PPG 48 8/9/84; Eph 1:18; Eph 342, 736, 863ff, 1246; Isr 152 12/26/91

DOCTRINE OF THE HEART

A. Definition and Description.

1. The physiological heart is rarely used rarely in the Bible.

a. The physiological heart is an intricately woven muscle which by rhythmic contraction circulates the blood.

b. It is estimated that the heart pumps five quarts of blood every minute, seventy five gallons an hour, and seventy barrels a day, and about eighteen million barrels in seventy years.

c. The heart’s anatomy and relation to the circulatory system includes a double pump: two atriums and two ventricles. The ventricles have a four ounce volume and the atria a five ounce volume.

d. The thick muscular walls of the ventricles are primarily responsible to pump the blood. Used blood is low in oxygen and high in CO². To be cleansed, the used blood enters the right atrium through the superior and inferior vena cava. Used blood is like false ideas we pick up in life.

e. The right ventricle pumps blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where it discharges CO2 and picks up oxygen from the alveoli. Then the blood travels through the pulmonary veins to the left atrium which in turns pumps the oxygen-refreshed blood out through the aorta to the entire body.

(1) So with metabolized doctrine: it is pumped through various valves and circulates through the brain, giving you a dynamic mental attitude.

(2) Likewise, the CO2 of the soul, i.e., all the false and erroneous ideas we’ve learned, must be replaced by the oxygen of Bible doctrine. All that is accomplished in the heart or right lobe.

f. The function of the blood is to bath tissues with fluid, preserving their slight alkaline condition, supplying tissues with food and oxygen, to provide building material for their growth and repair, distribute heat generated by cells and equalizes body temperature, carry hormones which coordinate and stimulate the activities of various organs, and convey antibodies and white blood cells which fight infection. Blood cannot support life unless it keeps circulating. Bible doctrine circulating in the soul as a result of the function of GAP provides these same functions.

g. If blood flow is cut off to the brain, the person loses consciousness in three to five seconds; after fifteen to twenty seconds the body twitches convulsively; if more than nine minutes, the mental powers of the brain are irrevocably destroyed. The muscles of the heart can only survive loss of blood flow for thirty minutes. These facts emphasize the vital importance of the heart to our life. The energy used by the heart is fantastic.

h. Many tissues of the body use as little as one-fourth of the oxygen brought to them by the blood. The heart uses eighty percent of the oxygen brought to it by the blood. Therefore, the amount of blood supplied to the heart is extremely important, especially when its activity raises its demand for oxygen. That is analogous to positive volition.

i. Blood is piped into the heart muscle through two large coronary arteries which curl around the surface of the heart. The heart transforms chemical energy into the mechanical energy of contraction very similar to the conversion of energy in the automobile engine.

(1) In both cases, the human heart and the combustion engine, the fuel is suddenly exploded in exactly the same way, by electrical spark.

(2) In both the human heart and the combustion engine, fuel is complex, and the explosions involve a series of chemical reactions.

(3) In fact, in the human heart and the combustion engine, the explosion occurs in the cylinders. The cylinders of the human heart are muscle cells which not only contain fuel, but are able to replenish it themselves. The replenishment comes from products supplied by the blood.

(4) Likewise, our spiritual heart transfers academic thought into spiritual energy.

j. The mechanical efficiency of the cells, i.e., the fraction of the total energy that can be converted into mechanical energy, has not been equaled by anything made by man up to the pre-atomic age. Seventy-two times a minute your heart’s pacemaker, the S-A node, generates electricity.

k. All of these statements provide fantastic analogies to the heart or right lobe of the soul as the circulator of Bible doctrine into the thinking part of the soul. When Bible doctrine reaches the heart, Bible doctrine is converted into spiritual energy, i.e., the ten problem solving devices, divine viewpoint, and the momentum of the spiritual life. No one can grow spiritually except through perception of Bible doctrine.

l. Ps 139:13-14, “You have formed my inner parts; I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.”

(1) This passage recognizes what God has done in grace in providing the human body. The human body is a grace asset; we don’t earn or deserve it. No matter what kind of person we are, we all can metabolize food and breathe air. Health is not determined by merit.

(2) The psalmist recognizes the wonder of the human body, which he understands from the right lobe of his soul.

2. The Biblical nouns for heart always refer to the right lobe of the soul.

a. The Hebrew LEBH and the Greek KARDIA are both translated “heart.” Both are used outside the Bible for the literal heart, but never anatomically in the Bible.

b. The usage of the words for heart is based on analogy. Just as the physical heart is the pump that circulates blood throughout the body and thereby supports physical life, so the right lobe of the soul circulates doctrine supporting the spiritual life of the believer. The doctrine is actually understood in the left lobe, but it is in the right lobe where it is actually circulated and utilized.

c. The word “heart” connotes many things in English.

(1) The core of something.

(2) In cards, it is a suit; also the game “hearts.”

(3) It is used for emotion, “He is all heart.”

d. The Bible never uses the heart for emotion. Faith comes from the heart because faith is thinking, not emotion.

e. The mentality of the soul is divided into two lobes: the left lobe, called the NOUS, meaning mind, thought; and the right lobe, called KARDIA, meaning heart.

f. The right lobe is the dominant lobe designed by God to dominate the entire soul. Whenever you are logical, analytical, or categorical in your thinking, you are using your heart, 1 Sam 16:7.

3. The Analogy to the Heart’s Function in the Soul.

a. Since the heart is designed to dominate the soul, all other parts must be subordinated to it, especially the emotions.

b. Category two love makes an excellent analogy to the relationship between the heart and emotions. The heart is like the right man, and the emotions are like the right woman. Jer 11:20, “Jehovah … who tests the emotions in relation to the heart.” God tests to see if the emotions are subordinate or dominating the soul.

c. The justice of God always bases any function of justice on His knowledge of the situation.

(1) Jer 17:10, “I, Jehovah, search the heart [for doctrine] and test the emotions [to see if they are subordinate to doctrine].”

(2) Jer 20:12, “Yet O Lord of armies, You who have tested the righteous, who sees the emotions and the heart.”

