Large Christian Library. "Keep your heart above all things, for from it are the sources of life" - pastor_vv For from it are the sources of life

“More than anything you keep, keep your heart; because out of it are the fountains of life” Proverbs 4:23.
“Among the Pharisees was someone named Nicodemus, [one] of the leaders of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi! we know that you are a teacher who came from God; for such miracles as you do, no one can do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus says to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don't be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again." Gospel of John 3:1-7

Last summer I read S. Zweig's story "The Sunset of One Heart". I don't know why I found it. I practically don’t read classical literature now: I don’t have the time or desire. In my student days, I was fond of Zweig, I liked his biographies of great people, but now, when I start reading something from secular literature, I hardly manage to complete it - not because I was once "poisoned" by her, conscientiously graduating from the philological faculty , but because I understand that people's subjective reasoning is secondary.

I think that God gave me this story just to focus my attention on one of the episodes of my life.
On one of the March nights of 2010, I woke up from a nightmare that I saw in a dream. I dreamed that I was sinking into a grave. It happened right in the apartment that I was renting at that time, through the sofa on which I was then lying, and with that panic fear and pain in my heart that I then experienced. Such moments - the absence of someone and something nearby, a kind of vacuum, emptiness - I experienced several times in my life. As if the Lord slightly opens the moment of the Judgment Hour for each of us. How scared I was! Understanding that all this happens partly - in the real (pain in the heart, emotional intensity), partly - in the spiritual world (plunging into the pit of non-existence), I tried to figure out how to behave. I lay on my back, covered with a blanket, and was terribly afraid to even move. So some time passed (minutes, hours - I don’t know), but at a certain moment I began to feel that warmth began to spread through my body, and my heart, which was beating loudly, began to work more calmly. The chills passed, I warmed up and fell asleep until the morning. The first thought that was the answer to the question - what happened at night, was the thought that God removed something from me that did not allow me to live, and in return put love. It is love. I didn’t think about some wonderful character trait or some gift, about healing from some illness or something else, but about love, as a eternal life that God gave me, which I now know was the beginning of being born again.

And therefore, when I read the story “The Sunset of One Heart”, I understood what Zweig describes, showing a picture of a hero’s heart attack - in this case, spiritual death (and, I must say, sometimes people, here Zweig, don’t even understand how at one time or another God leads them by hand.A small excerpt is below *).

I do not undertake to judge the religion of S. Zweig, his own worldview, which he sets out in his story. Of course, money or loved ones, in which we try to consider the meaning of our life, as well as religious superstition, in which the hero of this story lived. last days, real, eternal life is not discovered either on earth or in Heaven. On the contrary, their finale, unfortunately, is the finale of old Solomonson.

I returned to this topic several times. Each time, stopping himself with the fact that everything is painfully naturalistic in the story. But today I realized that what we see in the news reports on TV or even in our own lives is much more terrible.

* “Little by little, step by step, the pain left him: the ferocious claws were no longer so tenacious, not so burning. But something was felt - it was almost no longer pain, but something alien, alien pressed and pressed, penetrating deep into. The old man lay with his eyes closed and listened intently to what was happening in him: it seemed to him that some alien, unknown force, at first with a sharp, and now with a blunt instrument, was raking something out of him, thread after thread was breaking something in him. body. There was no more pain. There were no painful gripes. But something quietly decayed and decayed inside, something began to die in him. Everything that he lived for, everything that he loved, burned on this slow fire, charred, covered with ashes and fell into the viscous mire of indifference. He vaguely felt that something was happening, something was happening while he was lying here on the sofa, and thought bitterly about his life. Something ended. What? He listened and listened. Thus began the decline of his heart.
“Sunset of one heart”, S. Zweig.

Keep a heart

The Lord in Scripture gives us instructions on the need to guard our hearts:

Pointing out that the heart is the source of life. Here we are not talking about the flesh, although for our body the heart is the main organ. Speaking of the heart, of course, God speaks of the essence of man, which reflects the soul of man. In addition, all human experiences have a physical reflection in the chest area, just where the heart is located. For example, when a person experiences, all sensations of heaviness or pain are located in the region of the heart, in the central part of the chest. And speaking of the heart, the Lord, of course, speaks of the human soul and eternal life.

Let's deal with the question of what it means to keep the heart above all else. In saying this, God speaks of a person's heart or soul as the most precious thing. In order for a person to keep his soul most of all, God gave specific laws to a person, so that a person would keep himself from sin. And a person must accept the will of God and fulfill it.

But many people reason like this: “My life, I do it the way I want. I do not owe anything to anyone". And many do not want to live as God has established, but want to establish rules and laws for themselves that are beneficial to man himself, fulfilling their desires and desires of the flesh. Thus, a person who lives according to his own understanding is not able to save his soul, because he does not understand what and how to keep, a person does not know God and does not know the value of his soul.

Therefore, we understand that these words of God to keep the heart are directed exclusively to Christians for the following reasons. When Christ came into our lives, what did He do? He changed us, Jesus gave us a new heart with new feelings, such as peace and love, which were not there before. It follows that our heart or our soul no longer belongs to us, they belong to God. Then the value of our souls in the eyes of God becomes clear.

(1 Corinthians 6:19,20)

19 Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

20 For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's.

Before turning to Christ, we were of little value to God. There was nothing good and attractive in us that God could look at and see in us something valuable or worthy of His attention. But when we believed in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Christ saw our sincere faith and repentance, then Christ redeemed us with his blood shed on the cross.

There is nothing more precious to God in this world than His son Jesus Christ and His shed blood for your salvation and mine. Therefore God says: you were bought with a price

And it is only because of Christ that we have become valuable in the sight of God. And no matter what, this value is not lost, so that the sacrifice of the Son is not in vain:

First, God gave us the Holy Spirit, so that He would come to us and do everything necessary for our salvation.

