Ezekiel 36:26

intro: We all don’t like change and I'm experiencing a change currently at work with my schedule and it’s driving me crazy. But in our walk with God change is a must. We have to submit our lives to him and be willing to change and do the things that honor him and the only way we can do that is allowing him to change our hearts.

Sermon Title: The heart transplant we need: only can be given by God 

Text: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬ esv

Introduction

Illustration: think about your car. The heart would be the motor I control and power the car. If you were having troubles or it was not working you’d want to replace the engine to get it running right. Same way we have been rebels to God and only way we can accept him is for us to let him change our gear of stone to one that is good and honoring to him. 

Main Idea:Salvation is not the work of man but the sovereign act of God, who transforms dead hearts into living hearts that love and obey Him.

In Ezekiel 36:26, God gives three gracious promises that reveal the depths of His saving power.

Point 1: God promises us a new heart

Scripture: Ezekiel 36:26A and I will give you a new heart.

Illustration: like Adam in the garden he was a lump of clay until God breathed life into him. Our hearts can’t change and live without God breathing into our lives.

Application: we can’t accept salvation on our own. It's given to us. We did nothing to earn it works will not get it, nothing will but believing the redemptive work of Christ who paid a propitiation for our sins. 

meaning :this is God reaching down for man and not us reaching for him. A new heart means we are new. We are changed and different and healed through God's redemption power. Our old heart is dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), hostile toward God (Rom. 8:7), and unable to please Him.Regeneration is the sovereign work of God alone (John 1:13; John 3:3–8; Titus 3:5).God doesn’t repair the old heart; He gives a new one.

Point 2: God puts his spirit in us. 

Scripture:“and put a new spirit within you Ezekiel 36:26 B 

Illustration:. When’s surgeon repairs a heart they have to reattach all the arteries and make sure blood is flowing to the new heart or it will die. Having the Holy Spirit in us allows our new heart to live because we have blood flowing to the new heart.

Application: our lives are not living in our own strength, it's living through the spirit of God who dwells in us. The spirit not only comforts but convicts and teaches us and empowers us. 

meaning : God doesn’t just give us a new heart but his spirit dwells within us he walks along with us through our journey. This was a promise of the new covenant Jeremiah 31:33 John 14:16-17. His spirit will enable what the flesh cannot obedience and a spiritual life without the spirit our new heart would not have the power to live for God. 

Point 3: God removes the heart of stone 

Scripture: “…I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26C

Illustration: when your heart is stone your numb to sin you don’t feel shame or guilt but when you receive the new heart it hurts to know what your doing is wrong in God's eyes and it convicts you 

Application: small things change in what you think is wrong and right. You know that you used to spend Sundays for football and now it’s less football and more time with God and in his word. Respond to him with obedience and that’s what honors God the most. 

meaning : the heart of stone is a representation of our rebellion to a Holy God because of the fall in the garden we are made sinful and must turn and deny our old ways and let God change our hearts. A heart of flesh is soft and tender and will hear God's word where a heart of stone will not listen and push away. God takes away our old heart and habits and replaces it with one that’s obedient and pleasing to him.

Conclusion

Only God can take a dead, stony heart and make it alive. The promise of Ezekiel 36:26 is fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who by His death and resurrection gives new life to sinners.

Gospel Call: If you still have a heart of stone, cry out to God for mercy.

Assurance: If you’ve been given a heart of flesh, live by the Spirit and walk in obedience.

📖 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17