In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of guarding our minds and hearts by filtering what we watch, read, and engage in. He references Philippians 4:8, which encourages us to focus on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy. The speaker also highlights the need to guard our eyes and make a covenant not to look lustfully at others, as Job did. He warns against the dangers of pornography and the negative consequences it can have on our lives. Additionally, the speaker emphasizes the importance of guarding our conversations and not engaging in gossip or ungodly talk. Finally, he emphasizes the need to guard our steps and avoid places or situations that can lead us astray. The speaker uses various verses from Proverbs and references 2 Corinthians 10 to support his points.

I praise the Lord for His presence tonight. And I praise God for that opening and all those songs. They're so amazing. You know, when God is at work, He confirms His Word. And the message that God has given me tonight was confirmed throughout the singing, throughout the opening, and I praise God for that. We're going to turn to Matthew chapter 5, and we'll begin reading in verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Now if we may, let's bow our heads and pray one more time. Heavenly Father, how grateful we are, O Lord, that You are willing to speak to Your people. You are alive. You are God who speaks to Your people. You've given us Your holy Word from Genesis to Revelation. Your God-breathed Word, the holy Scriptures. And Lord, tonight, none of us here want to hear from a man. We want to hear a message that comes straight from Your heart. And we pray, Lord God, that You would open our hearts to receive Your words of life. Lord, if there be any wall of resistance or distraction, we ask You to remove it in Jesus' name. We ask You to open our ears and give us ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying to us. Lord, make the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be pleasing and acceptable in Your sight. O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer, let Your Word go forth, Lord God, tonight with grace and power. And Father, I pray that You would do a deep, deep work in each and every one of our hearts tonight for the glory of Your name in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, this was the beginning of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and the part that we read is called by many, the Beatitudes. And what we're going to do tonight is to focus in on one single verse, verse 8, where Jesus says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed means to be fully satisfied, to be highly favored by God, to be blessed. Blessed are the pure in heart. Your heart is the very core of who you are. It's the deepest part of your innermost being. And that is especially what God looks at tonight. For the Scripture says that the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. That's what He's looking at tonight. He looks beyond the veil, beyond the outward appearance, and right straight to our heart. Man is always trying to look good and impressive on the outside, but Jesus is concerned first and foremost with your heart, that deepest part of your innermost being. In Matthew chapter 23, verses 25 and 26, the Lord Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees of that day, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion, that is greed, and excess, or self-indulgence. Thou blind Pharisee, clean first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of the cup may be clean also. Folks, unless your heart is pure and clean, your life never will be. Unless your heart is pure and clean, your outward actions, however religious they may appear, however religious we all may appear, are only dead works of hypocrisy. It's the heart that God looks after. It's the heart that He's after tonight. And in Matthew chapter 15, Jesus said, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you? Speaking again of these scribes and Pharisees. He said, Hypocrites, well, did Isaiah prophesy about you? Saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. In other words, they were saying all the right words, they were singing all the right songs, they were going through all the right religious motions, but Jesus said, your heart is far from me. And it can be the same with us, brothers and sisters, can't it? We can be singing all the right songs, we can be saying all the right words, we can put on an outward appearance of looking like we really got it all together with God, and yet our hearts be so far away from Him. And yet it's the heart that God looks at. These scribes and Pharisees were so concerned because the disciples of Jesus were not washing their hands before they ate. And how did Jesus respond to them? In verse 17 of chapter 15, He says, Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashing hands does not defile a man. Our greatest problem, brothers and sisters, is a heart problem. All sin comes from the impurity of the heart. Whatever's in the heart's going to come out through the mouth. Jesus says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Is it not true that the opposite is also true? If the pure in heart shall see God, the impure in heart shall never see God. And we saw that only two nights ago, that without holiness, no one would see the Lord. Hebrews 12, 14. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The impure in heart cannot see God. Why? Because sin is the greatest spiritual blinder. It's the greatest cause of spiritual blindness that there is. Sin dulls the mind. It deadens the conscience. It blinds the eyes and it hardens the heart. Sin is our greatest cause of spiritual blindness. Sin is like a venom. It's like a poison that once injected and you partake of it, it slowly but surely kills the soul. It numbs the mind, dulls the spiritual senses, deadens the conscience, blinds the eyes, and hardens the heart. You know, many, many years ago, there's a story told about the old sheep herders and what they would do to kill out the wolves that were so prone to kill their sheep. The story goes that those sheep herders would take a knife and they would sharpen both edges razor sharp, so sharp that just to touch the edge of the blade would split your finger open. And they would take that razor sharp knife and they would dip it in blood and they would freeze it so as to make sort of a blood popsicle for the wolves. They would mount that knife, which had frozen blood over the razor sharp blade out in the woods somewhere, and the wolf would come by and begin to lick the frozen blood popsicle. And as he's licking the ice, his tongue is growing numb. And it gets numb by the time it gets down to the razor sharp blade and next thing you know, he's licking the blade and his tongue is being ripped to shreds. And that wolf would eventually die a sad, slow, miserable death. That is a wonderful picture of sin. It numbs us. It deadens the conscience. It dulls our spiritual senses. Sin blinds the eyes and it hardens the heart. It is the greatest cause for spiritual blindness. It is the greatest cause for us not being able to see God in all of His glory and majesty and who He really is. Why don't we see the seriousness of sin? Because we're so familiar with it. Why doesn't the proud man see the seriousness of his pride? Because pride has blinded his eyes. Selfishness blinds our eyes. All sin blinds our eyes and hardens our heart. Why don't we see it as God does? Because again, it kills. It deadens the conscience. It blinds the eyes and it hardens the heart. But Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Don't you want to see God? What does that mean that the pure in heart will see God? It means that we will be admitted into His presence. The pure in heart will be able to see the glory and majesty of Jesus in such a way that the impure can never see Him. As we gather in a meeting like this, the pure in heart, even as we open the Scriptures and begin to read about our Lord Jesus or sing about Him, the pure in heart can see Jesus through the eyes of faith in a way that the impure can never see Him. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. What does He mean? You know, one day every eye is going to see Him. He's not talking about just the pure in heart who will see Him one day in heaven. That is true. And the Bible says in Revelation 1-7 that when He comes with the clouds, every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. There's coming a day, judgment day, when every eye will see the Lord. But that's not what He's talking about. There's another way that God allows the pure in heart to see Him. If you were to tell me, Brother Brian, tomorrow I'm going to see a doctor. I know you're not talking about just seeing a picture of a doctor. I know you're not talking about just seeing a doctor through a window or seeing the doctor walk down the street somewhere. You're talking about being admitted into the presence of the doctor. And when Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God, He's saying the pure in heart will be admitted into the presence of God. And they will see God in a way that the impure will never see Him. Now, what is a pure heart? A pure heart, first of all, is an undivided heart. An undivided heart. To me, the word purity means that there is no mixture. There's no additives, no impurities. It's a heart without any mixture. You can have pure oil and put it in your car and your engine runs smooth. Take pure water, drink it, and your body is refreshed and revived. But if there is a mixture of oil and water, you cannot drink it and you cannot put it in your car. The pure in heart, what is this purity? It's a heart without any mixture. It is an undivided heart. What was the problem with the church in Laodicea? There was this mixture. Let's turn there for a moment, Revelation chapter 3. There was this mixture. There was this divided heart, if you will. In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus said of the church in Laodicea, verse 15, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Those are some pretty strong words. I will vomit you. In other words, this lukewarmness is disgusting to the heart of God. This mixture, He will not have it. Cold or hot. Where there is mixture, there is a divided heart. And that divided heart is an impure heart. And Jesus said, because you are lukewarm, I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth. Serious words. Let's read on. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Where did that blindness come from? It came from an impure heart. It came from a divided heart, a heart that's neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. And where there is a mixture and where there is this impurity of heart, there's a spiritual blindness that comes over even the people of God. It's so sad to me that the church in Laodicea was so convinced that they were OK. They said, we're rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, who sees all things and looks beyond the outward appearance and looks at the heart, says, no, no. You do not know that you're poor, wretched, miserable, blind and naked. Where did the blindness come from? Again, the impurity of heart. A pure heart is a soft heart. Brothers and sisters, if we can read the Gospels, do you remember a time? I do. When I could