The Heart of it All

J.J. Stark

June 8-10, 2016

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE CLASS 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

The Heart of it All

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9 (NKJV)

The heart and the mouth.  Scripture talks extensively about these two, as they are two of the few unique parts of the body that can affect more than just the physical realm.  God created them able to connect and communicate with Him in the spiritual realm.  I particularly think of how, while living on earth, Christ constantly discussed the heart and the mouth.  The comparison in Matthew 12:33-37 comes to mind, of the likeness of a man’s heart to a tree: “³³Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?” Ouch!  How often am I just plain rotten on the inside, yet put on a smile and talk nicely to someone?  “It’s the truth that hurts the worst,” the old saying goes.  God’s word is not just some old, meaningless record, but the living and holy truth, and it slices straight through me. 

Jesus continues: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  ³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgement. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Emphasis added) What?  Every idle word I say I will have to give an account or reason for?  Matthew 15:11&18 say, “¹¹Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man…¹⁸But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”  If that doesn’t make a man think, I don’t know what will, and boy howdy do I regret some things I have said in the past! 

All things start with the heart, the “heart of the problem” so to speak.  It is where battles and wars are won or lost, and where the decision to fight or become lax is made.  This reality has become very alive to me lately, and found myself viciously fighting the enemy’s attacks in my heart.  Yes, Jesus is my personal Savior, but so often I forget this, and wars are waged.  Yet what does Romans 10:9 say? “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This comes back to remembering Christ’s sacrifice, and the rekindled belief in my heart leads to God’s holiness conviction and me verbally confessing I sin and can do nothing without Him, and that Christ Jesus is Lord of all.

Romans 10:10-13 closes this out: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  ¹¹For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  ¹³For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Application:  I will practice guarding my heart of evil thoughts, taking every thought captive and evaluate it by God’s word to determine whether it is worthy of speech.