20 14. The Human Heart, or Heart-felt Religion.

14. The Human Heart, or Heart-felt Religion.

The Human Heart, or Heart-felt Religion

INTRODUCTION

Much has been said about "heartfelt religion." The Bible teaches that nothing less than the whole heart called into exercise will meet the demands of our God. Observe how complete is the following testimony in establishing this thought: A FULL CONVERSION DEMANDS THE WHOLE HEART

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13.) We cannot multiply quotations here, but this one Scripture teaches us that God cannot be found without the whole heart’s being called into exercise.

"And he said unto them, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matthew 22:37.) Here we see that the love that we must have calls into action the whole heart.

"My son, give me thy heart." (Proverbs 23:26.) It is left with the student to say whether this call is for all of the heart or a part of it.
THE HEART WE ARE STUDYING

Man is a dual being—two in one—known as the "outward man" and the "inwardman." The student is asked to turn to 2 Corinthians 4:16 and read right on till he comes to the eighth verse of the fifth chapter. Here he will find the "inward man " in the eighteenth verse of the fourth chapter spoken of as the unseen man and as being eternal. In verse one of the fifth chapter he will find the "outward man " spoken of as "earthly house of our tabernacle"—that is, this "outward man" is simply a clay house in which the "inward," or unseen and eternal, part of us lives. In verses six and eight of the fifth chapter he will learn that death simply means that the "inward man" has become absent from the body and is at home with the Lord. Now, each of these two men have what we call the heart—the seat of life for each man. This lobe of flesh in the left side is the heart of the "outward man." But we are studying the heart of the "inward man." There is no such thing as a change of heart for this lobe of flesh in our left side, unless we want to suffer physical death. It is not thought of or appealed to by our God in conversion.

Examples of each. (1) The physical heart. You know the story of Absalom’s rebellion against his father, David. Joab was the leader of David’s army. Absalom had an unusually heavy head of hair. In fleeing from David’s men, the mule on which he was riding went under the branches of a great oak, and his hair became entangled, and the mule went from under him and left him hanging there. Joab was told, and he came to the tree, and it is said that "he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak." (See 2 Samuel 18:9; 2 Samuel 18:14.) And we all know just what heart was pierced with these carnal weapons. Such weapons cannot touch the heart of the "inward man." This is taught when Jesus says: "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." (Matthew 10:28.) The heart of the "unseen" Absalom was not touched with those carnal weapons. Sin is the thing that enters the heart of the unseen man and brings death to it. The spiritual heart. And, turning to 1 Samuel 24:1-5, the student will learn that David, when fleeing from Saul, hid in one of the secret places in the cave of Engedi. Saul came in hunting for him, and he could have easily killed him, and David’s servants insisted that he so do, but he would not. But he did cut off Saul’s robe without his knowing it, and after Saul left the cave for a distance, David came out and held it up as proof that he could have killed him and would not. But the point here is: "And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt." Now, what was it that smote David? This lobe of flesh in the left side? Most certainly not. It is that heart that Absalom is spoken of as stealing from his father’s subjects that enabled him to bring about such a rebellion. Here turn to Sam. 15:1-6 and learn just how Absalom "stole the hearts of the men of Israel." THIS HEART ANALYZED The divisions made by man. Man, in what is called psychology, divides the human heart into (1) the Intellect, (2) the Sensibilities, (3) the Will. While the Bible uses not these terms, yet these three divisions in the Bible use of the terms are clearly seen.

What the Bible says about the heart. The Bible, in speaking of the heart, says:

Now, you can easily take your reference Bible and find that even other things the heart is spoken of as doing, but the above comprehends fully the three divisions of the heart; hence, this will suffice in this lesson. In order to have a complete conversion, it follows, just as certain as day follows night, that there must be a change in our thoughts, our understanding, and our faith. This comes first. Then follows this: there must be a change in our desires, our love, and also our trust. This comes second. And, finally, there must come a change in our intentions, our purposes, and our obedience. The heart is spoken of as acting in all nine of these thoughts; and when all nine are called into exercise, the whole heart God has in conversion, and he receives you as his own.
Will you please note how the brief statement in 2 Corinthians 10:5 comprehends them all, though all are not named. It begins with the thoughts and ends with obedience. "Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." When you begin with the thoughts and run the scale till you come to obedience, you have a completely changed heart.

SOME EXAMPLES The Pentecostians again. The student should go now to Acts 2 and begin with the first verse and read thoughtfully till he comes to verse 41. Before that day began they thought Christ was an impostor. This was their faith, their understanding of the matter. They did not love Christ, but hated him—had no desire for him and absolutely no trust to be placed in him. It was their intention and purpose not to obey him. All nine of these things that the heart is said to do were wrong. But at the close of Peter’s sermon, do you not see a change in their thoughts of Jesus, their understanding, their faith? A blind man could see this. Do you not also see a change in their love, their desires, and their trust? They now are willing to put all their trust in him. But what about their intentions and purposes? Aren’t they wholly changed? And, finally, do you not see obedience when they gladly received the word and were baptized?

Here are about three thousand seekers seeking with the whole heart, and who will say that every one of them did not find? A partial change of heart. "Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God." (John 12:42-43.) Was not the intellect—viz., their thoughts, understanding, and faith about Jesus—all right? But what about the other two divisions of the heart—the sensibilities and will? Their love, trust, desires, intentions, purposes, and actions were all wrong.

Another partial conversion. This time we give you a man whose intellect and sensibilities were all right, but the will is unchanged. I refer you to the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and wanted to know what to do to inherit eternal life. Turn to Mark 10:17-22. Did not this man have the correct thoughts, understanding, faith, desires, love, and trust? You cannot say his intellect was wrong or his sensibilities were wrong. But his will was not brought into a state of surrender by repentance. He loved Jesus. He desired salvation, just about as much as many of our church members do. But he went from Jesus sorrowful instead of being filled with joy, just because his intentions, purposes, and obedience were not right. He did not intend to let go his money. His actions were the very opposite to what Jesus told him to do, but no more so than that soul who claims to love Jesus and trust in him and refuses to be baptized when Jesus says be baptized. But study all the cases of conversion in the book of Acts (Acts 2:38; Acts 2:41; Acts 8:5; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:39; Acts 10:47-48; Acts 16:32-34; Acts 18:8; Acts 22:16), and you will find the conversions completed with obedience.

WHAT GOD SAYS WHOLE-HEARTED SEEKING IS

Searching with all the heart. "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13.) We should be willing to let God tell us just when he can say we are such seekers.

Seeking with the whole heart. Turning to Psalms 119:2-3, we find in verse 2 he tells us that the blessed are those who seek him with the whole heart. But verse tells us that they are those who quit their meanness and walk in his ways. Could anything be more simple than this?

Whole-hearted seekers.Deuteronomy 4:29-30 states plainly: "Thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." You find this in verse 29. But in verse 30 the following is given as to what God considers whole-hearted seeking: "Thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice." Associate this with Isaiah 55:6-7, and it does seem that you should be able to see just how we give God the whole heart and just when he declares we have done so.

We close the lesson with Romans 6:17-18, from the King James Version: "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." The form of doctrine here referred to was obeyed from the heart. It is baptism mentioned in verses 3-5 as a burial and resurrection. Baptism is an outward, bodily act, hence is done from the heart. Faith, repentance, thinking, purposing, loving, trusting are all done in the heart. For a complete conversion, something must be done from the heart. This is when the body is placed on God’s altar by being baptized into Jesus.