If you think of yourself as a pretty good person, you’ll never really know the joy of treasuring an all-sufficient Savior. You’re trapping yourself in self-identity rather than knowing the joy, the liberation of forgiveness. And I say this however long you’ve been walking with Christ.

This excerpt is a transcript of a sermon by Dr. Michael Reeves entitled “Getting Your Heart Right,” based on Matthew 15:1-28:

… the Pharisees could not understand the idea of the need for a new heart.

Well, that’s all a long time ago, but people haven’t changed.

And that enslavement to that view of reality, that failure, that blindness to the human condition, to the human heart, has just carried on.

And I’m going to give you an example of this from much closer to our day. I’m going to read you from the diary of an 18th-century man, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who first wrote the dictionary of the English language. A literary giant, enslaved man.

And I want to get inside his head and read you a few extracts from his journal. And you’ll just get inside his head.

This is very similar to what we’ve seen in the Pharisees.

Here we go.

September the 18th, 1738: “Oh Lord, enable me by your grace… enable me by your grace to redeem the time which I’ve spent in sloth, vanity, and wickedness. Enable me to lead a new life in your faith, fear, and love. And finally, enable me to obtain everlasting life.”

Nineteen years later, 1757: “Almighty God, enable me from this instant to amend my life that I may not lose the things eternal.”

Two years later, 1759: “Enable me to shake off idleness and sloth.”

Two years later, 1761: “I have resolved, till I am afraid to resolve again. Yet, hoping in God, I steadfastly purpose to lead a new life.”

Three years later, 1764: “I have made no reformation. I have lived totally useless, more sensual in thoughts, more addicted to wine and meat. Grant me, oh God, to amend my life… my purpose from this time to avoid idleness, to rise early, to read the scriptures.”

A few months later: “I’ve now spent 55 years in resolving. Oh God, grant me to resolve aright and to keep my resolutions. I resolve to rise early, not later than six, if I can.”

1765: “I purpose to rise at 8 because though I shall not rise early, it will be much earlier than I now rise, for I often lie until two.”

1775, ten years later: “When I look back upon resolutions of improvement which year after year have been made and broken, why do I try to resolve again? I try because reformation is necessary. I try in hope of the help of God.”

Oh dear. Isn’t it tragic? Isn’t it familiar?

It’s a life of the flesh, of fleshly pleasure, and then fleshly attempts to make himself a new man. It’s all self-effort, with prayers chucked up, asking God to chip in and help him do what he needs to do.

You can hear it here, and he’s even more explicit elsewhere. Johnson went through life ground down with guilt. He just didn’t realize his greatest problem.

He refused to accept the free pardon and welcome of God.

And so he tried to deal with his guilt by self-improvement.

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