Secondly, he gave us the command to keep our heart, which is no longer actually ours, but a new heart given to us by Christ.

A great responsibility, brethren, is it not, to be the custodians of the property of God himself, to keep our bodies and souls which are the essence of God. In that case, do you know how God looks at us now that we are the custodians of His property?

How does the Lord view our thoughts, actions, and deeds? Can it be that something goes unnoticed by God, be it hypocrisy, resentment, not forgiveness, etc.?

God looks at us very intently and very sternly - this is one side of the issue. But on the other hand, God gives us grace and supports us. Thus, we who have believed are constantly walking in the presence of the Living God.

What kind of heart does Christ want us to have?

What qualities and character should our heart have?

(Matt.5:3-10)

Here are the Beatitudes. For the world, bliss means something abnormal, it means a deviation from the generally accepted rules and standards of behavior. Jesus, here, speaking of blessedness, spoke of a special state of the heart or soul of a person. The word blessed can be translated as happy, God-blessed Christians who have a special reward both on earth, but especially in heaven.

One might think that here we are talking about groups of people doing certain things: those characterized by meekness, others are characterized by mercy, others stand for the truth, etc. Actually, this is about characterization of one heart or soul that God wants to see in each of us.

In the light of today's topic, these words of Christ can be said as follows: In order for each of us to reach our salvation, God through Jesus Christ gave you a new heart, which is the same as that of Christ himself, and which lives and acts according to the following rules or laws:

1. The heart that has a constant spiritual need and desire to be with Christ

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This world does not need Christ, perhaps someone remembers God when he feels bad or when an illness or a hopeless situation has come, at such moments some people remember God.

It's about the heart that desires and seeks the constant presence of Christ in your life. Spiritual poverty, or the need for God, is a necessary state of the heart to keep it from the worries and bustle of this world that engulf our minds, and the heart can move away from this need in Christ and thus move away from God.

Therefore, in order to keep his new resurrected heart, the Lord wants you to have a constant spiritual need and desire to be with Christ. To do this, we must delve into the Scriptures, pray, abide in meditation on Christ, and have fellowship with our brothers.

2. The heart that be in a broken state to give place to God, trusting Him in everything. Only a contrite heart is capable of weeping before God, pouring out its needs and worries to Him.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

And when we weep at the feet of Christ, He comes and consoles us with His love, which He pours into our hearts. In order to keep your heart, it must have a contrite state. This is a sincere relationship with your Father, to whom you trust the most intimate, and from Whom there are no secrets and mysteries.

(Ps.50:19) A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a contrite and humble heart You will not despise, O God.

David says that the most valuable thing a person can offer God is his broken heart. By which the Lord will never pass, but will accept him and comfort him.

3. The heart that meek and humble.

This is the heart that does not give any glory to itself, does not seek its own, but relies entirely on the mercy of God.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The violent, disobedient and proud do not live long on earth and cannot inherit eternity, but the meek will live long on earth and inherit the promised land, which is eternity.

To be meek is exclusively the will of man. It means to stop your Self, your ambitions, your desires. It depends on the person himself.

If you yourself cannot curb and stop yourself, then God will stop you through illness, trials, persecution, in other words, through difficult circumstances. God will humble you if you don't want to do it yourself.

Therefore, it is better that you humble yourself.

4. The heart that does not accept untruth not flattering, not flattering. A heart that does not want to accept untruth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Every untruth and hypocrisy will be revealed, and God will reward everyone according to his deeds. Therefore, in order not to be condemned with the world, which is false and hypocritical, Christ revealed the truth to us, i.e. the true meaning of human life. He discovered the true essence of man, in which there is nothing good and kind. Christ revealed that the source of everything good and good, as well as the source of life itself, is God - and this is truth and truth. And of course God wants us to keep this truth and truth, because this truth sustains our faith and our hope.

5. The heart that able to forgive and have mercy, even when evil is directed against him and he is humiliated.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Of course, the source of mercy and forgiveness is the love of Christ, which He pours into our souls. Man himself without Jesus is not capable of mercy and forgiveness, because the unbelieving man is ruled by his selfishness – love for himself. But egoistic love is not capable of mercy, it is not characteristic of it. God made it so that we would have such an ability to forgive and have mercy

(Rom.5:5) because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us.

What depends on our ability to forgive and show mercy? A lot of things:

(Mat. 6:14-15) 14 For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, your Father will not forgive you your trespasses.

If, being forgiven by Christ himself, who forgave us mortal sins, we do not forgive others, then God will deal with us as with an unfaithful slave who was thrown to be torn apart because he was forgiven an exorbitant debt, but who himself could not forgive a small debt his debtor.

6. Our heart must be clean,

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Keeping your heart pure means not having any impure thoughts, plans, or compromises with sin in your mind. To allow yourself something not pure means to defile the heart in which Christ lives. Jesus will not live in an impure heart, so only in a pure heart, and with no other, can Christ be present.

Having a pure heart is possible only if to be in the presence of the Living God, who knows everything, sees everything and does not tolerate anything that is not pure. David knew God, and when he committed a sin, his heart became defiled, it became unclean, God rebuked David. David understood that with such a defiled heart he could not see God, could not be in the presence of the Lord, and David asked God:

(Ps.50:12) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

David asked for forgiveness, for his sins to be forgiven. Only the forgiveness of Christ can cleanse a person's heart.

(Ps. 119:9) How can a young man keep his way pure? - Keeping yourself according to your word.

7. The heart that desires peace, and leads all to peace.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Where are the warriors on earth? From that there is no peace in human hearts, from the fact that a person is not able to humble himself and forgive.

And Christ is able to humble himself and forgive, and He proved this when He lived on earth:

(1 Peter 2:23) Being reviled, He did not reciprocate; suffering, he did not threaten, but betrayed it to the Judge of the Righteous.

