Proverbs 4.23, keep thy heart
with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. True things there, certainly
that's true. The heart is a main thing. But I begin by saying that a
study of the various faculties of man is likely to give us some
confusion when we first enter into such a subject where one
faculty ends and another begin. How to make a distinction between
one faculty and another, but also whether at time the scripture
uses one faculty the same as it does another. For example,
we might ponder the question whether or not the soul and the
spirit of a man are one and the same thing at time, where heart
and mind where the heart and mind also function as one. And then what is the order? of function, which one therefore
gives incentive to another, and which one acts out the incentive
when we begin to distinguish between the faculties of man. Now, to fully understand the
makeup and the function of the rational faculties that God has
put in man, I think perhaps it would serve us well if we return
to the original creation of man by God. where we find a two-fold
work of our God upon our first Father and the first man, Adam. Number one, God formed the human
or the fleshly frame of the body of Adam. And the scripture said
that he made it out of the dust of the ground. Genesis chapter
two and verse seven. Out of dust was thou taken. Genesis chapter three and verse
19. Our frame is dust, Psalm 103
and verse 14. And then Genesis said, from dust
we came and unto dust we shall return. Now, that is the physical
bodily or fleshly frame of our life or our part. Secondly, we
also read that God made man a living soul. That's in Genesis chapter
2 and verse 7 also. And he did that, the scripture
said, by the animating breath of God, man became a living soul. That God breathed into man the
breath of life. Some have referred to this as
a rational soul. have referred to it as a speaking
soul. And of course there is that bond
that exists between the body and the soul that would be severed
by death. And the cord is clipped by death
when it comes between the spirit and the body of a man. John Flavel
an old time writer, which we may refer to, said some things
about this subject that we're interested in this evening. Number
one, He called it a substance, meaning, of course, not that
it is a corporal or a visible or a physical entity or faculty
in man that might be seen or that might be felt, but that
there is a being of its own. The soul does. The soul of man
has a being. It has a being in that it can
exist after the departure from the body and while it is there,
it is the animating part of the body. Secondly, Glavel said it
is a spiritual substance. A living soul is how it is described
there. It possesses spiritual property. It is both invisible and discernible
spiritual substance that dwells in man. And perhaps because of
its makeup being spirit rather than physical or corporal, it
is therefore immortal. It remains when man falls into
sin. It remains alive when the body
is dead. It endures even in the damnation
of hell or the glory of heaven. The soul cannot be killed, Matthew
chapter 10 and verse 28, or able to kill the body but not the
soul, neither can it sleep or be unconscious either in this
life or the life to come. So when we would sum up the entirety
of man's spiritual and that inward or invisible being, we may do
so by using the term soul. We refer to it as soul. So Genesis
2 and verse 7 again, man became a living soul. just as we sum
up the fleshly part of the person by the term body or flesh or
something of that nature. Now the body has various parts
that work in conjunction according to the great will and design
of God. It has various parts and they
are sometimes in the scripture called members. Paul refers to
them with that as members. For example, it has arms, it
has fingers, and it has hands and legs and feet and toes and
ears and eyes. and mouse, and it has comely
parts, according to Paul, and it has uncomely parts. It has
fleshly tissue, it has muscle, it has veins, and it has blood,
yet all of them together making up what we refer to as the human
body. And so it is with the soul of
a man or a woman. It is comprised of various faculties
that we read about in the scripture. Scripture, for example, speaks
of the mind. It speaks of the understanding,
of the conscience, of the will, of the affection, and of course,
it speaks again and again of the heart. In fact, next to the
soul, it is the heart that might be the most frequently used description
of the inward being of man anywhere in the Word of God. And both
the Old and the New Testament do frequently use the term. Now they do not use it hardly
ever, rather. with reference to the fleshly,
blood-pumping heart that we have in our body that pumps our blood
throughout us, but to that spiritual inner being of humanity or of
