Apostasy at the Jordan
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“Keep thy heart with all diligence,” is the counsel of the wise man;
“for out of it are the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
. As man “thinketh
in his heart, so is he.”
Proverbs 23:7
. The heart must be renewed by
divine grace, or it will be in vain to seek for purity of life. He who
attempts to build up a noble, virtuous character independent of the
grace of Christ is building his house upon the shifting sand. In the
fierce storms of temptation it will surely be overthrown. David’s prayer
should be the petition of every soul: “Create in me a clean heart, O
God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
. And having
become partakers of the heavenly gift, we are to go on unto perfection,
being “kept by the power of God through faith.”
1 Peter 1:5
.
Yet we have a work to do to resist temptation. Those who would
not fall a prey to Satan’s devices must guard well the avenues of
the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will
suggest impure thoughts. The mind should not be left to wander at
random upon every subject that the adversary of souls may suggest.
“Girding up the loins of your mind,” says the apostle Peter, “Be sober,
... not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in ... your
ignorance: but like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves
also holy in all manner of living.”
1 Peter 1:13-15
, R.V. Says Paul,
“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8
. This
will require earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness. We must be
aided by the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit, which will attract the
mind upward, and habituate it to dwell on pure and holy things. And
we must give diligent study to the word of God. “Wherewithal shall a
young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy
word.” “Thy word,” says the psalmist, “have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against Thee.”
Psalm 119:9, 11
.
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Israel’s sin at Beth-peor brought the judgments of God upon the
nation, and though the same sins may not now be punished as speedily,
they will as surely meet retribution. “If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy.”
1 Corinthians 3:17
. Nature has affixed
terrible penalties to these crimes—penalties which, sooner or later,
will be inflicted upon every transgressor. It is these sins more than
any other that have caused the fearful degeneracy of our race, and the