Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, said he to you; but his heart is not with you. I. This is the Hebrew way of telling us in a casual word about feasting THAT A MAN'S INMOST THINKING IS THE TRUE INDEX TO HIS CHARACTER. Talk is superficial. The lip gives a smiling welcome whilst a lofty disdain is in the heart. Mellifluous speech often comes from a malign spirit, whilst "groanings that cannot be uttered" are signs of a yearning supremely Divine. To the perfect ear of God, who catches the faintest quiver of hypocrisy in our devotion, and the lightest tone of insincerity in our song, our "words" justify or condemn us; but to our dull and insensitive organs they are unreliable signs, and our conclusions from them require to be corrected and qualified by the study of other data. We are, therefore, driven back upon the Hebrew teaching that a man is built up from within; that as he does his inward work — all his inward work — so he is in character, being, and power. He must be a whole man in his thinking in order to be to all intents and in all respects a man; for manly thinking, according to our ancient Scriptures, lies at the basis of manhood. II. Christianity accepts and endorses this inward and broad basis of manhood, and employs its fact and revelation, impulse and inspiration, TO SECURE A THOROUGH REGENERATION OF MAN'S INMOST LIFE. It seeks to re-create him as a thinker, refuses to look on the mere "scholar" as the full man, and works on the Hebrew idea, lately re-announced by Emerson, that the true notion of manhood is "man thinking; not man the victim of society and a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking" — but man, thinking "in his heart," with all his inward forces, conscience and will, fancy and emotion, hope and experience — thinking in the whole of him, and with the whole of him, and for the whole of him and his race, and so making speech the clear, full, and indivisible echo of his thought, and deed the visible garment of his inward life. God means us to be men, and He evokes the forces of an inward life by compelling us to wield the sword with our full strength against the enemy. For as a man battles for truth in his heart, so is he. Cowardly thinking makes a weak and poor life. Christ creates inward courage, heroic daring for reality and right, and renews the manliness of the world. III. THIS IS A THINKING AGE. The sluggard intellect has received an unparalleled awakening, and thinking of nearly all kinds is proceeding with astonishing celerity and productiveness. The manliest thinking is done with the heart, i.e., with the whole of the inner forces of the life. IV. Modern thinking, ignoring the Biblical rule, is SMITTEN WITH THE BLIGHT OF COWARDICE, falls a victim to unreality, and lacks, notwithstanding its pride, Lutheran courage, holy daring, and self-devotion. Young men, do not be misled by the syren of a false peace. Truth is a prize to be won by strenuous battle with the shows and pretences of error, and the shock of downright attack with the foes of faith ought only to whet desire, quicken appetite, and concentrate your forces so that you may become masker of the situation. Give to your thinking the courage of the heart, the force of a resolute energy, the patience of an inflexible will, and as sure as you are true to your whole self God will be found of you in Christ Jesus, and become the sunshine of your life and the joy of your heart. V. Another form of this mistake is that WE EXPECT TOO MUCH TO BE DONE BY MERE THINKING. Science thinks everything out, and we want to make all life scientific, and so we take out of it our personal trusts, and the subtle ministry of the reflex action of deeds on our thoughts. Convert thought-out truth into loyalty to Jesus Christ, and obedience to His laws. Courageous deed, following intrepid thinking, made the Reformation. VI. NO THINKING IS MANLY WHICH FAILS TO TAKE ADEQUATE ACCOUNT OF THE FORCE OF INTENSE MORAL ENTHUSIASMS. It is provable that only in the white heat of a glowing passion for an ethical goal have we the clearest vision of eternal fact. VII. Again, THE THINKING THAT IS OF THE BRAIN ONLY AND NOT OF THE HEART IS IN SERIOUS DANGER OF PASSING OVER THE "UNSEEN" ORDER AND TREATING IT AS THOUGH IT DID NOT EXIST. It ignores the invisible forces which somehow or other, and from somewhere or other, undeniably find, move, and educate men. VIII. But, above all things, DO NOT LET US BE ALARMED AT ANY OF THE MISTAKES AND MISCHIEFS THAT CAUSE DISOBEDIENCE TO THE CHRISTIAN LAW OF MANLY THINKING. We need have no misgiving about the future. Man is essentially a thinker and a unit, and he must think towards unity, and truth, and perfection. Be his mistakes numberless, he cannot stop. He is made for God. "God is his refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"; therefore, after every temporary eclipse, the Sun of Righteousness will break forth and reveal again the way to the Father. (J. Clifford, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. |
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