personhood. There can be little doubt when
we read closely that scripture, both Old and the New Testament,
use the term or the word or the faculty of the heart to depict
the inner, or shall we say, the emotional life of the human being. Just as we might say today, we
often hear it, I feel in my heart, in my heart of hearts, I thought
this or I thought that, or my heart tells me this or my Heart
tells me that. Now the Old Testament Hebrew
word for heart means the midst or the inner part, the hidden
part of a thing. In the Hebrew is the heart. In a sense, it is the center
of the focus of the personal or the inner life. And we see
this again, repeatedly, in the book of Proverbs, in the writing
of the wise man Solomon. When we come to the New Testament,
we find that the New Testament word for heart is most often
the word with its Hebrew counterpart, it is widely used and applied
in a spiritual connection the same as in the Old. Both Christ,
Paul, and the other writers of the scripture use the term heart
in the sense of a spiritual application, meaning. meaning application
or meaning. Now someone did some research
and did some counting looking through the concordance in the
New Testament regarding the use in the scripture of the expression
or reference unto the heart. And here are the results. Fifteen
times in the New Testament it is used to denote the personality
or the inner life. We have an example 1 Corinthians
chapter 14 and verse 25, the secrets of the heart are made
manifest. Thirteen times it relates to
the emotional state of an individual. As in Romans 9 and verse 2, Paul
is saying, I have heaviness and sorrow in my heart. Eleven times
it refers to the seat or the intellectual activity of the
body, as in Romans 1 and verse 21. Their foolish heart was darkened,
again in Ephesians 4 and verse 18, because of the blindness
of their heart. Thirteen times we find that it
is connected to volition in the scripture. Romans 2 and verse
5, but after the hardness and impenitent heart of an individual. Thus it is from scripture it
appears that the heart is the source or the spring of motive,
that it is the seat of passion, it is the place in the heart
in the man or person where the passions dwell. It is the center
stage of the thought process and it is the spring, if we may
use that term, of the conscience. In Proverbs we read of both a
good and evil heart, good and evil action of the heart as well. Here are some evil ones taken
out of the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 6 and verse 14, frowardness,
or literally perverseness, says the wise man, is in the heart. In Proverbs 6 and verse 25, lust
not after her beauty in thy heart. In chapter 7 and verse 10, subtle
in heart. Subtlety is attributed under
the heart. Chapter 12 and verse 20, deceit
is in the heart of them that imagine evil. And in chapter
12 and verse 23, the heart of fools proclaim foolishness. Chapter 14 and verse 10, bitterness
is attributed as dwelling in the evil heart. Chapter 14 and
14, the backslider in heart. Chapter 16 and verse 5, pride,
the proud in heart, those who are proud within. Chapter 18,
verse 12, haughtiness is also a product and a dweller in the
heart. In chapter 23 and 17, all of
these out of Proverbs, envy. And not envy of a good kind,
but envy of a bad kind. So no wonder our holy, blessed
Lord Jesus Christ called or likened the heart to a cesspool of iniquity. That passage in Mark chapter
7 and verse 21 through verse 23 Out of the heart, says our Lord,
in any name, all of those things. for from within, out of the heart
of man proceeded evil thoughts of adultery, fornication, murder,
theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, an evil eye. All of these come
from the heart of man, said the Lord. Out of the heart. All of
these are found in the heart and in the mind of individual. Paul, in detailing the effect
of depravity upon the intellectual faculty of the soul of man, lists
the mind, the understanding, and the heart. Now let's look
at them. Number one, the mind being that
faculty that God has endowed man with that is able to consider
what objects and what subjects to present before the will and
before the conscience and the understanding. Paul says the
mind is defiled, Titus 1 and verse 15. and they walk in the
vanity of their mind because of its defilement. It is a partaker
of depravity. Secondly, the understanding,
the understanding which God has given unto the human family. John Owen the Puritan said of
the understanding, quote, It guides the soul in the choice
of notion which it receives from the mind but is as corrupt as
the mind itself is." Unquote. It has a strong influence. on the practices of life, whether
in darkness or whether in light. Paul says the understanding in
the unregenerate in the Gentile was darkened, Ephesians 4 and
verse 18. That is, the unregenerate are
