A Matter of the Heart - The Influence of the Hidden Man

Introduction

Proverbs 23:26 “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

God wants our hearts. When He has our hearts, He has us. Focussing on the flesh is a waste of time, if our hidden man (inner man) is living the self-life. Pride and self-will causes the unsaved to refuse God. Pride and self-will causes the believer to refuse full surrender of their heart. This is a sad reality, because without full surrender of their heart there can be no true fellowship with the Lord. This explains the spiritual deficiency and defeat in the Christian life. The heart represents the total man. It is a tragic matter to hold back anything from God.

The Influence of the Hidden Man - (1 Peter 3:1-4).

This passage serves as a great example of the influence of our hidden man. Peter gives wise counsel to wives whose husbands are not believers. The phrase “obey not” means “to not allow one’s self to be persuaded; to refuse to believe or obey.” He states that the husband may be won without the word and Peter advises against relying on two things to reach their mates. Peter instructs them to allow “the hidden man of the heart” to set the outward example.

A. Vain Adornment - Peter doesn’t condemn the wearing of jewelry, but states that it should not be depended on. Also, outward apparel is not to be substituted for God’s way of influence.

Proverbs 31:30 “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.”

Proverbs 11:16 “A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.”

B. Verbal Altercation - Peter later cautions the wife in (v.9). Nothing good can ever be gained by an argument. When the hidden man of the heart is right, everything else will work for good.

Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

Application of Truth

Psalm 90:17 “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

Godly Presence - Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

Godly Personality - John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

Godly Performance - John 13:15–16 “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”

Conclusion

Are we Christian people of influence? Can we say our “Hidden Man” has a influencing power in our lives?