(3) Ps 26:1-2, “Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, because I have trusted in the Lord and I do not slide into reversionism. Examine me, O Lord, and test my emotions and my heart.”

(4) One of the major considerations in the function of the justice of God is the relationship between the heart and the emotions.

4. In Scripture, the heart is used for the right lobe of the soul.

a. The heart is used in the Bible for the place of thinking, the location of your vocabulary and categories of thought. Therefore, the heart is the thinking function of the soul. The Lord’s evaluation of you is what you think. 1 Sam 16:7, “The Lord said to Samuel, `Do not look on his outward appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” Cf. Prov 23:7, “As a man thinks in his right lobe [heart], so he is.”

b. The Lord looks in your heart and sees how much doctrine is circulating through the eight sections of your right lobe.

c. Prov 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Having a joyful heart means you share God’s happiness (+H) in your right lobe, which is problem device #8.

d. Prov 15:13-15, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. The heart of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.”

(1) God’s +H in the right lobe makes for a cheerful face, a marvelous life, and animation. But the spirit is broken when the heart is sad, down, or complaining.

(2) Eventually your motivation for learning more doctrine comes from the doctrine you already have in your right lobe.

(3) The continual feast is one of Bible doctrine in the heart.

e. Prov 18:12, “Before his downfall, a person’s heart is arrogant; but humility comes before honor [virtue].” In other words, if arrogance controls the right lobe of your soul, you’re a total loser. Humility is teachability and authority orientation. There can never be honor until you learn and metabolize doctrine.

f. Prov 18:15, “The heart of the discerning [wise] acquires knowledge; because the ears of the wise seek it out.” Here is motivation to learn Bible doctrine. When you listen and concentrate, then you will acquire the discernment of the right lobe that provides your momentum.

g. Prov 22:15, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.”

h. Prov 27:19, “As water reflects a face, so a person’s heart reflects that person.” What you really are is not what you appear on the surface; it is what you are in your heart or right lobe. The Bible is like a mirror, for you can look into the Word of God and know what you are really like.

i. Job 38:36, “Who endowed the heart with wisdom, or who gave understanding to the mind?” Both lobes are cited here. The mind is the left lobe; the heart is the right lobe of the soul.

j. 2 Cor 6:11-12, “O you Corinthians, our mouth has been opened face to face with you [in teaching], because our hearts [right lobes] have been enlarged [by maximum doctrine in the right lobe of the soul]. Therefore, you have not been hindered by us [in your spiritual life]; you have been hindered by your own emotions.”

(1) The Corinthians had receptive comprehension but no retention.

(2) Notice that emotions and heart are in contrast in this passage. Therefore, emotions are not a part of the function of the right lobe of the soul.

k. Eph 1:18, “[I also pray] that the eyes of your hearts [right lobes] be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance for the saints.”

l. In Rev 2:23, John adds that if emotional control continues you die. Just as when blood does not circulate through the heart there is death, so this is true in the spiritual realm. “Furthermore, I will execute her followers with death, and so all the churches will know that I am He who investigates the emotions and the hearts, and I will administer punishment to each one of you [cosmic believers] according to your activities.”

m. Heb 4:12, “The word of God...is a judge of both thoughts and ideas of the heart.” Heb 3:12, “Beware, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God.” An evil heart of unbelief is failure to metabolize doctrine.

n. 1 Pet 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, always {being} ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

o. Jam 3:14, “But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your heart, do not be arrogant and do not lie against the truth.” Arrogance and lying against the truth blocks the metabolization of doctrine. Gnosis doctrine minus epignosis is a lie against the truth. Compare Eph 4:18, “They have darkened their way of thinking [they always distort what is taught], they have been alienated from the life of God [they only have gnosis and lack metabolized doctrine], because of the ignorance which is in them, because of scar tissue of their heart.”

B. The Heart is a Part of the Essence of the Soul.

1. The soul is composed of at least four invisible but real parts: self-consciousness, Acts 20:10; mentality, Prov 19:2, volition, Acts 3:23; and emotion, Lk 12:19.

2. The mentality of the soul is divided into two parts: the left and right lobes. The right lobe is where you do your thinking, analyzing, applying of knowledge, and is the seat of common sense. The left lobe is your place of assimilating information and the area where your talent functions.

3. Brain scientists indicate that two persons inhabit our heads, each residing in the two separate hemispheres of our brain.

4. According to scientists, one is verbal, analytical, and dominant, while the other is mute and mysterious.

5. Scientists classify the non-speaking side as the right hemisphere (we call it the left lobe).

6. In the Bible we classify the mute side as the left lobe and the verbal hemisphere as the right lobe.

7. The two half brains are linked together by millions of nerves forming a thick cable called the corpus callosum.

8. In cases of severe epilepsy, this cable sometimes has to be cut. This results in some strange occurrences. The left side of the brain no longer knows what the right side is doing, yet the speaking half of the patient is controlled by left lobe. The person still insists on finding excuses for whatever the left side has done. His thinking part is severed from his non-thinking part and still operates under the illusion that he is one person, and that his lobes are combined. The two halves of the brain are integrated into a single mentality with the speaking half called the “heart” by the Bible.

9. Scientists say that the left hemisphere has a language ability and is analytical; and the right hemisphere is artistic and talented. Talented people tend to live using mostly the non-thinking part of their brain.

10. A child is about two years old before the link between his two hemispheres is completed. And it doesn’t become completely functional until he is about ten years old. After age ten, one side of the brain is used for synthesis, spacial perception and music, while the other side performs sequential, verbal, analytical, and computer-like activities.

11. Scientists contend that excellence in one hemisphere tends to interfere with top level performance in the other. The conclusion is that most talented people aren’t smart or analytical.

12. What does the Bible say? The heart is part of the essence of the soul; it is the thinking, reasoning part. It is designed to dominate the soul. Therefore, it must be the target for doctrinal teaching, 1 Kg 3:9,12; Ps 119:11, 19:14. To reach the target, Bible doctrine must pass through two staging areas: the left lobe and the human spirit. (See the Doctrine of Operation Z.)

