A delightful book, truly. It’s an exposition of Proverbs 4:23.
This book kind of beat me up a bit. And then, it made me ponder my own Christian walk. And then to take action to better keep my own heart. (As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s easy to get things out of perspective. And then it’s always kind for God to gives a nudge—or hard licks if needed—to help us see where we need correction.)
It is a daily struggle, as every Christian knows quite well. Our fleshly nature longs to have dominion over our spiritual nature. Our doctrine may remain intact, while at the same time our walk is actually deteriorating.
Pink gives good words about being careful to guard our heart in every situation of life: whether in prosperity or adversity, in times of public danger, in times of trouble in the Church, or in times of wrongful persecution. The section on dealing with gloom is helpful for those that tend to be melancholy.
At the end of the book, Pink gives excellent advice about how to deal the discouragement that comes to many who see their own depravity, and find it hard to believe God could still love them because of the sins with which they are continually struggling. I think that section alone makes the book pretty much gold.
Here are some good quotes, intermingled with a few of my own comments.
It is so easy to tell ourselves we are “just fine.” Far better to exercise diligence so that will not happen.
“[Paul] laboured hard in seeing to it that his conscience did not flatter, deceiving and misleading him. He was conscientious over both his outer and inner life, so that his conscience accused and condemned him not.
Chapter 1
Whenever I do this, it does make a difference. Try it next time you’re worshiping God in church. Instead of just sitting there like usual, try to engage in the reality around you: God majestic on his throne, Jesus in physical body interceding for you, Jesus meeting by his Spirit with his church, etc.
“It means that we are to ever have His honour and glory in view, living not to please ourselves but acting according to His revealed will. It means that we should strive, especially, to have God before our souls whenever we engage in any religious exercises. ”
Chapter 1
“We need to fix our minds steadily on the august perfections of God, reminding ourselves of whom it is we are about to approach. We need to seek deliverance from that half-hearted, ill-conceived, careless and indifferent worship which is offered by so many.”
Chapter 1
Good, solid meat for the soul.
“It is in the heart that all backsliding begins. Observe closely your affections and see whether God or the world is gaining ground in them ”
Chapter 1
“Thus, for the Christian to “keep” his heart with all diligence, means for him to pay close attention to the direction in which his affections are moving, to discover whether the things of the world are gaining a firmer and fuller hold over him, or whether they are increasingly losing their charm for him. God has exhorted us, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2), and the heeding of this injunction calls for constant examination of the heart to discover whether or not it is becoming more and more dead unto this deceitful and perishing world, and whether heavenly things are those in which we find our chief and greatest delight.”
Chapter 2
As usual, Pink does not mince his words. 🙂
“Why is it, dear reader, that those solemn impressions you had when hearing a searching sermon or reading a searching article, so quickly faded away? Why did not those holy feelings and aspirations which were stirred within you last? Why have they borne no fruit? Was it not because you failed to see that your heart was duly affected by them? You failed to “hold fast” that which you had “received and heard” (Rev 3:3), and in consequence, your heart became absorbed again in “the cares of this life” or “the deceitfulness of riches,” and thus the Word was choked.”
Chapter 2
“Now it is the duty of the Christian, and part of the task which God has set him, to see to it that this sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin be not lost. He is to labour daily that his heart be duly affected by the heinousness of self-will and self-love. He is to steadfastly resist every effort of Satan to pity himself, to think lightly of wrong doing, or to excuse himself in the same. He is to “live in the constant realization that the eye of God is ever upon him, so that when tempted he will say with Joseph, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9).”
Chapter 2
“But how am I to “purify” my heart? By vomiting up the foul things taken into it—shamefacedly owning them before God, repudiating them, turning from them with loathing; and it is written “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jo 1:9). By daily renewing our exercise of repentance, and such repentance as is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 7:11: “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” By the daily exercise of faith (Act 15:9), appropriating afresh the cleansing blood of Christ, bathing every night in that “fountain” which has been opened “for sin and for uncleanness” (Zec 13:1). By treading the path of God’s commandments: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit” (1Pe 1:22).”
Chapter 2
“Ah, my reader, true conversion is not only turning away from gross sin, it is the heart forsaking all sin. There must be no reserve, for God will not allow any idol, nor must we. Jehu went so far, but he stopped short of the vital point; he put away evil, but he did not do that which was good. He heeded not the law of the Lord to walk in it “with all his heart.” It is greatly to be feared that those who are heedless are graceless, for where the principle of holiness is planted in the heart, it makes its possessor circumspect and desirous of pleasing God in all things—not from servile fear, but from grateful love; not by constraint, but freely; not occasionally, but constantly.”
Chapter 2
“Keep thy heart with all diligence” (Pro 4:23). Guard it jealously as the dwelling place of Him to whom you have given it. Guard it with the utmost vigilance, for not only is there the enemy without seeking entrance, but there is a traitor within desirous of dominion. ”
This was a really helpful section, distinguishing between dealing with sin nature and the commission of sin.
“But how can I get my heart right? Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” Answer, you are creating your own difficulty by confounding “heart” with “nature;” they are quite distinct. It is important to recognize this, for many are confused thereon. There has been such an undue emphasis upon the “two natures in the Christian,” that often it has been lost sight of that the Christian is a person over and above his two natures. The Scriptures make the distinction clear enough. For example, God does not bid us keep our “nature,” but He does our “heart.” We do not believe with our “nature,” but we do with our “hearts” (Rom 10:10)! God never tells us to “rend” our nature (Joe 2:13), “circumcise” our nature (Deu 10:16), “purify” our nature (Jam 4:8), but He does our “hearts”! The “heart” is the very center of my responsibility, and to deny that I am to improve and keep it, is to repudiate human accountability.”
Chapter 3
“Diligence in keeping the heart will make the soul stable in the hour of temptation. The care or neglect of the conscience largely determines our attitude toward and response unto solicitations of evil. The careless heart falls an easy prey to Satan.”
Chapter 4
“The diligent keeping of the heart is a great aid to the improving of our graces. Grace never thrives in a careless soul, for the roots and habits of grace are planted in the heart, and the deeper they are rooted there, the more thriving and flourishing grace is. ”