The Sinful Heart
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. God's X-ray picture of the human heart. At the close of the first chapter of Romans, there is such a graphic description of the heart of sin, that we can scarcely refrain from using it as an introduction to our study in the second chapter of Romans.
(1) God describes the heart in the Old Testament along the same line, when He says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
(2) In the New Testament, in Romans, we have this plain fact demonstrated, that God knows the heart, and knows how to describe it. He says: "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness," etc. Turn to Romans 1:29-31 and read for yourself the full description.
(3) The human heart as seen by its actions. This is set forth in Romans 3:1-31. The wicked, "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: * * with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood."
(4) Our Lord's own description of the hitman heart. Christ said: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies."
(5) To the above four descriptions, we add a fifth. In Galatians it is written: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like."
2. What God's X-ray pictures suggest.
(1) They suggest that there is nothing in a man which can merit redemption. The heart of sin cannot make a plea to God for redemption, on the basis of its own inherent purity. There is only one way that the sinner can come to God, that way is by the acknowledgment of his sin.
(2) They suggest the impossibility of the heart of sin producing righteousness. An evil heart cannot bring forth good fruit, any more than a corrupt tree could bring forth good fruit. It is impossible for a bitter fountain to emit sweet water. It is just as impossible for those accustomed to doing evil, to learn to do good. The only hope of a sinner lies in regeneration not in reformation.
(3) They suggest that one sinner cannot sit in judgment and condemn another sinner. This is true, for the simple reason that all have sinned. The pot, dare not call the kettle black; the hunchback, dare not point the finger of scorn at the stoop shouldered. If a sinner rises up to condemn another sinner; in the same breath, he condemns himself, for he is doing the same things.
(4) They suggest that. God's judgment against the ungodly is altogether righteous. There is nothing left for a holy God to do, than to refuse the unholy the right to His sacred presence; there is nothing else that a holy God can do than to refuse the guilty, a shadow of comfort at the judgment.
It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit in Romans 2:3 says: "Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?"
(5) They suggest and anticipate the fiat of God's righteous judgment as expressed in Romans 3:19 : "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." They suggest, also, the truth of the statement of the next verse, "Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight."
I. GOD'S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS (Romans 2:2)
In our last study we spoke briefly of the judgments of God. We wish now to emphasize a distinctive phase of those judgments.
1. God's judgments are according to truth.
(1) This is made possible by God's all knowledge. There is nothing that is not naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. When we are judged in an earthly court, witnesses both for and against the criminal, are brought forth. The judge, or the jury, know nothing of the situation excepting what is presented in the court. For this cause much judgment is not according to truth.
Men judge from outward appearances, they judge from hearsay, they judge from reports; God looks upon the heart, He knows what is in a man, He knows our down-sitting and our uprising, He understands our thoughts afar off.
(2) This is made possible because God is Truth. He can judge according to the truth, because He, Himself, is Truth, and is true. The Judge of all the earth, cannot do ought but right
2. God's judgments are based upon what we have done. He renders to both saints and sinners, according to their deeds. We are not saved by our works, nor lost by our works. We are saved by grace, and we are lost because we reject the Son of God.
We who are saved are judged according to our works, whether they be good or bad. Our judgment will take place in the air at the Second Coming of Christ.
The unsaved are likewise judged according to their works. When the white throne judgment is set, and the wicked dead are raised, the books will be opened and the dead will be judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their works.
3. No one living can by any means escape the judgments of God. Of the righteous, it is written: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ"; again, it is written, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
The same necessity is thrust upon the ungodly.
II. A DESCRIPTION OF THE TENDER HEART OF GOD (Romans 2:4)
It seems almost passing wonderful, that, in the midst of the verses in Romans 2:1-29, which describe man's inexcusable-ness in his sin, and God's dire judgment against his sin, we should find a verse of such tender and compassionate love. It is as though in a wilderness overgrown with thorns and thistles, we should find the most glorious of rose bushes, in full bloom.