(Luke 23:34) Jesus said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, is the one who alone is able to give peace to the human heart. And through the sacrifice of Christ we have our adoption as sons, with God himself. The desire of God is that we keep peace in our hearts, despite all the problems and trials.

8. 10 Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Here we are talking about a heart that goes to the end, holds on to the truth no matter the circumstances. Maybe they won’t understand you at work, or someone will condemn you for not doing something that is not pleasing to God, but people want what you would do. And because of this, you will be turned away and even expelled. You shouldn't be afraid of this. We have a much greater reward than the favor of the people. We have the Blessing of God, we have the Kingdom of Heaven.

(Mat. 10:22) And you will be hated by all for My name's sake; but he who endures to the end shall be saved.

How did Christ act? You know, because God gave us a heart like Christ's. And we can do as Christ did, as we read in the Beatitudes.

(Mat. 11:29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls;

Speaking about the heart that the Lord has given us, we can talk about perfect heart. Because the heart of Christ is perfect. And those commandments of beatitude, which this world neither understands nor accepts, for of God are perfect qualities and are highly valued by Him, above everything in the world.. Because it is the heart and feelings of the son of God - Jesus Christ. And when God looks at us, the only thing He wants to see in us is the reflection of Christ in our hearts.

The heart that Christ has, He showed when He lived on earth, showed by His life, by His actions - that His heart possesses all this. We can do the same as Christ, if we keep in our hearts those feelings that the Holy Spirit puts in us. And these are the very perfect feelings that are listed in the beatitudes that we read with you.

Thus, the beatitudes are a characteristic of a perfect heart, which is no longer our human heart, but the heart of Christ himself.

It becomes clear to us why these commandments were not given in the Old Testament time. Then a moral law was given that protects a person from sinful deeds, but this law did not change the sinful essence of a person, and it was very difficult for a person without the grace of God to fulfill this law.

But when Christ came, it became possible for God to change the very essence of man, his heart. This became possible if a person believes in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, that Jesus died and rose again in order to give you a new life, putting a new heart with new perfect feelings into you.

As the prophet of God said back in the Old Testament:

(Ezekiel 36:27) I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my commandments and keep and do my statutes.

Of course, the commandments and statutes are easy to keep with a perfect heart.

But this world and our human heart are a threat to the perfect heart that Christ gives us. Because this world, problems, worries, our human egoism, our sinful nature can interfere or completely drown out the feelings that Christ gives us. So God's concern is to keep that perfect heart in us. Therefore the Lord says

(Prov. 4:23) your heart because from it are the sources of life.

What source of life is stored in our heart? Now it is clear.

Christ lives in our heart. And this is the greatest value in the world.

Keeping our heart means that it would be in a state:

Spiritual need and desire to be with Christ always;

To be in a contrite state to give place to God, trusting Him in everything;

To be meek and humble, not to seek one's own, but everything wholly relies on the mercy of God;

To be on the side of truth and the truth that Christ has revealed to us;

Maintain the ability to forgive and have mercy;

Keep a pure heart, have no unclean thoughts, plans, or compromises with sin in your mind;

Keep peace in your heart, despite all the difficulties and obstacles and even adverse consequences;

Holding on to truth and salvation no matter the circumstances.

(Rev. 3:11) Behold, I come quickly; keep what you have, lest anyone take your crown.

And the heart that is perfect, that is ready to meet Jesus, says:

Amen. Hey, come, Lord Jesus!

I'm ready to meet you, Jesus!

Above all things, guard your heart, for from it are the fountains of life.
(Proverbs 4:23)

The heart is the source of our life, both biologically and spiritually. Let's talk about the spiritual side of this issue.

The heart is what we are, our essence, our insides, our personality, "I", what I am. Very often our true nature is hidden deep within. The Bible says the secret will be revealed. For: “A tree is known by its fruit. Echidna spawn! How can you speak kindly when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. a kind person out of a good treasure brings forth good, and an evil man out of an evil treasure brings forth evil.
(Matthew 12:33-35)

Our words betray us. By talking with a person, you can understand what he is in his essence. This is especially pronounced in extreme situations where a person cannot control his feelings and words.

Much can be hidden from people, but NOTHING from God. He sees our heart, He knows our thoughts, He sees our actions before we do them. Our task is to purify our insides so that with our sins, lusts and desires we no longer rot ourselves.

Our anger, discontent, hatred, envy, irritation - they corrode us from the inside. We poison ourselves with our own poison. Wouldn't it be better to be free from all this, having joy, peace and rest in your heart?

God says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34) Where is our treasure? What is our heart attached to? What is the most valuable thing in life for each of us? Family, children, work, clothes, money? WHAT? Children grow up and go into their lives, relatives die, work is generally a shaky issue, things wear out, become obsolete, money is there today, but not tomorrow. And what do we end up with? What is in our life?
NOTHING, everything is PERISHING, everything PASSES, everything is vanity.

But what about us? God says, "Jesus said to him: I am the way and the truth and the life."
(John 14:6) Here it is, that eternal thing that never passes away. Something that will always be with you. Something worth fighting for, worth holding on to and keeping in your heart.

GOD is a true treasure, which is more precious than any gold, any person under the sun! Seek Him first. And He, in due time: “May my God supply all your need, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Amen

May 6, 2011

Reviews

You must be a kind person, Svetlana. But what is religion? First of all, it is a constant work on oneself. Unfortunately, people often do not have the time and desire. So thank you for being you :)

A good tree is known by its fruits. I hope my fruits are good. It's up to you and everyone who reads what I write.
Thank you for your response. Come in.

Very true, true words in miniature. It is necessary not to poison yourself with curling and anger, but to spend energy on good.

Good luck in your work, Svetlana.

The daily audience of the Proza.ru portal is about 100 thousand visitors, who in total view more than half a million pages according to the traffic counter, which is located to the right of this text. Each column contains two numbers: the number of views and the number of visitors.

