A Willing Heart

A willing heart is very important. It is what makes a disciple, and it is what opens the door to the mysteries of God.

John 7:14-16 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
15 And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine (teaching) is not Mine, but His that sent Me.

Has your speech changed? There was a time when everything you said was of you. It came out of your mind; it was your teaching. That is the way it is in the world. What you give out or teach is yours. Jesus, though, was speaking from another realm. He said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” This must become true for us, too. What we speak must come from another realm, the realm of Spirit. We must become a people sent, a people with a revelation-Word from the world of God.

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

True ministries of the Kingdom of God will be those who are sent from God. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Jeremiah 7:25. We must be a sent people. A preacher that preaches from his mind - on a mental level – is a false ministry. What we have to say must not be ours but His who sent us. We must be a sent people with a sent Word.

John 7:17 If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine (teaching), whether it be of (out of) God, or whether I speak of Myself.

The teaching we want to know is the teaching of the One who sends us. If any man will do His will he shall know – not know on the human level, but will know on the realm of Spirit. There is a path set before us. We haven’t been on this path heretofore and we don’t know the way, but when there is a willing heart the knowing comes.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

It is the pure heart that is able to see the will of God. It is the willing heart that will know the teaching. With the heart you will see and with the heart you will know.

Matthew 13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

The house or the spiritual abiding place of Jesus was on a much higher realm of spirit than the multitude. So He comes out of His house because He is going to minister to the multitude. The multitude is living on lower realm. They are an earth-bound people so Jesus comes out of this heavenly house and leaves it in order to minister to the people. Now isn’t that kind of what He did for us? He came out of His heavenly realm and came down to our earthly man-realm. Jesus Christ came forth into this world so that He could minister to us, lift us out. It’s the same as God told Moses, “I have come down to bring them up” (Exodus 3:8). That is what Jesus is doing now. He descends into us to lift us into a higher realm in Him.

Jesus came out of the house and the multitude gathered unto Him. He taught them in parables, beginning with the parable of the sower. The sower went forth to sow… (Matthew 13:3-9). There are six examples in this parable. Three of the groups received the Word that was sown, but for some reason they lost it. Three other groups received the Word that was ministered to them and brought forth fruitfulness; some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some a hundred-fold. Their hearing determined their fruitfulness. In other words, how much of Christ that comes forth in your life is determined by how well you hear.

Matthew 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

This is what we need, ears that are able to hear. We need to hear the Word that comes from God’s world. How do we get that kind of hearing? How can we know? Willingness – a willing heart will enable us to hear and receive from God.

Matthew 13:10-11, 36 And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

Do you ever wonder why the Scriptures will say something like that – His disciples came unto Him? They walked in the house with Him. What does it mean that they came unto Him? It is speaking of the awareness of their heart. They were hearing something that was drawing them spiritually unto Him. The disciples said, “Tell us about this parable of the tares.” So Jesus began explaining it to them.

The disciples didn’t understand the parable any more than the multitude. But Jesus answered, “It is given for you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is not given for them to know the mysteries of the Kingdom.” Then He taught them. The difference was willingness. The disciples were walking with Jesus. They were being trained for a ministry because of the willingness in their hearts. They weren’t any smarter than the others. They weren’t more intelligent or more educated; they just had a heart to walk with the Lord.

The disciples didn’t know what they were getting into; they didn’t understand things yet. In fact, just before the day of Pentecost one of them asked, “Lord, is it at this time You are going to restore the kingdom unto Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Can you see where their thinking is? That’s about where we are, too. Sometime we think we are so spiritual, and we know so little. If God was to look at us and say, “Well, let’s see now. This is where they are, this is what they’re doing, this is what they’re thinking and we can just give them anything.” No, if you had to merit anything you wouldn’t get anything at all. That’s just the way it is.

Matthew 13:11-12 ...it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that he has.

What I want you to understand is that these disciples needed to know and they were willing to know. That is what brought the knowing. I heard someone say one time that you don’t get a miracle until you need one. They are not just passed out for fun. We are going to put ourselves in a place, a position where we need it. We need to know! Why? Because we’re going to minister the Word of the Lord. You may say, “But I don’t feel like I have anything.” How many times have I heard someone say that? “I don’t think I have anything today”? Yes, you do! You do! You do have something! You have heard the Word. “But I don’t know what it is.” Put yourself in the place where you need it, with a willing heart, and you will know. This is the key.

You may think you should know before you need it. The Lord taught me this lesson because I would study. I would get my scriptures and my books, and I could whip out a sermon. Suddenly all that came to an end; I couldn’t do that anymore. For a couple of years, I would walk up to the pulpit and think, “What am I going to do here? What am I going to say?” It took a while for me to learn – just be willing, just trust the Lord. Are you willing to put yourself in a place where you need to know? Because when you need to know is when you will know. It is when you are willing that the knowing comes.

You don’t realize how much has been imparted to your spirit. A lot has been poured into your spirit and now you just need the willingness, the willingness to be used, the willingness to be a channel. “But I’m scared. What if I get egg on my face?” What if you do? Listen, you’re going to learn a lot by your mistakes. When you do something right, you don’t know what you did and you don’t learn very much either. Make a mistake! Step out and walk with God! Step out and minister.

I tell you, when there is a willingness of heart to be what the Lord wants you to be, it will amaze you how the Lord suddenly begins to flow through you. It will happen. I assure you of that. If any man will do His will, he shall know… (John 7:17). Let me say this one more time - It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. These disciples didn’t know the mysteries of the Kingdom yet, but Jesus told them, “It is given for you to know.” Accept that. Why? Because you have to be a believer. A path is set before you, a destiny to walk in, and it is given for you to know the mysteries.

How hard it can be sometimes just to believe what the Lord has said. “O ye slow of heart and little faith,” Jesus said to His disciples so many times. “How long before you will believe?” We’ve had so much trouble with that. That is coming to an end. We’re going to accept the fact that it has been given for us to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. “Well, I don’t have enough perception to see.” It is given for you to know; believe that! You will have revelation because you are determined to have revelation, and you are determined to have it because you need it! It is a matter of setting your heart. “I am willing and I am determined to walk the path that God has set before me. I will have it. I will have the revelation that I need. I will have the Word that I need to speak and I’ll have the anointing.” It is knowing who you are; it is knowing the relationship that you have with the Almighty God. It is given for you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom. It doesn’t make any difference if you have ever pick up a commentary at all. It is given for you to know! Be willing. Have a willing heart and believe what God has said. Amen.

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