By Marvin Duncan
Recently I was reading in First Corinthians where Paul said:
“As it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
As I read this verse, I thought, What a blessing this verse brings to the heart of God’s Saints. Then I realized Paul had said it has never entered into the heart of man what God has done for those who love Him. This started me thinking about how the Scriptures speak of the heart and the many areas of activity that have their seat in the heart.
As I looked into this subject, I found the heart is spoken of far more than the head is. When we consider the physical body, we think of the head as the part that directs a man’s actions and thoughts, while the heart just pumps the blood through his body. Yet, as we examine the Scriptures, we find it is the heart, not the head ,that directs the actions of the man.
- E. Vine, in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, says:
“The heart, the chief organ of physical life (“FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD” – Leviticus 17:11), occupies the most important place in the human system. By an easy transition the word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements. In other words, the heart is used figuratively for the hidden springs of the personal life.”
- Laidlaw, in Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, makes this comment:
“The Bible describes human depravity as in the ‘heart..’ because sin is a principle which has its seat in the center of man’s inward life, and then ‘defiles’ the whole circuit of his actions. On the other hand, Scripture regards the heart as the sphere of Divine influence. The heart as lying deep within contains ‘the hidden man,’ the real man. It represents the true character but conceals it.”
With this introduction of how the HEART is spoken of in the Scriptures, let us examine some passages in the New Testament that will help us to grasp more fully what the Holy Spirit would have us know about the innermost part of man’s being.
The Seat Of Physical Life
In both Acts 14s17 and James 5:5, the Scriptures speak of the HEART as the seat of man’s physical life. Doctor Lulce makes this statement about the heart of man:
“(God) IN TIMES PAST SUFFERED (allowed or permitted) ALL NATIONS TO WALK IN THEIR OWN WAYS. NEVERTHELESS HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT WITNESS, IN THAT HE DID GOOD, AND GAVE US RAIN FROM HEAVEN, AND FRUITFUL SEASONS, FILLING OUR HEARTS WITH FOOD AMD GLADNESS” (Acts 14:16-17),,
It is the innermost part of man that was gladdened by the provision of fruitful seasons and abundant food. These elements have to do with the physical life and with physical strength.
The Seat Of Grief And Joy
The Scriptures picture the HEART as the seat of our emotions, both of grief and joy. To the Saints at Corinth Paul irrote:
“FOR OUT OF MUCH AFFLICTION AND ANGUISH OF HEART I WROTE UNTO YOU WITH MANY TEARS; NOT THAT YE SHOULD BE GRIEVED, BUT THAT YE MIGHT KNOW THE LOVE WHICH I HAVE MORE ABUNDANTLY UNTO YOU” (Second Corinthians 2:4).
Paul’s heart was saddened by the lack of Spiritual discernment on the part of the members of the Corinthian church. Paul xrrites of the anguish of heart he felt toward these Saints as he recognized their lack of victory over the things of the flesh. This lack of victory was caused by their failure to accept and put into practice the things Paul had shared with them concerning the revelation of the Mystery he had received from our risen Lord that were for the Saints of this dispensation.
Some of the same problems found in the Corinthian church can be seen in the professing church today. This activity of the flesh is due mostly to a lack of recognizing, and embracing, the teachings of the Apostle Paul as God’s message and program for this age in which we live. There are many Saints today who have no Spiritual victory in their lives and are led captive by the sins of the flesh. This, I believe, is because they do not have the right Scriptural foundation upon which to build their Christain life. Too many of God’s people are following the desires of their heart instead of following God’s commands given through Paul. What many of God’s peole have forgotten is that “THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND DESPERATELY WICKED” (Jeremiah 17:9).
To show that the heart is also the seat of joy, we need only look at John 16:22. Here, our Lord is speaking to His disciples just before His death and resurrection. He tells them of the sorrow they will feel when He is no longer with them. But, He also assures them of a joy that will fill them later after His resurrection. He assures these men;
“YE NOW THEREFORE HAVE SORROW: BUT I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN, AND YOUR HEART SHALL REJOICE, AND YOUR JOY NO MAN TAKETH FROM YOUR.”
The Apostle Paul speaks of the joy that can cokig into the heart of the Saints when they keep their eyes upon our Lord. In his Ephesian letter, Paul tells these Saints:
“SPEAKING TO YOURSELVES IN PSALMS AND HYMNS AMD SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART TO THE LOHD” (Ephesians 5:19).
