Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-11-29
1T'HEIa&
QJHET
HOUR
UPROOT EVIL TO
PURIFY The HEART

L ~
Perhaps II we seek analogies
In nature, and see the use of the word
in some remote relationships. 1t may
help us to clarity our conception OF
what a life is like that la pure in the
sight Of God. Here then is land
that has been purged OF monsters. The
beast has been driven out. We have
vivid description of the emancipation
of one Of the earlier "IdyI1s Of the
King" The beasts would creep down
to the homesteads and steal and de-
stroy. They were a perpetual menace
to quiet living A crusade was ap-
pointed for the destruction OF the de-
stroyer. and the land was cleared Of
Its foes Now such an area. rid Of
the masterful beast, was purified
realm. And surely in the fields of the
soul there are beasts of prey. There
is the lion of passion, the serpent OF
envy, the bear of boorishness, the fox
| of deceit, and many others which find
their home and their sustenance in the
holy place, writes Dr. j. H. Jowett in
The Continent
And to get rid of these beasts, to
'let the ape and tiger die" would be to
create condition in human life which
would reflect one characteristic of the
| purified state.
Purity's Crystal Transparency.
| Let me take another analogy. Wa
ter that is free from all sediment, that
| is clear and transparent, rejecting
every pebble on the river bed, could
be described as pure. Everything is
lucid and lucent. Nothing is shady.
Nothing is hiding in a muddy cloud
1t Is pure. And here, too, / may find
suggestion of the purified life. The
soul that is clean and clear in the
sight of God has nothing dubious
about its character. nothing shady and
nothing muddy; there is nothing hid
ing in the folds of duplicity. The char
acter is transparent like the sea Of
| glass which the great seer gazed upon
before the throne of God and the
Lamb.
Take another usage of the word.
When the farmer has gathered out the
stones from q field. when dead roots
and "fibers have been removed, when
all Injurious growths that absorb the
gracious nutriment have been extir-
pated. the farmer describes the
cleansed area as clean" The US
age is still prevalent in every farm
stead of our country.
Like unto pure gold" Here Is an
other usage OF the word. 1t is de-
scriptive of gold in which there is no
alloy, no adulteration. The thing is
what 1t appears to be. 1t is true gold
in it's untampered simplicity. So is it
with a pure heart. No baser stuff is
allowed to mingle with it's truth. No
cheapening compromise gains an en-
| try. No bits OF worldliness are per-
mitted to intrude into piety and devo-
ton. There is no attempt to mix
God and man. Life is simple and
single, like unto pure gold"
Purfty's Potent Champion.
And how is a heart like this to be
gained? How can we drive out the
beast? How can we make it like the
crystal river? How can we cleanse
it like farmstead that is ready for
! the best seed? How can we transform
| it into a home of truth that is like
unto unadulterated gold? Most GER
tainly no man can effect this change
! in the power of his own will. ! pity
any man who sets about to purify
his heart without the help Of the eter-
nal Christ. There is an old hymn. the
last verse of which runs as follows:
Rise, touched with gratitude divine
Turn out his enemy and thine.
That scul-destroying monster, sin,
And let the heavenly Stranger in"
But that Is just what / cannot do.
I cannot turn the monster cut and let
the stranger in. And indeed that is
not the order of things which / find
in the gospel The gospel is this:
let the Stranger in and he will turn
| the monster QUIT Our concern is to
be with opening the door to the
mighty Presence in whose power we
shall find the secret of pure and sane
| tilted life. That Christ may dwell
! in your hearts by faith" That is
what we need-to get the Christ in,
for him to make his dwelling place
| there, and for him 10 90 MS own ex-
pulsive cleansing and purifying work.
THE blood of Jesus Christ, his Son,
| cIeanseth us from all sin There is
nothing In the whole realm of the
soul, from a beast of passion to an IL
licit compromise, that he cannot deal
with and expel.
/ But more than that. The Lord Jesus
not only rids us of a tyrant He also
repairs the damage. He not only
emancipates. he beauties. Whatever
| is the need of the human spirit, wheth-
| err it be in the tyranny OF actual sin
or in the grip of guilt, bound to its
yesterdays or in servitude to today.
the Lord Jesus can give the glorious
liberty of the children OF Cod
/ And thus it is that he provides the
means By which we may realize the
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