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THE SERMON

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 20, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 4.

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THE SERMON

By I. H. EVANS

Heart Religion

I. H. EVANS
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” This scripture from the book of Proverbs introduces the thought I wish to emphasize tonight,—heart religion.
We have met here as representatives of the third angel’s message, coming from near and far. Therefore it seems fitting that in this opening meeting we seriously consider the most important thing to which it is possible to give attention. Nothing can be of greater personal interest to you and me than that our Christian experience be genuine, of the heart, and that we do not build our faith upon false hopes.
The scripture which I have just read means much to the true Christian. The marginal rendering strengthens the text somewhat, as it emphasizes the point of keeping the heart. The text, with the marginal reading, is as follows: “Keep thy heart with all diligence,” or, “above all keeping.” That is, there is nothing in all this world to which we should give such special attention, nothing that we should keep with such faithfulness, nothing that we should guard so sacredly, as the heart. Why should we put forth such superhuman effort in this one thing, neglecting everything else in all the world before we neglect this? Why should we keep the heart “above all keeping”? Why should we let everything else in this world slip from us, but hold to the keeping of the heart? The answer comes back with great emphasis, “For out of it are the issues of life.”
There is nothing in this world that offers such dividends for faithful service as this keeping of the heart. Of course, this scripture is not speaking of the physical, muscular organ, which we call the heart, which gives circulation to the blood, and preserves our physical life. It has direct reference to the thoughts, the soul, the responsible will-power of man. We are told in the Scriptures that the flesh profiteth nothing, but the thoughts, the will-power, the inner man, called by what you may choose to name it, is the one thing which God regards as of greatest importance. That is the one precious thing in his sight.
Some may look with much appreciation on outward forms; ceremonial conformity affords satisfaction because it removes criticism from the conformist. Others would specialize on particular points which have merit in and of themselves, such as faith, or love, or diet, or physical exercise, and are satisfied if others observe what they deem the great essential. And there are still others who seem able to stretch their conscience to cover every moral offense, if it can only be hidden from publicity, having little regard for actual Christian experience. If the Bible teaches anything, it emphasizes the value of genuine heart religion as compared to external formalities.
It was against the Pharisaism of the Jewish age that Christ spoke in such strong language. Not that he would do away entirely with outward forms of religion. Even in small matters he said, These things ye ought to do, and not to leave the others undone. On one occasion, in impressing this lesson upon his disciples, the Saviour explained how that which comes from the heart, rather than that which a man eats or drinks, counts with God. And it is truth for all time, that God reckons with the inner life, and our salvation is dependent upon the transformation of our hearts and minds.
We who are here tonight can testify with the prophet Jeremiah, to the deceitfulness of the human heart; we know it to be desperately wicked. It is the heart, and not the formalities of religion, by which the character of the individual, as well as of the church of God, must be determined. When a man’s heart is right, his actions will practically take care of themselves. When the heart is right, there is but little need to fear lest sin break out. But when the heart is wrong, when the thoughts of man are beyond all control, then woe betide him who attempts to keep the actions right in his own strength and by his own resolutions. The Saviour spoke most emphatically concerning this:—
“And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
“And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
No language could be more simple and direct than this; nor is this scripture a license to gluttony and drunkenness. It is Christ’s own estimation of true worth and Christian character. The one who counts himself a saint because of outward forms, or one who feels that he can eat and drink himself into heaven, simply misreads the Word of God. It is the thoughts, the meditations, the affections, that mark the Christian and stamp his worth. The exterior forms of religion, be they ever so true to the gospel requirements, are not what give the true key to our eternal inheritance.
In this connection, I should like to read another scripture from the book of Proverbs, which has become an aphorism, and gives expression to a great principle. It is this: “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
That sentence, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” sounds forth the message I would burn into your very souls tonight. We are not simply what we profess to be, nor what our fellows think us to be, nor what we may declare ourselves to be. We are what our thoughts make us, neither better nor worse, save through grace and mercy from God.
One writer has said: “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. . . . A noble and godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.”
