WHAT’S YOUR HEART’S DESIRE?

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

OCTOBER 1, 2006

While working on this mornings message I was reminded of something a priest friend shared a long time ago with a group of men and myself concerning the introduction of a new practice into the Catholic Mass. Today, at a particular point in the Mass, it’s traditional for Catholics to reach out and extend their right hand to shake with those folks standing closest to them and offer each other what they refer to as “passing the peace.”

After explaining how it was to be done, Fr. Charlie stood at the alter and beamed as he watched his parishioners start shaking hands with each other and listened as he heard the initiators say: “peace be with you,” and the receivers answer by saying; “and peace be with you.”

Charlie’s smile suddenly changed to an expression of shock, as he, and everyone else heard one woman who was standing up front say loudly through pursed lips “drop dead you phony creep!!” The dumbstruck guy just stood there with his mouth hanging open and hand outstretched before returning to his own pew and sitting down. Needless to say, her remark brought an abrupt end to “passing the peace” on that first Sunday.

Later, the woman explained to Fr. Charlie that she couldn’t stand the guy. In spite of how pious he appeared in church, ever since her husband beat the man out of a promotion at work, the guy had been going all over town bad mouthing him. What bothered the woman the most was that the man never had anything good to say about her husband unless it was to his own advantage.

In my last message in this series on the necessity of developing and implementing a Biblical plan to resist the devil, I suggested that the greatest evangelism opportunities most Christians in our country have are probably to the “tares” mingled amongst the “wheat” that are “worshiping” in many evangelical churches. We shouldn’t fool ourselves into assuming that everyone who attends and is active in a church is necessarily a Christian because nothing could be further from the truth.

Outrageous sinful behavior of folks attending Christian churches has been going on since its founding. No doubt it will continue until Jesus returns. Consider the following heartfelt warnings the Apostle Paul had to give to the church goers in various first century churches.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) ¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Professed Christians whose behavior is such that it characterizes them as being known as an envious person or as someone who engages in perverted or immoral sexual activity, or whatever; these  folks must be confronted in a spirit of love and reminded, that, not only is their behavior a disgrace to the One they profess to follow and His church, they also may be only a heartbeat away from their spirit being pounced upon and dragged off by shrieking demons from hell who are successfully persuading them into not doing everything humanly possible to completely stop sinning in this manner.

In my last message I also reminded you folks that we tend to forget the fact that “all human beings are involved in a relentless invisible spiritual war from the moment of birth; a war that often involves fierce battles and which will continue until we enter into eternity. In the history of the human race I believe that this spiritual war against the devil and his fellow demons eclipses all other wars combined as to its intensity and consequences. In fact, those cosmic forces of darkness would make today’s terrorists look like “pussy cats” in comparison.”[1] I can’t overemphasize this fact. You and I must make it a habit to always be vigilant and never let our guard down.

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV).

All too frequently he’s successful. It’s often impossible to distinguish a Christian from an unbeliever in the community. Other that making a profession of faith and attending a church, many Christians look and act the same as non-Christians do. For instance, some believers are obsessed by jealously and are resentful of folks sitting in the pew next to them such as the man I mentioned earlier.

“Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you,” James 4:7 (AMP.

Judging from the often outrageous behavior of some professed Christians it’s obvious that many of us aren’t doing a very good job of consistently resisting the devil. For instance, some church goers always seem to be at each others throats over one thing or another. Have you ever wondered why?

James 4:1-3,7-10 (AMP) ¹ WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? ² You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.

⁷ So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. ⁹ [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

In these verses James is reiterating the genesis of temptations to sin that he wrote about earlier.

James 1:14 (AMP) ¹⁴ But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).

The root cause of certain kinds of sins that you and I commit is right within our own hearts. William Barclay explains: “before a man commits a sinful deed there must be a certain driving emotion in his [own] heart. He may restrain himself from the things that the desire for pleasure incites him to do; but as long as that desire is in his heart he isn’t safe. It may explode anytime into a disastrous action.

The steps in the process are simple and terrible. First a man allows himself to desire something. That thing begins to dominate his thought; he finds himself involuntarily thinking about it in his waking hours and dreaming of it when he sleeps. It begins to be what is aptly called a ruling passion. He begins to form imaginary schemes to obtain it; and those schemes may well involve ways of eliminating those who stand in his way.

For a long time all this may go on only in his mind. Then one day the imaginings may blaze into action; and he may find himself taking terrible steps necessary to obtain his desire. Every crime in this world has come from desire which was first only a feeling in the heart but which, being nourished long enough, in the end it turned into a action.”[2]

James 4:2 (AMP) ² You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war.

This kind of sinful behavior amongst professed followers of Christ wasn’t unique to the twelve tribes James wrote his letter to. For instance, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews Christians reminded them of how they once were treated by fellow “worshipers.”

