He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
It describes a life clean outwardly in conduct and action and pure inwardly in motive, affection and thought, that does not set desire upon what is empty, false, worldly and selfish, and that speaks truthfully without false oath, guile, hypocrisy or injury to a neighbor. It answers who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand and dwell in His holy place and presence, and to those who meet it is promised blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of salvation. Only those with such clean hands and pure heart will stand with confidence when the Lord appears and abide the day of His coming, when lives are examined in the judgment and faith is shown by works, and will stand through the time of trouble with God's law in mind and heart and the seal of the living God. Such cleanness comes only through Christ, who makes the soul clean and white in His blood and clothes with His righteousness, received by conversion, beholding Jesus, and daily cleansing and renewing of the heart. It therefore requires humility, meekness and whole dependence on God rather than pride, self-exaltation, self-sufficiency and trust in wealth and station, with integrity in word, work and dealing, especially in those who bear His sacred warning message.
Words and Their Sense
Clean hands are outward conduct and actions made clean, and a pure heart is the inner life with its motives and affections made pure. Fitness to approach God and to stand in His holy place and holy presence requires both, for moral cleanness in conduct must be joined to inward purity of motive. The pure and lowly alone meet this standard, while professed believers corrupt at heart will be tested and exposed.
Not lifting up the soul unto vanity is refusing to set desire and the inner life upon what is empty and false. It is refusing vanity and deceit in oath and allegiance, and refusing to give the self to worldly, selfish and false things. One who does this does not lift desire toward emptiness but keeps the heart fixed on what is true and right.
Not swearing deceitfully is speaking truthfully rather than speaking falsely. It forbids false oath and false allegiance, and it condemns guile and hypocrisy joined to outward profession. It requires truth kept in the heart and no guile found in the mouth, with no reproach taken up against a neighbor and no rumor carried against a brother in words, actions and thoughts.
Taken together, the verse describes walking uprightly, working righteousness, and speaking and keeping truth in the heart. Mouth and life are thus kept free from guile, hypocrisy, defilement and reproach, marking a person fit to ascend into the hill of the Lord, to stand in His holy place, and to be without fault before His throne. Such upright doers of right receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of their salvation.
Fitness to Dwell with God
The question of who may go up to the Lord's hill and stand in His holy place and presence is answered by moral cleanness in conduct joined to inward purity of motive, with upright walk, righteous work, and truth kept in the heart, and with no setting of desire on what is empty and no deceit in oath, allegiance, or speech, and no guile or hypocrisy in the mouth. Those who seek God in this way maintain principle at all hazard on a Thus saith the Lord, following the true Shepherd even when hiding conviction would avoid persecution, in contrast to the spirit of the children of disobedience and to professional falseness and hollow hypocrisy. It is plain instruction of duty for all who desire the blessings Christ promises to the meek who shall inherit the earth, to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness who shall be filled, to the merciful who shall obtain mercy, and to the pure in heart who shall see God, calling them to stand in harmony as brethren, hold aloft the Bible standard, live the truth, and exercise mercy and the love of God. If they suffer for truth's sake they share Christ's suffering and will share His glory.
Only the pure and lowly can dwell with God, and the standard exposes a corrupt heart and lustful passions, the prevailing sin of this age. Professed Sabbath-keepers and professed believers in the truth who are not clean will be proved, and their folly and sin shall be made manifest. Solomon, though beloved of God, fell and became corrupt through indulgence of lust and turning from God, so integrity must be guarded strictly.
Entrance into heaven and through the gates of the city of God requires this cleanness of life free from sin and inward corruption, for unclean hands keep a person out and a life that does not love purity and holiness and does not distinguish the sacred from the common is not fit to dwell there. People must let Christ's grace transform heart and character and bring life into harmony with the light received, seeking the Lord with all the heart in childlike humility of mind and confessing sins. Only those with pure hearts, merciful and kind spirits, and holy principles will enter, for God reads beneath the surface, and all human sagacity, prudence, foresight, pride, self-importance, power, and energy are nothingness before Him and cannot recommend anyone to Him or open those gates. Cleanness of heart, not color of skin, decides reward and entrance into the heavenly kingdom, for God has not made one heaven for whites and another for blacks. That cleanness comes when Christ makes the soul clean and white in the blood of the Lamb and clothes the person with His righteousness, so that those so cleansed, black or white, will be honored alike in the heavenly kingdom, and when Jesus' face shines upon the righteous they will shine forth with the same complexion that Christ has.
Those who meet the standard receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of their salvation, which is grand, cheering, and uplifting. The faithful in Sardis exemplify it, for they did not set desire on vanity but lived humbly, kept righteousness before them, and sought to become like Christ. Their faith led them to grasp the promise of eternal life and to remain unspotted from the world, so they will walk with Christ in white. Those whose hands are clean and hearts are pure through faith in the merits of Christ's blood will receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God.
