The conclusion of the mixed heart discourse will take us to the sharing of Chapter 32 of our book “A Desire so Strong. The 32nd chapter is entitled: “Walking in a Dead Man’s Shoes” We will record the chapter in its entirety and highlight the points that aligns themselves with the mixed heart discourse. We will give a small bit of information that will bring you, our readers and followers up to date so that you will not get lost in clarity to the chapter.
The character Marie Whitfield has a blessed assignment from God in her walk with him. She is ascribed as a scribe before the Lord. A scribe is simply a record keeper. Marie would sit in the presence of God and write what he would converse with her about. She would record his thoughts, his heart, and many of the teachings he would convey. Walking in a dead man’s shoes is one of the sessions that Marie recorded in the presence of God as they both communed with one another.
A DESIRE so STRONG
CHAPTER 32
WALKING IN A DEAD MAN’S SHOES
The pounding rain against the window greeted Marie with a sense of urgency—wake up it said. It was the second time she’d been woken up since she’d shut her eyes to rest. The first time it was the telephone. Only half-conscious, Marie answered. “Hello?” “Ma. We’re up. I thought I’d call you first today. How was work last night?” “Um—huh—oh—it was all right.” Marie’s head was still foggy. “Okay Ma. I’ll call you later.” “Yeah,” Marie had responded, but Kira had already hung up. In seconds, Marie had drifted off to sleep again.
Now, listening to the rain, Marie felt ready to take on the day. She sat up in bed and stretched. “Good morning Lord.” “Good afternoon Marie.” “Noon? Well sure enough—it’s 1 p.m. I must have been some sort of tired. The last thing I remember is thinking about the heaven of the sinner man—or was it the dream about Kira?” “No dream Marie. Kira actually called you.” “Well blow me down!” Marie laughed on her way out of bed. “I believe the girl’s getting there Lord.” Marie kneeled down beside her bed and prayed. She thanked the Lord for the beauties of the rainy day and for life, health, and strength. She prayed for families and friends. She lifted up in prayer all who held high positions in the land, and of course she lifted up the descendants of Israel—the chosen people of God. She prayed for the souls of the harvest—making intercession for the addicted and depressed and for those contemplating suicide. She prayed for the youth and for single parents. She prayed for those behind prison walls. She prayed for the body of Christ from the pulpit to the door. And then she prayed a special prayer for Edwin.
When Marie finished her prayers, she worshiped. Then she hit the bath and fellow-shipped with God. The bath was warm and relaxing—the fellowship filled with laughter. Marie even sang to the Lord at his request. When her bathwater started to cool, Marie got out, toweled off, and tossed on her favorite silk caftan. She headed for her study and took her daily communion of bread and wine. “These Lord are the times I live for. I live for the times of being ever in your presence. Thanks for hanging out with me God.” “Thank you, Marie, for allowing me.” “You’re more than welcome Lord—anytime. Are there any special thoughts on your heart and mind this afternoon Lord? Today is my Friday at work, and I really feel quite rested. I’m not sure if I’ll take another nap before work though. Because you know if you want to talk—sleep can wait.” “I really love that about you Marie. Your time shows me how important I am to you. Thank you for that. So, yes, I want to say a few things on your thoughts about the heaven of the sinner man. I laugh even now as I think back on the day you were rehearsing a song for a funeral. The family had asked you to sing ‘Walk around heaven all day.’” “Oh yes Lord, I remember. One line of the song was ‘I’m going to a place where I’ll have nothing to do but just walk around heaven all day.’ Lord, I can only imagine the look on my face.” Marie laughed. “Oh, it was funny all right Marie. I thought for sure your eyes were coming out of your head.” “I had to call the lady back and tell her that I couldn’t sing the song. I’m grateful that she understood and allowed me to sing another song.”
Marie wandered over to her bed and got comfortable. “Marie as you’ll notice, it’s here in the heaven of the sinner man that so many folks don’t’ want to work—they just want to walk around doing nothing all day. This is especially true with the young ones. Even the devil knows the imperativeness of working. Remember how the Word describes him as a roaring lion, walking around looking for folks to devour? Well, this is work on his part. Folk don’t come to Satan to hire him—he sets out seeking who he can devour and deceive for usage. The saints are coming to a kingdom in which work will be happening. You work while you’re on earth, and you’ll work when you reign with Christ. On earth, you work for Christ and the Kingdom. When you reign with Christ, you work for Christ in the Kingdom. You don’t walk around heaven doing nothing all day. “Let’s look closer at the heaven of the sinner man. Look at the lack of care he shows for his heaven. There’s litter on the streets and in the yards, and graffiti all over the place. Business are run down or abandoned. Look at the things he does in his heaven. Folks are cussing, fighting, stealing, and murdering. Look at the fear and hatred that runs rampant. In the heaven of the sinner man, men and women are incarcerated and there is death, uncertainty, and instability. In my heaven, men and women are free; there is no death; and there is certainty and stability. Unlike the rules in the heaven of the sinner man, which can change at any moment, my rules are always the same. They have never and will never change. Every commandment I gave Moses on Mt. Sinai in earlier biblical times are the same laws I expect all people to keep today. There is no guessing as to what my expectations are.”