C. The Essence of the Biblical Heart.

1. Frame of Reference.

a. The frame of reference is the conceptual structure to which doctrines, principles, and categories of Scripture are related. It is the entrance or antechamber of the heart as the first place where doctrine goes. This is because knowledge is built upon knowledge; truth is built on truth. In the frame of reference, information can come in and be processed out to the other parts of the soul by means of intake and output valves.

(1) The frame of reference retains metabolized doctrine under the principle that doctrine is built upon doctrine. You must learn from the simple to the complex.

(2) The simple things will be the foundation in the frame of reference for building systematic theology. In essence, spiritual growth is systematic theology in your soul.

(3) The frame of reference retains previously learned metabolized doctrines and becomes the entrance for new ones.

b. The frame of reference is the location or area of retention of epignosis or metabolized doctrine.

(1) The frame of reference is the location of all concepts related to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, which explains the protocol plan of God, i.e., God’s will, plan, and purpose for your life.

(2) The frame of reference is the location of the ten problem solving devices for the Church Age.

(3) The frame of reference is the seat of the inventory of metabolized doctrine, from which application of doctrine or wisdom is performed.

(4) Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the construction of the edification complex. (See the Doctrine of the Edification Complex of the Soul.)

(5) Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the execution of the protocol plan of God; therefore, it is the basis for the glorification of God and for the manufacturing of invisible heroes.

(6) Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference increases your spiritual I.Q. and provides the basis for learning more advanced doctrines. The amount of doctrine you have in your frame of reference is what really determines your spiritual I.Q.

(7) Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference provides your first divine viewpoint, and it begins to shape your mental attitude for the conflict between divine and human viewpoint, which is a constant struggle until you reach spiritual adulthood.

(8) Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference provides the right motivation for the protocol plan of God. It creates motivation for learning more doctrine and so results in increased momentum. Metabolized doctrine is the momentum factor that keeps you moving in the spiritual life and eventually leads to execution of the protocol plan.

c. Prov 4:4, “Then He taught me and said to me, `Let your heart [right lobe] hold fast My doctrines, keep My mandates, and live.’” Your heart is the source of concentration. Your ability and motivation for concentration starts with your frame of reference.

d. 1 Cor 2:9, “Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of mankind all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

(1) There is no way you can understand all that God has prepared for you apart from your frame of reference being saturated with the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. You can only understand all that God has done for you until Bible doctrine enters the right lobe of the soul.

(2) To come to love God indicates spiritual progress. Personal love for God the Father is one of the problem solving devices and is the motivation for the Christian way of life. Occupation with the person of Christ is the priority solution to problem solving devices in life.

e. We do not have a human frame of reference for perception of doctrine, but a spiritual frame of reference for spiritual phenomena to go to a spiritual apparatus.

f. The frame of reference constructs an instant reaction force or a red-alert system from metabolized doctrine, so that you can tell what is true and what is false in the communication of the Word. Certain doctrines form your instant reaction force to solve the problem solving devices of life and cosmic involvement.

(1) Actually, this how the construction of the problem solving devices for the Christian way of life is started. Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the manufacture and the function of all the ten problem solving devices.

(2) Many baby believers have been delivered from many false doctrinal areas because, from their frame of reference, they had certain instincts and knew something was wrong with false ideas, emotional activity, ritual, and the like. So the frame of reference is where you get your first protection in life.

(3) The frame of reference’s alert system is so necessary in the Christian life because you must learn to avoid error, con artists in the spiritual realm, false teachers, and phony Christian service which is used to con believers.

g. Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference produces recall in various stages and circumstances of life. Lam 3:20-25, “Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. This doctrine I recall to mind; therefore I have hope [Hope 2 and 3 as a problem solving device]. The Lord’s grace support [logistical grace] never ceases; His grace expressions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. `The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul; `therefore I have confidence in Him.’”

h. The frame of reference provides the basis for effective communication of ideas in conversation, in professional functions, in witnessing, in social interaction, and in the exchange of ideas.

i. The frame of reference provides capacity for life, happiness, blessing, success, prosperity, and promotion.

j. Ps 119:6, “I delight in doctrine; I shall not forget Your Word.” That means that right next to the frame of reference is your memory center.

2. Memory Center.

a. While the frame of reference is the location for the classification of doctrine, the memory center is the sphere for recall of Bible doctrine from all areas of the stream of consciousness. Recall is necessary for the application of doctrine to experience, for worship, for training the Christian reflexes, and the function of the problem solving devices.

b. The memory center circulates Bible doctrine into the various parts of the right lobe producing recall. It recalls information like a computer. You associate things in your frame of reference and then remember them from the function of the memory center. After a lot of repetition, the memory center stores doctrine.

c. Recall is synonymous with the application of Bible doctrine to experience and therefore a part of wisdom (SOPHIA).

d. Recall is the basis for the function of all ten of the problem solving devices: rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith-rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, +H or sharing the happiness of God, a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with Christ.

(1) Recall becomes a basis for structuring problem solving devices.

(a) It may take only one verse, such as 1 Jn 1:9, to structure rebound. Rebound should be kept simple; we sin so much that we need a very simple solution. Rebound as the solution relates to the judgment of our sins on the cross.

(b) More complex recall occurs after we learn the protocol plan of God, the portfolio of invisible assets, the unique life, suffering for blessing, and the lifestyle of wisdom.

(2) Recall is the basis for the function of all three stages of the faith-rest drill.

(3) Recall is the application of the doctrinal rationales to the circumstances of life; e.g., the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the politeuma rationale, the grace of God rationale, the logistical grace rationale.

e. Recall has nothing to do with whether or not you have a good memory as a human being. It has everything to do with the inculcation of doctrine. You must hear a doctrine hundreds of times. The more you hear a doctrine, the sooner you will apply it.

f. You haven’t learned a doctrine until you can’t forget it! You cannot use what you cannot recall. You can’t look up the pertinent doctrine in your notebook when you’re being tested. It must already be in you. You can only apply what you have learned.

g. Therefore, recall is the application of epignosis doctrine in the right lobe to the circumstances of life. When epignosis doctrine is applied, it is called wisdom (SOPHIA).

h. Lam 3:20-24, “Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. This doctrine I recall to my mind, therefore I have confidence [Hope 2,3]. The Lord’s grace support never ceases; His grace expressions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. `The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul [frame of reference and memory center]; `therefore I have confidence in Him.’”