Readiness for the Final Crisis
Only those with clean hands and a pure heart will stand when the Lord appears and abide the day of His coming, meeting His searching gaze with confidence rather than fear. That standing requires freedom from polluting sins, even hidden impurity among those who profess better things and are not suspected of danger, with lust crucified and the mind kept chaste and pure. Preparation for that day is putting away sin and purifying the soul through obedience to the truth, with faith shown in works and the body preserved in the best condition to render perfect service to God. Ability to stand in that hour rests on grace being sufficient, turning fear to assurance.
In the judgment the lives of those who profess the truth are examined, and words and actions reveal whether they meet the standard of a life free from sin and deceit, with inner purity and outward integrity. Sin left cherished leaves the professed believer self-condemned and in danger of losing eternal life, so readiness is thorough putting away of sin and purification of the soul through obedience to truth.
Only those with clean hands and a pure heart will stand through the time of trouble, and this calls for setting the heart in order now, laying up treasure in heaven now, and having God's law in the mind and forehead and written in the heart. Minds and hearts must not be filled with worldly cares or distracting thoughts, but be set in order to receive the seal of the living God, identified as the Sabbath, and to be protected in the great antitypical day of atonement. Fitness to belong to God is turning from sin rather than planning and practicing it, and living in repentance and confession before God. Those who knowingly cherish sin, set up idols in their hearts, and corrupt themselves and others are not sealed, and their names are blotted out of the Book of Life.
Readiness to receive God's glory and the latter rain requires more than outward conduct, for lifting the soul to vanity, speaking perversely, and cherishing bitterness, discord and dissension are unlike the Spirit of Christ, bring God's frown, and disqualify a person from being a vessel of honor. From now onward to the close of time none among God's people is to walk in self-indulgence and pride, but all are to practice genuine humiliation and most earnest prayer, setting aside days for fasting and prayer with denial of usual enjoyed food for a plain simple diet, trusting wholly in the wisdom of their Leader and not in their own wisdom. Those firm in principle should help believers weak in faith rather than stumble with them. With the cities to be worked and a season of great trial ahead, those striving for the crown of life must strive lawfully, maintaining sacred dignity and using all God-given capabilities and gifts to save perishing souls and win others to become co-laborers with Christ, and as they work to build up His kingdom their knowledge and powers will be largely increased. All are to stay wide-awake and watching because the most important crisis ever to come upon the world is near, it will steal upon the unwatchful as a thief, and Satan is preparing to work in secrecy through human agencies.
The verse calls for taking a stand under the rule of Christ in view of the greatness of God. Those who work on the side of Satan in anarchy, war and strife incur fearful loss, and at the last great day they will see how many souls were lost through their failure to stand under Christ.
Purity Through Christ Alone
Ability to stand before the Lord at His appearing rests not on human strength but on His grace being sufficient, and those with clean hands and a pure heart will meet His searching gaze with confidence rather than fear. When the Son of man appears on a great white cloud, the question whether the robe is spotless is answered by Christ's assurance, turning paleness and trembling into light and joy. That standing endures the awful silence before Him because grace supplies what purity requires.
Cleanness comes when Christ makes the soul clean and white in His blood and clothes the person with the garments of His righteousness. Through faith in the merits of that blood, hands are made clean and hearts pure, and such receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God. This cleansing requires turning from impurity, a purified moral sense, and a character washed and made like Jesus by beholding Him. Reward and entrance into the heavenly kingdom depend on this cleanness of heart, not color of skin, for God has not made one heaven for whites and another for blacks. Those so cleansed, black or white, are honored alike, and when Jesus' face shines upon the righteous they shine forth with the same complexion that Christ has.
Clean hands, a pure heart, and a right spirit are gifts from God to be sought with all diligence. Unclean hands bar entrance to heaven, so the heart and character must be transformed by Christ's grace into a life free from sin and inward corruption and brought into harmony with received light. Where practices are not right and the heart is defiled the condition is perilous, and what is needed is thorough conversion and an entirely renovated moral taste, with the abiding sense of handling sacred things in connection with God's work. A heart is not made better while the light of truth shines all about it yet its pure principles are kept out of the life and apart from the character. When Christ is formed within, wrongdoing and unrighteousness cease, striving to be first ends, the lifting of the soul to vanity comes to an end, and pure and undefiled religion is shown in the life.
A vital connection with God keeps a person from lifting the soul to vanity, producing an unselfish, self-forgetful character without guile, marked by modest goodness and a life wholly consecrated and unstained by doubt or impurity. Reliance on what God can do must be joined with this humility and consecration, and when Christ's love abides in the soul, unbelief, suspicion, distrust, and resentment diminish. The soul temple must be clean and the heart right with God, softened and subdued by love and freed from selfishness, suspicion, blame, and evil thinking.
Clean hands, a pure heart, and a noble, sanctified purpose belong together, and with these the Lord gives His grace and wisdom. They are a standard to preserve by watchfulness and prayer, guarding religious principles and carrying out the work with noble purpose so that faith is not weakened or corrupted by error. Solomon's turn to human sources of wisdom and his divided heart show the danger of departing from this purity and relying on people who do not love God. God values clean conduct, a pure heart, and earnest devotion to Him and the truth above wealth or status, and moral purity means refusing forbidden desire and remaining faithful to God.