“You’re absolutely correct Lord—of course. Also, when I was thinking about the heaven of the sinner man, I was thinking about the position of the president—the highest office in the land. In the heaven of the sinner man, the highest official hasn’t a clue about the people through personal intimacy. But you, the Most High God, the founder and maker of heaven and earth, know every one of your people personally. You know us all by name and know all of our personal information without having to search file or database. The best thing about you with regard to your people is that you spend time with us and talk with us personally at any given time. That’s one of the greater things I love about you. I don’t have to make appointments or be put on a waiting list for weeks, months, or years to have an audience with you. I don’t have to have half the nation in my business deciding whether I’m important enough to have an audience with you. I love it that many times you come knocking on my door before I come and knock on your door.” Marie paused momentarily, reflecting. “There is something you said to me so many years ago that has stayed with me—I put into practice daily, and it’s made a great difference in my life. You told me to live on the earth as if I’m already reigning with Christ in the materialized Kingdom.”
“I did, didn’t I?” the Lord teased. “You see Marie, the truth is that you’re already reigning with Christ. You already have access to the Kingdom and the things in and of the Kingdom. What folks are really waiting on is the physical manifestation of the Kingdom. Colossians tells you beloved, that you already have been translated into the Kingdom of Christ.” Marie knew her Lord so well that she anticipated what was coming next. “Let’s explore the word translate Marie.
” Marie leaned over to her nightstand and grabbed the dictionary she’d left there after her last word hunt with the Lord. “Dear God—there’s some good stuff in here!” Marie exclaimed as she looked through the definitions listed for the word. “Translate means ‘1. to change the nature, form or condition of, convert. 2. to bear, move or carry from one place or position to another, transfer. 3. to convey or move to heaven without natural death’—Enoch and Elijah Lord!” If Marie had wanted to hide her excitement, she would have been unable. “If you don’t mind, I want to look at the Greek definition too. I can grab my concordance. It not only indexes all the words from the bible, but it has the Greek and Hebrew definitions of the words too.” “Do that Marie.”
With the Lord’s approval, Marie bolted from her bed and headed back to the study. “You know you’ve got me excited, don’t you?” she said, pulling her concordance from the bookshelf. Marie flipped through the pages and found the word translate. Beside it she found the cross-reference number for the Greek translation. When she flipped to the numbers index for the entry, she found the word methistemi, along with a hint about the pronunciation listed as meth-is-tay-mee with the accent on the second syllable. “Here it is Lord.” Marie tried to sound out the word but couldn’t quite get it. “The Greek word for translate,” she continued, “means ‘to transfer, carry away, carry over, exchange, put out, remove, turn away, transport.’ Oh my! In what book did you say I’d find the topic of translation Lord?” “Colossians, Marie.”
Book in hand, Marie went back to her bed and got comfortable again. She turned to the book of Colossians and began to read the first chapter. Before she knew it, she had read not only the first chapter, but the second and third and fourth chapters as well. Finally taking her eyes from the pages, she looked up and spoke to the Lord. “It isn’t like I haven’t read these chapters before—but it is—you know? There’s always something else to be revealed in your Word, and my understanding of it is so much greater when you’re reading along with me and teaching. This is some good stuff. Can we go back to the first chapter where it talks about us being translated into the Kingdom of your dear Son?” “Of course Marie. What did you understand it said?”
