Introduction to the Heart – What Is the Heart in the Bible? Guarding Your Heart and Its Treasure

I’m just going to say a quick word to you. Jesus said, out of the heart the mouth speaks. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. It is so simple. Spend enough time with a brother, and you’ll know what’s in his heart. What do you talk about? Every one of us is kind of curious. See, I’ve been running around here for years knowing this. Maybe you didn’t know this, but I’ve been listening to you talk. I’m going to talk to you for a minute, just to say I listen to you talk. I really do. I challenge you, brother: listen to me talk. Listen to me talk publicly and privately, because out of the heart the mouth speaks. You may know what’s really within you.

So, we’re going to learn how to deal with the heart, so that the right things come in and the right things go out. We’re going to learn to purge the heart of whatever might be in there, to get it out. So I come to a brother, and I begin to listen to him speak. You know, in the beginning, it’s very easy for us to talk. We talk about lots of things, and eventually we talk about the Lord. Then one day, brother, I don’t know, if you’re just careful, it’ll come—the real thing in the heart comes out. You know why it takes you to be 39 years old? Sometimes it takes 39 years for the Lord to build a heart. Then finally, there’s not anything left in there but one or two things—either your destruction or your Lord. There’s just no longer anything.

I can tell you…I can tell you what’s been in my heart. My Lord has been in my heart, but I can tell you something else that’s been in my heart, and that’s my desire to serve my Lord. You know? To be a king in the kingdom of God, to be somebody, to do something, to serve my Lord.

Brothers and sisters, out of the heart the mouth speaks. What do you speak about? You spend some time with a brother, and you begin to hear him saying “I, I, I.” What’s in his heart? He has allowed himself into his heart. Do you see? He’s allowed himself… what comes out of his heart? “I, I, I.” If you allow theology in, theology will come out. Sisters are very interesting to listen to. Sisters can just talk about lots of things, but you’re real careful. When they finally got you into their confidence, they’ll say that little thing they weren’t just saying, kind of from the back door, you know. By the way, Gene, have you ever noticed so-and-so or such-and-so? Then out of the heart, the mouth speaks. I don’t want to put anybody under the pile tonight. I’m not here to put you in the pile, but I’ll put you there if necessary. But praise the Lord, I have a Lord who’s gotten you out, and I’m going to stand with my Lord before it’s over with.

Brothers and sisters, guard your heart with all diligence, because what you let go in is what comes out. There are so many verses of Scripture on the heart. Did you know there are more Scriptures on the heart than the body and the soul and the spirit put together? The Lord is very, very interested in your heart.

Well, I’m just going to give you a little introduction. The best book to study to understand the heart is the book of Matthew. And you need a little bit from Ezekiel, you need a little bit from Jeremiah, but you’ve got to have the book of Matthew. The book of Matthew starts out speaking of the pure in heart. The pure in heart, what do they get? They get to see God. The pure in heart see God. We’re going to find out how to see God from a pure heart.

Then I think it is in Matthew 6. Another mention of the heart. What is it in Matthew 6? That’s where your treasure is. Your treasure is in your heart. What do you treasure, brother? What’s there? What’s in your heart? Whatever grows into your heart will become your treasure. I’ve seen many folks and many treasures. Sometimes I get to know folks, and I sense that the only thing they treasure is wearing somebody else down. That’s a funny thing to treasure. Another is just talking about themselves. Another one is their ambitions and goals in life. But you know, sometimes we cannot tell what we have laid in our heart. Do you know?

I would like you to read one verse of Scripture with me. It is Jeremiah 17:9. Somebody just read it to us. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” Sometimes we honestly don’t know what’s in our hearts. It was so wicked, and it is so desperate at the time of conversion; we don’t know what’s in it. That’s kind of frightening, isn’t it? That’s really frightening.

I’m going to say to you the same thing about the heart that I said about spirit. Here I am, a flesh, here I am, a soul, and here I am, a spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ comes into my spirit. He lives in there. I have His life. But if I’m not careful, I don’t realize I have His life, and I keep living by my own life in the soul. Do you understand?

Okay, the Lord Jesus Christ does things with a heart, but if I’m not careful, I may never know the deep motives of my heart. The deep, well-springing motives of my heart. Therefore, I really need to do a little dealing with my heart, that the motives that might have gotten in there previous to my conversion, and at the time of my conversion, and maybe through a religious system, that those things be purged out, that the Lord may start all over.

I’m not going to say more than that, except I can tell you one thing. It’s in the heart where the treasure is. I don’t care what your treasure has been. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t care, but I can tell you this. Whatever goes into the heart will come out of the heart. So we shall learn to deal with this desperately wicked heart and let the Lord deal with it and renew it and purge it, cleanse it, and then, praise the Lord, a new treasure, a new treasure, a new treasure to go in. Brother, what are your treasures? What are your treasures?

There’s just so much to say about the treasure. Wow. And we will. But anyhow, do you know what your treasure must be? You know what it is? The Lord Jesus Christ. If you’ll keep on putting the treasure in your heart, I’ll tell you one thing. It’ll take a while, but one of these days it’s going to start coming out.