People seek ways to relieve the heart of it's struggles and its pain - not the physical heart, but rather the spiritual heart. But there is only one way in which we can truly deals with these problems. We must look to the word of God, and in so doing we don't look to external remedies. We must first look within ourselves.
Righteousness is the cure for a sick heart. Yes, something external must enter into the heart. This is not some man-made cure-all. It is the word of God. Only then can the correct changes take place.
Hearts were changed this way in the book of Acts
Lydia (Acts 16:13-15)
The jailer (Acts 16:25-34)Some today think they have experienced this change but in reality they have not. This is because some today have experienced a "change" based upon nothing more than the excitement of an emotional "religious" experience. Looking to the word, we know that only when the gospel has been planted in the heart, and only when it has been rightly obeyed can the true change take place (1 Peter 1:22,23)
Can we imagine what this world would be like without the influence of the Bible? The world might well be likened to a dead planet. And this has practically been the case in times past:
In the Patriarchal Age (Genesis 6:5)
Men were dead in sin. Corruption prevailed throughout the human race.In the Mosaical Age (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25)
Men did nothing more than what they thought was right in their own eyes - no appeal to God for guidance in their affairs.In the Christian Age (600-1600 A.D.)
We look back on this time and we have given it the title, "The Dark Ages." Though the Bible was in existence as a guide for man, the populations were deprived of it by the stronghold of the great Catholic church. Quoting from a letter by the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to Pope Pius III in 1503 A.D., and which is preserved in the National Library of Paris - Reserve D2-2719, pages 101,102:"Of all the advice that we can offer your holiness we must open your eyes well and use all possible force in the matter, namely, to permit the reading of the gospel as little as possible in all the countries under your jurisdiction. Let the very little part of the gospel suffice which is usually read in mass, and let no one be permitted to read more. So long as people will be content with the small amount, your interest will prosper; but as soon as the people want to read more, your interest will fail. The Bible is the book, which more than any other, has raised against us the tumults and tempests by which we have almost perished. In fact, if one compares the teaching of the Bible with what takes place in our churches, he will soon find discord, and will realize that our teachings are often different from the Bible, and oftener still, contrary to it."
In our world today, so many have free access to the word of God, yet so many continue to refuse to let the word change their hearts. How sad this is.
Acts 16:13-15
13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.Acts 16:25-34
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.1 Peter 1:22,23
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
