Source: Francis Frangipane
There are so many things to occupy our minds: so many books, so many
examples, so many good teachings that deserve our attention, that say, "here
is a truth." But, as I have been serving the Lord these past years, He has
led me to seek for two things and two things only: to know the heart of God
in Christ and to know my own heart in Christ's light.
Knowing the Heart of God
I have been seeking God, searching to know Him and the depth of His love
toward His people. I want to know Christ's heart and the compassion's that
motivate Him. The Scriptures are plain: Jesus loved people. Mark's gospel
tells us that after He taught and healed the multitudes, they became hungry.
In His compassion, Christ saw them as "sheep without a shepherd" (Mark
6:34). It was not enough for Him to heal and teach them; He personally cared
for each of them. Their physical well-being, even concerning food, was
important to Him.
A lad with five loaves and two fish provided enough for Jesus to work
another miracle, but this miracle had to come through Christ's willing but
bone-weary body. Consider: Christ brought His disciples out to rest; "For
there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to
eat" (Mark 6:31).
Consider: Jesus personally had come to pray and be strengthened. For John
the Baptist, Jesus' forerunner, had been beheaded earlier that very week at
the hands of Herod. It was in the state of being emotionally and physically
depleted that Jesus fed the multitudes-not just once or twice but over and
over again "He kept giving [the bread and the fish] to the disciples to set
before them" (Mark 6:41).
Thousands of men, women and children all "ate and were satisfied" (v. 42)!
Oh, the heart of Jesus! The miracle was for them, but we read of no miracle
sustaining Him except the marvellous wonder of a holy love that continually
lifted His tired hands with more bread and more fish. Out of increasing
weakness He repeatedly gave that others might be renewed.
So, if my quest is to know Him, I must recognise this about Him: Jesus loves
people-all people, especially those society ignores. Therefore, I must know
exactly how far He would travel for men, for that is the same distance He
would journey again through me. Indeed, I must know His thoughts concerning
illness, poverty and human suffering. As His servant, I am useless to Him
unless I know these things. If I would actually do His will, I must truly
know His heart. Therefore, in all my study and times of prayer I am seeking
more than just knowledge; I am searching for the heart of God.
Knowing Our Hearts
At the same time, as I draw closer to the heart of God, the very fire of His
presence begins a deep purging work within me. In the vastness of His
riches, my poverty appears. The psalmist wrote, "Who may ascend into the
hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean
hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has
not sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3-4).
We cannot even find the hill of the Lord, much less ascend it, if there is
deceit in our heart. How does one serve in God's holy place if his soul is
unclean? It is only the pure in heart who perceive God. To ascend toward God
is to walk into a furnace of truth where falsehood is extracted from our
souls. To abide in the holy place we must dwell in honesty, even when a lie
might seem to save us. Each ascending step upon the hill of God is a
thrusting of our souls into greater transparency, a more perfect view into
the motives of our hearts.
It is this upward call of God which we pursue. Yet, the soul within us is
hidden, crouching in fears and darkness, living in a world of untruths and
illusions. This is our inner man, the soul God seeks to save. Have you
discovered your true self, the inner person whom truth alone can free? Yes,
we seek holiness, but true holiness arises from here; it comes as the Spirit
of Truth unveils the hidden places in our hearts. Indeed, it is truthfulness
which leads to holiness.
God, grant us a zeal for truth that we may stand in Your holy place!
Men everywhere presume they know the "truth" but have neither holiness nor
power in their lives. Truth must become more than historical doctrines; it
must be more than a museum of religious artefacts-mementoes from when God
once moved. Truth is knowing God's heart as it was revealed in Christ, and
it is knowing our own hearts in the light of God's grace.
As members of the human race, we are shrouded in ignorance. Barely do we
know our world around us; even less do we know the nature of our own souls.
Without realising it, as we search for God's heart, we are also searching
for our own. For it is only in finding Him that we discover ourselves, for
we are "in Him."
Yet, throughout that searching process, as I position my heart before the
Lord, it is with a sense of trembling that I pray the prayer of King David,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts;
and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting
way"(Psalm 139:23-24).
Let us wash the cosmetics from our souls and look at the unadorned condition
of our hearts. I know God has created us eternally complete and perfect in
Christ. I believe that. But in the first three chapters of John's
Revelation, Jesus did not tell the churches they were "perfect in His eyes."
No! He revealed to them their true conditions; He told them their sins.
Without compromise, He placed on them the demand to be over-comers, each in
their own unique and difficult circumstances.
Like them, we must know our need. And like them, the souls we want saved
dwell here, in a world system structured by lies, illusions and rampant
corruption. Our old natures are like well-worn shoes into which we relax; we
can be in the flesh instantly without even realizing it. The enemies that
defeat us are hidden and latent within us! Thus, the Holy Spirit must expose
our foes before we can conquer them!
Concerning man's nature, the prophet Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is more
deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
(Jeremiah 17:9). Quoting another of David's prayers, a similar cry is heard,
"Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Thy
servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be
blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression" (Psalm.
19:12-13).
There may be errors inside of us that are actually ruling us without our
awareness. Do we realise, for instance, how many of our actions are
manipulated purely by vanity and the desire to be seen or accepted by
others? Are we aware of the fears and apprehensions that unconsciously
influence so many of our decisions? We may have serious flaws inside yet
still be either too proud or too insecure to admit we need help.
Concerning ourselves, we think so highly of what we know so little!
Even outwardly, though we know our camera pose, do we know how we appear
when we are laughing or crying, eating or sleeping, talking or angry? The
fact is, most of us are ignorant of how we appear outwardly to others; much
less do we know ourselves inwardly before God! Our fallen thinking processes
automatically justify our actions and rationalise our thoughts. Without the
Holy Spirit, we are nearly defenceless against our own innate tendencies
toward self-deception.
Therefore, if we would be holy, we must first renounce falsehood. In the
light of God' grace, having been justified by faith and washed in the
sacrificial blood of Jesus, we need not pretend to be righteous. We need
only to become truthful.
No condemnation awaits our honesty of heart-no punishment. We have only to
repent and confess our sins to have them forgiven and cleansed; if we will
love the truth, we shall be delivered from sin and self-deception. Indeed,
we need to know two things and two things only: the heart of God in Christ
and our own hearts in Christ's light.
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The preceding message is adapted from a chapter in Francis' book, Holiness
Truth and the Presense of God (published by Arrow Publications). For more
information on this book, please visit the Arrow Bookstore at
www.arrowbookstore.com.
Useful link: www.frangipane.org
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