And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
— Jeremiah 16:12
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.
— Genesis 6:5
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
— Job 15:14-16
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
— Ecclesiastes 1:15
The Woeful Aggravations of the Deceitfulness of Man’s Heart, by Anthony Burgess. The following contains an excerpt from his collection of sermons, “A Treatise of Sin: The Deceitfulness of the Heart, Unmasked.” 1654.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
— Jeremiah 17:9
I now come to show the sad aggravations of the deceitfulness of the heart. For it ought not to seem a light thing to you. While you hear this truth, yea, you were to accompany the hearing of it with fear and trembling, with sadness and deep groans. Jacob did seriously expostulate with Laban, saying, Why have you deceived me thus often in changing my wages? But this was an earthly matter only. You may cry out and say, O my wretched and sinful heart, why have you deceived me—not just ten times, but the thousands of times? And that about my everlasting happiness. It’s a rule that some give, when a man has once deceived you, never to trust that man again. Yet, your heart daily deceives you. And notwithstanding this, you daily believe it. Well, let the aggravation of this dreadful condition, and many particulars, make you be well it. And if you are once well instructed about it, You will never be deceived about it. When you have a warning given you, and you believe it, it must needs be unpardonable folly to trust it again. When Paul was informed that spies were laid in wait to kill him, he presently prevents their malicious design. Thus when you are informed how deceitful your heart is, always lying in wait to destroy you. If you have any care or love to your soul, you will be diligent to prevent it.
What was said of a certain people that lay skulking up and down in secret places, it was harder to find them out than to conquer them. So it is here. It is harder to find out the secret and subtle lusts of your soul than to mortify them. Get them out of their holes as you do moles or worms out of the ground and then you may easily take them.
First, therefore, this deceitfulness is sadly to be aggravated, because it takes away all sense and suspicion of any such thing. The deceitful heart is accompanied with senselessness and stupidity. If there were any suspicion or fear, then it would not do so much hurt. But the heart being deceitful, there is no holy fear or trembling, no jealousy at all. Experience in all men’s hearts testifies this. Come to any man in his natural state. Does he have any suspicion of himself? Does he ever think, what if I be not yet in a right way? How if I bless my soul when God abhors me? Does not every man as agag dilute his own soul saying, “the worst is over?” He will to so much as begin to question anything—whether he does truly repent? whether he really has saving faith? whether his life be a scripture life? So that in this our deceitfulness is very destructive, because it takes away all sense and perceiving of any danger. Now, as those diseases are most dangerous, which take away all sense and feeling, or which are like health, that the diseased man promises himself he shall be well for all this. So the heart, though grossly polluted and obnoxious to God’s wrath, yet taken away any fear or suspicion of it. This does the more certainly kill and destroy it.
Secondly, it is sad because this deceitfulness not only takes away and deprives all holy fear, which is the beginning of all wisdom, but it puts a man into a self-flattery, even into a contrary disposition, so that instead of trembling, he is full of self-justification, of excusing himself. It applies all comforts, all hopes to itself, that, as the devil in a great lie said, all the glory in the kingdoms of the world were his. So they say all the glory and promises belong to them. The Pharisees, how strangely were they deceived in this particular, that they were Abraham’s seed JOn Chapter Eight, and that the promises belonged to them. Therefore, JOn the Baptist, knowing the root of all their destruction, arose from such a deceitful principle. He laid his axe to it when he said, “think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our Father,” Matthew 3 verse 9. Think not to say within yourselves their hearts did often speak this, and thus beloved, could we see into men’s hearts, or hear what they speak? This would be the great talk within. Tush! — what manner is it for the ministers of God threaten us with? They would trouble us and grieve us. They would cast us out of the quiet possession we have had for a long time. But we will not be scared. We have good hearts. And we don’t doubt. But to do as well as any of them all. O, herein is the bloody aggravation of our deceitful hearts, that they bid us take our ease, eat, drink, and be quiet, when yet every night or day our souls may be arrested for hell. The church of Laodicea was thus deceived when she said she was full and rich and lacked nothing. Alas, what a contrary sentence did God give! She was naked and miserable and wanted all things.
So it is with you. You say, My heart is good. I repent of my sins. I am reconciled to God. Where as God affirms, declaring contrary.
Thirdly, this aggravation is heavy because by this the heart is made incurable. There is no possible way in respect of human power to cure this disease. So it follows. And desperately wicked. So this consideration should be a very sharp arrow darted in the heart. For what is more miserable than to be incurably miserable? Now in two respects the hearts’ deceitfulness makes us desperately wicked.
First, because by this the initial and preparative work to conversion is wholly extinguished. For in this does the antecedent or initial work of repentance lie—to dislike and abhor our former sins. To detest and loathe ourselves. To judge ourselves with a severe indignation and revenge. Now how can this be while the heart is possessed with deceitful thoughts of its own goodness and happiness? So the scripture does so frequently exhort them to search and try their ways. And so turn to God. So the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. O, then don’t wonder to see men so far from Ephraim’s holy department—be well in themselves, saying, what have they done? While they are thus confident of all things to be well within them. Fear makes men prone to ask, counsel, and to inquire, what is fit to be done? Hence the psalmist prays, Put them in fear, O Lord, that they may know themselves to be but men, Psalm 9:20. Thus, may you pray, put me, O Lord, in unholy fear, in godly trembling, that I may know how great a sinner I have been, wherein I have gone astray.
