The Heart - Part 1 — Stephen Kaung

Let us look to the Lord in prayer. Oh Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou has made us members of Thy family. We are unworthy, but Lord, Thou art worthy. Thou has redeemed us, Thou has bought us, Thou has brought us unto Thyself.

Lord, what have we to say? We just bow down and worship Thee. Thou has done everything well and glorious. We want to give Thee all the glory and the thanks of our hearts. We praise and thank Thee for gathering us together here tonight.

We meet in Thy name, Thy blessed and glorious name, and we trust that Thy presence shall be with us. We pray that tonight Thou will open Thy word to us and open our hearts to Thy word, that it may not fall upon stony ground, but it may fall into good ground, bearing fruit patiently for Thee, a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold.

Guarding the Heart Above All Else

Lord, we do commit the whole time into Thy hands and trust in Thee for everything. In the name of our Lord Jesus. I have been looking to the Lord as to what He will us have for this evening. I feel probably it will be good for us to consider together one thing in the scripture, which is very basic, and I believe you will find extremely important in our life with the Lord.

I will read a few passages and you know what we will be fellowshipping tonight. Proverbs. In the Old Testament, Proverbs. Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 23. This should be a familiar verse to some of you.

Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 23. Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded, for out of it are the issues of life. In some translation you will find for out of it flow the springs of life. 1 Samuel, chapter 16.

Another familiar verse. 1 Samuel, chapter 16. The second, the last part of verse 7. For man looketh upon the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh upon the heart. Ezekiel, chapter 36. Ezekiel, chapter 36, verse 26.

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. Matthew, chapter 22, verse 37. Matthew, chapter 22, verse 37.

And he said to him, the Lord said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding. 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, from verse 16 through verse 18.

But when it, that is the heart, but when the heart shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.

Ephesians, chapter 3. We'll read from verse 16 through verse 19. In order that he may give you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man, that the Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the things what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, that ye may be filled even to all the fullness of God.

And the last place, Hebrews. Hebrews, chapter 3. We'll read from verse 7 through verse 13. Wherefore even as says the Holy Spirit, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. As in the provocation, in a day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted me by proving me and saw my works forty years, wherefore I was wroth with this generation, and said they always err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways, so I swore in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest.

See, brethren, let there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief in turning away from the living God. But encourage yourselves each day, as long as it is called today, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Now these are only a few simple passages. You'll find many, many passages in the word of God on this important matter. And I believe you know, is the heart. The heart. The heart is very, very important to God.

The purpose of God with man is centered upon the heart. God is looking for a man after his own heart. That is God's purpose. It is not that he just wants man. Any man. Any kind of man. He only wants one special kind of man.

A man after his own heart. And of course we know this is found first in our Lord Jesus. He is the man after God's own heart. And then, with Christ, his people, a man after God's. God is seeking for a relationship with man.

Not just a superficial relationship. God wants a heart-to-heart relationship with man. He opens his heart to man. And he wants man to open their heart to him. He is never satisfied if our relationship with him is just a matter of lips.

As a matter of fact, he abhors that. He is looking for a heart-to-heart relationship. When you think of God's dealing with people, God never deals with us on the surface. We will be quite contented if the surface is touched.

Because we do not want to have the root being searched out. But when you think of God's dealing with man, he is never after the surface. He always goes down to the root, which is the heart. And if the heart is not dealt with, any dealing is superficial and will not last.

And God will never be satisfied. When you consider the salvation of the Lord, it is concerning the heart. The salvation of the Lord is to reach the heart. When the gospel is preached, you know the seed is sown upon human heart.

Of course, some hearts are so hardened as the wayside, the seed of the gospel cannot enter into it. And the birds will come and take it away. But anyway, you find the sower sows the seed upon the heart.

Not just the ear, but the heart. It is when the Lord opens our heart that we repent and we believe. You remember your Romans, it is said, if we confess him with our lips and if we believe him with our heart.

It is the heart. It is always the heart. So you find that when you look from God's standpoint, from God's viewpoint, in his relationship with man, he is always looking for the heart, driving at the heart.

That is what the Lord is concerned with. Now, if you turn it around and looking from our standpoint too, towards God, you will find it is the same thing. The beginning of our history with the Lord begins with the heart.

When we open our heart to the Lord, when our heart is pricked by his word, then we repent. We open our heart. We receive him into our heart. That's how life begins. And when you think of the growth of spiritual life, it is again very much related to the heart.