Humble Truthful Pure Character
Not lifting the inner life toward emptiness requires humility, meekness, lowliness and teachableness, learning the meekness and lowliness of Christ rather than exalting self. Those who seek God put away sin and examine and correct their own hearts, distrust their own strength and recognize that sufficiency comes from God. Refusing to lift oneself up means refusing self-sufficiency, self-confidence and presumption, working in all humility of mind, looking to Jesus and trusting and depending on the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of man while doing the utmost to improve entrusted talents. Turning to self-sufficiency is turning away from God, leaving a person to make his own way without divine help because God cannot work with such a one. Meeting the condition means entire surrender, putting away selfishness and pride, awaking to true spiritual condition, humbling heart and mind, taking seriously the peril of indifference to eternal welfare, searching the Scriptures as never before, letting the Word educate and guide, accepting its promises and believing its warnings, and, because the end is near, revealing belief by lives of simplicity and meekness and right-doing.
Lifting the soul to vanity includes overestimating gifts and thinking too highly of self, leaving useful work to one judged less capable while seeking a higher position and public notice. It includes pride, boasting, exalting self above others, seeking supremacy, treating others as though one had mastery over them and oppressing them, which separates the soul from God and brings defeat. It is shown negatively by willingness to acknowledge mistakes and absence of boasting and self-promotion, which marks fitness for divine service. It includes self-righteous comparison, as in saying in response to another's faults, I am not like him, which is not the pure-hearted way. A heart lifted to vanity is proud and self-sufficient, easily beguiled, drawn into disputes and causes not given by God, and led to join harmful work rather than remain humble and faithful, including false confidence that opposes established truth.
Lifting the soul to vanity also means walking in pride and self-indulgence rather than humility. From now onward to the close of time none are to do this, but all are to practice genuine humiliation and earnest prayer, with fasting and plain simple diet, trusting wholly in the wisdom of the Leader and watching because the most important crisis is near and will steal upon the unwatchful. It includes trusting earthly possessions and congratulating self on wealth while forgetting God the giver, whereas wealth does not secure divine favor but is entrusted to bless others and glorify the Maker and tests and develops character. The rich man who stored up goods for himself illustrates this vanity, counted a fool because not rich toward God. Not lifting the heart to vanity means refusing to live for worldly treasure and self-indulgence, following the example of Christ who gave Himself to save the race by becoming poor and devoting substance to advance God's cause instead of pleasing self. Getting wealth to hoard it leaves a curse to children, an awful soul-endangering sin reaching to posterity, for children of hoarders often squander means in foolish extravagance and riotous living until beggared, whereas giving would lay up treasure in heaven and bring peace and happiness now and eternal riches hereafter; and minds and hearts must be set in order, not filled with worldly cares and distracting thoughts, so that God's law may be within.
Lifting the soul to vanity makes a person unfit to handle God's work in any of its branches. Whoever undertakes that work without learning every day in the school of Christ and without spending much time in earnest prayer will surely be overcome by human depravity and lift the soul to vanity. Fitness requires becoming a co-worker with Christ, with spirituality to discern spiritual things, and feeling need of virtue and wisdom from heaven for handling His work. Turning the soul toward vanity is living only a pretense of godliness while being a law to oneself and refusing divine light, and unless grace subdues the heart the person remains so and God has no use for him in His work. It means seeking supremacy for self, accepting the suggestions of Satan as truth, and failing to honor and reverence God and His truth despite blessings given, so that allegiance is not openly proclaimed, right to blessing is forfeited, and the person puts himself where the Lord cannot work in harmony with him.
Not swearing deceitfully requires integrity in words, work and business, with clean conduct and pure, unselfish, holy purposes, speaking truth rather than vanity. Sacred work must be kept free from deception and unclean practice, and seeking money, fame or patronage must never lead to sanctioning wrongdoing or letting unbelievers control God's work, for even a small number can prevail when grace is in the heart. God's work is sacred and must be carried out with integrity according to Bible principles, condemning dishonest actions and selfish handling of money. Those who stand in the holy place must have no guile in speech and no reproach against a neighbor, with words, actions and thoughts right, for taking up a rumor against a brother is inconsistent with belonging to that company. Following the Lamb means seeking sanctified speech and an undefiled heart, keeping the mind awake and watchful, with words and conduct free from guile and defilement. In work done in Christ's place this means acting with tender, pure, true and compassionate hearts, practicing the commandments and judging equitably, loving fellow beings, while failure to follow Christ's principles deceives, betrays Christ and dishonors truth; and no one is to rule another as master or use position to control others, for the Holy Spirit alone is to guide.