The heart can be compared to a huge reservoir of water that provides the entire city with the necessary amount of water. Such a water station is guarded day and night by city employees. Why? To prevent foreign particles from entering the water. If this happens, the water will be polluted, and the urban population will suffer from this, and maybe even flare up. infectious diseases. That is why the water is carefully guarded.

The heart can also be compared to the main hand of a clock. We all know what damage is done to the watch, if the hand is broken or rusted from moisture, the watch fails. Therefore, it is very important that the “main arrow” of our life does not rust and dust does not settle on it.

What did Jesus mean when He called His disciples to watch? He wanted to call their attention to guarding their hearts like those tanks of water; or guarded the main hand of the clock with all diligence.

Why are we so diligent in guarding our hearts? Because the Word of God says: “A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart, but an evil man brings forth evil out of the evil treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) and: “What comes out of the mouth - it comes from the heart, it defiles a man” (Mat. 15:18). And further, actions in a person's life come from the heart. How do deeds and actions develop? They first appear in thoughts from our heart. That is why it is important in the first place to keep our thoughts under control.

Keep your thoughts clean

Keep your thoughts pure, because actions are formed from them. This is half-

naya truth and we all experienced it in our lives. It is necessary to be vigilant over our thoughts, because the character of a person depends on this, what he becomes for the people around him. The author of Proverbs concludes when he writes: "As the thoughts are in his soul, so is he." Based on this, the apostle Paul writes to the Philippians: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is glorious, whatever is virtue and praise, consider these things” (Phil. 4:8). Therefore, parents should try to influence the thoughts of their children and try to guide them. How can they do it? To do this, you need to give them good books, give good pictures and poems - the result will be stunning!

Good books have an impact on the world of children's thoughts. I recently read the story of a boy who loved adventure and wanted to leave his home. One day he packed his things to go to a foreign land.

The last time his pious mother spoke to him lovingly, speaking kind words, and asked, among other things, to fulfill her last request. She told him: “Will you fulfill my last wish? Please, before you leave our city, go to the art gallery and take a good look at one painting” (which she accurately described to him and told him where to find it). This last request of the mother was very inappropriate for the young man, but since she was still his mother, he decided to fulfill her request.

He went to the art gallery and entered the room that his mother had described. When he opened the door and looked into the hall, he immediately carefully closed it. He saw a man kneeling in prayer. The young man waited a little and opened the door again; then a third time, and the man was still on his knees. Then he decided to quietly pass into the hall past this praying person, look at the picture, trying not to disturb the praying one, and go out again. When he entered, he realized, to his surprise, that he was the victim of an illusion. That man was not alive, but the young man was standing in front of a picture where Jesus the Savior was depicted in full size - the artist depicted Him praying on his knees in Gethsemane. The young man, not moving, stood and looked with surprise at the wonderful picture, the beauty of which struck him and surpassed everything he had seen so far. He carefully examined the picture, noticing how suffering left deep furrows on the face of the praying Savior, and at the same moment he read on His face that amazing love that his mother often told him about. What he saw captured his heart. He was smitten with the love of God depicted in this picture - and he turned back. Today he preaches the good news, he dedicated his life to the One who once suffered in Gethsemane and for his sins and died on the cross for his guilt.

The same impression can be produced by the bad pictures we see and the bad books we read; they have a bad effect on us. Television is one of those. May God help us so that we do not fall under evil forces and keep our thoughts from evil, from which sinful acts follow later.

Keep your deeds and deeds

Now we come to the second point: Keep with all diligence your deeds and deeds! Our actions form habits. How do we develop habits? An example is a field road. She appears after the path, which is laid by one or more people following each other. The more they walk on it, the harder and wider it becomes. Frequent repetition of any action develops a habit. They, either good or bad, become our friends or enemies. If they are evil, then they can be compared to a young lion, which at first is weak and harmless, even entertains us, but eventually grows and becomes dangerous for its owner. In the end, our habits become such a “lion”, from whose tenacious paws we cannot get rid of ourselves. Our good habits, on the other hand, will become the kindest friends we can wish for ourselves. They are more attached to us than natural friends. And since habits come from our actions, let us diligently watch over them. Habits again form the character of a person. That is why we need to watch our habits. We often hear that this or that person has a bad temper. If we want to know him, we need only observe his habits. We will soon see that they are evil; and it was his habits that made him such a character. If a person is dominated by bad habits, then his character cannot be otherwise. If he had followed his habits in time and tried to direct them to good, then his character would have been good. Therefore, we must keep our habits under tight control.

Under the control of the Holy Spirit

In the end, we want to point out the extreme need to control your character. The future depends entirely on our character. It defines our position in time and eternity. Doesn't this thought frighten you, dear reader? Many people live in ignorance about the future. They have not subdued their character with a certain assurance of eternal bliss, which is prepared for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not brought their lives and their characters under subjection to the Holy Spirit.

Are you born again? Do you have confidence that your sins are forgiven through the Blood of the Savior? If you have done this, have you kept your heart with all diligence? Thoughts come from your heart. Did you follow them too? Your actions depend on your thoughts. Did you control them with the necessary diligence? After all, your habits depend on them. And did you manage your habits with all severity? Habits form character, and your future will depend on character - where you will spend eternity. All questions began, as you can see, from the heart, and therefore “keep your heart above all things, for from it are the fountains of life” (Prov. 4:23).

Sow a thought, reap an action
you sow an act, you reap a habit,
sow a habit, reap a character
you sow a character, you reap a destiny.

MORE THAN ALL YOU KEEP KEEP YOUR HEART,

BECAUSE FROM IT THE SOURCES OF LIFE.