We'll go into that later on. So dear brothers and sisters, we find that the heart is something that you cannot overlook in spiritual, in the spiritual realm. Now probably one verse in the scripture will convince you of that.

You remember Samuel? Samuel was supposed to know God. He was a prophet. He was a Nazarite. He was a priest serving God. He was a seer. And yet when God sent him to anoint a king among the sons of Jesse, the first son came up, Eliab.

He was tall. He was handsome. And immediately Samuel was taken up by that man. He said, this must be the Lord's anointing. How natural that is. For man to look at outward appearance. We are attracted by outward appearance.

These things appear, appeal to the natural man. But God said, Samuel, you're entirely wrong. That's the way man will look. But that's not the way I do. Man look at outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart.

The Heart as the Inward Spiritual Center

Now dear brothers and sisters, if the heart is so important, how much do we know about it? Now of course in the scripture, when it speaks of the heart, it does not refer to the physical heart. The physical heart is just a kind of analogy, a type, showing us the heart in the scripture which is moral and spiritual in nature.

As our human heart, this physical heart, is the center of our physical being. You know, the heart is very important. If something happens to the heart, that's serious. I may cut my finger, which is unfortunate.

You will feel pain about it. You will suffer for it. But it is superficial. But when anything should happen to your heart, that is serious. Because the heart is the center of your physical being. All the blood will flow into the heart and out of the heart.

The health, your health, depends upon the function of the heart. The heart is very important to our physical being. How much more important is the heart in its moral and spiritual sense to the welfare of our spiritual being?

But you know, in my contact with God's people, you do not need to probe very deep. You will find God's people today know very little about the heart. People have been asking, what is the meaning of the heart in the scripture?

Where is the heart? What is it? We do not know too much about this heart. Now, because we do not know too much about this heart, therefore, we are more or less ignorant of how the heart works in relation to the life of God.

I'm afraid we have to lay some groundwork first. But this is not my burden. My burden is to find the relationship of the heart with the flow of life. But before we can go into this, we have to lay a little bit of foundation.

In other words, I have to go through with you some scripture readings just to lay a foundation that we may understand a little bit what the heart really is. What does it include? Why is it so important?

Where does it stand in relation to our spiritual life? We need to have a little understanding of it before we can go on. So, if you will bear with me, we'll spend first a little bit of time searching the scripture and try to find out where is the heart and what is it.

Probably I think the best way to begin our search is by way of comparison. We will mention a few passages of the scripture and compare them. And by way of comparison, we may be able to get some understanding of the heart.

Let's read Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10. Of course we know that this is concerned with the new covenant. God said one day in the future he will make a new covenant with the nation of Israel.

And in that new covenant he said, because this is the covenant that I will covenant to the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. Giving my laws into their mind, I will write them also upon their heart.

And I will be to them for God and they shall be to me for people. Now please notice. God said, giving my law into their mind, I will write them also upon their heart. Then you compare this with Hebrews chapter 10, verse 16.

And listen very carefully. This is the covenant which I will establish towards them after those days, says the Lord. Speaking of the same thing. Giving my laws into their hearts, I will write them also in their understanding or in their mind.

Now do you see any difference between these two verses? They speak of the same thing. But do you see any difference in the way it is put? Can you tell us? Right. You'll find some order seems to be reversed.

In Hebrews 8 .10 you'll find giving my law in their mind, mind first, and then write them upon their heart. But in Hebrews 10 .16 the order is reversed. Giving my law into their heart and then write them upon their mind.

And we know both these verses are quotations. They are quoted from the Old Testament. From Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 33. So let's go back to Jeremiah. 31, 33. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said Jehovah.

Now notice. I will put my law in their inward parts and will write it in their heart. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. It's different. Again. Here you'll find I will put my law in their inward parts.

I will write it in their heart. Now all these three passages are speaking of the one and same thing. And the two verses in Hebrews are supposed to be quotations from Jeremiah 33, 31, 33. But here you'll find the Holy Spirit, we believe with purpose, put it in such a way.

Not that he forgets what he says before. The Holy Spirit never forgets. But he purposely put it in different ways in order to show us something. In other words, you'll find here the word heart, the word mind or understanding, and the word, the inward parts, seems to be interchangeable.

Why? Why is it that the Holy Spirit can change these expressions? Is it because they are speaking of the same thing? Is it because through putting it in different shades, we may be able to see what the heart really is.

What is the heart? The heart is the inward part of man. And in that inward part, the mind, the understanding is one of the parts. What is the inward part? Psalm 51, verse 6. In that penitential psalm of David.

