This truth you have revealed dear Sister is so very important. The prophet explains a truth that many do not understand, but you do. The carnal heart is evil. Praise God we can have new hearts that are not evil. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9. Satan deceives the mind so that poor sinful man does not know the truth about his heart, nor the condition of it. But, you dear Sister Dorine, understand our need to die daily to self, and to ask Jesus to take away our hearts, for it is impossible for us to give it to Him without drinking of His grace daily.
Let's take a closer look at the this important truth. "Jesus bears tenderly with them, not rebuking their selfishness in seeking preference above their brethren." God opens the matter with the truth that the three of them James, John, and their mother are part of the whole group that are seeking the highest place in Christ's kingdom, along side of Jesus. Let us not drink of the wine Satan has poured out. Let us stand on Bible truth, that we must be born again of the Spirit and obtain a new heart that has been cleansed as white as snow wherein we love others as ourselves and God with the whole heart.
What will Satan do with the truth we have been given today? He will attempt to twist the truth to allow for unknown selfishness to exist in the hearts of those who have salvation. In other words, this is one of the great deceptions active in our church today. That unknown selfishness exists in the hearts of Christians and it will not be revealed until the very last generation. That the new heart is not really a new heart at all, but is still evil and we don't know what is in it. Pride lurks in our hearts we know nothing of, even though we love Jesus. I am reminded of the truth that says "many [that are] first shall be last; and the last first." Mark 10:31. Looking at this in context Jesus is responding to the their concern about how hard it is to enter heaven. He had just told them it is harder for the rich to enter the kingdom than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. If we are seeking to be first, as were the two disciples, we are not fit for heaven. Self must die that we love God supremely, not self. Of course that is backwards, we must love God supremely so that self is crucified. We love Him because He first loved us. It is this grace that transforms the heart.
We are standing on Scripture when we teach that the heart is what God can make holy, not our flesh. The flesh will remain corrupt until the second coming when the saints receive glorified bodies. So, where in the danger in today's reading?
We are told that James and John loved Jesus with a love that came from Christ. "Their love is not a mere human affection; though defiled by the earthliness of its human channel, it is an outflowing from the fountain of His own redeeming love. He will not rebuke, but deepen and purify." Well....is that not enough to be saved? Not if it is not a love that loves Jesus with the whole heart. How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us so. "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31. God wants the whole heart. We can hold nothing back. We may love Jesus, but that does not prepare us to enter heaven. We can love Jesus and sin. We can love Jesus and hurt others. We can love our children and hurt them by misrepresenting Jesus. This is where Satan has been successful in perverting the gospel to allow so very many who are sincere to think they can sin and retain salvation. In our reading, as usual, we are given doctrinal truth regarding the foundation of our faith, the gospel. So, we are told that their love is a real love, that has been defiled passing through the earthliness of its human channel. Notice that the evil flesh is a problem, but it will be with us until we are by God's grace given new holy bodies. We do not believe in Holy flesh. But, we are at the same time told that Jesus is going to "deepen and purify" what? Their hearts. It is possible to have a purified heart that does not retain selfishness. It is the heart that can be holy, not the flesh. We can keep His commands even living in fallen evil flesh. But, to do so, we must give the whole heart, not 99%
Pastor Sean and Sister Dorine understand this. Our dear Sister knows the carnal heart has to go. She prays and allows Jesus will have her heart daily. "He wins my heart everyday." She understands it is by drinking in His grace that the heart is fully surrendered. This is how the heart is won by our Lord. Grace is more than a word, it is the power that cleanses the carnal heart. If we would spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating His love, we would be transformed into His character. We would love Jesus and our neighbors in the same manner that Christ loves us. It is the greatest of all miracles that we can have new hearts that are filled with every one of the fruits of His Spirit, not one will be missing.