Here is the verse which nestles so strangely, and yet so majestically, in the midst of the thunderings of wrath: "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"
1. The goodness of God. God is good. His goodness never shines so brilliantly as when it is displayed over against the dark picture of man's badness.
God is not only good, but He is rich in goodness. We think of the story of David and how he sent to the place of no pasture, and brought Mephibosheth to his palace. Even so, God hath sent forth His Spirit into the world, calling upon sinners to come under the touch and sway of His love.
2. The forbearance of God. When we think of God's forbearance, we think of how He has kept back His judgments against the sinner, giving him every opportunity to turn from his sin and to repent. Surely love beareth all things, and is kind. Love never faileth.
3. The longsuffering of God. This attribute of Deity is more than goodness and forbearance, it is both of these throughout a long period of time.
We read that "the longsuffering of God waited * * while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
The earth certainly could not have been any more corrupted, than it was; the hearts of men could not have been any harder, than were theirs; and yet, God waited and waited.
III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE HARD AND IMPENITENT HEART (Romans 2:5)
If God's goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering was made to glow with added glory, as it was thrown over against the picture of a sinful heart; so, also, does the picture of the hard and impenitent heart of a sinner, stand forth when it is thrown over against the goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering of God.
1. Sin is augmented, when grace is refused. At best the sinful heart is bad; but, when love and mercy and grace throw open to a sinful life the possibility of salvation, then with that salvation refused, the sinful heart takes upon itself the character of adamant. How hard is that heart that rejects mercy.
If the table had not been set, and the invitation, come and dine, had not been sent forth; then, the one who died in hunger could be pitied. When, however, all things are prepared, and the feast is ready with a cordial invitation extended to all; the one who dies of starvation, is to be condemned, rather than pitied.
2. Sin's final picture. We have already studied God's X-ray of the human heart. We have yet this further message to consider.
(1) The hard heart. A heart is hard, when it is untouched and unmoved by the Calvary anguish of the Son of God. A heart is hard, when it is impervious to the nail prints, the thorn-crowned brow, and the plea, "Father, forgive them."
(2) The impenitent heart. The heart is impenitent, when, in its hardness, it refuses the Saviour's plea, the Spirit's call, and the admonition of the ministers of God.
IV. GOD'S CALL TO REPENTANCE (Romans 2:4, l.c)
1. The call to repentance is the call of the whole Bible. There are some, today, who are claiming that repentance holds no part, and has no place in the salvation of a lost sinner. To this we cannot agree.
(1) At Pentecost when the people said: "What shall we do?" Peter cried, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you." Repentance certainly had its place in this the first hour of the Church's existence.
(2) We pass rapidly on to the heart of Paul's ministry. It was at Athens that Paul cried out, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent."
(3) In giving instructions to young Timothy the Apostle Paul in the Holy Ghost said: "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, * * if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
(4) The Apostle Peter in his Second Epistle said: "That God was not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
(5) When Paul summed up his ministry and how he taught publicly from house to house, he said that he testified: "Both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." He also commanded that repentance should be preached.
2. The call to repentance means, primarily, a new way of thinking about sin and about God, which is followed by a new way of action. The sinner, seeing himself a sinner, turns away from his sins, at the same time he turns in faith unto the Lord Jesus, as the One who saves him from his sins.
Leaving our sins cannot save us; however, those who are saved, are saved away from their sins. It is necessary to come out of the world in order to come into the spiritual life. It is necessary to come out of sin in order to come into salvation.
V. THE LOT OF THE SAVED AND THE LOST CONTRASTED (Romans 2:6-10)
1. The rewards of the saved. Those who have turned from sin, and unto God; those who have accepted the Gospel of God concerning the Son of God, which is the power of God unto salvation, as set forth in the first chapter of Romans; will, according to Romans 2:6, stand before God to receive the things done in their bodies. Romans 2:6 says: "Who will render to every man according to his deeds."
"To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life." In Romans 2:10, these words are added: "But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good."
Let us remember that our "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love."
