Luke 11:33-36 No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick… Whatever a man regards as his chief good, on that, his heart — his supreme affections — will be fixed; and by that will all his specific opinions, affections, desires, purposes, and actions be regulated and controlled. What, then, the eye is to the body, the practical estimate and regard which a man forms of his chief good is to the whole moral character. If the eye be incapable of vision, the whole body is doomed to all the evils of utter darkness. So, if the practical estimate which men form of their good be not according to the truth and reality of things, the whole moral man is doomed to error, to sin, and to ruin. To illustrate and confirm this truth I re-mark — I. THE PRACTICAL ESTIMATE WHICH EVERY MAN FORMS OF HIS CHIEF GOOD RESPECTS EITHER GOD OR THE WORLD AS ITS OBJECT. These are the only sources of good, of any kind or degree, which are opened to man. II. THIS PRACTICAL ESTIMATE DETERMINES ON WHICH OF THE TWO OBJECTS THE HEART IS FIXED. Here, it is necessary to distinguish carefully between a speculative estimate or judgment, and that which is practical. Let us consider the influence of this state of mind: 1. On a man's knowledge and belief of the truth. No one can have attentively considered human nature, without seeing how much the opinions of men are affected by the state of the heart; and how much more perfectly they understand those subjects which it is for their interest to understand, than any others. If a man's heart, then, be right with God, the great truths which God has revealed to influence man to act up to this end of his being will be truths which he will especially wish to understand. It is on this principle that our Saviour has declared that if any man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine. 2. This state of mend, described in the text, decides the nature of all specific and subordinate affections. Light and darkness cannot be in the same place at the same instant. God and mammon cannot reign in the same heart. And when the glory of God is the light of the soul, like the splendours of the sun, it extinguishes the lesser lights which glitter before a worldly mind. The Lord and Creator of the heart there fixes His throne, and all the affections of the inner man bow to Him as their supreme Lord. 3. This state of heart will have the same influence on the external conduct. The man who has not the love of God in him may indeed be faultless in many points, but his conduct will be greatly deficient and erroneous in externals. He will do and he will neglect to do many things which it were impossible should be done or neglected, did he carry with him a continual sense of God's presence. But where the heart — the governing aim — is right, there is a principle which tends to bring everything right. There may indeed be some occasional deviation; but deviation will be an interruption in the general course of conduct. There will be a principle of correction within, which will discover, regret, and reform what is amiss. For the principle is a universal principle; a supreme regard to God will lead to one duty as well as to another — to acts of kindness as well as to acts of devotion. It will resist and correct little sins as well as great sins; for the same authority reaches to one as to the other, and that authority is God's. It is also a uniform principle. It allows of no intermission of duty — sanctions no neglect of duty — admits of no indulgence of a beloved sin. For the authority which controls the man is God's authority, and it is ceaseless and eternal like Himself. It is a pure and holy principle. It tolerates no iniquity — no moral imperfections. It points to the highest purity; it aims at God's perfect likeness. Concluding remarks: 1. Those whose hearts are supremely devoted to the world have reason to suspect that they embrace some serious practical error. 2. Our subject shows us the substantial difference between the saint and the sinner, and how great that difference. 3. Our subject shows the necessity of maintaining a right state of heart. 4. Our subject shows those who are destitute of true religion what they must do to obtain it. They must settle it with themselves that their false views of the world must be corrected, and their hearts taken from it and be fixed on God. Cost what it may, this must be done. (N. W. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. |
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