“Well,” Marie began tentatively, “Paul was praying some wonderful things for the Colossians. He prayed for them to have spiritual wisdom, and he talked about how through the keeping of the Gospel of Christ, the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Word, godly and honorable characters will be produced.” As Marie gained in confidence, her speech increased not only in rate but also intensity. “Paul says he prayed for the Colossians to be filled with the knowledge of your will as well as wisdom and spiritual understanding so that they might walk worthy of you and engage only in fruitful work that pleases and honors you, which again would increase their knowledge of you. He prayed that they be strengthened with patience, and longsuffering with joyfulness through all the might of your glorious power. He prayed that they give thanks to you—the One who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light—you who has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of your dear Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, this is rich, God.” The Lord was grinning. “Yes, it certainly is Marie. Now read Verse 13 of Colossians Chapter 1 using the definitions for the word translate.” “Okay Lord. Here we go. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath transferred us, carried us over, transported us, positioned us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. Dear God, this is good,” Marie said interrupting herself. “Through acceptance of Christ, I’ve been put out, or rather pulled out, of the kingdom of darkness, removed from its powers and transferred into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Lord, this takes me back to Ephesians where in Chapter 2 Verse 19 it tells me that because of acceptance of Christ, I’m now a fellow citizen with the saints and am of your household. I’m already a Kingdom citizen. Being a fellow citizen means I have the same rights and privileges as do all the saints and being of your household means I’m a legal child of yours. This takes me back to Romans 8 Verse 9b which says, ‘Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, then that man doesn’t belong to you.”
“This is wonderful insight, isn’t it Marie?” “It certainly is Lord and—” “And Marie,” the Lord finished, “because the Christian has been removed from the realm of darkness and carried over into the Kingdom of Christ, everything about that Christian either should be changed or be in the process of changing from what it was in the former life. As you’ll notice, in all three of the books you’ve named—Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians—Paul is exhorting the Christians to turn away from the things and ways of their former lives. He’s also exhorting the Christian to come into the knowledge of the God who made the translation possible. He’s encouraging the Christian to seek out all that the translation entails. “Many years ago, Marie, we watched a show called The Twilight Zone.”
“Get out of here God,” Marie exclaimed, “I couldn’t have been more than eleven or twelve at the time.”
“I have always been with you, Marie—even when you didn’t know it.”
“Lord, you’re ‘bouts to mess a sista up and make her so she’s in no good shape to finish this session,” Marie joked with a cock of her head and wave of her hand.
“You’ll just have to get a grip on yourself, say thanks, and keep thing moving,” God said through his laughter.
By now Marie was laughing too. “Got it Lord. I’ll pull myself together now. And, by the way, thanks so much for always being with me and—”
“And Marie, you’re quite welcome. Now, the episode that we watched was of a man who was drinking himself silly in a bar called O’Malley’s—his favorite local watering hole. The man was rich and had many friends. This particular night, after drinking more than he really should have, the man gets up and walks out of the bar. The street is very busy with moving traffic. In his drunken state, the man’s judgment is warped. His decision to step off the curb and cross the street to head to his home just a few blocks away turns out to be a fatal one—the man steps in front of a speeding car and is thrown through the air and into a nearby alley. He lands on a pile of broken-down cardboard boxes dead. A vagabond who comes to investigate finds the man dead and decides that in that condition, the man won’t miss any of his belongings. Searching the dead man, the vagabond finds a wallet with a large amount of cash as well as a gold watch and other valuable jewelry. The vagabond pockets the bounty and steps back, staring at the dead man in reflective thought. Oh, what the heck, he thinks to himself, he’s still dead and I’ve already taken his best stuff. I might as well take the rest—he surely won’t miss it. Stooping over the corpse again, the vagabond strips the dead man of all but his t-shirt, underwear, and socks.”
“I remember this episode,” Marie giggled. “Who would have known that that show was going to help me so many years later. But excuse me Lord, please do continue,” Marie gushed, her excitement growing.
“All right Marie—so the vagabond dresses in the dead man’s shirt, tie, and suit. He puts on the jewelry, tucks the wallet in his back pocket, and ties the laces on his new shoes. Now, remember Marie, once the vagabond puts on the dead man’s shoes, a drastic change takes place.” For a second, the Lord diverted from the story to give Marie note-taking instructions. “I want you to title this journal session Walking in a Dead Man’s Shoes,” He said.
“Good one, Lord,” Marie chimed back, writing as she spoke. “Okay, I got it. It’s back on you Lord.”
“Turn to Romans Chapter 6 Marie.” As Marie flipped pages, the Lord continued. “What I’m going to do is give a brief overview of what Paul was writing about in the fifth chapter that led into the things he wrote in the sixth chapter.”