untaught and have not a proper understanding of the things of
God. And then thirdly, we come unto
the heart, which is someone I think called it the rudder for the
soul. It acts according to the state
or the temper of it, what one called the practical principle
of operation, the heart. The heart guides the action of
the soul and of the body. The state of the heart, is the
state of the person. Let's repeat that. I think it
bears repeating. Whatever one is in their heart
is what they are. The state of the heart is the
state of the person. And the condition of the heart,
whether good or bad, is brought to bear upon the soul and other
faculty and guides the actions of life Out of it are the issues
of life, is exactly what our text said. Keep the heart, the
reason being, out of it are the issues of life. So is the heart good or bad before
God in our natural, our first, or our unregenerate state? Paul says it is blind, and you
might guess. I have been reading John Owen
on the subject, and you can read no better outside of the scripture. I read him on the depraving influence
of sin upon the intellectual faculties of man. Owen wrote,
and I'm quoting, Light, that is knowledge, is received by
the mind, applied by the understanding, and used by the heart." Think
about that for a moment. Light is received in the mind,
applied to the understanding, used by the heart. In other words,
it enters the mind, is judged then by the understanding, and
acted on by the particular humor of the heart at the time. In
depravity we see all three of them in that passage in Ephesians
chapter 4, Verse 17 and verse 18, all of them are there. In
fact, it is probably true to say that the heart is the seat
of indwelling sin. The heart is the place where
it abides stronger in the soul. As much as to try to dethrone
God and assume the throne in the heart of man," said the Puritan,
and I quote, there is in the heart indwelling sin keeps it
a special residence in the heart and its seat, its workhouse is
said to be in the heart Unquote. So let us prove it from the Scripture. You know, there are a lot of
people today, you'll hear it everywhere you go. Oh, so-and-so
just has a heart of gold. He just has the best heart. She's
just such a good-hearted person. And we know how we mean that
and how we understand it. But from the spiritual standpoint,
we need to stand upon the Scripture. Listen to Genesis 6 and verse
5. Every imagination. of the thoughts
of man's heart is only evil continually. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes
chapter 9 and verse 3, madness is in the heart of men while
they live. A thought entered my mind, let
me chase the rabbit. You know, every day we hear the
most unbelievable, the most horrific things that are done by people
in the world. The news every day brings us
news of some kind of madness that one or another has performed
against another. Why is that? Jesus said, Matthew
15, 19, out of the heart precede evil thoughts. Listen to what Luke wrote in
chapter 6 and verse 45. A good man, out of the good treasure
of his heart, brings forth that which is good, and an evil man,
out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forth that which
is evil. Unquote. So what the heart is
is the state and condition of men. If you read that verse,
you will note that it follows a comparison of a good tree and
a corrupt tree. A good tree brings forth good
fruit. A bad tree brings forth bad fruit
or poison fruit. So it is with the heart. Good
heart brings forth good things. A bad heart brings forth evil
things. You ever notice the marginal
reading on the exhortation, keep thy heart with all diligence,
or as the Margin said, above all keeping, above all keeping
the heart. Whatever else you keep, whatever
else you would secure, whatever else you would make sure and
certain, keep the heart. Give the most diligence to the
keeping of the heart than to any other matter. or to any other
thing that we possess in this life. Proverbs 4 verse 7, With
all thy getting get understanding, even so with all thy keeping
keep the heart. Double the guards, Tighten the
yoke and fasten it. Shorten the change. Enlarge and
strengthen the lock. Reinforce the bar upon the door. Keep the heart with all diligence. Let's use an analogy, if we might,
from nature that might help us to understand in the physical
body. Now in the natural body, the
heart is the prominent or the vital organ. Lots of our organs
we could live without, but certainly not the heart. The center and
core of life of the body is the heart. It pumps the blood of
life to the remotest veins and tissues and cells all throughout
our body. For the heart that pumps our
blood is the core of life to the body. If it stops or if it
dies, the body also stops or dies. And our generation has
seen people keep the heart. That is, they're watching their
cholesterol. They're getting their exercise.