Clean hands and a pure heart mean freedom from polluting sins, even hidden impurity among those who profess better things and are not suspected of danger, with lust crucified and the body preserved in best condition to render perfect service. None but the pure and lowly can dwell in the divine presence, and cleanness means freedom from a corrupt heart and from lustful passions, the prevailing sin of the age, a standard applying to professed Sabbath-keepers and professed believers who are not clean and who will be proved until folly and sin are made manifest. Even Solomon, beloved of God, fell and became corrupt through indulgence of lust and turning from God, warning that integrity must be guarded strictly by turning away from vanity and speaking truthfully. Purity includes rejecting sexual sin and refusing even the slightest improper familiarity, for tolerating such advances shows the mind is not pure and chaste. A pure and chaste mind resents every invitation to sin and every unwarrantable liberty, repels improper familiarity such as a kiss at an improper time and place, gives it no encouragement or tolerance, and recoils with horror from sin and from hypocrisy and villainy when the tempter is one in high places respected as God's servant. The least approach to such familiarity proves a lascivious mind and lustful eye, and tolerating any of these liberties proves the mind finds charm in sin and crime rather than being pure, so the whole being is to be a clean offering.
Calling to Sacred Service
Those engaged in the sacred work of giving the last solemn message of warning to the world must carry out in their lives the principles of the truth they handle, with inward purity and outward uprightness, with pure hearts and clean hands and communion with God. Their thoughts and souls must be pure and their whole being a clean offering to God, for as judgment draws near those who carry His warning message must maintain a living connection with Him or their offering will not be acceptable. Such purity makes service an honor and qualifies a person for the work and responsibilities God entrusts to them in His cause. Those who handle sacred truth must live by its principles and realize the sacredness and heavenly origin of the work.
Preaching and ministry cannot be rightly done with unclean hands and an impure heart, and a person must be converted and transformed by grace before being fit to point others to Christ. Those who preach the truth without holiness in heart and life come under woe, and a heavier woe rests on those who take this sacred work upon themselves while unsanctified than on those called to preach who refuse to obey. Woe also rests on those who appoint and receive and maintain the unsanctified in a position they cannot rightly fill. Serving acceptably requires relying on what the Lord can do rather than trusting in one's own ability, with humility and consecration, for when Christ's love abides in the soul unbelief, suspicion, distrust and resentment diminish.
Clean hands and a pure heart bring peace and contentment of mind, which promote health through living in harmony with God's law. God's laws for the body are divine, and health depends on cooperating with them and surrendering body, soul and spirit to God.
Coming before God requires inward purity as well as outward right conduct, and clean hands and a pure heart matter more than fine clothes. Preparing for a holy gathering means searching the heart, setting the house in order, removing obstacles such as pride and unresolved differences, praying beyond what is customary with a heart broken before God, and teaching and preparing children to meet God. Keeping this standard invites the Lord's presence and brings holy angels to attend on the way to worship, whose light and presence press back the darkness of evil angels so that even unbelievers feel the holy atmosphere, while neglecting it loses much and leaves preaching that may please and animate and revive but without the converting, reforming power of God felt in the heart and without a work deep, thorough and lasting. Faith and religious principles must be preserved from being weakened or corrupted by error through watchfulness and prayer, and those who lack clean hands and a pure heart have no living connection with God and cannot come boldly to the throne of grace, for their outward religion is only a form of godliness without power. Worship then becomes to the soul even as the gate of heaven when pride is crucified and the soul is clad with the priceless robe of Christ's righteousness, which is its true covering.
Pure hearts and clean hands are shown by putting self out of sight, loving fellow workers as honest and righteous even when tried with fire, and working earnestly to help those working in hard places who are worthy of help. A pure heart is the source from which pure and holy actions flow to refresh others, and a gospel minister must put away everything unbecoming to that calling and rely on Christ rather than self. A vital connection with God keeps a person from lifting the soul to vanity and produces an unselfish, self-forgetful character without guile, marked by modest goodness and a life wholly consecrated to God, unstained by doubt or impurity. Clean hands and a pure heart are precious gifts to offer God, who values a soul kept from corruption and a meek, undefiled spirit, with person, conduct and business transacted with strictest integrity. Those who live only a pretense of godliness, are a law to themselves, refuse to let the grace of Christ subdue their hearts and refuse divine illumination lift their souls unto vanity and the Lord has no use for them, while the wholly consecrated worker who holds firm from above and cooperates with the great Physician is given skill to minister to soul as well as body through pure, unwavering faith.
In publishing and office labor this cleansing means carrying out the work with noble purpose, reform, and guarding of religious principles to protect workers' faith and souls from harm. Those preparing publications that bear the signet of the Eternal and are scattered to warn, test, prove the world and decide the destiny of souls must be free from pride and selfishness so that angels are attracted to the work, as the preaching of Noah warned, tested and proved the inhabitants of the world before the flood. Hearts emptied of selfishness and sin give clearer perception of what sin is and bring repentance proved by thorough and faithful work for time and for eternity, and such cleansing brings prosperity to the work that will extend to other places.