2. The rewards of the unsaved. We now come to those who have despised the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering. We come to those who have hardened their hearts, and stiffened their necks, even to the impenitent. God says of these, whom He calls the "contentious," and, those "who do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness"; that He will render "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil."
3. There is a distinction between rewards. There are some people who are ever ready to acclaim the truth of rewards to saints; who are just as ready to disclaim the truth of God's rewards to the wicked.
The same Bible and the same Spirit which says that the righteous will go into life everlasting, acclaims that the wicked will be cast into hell.
The same Spirit who describes the abode of the righteous, as everlasting; acclaims the abode of the wicked, as everlasting.
VI. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE REDEEMED (Romans 2:7)
Our verse says: "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality."
1. The redeemed are not, herein, trying to be saved by works. The fact that the redeemed are seeking for such a high, and holy quest, doth not, in the least, suggest that they are trying to seek salvation by any other method than by grace through faith in the Blood of Christ.
Paul speaks of seeking to win Christ, and yet Paul was saved.
Paul speaks of so running that he might attain; and yet Paul knew whom he believed, and that He (Christ) was able to keep that which he had committed unto Him against that day.
Paul speaks of pressing forward to the prize that lay before, and yet Paul knew he was redeemed.
2. What then is the believer's quest?
(1) He is seeking for glory. A great vision is stored away in that one word, "glory." God, is the Father of glory; the Spirit, is the Spirit of Glory; Jesus Christ, is the Lord of glory. When Christ comes He comes in the glory of His Father, and of the holy angels.
The Millennial Kingdom, is a kingdom of glory. The New Jerusalem which lies beyond the Millennial Kingdom, will be a city of glory. The glory and honor of the nations, will be brought into it. The City is described as having the glory of God. It is also said: "For the glory of God did lighten it."
Saints are pressing forward that they may be enthroned with Christ, in the midst of His glory.
(2) He is seeking for honor. The Word of God tells us that some of those who run will be rejected, while others will receive the incorruptible crown. Paul then admonishes, "So run, that ye may obtain."
Let us remember there are some who will stand before Jesus Christ disapproved, castaways. Some will draw back from before Him at His Coming. Enlightened saints seek for glory and honor.
3. He is seeking for immortality. Immortality in the Scriptures refers to the body. The Apostle Paul, in the Spirit, gives us his own quest. When speaking of his ambition, he says: "Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." Then the Apostle adds: "Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of His Spirit."
With all of this before Paul, he said: "Wherefore we labour that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him."
VII. THE FINALITIES OF THE UNREDEEMED (Romans 2:8-9)
Whatever we may believe about hell, there are certain things which are plainly taught in the Word of God.
1. Hell will be a place of indignation and wrath. Upon the wicked, God will pour forth His judgments. Hell is called, in this chapter, "The day of wrath." The Lord Jesus Christ is described in His Second Coming as coming "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2. Hell will be a place of tribulation and anguish.
God never overpaints His pictures.
The same verse we quoted a moment ago, likewise says: that when the Lord comes "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, * * who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power."
John, in the Apocalypse, speaks of the wicked who "worship the beast * * and receive his mark * *. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb."
With these words concluded, the angel continued to say: "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night."
After "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." which is called "the second death"; we read these words: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
AN ILLUSTRATION
The freezing-point is equally the melting-point. Thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit is critical for either process. Which it shall be depends on which way things are going. If the temperature is falling, water will freeze at thirty-two degrees. If the temperature is rising, ice will melt at thirty-two degrees. The same temperature may either freeze or melt. Barely pass it, and you may get opposite results. That it is thirty-two degrees out of doors does not indicate whether it is freezing or melting.
The same individuals under precisely the same influences may be becoming exactly opposite. Under gospel rays the spiritual thermometer is either rising or falling. It is growing either warmer or colder. At the critical point some hearts melt, soften, relent, yield, give way, begin to flow in the channels of the Divine will; but other hearts congeal, stiffen, harden, cease their better movements, stand still like a rock. With a rising temperature the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; but with a falling thermometer it becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Rev. Frederic Campbell.