Secondly, the incurableness of it appears because of the difficulty there is for the ministry to command it, and a surge into all the dark corners of the heart. For although the Word of God be a light, yet there are so many secret windings and dark holes in the soul that the word does not so easily reach it. So the Jews in the Old Testament and the Pharisees in the New were not cured, notwithstanding those powerful and piercing sermons which they constantly heard, because, through the deceit and guile of their hearts, they repelled it all. They would not apply threatening to themselves. However, it was with others, yet still they justified themselves. Indeed, the Word of God is said to be a two-edged sword, and pierce through the most inward and secret thoughts and intentions of the heart, Hebrews 4:12.
Even as the sacrifice is open and all…were made manifest, thus sometimes God blesses a word that it discovers a man’s self to himself. It makes him know all the secret and hidden wickedness of his heart, which he never was convinced of. But for the most part, therefore, the word does not profit because it cannot reach to the heart. As those diseased parts can never be cured which cannot have the medicine and its virtue come to them. If you ask him, why do so many sermons miscarry? Why is the Word of God no better effect? All may be resolved to this, the heart’s deceitfulness. If men’s consciences were true to them, if their hearts did not delude them with many a lie, the soul could no longer withstand, but cry out, I am the sinner you seek for. I am the transgressor. I cannot hide myself any longer.
Fourthly, this deceitfulness is heightened, in that it is the heart, the whole of a man. Howsoever sometimes the word heart is put as distinct from the mind and soul, yet when it is alone it signifies all the parts, abilities, and powers of the soul. So that heart, here in the text, is as much as the understanding is deceitful, the will is deceitful, the affections are deceitful, the conscience is deceitful. A man is not one faithful friend in his heart. It was a saying of an heathen. He that would be good must have either a faithful friend or a bitter enemy. He will never know his faults but by one of these two kinds. Now your heart is neither a true friend or a severe enemy, but a crafty flatterer that says and speaks all things as you would have it. All the hope in a man might be thought to be his conscience—that this is not deceitful. For how often does that accuse and condemn even against man’s will? How often does that tell the truth and doesn’t spare you? Can this therefore be thought to be deceitful? Yes, to the unclean, even as very conscience is polluted, Titus 1:15. For many men’s consciences are bribed and taken off from their duty. These dogs will not bark. These spies are corrupted and bring no true intelligence. It blesses when it should condemn. It excuses when it should accuse. Besides, how often is it erroneous and being deceived itself deceives the whole man? Thus, that thought they did God’s service in killing Christ’s disciples, their conscience has deceived them. Paul, when he thought he was bound to do what he did in persecuting the Church of God, his conscience deceived him. And so much at this conscience, which we would think was the only faculty left in man, that like Job’s messenger had escaped and brought the ill tidings of all that evil that had befallen us, even this also is corrupted as well as the rest. Our counselor, our monitor, is becoming unfaithful to us. So then, how is this deceitfulness to be bewailed when it has infected the very whole of a man?
Nothing escapes this defilement. The psalmist cried out, help, Lord, for the faithful man perished, Psalm 12. Everyone spake this to his neighbor, And you may also cry out, help, Lord, for all truth and faithfulness is perished from within me. I have nothing in my heart or soul that speaks truth to me. This deceitfulness may be aggravated from the object-matter in which we are thus, deceived. As that is in the matters of the greatest and highest concern, even in things of eternity and everlasting happiness. O then be awakened and come out of yourself, for here you were not deceived in matters of your worldly and outward advantages only, but about heaven and salvation. In all human converse, how careful are men not to be deceived, concerning their evidences and settling of any estate. How desirous to take advice! Now, how inexcusable then will it be to allow that Delilah within your heart to deceive you and betray you in mantras of eternal consequence? All souls bow down to the earth, and careless about all heavenly things. O this will be no excuse at the day of judgment, to say the world are sin, or your own heart has deceived you. For God in His Word has given you warning of this hypocrite in your heart. Do not then sit and hear these things as if they did not belong to you. Your heart it may be is deceiving you at this very time. It’s flattering and deluding you, telling you it is well, when it is not well—calling evil good and good evil. And truly we are this in fading and dying things, that were no such great manner. But being in things that continue and abide forever. This should much trouble you.
This deceitfulness is heavy because it makes our confusion the greater. When we see ourselves frustrated of all our hopes and the good things we promised ourselves and earthly comforts. How was the church confounded when she said she looked for salvation but behold destruction? But greater horror and amazement will surprise you when you shall cry out, I look for heaven, but behold hell. I look for happiness, but behold eternal torments. If you had never hoped to promise better things to yourself, your confusion would not have been so great. But for you to live and die speaking nothing but hopeful things to your soul, and then be frustrated of all, this will cut to the very heart. As the foolish virgins that hoped for immediate entrance into heaven and looked for the smiles of the bridegroom, but finding no access for themselves, and that there were holy shut out, this made great amazement. Who can express the inward wounds and indignation Haman had? Who herein has awareness inquiring what glory should be put upon him, whom he should honor? And Haman not doubting but he was a man, reckons up all the highest degrees of glory that could be. But when he saw it was not himself but Mordecai he was deceived in his expectation. This could not but be daggers and swords in his bowels. O then think what strong confusion will fall upon you! When you in your lifetime, in your sickness, in all your fears and calamities, have judged yourself one whom God will honor, whom God would save, and at the last be cast out from His presence, as a man whom God abominates. Don’t deceive yourself. This may be your case, though for the present you do not believe it, or much regard it.
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