If a man has thoughts of sin, thoughts of lust, thoughts of ambition and pride, and is cherishing these in his heart, his pretense of religion will count for but little. His thoughts are the true test of his character. What he thinks, what he holds in his mind, molds and fashions him into what he is. This law applies to me and to you. The question is not one of baptism, of meats and drinks, nor of church ceremonies; these are important and have their place; but the great, supreme question is that of the heart. Is it right with God? Has it been so cleansed by a new creation that the thoughts are thoughts of purity, thoughts of holiness, thoughts of godlikeness?
Man judges by outward appearance. We know not what others are thinking only as they act and speak. We judge others by what we see and hear; we have no other way. But God looks upon the heart, and he is never deceived. Man may cover his tracks ever so smoothly, he may seem to his fellows to be what he is not; but God cannot be deceived. I might deceive a hundred men, if I were keen and thoughtful and careful enough, but I could never deceive God.
It is true that the Lord holds every man responsible for faithfulness, whatever his work and wherever he may be placed; yet with God it is not position that determines the standing of a man.
It is not his education. It is not what others may think of him. It is the thoughts and intents of his heart. No matter what the church or the conference may think of a man, he is, nevertheless, what is in his heart.
In the past there have been men in the service of God—I suppose there may be today—of whom the church has thought well, yet they have fallen short of the approval of Jehovah. There was something in their lives that was not in harmony with God. Many a Christian has been long under the influence of the gospel, to a greater or less degree, and yet all that time, or at least during a part of it, that Christian has been dabbling with sin. He is conscious of being wrong in his life, yet day by day, and week by week, he allows this thing to continue which is dragging him to destruction. There is nothing that so counts to the advantage of an individual as to know that his heart is right with God, and that he is allowing no sin to have dominion over him.
“The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors, that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires,—and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.”
“Every thought-seed sown, or allowed to fall into the mind and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstances. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts, bad fruit.”
“A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power. Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such condition can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man, therefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. . . . Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean.”
Because a man is in the service of God and even laboring for souls, is not proof that his heart is right with God. Not a few who have been thus consecrated by prayer and the laying on of hands have lived unsanctified lives and allowed sin to dominate them; they have known that their lives were not true, and that they were not what the people supposed them to be.
The story of Jehu, as recorded in the second book of Kings, illustrates how actively a man may be engaged in the service of God while his heart is not right in the sight of the Lord. The prophet of Jehovah had gone to Jehu and poured the anointing oil upon his head, and told him that God had made him king over his people. He had outlined to Jehu the work that he was to do; then Jehu set himself to carry out this instruction with great activity. He punished to the limit the house of Ahab. He destroyed the priests of Baal in great number, caused the slaying of the wicked Jezebel, and said to Jehonadab, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” Yet, notwithstanding all that Jehu did, and his efforts to carry out the instruction given to him through prophecy, the record speaks of him in this language: “But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.”
All Jehu’s great activity did not bring him a heart experience. It is far more important that a man keep his heart and his passions in abeyance than that he attempts to fill with acceptance any position in the church, at the same time cherishing some known sin.
How many times have we thought of the case of Judas? One would think that if any man could be in favor with Christ it would be a man who had sat at the feet of the Master, who had traveled and eaten with him, and listened to his instruction for three and one-half years. We have all wondered how a man with such privileges, such opportunities, living in the very presence of the Master, could have taken the fatal plunge that Judas took in evildoing. It was this professed follower of Christ who became the very leader of the Jewish mob that came to Christ in the garden. It was this professed follower who betrayed him with a kiss. Do you think that Judas fell from a height of purity and holiness on this occasion, with no previous shortage in his Christian experience? Rather, did he not, little by little, cherish some evil thought in his heart? Did he not give way to selfish, ambitious, carnal desire, until, when the time came, and a great temptation overtook him, he fell to the level of his thoughts?
Was not the same the case with Ananias and Sapphira? It was not the money which they withheld from the Lord’s treasury which brought upon them such wrath and condemnation, but the hearts of these professed Christians were not right with God. As far as the church was concerned, they might have been on a par with many others; yet inwardly they had cherished sin, and when they met a great temptation, they fell to the level of their thoughts.
