For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:43–45. Take note of that last phrase: out of the abundance of his heart his mouth will speak.
Deuteronomy 5 records the second enumeration of the Ten Commandments which Moses gave to Israel. (The first account is in Exodus 20.) The Israelites feared the meeting with God and the giving of the Law at Sinai. After the Ten Commandments were given, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Go say to them, Return ye to your tents. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandment… Deuteronomy 5:29–30. Moses continued in his recounting of all the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances to Israel: And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. Deuteronomy 6:5–9.
On the surface, these Scriptures from Deuteronomy seem very unrelated to the passage in Luke 6, in which the Lord expressed the thought that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. When God spoke at Sinai, there was an inability on the part of the people to hear. God sent them back to their tents while Moses received the Word from the Lord and then communicated it to the people. God deplored the fact that they did not have a heart to hear.
If you have a heart to hear, then that heart can be filled with the abundance of God. How many times did the Lord have to deal with the hearts of His disciples? Even after the resurrection He said to the two who were on the road to Emmaus, “O slow of heart to believe” (Luke 24:25). How slow we are to hide the Word in our hearts!
Ezekiel was a prophet of the heart. God told him, “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and put a right heart within them” (Ezekiel 11:19). King David, too, saw the necessity of his heart being right with God. In Psalm 51:10, he prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. The heart must be open to hear the Word of God. It is not enough to have good intentions. When we speak of someone having a good heart, we usually mean that he has certain qualities of moral goodness and character. However, when God speaks about a good heart, He means a heart that is constantly soaking up the Word of the Lord. And as the heart soaks up the Word, it begins to respond.
The New Testament emphasizes this truth. Colossians 3:16a tells us, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Then you can speak to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. You have been soaking up the Word, you have been a good listener to God, hiding in your heart whatever he speaks. This was a characteristic of certain people in the Bible. We read of Mary, the mother of Jesus, that whenever something was said, even if she did not understand it, she pondered it in her heart (Luke 2:19). David said, “Thy word have I hid in my heart” (Psalm 119:11). He was able to speak marvelous truths because he was so filled with God’s Word. There are more prophecies about Christ hidden away in the Psalms than in the rest of the Old Testament. No doubt David himself often did not even know that he was speaking prophetically the Word of the Lord.
A person whose heart is open to God, who has faithfully hidden God’s Word in his heart, will be amazed to find himself speaking truths even beyond his own knowledge or understanding of the Word. Sometimes we give too much credit to the mind and the intellect. God, on the other hand, keeps speaking about the heart—not the organ that pumps our blood, but that mystical part of our life that is the center of all our emotions, of our soul and our spirit. Man is commanded to love the Lord with all his heart (not with his head), all of his soul, and then with all of his mind and strength. Notice that the heart is mentioned first. This is the truth that God emphasized in Deuteronomy. You must love God with all of your heart. Then everything within you will respond. Out of that abundance of the heart your mouth will speak.
The heart is a very flexible organ. It is capable of being enlarged, even more so than the stomach. Paul told the Corinthians to let their heart be enlarged (II Corinthians 6:11, 13). He was not speaking of the physical enlargement of the heart, which is an affliction; he was speaking about a spiritual attribute which is one of the most heavenly afflictions that one could ever have. The heart can expand infinitely. Before a couple become parents, they often wonder if their love for each other will diminish after their first baby is born. Actually, it usually increases. They have enough love for the baby and for each other. And each successive child that is born receives as much love as the other children. Similarly, a pastor can love every member of a congregation, whether that congregation is very large or very small. Let your heart be enlarged. Exercise it.
It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure in his heart. You cannot bring forth good words out of a bad heart. Your greatest potential is to love God, to cherish His Word, and to believe and hold on to that Word. Do this and your job is half done. Trying to move a mountain without a heart that is full of God’s Word is like lighting a little firecracker at the base of a mountain and expecting to blow it up. Nothing good ever comes out of a heart that has very little good in it.
It all starts as you love God with all of your heart. You cannot love Him, however, without hiding His Word in your heart. You must drink it in, taking it in continually. David wrote, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11. That gives us a good foundation. The Word of Christ must dwell in us richly so that we can teach and prophesy to one another in psalms and hymns. What are we doing when we do this? Out of the abundance of that beautiful Word which we love and cherish, we are speaking forth, exploding it into action. The more the Word is found in a person’s heart, the more the creativity of God is released in his life as he speaks that Word.
