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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6657-0.txt b/6657-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b10f26 --- /dev/null +++ b/6657-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4100 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Posting Date: October 2, 2014 [EBook #6657] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.] + + + +THE + +THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS. + +BY + +DOUGAN CLARK, M. D. + +PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHURCH +HISTORY IN EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, INDIANA. + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF +MY FATHER AND MOTHER, +DOUGAN AND ASENATH CLARK, +BOTH FOR MANY YEARS APPROVED +MINISTERS IN THE FRIENDS' CHURCH, +AND BOTH LONG SINCE DEPARTED +TO BE WITH CHRIST, THIS +BOOK IS LOVINGLY +Dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY + II. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE + III. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES + IV. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE + V. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY + VI. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST + VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL +VIII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER + IX. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN + X. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE + XI. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER + XII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON +XIII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST + XIV. SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH + XV. SANCTIFIED BY FAITH + XVI. CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY. + + + +Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology is the most +important of all sciences. It is the science that treats of God and of +man in his relation to God. It is a systematic presentation of revealed +truth. As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds revealed by +the telescope, and as the basis of Geology is the crust of the earth, +so the basis of Theology is the Divine revelation found in the Holy +Scriptures. The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is a +systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire sanctification as +derived from the written word of God. Such a presentation we hope--with +the help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly invoke--to +attempt to give in this book. May God bless the endeavor, and overrule +our human weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen. + +It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class of Christians to +whom the subject of entire sanctification is a matter of indifference. +They hope, with or without sufficient reason, that their sins are +forgiven. They propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, again +with or without sufficient reason, that they will go to heaven when +they die. The subject of holiness does not interest them. They suppose +themselves to be doing well enough without it. + +There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom the subject is even +positively distasteful. It is an offence to them. They do not want to +hear it preached. They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion and spiritual +pride. They turn away from the whole subject not only with +indifference, but with disdain. + +There are still others, and these God's children, as we may charitably +believe, who do not even regard holiness as a desirable thing. They +assert that it is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It is true that they +are never able to tell how much sin it takes to have this beneficial +effect, but a certain amount they are bent on having. + +Another class takes the opposite view. They regard holiness as very +desirable, and a very lovely thing to gaze upon and think upon, but +they also regard it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to get it at the +moment of death. Not sooner than the dying hour, do they believe any +human being can be made holy. Not till death is separating the soul +from the body can even God Himself separate sin from the soul. The +whole doctrine of entire sanctification, therefore, they regard as a +beautiful theory, but wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly +impracticable as a life. + +In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, as described by +Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are opposed to the doctrine of entire +sanctification. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and the +carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. This opposition may +take one of the forms already described, or, possibly, some other forms +which have been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the same +in all. Wherever "our old man" has his home in a Christian's heart, +there entire sanctification will be rejected. + +But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. There are +thousands of sincere, believing hearts in all Christian denominations, +in whom inbred sin still exists, but not with the consent of the will. +They are tired--very tired of the tyrant that rules them, or of the +ceaseless struggles by which, with God's added and assisting grace, +they are enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. They are +hungering for full salvation, and rejoice to hear the message of entire +sanctification through the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The +Lord bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them the desire of +their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, and may their numbers be +vastly increased, so that the banner of Christ's church may everywhere +be unfurled--the banner on which is inscribed the glorious motto of +Holiness to the Lord. + +Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire +sanctification--whether in the form of indifference, or dislike, or +undesirableness, or impossibility--with the simple proposition, It is +necessary. If this proposition can be established, all objections, of +whatever character, must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every +Christian heart must be, How can I obtain that priceless blessing which +is essential to my eternal bliss, which is indispensable, and without +which I shall never see the Lord? + +For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace +with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," +and in the Revised Version, "Follow after peace with all men, and the +sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." This can mean +nothing short of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred sin. +And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue the question as to the +indispensableness of this blessed experience, in order to gain an +entrance into heaven. Everyone will admit that God Himself is a +perfectly and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His followers +in all ages, "Be ye holy for I am holy"--making His own perfect and +entire holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same quality +in His people. And, although the holiness of the highest created being +will always fall infinitely short of that of the Infinite God, as +regards quantity, it will be the same _in quality_, for Jesus +tells us, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," +not, of course, with the unmeasurable amount of perfection which +appertains to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far as it +goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that "There shall in no wise +enter into it" (the heavenly city) "anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie." Heaven is a holy +place, and occupied with none but holy inhabitants. + +But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that we may reach the +blissful abode of the glory land, when is this stupendous blessing to +be obtained? It is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as an attainment, and +this form of expression has a tendency to discourage the seeker by +magnifying the difficulty of receiving this blessing. The thought +contained in the word attainment is that of something earnestly striven +for, struggled after, persistently pursued with much labor and toil and +effort, until, at last, the coveted prize is attained. A very few of +the multitudes who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of hard labor and +privation and hardship. The majority died on the way, or while mining +for the precious metal, or returned as poor as they went. + +On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply that of a gift. +And entire sanctification is precisely a gift, "merely this and nothing +more." It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit of our +own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise to be undertaken; not +the fruit of a long journey or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor +trying, nor suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord. + +And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable gift to be +obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist answer, in +purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a second probation after death. +But the Holy Scriptures tell us absolutely nothing either of a +purgatory or a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be determined in one +probation, which is allotted to us in the present life. Let no one +suppose, for a moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left this mundane +sphere. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of +salvation." + +But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, and also a large +portion of the membership of Arminian denominations, without regard to +their creeds, if asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at death. The +prevailing idea on this subject, among Christian believers, seems to be +as follows: First, through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins are pardoned, and we +are born again. After that, our sole business is to grow in grace, and +by this growth to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can reach that standard +until the moment of death. + +Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, grow in grace +until we receive it. And we can never grow into grace, but grow in it +after we get it. We can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree is limited +because of the presence of inbred sin, which is the great, if indeed, +not the only hindrance of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at +least, because if the justified Christian is brought to see the need +and the possibility of entire sanctification, and yet fails, as so many +do, to enter into the blessing, because of unbelief, he is very prone +either to backslide, in which case, of course, there will be a +cessation of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to the +bondage of legalism, and after having begun in the Spirit, he will seek +to be perfected in the flesh; in which case Paul's verdict to that +beloved church was not ye are growing in grace, but, "ye are fallen +from grace." + +It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into the blessing of +entire sanctification. That blessing is to be received by faith, as the +gift of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when the +grace has once been obtained in this manner, then we can grow in it +indefinitely and for a lifetime, possibly even for an eternity. Growth +in grace is a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring us to the death of +the old man, nor to the experience of entire sanctification. + +And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death is nowhere +mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. Death can separate the soul +from the body, but to separate sin from the soul is a work which God +can only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is +our sanctifier, and even if the work is performed in the article of +death, it is still the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, where is the +hindrance to His performing it a week, a month, a year, or forty years +before death--if only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where is His +omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do it before death; then where +is His own holiness? In either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves +of an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save us from such +folly. + +Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite in the sentiment +that entire sanctification is to be sought and obtained now, and if +now, then it is to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained by faith, and from +these premises the further conclusion is logically deducible, that we +cannot make ourselves any better in order to receive it, but that we +must take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the pithy precept +of John Wesley, "Expect it by faith--expect it as you are--expect it +now." + +In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some things which +belong more accurately to the next chapter; but we are not seeking so +much for a perfectly methodical arrangement, as for a clear and +Scriptural presentation of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now +that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of +entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results +of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable +blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father's will in this +world, it is indispensable to live by. + +But before leaving entirely the subject of growth in grace, having +demonstrated, as we trust, that we can never grow into entire +sanctification, we ought, perhaps, to explain what we mean by the +statement that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace after, +and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification has two sides or +aspects. It has a positive side and a negative side. Its negative side +is the removal of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of +subtraction. And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. The latter +is a matter of addition, because it implies the impartation of a new +life to the soul which has hitherto been "dead in trespasses and sins." +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification there can be no +growth. If a heart is pure it cannot be more pure. If it is free from +sin it cannot be more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase in purity. + +But the positive side of entire sanctification is perfect love, and +this is a relative expression. It does not mean that all who possess it +must have an equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual is +just his own heart--not some one else's heart--being filled with love. +One individual may have a greater capacity of loving than another, just +as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or of working. Perfect love +in a child would not be perfect love in a man; and perfect love in a +man would not be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect love today may +not be perfect love to-morrow. As we commune with God and work with +Him, as we get more and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of the Triune God, how +is it possible that we should not love Him more and more? "There will +never be a time in earth nor in Heaven," says the late Dr. Upham, "when +there may not be an increase of holy love." On the positive side of +entire sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true growth in grace, +about which much more could be said, but we leave it for the present, +to resume our main theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come. + +We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian can do all +that God would have him do, nor enjoy all that God would have him enjoy +in this world, without the grace of entire sanctification. In the +beautiful language of metaphor the Saviour says, "I am the true Vine +and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He taketh away, and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He +purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." And again, "Herein is +My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be My +disciples." Now the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am +come," says He, "that ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye +might have it more abundantly" (in entire sanctification). The abundant +life and the abundant fruit, therefore, can only be found in connection +with purity of heart. + +It is doubtless _true_ that every living branch, that is to say, +every justified and regenerated believer, may and should and must, if +he would retain his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is +precisely these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman "purges"--sanctifies--that they may bring forth the more +abundant fruit by which He Himself shall be glorified. And here we +might rest our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two will be +in place. + +The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius of a poet, the +intimate connection between purity and power. He puts into the mouth of +Sir Galahad, one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz: + + "My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + +Now one of the most common complaints among Christians of all +denominations, is because of their weakness and their leanness. And yet +nothing is clearer than that God has promised to make His people +strong, that He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and that +not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to say criminal in His sight. +The reason, then, of our weakness and our leanness and the meagreness +of our fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not fulfill the +conditions on which He promises to make us strong. One of these +conditions, and an indispensable one, is that we be entirely +sanctified. It is they that know their God, both in conversion and +entire sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall "be strong +and do exploits." Beloved, if you would accomplish the work that God +has given you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment in +eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, seek and find that which +is the essential condition, and ask at once to be wholly sanctified. + +And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the joy of an uttermost +salvation, the peace that passeth understanding, the fellowship with +the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing of +the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the abiding presence of +the indwelling Comforter, then pray that the very God of Peace may here +and now sanctify you wholly. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE. + + + +This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary from what has been +said in the preceding chapter. If entire sanctification has been proved +to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot +attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian +enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, +and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our +gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable +requisite both for time and for eternity may be received. + +But before discussing this proposition in detail let us have a clear +understanding of what is meant by entire sanctification, and, as a +preliminary, let us study a few simple theological definitions. + +In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty in believing that +I fully accept the Arminian doctrine of the universality of the +atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of +all mankind, and its benefits are offered to all. "He tasted death for +every man." But it does not follow that all men will be saved, and this +for the reason that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated to accept it. +But it is available only in the case of those who believe. "He that +believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +condemned." A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation. + +Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. It is either +general or special. In one sense it is as broad as atonement. Atonement +is for sin; redemption is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. +In its more special meaning it is applicable only to those who accept +the atonement. For these it implies release from the bondage of the +will under the law of sin and death, or justification and regeneration. +It brings also release from the power and existence of depravity or +entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, the complete +glorification of the saints in body, soul and spirit at God's right +hand, and the deliverance of the creation itself from the "bondage of +corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." + +The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement are offered +to the sinner is repentance. Both the Saviour Himself and His +forerunner began their public ministry with words of like import, viz: +"Repent ye and believe the gospel." Repentance does not mean penance--not +a voluntary sacrifice in our own will for an expiation of sin--nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although "godly sorrow" is one +of the elements of true repentance. The sorrow of the world may produce +remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but +remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life +but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of +purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for +sin--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or +financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the +Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the +determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and +involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no +more. + +The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the +benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less +than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that +He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." +"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them +real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the +mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that +all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving +faith. + +And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift +of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of +believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting +forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the +salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith +faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one +case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the +faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the +world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper +object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the +truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise +our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our +faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss. + +For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience +to that as to all other of His commands. The fact of the command +involves the power to obey. Our will, therefore, our choosing power, +must be put on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. It +is not that we are required to believe without evidence. It is that our +depraved hearts are not willing to believe when the evidence is ample. +And, therefore, our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." The great +and crying sin of our fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has +sundered us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith which +is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited to Him. "He that +believeth not the Son is condemned already." + +Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God promises to give +us the grace of justification. This is pardon for all our past sins. +God, for Christ's sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus' sake, although we are not just in reality. +And herein it is that gospel justification differs from legal +justification. The individual who is accused of crime and who is +brought into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, not to be +guilty, is at once acquitted and released from all penalty. He is +justified solely on the ground of his innocence. But no man ever has +been or ever will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground of +his innocence. Every responsible human being has broken the law of God. +"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And none of those +who have broken the law can be justified by the law, that is to say, +not one. The law justifies those, and those only, who keep it. None of +us have kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man Christ +Jesus. The law condemns all those who break it. All the race of men +have broken it save only the man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under +condemnation. But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? We should be so +but for Christ. But, blessed be God, "He hath found a ransom." "All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, +and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus Christ +"Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." And so it comes to +pass that we can be freely justified by His grace, not because of our +innocency but because He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the +place which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. He procured +for us the place which was and is rightfully His, and that is at God's +right hand. He suffered what we deserved, and by that very suffering He +made us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to His Holy Name! + +By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, justice is +satisfied, and the penalty of the broken law is removed. God is +infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. He loves the +sinner with a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and will not look +upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance. His mercy and His love +may compassionate the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do +right?" + +But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified and risen Lord, +both the attributes of mercy and justice are enlisted on behalf of the +sinner. The mercy of God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus' sake. "Mercy and truth have met together, +righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "God can be just and +the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "If we confess our sins +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." And in accordance with +the way of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now plead +with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive us when we have +complied with these conditions. And so we arrive at the conclusion that +justification is an act of God's grace by which our sins are pardoned +for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act is instantaneous. God does +not pardon sins gradually, nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to +every one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious language, +"Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." As if by a single +stroke of the recording angel's pen, the whole dark record is blotted +out forever. "As far as the east is from the west so far hath He +removed our transgressions from us." Glory. + +Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies justification. +God does not justify a sinner without, at the same time, giving him a +new life. This new life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine energy of the +Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, without, at the same time, +receiving a new nature, he would inevitably fall into sin again. His +lifetime on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But our +merciful Father having for Christ's sake looked upon him as just and +righteous, when he was not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new +nature which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, indeed, of +the Divine nature, and that is a nature which is holy and just and +good. And this is the new birth. Men may be full of physical life and +of intellectual life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is that +act of God's grace by which we are born again. + +Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and regenerated +believer into the family of God. No longer enemies, nor even strangers +and foreigners, those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now +receive the adoption of sons. They become the children of God by faith +in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and they rejoice to declare it. +A human governor or ruler may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a +reprieve, but he never takes him into his own family. He may forgive +the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon him a new nature, nor can he +consent to recognize him as a brother or a son. But God not only +remits the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers them from +wrath and from punishment, but He gives them a new nature by which they +can respond to His love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "Ye are all +the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." + +The witness of the Spirit is something not easily defined, but it is +well known by those who experience it. It is an impression or +consciousness wrought into the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, +which gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child of God. +Before this, he believes, now he knows. This witness, therefore, +expels doubt and infuses into the heart of the new-born child of God, a +calm, definite and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. "The Spirit Himself beareth +witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." "Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into +your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." + +Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, are all received +co-instantaneously. They always accompany each other, and whoever has +one of them has them all. The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not +always a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies or attends the +other experiences to which we have alluded. And we may add that all +these graces are but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, by the single +term conversion, which term, therefore, must be understood to include +and imply justification, regeneration, adoption and the witness of the +Spirit. It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, and never a +prolonged process. Just so certainly as every human being that comes +into this world has a definite, natural birthday, so every one that +comes into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. Some +people do not know when their natural birthday occurs, nevertheless, +they know that they have been born. Some Christians do not know when +their spiritual birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of a definite line +out of Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where a man can +truthfully say, I am neither converted nor unconverted. One moment he +is out of the ark of safety, the next moment he is in it. + +Entire sanctification is an act of God's grace by which inbred sin is +removed and the heart made holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is +the inward cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It is the +bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter fruits. It is the +natural evil tendency of the human heart in our fallen condition. It is +the being of sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that within +us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. It exists in every human +being that comes into the world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is +called in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our old man, +sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term sin in the singular +number. In the Old Testament it is called sin and iniquity. "Behold," +says David, "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive +me." And when the Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, "Lo, this hath touched +thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." + +Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the real existence of +this inbred sin and also as to the fact that it is not removed at +conversion. "This infection of nature doth remain," says the Anglican +Confession, "yea, even in them that have been regenerated." Most church +creeds, indeed, give no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the hour of death. And +it is regarded as serious heresy in some quarters for a man to either +preach or claim that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse from +all sin. + +But God has in every age and in every dispensation required His +children to be holy. And to be holy signifies the destruction or +removal of inbred sin, nothing more and nothing less and nothing else +than that. How this is accomplished will be discussed further on, but +here we say that the removal of innate depravity is entire +sanctification, and that God has most surely made provision in the +atonement of Jesus Christ for the removal of innate depravity. +Therefore, He has made provision for entire sanctification, and, +therefore again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin goes +back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. If not as old as the +human race, it is at least as old as the fall. Since sin entered +through the beguiling of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin +has existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and Eve. The only +exception is the man, Christ Jesus, the God man, the Divine man, the +promised seed that should bruise the serpent's head. But as He, the +Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, +and as inbred sin is one of the works of the devil, therefore its +destruction is provided for in the atonement, and, therefore, still +again, entire sanctification is obtainable. + +The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate or to devote +to sacred uses. It has this signification nearly always in the Old +Testament and in a few passages in the New. In other words, whatever is +consecrated is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent meaning, of +separation from all sin, inward as well as outward, and this is what +Paul calls being sanctified wholly. It is entire sanctification as +distinguished from partial sanctification. This latter appertains to +all Christians, and is technically so used in the New Testament. The +former is the experience of those, and those only, from whom inbred sin +has been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES. + + + +For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was +without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are +concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been +patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his +children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he +died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their +allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs +constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a +prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were +Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death, +it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of +the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and +deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law. + +As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few +faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and +sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not +to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the +subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings +of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New +Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the +word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day +and sanctified it. + +And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives +of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose +of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of +His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience +upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New +Testament. + +"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Such is +the record in Genesis, but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the +faith chapter, we find that "by faith Enoch was translated that he +should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him, +for; before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased +God." Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian ages, +walked with God and pleased God, and was translated that he should not +see death, there surely can be no reasonable doubt that he was a holy +man, an entirely sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was "slain from the +foundation of the world." + +"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked +with God." The prophet Amos exclaims most pertinently, "Can two walk +together unless they be agreed?" It is certain, therefore, that God and +Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely pure and holy, can never +be agreed with any person or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever +may be the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied to +God's children in Old Testament times, we can scarcely avoid the +conclusion that Noah was a holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and +this notwithstanding his subsequent error in regard to drinking too +much wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose he may have +been, up to the time of this sad experience, ignorant. + +Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, in Ur of the +Chaldees, when he received the call of God to go entirely away from +his kindred and his father's house, and depart into a land of +separation, a land which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing whither he went, +but only knowing that the Lord was leading him. At his first move, he +was accompanied by his father. And he came out of his native land, it +is true, but not yet into the promised land. "He came to Haran and +dwelt there," or to give the record in full, "And Terah took Abraham, +his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his +daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them +from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there." + +Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr Stephen says, +"And from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this +land, wherein ye now dwell," but in Genesis the statement is, "And +Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their +substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in +Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the +land of Canaan they came." The last tie of nature was sundered when the +old man died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought him +into the promised land. There are two distinct stages in his experience +before he reached the place, which God designed him to occupy. And +these we may as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the first +experience under the gospel--that of regeneration--and of the second +experience as well, which is entire sanctification. + +In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious episode +occurs, and that is the story of his transient but highly important +meeting with Melchizedek, after his successful expedition against the +kings, who had despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, viz.: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, +brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High +God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High +God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, +which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him +tithes of all." No other mention is made of Melchizedek until David +writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly one thousand years after +Abraham. The Psalmist writing by inspiration, and alluding beyond all +reasonable doubt to the Messiah, says, "The Lord hath sworn and will +not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." +And then, again, the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once more brings him +to the front in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is described in +glowing language as "first being by interpretation King of +righteousness, and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king of +peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy (R. V.) having +neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son +of God, abideth a priest continually." + +Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most remarkable +personage, the following inferences seem fairly deducible therefrom: +(1) Melchizedek, being made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently +the Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and +priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and Christ are priests, and yet the +former is not of the chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, +unquestionably, greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth bread and wine. +So did his antitype at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Melchizedek +was before that of Aaron. Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to +Melchizedek in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle to +the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since Melchizedek was without +beginning or end, and greater than Abraham, and with a priesthood that +existed centuries before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, +therefore Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting to +everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, is to abolish the +Aaronic priesthood, whose institution was for a temporary purpose, and +was fulfilled when Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek. + +But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also a king. And it was +not only in his everlasting priesthood, but in his regal office also, +that he was a type of the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, +Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in His own +person the three offices of prophet, priest and king. + +Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, if he was greater +than Abraham, if he was a type of Jesus Christ in His kingly and +priestly offices, it is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. He was made like +unto the Son of God, and the Son of God is eternally holy. Praise His +name. It is, surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in those +primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth was full of wickedness +and violence, that even then God had His witnesses to experimental and +practical holiness. + +Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood of Christ, let me +remark that it was a sad day for His Church when the idea became +prevalent, that ministers of the gospel are in any official sense to be +regarded as priests. This serious error may have been derived, in part, +from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. It has become incorporated in +the creed of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, +and has been productive of the most disastrous results. Among the +deliverances of the Council of Trent, held at intervals from 1545 to +1564, and the last Council, which Romish authorities regard as of +binding authority, are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: "Whereas, therefore, in the New +Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution of +Christ, the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a new, visible and +external priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the +sacred Scriptures show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord, +our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the +priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering and +administering his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins." + +It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely clear of this +same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, and that, in thought, at +least, many substitute this for the true priesthood, which appertains +to all believers. Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation and +continues to do, forever, by intercession. "He ever liveth to make +intercession for us." He "offered one sacrifice for sins forever." If +He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already offered Himself as a +sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of all mankind, the benefits of +which each and every one may obtain on the simple condition of +repentance and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says George Fox, +"Friends, let nothing come between your souls and God, but Christ," and +we say Amen. + +To sum up on this particular point, we may say that the ancient +priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, and of Aaron, the Jew, +with his descendants, were nothing more than types; and a type can have +no real existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there is no +place for a human priesthood under the Christian dispensation. We are +taught in Holy Scripture that no one can come to God except through +Christ, but we are also taught that all are invited, and all may come +directly to Him. All the officers belonging to the New Testament +Church, whether ministers, deacons, presbyters, bishops, elders, or +even apostles, are described not as priests but "messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and shepherds." Their +function is to preach the word, to teach, to rule, but never to +mediate. It is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests. + +But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, all Christians +are priests. But this is through Christ and in Christ, the one great +and eternal High Priest. They are priests because they are in Christ. +And not only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings and +priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed privileges are theirs, +solely by virtue of their union and fellowship with Christ, who, in a +mystical and spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His own +priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic office. + +Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit, +"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people." + +And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house, +an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God +by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the +functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of +sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by +the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath +offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and +nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient +offering. + +The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender +of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to +God. Listen to Paul. + +"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye +present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service." Your bodies, because if you are +Christians, you have already presented your hearts; your bodies, +because through the body, too often temptation enters into the soul and +leads it to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If surrendered to the +Lord, He makes them the very thing they were originally designed to +be, namely, the obedient servants of the soul, and the soul is already +His own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands and the body +obeys, both are working for God, and when the soul says Go, and the +body runs hither and thither, both are going upon God's errands. + +It will be observed that the body is to be presented a living +sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless activities are to be given +up to God. The expression, no doubt, implies that the whole man, +described by the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, soul +and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be His, and His forever, +and henceforth to be ready to be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed +will. + +The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion of your time, +nor a certain portion of your money, nor a certain portion of your +effort, nor your sins, nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden +indulgences. You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, nor +your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, nor your +theatre-going to God. He wants none of these things. All actual and known +sins must be abandoned at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent +and a deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus present his body +unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, but Christians are enjoined to +"yield themselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead;" not +as those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character and +for a different purpose. That purpose is that he may be wholly +sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of +his capacity for the glory of God. Consecration means yielding +yourselves unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything else. +All the details are included in the one surrender of yourself. + +And remember, also, that your consecration is not to God's service, not +to His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the +church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, not +to any organization, not to the cause of God; it is to God Himself. +"Yield yourselves unto God." It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. Your work, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty, +will all follow in due time. The next sacrifice to be made by the +Christian priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. "By Him, +therefore," says the author of the Hebrews, "let us offer the sacrifice +of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name." + +And the next priestly offering of the Christian is a holy life, for the +inspired author goes on in the next verse, "But to do good, and to +communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; offer the +fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of the life, and you will walk +worthily of your priesthood. Glory! + +The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined experiences about +twenty years apart. The first of these was at Bethel, when, in +loneliness and anguish of mind, he was plodding on his way toward +Mesopotamia to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground with a stone for +a pillow, not only distressed in mind from fear and anxiety, but also, +we may well suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation of a +guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had faith in God's promises, +even if he did not always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, forlorn, fearful and +contrite, God was watching over him, and when he awoke from the +wondrous vision there vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in +the place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new man. Now he +could not only believe intellectually what God had said, but he could +and did enter into covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. This was such a +change of mind and heart as constituted a real conversion. + +When, after the many mercies and many trials that fell to his portion +whilst dwelling with his uncle Laban, and after the lapse of two score +years, he was returning to his father's house, no longer poor and +lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives and children, again he was +encountered by the fear of his brother Esau who was approaching him +with four hundred men. Then it was that there "wrestled a man with him +until the breaking of the day." Note it was the man wrestling with +Jacob--and the man was the angel,--Jehovah, the pre-existent Christ--and +the object of his wrestling was to get the Jacob nature, the old +man, the body of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by a +touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for him to resist any +longer. Now he had to cease his wrestling but he could still cling, and +he could still cry, "I will not let thee go until thou bless me." +Jacob's will was now firmly set upon the blessing; he could ho longer +resist the will of the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob--supplanter, sinner, and then He +blessed him there; Jabbok means extinguishment, and Jacob's self-life +was extinguished there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter--but Israel, the prince, the prevailer, the +overcomer, and Israel was now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell +God your name--sinner--seek with fixed determination for the blessing +of holiness, fulfill the conditions, and you also shall prevail, and +your name will be changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the Blesser Himself +in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. Praise the Lord! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE. + + + +The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and typical. "The law +having a shadow of the good things to come," says the author of the +Hebrews. But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far as +holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed forth in the +ceremonial law, we shall find that there is a corresponding substance +and reality in the gospel of Christ. + +In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions of the Mosaic +law, we shall be struck with the many forms of ceremonial uncleanness +described therein, and with the "divers washings," not only of the +"hands oft," but of the whole body, and of "cups and pots, brazen +vessels and of tables." All these point to the fact that God will have +a clean people, and a clean people is a holy people. The same thing is +vividly exhibited in the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be disused. Of land +animals, only such as both chew the end and divide the hoof, might then +be eaten. And of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales were +to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt that this restriction in +regard to food is full of meaning. God help us all as Christian +believers to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have His people now +pure in heart, clean in soul, holy both within and without. + +The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, and this became +the perpetual rite by which his descendants were admitted to the rights +and privileges of that covenant. "Every male child shall be +circumcised." But this rite was an outward symbol of "a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in +the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, +we are told that "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is +that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which +is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Beloved +reader, may you and I know what it is to experience the inward +circumcision, made without hands, even the putting off of the body of +the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, not only were they to be +adorned with holy garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious stones, but the +plate for the mitre was to be made of pure gold, and engraved with the +motto "Holiness to the Lord." This was to be always upon the forehead +of the High Priest, and must signify that Aaron was to be the holy +priest of a Holy God, and that the law required a continuous holiness, +as most assuredly the gospel does also. + +Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood and the sacrifices +were typical of Christ. In the mediatorial work of redemption, he was +both the priest and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. +The holy priest, under the law typified the holy priest, who is a +priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel +dispensation all Christians are priests. "But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." And +we are priests, not for the purpose of expiation, for expiation was +completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He "bore our sins in His own +body on the tree," but priests to offer up "spiritual sacrifices +acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And every such priest must +needs be continuously holy. + +The "spiritual sacrifices" which the Christian priest must offer are, +as previously stated, (1) his body, with all its members and +capacities. The heart was given to Christ at conversion. It is, +however, largely through the body that the soul is led into sin, and it +is through the body, also, that the soul must perform its work for +Christ, so long as soul and body are united in probation. Hence, the +Apostle exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service." The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. He +must "hold fast the confession of his faith without wavering." "By him, +therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." And, finally +(3), the Christian priest must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. "But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God +is well pleased." Beloved, let us ask ourselves if we are constantly +offering as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing tongue +and a godly life. Amen. + +This subject has already been alluded to under a different head, but +it will bear repetition. + +In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing of the leper, we +find an impressive type or symbol of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly +and strikingly a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, +incurable, fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; he +could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He was an outcast. None +must be permitted to approach him. They must be warned off by the +despairing cry "unclean, unclean." Nothing can be conceived more +desolate or more hopeless than the condition of the leper, unless it +be, indeed, the sinner who is an "alien from the commonwealth of +Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and +without God in the world." + +But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad "day of cleansing." +He might not come into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. And none but +Christ has any authority to tell the sinner that he is converted, or +the believer that he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies away toward +heaven with bloody wing; the leper is sprinkled seven times, to denote +the completeness or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means of +hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; he must wash his +clothes; he must pass a razor over his whole body, and bathe the whole +body likewise in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by the washing of +water through the word, as plainly described as symbolic language can +utter it. + +All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily sacrifice both +morning and evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the +offerings at the various feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for +individuals or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for what we are, the +peace offering, the burnt offering, these, also, all point to the Lamb +that was slain from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was shed. "Almost all +things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of +blood is no remission." + +But turn now to the New Testament, and read that "It is not possible +for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Read again, "If +the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the +unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself +without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God." Read again, "In Him we have redemption through His +blood"--"Having made peace through the blood of His cross"--"Ye who are +far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"--"Being now justified by +His blood"--"That He might sanctify the people with His own blood"--and +especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, Dr. Edgar M. Levy. +"When an oblation for sin was offered up under the old dispensation, +the priest was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle it +seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection of the +offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come short of the type. Seven +times, at least, did our Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was +circumcised and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted on the +mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this must needs have been +attended with blood. He was scourged, and from Roman scouring there +was, of course, blood. The crown of thorns was driven into His precious +temples and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp nails +penetrated into His hands and feet, and again there was blood. And one +of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came +thereout blood and water." + +The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of our sanctification +as it is of our justification. Glory be to His Name forever for the +precious, cleansing blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the "Rock of Ages," and especially with the +rendering now frequently given to the conclusion of the first stanza, +viz.: + + "Let the water and the blood + From Thy wounded side which flowed, + Be of sin the double cure + Save from wrath--and make me pure." + +The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, and was used +for a great variety of purposes. In typology, however, it has special +reference to the office work of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively +the Sanctifier, and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as "the unction" or "the anointing." The holy anointing +oil was to be sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred +vessels. It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests and +kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge of their +respective offices. There can be no doubt but that this use of the +anointing oil and the sweet perfume, which none were permitted to +imitate or counterfeit, has a direct typical reference to holiness. +The sacred writer, indeed, says as much. "That they may be most holy; +whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." And as all Christians are +kings and priests unto God, it is necessary that they also be anointed +with the Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels +of the Lord." A priest must be holy. + +We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred sin, and of the +requirement of blood-shedding in the cleansing of the leper. But before +that cleansing was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the priest had already +touched his ear, his thumb and his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, +so now he touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the blood; +afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the wondrous plan of salvation +through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure +pardon; afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire sanctification +through the Spirit. + +The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, the thumb and the +toe of Aaron and his sons in their consecration to the priesthood and, +finally, poured upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch the flesh. And +so, beloved, we must be touched with blood and oil as to our spiritual +ears, that we may take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, and +goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they may run swiftly and +beautifully upon the errands of redeeming love; and, at last, upon our +heads and running down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be "ever, only, all for Him." Praise the Lord. +And this can never happen while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still +alive. + +Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who was +holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, was, +nevertheless, anointed with the Holy Ghost as a needful qualification +for His mediatorial work. + +In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the sixty-first chapter +of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord +hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and +the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the +acceptable year of the Lord"--and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about "the day of vengeance of our +God." It was now a day of grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those +who will not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance will +surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. His anointed +followers must also be holy. They must seek and find the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be +baptized, and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the privilege +and duty of all God's children. If we would belong to the royal +priesthood, we must be cleansed from the defilement of sin. + +Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is spoken of in +Scripture as tried in the fire. So of silver. "He" (Christ) "shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver." The precious metals will endure +the fire, but "dross and tin," as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a +sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance +which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like +anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. "Our God is a +consuming fire." Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is +for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May +God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but +the fire-mark also. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY. + + + +The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve +prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are +called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers +in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. + +The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the +prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very +wonderful experience of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts. + +It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man before he wrote his +first chapter. In that he laments the sins of the Israelites and the +Jews, all of them God's chosen people, though now divided into the two +kingdoms and these often at variance, shows the utter futility of their +own efforts to regain the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices +and ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted as plainly as +any gospel minister in our own day would be able to do. He shows them +that the way of salvation is by repentance and faith, and by trusting +to the unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: "Wash you, make you clean; put +away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; +learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the +fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." + +Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, the washing away +of guilt and committed sins, symbolical of the New Testament washing of +regeneration, symbolical also of John's baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins. + +But now in the sixth chapter, and "in the year that king Uzziah died," +a wondrous vision of the pre-existent Christ, "sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up" and the seraphim crying one to another "Holy, holy, +holy is the Lord of hosts," was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and heard was not to +exalt him and minister to his pride, but to fill him with despair at +his own depravity. He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed "Depart from +me for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Ah! beloved, it never fosters +spiritual pride, nor any other kind of pride to get a nearer and +clearer view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and enables us to +behold by contrast the darkness and sinfulness and pollution of our own +souls, and in such a view we shall find food for the deepest +humiliation, but nothing to nourish pride. + +Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of +a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts." If we may credit Jewish tradition, it was for the offence of +saying that he had seen the King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet +was afterwards sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision is +still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed to millions of readers +in the future, as in the past, and until the end of the age. + +But the seraph was sent to touch the "unclean lips" of Isaiah--unclean +because of innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of life and +forgiveness for two or three years before this wondrous experience--to +touch them with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his sins of +commission and omission were forgiven--that had been done before--but +that his iniquity was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly emblematic of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire under the gospel dispensation, +which is also accompanied by "the purifying of the heart by faith," or +entire sanctification. + +How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this experience. He +seems to look down the centuries for seven hundred years and to see the +glorious blessings of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth chapter: "And +an highway shall be there and a way; and it shall be called the way of +holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for +those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." And in +the fifty-first chapter: "Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for +henceforth, there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and +the unclean," and in the sixtieth chapter: "Thy sun shall no more go +down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be +thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." + +To Jeremiah the Lord said, "I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a +prophet unto the nations," which must mean not only that he was set +apart for the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed from +inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the office itself. + +In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some striking passages +on the theme before us. These were, no doubt, addressed primarily to +the outward Israel, but they may very justly be appropriated by the +Israel of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, "The New +Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." + +In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon or +justification with cleansing from the pollution of their past sins: +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from +all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And the pollution that +is thus acquired by the practice of sinning is removed in regeneration. +Thus the new convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. "Except ye be converted," said the blessed Saviour, "and become +as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution of committed sin; +whilst he does have within him the inherited or inbred sin of his +nature. + +Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made to the clean water +made from the ashes of a red heifer and sprinkled, under the Mosaic +law, upon those who had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing +signified, however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, +typified by water, may here be meant. At any rate the twenty-fifth +verse points to nothing less than a full and free justification. + +But the prophet continues: "A new heart also will I give you and a new +spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out +of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here we have +described certainly the experience of regeneration, if indeed not the +still fuller experience of entire sanctification. But let us admit that +it means only the new heart which is given to the penitent sinner at +his new birth. Regeneration implies the impartation of a new life by +the Divine energy of the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the "heart of flesh," not, of course, a carnal heart, but a heart +tender and teachable, and impressible to heavenly influences, such a +heart as we always find in the new-born babe in Christ. + +But listen still further: "And I will put My Spirit within you, and +cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do +them." In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost baptism, +by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and sanctified wholly, and +also of the subsequent "walking in the Spirit," to which Paul alludes +in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who +was also seized with prophetic fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, +"That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand +of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and +righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Surely the gospel +of Christ has something better for its recipients than a constant daily +sinning and repenting, which is too often the experience of Christian +people. The twenty-seventh verse, therefore, signifies holiness of +heart and life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. + +How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we cannot do by our own +strength, the Holy Spirit will cause us to do. This doctrine of +spiritual causation is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the +watch which supplies the power within, by which the hands are moved +without, and thus the fleeting minutes and hours are correctly +measured, so the Holy Spirit within supplies the energy by which the +sanctified believer is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of +Christ, his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the fruit of the +Spirit in all righteousness and goodness and truth. + +In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions to the subject of +holiness, though their language is often highly figurative. In Hosea +2:16, after reproving Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the +Almighty, through His prophet, employs the following language, viz: +"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me +Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali," and again in the nineteenth +verse, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea I will betroth thee in +righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; I +will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the +Lord." Now the word Ishi means my husband; while the word Baali means +my Lord, and the language, therefore, points to an experience or a +relation of marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to a legal +justification and a service for wages and reward, that of the bride +must signify entire sanctification, and the closest possible union with +the Heavenly Bridegroom. Again, the word betrothed points legitimately +to a marriage which is always justly expected to follow if both parties +are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, let us get so near to Christ +that we shall not address Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, +but as my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful wife. At your +conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed to Him, or in ordinary +language engaged to Him. At your entire sanctification, your engagement +is consummated by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not be long. Do not +needlessly defer your nuptials, but rather hasten to the embraces of +Everlasting Love. Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, "I will go." + +In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day +of Pentecost, and assured the multitude of Jews, out of every nation +under heaven, that what they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of +the same. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And +also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I +pour out My Spirit." + +Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the baptism with the +Holy Ghost and fire, designed for all of God's children without +distinction of nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue them with power +for whatever line of service God may call them to. And we may add that +this text, as well as many others, shows that in these gospel days +women as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our daily +experience that they are both called and qualified for the work of the +ministry, as well as other labors in the vineyard of the Lord. But both +men and women need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency and most +marked success in the work to which they may individually be called. +Every Christian may and should do something for the Lord, but none can +do all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his duty to do, +without the grace of entire sanctification and the fulness of the +Spirit. + +In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which point +unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust in God and perfect love +for Him. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit +be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields +shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and +there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I +will joy in the God of my salvation." Compare this with John Wesley's +description of a holy man after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice +evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. +Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this description? + +The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, which are, no +doubt, full of instruction to those who have eyes to see. We can only +mention one or two of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing the Jewish +people, and typifying Christ Jesus with His eternal and unchangeable +priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also +represents Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, is +present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting them in the person of +their representative, the high priest. + +And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was ground for his +accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in filthy +garments, and these can signify nothing else than sins, aye, the sins +of His people imputed to Him as their representative and priest, and +not their actual sins only but their inbred sin also, for, "The Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and "He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin." "His visage was so marred more than any +man, and His form more than the sons of men." "He hath no form nor +comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we +should desire Him." + +"Many were astonished at thee," says Isaiah. "Behold the man," said +Pilate, as he brought forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but +uncomplaining, and the only answer was "Crucify Him!" Thus, beloved, +was He clothed in very truth with the filthy garments not of His own +vileness but of ours. + +But Joshua was "a brand plucked from the burning," and, therefore, in +Him all His people have found pardon. And now comes the order "Take +away the filthy garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have +caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with +change of raiment." Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than +entire sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not only simply +imputatively and representatively, but actually and experimentally. +Praise the Lord. + +The prophet Malachi assures us that "He shall sit as a refiner and +purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi" (that is, the +"royal priesthood" which constitutes the true church) "and purge them +as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in +righteousness." Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST. + + + +Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, "Therefore, that holy thing +that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Or in the +Revised Version, "Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall be +called holy, the Son of God." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +speaks of Him as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," +and Peter says that "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth." He is called "Thy holy child Jesus." Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. He was +absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, holy in word and holy in +act, holy in His birth, holy in His death, holy in His resurrection, +holy in His ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name. + +And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church was thus a holy man, +it would, naturally, be expected that He should desire to have a holy +people; and if He desire it, that He should also make provision for it; +and if He both desire it and hath made provision for it, that we should +find allusions to it in His teachings. In this, we are not +disappointed, as we shall proceed to show. + +The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the public preaching of +the Lord Jesus, and every sentence is pregnant with meaning. From +beginning to end, it inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of +believers. Many things are enjoined which would only be possible to +those who are sanctified wholly, such as, "Bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, love your enemies, resist not evil," and +many others. + +The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of chapters, which are +filled out and developed in the writings of the apostles. This is +remarkably true of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going +largely into details, sets forth the principles which are to govern His +kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation of these +principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles and evangelists, who +continued to teach and preach after His departure, and to the Holy +Spirit who is promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again. + +But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply holiness, there +are several, also, which expressly require it. Among the beatitudes at +the beginning of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: "Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Now, heart purity +cannot exist while there is any sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin +in the heart, whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms. + +Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire sanctification, and +heart purity is not only a great energizer, so that a man is powerful +for good in proportion to the purity of his heart and life, but it is +also a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor to see God. +This, of course, does not imply an open or an outward vision, but a +spiritual apprehension of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship +and communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe truly +regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible to outward sense. + +This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless outward walk, was +by no means unknown to the Old Testament writers. In the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, David asks the question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" And He immediately answers +it by saying, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The clean +hands imply that his works are in accordance with God's law; in other +words, that his outward life is free from condemnation. But the "pure +heart" means more than this, and suggests what the same royal Psalmist +remarks again in the Fifty-first Psalm. "Behold, thou desirest truth in +the inward parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom." It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth Psalm, as already +quoted, that the clean hands or justification comes before the pure +heart or entire sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost. + +Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the end of Matthew +fifth the direct command, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your +Father which is in heaven is perfect," or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the command becomes a +positive assertion, which is equally forcible. "Ye, therefore, shall be +perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." + +But whether command or declaration, it is at first sight simply +astounding. It is overwhelming. So much so, indeed, that our poor +human spirits shrink back in amazement, and we are ready to say, This +is wholly impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. Or if He +does, then my case is hopeless. But let us examine the words a little +more carefully. + +In the first place, we are to notice that He does not say that we are +to be equal in perfection to our Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, +be too absurd for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite in all +His attributes and, therefore, infinite in perfection, and this in all +directions. We are poor, finite, sinful human beings, and can never +even approach the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, justice +and holiness. + +But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly Father in +perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the same kind of perfection which +appertains to Him. It may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely +short of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and perfect in +all His attributes, but apart from His attributes is His essence. And +what is the perfection which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, +rather, what is His essence itself? It is love. "God is love," says the +apostle. "Thy nature and Thy name is love," says the great +hymnologist, Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured by the beloved +John that it is possible for us, also, to be made perfect in love, and +to possess the perfect love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are +perfect in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in heaven is +perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of the gospel. + +The context of the command referred to proves the same thing. Jesus had +just been telling His disciples that it is not sufficient for them to +love their friends, and do good to those that do good to them. All +these things and more are done even by worldly minded people and open +sinners. Unsaved people love those who love them. But Jesus continues, +"I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and +persecute you." Why? "That ye may be the children of your Father who is +in heaven," for that is just the way He does. He does not wait for a +man to be His friend before He loves him and shows kindness to him. "He +maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on +the just and on the unjust." And, if we are to be the children of such +a Father, we must adopt His sentiments and love in our measure as He +loves. His essence being love, all His infinite activities are +controlled and regulated and directed by love, and when there is +nothing contrary to love in our hearts, so that all our finite +activities are in like manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, +then we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly Father is +perfect. Glory to His Name. + +I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully we shall find the +doctrine of entire sanctification in many of the parables of our +Saviour. Take, for instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are +expressly told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, the +sowers are all ministers and Christian workers who are trying in any +right way, to diffuse a knowledge and acceptance of gospel truth. They +are devoting themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark the +difference as to the ground upon which the good seed falls. (1) The +wayside hearers are not concerted at all. (2) The stony ground hearers +are converted but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation and hence they fall +into backsliding. (3) The thorny ground hearers are converted, but +inbred sin remains in their hearts in form of the love of riches, +whether these riches are possessed or only desired, or too much care +and cumber, having so much regard to the secular as to neglect the +spiritual, or in the form of unsanctified desire, "the lusts of other +things," and so by sin that dwelleth in them the word is "choked," and +though they may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring "no fruit to perfection." They are justified but not +sanctified wholly. + +Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit but much fruit. +"Every branch that bringeth forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may +bring forth more fruit." To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant fruitage. +When the thorns are removed the good seed will grow and flourish. When +inbred sin is taken out of the heart the Christian believer will bring +forth fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and this will +be the "much fruit" whereby God is glorified. + +On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus "What shall I do +to inherit eternal life?" and when asked in reply what were the words +of the Mosaic law he answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind; and thy +neighbor as thyself." Jesus commended his answer and added "This do and +thou shalt live." Hence, our Saviour teaches that holiness consists of +nothing more nor less nor else than perfect love to God and man. What +constitutes this love has been already explained. + +Martha was a good Christian, but she was "careful and troubled about +many things." Mary was a good Christian and still earnestly seeking the +one thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness of heart and +life. Even good Christians may be "cumbered about much serving," and so +miss this one thing needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing of holiness +when the pentecostal baptism was poured out upon the church of the +hundred and twenty, if not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer +of the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we find these +expressions, "Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." And +again, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth." Here we discover the two senses of the +word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself apart or consecrates Himself to the +work of human redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, may +be not only set apart or consecrated, but also sanctified wholly, or +made holy in heart and life. He gave Himself for the world of sinners +lost, that they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for the +church, on the other hand, that He might "sanctify and cleanse it with +the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a +glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish." Thus, the atoning +sacrifice of Christ procured pardon and acceptance for the penitent +sinner. It procured not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him as a perfect +Saviour that He "is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness and +sanctification and redemption." + +For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt as to the method of +obtaining this great blessing of holiness, nor as to the price, which +must be paid for it. Entire sanctification is "one pearl of great +price," and he who would possess it must go and sell all that he has. +The rich young ruler had a first-class record as to morality and the +outward observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, "One thing +thou lackest," and that one thing was perfect love, for He added, "If +thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor," +and then interjecting a promise, "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, +and come take up the cross and follow Me." The price was too great, and +the young man went away sorrowful. Alas! Myriads of souls since have +found the price too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not have us become His +followers without counting the cost, and the cost is all that we have +and all that we are. "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he +cannot be My disciple." + +First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, all known sin. It +may be the sin which "easily besets," our own bosom sin, near as a +right eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, it must be +relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the sacrifice seems like crippling +and maiming us, yet Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into +eternal life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned to +everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In the first place, +therefore, we are to "reckon ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but +alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." + +But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all sin, but we must be +dead, also, even to lawful things, except as God in His mercy may grant +them to us, to have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest love must be +fastened upon Him alone, and that if any individual love, father or +mother, son or daughter, wife or husband more than Him, such a one is +not worthy of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for them, but +still more are we to love the Giver Himself. + +And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to be satisfied with +Himself, and what He in His love and mercy chooses to give us. If He +permits us to have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank Him +and use them as stewards of His for His glory. If He allows our family +circle to be invaded by death, and one dear one after another is +carried away to the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His gifts one by one or +altogether are withdrawn from us, why, praise the Lord, we still have +the Giver, and can still say with Job "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." + +It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require us to be dead to +sin, and dead to self, yea, even to lawful self, in order that we may +possess this inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let us not +hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. "Whosoever will save +his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, +the same shall save it." + +"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; +but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL. + + + +The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially to Paul. And as +the Gospel of Christ is intended for the salvation not of the Jews +only, but of all mankind who are willing to accept the conditions, we +find in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord Jesus than in any +other inspired author. Jesus gave the concise germinal principles of +all gospel truth; and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, into those wonderful epistles to the churches, which, though as +Peter well observes containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in the past, to form +a large part both of the foundation and framework of every system of +theological doctrine. How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of +redemption as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How profound +and how exalted is the spirituality of the Ephesians and Colossians! +How pure and how practical are the directions to the Corinthians! What +a counter-blast to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology in the Hebrews! +What a guidebook of unequalled excellency for ministers of all times in +the pastoral epistles! + +In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind under the two +divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, and proceeds to show that both +classes alike had failed in their efforts to attain to righteousness +and salvation. + +The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with an outward +revelation, but he had been permitted to behold the outward universe, +and to know that it had a Creator "of eternal power and divinity." He +had also had a conscience within him, and so much light as rendered him +an accountable being, with a sense of obligation to a supreme power, +and furnishing another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not like to retain +God in their knowledge. They wickedly extinguished the light which He +had given them, because they were not willing to give up their +immoralities. And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they changed the glory +of the incorruptible God into the baser image of "birds and four-footed +beasts and creeping things." They sank into the grossest idolatry and +licentiousness and all wickedness. This picture drawn in colors which +shock our sensibilities, in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed +by the authentic writings of heathen historians, and this in all +particulars, Paul says, "They are without excuse, because they did not +live up to the light which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was." + +And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, to them much +every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of +God. They had an outward revelation, and with it a knowledge of that +law of God, which is holy and just and good. + +But they had failed, if possible, more grievously than the Gentiles +themselves. They had received the law by the disposition of angels, as +Stephen told them and had not kept it. They had had far more light than +the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same sins as they. They +prided themselves on the law, and looked with contempt upon the +Gentiles, and condemned them for their immoralities, and yet were +guilty of similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly about the +words of the law. "Do not steal." "Do not commit adultery," and yet +violated these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared them to whited +sepulchres, looking well outwardly, but within full of dead men's bones +and all uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and the leaven of the +Sadduces, which is infidelity, and the leaven of the Herodians, which +is worldly mindedness. + +The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and Gentile. It was +something that had occurred long before the division into Jew and +Gentile had an existence. It had occurred, in short, when man fell. +From fallen parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, that +is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. There is a disposition in +all mankind to yield to temptation, some in one direction, some in +another, and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no to God. +This bias towards evil is sometimes called depravity or original sin. +It is called by Paul "Our old man," "the flesh," "the carnal mind," +"the body of sin," and "sin that dwelleth in me." A good and convenient +name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in the heart as distinguished from +sin in the act. It is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward sins are the +bitter fruits. + +Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles which caused +them to quench the light of the knowledge of God, which they must have +had for, at least, a generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural religion, +notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens were declaring the glory +of God and the firmament was showing His handiwork, day unto day was +uttering speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. They +forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them to their own reprobate +minds, the result being that they sank into the grossest idolatry and +the most beastly sensuality. + +The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward revelation. He +received through Moses the law of God, which showed him what God +desired him to be and do, and what he ought to be and do, but which +conferred upon him no power for being or doing what it required. It is +like a looking-glass placed before a child to show him that his face is +soiled, but having no power to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb-line +applied to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates from +the perpendicular, but which has no power to make it upright. Nay, it +even comes to pass that in consequence of inbred sin, the law +multiplies offences. It causes sin to abound. We find even in most +children a disposition that impels them to do and to have just what +they are told they must not do and have. That is to say, when the law +comes in, inbred sin rises in rebellion against it. + +The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most vividly described +by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Over the real meaning of this +chapter, there has been much discussion and wide differences of +opinion. Some writers think that this is the best experience of the +great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw consolation from this +fact, as well as argument, in favor of continuing to sin in thought and +word and deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle is +not here describing a Christian experience at all, but the struggles of +a Jew who is seeking the favor of God by keeping His law, but finds his +attempts to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred sin. I +freely admit that it is not what even a justified experience ought to +be, for God has assured us through His apostle, John, that He that is +born of God doth not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified and regenerated +believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness and prayer, may be kept from +acts of sin and from becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the +seventh of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the experience +of the converted Christian. + +For there are many who even after a clear conversion and a joyful +sense of God's favor, with the witness of the Spirit to their adoption, +yet do yield to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and so +pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is called an up-and-down +experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning and +repenting, delighting in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is in their members, +not losing their sonship, but losing their communion and their joy, +often like Peter weeping bitterly over their transgressions, but +finding that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. + +I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, might go on for +years. It ends either in complete religious declension amounting, +sometimes, to apostacy on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the +entire sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance from inbred +sin. And in these days of enlightenment, when the doctrine and +experience of holiness are so plainly taught, and so generally diffused +among the children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether a soul can +continue long in a state of justification, which means that it will +either go forward to the experience of entire sanctification, or else +it will fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, or into +legality as did the Galatians. + +Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. It is seeking +salvation after the pattern of the Old Testament, and not after that of +the New. It is a matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It +inquires "What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" +It is the child of the bondwoman and not that of the free. It is +Ishmael and not Isaac. It is Sinai and not Calvary. + +And so it happens that many Christians are simply good Jews. They may +even possess circumcised hearts, and may yet serve the Lord in the +spirit of bondage, as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does not, by any +means, signify license; it does not signify the liberty of making our +own choices, but the liberty of accepting gladly and submissively God's +choices; it does not mean the liberty of doing either right or wrong as +we may prefer, but the liberty of always preferring to do right and +never wrong, and so to spend our years on earth, doing right in all +directions, and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God. + +After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that Hagar's chief +employment in Abraham's house was to look after the said Ishmael, to +care for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her business to +care for or to restrain Isaac. He was the child of promise, the child +of faith, the son of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when +Ishmael's persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, then +the command was "Cast out the bond woman and her son." Both must go +together or stay together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain or constrain. +Perfect love casts out fear; it also casts out sin, and becomes the +motive power of the whole spiritual man. "The love of Christ +constraineth us." + +So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed to attain unto +the law of righteousness, because of inbred sin, which caused the +former to put out the light which they had, and the latter to fall +short of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, but +which was never intended by its Divine Author to save men, but to show +them how utterly incapable they were of saving themselves. + +But Paul does not leave them there. After putting both classes of the +human family into the same position of failure and condemnation, and +declaring that there is no difference, "for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God," he adds, "Being justified fully by His +grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." When man's +helplessness and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, then +God comes to his rescue. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, +that He might have mercy upon all." + +Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches the great +doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent peace of +reconciliation, the "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that sanctification, +also, is by faith and not by works. He will not be satisfied with +anything less than the death of our old man, and the death of inbred +sin is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. "Knowing this +that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be +destroyed, that, henceforth, we should not serve him." + +But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with the body of sin by +any resolution or will-power or effort of our own. Sin will not go +dead at our bidding, nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or +striving to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for us by directing us +to resort to the process of reckoning. "Likewise reckon ye, also, +yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord." Ah! now, our help is laid upon one that is +mighty. "The things that are impossible with men are possible with +God." What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, Christ can +make real and true. We have only, therefore, to reckon ourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. +But we must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as dead. And to +be alive to God means, in this connection, to be responsive to every +intimation of His will, to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to +suffer joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in short, to +be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what a blessed reckoning is the +reckoning of faith! How vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of +logic or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual deadness +to sin, and a continual holiness of heart and life. + +For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not asking us to fancy, +or imagine, or hypothecate. He is not telling us that if we believe a +thing to be true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The factors in his +direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the Old Testament +and in the New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to make +them so, and our acceptance of the provision He has made for our +cleansing, by faith, and then by the reckoning alluded to, the result +is secured. + +In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often compelled to +resort to what they term dead-reckoning. Sometimes for days together, +the sun is hidden by clouds, and no observation can be taken with the +usual instruments for determining latitude and longitude. Then the +captain ascertains by the compass what direction he is pursuing, and +by the log, the rate at which the ship is sailing, and thus by marking +out his daily advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will sight the shore +toward which the voyage is directed. What he reckons becomes real, when +he tells the passengers, "Within five minutes, we ought to see the +Irish coast," followed within the specified time by the cry from the +lookout, "Land, ho!" + +To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass and log and chart. +Sometimes, he enjoys the witness of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, +assuring him that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, but when not thus +favored, he can still move on by faith, he still has his compass and +his chart, and he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in the heavenly port. +Praise the Lord. + +To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle of the Gentiles +has written in reference to entire sanctification would require a +volume instead of a single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue the subject for +himself in the inexhaustible mine of the Pauline Epistles. + +In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration that is to +be found anywhere. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of +unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of +righteousness unto God." And, again, in the 19th verse, "For as ye +have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto +iniquity; even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness." + +Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration is not the same +thing as entire sanctification. The one is an act proceeding from man +to God, the other is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies. + +Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal human being +to a personal God. The term members may well be understood to include +all bodily organs and powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, +and all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, culture, health, +and, in short, the whole personal, individual man, with all his +belongings. The surrender must be complete, absolute, unreserved and +forever. Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all that we +have and all that we are must be His, wholly His, and His to all +eternity. + +Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who is not already a +Christian believer. Paul informs us, explicitly, that he is not calling +upon sinners "dead in trespasses and sins," to consecrate themselves, +but upon converted persons, "those who are alive from the dead." How +thankful we ought to be that he has settled that point forever. Sinners +may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +broader, deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, the sinner gives +himself away as a dead sacrifice, and his purpose is to receive pardon +and life. In consecration, the Christian yields to God his living and +regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose is that he may be +sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost +extent of his capacity for the glory of God. + +Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, or vices, or +depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. We cannot consecrate our +alcohol, or our tobacco, or our opium, or our card-playing, or +dancing, or theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. All +actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. Our consecration +is for a deeper work, that is to say, for the removal of inbred sin, +which, after all, is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire. + +The essence of consecration is in the sentence, "Yield yourselves unto +God." When you yield yourselves, you yield everything else. All the +details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the +emphasis, we may read again, "Yield yourselves unto God." Consecration +is not to God's service, not to His work, not to a life of obedience +and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to +the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of God; it is to God +Himself. "Yield yourselves unto God." Your work, your service, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty will +all follow in good time. + +Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution and the purpose to +be, to do, and to suffer all God's will. Its essence, already given in +the words of Paul, is given also in the words of the Saviour. "Not My +will but Thine be, done," which is beautifully versified by Frances +Ridley Havergal, in the couplet, + + "Take my will and make it thine, + It shall be no longer mine." + +Consecration being a definite transaction, and made once for all, does +not need to be repeated unless we have failed to keep it. To consecrate +over and over again is like a husband and wife marrying over and over +again. We are consecrated just as we are married. The vow is upon us, +and in the force of that vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is +to remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord's, and see to it that +nothing is taken from the altar. Those who have kept their consecration +complete should testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence. + +Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an English periodical, +which is here given very slightly modified, and which has been adopted +by many. Let all my readers unite with the author in entering into this +personal yielding to God. + + I am willing + To receive what Thou givest, + To lack what Thou withholdest, + To relinquish what Thou takest, + To suffer what Thou inflictest, + To be what Thou requirest, + To do what Thou commandest. + Amen. + +In this connection, we may add that when the consecration is complete, +it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter to believe. Entire +sanctification like justification, and, indeed, all other gospel +blessings and experiences, is to be received by faith. But so long as +the surrender to God is not complete, faith refuses to act. + +When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt and sincere +consecration, then it becomes as natural and as easy to believe as it +is to breathe, after everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians of a want of +faith. If they only had more faith, they imagine that all would be +well. When the disciples of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He +told them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only a mustard-seed +faith, He assured them that it would remove mountains. And we may +justly conclude that the difficulty with most seekers after entire +sanctification is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches itself to one +worldly thing or another, and refuses to be sundered from what it +loves, and while this is the case, the individual cannot believe that +God gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. But when all +the preliminaries have been attended to, and there is nothing else +needed but to trust in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment. + +Another class of seekers is very much concerned about the witness of +the Spirit to assure them that the blessing has been received. Probably +in these cases the very point that has not yet been consecrated to God +is the feeling, or the witness, which they so much desire. "It often +happens," says Dr. G. D. Watson, "that a patient, who has been cured of +some contagious disease, has to have a certificate on leaving the +hospital. In such a case the certificate does not cure him, but +certifies that he is cured. How absurd for a patient just entering the +hospital to clamor for his health certificate before receiving the +doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, it is useless for a +seeking soul to be clamoring for the witness and waiting for the +feeling before receiving Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We +are not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who imparts the +experience." + +Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, +second and third chapters, he tells us of three classes of persons: the +natural man, the spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; they +are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are +spiritually discerned. Such is a description of the unregenerate +wherever and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment is not +that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to the truth of God and deaf to +the story of salvation. Being without spiritual life they are, of +course, without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons are in +all our churches, and the number is by no means small. And often it +strangely happens that these are the very individuals who are +noticeably forward in expressing their opinions on the right way of +managing a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching or lecturing, +something to be proud of and to draw the crowd--these are the things +which in their view make the church of their choice a success; but as +for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread of the gospel at home +and abroad, as for the sanctifying of believers, as for the things of +the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living faith and a +sound conversion. May God hasten it in His time. + +"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all +things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with +the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide, +Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified +and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a +one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as +his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the +Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating +influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the +natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by +the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the +same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the +Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the +position of the latter. + +Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he +asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name +is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural, +neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and, +therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are +converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the +carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly +carnal. + +Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable +consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering +offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh, +that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our +churches. Amen. + +In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles bases the +experience of entire sanctification on the glorious promises of God. +"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse +ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God." To cleanse ourselves is shown by the +Greek tense to be an act done definitely and once for all. It means, +therefore, to put ourselves under the conditions of cleansing by a +definite act of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves in +co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively the Sanctifier +and Cleanser. It means, also, that we are to seek and find the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all sources of +temptation and all incentives to evil, so far as we may; and +continuously realize and experience the holiness which Christ has +instantaneously wrought in our souls through His Holy Spirit. +Filthiness of the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual +appetites, as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which was +probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness of the spirit is +illustrated by idolatry and pride, nor must we forget that the spirit +is often polluted also through pampering the body. + +Paul's wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, has been so admirably +treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, that I shall content myself with +referring the reader to his book on "Love Enthroned," page 123, and +pass on. A single remark, however, may properly be made. That prayer, +undoubtedly, embodies all that we mean by entire sanctification and the +filling of the Spirit and more. + +In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great apostle in which +entire sanctification is expressly petitioned for. "And the very God of +peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The very +form of the expression in the first clause indicates that it is +possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to be sanctified +partially. All Christians are cleansed from the pollution of sins +committed, that is to say, from the pollution they have acquired by +actually sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by Paul as +sanctified, although, manifestly, many of them were not holy in heart +and life. On the other hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians +may be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were already in a +healthy and prosperous condition, the only exception being a few +members who were too neglectful of their outward business and too much +disposed to be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while many good +Christians are not wholly sanctified. + +But provision was made in the gospel for the entire sanctification of +all believers, otherwise Paul would not have prayed for it. And not +only for their entire sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act +of God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their continual +preservation in blamelessness, though not in faultlessness, until the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And lest they should stagger through +unbelief he adds, "Faithful is He that calleth you. You are not to do +it. He will do it for He is able." + +And this experience extends to the whole man, the spirit which takes +hold of and communes with God, the soul with its emotions, affections, +desires and volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers all +made holy and preserved holy. Glory! + +One more citation only and I will leave the reader to his own +researches in the rich storehouse of the Pauline writings. Taking it +for granted that Paul is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. "Wherefore, he is able, also, to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth +to make intercession for them." To the uttermost refers, undoubtedly, +not only to time but to quantity. It means entirely, perfectly, +altogether, through and through. And if he is able he is also willing. +Oh, that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God now and +evermore for salvation from the uttermost to the uttermost. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER. + + + +In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings of his beloved +brother, Paul, and this probably at a period when Paul was either dead +or separated from his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a +tradition that both the apostles were put to death on the same day at +Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself to have his head +downward because unworthy to die just like his Master--the other by +beheading, because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at Rome, +too honorable a position to be subjected to the ignominious death of +the cross. Even if this should be true, yet Peter's second epistle, in +which he endorses Paul's teachings, and gives to his writings the same +authority as to the rest of the Bible, seems to have been written but a +short time previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment of +Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired writer of Scripture, +and that what he had given to the churches through his epistles, and +left as a permanent legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious and frequent +allusions to entire sanctification, as well as to the various other +subjects treated of by his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, +therefore, Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised that +in the very first sentence of his first epistle, he addresses the +Christians of the Jewish dispersion in Asia Minor--though by no means +excluding the Gentile converts--as elect according to the fore-knowledge +(not predestination) of God the Father through sanctification +of the Spirit, which must include entire as well as partial +sanctification, unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in one +grand outburst of salutation from his glowing heart, he associates +sanctification of the Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the +obedience of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst of his +earnest appeals to men's hearts, in order to give a lecture on +Systematic Theology, but both scatter seed-thoughts all over their +inspired pages, which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and +reflecting mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the +Thessalonians employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and thus putting the +apostle of the circumcision by the side of the apostle of the +uncircumcision we have sanctification by the blood of Jesus, +sanctification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even in +a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, and all this without +the slightest inconsistency or contradiction. + +And as Peter starts out by calling God's people to holiness, he +continues by reminding them that their hope is to be fixed upon "an +inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, +reserved in heaven for you." What more natural than that those who are +expecting to inherit a holy heaven, should themselves seek while here +to become a holy people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it. + +After speaking of the "trial of their faith being much more precious +than of gold which perisheth," the apostle utters forth an imperious +call to entire sanctification. "But as He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Thus he quotes from the words of +the great lawgiver in Leviticus--that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the Old Testament, as +well as the New, bears witness to the holiness of God, and makes that +fact a sufficient reason for the command and requirement that His +people should be holy, also. + +Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells in a holy heaven. +Is it not most reasonable and most fit that He should require all who +are to dwell with Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting kingdom, +we must be made holy while still clothed in flesh and sojourning upon +earth. Nothing that is not already pure and holy can pass through the +gates of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. + +Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between our Father in +heaven and His children both on earth and in heaven. A lady was +accosted in the streets of a western city by a stranger, who asked her +if she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. She replied, +with some surprise at the question, in the affirmative. "I knew you," +said the gentleman, "by your resemblance to your father who was my +particular friend twenty-five years ago, away back in the State of +Maine." And the lady was delighted that the lineaments of her father's +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she should thus be +recognized even by one who had never seen her before as her father's +child. + +Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly Father so imprinted +upon our faces and upon our walk and upon our conversation that all who +know Him shall recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever we are and +whatever we do. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +In comparison with the precious "blood of Christ" Peter characterizes +silver and gold, which men call precious metals, as "corruptible +things," and then gives the striking exhortation, "Seeing ye have +purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto +unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a +pure heart fervently," and all this on the basis of the new birth which +they had already received "of the incorruptible seed by the word of +God." + +Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned and ignorant man, yet +when thou writest under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost +as hard to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul! + +See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated in various ways +in the sentence quoted above. (1), "Ye have purified your souls." Yes, +and it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem in reference +to Cornelius and his household, and said that God "put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." The word +"purify" is derived from a Greek root which means "fire." Souls are +purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the result is a continual +"obeying the truth," and (2), the positive side of this purification +is "unfeigned love of the brethren," and this is love with a pure heart +and fervent, the same love which John calls perfect love, and the +standard of which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, "As I have loved +you that ye also love one another." + +Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? Peter had never +been to a Theological Seminary, but he had listened through three +eventful years to the blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had +been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and without +aiming at system or explanation, he has compressed more sound theology +into a single verse than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon. + +And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration he tells us how to +grow in grace. "Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," and his +last exhortation at the end of the second epistle is, "But grow in +grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." + +Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, or that we grow +into entire sanctification. We first become receivers, and get grace +before we can grow in it, and we must first receive entire +sanctification before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel +blessings, this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says in effect, in +order to grow in grace you must do two things. (1), Lay aside +everything that hinders growth, specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, +envies, evil speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that all +these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. And so in a single +thought the exhortation is to lay aside, or put off, or give up to +destruction, the depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth so +easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will be an insuperable +hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical growth, and (2) desire, and of +course, partake of the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as in the natural +world, is first to become healthy, and then to take plenty of +nourishment. Holiness is spiritual health, and implies the absence of +inbred sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that is healthy +and gets plenty of pure milk will grow and develop rapidly. The time +will soon come when he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and thus he will +finally become a large and strong man. But the child may be healthy and +still not grow because it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have +plenty of the most wholesome food and still not grow because disease +prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. Sound health and plenty +of food, with proper exercise, are the essentials of the right kind of +growth. Now the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but strong +meat for strong men. It has been remarked by another that if Christians +would be giants they must eat giants' food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to have a sound +spiritual constitution and that means simply entire sanctification. +Peter is right again. We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we +have gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs true +growth. + +Of course my reader will not understand me to say, any more than Peter +himself says, that we experience growth in grace simply by a head +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who +is the bread of life. Nor do I forget that we feed upon His broken body +and His shed blood, not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, +not by learning, but by faith. + +But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible truth, whether +presented on the pages of inspiration or in the preached word, which is +the great instrumentality employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men +to Christ, and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and edifying +the church which has thus been gathered to Him. And so both Peter in +speaking about the "sincere milk of the word," and Paul in referring to +the "strong meat," by which term he characterizes the deeper spiritual +truths of revelation, are leading us to Jesus, the true bread, the +living bread, the bread of life. + +Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description of the Christian +priesthood, and again the leading idea of holiness flashes from his +pen, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ." Again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +an holy nation, a peculiar people." Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, or a dukedom +or a kingdom? Not I at least. + +The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, and even +temporal blessing also, through the mediation of an outward priesthood. +And the family of priests were chosen and ordained of God Himself. "No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God, as was +Aaron." + +But under the Christian dispensation all God's saved people are priests +as well as kings, and the sacrifices which they offer are spiritual +sacrifices, the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like a whole +burnt offering in His service, "the fruit of the lips giving thanks to +His name," and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, a life +rich in faith and good works, such are the sacrifices with which God is +well pleased. But to be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter's words will not allow us to doubt that the priesthood of +believers is a "holy priesthood." + +Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his readers to take ill +treatment patiently when they have to suffer, not for doing wrong but +for doing well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, "Who did no +sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, +reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed +Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare our sins +in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live +unto righteousness," winding up with a terse expression of the great +doctrine of the atonement "by whose stripes ye were healed." + +Paul would have us "dead to sin" by reckoning. Peter would have us +"dead to sins" by making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead either to sin within +us or to sins without us, implies holiness of heart, that is, entire +sanctification. Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine. + +Still further, Peter speaks of the "holy women" of old, and exhorts +Christian women to be like them, particularly in adorning themselves +not with gay attire, but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his +second epistle, he alludes to "holy men of God," speaking through the +Old Testament as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we have +the best possible definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed by equally +learned and candid men. But what can be more satisfactory to the +humble, Christian mind than just to feel that when he reads his Bible, +he is perusing the words of "holy men of God who spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." Such a mind will find no difficulty about +inspiration. + +In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes the unbelief +of the scoffers, who then believed, and whose successors still believe +that the present order of the material universe will continue for an +indefinite period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that the Lord +has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning His promises, but +that the very reason why the sinful world has been spared so long is +because of God's long suffering and mercy, "not willing that any should +perish, but that all should come to repentance." And, then, having +declared that the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved +unto fire, that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the +works that are therein shall be burned up, he exclaims with most +appropriate words, "Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation and godliness," and this in order "that ye may be found of +Him in peace, without spot and blameless." + +Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification as taught by +the apostle of the circumcision. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN. + + + +John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could +forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man +was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by +calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not +extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the +highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was _par excellence_ the +apostle of love. Not that his character became anything like putty. He +could still rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the elect +lady to receive or countenance any who did not uphold the true, sound +doctrines of the gospel. He was still a son of thunder against heresy +and immorality, but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely absorbed in +the love of God, and his exhortations to the churches, seemed all to +concentrate in two special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, and he never +lost the blessed experience. He retained the blessing because he +retained the Blesser. The Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and +keeper. + +The gospel of John contains many of the most profound and spiritual +truths that ever fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And the only +distinction which John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." + +He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the Deity and +preëxistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, then tells of the +incarnation, how the Word became flesh, and we beheld His glory, how +although He was the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, and +though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His own received Him not, +but as many as did receive Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave +He power to become the children of God, and this through a new birth, +not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, not of man in any way +whatever, but of God. It is not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of +God by creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, by the +reception of the Divine nature by birth. And this new birth is more +fully unfolded to the Jewish Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its +necessity and its nature. "Ye must be born again." "The Son of man must +be lifted up." The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The water is +the water of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its cleansing +and refreshing and vivifying properties so well symbolized by water, +and the Holy Spirit is the effective personal agent by whom the +regeneration is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though His +operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, which bloweth where it +listeth, and is known only by its results. Then we have the hinge-text +of salvation, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal +life." Thus, in this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God's +love or God's grace as the source of our salvation, Christ crucified as +the ground of it, and the Holy Spirit as the Divine Agent of its +accomplishment. Glory be to the Triune God. + +Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus on the new birth, but +His discourse, also, with the woman of Samaria on true worship is given +by John alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, not to the +Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at all, but to a heathen or +semi-heathen woman, Jesus made the first recorded, positive declaration +of His Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, so they that +worship Him must do so, not in any specific locality, such as Jerusalem +or Mount Gerizim, and not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart was immediately +and completely captivated by so grand and glorious a revelation, and +that, at once, she left her waterpot and went her way to become a +preacher of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen. + +Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to the Jews to search +the Scriptures and the assurance that they testified of Him; and the +sixth chapter, with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after a +stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to take Him by force and +make Him a king, but He departed into a mountain Himself alone, and the +next day, the wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been so ready to +proclaim Him King, and brought out of the core of His heart those +pathetic words to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?", we come to the +seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, at which, on the occasion +of the priest pouring water from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden +pitcher into a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst let +him come unto Me and drink." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The +Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, and, perhaps, other +similar passages. "And the Lord shalt guide thee continually, and +satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be +like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not." + +But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely valuable +inspired commentary on these words of the Lord Jesus, in order that +readers in all ages might make the true spiritual application which is +intended by them. "But this spake He of the Spirit which they that +believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, +because that Jesus was not yet glorified." These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence and operation of the +Spirit in the former dispensations of God's grace, yet He was to be +poured out on all God's children under the gospel in a sense and to an +extent, which so far transcends the highest manifestation of His power +in Old Testament times that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was +not yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. And this +wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification of Jesus and as a +consequence of that glorification. So that Pentecost, with its untold +wealth of privilege, could not be realized till after the death, +resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and +twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their +hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire +sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a +privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy +Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude +that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your +children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God +shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual +believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all +Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen. + +In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin. +"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall +make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but +from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from +sin itself. + +Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does +not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your +own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in +this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad +acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own +way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do +everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions +and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and +into freedom for Jesus' sake. + +In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the +last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of +his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy +Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of +His coming He says, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My +Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with +him." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father +and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart +of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And +if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father, +Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly? + +In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the +doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk +in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim +to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in +the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies +fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +from all sin." + +This is a very striking and all-important statement. The verb is in +the present tense, and denotes a present and a continuous action. It +cleanseth persistently and continuously. You trust in Jesus this +moment, and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it cleanseth, +and thus on, without intermission or cessation. And the cleansing is +from all sin, sin committed and sin inbred, sin in act, word or +thought, sin outward and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of +knowledge and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. If this +does not mean entire sanctification, what use is there in language as +an expression of thought? Surely none. + +But the objection is strongly urged by some that the next verse assures +us that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the +truth is not in us." But why sunder this verse from its appropriate +connections? Were there not Pharisees in the time of Christ who would +not admit that they were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle John live to +see the germs of incipient gnosticism showing themselves in the church, +assuming, like modern Christian science, that all evil is in matter, +the soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing that it was +possible to have fellowship with God while living in all kinds of +sensual indulgence and licentiousness, and moreover denying the reality +of the incarnation of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and +resurrection? These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow: + + "Ah, to how many faith has been + No evidence of things unseen, + But a dim shadow, which recasts + The creed of the Phantasiasts, + For whom no man of sorrows died: + For whom the tragedy divine + Was but a symbol and a sign, + And Christ a phantom crucified." + +Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that on certain +conditions it is possible to experience through the blood of Christ, +which means simply the merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to those who deny +that they are sinners, he exclaims, and if we say that we have no sin, +and therefore do not need this cleansing, and can do without this +atonement, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How +much more rational is such an interpretation than the exposition which +makes one verse contradict the other, and represents the apostle as +first assuring us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. "But be sure to remember that this cleansing is +never really affected, and you are never really without sin." + +There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this epistle that we +must needs make selection and leave many passages to be carefully and +prayerfully pondered by the reader, with the assurance that there is +very much gold to be found for the digging; but we would call attention +in a special manner to John's description of perfect love. "There is no +fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath +torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." + +It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions that whilst all +Christians do and must love God, yet there is a stage denominated +perfect love, which many Christians have not yet reached. And this +stage of religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence of +fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean for us to understand +that we shall ever get beyond that reverential and filial fear, which +is the right and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation to our +Heavenly Father. But he specially describes the fear that will be +gotten rid of as tormenting fear, and this fear he declares that +"perfect love casteth out." Now we can readily see the reasonableness +of this statement. Fear about the future, whether as to temporal or +spiritual things, fear of evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in +short, all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred sin. As +a matter of course, therefore, when sin is cast out, fear is cast out +with it. Now perfect love is the positive side of entire +sanctification; it implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, most truly must +cast out fear. + +The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. The awakened sinner +fears him, but does not love Him. The justified believer both fears and +loves. Sometimes the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his heart, and has no +tormenting fear. Praise the Lord. + +And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the method of obtaining +the blessing of perfect love. It is by the prayer of faith, and the +prayer of faith involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +"For," says John, "if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our +heart," which probably signifies that He also will condemn us, and, +therefore, we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing as +entire sanctification while we are not wholly given up to the Lord, for +while that is our case, our heart will continue to condemn us. + +But he continues, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence +towards God." And again, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we +know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him." + +Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation more +beautifully portrayed than in these precious words. We are shown here +that (1), the seeker of entire sanctification must be wholly +consecrated to God. (2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God's will. (4), That then he may know that he has +the very thing he asks for. Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon +it. Amen. + +Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness of the Spirit to our +conscious cleansing. "If we love one another" (i.e. with a true and +pure and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) "God dwelleth +in us and His love is perfected in us." "Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit." Now to +have God's love perfected in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can +mean nothing less than entire sanctification, and we know this, as John +tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, the witness of the Spirit +to perfect love as well as to adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE. + + + +James and Jude were brothers. They were also "brethren of the Lord." +Whether this expression means actual brothers, namely, children of +Joseph and Mary, or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I leave to the +Biblical critics. Receiving without argument their respective epistles +as belonging to the inspired canon, I am to inquire what their teaching +is in reference to the one theme of this book, that is, entire +sanctification. + +James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop of Jerusalem he +presided specially over the Jewish Christian Church, and his epistle is +addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," i.e., to +the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, no doubt, to the Christian Jews, +but also secondarily and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. +James was "zealous of the law." He fully agreed with Paul and with +Peter that the yoke of circumcision and the Mosaic law was not to be +imposed upon the Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to observe the +outward law. His epistle is like Matthew's gospel, and savors strongly +of the Sermon on the Mount. As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock +of Christians, while he fully assented to Paul's teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon the people with +vehemence that they should show their faith by their works and that +they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only." As Paul +completely demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of the +law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired and a vigorous +protest against every form of Antinomianism. Thus the two writers, both +moved by the Holy Ghost, present the two aspects of gospel truth so +plainly that he may run that readeth. "We are saved by faith, not by +works," says Paul. "Aye," says James, "but we are saved in good works, +not out of them," and we must be careful to maintain good works, not in +order to be saved, but because we are saved. Good works are necessary, +not as the ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and +resultant and test of the salvation which we have received by faith. +James, therefore, is not antagonistic to, but only complementary of the +great apostle of the Gentiles. + +And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark of Christian +perfection in the very beginning of his epistle. He assures us that if +we let patience have her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + +Christian perfection, then, according to James, is perfect patience. +Christian perfection according to John, is perfect love. Christian +perfection, according to Paul, is maturity or being "thoroughly +furnished unto all good works." Christian perfection, according to +Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. Surely none but +a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes +of expression. They all imply deliverance from sin, which is always +instantaneous, and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual. + +James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under the name of lust. +"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and +enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) sin; +and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." + +We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers of the Bible, +believed in a personal devil, for he speaks of a wisdom which is +"devilish" and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity of +his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the enticement implies an +enticer, and that the wicked spiritual adversary of our race knows how +to adapt his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin is +strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, to entrap and +destroy him. Depravity exists by nature in all, but in one man it is +particularly felt in the direction of covetousness, in another, of +pride, in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. Satan's +temptations in the first of these would most likely be something which +holds out the prospect of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it +would be something to feed his intense admiration of self, to cherish +his pride; in the third, it would be the hope of political or some +other kind of power on the condition of sacrificing principle; in the +fourth, it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as in +drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus the trap is set for +every man, and the trapper is wary. God save us from his wiles. + +And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as it exists in the form +of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and shows itself in +evil speakings, so James tells us to lay apart "all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness," or "overflowing of wickedness." Ah, +beloved, most truly did Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain +of wickedness, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of us a superfluity of +naughtiness, an overflowing of wickedness, a natural depravity, an +inbred sin, and this must be "laid apart," it must be gotten rid of by +bringing and subjecting the heart where it dwells to the fiery baptism +with the Holy Ghost, and then shall we be in a position to receive, +with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. + +St. James speaks of the "law of liberty," and of the "royal law," the +latter being, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and both mean, +I apprehend, just what we have already alluded to as the law of love. +"Love," says Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law," and this is liberty, +and this is royalty, the freedom to do God's will because we love it, +and to have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled from our +hearts, and all lawful affections and passions subdued and subjected to +Him who is our King, and who reigns without a rival in our hearts. + + "I worship Thee, sweet will of God, + And all Thy ways adore; + And every day I live, I seem + To love Thee more and more." + +If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, where shall we find +them? Not on earth, at least. + +James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek more religion, but +he tersely defines pure religion. And that is what we want. It does not +depend upon age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure as +soon as it raises itself above the surface of the ground. Another stalk +may be impure and diseased when it is many feet in height. A Christian +may seek and find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he is +born again. Another Christian may spend years and years in seeking more +religion, and yet not become the possessor of purity of heart. + +This pure religion, according to our author, consists in works of +beneficence and love as to its outward manifestations, but its true +inward principle is in keeping one's self "unspotted from the world." +Oh, that all my readers with myself, may thus keep themselves unspotted +from the world, which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, and +in the end "may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless." + +But an objector here interposes with a quotation from James which is +supposed to preclude the possibility of living without sin. "In many +things we offend all." But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must continue in the +commission of sin to the end of their lives, would not only be doing +violence to that which is the very trend of our author's teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, but it would also +prove too much. For a little further on we read, in reference to that +unruly evil, the tongue, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and +therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God," +and again, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body." Surely no expositor would +maintain from such language that James was a tamer of horses and a +profane swearer. The truth is, that James, out of kindness and +courtesy, includes himself among his hearers or readers, and means to +show us how liable we are to give offence through rash and ill-advised +words, and then, on the other hand, he does not fail to mention the man +who does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace of God, to +bridle the whole body, that is, to live without sin, and whom, again, +he styles a "perfect man." + +Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine wisdom is first +pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, or babe in Christ, would +often reverse this arrangement. He is clamorous for peace, often to the +extent that he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and then +pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and He is always right. No +compromise must be made with error in doctrine, or evil in practice, +even for the sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities follow in proper +succession, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and the rest. + +Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher of holiness, "Cleanse +your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy of the Holy +Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. To cleanse the hands is +to obtain pardon and absolution for what we have done, and it is always +the first work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness of +his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, then his hands are +cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. He may still be unstable +in all his ways. His spiritual course may still be zig-zag. His life +may still be a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again and +repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, "O wretched man that +I am, who (not what) shall deliver me from this body of death?" And +then James's prescription comes home to him, "Purify your hearts, ye +double-minded." Seek and obtain the blessing of entire sanctification, +and, henceforth, with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the way +of Christ's commandments. Justification first and entire sanctification +afterwards. First cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with +this agree the words of the Psalmist, "Who shall ascend into the hill +of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" "He that hath clean +hands," that is, whose sins have been pardoned, "and a pure heart," +that is, who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the Holy +Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament and the New. + +Finally, James assures us that the "prayer of faith shall save the +sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." And not only physical but +spiritual blessing may be received in the same way for "If he have +committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." His conclusion is that +"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working," +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in the original as in +the passive voice, and then the meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. +S.A. Keen in his Faith papers, "The prayer of a righteous man being +energized" (by the Holy Ghost) "availeth much." + +I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer +begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the +prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is +the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a +special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also +given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the +special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st +Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the +power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, +which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually +believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be condemned." + +And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray +in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the +prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit +Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should +pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for +with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh +intercession for the saints according to the will of God." + +A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer +that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does +the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing, +which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance, +and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of +God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the +hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the +sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of +believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the +Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come. + +I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed, +and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must +be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order +to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary +prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of +faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer, +ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the +other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and +extraordinary results. Praise the Lord. + +Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to "hate even the +garment spotted by the flesh," that is, to keep entirely clear of all +the pollutions of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which was +regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually interpreted, +must mean the unspotted holiness of the true Christian. And as to the +question of one's ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is "able to keep us from falling," the very thing we +need and which we cannot do for ourselves, and "to present us faultless +before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." First, then, we +are to be sanctified wholly, then kept from falling by the power of +Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God's glory in heaven. And +this is the gospel according to Jude. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER. + + + +There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which I purposely +omitted in the preceding chapter, that it might have a more prominent +place in the present one. + +Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared to be "sanctified +by God the Father." It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every +person of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, is +concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. And this fact, like +many others, points to the extreme importance of the subject on which +we are treating; for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into active operation +in order to cleanse our hearts from the pollution of sin, and fit us +for heaven, then it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. If God, +therefore, regards it as an essential that we be sanctified wholly, let +us beware of the thought that it is only optional, that it is possible, +if possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, and that it +can be done without, or what is practically too nearly the same thing, +postponed until we see, or think we see, the near approach of death. +What every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance now, +let us not dare either to reject or postpone. "Behold, now is the +accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." + +Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "And now, brethren, I +commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are +sanctified." + +Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the +unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God's +infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed +of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. And when +our souls are stirred up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the "unspeakable gift" of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the +unspeakable blessings derived from and through Him, let us not forget +that behind it all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son." + +Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity belong to God +the Father. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the +Holy Spirit. Neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever +send the Father. The Father "created all things by Jesus Christ." Jesus +Christ cast out devils "by the Spirit of God." The Son reveals the +Father, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to +whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, +for "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "He +shall testify of Me." "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." "He +shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear" (from the Father +and the Son) "that shall He speak." + +Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given or could give to +His creature man is the gift of His Son. The greatest gift that God the +Son has given to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of the +Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, "I will pray the Father and He +shall give you another Comforter," and "whom the Father will send in My +name," but also, "If I depart I will send Him unto you," so we may say +in general terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father and the gift of +the Son. And it may be added that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit +to man is the gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory be +to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. + +And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified by God the Father, +He means not only that we are separated unto the gospel of life and +salvation, set apart to God and His service, but, also, that God the +Father has made ample provision in the death of His Son for all +Christian believers to be cleansed from every stain of moral +defilement, delivered from inbred sin, sanctified wholly, made perfect +in love, and filled with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to the redeemed soul, +that the source of all these unspeakable blessings is in the infinite +grace and love of God. + +Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is brought +prominently forward and insisted upon. And His own holiness is +presented as a sufficient reason why His people should be holy also. +"Be ye holy, for I am holy," which command and declaration are repeated +and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle, "But as He +which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely holy, and He +requires all His children to be holy even in the present life, it goes +without saying, as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely the standard of +God's holiness which is set before us by the Saviour as the mark at +which we also are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. "Be ye +perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Not that our +perfection or our holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be an impossibility +and absurdity, but that we are to be perfect in our sphere as He is +perfect in His, that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be perfect in love as +He is perfect love, and that we are to be delivered from all sin, not +by any effort or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace in +Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name that we are sanctified +by God the Father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON. + + + +As the source of our entire sanctification is in the unmerited love and +grace of God the Father, so the ground of it is in the blood of Christ +the Son. Justification and Sanctification are by no means identical, +but as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they are +precisely parallel. We are told that justification is by grace, and, +again, that it is by the blood of Jesus, and, still again, that it is +by faith. It is, therefore, God's grace, it is Christ's blood, it is +man's faith by which we are justified. The originating cause of our +justification is the grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith. + +And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. We are not +justified in one way and sanctified in another. We are sanctified as +well as justified by the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as +justified by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith. + +All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious sacrifice of the +Lord Jesus Christ. He "of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, +(justification) and sanctification and redemption." + +And sanctification, no more than justification, releases us from our +dependence upon the atonement. If we are either justified or sanctified +today it is not because we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. +If we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future period of +our eternity, it will not be because we deserve it but because Christ +died for us. And so forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of redemption "unto Him +that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath +made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and +dominion forever and ever. Amen." We are everlastingly linked to the +atonement of Jesus Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart. + +"Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from +their sins," which signifies, I apprehend, both the forgiveness of +sins already committed and saving them from the commission of sins in +the future. Here, then, we have justification and regeneration. "Behold +the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." This must mean +the sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth +so easily beset us, in a word, inbred sin. And to have the inbred sin +taken away means nothing more and nothing less and nothing else, than +entire sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by God the Son. + +"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Here +we have a positive statement that upon certain conditions to be +fulfilled by us, we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, and open sin and +secret sin, and all sin. There is no mistaking the length and breadth +and all comprehensiveness of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us +walk in the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true. + +And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which result He had in +view, no less than the removal of our guilt when He laid down His life +for us. "Wherefore, Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate." Glory to His Name. + +He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved from guilt and +condemnation and penalty, but that we might be saved from sin, or +sanctified wholly. And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn. + + "The cleansing stream I see, I see, + I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me. + It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST. + + + +As already intimated all the persons of the adorable Trinity are +concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying a human soul. And this is +naturally to be expected, because God is one Trinitarianism is not +Tritheism. In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. The Bible reveals +the fact, but does not reveal the how. We bow in adoring gratitude and +love before an incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing even +without understanding. + +Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians as +distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, "The renewing of the Holy +Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our +Saviour," is spoken of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection +with the "washing of regeneration," and seems intended to be +experienced just after it. Possibly the renewing here spoken of, may +signify only the change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind the entire cleansing +of the heart from sin. And in that case the renewing need not be any +more gradual or progressive than the washing, which all admit to be +instantaneous. + +Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, the occurrences which +he had witnessed at the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this +language: "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Evidently here +the chief of the apostles gives us to understand that the giving of +the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart by faith, are +co-instantaneous and identical experiences. And if this be so, the Holy +Ghost, who is a Divine person, and not a mere influence, must be the +effective agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is He who by +His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly. + +And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize +you with water, unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is +mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize +you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." For what purpose is this fiery +baptism with the Holy Ghost? Most certainly that it may consume the +inbred sin of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys the +alloy that the gold may be left pure. + +Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following language, viz: +"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." This great +apostle was the first to clearly understand the perfect equality +between Jew and Gentile in the gospel of salvation, and as he made +hundreds of Gentile converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation in entire +consecration to God, they were sanctified by the Holy Ghost. + +The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to give +thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because +God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through +sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the true +election and the true salvation, a salvation from sin, through +sanctification of the Spirit and this is to be obtained by faith. + +And the apostle of the circumcision uses language very similar in +addressing the Jewish Christians who are scattered abroad, and whom he +addresses as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of +the blood of Jesus Christ." Comparing these two citations we observe +again, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our +sanctification, and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a +continuous cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying our souls, on +condition that we believe the truth. God help all Christians to be not +faithless, but believing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH. + + + +We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the work of +sanctification in connection with belief of the truth on our part. And +with this agree the words of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. +"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." The word here is +not the eternal Logos, but God's revealed truth as given in Holy writ. +And it is a statement of the highest importance, made by Him who is the +truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification is in the truth +of God as made known to us in the gospel of His Son. Here, again, the +Apostle Peter gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that +by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust." If we are favored to +escape the corruption that is in the world, we are sanctified wholly, +and this is effected, Peter says, not by works of righteousness, not by +resolutions or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before we seek +to be holy, but by faith in the promises of God. These promises are +very numerous, and varied in character on the pages of the Bible. By +seizing upon them as written specially for us, we make them our own, +and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea and amen, that is to say, we +realize them in our own experience to be the truth, and thus when we +read "This is the will of God even your sanctification," or, "The very +God of peace sanctify you wholly," or, "I will circumcise your heart," +or "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my +statutes," immediately the truth is impressed upon our hearts as a +glorious reality, and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the Saviour's prayer +is answered and we are in His own blessed words, sanctified "by the +truth." If any reader will take a concordance and look for the word +truth, and search out the passages containing it, he will be convinced +that, however men may look at it, we have to do with the Lord God of +truth, and that His estimate of truth is so high that He will by no +means countenance any person or anything that liveth or maketh a lie. +And if we would honor Him, we must honor His truth, the truth that is +to make us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which we are +commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, and sell it not, the truth +which the Lord desires in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, +the truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which we are +sanctified, the truth of the word. + +And then we shall find in our own experience that "A God of truth and +without iniquity, just and right is He," that He will send out His +light and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill and to His +tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, even the banner of holiness +to the Lord, to be displayed because of the truth, and we must never +let it trail in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth +came by Jesus Christ. + +Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SANCTIFIED BY FAITH. + + + +The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. Adam believed +God and was obedient and happy, and the first thing that the wily +tempter attacked, and, alas, with too much success, was man's faith. +"Yea," hath God said, and "Ye shall not surely die." First, a question. +Then, a doubt of God's truth; then, a doubt of His love, and the rest +was easy. Man stood so long as he did stand by faith. He fell when he +did fall by unbelief. + +God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. Man could not +be the child of God if he did not have faith in God. Faith binds us in +the closest spiritual union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs +this bond of union and separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. +Beloved, let us have faith in God. + +"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the +Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense +all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was +known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are +also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's +gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them +gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on +His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of +God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must +be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be +saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he +that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God +abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the +power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all +mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving +faith, often requires the coöperation of the human will. And, +therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for +obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V. + +Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in +religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily +life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All +intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they +call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody +can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and +serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who +accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that +all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called +ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from +self-luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence +of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the +phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science +is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children, +farewell to all the enjoyment of home life. + +Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When business men, +manufacturers or merchants lose faith in one another, or in their +government, investments cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard +times are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds men to God, so +it is the bond that binds men one to another. When confidence is lost, +all is lost. Even a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance of things +hoped for, because it makes them real, as it is the evidence of things +not seen, because it convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter in hand that, +namely, of entire sanctification. + +Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said to them, "And now, +brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is +able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which +are sanctified," and in the commission to Paul himself the Saviour +says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of +sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is +in me." And as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit is +used by the apostle in direct connection with belief of the truth. +There can be no doubt, therefore, that the instrumental means of entire +sanctification is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is the +confidence," says the beloved John, "that we have in Him, that if we +ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that +He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that +we desired of Him." + +Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean heart, ask for +perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, ask for the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and he knows he is asking according to the will of God. +Then, according to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also by +faith, because it is God's promise that he has the petitions he desired +of Him. That is to say, when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act +of faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that he has the +clean heart, the perfect love, the entire sanctification, the Holy +Ghost baptism, which he asked for. And this will be honoring God by +taking Him at His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other evidence, the +witness of the Spirit may be prayed for and waited for, but, in the +meantime, he can and must rely with unwavering confidence upon the +evidence or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness of the +Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness of faith. + +I said we must believe by an act of the will. And some reader may +object to this statement by asserting that faith or belief is not a +matter of volition, but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply to give its +rightful force to the evidence. It is not for want of evidence that any +earnest, consecrated seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able +and willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He asserts it in +many forms and repeats it again and again as His Divine will that His +people should be holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here and +now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is not willing to make them +holy here and now, He must desire them to continue longer in sin, which +thought would impugn His own holiness. + +No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the faith-faculty has +become weakened and paralyzed by sin, and now we must determine to +believe, by putting our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many a seeking soul has +come out into the fullness of salvation by singing the hymn: + + "I can, I will, I do believe + That Jesus saves me now." + +The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, was told to +stretch it forth. He might have said where is my evidence that it will +do any good to try? But he put his will into the obedient attitude. He +willed to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with the obedient +will the power came from Jesus, and he stretched it forth and was +restored. To every one of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus +says, "Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to be responsible +for the result." Believe and receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, +we are sanctified by faith. Glory to the Lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + + +I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the doctrine and +experience of entire sanctification are fully and clearly taught in +Holy Scripture. All the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the history, in +the gospels, in the epistles, we find that God requires His people to +be holy and to be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their +privilege to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in the +sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be made holy. + +"For their sakes," says the blessed Saviour, "I sanctify Myself that +they also might be sanctified through the truth," or as the margin, +"truly sanctified," or as the Revised Version, "that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth." The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly +did not need to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was the "holy thing" +that was to be born of the Virgin Mary. "He knew no sin," He "did no +sin," He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," +and, therefore, when He says "I sanctify Myself," He means nothing more +nor less than I consecrate Myself, or I set Myself apart, but in the +other clause where the term sanctify is used in reference to His +people, it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin entirely +sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He sets Himself apart, +therefore, to the work of redemption and salvation that He may have a +holy people on earth, as without controversy He must and will have a +holy people in heaven. + +We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous with the baptism +with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that the two experiences are in an +important sense identical, or, at least, so related to each other that +whoever has one has the other. It is Christ and none other who baptizes +with the Holy. Ghost. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and +fire," not as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are to be +two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards that of fire +in the way of affliction or persecution, though plenty of these are +promised and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under +the similitude of fire, that is, that dross and tin and reprobate +silver, or, in a word, all inbred sin may be consumed. + +Nor is it correct to say that there are "many baptisms" of the Spirit. +The Holy Ghost baptism is received by the consecrated believer once +for all, and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism confers upon him, +from Christ through the Spirit, and again comes in repentance and +confession to do his first works, and again to be filled with the +Spirit and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the Holy Ghost +seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving the same emotional +experience as at first, but may and must be received and retained by +faith, and the amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He will +arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean to say that the +experience may be lost and may be regained, but seldom with the same +phenomena of consciousness as at the first. Do not speak, then, of +having had many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the one +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say that you are desiring +or that you have had a fresh baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your +thoughts and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth. + +But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The Psalmist says, "I +shall be anointed with fresh oil," and to every sanctified child of +God, there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of girding and +filling, and fresh anointing for particular services, which are +sometimes called fresh baptisms, but which are not to be confounded +with the one true abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they come because we +already have the Blesser Himself as a personal indwelling Presence and +Power. + +Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that we are first +sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and afterwards filled or baptized +with the Holy Ghost. This opinion would necessitate three separate +experiences, where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by the blood, and (3) +the filling of the Spirit. There would thus be a separation between the +removing of inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the Holy +Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification for service. +It is regarded by these teachers, as only given for an enduement of +power, to do the work to which we are called. And the practical result +of this error, for such with due deference I must regard it, is that +some will be very anxious to obtain the baptism with the Holy Ghost to +make them strong or powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even +deny, the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen tells us of +a minister who wrote to him that he did not take much stock in +sanctification, but that he was very desirous of the Holy Ghost +baptism, in order that he might have increased power in the ministry of +the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very prevalent idea, that we +are to be baptized for service, but not for cleansing. + +I trust that no reader who has followed me through the different +chapters of this book will imagine, for a moment, that I under-value, +in the slightest degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, cleanseth us from +all sin. I think I have sufficiently stated elsewhere that the blood of +Jesus is the procuring cause of our sanctification, as well as of our +justification, and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood of the Son of God +is the ground of our sanctification, but it is the Holy Spirit who is +the effective agent in destroying the depravity of our hearts. + +It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, and that God +anointed Him for the great work of redemption. And in His case, the +word used is anointed or descended, and not in any place baptized. He +needed not the work of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As a man, He did need +the energizing for His work, and, therefore, He is said to have been +anointed. Beloved, let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy Ghost baptism are +coetaneous experiences, and must not be divorced. + +And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. I have shown that +like a golden thread the doctrine of entire sanctification runs through +the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types and the ceremonies, +the gospels and epistles, everywhere showing us that we have to do with +a Holy God, and that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women. + +To all who shall read this book, I testify that by the grace of God, +and the blood of Christ, and the sin-consuming baptism with the Holy +Ghost, this poor man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name. + +And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May He "make you +perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Amen. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +***** This file should be named 6657-0.txt or 6657-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/5/6657/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/6657-0.zip b/6657-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad4ad92 --- /dev/null +++ b/6657-0.zip diff --git a/6657-h.zip b/6657-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf5a892 --- /dev/null +++ b/6657-h.zip diff --git a/6657-h/6657-h.htm b/6657-h/6657-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7aa559f --- /dev/null +++ b/6657-h/6657-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5033 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + <title>The Theology of Holiness, by Dr. Dougan Clark</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + h1,h2,h3 { font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + h2 { margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em } + p.center { text-align: center } + + </style> + <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8"> +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Posting Date: October 2, 2014 [EBook #6657] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p>[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.]</p> + +<h1>The Theology of Holiness</h1> + +<p class="center" style="font-variant: small-caps">by</p> + +<h2>Dougan Clark, M. D.</h2> + +<h3>Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History in Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana</h3> + +<p class="center" style="font-variant: small-caps">To the Memory of<br> +My Father and Mother,<br> +Dougan and Asenath Clark,<br> +Both for Many Years Approved<br> +Ministers in the Friends’ Church,<br> +And Both Long Since Departed<br> +To Be with Christ, This<br> +Book Is Lovingly<br> +Dedicated.</p> + +<h2>Contents.</h2> + +<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman"> + <li><a href="#chap01">Entire sanctification A necessity</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap02">Entire Sanctification obtainable</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap03">Entire Sanctification in Patriarchal Times</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap04">Entire Sanctification in Type</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap05">Entire Sanctification in Prophecy</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap06">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Jesus Christ</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap07">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Paul</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap08">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Peter</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap09">Entire Sanctification as Taught by John</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap10">Entire Sanctification as Taught by James and Jude</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap11">Sanctified by God the Father</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap12">Sanctified by God the Son</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap13">Sanctified by God the Holy Ghost</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap14">Sanctified by the Truth</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap15">Sanctified by Faith</a></li> + <li><a href="#chap16">Conclusion</a></li> +</ol> + +<h2><a name="chap01">Chapter I.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire sanctification A necessity.</h2> + +<p>Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology +is the most important of all sciences. It is the science +that treats of God and of man in his relation to God. +It is a systematic presentation of revealed truth. +As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds +revealed by the telescope, and as the basis of Geology +is the crust of the earth, so the basis of Theology +is the Divine revelation found in the Holy Scriptures. +The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is +a systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire +sanctification as derived from the written word of +God. Such a presentation we hope—­with the +help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly +invoke—­to attempt to give in this book. +May God bless the endeavor, and overrule our human +weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen.</p> + +<p>It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class +of Christians to whom the subject of entire sanctification +is a matter of indifference. They hope, with or without +sufficient reason, that their sins are forgiven. They +propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, +again with or without sufficient reason, that they +will go to heaven when they die. The subject of holiness +does not interest them. They suppose themselves to +be doing well enough without it.</p> + +<p>There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom +the subject is even positively distasteful. It is +an offence to them. They do not want to hear it preached. +They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion +and spiritual pride. They turn away from the whole +subject not only with indifference, but with disdain.</p> + +<p>There are still others, and these God’s children, +as we may charitably believe, who do not even regard +holiness as a desirable thing. They assert that it +is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It +is true that they are never able to tell how much +sin it takes to have this beneficial effect, but a +certain amount they are bent on having.</p> + +<p>Another class takes the opposite view. They regard +holiness as very desirable, and a very lovely thing +to gaze upon and think upon, but they also regard +it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to +get it at the moment of death. Not sooner than the +dying hour, do they believe any human being can be +made holy. Not till death is separating the soul from +the body can even God Himself separate sin from the +soul. The whole doctrine of entire sanctification, +therefore, they regard as a beautiful theory, but +wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly impracticable +as a life.</p> + +<p>In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, +as described by Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are +opposed to the doctrine of entire sanctification. +“The carnal mind is enmity against God,” +and the carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. +This opposition may take one of the forms already +described, or, possibly, some other forms which have +been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the +same in all. Wherever “our old man” has +his home in a Christian’s heart, there entire +sanctification will be rejected.</p> + +<p>But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. +There are thousands of sincere, believing hearts in +all Christian denominations, in whom inbred sin still +exists, but not with the consent of the will. They +are tired—­very tired of the tyrant that +rules them, or of the ceaseless struggles by which, +with God’s added and assisting grace, they are +enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. +They are hungering for full salvation, and rejoice +to hear the message of entire sanctification through +the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The Lord +bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them +the desire of their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, +and may their numbers be vastly increased, so that +the banner of Christ’s church may everywhere +be unfurled—­the banner on which is inscribed +the glorious motto of Holiness to the Lord.</p> + +<p>Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire +sanctification—­ whether in the form of +indifference, or dislike, or undesirableness, or impossibility—­with +the simple proposition, It is necessary. If this proposition +can be established, all objections, of whatever character, +must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every +Christian heart must be, How can I obtain that priceless +blessing which is essential to my eternal bliss, which +is indispensable, and without which I shall never +see the Lord?</p> + +<p>For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. +12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness +without which no man shall see the Lord,” and +in the Revised Version, “Follow after peace with +all men, and the sanctification without which no man +shall see the Lord.” This can mean nothing short +of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred +sin. And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue +the question as to the indispensableness of this blessed +experience, in order to gain an entrance into heaven. +Everyone will admit that God Himself is a perfectly +and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His +followers in all ages, “Be ye holy for I am +holy"—­making His own perfect and entire +holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same +quality in His people. And, although the holiness +of the highest created being will always fall infinitely +short of that of the Infinite God, as regards quantity, +it will be the same <i>in quality</i>, for Jesus +tells us, “Be ye perfect even as your Father +in heaven is perfect,” not, of course, with +the unmeasurable amount of perfection which appertains +to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far +as it goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that +“There shall in no wise enter into it” +(the heavenly city) “anything that defileth, +neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a +lie.” Heaven is a holy place, and occupied with +none but holy inhabitants.</p> + +<p>But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that +we may reach the blissful abode of the glory land, +when is this stupendous blessing to be obtained? It +is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as +an attainment, and this form of expression has a tendency +to discourage the seeker by magnifying the difficulty +of receiving this blessing. The thought contained +in the word attainment is that of something earnestly +striven for, struggled after, persistently pursued +with much labor and toil and effort, until, at last, +the coveted prize is attained. A very few of the multitudes +who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of +hard labor and privation and hardship. The majority +died on the way, or while mining for the precious +metal, or returned as poor as they went.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply +that of a gift. And entire sanctification is precisely +a gift, “merely this and nothing more.” +It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit +of our own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise +to be undertaken; not the fruit of a long journey +or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor trying, nor +suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable +gift to be obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist +answer, in purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a +second probation after death. But the Holy Scriptures +tell us absolutely nothing either of a purgatory or +a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be +determined in one probation, which is allotted to +us in the present life. Let no one suppose, for a +moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left +this mundane sphere. “Behold, now is the accepted +time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”</p> + +<p>But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, +and also a large portion of the membership of Arminian +denominations, without regard to their creeds, if +asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at +death. The prevailing idea on this subject, among +Christian believers, seems to be as follows: First, +through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins +are pardoned, and we are born again. After that, our +sole business is to grow in grace, and by this growth +to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can +reach that standard until the moment of death.</p> + +<p>Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, +grow in grace until we receive it. And we can never +grow into grace, but grow in it after we get it. We +can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree +is limited because of the presence of inbred sin, +which is the great, if indeed, not the only hindrance +of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at least, +because if the justified Christian is brought to see +the need and the possibility of entire sanctification, +and yet fails, as so many do, to enter into the blessing, +because of unbelief, he is very prone either to backslide, +in which case, of course, there will be a cessation +of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to +the bondage of legalism, and after having begun in +the Spirit, he will seek to be perfected in the flesh; +in which case Paul’s verdict to that beloved +church was not ye are growing in grace, but, “ye +are fallen from grace.”</p> + +<p>It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into +the blessing of entire sanctification. That blessing +is to be received by faith, as the gift of God in +Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when +the grace has once been obtained in this manner, then +we can grow in it indefinitely and for a lifetime, +possibly even for an eternity. Growth in grace is +a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring +us to the death of the old man, nor to the experience +of entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death +is nowhere mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. +Death can separate the soul from the body, but to +separate sin from the soul is a work which God can +only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the +Holy Spirit is our sanctifier, and even if the work +is performed in the article of death, it is still +the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, +where is the hindrance to His performing it a week, +a month, a year, or forty years before death—­if +only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where +is His omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do +it before death; then where is His own holiness? In +either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves of +an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save +us from such folly.</p> + +<p>Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite +in the sentiment that entire sanctification is to +be sought and obtained now, and if now, then it is +to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained +by faith, and from these premises the further conclusion +is logically deducible, that we cannot make ourselves +any better in order to receive it, but that we must +take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the +pithy precept of John Wesley, “Expect it by +faith—­expect it as you are—­expect +it now.”</p> + +<p>In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some +things which belong more accurately to the next chapter; +but we are not seeking so much for a perfectly methodical +arrangement, as for a clear and Scriptural presentation +of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now that +entire sanctification is not only essential as the +condition of entering heaven, but that it is also +necessary for the highest results of the Christian +life on earth. It is not only an indispensable blessing +to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father’s +will in this world, it is indispensable to live by.</p> + +<p>But before leaving entirely the subject of growth +in grace, having demonstrated, as we trust, that we +can never grow into entire sanctification, we ought, +perhaps, to explain what we mean by the statement +that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace +after, and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification +has two sides or aspects. It has a positive side and +a negative side. Its negative side is the removal +of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of subtraction. +And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. +The latter is a matter of addition, because it implies +the impartation of a new life to the soul which has +hitherto been “dead in trespasses and sins.” +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification +there can be no growth. If a heart is pure it cannot +be more pure. If it is free from sin it cannot be +more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase +in purity.</p> + +<p>But the positive side of entire sanctification is +perfect love, and this is a relative expression. It +does not mean that all who possess it must have an +equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual +is just his own heart—­not some one else’s +heart—­being filled with love. One individual +may have a greater capacity of loving than another, +just as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or +of working. Perfect love in a child would not be perfect +love in a man; and perfect love in a man would not +be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect +love today may not be perfect love to-morrow. As we +commune with God and work with Him, as we get more +and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of +the Triune God, how is it possible that we should +not love Him more and more? “There will never +be a time in earth nor in Heaven,” says the late +Dr. Upham, “when there may not be an increase +of holy love.” On the positive side of entire +sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true +growth in grace, about which much more could be said, +but we leave it for the present, to resume our main +theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come.</p> + +<p>We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian +can do all that God would have him do, nor enjoy all +that God would have him enjoy in this world, without +the grace of entire sanctification. In the beautiful +language of metaphor the Saviour says, “I am +the true Vine and My Father is the husbandman. Every +branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away, +and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He purgeth +it that it may bring forth more fruit.” And again, +“Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear +much fruit: so shall ye be My disciples.” Now +the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord +Jesus Christ. “I am come,” says He, “that +ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye might +have it more abundantly” (in entire sanctification). +The abundant life and the abundant fruit, therefore, +can only be found in connection with purity of heart.</p> + +<p>It is doubtless <i>true</i> that every living +branch, that is to say, every justified and regenerated +believer, may and should and must, if he would retain +his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is precisely +these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman “purges"—­sanctifies—­that +they may bring forth the more abundant fruit by which +He Himself shall be glorified. And here we might rest +our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two +will be in place.</p> + +<p>The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius +of a poet, the intimate connection between purity +and power. He puts into the mouth of Sir Galahad, +one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz:</p> + +<p> “My strength is as the strength of ten,<br> +  Because my heart is pure.”</p> + +<p>Now one of the most common complaints among Christians +of all denominations, is because of their weakness +and their leanness. And yet nothing is clearer than +that God has promised to make His people strong, that +He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and +that not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to +say criminal in His sight. The reason, then, of our +weakness and our leanness and the meagreness of our +fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not +fulfill the conditions on which He promises to make +us strong. One of these conditions, and an indispensable +one, is that we be entirely sanctified. It is they +that know their God, both in conversion and entire +sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall +“be strong and do exploits.” Beloved, +if you would accomplish the work that God has given +you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment +in eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, +seek and find that which is the essential condition, +and ask at once to be wholly sanctified.</p> + +<p>And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the +joy of an uttermost salvation, the peace that passeth +understanding, the fellowship with the Father and +with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing +of the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the +abiding presence of the indwelling Comforter, then +pray that the very God of Peace may here and now sanctify +you wholly. Amen.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap02">Chapter II.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification Obtainable.</h2> + +<p>This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary +from what has been said in the preceding chapter. +If entire sanctification has been proved to be not +a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we +cannot attain to the highest results in Christian +privilege, nor in Christian enjoyment, nor in Christian +service without this blessed experience, and if, at +the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a +moment that our gracious Heavenly Father has provided +a way by which this indispensable requisite. both +for time and for eternity may be received.</p> + +<p>But before discussing this proposition in detail let +us have a clear understanding of what is meant by +entire sanctification, and, as a preliminary, let +us study a few simple theological definitions.</p> + +<p>In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty +in believing that I fully accept the Arminian doctrine +of the universality of the atonement. The sacrifice +of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind, +and its benefits are offered to all. “He tasted +death for every man.” But it does not follow +that all men will be saved, and this for the reason +that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated +to accept it. But it is available only in the case +of those who believe. “He that believeth shall +be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned.” +A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation.</p> + +<p>Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. +It is either general or special. In one sense it is +as broad as atonement. Atonement is for sin; redemption +is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. In +its more special meaning it is applicable only to those +who accept the atonement. For these it implies release +from the bondage of the will under the law of sin +and death, or justification and regeneration. It brings +also release from the power and existence of depravity +or entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, +the complete glorification of the saints in body, +soul and spirit at God’s right hand, and the +deliverance of the creation itself from the “bondage +of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the +children of God.”</p> + +<p>The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement +are offered to the sinner is repentance. Both the +Saviour Himself and His forerunner began their public +ministry with words of like import, viz: “Repent +ye and believe the gospel.” Repentance does not +mean penance—­ not a voluntary sacrifice +in our own will for an expiation of sin—­nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although “godly +sorrow” is one of the elements of true repentance. +The sorrow of the world may produce remorse, that +continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; +but remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the +world worketh not life but death. True repentance +involves a change of mind, a change of purpose, a +change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow +for sin —­sorrow not only because the sin +has resulted in physical or mental or financial or +reputational disaster—­but because it has +grieved the Spirit of our God; and it implies not +only sorrow for our sin but the determination to forsake +it as well. It is the afterthought, and involves both +regret for what we have done and the purpose to do +so no more.</p> + +<p>The next, and specially indispensable, condition for +receiving the benefits of the atonement is faith. +This means nothing more nor less than taking God at +His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God +must believe “that He is, and that He is a rewarder +of them that diligently seek Him.” “Faith +is the substance of things hoped for,” because +it makes them real. It is “the evidence of things +not seen” because it convinces the mind of their +actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. +It is not true that all men believe God, and, therefore, +not true that all men have saving faith.</p> + +<p>And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often +said to be the gift of God, and in the sense of the +grace of faith, or the power of believing, this is +true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It +involves the putting forth of the choosing power of +the human will, that we may accept the salvation which +is offered us. God has given to us all the faith faculty, +just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the +one case, as in the other, we are responsible for +the exercise of the faculty thus given. The proper +object of the seeing faculty is the world around us, +with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. +The proper object of the faith faculty is truth, and +especially gospel truth, the truth of salvation through +a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise our believing +power and accept this great salvation or we may close +our faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this +to our eternal loss.</p> + +<p>For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible +for obedience to that as to all other of His commands. +The fact of the command involves the power to obey. +Our will, therefore, our choosing power, must be put +on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. +It is not that we are required to believe without +evidence. It is that our depraved hearts are not willing +to believe when the evidence is ample. And, therefore, +our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, “Believe on the Lord +Jesus Christ.” The great and crying sin of our +fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has sundered +us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith +which is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited +to Him. “He that believeth not the Son is condemned +already.”</p> + +<p>Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God +promises to give us the grace of justification. This +is pardon for all our past sins. God, for Christ’s +sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus’ sake, although we +are not just in reality. And herein it is that gospel +justification differs from legal justification. The +individual who is accused of crime and who is brought +into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, +not to be guilty, is at once acquitted and released +from all penalty. He is justified solely on the ground +of his innocence. But no man ever has been or ever +will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground +of his innocence. Every responsible human being has +broken the law of God. “All have sinned and +come short of the glory of God.” And none of +those who have broken the law can be justified by +the law, that is to say, not one. The law justifies +those, and those only, who keep it. None of us have +kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man +Christ Jesus. The law condemns all those who break +it. All the race of men have broken it save only the +man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under condemnation. +But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, “by the deeds of the law shall +no flesh be justified.”