GOD'S WORD THE SOURCE OF PURITY.
By J. F. Ballenger
“Thy word is very pure; therefore thy servant loveth it.” Ps. 119:140. If all who profess faith in God’s word were to make it the guide of their daily lives, it would do more to silence infidel objections than all the preaching and writing that is done in defense of the Bible, when a fact is demonstrated that puts an end to any further controversy. There are but few men in the world but what admire a pure and holy character, even if they know that they do not possess it themselves; and if they could see in all who profess conversion a real and true transformation of character, a real living reflection of the life of Christ, there would be a more general yielding to the power of the Gospel as a means of reform. A man’s life is a duplicate of the rule by which he walks; if his rule of conduct is pure and elevating, his character will be such. David says, “Thy word is very pure.” All who are in any way familiar with the Scriptures know that this is true. There is no duty of love, reverence, or respect that we can show either toward God or our fellow-men but that is found in the Bible. So, then, that book contains a perfect rule of life. And this infallible guide to holiness has been and is to-day the “desire of all nations.” The heathen world has felt the need of a direct revelation from God. Plato said: “We can not know of ourselves what petition will be pleasing to God or what worship we should pay to him, but it is necessary that a lawgiver should be sent from heaven to instruct us. O, how greatly do I long to see that man!” Again he says, “This lawgiver must be more than man, that he may teach us the things that man can not know by nature.”—Fables of Infidelity, p. 68. Had this great philosopher believed in and studied the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, as revealed in the types and shadows of his time, he would have received the instruction and seen by faith the One whom his soul so much desired—the Immanuel, or God with us. Plato had his rule of conduct, but he found it powerless to subdue the evils of the natural heart and guide him to that haven of rest that he longed for. It is in this that the word of God differs from all human rules of conduct. When this word is received in the heart by faith in the world’s Redeemer, it comes, not as a mere form, but a living reality. It reaches the “thoughts and intents of the heart,” and subdues every vestige of evil, and enables the pure life of God to shine out through the human soul. The reason that so many fail to reflect the pure life of God’s word is because they do not receive the life of God in the word. Many people merely give a mental consent to the truth of the Scriptures, and then try to show their belief in the word by their attendance at church and an occasional performance of some ordinance or ceremony, while the general tenor of their lives is but little, if any, better than the world around them. This ought not to be so, and would not if the word was received in the heart by faith, for it would then be a living, active demonstration of the character of the Author of the word, because there is power in the word to make the life just what God designs it should be, and what the individual desires that it shall be. O, how much we need men and women to-day that will show their faith by a life of perfect obedience to all God’s commandments, and thus prove to the world that there is power in the word to cleanse and purify the human soul and make it a temple of the living God. “O taste and see that the Lord is good,” and that he is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for his goodness to the children of men.”