The topic of this post is part 2 of chapter 12 from Archibald Alexander’s book: Practical Sermons to be read in Families and Social Meetings.
In chapter 12, Alexander’s ideas were based upon the following verse from the book of Jeremiah:
Jermiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Why is it important to understand this foundational biblical concept from Jeremiah’s writings?
Because it is how the whole of scripture speaks of mankind.
If you want to read a sampling of verses from across the entire Bible on the matter, then continue reading; if not, then you can jump down to the video.
Under the video, you will find the text of Alexander’s book that comprised the video reading.
I recommend following along with the video reader because the material is somewhat weighty. That is how I often read Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion; that is the only way I could get through Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections (I could not understand Edwards presentation of his concepts until I listened to another read them; that is, as another read the words, my mind was free to also assess his organization of his material which has greatly puzzled me until that time).
The following verses indicate God’s assessment of mankind in his natural state, ‘in Adam.’ When a person is born from above (see John 3), he / she still must contend with those natural tendencies; that is why the Christian is called a soldier engaged in warfare….
The following verses are cross-references, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, for Jeremiah 17:9 (underlined verses were pasted in from E-sword): Jer_16:12; Gen_6:5, Gen_8:21; Job_15:14-16; Psa_51:5, Psa_53:1-3; Pro_28:26; Ecc_9:3; Mat_15:19; Mar_7:21-22; Heb_3:12; Jas_1:14-15
(Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, or TSK, is a Bible commentary that provides only cross-references so that the reader can get an idea of the meaning of a verse under consideration by examining other verses in the Bible. I guess that is what it means to define scripture by scripture. This commentary is free with E-sword Bible software, which is also a free download to PC’s; $2.99 at the app store. It is also available at Bible Hub.)
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Heb 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Jas 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Furthermore, Jesus emphasized in the beatitudes, that a true kingdom citizen would be poor in spirit and mourn his sin; those two blessed attitudes give rise to meekness and the other beatitudes that follow (the Holy Spirit works those qualities into the life of a believer as the believer struggles to live biblically – the John Newton hymn near the end of this post hints at that process).
Poverty of spirit is the discovery that one is spiritually bankrupt; that his / her heart is deceitful is certainly a discovery that must occur in the process of coming to such a state of spiritual poverty.
So, this is required stuff for those who want to live the kind of Christian life that Jesus spoke of in the gospels.
Of course, in the 21st century church, there are plenty of preachers leading their flocks down an easier, broader road; to recognize the errors of such preachers, see the following categories: Prosperity Preachers; Mysticism; Brian McLaren; Beth Moore; Unbiblical Teachings / Teachers; Yoga / Meditation; and the long series, Paganism / Neo Paganism discusses others.
I must add, I’ve been a student of the Bible for the past couple of decades and have come to see that knowing the Bible is one of the requirements of living the Christian life, BUT submitting to it and seeking the grace to obey are two things a Christian must do, these are much more difficult. That is so because of our hearts, (they love the world…).
To state that last paragraph differently: followers of Joel Osteen are not learning God’s truth; therefore, they cannot submit to it or live in accordance with it. That is true for many many other “Christian” teachers as well (e.g., those who combine CRT and LGBTQ). The Jesus that such people follow is not the Jesus of the Bible.
(Any type of syncretism is forbidden by God, one read of the entire Bible via a study Bible, would make that clear to anyone.)
The Jesus on the pages of scripture is the only true One.
So, learning about your own deceitful heart is God’s will; the Bible frequently discusses it and you must understand it to progress in the Christian life.
Knowing that you are compelled to sin and that you are helpless to stop without the grace of God is step one. It is only in that realization that one can see gospel forgiveness as a blessed thing for which Christ gave His life.
If you don’t think you’re a sinner; that your heart is deceitful beyond imagination, then you don’t need gospel forgiveness; you’re okay on your own… you can focus on getting that Benz and sit under false teachers like Osteen and hundreds like him.
Teachers of the Bible, like Archibald Alexander; John Calvin; R C Sproul… who have been given to the church by God, provide instruction that is biblical for the edification of the real sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ….
Post 1 in this mini-series, contains a video reading of the entire 12th chapter of Archibald Alexander’s book: Practical Sermons to be read in Families and Social Meetings. Post 1 also contained PDF of Alexander’s book.
