he heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jer. 17:9-10).
The prophet Jeremiah had a hard task. He was appointed to inculcate unwelcome truths upon a vain insensible people. He had the grief to find all his warnings, his prayers and tears, had no other effect than to make them account him their enemy, and to draw reproach and persecution upon himself.
Those who have resolved, honestly and steadily, to declare the word of the Lord, have, in all ages, found a part of his trial. The message they have had to deliver has been disagreeable and disregarded. It is no hard matter to frame discourses that shall meet with some degree of general approval. Nor is it difficult to foresee the reception which plain truth must often meet -- but those who undertake a charge must perform it, and ministers are bound to declare to the people everything that regards their welfare, whether they will hear, or whether they will forebear.
The heart is here characterized, first, as deceitful, and that above or in all things. Second, it is shown as desperately wicked, in such a dangerous and deplorable state as not to be conceived or found out. "Who can know it?"
In consequence of this deep-rooted disorder, the heart is deceitful -- that is, it deceives and fails us in every instance. It promises more than it can perform, it misleads us with vain desires, and mocks us with unsuccessful efforts.
I do not come to make invectives; let conscience judge, and give evidence accordingly. What do we think of the perpetual presence of God around us, and within us? We know that He is acquainted with all our thoughts, words, and actions. Yet are we not more effectually restrained and awed by the presence of our fellow-worms, than by the regard of that Eye which is ten thousand times brighter than the sun?
What are our thoughts of that eternity to which we are posting, and to which, for all we know, a few hours may introduce us? Is not the smallest trifle that occurs enough to hide this important point from our view? It would be easy to multiply particulars, but these are sufficient to show the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of our hearts.
Now it is this heart, with all its workings and all its faults which is incessantly under the Divine inspection and examination. "I, the Lord, search the heart, and try the reins." The heart and reins, as used in Scripture, signify those different powers of the mind, the affections, and the thoughts. The words search and try have an emphasis in the original which can only be rendered by a paraphrase, if at all.
The Lord searches the heart -- He traces, investigates the inmost principles of our souls to their first rise, with (if I may so speak) a mathematical accuracy. He tries the reins -- He watches
every rising thought, and brings it to the test of His most pure Law. He examines it with the utmost exactness -- as a refiner assays his metals, with the purpose of rejecting whatever is inferior to the prescribed standard. To form a more just idea of this scrutiny, let us ask ourselves, how we could bear to be obliged to declare aloud, in full company, every thought which passes through our minds, every wish and desire of which we are conscious, without the least reserve or exception? I am persuaded there are few people so lost to shame, but, if they were brought to this trial, would rather choose to die than comply with it.
One more thing we have to consider. The Lord does not observe the heart of man with the indifference of a mere spectator, but as an impartial and inflexible Judge -- "that He may give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
What can be said of this? Is it not sufficient to fill our souls with astonishment, and cause all faces to gather blackness -- to hear not only that the Lord has purposed to render to every man according to his works, but also intends to examine the very thoughts and intents of the heart? Dare any of us abide the issue of such a trial? Which of us will presume to say, "I am clean."? To what purpose can any of us plead that we have not committed adultery, when God will charge us with every inordinate desire, and with every offense of the eye?
This is thought to be uncomfortable doctrine, and not without reason -- were we to go no further. For there is nothing in heaven or on earth, in time or eternity, that affords the least comfort to fallen man, if either God is strict to mark what is amiss, or if the man, trusting in himself, presumes to plead with his Maker. The law of God is as eternal and unchangeable as his nature. It must not, it cannot be tempered or brought down to our capacities.
Why have I attempted to lay open some of the depths of the heart? The only reason is that I might more fully illustrate the wonderful grace and goodness of God, granted to us in the Gospel. At the same time, I want to show the utter impossibility of finding salvation in any other way than the way God has appointed.
For behold! God has so loved the world that He sent His Son to accomplish for us what the law could not do through the weakness of our flesh. Jesus Christ performed perfect obedience to the law of God on our behalf. He died, and satisfied the penalty due our sins; He rose from the grave as our Representative; He has entered heaven as our Forerunner. He has received gifts for men, even the rebellious. He is exalted on high to bestow repentance and remission of sins on all that seek Him.
Who would venture to preach a doctrine so unpalatable to the carnal mind, as Jesus Christ, and Him crucified? Who would undertake so ungrateful a task as to depreciate that noble creature man, and arraign him publicly of insensibility, ingratitude, pride, and deceit, were it not that we have, first, a command (and that at our peril), to speak plainly, and secondly, a promise that we shall not speak in vain. There will be some whom God is pleased to save through what the world considers the foolishness of preaching. Some such, I trust, are among my readers.
