Your Wicked Heart

I heard a story about a wealthy Englishman who lived in the 18th century, and this man loved to hear good preaching, and once a year he would have his carriage take him from London up to Scotland, the land of preaching, and while he was in Scotland he would enjoy himself visiting churches, listening to strong preaching, which one could certainly find back in Scotland in those days. At one church near Glasgow, he heard a minister preach on the subject of the human heart. His text was Jeremiah 17 9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? And this Scottish preacher went on and on for close to two hours, unveiling just how spiritually undependable the heart is, that it's full of venom, full of vipers crawling around, slithering over one another, spewing poison wherever they go. That man's heart was nothing more than a moral cesspool, swirling with every filthy imagination possible, spilling over and contaminating all it touched. And this Scotsman's sermon was so vivid in its descriptions, it really got under the skin of this Englishman.

Every sentence uttered seemed like a sharp splinter stuck between a fingernail, gnawing at him and not giving him any peace or relief. Finally the Englishman got up to leave. He just couldn't take it anymore, hearing such terrible things about himself that prior to this visit he did not know, nor was he aware of.

And that night he tossed and turned in bed, not being able to sleep, thinking about how vile a person he could be if the restraints of the spirit were lifted away from him. And this bothered him terribly. I knew two Christians.

They were vocal about their Christianity and faithful in church. Every time the church doors were open, these two individuals were there. And this Christian man and Christian woman became friends, and they fell in love.

And soon after that, they became engaged. He bought her a very expensive diamond engagement ring, and they were both madly in love with each other and talking about setting a date for the wedding. Then the Christian woman went on vacation with some friends.

And during that vacation, she met a stranger who seduced her, and she had a one-night stand with him. Upon her return from vacation, she confessed her affair to her fiancé. Well, the engagement was broken off, and they never married.

Trust had been broken. Infidelity is a terrible, destructive thing. The reason I mention that true story to you, friends, is that there are some married Christian couples here, and for some of you, the only reason you haven't cheated on your spouse is that you haven't had the opportunity.

If you were placed in a romantic destination with a stranger of the opposite sex whom you were attracted to, and your guard was down, and your heart was filled with burning lust, you'd jump right in and seize the moment as well. Yes, you'd have regrets later, but you'd do it just the same because you have a rotten, wicked heart that's deceitful above all things, and it's desperately wicked. The only reason you, Mr. Christian businessman, are faithful to your wife is because a sexy woman hasn't made herself available to you.

You've got the desire, but you've just lacked the opportunity. Now, don't get me wrong, friends. There are some godly Christian husbands and godly Christian wives who would not cheat on their spouse because they love Jesus too much.

They're like Joseph, who, though faced with a temptress, said, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? But some of you men especially would fall morally with another woman if the right opportunity presented itself. You just haven't had that opportunity in the form of a willing, sexy woman. Years ago, I and another man were greeters at a church, and as we stood in the parking lot, he said to me, do you know why I've never cheated on my wife? And I said, why? He said, because I know I never, ever will have the chance to be alone in a motel room with a supermodel.

Well, at least that man was honest with himself. I had a close friend who was a leader at church. He was married to a good Christian woman, and they had three adorable little children.

They were a model Christian family in and out of church. Then one day, he hired a pretty new secretary who was married and who was much younger than him. And it wasn't long that both of them were in an adulterous relationship with one another, and the infidelity wrecked both marriages.

The ones who got hurt the most were the kids. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's not me saying it, friends.

That's God saying it. The verse ends with a question. Who can know it? And that brings us to our message today, entitled, Your Wicked Heart.

Do you know the badness of your own heart, friend? Or do you think highly of yourself that the main reason God would never send you to hell is because you're not bad enough to go there? That you think you're good enough for heaven? But Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus also said, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Peter had to come to the place where he found out about the badness of his heart.

We read in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 26. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily, I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Well, we all know the rest of the story. Peter had to learn it the hard way.

I hate to say it, friends, but humanism has crept into the church. It's crept into our sermons. There are ministers who teach that you're not all that bad at all.

You're just a little misguided. Basically, you're a nice person. You're good inside and out.

Your heart isn't wicked. It's misinformed. Like the lady I witnessed to at the hospital, she informed me that she'd been a faithful member of the Methodist church for 30 years.

The reason she was going to heaven was because she'd never robbed a liquor store or killed anybody. That's what the old gal said. It's important to each of us to know the badness of the human heart, especially the badness of our own heart, so that our reliance won't be on ourselves, but utterly on Jesus Christ, our Lord.

I've had women I've worked with offer themselves sexually to me through the years, but thankfully by God's restraint and grace, I was able to resist those offers. It all comes down to how well we know ourselves, how well we know our God, and how closely we stay in an intimate love relationship with Jesus. When tempted with a lustful affair, can we say with Joseph, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Peter has some good advice for all of us that's found in 1 Peter 5.8. Be sober.

Be vigilant, because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. We must keep guards in place in our daily living. We must be careful what kind of entertainment we watch and what kind of companionship we keep.

When I was a married Christian businessman, I made it a point never to take my secretaries out to lunch. I would just give them a gift certificate to a restaurant. I didn't want to place myself in way of temptation.

I know how wicked my heart is, and the only thing good about E.A. Johnston is Jesus Christ in me. The best of men are only men at best. If you don't believe me, friend, go read about drunken Noah in his tent or drunken Lot lying with his daughters in a cave.

It's important for us to know the badness of our hearts so we can stand guard by them and cleave to God to live above them. If you refuse to admit what the Bible says about your heart, friend, then you are an accident getting ready to happen. Let us pray.