This post contains a 12-minute excerpt of that reading accompanied by the text from his book.
The video is from the YouTube site (links at end of post), Christian Sermons and Audio Books
[Below the text of Alexander’s book is a hymn by John Newton that I recently posted, I added it to this post because the lyrics agree with this post. That is, it gives another’s testimony that the things herein are biblically accurate.]
Pages 167 – 173 from Alexander’s Book:
Under the influence of an evil heart, every thing appears in false colors. Not only does error assume the garb of truth, but piety itself is made to appear odious.
Indeed, there is nothing upon earth, which the carnal mind hates so truly as holiness. But as that which appears good cannot be hated, one art of the deceitful heart is, to misrepresent the true nature of piety and devotion.
The fairest face when caricatured, becomes deformed, and appears ludicrous. Wicked men are accustomed always to caricature true religion, that they may laugh at it, and despise it.
One thing which assists very much in leading to this result is, the employment of deceptive terms.
Men are very much governed by words.
Call any man, however dignified and excellent, by some name, associated with the ludicrous and contemptible, and you will never think of him but with ridicule or contempt.
Thus men of the world are accustomed to call true religion by the names of enthusiasm, fanaticism, superstition, bigotry, or hypocrisy.
Now, as all these are odious things, the application of these names to the best thing in the world, has the effect of blinding the minds of those who use these terms; so that, though in their sober judgment, they cannot but know that religion is necessary and excellent in its nature ; yet, by means of this trick of the deceitful heart, they come by degree to despise or contemn every profession and appearance of religion.
And this result is more effectually produced by false reasoning; as when, from one instance of manifest hypocrisy, the inference is drawn that all professors of religion are hypocrites; or when, from one false step in a good man, it is concluded, that all his actions have proceeded from impure motives.
The deceitful heart not only suffers such reasonings to pass, but sanctions them as though these were the legitimate conclusions of the soundest logic.
By the same abuse of words and sophistical reasoning, vice is often dressed up in the habiliments of virtue; and the foulest passions of our nature are dignified with names importing a virtuous or innocent feeling.
Thus revenge which prompts a man to imbrue his hands in the heart’s blood of a friend, for an inadvertent word, or some other trifling offence, is denominated honor ; and the guilty murderer reeking with a brother’s blood, is received into the society of the world as an honorable, though it may be thought, an unfortunate man.
Pride seems now scarcely to seek the disguise of another name. All that is required is some epithet, such as an lionest pride ; such pride as leads a man to respect himself.
Sometimes, indeed, bad words are used in a good sense ; thus the words pride and ambition, though properly expressive of evil passions, are frequently employed to signify feelings which are not blamable; but this is a dangerous practice.
It brings virtue and vice too near together, and obscures and perplexes the boundaries which separate them.
A woe is denounced against those who thus attempt to confound good and evil. ” Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; and put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”
The deceitfulness of the heart is also exceedingly manifest in the false pretensions which it makes, and the delusive appearances which it assumes. And this deceitfulness not only imposes upon others, but upon the person himself.
Under this delusion, men persuade themselves that they are not wicked, but that their hearts are good. Their virtues, or semblance of virtues, are magnified, when seen through the false medium of self-love; and their vices are so diminished, that they are either not seen, or appear as mere peccadilloes, scarcely deserving notice.
Such persons are also deceived as to their own wisdom. They are described by the pen of inspiration, as ” wise in their own conceit.” They think that they know much, when in truth ” they know nothing yet as they ought to know.” And such a blinding influence has the deceitful heart on many, that they imagine that they possess virtues or qualities worthy of admiration, which all their acquaintances know they are utterly destitute of.
This is the case with boasters, and vain braggarts.
But the most dangerous form of this deceit is, when persons, never converted or renewed, are induced to believe that they are saints. They even esteem themselves superior to those who are truly pious, and make a flaming profession of religion before the world, while pride, covetousness, lust, or envy, are predominant in their hearts, and too manifest in their lives. Evidences of the dominion of sin, which would lead them to entertain a certain opinion that another was still in the gall of bitter- ness and bond of iniquity, have not the effect to shake their good opinion of their own spiritual condition.
