"MY
HEART'S DESIRE"
"Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” -- Romans 10:1
Sometimes I hear men preach
who do not appear to have any real burden upon their hearts. Their doctrine is
orthodox. They are well prepared. And they have unquestionable ability. But
they do not seem to really care whether people believe or do not believe,
whether their hearers are saved or damned. They just come before men and lay
out the facts. The apostle Paul was not such a man. He had a message from the
heart of God, which he had experienced in his own heart. And he delivered his
message to the hearts of men, as one who could not endure the thought of men
and women perishing without Christ. Knowing the terror of the Lord, he
persuaded sinners to flee to Christ (2 Cor. 5:10-11).
He reveals his heart's
emotions in his epistle to the Romans. "I
say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in
the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh” (9:1-3). The apostle Paul was moved to record those
words by the same Spirit who moved Moses the prophet to say to the Lord,
concerning Israel, If thou wilt not forgive their sin, "blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written" (Ex. 32:32).
Most of the commentators I
have read try very hard to make these passages say what they do not say. Most
simply cannot understand orthodox men making such statements. I am confident
that both Moses and Paul meant exactly what they said. They loved the people to
whom they preached. Yes, they spoke extravagantly. But love speaks
extravagantly. Love does not speak in calculated terms, without feeling. Love,
when it is bursting to make itself known, will often speak beyond pure
rationality.
Of course, in more sober
moments, no man would give up Christ for another, or exchange his own soul's
salvation for another's. And any believer knows that such a ransom could never
be accepted by God. But a genuine love for the souls of men and an earnest
desire for their salvation, for the glory of Christ, compelled these men of God
to speak beyond mere rationality. They spoke as dying men to dying men. God
make me such a preacher. Men with aching hearts are likely to hear men whose
hearts ache for them.
It
is my prayer and my heart’s desire to God for you that you might be saved. I
want you to know Christ. I want you to trust Christ. May God be pleased to do
for you what you cannot and will not do for yourself. O Spirit of God, grant
life and faith to dead sinners by your omnipotent grace, for the glory of
Christ. AMEN.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #823
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net