Out of the Abundance of the heart

David Wilkerson Today



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011



OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART

by David Wilkerson

[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]



Whenever I said something naughty as a child, my mother washed out my mouth

with soap. But it was not my mouth that needed cleansing, it was my heart! You

see, your tongue speaks only what is in your heart. Those are the very words of

our Lord Jesus Christ and He says that loose, careless, evil talk can come only

from an unclean heart.



As believers, we have not taken seriously what our Lord said about taming our

tongues. He has made it a heart issue! Not only does my careless tongue

discount all my spirituality, it also makes me face the fact that my heart is

unclean.



If I gossip, tell dirty jokes, run down other people, raise my voice and scream

at my family, I must ask myself: “What unclean, filthy stuff is still stored

up in me that I could speak this way?”



I must examine my heart and ask, “Where does this come from? There must be

something I have not dealt with or I wouldn’t be saying such things. Why do I

go on gossiping? Why do I utter such mean, careless words? What unsanctified

strongholds still hold my heart?”



Jesus gives this matter serious weight: “How can you, being evil, speak good

things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A 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” (Matthew 12:34-35). Jesus is

saying, “If you are careless with your tongue—quarreling, complaining,

murmuring, tattling—you have a serious heart problem! Your heart is not right

with God, and it goes very deep. There is an evil treasure stored up in you,

just as a snake has bags of poison stored behind his jaw. If deadly poison is

coming out of you, it is because the bag has not been drained!”



Whenever I allow something unclean to come out of my lips, I must stop and say

to the Lord, “Master, there must still be a root of jealousy, envy or lust in

my heart. Dig deep into my heart and pluck out the roots of bitterness, pride or

whatever it is!” God wants to get at that evil in your heart, that bag of

poison hidden inside of you! He wants to root it out and heal you completely.

A very good sermon.