heart also will i give you and a new spirit will i put within you when e'er to call the savior mine my soul with ardent wish aspires can it be less than power divine which animates these strong desires and now let us look at some of these characteristics of a new heart a new spirit and it might be helpful in opening up the subject to say just a little about the immediate context then will i sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will i cleanse you it may be sometimes when you have read what the savior said to nicodemus that you have had some searchings of heart and some reflections as to the meaning of it jesus answered verily verily i say unto thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god and now godly scholars will tell you that it reads in the original except a man be born of water even of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god and this word i have read to you in the immediate context then will i sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean refers to the spirit of god you will find in the word of god the holy spirit is often referred to in the illustration of water i will pour water upon him that is thirsty and my spirit upon thine offspring and the effect of it is clean water makes those upon whom it is poured to be clean and now that is our starting point if you and i have a new heart a new

[17:59] spirit is indeed put within us then there will be some evidence of it in our lips and lives the fear of the lord is clean and now you and i if we are taught of god need to be clean from at least four view points and we shall be as the new heart is given and the new spirit is put within us listen and the new spirit is in gracious activity and now that needs thinking about because you can be alive in things divine but not lively a very solemn distinction between the two and now the word of god says in you athi quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins and when that happens when this new heart is given it is the outcome of the clean water being sprinkled upon such one one has an interest in calvary's cross and what was done there on the spirit of god begins to move in that sinner's breast and the effect is to cleanse and first of all the understanding is cleansed that the eyes of your understanding might be enlightened you will read and so the sinner when this mighty miracle is wrought when this new heart is given and the new spirit is put within he begins to understand what he never thought about before he begins to understand

[20:02] I am a sinner I have a never dying soul I am bound for an eternal destiny either heaven or hell he begins to understand that he has to do with god and that god has to do with him and can say and does say in his holy law the soul that sinneth it should die pay me that which thou owest righteousness to full perfection must be brought lacking naught fearless of rejection he has a new understanding and his understanding is cleansed cleansed from the ignorance of god which he has been the subject of all his life long and not only will the new understanding be given but he will have what he never possessed before he will have a new will men talk about free will but it is just a fallacy a chimera of the brain and the devil has made great use of it in the so called religious world and tens of thousands of people supposed to be religious have been solemnly deceived by it

[21:38] Adam and Eve alone possessed a free will and god gave them a free will and placed them in Eden's garden under a law which they were able to keep but could exercise their free will and disobey if they fell a prey to it what happened sin entered into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Adam and Eve exercised that free will and the Adam fall took place and from that day to this as you read Adam begot a son in his own likeness but when Adam was made he was made in the image of God when the Adam fall took place the image of God was defaced and now you often see that mankind in their behaviour are much more devilish in what they do than they ever are exhibiting the image of God because it is defaced debased you might remember that it will help you to understand what is sound doctrine and now

[23:07] Adam begetting a son in his own likeness every such and one which includes you and the preacher too as man is born what does he say we will not have this man to reign over us and that is his will as he is born but when he has a new heart given a new spirit put within he has a new will and he finds his new will is working if so be Jesus Christ will indeed have to do with him being the sinner that he is and he desires Jesus Christ to reign over his lips and life as king supreme he has a new will and so it is exercised as long as he lives thy will be done and he desires to do it willingly do you a new heart then this same sinner whose case

[24:23] I am trying to bring before you whose character I am describing will have new affections he has now got what he did not possess as he was born as he was born he came into the world a natural man all his thoughts proceeded from a carnal mind and the word of God is tremendous the carnal mind is enmity against God is not subject to the law of God and neither indeed can be but now he finds he has got another mind altogether a new mind he now possesses a spiritual mind and he begins to think on God and godliness thinks thinks about his soul and the eternal welfare of it finds in his soul desires well enough that matters may be made right between his soul and

[25:30] God he now questions his soul how stands the case my soul with thee for heaven are thy credentials clear he has a spiritual mind and he has new affections and sometimes he grows bold and according to how he feels out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak and he will say tis Christ the bright and morning star draws my affections from afar eh but as he was born he was saying depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thee or thy ways here is a mighty change the outcome of a mighty miracle a miracle of grace a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you taking up the word new the word of

[26:35] God speaks about newness of life and now this poor sinner with a new heart and new spirit from hence forth must live his life according to the workings of it he now desires to live after the spirit the things of the spirit as he was born he was well content to live after the flesh the things of the flesh but he is made to differ from the world at large and he finds this new heart beating after God and godliness he finds this new spirit working within prompting him instructing him causing him a solemn concern to live unto God live for God and he sometimes has this feeling above all others this prayer and this ambition mind living and dying to be thine and you see my friends being a new creature in

[27:41] Christ Jesus as he is with this new heart and new spirit he now lives his life with a new aim to know my Jesus crucified by far excels all things beside he may have been living his life to get on in the world and that is quite lawful he may have had ambitions that he would like to be this or that and he may have set the bent of his mind and all his energies that he might fit himself to live such a life according to the picture hung up in his mind but when this new heart is given and the new spirit is communicated then he finds that eternity takes precedence of time and he finds life is real life is earnest and the grave is not its goal dust thou art to dust returnest was not spoken of the soul and he finds this aim my soul my soul what will become of you where shall

[28:57] I spend eternity and now his concern is let me amongst thy saints be found say unto my soul I am thy salvation a new aim a new concern do you possess it he has new feelings he finds at times God is uppermost in his thoughts and when he has duties to do and difficulties to face he finds that he wants to have to do with God in all these things in the beginning God he now realises except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it a new heart also will