“All right Lord—I’m here,” she said after locating the chapter. “In the fifth chapter, Paul writes about your justification. Because of Jesus, your faith in Him, and your acceptance of Him, you now have peace with me—you are standing right with me. Before this new position, you were estranged because of sin. As you know, before receiving Jesus, all men are estranged—the unrepentant man is neither a fellow citizen with the saints nor is he of my household. Because of Christ and your acceptance, you have access into my very presence. Before Christ—you didn’t. This above all things should give you reason to rejoice.” Marie nodded enthusiastically. “Now, when I say that you are in my presence, that doesn’t suggest being able to communicate with me only verbally but also having access to my righteousness, my help, and my provisions for more than tangible things. In my presence means having the rights and privileges of my Kingdom. Chapter 5 talks about two races Marie—the human race, headed by Adam—and the spiritual race, headed by Jesus. Through Adam alone, sin was introduced to the human race, thereby infecting the whole human race and making all men sinners. This sin is called inherited sin. Marie, please define the word inherited.”
Marie picked up her dictionary and thumbed through the pages. Marie read the definitions aloud. “Use definition two,” the Lord instructed.
“Okay. The second meaning of the word inherited is ‘to receive a characteristic or quality as a result of it being passed on genetically.’”
“This same definition applies to the Spiritual race that has been instituted on earth. It is a race commanded by Jesus which consists of people who’ve authentically received Him—the Atoner for inherited sin. Because atonement has been made for inherited sin, acceptance of Christ justifies believers, making the believers inheritors of the Kingdom and all the benefits of the Kingdom. With this knowledge in mind, Paul tells the believers that they are no longer debtors to sin, obligated to the things of sin. He tells the believers that they should no longer have any fellowship with sin. He informs the believers that they have been translated from the realm of darkness and into the Kingdom of Christ Jesus; therefore the fruits of inherited sin should no longer be practiced as a way of life. These are the things Paul writes about in the sixth chapter of Romans. “Before we read this chapter Marie, let me continue with the vagabond.
Fully dressed in the dead man’s clothes, the vagabond finds himself taking on the former life of the dead man. The shoes carry the vagabond to the dead man’s beautiful penthouse apartment. Soon, the vagabond began carousing with all the loose women who used to associate with the dead man, and like the dead man, he began gambling. For some time, the vagabond really enjoyed his new way of life. But eventually, even though he appreciated having the basic comforts of life, he found his lifestyle unfulfilling and unsatisfying. Thinking he could end the lie that his life had become by revealing his true identity, he began telling people the truth. To his surprise, this didn’t work. Because the vagabond displayed all the characteristics and character of the dead man, no one believed him. They all laughed and told him he was crazy. Now, of course the television audience could see that the vagabond wasn’t really the dead man the other characters thought him to be based on what he looked like and how he acted. And despite having all the things he always thought would make him happy, the vagabond’s life began to feel like a nightmare. And so he began to drink more heavily—and more heavily—and more heavily. Then one night, in a drunken stupor, he finds himself at O’Malley’s, trying to drown his unhappiness in top shelf bourbon. When he finally accepts that his attempts have failed, the vagabond and his misery stagger to the street and in the direction of his apartment. In his impaired state, he too steps off the curb and in front of a speeding car. Dead on impact, his body flies through the air and lands in the all too familiar alley. After the camera has zoomed in for a close up of the body, the image begins to fade. But not, of course, before we see the hand of yet another vagabond lifting the dead man’s jacket to check for treasures.”
Marie shivered. Creepy, she thought. “You see Marie, for both the dead men, death was their only option of escape from their misery. Perhaps the most intriguing part though is that the ending not only leaves you wondering how many more men will suffer the same fate, it causes you to question how many may have suffered it already.”
“I see your point,” Marie offered. “Inherited sin is sin that is forced upon us.” “Exactly Marie.” God paused for a moment, then began to chuckle.
“Do you remember the day you threw a hissy fit with me about why you had to pay for Adam’s wrong doings?” “Oh yes, I sure do. I acted a pure fool, didn’t I? I remember it all too well. Gee I was hot with you Lord. It just ain’t fair, I wailed. I didn’t eat from the tree! Shoot, I wasn’t even there! Why should I have to suffer and struggle cause Adam didn’t have sense enough to do right? Make him pay—doggone it. This don’t make no sense. I’m sick of this crap. Man, I sure went on and on, and you sure let me too. Of course, you found it all amusing, but you know that if you had been in physical form that day, you and me might’ve been tussling.”