(1) What memory brings about humility as the basis of function in the spiritual life? Verse 21 answers—memory of doctrine.

(2) Jeremiah had both doctrinal orientation and grace orientation.

i. Ps 119:6, “I delight in doctrine; I shall not forget Your word.” Psalm 119 was the thinking of those young people on that long march from Jerusalem to Babylon as they were terribly treated and abused. They had learned the doctrine and recalled it under the most awful circumstances.

j. Ps 119:109, “My life is in constant danger, but I do not forget Your doctrines.” The frame of reference plus the memory center equals the recall of doctrine.

k. 2 Cor 10:4-6. The context of this passage is the angelic conflict, and the issue is your weaponry. You must have the right weapons. You come to Bible class to arm yourself spiritually. God provides the weaponry which is all in one arsenal: the divine dynasphere. The phrase in verse six “holding in readiness” refers to epignosis doctrine in the frame of reference and in the memory center.

3. Vocabulary Storage.

a. This is the place where thinking develops and where technical words are stored which develop new ideas. You cannot think beyond your vocabulary.

b. Vocabulary is developed in the left lobe and only transferred to the right lobe when accepted. Often our capacity for life is related to our vocabulary. Concepts are first learned in the left lobe where they are meaningless until we accept them; then they are transferred to the right lobe.

c. After salvation, the believer must learn an entirely new vocabulary, including technical words for theology, which is tantamount to learning a new language for thinking, for application, and for expression.

d. Just as at physical birth a baby must learn a language and the meaning of words, so after regeneration the believer must learn an entire new language.

e. Cognizance of technical language is necessary to understand and apply Bible doctrine. The plan of God, of necessity, is couched in technical, theological terms.

f. Jer 15:16, “Your words were discovered and I ate [metabolized] them, and Your words became for me joy [happiness].”

g. Deut 8:3, “And He humbled you [the Exodus generation] and He let you be hungry and He fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your ancestors know that He might cause you to understand that mankind does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the month of God.” Quoted in Mt 4:4 by our Lord.

4. Categorical Doctrinal Storage.

a. Categorical storage coordinated with the frame of reference classifies Bible doctrine. This is the storage area of any technical concepts or categorical information in any area of life. It is related to recall from both the memory center and vocabulary. You remember principles and technical words, and you finally put them all together.

b. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, certain subjects are brought together in the divisions of doctrine for the purpose of classification. In the various parts of Scripture, many ideas are covered from different viewpoints but are still part of the same subject.

c. Therefore, categorical storage fulfills the principle of cognitive independence.

d. Categories are fundamental concepts of doctrine to which all knowledge of doctrine can be reduced.

e. Categories are the divisions of doctrine formed for the purpose of classification of subjects and subject matter in the Word of God.

f. Categorical storage is the basis for conceptualism in post- salvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine; i.e., operation Z.

g. Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential to spiritual growth and the execution of God’s plan.

(1) Prov 2:2, “Make your ear to concentrate on wisdom; apply your right lobe to understanding.”

(a) Only you can make your ear concentrate; no one can do it for you.

(b) You are to concentrate on wisdom, which is CHAKMAH in the Hebrew. CHAKMAH is a combination of the Greek EPIGNOSIS plus SOPHIA. Wisdom is the basis of spiritual growth. Wisdom is the combination of EPIGNOSIS coming into your right lobe as well as being applied from your right lobe.

(d) The heart pumps epignosis doctrine through the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage areas. Without concentration and positive volition to what is taught, you will not develop vocabulary or categorical storage of doctrinal information.

(2) Prov 2:10, “Wisdom will enter your heart, and the knowledge of doctrine will be pleasant to your soul.” Prov 3:3.

(a) There is no wisdom until it enters the right lobe.

(b) “Pleasant” indicates the presence of problem solving devices in your soul as you become spiritually self-sustaining.

(3) Prov 15:14-15, “The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge;...a good heart has a continual feast.”

(4) Prov 18:15, “The heart of the wise acquires knowledge of doctrine; the ear of the wise seeks knowledge of doctrine.”

(a) The “ear of the wise” is positive volition. With positive volition everything falls into place. Positive volition continually seeks doctrine.

(b) The “heart of the wise” is spiritual growth. It acquires knowledge through operation Z.

h. Categorical storage is the putting together of words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters, chapters into books, etc. It is cognizance of the various doctrinal categories used to communicate information to the believer.

i. Knowledge is built on knowledge. Simple categories of doctrine lead to the more complex categories of knowledge in the classification of Biblical categories.

j. The study of doctrines categorically becomes the basis for greater and greater application. It is very easy to mix the promises with faith in the simple form of the faith-rest drill. But to take a complicated problem solving device in your life and apply various concepts and rationales of Bible doctrine to it requires a greater use of your right lobe.

k. Eventually, the greatest problem solving devices in spiritual adulthood are resolved by categorical application. In the faith-rest drill, instead of claiming a promise, you begin to claim doctrinal rationales. It is from categories that you get stronger application of doctrine to your experience.

l. Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential for epistemological rehabilitation. Cognition of a technical vocabulary of Biblical theology is necessary for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God. It can only be explained in terms of mechanics. Therefore, certain technical mechanical terms are necessary.

m. Every term, including rebound, faith-rest drill, hope 2, hope 3, spiritual self-esteem, virtue-love as a problem solving device, the protocol plan of God, the operational-type divine dynasphere, the portfolio of invisible assets, escrow blessings, logistical grace blessings, election, predestination, computer assets, etc., all have extensive doctrinal explanations. They must be stored in both the vocabulary and categorical compartments of the soul’s right lobe.

5. Conscience.

a. The Greek word SUNEIDESIS means “to know with.” The equivalent Latin CONSCIENTIA means joint knowledge, i.e., to know with a standard.

b. Your conscience is divided into two parts:

(1) The place for the norms and standards that are developed from Bible doctrine.

(2) The carnal norms and standards developed from your old sin nature.

c. The decisions you make are generally based on your conscience.