read of the Garden of Gethsemane, I could look at the cross, read John chapter 18, read Romans chapter 5, that even while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me and it would break me to the point of weeping. What happens? What happens as the days, time goes by and the years go by and the side of the cross no longer moves us to tears? John 3, 16 no longer grips us. The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is literally sweating drops of blood as He's praying in that garden, doesn't move us. Folks, the pure heart is a soft heart. The impure heart, the divided heart gets hard and resistant to where we're no longer even moved by the side of the cross. Now, the impure in heart won't see God, but the pure heart will. And if you're here tonight and you long to see God, you long to be right with God, you long to go deeper with Christ, I want to ask you to follow me now on this path to purity. We've been talking about preparing the way. To prepare the way, we've got to prepare our hearts, because the pure in heart are going to see God. On this pathway to purity, there are three signposts I want to point out tonight. If you're with me tonight, you say, Brother Brian, I want to be that one that Jesus is talking about. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. All right, follow me. We get on the path and the first signpost that we see says, we must partake of a new heart. You must partake of a new heart to prepare your heart. We must first have partaken of a new heart. Reason is, we were all born in sin with an impure and defiled heart. The heart without Jesus, the old heart is best described in Jeremiah 17, 9, where he says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That old hardened heart cannot be improved. It cannot be saved. It cannot be modified. It's not just got some bad habits that need to be broken. It's corrupt to the core. It's deceitful. It's desperately wicked. There is no end to the corruption and blackness and defilement of an unconverted and unregenerate heart. You can't improve the old heart. Sin has defiled it. It is hard. It is stone cold. It is wretched. It is deceitful. And it is full of murder, envy, jealousy, adultery and selfish ambition. And the only answer is to have a heart transplant. The only answer is to have that hard heart removed and to receive a new one. And thanks be to God, that's exactly what he wants to do in every single one of our lives. Ezekiel chapter 36. If you turn there with me, God is willing to perform spiritual heart surgery. He is willing to take away the heart of stone and to give us a new heart. Verse 24 of Ezekiel 36. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Hallelujah. Whereas the old hardened heart that is defiled and corrupted by sin and you and I could never, we could try and turn over a leaf every year. We could try to turn our life around. We could try to break old habits. The issue is not all these old habits. The issue is the corrupt heart that you and I can do nothing about. And God says, I will do something about it. I will come to you if you're willing to be honest with God and come before Him and say, Lord, this heart is a heart of stone. It is hard. It is defiled. It is corrupt. What do I do? God is waiting to hear that from you. He's waiting to hear that from me. And the first thing He does, He says, He will sprinkle clean water on you. He will reach you and take out the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. A soft heart. A heart that is moved by the Holy Spirit. A heart that when prompted by the Holy Spirit responds. A heart that is moved by the sight of the cross in Calvary. A heart that loves people. A heart that sees the lost and the perishing and is moved to tears and moved to do something about it. To preach the gospel. This soft heart. A new heart. We must all partake of it. For unless we do, there is no hope for us. The old heart is beyond repair. God is willing and He's able to do heart surgery. Now, having received and partaken of this new heart, we get a new nature. Christ has come to dwell in your heart now by faith. And then we move on this pathway to purity. We've partaken of a new heart. What's the next signpost? The next signpost on the path to purity says the pure in heart must purpose in their heart. They must purpose in their heart. Daniel chapter one. And notice, if you will, with me in verse eight. Verse eight says, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the chief and of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Notice that Daniel purposed in his heart. What does that mean? Daniel made a decision. He took a choice. He purposed in his heart to obey God and not defile himself with the king's meat and the king's wine. He simply made a decision to keep his heart pure. Daniel made up his mind. And you and I have to make up our mind. We have to purpose in our heart. God has given me a new heart. I've got to make a decision now to purpose in my heart not to compromise, not to defile what God has given me. Not to allow sin to come in and taint that which God has done. He has washed me whiter than snow. Now he gives you a free will. He gives you a choice. Will you make a decision to purpose in your heart not to defile yourself? And Daniel didn't wait until he was tempted to purpose in his heart. He purposed in his heart beforehand. Some of us need to make a decision tonight, not tomorrow, but tonight to purpose in our heart. I will not compromise by the grace of God. I will not defile myself. Purpose in your heart. Make the decision. And mind you, Daniel was living in Babylon at this time. Babylon was the superpower of the world at that time, the vilest, filthiest, most