REVIEW:
1. Review the definitions of pride, disciple, evangelism and discipling.
2. Have the group recite Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:21, Proverbs 16:18 and Galatians 2:20.
3. Have the group share some of the witnessing opportunities the Lord sent them this week, as well
as some of the people already in their life to whom they need to witness.
Purpose: To reveal that the issues of life flow from the heart and God's purposes for our life can
only be realized when He gives us a new heart, equipped for ministry.
Teaching: Begin the study by reading the following story and asking the following questions:
"Betty is your next door neighbor and a fine neighbor she has been. She is very
dependable, sacrificial when it comes to helping her family and friends, has two lovely
children and a husband who loves her and works hard to provide the family with
comfortable living conditions. She works outside the home, not out of necessity, but
because the children are in school and she doesn't like being at home alone all day. She
is probably the best employee in the company; she has been an active church member her
whole life, and is attractive, although she constantly fights a weight problem. Even
though she is of above average ability and intelligence, her feelings of worth are almost
non-existent. The truth of the matter is she's been very unhappy for years. There have
been times she's wanted to just run away, leaving it all behind. But she knows that's no
solution.
* What's Betty's problem?
* How would you help Betty?
* Do you know many people like Betty?
Now have the group read Proverbs 4:23 and ask the following questions:
* What are some of the issues of life?
1. Who is God?
2. Who am I?
3. What am I to be doing?
4. Who are you (whether you are family, friend, foe, etc.)?
5. What is true and what it false?
6. Others?
* Where are these matters to be resolved for each individual?
In the heart.
* How would you define the heart?
The heart is the center of man's inward life; his emotional, intellectual, attitudinal and spiritual
center.
* According to this passage, where is Betty's problem located?
Her problem is in her heart.
* What was Betty really pursuing, and, perhaps the rest of the world, as far as that goes?
All she wanted was some happiness.
* It seems that trends develop as to how the majority of people in each generation pursues happiness. What have been some of the trends in the last twenty-five to thirty years among the young and the old?
The sixties found the young rebelling against the establishment and adults coming under the
influence of materialism. The seventies found young and old alike liberalizing the traditional
Christian values by creating their own value systems. The eighties found adults being position and
possession oriented while the young experimented heavily with immorality and substance abuse.
In the nineties we now find a volatile combination of all of the above!
Now have the group turn to the back of the lesson outline. Explain that this
diagram lists a few of the Biblical attributes of man's natural heart. Now ask
them the following questions:
* According to this diagram, what's the real reason why sexual misconduct, drugs, crime, unbiblical divorce, cults, law suits, materialism, and the like are on the increase?
They are the paths the unsaved person's heart will take in pursuit of happiness.
* How many of these attributes lead to genuine happiness and fulfillment?
None of them.
* If they don't offer true happiness, why do people still pursue them?
1. Goals: Some goals are better than no goals. They offer purposes for life.
2. Immediate rewards - while they don't offer genuine happiness, the feelings they arouse seem better than nothing. People don't give them up because they enjoy them.
* What are some rationalizations people use to justify their actions and also maintain that their problems are not internal but external?
1. "If I could just have a spouse who loves me and is supportive of me."
2. "Don't I deserve a little pleasure in this lifetime?"
3. "Everybody's doing it!"
4. "You can't get ahead unless you play the game."
5. "It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe from the heart."
6. "Things will straighten out when the economy turns around."
7. "If I could just get a raise or promotion."
8. "What I need is a vacation."
9. Others?
Explain that the reasons for man's unhappiness are not external, that is, cultural,
environmental, occupational, financial, marital, material or anything else. They are
internal. They begin in the heart.
* Why do some people, like Betty, experience frustration with the shallowness of self-determination, while others walk in it to the very end, thinking it's the best it can be?
1. I John 3:20a God Has placed a little bit of His law into every person's heart (Romans 2:14-15). This law condemns even the unbelievers. So people like Betty are capable of realizing the shallowness of their life but don't know where to turn.
2. Deuteronomy 11:16 Others, who are unconscious of their dilemma, have been totally deceived by the devil into believing their paths are correct. They are so caught up in their pursuit of the heart's natural desire, that they don't recognize its emptiness.
* Why do people like Betty, who want change so much, never see the light themselves?
See I Corinthians 2:9. Natural man's heart is so spiritually dead that it could never begin to realize God's plan for salvation and the abundant Christian life.
* If true change is to happen in anyone's life, be it an unbelieving neighbor, an unbelieving spouse, an unbelieving child, or an unbelieving parent, where must this change begin and how must it happen?
It must begin with changed hearts through the witnessing of Christ.
Now read Ezekiel 36:36 and ask the following question:
* What is man's only hope as far as finding a new heart is concerned?
Man's only hope is that God will give him a new heart.
Explain that natural man's problems are greater than natural human resources can resolve.
Man's unhappiness can only find resolution in the new heart God gives in Jesus Christ,
a heart filled with supernatural resources. Review the contents of the Christian's new
heart, explaining what indispensable, supernatural benefits fill the heart and how they
counter man's ineffective natural resources.
The indwelling of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Benefits: Supernatural fellowship and strength.
Counters: Man's being filled with himself; a useless resource in its natural state.
* What is man seeking above all else in his life that this gift of God in man's heart fulfills?
Benefits: Love and acceptance from someone special. The grace of God is nothing less than the
undeserved love God showers on us in Jesus in which we find forgiveness and acceptance by
the most important person in the world.
Counters: Gaining love and acceptance by being people pleasers.
Benefits: Supernatural revelation concerning the issues of life. Here man discovers who He is, how
to be reconciled to God, what he is to be doing with his life, etc.
Counters: The miscalculations of human wisdom.