Psalm 51, verse 6. Behold, thou wilt have truth in the inward part, and in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom. Here you'll find David mention two parts. The inward part and the hidden part.

Now does that complicate it more? Here you'll find David, and now behold, thou wilt have truth in the inward part. And in the hidden part, thou wilt make me to know wisdom. Now what is the hidden part?

If you go to the New Testament, you'll find there are different verses that will have bearing upon this hidden part. Do you not remember 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 4? The hidden man of the heart. The hidden man of the heart.

And if you read, say, Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 17, may God give you the spirit of wisdom and understanding that you may know Him, that He may enlighten you, the eyes of your heart being enlightened.

And in Ephesians, chapter 3, you'll find we are strengthened by His spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell by faith in your heart. You see the connections in these verses? Here you'll find Ephesians, chapter 1, the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the eyes of your heart.

Two parts. Ephesians 3, you'll find the inner man and Christ dwell in your heart. Then in 1 Peter, the hidden man of the heart. Brothers and sisters, the hidden part is the spirit. The human spirit is the hidden part.

It is hidden. Nobody can see it. Almost like the holiest of all in the tabernacle. It is hidden way, way back. Nobody can see it. Even if the high priest can go behind the veil once a year, but it means that nobody can enter.

The way is not yet open. It is hidden. The inward part refers to the heart. What is the heart? The heart includes the inward part. Well, we have been taught that man is a tripartite. Spirit, soul, and body.

When God created man, He created man in three parts. The spirit, way down within, and then the soul, and then the body. Now, where does the heart? If you search the scripture, you will find that man is indeed made of three parts.

The spirit gives us God consciousness. The soul gives us self-consciousness. The body gives us world consciousness. Man is indeed made of three parts. But the heart is the link between the spirit and the soul.

It is the passage between the spirit and the soul. It is the doorway, the corridor. It is the connection between the spirit and the soul. Because it is the link of the spirit and the soul, therefore you will find the heart being the inward part of man and include at least four parts.

It includes in it one part of the function of the spirit, which is consciousness. And it includes all the three parts of the soul, our mind, our emotion, and our will. So you find the heart combines in itself one part of the spirit and three parts of the soul, if we may put it very truthfully.

Therefore you find it is the link. And in a sense it represents you. It represents you more than anything else. Yes, your spirit is in touch with God, but it does not represent you. Your soul gives you consciousness and yet it does not represent you as much as your heart.

Your heart is the real you. That's the heart. Now if the heart is right, then you are right with God. If something is wrong with the heart, then your whole relationship is jeopardized. So you can see how important is the heart.

Conscience, Mind, Will, and Emotion in the Heart

Now let us search the scripture. We do not have time to go over all the verses, but I will give you a few sample verses. First, functions of the spirit hangs upon the heart. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 22.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 22. Let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkle as to our heart from a wicked conscience, and wash as to our body with pure water. Here you will find sprinkled as to our heart from a wicked conscience.

So you can see our conscience is linked with our heart. In other words, our conscience is a part of the heart. Our conscience, our wicked conscience needs to be sprinkled. And if it is sprinkled by the blood of the Lord Jesus, then we can approach God with a true heart.

There is no condemnation. We can. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Verse 20 and 21. Verse 21. That if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness towards God.

We always think of that which condemns us is the conscience. Right? When we do something, our conscience bothers us. You know? But here you will find the apostle John says, now if your heart condemns you, then God is greater than your heart.

But if your heart does not condemn you, then you have boldness before God. And in your prayer, you have the assurance that he will hear you. That proves that conscience is a part of the heart. You know, in the Old Testament, you do not find the word conscience in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, when the conscience works, the word used there is always the heart. For instance, in 1 Samuel chapter 24, David, he cut off a piece of the skirt of Saul's garment and his heart smote him.

Then in 2 Samuel chapter 24, it's very easy to remember, 1 Samuel 24 and 2 Samuel 24. In 2 Samuel 24, you remember, he numbered the people of Israel against God's will. And then when the angel of destruction began its work, he was smote in his heart.

He knew he did something. The conscience is a part. How about the mind? The mind, our thoughts. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thought and intent of the heart.

Thought of, you notice that. Thought. That is the mind. But you find it is within the heart. Thought of the heart. Your thought can be deeper than just a fleeting thought. Your thought can be thought of the heart.

Matthew chapter 13. The Lord used parables. When he spoke to the people. So his disciples asked him, now why is it that he should speak always in parables? And the Lord's answer was, verse 15. For the heart of these people has grown fat.