polluted anti God society on earth. And yet he purposed in his heart and God kept him clean in a dirty society, an anti God society. I want to say to you, brothers and sisters, sometimes you and I, we can walk around this this whole nation now is saturated with sin, with evil, wickedness, violence. I don't have to convince you of that. There is sin and temptation on every side. Is it even possible? It is. Is it even possible for God to keep a child of God pure white as snow, clean and pure in such a dirty, filthy society? An anti Christ world. I want to tell you it is possible. To be holy in an unholy world, to be clean in a dirty world. To have an undefiled heart in a wicked world, it is possible by the grace of God. But you have a decision to make tonight. Will you like Daniel purpose in your heart? I will not defile myself. Regardless of whether anyone else, whatever one else was doing around him, even if he had to stand alone, Daniel said, I'm purpose in my heart. Not to defile myself. It may have seemed like such a small, insignificant thing to those around him. I can hear others around him saying, come on, Daniel, it's just a little little meat, just a little wine. Come on. But it was meat and it was wine that was against the law and will of his God. And this young man would not budge. That's what we need, brothers and sisters, young men and women, old men and women who are who are born again by the Spirit of God and who will not budge when it comes to sin. They will not compromise. They will not. They've purposed in their heart long beforehand, not when the temptation comes, but long beforehand. By your grace, O God, I make a decision. Not to defile myself. Is it possible? Is it possible for a young man, for a teenager? Daniel was a young man. He was a young man, a boy. Psalm 119, verse nine says, How can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to thy word? Yes, it's possible. By taking heed according to thy word. Now, you can't take heed according to the word of God unless you're in the word of God. We've got to be in the word of God. We've got to be in the word of God every day, soaking ourselves in the word of God, saturating ourselves in the holy word of God. But it's not just reading the word. It's not even just meditating upon the word. Taking heed according to thy word means obeying what you read, taking it, reading it, just as God has spoken it, believing it and obeying it. Obey the word of God. We have more Bible knowledge today probably than ever in the history of the world. And we have less purity in the church. Why is that? Not a lack of study books, not a lack of concordances and all the other stuff. A lack of obedience to God's holy word. How shall a young man, old man, young woman, old woman, how shall any of us cleanse our way? Purpose in our heart never to defile ourselves, take heed according to the word of God. Obey what you read and obey what you know. First Timothy chapter five. Let me give you some examples of this. First Timothy chapter five and verse 22. The apostle Paul saying to young Timothy, do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins. Keep yourself pure. Whose responsibility? Keep yourself pure. You have a decision to make. I will purpose in my heart says I will make a choice. Keep yourself pure. Now, do we have the power to keep ourselves pure? I look at it this way. Keep yourself pure. Do not defile yourself purpose in your heart. It's like making a decision to go back there and turn on the light switch. You don't have the power to produce the electricity. You don't have the power to light up the bulb, but you can make the decision to turn on the switch. When you turn on the switch, I will purpose in my heart. I will keep myself pure. He goes on to say in chapter two of second Timothy. Look at this verse 19. The Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Verse 21, therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Verse 22, flee also youthful lust, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Notice the commands depart from iniquity, cleanse himself, flee youthful lust, pursue righteousness. Is God going to do that for you? No, that's the decision you must make. Depart, flee, pursue, turn on the light switch. Here's the beauty of it. When you purpose in your heart and you make the decision to flee youthful lust, that's that means run from them. From them and then to pursue righteousness, run to Christ. You make the decision to turn on the switch and God releases his power to light up the bulb, to light up your life, to give you the power to stay pure in a dirty world, to stay clean. So on we go on this path of purity, we partake of a new heart. We come to the next signpost that says purpose in your heart. This is something we've got to be diligent about. I'll guarantee you as Christians, you go through this world passively. Say, maybe I'll be in this word, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll take in a 15 minute prayer this morning. You go through this world passively and you are sure to be defiled. You are sure to fall. God's looking for those who will be diligent like Daniel. Purpose in your heart. But now we move on to the next one. There's another signpost on this path to purity. The pure in heart must protect their heart. They must protect their heart. Proverbs chapter four, please turn their. Proverbs chapter four and verse twenty three. Keep your heart with all diligence. There we say not passively, keep your heart with all diligence for out of its spring, the issues of life, the NIV says it this way above all else guard your heart, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Protect your heart. How did they protect those