Sermon Central
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The Heart Series
Contributed by Lacell Sherman on Nov 24, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: Part of a three part series telling the role of the heart in conjunction with your spiritual growth.
My focus this evening will be the Heart.
It was once stated by an anonymous author that:
"Thy speech betrayeth thee." Speech is the index of the soul. Utterance is the open door through which the character is known. Words are the fruit of the lips, and by their fruits we know them.
Scripture: Book of Proverbs, 4th Chapter, Verse 23-27
Penned by that Great Author, King Solomon, The Father of Wisdom. Coming from the KJV
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. The amplified Bible reads "Above all guard your heart, for it affects everything you do."
Webster’s definition of the heart is that it is a hollow muscular organ of vertebrate animals that by it rhythmic contraction acts as a force pump maintaining the circulation of the blood.
The Hebrew and Greek meaning of heart is the feelings, the will, and even the intellect. It’s the center of everything.
The Latin meaning Kardia, which means heart, are the thoughts and feelings, which are the soul and also the mind.
Now you can begin to see the significance in this tri-unal series.
The heart is the inner self that thinks, feels and decides. Biblically speaking the word heart has a much broader meaning than it does to the modern mind. The heart is that which is central to a person. Nearly all the references to the heart in the bible refer to some aspect of Human personality.
In the Old Testament the word heart occurs 860 times. This fact alone indicates the importance of its role within the spiritual realm. The Bible reads out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
In Matthew the 15th chapter verses 18 and 19. Reads
"but those things which proceed out of the mouth comes forth from the heart and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murderous, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, and blasphemes."
In the Bible all emotions are experienced by the heart: Love and hate, joy and sorrow, peace and bitterness, & courage and fear experience all emotions. The thinking processes are said to be carried out by the heart.
The heart may think,
" So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?"
Understand,
"Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the heart? "
Imagine,
" But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:"
Remember,
" Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;"
Be wise,
" When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;"
And speak to itself,
" If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?"
Decision making is also carried out by the heart;
Purpose,
" Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."
Intention,
" For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
And will
" Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"
Are all activities of the heart?
Is your heart reserved for Christ only?
It is related that once when Queen Victoria was in the Highlands, she stopped at the cottage of a poor woman, sitting for a few minutes in an old armchair. When the party was leaving, one of the number told the old woman who her visitor was. She was awed by the thought of the honor which had been hers, and taking up the old chair, she carried it into the spare room, saying, "No one shall ever sit in that chair again, because my queen sat in it." How much more sacredly should we keep from other occupancy the place in our heart where Christ has been received as Guest! How is it, just now, in your heart? Is there any need for Christ to come with His whip of cords to drive out the traders, the sellers of cattle and doves, and the moneychangers?
