What Does It Mean To Believe With The Heart?
Bishop James C. Hash, Sr.
Jeremiah 17:9-10...KJV THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, and DESPERATELY WICKED: WHO CAN KNOW IT?
10 I THE LORD SEARCH THE HEART, I TRY THE REINS, EVEN TO GIVE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, and ACCORDING TO THE FRUIT OF HIS DOINGS.
· THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS.
· I THE LORD SEARCH THE HEART, I TRY THE REINS.
Hebrews 3:12...KJV TAKE HEED, BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD.
ROMANS 10:10...KJV For WITH THE HEART MAN BELIEVETH UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS; and WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION.
· To believe with the heart means to believe with the Spirit.
· We know that man is a spirit being.
· When God speaks of the heart, He means the re-created human spirit.
· Mankind is in the same class as God as a “Spirit Being.”
Romans 8:14...KJV For AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THEY ARE THE SONS OF GOD.
John 4:23-24...KJV But the hour cometh, and “NOW’ IS, WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT and IN TRUTH: for THE FATHER SEEKETH SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM.
24 GOD IS A SPIRIT: and THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT and IN TRUTH.
· God seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
· Mankind cannot know God through sense knowledge.
· God is only revealed to man through His Spirit.
· It is the spirit of man that contacts God.
I Peter 3:4...KJV But LET IT BE THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART, IN THAT WHICH IS NOT CORRUPTIBLE, EVEN THE ORNAMENT OF A MEEK and QUIET SPIRIT, WHICH IS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD OF GREAT PRICE.
· Our spirit is called the “HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART.”
Romans 7:22...KJV For I DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF GOD AFTER THE INWARD MAN:
· It is called “THE INWARD MAN.”
· The “INWARD MAN” and “HIDDEN MAN” give us God’s definition of the human spirit.
· The real man is a spirit; he has a body and soul.
· The soul contacts the intellectual realm, the physical body contacts the physical realm, and the spirit, the Spiritual Realm.
I Thessalonians 5:23 KJV And THE VERY GOD OF PEACE SANCTIFY YOU WHOLLY; and I PRAY GOD YOUR WHOLE SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY BE PRESERVED BLAMELESS UNTO THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
· When you are reading the WORD, put yourself in the position that He is talking to you.
· When you hear Jesus’ WORD inside you, the main thing to do is work in developing a listening heart, not merely an intellectual state of mind.
I Corinthians 2:14...KJV But THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVETH NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD: for THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM: NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.
· There is a contrast between sense knowledge and Spiritual Knowledge or between the senses and the Spirit.
II Corinthians 4:16...KJV For WHICH CAUSE WE FAINT NOT: but THOUGH OUR OUTWARD MAN PERISH, YET THE INWARD MAN IS RENEWED DAY BY DAY.
· The outward man (physical body) perish versus the inward man (the spirit) which is renewed day by day.
· The re-created human spirit must be renewed on the WORD of God.
Ephesians 3:16...KJV That HE WOULD GRANT YOU, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY, to be STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN;
· Paul prayed that you be “STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY
HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN.”
· When a man is born again, Eternal Life is imparted to his spirit, to the inward man.
· When the Holy Spirit comes into a body, He comes in to dwell in your spirit.
· The Holy Spirit cannot communicate directly with our minds, but He must communicate with us through our spirit which reaches and
influences our intellectual process.
· The spirit has a voice. We call that voice “conscience” or a hunch or guidance. Sometimes it is called “intuition.”
· That inward voice (conscience) seeks to give guidance to our minds. We have to learn to pause and listen.
Romans 9:1...KJV I SAY THE TRUTH IN CHRIST, I LIE NOT, MY CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARING ME WITNESS IN THE HOLY GHOST,
Romans 1:9...KJV For GOD IS MY WITNESS, WHOM I SERVE WITH MY SPIRIT IN THE GOSPEL OF HIS SON, that WITHOUT CEASING I MAKE MENTION OF YOU ALWAYS IN MY PRAYERS.
· The witness is the Holy Spirit.
· We serve God with our spirit.
Acts 24:16...KJV And herein do I EXERCISE MYSELF, TO HAVE ALWAYS A CONSCIENCE VOID TO OFFENCE TOWARD GOD, and TOWARD MEN.
· A CONSCIENCE VOID TO OFFENCE...
Acts 23:1...KJV And Paul, EARNESTLY BEHOLDING THE COUNCIL, said, men and brethren, I HAVE LIVED IN ALL GOOD CONSCIENCE BEFORE GOD UNTIL THIS DAY.
· Knowledge of our intellect has taken the throne, and our spirits have been locked away in a prison.
· Consequently, we are continually making mistakes because our spirit which should guide us is not permitted to function for lack of knowledge of God’s WORD.
James 3:13-18...KJV 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 ENTREATED, 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.
· Wisdom is the ability to use the Knowledge of God to profit.
· The Wisdom of God does not come through the senses.
· Wisdom comes from our spirit.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BELIEVE WITH THE HEART?