The most loathsome spectacle that ever was set before our eyes!
(You will find it
helpful to
LISTEN to the Audio, as you
READ the text below.)
Mark 7:20-23, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the
man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts,
sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness,
deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil
things proceed from within, and defile the man."
The hearts of natural men are exceedingly full of sin. If they had but one
sin in their hearts, it would be sufficient to render their condition
dreadful. But they have not only one sin, but all kinds of sin. There is
every kind of lust. The heart of man is a cesspool of sin, and a fountain
of corruption, from whence proceed all kinds of filthy streams.
There is not one filthy lust in the heart of the devil, that
is not in the heart of man! Natural men are in the image of the devil. The
image of God is erased out, and the image of the devil is stamped upon them.
God is graciously pleased to restrain the wickedness of men, principally by:
fear of consequences,
respect to their reputation,
and by education.
And if it were not for such restraints as these, there is no kind of
wickedness that men would not commit, whenever it came in their way.
Men have not only every kind of lust, and wicked and perverse dispositions
in their hearts--but they have them to a dreadful degree. There is not only
pride, but an astonishing degree of it--pride whereby a man is
disposed to set himself even above God! The hearts of natural men are mere
sinks of sensuality.
In placing his happiness in sensual enjoyments, man has become like the
beasts. The heart is full of the most loathsome lusts. The souls of
natural men are more vile and abominable than any reptile.
If God should open a window in the heart, so that we might look into it--it
would be the most loathsome spectacle that ever was
set before our eyes!
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and
desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9
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We have published another uplifting hymn by Isaac Watts, "The
Power of God". You will want to read the lyrics beneath the
video, as you listen to it.