The Heart of Man

Stefan Van der Merwe

It feels kinda strange for me to preach on this topic, because if I ask any of the medical students here tonight what the heart of a man is, you would probably much better that I know that the heart is a muscular organ about the size of a fist, located just behind and slightly left of the breastbone. The heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins called the cardiovascular system.

And yet, we understand that although this is a correct definition, we also realise that the heart is more than just an organ. We see this by the way we sometimes speak. In films you often have expressions that speak about the heart:

In Pocahontas we find the phrase

“Listen with your heart. You will understand”

In Cinderella

“No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.”

Winnie the Pooh

“Christopher Robin-Hello Pooh.

Winnie The Pooh-Hello Christopher Robin.

Christopher Robin-I’m sorry Pooh. I’m so terribly sorry. I should never had shouted at you.

Winnie The Pooh-Well I am a bear of very little brain.

Christopher Robin-No Pooh. You are I think a bear of very big heart.”

Wizard of Oz

“As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don’t know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”

We also often hear things like “Follow your heart” or “Deep down in your heart”.

The point is that the heart is far more than just an organ and from a biblical point of view the heart is considered the seat of life or strength. Hence, it means mind, soul, spirit, or one’s entire emotional nature and understanding.

Often in the ministry of Jesus he would even call the crowds towards him to tell them something important and I want us to read together one of these passages:

Jesus’ Teaching:

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:14–23 NIV 2011)

From this passage in the bible is it quite clear that the heart is not necessary that “good place” which can be sought through to find peace and joy and bravery and everything good.

And this is by no means a “modern” problem. Very early in biblical history we also read the following:

“The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5–6).

Let’s read the first few verses of Mark again:

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.

Surface Issues:

Looking at this we realised that the people were confused with what we can call a surface issue — what to eat and what to drink — Jesus is clearly telling people here that this does not defile a person. Perhaps we can add a few more surface issues that we see today:

• Clothing we wear
• Hair styling
• Jewelry

“Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear — but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.(1 Peter 3:3–4) ESV

This passage clearly shows which part of us is more important. Note that Peter does not say that it is forbidden to wear nice clothing or a fancy hairstyle or beautiful jewelry. He is saying though, that that does not matter that much. What is inside of you matters much more.

• All our positions
• Your status in life
• Your education
• Your talents & giftings

None of these things can tell us clearly of what is going on in your heart.

The real problem — A defiled heart:

Look what Jesus says again in Mark 7:

“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

I think it is important to note here that although Jesus here clearly states that from a person’s heart comes all evil, the connection with our thoughts or our mind should not be missed. He says that evil thoughts come from a person’s heart.

The main point is though, that Jesus is telling us, is that the heart is truly wicked

The prophet Jeremiah said something similar long ago:

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB)

Where does this evil heart come from?

The book of Romans give us this answer:

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

The writer of Romans says that all people are affected by the original sin of Adam and Eve. Our whole human nature (which is basically our feelings, our thoughts and our actions) was affected by their sin but it is mostly our hearts that drive our thoughts and our actions.

Working with my dad in Africa for many years we often used a chart called the “Heart of man” to share the gospel of Christ with people:

We often used this picture to show people the depravity of man’s heart.

This heart represents the heart of a man that is a sinner and someone who does not follow Christ. The chart shows us different animals in such a heart and each animal represents a particular sin.

Peacock — Pride of man

Dog — Bodily desire, immorality and adultery

Pig — Drunkenness and gluttony

Tortoise — Laziness, witchcraft

Leopard — Hatred, anger & bad temper

Snake — Deceit & jealousy

Frog — Greediness & love of money

This picture does not sum up the full extent of our hearts’ wickedness but surely goes a long way in showing us the depth of our problem.

The Answer

The answer to man’s corrupted heart lies in changing the ruler of your heart. In the picture here on the screen we see that the heart of a sinner is ruled by many rulers or sins.

In Christianity we often use the phrase “To accept Christ Jesus into your heart” as a way to explain that you wish to no longer be a follower of this world and it’s sins, but become a follower of Christ. Making Jesus Christ the ruler of your life and your heart is therefore one of the ways to explain how a sinner becomes a Christian.

In John 1:12 we read:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

In another small booklet (Calle the Four Spiritual Laws) that I often used a Christian Student to reach out to non-Christian students at University we find these two pictures:

Man

The first of them basically shows the life of a person that is ruled by the person himself. You could say that the chair represents the throne or heart of a man. Christ is clearly not part of this person’s life and in this heart you will find all the animals from the other picture.

In the second picture you see that now Christ is invited to sit on the throne or in the heart of this person and that this person has yielded now more in control but gave Christ rule over his life/heart. In such a heart there is no more place for previous rulers/animals/sins and now Christ rules your life. This is what it means to become a Christian.

The Victory

Where Christ rules, there is no place for other rulers and the bible also give us this wonderful promise:

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39).

Spiritual life begins in the heart, and it begins with God. God also has a heart (Acts 13:22) and has emotions and desires which drive His behavior toward His creatures. For example, He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). There are a vast number of things about God we do not understand, but this verse is quite clear: God is a Savior at heart. He wants people to be saved and to delight in knowing the truth, and in knowing Him.

Invitation (If there are known unbelievers present) : Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. (Psalms 24:3–4 NASB)

We must trust the Lord with our salvation. Give your heart to Him today.