Word of Encouragement (7/15/2021)
One day more on Paul’s prayer in 2 Thess. 2:16-17: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” The last point of this benediction is that God and Jesus would establish our hearts in every good work and word. This morning, let’s remind ourselves of the close relationship between our hearts and our work and word.
Jesus hinted at this close relationship between our hearts and our work and word when He said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery...” (Mark 7:21). He shows us that our heart is the source of our thoughts and words and actions. Also, Paul commands Christians to do “the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6) and become “obedient from the heart” (Rom. 6:17). This assumes that true obedience comes from the heart, which loves God and submits itself to God’s sovereign authority.
But doesn’t this imply that it is possible to obey not from the heart with false obedience? If so, doesn't that mean our heart is not the source of our words and actions? No, that is not the case. A couple of weeks ago, I said that, contrary to what a lot of people think, we cannot go against our will (which is a primary function of the heart). That’s impossible because our will is what makes us act; we cannot act without our will. We may go against our wish (by our will) but we cannot go against our will. When we say we are not obeying from the heart, it doesn’t mean that our heart is not engaged at all in our act of obedience; rather, it means that we have a hypocritical heart, which wants to deceive others and even God!
The biblical teaching, as well as our own experience, testifies that our word and work flow out of the condition of our hearts. That is why Jesus said that “each tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:44). Nothing good can come out of the sinful heart of a fallen man. That is why we need to be born again. Our hearts need to be renewed by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit before we can do anything good in the sight of God. And this is why Paul prays that Jesus and God would establish our hearts in every good work and word.
Knowing this, we need to pray this prayer for ourselves and our fellow saints. God is the Lord of our hearts and He alone can establish them in every good work and word. But we will not pray this prayer with urgency and consistency if we do not pay attention to the condition and movements of our hearts. It is much easier to pay attention to our words and work because people notice them and react to them, either negatively or positively. But what goes in our hearts is often hidden from others, at least for a while, until it shows up in our work and word. As a result, the sins of our hearts may be more numerous and last much longer. When we do not bring the matters of our hearts to God, our spiritual growth is stunted and our spiritual life is exposed to danger.
Have you been paying attention to what goes on in your heart? Do you pray for the sanctification of your heart, which is the source of your work and word? Let’s start doing that by praying and meditating on this benediction! And may the Lord fill our hearts with the godly desire to do good work and speak good words to the glory of God and the encouragement and edification of those around us!