Once the Word fills your heart, you will find that much of the control of your life changes hands. You can no longer analyze your life and set a course for yourself as to the way you will go and what you will do. The heart can nullify your reasoning. When the prophet Jeremiah became weary of prophesying to a hostile people, he cried, “The Word of the Lord is a reproach and a derision to me all the day long. I will not speak anymore in His name.” But the Word in his heart became like a burning fire shut up in his bones until he was weary with forebearing and could not hold it back (Jeremiah 20:8–9). So he opened his mouth and again prophesied violence and destruction. The Word of God within his bones may have been difficult for him to live with, but it was the motivating, driving, compelling force within him. The steering wheel had been taken out of his own hands.
In the early days of the Church at Jerusalem, the high priest commanded the apostles not to speak in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). It was in their hearts and they could not keep quiet. Later on the high priest and chief rulers accused them, “You intend to bring the blood of the man, Jesus, upon our heads.” The apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Then they were beaten and threatened, only to be found back in the Temple speaking again in the name of the Lord. There was that compulsion within them; the Word had taken over.
What changes can take place when the Word comes into your heart? Once your heart is filled, it directs the course of your feet. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It will change everything. A man is compelled and driven by the Word that fills his heart. Acts 8:18–23 describes the time when Simon the magician offered the apostles money so that he could receive the power to lay hands on people and impart to them the Holy Spirit. Peter said to him, “Your heart is not right with God. It is filled with the gall of bitterness and iniquity. You have no part in this matter.” Peter looked carefully to see what was in the heart of Simon, because a man may have various motivations.
Let your service to God be a compelling service that fills your heart because you love Him so much. There are those who continually have to be coaxed to serve the Lord. Under those circumstances, God would probably be pleased if they were not even asked to serve, because the first thing that He requires is that they love Him with all their heart, their soul, their mind, and their strength.
If there is one thing that needs to be imparted to a little child, it is the desire to work and to participate, as he is motivated by a willing heart. How we love to see a pair of chubby little hands carry one dish after another to the sink to be washed, even if they drop and break a few. It is good to see that such a child is willing to work and to be a part of the picture. One who is not motivated by a willing heart will find many excuses to get out of washing dishes or doing other chores. Again we can clearly see what is in his heart.
You cannot bring forth good fruit out of an empty or evil heart. Good fruit comes out of the abundance of the heart that is motivated by faith to speak. Fill your heart with the Word. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I believed, therefore I spoke” (II Corinthians 4:13). Once the Word of God fills your life and becomes the richest treasure to you, from that time onward God gets what He wants said through your lips; and He gets done in the earth what He wants done through your hands. When the Word dwells in you richly, you have the key, the motivation, and all the necessary ingredients for that mystical formula which creates the explosions that will move heaven and earth.
Are you motivated to soak in the Word more than ever? Then empty out everything else. Wash the vessel clean; sanctify yourself. Paul told Timothy, Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth. Paul was also careful to specify this: If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor. II Timothy 2:15, 21a. In other words, get rid of the waste. Get rid of the garbage. Wash the vessel clean and fill it with the Word. Fill it with what God has to say. What comes out of a clean vessel is beautiful.
When you assemble together with God’s people, you participate in an exercise that basically relates to the Word. As a member of the Body of Christ, come to hear and to speak the Word of God. Believe that something from the Lord will be imparted to you and that you will impart something to others. Come before the Lord for more than just the mechanics of worship. As you stand and truly worship the Lord, or as you listen intently to what God is saying, a miraculous transformation will take place. You will actually merge into God and He will fill your life. You will become that earthen vessel in which His glorious treasure is found. When you speak, you will speak as an oracle of God. When you minister, you will minister of the ability that God gives (I Peter 4:11). What a glorious future is set before God’s people, and it is not far off, nor is it a goal that is difficult to reach. Just keep drinking.
Do you want to be a flowing river of God’s Word? Then first you must drink. If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink … out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37–38. Do you really want to be God’s oracle, that spontaneous fountain, that creative instrument in His hand? Then soak up His Word; drink it in until the compulsion to speak is so great that you cannot contain it. God deliver His people from being vessels that have to be primed and pumped so that they can finally be a little trickle that says, feebly, “Thank-You Jesus.” Let us be vessels of God who have to be settled down, who are wells overflowing, who are exploding with the fulness of God.