Hebrews 10:32-34 (AMP) ³² But be ever mindful of the days gone by in which, after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle, ³³ Sometimes being yourselves a gazing stock, publicly exposed to insults and abuse and distress, and sometimes claiming fellowship and making common cause with others who were so treated. ³⁴ For you did sympathize and suffer along with those who were imprisoned and you bore cheerfully the plundering of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, in the knowledge and consciousness that you yourselves had a better and lasting possession.

The Apostle Paul reminded Titus of where the both of them, and, I might add, where all Christians including you and me are coming from.

Titus 3:3 (AMP) ³ For we also were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate and disobedient, deluded and misled; [we too were once] slaves to all sorts of cravings and pleasures, wasting our days in malice and jealousy and envy, hateful (hated, detestable) and hating one another.

Paul reminded the Christians at Colossae of certain sins they had already gotten rid of and then he pointed out some others they still had to knock off.

Colossians 3:5-9 (NIV) ⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You “used” to walk in these ways, in the life you “once” lived. ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” As we read earlier, Paul said there are certain sins, the nature of which are so obvious, that, if the person doesn’t get rid of them completely he or she will not inherit the kingdom of God. However, there is an often overlooked flip side to this temptation which is very subtle. Allow me to explain by sharing something I came across recently.

“The Journal First Things reports that a group of Episcopalian priests in Brooklyn are alleged to have imported young men from Brazil to engage in acts of a grotesque sexual nature. The story broke, predictably, in Penthouse magazine.[3]

Penthouse quoted Long Island Bishop Orris G. “Jay” Walker, “If they were consenting adults, my position is that they were certainly free to take that action.” Penthouse offered this bitterly ironic observation: These men became playthings for priests whose commitment to the Scriptures had long ago been replaced by a pursuit of pleasure that would have fit nicely in Sodom and Gomorrah.”[4] When Penthouse offers such a critique of Christian leaders, the situation is dark indeed.[5]

Gary DeMar of American Vision writes: “While waiting for our breakfast at a Waffle House just north of Phoenix, Arizona, I picked up a copy of the June 2006 issue of Deer Valley magazine and began reading. An article written by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio caught my attention. The title was striking: “Bestiality, an unsavory topic that had to be addressed.” It seems that bestiality is a problem in Maricopa County: “a public servant was caught by a young girl and her father in the act of attempting to engage in a sex act with the little girl’s young pet lamb. . . . Recently a man was sexually abusing four dogs.” (29)

DeMar asks: “Is the Episcopal Church USA ready to welcome these two men if they claim that bestiality is biologically determined? Is a bishopric waiting for them in about twenty years? I can see the denomination’s slogan now: “Sodomy today, bestiality tomorrow! God welcomes all to the table.”[6]

This once proud Christian institution is being hijacked by homosexuals and their sympathizers because the devil has successfully persuaded too many folks who claim to be Bible believing Christians to do or say very little in the way of protest. Because there hasn’t been enough of an outcry throughout the years, the Episcopal Church USA is slowly and methodically being decimated by the devil. O how I wish there were more righteous men and women such as Lot in our churches today. A

And He [the Lord] rescued righteous man who was greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless— ⁸ For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds (2 Peter 2:7-8).

There are folks still attending this church that the devil has persuaded to close their eyes to truth and rationalize their decision not to flee. Their faith in their church is stronger than their faith is in God. On the Day of Judgment folks will have to give an explanation as to the decision they made to remain in Christ dishonoring churches; churches that downplay, pervert, or don’t preach the whole Word of God. Are the sins of commission by abusive priests really greater than the sins of omission by folks who did and said very little by way of protest; folks content to “live and let live?”

If you and I were brought to trial to determine whether or not we were sincerely struggling to resist the devil in getting rid of sin, both those of commission and omission; would there be enough evidence to convict us? Are we living our lives to please God or ourselves? What’s your heart’s desire?

[1] DO WE REALLY NEED A PLAN, SEPTEMBER 10, 2006; my second message in this series.

[2] The Letters of James and Peter Revised Edition, William Barclay, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pa. 1976, p.100. In the interest of clarity, I have taken the liberty of modernizing some of the authors’ language.

[3].  A number of documents related to this issue, including the statement “Where It Is corrupt, Purify It,” are available at (http://www.episcopalian.org/EUPress_Releases/:index.htm).

[4].  Penthouse (December 1996), 42, quoted in the United Voice editorial Penthouse Rebukes The Church,” available at the website listed in note 36.

[5]. The NIV Application Commentary: James, David P. Nystrom, ©1997, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, p. 242.

[6]. Is Bestiality Next for the Episcopal Church USA? By Gary DeMar 6/20/2006 American Vision P.O. Box 220, Powder Springs, GA 30127, 800-628-9460.