Sincere Heart and Full Assurance of Faith
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February 11, 2018 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22).
In today's passage, the God of love urges us to have a sincere heart and full assurance of faith. It is because we will be able to receive His great love when we achieve it.
So, how should we pray and what should we pray for to achieve a sincere heart and full assurance of faith? Let's think about it through the Israelites who couldn't go into the Canaan Land even after the 40 years of life in the wilderness.
1. The reason we should long for a sincere heart and full assurance of faith
A sincere heart refers to a pure and truthful heart free of falsehood or change. Full assurance of faith is the spiritual faith given by God from above when we cultivate such a sincere heart. It is the faith to please God by obeying Him with an understanding of His heart and will. Namely, it is the true faith with which you don't doubt God at all.
Adam, when he was a living spirit, didn't need the word 'sincere heart'. It's because his heart itself was spirit. His heart was filled only with the contents of truth. So, he only obeyed God and was loved by God to the utmost degree. As the lord over all things created by God, Adam had great wealth and honor, but above all, he could communicate with God who is spirit.
But from the time he sinned, contents of untruths began to fill his heart. He became a man of flesh whose heart was a mixture of truth and untruth. He could no longer communicate with God like before. As time passed, the hearts of Adam's descendants were increasingly stained by the untruths. They became more and more distanced from God and instead of communicating with God, they began to have communication with the enemy devil and Satan.
But thankfully, God who is full of love sacrificed Jesus His only begotten Son as propitiation to recover the relationship between the Father and His children. Also, He sent the Helper the Holy Spirit, so the people could call God "Abba Father" (Romans 8:15). He leads us to cultivate a sincere heart and to have the full assurance of faith so that we can share true love with God and live happy lives. For the life on this earth, He wants us to enjoy the authority of God's children and lack nothing, like Adam once did. And later, He wants us to inherit the kingdom of heaven and come into the city of New Jerusalem where God's throne is located.
2. Points to consider for the accomplishment of a sincere heart and full assurance of faith
1) The sons of Israel couldn't cast away changing mind.
God showed compassion on the sons of Israel who were crying out when enslaved in Egypt. He sent Moses and Aaron to set them free from the Pharaoh and to lead them to the Canaan Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
But as soon as they came out of Egypt, the people began to complain and kept on complaining. God parted the Red Sea and let them cross it like on dry land. He fed them with manna and quail. But soon after they saw the miracles their minds changed, and they complained. Because their minds were changing all the time, they couldn't believe the promise of the faithful God.
Nevertheless, in consideration of Moses, God was patient with them and guided them to the entrance of Canaan Land after the 40 years in the wilderness. Even at this moment, they were still complaining. Just before entering the land, many people had to face meaningless deaths due to their sin. They were bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness.
Even though you have experienced countless signs, wonders, and powerful works, if you still have a changing mind, you cannot receive blessings. It is because it is like turning over your vessel when you complain or break peace according to your mood or situations due to your changing mind, which makes it impossible for the vessel to receive blessings. Only when you cast away this changing mind can you achieve a sincere heart and then be given the perfect faith to believe from the depth of your heart.
2) The Israelites looked at the world until the end.
As God chose the Israelites as God's elect, He gave them commandments and constantly urged them to keep them. He didn't just give them words, but He let them know that the wages of sin is death by making them give animal sacrifices for their sins. Also, they witnessed their own people and neighbors being killed in the wilderness as the punishment of their sins.
Nevertheless, some of the sons of Israel played harlot with the Moabite women just before they entered the Canaan Land. They also committed an act of rebellion in idolatry. So, more than 20,000 people died of a plague. Also, while conquering the Canaan Land, a person named Achan out of his greed stole a part of the spoils given to God, and he was stoned to death.
The Canaan Land that God gave to Israel was abundant land flowing with milk and honey. At the same time, it was full of sins of the people there so that they had to be judged. If they were careless for a moment, they could be complacent in the abundance or become stained by pleasures of the world. For this reason, God trained the sons of Israel to make them His holy people through the long life in the wilderness.
Are you confident that even in those circumstances your heart would be set on God and keep His commands? Now, I ask you in the name of the Lord that you will cast away your love for the world completely and love God foremost of all, so that you'll be able to achieve a sincere heart and have perfect faith.
3) The Israelites couldn't gain complete victory due to their arrogance
Caleb relied on God completely, and he took the land that God promised to give him. On the contrary, some tribes like Dan relied on their own methods and power, and they couldn't completely take the portion that was given to them. Even Joshua, the successor of Moses, was prosperous when he asked God's will, but when he didn't ask God's will, he was cheated by Canaanites (Joshua 9).
Arrogance is rooted very deep in one's mind. Thus, you should humbly rely on God to cast it off and achieve a sincere heart. If you arm yourself with the word of God and prayer by relying on the power of God, you will discover evil conscience that is difficult to realize and even the evil placed deep in your nature, and pull them out, not to mention evident evil (Hebrews 10:22).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to cultivate a sincere heart and have the full assurance of faith, we must circumcise our heart. Just as we cut off the foreskin that would become dirty again soon, we should cut off the foreskin of the heart that can easily be defiled by sins and evil (Jeremiah 4:4). If we put the truth in our heart that has been circumcised, we will be able to have full assurance of faith and receive whatever we ask for. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will enjoy true happiness forever.
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