Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him

Hymns, #693, "He faileth not, for He is God," is not that suitable because the train of thought in this hymn does not match our subject. Hymns, #437, "Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him," is also inappropriate because the feeling of this hymn is very high. In the fellowship meeting, which does not have a particular subject, we should not use hymns that have a specific subject. Hymns, #720, "God hath not promised skies always blue, / Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through," is not suitable. This is a good hymn to sing to comfort those who have suffered a domestic misfortune. Hymns, #370, "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide," is not suitable. If we sing this hymn to enjoy the Lord's presence when the sun is setting, it would be quite good. Or if someone is dying, we can sing this hymn with his or her family.

How should we select a second hymn? Someone may suggest Hymns, #437, "Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him," but this is not suitable. We must firmly grasp this principle: we need to touch the feeling of the meeting. After singing Hymns, #213 and offering a prayer on how the Lord gave Himself and shed His blood for us, we could also continue with Hymns, #65, "Jesus! that name we love." Stanza 2 is especially appropriate, saying, "As Son of Man it was, / Jesus, the Lord! / Thou gav'st Thy life for us, / Jesus, our Lord! / Great was indeed Thy love, / All other loves above, / Love Thou didst dearly prove, / Jesus, our Lord!" This hymn continues the feeling of the earlier prayer and further strengthens the subject.

Throughout the past two thousand years everyone who has been used by the Lord consecrated himself in this way. When the author of Hymns, #101 experienced being constrained by the Lord's self-sacrificing love on the cross, he sacrificed "all the vain things that charm us most" (stanza 2) and declared, "Were the whole realm of nature ours, / That were an offering far too small; / Love that transcends our highest pow'rs, / Demands our heart, our life, our all" (stanza 5). Similarly, the author of Hymns, #437 was attracted by the Lord and declared, "Captivated by His beauty, / Worthy tribute haste to bring;/ Let His peerless worth constrain thee,/ Crown Him now unrivaled King!" (chorus). These two poets had the experience of being touched by and tasting the Lord's great love. Because they were constrained by the Lord's love, they were willing to consecrate everything to Him. However, our consecration still cannot compare to the Lord's love. The Lord gives us the best, and by contrast, our everything is merely dung. As long as a person touches the Lord's love, even the things that he thought were the best will seem to be dung to him. Because we have touched the Lord's love, consecrating ourselves is a very spontaneous matter.

The apostle John could lie on the Lord's bosom (John 13:23). How personal and affectionate that was! The very God, the very Lord whom we seek, sets up a feast and invites us to feast with Him (Rev. 3:20). We must have such a personal and affectionate contact with Him. If we mail someone a letter, that affects him in a certain way. But if we come to him with a personal visitation and an affectionate contact, that makes a great difference.

Hymns, #437 (stanzas 1 and 6 with the chorus) says:

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?
Is not thine a captured heart?
Chief among ten thousand own Him;
Joyful choose the better part.
Captivated by His beauty,
Worthy tribute haste to bring;

The issue of experiencing God's appearing is always consecration. When we meet God, we spontaneously say, "Lord, everything that is mine is for You. I let You live in every situation." We often give messages on consecration. However, our messages cannot produce consecration. Consecration is not produced from our speaking. Consecration is brought forth after a person has met God. We can give people a mental understanding of consecration and teach them the significance of consecration. But no amount of listening to messages can cause a person to consecrate himself. A genuine and meaningful consecration is brought forth only after a person experiences God's appearing. Only "the sight of peerless worth" (Hymns, #437, stanza 3) can cause us to offer ourselves to the Lord.

Only the face of tears that Peter saw, only the face of glory into which Stephen looked, and only the heart that wept with Mary can keep us away from the idols, the attractions, of this world. The Bible tells us that Jesus wept with Mary (John 11:35). Have you ever heard that God weeps? Many say that Jesus came to express God, but they mainly refer to the miracles He did, not to the tears that He shed.