Chapter 15—The Soul Temple
A faithful obedience to God’s requirements will have a surprising
influence to elevate, develop, and strengthen all man’s faculties. Those
who have in youth devoted themselves to the service of God, are found
to be the men of sound judgment and keen discrimination. And why
should it not be so? Communion with the greatest Teacher the world
has ever known, strengthens the understanding, illuminates the mind,
and purifies the heart—elevates, refines, and ennobles the whole man.
“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple.”
God’s Ideal
Among the youth who profess godliness, there is a large class who
may seem to contradict this statement. They make no advancement in
knowledge or in spirituality. Their powers are dwarfing, rather than
developing. But the psalmist’s words are true of the genuine Christian.
It is not, indeed, the bare letter of God’s word that gives light and
understanding; it is the word opened and applied to the heart by the
Holy Spirit. When a man is truly converted, he becomes a son of
God, a partaker of the divine nature. Not only is the heart renewed,
but the intellect is strengthened and invigorated. There have been
many instances of persons who before conversion were thought to
possess ordinary and even inferior ability, but who after conversion
seemed to be entirely transformed. They then manifested remarkable
[66]
power to comprehend the truths of God’s word, and to present these
truths to others. Men of high intellectual standing have considered it a
privilege to hold intercourse with these men. The Sun of righteousness,
shedding its bright beams into their minds, quickened every power
into more vigorous action.
God will do a great work for the youth, if they will by the aid of
the Holy Spirit receive His word into the heart and obey it in the life.
He is constantly seeking to attract them to Himself, the Source of all
62