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around an ancient city. If an enemy could make the wall fall down, the whole city was easily taken. If Satan can control our ‘ houghts, he has a good chance to rule the rest of our lives. Christians must remember that they are the temples of God, and that God’s Spirit lives within them. No Christian is strong enough to keep himself al ways pure and clean; only God’s Spirit can do that. Christian boys and girls, as well as older Christians, are being watched by those who do not know the Saviour. Others expect their Words and actions to be always Christlike. Pray that His Spirit will help you to think only of those things that are pure and lovely and of good report, for only then can your words and actions be pleasing in His sight.
lovely Garden of Eden, their thoughts and their words were clean and pure, for they had been created in the im age of God. After they listened to the- voice of Satan and allowed sin to en ter into their hearts, their thoughts and words were often displeasing to God. When the Lord Jesus was upon the earth, He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Only a Christian can have a pure, clean heart, a heart that has been touched by the Son of God. But Chris tians must pray each day that the words of their m o u t h s and the thoughts of their hearts may be ac ceptable in God’s sight. Satan is al ways trying to fill a Christian’s heart with un-Christlike t h o u g h t s . He knows that thoughts are like the wall
Points and Problems In these separate passages of Scrip ture, the emphasis is upon purity of life. This purity ought to manifest itself in the following spheres: 1. Purity in the home: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14). With God the home is a sacred institution. It was ordained by Him. It is a min iature of Heaven (Eph. 3:15). The marriage relation is typical of the re lation existing between Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22). He who trifles with the sanctity of the home, disregards the expressed will of God. 2. Purity in the daily walk: "Enter not into the path of the wicked" (Prov. 4:14). The child of God is to be a separated person. As to his position in Christ, he is perfectly separated from sin so far as its guilt is con cerned. But he is also expected to make his actual state, or his daily life, conform to his perfect situa tion in Christ. He should never pre sume that he is beyond the possibility of falling under temptation, and should even pray that he may be kept. 3. Purity in heart: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23; cf. Matt. 5:8). As the heart in the physical body sends forth forces which contribute to man’s physical well-being, so from the soul of man come forth those Words and works which reveal his true character. Therefore man’s inner spir itual life needs to be carefully guard ed and fed. 4. Purity in thought: "Think on these things" (Phil. 4:8). Thinking produces action. What a man is in outward expression is the result of his thoughts. The Christian in brder to give proper expression to his faith needs to meditate upon things true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. The surest way to do this is to “ remember Jesus Christ,” for He is all these things in perfection. For the Children G lean T houghts and C lean W ords G enesis 1:27; P roverbs 20:11; M atthew 5:8; 1 T imothy 5:22c; 1 C orinthians 3:16 MEMORY VERSE: “W h a t s o e v e r things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. . . think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). Have you heard someone else say, "Well, at least no one knows what I think” ? That statement is not true, for the words that we speak and the things that we do, tell others what we are thinking. If our thoughts are self ish, our words and our actions will be selfish. If our thoughts are impure, our words and our actions will be im pure, When Adam and Eve lived in the
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