SERMON TITLE: ‘DESIRE’
Sermon highlights:
- In both the Old and New Testaments, God is concerned with the condition of our hearts and our minds
- His 10 Words, commandments, aim at heart/mind reformation; therein, He regulates our desires, affections, cravings and appetites
- He is concerned with what we think about, cherish, desire
- We are told in Deuteronomy 6, to love the LORD, our God with all our hearts, soul and might, with the whole of ourselves
- To desire is human
- Humans are MOVED to action, by what they desire
- Satan enticed Eve [caused her to want/desire] to eat of the forbidden fruit; her desire caused her to act; God called her motives: lusts of the eyes; lusts of the flesh and pride of life
- Satan’s words were an appeal to Eve’s lusts; that is, he stirred up her desire and she subsequently moved/acted
- James, states in his epistle, that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his desires
- Eliminating desire is not the solution, we are not Buddhists
- God’s word is full of statements aimed at moving us to channel our desires in right ways [righteousness]
- Examples that cite God’s commandments were given
- Jesus calls us, for example, to [Matthew 6:19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
- The gospel offer blesses those who trust in Jesus with eternal life and those who reject the gospel with eternal torment
- The Hebrew word used in the 10th commandment is not the same as the English word, covet; the Hebrew signifies ‘desire’
- God’s word directs our desires towards things that God deems right; that is, there are forbidden and wrong desires; we must channel ‘desire’ so that it acts as God has deemed righteous
- Examples that explain correct desire, in terms of the 10th commandment, as opposed to illicit desire
- For example: the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil did not belong to Eve, every other tree in the Garden of Eden was accessible to her however
- WHAT THE 10TH COMMANDMENT IS NOT DESCRIBING OR FORBIDDING
- Not saying that it is forbidden to DESIRE a spouse, house, car…and working hard to get such things (things that are deemed good, not illicit, by God) – several examples cited
- Many think that the opposite of coveting is contentment; they also think that being contented is equal to being satisfied with what one presently has
- Such thinking leads one to believe that wanting something one does not have is discontent, violating the 10th command
- Not so; as that would prohibit one from pursuing a spouse and other things noted above that are ‘good’ desires
- What about the desires we have that are left unfulfilled? Is it wrong to be sad or disappointed about dreams we have been unable to fulfill? No
- God created us to have hopes, desires, dreams; consider Hannah of 1 Samuel prayed to God, in her barrenness, for a child; she vowed to give him to the Lord, later Samuel was born
- Hannah’s desire for a child was not bigger in her heart than God, she took the matter to God for disposal and He gave her a son; that is, her dream/desire was not an idol
- All of God’s commands establish boundaries for our minds and desires; when we break through those boundaries via our thoughts and actions, we transgress His commands; and in the case of command 10, we are then guilty of coveting
- Sin begins in the heart/mind; we have been set free from the dominion of sin; we are called to put this sin to death by the Spirit
- How so? Not by suppressing desire
- We need to work on renewing our minds/hearts which will lead us to develop new (good) desires
- We must resist evil desires and reorient them
- Scriptural examples cited from Ephesians
- In Proverbs 9 we are shown Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly; each of them calls out to us, entices us, to come and eat at their tables, to partake of their treasures
- Both present themselves as beautiful, attractive, desirable; however, only one leads to life
- Lady Folly’s pleasant words are lies because they cannot deliver the promised goods; as her promised pleasures are fleeting; they are sinful; when you stay a while you will discover that the dead are there, and the path to death
- Next time you are enticed to partake of Lady Folly’s empty promises, pay attention to the harm her guests experience
- A concrete example is given for help in observation, assessment and application in temptation
- Coveting is put to death by redirecting desire to right (good) objects
- The command/law itself cannot do that, only the Spirit of Christ can; He will sanctify us via the law
- He writes His law upon our hearts that we might be sufficiently careful to keep His commands
- We are free to pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord
28 minute mp3 sermon, Desire:
The following link is to Dr. Ramsey’s SermonAudio home page; he preached a great sermon this evening about Running the Christian race, titled ‘Run Together,’ also, his past two sermons on the commands were very edifying: