We have been looking at the place of the heart in the Christian life. Last time, we looked at six principles for keeping the heart (the heart represents our decision-making and will) focused on God. If you have not read the first three devotionals (or if you need review), please go back and read them. This is an essential subject for the believer to understand and practice. Today we will be looking at the first two reasons why Christians must make keeping the heart fixed on God “the great business of their lives.” When God looks at our lives, He evaluates us on the basis of our hearts, and it is also with our hearts that we love God. Here is Flavel’s first reason why Christians should make keeping their hearts fixed on God the chief business of their lives:
The glory of God is much concerned. Heart-evils are very provoking evils to the Lord. The Schools correctly observe, that outward sins are “sins of great infamy;” but that the heart sins are “sins of deeper guilt.” How severely has the great God declared his wrath from heaven against heart-wickedness! The crime for which the old world stands indicted is heart-wickedness! “God saw that every imagination of their hearts was only evil, and that continually;” for which he sent the most dreadful judgments that were ever inflicted since time began. We find not their murders, adulteries, blasphemies, (though they were defiled with these) particularly alleged against them; but the evils of their hearts. That by which God was so provoked as to give up his peculiar inheritance into the enemy's hand, was the evil of their hearts. “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved; how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?”
Of the wickedness and vanity of their thoughts God took particular notice; and because of this the Chaldeans must come upon them, “as a lion from his thicket, and tear them to pieces.” For the sin of thoughts it was that God threw down the fallen angels from heaven, and still keeps them in “everlasting chains” to the judgment of the great day; by which expression is not obscurely intimated some extraordinary judgment to which they are reserved; as prisoners that have most irons laid upon them may be supposed to be the greatest malefactors. And what was their sin? Spiritual wickedness. Merely heart-evils are so provoking to God, that for them he rejects with indignation all the duties that some men perform. “He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.” In what words could the abhorrence of a creature's actions be more fully expressed by the holy God? Murder and idolatry are not more vile in his account, than their sacrifices, though materially such as himself appointed. And what made their sacrifices so vile? The following words inform us: “Their soul delighteth in their abominations.”
Such is the vileness of mere heart-sins, that the Scriptures sometimes intimate the difficulty of pardon for them. The heart of Simon Magus was not right, he had base thoughts of God, and of the things of God: the apostle bade him “repent and pray, if perhaps the thoughts of his heart might be forgiven him.” O then never slight heart evils! for by these God is highly wronged and provoked. For this reason let every Christian keep his heart with all diligence.
It is significant that Flavel listed God’s glory as the first consideration for why Christians must make keeping their hearts their chief duty. This brings to mind the first article on the Westminster Catechism: “What is the chief and highest end of man? Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever” (Rev. 4:11; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 10:31; Ps. 73:24-28; John 17:21-24). The greatest and highest end is to glorify God, which means keeping our hearts fixed on Him. Another way of referring to “keeping our hearts” is “fixing ourselves upon our duty to glorify God.” Keeping our hearts is how we come to glorify God. How is to “enjoy him for ever” related to keeping our hearts? Dr. Nick Needham notes that “Enjoy here has the older sense of ‘share in’, ‘experience’, ‘receive the benefit of’, as the proof texts indicate” (2000 Years of Christ’s Power, church history, volume 4). We first come to “enjoy” (older sense) God upon salvation, and, just as a Christian with saving faith does not remain the same, but keeps on growing in sanctification (Christlikeness), keeping our hearts is a way to increasingly “share in,” “experience,” and “receive the benefit of” God both in this life and in the life to come. In other words, when we come to understand what “keeping our heart” means, and practice it, then we are truly glorifying God and increasingly partaking of Him.
This realization should shed light on the connection between heart-evils and glorifying God. For cultivating heart-evils is the very opposite of keeping our hearts; it is the very opposite of glorifying God and enjoying Him, which is why Flavel calls sins of the heart “sins of deeper guilt.” Let us ponder this quote: “He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol.” Here, the actions were all right—on the outside—but the heart was far from God. Such hearts are a mess that pursue doing the right things, but neglect the heart. We find these sorts of examples in the church quite regularly: professing Christians volunteer at church; perhaps they do sound, or make food for the hungry, or host a Bible study; yet, whatever good they do, if their hearts are not right, God counts their deeds as abundantly evil. Yes, “Their soul delighteth in their abominations,” meaning that, despite what they do on the outside, they are delighting in evil. Think upon your own reasons for doing “good” deeds. Do you do so because you desire recognition? the attention of others? to be viewed as a good person? If you have any reason higher than for the glory and service of God, if all other reasons you may have are not subordinated to God’s glory as your chief end, then even your “good” deeds are abominable and hated by God. They become acts of great wickedness. Obey His commandments, then, from the heart, even as: to keep your hearts fixed on God is to have God’s glory as your highest and chief end.