(1) If your decisions are based on your doctrinal norms and standards, then your decisions are good decisions from a position of strength. The conscience extrapolates from doctrine the norms and standards for life. You have to know something to have a conscience. When you know something you develop standards. Whatever you learn in the right lobe becomes a part of your norms and standards.

(2) If your decisions are based on your carnal norms and standards, then your decisions are bad decisions from a position of weakness.

d. You must have vocabulary and thought to establish norms and standards. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins with one word: no, or don’t .All consciences are built with negative words which forbid doing something. So the conscience of man is first established by negatives, although eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms.

e. Therefore, the conscience becomes the residency of the priorities of your soul, Dan 1:8.

f. Rom 2:14-15, “The law printed [written] in your hearts [right lobes], their conscience confirming the testimony and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves.” Once you have norms and standards, you orient to whether you are doing something right or wrong.

g. The conscience is the right lobe’s storage compartment for your norms and standards and priorities in life, Rom 9:1, 13:5; 1 Cor 8:7; 2 Cor 4:2, 5:11; Tit 1:15; Heb 9:14.

h. All normal persons have norms and standards which are located in the right lobe or heart of the mentality of the soul. From these norms and standards come individual priorities in life. Your priorities form your scale of values.

i. False standards in the conscience can cause spiritual weaknesses. 1 Cor 8:7, “Not all men have this knowledge [about food offered to idols], but some being accustomed to idol worship until now [when saved] eat the food as if it were sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.”

(1) Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and then sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was alright to eat that food, once you sanctified it.

(2) But for those with an idolatrous background and a weak conscience, eating food offered to idols was very offensive. The one with the weak conscience has legalistic norms and standards in his conscience from his religious background.

(3) So there is a conflict between those with a strong conscience and those with a weak conscience. A strong conscience has Biblical standards from EPIGNOSIS and SOPHIA. A weak conscience lives by standards acquired from its background, which may or may not be good, or which may be distorted in the spiritual life. Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life.

(4) The weak conscience assumes he’s strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong. Yet legalism is really weak.

(5) So the conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from doctrine. If doctrine does not feed the conscience, instinct will. And instinct develops legalism in a hurry.

j. The norms and standards located in the conscience are directed toward both God and man, but primarily toward mankind until you become aware of the existence of God and what He has done for you.

(1) Acts 24:16, “In view of this, even I myself keep practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men.” (2) True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.

k. The conscience of the believer is formed from cognition of Bible doctrine. 2 Cor 4:2, “But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame [false doctrine and apostasy], not walking in craftiness, not adulterating the Word of God, but by the unveiling of doctrine [post- salvation epistemological rehabilitation], commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul is here saying that there is a legitimate modus operandi that goes with the spiritual life. You will build up norms and standards related to it from Bible doctrine, and at the same time set aside false norms and standards related to legalism.

l. The believer’s conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Rom 13:5, “Therefore, it is necessary to be in subordination, not only because of wrath [law enforcement], but also for conscience sake.”

(1) In other words, the Christian doesn’t refrain from criminal activity because he’s afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal activity.

(2) The conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law enforcement.

m. Conscience as a motivator is mentioned in 2 Tim 1:3, “I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers, day and night.”

(1) So your conscience has something to do with your effectiveness in prayer. Paul’s conscience demanded that he pray for certain people, and he did so. Paul didn’t pray for people because he liked them, but for conscience sake, which is the strongest possible motivation.

(2) Since the conscience is located in the right lobe of the soul, the norms and standards of the conscience are built on EPIGNOSIS doctrine, not on GNOSIS doctrine.

n. The conscience is related to unjust and unfair treatment, 1 Pet 2:18-19, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle masters, but also to the perverse and unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God, anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.”

(1) Though originally addressed to slaves, this verse came to refer to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. Some people in authority are perverse, but you are just as responsible to submit to their authority. You serve them and do your best job as unto the Lord.

(2) Such a believer has a strong conscience. The weak believer complains and rejects authority, and so becomes a loser.

(3) So it is very important to have a conscience based on EPIGNOSIS doctrine so that you can handle unjust treatment in the same manner that you handle fair treatment.

(4) Military training can be counted on to provide unjust and unfair treatment from authority. To learn to submit to unfair authority is necessary for proper function under the abnormal circumstances of combat.

o. The conscience is important in suffering for blessing according to 1 Pet 3:14-16, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed [suffering for blessing in three categories]. Furthermore, do not fear their intimidation tactics and do not be troubled, but set apart the Lord Christ in your right lobes, and always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you to give an account for the confidence that is in you with grace orientation and respect [occupation with Christ]. Be having a good of intrinsic value conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, those who malign your intrinsic good in Christ may be put to shame.”

(1) The three categories of suffering for blessing are providential preventative suffering, momentum testing, and evidence testing.

(2) Note the source of occupation with Christ is epignosis doctrine in the right lobe. You handle slander through epignosis in the right lobe.

(3) If you have a strong conscience, you will leave it in the Lord’s hands. Then it will go to the supreme court of heaven. They will be put to shame without you ever trying to defend yourself or answer back.

p. Apostasy in believers is related to a conscience that has been destroyed. 1 Tim 4:1-2, “But the Spirit explicitly states that in latter periods of time [between First and Second Advents], some believers will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits and concentrating on doctrines from demons [cosmic involvement] by means of hypocrisy of liars [false teachers], seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.”

(1) False teaching sears the conscience like a branding iron. It destroys the conscience. This searing refers to scar tissue of the soul and cosmic involvement.

(2) A great deal of your strength comes from having the proper norms and standards in the conscience of your right lobe.

(3) Therefore, it is important to understand how apostasy can destroy the conscience.

q. The conscience is purified from dead works through the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross according to Heb 9:14, “How much more will the blood of Christ who, through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of the Holy Spirit], offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

(1) There is no work we can perform for salvation; salvation is by grace. Therefore, our conscience must be purified from dead works. Dead works are human works, like faith plus anything for salvation. All dead works will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

(2) In other words, anything performed outside of the divine dynasphere is dead works. Christian service that involves dead works is not Christian service at all.

