The Desire Of The True Christian Is After GOD HIMSELF.

Actions, words, desires
(Archibald Brown, "The Heart's Cry after God" 1879)

"My heart and my flesh cry out for 
the living GOD!" Psalm 84:2

The desires of the heart are the best 

proofs of salvation; and if a man wishes 

to know whether he is really saved or not, 

he can very soon find out by putting his 

finger upon the pulse of his desires, 

for those are things that never can 

be counterfeit.

You may counterfeit words;
you may counterfeit actions;
but you cannot counterfeit desires.

You cannot always tell a Christian 

by his actions.
For sometimes true Christians 

act in a very ugly style;

and sometimes those who are not 

Christians act in a very beautiful way;
and hypocrites often act the best. 

The whole of a hypocrite's life 

may be a simple counterfeit.

Nor are our words always a true test. 

Often the most beautiful experience, as 

far as language goes, is the experience 

that falls from the lips of a man whose 

heart knows nothing about the grace of GOD. 

It is possible to mix with GOD'S children 

until you pick up a sort of Christian dialect, 

and talk of others' experiences as though 

they were your own. Just as a man 

sojourning in a foreign country will 

learn a good deal of the language of its 

inhabitants by simply hearing it spoken--

so it is possible to dwell among Christians 

until their language is in great measure 

acquired. But talking a language does 

not constitute a nationality.

But there is one thing which cannot 

be picked up or counterfeited, and 

that is a desire. Let me know my desire--

then do I know myself; for I can 

no more counterfeit a desire than I can 

counterfeit fire. One says, "Do you want 

to know what you are? Go ask your 

desires, and they will tell you. Do you 

wish to know where you are going? 

See where your desires tend."

A good action may be done without 

any love to that action. And, on the other 

hand, an evil action may be avoided--

not from any hatred to that evil. 

The good action may be done from an 

impure motive; the evil action may be 

avoided simply from a selfish motive. 

But the desire of the soul--

that is the immediate issue of the heart.

A caged bird cannot fly--

does it therefore cease to be a bird? 

No; that it does not fly is because 

it is in a cage. Open the door--

see, now, how quickly it darts through 

the opening, and flies, skimming through 

the air, heavenward. It has the bird's nature. 

It had the desire for flight, even when 

the cruel wires kept it in.

And so is it with the child of GOD. 

Often does he get caged, and if you 

were to judge simply by appearances, 

you would say, 'Surely he has not 

the nature of the Christian within.' 

Only open the door--

only give him a chance of flight--

and you will see then that, after all, 

the desire of his soul has been towards 

GOD, for, in the language of my text, he says, 

"My heart and my flesh cry out 
for the living GOD!"

The desire of the true Christian is after 

GOD HIMSELF. 

"My heart and my flesh cry out for--

for GOD." 

This desire swallows up all others!

Longing after GOD is a more infallible 

proof you are GOD'S, than your most 

zealous services, or the very best of your 

actions. These might be counterfeit--

but this longing after GOD cannot be.

Oh what must Heaven be! 

If all the desires of a saint are 

concentrated in GOD--

then what must the satisfaction 

of Heaven be when it is all GOD--

GOD on the throne, GOD before me, 

GOD leading me, GOD delighting 

my eyes, GOD in my songs--

the world, its cares, its sorrows, 

its worries, all gone--

a heavenly atmosphere of GOD all around! 

How unutterably deep the satisfaction! 

My heart and my flesh will 

no longer cry out for GOD--

but will eternally rejoice in HIM!

Do not I love thee, O my LORD?
Behold my heart, and see,
And chase each idol far away,
That dares to rival thee!

Thou know'st I love thee, dearest LORD.
But, oh! I long to soar,
Above the sphere of mortal joys,
And learn to love thee more!
  Philip Doddridge

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GraceGems just published Archibald Brown's insightful sermon, 
"The Heart's Cry after God!"