PROVERBS 4:23

It is quite possible that you will not understand me if I compare the human heart with the ancient city of Thebes, from the gates of which a huge number of warriors came out to various battles. What was the city, such was its army. He possessed great inner strength, which was inevitably visible from the outside. Today I want to urge you to keep your heart, for it is the capital of the human essence, its citadel and arsenal. If the enemies capture the main fortress, it will not be difficult for them to conquer all the others. If evil takes possession of the main fortification, the whole country will be captured. Therefore, I will not give intricate metaphors, but will try, using the simplest comparisons, to present to you the teaching of a sage who said that the sources of life come from the heart. Thus, I hope to convince you that the heart should be kept more than anything else.

You must have seen the huge reservoirs of water, from which thousands of homes are supplied with water. The heart is the same repository of a person that provides us with life. Life can flow through different pipes - through the mouth, through the head, through the eyes, but at the same time all sources (head, eyes, lips) receive life from one central reservoir, from the heart, and exactly as it should, because otherwise the pipes may deteriorate. May the Holy Spirit guide our thinking now. Moralists (people for whom the main thing is morality) often forget about the heart and, trying to correct a person, use some other mechanisms. Some of them say: "In order to change the wrong life of a person, you need to change principles his behavior, and then he will behave according to a different pattern; society must be changed so that a person has more opportunities to show virtue and less temptation to commit an evil deed. Imagine that the reservoir is filled with poisoned or dirty water, but some "engineers" suggest removing the old pipes and putting in new ones, and then the water, in their opinion, will become clean. But we are well aware that no plumbing repair will help if the water storage is contaminated. In the same way, no rules by which a person tries to transform his life will help. It is useless to try to make a person more decent by external measures - until his heart is corrected, nothing will change. Others say this: “A person will be corrected when he begins to understand. Therefore, he must be taught, educated, shown how to do the right thing. If he knows a lot, he can change his life." With your permission, I will compare understanding with a kind of control system that controls emotions: some increase, some decrease. It's the same as if some wise guy, when the water in the reservoir is poisoned, in the hope of correcting the situation, suggested that a new person be appointed to regulate the flow of water. If we follow his advice, if we find Mr. Understanding himself, who will manage the water supply in the wisest way, he will still not be able to make dirty water clean until we clean the entire tank. An Arminian theologian can offer you yet another way to correct human life. He will draw your attention to will and will say that first the will must be curbed, and if the will becomes righteous, then everything else will also be settled. It turns out that the will is like a pump that builds up pressure and makes water flow through pipes into our homes. Someone may advise to install a new steam engine so that it drives water through labor with greater force. “If you fix the water injection mechanism,” he says, “the problem will be solved.” Sir, if the water is poisoned, neither the axles of diamonds, nor the golden mechanism, nor the most powerful engine in the world will help you. Until you clean up the polluted source, there is nothing you can do. a wise man, whose words are recorded in our passage, seem to say: "Use your powers correctly, start acting from the right place." Yes, it is necessary that the understanding be correct, as, indeed, it is necessary that the will direct the efforts of this person in the right direction. It is necessary that all components of the human personality be healthy. “But,” our sage adds, “in order to achieve true holiness, one must begin with the heart, for the sources of life come from it; if you clean heart if the waters flowing from it become crystal clear, then and only then will you be able to supply clean and good water to all houses, giving it to all the inhabitants to drink. Let's stop here and ask a very important and serious question: "Is my heart right in the eyes of God?" Until our inner man is renewed by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit, our heart will remain corrupt, dirty, and disgusting. And if so, then, wanting to achieve success, we must begin with it. An ancient Christian said amazing words about an unrenewed person: “It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, if Satan and sin live inside. New patches won't make old clothes look new anyway, they can only make them look new. There is no point in paying a lot of money to fix old clothes that will soon turn into rags. It is more profitable to add a little and buy a new one that will last much longer. So, isn’t it more reasonable to renew your heart and, having renewed, to receive salvation, than, in vain, making great efforts, in the end, perish?

So, beloved of the Lord, let me show you the storehouse of your heart. I want to convince you that keeping the heart is essential if you want the currents of your life to bring joy to yourself and benefit to others.

I. First, keep your heart complete . No matter how pure the waters in the reservoir are, it is impossible to provide everyone with water if this reservoir is practically empty. And if the tank is empty, then the pipes are empty. Let us have the most wonderful pump, let all the rest of the equipment be in perfect order, but if there is no water in the store, then it will not be in the houses either. I am sure that you know many people (they are in any society and any company) whose life is one emptiness and dryness. They can never achieve anything, they have no spiritual and moral strength, no one notices what they are talking about, and no one takes an example from them. There are many fathers who are so morally impotent that even their own children do not want to follow their example. And although children, as children, are by nature inclined to imitate, yet even in childhood they unconsciously understand that their father is a child himself, that he never grew up, never became a man. Don't you know people who, no matter what they try, inevitably fail? It is unlikely that you will hire them even as simple employees, because you understand that if they work for you, your business will fall apart. If you hire such a person as your boss, you can be sure that he will spend all your money on the wind. If favorable conditions are created for him even for a few months, he will waste his time and not take advantage of a good opportunity. Most often, such people become victims of crooks. They don't have any life force. And if they become believers, no matter what doctrines they adhere to, they will still not be able to exert any meaningful influence on those around them. Put them in the pulpit - they will turn into deacons' servants or the whole church will sit on their necks. They never have an opinion, they can't come forward and say, "This is the way it is, I'm sure of it." Such people simply exist, they do not bring any benefit to the world. If they had not been created, nothing would have changed, except that others would not have to feed them. Maybe someone will say that the head is to blame for this: “They could not succeed, because they are narrow-minded people. They can't handle anything because they lack intelligence, because of that they always lack strength." Perhaps this is partly true, but it seems to me that the problem is not in their head, but in the fact that they have a small heart and, moreover, empty. Keep in mind that the strength of a person, other things being equal, is directly proportional to the strength of his heart. A person with a full heart is always a strong person: if he errs, then he defends his delusion with strength. If something came to his mind, then be sure that everyone will know about it, even if it is outright stupidity. Even if he is the last fool, if he aspires to something, then he will certainly achieve his goal, because his heart has strength. Let him be uneducated, let him not have worldly refinement, but give him a strong heart, and his strength will be immeasurable. And if this heart has the right goal, then it will either achieve it, or, having suffered a defeat, die a glorious death and be glorified in its defeat. HEART IS POWER. People are weak because they have empty hearts, but they don't understand it. For example, a person who has his own business, who gives his whole heart and soul to this business, is likely to find success. And a real preacher is a person whose soul is full. Let him have a smart head - the more he knows, the better - but add a big heart to the smart head, and then the beating of his heart filled to the brim by the will of God will make the hearts of all the people present at the meeting beat. People listening to him will understand that he is doing his best to get them to follow him. If we would devote more of our heart impulses to the service of our Master, how much more could we do for Him! Sunday school teacher, young man, are you complaining that you can't handle your ministry? But if your heart is filled to the brim, then water will always flow from it! Maybe you just don't like your job. Try to love her, and then your heart will be filled, and everything will be all right. “Oh,” the preacher will say, “how tired I am of my work! I preach all the time, but there is no result. It's been a very hard job for me." To this I will answer you simply: “Your heart lacks fullness. If you loved preaching, you would live it, literally breathe it, you would understand that you must preach, and then your heart would be filled, you would rejoice in what you are doing. How good it is to have a full, deep and wide heart! Find a person with such a heart, and you will see that rivers of living water flow from him, which delight the world with their refreshing moisture.

