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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
A True Heart - Young Adults Devotional |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Hebrews 10: 22 |
Date |
2009-05-10 |
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Passage
[Hebrews 10: 22]
"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is the 2009 Young Adults Mission Devotional Service. Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this devotional service. I also give thanks to all the devotees who have prepared for this service with all your hearts, minds, and souls.
Dear devotees, God the Father has given you, the Young Adults Mission, the message with the title, "True Heart".
Young Adults Mission, please repeat after me, "True Heart".
God the Father wants you to have true hearts.
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life."
Men's heart can generally be categorized into three: The dark heart of untruth, the 'white heart' of the truth, and the conscience, which is the standard of goodness of each one.
Each person has a different standard and conscience; some people have a good conscience while some others have a relatively more evil conscience.
Then, among the dark heart of untruth, white heart of truth, and conscience, which one is the true heart that God desires you to have?
Yes, it is the white heart of truth.
Therefore, to have a true heart, we first have to get rid of the dark heart of untruth.
Also, the standard of goodness in our conscience should not be has to be just goodness in our own sight but the word of God.
A true heart has no blemish or spot in it but it is a pure and clean heart that is filled with only the truth and goodness.
To the extent that we have this true heart, we can have spiritual faith from above.
We can also take hold of a better heavenly dwelling place. Actually, I have explained these things so many times.
But even if I explain them many times, you cannot have true hearts if you just hear and forget about what you hear!
Your hope for heaven will be weaker, and it will be more difficult to receive God-given blessings.
But rather, due to the tests of the enemy devil and Satan, which work through the dark heart of untruth, you will have more sorrow and pain in life.
Therefore, I urge you to really try to have true hearts from this moment on.
I urge you to accept with your heart this message that I preach so you can have change and life.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you members of the Young Adults Mission as a whole will pray more fervently and receive more strength beginning with this devotional service.
Main
Dear devotees and other members, now, how can we have true hearts?
First, we should discern between good and evil. Namely, we have to discern between the spirit and flesh.
You can do this only if you just remember the messages that are preached here.
But sometimes I hear that after committing a sin some of you say that you didn't know it was such a great sin.
It means those people did not remember the many messages that they heard.
For example, since the opening of the church, I have been emphasizing that a man and woman should not ride a car alone for it is the command of God. Unrighteousness will sprout if you do.
Even if you've attended this church just for a year you must have heard this. But after disobeying, people give some following excuses:
"I gave her a ride because it was late at night and dangerous." "We had the same destination, so we wanted to save the taxi fare." or "I rode in the car with him because he was trustworthy."
They say that it was for the other person, or because they had a very good reason for it.
But anything that is against the will of God cannot be goodness.
You should realize that it is evil to disobey the word of God in any case.
Dear devotees, I explained in detail especially through the spiritual love chapter, so you could discern between spiritual love and fleshly love.
I taught you how meaningless fleshly love is, and what spiritual love really is.
But if you did not make the message completely yours, you cannot discern between spirit and flesh when you are in some real life situations.
When another person of opposite sex seems to be giving you spiritual love, you easily open your hearts.
For example, he sends you Bible verses in text message every day. Also, he sends you some spiritual encouragement everyday in text messages.
But this is not done within the order of the organization to take care of the souls.
Still, you think that that person is offering you spiritual love and caring.
But if you have the word of God in you as life, you can sense the fleshly intention in it, no matter how much the other person covers it as something spiritual.
You are not cheated by the masking of intent, so you will not let the relationship continue any more.
But those who do not have the word in them cannot really discern here between spirit and flesh.
They may think that the person is a spiritual person, put their mind at ease, and respond.
When they receive a text message and reply, they develop a closer relationship to each other.
Later on, when the relationship becomes more intimate, actual intentions are shown.
The person was pretending to be giving spiritual care and love, but the real intent was fleshly.
Now, that person does not care for you, and even used you for his or her benefit.
They might even do the things that are against the truth in the name of love.
Galatians 3:3 talks about this kind of case saying, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"
I hope none of you will be caught in the above example.
I urge you to keep these messages in your mind and be able to discern between good and evil, and spirit and flesh, so you will always choose goodness and spirit.
Dear devotees, to have true hearts, secondly, we have to realize the evil in our hearts.
The first step is to discern between good and evil, and then we have to realize how much evil we have in us.
I gave you an example above, and the most fundamental reason why you cannot discern between good and evil is because you also have evil in your own mind.
You have to realize that you also have evil in your heart with which you can forsake the will of God for your own benefit.
It's the same when you accept the temptation of another person. It's because you have the same kind of fleshly heart in you. You have to realize this and acknowledge it.
If you just put the blame on the other person and complain about that person, you cannot either change or improve yourself. You cannot have the true heart that God desires you to have.
The evil in the heart will come out as words and action.
Matthew 12:35 says, "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."
Therefore, you can realize the evil in your heart in your everyday life. When you say or do something that is not good, you should be able to realize it yourself.
For example, don't you dislike a particular person's words and actions?
When you see him, does he seem to be boasting too much?
Or, concerning a person who is recognized by others, do you see his shortcomings more than others?
In these cases, you should realize that you have so much envy and jealousy.
You should also realize that you have pride and arrogance in you and you want to boast of yourself as well.
Luke 6:42 says, "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."
If you see the specks of other people, you should check whether you have evil like the log in you.
And you have to deeply realize how much God hates such evil.
You should be able to feel from the depth of your heart how filthy and awful the fleshly heart is.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else."
