PURPOSE OF HEART
I desire to speak about purpose of heart, about the need for being definite. We will get nowhere spiritually without resolve. The Lord Jesus is the perfect model for us. We could be well occupied with the purpose of heart that was seen in the Lord Jesus. He said, “Lo, I come … to do, O God, thy will”, Heb 10: 7. It was written of Him in the roll of the book, but there was a moment in time when He came into manhood to fulfil the will of God. Think of the definiteness of the purpose that marked our Lord Jesus Christ. There would have been no blessing for us, and God’s purpose would not have been secured, if it were not for the Lord Jesus coming into manhood and with purpose of heart pursuing perfectly all that the will of God involved.
So I read the verse in Luke where it says, “He stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Think of the steadfastness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Think of His perfection in His purpose of heart, His movements never deviating to the right hand or to the left. All that He was outwardly in His movements was perfect, and all that He was inwardly in His motives and desires was perfect for the eye of God. Think of His devotion; we may well feed on the purpose of heart of our Lord Jesus Christ and on His devotion to the will of God. If we feed on this purpose of the Lord Jesus in manhood we will be built up ourselves in desire to be marked by definiteness of purpose of heart. We will get nowhere without purpose, without decision, and what we often speak of as committal. Young people, and all of us, need this arriving at a purpose in our lives. Paul speaks of his purpose; he wrote to Timothy, “But thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct, purpose”, 2 Tim 3: 10. Think of Paul’s purpose. How did Paul maintain his links with the Lord Jesus? How did he become the devoted servant he was? By his purpose of heart.
It is seen perfectly and absolutely in our Lord Jesus Christ. The days of His receiving up were fulfilled, but He moves toward Jerusalem with purpose of heart. There were those who rejected Him because He moved in this way, but without deviation “he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”. For Him that meant suffering, the pathway from the mount of transfiguration down to Golgotha, and to the sufferings of the cross. He was crucified, the object of ridicule, of the animosity of men, with Satan behind them, but He also was the Victim of the sufferings He underwent from the hand of God; but He stedfastly set His face. It says in John 19: 17, “And he went out, bearing his cross”; He, “knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth”, John 18: 4. The steadfastness, the purpose, of our Lord Jesus Christ we do well to dwell upon continually and feed upon so that we too should be marked by increased purpose of heart.
I read about these people in Acts 11. “They then who had been scattered abroad passed through the country to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but to Jews alone. But there were certain of them, Cyprians and Cyrenians, who entering into Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. And the report concerning them reached the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go through as far as Antioch: who, having arrived and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced, and exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord”.
These converts in Antioch actually became the assembly in Antioch; they became a remarkable assembly. How was it formed? The basis was Barnabas’s exhortation, he “exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord”. He exhorted them, and then he went away to Tarsus to seek out Saul, and Barnabas and Saul taught for a whole year and assembly conditions were established in Antioch. It is one of the assemblies which was formed from among the nations. There is no fault found with it; there seemed to be normal conditions in Antioch. It was based on this purpose of heart as to which Barnabas exhorted. It says, “And so it was with them that for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught a large crowd”. There was constructive teaching in Antioch for a whole year, and there was a positive result in testimony and for the pleasure of God, and the service of God was established there.
Later we find that they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, and the Holy Spirit had His way in that local company. “The Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul”, Acts 13: 2. You can see, dear brethren, the results of answering to the exhortation with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord. We know we have deviated, but the word would come to us afresh now that purpose of heart might mark us to abide with the Lord; that the Lord may have His way with us, that we may be subject persons, obedient persons, living by the word of God, ready for instruction. It is really the good ground, the honest and good heart, of Luke 8: 15. He “exhorted all with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord”. That exhortation would come afresh, I believe, to oneself and to each one of us here, to abide with the Lord, to abide in the area of the truth, to abide under His direction, to be available to Him, to take up responsibilities locally with His interests in view for the promotion of what is for His pleasure and for the pleasure and service of God. What a privilege we have! We need to come to decision, to come to committal in purpose of heart.
I have read of three persons in the Old Testament who were marked by this feature, and the first one is Daniel who was a youth. In modern language we speak of teenagers; that is what Daniel was, but one who had purpose of heart. We do not need to wait until we are old to arrive at purpose of heart, we can have it when we are young. Daniel was carried away in the first captivity as we read—“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, and a part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar”, Dan 1: 1, 2. Daniel was among the youths who were carried away in this captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
He was looked upon by Nebuchadnezzar as being a possibility for his system, for Babylon. He was sent to the university of those days to be trained to promote the idolatrous system of Babylon. Daniel might have conceded, just accepted the opportunity, but it says that “Daniel purposed in his heart”. He was allocated the daily provision of the king’s delicate food and the wine that he drank which, if he had partaken of it, would have fitted him for the Babylonish system; but he purposed in his heart not to pollute himself with the king’s delicate food, nor with the wine which he drank, and he requested the prince of the eunuchs that he might not have to pollute himself. There was no provision made for conscience, but he requested; he was subject and respectful. How good it would be if our young people came to a certain purpose of heart not to pollute themselves, not to fit into the system of this world. Daniel not only requested not to be polluted with the king’s delicate food and the wine that he drank, but he directed the prince of the eunuchs as to what kind of food he should be fed on; the kind of food he requested was pulse and water. The king’s delicate food was no doubt attractive to the man after the flesh. It would be well presented; it would be colourful; it would appeal to young people. Daniel in his purpose of heart rejected it and requested that he should be given pulse.