ancient cities back then? They would build massive walls around the cities to protect the city from any enemy armies coming in and in the massive wall around the city, there would be gates. And if you didn't guard the gates, the enemy was sure to come in the city. How do we protect and guard this city of our heart? We must guard and protect the gates that go to it. And what are those gates to our heart? I'm going to give you a few of them. Here's one. Your mind, your mind is a gate to your heart. If you don't guard and protect your mind, sin that comes into your mind is sure to poison your heart. We must guard and protect our mind. He says in verse 20 of Proverbs chapter four, my son, give attention to my words. In other words, let me have your mind. Pay attention. Pay attention to my words. Protect your mind. Your mind is a battlefield. This is where most of the battle takes place right here. What did the apostle Paul say in second Corinthians chapter 10, second Corinthians chapter 10 and verse three says, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds. Watch this. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. There's a war, there's a battle, a spiritual battle going on in your mind. And Satan has the power to shoot these missiles, these fiery darts, thoughts, temptations in your mind. Now, the thought, the immediate thought is not sin. But the moment that you begin to think upon that thought and entertain that thought is sin. When the thought comes in, you and I, by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, have the power to take that thought captive. That thought doesn't fit who I am in Christ. That thought grieves the spirit of God. That thought needs to go to prison. Take it captive. And immediately replace it with thoughts of Jesus, His word. Philippians chapter four, verse eight. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be anything praiseworthy, think or meditate on these things. If we would take Philippians chapter four, verse eight to heart, there'd be a whole lot of things you never watch, you never read, you never have conversations you don't engage in. Is it true? Is it noble? Is it just? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Is it something that is praiseworthy in the sight of God? And if it's not, it doesn't belong in my mind. Shut the gate to your mind, guard it, protect it. Protect our minds. If we don't protect our mind, our heart is sure to be defiled to guard your heart. You must guard your mind. But it goes beyond that. Proverbs chapter four, verse twenty one. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. Verse twenty five. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your eyelids look right before you. To guard my heart, I have to guard my eyes. Job said in Job thirty one, verse one, I make it. I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. Let's guard our hearts. Let's guard our hearts, men and women by guarding our eyes, though there be temptations on every side. Guard your eyes by fixing your eyes upon Jesus. A man of God has eyes for Jesus and eyes for his wife only. Nothing else is acceptable. Jesus said, you have heard it said of old, thou should not commit adultery. But I say unto you, if any man looks lustfully at a woman, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And Paul says, don't be deceived. Adulterers shall not inherit the kingdom of God. It is so serious in the sight of God that Jesus said better to pluck out your eye, better to cut off your hand and go through life maimed and crippled than to have your whole body cast into hell. Do you take lust that seriously? Do you take guarding your eyes that seriously? Jesus does. God takes it that seriously. Guard your heart by guarding your eyes. This is something that you and I can't deal with passively, especially in the world in which we live. Psalm 101, verse 2. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. Now how? I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. I will guard my heart by guarding my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me. I will not know wickedness. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. What does that say about a television set? What does that say about a computer screen? There's good things on the computer, brother Brian. I know there are. I use the computer all the time. But you and I both know there is deadly, deadly poison on that computer. And if you are not diligent to guard your eyes, you will defile your heart. What comes in the gate of your eyes will get into your heart, and the purity of your heart is no longer there. It gets tainted, defiled by sin, watching things that are impure. And I say to you, brothers, we've got to teach our children this. I've taught my boys from the time that they were little bitty. You go to, it used to be the mall. I hate the mall. But sometimes we went to the mall. Now all you got to do is go to Walmart. And I say, boys, we're on a battlefield. They know. Daddy says, boys, guard your heart. They know what that means. Guard your eyes. Guard your eyes, because not only are there pictures everywhere, but there's women everywhere that don't know how to dress modestly anymore. They're wearing nothing, or they're wearing skin tight clothes. And I've got boys, and I know my boys are just like I was as a boy. Temptations on every side. They're not immune. I'm not immune. How are we going to fight this battle unless we do it diligently? Unless we guard our hearts by guarding our eyes. We may be in a public place or visiting a relative. They're watching the TV. Here comes a commercial. Immediately, the boys. I say, praise God for that. Take it seriously. Be diligent about it. A man of God has eyes for Christ and eyes for his wife. That's it. And now it's a problem with women. How will you guard your heart? Unless you guard your eyes and keep them pure. Guard the gate of your eyes. Now, not only that, but we must guard our ears. Look at what he says again here in Proverbs. Chapter four, verse 20. My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ears to my saying. How about conversations that are that are ungodly gossip? How can we justify gossip? Gossip gets in the gate of the ear and down into the heart and the heart is defiled. There are things on the radio we shouldn't listen to. There are conversations we need to cut off. Guarding our heart by guarding our mind, by guarding our eyes, by guarding our ears. And one more here. Verse 26. Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left. Remove your foot from evil. We must guard our steps. There are certain places that a Christian does not go. Jesus said, my sheep, they hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Where are you going? Did Jesus lead you there? Does Jesus lead you there? You guard your steps. There are places we don't go. And if you notice, in the context of it, in chapter five, the context of all of this is a young man about to be led astray by a seductive woman. Now, I understand there's people here tonight. You're not tempted by a seductive woman. Some may be. Some aren't. But I'm telling you, this applies to any temptation. Any temptation. It may be someone who calls you all the time and you know when they call, the conversation is going to be gossip. It can be a number of things. Anything that the devil uses, you know what your besetting sin is. Wanting to lead you astray. Think about that as we read this. Proverbs chapter five, verse one. My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lay hold of hell. Do you see it, brothers and sisters, how serious it is to guard our heart? Lest we do, her feet lay hold, her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life, her ways are unstable. You do not know them. Therefore, hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house. What is he saying? Guard your steps. Don't go down that street. Don't click on that website. Don't even click anything that looks remotely in a search that would lead you to that website. Don't turn to that channel. Don't go near her house. Guard your steps. Flee youthful lust. And by guarding your steps, you'll be guarding your heart. Lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one. Lest aliens be filled with your wealth and your labors go to the house of a foreigner and you mourn at last when your flesh and your body are consumed. And you say, how I've hated instruction and my heart despised correction. I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me. I was on the verge of total ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation. That reminds me of the many, many, many young men that I've prayed with that have wept a river of tears that are enslaved by pornography, internet pornography. They went near the door of her house and now they weep saying my strength's been given to another. I was on the verge of total ruin and they mourn at last their body and their flesh is consumed. Why? I did not purpose in my heart. I didn't take it seriously. I didn't guard my heart by guarding my eyes, by guarding my ears, by guarding my mind, by guarding my steps. And therefore, I cannot see God. Where is He? I don't hear Him like that, Brother Brian. I don't feel Him. I don't feel His presence. Blessed are the pure in heart. They shall see God. We've got to deal with it diligently, take it diligently. Chapter 7. My son, keep my words. I love Proverbs, especially these few chapters, 4, 5, 6, 7. You know what you hear over and over again? The heart of Father God. The heart of a father. My son, my son. Imagine talking to my boys. My boys, this is a tainted, defiled world, but you can be clean. You can live a pure and holy life. There is victory in Jesus. You can overcome sin, but you've got to guard your heart. My son, listen to me. Keep my words. Treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live. And my law is the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablets of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister. Call understanding your nearest kin, that they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house, I looked through the lattice. I saw among the simple. I perceived among the youths. A young man devoid of understanding. He was passing along the street near her corner and he took the path to her house. Where did he go wrong? He did not guard his steps. He did not guard his eyes and therefore he did not guard his heart. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night, there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious. Her feet would not stay at home. At times she was outside. At times in the open square, lurking at every corner. She caught him and kissed him with an impudent face. She said to him, I have peace offerings with me. Today I have paid my vows. So I came out to meet you diligently to seek your face. And I have found you. I've spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with love for my husband is not at home. He's gone on a long journey. He's taken a bag of money with him and will come home on the appointed day. With her enticing speech, he's not guarding his ears. With her enticing speech, she caused him to yield. With her flattering lips, she seduced him. Immediately, he went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter. As a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost him his life. Now, therefore, listen to me, my children. Listen to me, my children. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths, for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. That's where it leads when a man does not protect his heart. And I say a woman the same. The path to purity, the pure in heart, shall see God. How bad do you want to get closer to God, to see God? You've got to receive a new heart. You've got a purpose in your heart, and you must protect your heart, brothers and sisters. How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to thy word. Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And it is possible. It is possible to be set apart. What kind of bride is Jesus Christ coming back for? We're talking about preparing the way for the Lord. What kind of bride is Jesus Christ coming back for? Our brother Glenn read it to us already. A pure, spotless bride, and she is arrayed in fine white linen. I'm telling you, Jesus Christ is coming back for a holy church, a pure church. And my prayer is that each and every one of us would develop a passion for purity and holiness so that we would love righteousness and hate sin. Loathe sin. Flee from sin. There is nothing more serious. There is nothing more deadly. And glory be to God. There is victory in Christ. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. There is victory in the Lord. We can overcome. We can be a pure, holy, spotless people because of the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. But I want to ask you tonight, is your heart pure? Is it soft? Is it undivided? You may be sitting there with such a proud heart, thinking, well, those poor people addicted to pornography. Glad that's not my problem. I don't drink. I don't smoke. Is your heart undivided? If you're lukewarm, you are no different. You're no different from the one that drinks, the one that smokes. You're the one that Jesus said, I'm about to spew you out of my mouth. Take it seriously, brothers and sisters. Lukewarmness is the same as lust, anger, murder, adultery. It's sin to have a divided heart. Is your heart soft? Is your heart undivided, solely given to Christ? If not, do you need a heart transplant? God is willing tonight. He's willing to meet with any honest seeker who will come to Him in spirit and in truth and say, Lord Jesus, I need a new heart. This one is old. It's tired and empty and hard as stone. It's black. It's corrupt. It's defiled. And I need you to reach in, take it out and give me a new heart. He will do it tonight. He will perform a heart surgery. Are your eyes clear? Is your conscience sensitive? Is your heart pure? And if not, I want to invite you tonight to come to this altar and humble yourself before the Lord and say, Lord, more than anything else tonight, I want a pure heart. It's made possible by the blood of Jesus. It's made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for your sins. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. And His word says that His blood cleanses us from all sin. If you're here tonight and you've got a guilty conscience, you're broken inside. You're saying, Brother Brian, you were describing me. I need a new heart. I need a clean heart. Jesus came for sinners just like you. And there's a promise in the word that says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hallelujah. Hallelujah for the blood of Christ. Maybe someone here tonight needs to make a commitment, a decision. You've been dealing way too passively. And tonight, diligently, you want to make a commitment like Daniel, that young man. I purpose in my heart not to compromise, not to defile myself. Maybe tonight you need to make a commitment to protect your heart. You must do it in this evil world. Will you do it tonight? Let's pray together as we stand, please. And Johnny, would you please come in? Now, Heavenly Father. I pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would shine your search spotlight upon each and every one of us. Oh, God. Where do we stand with you tonight, Lord? You made it so clear that without holiness, no one would see the Lord. You made it so clear that only the pure in heart would see God. What is the condition of our heart tonight? Would you search each and every one of us, Lord? Would you show us, Lord, what our heart looks like before you and in your holy presence? And I thank you, Lord God, though you are holy, holy, holy. You are a merciful God. You are rich in mercy. You will abundantly pardon. You have provided this sacrifice for our sins by sending your only Son, your beloved Son, whom you were well pleased, our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus, we thank you for going to the cross. We thank you for shedding your precious blood and laying down your life for the forgiveness of our sins. Opening up the way, Lord, so that we may have this hard, deceitful, unregenerate, wicked heart removed out of us once and for all. And that you, oh, Lord, because you're risen again, you've sent the promise of your Holy Spirit. You, oh, Lord, can grant us tonight a new heart, a clean heart, an undivided heart, a soft, tender heart, a heart that is pleasing to you. Would you do it for someone tonight, Father? Would you perform a spiritual heart surgery tonight, a heart transplant? And, Father, I pray that you would also call people to yourself, Lord, to make commitments tonight, commitments to be holy, for you are holy. And we can only do it by an infilling of your Holy Spirit. So tonight we cry out to you, Lord, would you send your spirit? Would you send your Holy Spirit to fill us afresh and make us whole? Make us holy tonight. And give us the grace and the courage, Lord, to commit to you. In Jesus' name is my prayer. Amen.