(3) The great power experiment of the Church Age and the execution of the protocol plan of God demands the use of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere.

(4) Divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Serving God and fulfilling His plan cannot be accomplished by human power. Human power destroys the conscience and results in dead works.

(5) Legalism cannot execute the plan, purpose, or will of God in the Church Age.

(6) Serving God means the utilization of divine power and the cognition of Bible doctrine, which establishes the norms and standards for the right lobe.

6. The Momentum Department or the Department of Spiritual Growth.

a. This is the sphere of spiritual growth which is momentum inside the divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. As a result of having doctrine in the frame of reference, moving it into memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, developing norms and standards; we then have a growth factor from metabolized doctrine which moves us to spiritual maturity.

b. There are two categories of spiritual growth.

(1) Normal spiritual growth comes from post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. This is tantamount to operation Z or the three R’s.

(a) Receptive comprehension, the first three stages of Operation Z.

(b) Retention, the metabolization of Bible doctrine, converting gnosis into epignosis doctrine.

(2) Accelerated spiritual growth comes from the application of metabolized doctrine and the function of the problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood under suffering, pressure, and adversity for blessing. There are three categories of suffering for blessing in spiritual adulthood.

(a) Spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering equals spiritual autonomy.

(b) Spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing (gate #7 of the divine dynasphere) equals spiritual maturity.

c. It is true that you can learn from punitive suffering, from divine discipline, from the law of volitional responsibility, and from self-induced misery. But that is a slow process and does not necessarily advance you to spiritual self-esteem, the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

7. The Wisdom Department or the Launching Pad.

a. Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine and problem solving devices to the various experiences of life.

b. Wisdom must accompany the learning of Bible doctrine. Otherwise, arrogance sets in. Without wisdom, there is arrogance.

c. The Greek word for wisdom, SOPHIA, (and the Hebrew equivalent, CHAKMAH) means the ability to relate metabolized doctrine in the right lobe to life. Therefore, it is the ability to deal sagaciously with life from the accumulated facts of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

d. Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine and the utilization of problem solving devices for both normal and accelerated growth.

e. The launching pad is an entrance hall connected with your memory center. This is the application area. The launching pad takes recall of doctrine and applies it to experience under the function of your very own royal priesthood.

f. The launching pad is used for the application of metabolized doctrine in both normal and accelerated growth, as well as in problem solving. One of the greatest areas of accelerated growth is the utilization and application of metabolized doctrine in both suffering for blessing.

g. You cannot apply what you do not know. You can only apply doctrine for yourself; the pastor cannot apply Bible doctrine for you.

h. The launching pad is where thought is converted into action. Your standards are applied to life. All other parts of the right lobe come together to make an application. As you apply more doctrine you develop wisdom.

i. In the launching pad all the doctrine in the right lobe comes together for its application. This is where virtue love, hope 2 and 3, and the other problem solving devices have a phenomenal impact.

j. This means always the application of doctrine to your experiences in the privacy of your priesthood, not trying to apply your norms and standards to others (unless you are a parent).

k. Scripture.

(1) 1 Cor 1:30, “But you are from Him in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

(2) 1 Cor 2:7-8, “For we communicate God’s wisdom in a mystery which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for the purpose of your glory, [divine wisdom] which none of the rulers of this age have understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

(3) Jam 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and divine good production, impartial, without hypocrisy.”

(4) Phil 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is integrity, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, concentrate on these things.”

8. The Subconscious Mind.

a. The subconscious is attached to the right lobe because the right lobe feeds it. The subconscious is the place for storage of impressions, thoughts, and emotions which do not exist in the conscious mind or in the emotions. Hence, totally apart from the vocabulary and categorical storage, conscience, frame of reference, or any form of metabolized doctrine, certain impressions are made which enter into the subconscious mind.

b. The subconscious includes aspects of the mental life which are not immediately a part of the individual’s conscious mind, since certain emotional factors will not ordinarily permit its contents to come to the surface. However, with relatively little aid, the obstructing repressions can be lifted and the contents emerge into awareness. People who use their emotions too much usually block these things.

c. While the subconscious is totally divorced from metabolized doctrine in the right lobe, it is also distinguished from the unconscious; it is between the conscious and the unconscious.

d. The subconscious is a mental apparatus. It overlaps from the conscious mind, but is not immediately available to the conscious mind. The subconscious affects thoughts, feelings, behavior without entering into one’s awareness. Hence, the subconscious is where there are impressions and mental activity just below the threshold of consciousness. These can be released. Often the teaching of Bible doctrine will release these things and clean out the subconscious of things that are false.

e. The subconscious is merely the slough-off for things in the conscious mind that are rejected, no longer believed, or priorities and standards which you have now changed. When you change a standard and don’t believe it anymore, and it conflicts with your conscience, that causes a leak into the subconscious. So the subconscious collects all the poison of your right lobe.

f. The subconscious includes aspects of mental life which are not immediately part of the believer’s conscious mind, since certain emotional factors will not ordinarily permit its contents to come to surface into the conscious mind; thus they remain repressed.

g. However, metabolized doctrine in the right lobe of the soul plus the development of wisdom in the application of doctrine can remove obstructing repressions, and the contents of the subconscious can emerge into awareness where they can be dealt with and handled in the proper manner. This is one of doctrine’s problem solving functions dealing with the subconscious. In the subconscious there is no problem solving device.

h. Psychiatry regards the subconscious as the superficial aspect of the unconscious (which is probably incorrect), and certainly the subconscious functions apart from self as known, or self as the knower, or one’s sense of self in personal identity and as a personality.

i. Disorders of the conscious mind relate to the subconscious.

(1) The clouding of the conscious mind occurs when the individual is only partially aware of what is really going on. He is therefore divorced, in part or in toto, from reality. Certain mental diseases produce confusion, disorientation, and hazy awareness. These same things can also be produced in the believer through negative volition toward the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and subsequent cosmic involvement.

(2) Normal clouding of the consciousness occurs when the individual is between sleep and waking, called the hypnagogic state.