It describes a life clean outwardly in conduct and action and pure inwardly in motive, affection and thought, that does not set desire upon what is empty, false, worldly and selfish, and that speaks truthfully without false oath, guile, hypocrisy or injury to a neighbor.
It answers who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand and dwell in His holy place and presence, and to those who meet it is promised blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of salvation.
Only those with such clean hands and pure heart will stand with confidence when the Lord appears and abide the day of His coming, when lives are examined in the judgment and faith is shown by works, and will stand through the time of trouble with God's law in mind and heart and the seal of the living God.
Such cleanness comes only through Christ, who makes the soul clean and white in His blood and clothes with His righteousness, received by conversion, beholding Jesus, and daily cleansing and renewing of the heart.
It therefore requires humility, meekness and whole dependence on God rather than pride, self-exaltation, self-sufficiency and trust in wealth and station, with integrity in word, work and dealing, especially in those who bear His sacred warning message.
Words and Their Sense
Clean hands are outward conduct and actions made clean, and a pure heart is the inner life with its motives and affections made pure. Fitness to approach God and to stand in His holy place and holy presence requires both, for moral cleanness in conduct must be joined to inward purity of motive. The pure and lowly alone meet this standard, while professed believers corrupt at heart will be tested and exposed.
Not lifting up the soul unto vanity is refusing to set desire and the inner life upon what is empty and false. It is refusing vanity and deceit in oath and allegiance, and refusing to give the self to worldly, selfish and false things. One who does this does not lift desire toward emptiness but keeps the heart fixed on what is true and right.
Not swearing deceitfully is speaking truthfully rather than speaking falsely. It forbids false oath and false allegiance, and it condemns guile and hypocrisy joined to outward profession. It requires truth kept in the heart and no guile found in the mouth, with no reproach taken up against a neighbor and no rumor carried against a brother in words, actions and thoughts.
Taken together, the verse describes walking uprightly, working righteousness, and speaking and keeping truth in the heart. Mouth and life are thus kept free from guile, hypocrisy, defilement and reproach, marking a person fit to ascend into the hill of the Lord, to stand in His holy place, and to be without fault before His throne. Such upright doers of right receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of their salvation.
Fitness to Dwell with God
The question of who may go up to the Lord's hill and stand in His holy place and presence is answered by moral cleanness in conduct joined to inward purity of motive, with upright walk, righteous work, and truth kept in the heart, and with no setting of desire on what is empty and no deceit in oath, allegiance, or speech, and no guile or hypocrisy in the mouth. Those who seek God in this way maintain principle at all hazard on a Thus saith the Lord, following the true Shepherd even when hiding conviction would avoid persecution, in contrast to the spirit of the children of disobedience and to professional falseness and hollow hypocrisy. It is plain instruction of duty for all who desire the blessings Christ promises to the meek who shall inherit the earth, to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness who shall be filled, to the merciful who shall obtain mercy, and to the pure in heart who shall see God, calling them to stand in harmony as brethren, hold aloft the Bible standard, live the truth, and exercise mercy and the love of God. If they suffer for truth's sake they share Christ's suffering and will share His glory.
Only the pure and lowly can dwell with God, and the standard exposes a corrupt heart and lustful passions, the prevailing sin of this age. Professed Sabbath-keepers and professed believers in the truth who are not clean will be proved, and their folly and sin shall be made manifest. Solomon, though beloved of God, fell and became corrupt through indulgence of lust and turning from God, so integrity must be guarded strictly.
Entrance into heaven and through the gates of the city of God requires this cleanness of life free from sin and inward corruption, for unclean hands keep a person out and a life that does not love purity and holiness and does not distinguish the sacred from the common is not fit to dwell there. People must let Christ's grace transform heart and character and bring life into harmony with the light received, seeking the Lord with all the heart in childlike humility of mind and confessing sins. Only those with pure hearts, merciful and kind spirits, and holy principles will enter, for God reads beneath the surface, and all human sagacity, prudence, foresight, pride, self-importance, power, and energy are nothingness before Him and cannot recommend anyone to Him or open those gates. Cleanness of heart, not color of skin, decides reward and entrance into the heavenly kingdom, for God has not made one heaven for whites and another for blacks. That cleanness comes when Christ makes the soul clean and white in the blood of the Lamb and clothes the person with His righteousness, so that those so cleansed, black or white, will be honored alike in the heavenly kingdom, and when Jesus' face shines upon the righteous they will shine forth with the same complexion that Christ has.
Those who meet the standard receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of their salvation, which is grand, cheering, and uplifting. The faithful in Sardis exemplify it, for they did not set desire on vanity but lived humbly, kept righteousness before them, and sought to become like Christ. Their faith led them to grasp the promise of eternal life and to remain unspotted from the world, so they will walk with Christ in white. Those whose hands are clean and hearts are pure through faith in the merits of Christ's blood will receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God.
