Untitled article by L. D. Santee

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, November 26, 1867

PURIFYING THE HEART.

By L. D. Santee

BY L. D. SANTEE.

TEXT. “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” Jer. iv, 14.

This is one of the many solemn expostulations of the Lord to Israel by his holy prophets. The Jewish nation seems to have been under his especial care from the time of Abraham to the first advent of Christ. With the children of Israel alone was the key and repository of religious knowledge. The prophets, priests, and teachers, were all of the seed of Abraham, and their thrilling prophecies, their solemn warnings, their faithful admonitions, were confined alone to the Jewish people. One would naturally suppose that they, being under the guidance of the Almighty, and possessing a knowledge of his will, would be a holy people, and abounding in good works. Such was not the case. They, as a people, were stiffnecked, and noted for their hardness of heart, afflicting and persecuting the prophets that God in his mercy had sent unto them, besides disregarding their warnings. Even the iron hand of Egyptian servitude failed to draw them permanently to God. When the hand of the oppressor was felt, they cried to God for deliverance, but when the Lord by the hand of Moses had brought them out of Egypt with signs and wonders, their hearts were again filled with murmurings and unbelief. They had constantly the admonitions of holy men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

We think that of all the prophets living at that time, there was none whose heart was more burdened with the welfare of Zion than was the prophet Jeremiah. The idolater and the pleasure-seeker trembled at his thrilling words. The sufferings he endured and the perils to which he was exposed from his kindred according to the flesh, could not awe him into silence; and naught but death could hush his voice in its stern denunciation of sin.

It would be impossible to utter a more earnest admonition than the words of the prophet as found in the first part of our text. “O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved;” and as he sees how utterly his words have been disregarded, he cries almost in despair, “How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” No doubt he felt as did the prophet Isaiah when he exclaimed, “All the day long have I stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Because his warning was unheeded, the Jews soon entered the Babylonish captivity, and were finally destroyed because of unbelief.

The words of our text, though spoken to the children of Israel, are no less applicable when addressed to us, for says Paul, 1 Cor. x, 11: “They are written for our admonition on whom the ends of the world are come;” and he commences the following verse with the word wherefore, indicating that he has drawn this conclusion from the preceding part of the chapter from tracing the early history of the Jews. “Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” And oh, how important it is that we heed and profit by this caution in these last days of peril, when Satan would deceive if it were possible the very elect; when the world, the flesh, and the Devil, are arrayed against the soul of the Christian.

We are admonished by the history of the Jewish people to shun the sins that caused their rejection by God. We are warned by their punishment to yield obedience to him who is able to save or to destroy. Says the great apostle to the Gentiles, Rom. xi, 20, 21: “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”

We have before stated that the language of our text was applicable to us. We find similar warnings recorded in various places in the New Testament. It is given directly to those living at the close of time. 2 Tim. ii, 16: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Also James iv, 8: “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” It is our duty to give the trumpet a certain sound, that all may prepare themselves for the battle, though we have the inspired declaration that few will heed the warning and deliver their souls. Very many profess to be Christians, but alas, they do not follow Christ. They are loaded with the burden of their sins, but how few come to the only place where such burdens can be unloosed,—at the foot of the cross of Christ. How few yield obedience to all the commandments of God, and exercise faith in the Redeemer!

To the lukewarm professors, to sinners in the church as well as out of the church, the words of our text are a solemn admonition: “Wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved.” It is possible for us to have sinful, covetous, and unregenerate hearts, and be unconscious of it. For instance, Bro. A. has embraced the truth, and keeps the Sabbath. He thinks that he is doing his duty. He rises very early Sunday morning and labors till darkness compels him to forbear, and this is a sample of every day in the week. When the Sabbath comes, Bro. A. is nearly worn out and in need of rest. He lies in bed very late Sabbath morning, and is finally compelled to arise by the drawing near of the hour for service. When there, Bro. A. feels very drowsy. He really wants to hear the sermon, but wearied nature demands rest, and will not be denied; so, very soon after the text is read, Bro. A. is fast asleep. This is the way in which Bro. A.’s Sabbaths are spent. As the result of this course, Bro. A.’s earthly treasure is increasing rapidly, while his heavenly treasure exists only in the imagination. And yet Bro. A. is a representative of a class of professed Sabbath-keepers. Is this glorifying God in our bodies and spirits which are his? Is this striving for the mastery? 1 Cor. ix, 25: “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” Covetousness is the mainspring of such a course.