They have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with the ears and understand with the heart and shall be converted, and I shall heal them.

Understand with the heart. You see, understanding is related to the heart. Not only to your brain, but to your heart. If you don't want to understand, you will not understand. You can shut your mind, your heart, and if your heart is shut, your mind doesn't work anymore.

You don't understand. The mother of Jesus. When she heard what the shepherds said, she kept these words in her mind and pondering over it. What is stored in her mind became the material for her pondering in her heart.

Luke chapter 2. So these are just a few cases to show you that how our mind is connected with the heart. You know, with the heart. Something to do with the heart. Now how about our will? Our will. Well, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12 tells you already.

Discerner of the thought and intent of the heart. Now intent is the will. Your intention. Your purpose. Your desire. The intent of your heart. And of course, there are other verses like Acts chapter 7, verse 23.

Moses, when he was 40 years old, the purpose in his heart to go to see his bridegroom. Acts chapter 11, verse 23. Barnabas came to Antioch and saw these people who were really saved and loved the Lord and he exhorted them to follow the Lord with purpose of heart to abide in the Lord.

And there are many other verses. Now how about emotion? How about emotion? Well, Luke chapter 24. Two disciples were walking on the way to Emil and the Lord walked with them. The Lord began to open up the scriptures to them and their hearts were warmed.

That's emotion. John chapter 14, verse 1. Let not your heart be green. Chapter 16. Your heart will rejoice. Oh, many, many verses. So, we are just giving a few sample verses just to show that our heart is the center of our spiritual being.

And it is the link between the spirit and the soul. It is the passage. The corridor. The door. It is the key. And it includes in itself conscience, mind, will, and emotion. I believe you can see how important is the heart.

The Heart as the Channel of Divine Life

Alright? Let's move on and see. What is the relationship of the heart in the matter of the inflow and the outflow of life? Now, in Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23. Solomon says, Guard your heart above all things.

There is nothing in your life more precious than your heart. You may put your diamond and you may put your precious things in the safety box. But your heart is more important than these things. You must guard your heart more than you guard anything else.

You can see the importance of that. Guard your heart above all things. Why? Because out of the heart are the issues. In other words, the heart seems to hold the key to whether the life of God can flow into you or whether it can flow out from you.

It all depends upon the heart. If the heart condition is right, then God's life can flow in and flow out. If your heart condition is wrong, then God's life is blocked. You may not be able to receive God's life.

Or even after you have received God's life, God's life is not able to grow in you. It is that important. Now, brothers and sisters, if we do not know what the heart is, if we do not know how does it work, probably because of our ignorance, we may be blocking God's life without knowing it.

Your life in the Lord does not grow as it should. And maybe you are trying to find out the cause of it. You may try to touch different things, but if your heart is not touched, it doesn't help very much.

Let's think for a moment how the life of God comes into you. We mentioned already that the sower, who is Christ, he sows the seed, the gospel. He sows the seed upon the field. And in the first parable, the fields are the heart of man.

But as we say, some hearts are like the passage, pathway, pathway. They have been trodden by feet and hardened. The seed cannot enter into it. And the bird came and snatched it away. Some hearts are like the stony ground.

A little layer of earth, but the stone was underneath it. So, it grows. Some are like the thorny ground. The seed got in, have a root, began to grow, but it is squeezed by the thorn and cannot bear fruit.

But the field that is the good heart, ploughed, softened, will go into that heart and will bear fruit patiently, hundredfold, sixtyfold. Brothers and sisters, how does the gospel, how is conversion, how does God's life enter into a person?

You find the aim of the gospel is the heart. Naturally, our heart is a stony heart, insensitive to God, rebellious, obstinate, stubborn. That is the condition of a human heart. The heart is deceitful above all things and is incurable.

So far as human means are concerned, the heart is incurable. Not the physical heart. You can change your heart, but for the valve, new valve in it and so forth. I have just a friend, I have a friend who had a new valve not too long ago.

But this heart of the scripture, that is to say, the heart of a natural man is a stony heart. It has been hardened through the ages, through the deceitfulness of sin. It is so hard that nothing can cure it.

But that doesn't mean that God cannot do something. So the marvel of the gospel is when the gospel is preached in the power of God, the Holy Spirit can prick the heart. You remember on the day of Pentecost, these people were pricked in their heart.

In other words, God has penetrated through that stony heart, break it open. That is the power. And in John chapter 16, you'll find when the Holy Spirit shall come, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Nobody can do that. It is true, sometimes people's conscience works. Sometimes people are convicted. But it ends up in remorse. No conversion. Sometimes in our life, these things do happen.