(3) A total loss of consciousness can occur through trauma, shock, or shutting off the blood supply to some part of the brain, as in a stroke. So the subconsciousness must be considered in light of the disorders of the consciousness.

(4) Apparently in its function, the subconscious becomes a storage area for shock from sin, failure, adversity, frustration, or disappointment. When the conscious mind cannot or does not handle certain things, they apparently slip into the subconscious mind.

(5) These shocks can be recalled in dreams. Dream activity is a part of subconscious function. Psychoanalysts give dreams a very high degree of importance, contending that they interpret to the conscious mind the strivings and desires of the unconscious.

(6) Dr. Wallace Emerson, a Christian psychologist, noted six classifications of dreams that might do this.

(a) The dream of premonition is forebodings of some event to come, usually of an unhappy nature. Two Biblical dreams come under this category: the dream of the chief baker (Prince of the Cupbearers) in Gen 40:16-19, and the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4:4-18. Nebuchadnezzar had a premonition of a palace revolution, and that for awhile he would be eating grass in the field.

(b) Prophetic dreams. This category also includes two Biblical dreams: Pharaoh’s dream of Gen 41:1-8, and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of empires in Dan 2:1-10. Daniel’s interpretation is given in Dan 2:27-45.

© Prodromatic dreams are related to disease or different body conditions. This is a dream which persists about some part of the body not yet resulting in pain, but due to some inflammatory or disease condition, it might have prognostic significance. This is a strange phenomenon related to the subconscious.

(d) Kinesthetic dreams are dreams of flying, soaring, or falling through space; perhaps a reflection of subconscious disappointment with one’s circumstances.

(e) In paralytic dreams, the individual feels as though he cannot move his hands or feet; he cannot speak or cry for help. This is usually associated with some form of horror or unpleasant situation, a reflection of subconscious shock.

(f) In collective dreams, two or more people have the same dream.

(7) However, it is not the objective of this study to provide a dissertation on dreams, but simply to note the fact that dreams, which are products of thinking, lacking the awareness and direction supplied by the conscious mind, involve various processes and represent such products of repression as unacknowledged motives and desires.

(8) Frequently, dreams are symbolic expressions of inner tension.

(9) Every time you knock doctrine down from number one priority in your life, you will have problem solving devices in your life that cannot be dealt with directly until awareness exists. To bring these problem solving devices out of the subconscious requires going back to doctrine.

j. With the completion of the canon of Scripture, God no longer revealed Himself or His policy through dreams, visions, or direct conversation. So the use of that part of the right lobe of the soul for that purpose is definitely shut down.

D. Negative Functions of the Heart or Right Lobe.

1. The heart can reject Bible teaching, Prov 5:12-14. The heart negative to Bible doctrine refuses to concentrate. When you don’t like what you hear, then you’re unteachable and a candidate for reversionism. “How I have hated instruction of doctrine, and my heart has spurned reproof, and I have not listened to the voice of my teacher nor inclined my ear to the instructor. I almost came to ruin in the middle of the assembly of the congregation.”

2. The heart is the source of discord and troublemaking, which leads to strife and conspiracy, Prov 6:14, 18. “The one who by distortion or perversity in his heart devises evil continually, he is the one who is the spreader of strife. A heart that devises wicked conspiracy, feet run rapidly to evil.”

3. The woman uses heart thinking to entice the male for personal gain without love.

a. The heart of the prostitute is subtle. Prov 7:10, “And behold a woman comes to meet him dressed magnificently like a prostitute and very cunning of heart.”

b. Eccl 7:26, “I have discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and in her hands she has chains. However, the person who is pleasing God [doctrine in the right lobe] will escape from her. But the sinning one [arrogant male] will be captured by her.”

c. A woman can often do a lot of thinking, but it’s not objective, doctrinal, professional or academic thinking; it is thinking used to bring attention to herself in whatever way she wants attention. This is thinking in terms of “snares and nets", and in her hands she has chains. She will be very flattering and conniving, and once she catches you by your arrogance, your arrogance will chain you to her.

d. One thing that will destroy wisdom, I.Q., and ability to look at life from the divine viewpoint is the dumb arrogant male succumbing to the flattery of a woman, using him for her own advancement or pleasure.

4. The heart suffers disappointment from broken promises, Prov 13:12. The heart is the source of frustrations. Frustration is a thought. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

5. The heart is the environment for mental attitude sins.

a. 2 Sam 6:16, “Now when it came to pass that the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, then Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and she saw David dancing before the Lord; consequently she despised him in her heart.” You hate and love in your right lobe. Both love and hate are a system and function of thinking.

b. Prov 14:10, “The heart knows its own bitterness.” Bitterness is one of the greatest of all sins of arrogance. It infiltrates the right lobe and neutralizes whatever doctrine is there. “And a stranger does not share its joy.”

c. Arrogance is found in Prov 21:4, “Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart, the lamp of the wicked is sin.” In other words, once you have arrogance in your right lobe, whatever its manifestation, this becomes your lamp for life and it sets aside all doctrine.

d. In Obadiah 3, arrogance deceives you and causes you to make a fool of yourself. “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.”

e. Worry is found in Eccl 2:23.

f. Deceitfulness is found in Jer 17:9. “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness.”

6. The frantic search for happiness is related to the heart in Eccl 1:13.

7. Revolution and insubordination are described as being a part of the thinking of the heart. 2 Sam 15:6, “So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.” Jer 5:23, “But this people have a stubborn and a rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed from Me.” Ezek 6:9.

8. Hypocrisy is related to thinking in the heart, for you can think one thing and express another thing overtly. Ps 55:21, “His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was at war with me. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords, ready to stab me.”

9. Superficial gaiety doesn’t indicate the true state of the individual’s heart or right lobe. Prov 14:13, “Even in times of laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end of the party may be grief.”

10. Reversionism is described in terms of the heart, Jer 17:5, “So says the Lord, `Cursed is the man who depends on mankind and makes flesh his strength. His heart has turned away from the Lord [negative volition to Bible doctrine].’” Jer 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness.”

11. So the heart is related to any kind of failure in life. In other words, the real you is what you think. Your life is not what others see overtly, though it may reflect good or bad thoughts, right or wrong priorities.

