The Lord's New Year's Gifts to Hardened Sinners
W. Birch. Ezekiel 36:26 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… It is recorded that when Sir Walter Raleigh knelt on the scaffold with his neck on the block waiting for the axe of the executioner to behead him, the latter said, "Does your head lie easy, Sir Walter?" The brave man replied, "It matters not, my friend, how my head lies, provided my heart is right." I. A NEW HEART. The old heart is compared in this verse to a stone. What use is there then in preaching to such as are in heart senseless? The love of Christ is a solvent to soften the heart which is hard as a stone; and the Holy Spirit then shall mould it into the image of the Saviour. In a cathedral at Rome I saw what I thought to be most precious stone; but, placing my hand upon that huge slab, I found that it was wood, painted like marble. A stone is known by its coldness; and we know a man is unconverted by his coldness to God and to his fellow men. A few men possess natural benevolence; but many are as cold as a stone to the appeals of the helpless and the suffering. When the new heart is received their disposition is changed; they are tender and compassionate to the sufferer, and weep with the sorrowing. A man with a stony heart who loves money wonders why another gives his time and his money so generously, day after day, to the cause of God and of his fellow men; and he says to himself, "Why, the Christian does this as if he really enjoyed it! I like to get money; but he seems to be most pleased when he is giving it!" The reason is that the Christian has received a new heart; and, loving God and his fellow. men, it is his delight to minister to them of his time and substance. The new heart does not grudge what it gives; because it loves. II. A NEW SPIRIT. The old spirit readily conforms itself to the world; and it seeks to run with the stream. But when God gives the new spirit, we are ruled by the mind that was in Jesus; and though there were only one Christian in an opposing world, that Christian would be against the world. The old spirit thinks it cannot resist sin, and it yields to it as a necessity of his nature; but when God gives the new spirit, it breaks the gyves of Satan, and cries, "I am free; and will not longer submit to my besetting sin; I am to cast aside every weight, so that I may run the race that is set before me." The old spirit trusts in outward circumstances, in money, and in men; but when we receive the new spirit we trust in the power of our God. The old spirit does not know the sweetness of communion with God. But the new spirit delights to pray; it is a privilege rather than a duty. The old spirit also is corrupt. It is like the polished veneer that is placed over the decayed wood which smells with the dry rot. But when the new spirit is received the Christian is all glorious within. III. A NEW PILOT. "I will put My Spirit within you." IV. A NEW LIFE. "And cause you to walk in My statutes." We shall not be dragged to heaven: ours is a willing service. It is a walk, not a limp Christ heals perfectly. V. NEW RULES. "Ye shall keep My judgments." The fingerpost points out your way at the corner of the road, and you do not hesitate to walk in the path pointed out, because you believe that fingerpost to tell the right direction. Likewise, the fingerpost of the Bible is a sufficient security for us to keep in the path of righteousness. VI. NEW EMPLOYMENT. "And do them." How sweet to be assured that God will give us power to do His will! Pray with increasing faith, "Thy will be done"; and expect the ability and the resignation to do it. You shall do His will! Rejoice! VII. GOD'S GUARANTEE. "I will do it: I will give it you." The Lord means what He says. Cannot you trust Him? Whosoever will may receive the gifts offered by our loving Father. (W. Birch.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. WEB: I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.