Dear brethren, in the fear of the Lord I warn you to forsake your evil ways. In the language of the prophet, I cry unto you, “Wash thine heart from iniquity that thou mayest be saved.” Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. Joel ii, 13. Then will the Lord pity you even as a father pitieth his children. Then shall you enjoy the blessing of God, as the former and the latter rain upon the earth.

Bro. B. would not hesitate in condemning Bro. A.’s course. Bro. B. labors temperately, yet if Bro. B. was measured by the inspired word, it would be said of him, Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. Bro. B. is a man given to appetite. His table must contain all for which the pampered appetite would lust. He has his tea and coffee. He indulges in the use of tobacco, an abomination filthier than the flesh-pots of Egypt. The cleansing, purifying power of the truth has not been able to cleanse his habits. He spends large sums for unnecessary and unwholesome articles calculated to injure and degrade him physically, morally, and intellectually. But Bro. B. pays Systematic Benevolence, and as he pays promptly, he thinks he is a faithful steward over his Lord’s money. Oh! how loth I am to say it, how my heart aches to know that there are those among us professing to be looking for the Saviour, who are represented by Bro. B. May God in his mercy arouse such professors before they, like Ephraim, are so joined to their idols that it shall be said of them, Let them alone. Gluttony, in the Jewish dispensation, was punished with death; Deut. xxi, 20; and think you that the Judge of all the earth will approve in this enlightened age what he condemned in his people anciently? Be not deceived; God is not mocked. As a man soweth, so shall he reap. If you sow to the flesh, you shall of the flesh reap corruption. May the Lord help you. May his Holy Spirit apply the truth to your hearts, and let him that sinneth sin no more.

Bro. C. is a man differing from Bro. A. and B.

Bro. C. was constrained to embrace the truth by the incontrovertible evidence brought in its favor; but he does not like opposition. He says nothing about his faith or his hope only in the social meetings. In your intercourse with him, you listen in vain to hear him speak of religion; and if you apply the rule that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, you must conclude that the love of God is not in his heart. Bro. C. is trying to live out the truth privately. His light is hidden under a bushel. One would suppose that he was ashamed of his religion. There are some timid ones among us, of whom Bro. C. is a representative.

Now my brother, or sister, have you that perfect love that casteth out all fear? Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. The servant that hides his Lord’s talent in the earth will suffer loss at the last day. Truth is valueless unless it be practically applied. Science is of no avail unless it becomes an art. The mind may be stored with rich truths, but unless they are disseminated among those around us, their utility is gone. One may have the wisdom of a Solon, and hoard it up in the mind and it is of no value. We all have a work to do for the Master in the upbuilding of his cause. We can not all be ministers, but we can be living examples of the sanctifying power of the truth; and daily, as we are pursuing our various avocations, we can scatter gems of truth among those with whom we have to do. God giveth the increase, and perhaps some word or deed of ours may lead a soul to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. The dying are all around us. Oh! let us place before them, as far as we can, the bread of life. That soul will have need of mercy, who, with a knowledge of the truths of God, neglects to promulgate them.

We have made a wide digression from our text; but we have done so in order to point out sins that are among us, and that are retarding some of us in our progress toward sanctification. We must overcome these and all other sins, if we would stand in the day of the Lord. I might mention many other sins that are found in the church, but time forbids. I would that I could portray to your minds in all their enormity the sins which hinder your progress Zionward, that I could say to the guilty one, Thou art the man. It is better to have our sins uncovered, repented of, and forsaken now, while we have an Advocate with the Father, than to carry them with us to the great tribunal, and finally to seek in vain for an entrance through the gates into the city.

“Wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved.” We are plainly taught that a pure heart is necessary in order to secure salvation; but the process of purifying the heart is not so well understood. Some tell us that conscience is a criterion by which to go; that we have an inward monitor, and that our hearts will be right if we follow its teachings. We would not underrate the office of conscience. That it is an auxiliary placed within us by the Creator, and, when properly trained, urges us to do right, we believe; but conscience is a creature of education, and is formed in a great degree by the influences brought to bear upon us in our childhood. But we beg to differ from the opinion that conscience is a guide to go by, or that it will cleanse and purify the heart. We do not think this belief sustained either by the Bible or our own observation. Go with me to heathen lands where conscience is the only guide. Behold the mother cast her babe into the river Ganges. See the Hindoo widow burn herself upon her husband’s funeral pile. Look at that devotee casting himself beneath the car of Juggernaut to be crushed to death beneath its ponderous wheels. Surely you will not question their sincerity when it is attested by their blood. And think you, they would immolate themselves before their sanguinary deities, if they had doubt in regard to its being duty? or if their conscience disapproved the act? Thus we see that conscience unassisted by divine revelation will never lead to God.

We will now turn to the Inspired Volume and there endeavor to gain some information respecting the manner of purifying our hearts. To those who desire clean hearts, who are children of the New Covenant, God has promised, I will write my law in their hearts. Jer. xxxi, 33. Paul says to the church at Rome, “But God be thanked * ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you.” Rom. vi, 17. What was the form of doctrine that Paul taught? He taught the perpetuity of the law and enjoined its observance. Rom. iii, 31, and vii, 12. In beautiful harmony with the above we find the command in Eph. vi, 6: To do the will of God from the heart. The will of God is contained in his law. Rom. ii, 18. David prayed, “Create within me a clean heart, O God.” Ps. li, 10. How does he want his heart cleansed? Ps. cxix, 80: “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes.” Jehoshaphat sought the Lord with his whole heart. 2 Chron. xxii, 9. How? By keeping his commandments. 2 Chron. xvii, 4. Speaking of the pure in heart, David says, The law of his God is in his heart. Ps. xxxvii, 31.

From the testimony that we have examined, we must conclude that it is necessary to keep the commandments of God if we would purify our hearts. Oh! that we could all say when God shall come with a recompense, Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.

But can we purify our hearts by obedience to the law alone? No, we cannot. Peter speaks of God purifying their hearts by faith. Acts xv, 9. We cannot purify our hearts by works alone; for if we should yield a perfect obedience to the law from henceforth, our former sins would still rise against us; and perfect obedience could not atone for past offenses; hence the necessity of a Saviour. Jesus has done for us what we were unable to do for ourselves. He has provided a sacrifice through which our past sins can be atoned for; and if we come to Him in faith, we can claim as ours the precious promise found in Isa. i, 18: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Here we can see the necessity of faith in Jesus as well as obedience to the commandments of God in the work of cleansing our hearts. We are living near the close of probation. I have not time to speak on the signs of the times. It is obvious to every student of prophecy that we are approaching a crisis in the world’s history. I shall therefore assume, without stopping to prove, that we are living near the end of time, and that Jesus is soon coming in the glory of his Father. The question now arises, What preparation is necessary in order that we may be translated, clothed with immortality. We learn in Rev. xiv, 5, that those who are redeemed from among men were pure and without fault. Then if we would not taste death, we must purify ourselves, and every one that hath this hope purifieth himself even as he is pure.

Oh! how good the Lord is to his people. Now, when there is a special work to be done to fit us for his glorious advent, he has given us instructions how to sanctify ourselves. The only agencies are at work in the land which could purify his people. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are being preached. They are the last message that will ever be proclaimed to fallen man. Let us heed the cry of the third angel, ere his voice is hushed and the reapers come to gather the harvest of the earth. May the Lord help us to wash our hearts from wickedness, to be sanctified through the truth, and receive life everlasting, for the sake of his dear Son. Amen.