This dangerous treachery of the heart, not only misleads the hypocrite to his ruin, but all careless men and women are under its control, as it relates to their future course in regard to religion.
They all purpose at some future time to repent and reform, and are fully persuaded, that when a convenient season arrives, they will do so.
Now, all these promises and hopes of future repentance and amendment, arise from a deceitful heart.
The true cause of the neglect of religion at present, is an aversion to spiritual things, and this disposition will prevent them from attending to religion, at any future time ; and with every day will become more inveterate.
The deception consists in this, that the person seeing the importance and moral obligations of piety, conceives that that indisposition to God’s service, which is now felt, will be diminished by time; or rather that it will not be felt at a future time.
Every resolution or promise of any unconverted man or woman, of future repentance and reformation, is an instance of the deceitfulness of the human heart.
This is remarkably verified in the case of those persons who are alarmed with the prospect of death, when laid on a bed of sickness. How often do such promise that if God will only spare them, and restore them to health, they will serve him to their dying day.
But no sooner is returning health enjoyed, than all these promises are forgotten, or disregarded.
Again, the deceitfulness of the heart is manifest in the good which we promise ourselves that we will do in the future.
At present there are impediments which stand in the way of doing the good which we intend to do hereafter.
When we look back on our past lives, and see many opportunities of doing good, which have been neglected, we feel regret; and when we look forward, we flatter ourselves that we shall be much more active and benevolent, much more watchful and zealous, than we have been. But the true test of character is, what we are actually doing at the present time.
Do we now, from day to day, do all the good which is in our power?
Do we now improve our time and talents to the utmost ?
Do we now seek the happiness of all who are near to us, and use every practicable means for their salvation ?
If we do not, then does our heart deceive us, as to its own real disposition. The apparent penitence for not having done what we ought, in time past, is not genuine; or we should immediately reform, and begin at once to do the good which is now in our power.
The confidence that we shall do better hereafter, is a vain self-confidence which will never be realized in fact; for if there was in us a sincere disposition to do the good hereafter, which the heart promises, we would not neglect the opportunities and calls to well-doing, which are present to us every day.
The reason of this dangerous mistake is, that when we contemplate duty at a distance, either in the past or future, we view it abstracted from those circumstances which always, in fact, accompany it.
We consider the obligation and the goodness of the act, and so its beneficial consequences; but forget the self-denial and pain which may be required in its performance.
From the same cause, men are ever deceiving themselves in relation to the conduct which they would pursue, if placed in circumstanees entirely different from those by which they are surrounded.
The poor man thinks, if he was rich, he would not act as rich men within his knowledge do. He would be bountiful to all around, would aid in every benevolent enterprise, and regard the wants and sufferings of the indigent and distressed. But these are all deceitful thoughts.
Thousands of instances are found to prove that men are always deceived in the ideas which they entertain of the course which they would pursue in untried situations. And they might be convinced of this, as before, by the mere examination of themselves, as to the good which they are actually doing with the means in their hands, and the opportunities at present afforded.
Another way in which our hearts deceive us is, by leading us to judge of ourselves, not by a strict scrutiny into our real motives, but by viewing our character through the medium of public opinion; or through the favorable sentiments of our partial friends.
When men are aroused by some calumny to come forward and vindicate themselves from the obloquy [reproach, censure, blame] cast upon them, they commonly make it evident, that they assume as their true character, the estimation in which they have been held by the community. But every man might know, that this is a false and foolish method of judging of his own character.
He may be conscious, that the actions which have gained for him a reputation among men, have not proceeded from pure motives.
He might know, if he would impartially examine himself, that where good motives have predominated, there has been so much of a sordid and selfish nature mingled, as greatly to detract from their value; and which, if known to the public, would much depreciate the reputation which he has acquired.
The pain of contemplating our moral defects causes us to turn our attention from them, and to seek relief in some more favourable aspect of our character, and this is found in the good opinion of others.
End of part 2
A major point of the above is about applying wrong meanings to words, anyone who has studied theological liberalism or the political left knows that assigning new meanings to words is a chief deceptive strategy of theirs.
Alexander closes this chapter with 6 reflections; that 6-minute video will be part 3.