Now pulse is very unattractive to the natural man; it does not look good; no matter how you presented pulse it would not be all that attractive; but it is basic food. It was food to build up Daniel in his constitution to be separate from the Babylonish system of things, and to be here in testimony and for the glory and pleasure of God. Daniel could have been one of the prominent men socially in Babylon, but he was separate from it all. There was a secret in this; Daniel had a secret in his soul which does not comes out until chapter 6, verse 10, where we are told that Daniel had his windows open toward Jerusalem. He was in Babylon, but his windows were toward Jerusalem where God’s house was. This first captivity was not a complete captivity; there was something left in Jerusalem. It was not until a number of years afterwards that Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar when Zedekiah was king; this was the first movement of captivity, so there were still vessels left in Jerusalem, and that is where Daniel’s heart was. It was the appreciation of what was positively there for God that preserved Daniel from being linked on with, and becoming part of, the world’s system.
For us it would be light in our souls as to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit active in an order of things down here for the pleasure of God. Because of the positive light Daniel had he requested that he would not be polluted with the king’s delicate food and the wine that he drank, but that he be fed with pulse and water. Now what would this pulse be for us today? The king’s delicate food and the wine that he drank is what builds up persons for this world’s system, but pulse and water is food for persons who are committed to the will of God. Pulse is an excellent food, even naturally, but unattractive, as I said. We have reading material the like of which is not found anywhere else. I do not mind where you go you will not find reading material such as is available to us in the day in which we are. We have the Holy Scriptures in an accurate translation; we have ministries which are reliable; I think that is like the pulse.
The Holy Scriptures may be unattractive to us when we are young. I can remember a time when I knew the Lord as my Saviour but I had little or no desire for the Scriptures. I could see my father reading his Bible, and I would see him too with books of reliable ministry, and he would be engrossed in enjoying these things, but I did not have that same purpose. I did not have any taste for the Scriptures until I began to read the Scriptures, and the more I read them the more I desired to read them. I had no desire to read ministry until I began to read the ministry; the more ministry I read the more I desired to read, not just for memorising it, but I found food, I found what cleansed my thoughts, occupied my mind with what was good and built up the soul in the knowledge of the will of God. Such reading matter builds up manhood according to God. I think that is what answers to the pulse and water. It is simple, not attractive to man after the flesh; you have to acquire a taste for it. Daniel had this taste; he purposed in his heart. Let us all purpose in heart to have this taste. Even as believers we need our taste changed.
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, after three days in the wilderness they came to Marah and the waters of Marah were bitter. God showed Moses wood “and he cast it into the waters and the waters became sweet”, Exod 15: 25. In the history of the children of Israel the waters changed, but in our experience we change, our taste changes. What is bitter to the man after the flesh becomes attractive because Moses is shown wood; for us it is really the Lord Jesus Christ here in manhood in wilderness circumstances, here for the will of God. The appreciation of Him changes our taste, we find the waters can be appropriated, just as Daniel’s taste was for this pulse and water. Dear brethren, we need to arrive at this purpose of heart. The more we read of this world’s literature the less taste we will have for the Scriptures or for ministry that will help us, but the more we commit ourselves to the Scriptures. I do not often go into a book shop but I was in one recently to get some books for children and I saw books for every taste. Satan is able by books to cater for every depraved desire and every taste of the human heart, no matter what it is. Of course, some of these books are instructive, and some have to be read at school, but many of them are novels, and there are books on all subjects; but there are the Scriptures and there are books that are reliable, books that will build up our souls in the appreciation of the Lord Jesus, and build up our souls in the kind of manhood that is here for the will of God. The pulse and water are like reading material which we need to commit ourselves to. You will never get a taste for the Scriptures or ministries that will help you until you begin to appropriate them, then your taste will change. May we all commit ourselves with purpose of heart to this line of Daniel. He began young. There are great opportunities for young people, I believe the Lord specially helps persons who commit themselves when they are young; you cannot begin too young on this line of Daniel. May we all have this purpose of heart.