Readiness for the Final Crisis
Only those with clean hands and a pure heart will stand when the Lord appears and abide the day of His coming, meeting His searching gaze with confidence rather than fear. That standing requires freedom from polluting sins, even hidden impurity among those who profess better things and are not suspected of danger, with lust crucified and the mind kept chaste and pure. Preparation for that day is putting away sin and purifying the soul through obedience to the truth, with faith shown in works and the body preserved in the best condition to render perfect service to God. Ability to stand in that hour rests on grace being sufficient, turning fear to assurance.
In the judgment the lives of those who profess the truth are examined, and words and actions reveal whether they meet the standard of a life free from sin and deceit, with inner purity and outward integrity. Sin left cherished leaves the professed believer self-condemned and in danger of losing eternal life, so readiness is thorough putting away of sin and purification of the soul through obedience to truth.
Only those with clean hands and a pure heart will stand through the time of trouble, and this calls for setting the heart in order now, laying up treasure in heaven now, and having God's law in the mind and forehead and written in the heart. Minds and hearts must not be filled with worldly cares or distracting thoughts, but be set in order to receive the seal of the living God, identified as the Sabbath, and to be protected in the great antitypical day of atonement. Fitness to belong to God is turning from sin rather than planning and practicing it, and living in repentance and confession before God. Those who knowingly cherish sin, set up idols in their hearts, and corrupt themselves and others are not sealed, and their names are blotted out of the Book of Life.
Readiness to receive God's glory and the latter rain requires more than outward conduct, for lifting the soul to vanity, speaking perversely, and cherishing bitterness, discord and dissension are unlike the Spirit of Christ, bring God's frown, and disqualify a person from being a vessel of honor. From now onward to the close of time none among God's people is to walk in self-indulgence and pride, but all are to practice genuine humiliation and most earnest prayer, setting aside days for fasting and prayer with denial of usual enjoyed food for a plain simple diet, trusting wholly in the wisdom of their Leader and not in their own wisdom. Those firm in principle should help believers weak in faith rather than stumble with them. With the cities to be worked and a season of great trial ahead, those striving for the crown of life must strive lawfully, maintaining sacred dignity and using all God-given capabilities and gifts to save perishing souls and win others to become co-laborers with Christ, and as they work to build up His kingdom their knowledge and powers will be largely increased. All are to stay wide-awake and watching because the most important crisis ever to come upon the world is near, it will steal upon the unwatchful as a thief, and Satan is preparing to work in secrecy through human agencies.
The verse calls for taking a stand under the rule of Christ in view of the greatness of God. Those who work on the side of Satan in anarchy, war and strife incur fearful loss, and at the last great day they will see how many souls were lost through their failure to stand under Christ.
Purity Through Christ Alone
Ability to stand before the Lord at His appearing rests not on human strength but on His grace being sufficient, and those with clean hands and a pure heart will meet His searching gaze with confidence rather than fear. When the Son of man appears on a great white cloud, the question whether the robe is spotless is answered by Christ's assurance, turning paleness and trembling into light and joy. That standing endures the awful silence before Him because grace supplies what purity requires.
Cleanness comes when Christ makes the soul clean and white in His blood and clothes the person with the garments of His righteousness. Through faith in the merits of that blood, hands are made clean and hearts pure, and such receive the white robe, the crown of righteousness, and life that runs parallel with the life of God. This cleansing requires turning from impurity, a purified moral sense, and a character washed and made like Jesus by beholding Him. Reward and entrance into the heavenly kingdom depend on this cleanness of heart, not color of skin, for God has not made one heaven for whites and another for blacks. Those so cleansed, black or white, are honored alike, and when Jesus' face shines upon the righteous they shine forth with the same complexion that Christ has.
Clean hands, a pure heart, and a right spirit are gifts from God to be sought with all diligence. Unclean hands bar entrance to heaven, so the heart and character must be transformed by Christ's grace into a life free from sin and inward corruption and brought into harmony with received light. Where practices are not right and the heart is defiled the condition is perilous, and what is needed is thorough conversion and an entirely renovated moral taste, with the abiding sense of handling sacred things in connection with God's work. A heart is not made better while the light of truth shines all about it yet its pure principles are kept out of the life and apart from the character. When Christ is formed within, wrongdoing and unrighteousness cease, striving to be first ends, the lifting of the soul to vanity comes to an end, and pure and undefiled religion is shown in the life.
A vital connection with God keeps a person from lifting the soul to vanity, producing an unselfish, self-forgetful character without guile, marked by modest goodness and a life wholly consecrated and unstained by doubt or impurity. Reliance on what God can do must be joined with this humility and consecration, and when Christ's love abides in the soul, unbelief, suspicion, distrust, and resentment diminish. The soul temple must be clean and the heart right with God, softened and subdued by love and freed from selfishness, suspicion, blame, and evil thinking.