Sometimes, somehow, our conscience seems to bother us. We begin to feel, well, we have done something wrong, and we are very angry about ourselves. And it's a remorse, you know. But remorse doesn't bring in repentance or conversion.

Only when the Holy Spirit has touched our conscience, it is the conscience of the heart, then you'll find it penetrates. You know, sometimes people's emotion may be stirred. If you tell a very appealing story, you know.

We are human beings, and we should be touched by these stories, you know. Naturally, we will be touched. If you hear some very sad stories, or shedding tears, it's no shame. It's nature. Now, our emotion may be touched, but it is not the emotion of the heart.

It is superficial. It comes, no conversion. No conversion. Our mind may be stirred too.

We may think, well, we'll turn over a new leaf. We are going to, to, to, to, to, go a new way. But it's superficial. The stone is still underneath it.

Still there. The thorns were all still there. You cannot bear fruit. Or your will, sometimes people make a determination. But it's only temporary. It doesn't last. Dear brothers and sisters, it doesn't mean that your conscience should not be touched.

Your conscience must be touched. It doesn't mean that your emotion should not be reached. It should be reached. You know, often, it bothers me. Maybe it's me. When I see people coming to the altar, as if he is going to a bazaar, or to a circus.

There doesn't seem to be that emotion, in other words, deep conviction. It bothers me. Our emotion should be touched. Our mind should be touched. Our will should be touched. Decision, yes, should be touched.

But dear brothers and sisters, it must be deeper than just the emotion. Just the mind. Just the will. Or just the conscience. It is the conscience of the heart. The emotion of the heart. The mind of the heart.

The will of the heart. That is to say, when a person's heart is reached by God, then something. We believe with the heart. We confess with the lips. But we believe. How does the life of God come into you?

The life of God comes into you through the heart. When your heart is open to God, then the life of God comes into your heart and takes up its residence in your spirit. This is the hidden man of the heart.

You know? So in Ezekiel 36, you'll find that when a man comes to the Lord, several things happen. God will give you a new heart. Now, not that he change, exchange it. In other words, take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh that is a heart that is sensitive, soft, tender towards God.

No. It is the same heart. But something happens to this heart. God has done something to this heart. God has broken down the hardness of their heart and softened it and melted it. That's the reason why many, when they come to the Lord the first day, their whole being is melted.

I don't know if you feel it that way. Some people do. You feel you are so hard towards God and suddenly it's just like the wax under the sun. It just melts. You just melt. You cannot mention the name of Jesus.

You cry. You are just melting. God has done something in your heart. He has taken away the stonyness of your heart and he has put in a heart of flesh. Dear brothers and sisters, that's most precious. Because the heart was incurable before.

You have a new heart. You know you have a new heart. You have a new desire. You desire. You desire after the things of God. You have a love towards God. Strange. You just love him. And you love the brethren.

When you see anyone who is the Lord you want to embrace him. A new heart. That's a new heart. God has given you a new heart. Most precious. And because of the heart is open God's life enters in you. Through the heart and rests in your new spirit.

Of course, regeneration is in the spirit. No doubt about that. God has quickened your dead spirit and made it new. And God's spirit comes to dwell in your spirit. The eternal life of God. In Christ, in the Holy Spirit.

Now wrapped in you. He is the hidden man. That's how life comes into you. It's through the heart. But dear brothers and sisters in the same way as life enters into you through the heart so for life to flow out from you or for life to grow in you it also must pass.

Because out of it are the issues. In other words, if there is no issue of life it must be there is a block in the heart. A block in the heart. Christ. Maybe I'll put it this way. Where does God dwell?

In your being. In the very first place you will find that God does not dwell in your body. In one sense, yes. Your body is the temple of God. But strictly speaking God does not dwell in your body. Neither does God dwell in your soul.

God dwells in your spirit. God is a spirit. He dwells in your spirit. He dwells in the innermost of your being. That's where God is. That's where eternal life is. Life is rested in your spirit. But this is the beginning.

Not the end. After God's life has come into your spirit then this life intends to if we may use that term this life is to grow. This life is to flow. This life is to manifest itself. Is to express itself.

And when this life begins to express itself it has to come out of the spirit and enter into the inner part of your being. That's the heart. For the life to be released it has to pass through the heart.

If it can pass through the heart then it will be manifested. If it cannot pass through the heart then it will be blocked within. You have God's life within you. And this life is life. It is growing. It is living.