A Right Heart
C. E. Crosthwaite. 2 Kings 10:15 And when he was departed there, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him… The first theory of the Gospel is, that the heart of man is all wrong. God said to Noah, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21). David says, "They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy." Jeremiah says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Christ gives some terrible pictures of the human heart; He likened it to a sepulchre full of corruption. I. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A TRUSTFUL HEART. The Christian life begins With faith in Christ, and is all through sustained by faith in Christ. Faith in Christ leads the anxious, inquiring heart into rest. A triple foundation: the promises of God, the witness of the Spirit, and the testimony of experience. II. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A CONSECRATED HEART. A heart that is not wholly Christ's cannot be right Consecration is the way to purity. It is the full surrender of ourselves to God. The giving up of everything that would hinder the Divine life in the soul. Many Christians are not happy because there is something they keep back from God. There must be a giving up of self. The whole question is, self or Christ. There is a voice coming from Calvary's Cross, which tells us we must not live unto ourselves, but unto Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us. III. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A PURE HEART. The Saviour's teaching was always toward the heart. Out of the heart are the issues of life. He said little about the intellect; but a great deal about the heart. IV. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS AT REST. That which the soul needs is rest; it needs to feel that it is God's, and that God is its possession. (C. E. Crosthwaite.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. WEB: When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, "Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?" Jehonadab answered, "It is." "If it is, give me your hand." He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.