Failure is not dependent upon breaking all the commandments of the decalogue, upon lying, murdering, stealing, Sabbath-breaking, and blaspheming; one passion let loose spells ruin. What makes a drunkard? I have heard it said of many a man, “This is a good man; he has only one weakness, he cannot keep from drinking.” But do we not all know that one passion cherished, one weakness continually gratified, eventually pulls a man down to destruction? This is true of any man who gives way to passion and sin.
The greatest question we can put to ourselves is, Have I attained victory over every carnal propensity? If we have not, let us pray God to deliver us. Seize by faith the victory promised in Christ Jesus. Your official position, being a member of the church, or the good opinion of your fellows, is of no avail as far as your eternal interests are concerned. The only thing which counts is to have the heart right with God.
In Prov. 25:28 we read: “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” It does not take a whole catalogue of sins to spoil a man’s character. One sin alone may keep us out of the kingdom. Then, too, if we do not seize this one weakness, it will multiply its strength until it dominates the life. If we are unable to cast this evil spirit out by our will-power, we have a Tower of strength into which we may run for deliverance.
There is nothing that will give any of us, as ministers of the gospel, such strength as the victorious life. There is nothing that will count so much for our eternal interests as victory over sin. It is far better for us that we claim, by faith, the victory promised in Christ Jesus, than to have anything which the world can give. Money alone will not be able to finish this great closing work. The multiplicity of workers gives no evidence of its being completed in our day. Our hope of finishing the work of the third angel’s message, and of bringing the speedy coming of the Lord, is in a ministry whose Christian experience gives them victory over sin. Wherever such a ministry labors, souls will be won to Christ.
“A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts. . . . There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice. . . . Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness. Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought, a man ascends; by the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought, a man descends.”
When we have gained the victory over the weaknesses of the flesh, we maintain this victory only by continued self-discipline and control of the thoughts.
Never in the history of the world, never since sin entered this world, has there been such need, such a strong, imperative demand, for a ministry to rise in faith and power as at the present time. The mighty movings of the Spirit of God are abroad in the land. We are beholding on every hand, with overwhelming evidence, the signs of the end of the world. Not alone the student of prophecy, but men who are leaders in great political movements, are looking with great fear to the future. All that we see about us in the heaping together of earthly treasure, indicates that we are living in the very closing days of earth’s history. With conditions around us which compel us to believe that we are in the last days, is there not every reason that, as ministers, and as leaders in this great movement, we should find salvation and victory through faith in Christ?
When the life is emptied of sin, the Holy Spirit will take its rightful place in the heart of the worker. And there is nothing more important today in this world, than that the ministry of this denomination should be emptied of sin and be Spirit-filled. There is nothing more important during this council than that we who are here shall earnestly seek for the guidance and indwelling of the Spirit of God. There is no possibility of our finishing the work in this generation without this infilling. Large numbers of persons may be set at work, and great activity manifested on every hand, but unless the Holy Spirit possesses the hearts of the workers, and we have a deep, abiding Christian experience, all our efforts will bring forth but small results. Thus the all-important thing for our ministry, our leaders, ourselves, is to get our hearts right with God. Whatever office we may hold, whatever department we may represent, we must be the servants of the most high God. And when sin has been cast out, and we hold ourselves as consecrated vessels for the Lord, the Holy Spirit will bless our labors, and many will be converted to God.
While our people are toiling and sacrificing, giving of their means and their sons and daughters to the work of the Lord, it becomes us, as leaders in this work, to be examples to the flock, to divest ourselves of everything that keeps back the Holy Spirit, and to renew our consecration to Jehovah. Our hearts must be right with God. If we seek God with all our hearts for a new conversion, for complete victory in our lives and in our service to God, he will give us his Holy Spirit, and we can go forth and do a mighty work for him. If the hour has not struck when it becomes every leader to have this victory of which I have been speaking, then I am greatly mistaken. If we set ourselves to the task of seeking God most earnestly during this meeting, and if we make this our chief business when we leave this council for the work in our respective fields of labor, there will accompany our work a mighty uplifting, regenerating power. To this end I hope we shall most earnestly pray.
May God give to us who are here a new conversion; and if there is something in our lives which is keeping us from getting the victory, let us resolve that we will do the will of God, gain the victory over this weakness, and live the life of Christ. May God save us from the weaknesses of our natural hearts, and give us the power to keep our hearts with all diligence, knowing that out of them are the issues of life.