Jesus also said in Matthew 15:19-20, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. "These are the things which defile the man."
As He said, you should also realize for yourself that evil and flesh are unclean.
You have to hate it from your heart.
There are some people who are so startled just to see a cockroach.
But your heart is hundreds or even thousands of times more unclean than cockroaches.
Evil is even filthier than body waste with such a foul smell.
If you just realize this, you will be able to cast away evil as soon as you find it in your heart.
Who likes body waste and who would want to hold and keep it?
But there is a being that likes this evil and filth. It is the enemy devil and Satan.
Just as flies lay their eggs in dirty places, the enemy devil and Satan looks for people with evil hearts.
They incite the evil heart of men to commit sins in an attempt to drag them to the death, that's Hell.
Because God the Father knows this, He not only dislikes evil, but He abhors it so much.
Proverbs 6:16-19 says, "There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."
I hope you will also try to find out evil in you and hate evil.
Dear devotees, to have a true heart, thirdly, you have to pray until you root out the evil you've found.
If you understand how much God hates evil and how dirty evil is, you will naturally want to get rid of it.
You won't be able to tolerate such evil to remain in your heart.
It's not difficult to cast off evil. It's because the process is not your responsibility, but it's taken care of by God.
The sinful nature that is combined with the body of man and the roots of evil in the heart cannot be gotten rid of by men's ability or wisdom.
Of course, we do have to do our part to cast it off!
When we do our part we can pull out the evil by the grace and strength of God and the help of the Holy Spirit.
That is why we have to cling to God and pray to Him earnestly.
We have to ask for the grace and strength of God.
Also, we have to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, especially, to receive the fiery baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The baptism of fire is the strength of God coming down on those who have received the Holy Spirit. It burns not only germs and viruses but also sinful natures.
Hebrews 12:29 says, "...for our God is a consuming fire."
To receive this consuming fire is to receive the baptism of fire.
It is only by this Fire of the Holy Spirit that the sinful nature that is combined with men's body can be burned.
Then, how can we receive this baptism of fire?
First, we must not have any wall of sin between God and us; and then when we earnestly cry out in prayer, the fullness of the Spirit comes upon us.
Anyone can receive the baptism of fire if he asks for it being full of the Holy Spirit.
However, simply put, if your manner of praying is too polished, it may be difficult to receive the fullness or the fire of the Holy Spirit.
You have to cry out earnestly with all your heart and mind and strength. You can receive the fire when you pray so fervently to break into sweat.
If you receive the baptism of fire, your whole body becomes hot and you will feel so light that you could soar into the sky.
You always have chances to receive the fire of the Holy Spirit.
You can receive it in daily Daniel prayer meetings, and in the monthly Healing Sessions in Friday all-night service.
Also, you can receive it while singing praises or in other prayer meetings.
God gives you the baptism of fire when you sing praises putting all your heart in the lyrics.
When you receive the baptism of fire, tiredness will go away; germs will be burned; and even sinful natures will be burned up.
This way you can cast away things of the flesh and works of the flesh which are difficult for you alone to cast away.
For example, it is very difficult to quit smoking and drinking just with human willpower. But you can quit them naturally if you receive the baptism of fire.
It's because your desire to smoke and drink will just disappear.
Also, if you try to smoke, you will feel sick to your stomach.
If you receive the baptism of fire in this way, your desire to commit sins, which is the fleshly desire, will disappear, and it will be easy to live by the word of God.
But it doesn't mean all your fleshly desires will be burned up just by one baptism of fire.
The sinful natures are burned up whenever we receive the fire of the Holy Spirit, and they will be weaker and weaker.
So, the fleshly desires will also be weaker.
In this situation, if you return to doing the worldly things again, then the fleshly desires that have become weak will gain strength again, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit will cool down.
Therefore, until you cast off all forms of evil, you have to continually receive the fullness and fire of the Holy Spirit.
When you pull out the weeds, they will grow up again if you leave the roots. In much the same way, you cannot get rid of all sinful natures just by one-time repentance.
You have to pull out the original roots of sinful natures. You have to check yourself and pray until you are sure that you have completely rooted them out.
If you are full of the Spirit, you will receive the fire when you pray. When you receive the fire, your sinful natures will gradually disappear. Then, you will become increasingly full of the Spirit.
If this good circle goes on, it doesn't take too much time to become sanctified.
One thing you have to remember: just one-time baptism of fire will not burn up all sinful natures. That is why you have to continually pray.
And when you pray, you shouldn't just pray timidly, but you have to cry out with all your heart and mind.
In this way, you must have the burning flame of the Holy Spirit in your heart all the time.
Conclusion
Dear devotees and other church members, in this sermon, I talked to you about the three steps to have a true heart.
First, we should discern between good and evil, and second, we have to find the evil in our heart.
Third and last, we have to continually pray until we cast away the evil found.
These three steps are the most basic ways to become sanctified.
But this is the only way you can pull out evil in your heart.
Otherwise, evil will always remain in you, and you and the evil will be together as one body.
You will be one with the evil which God the Father hates so much, and which is so harmful and filthy.
But if you find the evil in your heart, earnestly ask for the grace and strength of God, and receive the help of the Holy Spirit to remove it, you will be able to pull out your evil.
Then, you will become increasingly full of goodness and no longer be one with evil.
Finally, you will be able to have the true hearts that God wants you to have.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
Now, I hope all the Young Adults Mission and other church members will consider God's word as your life and practice it.
In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will give great joy and comfort to God the Father who has unsparingly given even His only begotten Son to us.
[Amen] |
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