THE June 1, 1913 we are that our heavenly Father is judging us from this standpoint! How glad we are that he is able to read the heart, that he knows our hearts, that he knows our inmost thoughts! At one time we might have thought that we were doing God service when we were not. We show our loyalty to God by giving attention to his Word, that we may know what is his will, The more we study God’s Word, the more we receive the spirit of the truth, and the more we appreciate it. And in preportion as we understand God’s regulations and desire to be guided by them, our hearts will become purified. Then the more care shall we take of our hands, what they shall do; and of our tongues, what they shall say. Thus we shall keep our hearts—submit our wills to the will of God. The will is a part of our heart, just as the rudder is a part of the ship. The new will is the rudder to steer us this way or that way. The more we understand the Word of the Lord, the better we understand how to guide our lives. Therefore we are to keep our hearts and purify them by the knowledge of God’s truth, the study of God’s truth. To do this, the will must ever be on the alert, watching with prayer and thanksgiving. THE CHURCH ON TRIAL FOR LIFE Some one may ask, Why should we do all this? In a general way we might answer, that we may do right—because right is right. But that reason is not sufficient for us. While all appreciate the superiority of right over wrong, yet in our fallen condition we need to have some inducements to action. So the Lord puts certain inducements before us. He says, “Tf your heart is right, I desire to give you everlasting life. If your heart is wrong, then you will not be of the kind to whom [ will grant this boon. You will die the second death.’’ Six thousand years ago there was a trial. Our first father, Adam, was tried, and failed. Consequently we have no right to life. But God has arranged through our Lord Jesus that every member of Adam’s race may have another trial. The Father is willing to give life everlasting to all who love righteousness. So we thankfully accept this provision, and say, ‘‘ Heavenly Father, wilt thou indeed give us another opportunity for gaining everlasting life? We would love to have that life! We are very thankful for the opportunity! We love righteousness! If we are loyal to the principles of righteousness, shall we get everlasting life? It is our desire that Thy will be done in us—even that we love righteousness and hate iniquity.’’? ‘‘Very well, then,’’ the heavenly Father says, ‘‘T will put you into the school of Christ, where you will learn righteousness. ’? Day by day we are learning in the school of Christ. Our different experiences are a part of the general instructions for those who love righteousness and who desire to be taught of the Lord. The issue of our trial will be life or death. The world is not now on trial. There is no possibility for the world to gain life as yet. During this Gospel age the church are the only ones who are under this covenant of sacrifice— who are on trial, therefore, for everlasting life or everlasting death. In the next age, the world will have their opportunity for learning obedience. Then the issue for them will be life or death. God says, ‘‘I have set before you life and death, blessing or curging.’’ There is a curse for every one who loves unrighteousness; there is a blessing for every one who loves righteousness. So during the thousand years of Christ’s reign the world will be on trial for everlasting life or everlasting death. All who are obedient will get everlasting life. But all who have the spirit of Satan will be destroyed in the second death. Only those who are more than mere overcomers will be of the royal priesthood. There is no excuse for our getting into the great company. Let us keep our hearts with all diligence. Let us watch our hearts. If they are in full harmony with God’s will, we shall have little trouble with our tongues. ‘‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’’—Matt. 12:34, Our heart is the most wonderful organ of our body. The tongue is the most subtle of all our members. The Lord takes our words ag an index of our heart condition. But since we are imperfect, it is not possible for us to be faultless in word and deed. Yet we are diligently and faithfully to seek to attain the perfect mastery of our words. We should be especially on guard in respect to evil speaking. Every tendency toward slander is to be checked. Whoever of us is reviled is not to revile again. These tendencies belong to the old nature. To be pleasing to the Master, we are to keep our hearts free from every form of evil. If this be done, the heart is rightly instructed of the Lord. Then we will know that we must make good whatever is wrong. We are bound, WATCH TOWER (164-165) thoroughly bound, to make it good to the best of our ability. Our heart must keep itself right. DEFICIENCY IN MODERN EDUCATION This same principle is applicable to the whole world, though not on a scale so far reaching. Mankind are influenced by thought, by experience. So vicious children may be trained up under favorable environments to become useful citizens. We have seen where, even with people of the world, good resolutions to live honestly, justly, soberly, have had a blessed influence on the life, making noble men and women, although these may not be Christians. We have also seen the reverse of this—those who were criminals, but not so of necessity. Some of them were born under good conditions; but have read bad books and meditated upon sinful things. Thus the thoughts of their hearts have been evil instead of good. Thus they have become inclined toward evil. As they allow their minds to run in a certain direction, and allow these thoughts to become deeply rooted in their hearts, some of them become very vicious. We are deeply impressed with this fact in noticing the photographs of the four gunmen recently convicted of murder in New York. Had we scen their pictures before knowing who they were, we should have said, ‘‘ Those are strong characters.’* Their hearts had gone wrong, doubtless because of wrong education and a failure to appreciate the principles of righteousness. This seems to be largely the case at the present time. Very few see the principles of righteousness at all. The majority are swayed by superstition, by fear and by hopes which are more or less ephemeral, more or lexs deceptive. So we sce that the general education of our day is lacking in a very important respect. Although the schools have taken away to some extent the veil of ignorance and superstition, yet they are not giving instead the full, proper view of righteousness, This is because in a general way the divine character and the divine laws are being ignored. There is an attempt to teach morality entirely aside from the divine law. But this course seems to be undermining faith—~-separating the pupils from faith in a Supreme Creator. Thus we see that while the world is making wonderful progress in education, yet it is not reaching its own ideals. The human mind in its fallen and perverted condition, is unable to see the subject of morality from a standpoint which educators would put before it. The human mind needs the influence of its higher organs to assist the lower organs. Hence, although these educational influences are beneficial in many respects, yet they are very injurious in others. They do not inculeate veneration for God and for the divine will. Therefore people are unable to grasp the best principles. The only persons who are in the right attitude are those who are secking to have new thoughts, to have thoughts conformed to the divine arrangement, taking the mind of Christ instead of their own imaginations and judgment, and thus growing up into him in all things. This is our happy position. INFLUENCE OF THOUGHT UPON HEALTH There is another view of the text—‘‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’’—-given by Christian Scientists; namely, that aecording to our minds, so be it unto us. They get some good out of this view. They say that if one thinks about kind, noble things, he will be influenced thus. We think our Christian Scientist friends are partly right and partly wrong. They hold that if one thinks himself to be well, he will be well; that if one thinks himself to be sick, he will be sick. There is a measure of truth in this view. One-half the people in the world are sick because they think they are so. If they thought, not about their aches and pains, but about more helpful things, they would no doubt be better and stronger in every way. The mind has something to do with our cendition. Whoever mopes about a headache will undoubtedly make it worse. Whoever tries to put the thought of his condition away and to give attention to other things will undoubtedly help himsclf. The less we think about our aches and pains the better for us. If we talk about them we aggravate them. It is also bad to exercise too much sympathy with cach other. Of course, there are times when it would be cruel not to show sympathy. But it is not wise to encourage those who are weak to complain about their condition. We become stronger in proportion as we try to avoid thinking of our ailments. The mistake made by our Christian Scientist friends is that they earry this principle too far. Thinking ourselves sound will not make us so. And it would not be right to lie about the matter, and to say that we have no aches and pains when we have them. The middle line is the one which the Bible encourages—not to say that we have neither aches nor pains, not to say that death is ‘‘mortal error,’’ and that (5247)
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