Spiritual Heart Failure: Definition, Examination And Contamination
“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.” Mark 7:21-23 (KJV)
Has your heart ever gotten you into trouble? I am willing to bet that there are some of you that would reply to my initial question with: “Oh yeah! I am married to my heart trouble.” The reality is that our hearts are responsible for many of our practices or decisions. For example, spending, eating, watching, listening, speaking, thinking and living are all connected with the attitude of our hearts. This fact is why the Scriptures issue a warning about keeping our hearts.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (KJV)
But what if my heart is capable of deceit and destruction and thereby can’t be trusted? Consider with me the following unbiblical concepts with respect to the immaterial or intangible positions on the human heart:
For the most part people generally have good hearts.
He or she has a good heart they just have to find it.
What does your heart say?
Listen to your heart and follow it.
Are you aware that the Bible references the human heart nearly 300 times? Here is the crux of what it says: first that the heart is the spiritual part of us where our emotions and desires live and second, that the human heart, in its natural and unregenerate condition, is evil, unfaithful and deceitful.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV)
In other words, the account of the fall found in the book of Genesis has distressed us at the deepest degree. Our mind, emotions and desires have been severely soiled by sin and we are parked in the dark as to just how persistent the problem is.
Our opening text records the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which unequivocally underscores what I term as “spiritual heart failure.” Did you notice that the Lord’s assessment of the human heart (apart from His Spirit) is not due to one’s external or environmental factors? Nor do life dynamics like race, education, poverty, wealth, drugs, alcohol, or peer pressure play a factor in spiritual heart failure. What drives the devil’s demolition of the pillars of a sound society (family, government and church) are souls with severely sinful hearts who are experiencing spiritual heart failure! Spiritual heart failure is the lost or fallen condition of the human heart as a direct result of the Adamic curse. Our heart failure cannot be cured by more money, a political party, a president, a think tank of pundits, social engineers, religious institutions, more education or any human. We all need a divine Doctor to give us a heart transplant!
“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’” Matthew 19:26 (KJV)
Just as a person suffering from physical heart disease must receive a new heart in order to survive, we must also experience complete regeneration through Jesus Christ to address our spiritual heart failure.
Join me again next week when we will continue our examination of spiritual heart failure.
For the Glory of God,
PBKSR