The Sanctuary of the Heart

The Sanctuary of the Heart

In the old covenant, when God-fearing kings reigned and had a mind to rule the people according to God’s laws and to put everything else in order according to these laws, the very first thing they did was to restore and cleanse God’s sanctuary. As long as Israel had a cleansed sanctuary where God could dwell in their midst, they had great power to fight against their enemies. No enemy army, no matter how large it was, could conquer them.

This is also the way for us. Now we need spiritual striking power more than ever before. Therefore our hearts must be a cleansed sanctuary where the Spirit of Christ can dwell. Then we are well established and have power with God in the spirit world. Only with a pure heart can we see and act clearly, put things right according to God’s laws, and see a matter through to God’s good pleasure. Only in this purity can we inquire of the Lord and receive true insight. Israel’s elders came to inquire of the Lord, but the Lord would not be inquired of by them. Ezek. 14.

Christ came to restore all things, beginning with the innermost parts of our heart. He wants order and peace within our heart so that He can speak to us and have intimate fellowship with us. In quietness and confidence shall be our strength.

The order that begins within our heart and proceeds from it is divine and acceptable in God’s sight. With this order comes a heavenly rest, peace, and safety. All other order is not from God, but is sensual and demonic, and is followed by a constant unrest and anxiety.

How many housewives wear themselves out because of this kind of order that is driven by honor seeking! They are so occupied with what people think and believe about them that it affects their nerves. They go far beyond their physical strength, doing things that are totally useless and meaningless in God’s light. They want order in their drawers and cupboards. Everything has to be clean, and they want to have the reputation of being someone who keeps good order. But what does God say, He who looks at the heart? What is the use of all this outward cleanliness and order if the heart is not cleansed and there is no order in one’s thought life? Honor-seeking is the great driving force in all this restless striving and commotion.

Jesus says that life proceeds from the heart. A blessed life wells up in word and deed from a heart in which dwell purity, order, rest, thankfulness, peace, and joy. The love of Christ is its great compelling force, and God receives the glory.

It is not very praiseworthy when a person repeatedly neglects prayer, reading God’s Word, and fellowship with the saints at meetings and otherwise because of trivial matters. Maybe the person neglects meetings or other important spiritual matters in order to bake bread, which he could buy just as cheaply and easily from the neighborhood bakery. A believing woman did not want others to know that she mended her stockings unless she could do a perfect mending job with the exact matching yarn. Such people just love to bask in other people’s praise. When believing husbands praise their wives for such dexterity and orderliness it is to their shame, and they do not show evidence of much true love. They are far from realizing the seriousness of the power of evil spirits.

I would like to relate one serious incident, which I have mentioned before. My father and brother Aslaksen visited a believing woman who was paralyzed and bedridden. She had been paralyzed for eight years. She told them that there were so many things that bothered her. The pictures were not hanging straight on the wall, the tablecloth was not straight on the table, the chairs were not standing exactly where she wanted them, and the plants had some yellow leaves on them. She was lying there, plagued and bothered because she couldn’t get up and put it all in order. But it did not even enter her mind to put her heart in order. The brothers realized that they were dealing with spirit powers. They hung the pictures more crookedly, pulled the tablecloth, overturned the chairs, and then they had a powerful prayer meeting. The demonic spirits that had bound and plagued her for years were driven out. She got out of bed, healed and free, and could thereafter come to conferences and meetings.

Here we see what a serious matter the condition of the heart is. The rooms, or whatever it might be, will be put in order, as soon as the heart is tidied up properly. Never mind if there are some cobwebs in the corners on Christmas Eve, as long as there is Christmas in the heart. It says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. When we have a pure heart with peace and joy, the earthly work is much easier, and all unrest and trouble will disappear. Inner joy and strength is beneficial for the whole body, and the nerves will be rested. When sorrow, worry, and labor with all that is useless and vain in God’s sight is gone, there is plenty of time to do all of God’s work in complete peace and rest.