The Saints of this dispensation of God’s Grace are not to find their peace and joy in the things of this world, but are to keep a song on their lips and a melody in their heart. This singing praises to our Lord Trill keep our minds on things above and not on the things of this earth, as Paul encourages the Saints at Colosse to do (Colossians 3:2).
The Seat Of Desires And Affections
Our Lord knew the desires of a man came from his heart and He exposes this when lie expanded the commands of the Law of Moses to give them the Spiritual meaning God intended when these commands were given to the nation of Israel. The Law-keeping Jews of Christ’s day were holding to the strict letter of these commands but had no regard for the intent of these commands. To show how corrupt this attitude was/ our Lord exposed this wickedness of their heart by saying:
“WHOSOEVER LOOKETH ON A WOMAN TO LUST AFTER HER HATH COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH HER ALREADY IN HIS HEART” (Matthew 5:28).
The desires of the innermost part of a man is said to be the desires of his heart. These desires are hidden from the outside world, but the man himself knows what these secret desires of the inner man are. Let us keep in mind that we can not trust our heart (Jeremiah 17:9) no matter how long we have been saved. Our flesh and the old nature were not what was saved when we placed our faith in Christ. Only our SOUL was saved, and our Spirit was energized to work in harmony with God. The heart and flesh of the Christian are the sane as the heart and flesh of the non-Christian.
To illustrate this point, let me share something that happened in a Christian family. The daughter wanted permission to go with a group of Christian friends to a party that would include questionable activity. Her father refused to give her permission to go. Mien she wanted to know why she wasn’t allowed to go places with her Christian friends, her father answered, “Flesh is flesh regardless of whether it is saved or lost. Christians can get into just as much trouble with the flesh as the un-saved.” Many a Christian young person has fallen into the sins of the flesh because they were deceived by their heart into thinking a Christian would not be tempted as the un-saved are.
The Seat Of Thoughts And Understandings
The writer of the Book of Hebrews shows us that the heart is the place where our thoughts’ originate, in Hebrews 4:12 we read:
“THE WORD OF GOD IS QUICK (alive), AND POWERFUL, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWOEDGED SWORD, PIERCING EVEN TO THE DIVIDING ASUNDER OF SOUL AND SPIRIT, AND OF THE JOINTS AMD MARROW, AND IS A DISCERNER OP THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART.”
Not only are a man’s thoughts centered in the heart, but Paul tells the Saints at Rome that the understands of a man are also centered in the heart. In writing about how man changed the glory of God into an image, Paul says,
“WHEN THEY KNEW GOD, THEY GLORIFIED HIM NOT AS GOD, NEITHER HERE THANKFUL; BUT BECAME VAIN IN THEIR IMAGINATIONS,- AND THEIR FOOLISH HEART HAS DARKENED” (Romans 1:21).
The imaginations of these men led them to change the glory of the true God into an image of their own desire. In doing this, God says they exercised the FOOLISHNESS that is in the heart of man.
Solomon warned his sons about the foolishness that is in the heart of man, but even today there are those who deny any such thing lies in his heart. In Proverbs 22:15, Solomon tells his sons these words of wisdom:
“FOOLISHNESS IS BOUND IN THE HEART OF A CHILD? BUT THE ROD OF CORRECTION SHALL DRIVE IT FAR FROM HIM.”
The Seat Of Will And Faith
Paul shows us that the heart is the seat of man’s will when he says in chapter six of Romans how we were delivered from the power of sin, and sin was no longer our master. This deliverance came when we died with Christ, was buried and raised again to newness of life. Paul says:
“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” (Romans 6:17).
It was this belief and obedience of the innermost part of these Roman Saints that delivered them from Sin’s power. Today, can have this same victory over Sin if we believe in our heart the message delivered to Paul by our resurrected Lord. This is why Paul admonishes the Saints of this dispensation to “BE YE FOLLOWERS OF ME, EVEN AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST” (First Corinthians 11:1).
Paul also shows these Roman Saints that the heart is the seat of faith. In Romans 10:10, Paul tells these Saints:
“WITH THE HEART MAN BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION.”
As the heart believes the message God revealed to Paul and as this man confesses to God that Jesus is Lord, he receives salvation. Has this been the xperience of your life?