God’s Issue with Your Criminal Heart

Proverbs 4:23-27; Matthew 15:17-20; Romans 3:10-18

We often look at actions. “Actions speak louder than words.” That’s the saying. “Put your money where your mouth is.” Meaning, it’s not what you say your intentions are, but it’s what you do. “Don’t just think it, do it. An intention without execution is hallucination.” But having said that, we don’t deny the importance of the heart as well. Actions can be misinterpreted. And when they are, people may say - “God knows my heart.” And they mean it in a good way. “While others may not know my intentions, God does!” And they take comfort in that. “They don’t know my heart. If only they did, they wouldn’t misjudge me.” Or, we may defend our unwise actions by citing our good intentions - “I was only following my heart.”

Dearly beloved, the heart has gotten people into great trouble in the history of mankind. Like the Trojan War. According to history, Paris, the son of the Trojan king, abducted Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Why? She was beautiful. He was smitten by her. And she was also in love with him. They went with their heart. And this led to war. Human actions always follow the human heart. This is a general law. What’s in our heart overflows into our actions and words. We are what we think.

There are 3 propositions in this sermon. Firstly, we must guard the heart because it is criminal. Secondly, the criminal heart manifests issues in all areas of life. Thirdly, only when the heart is transformed can it be decriminalized.

Firstly, we must guard the heart because it is criminal. Proverbs 4:23 gives a command – “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” But why must we keep or guard the heart? And why must we do it with all diligence? In this verse, we gain insight into what the heart is really like. We see two words – keep and diligence. The word “keep” simply means to do the work of a watchman. A watchman is employed by a town to keep watch from a high tower. He’s to watch for enemies coming and to be the first line of defense, to sound a warning at first sight. He doesn’t rest, and he doesn’t sleep. Unfortunately, many towns have been conquered because the watchman has been asleep. We see an example in the Bible. When the soldiers came for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, his disciples were all sleeping. They failed to keep watch. And whichever side of the conflict you may support or not support, Israel was not prepared for the attacks of Hamas. Their intelligence failed them in the most recent war. But this was also not the first time. In 1973 attack, there was also a watchman failure. In Europe’s fortified cities, watchmen were employed to keep an out for smoke and to sound an alarm if needed. Fire and invaders were threats to them. In fact, in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland today, they continue with that tradition of hiring a watchman for the city. One of them recently said, “The man who was here, he was very, very important for the security of the people. They trusted the watchman because they were sleeping and he was awake.” The object of the guarding here is the heart. We’re told the guard the heart - but not because enemies will attack it; but rather from it, will enemies come. Guard the heart - if not invaders will issue from it.

This gives us the idea that the heart is the problem. And that’s why the Bible adds, “with all diligence.” The word “diligence” literally means “prison.” In other words, guard your heart with all prison-guard-like-diligence. We’re to guard the heart as if we’re guarding a criminal. In those, the most dangerous of criminals were kept in the inner prison - which is maximum security. Often, for such prisoners, they were chained to guards - not just one but two - on either side of them. Then there would be the watchman guard outside the cell. If the prisoner managed to overpower the two guards, there’d still be a third to secure the gate and prevent him from getting out. You never let a criminal out of your sight. You watch his every move. So the attitude that we are to have in guarding our hearts – our way of thinking and feeling — the contents of our thoughts and feelings — is to guard it like we’re guarding a criminal. That’s the attitude. Why? The heart is a criminal.

The Bible says more about the heart. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says ominously - “The 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.” The heart is more deceitful than anything on earth. For magicians or card sharps, sleight of hand is important. The hand deceives. But the hand is not more deceitful than the heart. Similarly, the mouth lies. Some people are chronic liars. Tongues have started wars. The mouth deceives. But the deceit of the tongue is not more than the heart. The hand and the tongue have no mind or heart to conceive of the deceit. Whatever they devise come from their hearts.

