Mark 7:21
We often hear it said these days that man is being elevated by lofty and scientific thoughts. But the question for us is: Does man give God the right place in his heart, and is there anything there to suit Him? The Bible shows us clearly that, from the beginning, the tendency of man's thoughts has been to make much of himself and little of God. Perhaps not always openly so, but God looks at what lies hidden in the heart. "Hell and destruction are before the Lord; how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" Prov. 15:11.
Let us contrast what the man of the world thinks in his heart with what God has revealed in His word: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Psa. 14:1.
"The wicked... hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity." Psa. 10:6.
"He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten:... He will never see it." Psa. 10:11.
"He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it." Psa. 10:13.
"That evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming." Matt. 24:48.
"Thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me." Isa. 47:10.
"She saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Rev. 18:7.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. 2:5.
"When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them... and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. 5:3.
"Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance." Psa. 90:8.
"God requireth that which is past." Eccles. 3:15.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Pet. 3:9.
"Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity." Psa. 39:5.
"In one hour is thy judgment come." Rev. 18:10.
"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Prov. 23:7.
It is a blessed thing that the gospel not only unfolds to us the deceitfulness of our thoughts, but it reveals to us the thoughts of God—thoughts of love and mercy for the poor sinner who is weary of the evil of his own heart. When we can own before God that every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil continually, so that nothing less than the death of Christ can deliver us from them, then God can say: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jer. 29:11.