CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE NEED TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT AND 
PURE IN HEART TO EXPERIENCE 
THE TREE OF LIFE

Scripture Reading: Ezek. 36:26-27; Matt. 5:3, 8; Heb. 4:12; Rom. 1:9; 7:6; 1 Pet. 3:4; Mark 12:30; 4:14-20; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Psa. 51:6; Heb. 10:22

THE HEART AND THE SPIRIT

We want to see how we have to deal with our heart and our spirit in order to experience the tree of life. The heart and the spirit are referred to many times in both the Old and New Testaments. We need to be clear about the position and function of the heart and about the difference between the heart and the spirit. We need to come back to the pure Word to see the difference between the heart and the spirit.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 shows us that the heart is different from the spirit. Heart and spirit are not synonyms but are two different things. These verses say, “I will also give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you…And I will put My Spirit within you.” The new spirit mentioned here is not the Holy Spirit, because in verse 27 there is another Spirit which will be put into us, into our spirit. The human heart is different from the human spirit. Both of these organs of our human being have to be renewed.

Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” The spirit referred to here is our human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. To be poor in spirit does not mean that one has a poor spirit. To be poor in spirit is to have the best spirit. It is not only to have a humble spirit but also to be emptied in our spirit, in the depth of our being, not holding on to the old things of the old dispensation but unloaded to receive the new things, the things of the kingdom of the heavens. Our spirit has to be emptied of many things. Human beings are filled with many things in their [184] spirit. Now that we have turned to the Lord, we have to evacuate our spirit to be poor in spirit. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” If the heart were synonymous with the human spirit, there would have been no need for the Lord to give these two different blessings in Matthew 5. Our heart has to be pure, and our spirit has to be emptied. A pure heart and an empty spirit are the two main conditions for the nine blessings spoken by the Lord in Matthew 5.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The soul and the spirit are two different entities just as the joints and marrow are. The heart is also another item. With the heart are the thoughts and intentions. Again we see that there is a distinction between the heart and the spirit. Our spirit is the organ for us to contact God (John 4:24), and our heart is the organ for us to love God (Mark 12:30). Our spirit contacts, receives, contains, and experiences God. However, it requires our heart to love God first. In our heart is the mind with the thoughts and the will with the intentions.

Romans 1:9 says, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” Romans 7:6 tells us that we should serve as slaves in “newness of spirit.” To serve the Lord is something in the spirit. To love the Lord is something in the heart. The heart is for loving, and the spirit is for serving. We need to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART

First Peter 3:4 speaks of “the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very costly in the sight of God.” In our heart there is a hidden man. The hidden man of the heart is the meek and quiet spirit. If a man is hidden in a house, it is obvious that the man and the house are distinct entities. The spirit is hidden in the heart and is the hidden man of the heart. The wives’ adornment before God should be their inner being—the hidden man of their heart, which is their spirit, in meekness and quietness. This is the incorruptible adornment in contrast with the corruptible hair, gold, and garments (3:3). This spiritual adornment is costly in the sight of God. A person may dress in nice [185] clothing, which is the adornment of the outward man, yet this person may have a proud spirit. Outwardly this person is adorned, but inwardly there is no spiritual adornment. Peter charged the sisters not to pay much attention to their outward adornment but to take care of the hidden man of the heart, which is a meek and quiet spirit. Our spirit should be adorned with meekness and with quietness.

LOVING THE LORD WITH ALL OUR HEART

Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” The function of the heart is to love. The heart is a loving organ, and we are told to love the Lord our God from our whole heart.

DEALING WITH THE HEART SO THAT 
CHRIST CAN GROW WITHIN US

The parable of the sower in Mark 4 focuses attention on the human heart. The human heart is the soil for the seed sown by the Slave-Savior. Mark 4:14 says, “The sower sows the word.” The Sower is Christ, and the word is also Christ. This means that the Lord Jesus came to sow Himself into us. He Himself is both the Sower and the seed of life. Verse 15 says, “These are the ones beside the way, where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.” “Beside the way” is the place close to the way. It is hardened by the traffic of the way, and it is difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. This typifies a preoccupied heart, hardened by worldly traffic and not open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom. The soil should not be preoccupied by anything and must be absolutely open for the seed of life, but the wayside has been trodden too much by worldly traffic. This is the heart that has been preoccupied by many other things, thus becoming hardened. The wayside signifies a preoccupied heart.

Verses 16 and 17 say, “Likewise, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. Yet they have no root in themselves, but last only for a time; then when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they are stumbled.” The rocky places do not [186] have much earth. This signifies a stony heart. There is some ground good for the seed, but this ground is too shallow. Underneath this ground are rocks. It is rather hard for the seed to root deeply into a stony heart. Many times we may be willing to receive the word, but we only receive it superficially because there are some rocks in our heart. Thus, it is hard for Christ as the seed of life to root deeply in us.

Verses 18 and 19 say, “Others are the ones being sown into the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, and the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts for other things enter in and utterly choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Our lusts for other things can choke the word. You may not think that the anxieties of the age or the deceitfulness of riches trouble you, but what about the lusts for other things? Some may be desirous of a high position or a high degree. The anxieties of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.