They're eating right. They're doing all manner of those
things. And I have no criticism of that. whatsoever. But in the
spiritual realm the heart also must be kept. We also ought to
watch it. Solomon gives us the reason for
it. Out of the heart are the issues
of life. It is the wellspring of all of
the issues. All matters of action and all
motive and all thought pass through the heart. Every action whether
good or evil issues forth out of the womb of the heart for
it is there in the heart that it is conceived, one said. It is the great vital spring
of the soul, the fountain of action, the center of and seed
of the principle of life, both of sin and of holiness proceed
out of the heart. John Flavel again, the heart
is the source of all vital operation, the spring and origin of good
and evil. The heart contrives, the members
execute. So if the heart err, then certainly
the members and the faculty miscarry in their work acting upon the
inclination of the heart. The heart is the supplier of
all notion as the heart is the supplier of all blood in the
body. So it is the supplier of all
notion. Out of it are the issues of life. The members or the faculty but
do react or serve the desires of the heart. The heart is the
contriver of the deeds and the members are the executioner. How clear is the scripture on
this point? Out of the heart are the issues
of life. Jesus said, Matthew 6 and verse
21, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Luke 12 and 34 said the same
thing. Then vice versa is true. Where
your treasure is, your heart will be. Where your heart is,
there will your treasure be. Matthew 12, 34. Out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the heart, out of the
inward heart, the mouth speaks. Proverbs 2, 23 and 7. For as
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The inclination of
the heart is manifested in the outward motions and the outward
words and the outward deeds that are committed, except they be
masked with some kind of religious hypocrisy, they are clear and
evident. Now somebody listens and they
said, hold on, you don't know my heart, you can't judge me
because you don't know my heart. not perfectly and not as God
knows the heart of each individual, but if we watch and if we listen,
if we observe long enough, we'll have a pretty good idea of what
is in the heart. of an individual. There is a
saying. My grandparents used it very
often. They used to say, what's in the
well comes up in the bucket. We had a well, you had to go
out and draw water, and that's what they had reference to. If
there was a frog or a tadpole in the well, it'd come up in
the bucket when you drew it up. Well, Proverbs 6.18 The heart
deviseth wicked imagination. There they are devised, there
they are put together. What the wicked are, They are
first in heart. A thief is a thief at heart. His heart is of thievery. Before he steals the goods of
another, thievery is in his heart. A hippie, as we used to see them,
is a hippie at heart. Before he grows a ponytail, wears
dirty clothes, swears off shaving and bathing. He's one in his
heart. An irreligious person is so at
heart. Before they openly blaspheme
God in the presence and the hearing of others. Adultery is in the
heart before it is ever put into action. Again, because it is
out of the heart, from within. Out of that, and I hope I don't
insult you, but let me call it out of that putrid dunghill,
the heart of an individual, from this hatchery of evil, out of
the cesspool of the heart of an individual, from the nursery
of depravity, there comes the sinful deeds, words, actions,
and such like. Now, does someone say, how shall
we keep the heart, if such be the case, that it is so woefully
depraved from our very inception or beginning. And indeed, the
unregenerate heart is not right with God. Acts 8, 21. Thine heart is not right with
God, Peter said to that man. Jeremiah 17 and 9. is known and
quoted by most of us. It says, the heart is deceitful
above all things. It is desperately wicked, and
who can know it? Therefore, no person can keep
an unrenewed heart. in a spiritual way before God
Almighty. None can bring their own heart
to love God or to keep the law of God. But as long as the heart
remains under the dominating power of sin, without the grace
of God in the heart, it will be an impossible task to keep
the heart pure and clean, or to turn it toward God. When Solomon in our text exhorts
to the keeping of the heart, he supposes regeneration. He supposes a man, a son, a believer,
a worshiper of God. that God has made it new, that
there is a spiritual inclination and ability now given by the
grace of God. Nor is the keeping of the heart,
even in a saint of God, to be done or performed apart from
a work of the grace of God. It is not something that is done
or could be done in our own energy. are in our own desire. No man