[29:57] I give you and a new spirit will I put within you much might be said along that line of thought I might add that he has in this new heart what he never felt before he has new fears he has a fear as to whether he will possess any religion that God is the author of which alone will do to live by and die by he has a fear lest he might be a chapel goer all his life long and go to hell at the end of it oh he has fears deep down in this new heart of his and he realizes a solemn thing a saint to appear grow up with wheat and prove to be a tear he has many many searchings of heart all these fears arise and then he not only has a fear as to whether he has got some religion that is of

[31:15] God but he thinks about his dying day he never did think about it before he was born again only to attempt at once to push it back as far as he could in his mind and go on living as usual and now he understands the hymn writer's lines my fear sometimes say I never shall find in death's gloomy day true peace to my mind he looks round on people taught of God and he sees how they live and he observes how they die he sometimes goes and stands by their grave and he hears the preacher say as all that is mortal of them is laid therein ensuring certain hope of a joyful resurrection to the life everlasting and his new heart beats quicker than usual and he says be this religion mine at whatever cost it is to possess it with them numbered

[32:26] I would be now and in eternity but he has another fear because with this new spirit which is put within oh it tends to allure him to Calvary's cross and what was done thereon and with his new heart and his new understanding and his eyes being opened he contemplates Calvary's cross and what was done thereon and he has a fear lest he has no part and lot therein and yet all the while he has got a part and lot therein all but he wants God to make it plain he wants to be able to feel from me oh miracle of grace from me the saviour bled much might be said under that head end a new heart also will

[33:32] I give you and a new spirit will I put within you I might add he now comes into new troubles strange troubles which you do not read about in any dictionary that I am aware of he now finds a trouble that when he would pray then he seems prayerless when he would try to thank God for the manifold mercies that attend him by night and by day all he can say is oh for a glance of heavenly day to take this stubborn stone away exactly what our text tells us God declares that he will do I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh oh it is just what this poor sinner born again wants to realize a heart of flesh a heart to feel the things of

[34:38] God in their power and preciousness a heart to feel after God yes and so he has new troubles I would but cannot pray and sometimes he has such a concern to worship God aright and then he is troubled because in the house of prayer his spirit gads about what he is by nature seems so troublesome and turbulent and he learns that scripture ye cannot do the things that ye would I would do good but evil is present with me and that is a trouble which he never knew when he was dead and in the world and of it but he knows it because he is now born again remember that he looks within and the longer he looks the bigger trouble he finds he is in which shall know every man the plague of his own heart with his new heart new spirit he is concerned to be clean in his lips and life but he has to say jesus blood for sinners spilt i depend on solely to release me from my guilt but i would be holy and this clean water which has been sprinkled upon him even the spirit of god working within his breast makes him pray a prayer that very few people say amen to nowadays be of sin the double cure cleanse me from its guilt and power let not sin or iniquity have dominion over me and now that brings us to another thought the new heart also will

[36:48] I give you and a new spirit will I put within you oh this sinner being led into the truth is under new government I have told you many a time in my long ministry about Israel of old being a theocracy and as they were in the wilderness journey in they were under the definite government of God when the cloud moved Israel could move and not till then and now every sinner born again with a new heart a new spirit within has to live his life like that guide me all the great Jehovah pilgrim through this barren land and the government should be upon his shoulder the new government you cannot do as you like you have to learn you are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify

[37:49] God in your body and in your spirit which are God's remember that a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and the stony heart being taken away and the heart of flesh given all that new heart will be a soft heart sometimes I like that word concerning Josiah I have looked at it many times in my life and because thine heart was tender a wonderful mercy to feel a tender heart tender in the things of God oh give me Lord the tender heart that fears the approach of every sin tender ask God to give it to you you and

[38:51] I need it a new heart also will I give you a new spirit will I put within you there is another heart referred to setting forth what a new heart would be like a broken heart a contrite heart I expect some of you have sung very feelingly sometimes one of our hymns that begins the Lord will happiness divine on contrite hearts bestow oh tell me gracious God is mine a contrite heart I know when you look within and think about your heart and the spirit within you you cannot always diagnose it and feel as you would like to feel about it maybe you say as that hymn writer did oh make this heart rejoice or ache decide this doubt for me and if it be not broken brain and heal it if it be a new heart also will

[40:05] I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and this new heart remember this will always respond to what is true and that is when you listen to the gospel being preached and the power of God is manifest in it you will find as in water face hands with unto face so does the heart of man to man and what you listen to you will love the gospel of Christ in its power and preciousness known and felt you will love it and your new heart new spirit will be concerned to let your life and acts express the holy gospel you profess much might be said along that line of thought that I must come to the amen a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and one thing to do with that new spirit which is all

[41:19] I have time to refer to and it sums up all that I might refer to if I preached another three or four sermons upon it the fruit of the spirit is love remember that love is the golden chain that binds the favored souls above and there's a hair of heaven who finds his bosom glow with love and now you can remember long ago some of you when you did not love the truth I once was a stranger to grace and to God I knew not my danger I felt not my load no friend spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree Jehovah said clean you was nothing to me is it nothing to you all ye that pass by as you are here before God all of you who have a new heart a new spirit you will have a response to me is it nothing to you all ye that pass by you have a different feeling in your life you desire it to be all in all supreme in its importance and you feel compared with

[42:42] Christ in all beside no comeliness I see and the one thing needful dearest Lord is to be one with thee and now where these things are known and felt such and one has got an interest in this blessed declaration by the God of all grace the Lord bless you a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and I keep you a minute to make this plain you will find this word fulfilled to you in a gospel interpretation of it and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers the land of promise and now the holy bible book divine is our land of promise and what

[43:45]  God has said therein concerning his people what he would do for them and what does he say ye shall be my people and I will be your God and God will not fail to fulfill that word to you the Lord help you to think on these things amen you can please amen