THE FOLLOWING HYMN BY JOHN NEWTON CERTAINLY AGREES WITH WHAT IS WRITTEN ABOVE:
[The above video is from a recent post, wherein Vince Wright critiqued the hymn to establish it a ‘biblical hymn.’ Therein, he noted that the hymn is Sovereign Grace Music’s version. If you would like to read the critique, then click the following link: https://sheeplywolves.com/john-newton-hymn-i-asked-the-lord-that-i-might-grow-biblical-critique-by-vince-wright/ ]
LINKS AND NARRATIVE, FROM YOUTUBE, THAT ACCOMPANIED MAIN VIDEO:
Deceitfulness of the Heart (Jeremiah 17:9) – Archibald Alexander
From the YouTube site of Christian Sermons and Audio Books
Video-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristisLord/videos
Playlist-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristisLord/playlists
▶️Archibald Alexander Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzOwqed_gET1VI_RMlwW_GSslBt-_FRx1
Jeremiah 17:9 New American Standard Bible
17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
Matthew 1:21 New American Standard Bible 21 She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Archibald Alexander – (1772-1851), American Presbyterian minister and educator Archibald Alexander was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, 17 April 1772, and died in Princeton, New Jersey, 22 October 1851. His grandfather, of Scottish descent, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1736, and after a residence of two years removed to Virginia.
William, father of Archibald, was a farmer and trader. At the age of ten Archibald was sent to the academy of Rev. William Graham at Timber Ridge meetinghouse (since developed into Washington and Lee University), at Lexington.
At the age of seventeen he became a tutor in the family of General John Posey, of The Wilderness, twelve miles west of Fredericksburg, but after a few months resumed his studies with his former teacher. At this time a remarkable movement, still spoken of as “the great revival,” influenced his mind and he turned his attention to the study of divinity.
He was licensed to preach 1 October 1791, ordained by the presbytery of Hanover 9 June 1794, and for seven years was an itinerant pastor in Charlotte and Prince Edward cos. In 1796 he became president of Hampden Sydney College, Virginia, but in 1801 resigned, and visited New York and New England. During his tour he went to see the Rev. Dr. Waddel, the celebrated blind preacher mentioned by Wirt in his “British Spy.”
The result of this visit was his marriage to Dr. Waddel’s daughter Janetta. Immediately after he resumed his presidency, but, owing to insubordination among the students, retired, and became in 1807 pastor of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the College of New Jersey in 1810, and in the same year he was elected president of Union College in Georgia, a fact which remained unknown even to his family until after his death.
On the organization of the theological seminary at Princeton in 1812 Dr. Alexander was unanimously chosen as the leading professor. As the number of students increased and other professors were added to the faculty, he was enabled to direct his attention more particularly to the department of pastoral and polemic theology, in promoting which, with the general interests of the institution, he labored with zeal and success till his death, a period of nearly forty years.
His powers both for pulpit oratory and polemic disquisition were extraordinary. He was always busy, and from 1829 to 1850 scarcely a number of the Princeton Review appeared without an article from his pen. His style was idiomatic and forcible. With the exception of occasional sermons and contributions to periodicals, he published nothing until he had entered his fifty-second year.
His first work was Outlines of the Evidences of Christianity (1823), which has been translated into various foreign languages and is used as a textbook in Colleges. It was reprinted in London in 1828, and again with a new edition in 1833, accompanied with introductory notes by Rev. John Morison, D.D. This was followed by a Treatise on the Canon of the Old and New Testaments (1826); Lives of the Patriarchs (1835) ; Essays on Religious Experiences (1840) ; History of African Colonization (1846); History of the Log College (1846); History of the Israelitish Nation (1852), and other works. He also contributed largely to periodicals. He left several works in manuscript, of which the Outlines of Moral Science (1852) was pronounced by the Westminster Review to be a “calm, clear stream of abstract reasoning, flowing from a thoughtful, well-instructed mind, without any parade of logic, but with an intuitive simplicity and directness which gives an almost axiomatic force.”
Other posthumous works were Duties and Consolations of the Christian ; Patriarchal Theology ; History of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia ; Biographical Sketches of Distinguished American Clergymen and Alumni of the College of New Jersey; and Church Polity and Discipline.