Benefits: The supernatural trust required to desire, apprehend and apply the resources of God's gift of
a new heart.
Counters: Self-confidence with Christ confidence.
Benefits: The supernatural ability to understand the truth of God's Word and to apply it.
Counters: Errant common sense.
Benefits: Supernatural harmony with God, conscience, and, as much as is possible, man.
Counters: Temporary fleshly pleasure and conscience deception.
Benefits: The supernatural joy that results from possessing the certain blessings of God.
Counters: The depression accompanying the uncertainties of life and inability of natural man to
experience the blessings of divine fellowship, truth, faith, love, wisdom and peace.
Now have the group read Psalm 73:26 and ask the following questions:
* What happens anytime a human being seeks victory in and of himself?
His flesh and heart will fail him.
* Where alone can victory be found?
The strength of God in His heart and life.
* Is it possible for a Christian to have a bout with depression like Betty?
Yes, however, the difference will be that the Christian's bout with depression is only temporary.
Betty's was an ongoing state.
* How should we interpret the following statement from a Christian's mouth: "I've struggled with this sin so long, but I just can't seem to get a victory."
Either the individual does not want a victory because he enjoys the sin or he is trying to obtain it by
his own strength. Victory will be found only in the Lord's strength.
* Remind the people that the hearts of Christians can be deceived just as the hearts of unbelievers. This deception can be so effective that the Christian rejects the new heart God has given him for the natural heart and ways. What are some of the sources of deception every human being confronts that could deceive him into not using his new heart? Give examples of how we might be deceived by them.
1. The devil
2. Unbelievers
3. Parents
4. Teachers
5. Church leaders
6. Possessions, power, pleasure, etc.
7. Anyone and anything!
Conclude by reading Acts 4:32a and have the group imagine what they and their Christian
congregation would be like if everyone in the congregation shared what this verse said the
early Christians shared.
1. Rate yourself on a scale of one to ten as far as your present level of happiness is concerned.
Unhappy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Happy
2. How could you be happier? How would you have answered this question prior to the study of this lesson?
3. Have you ever felt like Betty? When? What was the problem? How would you handle those
feelings now?
4. What are some of the rationalizations you use to avoid the fact the unhappiness you experience at
times is internal and not external?
5. When was the last time you handled a problem with your natural human resources rather than the
supernatural ones God has placed in your heart? How would you handle it now?
6. Evaluate your effectiveness in utilizing the supernatural resources God has placed in your heart rather than your natural human resources.
People pleasing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grace
Human Miscalculations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 God's Word
Self-confidence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Faith
Common sense 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Wisdom
Momentary pleasure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Peace
Unhappiness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Happiness
Day 1
* Review Lesson 4 using the leader's guide.
* Memorize Proverbs 4:23.
* Pray that God will give you at least one opportunity this week to minister to someone experiencing unhappiness like Betty.
* Recite Proverbs 16:18, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 28:18-20, and John 14:21, as well as Proverbs 4:23 everyday this week.
Day 2
* Quickly review the Lesson 4 material by questioning each other on its content. This might be done by asking each other to explain certain parts of the lesson outline without referring to the leader's guide.
* Memorize the definition of the heart given in the leader's guide.
* Tomorrow be especially sensitive to your own mood swings.
Day 3
* Turn to the "Natural Heart" diagram, look up all the passages in which the various traits are found and discuss if and how each trait manifests itself in your own life.
* Analyze today's mood swings in light of the "heart theology" studied this week. How could some of the negative moods have been avoided?
Day 4
* Turn to the "New Heart" diagram, look up all the passages in which the traits are found and discuss each trait's role in your life.
* Memorize Psalm 73:26 and recite it everyday the remainder of this week.
Day 5
* Read Ecclesiastes 1:16-2:11 and discuss Solomon's futile search for happiness and fulfillment. Where did he search for happiness and fulfillment? Do you know people who are looking in the same places? Was there a time when you were looking in the same places?
* Spend some time praising God in song and prayer for the deliverance He has given you in Jesus over the futile ways of your natural heart.
Day 6
* How many opportunities did you have this week to minister to people who were unhappy? Did you share with them God's revelation on the human heart? Are there any witnessing/discipling opportunities to be found here?
* Were there some times this week when the devil attempted to deceive you into returning to a natural lifestyle and denying the supernatural lifestyle given to you by God? What circumstances and people did he use? Did he ever succeed? What would be the best way to handle these deceptions?
* Did you have some "down" days this week? Analyze them in light of the Scriptures studied in lesson 3.
* Don't forget to review all your memory work including Bible passages and definitions.
(Deuteronomy 28:28 NIV) The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
(Proverbs 12:25 NIV) An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
(Jeremiah 17:9 NIV) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
(Obadiah 1:2-4 NIV) "See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. {3}
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on
the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' {4} Though you soar like
the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD.
(Proverbs 6:14 NIV) who plots evil with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension.
(Romans 1:24 NIV) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
(Proverbs 16:18 NIV) Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
(Hebrews 3:12 NIV) See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
(1 John 3:20 NIV) whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
(Deuteronomy 11:16 NIV) Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and
bow down to them.
(1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV) However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--
(Proverbs 4:23 NIV) Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
(Galatians 2:20 NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The
life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Psalms 119:11 NIV) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
(Proverbs 2:10 NIV) For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
(Colossians 3:15 NIV) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
(2 Corinthians 1:22 NIV) set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
(Romans 10:9-10 NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. {10} For it is with your heart that you believe and
are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
(Psalms 4:7 NIV) You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
(Ezekiel 36:36 NIV) Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt
what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'
(Psalms 73:26 NIV) My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.
(Acts 4:23 NIV) On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.