can keep the heart except the grace of God is in that heart
and is guiding. This keeping of the heart is
dependent therefore upon a work of renewal and regeneration. One must have a new heart. In
other words, one must be born again or born from above. How does man get a new heart? How does he get a heart that
can love God and that is inclined toward God? loves the Word of
God and the will of God. How does a man get a heart that's
in that condition? Well, here it is. Way back in
the Old Testament. Ezekiel 11, verse 19. I will put a new spirit within
you. I will take away the stony heart
out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36
and 26, new heart. Also will I give you, take away
the stony heart, giving you a heart of flesh. Jeremiah 24 and 7,
I will give them a heart to know me, saith the Lord God. This is the circumcision of the
heart. This is what the Bible calls
heart circumcision. You see it in Deuteronomy 30
verse 6. You see it in the New Testament
in Romans 2 verse 29. You see it, the circumcision
of the heart. Also this keeping of the heart
is dependent upon a work of sanctifying grace being kept up in a man
or woman by the Spirit of God, that God enables us to the work,
that God worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure. Even in a state of grace, the
heart is yet sinful and deceitful and must be kept because it has
propensities in it, it still has evil, it still has indwelling
sin. And my brother and sister, sooner
could we create a world, sooner could we call a world into existence
than to keep the heart apart from a work of the grace of God. Now, the keeping of the heart
requires us to commune with our heart. That's a term used in
the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 1 and verse 16. When the hand of God is revealed,
in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 2, lay it to heart, the wise man
wrote, And in Luke 2 and 19, ponder these things in the heart. Keep them and ponder them in
the heart. Now, why keep the heart? Why
is this important? Why is it a duty? incumbent upon
the children of God. Why must we keep the heart? Why
should we watch it? Why should we guard it and such
like? Well, here's some reason. Number
one, because it is even yet deceitful and corrupt. It must be given
reproofs. It must be corrected in that
by the Word of God, and the grace of God, even as one must keep
a tight rein upon a naughty child, one must keep a rein upon their
heart. Secondly, because it has great
influence over all that we are, all that we say, and all that
we do. Every action, good or evil, involves
the heart to some degree. Sure it involves the mind and
the will and the conscience, but the heart is where the treasure
of the good or the evil is kept. Out of the heart proceed. Then thirdly, because God looks,
upon the heart. He doesn't look on the outward.
He doesn't look at our actions, and he doesn't look at what others
think about us. God looks upon the heart. Listen to 1 Samuel 16, verse
7. For the Lord sees not as man
sees, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh
upon the heart. We read expressions like this,
and we weigh words, and we judge by outward appearances, don't
we? We judge somebody by their car,
their house, their clothes, their language, or whatever. But the
omnipotent God reads the heart. Read Psalm 139 along with that. Yea, the king's heart is in the
Lord's hand. He turns it whithersoever he
will. Proverbs 21 and 1. Now, this knowledge in us that
God looks upon the heart is a sobering one indeed. It is a bar to hypocrisy,
for it motivates to sincerity and truth, for God knows what's
in the heart. He knows the motive behind it.
He knows every thought, not a word in our tongue, but that He knows
it all together. Let us not be like Jehu. who though he did many things
serviceable to Israel, but then we find in 2 Kings 10 and 31,
but Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of
Israel with all his heart." He took no heed to do that. Suppose
men think us spiritual and devoted or learned in the Scripture eloquent
in speech or prayer or think we live and walk close unto our
Lord. And yet, like Jehu, take no heed
to walk before the Lord with all of our heart and consider
the heart. Men, again, look on the outward
appearance. God looks on the heart. Therefore, keep the heart with
all diligence. Let's close. Scripture exhorts
us in several ways. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. Keep thy soul. Not keep it in salvation. We
can't do that. Ecclesiastes 5 and 1. Keep thy
feet when thou goest into the house of God. Be careful there. Psalms 34, 13. Keep thy tongue
from evil. not just profanity, cursing,
but gossip and envy in such light. But he who keeps the heart keeps
all else in effect or in the final end. Out of the heart are
the issues of life. Keep it, therefore, with diligence.