“Tussling or not Marie, you still would’ve lost.” By this time, both God and Marie were laughing good and hard. “What did I tell you Marie after you finally calmed down?” “You said that unfair would have been if you hadn’t given me a shot at deciding to live another way. Unfair would have been if you hadn’t provided a way for me to do right and to stand with you. Unfair would have been if you hadn’t provided a remedy for the things over which I have no power. Oh, you went on and on about what would have been unfair. Shoot—I really felt beat down by the time you finished, but I was also happy and shouting with joy too.”
“Marie, Adam couldn’t take back what he’d done. Though remorseful and resentful, he had no recuperative powers. Even though the apology was accepted, saying that he was sorry couldn’t fix things. A promise never to do it again couldn’t put things back the way they were.” Marie flipped a page in her journal and continued to write. “I want you to always remember these two truths Marie. One, every unregenerate, unrepentant, unbeliever is a sinner by force and by divine law. This makes the unbeliever a sinner through inherited sin. Because of reparation, an unbeliever is also an unbeliever by choice. Two, because the believer has been freed from the dominion of sin through both acceptance of Christ and translation into the Kingdom of Christ, the believer has become a part of the Spiritual race that is in Christ. Should the believer sin unknowingly or unintentionally as a part of the Spiritual race, the sin is called present sin. Present sin means that the sin has been committed after salvation. It’s not inherited sin because the believer has accepted Christ and become new creatures as a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ. “It was with this in mind that Paul wrote Chapter 6 of Romans. As you can see, the gift of grace was given because of sin. But just because grace abounds and is plentiful, does that mean that believers should continue to sin? No. Since believers are now Kingdom citizens, then the way of Kingdom life is what believers should be living and exemplifying. Living contrary to this way brings about confusion for the man of sin. In Chapter 6 Verse 3, Paul asks the question ‘ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?’ Paul says believers are buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Christ from the dead—that they should walk in newness of life. Since the old man was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed from that point on, believers shouldn’t serve sin. Believers who possess the identity of Christ as Kingdom citizens are expected to live according to that identity.”
“So it’s like in The Twilight Zone episode,” Marie said, trying to be sure she understood everything the Lord was telling her, “By taking the tangible possessions of the dead man, the vagabond also took on the life of the dead man. He took on the character and characteristics—the complete identity—of the dead man. Possessing the identity of the dead man, the vagabond took on the misery and even at first what at first appeared to be the good times of the dead man. The vagabond’s life could not go and would not go any other way except the way of the dead man because he possessed the dead man’s identity. “Likewise, the believer who has been crucified and raised with Christ, possesses the identity of Christ. Therefore, His character and characteristics—His life—is what is to be lived or carried out through the believer. The believer’s life is not to be lived any other way than Christ like simply because of the new identity he possesses. The believer has been freed from the man of sin through death with Christ. Therefore, the believer should reckon themselves to be dead unto sin and alive unto God through Christ Jesus. The believer is to treat sin as impotent.”
“That’s exactly it Marie. Paul wrote, ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof, Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God’ (Romans 6:12-13). Because believers are no longer under the law of inherited sin but rather under grace, then sin should have no dominion over the believer. Because believers are under grace and the old man has been put to death, then sin shouldn’t excite, entice, or entertain the believer. Whenever it does, then you must know the believer is like the vagabond—adorning himself in the garments of a dead man. “In the episode, the vagabond wanted to free himself from the misery of the life he found himself living, but he also appreciated the money, the clothes, and the roof over his head. But holding on to even one of those things would have kept him attached to the lifestyle he wished to leave behind. In order to be free, he’d have to walk away from everything. And that’d mean everything. But because he wouldn’t let go, the shoes walked his hips right through death’s door. Next! “Marie, I’ve heard several believers say that it’s impossible to go a day without sinning. When they say this, they are actually saying that the Spirit of God is weak and the Word of God is weak—neither can help them to live sinless. But my Spirit and Word are not weak, and it is possible to live without sin—Jesus showed that it could be done. In fact, it’s not hard to live on earth as you would in the physical Kingdom.”
“Amen, Lord.”
“What those believers should’ve said is I haven’t put going a day without sinning into practice. I haven’t put going a day without an impure thought, without telling a lie, without stealing, without entertaining sin into practice. They should’ve said I haven’t put meditating on the word all day, or praying all day, or talking with God all day, or including God in all that I do into practice. I haven’t put keeping my mind focused on Jesus into practice. I haven’t put talking about the things of God no matter what conversation comes up into practice. I haven’t put counteracting the things of sin with the Word and ways of God into practice.
“You mean like when David said, ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11)? If those believers read your Word, meditated on its meaning, and followed its direction, they would be able to go without sin?”