Now David in Psalm 132 says he swore unto Jehovah, and vowed. You wonder that he was so committed, that his purpose was so definite—“How he swore unto Jehovah, vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob—I will not come into the tent of my house, I will not go up to the couch of my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob ...”. You wonder that David could go so far in his purpose of heart to provide what was pleasing to God down here. He goes on to say, “Behold, we heard of it (that is the ark) at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood”. Think what it was for David’s heart when he found it! He heard of it; it was in what has been described as ‘cold storage’ with Abinadab up on the hill “in the fields of the wood” (see 1 Sam 7: 1); and he found it. The first ten verses of this psalm give us David’s purpose and exercises. From verse 13 we get God’s answer to David’s exercises. The fact is that David’s exercises coincided with God’s desires. David’s exercises were towards Zion; Zion is called David’s city; it is a city that was acquired by David’s exercises—Jehovah says, “For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling—This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell”, Ps 132: 13, 14. Think of David’s exercises and purpose of heart being in such a direction that Jehovah can say, This is what I am looking for, this is what I had in mind from the beginning, that a service should be established for Me. We need to be set, dear brethren, with purpose of heart for what is for God’s pleasure, and the service of God. So from verse 13 it is God’s answer to David’s prayers, to David’s swearing to Jehovah, David’s vow, the intenseness of it. What David was exercised about was exactly what God desired. Would that be the line of our exercises? Jehovah says, “This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it”.
The fact is, dear brethren, that God is finding at this time in which we are, in spite of all the confusion and the breakdown, what His heart desires, coming about through the exercises of His people to provide something suited to Him. We have local exercises that conditions should be provided suited for the Lord to come to. I am not one of those who claim the Lord’s presence, that the Lord is with us; my concern is that we should keep providing conditions suitable for the Lord to come. I am not so much concerned about claiming that the Lord is with us; I am more concerned that we be with the Lord in what His mind is. He is with them who are with Him; that is a constant, daily, weekly, exercise, to be with Him, and provide conditions suited to Him. So Jehovah says, “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy ones with bread; And I will clothe her priests with salvation”. David requests, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132: 9); God’s answer is, “I will clothe her priests with salvation”. We are to be in the enjoyment of salvation. As a brother said earlier today, there is a fulness about our salvation; there is liberty about it; it leads on to eternal life; that is the fulness of salvation available to us at the present time. David requests, “and let thy saints shout for joy”; Jehovah says, “and her saints shall shout aloud for joy”.
There is excess in the blessing that the Lord bestows on His people, but it comes about through David’s exercises, through purpose of heart. It will come about if we are exercised in this way in our localities; there will be something for the service and pleasure of God. God will say, This is what I have been looking for; this is what I have pleasure in. He may have been deprived of it in certain localities for a long time, but now He can say, Here it is for My delight. It was David’s purpose of heart that led to this, and then, you might say, the Lord takes over because He finds conditions suited—“This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell”. Is it not worthwhile going through exercises to provide something for the divine pleasure? There is so much around us in confusion, so much that is displeasing to Him. We often speak of certain things around us as feeling them, but the Lord feels them far more than we do. We are only just beginning to learn how the Lord feels about certain things. That is negative; what we need to do is to provide what is positive for His pleasure.
We perhaps do not fully realise what it means to the Lord to have overcomers available in localities down here of whom He can approve. It means more to Him than we realise. He would say, This is what I am looking for. It is not a question of persons so gathered claiming anything; they do not need to claim; it is a question of what the Lord says. The woman who anointed the Lord’s head as recorded at the end of Matthew and the end of Mark was so attracted to the Lord, and loved Him so much, that she brought that ointment and poured it out upon His head. She would say, ‘I just did what I felt like doing’; she would not think there was anything great about it. Oh how the Lord appreciated what she did! The Lord said, “What she could she has done”, Mark 14: 8. He said that wheresoever the gospel is preached what she did shall be spoken of. She never expected such approbation.
I sometimes think that the saints in the assembly in Philadelphia, when they got that letter by the hand of John, would say to themselves, ‘We did not expect such approval; we are only a feeble few here; there is more gift in Laodicea’. We would be greatly encouraged if we could see things as the Lord sees them, and feel things as the Lord feels them. Some overcomers in a locality gathering together for the Lord’s supper means more to Him than we realise; it does indeed. If we only saw it through His eyes we would be greatly encouraged and built up in His service. He would say, as it were, “This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell”. It is His own pronouncement, His own approval and approbation.
Now just a word about Ezra, who was in a day of recovery such as we are in. What impressed me was that Ezra “directed his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and to do it, and to teach in Israel the statutes and the ordinances”. He directed his heart; he set himself in this direction; and this, dear brethren, is needed. You might say he directed his heart toward the understanding of divine principles; they are needed in the day in which we are. We need to direct our hearts in this; there needs to be care, leadership, and overseership; all these features are needed in our localities; there will always be need for care. The more numbers there are, the more these things are needed. We need a lead in the right direction, and care, and maintenance of divine principles. We need to direct our hearts, like Ezra, if there are to be conditions pleasing to the Lord.
May we be encouraged to have the purpose of heart of Daniel, and all of us be committed with purpose of heart in spiritual resolve to provide what is pleasing to the Lord, and then let us have regard to divine principles, the maintenance of what is suited to Him in our localities, helping others into it also. May the Lord help us in these things.
MOTUEKA NZ
10th March 1979
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