The sincerity of our profession much depends upon the care we exercise in keeping our hearts. Most certainly, that man who is careless of the frame of his heart, is but a hypocrite in his profession, however eminent he be in the externals of religion. We have a striking instance of this in the history of Jehu. “But Jehu took no heed to walk in the ways of the Lord God of Israel with his heart.” The context gives an account of the great service performed by Jehu against the house of Ahab and Baal, and also of the great temporal reward given him by God for that service, even that his children, to the fourth generation, should sit upon the throne of Israel. Yet in these words Jehu is censured as a hypocrite: though God approved and rewarded the work, yet he abhorred and rejected the person that did it, as hypocritical. Wherein lay the hypocrisy of Jehu? In this; he took no heed to walk in the ways of the Lord with his heart; that is, he did all insincerely and for selfish ends: and though the work he did was materially good, yet he, not purging his heart from those unworthy selfish designs in doing it, was a hypocrite. And though Simon Magus appeared such a person that the apostle could not regularly reject him, yet his hypocrisy was quickly discovered. Though he professed piety and associated himself with the saints, he was a stranger to the mortification of heart-sins. “Thy heart is not right with God.” It is true, there is great difference between Christians themselves in their diligence and dexterity about heart work; some are more conversant with, and more successful in it than others: but he that takes no heed to his heart, that is not careful to order it aright before God, is but a hypocrite. “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.” Here was a company of formal hypocrites, as is evident from that expression, as my people; like them, but not of them. And what made them so? Their outside was fair; here were reverent postures, high professions, much seeming delight in ordinances; “thou art to them as a lovely song:” yea, but for all that they kept not their hearts with God in those duties; their hearts were commanded by their lusts, they went after their covetousness. Had they kept their hearts with God, all had been well: but not regarding which way their hearts went in duty there lay the essence of their hypocrisy.
If any upright soul should hence infer, “I am a hypocrite too, for many times my heart departs from God in duty; do what I can, yet I cannot hold it close with God;” I answer, the very objection carries in it its own solution. Thou sayest, “Do what I can, yet I cannot keep my heart with God.” Soul, if thou doest what thou canst, thou hast the blessing of an upright, though God sees good to exercise thee under the affliction of a discomposed heart.
There still remains some wildness in the thoughts and fancies of the best to humble them; but if you find a care before to prevent them, and opposition against them when they come, and grief and sorrow afterward, you find enough to clear you from the charge of reigning hypocrisy. This precaution is seen partly in laying up the word in thy heart to prevent them. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Partly in your endeavors to engage your heart to God; and partly in begging preventing grace from God in your commencement of duty. It is a good sign to exercise such precaution. And it is an evidence of uprightness, to oppose these sins in their first rise. “I hate vain thoughts.” “The spirit lusteth against the flesh. Thy grief also discovers the uprightness of thy heart. If with Hezekiah thou art humbled for the evils of thy heart, thou hast no reason, from those disorder to question the integrity of it; but to suffer sin to lodge quietly in the heart, to let thy heart habitually and uncontrolledly wander from God, is a sad, a dangerous symptom indeed.
Point 1 focused on God’s glory as our chief end in keeping our hearts, and how heart-evils are its opposite. Point 2 focused on hypocrisy, which is a clear symptom of a heart pursuing idols. To professing Christians who were living as hypocrites, James said, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4 ESV). Hypocrisy is hatred towards God, and friendship with God’s enemies. It is the sin of treason. And this is where the heart goes when it is not pursuing God with the heart. Professing believers are especially susceptible to this, and the tragedy of it all is that they often believe they are good practicing Christians! Such who continue in this hypocrisy, not growing in keeping their hearts upon God, are enemies of God. Does this describe you? Where is your heart? “[H]e that takes no heed to his heart, that is not careful to order it aright before God, is but a hypocrite.” Their hearts remain cold and dead to God, still pursuing their lusts. They have yet to taste the light of life.
The fundamental difference between a hypocrite and a genuine believer is that a hypocrite does not examine his heart and is satisfied to remain in the wickedness of his heart (regardless of his appearance on the outside), while a genuine believer will become grieved at the sinfulness of his heart and endeavour to fix it on God. The hypocrite binds himself in his hypocrisy, leaving his heart unchanged and untouched by Christ, while the genuine Christian’s heart changes and grows in its Godward orientation. The hypocrite does not do battle with his flesh, working to mortify his sin, while the genuine believer confronts his sin, working to subject all to Christ. So, examine your hearts to see which description fits your life. Perhaps God will reveal that you have not, in fact, been saved; or, perhaps, He will call you to increasingly glorify Him. For a heart grieved by sin is a blessing to the saved, leading to repentance, but to the hypocrite, grief is only that which leads to death. God knows our hearts, and loves His own.
Next time we will be looking at points 3 and 4 of why we should make keeping our hearts the highest and chief business of our lives. You too can increasingly glorify Him!