So you see that the heart must be kept full. But here a legitimate question arises: how to do this, how to make feelings strong, how to make desires hot, and zeal uncooled? Christian! There is a passage in the Bible that will answer all these questions. “All my sources are in You,” says David. If all your sources are in God, your heart is sure to be full. If you come to the foot of Golgotha, your heart will overflow with love and gratitude. And if you often visit the valley of solitude and talk with God there, your heart will surely be filled with calm determination. And if you ascend with your Lord to the Mount of Olives, and together with Him look at impious Jerusalem, weep over it together with the Lord, then your heart will be filled with love for immortal souls. And if you constantly draw your life, your whole existence from the Holy Spirit, without which you cannot do anything, if you live in close fellowship with Christ, do not be afraid that your heart will become dry. He who lives without prayer, he who lives without constant prayer, he who rarely reads the Word, he who rarely looks to heaven with a desire to receive inspiration from above, his heart is dry and exhausted. But he who secretly cries out to God, who spends a lot of time in holy seclusion, who longs to meditate on the word of the Most High, whose soul belongs to Christ, who enjoys His fullness, rejoices in His all-sufficiency, prays for His second coming, rejoices at the thought of His glorious coming, that person has a heart filled to the brim. As his heart is, so is his life. It is full, it can even speak from the coffin and echo in the future. “Keep your heart above all that you keep” and pray to the Holy Spirit to fill it, otherwise your sources of life will be very meager and unreal.

II. Secondly, there will be no benefit if the reservoir tanks are full and the water in them is dirty. One day, in a provincial newspaper, I read a complaint from a merchant against a water supply company. He claimed that this company supplied him with fish instead of water - once a huge eel crawled out of a water pipe. You all know that sometimes dirty water comes out of a faucet. Of course, no one likes it. The reservoir must be clean. No matter how full the tank is, if the water in it is dirty, if it contains foreign impurities, the company will never be able to satisfy its customers, the consumers of water. Therefore, we should do with our heart what a company does with a tank of water. We must keep our heart pure; for if the heart is not pure, then the life is not pure. For example, you meet a person whose speech is far from holy. Speaking, he pours out oaths, he can only discuss low matters, he is only interested in what is bad, he cannot rise above a doghouse and a dunghill. You meet another person who is smart enough not to use obscene language, but at the same time he loves dirty jokes, he likes to give rise to wicked thoughts in others. He is not drawn to learn the ways of God, he is bored in the house of God, and in the word of God he does not find anything interesting for himself. Why is this happening? Some attribute this to the fact that he grew up in such a family or moves in such a society, because he was taught this way from the very beginning. No no and one more time no. The reason for this is the same as in the previous case. Such people have heart problems: if their heart were pure, then life would be pure. An impure stream comes from an impure source. In a wonderful book of German parables, written long ago by a Christian named Skriver, there is this metaphor: “Gothold was brought a drink that had the smell of the vessel in which he was. After drinking a little, Gotthold noticed that this vessel and its contents are a symbol of our thoughts, words and deeds. Our heart is defiled by sin, and therefore the mark of sin, unfortunately, remains on everything that we touch; and although for us, by force of habit, it may be imperceptible, but nothing escapes the gaze of the all-seeing, holy and righteous God. Where do our attachment to the flesh, greed, pride, laziness and unbelief come from? Is it not from a corrupted heart? If the clock hands show the wrong time, and the alarm rings at the wrong hour, be sure that the internal mechanism has deteriorated. Friends, we just need to keep the mechanism of our soul in order so that our motives are correct!

Christian, keep your heart pure. You ask: "How can I do this?" There was water in ancient Merra, and thirsty travelers approached it to drink. But when they tasted it, it tasted so disgusting that it seemed to them that their tongue was on fire, and their mouths were on fire. They could not drink this bitter water. Do you remember what Moses commanded to do in that situation? He gives the same command to you this morning. He threw the tree into the water, and it became sweet and pure. Your heart is by nature, like the waters of Marah, bitter and impure. But there is a tree, and you know what it is called, the tree on which the Savior hung - the cross. Take this tree, lower it into your heart, and even if it is even dirtier than you think, the sweet cross, through the Holy Spirit, will soon return it to its original state and make it clean. Christ Jesus in the heart is a sweet cleansing. He produces in us consecration. Elisha threw salt into the water, and we must throw the blood of Jesus into our hearts. As soon as you know and love Jesus, as soon as His cross becomes the object of your worship and a source of joy, at that very moment your heart will begin to be cleansed, and your life will begin to be cleansed. Friends, let each of us learn to keep the cross in our hearts! Christians! Love your Savior even more, call on the Holy Spirit to make your feelings for the Lord even more inflamed, and then, no matter how profitable your sins may be, you will say:

I took his name for love,

What I used to gain, now I've lost everything,

And remembering with shame the former pride,

I nail my glory to the cross of Christ.

