HEART'S DESIRE


PAUL SPOKE OF A HEART'S DESIRE -
Romans 10:1 -
"BRETHREN, my hearts desire and prayer to God
for Israel is, that they might be saved."

DESIRE HERE IN ROMANS 10:1 IS
Strongs 2107 - yoo-dok-ee'-ah;   satisfaction,
i.e. (subj.) delight, or (obj.) kindness, wish,
purpose: - desire, good pleasure (will), * seem good

      FROM   2095  e u    yoo;
       (good); (adv.) well: - good, well (done)

      AND
      1380 -  dok-eh'-o;   "to think"
       "be of reputation, seem (good),"

      The idea is
      WHAT YOU THINK OR ACCOUNT OF AS GOOD;
      WHAT YOU HOLD IN REPUTATION OR BE TRUE
                              IN YOUR HEART.
  

I.  EVERYONE HAS HEART DESIRES, EVEN THE WICKED.

 Psalms 10:3
 For the wicked boasteth of his hearts desire,
 and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.
 

     A Heart's Desire is a desire
        at the innermost core of your being.  
 

II.  FOR THE CHRISTIAN, THE HEART'S DESIRE

     SHOULD BE A LONGING AFTER GOD'S WILL

     "My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath
      unto thy judgments at all times." 

     The word "breaketh" here is from

      strongs 1638 ... gaw-ras';
      "to crush"   . . .   "to dissolve"    "break"
 
 

III.  THE REAL JUDGEMENT OF A MAN

      IS NOT WHAT HE IS DOING AT ANY ONE TIME,

      BUT RATHER WHAT THE DEEP LONGING OF HIS HEART IS.


     ILL. -   DAVID WAS A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART
     Acts 13:22
     he raised up unto them David to be their king;
     to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have
     found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine
     own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.

     YET, AT TIMES, HIS BEHAVIOR OUTWARDLY WAS DEPLORABLE.

     ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION -
     JUDAS AND PETER BOTH DENIED THE LORD,
     but the true heart's desire of each man
     was radically different.
  

IV.   GOD IS LOOKING AT THE HEART


     1Samuel 16:7
     man looketh on the outward appearance,
     but the Lord looketh on the heart.
 
 

V.  THE DESIRE OF THE HEART IS VITALLY IMPORTANT


     Proverbs 23:7
     For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

     THINKETH HERE IS STRONGS HEBREW 8176 -  shaw-ar';
     to split or open, ...  to act as gate-keeper ...;
     (fig.) to estimate: - think
  

VI.  THE HEART AND THE MIND ARE LINKED IN THIS VERSE

     Proverbs 23:7
     For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
 

     In the physical, the heart and the mind
     are probably the most important components

     There is a parallel in the spiritual
 

VII.  EVEN IN CHILDREN, WHAT IS IN THE HEART AND MIND

     BEGINS TO MANIFEST ITSELF IN THE LIFE


     OLD SAYING:     The child is father to the man.
 

      1.  EVEN A CHILD HAS TO BEGIN FORMING
          THEIR HEART'S DESIRES --
          MAKING HEART CHOICES

          WRONG HEART CHOICES LEAD TO PROBLEMS

          Matthew 15:19
          For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
          murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
          false witness, blasphemies:
 

       2.  OH, THAT OUR CHILDREN WOULD FORM
           THE RIGHT HEART DESIRES

           THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A HEART FOR GOD.

           Psalms 42:1
           As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
           so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
 

 3.  MAY THEY SEE THOSE DESIRES IN US --
            HOLY DESIRES TO PLEASE THE LORD.
 
 

VIII.  CHRISTIANS AREN'T JUST DIFFERENT ON THE OUTSIDE,

       WE'RE DIFFERENT ON THE INSIDE.

 

       SPURGEON SAID:
       "Where the grace of God reigns in the soul
       it makes a man become a stranger among his fellows,
       and it breeds in him peculiar affections
       and novel desires. "
 

       DAVID WROTE:
       Ps.119:19  -  I am a stranger in the earth:
 

       HE WAS A   KING,    FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
                           Surrounded by people every day.
                           The best known man of his day.

                             Yet, he found himself a stranger in the earth. 
 

        DAVID LONGED AFTER GOD AND HIS WORD
        Read the rest of the verse

        Psalms 119:19
        I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy
        commandments from me.

        & the following verse

        Psalm 119:20
        "My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath
        unto thy judgments at all times."
 

        DAVID HAD A LONGING - A HEART'S DESIRE

        WORLDLY MEN care nothing for GOD or HIS JUDGMENTS.
              Church & Worship is no Delight to Them.
 

     THIS MESSAGE HAS A SELF-TEST

     Test yourself by your own longings.
 

     2 Corinthians 13:5
     Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;
     prove your own selves.
  
 

IX.  IT IS NO WONDER THAT THOSE WHO ARE CITIZENS

     OF THIS WORLD ONLY

     HAVE NO INTEREST IN OUR DISCUSSIONS OF THE NEXT WORLD.


          They have no interest because they have no interest.
                               To use a double entendre.

                                   They share neither part nor lot.
 
 

 X.  THE APPETITES AND HUNGERS OF THE UNGODLY

     ARE ONLY IN THE NATURAL AND IN THE NOW.

 

    THE APPETITES AND LONGINGS OF THE REGENERATE
    ARE IN THE SUPERNATURAL AND IN THE ETERNAL.

    Mt.5:6
    Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
    after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
 
 

    THE WORLD DOESN'T UNDERSTAND US. 

        You seem absorbed with this,   they say.

               WE ANSWER:  Yes!  Isn't it wonderful. 
 
 

     YOU BECOME ABSORBED WITH ANYTHING YOU LOVE.

                Sports,    Romance,    Work
 
 

      WE WHO TRULY LOVE GOD ARE ABSORBED WITH HIM.

 

      Psalm 119:20
      "My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath ..."

      . . .for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
 

          We want to know what he thinks -   his "judgments"
 

            We do not judge this book     we are judged by it.

               We stand before
               The Judge of all the earth,
               The High Court of Heaven
                     Has ruled,      Has Decreed.
 

             This Book (the Bible) is the court record -
             as it were the minutes of the court.

                   We who love the Lord want to know His Judgments.
  

  DO YOU HAVE THAT LONGING FOR GOD'S WORD?

 

          BOTH FOR THE WORD OF GOD
 

          & FOR THE GOD OF THE WORD.
 
 

  WHEN YOU HUNGER FOR GOOD THINGS, HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU 

          Luke 1:53
          He hath filled the hungry with good things;
 
 

          DO YOU HAVE A LONGING IN YOUR HEART FOR JESUS.

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The preceeding is a sermon written by Ben Shepherd
Copyright 1999 Ben Shepherd
Permission is freely granted to those who minister
to use in public proclamation without stating attribution.
All other rights reserved.

Written and edited after reading & rereading from the sermon(s) cited below by C.H. Spurgeon.  

Some of the thoughts and ideas were inspired by Spurgeon's sermons, which are in the public domain.

HOLY LONGINGS.  Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 27, NO. 1586,  page 154;  

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 27TH, 1881, 

BY C. H. SPURGEON

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