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Treasures Of The Heart
December 21, 2008
Jesus told us that which is in the heart is revealed from what comes out of our mouths. Wherever we place our affections, there our hearts will be. Evil hearts produce evil deeds and good hearts produce good deeds.
Bernie Parsons
Treasures Of The Heart
By Bernie Parsons
Presented to Globe church of Christ on 12-21-2008
Matthew 12:24: “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
25: And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
26: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
27: And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
28: But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
29: Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
30: He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
31: Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32: And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
33: Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34: O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35: A good man out of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure
bringeth forth evil things.
36: But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37: For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
38: Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39: But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41: The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
42: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”
Contrary to what some would have you believe, there are people whose hearts are full of good things, and those whose hearts are full of evil. We saw that in our Proverbs studies.
Matthew 15:10: “And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12: Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13: But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14: Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15: Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16: And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17: Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18: But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19: For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”
Or as Mark described them:
Mark 7:21: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22: Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
What types of things do you think about all day long? What do you ponder in your heart as the hours pass away? It will tell you a lot about yourself. That is why the apostle Paul had this to say:
Colossians 3:1: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17: And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
If we have Jesus on our minds and in our hearts, then we shall ponder His teachings and the meaning of His life and sacrifices. This sows the seeds of righteousness into our hearts, producing fruits of righteousness, fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 7:16: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17: Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18: A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Evil thoughts produce evil fruits, or deeds. Good thoughts lead to good deeds. Which leads me to once more criticize what is being shown in the movies and on television. Your mind processes what you see and hear. If you see murder, violence, adultery, fornication, lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving, and the other things that the writers and producers of shows and movies love to present for public consumption, those things will be processed by your brain and stored in your mind. Your heart will begin to change.
You will become used to the use of God’s name in vain and in cursing. Even Christians sometimes say, “Oh, my God!” when they don’t actually mean to call upon God. Vain means empty, wasted, or useless. Such a phrase using God’s name is vain.
Exodus 20:7: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
Remember that Jesus said that murder, adultery, and sins of all kinds, proceed from the heart. They determine what kind of people that we are. Television, movies, magazines, books—all types of media—introduce us to all kinds of sin that we otherwise would not even dream of thinking about.
Notice, too, how that the shows and movies promote sins like abortion and homosexuality. A recent trend is to push euthanasia and assisted suicide. Furthermore, Jesus is denigrated by use of His name in vulgar, cursing phrases. Add to that the use of coarse language—four letter words and other vulgarities—and you see what is being done to us, our children, and our grand-children. We are exposed to every kind of ungodliness in the world.
Even authority is challenged. How many scenes feature a police car being blown up, crashed, or rolling over and over? How many scenes show military vehicles being blown up and destroyed? Most of the time, police, the military, the government, business leaders, and even preachers are the villains, while murderous, violent, sexually promiscuous people are the heroes and heroines? And how many shows portray Christians as murdering, violent, abusive fanatics? When was the last time that you saw a show that promoted Christians as kind, gentle, peaceable, and loving? When last was a preacher the hero of a movie or show?
Philippians 1:9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10: That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
11: Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
The more that we dwell upon the teachings of God, given to us through Jesus Christ, the more our hearts are filled with righteousness.
James 3:11: “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12: Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13: Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14: But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16: For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18: And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
What fruit do we wish to produce? That will depend upon where our hearts are.
Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.
13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
God knows our hearts and will judge us accordingly. Why? Because the heart determines whether we live righteously or wickedly.
