THE POWER OF A SINLESS PURPOSE.
By W. S. Sadler
UNTO man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” To just the extent that a man, by faith, pursues a sinless purpose, a sinless character will be developed in his life. “For if there be first ‘a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not ‘according to that he hath not.” 2 Cor. 8:12. This is the whole of the starting point. There is no good thing in us. So we have to get our standard, our ideal, our goal, somewhere else. To the extent, and in just the degree, and with just the earnestness that we pursue a sinless purpose, and only in that degree and to that extent, shall we realize the sinless character,—a character whose only purpose and object is to honor and glorify God. And the more earnestly we continue to pursue that sinless purpose, and keep our eyes upon our sinless Pattern, to the greater extent will a sinless character be developed in us. But this wisdom of God is not something we can see. We can see the “foolishness of man” on every side, but the fear of the Lord is wisdom. The Lord says that the man who will exercise understanding will depart from evil. The man who is departing from evil can read the handwriting on the wall; can see the finger of God in his daily experiences; can understand humanity around him; can understand what God is doing in his own personal experience. “To depart ‘from evil is understanding.” Read Deut. 4:6: “Keep therefore and ‘do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight ‘of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely ‘this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Even our wisdom and our understanding in the sight of the nations is dependent upon this very thing; for the thing that makes us acceptable to God, will in His providence make us most useful and acceptable to the nations. “Ye are the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the ‘world.” Many think that in order to be popular in this world we must, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. You who have settled the question of the fear of the Lord, which is wisdom, can leave the question of what people think in the Lord’s hands. The Lord does not3hold us responsible for results. In all the commissions of the Gospel He says, “Go and preach”—not for conversion, but “for a witness.” Here is the great distinction between true and false miracles. False miracles and signs and wonders either go before or accompany the proclamation of a message, and are urged as proof of the authenticity of that work. The true and genuine follow on behind, because of the change that has taken place in the hearts of the people who accepted the truth that went before. Truth, and nothing but the truth, is necessary to prove the truthfulness of truth. When a man has accepted the truth, there begins the initial miracle in a great series of signs and wonders that cause even angels to wonder in amazement at the sanctifying power of divine grace and the eternal word of truth. To the eye of faith the very acceptance of truth is one of the greatest of miracles. On the other hand, there are a great many people who are worried because-things do not just suit them, because they do not see a great demonstration. Spiritual things are invisible. They must be taken by faith; for “the just shall live by faith,” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” The understanding we need is the consciousness that with body, soul, and spirit we are departing from evil. In order to understand the handwriting of God upon the wall; in order to enjoy and enter into the divine providences; in order to appreciate our own acceptance in Christ, thank God it is not necessary that we should have already reached perfection. It is simply necessary that we shall daily be conscious of the fact that we are departing from evil. To the extent that we have our eyes upon a sinless purpose, there will be developed within us, day by day, a sinless character. This character will be formed of our thoughts, feelings, and purposes; and when our purpose becomes a sinless one, it will be the most powerful factor to make our thoughts and feelings sinless. By the power of a sinless purpose, our sinful thoughts and feelings will be transformed; then the character being developed within us is having woven into its texture sinless threads. We preside at the loom in which a character for eternity is being woven, and it is our privilege to have every purpose, thought, emotion, and sentiment of the soul so elevated, noble, and grand, that every thread that is woven into this garment of character will be a thread that was first woven in the loom of heaven. The development, growth, that comes from the Spirit, is not always a growth that can be seen by the human eye. There are forms of good, the bestowal of which is evidenced only by a greater sense of need. The goodness of God and the righteousness of Christ, when bestowed upon a man, are evidenced only by that man’s realization of a greater sense of his need of them. When Christ’s humility is given to a man, the only evidence the man will ever have of the fact, will be that he feels a greater sense of his need of it than ever he had before. So, if he is walking by sight, he will be bemoaning the fact that he has got less than he had before. As we progress in the Christian life, things look brighter and grander to the eye of faith, but more and more hopeless and discouraging to the eye of sight. Then let us not walk by sight. Let us put away those thing that belong to the childhood of our Christian experience. Let us begin to get hold of some of the things that belong to and accompany salvation. With the eye of faith look straight ahead. Let our purpose be high, holy, and exalted, and while the days are going by, a high, holy, and exalted character will be developed within us.