The cross in the soul purifies the whole soul, the mind. Christian! Guard your heart, for "out of it are the fountains of life."

III. Thirdly, there is one issue that the companies supplying us with water should not worry about. If their water is clean and their tanks are full, they don't have to worry about at rest in nature, because even in a storm and a storm we will receive water in the same way as usual. But with the heart it is different. If you do not keep peace in your heart, life will not be happy. If peace does not reign over the lake of their souls, from which the rivers of life flow, the rivers will not be calm either. By our actions it will be clear that we have a storm in our hearts. Try to apply this, in—first , in relation to itself. We all want our life to be joyful, all people want to be satisfied with life. But let us remember that peace and happiness in life can only be maintained if the heart is kept calm. This is the only way. May you be poor, may you be rich, may you be respected, may you be despised, may you have a lot of everything, may you have only a little, if your heart is calm, you will be happy in any situation. But no matter how bright the sun shines in your life, if the heart is overcome by problems, the whole life becomes a problem. In one of the German martyrologies, I read a wonderful story that I want to tell now. In one of the prisons the holy martyr was kept for a long time, striking everyone with his firmness and patience. Finally, on the day of his execution, he was taken out of prison to be burned at the stake. And so he asks permission to once again turn to the judge, who, according to Swedish traditions, was supposed to be present at the execution. For some time the judge refused, but then he nevertheless came forward. And then the peasant said to him: “Today you will execute me. Yes, I admit that I am a sinner, but I deny that I am a heretic, because I wholeheartedly believe in what is written in the apostolic creed (and then the condemned man quoted the entire creed from memory). Mr. Judge,” he continued, “I have one last request. Please put your hand first on my chest, and then on your own, and then tell everyone honestly and frankly, whose heart beats faster, whose is afraid and worried. I am ready to leave this world with joy, I am ready to go to Christ, in whom I have always believed. And what you feel at this moment, you yourself know well. The judge did not answer, but ordered to make fire quickly. It was obvious that he was more afraid than the martyr. Therefore, dear friends, keep your heart in righteousness. The Holy Spirit speaks of David thus: "And David's heart trembled." For a pious person, a tremor in the heart is much more painful than a blow with a fist. Trembling in the heart is a blow to the very soul. So keep your heart. Don't let him fight you. Seek that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guards your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Kneel at night and, confessing all your sins, speak of your faith in Christ, and then you will be afraid of death as much as you are afraid of the bed. Waking up in the morning, give your heart to God, let in sweet angels of perfect love and holy faith, and then go into the world. Let you meet lions and tigers there at every step, but you will not be afraid of them, just as Daniel was not afraid when he was put in a den with lions. Keep your heart at peace and your life will be happy.

Secondly, remember that the same can be said about other people. I think we all want to lead a quiet life and, as far as possible, be at peace with all people. Now there is some new breed of people (I don't know where they came from), but they mixed with the English and spread everywhere. It seems that they were born with the sole purpose of constantly arguing and always being dissatisfied. They say that all English people are like that, that they are only happy when there is someone to grumble at. They argue that there can be no worse punishment for an Englishman than to deprive him of an object for grumbling, that then the Englishman is mortally offended, because he is deprived of the opportunity to express himself. I don't know if this is true of all English people, but it certainly is true of some. You cannot be in the same room with them because they are saying things that you completely disagree with. You can't walk half a mile down the street next to them - they will definitely find flaws in everyone they see. They talk about ministers: this one's teaching is too elevated, and that one's is too mundane, one seems to them too weak-willed and pedantic, the other too rude, it's impossible to listen to him at all. One, in their opinion, does not visit people, but should, the other visits so often that he forgets about the pulpit. In short, there is none good man- all bad.

Why is this happening? Where does this constant discontent come from? The reason for everything is the heart. Their inner man is gloomy and gloomy, and such people give themselves away by their speech. They do not want to feel that God has united all the peoples living on earth with His blood, and if they do, they never let this feeling penetrate deep into their hearts. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” These people never had the eleventh commandment “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” written in their hearts, although it is quite possible that the other ten were written in it. They forget about it. Christians! Try to keep your hearts full of love, and if you have such a small heart that you can only love brothers and sisters from your brotherhood, try to make your heart bigger so that the pipes from it stretch out to all the people of God who inhabit the earth, so that, meeting such a person, you immediately turned on the tap, and a stream of true, hot, voluntary, living love would burst out of your loving heart. Keep your heart at peace and your life will be at peace, for from your heart spring the fountains of life.

How can this be achieved? Again, we must ask the Holy Spirit to bring peace to our hearts. Only the voice that once commanded the waters of the Sea of ​​Galilee to calm down can calm the raging waves in your heart. Only the Almighty, by His power, can calm the storm of your nature. Call to Him. He's still sleeping in the boat with His church. Wake Him up, lest your piety perish in strife. Call on Him, ask Him to give your heart peace and happiness. And then peace will appear in your life, a peace that will always exist - both in joy and in sorrow.