“Yes Marie. That’s correct and an excellent connection. Well done.”
“Thank you Lord.”
“Now let me share something with you Marie. This morning, I found myself in the midst of an argument between a deacon and his wife. I tell you, I don’t know where my people think I am when they act up and act out. Somehow it seems that many of them haven’t grasped that I’m always with them—that I hear and see all.”
Marie snickered, imagining the look at God’s face while he was saying all of this. “Sorry Lord. Go ahead,” Marie apologized through one last snicker.
“It’s all right Marie. I understand the need for laughter. Now, as I was saying—the deacon and his wife were arguing—the wife was telling the deacon what was right according my Word. What she was telling him were all the things in the bible that the deacon should’ve been putting into practice on a daily basis. In his anger, the deacon yelled at his wife—’You know what makes me hot as fire with you woman? You don’t ever want to be wrong—you always want to be right!’ Then the deacon stormed out the house, got into his car, and drove off to work, fuming the whole way. When he pulled into the parking lot at his workplace, the deacon turned his attention to me and said, ‘Lord my wife always wants to be right—she doesn’t ever want to be wrong about nothing!’ Now I have to admit Marie, I did laugh pretty hard at that one. But before he could get out of the car, I did say to him, ‘Deacon, that’s a strong desire your wife has—and a good one too. You should want the same.”
Marie screamed with laughter. “I know he didn’t expect that,” she said, throwing her hands up with amusement.
“No—he most certainly didn’t. He even thought that it wasn’t me who was talking to him.” God paused. “Of course he hadn’t addressed anyone else with the concern—” God left his sentence unfinished. Marie laughed out loud. Duh, she thought, having had enough of her own duh moments to have a chuckle at someone else’s. “Well, apparently the deacon was shaken up pretty hard because I had to repeat it to him—twice!” “Poor, poor man,” Marie mused. “Yes Marie, poor man in that sense, but the believer should have the desire, the want, and the hunger to be right in all that is done and said. The believer shouldn’t desire to be right to lord it over others or look down upon others. They shouldn’t desire to be right for self-exaltation but desire to be right because it is the way of life in the Kingdom—a
way of life that is pleasing to me and well accepted. “Should a Kingdom citizen stumble or fall in sin, it should be an occasion of ignorance—not a regular practice or lifestyle. Once a citizen has been convicted of sinful actions, that citizen no longer should engage in that sin. If the citizen continues to sin in that manner, then he or she is sinning knowingly and wantingly—and committing willful sin. Because the Kingdom of Christ is a sinless Kingdom, citizens should govern themselves accordingly. “Another insight that I want to give you concerning the heaven of the sinner man and the Kingdom of Christ is that the governor or ruler of the heaven of the sinner man gives to his citizens all the help they’ll need to continue living the life that his kingdom or heaven demands. Everything that the citizens need to continue in sin, the ruler provides. He helps them to walk as deeply into sin as the citizens want to go, and many times farther than they really intended to go. Through Christ, Kingdom citizens have all the help they need to live according to Kingdom standards. The sinner man cannot cross over into the Kingdom of Christ and take from the Kingdom articles that will help him plunge and sink deeper into the pleasures of sin. The citizens of Christ’s Kingdom shouldn’t even think that they can walk around in the graveyards of the heaven of the sinner man and pull articles from dead men and expect their actions to be pleasing and acceptable in the Kingdom of Christ. That just doesn’t happen. If a sinner man could take from the Kingdom of Christ, what he’d take would cause an adverse reaction and mess up the sinner man’s good times. Knowing this, the sinner man stays as far away from the things of Christ as he can. You’ve heard it many times before Marie: I’d become a Christian, but I’ll have to stop doing this or that. You’ve seen several yourself who’ve ducked us fearing that we’d share something of Christ that might mess up one of their pleasures. “So then I ask you Marie, if taking from the Kingdom of Christ messes up a sinner man’s pleasures in his heaven, wouldn’t taking from the graveyards of the world mess up a believer’s pleasures in the Kingdom of Christ?” “Absolutely God!” Marie exclaimed with so much enthusiasm that she almost startled herself. “The vagabond took from a dead man the things he thought would bring joy to his life, but instead, those things brought him misery and death—exactly like they had for the man before him.”
“They sure did Lord. They sure did.”
“Marie, I know you’re excited about this insight, but I think you need to take a break and get yourself a little something to eat.”
“Good idea Lord. Back in ten.”
“Whenever you are ready beloved, I’m here.”
Please follow us to the conclusion of the Mixed Heart discourse……….