But the heart’s not only deceitful, it’s desperately or incurably wicked. This tells us that our hearts cannot be trusted. Our conclusions, our thoughts, our feelings — that manifest themselves in words and actions — are wicked and deceitful. The heart’s like a criminal – it’ll even deceive us. So even when we are convinced we’re right, we may very well be wrong. And because the heart is criminal, Jeremiah 17:10 says that God will search the heart, he will examine the mind or test its motives in order to reward every man according to his ways. But if the heart is deceitful above all things, if it’s desperately wicked, what’ the reward except judgment? Yes, God judges actions, but also motives. Because out of the heart are the issues of life. And God takes issue with the heart.

Secondly, the criminal heart manifests issues in all areas of life. “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” The heart is a source - like a water source. If the source is corrupted, it spreads the corruption to wherever it flows. The word “issues” means “extremities.” This is the word that is used to speak about the branches of a river at the mouth of the river, especially when there is a delta. And the English word “issue” is a very good translation — issue means offspring. The River Nile has two sources — Lake Victoria and Lake Tana. If one of these lakes was poisoned, the water that flows down into the Nile River Delta, with a network of smaller branches and canals, those who rely on the water source will also be poisoned. About 60 percent of Egypt’s population lives in the Nile Delta, benefiting from the river’s gifts of water and soil. What if the gift was poison? They’d die.

Jesus had this to say when talking about the heart as a source. In Matthew 15:18-19 he said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Why did Jesus say those words? There were some religious people who were complaining that Jesus and his disciples were not observing some religious rules - like washing your hands ritually so that when you eat, you’re spiritually clean. We wash our hands because of germs. But the reason why they washed their hands was because there could be spiritual uncleanness that they touched. For example, if they touched the same railing that was touched by a sinner, they felt they were contaminated. So if they ate, they’d become spiritually unclean.

But Jesus’ response was simple. He said that whatever you eat, goes through your body and into the toilet. What you eat doesn’t defile you spiritually. But what comes out from your heart, through your mouth, defiles you. These religious people were thinking that since they fulfilled some form of religious or moral obligations, that they were good enough before God. But these were the very ones who, in their hypocrisy and anger towards Jesus, got him killed. They used lies, slander, bribery, in order to get Jesus crucified. When they were confronted with the true nature of their criminal hearts — their sins, they weren’t happy. You see, the sins that Jesus listed come from the heart. These defile a man — they make a man sinful and unrighteous.

Evil thoughts and murders — where do murders come from? They come from the evil thoughts. Adulteries and fornication — Jesus said whoever looks upon another with lust has committed fornication in the heart. Thefts — when you covet and don’t find satisfaction in what you have, you can resort to stealing. False witness and blasphemies — lies are first crafted in the mind and heart before they are uttered. So out of the source, which is the heart, are these various life issues. The heart produces disunity, discord, discontentment, dishonesty, disbelief, dysfunction, disdain, discouragement, disputes, distortion, etc.

And here, we want to look at some areas the criminal heart affects. Verse 24 speaks about the mouth and tongue - “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.” Because of the heart, there’s the froward mouth and perverse lips. As in the mouth speaks dishonestly, and the lips form devious speech. Romans 3:13-14 speaks even more strongly — “Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” Families have been split because of rude speech. Relationships have been poisoned because of lies. Wars have been started through words. World War II was started after Germany fabricated Polish aggression to mobilize support to attack Poland. A lie was used — and this led to years of fighting and many deaths. But where does all this come from? The heart.

Verses 26-27 speaks of the actions and intentions - “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” Think about where you’re going, stand firm - don’t venture into evil. Why was this instruction given at all? Because this is the natural inclination of the heart. Romans 3 speaks of how the feet are swift to shed blood. We saw that not too long ago at the Academy Awards. While Chris Rock’s mouth got him in trouble, Will Smith couldn’t control his feet, nor his hands. In the end, it’s the heart - we can’t guard it.

Verse 25 speaks of the eyes - “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” Why are these instructions given for the eyes? Because the eyes stray. And what is the reason for the eyes straying? Romans 3:18 says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” It’s ultimately a heart issue. There’s no fear. Mankind does not fear God.