IV. Let's go further. The companies supplying the city with water, despite the fact that their reservoirs are full, are still always in danger of not calculating their strength and promising to supply too many consumers with water. Imagine that one of these companies laid two huge pipes, trying to supply two parts of the city at once. The stream of water is divided into two, and what do we see the result? As a result, the company was unable to properly provide water to the inhabitants of any part of the city. All of them were dissatisfied. The human heart is too small; living water cannot flow out of it in a swift stream in two directions at once. So my fourth piece of advice to you today is this: don't let your heart divide . Imagine a lake with twenty or thirty streams flowing out of it. Maybe it would be better if one big river flowed from it, which would be important for the whole country? These streams dry up in the summer, although in the spring they can turn into fairly swift streams. But each of them separately does not bring any benefit, because the lake can serve as a source for only one large river. In the same way, the human heart has enough strength for only one great purpose. You cannot give one half of your heart to Christ and the other half to the world. No one can serve God and mammon at the same time, because the human heart lacks the strength to serve two masters at once. But unfortunately, many do exactly the right thing. I once knew a man who left one part of his heart in the world, and on the other went to church. As a result, it turned out that everyone in the church considered him a hypocrite. “If he belonged to us,” they said, “would he have done yesterday what he did? And today he came to us and promises so much!” The church looked at him with suspicion: if he is a deceiver, then what good can he be, because his heart does not entirely belong to faith. How were things in the world? Faith bound him there. Thus, he belonged neither to the world nor to the church. He wanted to be both here and there, but it turned out that neither one nor the other recognized him. I have never seen anyone try to walk on both sides of the street at once, unless drunkards do that. This is actually very inconvenient. However, I saw a lot of people who, figuratively, tried to walk on both sides of the street at once. It seems to me that they are also in some sense drunk, otherwise they would not even start this stupid activity. Therefore, if you think that this world with its pleasures is worthy of capturing your attention, go into the world and do not pretend that you are a believer. But if Christ is really Christ for you, if God is God, then give him your whole heart, and don't stagger from side to side. Many members of the church try to walk on both sides of the street at once in this way: their sun is already at sunset, it does not give much light and heat, it has already almost set. But nevertheless, it creates long shadows, and these people, as it were, are standing on one side of the street, in the world, and their shadow falls on the opposite side: on the wall of the house and on the sidewalk. This image can be applied to many of you. You come to church, participate in the communion, get baptized, join the church. And all this is only your shadow, and the real you are on the other side of the street. What good is an empty human shell? But many members of the church are just that. They are like snakes that leave their skin. They give it to us, give us the shell that once had life, and then stagger from side to side, driven by their wanton desires. They give us their outer part, and leave the inner in the world. Believers, think how stupid this is! Your Master has given all of Himself for you. He paid the full cost. Therefore, direct every movement of your heart to Him, may you have only one goal in life. And to achieve it, pray to God to keep your heart. Pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire you more and more, that He will guard and protect your soul, that your vitality flow in only one direction, so that your life becomes deeper and purer, so that it has everything more peace. The only storehouse of your life is the will of God, the only trumpet is the love of Christ and the desire to please Him. Many years ago Spencer wrote: “The human heart is by nature fragmented: its different parts are devoted to different passions. At first a person is occupied with one vain business, then, having paid some attention to it, he immediately devotes himself to another, for he has many attachments. (This is similar to the story of Jacob involving Leah and Rachel.) God casts His chosen ones, whom He has ordained to be vessels of honor dedicated to His holy service, into the fire of His word so that their heart will be melted and recast by the transforming Spirit into a holy whole. so that their hearts turn away from all their many attachments and again belong only to God, so that a person looks only at God and does everything in his life only for Him. If you want to know if your heart is sincere, see if it has been renewed in this way.”

V. Perhaps my last point will seem a little strange to you. Ancient historians relate that when one of our kings returned from captivity, fountains of wine were made in his honor at Cheapside. The king was so generous, and the people so happy, that everyone could collect wine from the fountains, which flowed instead of water. Our life can be so rich, so full, so blessed for other people, that this metaphor can be applied to us. People around you may notice that wine flows from our hearts, while ordinary water flows from the hearts of other people. I am sure you know such people. For example, John Howard. His life was not at all like our meager existence. He was so generous that he was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of mankind, and the waters of his life flowed like this wine. Each of you must have met in your life such a saint who lived at the very feet of Jesus: when you spoke, your words seemed like ordinary water to you, but when he spoke to you, his words felt the anointing, depth and power that you admired, because you yourself could not say anything like that. Sometimes you exclaimed, “I wish my words were as meaningful, sweet, sweet, as anointed as this brother's words! How I wish that my deeds were as sublime, beautiful and pure as his deeds! All my achievements are nothing against his background. If only I could do more! If only I could send streams of gold into every home instead of my miserable waste!” Christian, these examples should teach you to keep your heart full. Never, never neglect the Word of God, which can fill your heart with commands and instructions, and then the sayings of your mouth will be just like your heart, rich and strong. Fill your heart with rich, generous love, and then the streams flowing from your hand will be as rich and generous as your heart. And above all, let Jesus live in your heart, and then rivers of living water will flow from your womb, purer and more refreshing than the water from the well near Sychar, from which Jacob drank. Christian, go to the great deposits of riches and ask the Holy Spirit to make your heart rich for salvation. And then your life and your words will be a blessing to your neighbors, and when they look at you, they will see that your face is like the face of an angel. Then your paths will flow with milk, and the rock will shed streams of oil for you. Then those sitting at the gate will rise when they see you, and people will pay respect to you.

In conclusion, I will make one more thought. The heart of some of you is not worth keeping. The sooner you get rid of it, the better. This is a stone heart. Do you feel like you have a heart of stone? Go home and I will pray that the Lord will take away this broken heart. Turn to God and ask: “Take my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh,” for a heart of stone is an impure heart, a broken heart, a worldless heart. This heart is poor and poor, it is deprived of all goodness, and with such a heart you cannot bring blessing to yourself or others. God! Would you not renew the hearts of many today? Break the stone, replace it with flesh, and may You have eternal glory!