Clean hands, a pure heart, and a noble, sanctified purpose belong together, and with these the Lord gives His grace and wisdom. They are a standard to preserve by watchfulness and prayer, guarding religious principles and carrying out the work with noble purpose so that faith is not weakened or corrupted by error. Solomon's turn to human sources of wisdom and his divided heart show the danger of departing from this purity and relying on people who do not love God. God values clean conduct, a pure heart, and earnest devotion to Him and the truth above wealth or status, and moral purity means refusing forbidden desire and remaining faithful to God.
Humble Truthful Pure Character
Not lifting the inner life toward emptiness requires humility, meekness, lowliness and teachableness, learning the meekness and lowliness of Christ rather than exalting self. Those who seek God put away sin and examine and correct their own hearts, distrust their own strength and recognize that sufficiency comes from God. Refusing to lift oneself up means refusing self-sufficiency, self-confidence and presumption, working in all humility of mind, looking to Jesus and trusting and depending on the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of man while doing the utmost to improve entrusted talents. Turning to self-sufficiency is turning away from God, leaving a person to make his own way without divine help because God cannot work with such a one. Meeting the condition means entire surrender, putting away selfishness and pride, awaking to true spiritual condition, humbling heart and mind, taking seriously the peril of indifference to eternal welfare, searching the Scriptures as never before, letting the Word educate and guide, accepting its promises and believing its warnings, and, because the end is near, revealing belief by lives of simplicity and meekness and right-doing.
Lifting the soul to vanity includes overestimating gifts and thinking too highly of self, leaving useful work to one judged less capable while seeking a higher position and public notice. It includes pride, boasting, exalting self above others, seeking supremacy, treating others as though one had mastery over them and oppressing them, which separates the soul from God and brings defeat. It is shown negatively by willingness to acknowledge mistakes and absence of boasting and self-promotion, which marks fitness for divine service. It includes self-righteous comparison, as in saying in response to another's faults, I am not like him, which is not the pure-hearted way. A heart lifted to vanity is proud and self-sufficient, easily beguiled, drawn into disputes and causes not given by God, and led to join harmful work rather than remain humble and faithful, including false confidence that opposes established truth.
Lifting the soul to vanity also means walking in pride and self-indulgence rather than humility. From now onward to the close of time none are to do this, but all are to practice genuine humiliation and earnest prayer, with fasting and plain simple diet, trusting wholly in the wisdom of the Leader and watching because the most important crisis is near and will steal upon the unwatchful. It includes trusting earthly possessions and congratulating self on wealth while forgetting God the giver, whereas wealth does not secure divine favor but is entrusted to bless others and glorify the Maker and tests and develops character. The rich man who stored up goods for himself illustrates this vanity, counted a fool because not rich toward God. Not lifting the heart to vanity means refusing to live for worldly treasure and self-indulgence, following the example of Christ who gave Himself to save the race by becoming poor and devoting substance to advance God's cause instead of pleasing self. Getting wealth to hoard it leaves a curse to children, an awful soul-endangering sin reaching to posterity, for children of hoarders often squander means in foolish extravagance and riotous living until beggared, whereas giving would lay up treasure in heaven and bring peace and happiness now and eternal riches hereafter; and minds and hearts must be set in order, not filled with worldly cares and distracting thoughts, so that God's law may be within.
Lifting the soul to vanity makes a person unfit to handle God's work in any of its branches. Whoever undertakes that work without learning every day in the school of Christ and without spending much time in earnest prayer will surely be overcome by human depravity and lift the soul to vanity. Fitness requires becoming a co-worker with Christ, with spirituality to discern spiritual things, and feeling need of virtue and wisdom from heaven for handling His work. Turning the soul toward vanity is living only a pretense of godliness while being a law to oneself and refusing divine light, and unless grace subdues the heart the person remains so and God has no use for him in His work. It means seeking supremacy for self, accepting the suggestions of Satan as truth, and failing to honor and reverence God and His truth despite blessings given, so that allegiance is not openly proclaimed, right to blessing is forfeited, and the person puts himself where the Lord cannot work in harmony with him.
Not swearing deceitfully requires integrity in words, work and business, with clean conduct and pure, unselfish, holy purposes, speaking truth rather than vanity. Sacred work must be kept free from deception and unclean practice, and seeking money, fame or patronage must never lead to sanctioning wrongdoing or letting unbelievers control God's work, for even a small number can prevail when grace is in the heart. God's work is sacred and must be carried out with integrity according to Bible principles, condemning dishonest actions and selfish handling of money. Those who stand in the holy place must have no guile in speech and no reproach against a neighbor, with words, actions and thoughts right, for taking up a rumor against a brother is inconsistent with belonging to that company. Following the Lamb means seeking sanctified speech and an undefiled heart, keeping the mind awake and watchful, with words and conduct free from guile and defilement. In work done in Christ's place this means acting with tender, pure, true and compassionate hearts, practicing the commandments and judging equitably, loving fellow beings, while failure to follow Christ's principles deceives, betrays Christ and dishonors truth; and no one is to rule another as master or use position to control others, for the Holy Spirit alone is to guide.