E. The heart is related to perception and thinking.

1. The heart is related to perception of Bible doctrine. Deut 29:4, “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know.”

2. The heart is related to thinking in terms of reversionism in Ps 10:6, 11, 13. Ps 10:6, 11, 13 reveals the human viewpoint thinking of the reversionist related to the heart. “He says in his heart, `I shall not be moved to all generations, I shall not be in adversity.’ He says in his heart, `God has forgotten me, He has hidden His face from me. He will never see it. Why has the wicked [believer] spurned God?’ He has said in his heart, `You will not hold me responsible.’”

3. The thinking of the atheist is related to the heart. Ps 14:1, “The fool has thought in his heart, `There is no God.’”

4. The heart is related to rationalizing mental attitudes. The rationalizing maladjustment to the justice of God is found in Isa 47:10, “And you felt secure in your evil, and you said to yourself, `No one sees me.’ Your evil wisdom and your human viewpoint knowledge has deluded you, for you have thought in your heart, `I am, and there is no one as good as I am.’”

5. False teachers communicate false doctrine from the deceit of their heart, Jer 14:14.

6. The heart is the place where people think they are superior to others. Lk 9:46-47, “Now a controversy entered among them as to which of the disciples was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the thinking in their hearts...”

7. The heart is used for meditation on Bible doctrine. Lk 2:19, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

F. The thinking of the heart is related to both positive and negative attitudes.

1. Love and the capacity for love is in the right lobe, Deut 6:5, 11:13; Josh 22:5.

2. On the other hand, sorrow also emanates from the right lobe, Lev 26:16; Neh 2:2.

3. Happiness is related to doctrine in the right lobe, Ps 19:8, 28:7.

4. Pressure is also related to the right lobe, Ps 34:18.

5. The dynamics of wisdom are related to the right lobe, Job 9:4.

6. Cowardice is related to the right lobe, Josh 14:8; 1 Sam 17:32.

7. Discouragement is related to the right lobe, Num 32:7,9. 8. So we see the importance of Bible doctrine. For Bible doctrine will eliminate sorrow, pressure, cowardice, and discouragement. On the other hand, it will handle happiness and the dynamics of wisdom in a magnificent way.

G. The heart is the location of true happiness.

1. “Gladness of heart,” Jud 18:20; 1 Sam 1:13, 2:1, 10:9, 16:7, 17:32; 1 Kg 8:66; 2 Chron 7:10; Est 5:9.

2. “A merry heart,” 1 Sam 25:36; 2 Sam 13:28, 6:16; Prov 15:13,15, 17:22; 1 Chron 15:29; 2 Chron 6:7. (Many more for both; see concordance.)

3. The heart is related to capacity for life. All capacity for life is related to Bible doctrine residing in the heart’s frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, norms and standards and launching pad. The heart is related to both positive and negative aspects of capacity for life.

H. The heart is an area of disaster.

1. The breakdown of proper thinking is the greatest disaster in life.

2. Reversionism in the heart results in national disaster according to Deut 28:47-48. The cycles of discipline are related to reversionism in the right lobe. Since the Jews refused to serve God, they will serve their enemies.

3. Revenge as the motivation of the heart is disastrous to the individual who has it, Prov 24:1-2; Ezek 25:15-17. Revenge and retaliation is a malfunction of the heart.

4. The heart is related to psychosis or mental illness in Isa 13:7-8. Cowardice results from maladjustment to the justice of God. Isa 13:7-8, “All hands will fall limp. Every man’s heart will melt [no thought]. They will be terrified.” Fear is when you stop thinking under pressure. It is not your nervous system being active.

5. Mental attitude sins relate the heart to the function of the old sin nature, as in Ps 66:18, 101:5; Prov 6:18; Mt 12:35; Lk 6:45, and many other passages.

a. Mental attitude sins, while originating from your own volition, by their very nature operate from the heart or thinking of the soul. Thinking type sins are a combination of the old sin nature and the heart, the link being the permissiveness of volition.

b. Mental attitude sins originate from lack of doctrine and result in malfunction of the spiritual life. Ps 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

c. Ps 101:5, “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, I will destroy him. No one who has a manifestation of pride and an arrogant heart will I endure.” Volition brings iniquity from the old sin nature into the heart and arrogance is formed.

d. In Matt 12:34-35, Jesus called these people with wrong thinking “a brood of vipers, a nest of snakes. How can you, being evil, speak what is good. For the mouth speaks out what fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good. On the other hand, the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.” The Pharisees were critical of those who did not wash before meals. They emphasized the overt and superficial to the exclusion of the important things of life, Mt 15:17-20. Don’t mix cleanliness with spirituality.

6. Emotional revolt of the soul and mental attitude sins are related to the heart in Lk 6:45, 24:25.

7. Since maladjustment to the justice of God comes from negative volition to Bible doctrine, it is described as hardness of heart, Lam 3:65.

I. The heart is related to momentum in the spiritual life.

1. The heart is related to grace function in Prov 24:17.

2. The heart is related to grace orientation in Ex 23:9.

3. The heart is related to +H in 1 Sam 2:1.

4. The heart is the basis for stability in crisis, Ps 112:7-8.

5. The heart is the source of motivation in the temporal life, Ex 35:25-26,35, 36:8; and in the spiritual life, 2 Cor 9:7.

J. The heart is used as an anthropopathism.

1. An anthropopathism ascribes to God characteristics He does not have. 1 Sam 2:35, “But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart.” Of course, God does not have a right lobe, so that is an anthropopathism.

2. Ps 78:72, “So He [Jesus Christ] shepherded them according to the integrity of His heart and guided them with skillful hands.” This verse contains both an anthropopathism, “integrity of His heart,” and an anthropomorphism, “skillful hands.”

3. Jer 23:20, “The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purpose of His heart.” Cf. Jer 30:24.

4. So the heart is used as an anthropopathism for God’s thinking and God’s planning.

K. The heart is related to adjustment to the justice of God at salvation. Rom 10:9-10. Believing is in the heart. Only the means (believing) saves a person, not the result (confessing Jesus Christ as Lord).

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R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

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