According to a study, “The average person has more than two hundred negative thoughts and feelings a day, worries, jealousies, insecurities, cravings for forbidden things, etc. Depressed people have as many as six hundred.” In the following story, you can see how the heart affects hands, feet, and lips. Here’s a story that shows the results of a lack of peace in our hearts because of impure thoughts. One dark rainy night a driver had a flat tire on a lonely road. But to his dismay he had no wrench. Seeing a nearby house, he set out to walk there. Surely the owner of the house would have a wrench, he thought. But would he even come to the door? And if he did, he’d probably be furious at being bothered. He's say, “How dare you get me out of bed in the middle of the night?” This thought made the man angry. “Why, the person in that home is a selfish old man to refuse to help me.” Finally he reached the house. Frustrated and drenched, he banged on the door with his angry hands and kicked it with his angry feet. “Who’s there?” a voice called out from a window overhead. “Don’t pretend! You know who it is,” yelled the man, his face red with anger. “It’s me! And you can keep your old wrench! I wouldn’t borrow it even if it was the last one left!”

While Proverbs 4 says to guard the heart, to put away a lying tongue, to keep the eyes pure, and feet from evil; if the heart’s not changed, we’ve no power to guard the heart. It’s deceitful above all things; it’s desperately wicked. The word for desperately means incurably. It’s incurably wicked. How can an unchanged incurable criminal heart guard an unchanged incurable criminal heart? How can a criminal heart change when it doesn’t fear God? It needs to be transformed. That’s the third proposition. The heart cannot be controlled, it can’t be guarded - because it’s doing its own guarding. It needs to be replaced, transformed. It’s a criminal that deserves maximum security imprisonment; no - much more - it deserves capital punishment.

We read earlier on (Romans 3:10-12), “There’s none righteous, no, not one: There’s none that understands, there’s none that seeks after God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” And if God were to try the heart the only reward he could give is condemnation. The Bible says that the reward for sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall die. And if you could rehabilitate that heart, or discipline the heart never to have these sinful affections again, what happens to its past wickedness? And this is where the rubber hits the road. While you may accuse others of not putting their money where their mouths are, or being all talk but no action; have you done so with anger and disdain? Are you blameless in all that you say? When was the last time you hated? Lusted? Coveted? Rehabilitation is not the answer. It does not remove the deceitfulness of the heart. Behavioral modification is not the answer. It may modify behavior, but not the heart. Education only makes you smarter at deceit. Sinners don’t need rehabilitation, behavioral modification, or simply education, they need redemption - they need savior; they need to be forgiven. Yes, your heart may certainly not be as wicked and deceitful as others - but the sin problem in your heart is incurable. In Jeremiah 2:22, God says that “no amount of soap or lye (like potassium hydroxide) can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt. I’m the Sovereign LORD!”

God can see into your hearts and see the sins that have so corrupted your heart. You can’t be rehabilitated, or instructed, or change. But God doesn’t judge right away. He’s gracious. God is love. And the Bible tells us that he loves sinners. He offers salvation, forgiveness, and redemption. He said about our incurable heart of sin in Ezekiel 36:26 - “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

And the way he did this was to provide a substitute. That sin from the hearts of sinners he gave to his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Who died on the behalf of those who would believe in him and call on him to save them. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Bible says that Jesus, who was not sinful, was made to take our sin, that we’d have the righteousness of God. His heart was pure. His feet, mouth, eyes, were always without sin because his heart was without sin. And why he was without sin was because he was God himself. God came in human form, not to judge the world, but to die for the world; that through him, those with incurably sinful hearts that cause them to sin in word and action, can have their hearts replaced.

Dear Friends, all of us this evening have sinful hearts. If you would just spend the time to examine your motives, to see how your heart has gotten you into countless problems, and if you hate your heart for its sin, that’s when and only when your heart can be replaced and transformed when you call on Jesus. He will swap hearts with you today.