Clean hands and a pure heart mean freedom from polluting sins, even hidden impurity among those who profess better things and are not suspected of danger, with lust crucified and the body preserved in best condition to render perfect service. None but the pure and lowly can dwell in the divine presence, and cleanness means freedom from a corrupt heart and from lustful passions, the prevailing sin of the age, a standard applying to professed Sabbath-keepers and professed believers who are not clean and who will be proved until folly and sin are made manifest. Even Solomon, beloved of God, fell and became corrupt through indulgence of lust and turning from God, warning that integrity must be guarded strictly by turning away from vanity and speaking truthfully. Purity includes rejecting sexual sin and refusing even the slightest improper familiarity, for tolerating such advances shows the mind is not pure and chaste. A pure and chaste mind resents every invitation to sin and every unwarrantable liberty, repels improper familiarity such as a kiss at an improper time and place, gives it no encouragement or tolerance, and recoils with horror from sin and from hypocrisy and villainy when the tempter is one in high places respected as God's servant. The least approach to such familiarity proves a lascivious mind and lustful eye, and tolerating any of these liberties proves the mind finds charm in sin and crime rather than being pure, so the whole being is to be a clean offering.
Calling to Sacred Service
Those engaged in the sacred work of giving the last solemn message of warning to the world must carry out in their lives the principles of the truth they handle, with inward purity and outward uprightness, with pure hearts and clean hands and communion with God. Their thoughts and souls must be pure and their whole being a clean offering to God, for as judgment draws near those who carry His warning message must maintain a living connection with Him or their offering will not be acceptable. Such purity makes service an honor and qualifies a person for the work and responsibilities God entrusts to them in His cause. Those who handle sacred truth must live by its principles and realize the sacredness and heavenly origin of the work.
Preaching and ministry cannot be rightly done with unclean hands and an impure heart, and a person must be converted and transformed by grace before being fit to point others to Christ. Those who preach the truth without holiness in heart and life come under woe, and a heavier woe rests on those who take this sacred work upon themselves while unsanctified than on those called to preach who refuse to obey. Woe also rests on those who appoint and receive and maintain the unsanctified in a position they cannot rightly fill. Serving acceptably requires relying on what the Lord can do rather than trusting in one's own ability, with humility and consecration, for when Christ's love abides in the soul unbelief, suspicion, distrust and resentment diminish.
Clean hands and a pure heart bring peace and contentment of mind, which promote health through living in harmony with God's law. God's laws for the body are divine, and health depends on cooperating with them and surrendering body, soul and spirit to God.
Coming before God requires inward purity as well as outward right conduct, and clean hands and a pure heart matter more than fine clothes. Preparing for a holy gathering means searching the heart, setting the house in order, removing obstacles such as pride and unresolved differences, praying beyond what is customary with a heart broken before God, and teaching and preparing children to meet God. Keeping this standard invites the Lord's presence and brings holy angels to attend on the way to worship, whose light and presence press back the darkness of evil angels so that even unbelievers feel the holy atmosphere, while neglecting it loses much and leaves preaching that may please and animate and revive but without the converting, reforming power of God felt in the heart and without a work deep, thorough and lasting. Faith and religious principles must be preserved from being weakened or corrupted by error through watchfulness and prayer, and those who lack clean hands and a pure heart have no living connection with God and cannot come boldly to the throne of grace, for their outward religion is only a form of godliness without power. Worship then becomes to the soul even as the gate of heaven when pride is crucified and the soul is clad with the priceless robe of Christ's righteousness, which is its true covering.
Pure hearts and clean hands are shown by putting self out of sight, loving fellow workers as honest and righteous even when tried with fire, and working earnestly to help those working in hard places who are worthy of help. A pure heart is the source from which pure and holy actions flow to refresh others, and a gospel minister must put away everything unbecoming to that calling and rely on Christ rather than self. A vital connection with God keeps a person from lifting the soul to vanity and produces an unselfish, self-forgetful character without guile, marked by modest goodness and a life wholly consecrated to God, unstained by doubt or impurity. Clean hands and a pure heart are precious gifts to offer God, who values a soul kept from corruption and a meek, undefiled spirit, with person, conduct and business transacted with strictest integrity. Those who live only a pretense of godliness, are a law to themselves, refuse to let the grace of Christ subdue their hearts and refuse divine illumination lift their souls unto vanity and the Lord has no use for them, while the wholly consecrated worker who holds firm from above and cooperates with the great Physician is given skill to minister to soul as well as body through pure, unwavering faith.
In publishing and office labor this cleansing means carrying out the work with noble purpose, reform, and guarding of religious principles to protect workers' faith and souls from harm. Those preparing publications that bear the signet of the Eternal and are scattered to warn, test, prove the world and decide the destiny of souls must be free from pride and selfishness so that angels are attracted to the work, as the preaching of Noah warned, tested and proved the inhabitants of the world before the flood. Hearts emptied of selfishness and sin give clearer perception of what sin is and bring repentance proved by thorough and faithful work for time and for eternity, and such cleansing brings prosperity to the work that will extend to other places.