</p> + +<p>Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? +We should be so but for Christ. But, blessed be God, +“He hath found a ransom.” “All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one +to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the +iniquity of us all.” Jesus Christ “Himself +bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” And +so it comes to pass that we can be freely justified +by His grace, not because of our innocency but because +He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the place +which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. +He procured for us the place which was and is rightfully +His, and that is at God’s right hand. He suffered +what we deserved, and by that very suffering He made +us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to +His Holy Name!</p> + +<p>By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, +justice is satisfied, and the penalty of the broken +law is removed. God is infinitely merciful, but He +is also infinitely just. He loves the sinner with +a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, +and will not look upon sin with the smallest degree +of allowance. His mercy and His love may compassionate +the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. “Shall not the Judge +of all the earth do right?”</p> + +<p>But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified +and risen Lord, both the attributes of mercy and justice +are enlisted on behalf of the sinner. The mercy of +God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus’ sake. “Mercy and truth +have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed +each other.” “God can be just and the +justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” “If +we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive +us our sins.” And in accordance with the way +of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now +plead with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive +us when we have complied with these conditions. And +so we arrive at the conclusion that justification +is an act of God’s grace by which our sins are +pardoned for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act +is instantaneous. God does not pardon sins gradually, +nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to every +one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious +language, “Thy sins, which are many, are all +forgiven thee.” As if by a single stroke of +the recording angel’s pen, the whole dark record +is blotted out forever. “As far as the east +is from the west so far hath He removed our transgressions +from us.” Glory.</p> + +<p>Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies +justification. God does not justify a sinner without, +at the same time, giving him a new life. This new +life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine +energy of the Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, +without, at the same time, receiving a new nature, +he would inevitably fall into sin again. His lifetime +on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But +our merciful Father having for Christ’s sake +looked upon him as just and righteous, when he was +not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new nature +which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, +indeed, of the Divine nature, and that is a nature +which is holy and just and good. And this is the new +birth. Men may be full of physical life and of intellectual +life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, +therefore, is that act of God’s grace by which +we are born again.</p> + +<p>Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and +regenerated believer into the family of God. No longer +enemies, nor even strangers and foreigners, those +who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now receive +the adoption of sons. They become the children of God +by faith in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and +they rejoice to declare it. A human governor or ruler +may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a reprieve, +but he never takes him into his own family. He may +forgive the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon +him a new nature, nor can he consent to recognize +him as a brother or a son. But God not only remits +the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers +them from wrath and from punishment, but He gives +them a new nature by which they can respond to His +love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus +Christ.” “Ye are all the children of God +by faith in Jesus Christ.”</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is something not easily +defined, but it is well known by those who experience +it. It is an impression or consciousness wrought into +the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, which +gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child +of God. Before this, he believes, now he knows. This +witness, therefore, expels doubt and infuses into +the heart of the new-born child of God, a calm, definite +and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. “The +Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that +we are the children of God.” “Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, +Father.” “And because ye are sons, God +hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, +crying, Abba, Father.”</p> + +<p>Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, +are all received co-instantaneously. They always accompany +each other, and whoever has one of them has them all. +The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not always +a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies +or attends the other experiences to which we have +alluded. And we may add that all these graces are +but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, +by the single term conversion, which term, therefore, +must be understood to include and imply justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit. +It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, +and never a prolonged process. Just so certainly as +every human being that comes into this world has a +definite, natural birthday, so every one that comes +into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. +Some people do not know when their natural birthday +occurs, nevertheless, they know that they have been +born. Some Christians do not know when their spiritual +birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of +a definite line out of Satan’s kingdom into +God’s kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where +a man can truthfully say, I am neither converted nor +unconverted. One moment he is out of the ark of safety, +the next moment he is in it.</p> + +<p>Entire sanctification is an act of God’s grace +by which inbred sin is removed and the heart made +holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is the inward +cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It +is the bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter +fruits. It is the natural evil tendency of the human +heart in our fallen condition. It is the being of +sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that +within us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. +It exists in every human being that comes into the +world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is called +in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our +old man, sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term +sin in the singular number. In the Old Testament it +is called sin and iniquity. “Behold,” +says David, “I was shapen in iniquity and in +sin did my mother conceive me.” And when the +Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, “Lo, +this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken +away and thy sin purged.”</p> + +<p>Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the +real existence of this inbred sin and also as to the +fact that it is not removed at conversion. “This +infection of nature doth remain,” says the Anglican +Confession, “yea, even in them that have been +regenerated.” Most church creeds, indeed, give +no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the +hour of death. And it is regarded as serious heresy +in some quarters for a man to either preach or claim +that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse +from all sin.</p> + +<p>But God has in every age and in every dispensation +required His children to be holy. And to be holy signifies +the destruction or removal of inbred sin, nothing +more and nothing less and nothing else than that. +How this is accomplished will be discussed further +on, but here we say that the removal of innate depravity +is entire sanctification, and that God has most surely +made provision in the atonement of Jesus Christ for +the removal of innate depravity. Therefore, He has +made provision for entire sanctification, and, therefore +again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin +goes back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. +If not as old as the human race, it is at least as +old as the fall. Since sin entered through the beguiling +of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin has +existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and +Eve. The only exception is the man, Christ Jesus, +the God man, the Divine man, the promised seed that +should bruise the serpent’s head. But as He, +the Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the +works of the devil, and as inbred sin is one of the +works of the devil, therefore its destruction is provided +for in the atonement, and, therefore, still again, +entire sanctification is obtainable.</p> + +<p>The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate +or to devote to sacred uses. It has this signification +nearly always in the Old Testament and in a few passages +in the New. In other words, whatever is consecrated +is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent +meaning, of separation from all sin, inward as well +as outward, and this is what Paul calls being sanctified +wholly. It is entire sanctification as distinguished +from partial sanctification. This latter appertains +to all Christians, and is technically so used in the +New Testament. The former is the experience of those, +and those only, from whom inbred sin has been removed.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap03">Chapter III.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Patriarchal Times.</h2> + +<p>For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation +of man, he was without a written law. So far, at least, +as the descendants of Seth are concerned, the government, +during those early times, seems to have been patriarchal. +The father of a family retained his authority over +his children and his children’s children so +long as he lived, and when he died, the branch families +did not separate, but continued their allegiance to +some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective +patriarchs constituted a tribe, and from the family +patriarchs was selected a prince for the whole tribe. +Among the antediluvian patriarchs were Adam, Seth, +Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. +After Jacob’s death, it is most likely that +Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of the +tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression +and deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the +law.</p> + +<p>As God’s revelation to man has been progressive, +first just a few faint streaks of light that usher +in the dawn, then broad daylight and sunrise, and +finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are +not to expect, in these early times, the full and +distinct teaching on the subject of holiness, which +we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings of the +prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the +New Testament. The word holy does not occur in the +book of Genesis, and the word sanctify is found only +once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day and sanctified +it.</p> + +<p>And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, +several narratives of extreme interest, which give +us glimpses, at least, of the purpose of God that +His people should be holy, and we even find intimations +of His method of sanctification, by conferring it +as a second experience upon His already saved children, +as is so clearly revealed in the New Testament.</p> + +<p>“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, +for God took him.” Such is the record in Genesis, +but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the faith +chapter, we find that “by faith Enoch was translated +that he should not see death; and was not found because +God had translated him, for; before his translation, +he had this testimony that he pleased God.” +Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian +ages, walked with God and pleased God, and was translated +that he should not see death, there surely can be +no reasonable doubt that he was a holy man, an entirely +sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was “slain +from the foundation of the world.”</p> + +<p>“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; +and Noah walked with God.” The prophet Amos +exclaims most pertinently, “Can two walk together +unless they be agreed?” It is certain, therefore, +that God and Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely +pure and holy, can never be agreed with any person +or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever may be +the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied +to God’s children in Old Testament times, we +can scarcely avoid the conclusion that Noah was a +holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and this notwithstanding +his subsequent error in regard to drinking too much +wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose +he may have been, up to the time of this sad experience, +ignorant.</p> + +<p>Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, +in Ur of the Chaldees, when he received the call of +God to go entirely away from his kindred and his father’s +house, and depart into a land of separation, a land +which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing +whither he went, but only knowing that the Lord was +leading him. At his first move, he was accompanied +by his father. And he came out of his native land, +it is true, but not yet into the promised land. “He +came to Haran and dwelt there,” or to give the +record in full, “And Terah took Abraham, his +son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son’s son, +and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s +wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the +Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there.”</p> + +<p>Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr +Stephen says, “And from thence when his father +was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye +now dwell,” but in Genesis the statement is, +“And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his +brother’s son, and all their substance that +they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten +in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land +of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.” +The last tie of nature was sundered when the old man +died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought +him into the promised land. There are two distinct +stages in his experience before he reached the place, +which God designed him to occupy. And these we may +as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the +first experience under the gospel—­that +of regeneration—­and of the second experience +as well, which is entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious +episode occurs, and that is the story of his transient +but highly important meeting with Melchizedek, after +his successful expedition against the kings, who had +despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, <i>viz</i>.: “And +Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and +wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. +And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the +Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and +blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered +thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him tithes +of all.” No other mention is made of Melchizedek +until David writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly +one thousand years after Abraham. The Psalmist writing +by inspiration, and alluding beyond all reasonable +doubt to the Messiah, says, “The Lord hath sworn +and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek.” And then, again, +the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once +more brings him to the front in the Epistle to the +Hebrews, where he is described in glowing language +as “first being by interpretation King of righteousness, +and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king +of peace; without father, without mother, without +genealogy (R. V.) having neither beginning of days +nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God, +abideth a priest continually.”</p> + +<p>Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most +remarkable personage, the following inferences seem +fairly deducible therefrom: (1) Melchizedek, being +made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently the +Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his +kingly and priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and +Christ are priests, and yet the former is not of the +chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, unquestionably, +greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth +bread and wine. So did his antitype at the Last Supper. +The priesthood of Melchizedek was before that of Aaron. +Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek +in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle +to the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since +Melchizedek was without beginning or end, and greater +than Abraham, and with a priesthood that existed centuries +before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, therefore +Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting +to everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, +is to abolish the Aaronic priesthood, whose institution +was for a temporary purpose, and was fulfilled when +Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest +forever after the order of Melchizedek.</p> + +<p>But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also +a king. And it was not only in his everlasting priesthood, +but in his regal office also, that he was a type of +the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, Ezekiel +was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in +His own person the three offices of prophet, priest +and king.</p> + +<p>Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, +if he was greater than Abraham, if he was a type of +Jesus Christ in His kingly and priestly offices, it +is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. +He was made like unto the Son of God, and the Son +of God is eternally holy. Praise His name. It is, +surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in +those primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth +was full of wickedness and violence, that even then +God had His witnesses to experimental and practical +holiness.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood +of Christ, let me remark that it was a sad day for +His Church when the idea became prevalent, that ministers +of the gospel are in any official sense to be regarded +as priests. This serious error may have been derived, +in part, from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. +It has become incorporated in the creed of the Roman +Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, and +has been productive of the most disastrous results. +Among the deliverances of the Council of Trent, held +at intervals from 1545 to 1564, and the last Council, +which Romish authorities regard as of binding authority, +are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: “Whereas, +therefore, in the New Testament, the Catholic Church +has received, from the institution of Christ, the +holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a +new, visible and external priesthood, into which the +old has been translated. And the sacred Scriptures +show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted +by the same Lord, our Saviour, and that to the apostles, +and their successors in the priesthood, was the power +delivered of consecrating, offering and administering +his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins.”</p> + +<p>It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely +clear of this same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, +and that, in thought, at least, many substitute this +for the true priesthood, which appertains to all believers. +Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation +and continues to do, forever, by intercession. “He +ever liveth to make intercession for us.” He +“offered one sacrifice for sins forever.” +If He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already +offered Himself as a sacrifice, sufficient for the +sins of all mankind, the benefits of which each and +every one may obtain on the simple condition of repentance +and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says +George Fox, “Friends, let nothing come between +your souls and God, but Christ,” and we say +Amen.</p> + +<p>To sum up on this particular point, we may say that +the ancient priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, +and of Aaron, the Jew, with his descendants, were +nothing more than types; and a type can have no real +existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there +is no place for a human priesthood under the Christian +dispensation. We are taught in Holy Scripture that +no one can come to God except through Christ, but +we are also taught that all are invited, and all may +come directly to Him. All the officers belonging to +the New Testament Church, whether ministers, deacons, +presbyters, bishops, elders, or even apostles, are +described not as priests but “messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and +shepherds.” Their function is to preach the +word, to teach, to rule, but never to mediate. It +is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests.</p> + +<p>But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, +all Christians are priests. But this is through Christ +and in Christ, the one great and eternal High Priest. +They are priests because they are in Christ. And not +only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings +and priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed +privileges are theirs, solely by virtue of their union +and fellowship with Christ, who, in a mystical and +spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His +own priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic +office.</p> + +<p>Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration +of the Spirit, “But ye are a chosen generation, +a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.”</p> + +<p>And again: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built +up, a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer +up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus +Christ.” Precisely. If we are priests, we must +perform the functions of a priest, and one of these +functions is the offering of sacrifice. What, then, +are the sacrifices which are to be offered by the +Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact +that Christ hath offered one sacrifice for sins forever. +Nothing can be added to, and nothing can be subtracted +from, that infinite and all-sufficient offering.</p> + +<p>The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest +is the surrender of his own body, with all its appetites, +organs and capabilities, to God. Listen to Paul.</p> + +<p>“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the +mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your +reasonable service.” Your bodies, because if +you are Christians, you have already presented your +hearts; your bodies, because through the body, too +often temptation enters into the soul and leads it +to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If +surrendered to the Lord, He makes them the very thing +they were originally designed to be, namely, the obedient +servants of the soul, and the soul is already His +own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands +and the body obeys, both are working for God, and +when the soul says Go, and the body runs hither and +thither, both are going upon God’s errands.</p> + +<p>It will be observed that the body is to be presented +a living sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless +activities are to be given up to God. The expression, +no doubt, implies that the whole man, described by +the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, +soul and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be +His, and His forever, and henceforth to be ready to +be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed will.</p> + +<p>The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion +of your time, nor a certain portion of your money, +nor a certain portion of your effort, nor your sins, +nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden indulgences. +You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, +nor your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, +nor your theatre-going to God. He wants none of these +things. All actual and known sins must be abandoned +at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent and +a deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus +present his body unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, +but Christians are enjoined to “yield themselves +unto God, as those who are alive from the dead; “not +as those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.” +Whatever surrender the sinner may and must make in +order to be saved, the believer must make a deeper, +fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character +and for a different purpose. That purpose is that +he may be wholly sanctified, filled with the Spirit, +and used to the utmost extent of his capacity for +the glory of God. Consecration means yielding yourselves +unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything +else. All the details are included in the one surrender +of yourself.</p> + +<p>And remember, also, that your consecration is not +to God’s service, not to His work, not to a +life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the church, +not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, +not to any organization, not to the cause of God; +it is to God Himself. “Yield yourselves unto +God.” It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. +Your work, your obedience, your sacrifice, your right +place and your allotted duty, will all follow in due +time. The next sacrifice to be made by the Christian +priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. “By +Him, therefore,” says the author of the Hebrews, +“let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God +continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name.”</p> + +<p>And the next priestly offering of the Christian is +a holy life, for the inspired author goes on in the +next verse, “But to do good, and to communicate +forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; +offer the fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of +the life, and you will walk worthily of your priesthood. +Glory!</p> + +<p>The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined +experiences about twenty years apart. The first of +these was at Bethel, when, in loneliness and anguish +of mind, he was plodding on his way toward Mesopotamia +to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground +with a stone for a pillow, not only distressed in +mind from fear and anxiety, but also, we may well +suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation +of a guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had +faith in God’s promises, even if he did not +always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, +forlorn, fearful and contrite, God was watching over +him, and when he awoke from the wondrous vision there +vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in the +place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new +man. Now he could not only believe intellectually +what God had said, but he could and did enter into +covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. +This was such a change of mind and heart as constituted +a real conversion.</p> + +<p>When, after the many mercies and many trials that +fell to his portion whilst dwelling with his uncle +Laban, and after the lapse of two score years, he +was returning to his father’s house, no longer +poor and lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives +and children, again he was encountered by the fear +of his brother Esau who was approaching him with four +hundred men. Then it was that there “wrestled +a man with him until the breaking of the day.” +Note it was the man wrestling with Jacob—­and +the man was the angel,—­Jehovah, the pre-existent +Christ—­ and the object of his wrestling +was to get the Jacob nature, the old man, the body +of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by +a touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for +him to resist any longer. Now he had to cease his +wrestling but he could still cling, and he could still +cry, “I will not let thee go until thou bless +me.” Jacob’s will was now firmly set upon +the blessing; he could ho longer resist the will of +the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob—­supplanter, +sinner, and then He blessed him there; Jabbok means +extinguishment, and Jacob’s self-life was extinguished +there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter—­but Israel, the +prince, the prevailer, the overcomer, and Israel was +now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell God your +name—­sinner—­seek with fixed determination +for the blessing of holiness, fulfill the conditions, +and you also shall prevail, and your name will be +changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the +Blesser Himself in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. +Praise the Lord!</p> + +<h2><a name="chap04">Chapter IV.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Type.</h2> + +<p>The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and +typical. “The law having a shadow of the good +things to come,” says the author of the Hebrews. +But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far +as holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed +forth in the ceremonial law, we shall find that there +is a corresponding substance and reality in the gospel +of Christ.</p> + +<p>In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions +of the Mosaic law, we shall be struck with the many +forms of ceremonial uncleanness described therein, +and with the “divers washings,” not only +of the “hands oft,” but of the whole body, +and of “cups and pots, brazen vessels and of +tables.” All these point to the fact that God +will have a clean people, and a clean people is a +holy people. The same thing is vividly exhibited in +the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be +disused. Of land animals, only such as both chew the +end and divide the hoof, might then be eaten. And +of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales +were to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt +that this restriction in regard to food is full of +meaning. God help us all as Christian believers to +distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have +His people now pure in heart, clean in soul, holy +both within and without.</p> + +<p>The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, +and this became the perpetual rite by which his descendants +were admitted to the rights and privileges of that +covenant. “Every male child shall be circumcised.” +But this rite was an outward symbol of “a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body +of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ” +(Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, we are +told that “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; +neither is that circumcision which is outward in the +flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and +circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but +of God.” Beloved reader, may you and I know +what it is to experience the inward circumcision, +made without hands, even the putting off of the body +of the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In +the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priests’ +office, not only were they to be adorned with holy +garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious +stones, but the plate for the mitre was to be made +of pure gold, and engraved with the motto “Holiness +to the Lord.” This was to be always upon the +forehead of the High Priest, and must signify that +Aaron was to be the holy priest of a Holy God, and +that the law required a continuous holiness, as most +assuredly the gospel does also.</p> + +<p>Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood +and the sacrifices were typical of Christ. In the +mediatorial work of redemption, he was both the priest +and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate +from sinners. The holy priest, under the law typified +the holy priest, who is a priest forever after the +order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel dispensation +all Christians are priests. “But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar +people.” And we are priests, not for the purpose +of expiation, for expiation was completed by the Lord +Jesus Christ, when He “bore our sins in His own +body on the tree,” but priests to offer up “spiritual +sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” +And every such priest must needs be continuously holy.</p> + +<p>The “spiritual sacrifices” which the Christian +priest must offer are, as previously stated, (1) his +body, with all its members and capacities. The heart +was given to Christ at conversion. It is, however, +largely through the body that the soul is led into +sin, and it is through the body, also, that the soul +must perform its work for Christ, so long as soul +and body are united in probation. Hence, the Apostle +exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, “I beseech +you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that +ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable +unto God, which is your reasonable service.” +The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. +He must “hold fast the confession of his faith +without wavering.” “By him, therefore, +let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His +name.” And, finally (3), the Christian priest +must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. “But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with +such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Beloved, +let us ask ourselves if we are constantly offering +as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing +tongue and a godly life. Amen.</p> + +<p>This subject has already been alluded to under a different +head, but it will bear repetition.</p> + +<p>In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing +of the leper, we find an impressive type or symbol +of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly and strikingly +a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, incurable, +fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; +he could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He +was an outcast. None must be permitted to approach +him. They must be warned off by the despairing cry +“unclean, unclean.” Nothing can be conceived +more desolate or more hopeless than the condition +of the leper, unless it be, indeed, the sinner who +is an “alien from the commonwealth of Israel, +a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope +and without God in the world.”</p> + +<p>But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad +“day of cleansing.” He might not come +into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. +And none but Christ has any authority to tell the +sinner that he is converted, or the believer that +he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies +away toward heaven with bloody wing; the leper is +sprinkled seven times, to denote the completeness +or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means +of hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; +he must wash his clothes; he must pass a razor over +his whole body, and bathe the whole body likewise +in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by +the washing of water through the word, as plainly +described as symbolic language can utter it.</p> + +<p>All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily +sacrifice both morning and evening, the paschal lamb, +the Day of Atonement, the offerings at the various +feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for individuals +or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for +what we are, the peace offering, the burnt offering, +these, also, all point to the Lamb that was slain +from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was +shed. “Almost all things are, by the law, purged +with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.”</p> + +<p>But turn now to the New Testament, and read that “It +is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to +take away sins.” Read again, “If the blood +of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling +the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, +how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through +the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to +God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve +the living God.” Read again, “In Him we +have redemption through His blood” —­"Having +made peace through the blood of His cross"—­"Ye +who are far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"—­"Being +now justified by His blood"—­"That He might +sanctify the people with His own blood"—­and +especially “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, +cleanseth us from all sin.”</p> + +<p>Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, +Dr. Edgar M. Levy. “When an oblation for sin +was offered up under the old dispensation, the priest +was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle +it seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection +of the offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come +short of the type. Seven times, at least, did our +Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was circumcised +and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted +on the mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this +must needs have been attended with blood. He was scourged, +and from Roman scouring there was, of course, blood. +The crown of thorns was driven into His precious temples +and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp +nails penetrated into His hands and feet, and again +there was blood. And “one of the soldiers, with +a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came thereout +blood and water.”</p> + +<p>The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of +our sanctification as it is of our justification. +Glory be to His Name forever for the precious, cleansing +blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the “Rock of Ages,” +and especially with the rendering now frequently given +to the conclusion of the first stanza, <i>viz</i>.:</p> + +<p> “Let the water and the blood<br> +  From Thy wounded side which flowed,<br> +  Be of sin the double cure<br> +  Save from wrath—­and make me +pure.”</p> + +<p>The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, +and was used for a great variety of purposes. In typology, +however, it has special reference to the office work +of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively the Sanctifier, +and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as “the unction” or “the +anointing.” The holy anointing oil was to be +sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred vessels. +It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests +and kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge +of their respective offices. There can be no doubt +but that this use of the anointing oil and the sweet +perfume, which none were permitted to imitate or counterfeit, +has a direct typical reference to holiness. The sacred +writer, indeed, says as much. “That they may +be most holy; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.” +And as all Christians are kings and priests unto God, +it is necessary that they also be anointed with the +Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. “Be ye clean +that bear the vessels of the Lord.” A priest +must be holy.</p> + +<p>We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred +sin, and of the requirement of blood-shedding in the +cleansing of the leper. But before that cleansing +was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the +priest had already touched his ear, his thumb and +his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, so now he +touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the +blood; afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the +wondrous plan of salvation through the Lord Jesus +Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure pardon; +afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire +sanctification through the Spirit.</p> + +<p>The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, +the thumb and the toe of Aaron and his sons in their +consecration to the priesthood and, finally, poured +upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch +the flesh. And so, beloved, we must be touched with +blood and oil as to our spiritual ears, that we may +take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, +and goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they +may run swiftly and beautifully upon the errands of +redeeming love; and, at last, upon our heads and running +down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be “ever, only, all for +Him.” Praise the Lord. And this can never happen +while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still alive.</p> + +<p>Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of +Man, He who was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate +from sinners, was, nevertheless, anointed with the +Holy Ghost as a needful qualification for His mediatorial +work.</p> + +<p>In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the +sixty-first chapter of Isaiah. “The Spirit of +the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed +Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent +Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty +to the captives, and the opening of the prison to +them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year +of the Lord"—­and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about “the day +of vengeance of our God.” It was now a day of +grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those who will +not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance +will surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. +His anointed followers must also be holy. They must +seek and find the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be baptized, +and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the +privilege and duty of all God’s children. If +we would belong to the royal priesthood, we must be +cleansed from the defilement of sin.</p> + +<p>Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is +spoken of in Scripture as tried in the fire. So of +silver. “He” (Christ) “shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver.” The precious +metals will endure the fire, but “dross and +tin,” as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and +with fire is a sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great +purifier. It makes the substance which is subjected +to it pure through and through, and not like anything +cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. “Our +God is a consuming fire.” Oh, beloved, let us +give up to the fire all that is for the fire. Let +all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery +baptism. May God put upon all His pardoned children +not the blood-mark only, but the fire-mark also.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap05">Chapter V.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Prophecy.</h2> + +<p>The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and +Daniel. The twelve prophetic books in the Old Testament +following the book of Daniel are called the Minor +Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification +of believers in the gospel dispensation and under +the reign of Messiah or Christ.</p> + +<p>The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as +his call to the prophetic office. Whether this be +so or not, it records a very wonderful experience +of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the baptism +with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts.</p> + +<p>It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man +before he wrote his first chapter. In that he laments +the sins of the Israelites and the Jews, all of them +God’s chosen people, though now divided into +the two kingdoms and these often at variance, shows +the utter futility of their own efforts to regain +the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices and +ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted +as plainly as any gospel minister in our own day would +be able to do. He shows them that the way of salvation +is by repentance and faith, and by trusting to the +unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: “Wash you, +make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from +before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; +seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; +plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they +shall be as white as snow; though they be red like +crimson, they shall be as wool.”</p> + +<p>Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, +the washing away of guilt and committed sins, symbolical +of the New Testament washing of regeneration, symbolical +also of John’s baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins.</p> + +<p>But now in the sixth chapter, and “in the year +that king Uzziah died,” a wondrous vision of +the pre-existent Christ, “sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up” and the seraphim crying one +to another “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of +hosts,” was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and +heard was not to exalt him and minister to his pride, +but to fill him with despair at his own depravity. +He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed +“Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” +Ah! beloved, it never fosters spiritual pride, nor +any other kind of pride to get a nearer and clearer +view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and +enables us to behold by contrast the darkness and +sinfulness and pollution of our own souls, and in +such a view we shall find food for the deepest humiliation, +but nothing to nourish pride.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul “Woe +is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean +lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean +lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts.” If we may credit Jewish tradition, it +was for the offence of saying that he had seen the +King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet was afterwards +sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision +is still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed +to millions of readers in the future, as in the past, +and until the end of the age.</p> + +<p>But the seraph was sent to touch the “unclean +lips” of Isaiah—­unclean because of +innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of +life and forgiveness for two or three years before +this wondrous experience—­to touch them +with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his +sins of commission and omission were forgiven—­that +had been done before—­but that his iniquity +was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly +emblematic of the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fire under the gospel dispensation, which is also +accompanied by “the purifying of the heart by +faith,” or entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this +experience. He seems to look down the centuries for +seven hundred years and to see the glorious blessings +of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth +chapter: “And an highway shall be there and +a way; and it shall be called the way of holiness; +the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be +for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall +not err therein.” And in the fifty-first chapter: +“Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy +city; for henceforth, there shall no more come into +thee the uncircumcised and the unclean,” and +in the sixtieth chapter: “Thy sun shall no more +go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for +the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the +days of thy mourning shall be ended.”</p> + +<p>To Jeremiah the Lord said, “I sanctified thee; +and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations,” +which must mean not only that he was set apart for +the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed +from inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the +office itself.</p> + +<p>In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some +striking passages on the theme before us. These were, +no doubt, addressed primarily to the outward Israel, +but they may very justly be appropriated by the Israel +of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, +“The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and +the Old is revealed in the New.”</p> + +<p>In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon +or justification with cleansing from the pollution +of their past sins: “Then will I sprinkle clean +water upon you and ye shall be clean, from all your +filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.” +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And +the pollution that is thus acquired by the practice +of sinning is removed in regeneration. Thus the new +convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. “Except ye be converted,” said the +blessed Saviour, “and become as little children, +ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution +of committed sin; whilst he does have within him the +inherited or inbred sin of his nature.</p> + +<p>Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made +to the clean water made from the ashes of a red heifer +and sprinkled, under the Mosaic law, upon those who +had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing signified, +however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of +the Holy Spirit, typified by water, may here be meant. +At any rate the twenty-fifth verse points to nothing +less than a full and free justification.</p> + +<p>But the prophet continues: “A new heart also +will I give you and a new spirit will I put within +you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your +flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.” +Here we have described certainly the experience of +regeneration, if indeed not the still fuller experience +of entire sanctification. But let us admit that it +means only the new heart which is given to the penitent +sinner at his new birth. Regeneration implies the +impartation of a new life by the Divine energy of +the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the “heart of flesh,” not, of course, a +carnal heart, but a heart tender and teachable, and +impressible to heavenly influences, such a heart as +we always find in the new-born babe in Christ.</p> + +<p>But listen still further: “And I will put My +Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, +and ye shall keep My judgments and do them.” +In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost +baptism, by which the heart is cleansed from all sin +and sanctified wholly, and also of the subsequent +“walking in the Spirit,” to which Paul +alludes in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father +of John the Baptist, who was also seized with prophetic +fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, “That +He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out +of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without +fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all +the days of our life.” Surely the gospel of +Christ has something better for its recipients than +a constant daily sinning and repenting, which is too +often the experience of Christian people. The twenty-seventh +verse, therefore, signifies holiness of heart and +life through the power of the indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we +cannot do by our own strength, the Holy Spirit will +cause us to do. This doctrine of spiritual causation +is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the watch +which supplies the power within, by which the hands +are moved without, and thus the fleeting minutes and +hours are correctly measured, so the Holy Spirit within +supplies the energy by which the sanctified believer +is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of Christ, +his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the +fruit of the Spirit in all righteousness and goodness +and truth.</p> + +<p>In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions +to the subject of holiness, though their language +is often highly figurative. In Hosea 2:16, after reproving +Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the Almighty, +through His prophet, employs the following language, +viz: “And it shall be at that day, saith the +Lord, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and shalt call +Me no more Baali,” and again in the nineteenth +verse, “I will betroth thee unto Me forever; +yea I will betroth thee in righteousness and in judgment +and in loving kindness and in mercies; I will even +betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt +know the Lord.” Now the word Ishi means my husband; +while the word Baali means my Lord, and the language, +therefore, points to an experience or a relation of +marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to +a legal justification and a service for wages and +reward, that of the bride must signify entire sanctification, +and the closest possible union with the Heavenly Bridegroom. +Again, the word betrothed points legitimately to a +marriage which is always justly expected to follow +if both parties are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, +let us get so near to Christ that we shall not address +Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, but as +my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful +wife. At your conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed +to Him, or in ordinary language engaged to Him. At +your entire sanctification, your engagement is consummated +by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not +be long. Do not needlessly defer your nuptials, but +rather hasten to the embraces of Everlasting Love. +Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, “I will +go.”</p> + +<p>In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter +quoted on the day of Pentecost, and assured the multitude +of Jews, out of every nation under heaven, that what +they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of the +same. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that +I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your +sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men +shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. +And also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens +in those days will I pour out My Spirit.”</p> + +<p>Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, designed for +all of God’s children without distinction of +nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue +them with power for whatever line of service God may +call them to. And we may add that this text, as well +as many others, shows that in these gospel days women +as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our +daily experience that they are both called and qualified +for the work of the ministry, as well as other labors +in the vineyard of the Lord. But both men and women +need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency +and most marked success in the work to which they +may individually be called. Every Christian may and +should do something for the Lord, but none can do +all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his +duty to do, without the grace of entire sanctification +and the fulness of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which +point unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust +in God and perfect love for Him. “Although the +fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be +in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and +the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be +cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd +in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will +joy in the God of my salvation.” Compare this +with John Wesley’s description of a holy man +after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice evermore, +to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give +thanks. Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this +description?</p> + +<p>The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, +which are, no doubt, full of instruction to those +who have eyes to see. We can only mention one or two +of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing +the Jewish people, and typifying Christ Jesus with +His eternal and unchangeable priesthood after the +order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also represents +Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, +is present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting +them in the person of their representative, the high +priest.</p> + +<p>And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was +ground for his accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, +is clothed in filthy garments, and these can signify +nothing else than sins, aye, the sins of His people +imputed to Him as their representative and priest, +and not their actual sins only but their inbred sin +also, for, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity +of us all,” and “He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin.” “His visage +was so marred more than any man, and His form more +than the sons of men.” “He hath no form +nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is +no beauty that we should desire Him.”</p> + +<p>“Many were astonished at thee,” says Isaiah. +“Behold the man,” said Pilate, as he brought +forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but uncomplaining, +and the only answer was “Crucify Him!” +Thus, beloved, was He clothed in very truth with the +filthy garments not of His own vileness but of ours.</p> + +<p>But Joshua was “a brand plucked from the burning,” +and, therefore, in Him all His people have found pardon. +And now comes the order “Take away the filthy +garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I +have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and +I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” +Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than entire +sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not +only simply imputatively and representatively, but +actually and experimentally. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>The prophet Malachi assures us that “He shall +sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall +purify the sons of Levi” (that is, the “royal +priesthood” which constitutes the true church) +“and purge them as gold and silver, that they +may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” +Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap06">Chapter VI.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Jesus Christ.</h2> + +<p>Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, “Therefore, +that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be +called the Son of God.” Or in the Revised Version, +“Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall +be called holy, the Son of God.” The author +of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of Him as “holy, +harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” +and Peter says that “He did no sin, neither was +guile found in His mouth.” He is called “Thy +holy child Jesus.” Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. +He was absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, +holy in word and holy in act, holy in His birth, holy +in His death, holy in His resurrection, holy in His +ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name.</p> + +<p>And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church +was thus a holy man, it would, naturally, be expected +that He should desire to have a holy people; and if +He desire it, that He should also make provision for +it; and if He both desire it and hath made provision +for it, that we should find allusions to it in His +teachings. In this, we are not disappointed, as we +shall proceed to show.</p> + +<p>The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the +public preaching of the Lord Jesus, and every sentence +is pregnant with meaning. From beginning to end, it +inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of believers. +Many things are enjoined which would only be possible +to those who are sanctified wholly, such as, “Bless +them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, +love your enemies, resist not evil,” and many +others.</p> + +<p>The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of +chapters, which are filled out and developed in the +writings of the apostles. This is remarkably true +of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going largely +into details, sets forth the principles which are to +govern His kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation +of these principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles +and evangelists, who continued to teach and preach +after His departure, and to the Holy Spirit who is +promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again.</p> + +<p>But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply +holiness, there are several, also, which expressly +require it. Among the beatitudes at the beginning +of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: “Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” +Now, heart purity cannot exist while there is any +sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin in the heart, +whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms.</p> + +<p>Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire +sanctification, and heart purity is not only a great +energizer, so that a man is powerful for good in proportion +to the purity of his heart and life, but it is also +a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor +to see God. This, of course, does not imply an open +or an outward vision, but a spiritual apprehension +of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship and +communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe +truly regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible +to outward sense.</p> + +<p>This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless +outward walk, was by no means unknown to the Old Testament +writers. In the Twenty-fourth Psalm, David asks the +question “Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?” +And He immediately answers it by saying, “He +that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” The +clean hands imply that his works are in accordance +with God’s law; in other words, that his outward +life is free from condemnation. But the “pure +heart” means more than this, and suggests what +the same royal Psalmist remarks again in the Fifty-first +Psalm. “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward +parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom.” It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, as already quoted, that the clean hands or +justification comes before the pure heart or entire +sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the +end of Matthew fifth the direct command, “Be +ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which +is in heaven is perfect,” or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the +command becomes a positive assertion, which is equally +forcible. “Ye, therefore, shall be perfect as +your Heavenly Father is perfect.”</p> + +<p>But whether command or declaration, it is at first +sight simply astounding. It is overwhelming. So much +so, indeed, that our poor human spirits shrink back +in amazement, and we are ready to say, This is wholly +impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. +Or if He does, then my case is hopeless. But let us +examine the words a little more carefully.</p> + +<p>In the first place, we are to notice that He does +not say that we are to be equal in perfection to our +Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, be too absurd +for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite +in all His attributes and, therefore, infinite in +perfection, and this in all directions. We are poor, +finite, sinful human beings, and can never even approach +the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, +justice and holiness.</p> + +<p>But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly +Father in perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the +same kind of perfection which appertains to Him. It +may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely short +of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and +perfect in all His attributes, but apart from His +attributes is His essence. And what is the perfection +which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, rather, +what is His essence itself? It is love. “God +is love,” says the apostle. “Thy nature +and Thy name is love,” says the great hymnologist, +Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured +by the beloved John that it is possible for us, also, +to be made perfect in love, and to possess the perfect +love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are perfect +in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in +heaven is perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of +the gospel.</p> + +<p>The context of the command referred to proves the +same thing. Jesus had just been telling His disciples +that it is not sufficient for them to love their friends, +and do good to those that do good to them. All these +things and more are done even by worldly minded people +and open sinners. Unsaved people love those who love +them. But Jesus continues, “I say unto you, +love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully +use you and persecute you.” Why? “That +ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven,” +for that is just the way He does. He does not wait +for a man to be His friend before He loves him and +shows kindness to him. “He maketh His sun to +rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain +on the just and on the unjust.” And, if we are +to be the children of such a Father, we must adopt +His sentiments and love in our measure as He loves. +His essence being love, all His infinite activities +are controlled and regulated and directed by love, +and when there is nothing contrary to love in our +hearts, so that all our finite activities are in like +manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, then +we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly +Father is perfect. Glory to His Name.</p> + +<p>I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully +we shall find the doctrine of entire sanctification +in many of the parables of our Saviour. Take, for +instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are expressly +told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, +the sowers are all ministers and Christian workers +who are trying in any right way, to diffuse a knowledge +and acceptance of gospel truth. They are devoting +themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark +the difference as to the ground upon which the good +seed falls. (1) The wayside hearers are not concerted +at all. (2) The stony ground hearers are converted +but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation +and hence they fall into backsliding. (3) The thorny +ground hearers are converted, but inbred sin remains +in their hearts in form of the love of riches, whether +these riches are possessed or only desired, or too +much care and cumber, having so much regard to the +secular as to neglect the spiritual, or in the form +of unsanctified desire, “the lusts of other +things,” and so by sin that dwelleth in them +the word is “choked,” and though they +may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring “no fruit to perfection.” +They are justified but not sanctified wholly.</p> + +<p>Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit +but much fruit. “Every branch that bringeth +forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth +more fruit.” To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant +fruitage. When the thorns are removed the good seed +will grow and flourish. When inbred sin is taken out +of the heart the Christian believer will bring forth +fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and +this will be the “much fruit” whereby +God is glorified.</p> + +<p>On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus +“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” +and when asked in reply what were the words of the +Mosaic law he answered, “Thou shalt love the +Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul +and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” +Jesus commended his answer and added “This do +and thou shalt live.” Hence, our Saviour teaches +that holiness consists of nothing more nor less nor +else than perfect love to God and man. What constitutes +this love has been already explained.</p> + +<p>Martha was a good Christian, but she was “careful +and troubled about many things.” Mary was a +good Christian and still earnestly seeking the one +thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness +of heart and life. Even good Christians may be “cumbered +about much serving,” and so miss this one thing +needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing +of holiness when the pentecostal baptism was poured +out upon the church of the hundred and twenty, if +not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer of +the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we +find these expressions, “Sanctify them through +Thy truth. Thy word is truth.” And again, “For +their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth.” Here we discover +the two senses of the word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself +apart or consecrates Himself to the work of human +redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, +may be not only set apart or consecrated, but also +sanctified wholly, or made holy in heart and life. +He gave Himself for the world of sinners lost, that +they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for +the church, on the other hand, that He might “sanctify +and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, +that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, +not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish.” +Thus, the atoning sacrifice of Christ procured pardon +and acceptance for the penitent sinner. It procured +not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him +as a perfect Saviour that He “is made of God +unto us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification +and redemption.”</p> + +<p>For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt +as to the method of obtaining this great blessing +of holiness, nor as to the price, which must be paid +for it. Entire sanctification is “one pearl of +great price,” and he who would possess it must +go and sell all that he has. The rich young ruler +had a first-class record as to morality and the outward +observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, +“One thing thou lackest,” and that one +thing was perfect love, for He added, “If thou +wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give +to the poor,” and then interjecting a promise, +“Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come +take up the cross and follow Me.” The price was +too great, and the young man went away sorrowful. +Alas! Myriads of souls since have found the price +too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not +have us become His followers without counting the +cost, and the cost is all that we have and all that +we are. “Whosoever forsaketh not all that he +hath, he cannot be My disciple.”</p> + +<p>First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, +all known sin. It may be the sin which “easily +besets,” our own bosom sin, near as a right +eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, +it must be relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the +sacrifice seems like crippling and maiming us, yet +Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into eternal +life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned +to everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In +the first place, therefore, we are to “reckon +ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God +through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”</p> + +<p>But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all +sin, but we must be dead, also, even to lawful things, +except as God in His mercy may grant them to us, to +have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest +love must be fastened upon Him alone, and that if +any individual love, father or mother, son or daughter, +wife or husband more than Him, such a one is not worthy +of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for +them, but still more are we to love the Giver Himself.</p> + +<p>And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to +be satisfied with Himself, and what He in His love +and mercy chooses to give us. If He permits us to +have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank +Him and use them as stewards of His for His glory. +If He allows our family circle to be invaded by death, +and one dear one after another is carried away to +the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His +gifts one by one or altogether are withdrawn from +us, why, praise the Lord, we still have the Giver, +and can still say with Job “The Lord gave and +the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the +Lord.”</p> + +<p>It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require +us to be dead to sin, and dead to self, yea, even +to lawful self, in order that we may possess this +inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let +us not hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. +“Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, +but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the +same shall save it.”</p> + +<p>“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground +and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth +forth much fruit.”</p> + +<h2><a name="chap07">Chapter VII.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Paul.</h2> + +<p>The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially +to Paul. And as the Gospel of Christ is intended for +the salvation not of the Jews only, but of all mankind +who are willing to accept the conditions, we find +in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord +Jesus than in any other inspired author. Jesus gave +the concise germinal principles of all gospel truth; +and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration +of the Holy Spirit, into those wonderful epistles +to the churches, which, though as Peter well observes +containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in +the past, to form a large part both of the foundation +and framework of every system of theological doctrine. +How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of redemption +as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How +profound and how exalted is the spirituality of the +Ephesians and Colossians! How pure and how practical +are the directions to the Corinthians! What a counter-blast +to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology +in the Hebrews! What a guidebook of unequalled excellency +for ministers of all times in the pastoral epistles!</p> + +<p>In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind +under the two divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, +and proceeds to show that both classes alike had failed +in their efforts to attain to righteousness and salvation.</p> + +<p>The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with +an outward revelation, but he had been permitted to +behold the outward universe, and to know that it had +a Creator “of eternal power and divinity.” +He had also had a conscience within him, and so much +light as rendered him an accountable being, with a +sense of obligation to a supreme power, and furnishing +another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not +like to retain God in their knowledge. They wickedly +extinguished the light which He had given them, because +they were not willing to give up their immoralities. +And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they +changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the +baser image of “birds and four-footed beasts +and creeping things.” They sank into the grossest +idolatry and licentiousness and all wickedness. This +picture drawn in colors which shock our sensibilities, +in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed by the +authentic writings of heathen historians, and this +in all particulars, Paul says, “They are without +excuse, because they did not live up to the light +which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was.”</p> + +<p>And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, +to them much every way, but chiefly because to them +were committed the oracles of God. They had an outward +revelation, and with it a knowledge of that law of +God, which is holy and just and good.</p> + +<p>But they had failed, if possible, more grievously +than the Gentiles themselves. They had received the +law by the disposition of angels, as Stephen told +them and had not kept it. They had had far more light +than the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same +sins as they. They prided themselves on the law, and +looked with contempt upon the Gentiles, and condemned +them for their immoralities, and yet were guilty of +similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly +about the words of the law. “Do not steal.” +“Do not commit adultery,” and yet violated +these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared +them to whited sepulchres, looking well outwardly, +but within full of dead men’s bones and all +uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware +of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, +and the leaven of the Sadduces, which is infidelity, +and the leaven of the Herodians, which is worldly +mindedness.</p> + +<p>The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and +Gentile. It was something that had occurred long before +the division into Jew and Gentile had an existence. +It had occurred, in short, when man fell. From fallen +parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, +that is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. +There is a disposition in all mankind to yield to +temptation, some in one direction, some in another, +and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no +to God. This bias towards evil is sometimes called +depravity or original sin. It is called by Paul “Our +old man,” “the flesh,” “the +carnal mind,” “the body of sin,” +and “sin that dwelleth in me.” A good and +convenient name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in +the heart as distinguished from sin in the act. It +is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward +sins are the bitter fruits.</p> + +<p>Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles +which caused them to quench the light of the knowledge +of God, which they must have had for, at least, a +generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural +religion, notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens +were declaring the glory of God and the firmament +was showing His handiwork, day unto day was uttering +speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. +They forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them +to their own reprobate minds, the result being that +they sank into the grossest idolatry and the most +beastly sensuality.</p> + +<p>The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward +revelation. He received through Moses the law of God, +which showed him what God desired him to be and do, +and what he ought to be and do, but which conferred +upon him no power for being or doing what it required. +It is like a looking-glass placed before a child to +show him that his face is soiled, but having no power +to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb-line applied +to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates +from the perpendicular, but which has no power to +make it upright. Nay, it even comes to pass that in +consequence of inbred sin, the law multiplies offences. +It causes sin to abound. We find even in most children +a disposition that impels them to do and to have just +what they are told they must not do and have. That +is to say, when the law comes in, inbred sin rises +in rebellion against it.</p> + +<p>The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most +vividly described by Paul in the seventh chapter of +Romans. Over the real meaning of this chapter, there +has been much discussion and wide differences of opinion. +Some writers think that this is the best experience +of the great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw +consolation from this fact, as well as argument, in +favor of continuing to sin in thought and word and +deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle +is not here describing a Christian experience at all, +but the struggles of a Jew who is seeking the favor +of God by keeping His law, but finds his attempts +to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred +sin. I freely admit that it is not what even a justified +experience ought to be, for God has assured us through +His apostle, John, that He that is born of God doth +not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified +and regenerated believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness +and prayer, may be kept from acts of sin and from +becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the seventh +of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the +experience of the converted Christian.</p> + +<p>For there are many who even after a clear conversion +and a joyful sense of God’s favor, with the +witness of the Spirit to their adoption, yet do yield +to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and +so pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is +called an up-and-down experience, not becoming confirmed +backsliders, but sinning and repenting, delighting +in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is +in their members, not losing their sonship, but losing +their communion and their joy, often like Peter weeping +bitterly over their transgressions, but finding that +while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.</p> + +<p>I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, +might go on for years. It ends either in complete +religious declension amounting, sometimes, to apostacy +on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the entire +sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance +from inbred sin. And in these days of enlightenment, +when the doctrine and experience of holiness are so +plainly taught, and so generally diffused among the +children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether +a soul can continue long in a state of justification, +which means that it will either go forward to the +experience of entire sanctification, or else it will +fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, +or into legality as did the Galatians.</p> + +<p>Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. +It is seeking salvation after the pattern of the Old +Testament, and not after that of the New. It is a +matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It inquires +“What good thing shall I do that I may inherit +eternal life?” It is the child of the bondwoman +and not that of the free. It is Ishmael and not Isaac. +It is Sinai and not Calvary.</p> + +<p>And so it happens that many Christians are simply +good Jews. They may even possess circumcised hearts, +and may yet serve the Lord in the spirit of bondage, +as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does +not, by any means, signify license; it does not signify +the liberty of making our own choices, but the liberty +of accepting gladly and submissively God’s choices; +it does not mean the liberty of doing either right +or wrong as we may prefer, but the liberty of always +preferring to do right and never wrong, and so to +spend our years on earth, doing right in all directions, +and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God.</p> + +<p>After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that +Hagar’s chief employment in Abraham’s +house was to look after the said Ishmael, to care +for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her +business to care for or to restrain Isaac. He was +the child of promise, the child of faith, the son +of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when Ishmael’s +persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, +then the command was “Cast out the bond woman +and her son.” Both must go together or stay +together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain +or constrain. Perfect love casts out fear; it also +casts out sin, and becomes the motive power of the +whole spiritual man. “The love of Christ constraineth +us.”</p> + +<p>So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed +to attain unto the law of righteousness, because of +inbred sin, which caused the former to put out the +light which they had, and the latter to fall short +of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, +but which was never intended by its Divine Author +to save men, but to show them how utterly incapable +they were of saving themselves.</p> + +<p>But Paul does not leave them there. After putting +both classes of the human family into the same position +of failure and condemnation, and declaring that there +is no difference, “for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God,” he adds, “Being +justified fully by His grace, through the redemption +that is in Christ Jesus.” When man’s helplessness +and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, +then God comes to his rescue. “For God hath +concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have +mercy upon all.”</p> + +<p>Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches +the great doctrine of justification by faith and the +consequent peace of reconciliation, the “peace +with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that +sanctification, also, is by faith and not by works. +He will not be satisfied with anything less than the +death of our old man, and the death of inbred sin +is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. +“Knowing this that our old man is crucified +with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, +that, henceforth, we should not serve him.”</p> + +<p>But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with +the body of sin by any resolution or will-power or +effort of our own. Sin will not go dead at our bidding, +nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or striving +to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for +us by directing us to resort to the process of reckoning. +“Likewise reckon ye, also, yourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Ah! now, our help is +laid upon one that is mighty. “The things that +are impossible with men are possible with God.” +What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, +Christ can make real and true. We have only, therefore, +to reckon ourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, +and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. But we +must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as +dead. And to be alive to God means, in this connection, +to be responsive to every intimation of His will, +to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to suffer +joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in +short, to be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what +a blessed reckoning is the reckoning of faith! How +vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of logic +or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual +deadness to sin, and a continual holiness of heart +and life.</p> + +<p>For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not +asking us to fancy, or imagine, or hypothecate. He +is not telling us that if we believe a thing to be +true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The +factors in his direction are God’s promises +and commands, alike in the Old Testament and in the +New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to +make them so, and our acceptance of the provision +He has made for our cleansing, by faith, and then +by the reckoning alluded to, the result is secured.</p> + +<p>In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often +compelled to resort to what they term dead-reckoning. +Sometimes for days together, the sun is hidden by +clouds, and no observation can be taken with the usual +instruments for determining latitude and longitude. +Then the captain ascertains by the compass what direction +he is pursuing, and by the log, the rate at which +the ship is sailing, and thus by marking out his daily +advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will +sight the shore toward which the voyage is directed. +What he reckons becomes real, when he tells the passengers, +“Within five minutes, we ought to see the Irish +coast,” followed within the specified time by +the cry from the lookout, “Land, ho!”</p> + +<p>To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass +and log and chart. Sometimes, he enjoys the witness +of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, assuring him +that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, +but when not thus favored, he can still move on by +faith, he still has his compass and his chart, and +he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in +the heavenly port. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle +of the Gentiles has written in reference to entire +sanctification would require a volume instead of a +single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue +the subject for himself in the inexhaustible mine +of the Pauline Epistles.</p> + +<p>In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration +that is to be found anywhere. “Neither yield +ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness +unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments +of righteousness unto God.” And, again, in the +19th verse, “For as ye have yielded your members +servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity; +even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness.”</p> + +<p>Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration +is not the same thing as entire sanctification. The +one is an act proceeding from man to God, the other +is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies.</p> + +<p>Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal +human being to a personal God. The term members may +well be understood to include all bodily organs and +powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, and +all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, +culture, health, and, in short, the whole personal, +individual man, with all his belongings. The surrender +must be complete, absolute, unreserved and forever. +Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all +that we have and all that we are must be His, wholly +His, and His to all eternity.</p> + +<p>Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who +is not already a Christian believer. Paul informs +us, explicitly, that he is not calling upon sinners +“dead in trespasses and sins,” to consecrate +themselves, but upon converted persons, “those +who are alive from the dead.” How thankful we +ought to be that he has settled that point forever. +Sinners may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. +Whatever surrender the sinner may and must make in +order to be saved, the believer must make a broader, +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, +the sinner gives himself away as a dead sacrifice, +and his purpose is to receive pardon and life. In +consecration, the Christian yields to God his living +and regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose +is that he may be sanctified wholly, filled with the +Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of his capacity +for the glory of God.</p> + +<p>Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, +or vices, or depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. +We cannot consecrate our alcohol, or our tobacco, +or our opium, or our card-playing, or dancing, or +theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. +All actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. +Our consecration is for a deeper work, that is to +say, for the removal of inbred sin, which, after all, +is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire.</p> + +<p>The essence of consecration is in the sentence, “Yield +yourselves unto God.” When you yield yourselves, +you yield everything else. All the details are included +in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the emphasis, +we may read again, “Yield yourselves unto God.” +Consecration is not to God’s service, not to +His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, +not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not +to the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of +God; it is to God Himself. “Yield yourselves +unto God.” Your work, your service, your obedience, +your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted +duty will all follow in good time.</p> + +<p>Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution +and the purpose to be, to do, and to suffer all God’s +will. Its essence, already given in the words of Paul, +is given also in the words of the Saviour. “Not +My will but Thine be, done,” which is beautifully +versified by Frances Ridley Havergal, in the couplet,</p> + +<p> “Take my will and make it thine,<br> +  It shall be no longer mine.”</p> + +<p>Consecration being a definite transaction, and made +once for all, does not need to be repeated unless +we have failed to keep it. To consecrate over and +over again is like a husband and wife marrying over +and over again. We are consecrated just as we are +married. The vow is upon us, and in the force of that +vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is to +remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord’s, +and see to it that nothing is taken from the altar. +Those who have kept their consecration complete should +testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence.</p> + +<p>Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an +English periodical, which is here given very slightly +modified, and which has been adopted by many. Let +all my readers unite with the author in entering into +this personal yielding to God.</p> + +<p>  I am willing<br> +  To receive what Thou givest,<br> +  To lack what Thou withholdest,<br> +  To relinquish what Thou takest,<br> +  To suffer what Thou inflictest,<br> +  To be what Thou requirest,<br> +  To do what Thou commandest.<br> +               Amen.</p> + +<p>In this connection, we may add that when the consecration +is complete, it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter +to believe. Entire sanctification like justification, +and, indeed, all other gospel blessings and experiences, +is to be received by faith. But so long as the surrender +to God is not complete, faith refuses to act.</p> + +<p>When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt +and sincere consecration, then it becomes as natural +and as easy to believe as it is to breathe, after +everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians +of a want of faith. If they only had more faith, they +imagine that all would be well. When the disciples +of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He told +them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only +a mustard-seed faith, He assured them that it would +remove mountains. And we may justly conclude that +the difficulty with most seekers after entire sanctification +is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches +itself to one worldly thing or another, and refuses +to be sundered from what it loves, and while this +is the case, the individual cannot believe that God +gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. +But when all the preliminaries have been attended +to, and there is nothing else needed but to trust +in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment.</p> + +<p>Another class of seekers is very much concerned about +the witness of the Spirit to assure them that the +blessing has been received. Probably in these cases +the very point that has not yet been consecrated to +God is the feeling, or the witness, which they so +much desire. “It often happens,” says +Dr. G. D. Watson, “that a patient, who has been +cured of some contagious disease, has to have a certificate +on leaving the hospital. In such a case the certificate +does not cure him, but certifies that he is cured. +How absurd for a patient just entering the hospital +to clamor for his health certificate before receiving +the doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, +it is useless for a seeking soul to be clamoring for +the witness and waiting for the feeling before receiving +Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We are +not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who +imparts the experience.”</p> + +<p>Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to +the Corinthians, second and third chapters, he tells +us of three classes of persons: the natural man, the +spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit +of God; they are foolishness unto him; neither can +he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. +Such is a description of the unregenerate wherever +and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment +is not that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to +the truth of God and deaf to the story of salvation. +Being without spiritual life they are, of course, +without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons +are in all our churches, and the number is by no means +small. And often it strangely happens that these are +the very individuals who are noticeably forward in +expressing their opinions on the right way of managing +a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching +or lecturing, something to be proud of and to draw +the crowd—­these are the things which in +their view make the church of their choice a success; +but as for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread +of the gospel at home and abroad, as for the sanctifying +of believers, as for the things of the Spirit of God, +they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living +faith and a sound conversion. May God hasten it in +His time.</p> + +<p>“He that is spiritual,” says our apostle, +“judgeth or discerneth all things, yet he himself +is judged or discerned of no man.” The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit +and filled with the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit +abides as an ever-present Guide, Comforter and Friend. +In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified and +saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm +that such a one is always remarkable for depth or +soundness of judgment, for, as his religion is in +his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, +or rather the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does +have a wonderfully illuminating influence upon the +understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition +of the natural man, because he has been there, while +he is not understood by the natural man because the +latter has not been where he is. And the same is true +of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood +by one who has the Spirit, while he is himself incapable +of judging or discerning the position of the latter.</p> + +<p>Paul assures the Corinthians that they are “yet +carnal,” and still he asserts that they are +“babes in Christ.” Such persons, and their +name is legion in all denominations of Christians, +are not wholly natural, neither are they wholly spiritual. +They are babes in Christ, and, therefore, they may +thank God that they are in Christ. They are converted, +they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly +delivered from the carnal mind. Their state is a mixed +one, partly spiritual, partly carnal.</p> + +<p>Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete +and irrevocable consecration to God, and let them +ask for the baptism with the Holy Ghost and receive +Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering offices, +that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. +Oh, that spiritual men and women may increase and +abound in all our churches. Amen.</p> + +<p>In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles +bases the experience of entire sanctification on the +glorious promises of God. “Having, therefore, +these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves +from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God.” To cleanse ourselves +is shown by the Greek tense to be an act done definitely +and once for all. It means, therefore, to put ourselves +under the conditions of cleansing by a definite act +of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves +in co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively +the Sanctifier and Cleanser. It means, also, that +we are to seek and find the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all +sources of temptation and all incentives to evil, +so far as we may; and continuously realize and experience +the holiness which Christ has instantaneously wrought +in our souls through His Holy Spirit. Filthiness of +the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual appetites, +as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which +was probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness +of the spirit is illustrated by idolatry and pride, +nor must we forget that the spirit is often polluted +also through pampering the body.</p> + +<p>Paul’s wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, +has been so admirably treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, +that I shall content myself with referring the reader +to his book on “Love Enthroned,” page 123, +and pass on. A single remark, however, may properly +be made. That prayer, undoubtedly, embodies all that +we mean by entire sanctification and the filling of +the Spirit and more.</p> + +<p>In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great +apostle in which entire sanctification is expressly +petitioned for. “And the very God of peace sanctify +you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of +our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth +you, who also will do it.” The very form of +the expression in the first clause indicates that it +is possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to +be sanctified partially. All Christians are cleansed +from the pollution of sins committed, that is to say, +from the pollution they have acquired by actually +sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by +Paul as sanctified, although, manifestly, many of +them were not holy in heart and life. On the other +hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians may +be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were +already in a healthy and prosperous condition, the +only exception being a few members who were too neglectful +of their outward business and too much disposed to +be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while +many good Christians are not wholly sanctified.</p> + +<p>But provision was made in the gospel for the entire +sanctification of all believers, otherwise Paul would +not have prayed for it. And not only for their entire +sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act of +God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their +continual preservation in blamelessness, though not +in faultlessness, until the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. And lest they should stagger through unbelief +he adds, “Faithful is He that calleth you. You +are not to do it. He will do it for He is able.”</p> + +<p>And this experience extends to the whole man, the +spirit which takes hold of and communes with God, +the soul with its emotions, affections, desires and +volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers +all made holy and preserved holy. Glory!</p> + +<p>One more citation only and I will leave the reader +to his own researches in the rich storehouse of the +Pauline writings. Taking it for granted that Paul +is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. “Wherefore, he +is able, also, to save them to the uttermost that +come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make +intercession for them.” To the uttermost refers, +undoubtedly, not only to time but to quantity. It +means entirely, perfectly, altogether, through and +through. And if he is able he is also willing. Oh, +that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God +now and evermore for salvation from the uttermost +to the uttermost. Amen.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap08">Chapter VIII.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Peter.</h2> + +<p>In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings +of his beloved brother, Paul, and this probably at +a period when Paul was either dead or separated from +his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a tradition +that both the apostles were put to death on the same +day at Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself +to have his head downward because unworthy to die +just like his Master—­the other by beheading, +because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at +Rome, too honorable a position to be subjected to +the ignominious death of the cross. Even if this should +be true, yet Peter’s second epistle, in which +he endorses Paul’s teachings, and gives to his +writings the same authority as to the rest of the +Bible, seems to have been written but a short time +previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment +of Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired +writer of Scripture, and that what he had given to +the churches through his epistles, and left as a permanent +legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious +and frequent allusions to entire sanctification, as +well as to the various other subjects treated of by +his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, therefore, +Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised +that in the very first sentence of his first epistle, +he addresses the Christians of the Jewish dispersion +in Asia Minor—­though by no means excluding +the Gentile converts—­as elect according +to the fore-knowledge (not predestination) of God +the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, which +must include entire as well as partial sanctification, +unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. +Thus, in one grand outburst of salutation from his +glowing heart, he associates sanctification of the +Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the obedience +of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst +of his earnest appeals to men’s hearts, in order +to give a lecture on Systematic Theology, but both +scatter seed-thoughts all over their inspired pages, +which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and reflecting +mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the Thessalonians +employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and +thus putting the apostle of the circumcision by the +side of the apostle of the uncircumcision we have +sanctification by the blood of Jesus, sanctification +by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even +in a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, +and all this without the slightest inconsistency or +contradiction.</p> + +<p>And as Peter starts out by calling God’s people +to holiness, he continues by reminding them that their +hope is to be fixed upon “an inheritance incorruptible +and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in +heaven for you.” What more natural than that +those who are expecting to inherit a holy heaven, +should themselves seek while here to become a holy +people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it.</p> + +<p>After speaking of the “trial of their faith +being much more precious than of gold which perisheth,” +the apostle utters forth an imperious call to entire +sanctification. “But as He which hath called +you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; +because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.” +Thus he quotes from the words of the great lawgiver +in Leviticus—­that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the +Old Testament, as well as the New, bears witness to +the holiness of God, and makes that fact a sufficient +reason for the command and requirement that His people +should be holy, also.</p> + +<p>Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells +in a holy heaven. Is it not most reasonable and most +fit that He should require all who are to dwell with +Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting +kingdom, we must be made holy while still clothed +in flesh and sojourning upon earth. Nothing that is +not already pure and holy can pass through the gates +of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between +our Father in heaven and His children both on earth +and in heaven. A lady was accosted in the streets +of a western city by a stranger, who asked her if +she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. +She replied, with some surprise at the question, in +the affirmative. “I knew you,” said the +gentleman, “by your resemblance to your father +who was my particular friend twenty-five years ago, +away back in the State of Maine.” And the lady +was delighted that the lineaments of her father’s +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she +should thus be recognized even by one who had never +seen her before as her father’s child.</p> + +<p>Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly +Father so imprinted upon our faces and upon our walk +and upon our conversation that all who know Him shall +recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever +we are and whatever we do. “Be ye holy, for +I am holy.”</p> + +<p>In comparison with the precious “blood of Christ” +Peter characterizes silver and gold, which men call +precious metals, as “corruptible things,” +and then gives the striking exhortation, “Seeing +ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through +the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see +that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently,” +and all this on the basis of the new birth which they +had already received “of the incorruptible seed +by the word of God.”</p> + +<p>Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned +and ignorant man, yet when thou writest under the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost as hard +to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul!</p> + +<p>See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated +in various ways in the sentence quoted above. (1), +“Ye have purified your souls.” Yes, and +it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem +in reference to Cornelius and his household, and said +that God “put no difference between us and them, +purifying their hearts by faith.” The word “purify” +is derived from a Greek root which means “fire.” +Souls are purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, +and the result is a continual “obeying the truth,” +and (2), the positive side of this purification is +“unfeigned love of the brethren,” and this +is love with a pure heart and fervent, the same love +which John calls perfect love, and the standard of +which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, “As +I have loved you that ye also love one another.”</p> + +<p>Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? +Peter had never been to a Theological Seminary, but +he had listened through three eventful years to the +blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had been +filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, +and without aiming at system or explanation, he has +compressed more sound theology into a single verse +than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon.</p> + +<p>And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration +he tells us how to grow in grace. “Wherefore, +laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, +and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow +thereby,” and his last exhortation at the end +of the second epistle is, “But grow in grace +and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus +Christ.”</p> + +<p>Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, +or that we grow into entire sanctification. We first +become receivers, and get grace before we can grow +in it, and we must first receive entire sanctification +before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel blessings, +this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says +in effect, in order to grow in grace you must do two +things. (1), Lay aside everything that hinders growth, +specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, evil +speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that +all these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. +And so in a single thought the exhortation is to lay +aside, or put off, or give up to destruction, the +depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth +so easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will +be an insuperable hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical +growth, and (2) desire, and of course, partake of +the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as +in the natural world, is first to become healthy, +and then to take plenty of nourishment. Holiness is +spiritual health, and implies the absence of inbred +sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that +is healthy and gets plenty of pure milk will grow +and develop rapidly. The time will soon come when +he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and +thus he will finally become a large and strong man. +But the child may be healthy and still not grow because +it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have plenty +of the most wholesome food and still not grow because +disease prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. +Sound health and plenty of food, with proper exercise, +are the essentials of the right kind of growth. Now +the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but +strong meat for strong men. It has been remarked by +another that if Christians would be giants they must +eat giants’ food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to +have a sound spiritual constitution and that means +simply entire sanctification. Peter is right again. +We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we have +gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs +true growth.</p> + +<p>Of course my reader will not understand me to say, +any more than Peter himself says, that we experience +growth in grace simply by a head knowledge of the +Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ +Himself, who is the bread of life. Nor do I forget +that we feed upon His broken body and His shed blood, +not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, not +by learning, but by faith.</p> + +<p>But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible +truth, whether presented on the pages of inspiration +or in the preached word, which is the great instrumentality +employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men to Christ, +and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and +edifying the church which has thus been gathered to +Him. And so both Peter in speaking about the “sincere +milk of the word,” and Paul in referring to +the “strong meat,” by which term he characterizes +the deeper spiritual truths of revelation, are leading +us to Jesus, the true bread, the living bread, the +bread of life.</p> + +<p>Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description +of the Christian priesthood, and again the leading +idea of holiness flashes from his pen, “Ye also, +as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable +to God by Jesus Christ.” Again, “Ye are +a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, +a peculiar people.” Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, +or a dukedom or a kingdom? Not I at least.</p> + +<p>The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, +and even temporal blessing also, through the mediation +of an outward priesthood. And the family of priests +were chosen and ordained of God Himself. “No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called +of God, as was Aaron.”</p> + +<p>But under the Christian dispensation all God’s +saved people are priests as well as kings, and the +sacrifices which they offer are spiritual sacrifices, +the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like +a whole burnt offering in His service, “the +fruit of the lips giving thanks to His name,” +and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, +a life rich in faith and good works, such are the +sacrifices with which God is well pleased. But to +be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter’s words will not allow us to doubt that +the priesthood of believers is a “holy priesthood.”</p> + +<p>Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his +readers to take ill treatment patiently when they +have to suffer, not for doing wrong but for doing +well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, “Who +did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; +who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He +suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself +to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare +our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being +dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,” +winding up with a terse expression of the great doctrine +of the atonement “by whose stripes ye were healed.”</p> + +<p>Paul would have us “dead to sin” by reckoning. +Peter would have us “dead to sins” by +making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead +either to sin within us or to sins without us, implies +holiness of heart, that is, entire sanctification. +Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine.</p> + +<p>Still further, Peter speaks of the “holy women” +of old, and exhorts Christian women to be like them, +particularly in adorning themselves not with gay attire, +but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his second +epistle, he alludes to “holy men of God,” +speaking through the Old Testament as they were moved +by the Holy Ghost. And here we have the best possible +definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed +by equally learned and candid men. But what can be +more satisfactory to the humble, Christian mind than +just to feel that when he reads his Bible, he is perusing +the words of “holy men of God who spake as they +were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Such a mind will +find no difficulty about inspiration.</p> + +<p>In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes +the unbelief of the scoffers, who then believed, and +whose successors still believe that the present order +of the material universe will continue for an indefinite +period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that +the Lord has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning +His promises, but that the very reason why the sinful +world has been spared so long is because of God’s +long suffering and mercy, “not willing that any +should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” +And, then, having declared that the heavens and the +earth which are now, are reserved unto fire, that +the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the +earth also and the works that are therein shall be +burned up, he exclaims with most appropriate words, +“Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in +all holy conversation and godliness,” and this +in order “that ye may be found of Him in peace, +without spot and blameless.”</p> + +<p>Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification +as taught by the apostle of the circumcision. Amen.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap09">Chapter IX.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by John.</h2> + +<p>John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of +Thunder. He could forbid a man to cast out devils +in the name of Jesus, because the man was not of his +own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah +by calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans +who would not extend the rites of hospitality to his +Master. He was eager to have the highest possible +place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was <i>par +excellence</i> the apostle of love. Not that his +character became anything like putty. He could still +rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the +elect lady to receive or countenance any who did not +uphold the true, sound doctrines of the gospel. He +was still a son of thunder against heresy and immorality, +but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely +absorbed in the love of God, and his exhortations +to the churches, seemed all to concentrate in two +special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, +and he never lost the blessed experience. He retained +the blessing because he retained the Blesser. The +Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and keeper.</p> + +<p>The gospel of John contains many of the most profound +and spiritual truths that ever fell from the lips +of the Lord Jesus. And the only distinction which +John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is “the disciple +whom Jesus loved.”</p> + +<p>He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the +Deity and preëxistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, +then tells of the incarnation, how the Word became +flesh, and we beheld His glory, how although He was +the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, +and though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His +own received Him not, but as many as did receive Him, +whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave He power to +become the children of God, and this through a new +birth, not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, +not of man in any way whatever, but of God. It is +not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of God by +creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, +by the reception of the Divine nature by birth. And +this new birth is more fully unfolded to the Jewish +Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its necessity and +its nature. “Ye must be born again.” “The +Son of man must be lifted up.” The new birth +is of water and the Spirit. The water is the water +of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its +cleansing and refreshing and vivifying properties +so well symbolized by water, and the Holy Spirit is +the effective personal agent by whom the regeneration +is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though +His operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, +which bloweth where it listeth, and is known only +by its results. Then we have the hinge-text of salvation, +“God so loved the world that He gave His only +begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should +not perish but have eternal life.” Thus, in +this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God’s +love or God’s grace as the source of our salvation, +Christ crucified as the ground of it, and the Holy +Spirit as the Divine Agent of its accomplishment. +Glory be to the Triune God.</p> + +<p>Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus +on the new birth, but His discourse, also, with the +woman of Samaria on true worship is given by John +alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, +not to the Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at +all, but to a heathen or semi-heathen woman, Jesus +made the first recorded, positive declaration of His +Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, +so they that worship Him must do so, not in any specific +locality, such as Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim, and +not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart +was immediately and completely captivated by so grand +and glorious a revelation, and that, at once, she +left her waterpot and went her way to become a preacher +of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen.</p> + +<p>Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to +the Jews to search the Scriptures and the assurance +that they testified of Him; and the sixth chapter, +with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after +a stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to +take Him by force and make Him a king, but He departed +into a mountain Himself alone, and the next day, the +wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been +so ready to proclaim Him King, and brought out of +the core of His heart those pathetic words to the +twelve, “Will ye also go away?”, we come +to the seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, +at which, on the occasion of the priest pouring water +from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden pitcher into +a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, “If +any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” +“He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath +said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.” +The Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, +and, perhaps, other similar passages. “And the +Lord shalt guide thee continually, and satisfy thy +soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt +be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, +whose waters fail not.”</p> + +<p>But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely +valuable inspired commentary on these words of the +Lord Jesus, in order that readers in all ages might +make the true spiritual application which is intended +by them. “But this spake He of the Spirit which +they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy +Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not +yet glorified.” These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence +and operation of the Spirit in the former dispensations +of God’s grace, yet He was to be poured out +on all God’s children under the gospel in a sense +and to an extent, which so far transcends the highest +manifestation of His power in Old Testament times +that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was not +yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. +And this wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification +of Jesus and as a consequence of that glorification. +So that Pentecost, with its untold wealth of privilege, +could not be realized till after the death, resurrection +and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>And we are clearly informed that what the church of +the hundred and twenty received on the day of Pentecost, +namely, the purifying of their hearts by faith and +the enduement of power, that is to say, entire sanctification, +with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a privilege +confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of +the Holy Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured +the wondering multitude that the promise of the same +blessed experience “is to you and to your children +and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord +our God shall call.” And thus it is for the +church and for every individual believer, until Christ +Himself shall come again. God help all Christians +everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. +Amen.</p> + +<p>In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed +the slavery of sin. “Every one that committeth +sin is the bond-servant of sin,” and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, “If +the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall +be free indeed.” Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the +penalty of sin, but from that which brings guilt and +condemnation and penalty, even from sin itself.</p> + +<p>Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean +license, it does not mean do as you please, it does +not mean the liberty of making your own choices, but +it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and +in this manner after all you will do as you please, +it means the glad acceptance of God’s choices. +And so, after all, you do have your own way because +it is God’s way, it means liberty and choice +to do everything right and nothing wrong, or to do +right in all directions and wrong in none. May God +bring all His children out of slavery and into freedom +for Jesus’ sake.</p> + +<p>In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with +His disciples at the last supper, as given by John +in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of his gospel, +He told them of the blessed Comforter, “which +is the Holy Ghost,” whom the Father would send +in His name, and as to the method of His coming He +says, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words; +and My Father will love him, and We will come unto +him and make Our abode with him.” Here, I think, +beyond a doubt, that the “We” refers to +the Father and the Son, and the manner of Their coming +and indwelling in the heart of the believer is through +Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And if this +be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which +Father, Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified +wholly?</p> + +<p>In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops +beautifully the doctrine of perfect love. He declares +that God’s children must not walk in darkness +or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, +claim to have fellowship with Him. “But if we +walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have +fellowship one with another,” (which implies +fellowship with God)” and the blood of Jesus +Christ, His Son, cleanseth from all sin.”</p> + +<p>This is a very striking and all-important statement. +The verb is in the present tense, and denotes a present +and a continuous action. It cleanseth persistently +and continuously. You trust in Jesus this moment, +and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it +cleanseth, and thus on, without intermission or cessation. +And the cleansing is from all sin, sin committed and +sin inbred, sin in act, word or thought, sin outward +and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of knowledge +and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. +If this does not mean entire sanctification, what +use is there in language as an expression of thought? +Surely none.</p> + +<p>But the objection is strongly urged by some that the +next verse assures us that “If we say that we +have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is +not in us.” But why sunder this verse from its +appropriate connections? Were there not Pharisees +in the time of Christ who would not admit that they +were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle +John live to see the germs of incipient gnosticism +showing themselves in the church, assuming, like modern +Christian science, that all evil is in matter, the +soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing +that it was possible to have fellowship with God while +living in all kinds of sensual indulgence and licentiousness, +and moreover denying the reality of the incarnation +of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and resurrection? +These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow:</p> + +<p> “Ah, to how many faith has been<br> +  No evidence of things unseen,<br> +  But a dim shadow, which recasts<br> +  The creed of the Phantasiasts,<br> +  For whom no man of sorrows died:<br> +  For whom the tragedy divine<br> +  Was but a symbol and a sign,<br> +  And Christ a phantom crucified.”</p> + +<p>Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that +on certain conditions it is possible to experience +through the blood of Christ, which means simply the +merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to +those who deny that they are sinners, he exclaims, +and if we say that we have no sin, and therefore do +not need this cleansing, and can do without this atonement, +then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. +How much more rational is such an interpretation than +the exposition which makes one verse contradict the +other, and represents the apostle as first assuring +us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. “But be sure to remember +that this cleansing is never really affected, and +you are never really without sin.”</p> + +<p>There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this +epistle that we must needs make selection and leave +many passages to be carefully and prayerfully pondered +by the reader, with the assurance that there is very +much gold to be found for the digging; but we would +call attention in a special manner to John’s +description of perfect love. “There is no fear +in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because +fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect +in love.”</p> + +<p>It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions +that whilst all Christians do and must love God, yet +there is a stage denominated perfect love, which many +Christians have not yet reached. And this stage of +religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence +of fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean +for us to understand that we shall ever get beyond +that reverential and filial fear, which is the right +and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation +to our Heavenly Father. But he specially describes +the fear that will be gotten rid of as tormenting +fear, and this fear he declares that “perfect +love casteth out.” Now we can readily see the +reasonableness of this statement. Fear about the future, +whether as to temporal or spiritual things, fear of +evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in short, +all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred +sin. As a matter of course, therefore, when sin is +cast out, fear is cast out with it. Now perfect love +is the positive side of entire sanctification; it +implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, +most truly must cast out fear.</p> + +<p>The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. +The awakened sinner fears him, but does not love Him. +The justified believer both fears and loves. Sometimes +the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his +heart, and has no tormenting fear. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the +method of obtaining the blessing of perfect love. +It is by the prayer of faith, and the prayer of faith +involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +“For,” says John, “if our heart condemn +us, God is greater than our heart,” which probably +signifies that He also will condemn us, and, therefore, +we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing +as entire sanctification while we are not wholly given +up to the Lord, for while that is our case, our heart +will continue to condemn us.</p> + +<p>But he continues, “If our heart condemn us not, +then have we confidence towards God.” And again, +“This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth +us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we +ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired +of Him.”</p> + +<p>Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation +more beautifully portrayed than in these precious +words. We are shown here that (1), the seeker of entire +sanctification must be wholly consecrated to God. +(2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God’s will. (4), That then +he may know that he has the very thing he asks for. +Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon it. Amen.</p> + +<p>Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness +of the Spirit to our conscious cleansing. “If +we love one another” (i.e. with a true and pure +and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) +“God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected +in us.” “Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His +Spirit.” Now to have God’s love perfected +in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can mean nothing +less than entire sanctification, and we know this, +as John tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, +the witness of the Spirit to perfect love as well +as to adoption.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap10">Chapter X.</a></h2> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by James and Jude.</h2> + +<p>James and Jude were brothers. They were also “brethren +of the Lord.” Whether this expression means +actual brothers, namely, children of Joseph and Mary, +or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I +leave to the Biblical critics. Receiving without argument +their respective epistles as belonging to the inspired +canon, I am to inquire what their teaching is in reference +to the one theme of this book, that is, entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop +of Jerusalem he presided specially over the Jewish +Christian Church, and his epistle is addressed “to +the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” +<i>i.e</i>., to the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, +no doubt, to the Christian Jews, but also secondarily +and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. James +was “zealous of the law.” He fully agreed +with Paul and with Peter that the yoke of circumcision +and the Mosaic law was not to be imposed upon the +Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to +observe the outward law. His epistle is like Matthew’s +gospel, and savors strongly of the Sermon on the Mount. +As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock of Christians, +while he fully assented to Paul’s teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon +the people with vehemence that they should show their +faith by their works and that they should be “doers +of the word and not hearers only.” As Paul completely +demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of +the law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired +and a vigorous protest against every form of Antinomianism. +Thus the two writers, both moved by the Holy Ghost, +present the two aspects of gospel truth so plainly +that he may run that readeth. “We are saved by +faith, not by works,” says Paul. “Aye,” +says James, “but we are saved in good works, +not out of them,” and we must be careful to maintain +good works, not in order to be saved, but because +we are saved. Good works are necessary, not as the +ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit +and resultant and test of the salvation which we have +received by faith. James, therefore, is not antagonistic +to, but only complementary of the great apostle of +the Gentiles.</p> + +<p>And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark +of Christian perfection in the very beginning of his +epistle. He assures us that if we let patience have +her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing.</p> + +<p>Christian perfection, then, according to James, is +perfect patience. Christian perfection according to +John, is perfect love. Christian perfection, according +to Paul, is maturity or being “thoroughly furnished +unto all good works.” Christian perfection, according +to Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. +Surely none but a caviller will find any want of harmony +between these different modes of expression. They +all imply deliverance from sin, which is always instantaneous, +and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual.</p> + +<p>James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under +the name of lust. “Every man is tempted when +he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then +when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) +sin; and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”</p> + +<p>We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers +of the Bible, believed in a personal devil, for he +speaks of a wisdom which is “devilish” +and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity +of his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the +enticement implies an enticer, and that the wicked +spiritual adversary of our race knows how to adapt +his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin +is strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, +to entrap and destroy him. Depravity exists by nature +in all, but in one man it is particularly felt in +the direction of covetousness, in another, of pride, +in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. +Satan’s temptations in the first of these would +most likely be something which holds out the prospect +of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it would +be something to feed his intense admiration of self, +to cherish his pride; in the third, it would be the +hope of political or some other kind of power on the +condition of sacrificing principle; in the fourth, +it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as +in drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus +the trap is set for every man, and the trapper is +wary. God save us from his wiles.</p> + +<p>And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as +it exists in the form of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, +and envies, and shows itself in evil speakings, so +James tells us to lay apart “all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness,” or “overflowing +of wickedness.” Ah, beloved, most truly did +Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain of wickedness, +out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of +us a superfluity of naughtiness, an overflowing of +wickedness, a natural depravity, an inbred sin, and +this must be “laid apart,” it must be gotten +rid of by bringing and subjecting the heart where +it dwells to the fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost, +and then shall we be in a position to receive, with +meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save +our souls.</p> + +<p>St. James speaks of the “law of liberty,” +and of the “royal law,” the latter being, +“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” +and both mean, I apprehend, just what we have already +alluded to as the law of love. “Love,” +says Paul, “is the fulfilling of the law,” +and this is liberty, and this is royalty, the freedom +to do God’s will because we love it, and to +have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled +from our hearts, and all lawful affections and passions +subdued and subjected to Him who is our King, and +who reigns without a rival in our hearts.</p> + +<p> “I worship Thee, sweet will of God,<br> +    And all Thy ways adore;<br> +  And every day I live, I seem<br> +    To love Thee more and more.”</p> + +<p>If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, +where shall we find them? Not on earth, at least.</p> + +<p>James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek +more religion, but he tersely defines pure religion. +And that is what we want. It does not depend upon +age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure +as soon as it raises itself above the surface of the +ground. Another stalk may be impure and diseased when +it is many feet in height. A Christian may seek and +find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he +is born again. Another Christian may spend years and +years in seeking more religion, and yet not become +the possessor of purity of heart.</p> + +<p>This pure religion, according to our author, consists +in works of beneficence and love as to its outward +manifestations, but its true inward principle is in +keeping one’s self “unspotted from the +world.” Oh, that all my readers with myself, +may thus keep themselves unspotted from the world, +which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, +and in the end “may be found of Him in peace +without spot and blameless.”</p> + +<p>But an objector here interposes with a quotation from +James which is supposed to preclude the possibility +of living without sin. “In many things we offend +all.” But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must +continue in the commission of sin to the end of their +lives, would not only be doing violence to that which +is the very trend of our author’s teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, +but it would also prove too much. For a little further +on we read, in reference to that unruly evil, the +tongue, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; +and therewith curse we men which are made after the +similitude of God,” and again, “Behold, +we put bits in the horses’ mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body.” +Surely no expositor would maintain from such language +that James was a tamer of horses and a profane swearer. +The truth is, that James, out of kindness and courtesy, +includes himself among his hearers or readers, and +means to show us how liable we are to give offence +through rash and ill-advised words, and then, on the +other hand, he does not fail to mention the man who +does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace +of God, to bridle the whole body, that is, to live +without sin, and whom, again, he styles a “perfect +man.”</p> + +<p>Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine +wisdom is first pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, +or babe in Christ, would often reverse this arrangement. +He is clamorous for peace, often to the extent that +he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and +then pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and +He is always right. No compromise must be made with +error in doctrine, or evil in practice, even for the +sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities +follow in proper succession, peaceable, gentle, easy +to be entreated and the rest.</p> + +<p>Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher +of holiness, “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, +and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy +of the Holy Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. +To cleanse the hands is to obtain pardon and absolution +for what we have done, and it is always the first +work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness +of his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, +then his hands are cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. +He may still be unstable in all his ways. His spiritual +course may still be zig-zag. His life may still be +a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again +and repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, +“O wretched man that I am, who (not what) shall +deliver me from this body of death?” And then +James’s prescription comes home to him, “Purify +your hearts, ye double-minded.” Seek and obtain +the blessing of entire sanctification, and, henceforth, +with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the +way of Christ’s commandments. Justification +first and entire sanctification afterwards. First +cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with + this agree the words of the Psalmist, “Who +shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall +stand in His holy place?” “He that hath +clean hands,” that is, whose sins have been +pardoned, “and a pure heart,” that is, +who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the +Holy Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament +and the New.</p> + +<p>Finally, James assures us that the “prayer of +faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise +him up.” And not only physical but spiritual +blessing may be received in the same way for “If +he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” +His conclusion is that “The supplication of +a righteous man availeth much in its working,” +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in +the original as in the passive voice, and then the +meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. S.A. Keen in +his Faith papers, “The prayer of a righteous +man being energized” (by the Holy Ghost) “availeth +much.”</p> + +<p>I should understand the “prayer of faith,” +therefore, to be a prayer begotten in the heart of +the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the prayer +is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when +this is the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this +use of the word, is a special gift, and may be given +to some and withheld from others, also given at one +time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith +is one of the special gifts of which we have an account +in the 12th of 1st Corinthians, and differs, therefore, +from the grace of faith or the power of believing +the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, which +is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, +by actually believing, all are held responsible. “He +that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth +not shall be condemned.”</p> + +<p>And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts +his readers to pray in the Holy Ghost, the very same +kind of praying which James calls the prayer of faith, +and about which Paul also declares that “the +Spirit Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we +know not what we should pray for as we ought; but +the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for with groanings +which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because +He maketh intercession for the saints according to +the will of God.”</p> + +<p>A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes +to, is a prayer that is energized by the Holy Ghost. +It is not the Holy Ghost who does the groaning, but +He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some +specific blessing, which often are, indeed, too deep +for clear expression by utterance, and with the groanings, +also, the faith is given, which takes hold of God’s +Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, +move the hand that moves the world, and whether it +be for the healing of the sick, or the conversion +of sinners, or the entire sanctification of believers, +or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which +the Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure +to come.</p> + +<p>I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy +Spirit is needed, and that it is obtainable in all +true prayer, but ordinary prayer must be founded upon +the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, +in order to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act +of believing. Extraordinary prayer must be inspired +directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of faith +must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary +prayer, ordinary faith and ordinary results in the +one case, while in the other, we have extraordinary +prayer, extraordinary faith and extraordinary results. +Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to +“hate even the garment spotted by the flesh,” +that is, to keep entirely clear of all the pollutions +of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which +was regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually +interpreted, must mean the unspotted holiness of the +true Christian. And as to the question of one’s +ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is “able to keep us from falling,” +the very thing we need and which we cannot do for +ourselves, and “to present us faultless before +the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” +First, then, we are to be sanctified wholly, then +kept from falling by the power of Christ through the +indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God’s +glory in heaven. And this is the gospel according +to Jude.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap11">Chapter XI.</a></h2> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Father.</h2> + +<p>There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which +I purposely omitted in the preceding chapter, that +it might have a more prominent place in the present +one.</p> + +<p>Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared +to be “sanctified by God the Father.” +It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every person +of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, +is concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. +And this fact, like many others, points to the extreme +importance of the subject on which we are treating; +for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into +active operation in order to cleanse our hearts from +the pollution of sin, and fit us for heaven, then +it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. +If God, therefore, regards it as an essential that +we be sanctified wholly, let us beware of the thought +that it is only optional, that it is possible, if +possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, +and that it can be done without, or what is practically +too nearly the same thing, postponed until we see, +or think we see, the near approach of death. What +every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance +now, let us not dare either to reject or postpone. +“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now +is the day of salvation.”</p> + +<p>Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, “And +now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word +of His grace, which is able to build you up and to +give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”</p> + +<p>Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt +we owe to the unbounded grace of God. Grace means +unmerited favor. Grace is God’s infinite love +in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, +and indeed of every gospel blessing provided for us, +is the grace of God. And when our souls are stirred +up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the “unspeakable gift” of the Lord Jesus +Christ, and of the unspeakable blessings derived from +and through Him, let us not forget that behind it +all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, “God so loved the world, that He +gave His only begotten Son.”</p> + +<p>Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity +belong to God the Father. The Father sends the Son. +The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. Neither +the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever send +the Father. The Father “created all things by +Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ cast out devils +“by the Spirit of God.” The Son reveals +the Father, for “no man knoweth the Father save +the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal +Him.” And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, for +“no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the +Holy Ghost.” “He shall testify of Me.” +“He shall take of Mine and show it unto you."” +He shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear” +(from the Father and the Son) “that shall He +speak.”</p> + +<p>Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given +or could give to His creature man is the gift of His +Son. The greatest gift that God the Son has given +to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of +the Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, “I +will pray the Father and He shall give you another +Comforter,” and “whom the Father will send +in My name,” but also, “If I depart I +will send Him unto you,” so we may say in general +terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father +and the gift of the Son. And it may be added that +the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit to man is the +gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory +be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy +Ghost. Amen.</p> + +<p>And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified +by God the Father, He means not only that we are separated +unto the gospel of life and salvation, set apart to +God and His service, but, also, that God the Father +has made ample provision in the death of His Son for +all Christian believers to be cleansed from every +stain of moral defilement, delivered from inbred sin, +sanctified wholly, made perfect in love, and filled +with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to +the redeemed soul, that the source of all these unspeakable +blessings is in the infinite grace and love of God.</p> + +<p>Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness +of God is brought prominently forward and insisted +upon. And His own holiness is presented as a sufficient +reason why His people should be holy also. “Be +ye holy, for I am holy,” which command and declaration +are repeated and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in +his first epistle, “But as He which hath called +you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, +because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.”</p> + +<p>As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely +holy, and He requires all His children to be holy +even in the present life, it goes without saying, +as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely +the standard of God’s holiness which is set +before us by the Saviour as the mark at which we also +are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. +“Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven +is perfect.” Not that our perfection or our +holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be +an impossibility and absurdity, but that we are to +be perfect in our sphere as He is perfect in His, +that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be +perfect in love as He is perfect love, and that we +are to be delivered from all sin, not by any effort +or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace +in Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name +that we are sanctified by God the Father.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap12">Chapter XII.</a></h2> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Son.</h2> + +<p>As the source of our entire sanctification is in the +unmerited love and grace of God the Father, so the +ground of it is in the blood of Christ the Son. Justification +and Sanctification are by no means identical, but +as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they +are precisely parallel. We are told that justification +is by grace, and, again, that it is by the blood of +Jesus, and, still again, that it is by faith. It is, +therefore, God’s grace, it is Christ’s +blood, it is man’s faith by which we are justified. +The originating cause of our justification is the +grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith.</p> + +<p>And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. +We are not justified in one way and sanctified in +another. We are sanctified as well as justified by +the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as justified +by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith.</p> + +<p>All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious +sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He “of God +is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, (justification) +and sanctification and redemption.”</p> + +<p>And sanctification, no more than justification, releases +us from our dependence upon the atonement. If we are +either justified or sanctified today it is not because +we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. If +we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future +period of our eternity, it will not be because we +deserve it but because Christ died for us. And so +forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of +redemption “unto Him that loved us, and washed +us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us +kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be +glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” +We are everlastingly linked to the atonement of Jesus +Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart.</p> + +<p>“Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall +save His people from their sins,” which signifies, +I apprehend, both the forgiveness of sins already +committed and saving them from the commission of sins +in the future. Here, then, we have justification and +regeneration. “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh +away the sin of the world.” This must mean the +sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the +sin that doth so easily beset us, in a word, inbred +sin. And to have the inbred sin taken away means nothing +more and nothing less and nothing else, than entire +sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by +God the Son.</p> + +<p>“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +us from all sin.” Here we have a positive statement +that upon certain conditions to be fulfilled by us, +we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, +and open sin and secret sin, and all sin. There is +no mistaking the length and breadth and all comprehensiveness +of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us walk in +the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true.</p> + +<p>And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which +result He had in view, no less than the removal of +our guilt when He laid down His life for us. “Wherefore, +Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate.” Glory +to His Name.</p> + +<p>He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved +from guilt and condemnation and penalty, but that +we might be saved from sin, or sanctified wholly. +And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn.</p> + +<p> “The cleansing stream I see, I see,<br> +  I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me.<br> +  It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me.”</p> + +<h2><a name="chap13">Chapter XIII.</a></h2> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Holy Ghost.</h2> + +<p>As already intimated all the persons of the adorable +Trinity are concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying +a human soul. And this is naturally to be expected, +because God is one Trinitarianism is not Tritheism. +In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. +The Bible reveals the fact, but does not reveal the +how. We bow in adoring gratitude and love before an +incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing +even without understanding.</p> + +<p>Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians +as distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, “The +renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly +through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,” is spoken +of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection with +the “washing of regeneration,” and seems +intended to be experienced just after it. Possibly +the renewing here spoken of, may signify only the +change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind +the entire cleansing of the heart from sin. And in +that case the renewing need not be any more gradual +or progressive than the washing, which all admit to +be instantaneous.</p> + +<p>Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, +the occurrences which he had witnessed at the house +of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this language: “And +God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put +no difference between us and them, purifying their +hearts by faith.” Evidently here the chief of +the apostles gives us to understand that the giving +of the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart +by faith, are co-instantaneous and identical experiences. +And if this be so, the Holy Ghost, who is a Divine +person, and not a mere influence, must be the effective +agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is +He who by His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly.</p> + +<p>And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: +“I indeed baptize you with water, unto repentance, +but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose +shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you +with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” For what +purpose is this fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost? +Most certainly that it may consume the inbred sin +of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys +the alloy that the gold may be left pure.</p> + +<p>Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following +language, viz: “That I should be the minister +of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel +of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might +be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” +This great apostle was the first to clearly understand +the perfect equality between Jew and Gentile in the +gospel of salvation, and as he made hundreds of Gentile +converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation +in entire consecration to God, they were sanctified +by the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, “We +are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, +beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning +chosen you to salvation through sanctification of +the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This is +the true election and the true salvation, a salvation +from sin, through sanctification of the Spirit and +this is to be obtained by faith.</p> + +<p>And the apostle of the circumcision uses language +very similar in addressing the Jewish Christians who +are scattered abroad, and whom he addresses as “Elect +according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience +and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” +Comparing these two citations we observe again, that +the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our sanctification, +and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a continuous +cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying +our souls, on condition that we believe the truth. +God help all Christians to be not faithless, but believing.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap14">Chapter XIV.</a></h2> + +<h2>Sanctified by the Truth.</h2> + +<p>We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the +work of sanctification in connection with belief of +the truth on our part. And with this agree the words +of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. “Sanctify +them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth.” The +word here is not the eternal Logos, but God’s +revealed truth as given in Holy writ. And it is a +statement of the highest importance, made by Him who +is the truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification +is in the truth of God as made known to us in the +gospel of His Son. Here, again, the Apostle Peter +gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and +precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers +of the Divine nature having escaped the corruption +that is in the world through lust.” If we are +favored to escape the corruption that is in the world, +we are sanctified wholly, and this is effected, Peter +says, not by works of righteousness, not by resolutions +or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before +we seek to be holy, but by faith in the promises of +God. These promises are very numerous, and varied +in character on the pages of the Bible. By seizing +upon them as written specially for us, we make them +our own, and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea +and amen, that is to say, we realize them in our own +experience to be the truth, and thus when we read +“This is the will of God even your sanctification,” +or, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly,” +or, “I will circumcise your heart,” or +“I will put my Spirit within you and cause you +to walk in my statutes,” immediately the truth +is impressed upon our hearts as a glorious reality, +and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the +Saviour’s prayer is answered and we are in His +own blessed words, sanctified “by the truth.” +If any reader will take a concordance and look for +the word truth, and search out the passages containing +it, he will be convinced that, however men may look +at it, we have to do with the Lord God of truth, and +that His estimate of truth is so high that He will +by no means countenance any person or anything that +liveth or maketh a lie. And if we would honor Him, +we must honor His truth, the truth that is to make +us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which +we are commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, +and sell it not, the truth which the Lord desires +in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, the +truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which +we are sanctified, the truth of the word.</p> + +<p>And then we shall find in our own experience that +“A God of truth and without iniquity, just and +right is He,” that He will send out His light +and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill +and to His tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, +even the banner of holiness to the Lord, to be displayed +because of the truth, and we must never let it trail +in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, +grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the +truth.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap15">Chapter XV.</a></h2> + +<h2>Sanctified by Faith.</h2> + +<p>The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. +Adam believed God and was obedient and happy, and +the first thing that the wily tempter attacked, and, +alas, with too much success, was man’s faith. +“Yea,” hath God said, and “Ye shall +not surely die.” First, a question. Then, a +doubt of God’s truth; then, a doubt of His love, +and the rest was easy. Man stood so long as he did +stand by faith. He fell when he did fall by unbelief.</p> + +<p>God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. +Man could not be the child of God if he did not have +faith in God. Faith binds us in the closest spiritual +union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs this +bond of union and separates us from our Creator and +Redeemer. Beloved, let us have faith in God.</p> + +<p>“Ye are all the children of God by faith in +Jesus Christ.” This is the Christian’s +pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate +sense all men are the children of God since He created +them all. And this was known even to a Greek poet, +as quoted by Paul at Athens, “For we are also +His offspring.” But we must not fail to remember +that in John’s gospel we have this statement, +viz: “As many as received Him, to them gave +He power to become the sons of God, even to them that +believe on His name.” So that it is through +faith that we become the children of God, not only +by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, “Ye +must be born again.” “Believe on the Lord +Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” “He +that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and +he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, +but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Now, the +faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the power +of believing God’s truth, when it is presented, +is given to all mankind. But the exercise of that +power which is actual and saving faith, often requires +the coöperation of the human will. And, therefore, +God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible +for obedience to that command. “He that believeth +and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth +shall be condemned.” R.V.</p> + +<p>Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is +true not only in religion, but in science as well, +and not in science only, but in daily life and daily +business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. +All intelligent people believe that there is a hidden +force which they call the attraction of gravitation. +Nobody can tell what it is, nobody can prove its existence. +It is received and adopted by faith, and serves as +an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those +who accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated +to believe that all space is pervaded by an exceedingly +tenuous fluid which is called ether, and that it is +in this medium that the waves of light from self-luminous +bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence +of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by +faith, and explains the phenomena of light better +than any other hypothesis propounded. Science is saved +by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents +and children, farewell to all the enjoyment of home +life.</p> + +<p>Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When +business men, manufacturers or merchants lose faith +in one another, or in their government, investments +cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard times +are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds +men to God, so it is the bond that binds men one to +another. When confidence is lost, all is lost. Even +a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance +of things hoped for, because it makes them real, as +it is the evidence of things not seen, because it +convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter +in hand that, namely, of entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said +to them, “And now, brethren, I commend you to +God and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and give you an inheritance among all +them which are sanctified,” and in the commission +to Paul himself the Saviour says, “To open their +eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive +forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which +are sanctified by faith that is in me.” And +as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit +is used by the apostle in direct connection with belief +of the truth. There can be no doubt, therefore, that +the instrumental means of entire sanctification is +faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “This is the +confidence,” says the beloved John, “that +we have in Him, that if we ask anything according +to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that He +hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him.”</p> + +<p>Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean +heart, ask for perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, +ask for the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and he knows +he is asking according to the will of God. Then, according +to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also +by faith, because it is God’s promise that he +has the petitions he desired of Him. That is to say, +when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act of +faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that +he has the clean heart, the perfect love, the entire +sanctification, the Holy Ghost baptism, which he asked +for. And this will be honoring God by taking Him at +His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other +evidence, the witness of the Spirit may be prayed +for and waited for, but, in the meantime, he can and +must rely with unwavering confidence upon the evidence +or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness +of the Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness +of faith.</p> + +<p>I said we must believe by an act of the will. And +some reader may object to this statement by asserting +that faith or belief is not a matter of volition, +but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply +to give its rightful force to the evidence. It is +not for want of evidence that any earnest, consecrated +seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able and +willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He +asserts it in many forms and repeats it again and +again as His Divine will that His people should be +holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here +and now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is +not willing to make them holy here and now, He must +desire them to continue longer in sin, which thought +would impugn His own holiness.</p> + +<p>No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the +faith-faculty has become weakened and paralyzed by +sin, and now we must determine to believe, by putting +our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many +a seeking soul has come out into the fullness of salvation +by singing the hymn:</p> + +<p> “I can, I will, I do believe<br> +  That Jesus saves me now.”</p> + +<p>The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, +was told to stretch it forth. He might have said where +is my evidence that it will do any good to try? But +he put his will into the obedient attitude. He willed +to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with +the obedient will the power came from Jesus, and he +stretched it forth and was restored. To every one +of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus says, +“Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to +be responsible for the result.” Believe and +receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, we are sanctified +by faith. Glory to the Lamb.</p> + +<h2><a name="chap16">Chapter XVI.</a></h2> + +<h2>Conclusion.</h2> + +<p>I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that +the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification +are fully and clearly taught in Holy Scripture. All +the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, +in the history, in the gospels, in the epistles, we +find that God requires His people to be holy and to +be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their privilege +to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in +the sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be +made holy.</p> + +<p>“For their sakes,” says the blessed Saviour, +“I sanctify Myself that they also might be sanctified +through the truth,” or as the margin, “truly +sanctified,” or as the Revised Version, “that +they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” +The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly did not need +to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was +the “holy thing” that was to be born of +the Virgin Mary. “He knew no sin,” He “did +no sin,” He was “holy, harmless, undefiled +and separate from sinners,” and, therefore, +when He says “I sanctify Myself,” He means +nothing more nor less than I consecrate Myself, or +I set Myself apart, but in the other clause where +the term sanctify is used in reference to His people, +it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin +entirely sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He +sets Himself apart, therefore, to the work of redemption +and salvation that He may have a holy people on earth, +as without controversy He must and will have a holy +people in heaven.</p> + +<p>We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous +with the baptism with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that +the two experiences are in an important sense identical, +or, at least, so related to each other that whoever +has one has the other. It is Christ and none other +who baptizes with the Holy. Ghost. “He shall +baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire,” not +as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are +to be two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, +and afterwards that of fire in the way of affliction +or persecution, though plenty of these are promised +and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the +Holy Ghost under the similitude of fire, that is, +that dross and tin and reprobate silver, or, in a +word, all inbred sin may be consumed.</p> + +<p>Nor is it correct to say that there are “many +baptisms” of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost baptism +is received by the consecrated believer once for all, +and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism +confers upon him, from Christ through the Spirit, +and again comes in repentance and confession to do +his first works, and again to be filled with the Spirit +and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the +Holy Ghost seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving +the same emotional experience as at first, but may +and must be received and retained by faith, and the +amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He +will arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean +to say that the experience may be lost and may be +regained, but seldom with the same phenomena of consciousness +as at the first. Do not speak, then, of having had +many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the +one baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say +that you are desiring or that you have had a fresh +baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your thoughts +and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth.</p> + +<p>But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The +Psalmist says, “I shall be anointed with fresh +oil,” and to every sanctified child of God, +there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of +girding and filling, and fresh anointing for particular +services, which are sometimes called fresh baptisms, +but which are not to be confounded with the one true +abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they +come because we already have the Blesser Himself as +a personal indwelling Presence and Power.</p> + +<p>Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that +we are first sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and +afterwards filled or baptized with the Holy Ghost. +This opinion would necessitate three separate experiences, +where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by +the blood, and (3) the filling of the Spirit. There +would thus be a separation between the removing of +inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the +Holy Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification +for service. It is regarded by these teachers, as +only given for an enduement of power, to do the work +to which we are called. And the practical result of +this error, for such with due deference I must regard +it, is that some will be very anxious to obtain the +baptism with the Holy Ghost to make them strong or +powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even deny, +the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen +tells us of a minister who wrote to him that he did +not take much stock in sanctification, but that he +was very desirous of the Holy Ghost baptism, in order +that he might have increased power in the ministry +of the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very +prevalent idea, that we are to be baptized for service, +but not for cleansing.</p> + +<p>I trust that no reader who has followed me through +the different chapters of this book will imagine, +for a moment, that I under-value, in the slightest +degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, +cleanseth us from all sin. I think I have sufficiently +stated elsewhere that the blood of Jesus is the procuring +cause of our sanctification, as well as of our justification, +and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood +of the Son of God is the ground of our sanctification, +but it is the Holy Spirit who is the effective agent +in destroying the depravity of our hearts.</p> + +<p>It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, +and that God anointed Him for the great work of redemption. +And in His case, the word used is anointed or descended, +and not in any place baptized. He needed not the work +of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As +a man, He did need the energizing for His work, and, +therefore, He is said to have been anointed. Beloved, +let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy +Ghost baptism are coetaneous experiences, and must +not be divorced.</p> + +<p>And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. +I have shown that like a golden thread the doctrine +of entire sanctification runs through the Bible, from +Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types +and the ceremonies, the gospels and epistles, everywhere +showing us that we have to do with a Holy God, and +that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women.</p> + +<p>To all who shall read this book, I testify that by +the grace of God, and the blood of Christ, and the +sin-consuming baptism with the Holy Ghost, this poor +man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name.</p> + +<p>And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May +He “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, +settle you.” Amen.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +***** This file should be named 6657-h.htm or 6657-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/5/6657/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9b0797 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #6657 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6657) diff --git a/old/6657-8.txt b/old/6657-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..370bf5f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/6657-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4101 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Posting Date: October 2, 2014 [EBook #6657] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.] + + + +THE + +THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS. + +BY + +DOUGAN CLARK, M. D. + +PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHURCH +HISTORY IN EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, INDIANA. + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF +MY FATHER AND MOTHER, +DOUGAN AND ASENATH CLARK, +BOTH FOR MANY YEARS APPROVED +MINISTERS IN THE FRIENDS' CHURCH, +AND BOTH LONG SINCE DEPARTED +TO BE WITH CHRIST, THIS +BOOK IS LOVINGLY +Dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY + II. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE + III. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES + IV. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE + V. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY + VI. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST + VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL +VIII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER + IX. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN + X. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE + XI. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER + XII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON +XIII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST + XIV. SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH + XV. SANCTIFIED BY FAITH + XVI. CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY. + + + +Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology is the most +important of all sciences. It is the science that treats of God and of +man in his relation to God. It is a systematic presentation of revealed +truth. As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds revealed by +the telescope, and as the basis of Geology is the crust of the earth, +so the basis of Theology is the Divine revelation found in the Holy +Scriptures. The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is a +systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire sanctification as +derived from the written word of God. Such a presentation we hope--with +the help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly invoke--to +attempt to give in this book. May God bless the endeavor, and overrule +our human weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen. + +It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class of Christians to +whom the subject of entire sanctification is a matter of indifference. +They hope, with or without sufficient reason, that their sins are +forgiven. They propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, again +with or without sufficient reason, that they will go to heaven when +they die. The subject of holiness does not interest them. They suppose +themselves to be doing well enough without it. + +There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom the subject is even +positively distasteful. It is an offence to them. They do not want to +hear it preached. They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion and spiritual +pride. They turn away from the whole subject not only with +indifference, but with disdain. + +There are still others, and these God's children, as we may charitably +believe, who do not even regard holiness as a desirable thing. They +assert that it is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It is true that they +are never able to tell how much sin it takes to have this beneficial +effect, but a certain amount they are bent on having. + +Another class takes the opposite view. They regard holiness as very +desirable, and a very lovely thing to gaze upon and think upon, but +they also regard it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to get it at the +moment of death. Not sooner than the dying hour, do they believe any +human being can be made holy. Not till death is separating the soul +from the body can even God Himself separate sin from the soul. The +whole doctrine of entire sanctification, therefore, they regard as a +beautiful theory, but wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly +impracticable as a life. + +In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, as described by +Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are opposed to the doctrine of entire +sanctification. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and the +carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. This opposition may +take one of the forms already described, or, possibly, some other forms +which have been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the same +in all. Wherever "our old man" has his home in a Christian's heart, +there entire sanctification will be rejected. + +But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. There are +thousands of sincere, believing hearts in all Christian denominations, +in whom inbred sin still exists, but not with the consent of the will. +They are tired--very tired of the tyrant that rules them, or of the +ceaseless struggles by which, with God's added and assisting grace, +they are enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. They are +hungering for full salvation, and rejoice to hear the message of entire +sanctification through the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The +Lord bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them the desire of +their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, and may their numbers be +vastly increased, so that the banner of Christ's church may everywhere +be unfurled--the banner on which is inscribed the glorious motto of +Holiness to the Lord. + +Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire +sanctification--whether in the form of indifference, or dislike, or +undesirableness, or impossibility--with the simple proposition, It is +necessary. If this proposition can be established, all objections, of +whatever character, must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every +Christian heart must be, How can I obtain that priceless blessing which +is essential to my eternal bliss, which is indispensable, and without +which I shall never see the Lord? + +For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace +with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," +and in the Revised Version, "Follow after peace with all men, and the +sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." This can mean +nothing short of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred sin. +And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue the question as to the +indispensableness of this blessed experience, in order to gain an +entrance into heaven. Everyone will admit that God Himself is a +perfectly and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His followers +in all ages, "Be ye holy for I am holy"--making His own perfect and +entire holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same quality +in His people. And, although the holiness of the highest created being +will always fall infinitely short of that of the Infinite God, as +regards quantity, it will be the same _in quality_, for Jesus +tells us, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," +not, of course, with the unmeasurable amount of perfection which +appertains to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far as it +goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that "There shall in no wise +enter into it" (the heavenly city) "anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie." Heaven is a holy +place, and occupied with none but holy inhabitants. + +But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that we may reach the +blissful abode of the glory land, when is this stupendous blessing to +be obtained? It is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as an attainment, and +this form of expression has a tendency to discourage the seeker by +magnifying the difficulty of receiving this blessing. The thought +contained in the word attainment is that of something earnestly striven +for, struggled after, persistently pursued with much labor and toil and +effort, until, at last, the coveted prize is attained. A very few of +the multitudes who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of hard labor and +privation and hardship. The majority died on the way, or while mining +for the precious metal, or returned as poor as they went. + +On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply that of a gift. +And entire sanctification is precisely a gift, "merely this and nothing +more." It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit of our +own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise to be undertaken; not +the fruit of a long journey or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor +trying, nor suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord. + +And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable gift to be +obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist answer, in +purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a second probation after death. +But the Holy Scriptures tell us absolutely nothing either of a +purgatory or a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be determined in one +probation, which is allotted to us in the present life. Let no one +suppose, for a moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left this mundane +sphere. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of +salvation." + +But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, and also a large +portion of the membership of Arminian denominations, without regard to +their creeds, if asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at death. The +prevailing idea on this subject, among Christian believers, seems to be +as follows: First, through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins are pardoned, and we +are born again. After that, our sole business is to grow in grace, and +by this growth to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can reach that standard +until the moment of death. + +Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, grow in grace +until we receive it. And we can never grow into grace, but grow in it +after we get it. We can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree is limited +because of the presence of inbred sin, which is the great, if indeed, +not the only hindrance of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at +least, because if the justified Christian is brought to see the need +and the possibility of entire sanctification, and yet fails, as so many +do, to enter into the blessing, because of unbelief, he is very prone +either to backslide, in which case, of course, there will be a +cessation of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to the +bondage of legalism, and after having begun in the Spirit, he will seek +to be perfected in the flesh; in which case Paul's verdict to that +beloved church was not ye are growing in grace, but, "ye are fallen +from grace." + +It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into the blessing of +entire sanctification. That blessing is to be received by faith, as the +gift of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when the +grace has once been obtained in this manner, then we can grow in it +indefinitely and for a lifetime, possibly even for an eternity. Growth +in grace is a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring us to the death of +the old man, nor to the experience of entire sanctification. + +And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death is nowhere +mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. Death can separate the soul +from the body, but to separate sin from the soul is a work which God +can only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is +our sanctifier, and even if the work is performed in the article of +death, it is still the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, where is the +hindrance to His performing it a week, a month, a year, or forty years +before death--if only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where is His +omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do it before death; then where +is His own holiness? In either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves +of an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save us from such +folly. + +Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite in the sentiment +that entire sanctification is to be sought and obtained now, and if +now, then it is to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained by faith, and from +these premises the further conclusion is logically deducible, that we +cannot make ourselves any better in order to receive it, but that we +must take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the pithy precept +of John Wesley, "Expect it by faith--expect it as you are--expect it +now." + +In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some things which +belong more accurately to the next chapter; but we are not seeking so +much for a perfectly methodical arrangement, as for a clear and +Scriptural presentation of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now +that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of +entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results +of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable +blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father's will in this +world, it is indispensable to live by. + +But before leaving entirely the subject of growth in grace, having +demonstrated, as we trust, that we can never grow into entire +sanctification, we ought, perhaps, to explain what we mean by the +statement that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace after, +and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification has two sides or +aspects. It has a positive side and a negative side. Its negative side +is the removal of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of +subtraction. And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. The latter +is a matter of addition, because it implies the impartation of a new +life to the soul which has hitherto been "dead in trespasses and sins." +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification there can be no +growth. If a heart is pure it cannot be more pure. If it is free from +sin it cannot be more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase in purity. + +But the positive side of entire sanctification is perfect love, and +this is a relative expression. It does not mean that all who possess it +must have an equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual is +just his own heart--not some one else's heart--being filled with love. +One individual may have a greater capacity of loving than another, just +as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or of working. Perfect love +in a child would not be perfect love in a man; and perfect love in a +man would not be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect love today may +not be perfect love to-morrow. As we commune with God and work with +Him, as we get more and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of the Triune God, how +is it possible that we should not love Him more and more? "There will +never be a time in earth nor in Heaven," says the late Dr. Upham, "when +there may not be an increase of holy love." On the positive side of +entire sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true growth in grace, +about which much more could be said, but we leave it for the present, +to resume our main theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come. + +We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian can do all +that God would have him do, nor enjoy all that God would have him enjoy +in this world, without the grace of entire sanctification. In the +beautiful language of metaphor the Saviour says, "I am the true Vine +and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He taketh away, and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He +purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." And again, "Herein is +My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be My +disciples." Now the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am +come," says He, "that ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye +might have it more abundantly" (in entire sanctification). The abundant +life and the abundant fruit, therefore, can only be found in connection +with purity of heart. + +It is doubtless _true_ that every living branch, that is to say, +every justified and regenerated believer, may and should and must, if +he would retain his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is +precisely these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman "purges"--sanctifies--that they may bring forth the more +abundant fruit by which He Himself shall be glorified. And here we +might rest our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two will be +in place. + +The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius of a poet, the +intimate connection between purity and power. He puts into the mouth of +Sir Galahad, one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz: + + "My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + +Now one of the most common complaints among Christians of all +denominations, is because of their weakness and their leanness. And yet +nothing is clearer than that God has promised to make His people +strong, that He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and that +not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to say criminal in His sight. +The reason, then, of our weakness and our leanness and the meagreness +of our fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not fulfill the +conditions on which He promises to make us strong. One of these +conditions, and an indispensable one, is that we be entirely +sanctified. It is they that know their God, both in conversion and +entire sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall "be strong +and do exploits." Beloved, if you would accomplish the work that God +has given you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment in +eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, seek and find that which +is the essential condition, and ask at once to be wholly sanctified. + +And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the joy of an uttermost +salvation, the peace that passeth understanding, the fellowship with +the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing of +the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the abiding presence of +the indwelling Comforter, then pray that the very God of Peace may here +and now sanctify you wholly. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE. + + + +This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary from what has been +said in the preceding chapter. If entire sanctification has been proved +to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot +attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian +enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, +and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our +gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable +requisite both for time and for eternity may be received. + +But before discussing this proposition in detail let us have a clear +understanding of what is meant by entire sanctification, and, as a +preliminary, let us study a few simple theological definitions. + +In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty in believing that +I fully accept the Arminian doctrine of the universality of the +atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of +all mankind, and its benefits are offered to all. "He tasted death for +every man." But it does not follow that all men will be saved, and this +for the reason that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated to accept it. +But it is available only in the case of those who believe. "He that +believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +condemned." A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation. + +Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. It is either +general or special. In one sense it is as broad as atonement. Atonement +is for sin; redemption is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. +In its more special meaning it is applicable only to those who accept +the atonement. For these it implies release from the bondage of the +will under the law of sin and death, or justification and regeneration. +It brings also release from the power and existence of depravity or +entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, the complete +glorification of the saints in body, soul and spirit at God's right +hand, and the deliverance of the creation itself from the "bondage of +corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." + +The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement are offered +to the sinner is repentance. Both the Saviour Himself and His +forerunner began their public ministry with words of like import, viz: +"Repent ye and believe the gospel." Repentance does not mean penance--not +a voluntary sacrifice in our own will for an expiation of sin--nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although "godly sorrow" is one +of the elements of true repentance. The sorrow of the world may produce +remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but +remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life +but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of +purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for +sin--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or +financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the +Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the +determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and +involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no +more. + +The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the +benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less +than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that +He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." +"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them +real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the +mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that +all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving +faith. + +And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift +of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of +believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting +forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the +salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith +faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one +case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the +faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the +world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper +object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the +truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise +our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our +faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss. + +For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience +to that as to all other of His commands. The fact of the command +involves the power to obey. Our will, therefore, our choosing power, +must be put on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. It +is not that we are required to believe without evidence. It is that our +depraved hearts are not willing to believe when the evidence is ample. +And, therefore, our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." The great +and crying sin of our fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has +sundered us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith which +is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited to Him. "He that +believeth not the Son is condemned already." + +Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God promises to give +us the grace of justification. This is pardon for all our past sins. +God, for Christ's sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus' sake, although we are not just in reality. +And herein it is that gospel justification differs from legal +justification. The individual who is accused of crime and who is +brought into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, not to be +guilty, is at once acquitted and released from all penalty. He is +justified solely on the ground of his innocence. But no man ever has +been or ever will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground of +his innocence. Every responsible human being has broken the law of God. +"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And none of those +who have broken the law can be justified by the law, that is to say, +not one. The law justifies those, and those only, who keep it. None of +us have kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man Christ +Jesus. The law condemns all those who break it. All the race of men +have broken it save only the man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under +condemnation. But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? We should be so +but for Christ. But, blessed be God, "He hath found a ransom." "All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, +and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus Christ +"Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." And so it comes to +pass that we can be freely justified by His grace, not because of our +innocency but because He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the +place which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. He procured +for us the place which was and is rightfully His, and that is at God's +right hand. He suffered what we deserved, and by that very suffering He +made us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to His Holy Name! + +By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, justice is +satisfied, and the penalty of the broken law is removed. God is +infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. He loves the +sinner with a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and will not look +upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance. His mercy and His love +may compassionate the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do +right?" + +But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified and risen Lord, +both the attributes of mercy and justice are enlisted on behalf of the +sinner. The mercy of God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus' sake. "Mercy and truth have met together, +righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "God can be just and +the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "If we confess our sins +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." And in accordance with +the way of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now plead +with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive us when we have +complied with these conditions. And so we arrive at the conclusion that +justification is an act of God's grace by which our sins are pardoned +for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act is instantaneous. God does +not pardon sins gradually, nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to +every one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious language, +"Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." As if by a single +stroke of the recording angel's pen, the whole dark record is blotted +out forever. "As far as the east is from the west so far hath He +removed our transgressions from us." Glory. + +Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies justification. +God does not justify a sinner without, at the same time, giving him a +new life. This new life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine energy of the +Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, without, at the same time, +receiving a new nature, he would inevitably fall into sin again. His +lifetime on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But our +merciful Father having for Christ's sake looked upon him as just and +righteous, when he was not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new +nature which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, indeed, of +the Divine nature, and that is a nature which is holy and just and +good. And this is the new birth. Men may be full of physical life and +of intellectual life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is that +act of God's grace by which we are born again. + +Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and regenerated +believer into the family of God. No longer enemies, nor even strangers +and foreigners, those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now +receive the adoption of sons. They become the children of God by faith +in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and they rejoice to declare it. +A human governor or ruler may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a +reprieve, but he never takes him into his own family. He may forgive +the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon him a new nature, nor can he +consent to recognize him as a brother or a son. But God not only +remits the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers them from +wrath and from punishment, but He gives them a new nature by which they +can respond to His love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "Ye are all +the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." + +The witness of the Spirit is something not easily defined, but it is +well known by those who experience it. It is an impression or +consciousness wrought into the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, +which gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child of God. +Before this, he believes, now he knows. This witness, therefore, +expels doubt and infuses into the heart of the new-born child of God, a +calm, definite and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. "The Spirit Himself beareth +witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." "Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into +your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." + +Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, are all received +co-instantaneously. They always accompany each other, and whoever has +one of them has them all. The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not +always a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies or attends the +other experiences to which we have alluded. And we may add that all +these graces are but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, by the single +term conversion, which term, therefore, must be understood to include +and imply justification, regeneration, adoption and the witness of the +Spirit. It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, and never a +prolonged process. Just so certainly as every human being that comes +into this world has a definite, natural birthday, so every one that +comes into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. Some +people do not know when their natural birthday occurs, nevertheless, +they know that they have been born. Some Christians do not know when +their spiritual birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of a definite line +out of Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where a man can +truthfully say, I am neither converted nor unconverted. One moment he +is out of the ark of safety, the next moment he is in it. + +Entire sanctification is an act of God's grace by which inbred sin is +removed and the heart made holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is +the inward cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It is the +bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter fruits. It is the +natural evil tendency of the human heart in our fallen condition. It is +the being of sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that within +us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. It exists in every human +being that comes into the world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is +called in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our old man, +sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term sin in the singular +number. In the Old Testament it is called sin and iniquity. "Behold," +says David, "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive +me." And when the Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, "Lo, this hath touched +thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." + +Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the real existence of +this inbred sin and also as to the fact that it is not removed at +conversion. "This infection of nature doth remain," says the Anglican +Confession, "yea, even in them that have been regenerated." Most church +creeds, indeed, give no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the hour of death. And +it is regarded as serious heresy in some quarters for a man to either +preach or claim that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse from +all sin. + +But God has in every age and in every dispensation required His +children to be holy. And to be holy signifies the destruction or +removal of inbred sin, nothing more and nothing less and nothing else +than that. How this is accomplished will be discussed further on, but +here we say that the removal of innate depravity is entire +sanctification, and that God has most surely made provision in the +atonement of Jesus Christ for the removal of innate depravity. +Therefore, He has made provision for entire sanctification, and, +therefore again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin goes +back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. If not as old as the +human race, it is at least as old as the fall. Since sin entered +through the beguiling of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin +has existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and Eve. The only +exception is the man, Christ Jesus, the God man, the Divine man, the +promised seed that should bruise the serpent's head. But as He, the +Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, +and as inbred sin is one of the works of the devil, therefore its +destruction is provided for in the atonement, and, therefore, still +again, entire sanctification is obtainable. + +The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate or to devote +to sacred uses. It has this signification nearly always in the Old +Testament and in a few passages in the New. In other words, whatever is +consecrated is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent meaning, of +separation from all sin, inward as well as outward, and this is what +Paul calls being sanctified wholly. It is entire sanctification as +distinguished from partial sanctification. This latter appertains to +all Christians, and is technically so used in the New Testament. The +former is the experience of those, and those only, from whom inbred sin +has been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES. + + + +For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was +without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are +concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been +patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his +children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he +died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their +allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs +constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a +prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were +Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death, +it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of +the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and +deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law. + +As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few +faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and +sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not +to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the +subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings +of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New +Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the +word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day +and sanctified it. + +And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives +of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose +of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of +His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience +upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New +Testament. + +"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Such is +the record in Genesis, but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the +faith chapter, we find that "by faith Enoch was translated that he +should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him, +for; before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased +God." Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian ages, +walked with God and pleased God, and was translated that he should not +see death, there surely can be no reasonable doubt that he was a holy +man, an entirely sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was "slain from the +foundation of the world." + +"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked +with God." The prophet Amos exclaims most pertinently, "Can two walk +together unless they be agreed?" It is certain, therefore, that God and +Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely pure and holy, can never +be agreed with any person or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever +may be the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied to +God's children in Old Testament times, we can scarcely avoid the +conclusion that Noah was a holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and +this notwithstanding his subsequent error in regard to drinking too +much wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose he may have +been, up to the time of this sad experience, ignorant. + +Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, in Ur of the +Chaldees, when he received the call of God to go entirely away from +his kindred and his father's house, and depart into a land of +separation, a land which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing whither he went, +but only knowing that the Lord was leading him. At his first move, he +was accompanied by his father. And he came out of his native land, it +is true, but not yet into the promised land. "He came to Haran and +dwelt there," or to give the record in full, "And Terah took Abraham, +his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his +daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them +from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there." + +Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr Stephen says, +"And from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this +land, wherein ye now dwell," but in Genesis the statement is, "And +Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their +substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in +Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the +land of Canaan they came." The last tie of nature was sundered when the +old man died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought him +into the promised land. There are two distinct stages in his experience +before he reached the place, which God designed him to occupy. And +these we may as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the first +experience under the gospel--that of regeneration--and of the second +experience as well, which is entire sanctification. + +In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious episode +occurs, and that is the story of his transient but highly important +meeting with Melchizedek, after his successful expedition against the +kings, who had despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, viz.: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, +brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High +God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High +God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, +which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him +tithes of all." No other mention is made of Melchizedek until David +writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly one thousand years after +Abraham. The Psalmist writing by inspiration, and alluding beyond all +reasonable doubt to the Messiah, says, "The Lord hath sworn and will +not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." +And then, again, the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once more brings him +to the front in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is described in +glowing language as "first being by interpretation King of +righteousness, and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king of +peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy (R. V.) having +neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son +of God, abideth a priest continually." + +Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most remarkable +personage, the following inferences seem fairly deducible therefrom: +(1) Melchizedek, being made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently +the Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and +priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and Christ are priests, and yet the +former is not of the chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, +unquestionably, greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth bread and wine. +So did his antitype at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Melchizedek +was before that of Aaron. Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to +Melchizedek in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle to +the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since Melchizedek was without +beginning or end, and greater than Abraham, and with a priesthood that +existed centuries before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, +therefore Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting to +everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, is to abolish the +Aaronic priesthood, whose institution was for a temporary purpose, and +was fulfilled when Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek. + +But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also a king. And it was +not only in his everlasting priesthood, but in his regal office also, +that he was a type of the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, +Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in His own +person the three offices of prophet, priest and king. + +Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, if he was greater +than Abraham, if he was a type of Jesus Christ in His kingly and +priestly offices, it is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. He was made like +unto the Son of God, and the Son of God is eternally holy. Praise His +name. It is, surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in those +primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth was full of wickedness +and violence, that even then God had His witnesses to experimental and +practical holiness. + +Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood of Christ, let me +remark that it was a sad day for His Church when the idea became +prevalent, that ministers of the gospel are in any official sense to be +regarded as priests. This serious error may have been derived, in part, +from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. It has become incorporated in +the creed of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, +and has been productive of the most disastrous results. Among the +deliverances of the Council of Trent, held at intervals from 1545 to +1564, and the last Council, which Romish authorities regard as of +binding authority, are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: "Whereas, therefore, in the New +Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution of +Christ, the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a new, visible and +external priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the +sacred Scriptures show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord, +our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the +priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering and +administering his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins." + +It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely clear of this +same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, and that, in thought, at +least, many substitute this for the true priesthood, which appertains +to all believers. Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation and +continues to do, forever, by intercession. "He ever liveth to make +intercession for us." He "offered one sacrifice for sins forever." If +He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already offered Himself as a +sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of all mankind, the benefits of +which each and every one may obtain on the simple condition of +repentance and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says George Fox, +"Friends, let nothing come between your souls and God, but Christ," and +we say Amen. + +To sum up on this particular point, we may say that the ancient +priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, and of Aaron, the Jew, +with his descendants, were nothing more than types; and a type can have +no real existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there is no +place for a human priesthood under the Christian dispensation. We are +taught in Holy Scripture that no one can come to God except through +Christ, but we are also taught that all are invited, and all may come +directly to Him. All the officers belonging to the New Testament +Church, whether ministers, deacons, presbyters, bishops, elders, or +even apostles, are described not as priests but "messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and shepherds." Their +function is to preach the word, to teach, to rule, but never to +mediate. It is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests. + +But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, all Christians +are priests. But this is through Christ and in Christ, the one great +and eternal High Priest. They are priests because they are in Christ. +And not only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings and +priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed privileges are theirs, +solely by virtue of their union and fellowship with Christ, who, in a +mystical and spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His own +priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic office. + +Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit, +"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people." + +And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house, +an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God +by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the +functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of +sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by +the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath +offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and +nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient +offering. + +The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender +of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to +God. Listen to Paul. + +"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye +present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service." Your bodies, because if you are +Christians, you have already presented your hearts; your bodies, +because through the body, too often temptation enters into the soul and +leads it to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If surrendered to the +Lord, He makes them the very thing they were originally designed to +be, namely, the obedient servants of the soul, and the soul is already +His own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands and the body +obeys, both are working for God, and when the soul says Go, and the +body runs hither and thither, both are going upon God's errands. + +It will be observed that the body is to be presented a living +sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless activities are to be given +up to God. The expression, no doubt, implies that the whole man, +described by the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, soul +and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be His, and His forever, +and henceforth to be ready to be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed +will. + +The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion of your time, +nor a certain portion of your money, nor a certain portion of your +effort, nor your sins, nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden +indulgences. You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, nor +your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, nor your +theatre-going to God. He wants none of these things. All actual and known +sins must be abandoned at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent +and a deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus present his body +unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, but Christians are enjoined to +"yield themselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead;" not +as those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character and +for a different purpose. That purpose is that he may be wholly +sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of +his capacity for the glory of God. Consecration means yielding +yourselves unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything else. +All the details are included in the one surrender of yourself. + +And remember, also, that your consecration is not to God's service, not +to His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the +church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, not +to any organization, not to the cause of God; it is to God Himself. +"Yield yourselves unto God." It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. Your work, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty, +will all follow in due time. The next sacrifice to be made by the +Christian priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. "By Him, +therefore," says the author of the Hebrews, "let us offer the sacrifice +of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name." + +And the next priestly offering of the Christian is a holy life, for the +inspired author goes on in the next verse, "But to do good, and to +communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; offer the +fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of the life, and you will walk +worthily of your priesthood. Glory! + +The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined experiences about +twenty years apart. The first of these was at Bethel, when, in +loneliness and anguish of mind, he was plodding on his way toward +Mesopotamia to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground with a stone for +a pillow, not only distressed in mind from fear and anxiety, but also, +we may well suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation of a +guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had faith in God's promises, +even if he did not always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, forlorn, fearful and +contrite, God was watching over him, and when he awoke from the +wondrous vision there vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in +the place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new man. Now he +could not only believe intellectually what God had said, but he could +and did enter into covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. This was such a +change of mind and heart as constituted a real conversion. + +When, after the many mercies and many trials that fell to his portion +whilst dwelling with his uncle Laban, and after the lapse of two score +years, he was returning to his father's house, no longer poor and +lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives and children, again he was +encountered by the fear of his brother Esau who was approaching him +with four hundred men. Then it was that there "wrestled a man with him +until the breaking of the day." Note it was the man wrestling with +Jacob--and the man was the angel,--Jehovah, the pre-existent Christ--and +the object of his wrestling was to get the Jacob nature, the old +man, the body of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by a +touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for him to resist any +longer. Now he had to cease his wrestling but he could still cling, and +he could still cry, "I will not let thee go until thou bless me." +Jacob's will was now firmly set upon the blessing; he could ho longer +resist the will of the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob--supplanter, sinner, and then He +blessed him there; Jabbok means extinguishment, and Jacob's self-life +was extinguished there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter--but Israel, the prince, the prevailer, the +overcomer, and Israel was now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell +God your name--sinner--seek with fixed determination for the blessing +of holiness, fulfill the conditions, and you also shall prevail, and +your name will be changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the Blesser Himself +in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. Praise the Lord! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE. + + + +The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and typical. "The law +having a shadow of the good things to come," says the author of the +Hebrews. But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far as +holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed forth in the +ceremonial law, we shall find that there is a corresponding substance +and reality in the gospel of Christ. + +In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions of the Mosaic +law, we shall be struck with the many forms of ceremonial uncleanness +described therein, and with the "divers washings," not only of the +"hands oft," but of the whole body, and of "cups and pots, brazen +vessels and of tables." All these point to the fact that God will have +a clean people, and a clean people is a holy people. The same thing is +vividly exhibited in the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be disused. Of land +animals, only such as both chew the end and divide the hoof, might then +be eaten. And of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales were +to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt that this restriction in +regard to food is full of meaning. God help us all as Christian +believers to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have His people now +pure in heart, clean in soul, holy both within and without. + +The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, and this became +the perpetual rite by which his descendants were admitted to the rights +and privileges of that covenant. "Every male child shall be +circumcised." But this rite was an outward symbol of "a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in +the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, +we are told that "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is +that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which +is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Beloved +reader, may you and I know what it is to experience the inward +circumcision, made without hands, even the putting off of the body of +the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, not only were they to be +adorned with holy garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious stones, but the +plate for the mitre was to be made of pure gold, and engraved with the +motto "Holiness to the Lord." This was to be always upon the forehead +of the High Priest, and must signify that Aaron was to be the holy +priest of a Holy God, and that the law required a continuous holiness, +as most assuredly the gospel does also. + +Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood and the sacrifices +were typical of Christ. In the mediatorial work of redemption, he was +both the priest and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. +The holy priest, under the law typified the holy priest, who is a +priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel +dispensation all Christians are priests. "But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." And +we are priests, not for the purpose of expiation, for expiation was +completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He "bore our sins in His own +body on the tree," but priests to offer up "spiritual sacrifices +acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And every such priest must +needs be continuously holy. + +The "spiritual sacrifices" which the Christian priest must offer are, +as previously stated, (1) his body, with all its members and +capacities. The heart was given to Christ at conversion. It is, +however, largely through the body that the soul is led into sin, and it +is through the body, also, that the soul must perform its work for +Christ, so long as soul and body are united in probation. Hence, the +Apostle exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service." The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. He +must "hold fast the confession of his faith without wavering." "By him, +therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." And, finally +(3), the Christian priest must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. "But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God +is well pleased." Beloved, let us ask ourselves if we are constantly +offering as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing tongue +and a godly life. Amen. + +This subject has already been alluded to under a different head, but +it will bear repetition. + +In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing of the leper, we +find an impressive type or symbol of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly +and strikingly a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, +incurable, fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; he +could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He was an outcast. None +must be permitted to approach him. They must be warned off by the +despairing cry "unclean, unclean." Nothing can be conceived more +desolate or more hopeless than the condition of the leper, unless it +be, indeed, the sinner who is an "alien from the commonwealth of +Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and +without God in the world." + +But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad "day of cleansing." +He might not come into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. And none but +Christ has any authority to tell the sinner that he is converted, or +the believer that he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies away toward +heaven with bloody wing; the leper is sprinkled seven times, to denote +the completeness or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means of +hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; he must wash his +clothes; he must pass a razor over his whole body, and bathe the whole +body likewise in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by the washing of +water through the word, as plainly described as symbolic language can +utter it. + +All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily sacrifice both +morning and evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the +offerings at the various feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for +individuals or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for what we are, the +peace offering, the burnt offering, these, also, all point to the Lamb +that was slain from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was shed. "Almost all +things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of +blood is no remission." + +But turn now to the New Testament, and read that "It is not possible +for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Read again, "If +the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the +unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself +without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God." Read again, "In Him we have redemption through His +blood"--"Having made peace through the blood of His cross"--"Ye who are +far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"--"Being now justified by +His blood"--"That He might sanctify the people with His own blood"--and +especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, Dr. Edgar M. Levy. +"When an oblation for sin was offered up under the old dispensation, +the priest was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle it +seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection of the +offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come short of the type. Seven +times, at least, did our Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was +circumcised and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted on the +mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this must needs have been +attended with blood. He was scourged, and from Roman scouring there +was, of course, blood. The crown of thorns was driven into His precious +temples and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp nails +penetrated into His hands and feet, and again there was blood. And one +of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came +thereout blood and water." + +The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of our sanctification +as it is of our justification. Glory be to His Name forever for the +precious, cleansing blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the "Rock of Ages," and especially with the +rendering now frequently given to the conclusion of the first stanza, +viz.: + + "Let the water and the blood + From Thy wounded side which flowed, + Be of sin the double cure + Save from wrath--and make me pure." + +The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, and was used +for a great variety of purposes. In typology, however, it has special +reference to the office work of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively +the Sanctifier, and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as "the unction" or "the anointing." The holy anointing +oil was to be sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred +vessels. It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests and +kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge of their +respective offices. There can be no doubt but that this use of the +anointing oil and the sweet perfume, which none were permitted to +imitate or counterfeit, has a direct typical reference to holiness. +The sacred writer, indeed, says as much. "That they may be most holy; +whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." And as all Christians are +kings and priests unto God, it is necessary that they also be anointed +with the Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels +of the Lord." A priest must be holy. + +We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred sin, and of the +requirement of blood-shedding in the cleansing of the leper. But before +that cleansing was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the priest had already +touched his ear, his thumb and his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, +so now he touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the blood; +afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the wondrous plan of salvation +through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure +pardon; afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire sanctification +through the Spirit. + +The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, the thumb and the +toe of Aaron and his sons in their consecration to the priesthood and, +finally, poured upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch the flesh. And +so, beloved, we must be touched with blood and oil as to our spiritual +ears, that we may take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, and +goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they may run swiftly and +beautifully upon the errands of redeeming love; and, at last, upon our +heads and running down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be "ever, only, all for Him." Praise the Lord. +And this can never happen while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still +alive. + +Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who was +holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, was, +nevertheless, anointed with the Holy Ghost as a needful qualification +for His mediatorial work. + +In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the sixty-first chapter +of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord +hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and +the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the +acceptable year of the Lord"--and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about "the day of vengeance of our +God." It was now a day of grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those +who will not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance will +surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. His anointed +followers must also be holy. They must seek and find the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be +baptized, and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the privilege +and duty of all God's children. If we would belong to the royal +priesthood, we must be cleansed from the defilement of sin. + +Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is spoken of in +Scripture as tried in the fire. So of silver. "He" (Christ) "shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver." The precious metals will endure +the fire, but "dross and tin," as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a +sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance +which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like +anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. "Our God is a +consuming fire." Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is +for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May +God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but +the fire-mark also. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY. + + + +The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve +prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are +called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers +in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. + +The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the +prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very +wonderful experience of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts. + +It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man before he wrote his +first chapter. In that he laments the sins of the Israelites and the +Jews, all of them God's chosen people, though now divided into the two +kingdoms and these often at variance, shows the utter futility of their +own efforts to regain the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices +and ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted as plainly as +any gospel minister in our own day would be able to do. He shows them +that the way of salvation is by repentance and faith, and by trusting +to the unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: "Wash you, make you clean; put +away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; +learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the +fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." + +Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, the washing away +of guilt and committed sins, symbolical of the New Testament washing of +regeneration, symbolical also of John's baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins. + +But now in the sixth chapter, and "in the year that king Uzziah died," +a wondrous vision of the pre-existent Christ, "sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up" and the seraphim crying one to another "Holy, holy, +holy is the Lord of hosts," was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and heard was not to +exalt him and minister to his pride, but to fill him with despair at +his own depravity. He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed "Depart from +me for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Ah! beloved, it never fosters +spiritual pride, nor any other kind of pride to get a nearer and +clearer view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and enables us to +behold by contrast the darkness and sinfulness and pollution of our own +souls, and in such a view we shall find food for the deepest +humiliation, but nothing to nourish pride. + +Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of +a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts." If we may credit Jewish tradition, it was for the offence of +saying that he had seen the King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet +was afterwards sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision is +still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed to millions of readers +in the future, as in the past, and until the end of the age. + +But the seraph was sent to touch the "unclean lips" of Isaiah--unclean +because of innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of life and +forgiveness for two or three years before this wondrous experience--to +touch them with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his sins of +commission and omission were forgiven--that had been done before--but +that his iniquity was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly emblematic of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire under the gospel dispensation, +which is also accompanied by "the purifying of the heart by faith," or +entire sanctification. + +How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this experience. He +seems to look down the centuries for seven hundred years and to see the +glorious blessings of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth chapter: "And +an highway shall be there and a way; and it shall be called the way of +holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for +those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." And in +the fifty-first chapter: "Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for +henceforth, there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and +the unclean," and in the sixtieth chapter: "Thy sun shall no more go +down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be +thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." + +To Jeremiah the Lord said, "I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a +prophet unto the nations," which must mean not only that he was set +apart for the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed from +inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the office itself. + +In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some striking passages +on the theme before us. These were, no doubt, addressed primarily to +the outward Israel, but they may very justly be appropriated by the +Israel of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, "The New +Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." + +In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon or +justification with cleansing from the pollution of their past sins: +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from +all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And the pollution that +is thus acquired by the practice of sinning is removed in regeneration. +Thus the new convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. "Except ye be converted," said the blessed Saviour, "and become +as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution of committed sin; +whilst he does have within him the inherited or inbred sin of his +nature. + +Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made to the clean water +made from the ashes of a red heifer and sprinkled, under the Mosaic +law, upon those who had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing +signified, however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, +typified by water, may here be meant. At any rate the twenty-fifth +verse points to nothing less than a full and free justification. + +But the prophet continues: "A new heart also will I give you and a new +spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out +of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here we have +described certainly the experience of regeneration, if indeed not the +still fuller experience of entire sanctification. But let us admit that +it means only the new heart which is given to the penitent sinner at +his new birth. Regeneration implies the impartation of a new life by +the Divine energy of the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the "heart of flesh," not, of course, a carnal heart, but a heart +tender and teachable, and impressible to heavenly influences, such a +heart as we always find in the new-born babe in Christ. + +But listen still further: "And I will put My Spirit within you, and +cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do +them." In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost baptism, +by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and sanctified wholly, and +also of the subsequent "walking in the Spirit," to which Paul alludes +in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who +was also seized with prophetic fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, +"That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand +of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and +righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Surely the gospel +of Christ has something better for its recipients than a constant daily +sinning and repenting, which is too often the experience of Christian +people. The twenty-seventh verse, therefore, signifies holiness of +heart and life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. + +How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we cannot do by our own +strength, the Holy Spirit will cause us to do. This doctrine of +spiritual causation is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the +watch which supplies the power within, by which the hands are moved +without, and thus the fleeting minutes and hours are correctly +measured, so the Holy Spirit within supplies the energy by which the +sanctified believer is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of +Christ, his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the fruit of the +Spirit in all righteousness and goodness and truth. + +In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions to the subject of +holiness, though their language is often highly figurative. In Hosea +2:16, after reproving Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the +Almighty, through His prophet, employs the following language, viz: +"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me +Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali," and again in the nineteenth +verse, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea I will betroth thee in +righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; I +will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the +Lord." Now the word Ishi means my husband; while the word Baali means +my Lord, and the language, therefore, points to an experience or a +relation of marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to a legal +justification and a service for wages and reward, that of the bride +must signify entire sanctification, and the closest possible union with +the Heavenly Bridegroom. Again, the word betrothed points legitimately +to a marriage which is always justly expected to follow if both parties +are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, let us get so near to Christ +that we shall not address Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, +but as my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful wife. At your +conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed to Him, or in ordinary +language engaged to Him. At your entire sanctification, your engagement +is consummated by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not be long. Do not +needlessly defer your nuptials, but rather hasten to the embraces of +Everlasting Love. Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, "I will go." + +In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day +of Pentecost, and assured the multitude of Jews, out of every nation +under heaven, that what they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of +the same. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And +also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I +pour out My Spirit." + +Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the baptism with the +Holy Ghost and fire, designed for all of God's children without +distinction of nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue them with power +for whatever line of service God may call them to. And we may add that +this text, as well as many others, shows that in these gospel days +women as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our daily +experience that they are both called and qualified for the work of the +ministry, as well as other labors in the vineyard of the Lord. But both +men and women need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency and most +marked success in the work to which they may individually be called. +Every Christian may and should do something for the Lord, but none can +do all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his duty to do, +without the grace of entire sanctification and the fulness of the +Spirit. + +In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which point +unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust in God and perfect love +for Him. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit +be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields +shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and +there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I +will joy in the God of my salvation." Compare this with John Wesley's +description of a holy man after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice +evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. +Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this description? + +The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, which are, no +doubt, full of instruction to those who have eyes to see. We can only +mention one or two of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing the Jewish +people, and typifying Christ Jesus with His eternal and unchangeable +priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also +represents Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, is +present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting them in the person of +their representative, the high priest. + +And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was ground for his +accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in filthy +garments, and these can signify nothing else than sins, aye, the sins +of His people imputed to Him as their representative and priest, and +not their actual sins only but their inbred sin also, for, "The Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and "He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin." "His visage was so marred more than any +man, and His form more than the sons of men." "He hath no form nor +comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we +should desire Him." + +"Many were astonished at thee," says Isaiah. "Behold the man," said +Pilate, as he brought forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but +uncomplaining, and the only answer was "Crucify Him!" Thus, beloved, +was He clothed in very truth with the filthy garments not of His own +vileness but of ours. + +But Joshua was "a brand plucked from the burning," and, therefore, in +Him all His people have found pardon. And now comes the order "Take +away the filthy garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have +caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with +change of raiment." Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than +entire sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not only simply +imputatively and representatively, but actually and experimentally. +Praise the Lord. + +The prophet Malachi assures us that "He shall sit as a refiner and +purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi" (that is, the +"royal priesthood" which constitutes the true church) "and purge them +as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in +righteousness." Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST. + + + +Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, "Therefore, that holy thing +that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Or in the +Revised Version, "Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall be +called holy, the Son of God." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +speaks of Him as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," +and Peter says that "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth." He is called "Thy holy child Jesus." Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. He was +absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, holy in word and holy in +act, holy in His birth, holy in His death, holy in His resurrection, +holy in His ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name. + +And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church was thus a holy man, +it would, naturally, be expected that He should desire to have a holy +people; and if He desire it, that He should also make provision for it; +and if He both desire it and hath made provision for it, that we should +find allusions to it in His teachings. In this, we are not +disappointed, as we shall proceed to show. + +The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the public preaching of +the Lord Jesus, and every sentence is pregnant with meaning. From +beginning to end, it inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of +believers. Many things are enjoined which would only be possible to +those who are sanctified wholly, such as, "Bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, love your enemies, resist not evil," and +many others. + +The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of chapters, which are +filled out and developed in the writings of the apostles. This is +remarkably true of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going +largely into details, sets forth the principles which are to govern His +kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation of these +principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles and evangelists, who +continued to teach and preach after His departure, and to the Holy +Spirit who is promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again. + +But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply holiness, there +are several, also, which expressly require it. Among the beatitudes at +the beginning of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: "Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Now, heart purity +cannot exist while there is any sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin +in the heart, whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms. + +Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire sanctification, and +heart purity is not only a great energizer, so that a man is powerful +for good in proportion to the purity of his heart and life, but it is +also a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor to see God. +This, of course, does not imply an open or an outward vision, but a +spiritual apprehension of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship +and communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe truly +regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible to outward sense. + +This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless outward walk, was +by no means unknown to the Old Testament writers. In the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, David asks the question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" And He immediately answers +it by saying, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The clean +hands imply that his works are in accordance with God's law; in other +words, that his outward life is free from condemnation. But the "pure +heart" means more than this, and suggests what the same royal Psalmist +remarks again in the Fifty-first Psalm. "Behold, thou desirest truth in +the inward parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom." It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth Psalm, as already +quoted, that the clean hands or justification comes before the pure +heart or entire sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost. + +Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the end of Matthew +fifth the direct command, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your +Father which is in heaven is perfect," or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the command becomes a +positive assertion, which is equally forcible. "Ye, therefore, shall be +perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." + +But whether command or declaration, it is at first sight simply +astounding. It is overwhelming. So much so, indeed, that our poor +human spirits shrink back in amazement, and we are ready to say, This +is wholly impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. Or if He +does, then my case is hopeless. But let us examine the words a little +more carefully. + +In the first place, we are to notice that He does not say that we are +to be equal in perfection to our Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, +be too absurd for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite in all +His attributes and, therefore, infinite in perfection, and this in all +directions. We are poor, finite, sinful human beings, and can never +even approach the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, justice +and holiness. + +But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly Father in +perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the same kind of perfection which +appertains to Him. It may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely +short of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and perfect in +all His attributes, but apart from His attributes is His essence. And +what is the perfection which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, +rather, what is His essence itself? It is love. "God is love," says the +apostle. "Thy nature and Thy name is love," says the great +hymnologist, Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured by the beloved +John that it is possible for us, also, to be made perfect in love, and +to possess the perfect love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are +perfect in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in heaven is +perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of the gospel. + +The context of the command referred to proves the same thing. Jesus had +just been telling His disciples that it is not sufficient for them to +love their friends, and do good to those that do good to them. All +these things and more are done even by worldly minded people and open +sinners. Unsaved people love those who love them. But Jesus continues, +"I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and +persecute you." Why? "That ye may be the children of your Father who is +in heaven," for that is just the way He does. He does not wait for a +man to be His friend before He loves him and shows kindness to him. "He +maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on +the just and on the unjust." And, if we are to be the children of such +a Father, we must adopt His sentiments and love in our measure as He +loves. His essence being love, all His infinite activities are +controlled and regulated and directed by love, and when there is +nothing contrary to love in our hearts, so that all our finite +activities are in like manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, +then we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly Father is +perfect. Glory to His Name. + +I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully we shall find the +doctrine of entire sanctification in many of the parables of our +Saviour. Take, for instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are +expressly told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, the +sowers are all ministers and Christian workers who are trying in any +right way, to diffuse a knowledge and acceptance of gospel truth. They +are devoting themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark the +difference as to the ground upon which the good seed falls. (1) The +wayside hearers are not concerted at all. (2) The stony ground hearers +are converted but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation and hence they fall +into backsliding. (3) The thorny ground hearers are converted, but +inbred sin remains in their hearts in form of the love of riches, +whether these riches are possessed or only desired, or too much care +and cumber, having so much regard to the secular as to neglect the +spiritual, or in the form of unsanctified desire, "the lusts of other +things," and so by sin that dwelleth in them the word is "choked," and +though they may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring "no fruit to perfection." They are justified but not +sanctified wholly. + +Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit but much fruit. +"Every branch that bringeth forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may +bring forth more fruit." To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant fruitage. +When the thorns are removed the good seed will grow and flourish. When +inbred sin is taken out of the heart the Christian believer will bring +forth fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and this will +be the "much fruit" whereby God is glorified. + +On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus "What shall I do +to inherit eternal life?" and when asked in reply what were the words +of the Mosaic law he answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind; and thy +neighbor as thyself." Jesus commended his answer and added "This do and +thou shalt live." Hence, our Saviour teaches that holiness consists of +nothing more nor less nor else than perfect love to God and man. What +constitutes this love has been already explained. + +Martha was a good Christian, but she was "careful and troubled about +many things." Mary was a good Christian and still earnestly seeking the +one thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness of heart and +life. Even good Christians may be "cumbered about much serving," and so +miss this one thing needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing of holiness +when the pentecostal baptism was poured out upon the church of the +hundred and twenty, if not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer +of the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we find these +expressions, "Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." And +again, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth." Here we discover the two senses of the +word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself apart or consecrates Himself to the +work of human redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, may +be not only set apart or consecrated, but also sanctified wholly, or +made holy in heart and life. He gave Himself for the world of sinners +lost, that they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for the +church, on the other hand, that He might "sanctify and cleanse it with +the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a +glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish." Thus, the atoning +sacrifice of Christ procured pardon and acceptance for the penitent +sinner. It procured not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him as a perfect +Saviour that He "is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness and +sanctification and redemption." + +For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt as to the method of +obtaining this great blessing of holiness, nor as to the price, which +must be paid for it. Entire sanctification is "one pearl of great +price," and he who would possess it must go and sell all that he has. +The rich young ruler had a first-class record as to morality and the +outward observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, "One thing +thou lackest," and that one thing was perfect love, for He added, "If +thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor," +and then interjecting a promise, "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, +and come take up the cross and follow Me." The price was too great, and +the young man went away sorrowful. Alas! Myriads of souls since have +found the price too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not have us become His +followers without counting the cost, and the cost is all that we have +and all that we are. "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he +cannot be My disciple." + +First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, all known sin. It +may be the sin which "easily besets," our own bosom sin, near as a +right eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, it must be +relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the sacrifice seems like crippling +and maiming us, yet Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into +eternal life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned to +everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In the first place, +therefore, we are to "reckon ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but +alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." + +But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all sin, but we must be +dead, also, even to lawful things, except as God in His mercy may grant +them to us, to have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest love must be +fastened upon Him alone, and that if any individual love, father or +mother, son or daughter, wife or husband more than Him, such a one is +not worthy of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for them, but +still more are we to love the Giver Himself. + +And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to be satisfied with +Himself, and what He in His love and mercy chooses to give us. If He +permits us to have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank Him +and use them as stewards of His for His glory. If He allows our family +circle to be invaded by death, and one dear one after another is +carried away to the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His gifts one by one or +altogether are withdrawn from us, why, praise the Lord, we still have +the Giver, and can still say with Job "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." + +It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require us to be dead to +sin, and dead to self, yea, even to lawful self, in order that we may +possess this inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let us not +hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. "Whosoever will save +his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, +the same shall save it." + +"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; +but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL. + + + +The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially to Paul. And as +the Gospel of Christ is intended for the salvation not of the Jews +only, but of all mankind who are willing to accept the conditions, we +find in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord Jesus than in any +other inspired author. Jesus gave the concise germinal principles of +all gospel truth; and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, into those wonderful epistles to the churches, which, though as +Peter well observes containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in the past, to form +a large part both of the foundation and framework of every system of +theological doctrine. How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of +redemption as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How profound +and how exalted is the spirituality of the Ephesians and Colossians! +How pure and how practical are the directions to the Corinthians! What +a counter-blast to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology in the Hebrews! +What a guidebook of unequalled excellency for ministers of all times in +the pastoral epistles! + +In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind under the two +divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, and proceeds to show that both +classes alike had failed in their efforts to attain to righteousness +and salvation. + +The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with an outward +revelation, but he had been permitted to behold the outward universe, +and to know that it had a Creator "of eternal power and divinity." He +had also had a conscience within him, and so much light as rendered him +an accountable being, with a sense of obligation to a supreme power, +and furnishing another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not like to retain +God in their knowledge. They wickedly extinguished the light which He +had given them, because they were not willing to give up their +immoralities. And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they changed the glory +of the incorruptible God into the baser image of "birds and four-footed +beasts and creeping things." They sank into the grossest idolatry and +licentiousness and all wickedness. This picture drawn in colors which +shock our sensibilities, in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed +by the authentic writings of heathen historians, and this in all +particulars, Paul says, "They are without excuse, because they did not +live up to the light which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was." + +And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, to them much +every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of +God. They had an outward revelation, and with it a knowledge of that +law of God, which is holy and just and good. + +But they had failed, if possible, more grievously than the Gentiles +themselves. They had received the law by the disposition of angels, as +Stephen told them and had not kept it. They had had far more light than +the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same sins as they. They +prided themselves on the law, and looked with contempt upon the +Gentiles, and condemned them for their immoralities, and yet were +guilty of similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly about the +words of the law. "Do not steal." "Do not commit adultery," and yet +violated these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared them to whited +sepulchres, looking well outwardly, but within full of dead men's bones +and all uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and the leaven of the +Sadduces, which is infidelity, and the leaven of the Herodians, which +is worldly mindedness. + +The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and Gentile. It was +something that had occurred long before the division into Jew and +Gentile had an existence. It had occurred, in short, when man fell. +From fallen parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, that +is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. There is a disposition in +all mankind to yield to temptation, some in one direction, some in +another, and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no to God. +This bias towards evil is sometimes called depravity or original sin. +It is called by Paul "Our old man," "the flesh," "the carnal mind," +"the body of sin," and "sin that dwelleth in me." A good and convenient +name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in the heart as distinguished from +sin in the act. It is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward sins are the +bitter fruits. + +Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles which caused +them to quench the light of the knowledge of God, which they must have +had for, at least, a generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural religion, +notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens were declaring the glory +of God and the firmament was showing His handiwork, day unto day was +uttering speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. They +forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them to their own reprobate +minds, the result being that they sank into the grossest idolatry and +the most beastly sensuality. + +The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward revelation. He +received through Moses the law of God, which showed him what God +desired him to be and do, and what he ought to be and do, but which +conferred upon him no power for being or doing what it required. It is +like a looking-glass placed before a child to show him that his face is +soiled, but having no power to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb-line +applied to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates from +the perpendicular, but which has no power to make it upright. Nay, it +even comes to pass that in consequence of inbred sin, the law +multiplies offences. It causes sin to abound. We find even in most +children a disposition that impels them to do and to have just what +they are told they must not do and have. That is to say, when the law +comes in, inbred sin rises in rebellion against it. + +The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most vividly described +by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Over the real meaning of this +chapter, there has been much discussion and wide differences of +opinion. Some writers think that this is the best experience of the +great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw consolation from this +fact, as well as argument, in favor of continuing to sin in thought and +word and deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle is +not here describing a Christian experience at all, but the struggles of +a Jew who is seeking the favor of God by keeping His law, but finds his +attempts to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred sin. I +freely admit that it is not what even a justified experience ought to +be, for God has assured us through His apostle, John, that He that is +born of God doth not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified and regenerated +believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness and prayer, may be kept from +acts of sin and from becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the +seventh of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the experience +of the converted Christian. + +For there are many who even after a clear conversion and a joyful +sense of God's favor, with the witness of the Spirit to their adoption, +yet do yield to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and so +pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is called an up-and-down +experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning and +repenting, delighting in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is in their members, +not losing their sonship, but losing their communion and their joy, +often like Peter weeping bitterly over their transgressions, but +finding that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. + +I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, might go on for +years. It ends either in complete religious declension amounting, +sometimes, to apostacy on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the +entire sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance from inbred +sin. And in these days of enlightenment, when the doctrine and +experience of holiness are so plainly taught, and so generally diffused +among the children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether a soul can +continue long in a state of justification, which means that it will +either go forward to the experience of entire sanctification, or else +it will fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, or into +legality as did the Galatians. + +Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. It is seeking +salvation after the pattern of the Old Testament, and not after that of +the New. It is a matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It +inquires "What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" +It is the child of the bondwoman and not that of the free. It is +Ishmael and not Isaac. It is Sinai and not Calvary. + +And so it happens that many Christians are simply good Jews. They may +even possess circumcised hearts, and may yet serve the Lord in the +spirit of bondage, as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does not, by any +means, signify license; it does not signify the liberty of making our +own choices, but the liberty of accepting gladly and submissively God's +choices; it does not mean the liberty of doing either right or wrong as +we may prefer, but the liberty of always preferring to do right and +never wrong, and so to spend our years on earth, doing right in all +directions, and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God. + +After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that Hagar's chief +employment in Abraham's house was to look after the said Ishmael, to +care for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her business to +care for or to restrain Isaac. He was the child of promise, the child +of faith, the son of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when +Ishmael's persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, then +the command was "Cast out the bond woman and her son." Both must go +together or stay together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain or constrain. +Perfect love casts out fear; it also casts out sin, and becomes the +motive power of the whole spiritual man. "The love of Christ +constraineth us." + +So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed to attain unto +the law of righteousness, because of inbred sin, which caused the +former to put out the light which they had, and the latter to fall +short of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, but +which was never intended by its Divine Author to save men, but to show +them how utterly incapable they were of saving themselves. + +But Paul does not leave them there. After putting both classes of the +human family into the same position of failure and condemnation, and +declaring that there is no difference, "for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God," he adds, "Being justified fully by His +grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." When man's +helplessness and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, then +God comes to his rescue. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, +that He might have mercy upon all." + +Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches the great +doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent peace of +reconciliation, the "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that sanctification, +also, is by faith and not by works. He will not be satisfied with +anything less than the death of our old man, and the death of inbred +sin is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. "Knowing this +that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be +destroyed, that, henceforth, we should not serve him." + +But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with the body of sin by +any resolution or will-power or effort of our own. Sin will not go +dead at our bidding, nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or +striving to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for us by directing us +to resort to the process of reckoning. "Likewise reckon ye, also, +yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord." Ah! now, our help is laid upon one that is +mighty. "The things that are impossible with men are possible with +God." What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, Christ can +make real and true. We have only, therefore, to reckon ourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. +But we must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as dead. And to +be alive to God means, in this connection, to be responsive to every +intimation of His will, to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to +suffer joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in short, to +be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what a blessed reckoning is the +reckoning of faith! How vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of +logic or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual deadness +to sin, and a continual holiness of heart and life. + +For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not asking us to fancy, +or imagine, or hypothecate. He is not telling us that if we believe a +thing to be true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The factors in his +direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the Old Testament +and in the New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to make +them so, and our acceptance of the provision He has made for our +cleansing, by faith, and then by the reckoning alluded to, the result +is secured. + +In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often compelled to +resort to what they term dead-reckoning. Sometimes for days together, +the sun is hidden by clouds, and no observation can be taken with the +usual instruments for determining latitude and longitude. Then the +captain ascertains by the compass what direction he is pursuing, and +by the log, the rate at which the ship is sailing, and thus by marking +out his daily advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will sight the shore +toward which the voyage is directed. What he reckons becomes real, when +he tells the passengers, "Within five minutes, we ought to see the +Irish coast," followed within the specified time by the cry from the +lookout, "Land, ho!" + +To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass and log and chart. +Sometimes, he enjoys the witness of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, +assuring him that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, but when not thus +favored, he can still move on by faith, he still has his compass and +his chart, and he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in the heavenly port. +Praise the Lord. + +To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle of the Gentiles +has written in reference to entire sanctification would require a +volume instead of a single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue the subject for +himself in the inexhaustible mine of the Pauline Epistles. + +In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration that is to +be found anywhere. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of +unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of +righteousness unto God." And, again, in the 19th verse, "For as ye +have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto +iniquity; even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness." + +Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration is not the same +thing as entire sanctification. The one is an act proceeding from man +to God, the other is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies. + +Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal human being +to a personal God. The term members may well be understood to include +all bodily organs and powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, +and all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, culture, health, +and, in short, the whole personal, individual man, with all his +belongings. The surrender must be complete, absolute, unreserved and +forever. Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all that we +have and all that we are must be His, wholly His, and His to all +eternity. + +Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who is not already a +Christian believer. Paul informs us, explicitly, that he is not calling +upon sinners "dead in trespasses and sins," to consecrate themselves, +but upon converted persons, "those who are alive from the dead." How +thankful we ought to be that he has settled that point forever. Sinners +may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +broader, deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, the sinner gives +himself away as a dead sacrifice, and his purpose is to receive pardon +and life. In consecration, the Christian yields to God his living and +regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose is that he may be +sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost +extent of his capacity for the glory of God. + +Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, or vices, or +depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. We cannot consecrate our +alcohol, or our tobacco, or our opium, or our card-playing, or +dancing, or theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. All +actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. Our consecration +is for a deeper work, that is to say, for the removal of inbred sin, +which, after all, is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire. + +The essence of consecration is in the sentence, "Yield yourselves unto +God." When you yield yourselves, you yield everything else. All the +details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the +emphasis, we may read again, "Yield yourselves unto God." Consecration +is not to God's service, not to His work, not to a life of obedience +and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to +the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of God; it is to God +Himself. "Yield yourselves unto God." Your work, your service, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty will +all follow in good time. + +Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution and the purpose to +be, to do, and to suffer all God's will. Its essence, already given in +the words of Paul, is given also in the words of the Saviour. "Not My +will but Thine be, done," which is beautifully versified by Frances +Ridley Havergal, in the couplet, + + "Take my will and make it thine, + It shall be no longer mine." + +Consecration being a definite transaction, and made once for all, does +not need to be repeated unless we have failed to keep it. To consecrate +over and over again is like a husband and wife marrying over and over +again. We are consecrated just as we are married. The vow is upon us, +and in the force of that vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is +to remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord's, and see to it that +nothing is taken from the altar. Those who have kept their consecration +complete should testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence. + +Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an English periodical, +which is here given very slightly modified, and which has been adopted +by many. Let all my readers unite with the author in entering into this +personal yielding to God. + + I am willing + To receive what Thou givest, + To lack what Thou withholdest, + To relinquish what Thou takest, + To suffer what Thou inflictest, + To be what Thou requirest, + To do what Thou commandest. + Amen. + +In this connection, we may add that when the consecration is complete, +it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter to believe. Entire +sanctification like justification, and, indeed, all other gospel +blessings and experiences, is to be received by faith. But so long as +the surrender to God is not complete, faith refuses to act. + +When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt and sincere +consecration, then it becomes as natural and as easy to believe as it +is to breathe, after everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians of a want of +faith. If they only had more faith, they imagine that all would be +well. When the disciples of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He +told them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only a mustard-seed +faith, He assured them that it would remove mountains. And we may +justly conclude that the difficulty with most seekers after entire +sanctification is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches itself to one +worldly thing or another, and refuses to be sundered from what it +loves, and while this is the case, the individual cannot believe that +God gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. But when all +the preliminaries have been attended to, and there is nothing else +needed but to trust in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment. + +Another class of seekers is very much concerned about the witness of +the Spirit to assure them that the blessing has been received. Probably +in these cases the very point that has not yet been consecrated to God +is the feeling, or the witness, which they so much desire. "It often +happens," says Dr. G. D. Watson, "that a patient, who has been cured of +some contagious disease, has to have a certificate on leaving the +hospital. In such a case the certificate does not cure him, but +certifies that he is cured. How absurd for a patient just entering the +hospital to clamor for his health certificate before receiving the +doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, it is useless for a +seeking soul to be clamoring for the witness and waiting for the +feeling before receiving Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We +are not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who imparts the +experience." + +Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, +second and third chapters, he tells us of three classes of persons: the +natural man, the spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; they +are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are +spiritually discerned. Such is a description of the unregenerate +wherever and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment is not +that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to the truth of God and deaf to +the story of salvation. Being without spiritual life they are, of +course, without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons are in +all our churches, and the number is by no means small. And often it +strangely happens that these are the very individuals who are +noticeably forward in expressing their opinions on the right way of +managing a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching or lecturing, +something to be proud of and to draw the crowd--these are the things +which in their view make the church of their choice a success; but as +for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread of the gospel at home +and abroad, as for the sanctifying of believers, as for the things of +the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living faith and a +sound conversion. May God hasten it in His time. + +"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all +things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with +the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide, +Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified +and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a +one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as +his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the +Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating +influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the +natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by +the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the +same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the +Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the +position of the latter. + +Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he +asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name +is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural, +neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and, +therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are +converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the +carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly +carnal. + +Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable +consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering +offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh, +that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our +churches. Amen. + +In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles bases the +experience of entire sanctification on the glorious promises of God. +"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse +ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God." To cleanse ourselves is shown by the +Greek tense to be an act done definitely and once for all. It means, +therefore, to put ourselves under the conditions of cleansing by a +definite act of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves in +co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively the Sanctifier +and Cleanser. It means, also, that we are to seek and find the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all sources of +temptation and all incentives to evil, so far as we may; and +continuously realize and experience the holiness which Christ has +instantaneously wrought in our souls through His Holy Spirit. +Filthiness of the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual +appetites, as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which was +probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness of the spirit is +illustrated by idolatry and pride, nor must we forget that the spirit +is often polluted also through pampering the body. + +Paul's wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, has been so admirably +treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, that I shall content myself with +referring the reader to his book on "Love Enthroned," page 123, and +pass on. A single remark, however, may properly be made. That prayer, +undoubtedly, embodies all that we mean by entire sanctification and the +filling of the Spirit and more. + +In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great apostle in which +entire sanctification is expressly petitioned for. "And the very God of +peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The very +form of the expression in the first clause indicates that it is +possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to be sanctified +partially. All Christians are cleansed from the pollution of sins +committed, that is to say, from the pollution they have acquired by +actually sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by Paul as +sanctified, although, manifestly, many of them were not holy in heart +and life. On the other hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians +may be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were already in a +healthy and prosperous condition, the only exception being a few +members who were too neglectful of their outward business and too much +disposed to be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while many good +Christians are not wholly sanctified. + +But provision was made in the gospel for the entire sanctification of +all believers, otherwise Paul would not have prayed for it. And not +only for their entire sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act +of God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their continual +preservation in blamelessness, though not in faultlessness, until the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And lest they should stagger through +unbelief he adds, "Faithful is He that calleth you. You are not to do +it. He will do it for He is able." + +And this experience extends to the whole man, the spirit which takes +hold of and communes with God, the soul with its emotions, affections, +desires and volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers all +made holy and preserved holy. Glory! + +One more citation only and I will leave the reader to his own +researches in the rich storehouse of the Pauline writings. Taking it +for granted that Paul is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. "Wherefore, he is able, also, to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth +to make intercession for them." To the uttermost refers, undoubtedly, +not only to time but to quantity. It means entirely, perfectly, +altogether, through and through. And if he is able he is also willing. +Oh, that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God now and +evermore for salvation from the uttermost to the uttermost. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER. + + + +In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings of his beloved +brother, Paul, and this probably at a period when Paul was either dead +or separated from his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a +tradition that both the apostles were put to death on the same day at +Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself to have his head +downward because unworthy to die just like his Master--the other by +beheading, because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at Rome, +too honorable a position to be subjected to the ignominious death of +the cross. Even if this should be true, yet Peter's second epistle, in +which he endorses Paul's teachings, and gives to his writings the same +authority as to the rest of the Bible, seems to have been written but a +short time previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment of +Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired writer of Scripture, +and that what he had given to the churches through his epistles, and +left as a permanent legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious and frequent +allusions to entire sanctification, as well as to the various other +subjects treated of by his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, +therefore, Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised that +in the very first sentence of his first epistle, he addresses the +Christians of the Jewish dispersion in Asia Minor--though by no means +excluding the Gentile converts--as elect according to the fore-knowledge +(not predestination) of God the Father through sanctification +of the Spirit, which must include entire as well as partial +sanctification, unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in one +grand outburst of salutation from his glowing heart, he associates +sanctification of the Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the +obedience of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst of his +earnest appeals to men's hearts, in order to give a lecture on +Systematic Theology, but both scatter seed-thoughts all over their +inspired pages, which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and +reflecting mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the +Thessalonians employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and thus putting the +apostle of the circumcision by the side of the apostle of the +uncircumcision we have sanctification by the blood of Jesus, +sanctification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even in +a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, and all this without +the slightest inconsistency or contradiction. + +And as Peter starts out by calling God's people to holiness, he +continues by reminding them that their hope is to be fixed upon "an +inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, +reserved in heaven for you." What more natural than that those who are +expecting to inherit a holy heaven, should themselves seek while here +to become a holy people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it. + +After speaking of the "trial of their faith being much more precious +than of gold which perisheth," the apostle utters forth an imperious +call to entire sanctification. "But as He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Thus he quotes from the words of +the great lawgiver in Leviticus--that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the Old Testament, as +well as the New, bears witness to the holiness of God, and makes that +fact a sufficient reason for the command and requirement that His +people should be holy, also. + +Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells in a holy heaven. +Is it not most reasonable and most fit that He should require all who +are to dwell with Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting kingdom, +we must be made holy while still clothed in flesh and sojourning upon +earth. Nothing that is not already pure and holy can pass through the +gates of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. + +Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between our Father in +heaven and His children both on earth and in heaven. A lady was +accosted in the streets of a western city by a stranger, who asked her +if she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. She replied, +with some surprise at the question, in the affirmative. "I knew you," +said the gentleman, "by your resemblance to your father who was my +particular friend twenty-five years ago, away back in the State of +Maine." And the lady was delighted that the lineaments of her father's +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she should thus be +recognized even by one who had never seen her before as her father's +child. + +Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly Father so imprinted +upon our faces and upon our walk and upon our conversation that all who +know Him shall recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever we are and +whatever we do. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +In comparison with the precious "blood of Christ" Peter characterizes +silver and gold, which men call precious metals, as "corruptible +things," and then gives the striking exhortation, "Seeing ye have +purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto +unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a +pure heart fervently," and all this on the basis of the new birth which +they had already received "of the incorruptible seed by the word of +God." + +Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned and ignorant man, yet +when thou writest under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost +as hard to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul! + +See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated in various ways +in the sentence quoted above. (1), "Ye have purified your souls." Yes, +and it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem in reference +to Cornelius and his household, and said that God "put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." The word +"purify" is derived from a Greek root which means "fire." Souls are +purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the result is a continual +"obeying the truth," and (2), the positive side of this purification +is "unfeigned love of the brethren," and this is love with a pure heart +and fervent, the same love which John calls perfect love, and the +standard of which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, "As I have loved +you that ye also love one another." + +Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? Peter had never +been to a Theological Seminary, but he had listened through three +eventful years to the blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had +been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and without +aiming at system or explanation, he has compressed more sound theology +into a single verse than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon. + +And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration he tells us how to +grow in grace. "Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," and his +last exhortation at the end of the second epistle is, "But grow in +grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." + +Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, or that we grow +into entire sanctification. We first become receivers, and get grace +before we can grow in it, and we must first receive entire +sanctification before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel +blessings, this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says in effect, in +order to grow in grace you must do two things. (1), Lay aside +everything that hinders growth, specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, +envies, evil speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that all +these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. And so in a single +thought the exhortation is to lay aside, or put off, or give up to +destruction, the depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth so +easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will be an insuperable +hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical growth, and (2) desire, and of +course, partake of the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as in the natural +world, is first to become healthy, and then to take plenty of +nourishment. Holiness is spiritual health, and implies the absence of +inbred sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that is healthy +and gets plenty of pure milk will grow and develop rapidly. The time +will soon come when he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and thus he will +finally become a large and strong man. But the child may be healthy and +still not grow because it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have +plenty of the most wholesome food and still not grow because disease +prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. Sound health and plenty +of food, with proper exercise, are the essentials of the right kind of +growth. Now the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but strong +meat for strong men. It has been remarked by another that if Christians +would be giants they must eat giants' food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to have a sound +spiritual constitution and that means simply entire sanctification. +Peter is right again. We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we +have gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs true +growth. + +Of course my reader will not understand me to say, any more than Peter +himself says, that we experience growth in grace simply by a head +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who +is the bread of life. Nor do I forget that we feed upon His broken body +and His shed blood, not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, +not by learning, but by faith. + +But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible truth, whether +presented on the pages of inspiration or in the preached word, which is +the great instrumentality employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men +to Christ, and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and edifying +the church which has thus been gathered to Him. And so both Peter in +speaking about the "sincere milk of the word," and Paul in referring to +the "strong meat," by which term he characterizes the deeper spiritual +truths of revelation, are leading us to Jesus, the true bread, the +living bread, the bread of life. + +Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description of the Christian +priesthood, and again the leading idea of holiness flashes from his +pen, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ." Again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +an holy nation, a peculiar people." Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, or a dukedom +or a kingdom? Not I at least. + +The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, and even +temporal blessing also, through the mediation of an outward priesthood. +And the family of priests were chosen and ordained of God Himself. "No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God, as was +Aaron." + +But under the Christian dispensation all God's saved people are priests +as well as kings, and the sacrifices which they offer are spiritual +sacrifices, the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like a whole +burnt offering in His service, "the fruit of the lips giving thanks to +His name," and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, a life +rich in faith and good works, such are the sacrifices with which God is +well pleased. But to be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter's words will not allow us to doubt that the priesthood of +believers is a "holy priesthood." + +Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his readers to take ill +treatment patiently when they have to suffer, not for doing wrong but +for doing well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, "Who did no +sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, +reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed +Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare our sins +in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live +unto righteousness," winding up with a terse expression of the great +doctrine of the atonement "by whose stripes ye were healed." + +Paul would have us "dead to sin" by reckoning. Peter would have us +"dead to sins" by making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead either to sin within +us or to sins without us, implies holiness of heart, that is, entire +sanctification. Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine. + +Still further, Peter speaks of the "holy women" of old, and exhorts +Christian women to be like them, particularly in adorning themselves +not with gay attire, but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his +second epistle, he alludes to "holy men of God," speaking through the +Old Testament as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we have +the best possible definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed by equally +learned and candid men. But what can be more satisfactory to the +humble, Christian mind than just to feel that when he reads his Bible, +he is perusing the words of "holy men of God who spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." Such a mind will find no difficulty about +inspiration. + +In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes the unbelief +of the scoffers, who then believed, and whose successors still believe +that the present order of the material universe will continue for an +indefinite period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that the Lord +has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning His promises, but +that the very reason why the sinful world has been spared so long is +because of God's long suffering and mercy, "not willing that any should +perish, but that all should come to repentance." And, then, having +declared that the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved +unto fire, that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the +works that are therein shall be burned up, he exclaims with most +appropriate words, "Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation and godliness," and this in order "that ye may be found of +Him in peace, without spot and blameless." + +Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification as taught by +the apostle of the circumcision. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN. + + + +John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could +forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man +was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by +calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not +extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the +highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was _par excellence_ the +apostle of love. Not that his character became anything like putty. He +could still rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the elect +lady to receive or countenance any who did not uphold the true, sound +doctrines of the gospel. He was still a son of thunder against heresy +and immorality, but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely absorbed in +the love of God, and his exhortations to the churches, seemed all to +concentrate in two special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, and he never +lost the blessed experience. He retained the blessing because he +retained the Blesser. The Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and +keeper. + +The gospel of John contains many of the most profound and spiritual +truths that ever fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And the only +distinction which John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." + +He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the Deity and +preëxistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, then tells of the +incarnation, how the Word became flesh, and we beheld His glory, how +although He was the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, and +though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His own received Him not, +but as many as did receive Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave +He power to become the children of God, and this through a new birth, +not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, not of man in any way +whatever, but of God. It is not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of +God by creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, by the +reception of the Divine nature by birth. And this new birth is more +fully unfolded to the Jewish Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its +necessity and its nature. "Ye must be born again." "The Son of man must +be lifted up." The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The water is +the water of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its cleansing +and refreshing and vivifying properties so well symbolized by water, +and the Holy Spirit is the effective personal agent by whom the +regeneration is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though His +operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, which bloweth where it +listeth, and is known only by its results. Then we have the hinge-text +of salvation, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal +life." Thus, in this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God's +love or God's grace as the source of our salvation, Christ crucified as +the ground of it, and the Holy Spirit as the Divine Agent of its +accomplishment. Glory be to the Triune God. + +Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus on the new birth, but +His discourse, also, with the woman of Samaria on true worship is given +by John alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, not to the +Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at all, but to a heathen or +semi-heathen woman, Jesus made the first recorded, positive declaration +of His Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, so they that +worship Him must do so, not in any specific locality, such as Jerusalem +or Mount Gerizim, and not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart was immediately +and completely captivated by so grand and glorious a revelation, and +that, at once, she left her waterpot and went her way to become a +preacher of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen. + +Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to the Jews to search +the Scriptures and the assurance that they testified of Him; and the +sixth chapter, with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after a +stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to take Him by force and +make Him a king, but He departed into a mountain Himself alone, and the +next day, the wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been so ready to +proclaim Him King, and brought out of the core of His heart those +pathetic words to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?", we come to the +seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, at which, on the occasion +of the priest pouring water from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden +pitcher into a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst let +him come unto Me and drink." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The +Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, and, perhaps, other +similar passages. "And the Lord shalt guide thee continually, and +satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be +like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not." + +But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely valuable +inspired commentary on these words of the Lord Jesus, in order that +readers in all ages might make the true spiritual application which is +intended by them. "But this spake He of the Spirit which they that +believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, +because that Jesus was not yet glorified." These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence and operation of the +Spirit in the former dispensations of God's grace, yet He was to be +poured out on all God's children under the gospel in a sense and to an +extent, which so far transcends the highest manifestation of His power +in Old Testament times that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was +not yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. And this +wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification of Jesus and as a +consequence of that glorification. So that Pentecost, with its untold +wealth of privilege, could not be realized till after the death, +resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and +twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their +hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire +sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a +privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy +Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude +that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your +children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God +shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual +believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all +Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen. + +In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin. +"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall +make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but +from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from +sin itself. + +Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does +not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your +own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in +this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad +acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own +way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do +everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions +and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and +into freedom for Jesus' sake. + +In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the +last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of +his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy +Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of +His coming He says, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My +Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with +him." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father +and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart +of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And +if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father, +Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly? + +In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the +doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk +in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim +to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in +the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies +fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +from all sin." + +This is a very striking and all-important statement. The verb is in +the present tense, and denotes a present and a continuous action. It +cleanseth persistently and continuously. You trust in Jesus this +moment, and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it cleanseth, +and thus on, without intermission or cessation. And the cleansing is +from all sin, sin committed and sin inbred, sin in act, word or +thought, sin outward and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of +knowledge and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. If this +does not mean entire sanctification, what use is there in language as +an expression of thought? Surely none. + +But the objection is strongly urged by some that the next verse assures +us that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the +truth is not in us." But why sunder this verse from its appropriate +connections? Were there not Pharisees in the time of Christ who would +not admit that they were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle John live to +see the germs of incipient gnosticism showing themselves in the church, +assuming, like modern Christian science, that all evil is in matter, +the soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing that it was +possible to have fellowship with God while living in all kinds of +sensual indulgence and licentiousness, and moreover denying the reality +of the incarnation of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and +resurrection? These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow: + + "Ah, to how many faith has been + No evidence of things unseen, + But a dim shadow, which recasts + The creed of the Phantasiasts, + For whom no man of sorrows died: + For whom the tragedy divine + Was but a symbol and a sign, + And Christ a phantom crucified." + +Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that on certain +conditions it is possible to experience through the blood of Christ, +which means simply the merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to those who deny +that they are sinners, he exclaims, and if we say that we have no sin, +and therefore do not need this cleansing, and can do without this +atonement, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How +much more rational is such an interpretation than the exposition which +makes one verse contradict the other, and represents the apostle as +first assuring us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. "But be sure to remember that this cleansing is +never really affected, and you are never really without sin." + +There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this epistle that we +must needs make selection and leave many passages to be carefully and +prayerfully pondered by the reader, with the assurance that there is +very much gold to be found for the digging; but we would call attention +in a special manner to John's description of perfect love. "There is no +fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath +torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." + +It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions that whilst all +Christians do and must love God, yet there is a stage denominated +perfect love, which many Christians have not yet reached. And this +stage of religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence of +fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean for us to understand +that we shall ever get beyond that reverential and filial fear, which +is the right and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation to our +Heavenly Father. But he specially describes the fear that will be +gotten rid of as tormenting fear, and this fear he declares that +"perfect love casteth out." Now we can readily see the reasonableness +of this statement. Fear about the future, whether as to temporal or +spiritual things, fear of evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in +short, all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred sin. As +a matter of course, therefore, when sin is cast out, fear is cast out +with it. Now perfect love is the positive side of entire +sanctification; it implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, most truly must +cast out fear. + +The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. The awakened sinner +fears him, but does not love Him. The justified believer both fears and +loves. Sometimes the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his heart, and has no +tormenting fear. Praise the Lord. + +And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the method of obtaining +the blessing of perfect love. It is by the prayer of faith, and the +prayer of faith involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +"For," says John, "if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our +heart," which probably signifies that He also will condemn us, and, +therefore, we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing as +entire sanctification while we are not wholly given up to the Lord, for +while that is our case, our heart will continue to condemn us. + +But he continues, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence +towards God." And again, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we +know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him." + +Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation more +beautifully portrayed than in these precious words. We are shown here +that (1), the seeker of entire sanctification must be wholly +consecrated to God. (2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God's will. (4), That then he may know that he has +the very thing he asks for. Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon +it. Amen. + +Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness of the Spirit to our +conscious cleansing. "If we love one another" (i.e. with a true and +pure and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) "God dwelleth +in us and His love is perfected in us." "Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit." Now to +have God's love perfected in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can +mean nothing less than entire sanctification, and we know this, as John +tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, the witness of the Spirit +to perfect love as well as to adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE. + + + +James and Jude were brothers. They were also "brethren of the Lord." +Whether this expression means actual brothers, namely, children of +Joseph and Mary, or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I leave to the +Biblical critics. Receiving without argument their respective epistles +as belonging to the inspired canon, I am to inquire what their teaching +is in reference to the one theme of this book, that is, entire +sanctification. + +James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop of Jerusalem he +presided specially over the Jewish Christian Church, and his epistle is +addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," i.e., to +the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, no doubt, to the Christian Jews, +but also secondarily and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. +James was "zealous of the law." He fully agreed with Paul and with +Peter that the yoke of circumcision and the Mosaic law was not to be +imposed upon the Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to observe the +outward law. His epistle is like Matthew's gospel, and savors strongly +of the Sermon on the Mount. As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock +of Christians, while he fully assented to Paul's teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon the people with +vehemence that they should show their faith by their works and that +they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only." As Paul +completely demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of the +law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired and a vigorous +protest against every form of Antinomianism. Thus the two writers, both +moved by the Holy Ghost, present the two aspects of gospel truth so +plainly that he may run that readeth. "We are saved by faith, not by +works," says Paul. "Aye," says James, "but we are saved in good works, +not out of them," and we must be careful to maintain good works, not in +order to be saved, but because we are saved. Good works are necessary, +not as the ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and +resultant and test of the salvation which we have received by faith. +James, therefore, is not antagonistic to, but only complementary of the +great apostle of the Gentiles. + +And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark of Christian +perfection in the very beginning of his epistle. He assures us that if +we let patience have her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + +Christian perfection, then, according to James, is perfect patience. +Christian perfection according to John, is perfect love. Christian +perfection, according to Paul, is maturity or being "thoroughly +furnished unto all good works." Christian perfection, according to +Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. Surely none but +a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes +of expression. They all imply deliverance from sin, which is always +instantaneous, and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual. + +James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under the name of lust. +"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and +enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) sin; +and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." + +We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers of the Bible, +believed in a personal devil, for he speaks of a wisdom which is +"devilish" and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity of +his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the enticement implies an +enticer, and that the wicked spiritual adversary of our race knows how +to adapt his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin is +strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, to entrap and +destroy him. Depravity exists by nature in all, but in one man it is +particularly felt in the direction of covetousness, in another, of +pride, in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. Satan's +temptations in the first of these would most likely be something which +holds out the prospect of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it +would be something to feed his intense admiration of self, to cherish +his pride; in the third, it would be the hope of political or some +other kind of power on the condition of sacrificing principle; in the +fourth, it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as in +drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus the trap is set for +every man, and the trapper is wary. God save us from his wiles. + +And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as it exists in the form +of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and shows itself in +evil speakings, so James tells us to lay apart "all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness," or "overflowing of wickedness." Ah, +beloved, most truly did Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain +of wickedness, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of us a superfluity of +naughtiness, an overflowing of wickedness, a natural depravity, an +inbred sin, and this must be "laid apart," it must be gotten rid of by +bringing and subjecting the heart where it dwells to the fiery baptism +with the Holy Ghost, and then shall we be in a position to receive, +with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. + +St. James speaks of the "law of liberty," and of the "royal law," the +latter being, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and both mean, +I apprehend, just what we have already alluded to as the law of love. +"Love," says Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law," and this is liberty, +and this is royalty, the freedom to do God's will because we love it, +and to have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled from our +hearts, and all lawful affections and passions subdued and subjected to +Him who is our King, and who reigns without a rival in our hearts. + + "I worship Thee, sweet will of God, + And all Thy ways adore; + And every day I live, I seem + To love Thee more and more." + +If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, where shall we find +them? Not on earth, at least. + +James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek more religion, but +he tersely defines pure religion. And that is what we want. It does not +depend upon age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure as +soon as it raises itself above the surface of the ground. Another stalk +may be impure and diseased when it is many feet in height. A Christian +may seek and find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he is +born again. Another Christian may spend years and years in seeking more +religion, and yet not become the possessor of purity of heart. + +This pure religion, according to our author, consists in works of +beneficence and love as to its outward manifestations, but its true +inward principle is in keeping one's self "unspotted from the world." +Oh, that all my readers with myself, may thus keep themselves unspotted +from the world, which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, and +in the end "may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless." + +But an objector here interposes with a quotation from James which is +supposed to preclude the possibility of living without sin. "In many +things we offend all." But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must continue in the +commission of sin to the end of their lives, would not only be doing +violence to that which is the very trend of our author's teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, but it would also +prove too much. For a little further on we read, in reference to that +unruly evil, the tongue, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and +therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God," +and again, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body." Surely no expositor would +maintain from such language that James was a tamer of horses and a +profane swearer. The truth is, that James, out of kindness and +courtesy, includes himself among his hearers or readers, and means to +show us how liable we are to give offence through rash and ill-advised +words, and then, on the other hand, he does not fail to mention the man +who does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace of God, to +bridle the whole body, that is, to live without sin, and whom, again, +he styles a "perfect man." + +Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine wisdom is first +pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, or babe in Christ, would +often reverse this arrangement. He is clamorous for peace, often to the +extent that he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and then +pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and He is always right. No +compromise must be made with error in doctrine, or evil in practice, +even for the sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities follow in proper +succession, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and the rest. + +Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher of holiness, "Cleanse +your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy of the Holy +Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. To cleanse the hands is +to obtain pardon and absolution for what we have done, and it is always +the first work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness of +his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, then his hands are +cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. He may still be unstable +in all his ways. His spiritual course may still be zig-zag. His life +may still be a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again and +repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, "O wretched man that +I am, who (not what) shall deliver me from this body of death?" And +then James's prescription comes home to him, "Purify your hearts, ye +double-minded." Seek and obtain the blessing of entire sanctification, +and, henceforth, with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the way +of Christ's commandments. Justification first and entire sanctification +afterwards. First cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with +this agree the words of the Psalmist, "Who shall ascend into the hill +of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" "He that hath clean +hands," that is, whose sins have been pardoned, "and a pure heart," +that is, who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the Holy +Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament and the New. + +Finally, James assures us that the "prayer of faith shall save the +sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." And not only physical but +spiritual blessing may be received in the same way for "If he have +committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." His conclusion is that +"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working," +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in the original as in +the passive voice, and then the meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. +S.A. Keen in his Faith papers, "The prayer of a righteous man being +energized" (by the Holy Ghost) "availeth much." + +I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer +begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the +prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is +the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a +special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also +given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the +special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st +Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the +power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, +which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually +believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be condemned." + +And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray +in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the +prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit +Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should +pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for +with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh +intercession for the saints according to the will of God." + +A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer +that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does +the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing, +which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance, +and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of +God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the +hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the +sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of +believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the +Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come. + +I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed, +and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must +be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order +to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary +prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of +faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer, +ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the +other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and +extraordinary results. Praise the Lord. + +Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to "hate even the +garment spotted by the flesh," that is, to keep entirely clear of all +the pollutions of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which was +regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually interpreted, +must mean the unspotted holiness of the true Christian. And as to the +question of one's ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is "able to keep us from falling," the very thing we +need and which we cannot do for ourselves, and "to present us faultless +before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." First, then, we +are to be sanctified wholly, then kept from falling by the power of +Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God's glory in heaven. And +this is the gospel according to Jude. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER. + + + +There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which I purposely +omitted in the preceding chapter, that it might have a more prominent +place in the present one. + +Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared to be "sanctified +by God the Father." It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every +person of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, is +concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. And this fact, like +many others, points to the extreme importance of the subject on which +we are treating; for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into active operation +in order to cleanse our hearts from the pollution of sin, and fit us +for heaven, then it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. If God, +therefore, regards it as an essential that we be sanctified wholly, let +us beware of the thought that it is only optional, that it is possible, +if possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, and that it +can be done without, or what is practically too nearly the same thing, +postponed until we see, or think we see, the near approach of death. +What every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance now, +let us not dare either to reject or postpone. "Behold, now is the +accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." + +Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "And now, brethren, I +commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are +sanctified." + +Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the +unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God's +infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed +of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. And when +our souls are stirred up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the "unspeakable gift" of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the +unspeakable blessings derived from and through Him, let us not forget +that behind it all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son." + +Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity belong to God +the Father. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the +Holy Spirit. Neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever +send the Father. The Father "created all things by Jesus Christ." Jesus +Christ cast out devils "by the Spirit of God." The Son reveals the +Father, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to +whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, +for "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "He +shall testify of Me." "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." "He +shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear" (from the Father +and the Son) "that shall He speak." + +Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given or could give to +His creature man is the gift of His Son. The greatest gift that God the +Son has given to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of the +Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, "I will pray the Father and He +shall give you another Comforter," and "whom the Father will send in My +name," but also, "If I depart I will send Him unto you," so we may say +in general terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father and the gift of +the Son. And it may be added that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit +to man is the gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory be +to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. + +And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified by God the Father, +He means not only that we are separated unto the gospel of life and +salvation, set apart to God and His service, but, also, that God the +Father has made ample provision in the death of His Son for all +Christian believers to be cleansed from every stain of moral +defilement, delivered from inbred sin, sanctified wholly, made perfect +in love, and filled with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to the redeemed soul, +that the source of all these unspeakable blessings is in the infinite +grace and love of God. + +Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is brought +prominently forward and insisted upon. And His own holiness is +presented as a sufficient reason why His people should be holy also. +"Be ye holy, for I am holy," which command and declaration are repeated +and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle, "But as He +which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely holy, and He +requires all His children to be holy even in the present life, it goes +without saying, as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely the standard of +God's holiness which is set before us by the Saviour as the mark at +which we also are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. "Be ye +perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Not that our +perfection or our holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be an impossibility +and absurdity, but that we are to be perfect in our sphere as He is +perfect in His, that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be perfect in love as +He is perfect love, and that we are to be delivered from all sin, not +by any effort or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace in +Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name that we are sanctified +by God the Father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON. + + + +As the source of our entire sanctification is in the unmerited love and +grace of God the Father, so the ground of it is in the blood of Christ +the Son. Justification and Sanctification are by no means identical, +but as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they are +precisely parallel. We are told that justification is by grace, and, +again, that it is by the blood of Jesus, and, still again, that it is +by faith. It is, therefore, God's grace, it is Christ's blood, it is +man's faith by which we are justified. The originating cause of our +justification is the grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith. + +And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. We are not +justified in one way and sanctified in another. We are sanctified as +well as justified by the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as +justified by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith. + +All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious sacrifice of the +Lord Jesus Christ. He "of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, +(justification) and sanctification and redemption." + +And sanctification, no more than justification, releases us from our +dependence upon the atonement. If we are either justified or sanctified +today it is not because we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. +If we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future period of +our eternity, it will not be because we deserve it but because Christ +died for us. And so forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of redemption "unto Him +that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath +made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and +dominion forever and ever. Amen." We are everlastingly linked to the +atonement of Jesus Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart. + +"Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from +their sins," which signifies, I apprehend, both the forgiveness of +sins already committed and saving them from the commission of sins in +the future. Here, then, we have justification and regeneration. "Behold +the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." This must mean +the sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth +so easily beset us, in a word, inbred sin. And to have the inbred sin +taken away means nothing more and nothing less and nothing else, than +entire sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by God the Son. + +"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Here +we have a positive statement that upon certain conditions to be +fulfilled by us, we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, and open sin and +secret sin, and all sin. There is no mistaking the length and breadth +and all comprehensiveness of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us +walk in the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true. + +And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which result He had in +view, no less than the removal of our guilt when He laid down His life +for us. "Wherefore, Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate." Glory to His Name. + +He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved from guilt and +condemnation and penalty, but that we might be saved from sin, or +sanctified wholly. And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn. + + "The cleansing stream I see, I see, + I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me. + It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST. + + + +As already intimated all the persons of the adorable Trinity are +concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying a human soul. And this is +naturally to be expected, because God is one Trinitarianism is not +Tritheism. In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. The Bible reveals +the fact, but does not reveal the how. We bow in adoring gratitude and +love before an incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing even +without understanding. + +Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians as +distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, "The renewing of the Holy +Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our +Saviour," is spoken of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection +with the "washing of regeneration," and seems intended to be +experienced just after it. Possibly the renewing here spoken of, may +signify only the change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind the entire cleansing +of the heart from sin. And in that case the renewing need not be any +more gradual or progressive than the washing, which all admit to be +instantaneous. + +Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, the occurrences which +he had witnessed at the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this +language: "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Evidently here +the chief of the apostles gives us to understand that the giving of +the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart by faith, are +co-instantaneous and identical experiences. And if this be so, the Holy +Ghost, who is a Divine person, and not a mere influence, must be the +effective agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is He who by +His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly. + +And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize +you with water, unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is +mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize +you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." For what purpose is this fiery +baptism with the Holy Ghost? Most certainly that it may consume the +inbred sin of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys the +alloy that the gold may be left pure. + +Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following language, viz: +"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." This great +apostle was the first to clearly understand the perfect equality +between Jew and Gentile in the gospel of salvation, and as he made +hundreds of Gentile converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation in entire +consecration to God, they were sanctified by the Holy Ghost. + +The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to give +thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because +God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through +sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the true +election and the true salvation, a salvation from sin, through +sanctification of the Spirit and this is to be obtained by faith. + +And the apostle of the circumcision uses language very similar in +addressing the Jewish Christians who are scattered abroad, and whom he +addresses as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of +the blood of Jesus Christ." Comparing these two citations we observe +again, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our +sanctification, and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a +continuous cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying our souls, on +condition that we believe the truth. God help all Christians to be not +faithless, but believing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH. + + + +We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the work of +sanctification in connection with belief of the truth on our part. And +with this agree the words of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. +"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." The word here is +not the eternal Logos, but God's revealed truth as given in Holy writ. +And it is a statement of the highest importance, made by Him who is the +truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification is in the truth +of God as made known to us in the gospel of His Son. Here, again, the +Apostle Peter gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that +by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust." If we are favored to +escape the corruption that is in the world, we are sanctified wholly, +and this is effected, Peter says, not by works of righteousness, not by +resolutions or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before we seek +to be holy, but by faith in the promises of God. These promises are +very numerous, and varied in character on the pages of the Bible. By +seizing upon them as written specially for us, we make them our own, +and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea and amen, that is to say, we +realize them in our own experience to be the truth, and thus when we +read "This is the will of God even your sanctification," or, "The very +God of peace sanctify you wholly," or, "I will circumcise your heart," +or "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my +statutes," immediately the truth is impressed upon our hearts as a +glorious reality, and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the Saviour's prayer +is answered and we are in His own blessed words, sanctified "by the +truth." If any reader will take a concordance and look for the word +truth, and search out the passages containing it, he will be convinced +that, however men may look at it, we have to do with the Lord God of +truth, and that His estimate of truth is so high that He will by no +means countenance any person or anything that liveth or maketh a lie. +And if we would honor Him, we must honor His truth, the truth that is +to make us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which we are +commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, and sell it not, the truth +which the Lord desires in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, +the truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which we are +sanctified, the truth of the word. + +And then we shall find in our own experience that "A God of truth and +without iniquity, just and right is He," that He will send out His +light and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill and to His +tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, even the banner of holiness +to the Lord, to be displayed because of the truth, and we must never +let it trail in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth +came by Jesus Christ. + +Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SANCTIFIED BY FAITH. + + + +The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. Adam believed +God and was obedient and happy, and the first thing that the wily +tempter attacked, and, alas, with too much success, was man's faith. +"Yea," hath God said, and "Ye shall not surely die." First, a question. +Then, a doubt of God's truth; then, a doubt of His love, and the rest +was easy. Man stood so long as he did stand by faith. He fell when he +did fall by unbelief. + +God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. Man could not +be the child of God if he did not have faith in God. Faith binds us in +the closest spiritual union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs +this bond of union and separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. +Beloved, let us have faith in God. + +"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the +Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense +all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was +known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are +also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's +gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them +gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on +His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of +God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must +be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be +saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he +that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God +abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the +power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all +mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving +faith, often requires the coöperation of the human will. And, +therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for +obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V. + +Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in +religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily +life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All +intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they +call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody +can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and +serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who +accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that +all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called +ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from +self-luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence +of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the +phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science +is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children, +farewell to all the enjoyment of home life. + +Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When business men, +manufacturers or merchants lose faith in one another, or in their +government, investments cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard +times are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds men to God, so +it is the bond that binds men one to another. When confidence is lost, +all is lost. Even a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance of things +hoped for, because it makes them real, as it is the evidence of things +not seen, because it convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter in hand that, +namely, of entire sanctification. + +Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said to them, "And now, +brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is +able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which +are sanctified," and in the commission to Paul himself the Saviour +says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of +sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is +in me." And as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit is +used by the apostle in direct connection with belief of the truth. +There can be no doubt, therefore, that the instrumental means of entire +sanctification is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is the +confidence," says the beloved John, "that we have in Him, that if we +ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that +He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that +we desired of Him." + +Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean heart, ask for +perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, ask for the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and he knows he is asking according to the will of God. +Then, according to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also by +faith, because it is God's promise that he has the petitions he desired +of Him. That is to say, when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act +of faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that he has the +clean heart, the perfect love, the entire sanctification, the Holy +Ghost baptism, which he asked for. And this will be honoring God by +taking Him at His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other evidence, the +witness of the Spirit may be prayed for and waited for, but, in the +meantime, he can and must rely with unwavering confidence upon the +evidence or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness of the +Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness of faith. + +I said we must believe by an act of the will. And some reader may +object to this statement by asserting that faith or belief is not a +matter of volition, but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply to give its +rightful force to the evidence. It is not for want of evidence that any +earnest, consecrated seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able +and willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He asserts it in +many forms and repeats it again and again as His Divine will that His +people should be holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here and +now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is not willing to make them +holy here and now, He must desire them to continue longer in sin, which +thought would impugn His own holiness. + +No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the faith-faculty has +become weakened and paralyzed by sin, and now we must determine to +believe, by putting our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many a seeking soul has +come out into the fullness of salvation by singing the hymn: + + "I can, I will, I do believe + That Jesus saves me now." + +The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, was told to +stretch it forth. He might have said where is my evidence that it will +do any good to try? But he put his will into the obedient attitude. He +willed to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with the obedient +will the power came from Jesus, and he stretched it forth and was +restored. To every one of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus +says, "Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to be responsible +for the result." Believe and receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, +we are sanctified by faith. Glory to the Lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + + +I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the doctrine and +experience of entire sanctification are fully and clearly taught in +Holy Scripture. All the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the history, in +the gospels, in the epistles, we find that God requires His people to +be holy and to be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their +privilege to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in the +sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be made holy. + +"For their sakes," says the blessed Saviour, "I sanctify Myself that +they also might be sanctified through the truth," or as the margin, +"truly sanctified," or as the Revised Version, "that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth." The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly +did not need to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was the "holy thing" +that was to be born of the Virgin Mary. "He knew no sin," He "did no +sin," He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," +and, therefore, when He says "I sanctify Myself," He means nothing more +nor less than I consecrate Myself, or I set Myself apart, but in the +other clause where the term sanctify is used in reference to His +people, it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin entirely +sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He sets Himself apart, +therefore, to the work of redemption and salvation that He may have a +holy people on earth, as without controversy He must and will have a +holy people in heaven. + +We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous with the baptism +with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that the two experiences are in an +important sense identical, or, at least, so related to each other that +whoever has one has the other. It is Christ and none other who baptizes +with the Holy. Ghost. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and +fire," not as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are to be +two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards that of fire +in the way of affliction or persecution, though plenty of these are +promised and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under +the similitude of fire, that is, that dross and tin and reprobate +silver, or, in a word, all inbred sin may be consumed. + +Nor is it correct to say that there are "many baptisms" of the Spirit. +The Holy Ghost baptism is received by the consecrated believer once +for all, and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism confers upon him, +from Christ through the Spirit, and again comes in repentance and +confession to do his first works, and again to be filled with the +Spirit and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the Holy Ghost +seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving the same emotional +experience as at first, but may and must be received and retained by +faith, and the amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He will +arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean to say that the +experience may be lost and may be regained, but seldom with the same +phenomena of consciousness as at the first. Do not speak, then, of +having had many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the one +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say that you are desiring +or that you have had a fresh baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your +thoughts and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth. + +But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The Psalmist says, "I +shall be anointed with fresh oil," and to every sanctified child of +God, there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of girding and +filling, and fresh anointing for particular services, which are +sometimes called fresh baptisms, but which are not to be confounded +with the one true abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they come because we +already have the Blesser Himself as a personal indwelling Presence and +Power. + +Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that we are first +sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and afterwards filled or baptized +with the Holy Ghost. This opinion would necessitate three separate +experiences, where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by the blood, and (3) +the filling of the Spirit. There would thus be a separation between the +removing of inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the Holy +Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification for service. +It is regarded by these teachers, as only given for an enduement of +power, to do the work to which we are called. And the practical result +of this error, for such with due deference I must regard it, is that +some will be very anxious to obtain the baptism with the Holy Ghost to +make them strong or powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even +deny, the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen tells us of +a minister who wrote to him that he did not take much stock in +sanctification, but that he was very desirous of the Holy Ghost +baptism, in order that he might have increased power in the ministry of +the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very prevalent idea, that we +are to be baptized for service, but not for cleansing. + +I trust that no reader who has followed me through the different +chapters of this book will imagine, for a moment, that I under-value, +in the slightest degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, cleanseth us from +all sin. I think I have sufficiently stated elsewhere that the blood of +Jesus is the procuring cause of our sanctification, as well as of our +justification, and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood of the Son of God +is the ground of our sanctification, but it is the Holy Spirit who is +the effective agent in destroying the depravity of our hearts. + +It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, and that God +anointed Him for the great work of redemption. And in His case, the +word used is anointed or descended, and not in any place baptized. He +needed not the work of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As a man, He did need +the energizing for His work, and, therefore, He is said to have been +anointed. Beloved, let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy Ghost baptism are +coetaneous experiences, and must not be divorced. + +And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. I have shown that +like a golden thread the doctrine of entire sanctification runs through +the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types and the ceremonies, +the gospels and epistles, everywhere showing us that we have to do with +a Holy God, and that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women. + +To all who shall read this book, I testify that by the grace of God, +and the blood of Christ, and the sin-consuming baptism with the Holy +Ghost, this poor man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name. + +And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May He "make you +perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Amen. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +***** This file should be named 6657-8.txt or 6657-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/5/6657/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/6657-8.zip b/old/6657-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d24e4ec --- /dev/null +++ b/old/6657-8.zip diff --git a/old/6657.txt b/old/6657.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f800e03 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/6657.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4101 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Posting Date: October 2, 2014 [EBook #6657] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.] + + + +THE + +THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS. + +BY + +DOUGAN CLARK, M. D. + +PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHURCH +HISTORY IN EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, INDIANA. + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF +MY FATHER AND MOTHER, +DOUGAN AND ASENATH CLARK, +BOTH FOR MANY YEARS APPROVED +MINISTERS IN THE FRIENDS' CHURCH, +AND BOTH LONG SINCE DEPARTED +TO BE WITH CHRIST, THIS +BOOK IS LOVINGLY +Dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY + II. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE + III. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES + IV. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE + V. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY + VI. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST + VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL +VIII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER + IX. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN + X. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE + XI. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER + XII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON +XIII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST + XIV. SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH + XV. SANCTIFIED BY FAITH + XVI. CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY. + + + +Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology is the most +important of all sciences. It is the science that treats of God and of +man in his relation to God. It is a systematic presentation of revealed +truth. As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds revealed by +the telescope, and as the basis of Geology is the crust of the earth, +so the basis of Theology is the Divine revelation found in the Holy +Scriptures. The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is a +systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire sanctification as +derived from the written word of God. Such a presentation we hope--with +the help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly invoke--to +attempt to give in this book. May God bless the endeavor, and overrule +our human weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen. + +It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class of Christians to +whom the subject of entire sanctification is a matter of indifference. +They hope, with or without sufficient reason, that their sins are +forgiven. They propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, again +with or without sufficient reason, that they will go to heaven when +they die. The subject of holiness does not interest them. They suppose +themselves to be doing well enough without it. + +There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom the subject is even +positively distasteful. It is an offence to them. They do not want to +hear it preached. They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion and spiritual +pride. They turn away from the whole subject not only with +indifference, but with disdain. + +There are still others, and these God's children, as we may charitably +believe, who do not even regard holiness as a desirable thing. They +assert that it is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It is true that they +are never able to tell how much sin it takes to have this beneficial +effect, but a certain amount they are bent on having. + +Another class takes the opposite view. They regard holiness as very +desirable, and a very lovely thing to gaze upon and think upon, but +they also regard it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to get it at the +moment of death. Not sooner than the dying hour, do they believe any +human being can be made holy. Not till death is separating the soul +from the body can even God Himself separate sin from the soul. The +whole doctrine of entire sanctification, therefore, they regard as a +beautiful theory, but wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly +impracticable as a life. + +In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, as described by +Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are opposed to the doctrine of entire +sanctification. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and the +carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. This opposition may +take one of the forms already described, or, possibly, some other forms +which have been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the same +in all. Wherever "our old man" has his home in a Christian's heart, +there entire sanctification will be rejected. + +But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. There are +thousands of sincere, believing hearts in all Christian denominations, +in whom inbred sin still exists, but not with the consent of the will. +They are tired--very tired of the tyrant that rules them, or of the +ceaseless struggles by which, with God's added and assisting grace, +they are enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. They are +hungering for full salvation, and rejoice to hear the message of entire +sanctification through the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The +Lord bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them the desire of +their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, and may their numbers be +vastly increased, so that the banner of Christ's church may everywhere +be unfurled--the banner on which is inscribed the glorious motto of +Holiness to the Lord. + +Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire +sanctification--whether in the form of indifference, or dislike, or +undesirableness, or impossibility--with the simple proposition, It is +necessary. If this proposition can be established, all objections, of +whatever character, must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every +Christian heart must be, How can I obtain that priceless blessing which +is essential to my eternal bliss, which is indispensable, and without +which I shall never see the Lord? + +For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace +with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," +and in the Revised Version, "Follow after peace with all men, and the +sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." This can mean +nothing short of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred sin. +And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue the question as to the +indispensableness of this blessed experience, in order to gain an +entrance into heaven. Everyone will admit that God Himself is a +perfectly and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His followers +in all ages, "Be ye holy for I am holy"--making His own perfect and +entire holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same quality +in His people. And, although the holiness of the highest created being +will always fall infinitely short of that of the Infinite God, as +regards quantity, it will be the same _in quality_, for Jesus +tells us, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," +not, of course, with the unmeasurable amount of perfection which +appertains to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far as it +goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that "There shall in no wise +enter into it" (the heavenly city) "anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie." Heaven is a holy +place, and occupied with none but holy inhabitants. + +But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that we may reach the +blissful abode of the glory land, when is this stupendous blessing to +be obtained? It is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as an attainment, and +this form of expression has a tendency to discourage the seeker by +magnifying the difficulty of receiving this blessing. The thought +contained in the word attainment is that of something earnestly striven +for, struggled after, persistently pursued with much labor and toil and +effort, until, at last, the coveted prize is attained. A very few of +the multitudes who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of hard labor and +privation and hardship. The majority died on the way, or while mining +for the precious metal, or returned as poor as they went. + +On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply that of a gift. +And entire sanctification is precisely a gift, "merely this and nothing +more." It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit of our +own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise to be undertaken; not +the fruit of a long journey or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor +trying, nor suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord. + +And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable gift to be +obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist answer, in +purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a second probation after death. +But the Holy Scriptures tell us absolutely nothing either of a +purgatory or a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be determined in one +probation, which is allotted to us in the present life. Let no one +suppose, for a moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left this mundane +sphere. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of +salvation." + +But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, and also a large +portion of the membership of Arminian denominations, without regard to +their creeds, if asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at death. The +prevailing idea on this subject, among Christian believers, seems to be +as follows: First, through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins are pardoned, and we +are born again. After that, our sole business is to grow in grace, and +by this growth to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can reach that standard +until the moment of death. + +Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, grow in grace +until we receive it. And we can never grow into grace, but grow in it +after we get it. We can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree is limited +because of the presence of inbred sin, which is the great, if indeed, +not the only hindrance of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at +least, because if the justified Christian is brought to see the need +and the possibility of entire sanctification, and yet fails, as so many +do, to enter into the blessing, because of unbelief, he is very prone +either to backslide, in which case, of course, there will be a +cessation of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to the +bondage of legalism, and after having begun in the Spirit, he will seek +to be perfected in the flesh; in which case Paul's verdict to that +beloved church was not ye are growing in grace, but, "ye are fallen +from grace." + +It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into the blessing of +entire sanctification. That blessing is to be received by faith, as the +gift of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when the +grace has once been obtained in this manner, then we can grow in it +indefinitely and for a lifetime, possibly even for an eternity. Growth +in grace is a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring us to the death of +the old man, nor to the experience of entire sanctification. + +And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death is nowhere +mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. Death can separate the soul +from the body, but to separate sin from the soul is a work which God +can only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is +our sanctifier, and even if the work is performed in the article of +death, it is still the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, where is the +hindrance to His performing it a week, a month, a year, or forty years +before death--if only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where is His +omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do it before death; then where +is His own holiness? In either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves +of an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save us from such +folly. + +Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite in the sentiment +that entire sanctification is to be sought and obtained now, and if +now, then it is to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained by faith, and from +these premises the further conclusion is logically deducible, that we +cannot make ourselves any better in order to receive it, but that we +must take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the pithy precept +of John Wesley, "Expect it by faith--expect it as you are--expect it +now." + +In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some things which +belong more accurately to the next chapter; but we are not seeking so +much for a perfectly methodical arrangement, as for a clear and +Scriptural presentation of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now +that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of +entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results +of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable +blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father's will in this +world, it is indispensable to live by. + +But before leaving entirely the subject of growth in grace, having +demonstrated, as we trust, that we can never grow into entire +sanctification, we ought, perhaps, to explain what we mean by the +statement that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace after, +and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification has two sides or +aspects. It has a positive side and a negative side. Its negative side +is the removal of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of +subtraction. And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. The latter +is a matter of addition, because it implies the impartation of a new +life to the soul which has hitherto been "dead in trespasses and sins." +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification there can be no +growth. If a heart is pure it cannot be more pure. If it is free from +sin it cannot be more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase in purity. + +But the positive side of entire sanctification is perfect love, and +this is a relative expression. It does not mean that all who possess it +must have an equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual is +just his own heart--not some one else's heart--being filled with love. +One individual may have a greater capacity of loving than another, just +as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or of working. Perfect love +in a child would not be perfect love in a man; and perfect love in a +man would not be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect love today may +not be perfect love to-morrow. As we commune with God and work with +Him, as we get more and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of the Triune God, how +is it possible that we should not love Him more and more? "There will +never be a time in earth nor in Heaven," says the late Dr. Upham, "when +there may not be an increase of holy love." On the positive side of +entire sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true growth in grace, +about which much more could be said, but we leave it for the present, +to resume our main theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come. + +We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian can do all +that God would have him do, nor enjoy all that God would have him enjoy +in this world, without the grace of entire sanctification. In the +beautiful language of metaphor the Saviour says, "I am the true Vine +and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He taketh away, and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He +purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." And again, "Herein is +My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be My +disciples." Now the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am +come," says He, "that ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye +might have it more abundantly" (in entire sanctification). The abundant +life and the abundant fruit, therefore, can only be found in connection +with purity of heart. + +It is doubtless _true_ that every living branch, that is to say, +every justified and regenerated believer, may and should and must, if +he would retain his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is +precisely these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman "purges"--sanctifies--that they may bring forth the more +abundant fruit by which He Himself shall be glorified. And here we +might rest our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two will be +in place. + +The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius of a poet, the +intimate connection between purity and power. He puts into the mouth of +Sir Galahad, one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz: + + "My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + +Now one of the most common complaints among Christians of all +denominations, is because of their weakness and their leanness. And yet +nothing is clearer than that God has promised to make His people +strong, that He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and that +not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to say criminal in His sight. +The reason, then, of our weakness and our leanness and the meagreness +of our fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not fulfill the +conditions on which He promises to make us strong. One of these +conditions, and an indispensable one, is that we be entirely +sanctified. It is they that know their God, both in conversion and +entire sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall "be strong +and do exploits." Beloved, if you would accomplish the work that God +has given you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment in +eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, seek and find that which +is the essential condition, and ask at once to be wholly sanctified. + +And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the joy of an uttermost +salvation, the peace that passeth understanding, the fellowship with +the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing of +the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the abiding presence of +the indwelling Comforter, then pray that the very God of Peace may here +and now sanctify you wholly. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE. + + + +This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary from what has been +said in the preceding chapter. If entire sanctification has been proved +to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot +attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian +enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, +and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our +gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable +requisite both for time and for eternity may be received. + +But before discussing this proposition in detail let us have a clear +understanding of what is meant by entire sanctification, and, as a +preliminary, let us study a few simple theological definitions. + +In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty in believing that +I fully accept the Arminian doctrine of the universality of the +atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of +all mankind, and its benefits are offered to all. "He tasted death for +every man." But it does not follow that all men will be saved, and this +for the reason that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated to accept it. +But it is available only in the case of those who believe. "He that +believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +condemned." A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation. + +Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. It is either +general or special. In one sense it is as broad as atonement. Atonement +is for sin; redemption is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. +In its more special meaning it is applicable only to those who accept +the atonement. For these it implies release from the bondage of the +will under the law of sin and death, or justification and regeneration. +It brings also release from the power and existence of depravity or +entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, the complete +glorification of the saints in body, soul and spirit at God's right +hand, and the deliverance of the creation itself from the "bondage of +corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." + +The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement are offered +to the sinner is repentance. Both the Saviour Himself and His +forerunner began their public ministry with words of like import, viz: +"Repent ye and believe the gospel." Repentance does not mean penance--not +a voluntary sacrifice in our own will for an expiation of sin--nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although "godly sorrow" is one +of the elements of true repentance. The sorrow of the world may produce +remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but +remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life +but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of +purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for +sin--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or +financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the +Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the +determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and +involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no +more. + +The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the +benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less +than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that +He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." +"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them +real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the +mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that +all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving +faith. + +And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift +of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of +believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting +forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the +salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith +faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one +case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the +faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the +world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper +object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the +truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise +our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our +faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss. + +For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience +to that as to all other of His commands. The fact of the command +involves the power to obey. Our will, therefore, our choosing power, +must be put on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. It +is not that we are required to believe without evidence. It is that our +depraved hearts are not willing to believe when the evidence is ample. +And, therefore, our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." The great +and crying sin of our fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has +sundered us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith which +is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited to Him. "He that +believeth not the Son is condemned already." + +Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God promises to give +us the grace of justification. This is pardon for all our past sins. +God, for Christ's sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus' sake, although we are not just in reality. +And herein it is that gospel justification differs from legal +justification. The individual who is accused of crime and who is +brought into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, not to be +guilty, is at once acquitted and released from all penalty. He is +justified solely on the ground of his innocence. But no man ever has +been or ever will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground of +his innocence. Every responsible human being has broken the law of God. +"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And none of those +who have broken the law can be justified by the law, that is to say, +not one. The law justifies those, and those only, who keep it. None of +us have kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man Christ +Jesus. The law condemns all those who break it. All the race of men +have broken it save only the man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under +condemnation. But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? We should be so +but for Christ. But, blessed be God, "He hath found a ransom." "All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, +and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus Christ +"Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." And so it comes to +pass that we can be freely justified by His grace, not because of our +innocency but because He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the +place which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. He procured +for us the place which was and is rightfully His, and that is at God's +right hand. He suffered what we deserved, and by that very suffering He +made us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to His Holy Name! + +By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, justice is +satisfied, and the penalty of the broken law is removed. God is +infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. He loves the +sinner with a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and will not look +upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance. His mercy and His love +may compassionate the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do +right?" + +But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified and risen Lord, +both the attributes of mercy and justice are enlisted on behalf of the +sinner. The mercy of God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus' sake. "Mercy and truth have met together, +righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "God can be just and +the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "If we confess our sins +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." And in accordance with +the way of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now plead +with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive us when we have +complied with these conditions. And so we arrive at the conclusion that +justification is an act of God's grace by which our sins are pardoned +for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act is instantaneous. God does +not pardon sins gradually, nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to +every one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious language, +"Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." As if by a single +stroke of the recording angel's pen, the whole dark record is blotted +out forever. "As far as the east is from the west so far hath He +removed our transgressions from us." Glory. + +Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies justification. +God does not justify a sinner without, at the same time, giving him a +new life. This new life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine energy of the +Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, without, at the same time, +receiving a new nature, he would inevitably fall into sin again. His +lifetime on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But our +merciful Father having for Christ's sake looked upon him as just and +righteous, when he was not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new +nature which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, indeed, of +the Divine nature, and that is a nature which is holy and just and +good. And this is the new birth. Men may be full of physical life and +of intellectual life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is that +act of God's grace by which we are born again. + +Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and regenerated +believer into the family of God. No longer enemies, nor even strangers +and foreigners, those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now +receive the adoption of sons. They become the children of God by faith +in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and they rejoice to declare it. +A human governor or ruler may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a +reprieve, but he never takes him into his own family. He may forgive +the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon him a new nature, nor can he +consent to recognize him as a brother or a son. But God not only +remits the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers them from +wrath and from punishment, but He gives them a new nature by which they +can respond to His love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "Ye are all +the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." + +The witness of the Spirit is something not easily defined, but it is +well known by those who experience it. It is an impression or +consciousness wrought into the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, +which gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child of God. +Before this, he believes, now he knows. This witness, therefore, +expels doubt and infuses into the heart of the new-born child of God, a +calm, definite and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. "The Spirit Himself beareth +witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." "Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into +your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." + +Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, are all received +co-instantaneously. They always accompany each other, and whoever has +one of them has them all. The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not +always a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies or attends the +other experiences to which we have alluded. And we may add that all +these graces are but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, by the single +term conversion, which term, therefore, must be understood to include +and imply justification, regeneration, adoption and the witness of the +Spirit. It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, and never a +prolonged process. Just so certainly as every human being that comes +into this world has a definite, natural birthday, so every one that +comes into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. Some +people do not know when their natural birthday occurs, nevertheless, +they know that they have been born. Some Christians do not know when +their spiritual birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of a definite line +out of Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where a man can +truthfully say, I am neither converted nor unconverted. One moment he +is out of the ark of safety, the next moment he is in it. + +Entire sanctification is an act of God's grace by which inbred sin is +removed and the heart made holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is +the inward cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It is the +bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter fruits. It is the +natural evil tendency of the human heart in our fallen condition. It is +the being of sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that within +us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. It exists in every human +being that comes into the world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is +called in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our old man, +sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term sin in the singular +number. In the Old Testament it is called sin and iniquity. "Behold," +says David, "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive +me." And when the Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, "Lo, this hath touched +thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." + +Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the real existence of +this inbred sin and also as to the fact that it is not removed at +conversion. "This infection of nature doth remain," says the Anglican +Confession, "yea, even in them that have been regenerated." Most church +creeds, indeed, give no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the hour of death. And +it is regarded as serious heresy in some quarters for a man to either +preach or claim that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse from +all sin. + +But God has in every age and in every dispensation required His +children to be holy. And to be holy signifies the destruction or +removal of inbred sin, nothing more and nothing less and nothing else +than that. How this is accomplished will be discussed further on, but +here we say that the removal of innate depravity is entire +sanctification, and that God has most surely made provision in the +atonement of Jesus Christ for the removal of innate depravity. +Therefore, He has made provision for entire sanctification, and, +therefore again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin goes +back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. If not as old as the +human race, it is at least as old as the fall. Since sin entered +through the beguiling of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin +has existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and Eve. The only +exception is the man, Christ Jesus, the God man, the Divine man, the +promised seed that should bruise the serpent's head. But as He, the +Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, +and as inbred sin is one of the works of the devil, therefore its +destruction is provided for in the atonement, and, therefore, still +again, entire sanctification is obtainable. + +The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate or to devote +to sacred uses. It has this signification nearly always in the Old +Testament and in a few passages in the New. In other words, whatever is +consecrated is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent meaning, of +separation from all sin, inward as well as outward, and this is what +Paul calls being sanctified wholly. It is entire sanctification as +distinguished from partial sanctification. This latter appertains to +all Christians, and is technically so used in the New Testament. The +former is the experience of those, and those only, from whom inbred sin +has been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES. + + + +For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was +without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are +concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been +patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his +children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he +died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their +allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs +constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a +prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were +Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death, +it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of +the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and +deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law. + +As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few +faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and +sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not +to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the +subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings +of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New +Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the +word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day +and sanctified it. + +And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives +of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose +of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of +His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience +upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New +Testament. + +"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Such is +the record in Genesis, but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the +faith chapter, we find that "by faith Enoch was translated that he +should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him, +for; before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased +God." Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian ages, +walked with God and pleased God, and was translated that he should not +see death, there surely can be no reasonable doubt that he was a holy +man, an entirely sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was "slain from the +foundation of the world." + +"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked +with God." The prophet Amos exclaims most pertinently, "Can two walk +together unless they be agreed?" It is certain, therefore, that God and +Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely pure and holy, can never +be agreed with any person or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever +may be the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied to +God's children in Old Testament times, we can scarcely avoid the +conclusion that Noah was a holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and +this notwithstanding his subsequent error in regard to drinking too +much wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose he may have +been, up to the time of this sad experience, ignorant. + +Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, in Ur of the +Chaldees, when he received the call of God to go entirely away from +his kindred and his father's house, and depart into a land of +separation, a land which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing whither he went, +but only knowing that the Lord was leading him. At his first move, he +was accompanied by his father. And he came out of his native land, it +is true, but not yet into the promised land. "He came to Haran and +dwelt there," or to give the record in full, "And Terah took Abraham, +his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his +daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them +from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there." + +Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr Stephen says, +"And from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this +land, wherein ye now dwell," but in Genesis the statement is, "And +Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their +substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in +Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the +land of Canaan they came." The last tie of nature was sundered when the +old man died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought him +into the promised land. There are two distinct stages in his experience +before he reached the place, which God designed him to occupy. And +these we may as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the first +experience under the gospel--that of regeneration--and of the second +experience as well, which is entire sanctification. + +In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious episode +occurs, and that is the story of his transient but highly important +meeting with Melchizedek, after his successful expedition against the +kings, who had despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, viz.: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, +brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High +God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High +God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, +which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him +tithes of all." No other mention is made of Melchizedek until David +writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly one thousand years after +Abraham. The Psalmist writing by inspiration, and alluding beyond all +reasonable doubt to the Messiah, says, "The Lord hath sworn and will +not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." +And then, again, the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once more brings him +to the front in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is described in +glowing language as "first being by interpretation King of +righteousness, and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king of +peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy (R. V.) having +neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son +of God, abideth a priest continually." + +Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most remarkable +personage, the following inferences seem fairly deducible therefrom: +(1) Melchizedek, being made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently +the Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and +priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and Christ are priests, and yet the +former is not of the chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, +unquestionably, greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth bread and wine. +So did his antitype at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Melchizedek +was before that of Aaron. Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to +Melchizedek in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle to +the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since Melchizedek was without +beginning or end, and greater than Abraham, and with a priesthood that +existed centuries before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, +therefore Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting to +everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, is to abolish the +Aaronic priesthood, whose institution was for a temporary purpose, and +was fulfilled when Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek. + +But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also a king. And it was +not only in his everlasting priesthood, but in his regal office also, +that he was a type of the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, +Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in His own +person the three offices of prophet, priest and king. + +Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, if he was greater +than Abraham, if he was a type of Jesus Christ in His kingly and +priestly offices, it is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. He was made like +unto the Son of God, and the Son of God is eternally holy. Praise His +name. It is, surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in those +primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth was full of wickedness +and violence, that even then God had His witnesses to experimental and +practical holiness. + +Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood of Christ, let me +remark that it was a sad day for His Church when the idea became +prevalent, that ministers of the gospel are in any official sense to be +regarded as priests. This serious error may have been derived, in part, +from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. It has become incorporated in +the creed of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, +and has been productive of the most disastrous results. Among the +deliverances of the Council of Trent, held at intervals from 1545 to +1564, and the last Council, which Romish authorities regard as of +binding authority, are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: "Whereas, therefore, in the New +Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution of +Christ, the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a new, visible and +external priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the +sacred Scriptures show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord, +our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the +priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering and +administering his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins." + +It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely clear of this +same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, and that, in thought, at +least, many substitute this for the true priesthood, which appertains +to all believers. Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation and +continues to do, forever, by intercession. "He ever liveth to make +intercession for us." He "offered one sacrifice for sins forever." If +He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already offered Himself as a +sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of all mankind, the benefits of +which each and every one may obtain on the simple condition of +repentance and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says George Fox, +"Friends, let nothing come between your souls and God, but Christ," and +we say Amen. + +To sum up on this particular point, we may say that the ancient +priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, and of Aaron, the Jew, +with his descendants, were nothing more than types; and a type can have +no real existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there is no +place for a human priesthood under the Christian dispensation. We are +taught in Holy Scripture that no one can come to God except through +Christ, but we are also taught that all are invited, and all may come +directly to Him. All the officers belonging to the New Testament +Church, whether ministers, deacons, presbyters, bishops, elders, or +even apostles, are described not as priests but "messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and shepherds." Their +function is to preach the word, to teach, to rule, but never to +mediate. It is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests. + +But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, all Christians +are priests. But this is through Christ and in Christ, the one great +and eternal High Priest. They are priests because they are in Christ. +And not only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings and +priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed privileges are theirs, +solely by virtue of their union and fellowship with Christ, who, in a +mystical and spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His own +priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic office. + +Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit, +"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people." + +And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house, +an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God +by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the +functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of +sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by +the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath +offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and +nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient +offering. + +The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender +of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to +God. Listen to Paul. + +"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye +present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service." Your bodies, because if you are +Christians, you have already presented your hearts; your bodies, +because through the body, too often temptation enters into the soul and +leads it to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If surrendered to the +Lord, He makes them the very thing they were originally designed to +be, namely, the obedient servants of the soul, and the soul is already +His own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands and the body +obeys, both are working for God, and when the soul says Go, and the +body runs hither and thither, both are going upon God's errands. + +It will be observed that the body is to be presented a living +sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless activities are to be given +up to God. The expression, no doubt, implies that the whole man, +described by the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, soul +and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be His, and His forever, +and henceforth to be ready to be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed +will. + +The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion of your time, +nor a certain portion of your money, nor a certain portion of your +effort, nor your sins, nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden +indulgences. You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, nor +your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, nor your +theatre-going to God. He wants none of these things. All actual and known +sins must be abandoned at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent +and a deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus present his body +unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, but Christians are enjoined to +"yield themselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead;" not +as those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character and +for a different purpose. That purpose is that he may be wholly +sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of +his capacity for the glory of God. Consecration means yielding +yourselves unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything else. +All the details are included in the one surrender of yourself. + +And remember, also, that your consecration is not to God's service, not +to His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the +church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, not +to any organization, not to the cause of God; it is to God Himself. +"Yield yourselves unto God." It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. Your work, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty, +will all follow in due time. The next sacrifice to be made by the +Christian priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. "By Him, +therefore," says the author of the Hebrews, "let us offer the sacrifice +of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name." + +And the next priestly offering of the Christian is a holy life, for the +inspired author goes on in the next verse, "But to do good, and to +communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; offer the +fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of the life, and you will walk +worthily of your priesthood. Glory! + +The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined experiences about +twenty years apart. The first of these was at Bethel, when, in +loneliness and anguish of mind, he was plodding on his way toward +Mesopotamia to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground with a stone for +a pillow, not only distressed in mind from fear and anxiety, but also, +we may well suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation of a +guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had faith in God's promises, +even if he did not always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, forlorn, fearful and +contrite, God was watching over him, and when he awoke from the +wondrous vision there vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in +the place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new man. Now he +could not only believe intellectually what God had said, but he could +and did enter into covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. This was such a +change of mind and heart as constituted a real conversion. + +When, after the many mercies and many trials that fell to his portion +whilst dwelling with his uncle Laban, and after the lapse of two score +years, he was returning to his father's house, no longer poor and +lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives and children, again he was +encountered by the fear of his brother Esau who was approaching him +with four hundred men. Then it was that there "wrestled a man with him +until the breaking of the day." Note it was the man wrestling with +Jacob--and the man was the angel,--Jehovah, the pre-existent Christ--and +the object of his wrestling was to get the Jacob nature, the old +man, the body of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by a +touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for him to resist any +longer. Now he had to cease his wrestling but he could still cling, and +he could still cry, "I will not let thee go until thou bless me." +Jacob's will was now firmly set upon the blessing; he could ho longer +resist the will of the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob--supplanter, sinner, and then He +blessed him there; Jabbok means extinguishment, and Jacob's self-life +was extinguished there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter--but Israel, the prince, the prevailer, the +overcomer, and Israel was now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell +God your name--sinner--seek with fixed determination for the blessing +of holiness, fulfill the conditions, and you also shall prevail, and +your name will be changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the Blesser Himself +in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. Praise the Lord! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE. + + + +The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and typical. "The law +having a shadow of the good things to come," says the author of the +Hebrews. But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far as +holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed forth in the +ceremonial law, we shall find that there is a corresponding substance +and reality in the gospel of Christ. + +In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions of the Mosaic +law, we shall be struck with the many forms of ceremonial uncleanness +described therein, and with the "divers washings," not only of the +"hands oft," but of the whole body, and of "cups and pots, brazen +vessels and of tables." All these point to the fact that God will have +a clean people, and a clean people is a holy people. The same thing is +vividly exhibited in the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be disused. Of land +animals, only such as both chew the end and divide the hoof, might then +be eaten. And of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales were +to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt that this restriction in +regard to food is full of meaning. God help us all as Christian +believers to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have His people now +pure in heart, clean in soul, holy both within and without. + +The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, and this became +the perpetual rite by which his descendants were admitted to the rights +and privileges of that covenant. "Every male child shall be +circumcised." But this rite was an outward symbol of "a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in +the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, +we are told that "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is +that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which +is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Beloved +reader, may you and I know what it is to experience the inward +circumcision, made without hands, even the putting off of the body of +the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, not only were they to be +adorned with holy garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious stones, but the +plate for the mitre was to be made of pure gold, and engraved with the +motto "Holiness to the Lord." This was to be always upon the forehead +of the High Priest, and must signify that Aaron was to be the holy +priest of a Holy God, and that the law required a continuous holiness, +as most assuredly the gospel does also. + +Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood and the sacrifices +were typical of Christ. In the mediatorial work of redemption, he was +both the priest and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. +The holy priest, under the law typified the holy priest, who is a +priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel +dispensation all Christians are priests. "But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." And +we are priests, not for the purpose of expiation, for expiation was +completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He "bore our sins in His own +body on the tree," but priests to offer up "spiritual sacrifices +acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And every such priest must +needs be continuously holy. + +The "spiritual sacrifices" which the Christian priest must offer are, +as previously stated, (1) his body, with all its members and +capacities. The heart was given to Christ at conversion. It is, +however, largely through the body that the soul is led into sin, and it +is through the body, also, that the soul must perform its work for +Christ, so long as soul and body are united in probation. Hence, the +Apostle exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service." The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. He +must "hold fast the confession of his faith without wavering." "By him, +therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." And, finally +(3), the Christian priest must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. "But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God +is well pleased." Beloved, let us ask ourselves if we are constantly +offering as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing tongue +and a godly life. Amen. + +This subject has already been alluded to under a different head, but +it will bear repetition. + +In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing of the leper, we +find an impressive type or symbol of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly +and strikingly a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, +incurable, fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; he +could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He was an outcast. None +must be permitted to approach him. They must be warned off by the +despairing cry "unclean, unclean." Nothing can be conceived more +desolate or more hopeless than the condition of the leper, unless it +be, indeed, the sinner who is an "alien from the commonwealth of +Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and +without God in the world." + +But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad "day of cleansing." +He might not come into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. And none but +Christ has any authority to tell the sinner that he is converted, or +the believer that he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies away toward +heaven with bloody wing; the leper is sprinkled seven times, to denote +the completeness or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means of +hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; he must wash his +clothes; he must pass a razor over his whole body, and bathe the whole +body likewise in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by the washing of +water through the word, as plainly described as symbolic language can +utter it. + +All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily sacrifice both +morning and evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the +offerings at the various feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for +individuals or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for what we are, the +peace offering, the burnt offering, these, also, all point to the Lamb +that was slain from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was shed. "Almost all +things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of +blood is no remission." + +But turn now to the New Testament, and read that "It is not possible +for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Read again, "If +the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the +unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself +without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God." Read again, "In Him we have redemption through His +blood"--"Having made peace through the blood of His cross"--"Ye who are +far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"--"Being now justified by +His blood"--"That He might sanctify the people with His own blood"--and +especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, Dr. Edgar M. Levy. +"When an oblation for sin was offered up under the old dispensation, +the priest was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle it +seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection of the +offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come short of the type. Seven +times, at least, did our Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was +circumcised and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted on the +mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this must needs have been +attended with blood. He was scourged, and from Roman scouring there +was, of course, blood. The crown of thorns was driven into His precious +temples and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp nails +penetrated into His hands and feet, and again there was blood. And one +of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came +thereout blood and water." + +The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of our sanctification +as it is of our justification. Glory be to His Name forever for the +precious, cleansing blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the "Rock of Ages," and especially with the +rendering now frequently given to the conclusion of the first stanza, +viz.: + + "Let the water and the blood + From Thy wounded side which flowed, + Be of sin the double cure + Save from wrath--and make me pure." + +The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, and was used +for a great variety of purposes. In typology, however, it has special +reference to the office work of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively +the Sanctifier, and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as "the unction" or "the anointing." The holy anointing +oil was to be sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred +vessels. It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests and +kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge of their +respective offices. There can be no doubt but that this use of the +anointing oil and the sweet perfume, which none were permitted to +imitate or counterfeit, has a direct typical reference to holiness. +The sacred writer, indeed, says as much. "That they may be most holy; +whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." And as all Christians are +kings and priests unto God, it is necessary that they also be anointed +with the Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels +of the Lord." A priest must be holy. + +We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred sin, and of the +requirement of blood-shedding in the cleansing of the leper. But before +that cleansing was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the priest had already +touched his ear, his thumb and his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, +so now he touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the blood; +afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the wondrous plan of salvation +through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure +pardon; afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire sanctification +through the Spirit. + +The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, the thumb and the +toe of Aaron and his sons in their consecration to the priesthood and, +finally, poured upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch the flesh. And +so, beloved, we must be touched with blood and oil as to our spiritual +ears, that we may take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, and +goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they may run swiftly and +beautifully upon the errands of redeeming love; and, at last, upon our +heads and running down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be "ever, only, all for Him." Praise the Lord. +And this can never happen while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still +alive. + +Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who was +holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, was, +nevertheless, anointed with the Holy Ghost as a needful qualification +for His mediatorial work. + +In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the sixty-first chapter +of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord +hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and +the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the +acceptable year of the Lord"--and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about "the day of vengeance of our +God." It was now a day of grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those +who will not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance will +surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. His anointed +followers must also be holy. They must seek and find the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be +baptized, and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the privilege +and duty of all God's children. If we would belong to the royal +priesthood, we must be cleansed from the defilement of sin. + +Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is spoken of in +Scripture as tried in the fire. So of silver. "He" (Christ) "shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver." The precious metals will endure +the fire, but "dross and tin," as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a +sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance +which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like +anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. "Our God is a +consuming fire." Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is +for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May +God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but +the fire-mark also. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY. + + + +The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve +prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are +called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers +in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. + +The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the +prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very +wonderful experience of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts. + +It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man before he wrote his +first chapter. In that he laments the sins of the Israelites and the +Jews, all of them God's chosen people, though now divided into the two +kingdoms and these often at variance, shows the utter futility of their +own efforts to regain the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices +and ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted as plainly as +any gospel minister in our own day would be able to do. He shows them +that the way of salvation is by repentance and faith, and by trusting +to the unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: "Wash you, make you clean; put +away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; +learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the +fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." + +Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, the washing away +of guilt and committed sins, symbolical of the New Testament washing of +regeneration, symbolical also of John's baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins. + +But now in the sixth chapter, and "in the year that king Uzziah died," +a wondrous vision of the pre-existent Christ, "sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up" and the seraphim crying one to another "Holy, holy, +holy is the Lord of hosts," was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and heard was not to +exalt him and minister to his pride, but to fill him with despair at +his own depravity. He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed "Depart from +me for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Ah! beloved, it never fosters +spiritual pride, nor any other kind of pride to get a nearer and +clearer view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and enables us to +behold by contrast the darkness and sinfulness and pollution of our own +souls, and in such a view we shall find food for the deepest +humiliation, but nothing to nourish pride. + +Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of +a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts." If we may credit Jewish tradition, it was for the offence of +saying that he had seen the King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet +was afterwards sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision is +still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed to millions of readers +in the future, as in the past, and until the end of the age. + +But the seraph was sent to touch the "unclean lips" of Isaiah--unclean +because of innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of life and +forgiveness for two or three years before this wondrous experience--to +touch them with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his sins of +commission and omission were forgiven--that had been done before--but +that his iniquity was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly emblematic of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire under the gospel dispensation, +which is also accompanied by "the purifying of the heart by faith," or +entire sanctification. + +How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this experience. He +seems to look down the centuries for seven hundred years and to see the +glorious blessings of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth chapter: "And +an highway shall be there and a way; and it shall be called the way of +holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for +those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." And in +the fifty-first chapter: "Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for +henceforth, there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and +the unclean," and in the sixtieth chapter: "Thy sun shall no more go +down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be +thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." + +To Jeremiah the Lord said, "I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a +prophet unto the nations," which must mean not only that he was set +apart for the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed from +inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the office itself. + +In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some striking passages +on the theme before us. These were, no doubt, addressed primarily to +the outward Israel, but they may very justly be appropriated by the +Israel of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, "The New +Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." + +In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon or +justification with cleansing from the pollution of their past sins: +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from +all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And the pollution that +is thus acquired by the practice of sinning is removed in regeneration. +Thus the new convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. "Except ye be converted," said the blessed Saviour, "and become +as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution of committed sin; +whilst he does have within him the inherited or inbred sin of his +nature. + +Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made to the clean water +made from the ashes of a red heifer and sprinkled, under the Mosaic +law, upon those who had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing +signified, however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, +typified by water, may here be meant. At any rate the twenty-fifth +verse points to nothing less than a full and free justification. + +But the prophet continues: "A new heart also will I give you and a new +spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out +of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here we have +described certainly the experience of regeneration, if indeed not the +still fuller experience of entire sanctification. But let us admit that +it means only the new heart which is given to the penitent sinner at +his new birth. Regeneration implies the impartation of a new life by +the Divine energy of the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the "heart of flesh," not, of course, a carnal heart, but a heart +tender and teachable, and impressible to heavenly influences, such a +heart as we always find in the new-born babe in Christ. + +But listen still further: "And I will put My Spirit within you, and +cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do +them." In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost baptism, +by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and sanctified wholly, and +also of the subsequent "walking in the Spirit," to which Paul alludes +in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who +was also seized with prophetic fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, +"That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand +of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and +righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Surely the gospel +of Christ has something better for its recipients than a constant daily +sinning and repenting, which is too often the experience of Christian +people. The twenty-seventh verse, therefore, signifies holiness of +heart and life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. + +How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we cannot do by our own +strength, the Holy Spirit will cause us to do. This doctrine of +spiritual causation is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the +watch which supplies the power within, by which the hands are moved +without, and thus the fleeting minutes and hours are correctly +measured, so the Holy Spirit within supplies the energy by which the +sanctified believer is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of +Christ, his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the fruit of the +Spirit in all righteousness and goodness and truth. + +In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions to the subject of +holiness, though their language is often highly figurative. In Hosea +2:16, after reproving Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the +Almighty, through His prophet, employs the following language, viz: +"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me +Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali," and again in the nineteenth +verse, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea I will betroth thee in +righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; I +will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the +Lord." Now the word Ishi means my husband; while the word Baali means +my Lord, and the language, therefore, points to an experience or a +relation of marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to a legal +justification and a service for wages and reward, that of the bride +must signify entire sanctification, and the closest possible union with +the Heavenly Bridegroom. Again, the word betrothed points legitimately +to a marriage which is always justly expected to follow if both parties +are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, let us get so near to Christ +that we shall not address Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, +but as my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful wife. At your +conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed to Him, or in ordinary +language engaged to Him. At your entire sanctification, your engagement +is consummated by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not be long. Do not +needlessly defer your nuptials, but rather hasten to the embraces of +Everlasting Love. Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, "I will go." + +In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day +of Pentecost, and assured the multitude of Jews, out of every nation +under heaven, that what they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of +the same. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And +also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I +pour out My Spirit." + +Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the baptism with the +Holy Ghost and fire, designed for all of God's children without +distinction of nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue them with power +for whatever line of service God may call them to. And we may add that +this text, as well as many others, shows that in these gospel days +women as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our daily +experience that they are both called and qualified for the work of the +ministry, as well as other labors in the vineyard of the Lord. But both +men and women need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency and most +marked success in the work to which they may individually be called. +Every Christian may and should do something for the Lord, but none can +do all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his duty to do, +without the grace of entire sanctification and the fulness of the +Spirit. + +In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which point +unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust in God and perfect love +for Him. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit +be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields +shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and +there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I +will joy in the God of my salvation." Compare this with John Wesley's +description of a holy man after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice +evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. +Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this description? + +The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, which are, no +doubt, full of instruction to those who have eyes to see. We can only +mention one or two of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing the Jewish +people, and typifying Christ Jesus with His eternal and unchangeable +priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also +represents Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, is +present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting them in the person of +their representative, the high priest. + +And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was ground for his +accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in filthy +garments, and these can signify nothing else than sins, aye, the sins +of His people imputed to Him as their representative and priest, and +not their actual sins only but their inbred sin also, for, "The Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and "He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin." "His visage was so marred more than any +man, and His form more than the sons of men." "He hath no form nor +comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we +should desire Him." + +"Many were astonished at thee," says Isaiah. "Behold the man," said +Pilate, as he brought forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but +uncomplaining, and the only answer was "Crucify Him!" Thus, beloved, +was He clothed in very truth with the filthy garments not of His own +vileness but of ours. + +But Joshua was "a brand plucked from the burning," and, therefore, in +Him all His people have found pardon. And now comes the order "Take +away the filthy garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have +caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with +change of raiment." Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than +entire sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not only simply +imputatively and representatively, but actually and experimentally. +Praise the Lord. + +The prophet Malachi assures us that "He shall sit as a refiner and +purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi" (that is, the +"royal priesthood" which constitutes the true church) "and purge them +as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in +righteousness." Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST. + + + +Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, "Therefore, that holy thing +that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Or in the +Revised Version, "Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall be +called holy, the Son of God." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +speaks of Him as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," +and Peter says that "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth." He is called "Thy holy child Jesus." Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. He was +absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, holy in word and holy in +act, holy in His birth, holy in His death, holy in His resurrection, +holy in His ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name. + +And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church was thus a holy man, +it would, naturally, be expected that He should desire to have a holy +people; and if He desire it, that He should also make provision for it; +and if He both desire it and hath made provision for it, that we should +find allusions to it in His teachings. In this, we are not +disappointed, as we shall proceed to show. + +The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the public preaching of +the Lord Jesus, and every sentence is pregnant with meaning. From +beginning to end, it inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of +believers. Many things are enjoined which would only be possible to +those who are sanctified wholly, such as, "Bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, love your enemies, resist not evil," and +many others. + +The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of chapters, which are +filled out and developed in the writings of the apostles. This is +remarkably true of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going +largely into details, sets forth the principles which are to govern His +kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation of these +principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles and evangelists, who +continued to teach and preach after His departure, and to the Holy +Spirit who is promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again. + +But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply holiness, there +are several, also, which expressly require it. Among the beatitudes at +the beginning of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: "Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Now, heart purity +cannot exist while there is any sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin +in the heart, whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms. + +Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire sanctification, and +heart purity is not only a great energizer, so that a man is powerful +for good in proportion to the purity of his heart and life, but it is +also a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor to see God. +This, of course, does not imply an open or an outward vision, but a +spiritual apprehension of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship +and communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe truly +regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible to outward sense. + +This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless outward walk, was +by no means unknown to the Old Testament writers. In the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, David asks the question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" And He immediately answers +it by saying, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The clean +hands imply that his works are in accordance with God's law; in other +words, that his outward life is free from condemnation. But the "pure +heart" means more than this, and suggests what the same royal Psalmist +remarks again in the Fifty-first Psalm. "Behold, thou desirest truth in +the inward parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom." It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth Psalm, as already +quoted, that the clean hands or justification comes before the pure +heart or entire sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost. + +Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the end of Matthew +fifth the direct command, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your +Father which is in heaven is perfect," or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the command becomes a +positive assertion, which is equally forcible. "Ye, therefore, shall be +perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." + +But whether command or declaration, it is at first sight simply +astounding. It is overwhelming. So much so, indeed, that our poor +human spirits shrink back in amazement, and we are ready to say, This +is wholly impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. Or if He +does, then my case is hopeless. But let us examine the words a little +more carefully. + +In the first place, we are to notice that He does not say that we are +to be equal in perfection to our Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, +be too absurd for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite in all +His attributes and, therefore, infinite in perfection, and this in all +directions. We are poor, finite, sinful human beings, and can never +even approach the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, justice +and holiness. + +But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly Father in +perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the same kind of perfection which +appertains to Him. It may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely +short of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and perfect in +all His attributes, but apart from His attributes is His essence. And +what is the perfection which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, +rather, what is His essence itself? It is love. "God is love," says the +apostle. "Thy nature and Thy name is love," says the great +hymnologist, Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured by the beloved +John that it is possible for us, also, to be made perfect in love, and +to possess the perfect love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are +perfect in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in heaven is +perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of the gospel. + +The context of the command referred to proves the same thing. Jesus had +just been telling His disciples that it is not sufficient for them to +love their friends, and do good to those that do good to them. All +these things and more are done even by worldly minded people and open +sinners. Unsaved people love those who love them. But Jesus continues, +"I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and +persecute you." Why? "That ye may be the children of your Father who is +in heaven," for that is just the way He does. He does not wait for a +man to be His friend before He loves him and shows kindness to him. "He +maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on +the just and on the unjust." And, if we are to be the children of such +a Father, we must adopt His sentiments and love in our measure as He +loves. His essence being love, all His infinite activities are +controlled and regulated and directed by love, and when there is +nothing contrary to love in our hearts, so that all our finite +activities are in like manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, +then we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly Father is +perfect. Glory to His Name. + +I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully we shall find the +doctrine of entire sanctification in many of the parables of our +Saviour. Take, for instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are +expressly told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, the +sowers are all ministers and Christian workers who are trying in any +right way, to diffuse a knowledge and acceptance of gospel truth. They +are devoting themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark the +difference as to the ground upon which the good seed falls. (1) The +wayside hearers are not concerted at all. (2) The stony ground hearers +are converted but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation and hence they fall +into backsliding. (3) The thorny ground hearers are converted, but +inbred sin remains in their hearts in form of the love of riches, +whether these riches are possessed or only desired, or too much care +and cumber, having so much regard to the secular as to neglect the +spiritual, or in the form of unsanctified desire, "the lusts of other +things," and so by sin that dwelleth in them the word is "choked," and +though they may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring "no fruit to perfection." They are justified but not +sanctified wholly. + +Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit but much fruit. +"Every branch that bringeth forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may +bring forth more fruit." To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant fruitage. +When the thorns are removed the good seed will grow and flourish. When +inbred sin is taken out of the heart the Christian believer will bring +forth fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and this will +be the "much fruit" whereby God is glorified. + +On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus "What shall I do +to inherit eternal life?" and when asked in reply what were the words +of the Mosaic law he answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind; and thy +neighbor as thyself." Jesus commended his answer and added "This do and +thou shalt live." Hence, our Saviour teaches that holiness consists of +nothing more nor less nor else than perfect love to God and man. What +constitutes this love has been already explained. + +Martha was a good Christian, but she was "careful and troubled about +many things." Mary was a good Christian and still earnestly seeking the +one thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness of heart and +life. Even good Christians may be "cumbered about much serving," and so +miss this one thing needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing of holiness +when the pentecostal baptism was poured out upon the church of the +hundred and twenty, if not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer +of the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we find these +expressions, "Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." And +again, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth." Here we discover the two senses of the +word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself apart or consecrates Himself to the +work of human redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, may +be not only set apart or consecrated, but also sanctified wholly, or +made holy in heart and life. He gave Himself for the world of sinners +lost, that they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for the +church, on the other hand, that He might "sanctify and cleanse it with +the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a +glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish." Thus, the atoning +sacrifice of Christ procured pardon and acceptance for the penitent +sinner. It procured not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him as a perfect +Saviour that He "is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness and +sanctification and redemption." + +For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt as to the method of +obtaining this great blessing of holiness, nor as to the price, which +must be paid for it. Entire sanctification is "one pearl of great +price," and he who would possess it must go and sell all that he has. +The rich young ruler had a first-class record as to morality and the +outward observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, "One thing +thou lackest," and that one thing was perfect love, for He added, "If +thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor," +and then interjecting a promise, "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, +and come take up the cross and follow Me." The price was too great, and +the young man went away sorrowful. Alas! Myriads of souls since have +found the price too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not have us become His +followers without counting the cost, and the cost is all that we have +and all that we are. "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he +cannot be My disciple." + +First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, all known sin. It +may be the sin which "easily besets," our own bosom sin, near as a +right eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, it must be +relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the sacrifice seems like crippling +and maiming us, yet Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into +eternal life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned to +everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In the first place, +therefore, we are to "reckon ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but +alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." + +But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all sin, but we must be +dead, also, even to lawful things, except as God in His mercy may grant +them to us, to have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest love must be +fastened upon Him alone, and that if any individual love, father or +mother, son or daughter, wife or husband more than Him, such a one is +not worthy of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for them, but +still more are we to love the Giver Himself. + +And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to be satisfied with +Himself, and what He in His love and mercy chooses to give us. If He +permits us to have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank Him +and use them as stewards of His for His glory. If He allows our family +circle to be invaded by death, and one dear one after another is +carried away to the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His gifts one by one or +altogether are withdrawn from us, why, praise the Lord, we still have +the Giver, and can still say with Job "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." + +It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require us to be dead to +sin, and dead to self, yea, even to lawful self, in order that we may +possess this inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let us not +hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. "Whosoever will save +his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, +the same shall save it." + +"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; +but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL. + + + +The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially to Paul. And as +the Gospel of Christ is intended for the salvation not of the Jews +only, but of all mankind who are willing to accept the conditions, we +find in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord Jesus than in any +other inspired author. Jesus gave the concise germinal principles of +all gospel truth; and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, into those wonderful epistles to the churches, which, though as +Peter well observes containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in the past, to form +a large part both of the foundation and framework of every system of +theological doctrine. How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of +redemption as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How profound +and how exalted is the spirituality of the Ephesians and Colossians! +How pure and how practical are the directions to the Corinthians! What +a counter-blast to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology in the Hebrews! +What a guidebook of unequalled excellency for ministers of all times in +the pastoral epistles! + +In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind under the two +divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, and proceeds to show that both +classes alike had failed in their efforts to attain to righteousness +and salvation. + +The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with an outward +revelation, but he had been permitted to behold the outward universe, +and to know that it had a Creator "of eternal power and divinity." He +had also had a conscience within him, and so much light as rendered him +an accountable being, with a sense of obligation to a supreme power, +and furnishing another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not like to retain +God in their knowledge. They wickedly extinguished the light which He +had given them, because they were not willing to give up their +immoralities. And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they changed the glory +of the incorruptible God into the baser image of "birds and four-footed +beasts and creeping things." They sank into the grossest idolatry and +licentiousness and all wickedness. This picture drawn in colors which +shock our sensibilities, in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed +by the authentic writings of heathen historians, and this in all +particulars, Paul says, "They are without excuse, because they did not +live up to the light which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was." + +And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, to them much +every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of +God. They had an outward revelation, and with it a knowledge of that +law of God, which is holy and just and good. + +But they had failed, if possible, more grievously than the Gentiles +themselves. They had received the law by the disposition of angels, as +Stephen told them and had not kept it. They had had far more light than +the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same sins as they. They +prided themselves on the law, and looked with contempt upon the +Gentiles, and condemned them for their immoralities, and yet were +guilty of similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly about the +words of the law. "Do not steal." "Do not commit adultery," and yet +violated these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared them to whited +sepulchres, looking well outwardly, but within full of dead men's bones +and all uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and the leaven of the +Sadduces, which is infidelity, and the leaven of the Herodians, which +is worldly mindedness. + +The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and Gentile. It was +something that had occurred long before the division into Jew and +Gentile had an existence. It had occurred, in short, when man fell. +From fallen parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, that +is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. There is a disposition in +all mankind to yield to temptation, some in one direction, some in +another, and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no to God. +This bias towards evil is sometimes called depravity or original sin. +It is called by Paul "Our old man," "the flesh," "the carnal mind," +"the body of sin," and "sin that dwelleth in me." A good and convenient +name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in the heart as distinguished from +sin in the act. It is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward sins are the +bitter fruits. + +Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles which caused +them to quench the light of the knowledge of God, which they must have +had for, at least, a generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural religion, +notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens were declaring the glory +of God and the firmament was showing His handiwork, day unto day was +uttering speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. They +forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them to their own reprobate +minds, the result being that they sank into the grossest idolatry and +the most beastly sensuality. + +The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward revelation. He +received through Moses the law of God, which showed him what God +desired him to be and do, and what he ought to be and do, but which +conferred upon him no power for being or doing what it required. It is +like a looking-glass placed before a child to show him that his face is +soiled, but having no power to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb-line +applied to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates from +the perpendicular, but which has no power to make it upright. Nay, it +even comes to pass that in consequence of inbred sin, the law +multiplies offences. It causes sin to abound. We find even in most +children a disposition that impels them to do and to have just what +they are told they must not do and have. That is to say, when the law +comes in, inbred sin rises in rebellion against it. + +The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most vividly described +by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Over the real meaning of this +chapter, there has been much discussion and wide differences of +opinion. Some writers think that this is the best experience of the +great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw consolation from this +fact, as well as argument, in favor of continuing to sin in thought and +word and deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle is +not here describing a Christian experience at all, but the struggles of +a Jew who is seeking the favor of God by keeping His law, but finds his +attempts to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred sin. I +freely admit that it is not what even a justified experience ought to +be, for God has assured us through His apostle, John, that He that is +born of God doth not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified and regenerated +believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness and prayer, may be kept from +acts of sin and from becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the +seventh of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the experience +of the converted Christian. + +For there are many who even after a clear conversion and a joyful +sense of God's favor, with the witness of the Spirit to their adoption, +yet do yield to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and so +pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is called an up-and-down +experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning and +repenting, delighting in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is in their members, +not losing their sonship, but losing their communion and their joy, +often like Peter weeping bitterly over their transgressions, but +finding that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. + +I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, might go on for +years. It ends either in complete religious declension amounting, +sometimes, to apostacy on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the +entire sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance from inbred +sin. And in these days of enlightenment, when the doctrine and +experience of holiness are so plainly taught, and so generally diffused +among the children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether a soul can +continue long in a state of justification, which means that it will +either go forward to the experience of entire sanctification, or else +it will fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, or into +legality as did the Galatians. + +Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. It is seeking +salvation after the pattern of the Old Testament, and not after that of +the New. It is a matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It +inquires "What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" +It is the child of the bondwoman and not that of the free. It is +Ishmael and not Isaac. It is Sinai and not Calvary. + +And so it happens that many Christians are simply good Jews. They may +even possess circumcised hearts, and may yet serve the Lord in the +spirit of bondage, as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does not, by any +means, signify license; it does not signify the liberty of making our +own choices, but the liberty of accepting gladly and submissively God's +choices; it does not mean the liberty of doing either right or wrong as +we may prefer, but the liberty of always preferring to do right and +never wrong, and so to spend our years on earth, doing right in all +directions, and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God. + +After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that Hagar's chief +employment in Abraham's house was to look after the said Ishmael, to +care for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her business to +care for or to restrain Isaac. He was the child of promise, the child +of faith, the son of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when +Ishmael's persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, then +the command was "Cast out the bond woman and her son." Both must go +together or stay together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain or constrain. +Perfect love casts out fear; it also casts out sin, and becomes the +motive power of the whole spiritual man. "The love of Christ +constraineth us." + +So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed to attain unto +the law of righteousness, because of inbred sin, which caused the +former to put out the light which they had, and the latter to fall +short of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, but +which was never intended by its Divine Author to save men, but to show +them how utterly incapable they were of saving themselves. + +But Paul does not leave them there. After putting both classes of the +human family into the same position of failure and condemnation, and +declaring that there is no difference, "for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God," he adds, "Being justified fully by His +grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." When man's +helplessness and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, then +God comes to his rescue. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, +that He might have mercy upon all." + +Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches the great +doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent peace of +reconciliation, the "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that sanctification, +also, is by faith and not by works. He will not be satisfied with +anything less than the death of our old man, and the death of inbred +sin is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. "Knowing this +that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be +destroyed, that, henceforth, we should not serve him." + +But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with the body of sin by +any resolution or will-power or effort of our own. Sin will not go +dead at our bidding, nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or +striving to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for us by directing us +to resort to the process of reckoning. "Likewise reckon ye, also, +yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord." Ah! now, our help is laid upon one that is +mighty. "The things that are impossible with men are possible with +God." What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, Christ can +make real and true. We have only, therefore, to reckon ourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. +But we must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as dead. And to +be alive to God means, in this connection, to be responsive to every +intimation of His will, to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to +suffer joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in short, to +be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what a blessed reckoning is the +reckoning of faith! How vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of +logic or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual deadness +to sin, and a continual holiness of heart and life. + +For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not asking us to fancy, +or imagine, or hypothecate. He is not telling us that if we believe a +thing to be true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The factors in his +direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the Old Testament +and in the New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to make +them so, and our acceptance of the provision He has made for our +cleansing, by faith, and then by the reckoning alluded to, the result +is secured. + +In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often compelled to +resort to what they term dead-reckoning. Sometimes for days together, +the sun is hidden by clouds, and no observation can be taken with the +usual instruments for determining latitude and longitude. Then the +captain ascertains by the compass what direction he is pursuing, and +by the log, the rate at which the ship is sailing, and thus by marking +out his daily advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will sight the shore +toward which the voyage is directed. What he reckons becomes real, when +he tells the passengers, "Within five minutes, we ought to see the +Irish coast," followed within the specified time by the cry from the +lookout, "Land, ho!" + +To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass and log and chart. +Sometimes, he enjoys the witness of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, +assuring him that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, but when not thus +favored, he can still move on by faith, he still has his compass and +his chart, and he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in the heavenly port. +Praise the Lord. + +To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle of the Gentiles +has written in reference to entire sanctification would require a +volume instead of a single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue the subject for +himself in the inexhaustible mine of the Pauline Epistles. + +In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration that is to +be found anywhere. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of +unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of +righteousness unto God." And, again, in the 19th verse, "For as ye +have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto +iniquity; even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness." + +Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration is not the same +thing as entire sanctification. The one is an act proceeding from man +to God, the other is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies. + +Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal human being +to a personal God. The term members may well be understood to include +all bodily organs and powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, +and all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, culture, health, +and, in short, the whole personal, individual man, with all his +belongings. The surrender must be complete, absolute, unreserved and +forever. Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all that we +have and all that we are must be His, wholly His, and His to all +eternity. + +Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who is not already a +Christian believer. Paul informs us, explicitly, that he is not calling +upon sinners "dead in trespasses and sins," to consecrate themselves, +but upon converted persons, "those who are alive from the dead." How +thankful we ought to be that he has settled that point forever. Sinners +may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +broader, deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, the sinner gives +himself away as a dead sacrifice, and his purpose is to receive pardon +and life. In consecration, the Christian yields to God his living and +regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose is that he may be +sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost +extent of his capacity for the glory of God. + +Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, or vices, or +depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. We cannot consecrate our +alcohol, or our tobacco, or our opium, or our card-playing, or +dancing, or theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. All +actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. Our consecration +is for a deeper work, that is to say, for the removal of inbred sin, +which, after all, is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire. + +The essence of consecration is in the sentence, "Yield yourselves unto +God." When you yield yourselves, you yield everything else. All the +details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the +emphasis, we may read again, "Yield yourselves unto God." Consecration +is not to God's service, not to His work, not to a life of obedience +and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to +the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of God; it is to God +Himself. "Yield yourselves unto God." Your work, your service, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty will +all follow in good time. + +Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution and the purpose to +be, to do, and to suffer all God's will. Its essence, already given in +the words of Paul, is given also in the words of the Saviour. "Not My +will but Thine be, done," which is beautifully versified by Frances +Ridley Havergal, in the couplet, + + "Take my will and make it thine, + It shall be no longer mine." + +Consecration being a definite transaction, and made once for all, does +not need to be repeated unless we have failed to keep it. To consecrate +over and over again is like a husband and wife marrying over and over +again. We are consecrated just as we are married. The vow is upon us, +and in the force of that vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is +to remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord's, and see to it that +nothing is taken from the altar. Those who have kept their consecration +complete should testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence. + +Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an English periodical, +which is here given very slightly modified, and which has been adopted +by many. Let all my readers unite with the author in entering into this +personal yielding to God. + + I am willing + To receive what Thou givest, + To lack what Thou withholdest, + To relinquish what Thou takest, + To suffer what Thou inflictest, + To be what Thou requirest, + To do what Thou commandest. + Amen. + +In this connection, we may add that when the consecration is complete, +it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter to believe. Entire +sanctification like justification, and, indeed, all other gospel +blessings and experiences, is to be received by faith. But so long as +the surrender to God is not complete, faith refuses to act. + +When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt and sincere +consecration, then it becomes as natural and as easy to believe as it +is to breathe, after everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians of a want of +faith. If they only had more faith, they imagine that all would be +well. When the disciples of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He +told them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only a mustard-seed +faith, He assured them that it would remove mountains. And we may +justly conclude that the difficulty with most seekers after entire +sanctification is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches itself to one +worldly thing or another, and refuses to be sundered from what it +loves, and while this is the case, the individual cannot believe that +God gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. But when all +the preliminaries have been attended to, and there is nothing else +needed but to trust in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment. + +Another class of seekers is very much concerned about the witness of +the Spirit to assure them that the blessing has been received. Probably +in these cases the very point that has not yet been consecrated to God +is the feeling, or the witness, which they so much desire. "It often +happens," says Dr. G. D. Watson, "that a patient, who has been cured of +some contagious disease, has to have a certificate on leaving the +hospital. In such a case the certificate does not cure him, but +certifies that he is cured. How absurd for a patient just entering the +hospital to clamor for his health certificate before receiving the +doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, it is useless for a +seeking soul to be clamoring for the witness and waiting for the +feeling before receiving Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We +are not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who imparts the +experience." + +Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, +second and third chapters, he tells us of three classes of persons: the +natural man, the spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; they +are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are +spiritually discerned. Such is a description of the unregenerate +wherever and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment is not +that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to the truth of God and deaf to +the story of salvation. Being without spiritual life they are, of +course, without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons are in +all our churches, and the number is by no means small. And often it +strangely happens that these are the very individuals who are +noticeably forward in expressing their opinions on the right way of +managing a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching or lecturing, +something to be proud of and to draw the crowd--these are the things +which in their view make the church of their choice a success; but as +for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread of the gospel at home +and abroad, as for the sanctifying of believers, as for the things of +the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living faith and a +sound conversion. May God hasten it in His time. + +"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all +things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with +the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide, +Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified +and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a +one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as +his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the +Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating +influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the +natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by +the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the +same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the +Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the +position of the latter. + +Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he +asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name +is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural, +neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and, +therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are +converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the +carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly +carnal. + +Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable +consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering +offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh, +that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our +churches. Amen. + +In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles bases the +experience of entire sanctification on the glorious promises of God. +"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse +ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God." To cleanse ourselves is shown by the +Greek tense to be an act done definitely and once for all. It means, +therefore, to put ourselves under the conditions of cleansing by a +definite act of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves in +co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively the Sanctifier +and Cleanser. It means, also, that we are to seek and find the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all sources of +temptation and all incentives to evil, so far as we may; and +continuously realize and experience the holiness which Christ has +instantaneously wrought in our souls through His Holy Spirit. +Filthiness of the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual +appetites, as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which was +probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness of the spirit is +illustrated by idolatry and pride, nor must we forget that the spirit +is often polluted also through pampering the body. + +Paul's wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, has been so admirably +treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, that I shall content myself with +referring the reader to his book on "Love Enthroned," page 123, and +pass on. A single remark, however, may properly be made. That prayer, +undoubtedly, embodies all that we mean by entire sanctification and the +filling of the Spirit and more. + +In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great apostle in which +entire sanctification is expressly petitioned for. "And the very God of +peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The very +form of the expression in the first clause indicates that it is +possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to be sanctified +partially. All Christians are cleansed from the pollution of sins +committed, that is to say, from the pollution they have acquired by +actually sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by Paul as +sanctified, although, manifestly, many of them were not holy in heart +and life. On the other hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians +may be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were already in a +healthy and prosperous condition, the only exception being a few +members who were too neglectful of their outward business and too much +disposed to be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while many good +Christians are not wholly sanctified. + +But provision was made in the gospel for the entire sanctification of +all believers, otherwise Paul would not have prayed for it. And not +only for their entire sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act +of God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their continual +preservation in blamelessness, though not in faultlessness, until the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And lest they should stagger through +unbelief he adds, "Faithful is He that calleth you. You are not to do +it. He will do it for He is able." + +And this experience extends to the whole man, the spirit which takes +hold of and communes with God, the soul with its emotions, affections, +desires and volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers all +made holy and preserved holy. Glory! + +One more citation only and I will leave the reader to his own +researches in the rich storehouse of the Pauline writings. Taking it +for granted that Paul is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. "Wherefore, he is able, also, to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth +to make intercession for them." To the uttermost refers, undoubtedly, +not only to time but to quantity. It means entirely, perfectly, +altogether, through and through. And if he is able he is also willing. +Oh, that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God now and +evermore for salvation from the uttermost to the uttermost. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER. + + + +In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings of his beloved +brother, Paul, and this probably at a period when Paul was either dead +or separated from his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a +tradition that both the apostles were put to death on the same day at +Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself to have his head +downward because unworthy to die just like his Master--the other by +beheading, because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at Rome, +too honorable a position to be subjected to the ignominious death of +the cross. Even if this should be true, yet Peter's second epistle, in +which he endorses Paul's teachings, and gives to his writings the same +authority as to the rest of the Bible, seems to have been written but a +short time previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment of +Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired writer of Scripture, +and that what he had given to the churches through his epistles, and +left as a permanent legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious and frequent +allusions to entire sanctification, as well as to the various other +subjects treated of by his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, +therefore, Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised that +in the very first sentence of his first epistle, he addresses the +Christians of the Jewish dispersion in Asia Minor--though by no means +excluding the Gentile converts--as elect according to the fore-knowledge +(not predestination) of God the Father through sanctification +of the Spirit, which must include entire as well as partial +sanctification, unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in one +grand outburst of salutation from his glowing heart, he associates +sanctification of the Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the +obedience of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst of his +earnest appeals to men's hearts, in order to give a lecture on +Systematic Theology, but both scatter seed-thoughts all over their +inspired pages, which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and +reflecting mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the +Thessalonians employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and thus putting the +apostle of the circumcision by the side of the apostle of the +uncircumcision we have sanctification by the blood of Jesus, +sanctification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even in +a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, and all this without +the slightest inconsistency or contradiction. + +And as Peter starts out by calling God's people to holiness, he +continues by reminding them that their hope is to be fixed upon "an +inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, +reserved in heaven for you." What more natural than that those who are +expecting to inherit a holy heaven, should themselves seek while here +to become a holy people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it. + +After speaking of the "trial of their faith being much more precious +than of gold which perisheth," the apostle utters forth an imperious +call to entire sanctification. "But as He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Thus he quotes from the words of +the great lawgiver in Leviticus--that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the Old Testament, as +well as the New, bears witness to the holiness of God, and makes that +fact a sufficient reason for the command and requirement that His +people should be holy, also. + +Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells in a holy heaven. +Is it not most reasonable and most fit that He should require all who +are to dwell with Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting kingdom, +we must be made holy while still clothed in flesh and sojourning upon +earth. Nothing that is not already pure and holy can pass through the +gates of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. + +Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between our Father in +heaven and His children both on earth and in heaven. A lady was +accosted in the streets of a western city by a stranger, who asked her +if she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. She replied, +with some surprise at the question, in the affirmative. "I knew you," +said the gentleman, "by your resemblance to your father who was my +particular friend twenty-five years ago, away back in the State of +Maine." And the lady was delighted that the lineaments of her father's +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she should thus be +recognized even by one who had never seen her before as her father's +child. + +Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly Father so imprinted +upon our faces and upon our walk and upon our conversation that all who +know Him shall recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever we are and +whatever we do. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +In comparison with the precious "blood of Christ" Peter characterizes +silver and gold, which men call precious metals, as "corruptible +things," and then gives the striking exhortation, "Seeing ye have +purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto +unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a +pure heart fervently," and all this on the basis of the new birth which +they had already received "of the incorruptible seed by the word of +God." + +Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned and ignorant man, yet +when thou writest under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost +as hard to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul! + +See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated in various ways +in the sentence quoted above. (1), "Ye have purified your souls." Yes, +and it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem in reference +to Cornelius and his household, and said that God "put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." The word +"purify" is derived from a Greek root which means "fire." Souls are +purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the result is a continual +"obeying the truth," and (2), the positive side of this purification +is "unfeigned love of the brethren," and this is love with a pure heart +and fervent, the same love which John calls perfect love, and the +standard of which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, "As I have loved +you that ye also love one another." + +Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? Peter had never +been to a Theological Seminary, but he had listened through three +eventful years to the blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had +been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and without +aiming at system or explanation, he has compressed more sound theology +into a single verse than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon. + +And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration he tells us how to +grow in grace. "Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," and his +last exhortation at the end of the second epistle is, "But grow in +grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." + +Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, or that we grow +into entire sanctification. We first become receivers, and get grace +before we can grow in it, and we must first receive entire +sanctification before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel +blessings, this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says in effect, in +order to grow in grace you must do two things. (1), Lay aside +everything that hinders growth, specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, +envies, evil speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that all +these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. And so in a single +thought the exhortation is to lay aside, or put off, or give up to +destruction, the depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth so +easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will be an insuperable +hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical growth, and (2) desire, and of +course, partake of the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as in the natural +world, is first to become healthy, and then to take plenty of +nourishment. Holiness is spiritual health, and implies the absence of +inbred sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that is healthy +and gets plenty of pure milk will grow and develop rapidly. The time +will soon come when he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and thus he will +finally become a large and strong man. But the child may be healthy and +still not grow because it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have +plenty of the most wholesome food and still not grow because disease +prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. Sound health and plenty +of food, with proper exercise, are the essentials of the right kind of +growth. Now the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but strong +meat for strong men. It has been remarked by another that if Christians +would be giants they must eat giants' food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to have a sound +spiritual constitution and that means simply entire sanctification. +Peter is right again. We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we +have gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs true +growth. + +Of course my reader will not understand me to say, any more than Peter +himself says, that we experience growth in grace simply by a head +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who +is the bread of life. Nor do I forget that we feed upon His broken body +and His shed blood, not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, +not by learning, but by faith. + +But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible truth, whether +presented on the pages of inspiration or in the preached word, which is +the great instrumentality employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men +to Christ, and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and edifying +the church which has thus been gathered to Him. And so both Peter in +speaking about the "sincere milk of the word," and Paul in referring to +the "strong meat," by which term he characterizes the deeper spiritual +truths of revelation, are leading us to Jesus, the true bread, the +living bread, the bread of life. + +Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description of the Christian +priesthood, and again the leading idea of holiness flashes from his +pen, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ." Again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +an holy nation, a peculiar people." Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, or a dukedom +or a kingdom? Not I at least. + +The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, and even +temporal blessing also, through the mediation of an outward priesthood. +And the family of priests were chosen and ordained of God Himself. "No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God, as was +Aaron." + +But under the Christian dispensation all God's saved people are priests +as well as kings, and the sacrifices which they offer are spiritual +sacrifices, the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like a whole +burnt offering in His service, "the fruit of the lips giving thanks to +His name," and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, a life +rich in faith and good works, such are the sacrifices with which God is +well pleased. But to be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter's words will not allow us to doubt that the priesthood of +believers is a "holy priesthood." + +Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his readers to take ill +treatment patiently when they have to suffer, not for doing wrong but +for doing well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, "Who did no +sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, +reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed +Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare our sins +in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live +unto righteousness," winding up with a terse expression of the great +doctrine of the atonement "by whose stripes ye were healed." + +Paul would have us "dead to sin" by reckoning. Peter would have us +"dead to sins" by making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead either to sin within +us or to sins without us, implies holiness of heart, that is, entire +sanctification. Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine. + +Still further, Peter speaks of the "holy women" of old, and exhorts +Christian women to be like them, particularly in adorning themselves +not with gay attire, but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his +second epistle, he alludes to "holy men of God," speaking through the +Old Testament as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we have +the best possible definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed by equally +learned and candid men. But what can be more satisfactory to the +humble, Christian mind than just to feel that when he reads his Bible, +he is perusing the words of "holy men of God who spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." Such a mind will find no difficulty about +inspiration. + +In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes the unbelief +of the scoffers, who then believed, and whose successors still believe +that the present order of the material universe will continue for an +indefinite period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that the Lord +has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning His promises, but +that the very reason why the sinful world has been spared so long is +because of God's long suffering and mercy, "not willing that any should +perish, but that all should come to repentance." And, then, having +declared that the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved +unto fire, that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the +works that are therein shall be burned up, he exclaims with most +appropriate words, "Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation and godliness," and this in order "that ye may be found of +Him in peace, without spot and blameless." + +Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification as taught by +the apostle of the circumcision. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN. + + + +John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could +forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man +was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by +calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not +extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the +highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was _par excellence_ the +apostle of love. Not that his character became anything like putty. He +could still rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the elect +lady to receive or countenance any who did not uphold the true, sound +doctrines of the gospel. He was still a son of thunder against heresy +and immorality, but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely absorbed in +the love of God, and his exhortations to the churches, seemed all to +concentrate in two special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, and he never +lost the blessed experience. He retained the blessing because he +retained the Blesser. The Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and +keeper. + +The gospel of John contains many of the most profound and spiritual +truths that ever fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And the only +distinction which John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." + +He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the Deity and +preexistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, then tells of the +incarnation, how the Word became flesh, and we beheld His glory, how +although He was the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, and +though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His own received Him not, +but as many as did receive Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave +He power to become the children of God, and this through a new birth, +not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, not of man in any way +whatever, but of God. It is not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of +God by creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, by the +reception of the Divine nature by birth. And this new birth is more +fully unfolded to the Jewish Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its +necessity and its nature. "Ye must be born again." "The Son of man must +be lifted up." The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The water is +the water of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its cleansing +and refreshing and vivifying properties so well symbolized by water, +and the Holy Spirit is the effective personal agent by whom the +regeneration is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though His +operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, which bloweth where it +listeth, and is known only by its results. Then we have the hinge-text +of salvation, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal +life." Thus, in this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God's +love or God's grace as the source of our salvation, Christ crucified as +the ground of it, and the Holy Spirit as the Divine Agent of its +accomplishment. Glory be to the Triune God. + +Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus on the new birth, but +His discourse, also, with the woman of Samaria on true worship is given +by John alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, not to the +Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at all, but to a heathen or +semi-heathen woman, Jesus made the first recorded, positive declaration +of His Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, so they that +worship Him must do so, not in any specific locality, such as Jerusalem +or Mount Gerizim, and not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart was immediately +and completely captivated by so grand and glorious a revelation, and +that, at once, she left her waterpot and went her way to become a +preacher of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen. + +Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to the Jews to search +the Scriptures and the assurance that they testified of Him; and the +sixth chapter, with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after a +stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to take Him by force and +make Him a king, but He departed into a mountain Himself alone, and the +next day, the wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been so ready to +proclaim Him King, and brought out of the core of His heart those +pathetic words to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?", we come to the +seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, at which, on the occasion +of the priest pouring water from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden +pitcher into a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst let +him come unto Me and drink." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The +Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, and, perhaps, other +similar passages. "And the Lord shalt guide thee continually, and +satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be +like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not." + +But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely valuable +inspired commentary on these words of the Lord Jesus, in order that +readers in all ages might make the true spiritual application which is +intended by them. "But this spake He of the Spirit which they that +believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, +because that Jesus was not yet glorified." These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence and operation of the +Spirit in the former dispensations of God's grace, yet He was to be +poured out on all God's children under the gospel in a sense and to an +extent, which so far transcends the highest manifestation of His power +in Old Testament times that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was +not yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. And this +wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification of Jesus and as a +consequence of that glorification. So that Pentecost, with its untold +wealth of privilege, could not be realized till after the death, +resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and +twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their +hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire +sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a +privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy +Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude +that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your +children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God +shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual +believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all +Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen. + +In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin. +"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall +make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but +from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from +sin itself. + +Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does +not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your +own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in +this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad +acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own +way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do +everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions +and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and +into freedom for Jesus' sake. + +In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the +last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of +his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy +Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of +His coming He says, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My +Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with +him." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father +and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart +of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And +if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father, +Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly? + +In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the +doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk +in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim +to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in +the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies +fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +from all sin." + +This is a very striking and all-important statement. The verb is in +the present tense, and denotes a present and a continuous action. It +cleanseth persistently and continuously. You trust in Jesus this +moment, and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it cleanseth, +and thus on, without intermission or cessation. And the cleansing is +from all sin, sin committed and sin inbred, sin in act, word or +thought, sin outward and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of +knowledge and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. If this +does not mean entire sanctification, what use is there in language as +an expression of thought? Surely none. + +But the objection is strongly urged by some that the next verse assures +us that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the +truth is not in us." But why sunder this verse from its appropriate +connections? Were there not Pharisees in the time of Christ who would +not admit that they were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle John live to +see the germs of incipient gnosticism showing themselves in the church, +assuming, like modern Christian science, that all evil is in matter, +the soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing that it was +possible to have fellowship with God while living in all kinds of +sensual indulgence and licentiousness, and moreover denying the reality +of the incarnation of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and +resurrection? These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow: + + "Ah, to how many faith has been + No evidence of things unseen, + But a dim shadow, which recasts + The creed of the Phantasiasts, + For whom no man of sorrows died: + For whom the tragedy divine + Was but a symbol and a sign, + And Christ a phantom crucified." + +Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that on certain +conditions it is possible to experience through the blood of Christ, +which means simply the merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to those who deny +that they are sinners, he exclaims, and if we say that we have no sin, +and therefore do not need this cleansing, and can do without this +atonement, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How +much more rational is such an interpretation than the exposition which +makes one verse contradict the other, and represents the apostle as +first assuring us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. "But be sure to remember that this cleansing is +never really affected, and you are never really without sin." + +There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this epistle that we +must needs make selection and leave many passages to be carefully and +prayerfully pondered by the reader, with the assurance that there is +very much gold to be found for the digging; but we would call attention +in a special manner to John's description of perfect love. "There is no +fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath +torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." + +It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions that whilst all +Christians do and must love God, yet there is a stage denominated +perfect love, which many Christians have not yet reached. And this +stage of religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence of +fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean for us to understand +that we shall ever get beyond that reverential and filial fear, which +is the right and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation to our +Heavenly Father. But he specially describes the fear that will be +gotten rid of as tormenting fear, and this fear he declares that +"perfect love casteth out." Now we can readily see the reasonableness +of this statement. Fear about the future, whether as to temporal or +spiritual things, fear of evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in +short, all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred sin. As +a matter of course, therefore, when sin is cast out, fear is cast out +with it. Now perfect love is the positive side of entire +sanctification; it implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, most truly must +cast out fear. + +The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. The awakened sinner +fears him, but does not love Him. The justified believer both fears and +loves. Sometimes the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his heart, and has no +tormenting fear. Praise the Lord. + +And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the method of obtaining +the blessing of perfect love. It is by the prayer of faith, and the +prayer of faith involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +"For," says John, "if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our +heart," which probably signifies that He also will condemn us, and, +therefore, we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing as +entire sanctification while we are not wholly given up to the Lord, for +while that is our case, our heart will continue to condemn us. + +But he continues, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence +towards God." And again, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we +know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him." + +Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation more +beautifully portrayed than in these precious words. We are shown here +that (1), the seeker of entire sanctification must be wholly +consecrated to God. (2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God's will. (4), That then he may know that he has +the very thing he asks for. Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon +it. Amen. + +Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness of the Spirit to our +conscious cleansing. "If we love one another" (i.e. with a true and +pure and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) "God dwelleth +in us and His love is perfected in us." "Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit." Now to +have God's love perfected in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can +mean nothing less than entire sanctification, and we know this, as John +tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, the witness of the Spirit +to perfect love as well as to adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE. + + + +James and Jude were brothers. They were also "brethren of the Lord." +Whether this expression means actual brothers, namely, children of +Joseph and Mary, or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I leave to the +Biblical critics. Receiving without argument their respective epistles +as belonging to the inspired canon, I am to inquire what their teaching +is in reference to the one theme of this book, that is, entire +sanctification. + +James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop of Jerusalem he +presided specially over the Jewish Christian Church, and his epistle is +addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," i.e., to +the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, no doubt, to the Christian Jews, +but also secondarily and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. +James was "zealous of the law." He fully agreed with Paul and with +Peter that the yoke of circumcision and the Mosaic law was not to be +imposed upon the Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to observe the +outward law. His epistle is like Matthew's gospel, and savors strongly +of the Sermon on the Mount. As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock +of Christians, while he fully assented to Paul's teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon the people with +vehemence that they should show their faith by their works and that +they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only." As Paul +completely demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of the +law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired and a vigorous +protest against every form of Antinomianism. Thus the two writers, both +moved by the Holy Ghost, present the two aspects of gospel truth so +plainly that he may run that readeth. "We are saved by faith, not by +works," says Paul. "Aye," says James, "but we are saved in good works, +not out of them," and we must be careful to maintain good works, not in +order to be saved, but because we are saved. Good works are necessary, +not as the ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and +resultant and test of the salvation which we have received by faith. +James, therefore, is not antagonistic to, but only complementary of the +great apostle of the Gentiles. + +And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark of Christian +perfection in the very beginning of his epistle. He assures us that if +we let patience have her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + +Christian perfection, then, according to James, is perfect patience. +Christian perfection according to John, is perfect love. Christian +perfection, according to Paul, is maturity or being "thoroughly +furnished unto all good works." Christian perfection, according to +Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. Surely none but +a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes +of expression. They all imply deliverance from sin, which is always +instantaneous, and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual. + +James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under the name of lust. +"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and +enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) sin; +and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." + +We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers of the Bible, +believed in a personal devil, for he speaks of a wisdom which is +"devilish" and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity of +his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the enticement implies an +enticer, and that the wicked spiritual adversary of our race knows how +to adapt his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin is +strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, to entrap and +destroy him. Depravity exists by nature in all, but in one man it is +particularly felt in the direction of covetousness, in another, of +pride, in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. Satan's +temptations in the first of these would most likely be something which +holds out the prospect of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it +would be something to feed his intense admiration of self, to cherish +his pride; in the third, it would be the hope of political or some +other kind of power on the condition of sacrificing principle; in the +fourth, it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as in +drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus the trap is set for +every man, and the trapper is wary. God save us from his wiles. + +And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as it exists in the form +of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and shows itself in +evil speakings, so James tells us to lay apart "all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness," or "overflowing of wickedness." Ah, +beloved, most truly did Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain +of wickedness, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of us a superfluity of +naughtiness, an overflowing of wickedness, a natural depravity, an +inbred sin, and this must be "laid apart," it must be gotten rid of by +bringing and subjecting the heart where it dwells to the fiery baptism +with the Holy Ghost, and then shall we be in a position to receive, +with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. + +St. James speaks of the "law of liberty," and of the "royal law," the +latter being, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and both mean, +I apprehend, just what we have already alluded to as the law of love. +"Love," says Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law," and this is liberty, +and this is royalty, the freedom to do God's will because we love it, +and to have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled from our +hearts, and all lawful affections and passions subdued and subjected to +Him who is our King, and who reigns without a rival in our hearts. + + "I worship Thee, sweet will of God, + And all Thy ways adore; + And every day I live, I seem + To love Thee more and more." + +If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, where shall we find +them? Not on earth, at least. + +James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek more religion, but +he tersely defines pure religion. And that is what we want. It does not +depend upon age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure as +soon as it raises itself above the surface of the ground. Another stalk +may be impure and diseased when it is many feet in height. A Christian +may seek and find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he is +born again. Another Christian may spend years and years in seeking more +religion, and yet not become the possessor of purity of heart. + +This pure religion, according to our author, consists in works of +beneficence and love as to its outward manifestations, but its true +inward principle is in keeping one's self "unspotted from the world." +Oh, that all my readers with myself, may thus keep themselves unspotted +from the world, which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, and +in the end "may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless." + +But an objector here interposes with a quotation from James which is +supposed to preclude the possibility of living without sin. "In many +things we offend all." But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must continue in the +commission of sin to the end of their lives, would not only be doing +violence to that which is the very trend of our author's teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, but it would also +prove too much. For a little further on we read, in reference to that +unruly evil, the tongue, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and +therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God," +and again, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body." Surely no expositor would +maintain from such language that James was a tamer of horses and a +profane swearer. The truth is, that James, out of kindness and +courtesy, includes himself among his hearers or readers, and means to +show us how liable we are to give offence through rash and ill-advised +words, and then, on the other hand, he does not fail to mention the man +who does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace of God, to +bridle the whole body, that is, to live without sin, and whom, again, +he styles a "perfect man." + +Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine wisdom is first +pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, or babe in Christ, would +often reverse this arrangement. He is clamorous for peace, often to the +extent that he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and then +pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and He is always right. No +compromise must be made with error in doctrine, or evil in practice, +even for the sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities follow in proper +succession, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and the rest. + +Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher of holiness, "Cleanse +your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy of the Holy +Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. To cleanse the hands is +to obtain pardon and absolution for what we have done, and it is always +the first work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness of +his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, then his hands are +cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. He may still be unstable +in all his ways. His spiritual course may still be zig-zag. His life +may still be a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again and +repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, "O wretched man that +I am, who (not what) shall deliver me from this body of death?" And +then James's prescription comes home to him, "Purify your hearts, ye +double-minded." Seek and obtain the blessing of entire sanctification, +and, henceforth, with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the way +of Christ's commandments. Justification first and entire sanctification +afterwards. First cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with +this agree the words of the Psalmist, "Who shall ascend into the hill +of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" "He that hath clean +hands," that is, whose sins have been pardoned, "and a pure heart," +that is, who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the Holy +Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament and the New. + +Finally, James assures us that the "prayer of faith shall save the +sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." And not only physical but +spiritual blessing may be received in the same way for "If he have +committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." His conclusion is that +"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working," +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in the original as in +the passive voice, and then the meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. +S.A. Keen in his Faith papers, "The prayer of a righteous man being +energized" (by the Holy Ghost) "availeth much." + +I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer +begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the +prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is +the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a +special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also +given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the +special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st +Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the +power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, +which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually +believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be condemned." + +And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray +in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the +prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit +Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should +pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for +with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh +intercession for the saints according to the will of God." + +A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer +that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does +the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing, +which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance, +and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of +God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the +hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the +sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of +believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the +Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come. + +I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed, +and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must +be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order +to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary +prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of +faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer, +ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the +other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and +extraordinary results. Praise the Lord. + +Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to "hate even the +garment spotted by the flesh," that is, to keep entirely clear of all +the pollutions of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which was +regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually interpreted, +must mean the unspotted holiness of the true Christian. And as to the +question of one's ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is "able to keep us from falling," the very thing we +need and which we cannot do for ourselves, and "to present us faultless +before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." First, then, we +are to be sanctified wholly, then kept from falling by the power of +Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God's glory in heaven. And +this is the gospel according to Jude. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER. + + + +There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which I purposely +omitted in the preceding chapter, that it might have a more prominent +place in the present one. + +Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared to be "sanctified +by God the Father." It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every +person of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, is +concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. And this fact, like +many others, points to the extreme importance of the subject on which +we are treating; for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into active operation +in order to cleanse our hearts from the pollution of sin, and fit us +for heaven, then it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. If God, +therefore, regards it as an essential that we be sanctified wholly, let +us beware of the thought that it is only optional, that it is possible, +if possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, and that it +can be done without, or what is practically too nearly the same thing, +postponed until we see, or think we see, the near approach of death. +What every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance now, +let us not dare either to reject or postpone. "Behold, now is the +accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." + +Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "And now, brethren, I +commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are +sanctified." + +Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the +unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God's +infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed +of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. And when +our souls are stirred up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the "unspeakable gift" of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the +unspeakable blessings derived from and through Him, let us not forget +that behind it all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son." + +Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity belong to God +the Father. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the +Holy Spirit. Neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever +send the Father. The Father "created all things by Jesus Christ." Jesus +Christ cast out devils "by the Spirit of God." The Son reveals the +Father, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to +whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, +for "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "He +shall testify of Me." "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." "He +shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear" (from the Father +and the Son) "that shall He speak." + +Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given or could give to +His creature man is the gift of His Son. The greatest gift that God the +Son has given to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of the +Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, "I will pray the Father and He +shall give you another Comforter," and "whom the Father will send in My +name," but also, "If I depart I will send Him unto you," so we may say +in general terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father and the gift of +the Son. And it may be added that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit +to man is the gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory be +to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. + +And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified by God the Father, +He means not only that we are separated unto the gospel of life and +salvation, set apart to God and His service, but, also, that God the +Father has made ample provision in the death of His Son for all +Christian believers to be cleansed from every stain of moral +defilement, delivered from inbred sin, sanctified wholly, made perfect +in love, and filled with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to the redeemed soul, +that the source of all these unspeakable blessings is in the infinite +grace and love of God. + +Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is brought +prominently forward and insisted upon. And His own holiness is +presented as a sufficient reason why His people should be holy also. +"Be ye holy, for I am holy," which command and declaration are repeated +and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle, "But as He +which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely holy, and He +requires all His children to be holy even in the present life, it goes +without saying, as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely the standard of +God's holiness which is set before us by the Saviour as the mark at +which we also are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. "Be ye +perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Not that our +perfection or our holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be an impossibility +and absurdity, but that we are to be perfect in our sphere as He is +perfect in His, that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be perfect in love as +He is perfect love, and that we are to be delivered from all sin, not +by any effort or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace in +Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name that we are sanctified +by God the Father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON. + + + +As the source of our entire sanctification is in the unmerited love and +grace of God the Father, so the ground of it is in the blood of Christ +the Son. Justification and Sanctification are by no means identical, +but as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they are +precisely parallel. We are told that justification is by grace, and, +again, that it is by the blood of Jesus, and, still again, that it is +by faith. It is, therefore, God's grace, it is Christ's blood, it is +man's faith by which we are justified. The originating cause of our +justification is the grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith. + +And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. We are not +justified in one way and sanctified in another. We are sanctified as +well as justified by the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as +justified by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith. + +All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious sacrifice of the +Lord Jesus Christ. He "of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, +(justification) and sanctification and redemption." + +And sanctification, no more than justification, releases us from our +dependence upon the atonement. If we are either justified or sanctified +today it is not because we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. +If we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future period of +our eternity, it will not be because we deserve it but because Christ +died for us. And so forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of redemption "unto Him +that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath +made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and +dominion forever and ever. Amen." We are everlastingly linked to the +atonement of Jesus Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart. + +"Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from +their sins," which signifies, I apprehend, both the forgiveness of +sins already committed and saving them from the commission of sins in +the future. Here, then, we have justification and regeneration. "Behold +the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." This must mean +the sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth +so easily beset us, in a word, inbred sin. And to have the inbred sin +taken away means nothing more and nothing less and nothing else, than +entire sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by God the Son. + +"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Here +we have a positive statement that upon certain conditions to be +fulfilled by us, we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, and open sin and +secret sin, and all sin. There is no mistaking the length and breadth +and all comprehensiveness of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us +walk in the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true. + +And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which result He had in +view, no less than the removal of our guilt when He laid down His life +for us. "Wherefore, Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate." Glory to His Name. + +He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved from guilt and +condemnation and penalty, but that we might be saved from sin, or +sanctified wholly. And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn. + + "The cleansing stream I see, I see, + I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me. + It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST. + + + +As already intimated all the persons of the adorable Trinity are +concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying a human soul. And this is +naturally to be expected, because God is one Trinitarianism is not +Tritheism. In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. The Bible reveals +the fact, but does not reveal the how. We bow in adoring gratitude and +love before an incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing even +without understanding. + +Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians as +distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, "The renewing of the Holy +Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our +Saviour," is spoken of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection +with the "washing of regeneration," and seems intended to be +experienced just after it. Possibly the renewing here spoken of, may +signify only the change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind the entire cleansing +of the heart from sin. And in that case the renewing need not be any +more gradual or progressive than the washing, which all admit to be +instantaneous. + +Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, the occurrences which +he had witnessed at the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this +language: "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Evidently here +the chief of the apostles gives us to understand that the giving of +the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart by faith, are +co-instantaneous and identical experiences. And if this be so, the Holy +Ghost, who is a Divine person, and not a mere influence, must be the +effective agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is He who by +His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly. + +And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize +you with water, unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is +mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize +you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." For what purpose is this fiery +baptism with the Holy Ghost? Most certainly that it may consume the +inbred sin of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys the +alloy that the gold may be left pure. + +Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following language, viz: +"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." This great +apostle was the first to clearly understand the perfect equality +between Jew and Gentile in the gospel of salvation, and as he made +hundreds of Gentile converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation in entire +consecration to God, they were sanctified by the Holy Ghost. + +The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to give +thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because +God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through +sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the true +election and the true salvation, a salvation from sin, through +sanctification of the Spirit and this is to be obtained by faith. + +And the apostle of the circumcision uses language very similar in +addressing the Jewish Christians who are scattered abroad, and whom he +addresses as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of +the blood of Jesus Christ." Comparing these two citations we observe +again, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our +sanctification, and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a +continuous cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying our souls, on +condition that we believe the truth. God help all Christians to be not +faithless, but believing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH. + + + +We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the work of +sanctification in connection with belief of the truth on our part. And +with this agree the words of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. +"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." The word here is +not the eternal Logos, but God's revealed truth as given in Holy writ. +And it is a statement of the highest importance, made by Him who is the +truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification is in the truth +of God as made known to us in the gospel of His Son. Here, again, the +Apostle Peter gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that +by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust." If we are favored to +escape the corruption that is in the world, we are sanctified wholly, +and this is effected, Peter says, not by works of righteousness, not by +resolutions or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before we seek +to be holy, but by faith in the promises of God. These promises are +very numerous, and varied in character on the pages of the Bible. By +seizing upon them as written specially for us, we make them our own, +and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea and amen, that is to say, we +realize them in our own experience to be the truth, and thus when we +read "This is the will of God even your sanctification," or, "The very +God of peace sanctify you wholly," or, "I will circumcise your heart," +or "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my +statutes," immediately the truth is impressed upon our hearts as a +glorious reality, and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the Saviour's prayer +is answered and we are in His own blessed words, sanctified "by the +truth." If any reader will take a concordance and look for the word +truth, and search out the passages containing it, he will be convinced +that, however men may look at it, we have to do with the Lord God of +truth, and that His estimate of truth is so high that He will by no +means countenance any person or anything that liveth or maketh a lie. +And if we would honor Him, we must honor His truth, the truth that is +to make us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which we are +commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, and sell it not, the truth +which the Lord desires in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, +the truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which we are +sanctified, the truth of the word. + +And then we shall find in our own experience that "A God of truth and +without iniquity, just and right is He," that He will send out His +light and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill and to His +tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, even the banner of holiness +to the Lord, to be displayed because of the truth, and we must never +let it trail in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth +came by Jesus Christ. + +Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SANCTIFIED BY FAITH. + + + +The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. Adam believed +God and was obedient and happy, and the first thing that the wily +tempter attacked, and, alas, with too much success, was man's faith. +"Yea," hath God said, and "Ye shall not surely die." First, a question. +Then, a doubt of God's truth; then, a doubt of His love, and the rest +was easy. Man stood so long as he did stand by faith. He fell when he +did fall by unbelief. + +God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. Man could not +be the child of God if he did not have faith in God. Faith binds us in +the closest spiritual union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs +this bond of union and separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. +Beloved, let us have faith in God. + +"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the +Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense +all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was +known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are +also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's +gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them +gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on +His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of +God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must +be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be +saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he +that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God +abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the +power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all +mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving +faith, often requires the cooperation of the human will. And, +therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for +obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V. + +Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in +religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily +life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All +intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they +call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody +can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and +serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who +accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that +all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called +ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from +self-luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence +of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the +phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science +is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children, +farewell to all the enjoyment of home life. + +Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When business men, +manufacturers or merchants lose faith in one another, or in their +government, investments cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard +times are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds men to God, so +it is the bond that binds men one to another. When confidence is lost, +all is lost. Even a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance of things +hoped for, because it makes them real, as it is the evidence of things +not seen, because it convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter in hand that, +namely, of entire sanctification. + +Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said to them, "And now, +brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is +able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which +are sanctified," and in the commission to Paul himself the Saviour +says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of +sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is +in me." And as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit is +used by the apostle in direct connection with belief of the truth. +There can be no doubt, therefore, that the instrumental means of entire +sanctification is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is the +confidence," says the beloved John, "that we have in Him, that if we +ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that +He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that +we desired of Him." + +Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean heart, ask for +perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, ask for the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and he knows he is asking according to the will of God. +Then, according to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also by +faith, because it is God's promise that he has the petitions he desired +of Him. That is to say, when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act +of faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that he has the +clean heart, the perfect love, the entire sanctification, the Holy +Ghost baptism, which he asked for. And this will be honoring God by +taking Him at His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other evidence, the +witness of the Spirit may be prayed for and waited for, but, in the +meantime, he can and must rely with unwavering confidence upon the +evidence or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness of the +Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness of faith. + +I said we must believe by an act of the will. And some reader may +object to this statement by asserting that faith or belief is not a +matter of volition, but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply to give its +rightful force to the evidence. It is not for want of evidence that any +earnest, consecrated seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able +and willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He asserts it in +many forms and repeats it again and again as His Divine will that His +people should be holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here and +now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is not willing to make them +holy here and now, He must desire them to continue longer in sin, which +thought would impugn His own holiness. + +No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the faith-faculty has +become weakened and paralyzed by sin, and now we must determine to +believe, by putting our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many a seeking soul has +come out into the fullness of salvation by singing the hymn: + + "I can, I will, I do believe + That Jesus saves me now." + +The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, was told to +stretch it forth. He might have said where is my evidence that it will +do any good to try? But he put his will into the obedient attitude. He +willed to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with the obedient +will the power came from Jesus, and he stretched it forth and was +restored. To every one of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus +says, "Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to be responsible +for the result." Believe and receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, +we are sanctified by faith. Glory to the Lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + + +I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the doctrine and +experience of entire sanctification are fully and clearly taught in +Holy Scripture. All the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the history, in +the gospels, in the epistles, we find that God requires His people to +be holy and to be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their +privilege to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in the +sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be made holy. + +"For their sakes," says the blessed Saviour, "I sanctify Myself that +they also might be sanctified through the truth," or as the margin, +"truly sanctified," or as the Revised Version, "that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth." The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly +did not need to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was the "holy thing" +that was to be born of the Virgin Mary. "He knew no sin," He "did no +sin," He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," +and, therefore, when He says "I sanctify Myself," He means nothing more +nor less than I consecrate Myself, or I set Myself apart, but in the +other clause where the term sanctify is used in reference to His +people, it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin entirely +sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He sets Himself apart, +therefore, to the work of redemption and salvation that He may have a +holy people on earth, as without controversy He must and will have a +holy people in heaven. + +We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous with the baptism +with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that the two experiences are in an +important sense identical, or, at least, so related to each other that +whoever has one has the other. It is Christ and none other who baptizes +with the Holy. Ghost. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and +fire," not as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are to be +two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards that of fire +in the way of affliction or persecution, though plenty of these are +promised and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under +the similitude of fire, that is, that dross and tin and reprobate +silver, or, in a word, all inbred sin may be consumed. + +Nor is it correct to say that there are "many baptisms" of the Spirit. +The Holy Ghost baptism is received by the consecrated believer once +for all, and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism confers upon him, +from Christ through the Spirit, and again comes in repentance and +confession to do his first works, and again to be filled with the +Spirit and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the Holy Ghost +seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving the same emotional +experience as at first, but may and must be received and retained by +faith, and the amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He will +arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean to say that the +experience may be lost and may be regained, but seldom with the same +phenomena of consciousness as at the first. Do not speak, then, of +having had many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the one +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say that you are desiring +or that you have had a fresh baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your +thoughts and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth. + +But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The Psalmist says, "I +shall be anointed with fresh oil," and to every sanctified child of +God, there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of girding and +filling, and fresh anointing for particular services, which are +sometimes called fresh baptisms, but which are not to be confounded +with the one true abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they come because we +already have the Blesser Himself as a personal indwelling Presence and +Power. + +Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that we are first +sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and afterwards filled or baptized +with the Holy Ghost. This opinion would necessitate three separate +experiences, where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by the blood, and (3) +the filling of the Spirit. There would thus be a separation between the +removing of inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the Holy +Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification for service. +It is regarded by these teachers, as only given for an enduement of +power, to do the work to which we are called. And the practical result +of this error, for such with due deference I must regard it, is that +some will be very anxious to obtain the baptism with the Holy Ghost to +make them strong or powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even +deny, the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen tells us of +a minister who wrote to him that he did not take much stock in +sanctification, but that he was very desirous of the Holy Ghost +baptism, in order that he might have increased power in the ministry of +the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very prevalent idea, that we +are to be baptized for service, but not for cleansing. + +I trust that no reader who has followed me through the different +chapters of this book will imagine, for a moment, that I under-value, +in the slightest degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, cleanseth us from +all sin. I think I have sufficiently stated elsewhere that the blood of +Jesus is the procuring cause of our sanctification, as well as of our +justification, and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood of the Son of God +is the ground of our sanctification, but it is the Holy Spirit who is +the effective agent in destroying the depravity of our hearts. + +It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, and that God +anointed Him for the great work of redemption. And in His case, the +word used is anointed or descended, and not in any place baptized. He +needed not the work of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As a man, He did need +the energizing for His work, and, therefore, He is said to have been +anointed. Beloved, let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy Ghost baptism are +coetaneous experiences, and must not be divorced. + +And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. I have shown that +like a golden thread the doctrine of entire sanctification runs through +the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types and the ceremonies, +the gospels and epistles, everywhere showing us that we have to do with +a Holy God, and that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women. + +To all who shall read this book, I testify that by the grace of God, +and the blood of Christ, and the sin-consuming baptism with the Holy +Ghost, this poor man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name. + +And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May He "make you +perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Amen. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Theology of Holiness, by Dougan Clark + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +***** This file should be named 6657.txt or 6657.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/5/6657/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6657] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 10, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + +[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.] + + + +THE + +THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS. + +BY + +DOUGAN CLARK, M. D. + +PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHURCH +HISTORY IN EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, INDIANA. + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF +MY FATHER AND MOTHER, +DOUGAN AND ASENATH CLARK, +BOTH FOR MANY YEARS APPROVED +MINISTERS IN THE FRIENDS' CHURCH, +AND BOTH LONG SINCE DEPARTED +TO BE WITH CHRIST, THIS +BOOK IS LOVINGLY +Dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY + II. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE + III. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES + IV. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE + V. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY + VI. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST + VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL +VIII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER + IX. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN + X. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE + XI. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER + XII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON +XIII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST + XIV. SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH + XV. SANCTIFIED BY FAITH + XVI. CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY. + + + +Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology is the most +important of all sciences. It is the science that treats of God and of +man in his relation to God. It is a systematic presentation of revealed +truth. As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds revealed by +the telescope, and as the basis of Geology is the crust of the earth, +so the basis of Theology is the Divine revelation found in the Holy +Scriptures. The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is a +systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire sanctification as +derived from the written word of God. Such a presentation we hope--with +the help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly invoke--to +attempt to give in this book. May God bless the endeavor, and overrule +our human weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen. + +It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class of Christians to +whom the subject of entire sanctification is a matter of indifference. +They hope, with or without sufficient reason, that their sins are +forgiven. They propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, again +with or without sufficient reason, that they will go to heaven when +they die. The subject of holiness does not interest them. They suppose +themselves to be doing well enough without it. + +There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom the subject is even +positively distasteful. It is an offence to them. They do not want to +hear it preached. They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion and spiritual +pride. They turn away from the whole subject not only with +indifference, but with disdain. + +There are still others, and these God's children, as we may charitably +believe, who do not even regard holiness as a desirable thing. They +assert that it is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It is true that they +are never able to tell how much sin it takes to have this beneficial +effect, but a certain amount they are bent on having. + +Another class takes the opposite view. They regard holiness as very +desirable, and a very lovely thing to gaze upon and think upon, but +they also regard it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to get it at the +moment of death. Not sooner than the dying hour, do they believe any +human being can be made holy. Not till death is separating the soul +from the body can even God Himself separate sin from the soul. The +whole doctrine of entire sanctification, therefore, they regard as a +beautiful theory, but wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly +impracticable as a life. + +In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, as described by +Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are opposed to the doctrine of entire +sanctification. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and the +carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. This opposition may +take one of the forms already described, or, possibly, some other forms +which have been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the same +in all. Wherever "our old man" has his home in a Christian's heart, +there entire sanctification will be rejected. + +But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. There are +thousands of sincere, believing hearts in all Christian denominations, +in whom inbred sin still exists, but not with the consent of the will. +They are tired--very tired of the tyrant that rules them, or of the +ceaseless struggles by which, with God's added and assisting grace, +they are enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. They are +hungering for full salvation, and rejoice to hear the message of entire +sanctification through the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The +Lord bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them the desire of +their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, and may their numbers be +vastly increased, so that the banner of Christ's church may everywhere +be unfurled--the banner on which is inscribed the glorious motto of +Holiness to the Lord. + +Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire sanctification-- +whether in the form of indifference, or dislike, or undesirableness, +or impossibility--with the simple proposition, It is necessary. If this +proposition can be established, all objections, of whatever character, +must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every Christian heart +must be, How can I obtain that priceless blessing which is essential to +my eternal bliss, which is indispensable, and without which I shall +never see the Lord? + +For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace +with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," +and in the Revised Version, "Follow after peace with all men, and the +sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." This can mean +nothing short of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred sin. +And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue the question as to the +indispensableness of this blessed experience, in order to gain an +entrance into heaven. Everyone will admit that God Himself is a +perfectly and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His followers +in all ages, "Be ye holy for I am holy"--making His own perfect and +entire holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same quality +in His people. And, although the holiness of the highest created being +will always fall infinitely short of that of the Infinite God, as +regards quantity, it will be the same <i>in quality</i>, for Jesus +tells us, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," +not, of course, with the unmeasurable amount of perfection which +appertains to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far as it +goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that "There shall in no wise +enter into it" (the heavenly city) "anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie." Heaven is a holy +place, and occupied with none but holy inhabitants. + +But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that we may reach the +blissful abode of the glory land, when is this stupendous blessing to +be obtained? It is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as an attainment, and +this form of expression has a tendency to discourage the seeker by +magnifying the difficulty of receiving this blessing. The thought +contained in the word attainment is that of something earnestly striven +for, struggled after, persistently pursued with much labor and toil and +effort, until, at last, the coveted prize is attained. A very few of +the multitudes who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of hard labor and +privation and hardship. The majority died on the way, or while mining +for the precious metal, or returned as poor as they went. + +On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply that of a gift. +And entire sanctification is precisely a gift, "merely this and nothing +more." It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit of our +own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise to be undertaken; not +the fruit of a long journey or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor +trying, nor suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord. + +And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable gift to be +obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist answer, in +purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a second probation after death. +But the Holy Scriptures tell us absolutely nothing either of a +purgatory or a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be determined in one +probation, which is allotted to us in the present life. Let no one +suppose, for a moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left this mundane +sphere. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of +salvation." + +But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, and also a large +portion of the membership of Arminian denominations, without regard to +their creeds, if asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at death. The +prevailing idea on this subject, among Christian believers, seems to be +as follows: First, through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins are pardoned, and we +are born again. After that, our sole business is to grow in grace, and +by this growth to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can reach that standard +until the moment of death. + +Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, grow in grace +until we receive it. And we can never grow into grace, but grow in it +after we get it. We can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree is limited +because of the presence of inbred sin, which is the great, if indeed, +not the only hindrance of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at +least, because if the justified Christian is brought to see the need +and the possibility of entire sanctification, and yet fails, as so many +do, to enter into the blessing, because of unbelief, he is very prone +either to backslide, in which case, of course, there will be a +cessation of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to the +bondage of legalism, and after having begun in the Spirit, he will seek +to be perfected in the flesh; in which case Paul's verdict to that +beloved church was not ye are growing in grace, but, "ye are fallen +from grace." + +It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into the blessing of +entire sanctification. That blessing is to be received by faith, as the +gift of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when the +grace has once been obtained in this manner, then we can grow in it +indefinitely and for a lifetime, possibly even for an eternity. Growth +in grace is a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring us to the death of +the old man, nor to the experience of entire sanctification. + +And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death is nowhere +mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. Death can separate the soul +from the body, but to separate sin from the soul is a work which God +can only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is +our sanctifier, and even if the work is performed in the article of +death, it is still the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, where is the +hindrance to His performing it a week, a month, a year, or forty years +before death--if only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where is His +omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do it before death; then where +is His own holiness? In either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves +of an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save us from such +folly. + +Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite in the sentiment +that entire sanctification is to be sought and obtained now, and if +now, then it is to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained by faith, and from +these premises the further conclusion is logically deducible, that we +cannot make ourselves any better in order to receive it, but that we +must take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the pithy precept +of John Wesley, "Expect it by faith--expect it as you are--expect it +now." + +In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some things which +belong more accurately to the next chapter; but we are not seeking so +much for a perfectly methodical arrangement, as for a clear and +Scriptural presentation of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now +that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of +entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results +of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable +blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father's will in this +world, it is indispensable to live by. + +But before leaving entirely the subject of growth in grace, having +demonstrated, as we trust, that we can never grow into entire +sanctification, we ought, perhaps, to explain what we mean by the +statement that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace after, +and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification has two sides or +aspects. It has a positive side and a negative side. Its negative side +is the removal of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of +subtraction. And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. The latter +is a matter of addition, because it implies the impartation of a new +life to the soul which has hitherto been "dead in trespasses and sins." +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification there can be no +growth. If a heart is pure it cannot be more pure. If it is free from +sin it cannot be more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase in purity. + +But the positive side of entire sanctification is perfect love, and +this is a relative expression. It does not mean that all who possess it +must have an equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual is +just his own heart--not some one else's heart--being filled with love. +One individual may have a greater capacity of loving than another, just +as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or of working. Perfect love +in a child would not be perfect love in a man; and perfect love in a +man would not be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect love today may +not be perfect love to-morrow. As we commune with God and work with +Him, as we get more and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of the Triune God, how +is it possible that we should not love Him more and more? "There will +never be a time in earth nor in Heaven," says the late Dr. Upham, "when +there may not be an increase of holy love." On the positive side of +entire sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true growth in grace, +about which much more could be said, but we leave it for the present, +to resume our main theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come. + +We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian can do all +that God would have him do, nor enjoy all that God would have him enjoy +in this world, without the grace of entire sanctification. In the +beautiful language of metaphor the Saviour says, "I am the true Vine +and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He taketh away, and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He +purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." And again, "Herein is +My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be My +disciples." Now the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am +come," says He, "that ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye +might have it more abundantly" (in entire sanctification). The abundant +life and the abundant fruit, therefore, can only be found in connection +with purity of heart. + +It is doubtless <i>true</i> that every living branch, that is to say, +every justified and regenerated believer, may and should and must, if +he would retain his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is +precisely these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman "purges"--sanctifies--that they may bring forth the more +abundant fruit by which He Himself shall be glorified. And here we +might rest our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two will be +in place. + +The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius of a poet, the +intimate connection between purity and power. He puts into the mouth of +Sir Galahad, one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz: + + "My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + +Now one of the most common complaints among Christians of all +denominations, is because of their weakness and their leanness. And yet +nothing is clearer than that God has promised to make His people +strong, that He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and that +not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to say criminal in His sight. +The reason, then, of our weakness and our leanness and the meagreness +of our fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not fulfill the +conditions on which He promises to make us strong. One of these +conditions, and an indispensable one, is that we be entirely +sanctified. It is they that know their God, both in conversion and +entire sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall "be strong +and do exploits." Beloved, if you would accomplish the work that God +has given you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment in +eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, seek and find that which +is the essential condition, and ask at once to be wholly sanctified. + +And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the joy of an uttermost +salvation, the peace that passeth understanding, the fellowship with +the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing of +the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the abiding presence of +the indwelling Comforter, then pray that the very God of Peace may here +and now sanctify you wholly. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE. + + + +This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary from what has been +said in the preceding chapter. If entire sanctification has been proved +to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot +attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian +enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, +and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our +gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable +requisite both for time and for eternity may be received. + +But before discussing this proposition in detail let us have a clear +understanding of what is meant by entire sanctification, and, as a +preliminary, let us study a few simple theological definitions. + +In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty in believing that +I fully accept the Arminian doctrine of the universality of the +atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of +all mankind, and its benefits are offered to all. "He tasted death for +every man." But it does not follow that all men will be saved, and this +for the reason that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated to accept it. +But it is available only in the case of those who believe. "He that +believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +condemned." A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation. + +Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. It is either +general or special. In one sense it is as broad as atonement. Atonement +is for sin; redemption is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. +In its more special meaning it is applicable only to those who accept +the atonement. For these it implies release from the bondage of the +will under the law of sin and death, or justification and regeneration. +It brings also release from the power and existence of depravity or +entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, the complete +glorification of the saints in body, soul and spirit at God's right +hand, and the deliverance of the creation itself from the "bondage of +corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." + +The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement are offered +to the sinner is repentance. Both the Saviour Himself and His +forerunner began their public ministry with words of like import, viz: +"Repent ye and believe the gospel." Repentance does not mean penance-- +not a voluntary sacrifice in our own will for an expiation of sin--nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although "godly sorrow" is one +of the elements of true repentance. The sorrow of the world may produce +remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but +remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life +but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of +purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for sin +--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or +financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the +Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the +determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and +involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no +more. + +The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the +benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less +than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that +He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." +"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them +real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the +mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that +all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving +faith. + +And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift +of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of +believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting +forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the +salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith +faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one +case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the +faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the +world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper +object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the +truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise +our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our +faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss. + +For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience +to that as to all other of His commands. The fact of the command +involves the power to obey. Our will, therefore, our choosing power, +must be put on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. It +is not that we are required to believe without evidence. It is that our +depraved hearts are not willing to believe when the evidence is ample. +And, therefore, our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." The great +and crying sin of our fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has +sundered us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith which +is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited to Him. "He that +believeth not the Son is condemned already." + +Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God promises to give +us the grace of justification. This is pardon for all our past sins. +God, for Christ's sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus' sake, although we are not just in reality. +And herein it is that gospel justification differs from legal +justification. The individual who is accused of crime and who is +brought into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, not to be +guilty, is at once acquitted and released from all penalty. He is +justified solely on the ground of his innocence. But no man ever has +been or ever will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground of +his innocence. Every responsible human being has broken the law of God. +"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And none of those +who have broken the law can be justified by the law, that is to say, +not one. The law justifies those, and those only, who keep it. None of +us have kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man Christ +Jesus. The law condemns all those who break it. All the race of men +have broken it save only the man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under +condemnation. But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? We should be so +but for Christ. But, blessed be God, "He hath found a ransom." "All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, +and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus Christ +"Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." And so it comes to +pass that we can be freely justified by His grace, not because of our +innocency but because He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the +place which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. He procured +for us the place which was and is rightfully His, and that is at God's +right hand. He suffered what we deserved, and by that very suffering He +made us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to His Holy Name! + +By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, justice is +satisfied, and the penalty of the broken law is removed. God is +infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. He loves the +sinner with a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and will not look +upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance. His mercy and His love +may compassionate the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do +right?" + +But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified and risen Lord, +both the attributes of mercy and justice are enlisted on behalf of the +sinner. The mercy of God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus' sake. "Mercy and truth have met together, +righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "God can be just and +the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "If we confess our sins +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." And in accordance with +the way of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now plead +with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive us when we have +complied with these conditions. And so we arrive at the conclusion that +justification is an act of God's grace by which our sins are pardoned +for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act is instantaneous. God does +not pardon sins gradually, nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to +every one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious language, +"Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." As if by a single +stroke of the recording angel's pen, the whole dark record is blotted +out forever. "As far as the east is from the west so far hath He +removed our transgressions from us." Glory. + +Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies justification. +God does not justify a sinner without, at the same time, giving him a +new life. This new life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine energy of the +Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, without, at the same time, +receiving a new nature, he would inevitably fall into sin again. His +lifetime on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But our +merciful Father having for Christ's sake looked upon him as just and +righteous, when he was not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new +nature which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, indeed, of +the Divine nature, and that is a nature which is holy and just and +good. And this is the new birth. Men may be full of physical life and +of intellectual life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is that +act of God's grace by which we are born again. + +Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and regenerated +believer into the family of God. No longer enemies, nor even strangers +and foreigners, those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now +receive the adoption of sons. They become the children of God by faith +in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and they rejoice to declare it. +A human governor or ruler may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a +reprieve, but he never takes him into his own family. He may forgive +the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon him a new nature, nor can he +consent to recognize him as a brother or a son. But God not only +remits the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers them from +wrath and from punishment, but He gives them a new nature by which they +can respond to His love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "Ye are all +the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." + +The witness of the Spirit is something not easily defined, but it is +well known by those who experience it. It is an impression or +consciousness wrought into the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, +which gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child of God. +Before this, he believes, now he knows. This witness, therefore, +expels doubt and infuses into the heart of the new-born child of God, a +calm, definite and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. "The Spirit Himself beareth +witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." "Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into +your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." + +Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, are all received +co-instantaneously. They always accompany each other, and whoever has +one of them has them all. The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not +always a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies or attends the +other experiences to which we have alluded. And we may add that all +these graces are but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, by the single +term conversion, which term, therefore, must be understood to include +and imply justification, regeneration, adoption and the witness of the +Spirit. It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, and never a +prolonged process. Just so certainly as every human being that comes +into this world has a definite, natural birthday, so every one that +comes into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. Some +people do not know when their natural birthday occurs, nevertheless, +they know that they have been born. Some Christians do not know when +their spiritual birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of a definite line +out of Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where a man can +truthfully say, I am neither converted nor unconverted. One moment he +is out of the ark of safety, the next moment he is in it. + +Entire sanctification is an act of God's grace by which inbred sin is +removed and the heart made holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is +the inward cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It is the +bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter fruits. It is the +natural evil tendency of the human heart in our fallen condition. It is +the being of sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that within +us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. It exists in every human +being that comes into the world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is +called in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our old man, +sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term sin in the singular +number. In the Old Testament it is called sin and iniquity. "Behold," +says David, "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive +me." And when the Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, "Lo, this hath touched +thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." + +Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the real existence of +this inbred sin and also as to the fact that it is not removed at +conversion. "This infection of nature doth remain," says the Anglican +Confession, "yea, even in them that have been regenerated." Most church +creeds, indeed, give no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the hour of death. And +it is regarded as serious heresy in some quarters for a man to either +preach or claim that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse from +all sin. + +But God has in every age and in every dispensation required His +children to be holy. And to be holy signifies the destruction or +removal of inbred sin, nothing more and nothing less and nothing else +than that. How this is accomplished will be discussed further on, but +here we say that the removal of innate depravity is entire +sanctification, and that God has most surely made provision in the +atonement of Jesus Christ for the removal of innate depravity. +Therefore, He has made provision for entire sanctification, and, +therefore again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin goes +back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. If not as old as the +human race, it is at least as old as the fall. Since sin entered +through the beguiling of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin +has existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and Eve. The only +exception is the man, Christ Jesus, the God man, the Divine man, the +promised seed that should bruise the serpent's head. But as He, the +Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, +and as inbred sin is one of the works of the devil, therefore its +destruction is provided for in the atonement, and, therefore, still +again, entire sanctification is obtainable. + +The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate or to devote +to sacred uses. It has this signification nearly always in the Old +Testament and in a few passages in the New. In other words, whatever is +consecrated is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent meaning, of +separation from all sin, inward as well as outward, and this is what +Paul calls being sanctified wholly. It is entire sanctification as +distinguished from partial sanctification. This latter appertains to +all Christians, and is technically so used in the New Testament. The +former is the experience of those, and those only, from whom inbred sin +has been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES. + + + +For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was +without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are +concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been +patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his +children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he +died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their +allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs +constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a +prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were +Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death, +it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of +the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and +deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law. + +As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few +faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and +sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not +to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the +subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings +of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New +Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the +word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day +and sanctified it. + +And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives +of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose +of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of +His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience +upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New +Testament. + +"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Such is +the record in Genesis, but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the +faith chapter, we find that "by faith Enoch was translated that he +should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him, +for; before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased +God." Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian ages, +walked with God and pleased God, and was translated that he should not +see death, there surely can be no reasonable doubt that he was a holy +man, an entirely sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was "slain from the +foundation of the world." + +"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked +with God." The prophet Amos exclaims most pertinently, "Can two walk +together unless they be agreed?" It is certain, therefore, that God and +Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely pure and holy, can never +be agreed with any person or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever +may be the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied to +God's children in Old Testament times, we can scarcely avoid the +conclusion that Noah was a holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and +this notwithstanding his subsequent error in regard to drinking too +much wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose he may have +been, up to the time of this sad experience, ignorant. + +Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, in Ur of the +Chaldees, when he received the call of God to go entirely away from +his kindred and his father's house, and depart into a land of +separation, a land which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing whither he went, +but only knowing that the Lord was leading him. At his first move, he +was accompanied by his father. And he came out of his native land, it +is true, but not yet into the promised land. "He came to Haran and +dwelt there," or to give the record in full, "And Terah took Abraham, +his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his +daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them +from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there." + +Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr Stephen says, +"And from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this +land, wherein ye now dwell," but in Genesis the statement is, "And +Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their +substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in +Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the +land of Canaan they came." The last tie of nature was sundered when the +old man died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought him +into the promised land. There are two distinct stages in his experience +before he reached the place, which God designed him to occupy. And +these we may as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the first +experience under the gospel--that of regeneration--and of the second +experience as well, which is entire sanctification. + +In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious episode +occurs, and that is the story of his transient but highly important +meeting with Melchizedek, after his successful expedition against the +kings, who had despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, viz.: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, +brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High +God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High +God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, +which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him +tithes of all." No other mention is made of Melchizedek until David +writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly one thousand years after +Abraham. The Psalmist writing by inspiration, and alluding beyond all +reasonable doubt to the Messiah, says, "The Lord hath sworn and will +not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." +And then, again, the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once more brings him +to the front in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is described in +glowing language as "first being by interpretation King of +righteousness, and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king of +peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy (R. V.) having +neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son +of God, abideth a priest continually." + +Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most remarkable +personage, the following inferences seem fairly deducible therefrom: +(1) Melchizedek, being made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently +the Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and +priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and Christ are priests, and yet the +former is not of the chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, +unquestionably, greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth bread and wine. +So did his antitype at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Melchizedek +was before that of Aaron. Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to +Melchizedek in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle to +the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since Melchizedek was without +beginning or end, and greater than Abraham, and with a priesthood that +existed centuries before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, +therefore Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting to +everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, is to abolish the +Aaronic priesthood, whose institution was for a temporary purpose, and +was fulfilled when Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek. + +But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also a king. And it was +not only in his everlasting priesthood, but in his regal office also, +that he was a type of the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, +Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in His own +person the three offices of prophet, priest and king. + +Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, if he was greater +than Abraham, if he was a type of Jesus Christ in His kingly and +priestly offices, it is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. He was made like +unto the Son of God, and the Son of God is eternally holy. Praise His +name. It is, surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in those +primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth was full of wickedness +and violence, that even then God had His witnesses to experimental and +practical holiness. + +Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood of Christ, let me +remark that it was a sad day for His Church when the idea became +prevalent, that ministers of the gospel are in any official sense to be +regarded as priests. This serious error may have been derived, in part, +from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. It has become incorporated in +the creed of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, +and has been productive of the most disastrous results. Among the +deliverances of the Council of Trent, held at intervals from 1545 to +1564, and the last Council, which Romish authorities regard as of +binding authority, are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: "Whereas, therefore, in the New +Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution of +Christ, the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a new, visible and +external priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the +sacred Scriptures show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord, +our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the +priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering and +administering his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins." + +It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely clear of this +same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, and that, in thought, at +least, many substitute this for the true priesthood, which appertains +to all believers. Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation and +continues to do, forever, by intercession. "He ever liveth to make +intercession for us." He "offered one sacrifice for sins forever." If +He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already offered Himself as a +sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of all mankind, the benefits of +which each and every one may obtain on the simple condition of +repentance and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says George Fox, +"Friends, let nothing come between your souls and God, but Christ," and +we say Amen. + +To sum up on this particular point, we may say that the ancient +priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, and of Aaron, the Jew, +with his descendants, were nothing more than types; and a type can have +no real existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there is no +place for a human priesthood under the Christian dispensation. We are +taught in Holy Scripture that no one can come to God except through +Christ, but we are also taught that all are invited, and all may come +directly to Him. All the officers belonging to the New Testament +Church, whether ministers, deacons, presbyters, bishops, elders, or +even apostles, are described not as priests but "messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and shepherds." Their +function is to preach the word, to teach, to rule, but never to +mediate. It is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests. + +But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, all Christians +are priests. But this is through Christ and in Christ, the one great +and eternal High Priest. They are priests because they are in Christ. +And not only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings and +priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed privileges are theirs, +solely by virtue of their union and fellowship with Christ, who, in a +mystical and spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His own +priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic office. + +Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit, +"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people." + +And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house, +an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God +by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the +functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of +sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by +the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath +offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and +nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient +offering. + +The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender +of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to +God. Listen to Paul. + +"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye +present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service." Your bodies, because if you are +Christians, you have already presented your hearts; your bodies, +because through the body, too often temptation enters into the soul and +leads it to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If surrendered to the +Lord, He makes them the very thing they were originally designed to +be, namely, the obedient servants of the soul, and the soul is already +His own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands and the body +obeys, both are working for God, and when the soul says Go, and the +body runs hither and thither, both are going upon God's errands. + +It will be observed that the body is to be presented a living +sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless activities are to be given +up to God. The expression, no doubt, implies that the whole man, +described by the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, soul +and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be His, and His forever, +and henceforth to be ready to be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed +will. + +The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion of your time, +nor a certain portion of your money, nor a certain portion of your +effort, nor your sins, nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden +indulgences. You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, nor +your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, nor your theatre- +going to God. He wants none of these things. All actual and known sins +must be abandoned at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent and a +deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus present his body +unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, but Christians are enjoined to +"yield themselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead;" not +as those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character and +for a different purpose. That purpose is that he may be wholly +sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of +his capacity for the glory of God. Consecration means yielding +yourselves unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything else. +All the details are included in the one surrender of yourself. + +And remember, also, that your consecration is not to God's service, not +to His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the +church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, not +to any organization, not to the cause of God; it is to God Himself. +"Yield yourselves unto God." It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. Your work, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty, +will all follow in due time. The next sacrifice to be made by the +Christian priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. "By Him, +therefore," says the author of the Hebrews, "let us offer the sacrifice +of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name." + +And the next priestly offering of the Christian is a holy life, for the +inspired author goes on in the next verse, "But to do good, and to +communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; offer the +fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of the life, and you will walk +worthily of your priesthood. Glory! + +The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined experiences about +twenty years apart. The first of these was at Bethel, when, in +loneliness and anguish of mind, he was plodding on his way toward +Mesopotamia to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground with a stone for +a pillow, not only distressed in mind from fear and anxiety, but also, +we may well suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation of a +guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had faith in God's promises, +even if he did not always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, forlorn, fearful and +contrite, God was watching over him, and when he awoke from the +wondrous vision there vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in +the place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new man. Now he +could not only believe intellectually what God had said, but he could +and did enter into covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. This was such a +change of mind and heart as constituted a real conversion. + +When, after the many mercies and many trials that fell to his portion +whilst dwelling with his uncle Laban, and after the lapse of two score +years, he was returning to his father's house, no longer poor and +lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives and children, again he was +encountered by the fear of his brother Esau who was approaching him +with four hundred men. Then it was that there "wrestled a man with him +until the breaking of the day." Note it was the man wrestling with +Jacob--and the man was the angel,--Jehovah, the pre-existent Christ-- +and the object of his wrestling was to get the Jacob nature, the old +man, the body of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by a +touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for him to resist any +longer. Now he had to cease his wrestling but he could still cling, and +he could still cry, "I will not let thee go until thou bless me." +Jacob's will was now firmly set upon the blessing; he could ho longer +resist the will of the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob--supplanter, sinner, and then He +blessed him there; Jabbok means extinguishment, and Jacob's self-life +was extinguished there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter--but Israel, the prince, the prevailer, the +overcomer, and Israel was now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell +God your name--sinner--seek with fixed determination for the blessing +of holiness, fulfill the conditions, and you also shall prevail, and +your name will be changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the Blesser Himself +in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. Praise the Lord! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE. + + + +The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and typical. "The law +having a shadow of the good things to come," says the author of the +Hebrews. But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far as +holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed forth in the +ceremonial law, we shall find that there is a corresponding substance +and reality in the gospel of Christ. + +In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions of the Mosaic +law, we shall be struck with the many forms of ceremonial uncleanness +described therein, and with the "divers washings," not only of the +"hands oft," but of the whole body, and of "cups and pots, brazen +vessels and of tables." All these point to the fact that God will have +a clean people, and a clean people is a holy people. The same thing is +vividly exhibited in the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be disused. Of land +animals, only such as both chew the end and divide the hoof, might then +be eaten. And of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales were +to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt that this restriction in +regard to food is full of meaning. God help us all as Christian +believers to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have His people now +pure in heart, clean in soul, holy both within and without. + +The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, and this became +the perpetual rite by which his descendants were admitted to the rights +and privileges of that covenant. "Every male child shall be +circumcised." But this rite was an outward symbol of "a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in +the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, +we are told that "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is +that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which +is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Beloved +reader, may you and I know what it is to experience the inward +circumcision, made without hands, even the putting off of the body of +the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, not only were they to be +adorned with holy garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious stones, but the +plate for the mitre was to be made of pure gold, and engraved with the +motto "Holiness to the Lord." This was to be always upon the forehead +of the High Priest, and must signify that Aaron was to be the holy +priest of a Holy God, and that the law required a continuous holiness, +as most assuredly the gospel does also. + +Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood and the sacrifices +were typical of Christ. In the mediatorial work of redemption, he was +both the priest and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. +The holy priest, under the law typified the holy priest, who is a +priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel +dispensation all Christians are priests. "But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." And +we are priests, not for the purpose of expiation, for expiation was +completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He "bore our sins in His own +body on the tree," but priests to offer up "spiritual sacrifices +acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And every such priest must +needs be continuously holy. + +The "spiritual sacrifices" which the Christian priest must offer are, +as previously stated, (1) his body, with all its members and +capacities. The heart was given to Christ at conversion. It is, +however, largely through the body that the soul is led into sin, and it +is through the body, also, that the soul must perform its work for +Christ, so long as soul and body are united in probation. Hence, the +Apostle exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service." The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. He +must "hold fast the confession of his faith without wavering." "By him, +therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." And, finally +(3), the Christian priest must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. "But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God +is well pleased." Beloved, let us ask ourselves if we are constantly +offering as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing tongue +and a godly life. Amen. + +This subject has already been alluded to under a different head, but +it will bear repetition. + +In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing of the leper, we +find an impressive type or symbol of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly +and strikingly a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, +incurable, fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; he +could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He was an outcast. None +must be permitted to approach him. They must be warned off by the +despairing cry "unclean, unclean." Nothing can be conceived more +desolate or more hopeless than the condition of the leper, unless it +be, indeed, the sinner who is an "alien from the commonwealth of +Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and +without God in the world." + +But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad "day of cleansing." +He might not come into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. And none but +Christ has any authority to tell the sinner that he is converted, or +the believer that he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies away toward +heaven with bloody wing; the leper is sprinkled seven times, to denote +the completeness or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means of +hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; he must wash his +clothes; he must pass a razor over his whole body, and bathe the whole +body likewise in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by the washing of +water through the word, as plainly described as symbolic language can +utter it. + +All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily sacrifice both +morning and evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the +offerings at the various feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for +individuals or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for what we are, the +peace offering, the burnt offering, these, also, all point to the Lamb +that was slain from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was shed. "Almost all +things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of +blood is no remission." + +But turn now to the New Testament, and read that "It is not possible +for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Read again, "If +the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the +unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself +without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God." Read again, "In Him we have redemption through His blood" +--"Having made peace through the blood of His cross"--"Ye who are far +off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"--"Being now justified by His +blood"--"That He might sanctify the people with His own blood"--and +especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, Dr. Edgar M. Levy. +"When an oblation for sin was offered up under the old dispensation, +the priest was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle it +seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection of the +offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come short of the type. Seven +times, at least, did our Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was +circumcised and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted on the +mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this must needs have been +attended with blood. He was scourged, and from Roman scouring there +was, of course, blood. The crown of thorns was driven into His precious +temples and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp nails +penetrated into His hands and feet, and again there was blood. And one +of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came +thereout blood and water." + +The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of our sanctification +as it is of our justification. Glory be to His Name forever for the +precious, cleansing blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the "Rock of Ages," and especially with the +rendering now frequently given to the conclusion of the first stanza, +viz.: + + "Let the water and the blood + From Thy wounded side which flowed, + Be of sin the double cure + Save from wrath--and make me pure." + +The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, and was used +for a great variety of purposes. In typology, however, it has special +reference to the office work of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively +the Sanctifier, and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as "the unction" or "the anointing." The holy anointing +oil was to be sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred +vessels. It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests and +kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge of their +respective offices. There can be no doubt but that this use of the +anointing oil and the sweet perfume, which none were permitted to +imitate or counterfeit, has a direct typical reference to holiness. +The sacred writer, indeed, says as much. "That they may be most holy; +whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." And as all Christians are +kings and priests unto God, it is necessary that they also be anointed +with the Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels +of the Lord." A priest must be holy. + +We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred sin, and of the +requirement of blood-shedding in the cleansing of the leper. But before +that cleansing was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the priest had already +touched his ear, his thumb and his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, +so now he touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the blood; +afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the wondrous plan of salvation +through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure +pardon; afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire sanctification +through the Spirit. + +The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, the thumb and the +toe of Aaron and his sons in their consecration to the priesthood and, +finally, poured upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch the flesh. And +so, beloved, we must be touched with blood and oil as to our spiritual +ears, that we may take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, and +goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they may run swiftly and +beautifully upon the errands of redeeming love; and, at last, upon our +heads and running down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be "ever, only, all for Him." Praise the Lord. +And this can never happen while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still +alive. + +Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who was +holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, was, +nevertheless, anointed with the Holy Ghost as a needful qualification +for His mediatorial work. + +In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the sixty-first chapter +of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord +hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and +the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the +acceptable year of the Lord"--and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about "the day of vengeance of our +God." It was now a day of grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those +who will not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance will +surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. His anointed +followers must also be holy. They must seek and find the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be +baptized, and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the privilege +and duty of all God's children. If we would belong to the royal +priesthood, we must be cleansed from the defilement of sin. + +Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is spoken of in +Scripture as tried in the fire. So of silver. "He" (Christ) "shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver." The precious metals will endure +the fire, but "dross and tin," as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a +sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance +which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like +anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. "Our God is a +consuming fire." Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is +for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May +God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but +the fire-mark also. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY. + + + +The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve +prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are +called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers +in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. + +The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the +prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very +wonderful experience of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts. + +It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man before he wrote his +first chapter. In that he laments the sins of the Israelites and the +Jews, all of them God's chosen people, though now divided into the two +kingdoms and these often at variance, shows the utter futility of their +own efforts to regain the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices +and ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted as plainly as +any gospel minister in our own day would be able to do. He shows them +that the way of salvation is by repentance and faith, and by trusting +to the unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: "Wash you, make you clean; put +away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; +learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the +fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." + +Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, the washing away +of guilt and committed sins, symbolical of the New Testament washing of +regeneration, symbolical also of John's baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins. + +But now in the sixth chapter, and "in the year that king Uzziah died," +a wondrous vision of the pre-existent Christ, "sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up" and the seraphim crying one to another "Holy, holy, +holy is the Lord of hosts," was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and heard was not to +exalt him and minister to his pride, but to fill him with despair at +his own depravity. He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed "Depart from +me for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Ah! beloved, it never fosters +spiritual pride, nor any other kind of pride to get a nearer and +clearer view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and enables us to +behold by contrast the darkness and sinfulness and pollution of our own +souls, and in such a view we shall find food for the deepest +humiliation, but nothing to nourish pride. + +Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of +a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts." If we may credit Jewish tradition, it was for the offence of +saying that he had seen the King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet +was afterwards sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision is +still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed to millions of readers +in the future, as in the past, and until the end of the age. + +But the seraph was sent to touch the "unclean lips" of Isaiah--unclean +because of innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of life and +forgiveness for two or three years before this wondrous experience--to +touch them with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his sins of +commission and omission were forgiven--that had been done before--but +that his iniquity was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly emblematic of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire under the gospel dispensation, +which is also accompanied by "the purifying of the heart by faith," or +entire sanctification. + +How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this experience. He +seems to look down the centuries for seven hundred years and to see the +glorious blessings of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth chapter: "And +an highway shall be there and a way; and it shall be called the way of +holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for +those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." And in +the fifty-first chapter: "Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for +henceforth, there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and +the unclean," and in the sixtieth chapter: "Thy sun shall no more go +down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be +thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." + +To Jeremiah the Lord said, "I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a +prophet unto the nations," which must mean not only that he was set +apart for the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed from +inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the office itself. + +In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some striking passages +on the theme before us. These were, no doubt, addressed primarily to +the outward Israel, but they may very justly be appropriated by the +Israel of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, "The New +Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." + +In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon or +justification with cleansing from the pollution of their past sins: +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from +all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And the pollution that +is thus acquired by the practice of sinning is removed in regeneration. +Thus the new convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. "Except ye be converted," said the blessed Saviour, "and become +as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution of committed sin; +whilst he does have within him the inherited or inbred sin of his +nature. + +Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made to the clean water +made from the ashes of a red heifer and sprinkled, under the Mosaic +law, upon those who had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing +signified, however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, +typified by water, may here be meant. At any rate the twenty-fifth +verse points to nothing less than a full and free justification. + +But the prophet continues: "A new heart also will I give you and a new +spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out +of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here we have +described certainly the experience of regeneration, if indeed not the +still fuller experience of entire sanctification. But let us admit that +it means only the new heart which is given to the penitent sinner at +his new birth. Regeneration implies the impartation of a new life by +the Divine energy of the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the "heart of flesh," not, of course, a carnal heart, but a heart +tender and teachable, and impressible to heavenly influences, such a +heart as we always find in the new-born babe in Christ. + +But listen still further: "And I will put My Spirit within you, and +cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do +them." In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost baptism, +by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and sanctified wholly, and +also of the subsequent "walking in the Spirit," to which Paul alludes +in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who +was also seized with prophetic fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, +"That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand +of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and +righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Surely the gospel +of Christ has something better for its recipients than a constant daily +sinning and repenting, which is too often the experience of Christian +people. The twenty-seventh verse, therefore, signifies holiness of +heart and life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. + +How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we cannot do by our own +strength, the Holy Spirit will cause us to do. This doctrine of +spiritual causation is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the +watch which supplies the power within, by which the hands are moved +without, and thus the fleeting minutes and hours are correctly +measured, so the Holy Spirit within supplies the energy by which the +sanctified believer is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of +Christ, his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the fruit of the +Spirit in all righteousness and goodness and truth. + +In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions to the subject of +holiness, though their language is often highly figurative. In Hosea +2:16, after reproving Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the +Almighty, through His prophet, employs the following language, viz: +"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me +Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali," and again in the nineteenth +verse, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea I will betroth thee in +righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; I +will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the +Lord." Now the word Ishi means my husband; while the word Baali means +my Lord, and the language, therefore, points to an experience or a +relation of marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to a legal +justification and a service for wages and reward, that of the bride +must signify entire sanctification, and the closest possible union with +the Heavenly Bridegroom. Again, the word betrothed points legitimately +to a marriage which is always justly expected to follow if both parties +are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, let us get so near to Christ +that we shall not address Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, +but as my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful wife. At your +conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed to Him, or in ordinary +language engaged to Him. At your entire sanctification, your engagement +is consummated by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not be long. Do not +needlessly defer your nuptials, but rather hasten to the embraces of +Everlasting Love. Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, "I will go." + +In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day +of Pentecost, and assured the multitude of Jews, out of every nation +under heaven, that what they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of +the same. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And +also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I +pour out My Spirit." + +Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the baptism with the +Holy Ghost and fire, designed for all of God's children without +distinction of nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue them with power +for whatever line of service God may call them to. And we may add that +this text, as well as many others, shows that in these gospel days +women as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our daily +experience that they are both called and qualified for the work of the +ministry, as well as other labors in the vineyard of the Lord. But both +men and women need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency and most +marked success in the work to which they may individually be called. +Every Christian may and should do something for the Lord, but none can +do all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his duty to do, +without the grace of entire sanctification and the fulness of the +Spirit. + +In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which point +unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust in God and perfect love +for Him. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit +be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields +shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and +there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I +will joy in the God of my salvation." Compare this with John Wesley's +description of a holy man after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice +evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. +Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this description? + +The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, which are, no +doubt, full of instruction to those who have eyes to see. We can only +mention one or two of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing the Jewish +people, and typifying Christ Jesus with His eternal and unchangeable +priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also +represents Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, is +present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting them in the person of +their representative, the high priest. + +And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was ground for his +accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in filthy +garments, and these can signify nothing else than sins, aye, the sins +of His people imputed to Him as their representative and priest, and +not their actual sins only but their inbred sin also, for, "The Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and "He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin." "His visage was so marred more than any +man, and His form more than the sons of men." "He hath no form nor +comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we +should desire Him." + +"Many were astonished at thee," says Isaiah. "Behold the man," said +Pilate, as he brought forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but +uncomplaining, and the only answer was "Crucify Him!" Thus, beloved, +was He clothed in very truth with the filthy garments not of His own +vileness but of ours. + +But Joshua was "a brand plucked from the burning," and, therefore, in +Him all His people have found pardon. And now comes the order "Take +away the filthy garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have +caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with +change of raiment." Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than +entire sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not only simply +imputatively and representatively, but actually and experimentally. +Praise the Lord. + +The prophet Malachi assures us that "He shall sit as a refiner and +purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi" (that is, the +"royal priesthood" which constitutes the true church) "and purge them +as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in +righteousness." Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST. + + + +Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, "Therefore, that holy thing +that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Or in the +Revised Version, "Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall be +called holy, the Son of God." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +speaks of Him as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," +and Peter says that "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth." He is called "Thy holy child Jesus." Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. He was +absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, holy in word and holy in +act, holy in His birth, holy in His death, holy in His resurrection, +holy in His ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name. + +And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church was thus a holy man, +it would, naturally, be expected that He should desire to have a holy +people; and if He desire it, that He should also make provision for it; +and if He both desire it and hath made provision for it, that we should +find allusions to it in His teachings. In this, we are not +disappointed, as we shall proceed to show. + +The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the public preaching of +the Lord Jesus, and every sentence is pregnant with meaning. From +beginning to end, it inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of +believers. Many things are enjoined which would only be possible to +those who are sanctified wholly, such as, "Bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, love your enemies, resist not evil," and +many others. + +The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of chapters, which are +filled out and developed in the writings of the apostles. This is +remarkably true of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going +largely into details, sets forth the principles which are to govern His +kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation of these +principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles and evangelists, who +continued to teach and preach after His departure, and to the Holy +Spirit who is promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again. + +But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply holiness, there +are several, also, which expressly require it. Among the beatitudes at +the beginning of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: "Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Now, heart purity +cannot exist while there is any sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin +in the heart, whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms. + +Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire sanctification, and +heart purity is not only a great energizer, so that a man is powerful +for good in proportion to the purity of his heart and life, but it is +also a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor to see God. +This, of course, does not imply an open or an outward vision, but a +spiritual apprehension of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship +and communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe truly +regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible to outward sense. + +This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless outward walk, was +by no means unknown to the Old Testament writers. In the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, David asks the question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" And He immediately answers +it by saying, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The clean +hands imply that his works are in accordance with God's law; in other +words, that his outward life is free from condemnation. But the "pure +heart" means more than this, and suggests what the same royal Psalmist +remarks again in the Fifty-first Psalm. "Behold, thou desirest truth in +the inward parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom." It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth Psalm, as already +quoted, that the clean hands or justification comes before the pure +heart or entire sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost. + +Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the end of Matthew +fifth the direct command, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your +Father which is in heaven is perfect," or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the command becomes a +positive assertion, which is equally forcible. "Ye, therefore, shall be +perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." + +But whether command or declaration, it is at first sight simply +astounding. It is overwhelming. So much so, indeed, that our poor +human spirits shrink back in amazement, and we are ready to say, This +is wholly impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. Or if He +does, then my case is hopeless. But let us examine the words a little +more carefully. + +In the first place, we are to notice that He does not say that we are +to be equal in perfection to our Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, +be too absurd for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite in all +His attributes and, therefore, infinite in perfection, and this in all +directions. We are poor, finite, sinful human beings, and can never +even approach the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, justice +and holiness. + +But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly Father in +perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the same kind of perfection which +appertains to Him. It may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely +short of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and perfect in +all His attributes, but apart from His attributes is His essence. And +what is the perfection which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, +rather, what is His essence itself? It is love. "God is love," says the +apostle. "Thy nature and Thy name is love," says the great +hymnologist, Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured by the beloved +John that it is possible for us, also, to be made perfect in love, and +to possess the perfect love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are +perfect in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in heaven is +perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of the gospel. + +The context of the command referred to proves the same thing. Jesus had +just been telling His disciples that it is not sufficient for them to +love their friends, and do good to those that do good to them. All +these things and more are done even by worldly minded people and open +sinners. Unsaved people love those who love them. But Jesus continues, +"I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and +persecute you." Why? "That ye may be the children of your Father who is +in heaven," for that is just the way He does. He does not wait for a +man to be His friend before He loves him and shows kindness to him. "He +maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on +the just and on the unjust." And, if we are to be the children of such +a Father, we must adopt His sentiments and love in our measure as He +loves. His essence being love, all His infinite activities are +controlled and regulated and directed by love, and when there is +nothing contrary to love in our hearts, so that all our finite +activities are in like manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, +then we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly Father is +perfect. Glory to His Name. + +I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully we shall find the +doctrine of entire sanctification in many of the parables of our +Saviour. Take, for instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are +expressly told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, the +sowers are all ministers and Christian workers who are trying in any +right way, to diffuse a knowledge and acceptance of gospel truth. They +are devoting themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark the +difference as to the ground upon which the good seed falls. (1) The +wayside hearers are not concerted at all. (2) The stony ground hearers +are converted but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation and hence they fall +into backsliding. (3) The thorny ground hearers are converted, but +inbred sin remains in their hearts in form of the love of riches, +whether these riches are possessed or only desired, or too much care +and cumber, having so much regard to the secular as to neglect the +spiritual, or in the form of unsanctified desire, "the lusts of other +things," and so by sin that dwelleth in them the word is "choked," and +though they may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring "no fruit to perfection." They are justified but not +sanctified wholly. + +Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit but much fruit. +"Every branch that bringeth forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may +bring forth more fruit." To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant fruitage. +When the thorns are removed the good seed will grow and flourish. When +inbred sin is taken out of the heart the Christian believer will bring +forth fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and this will +be the "much fruit" whereby God is glorified. + +On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus "What shall I do +to inherit eternal life?" and when asked in reply what were the words +of the Mosaic law he answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind; and thy +neighbor as thyself." Jesus commended his answer and added "This do and +thou shalt live." Hence, our Saviour teaches that holiness consists of +nothing more nor less nor else than perfect love to God and man. What +constitutes this love has been already explained. + +Martha was a good Christian, but she was "careful and troubled about +many things." Mary was a good Christian and still earnestly seeking the +one thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness of heart and +life. Even good Christians may be "cumbered about much serving," and so +miss this one thing needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing of holiness +when the pentecostal baptism was poured out upon the church of the +hundred and twenty, if not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer +of the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we find these +expressions, "Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." And +again, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth." Here we discover the two senses of the +word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself apart or consecrates Himself to the +work of human redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, may +be not only set apart or consecrated, but also sanctified wholly, or +made holy in heart and life. He gave Himself for the world of sinners +lost, that they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for the +church, on the other hand, that He might "sanctify and cleanse it with +the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a +glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish." Thus, the atoning +sacrifice of Christ procured pardon and acceptance for the penitent +sinner. It procured not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him as a perfect +Saviour that He "is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness and +sanctification and redemption." + +For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt as to the method of +obtaining this great blessing of holiness, nor as to the price, which +must be paid for it. Entire sanctification is "one pearl of great +price," and he who would possess it must go and sell all that he has. +The rich young ruler had a first-class record as to morality and the +outward observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, "One thing +thou lackest," and that one thing was perfect love, for He added, "If +thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor," +and then interjecting a promise, "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, +and come take up the cross and follow Me." The price was too great, and +the young man went away sorrowful. Alas! Myriads of souls since have +found the price too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not have us become His +followers without counting the cost, and the cost is all that we have +and all that we are. "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he +cannot be My disciple." + +First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, all known sin. It +may be the sin which "easily besets," our own bosom sin, near as a +right eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, it must be +relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the sacrifice seems like crippling +and maiming us, yet Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into +eternal life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned to +everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In the first place, +therefore, we are to "reckon ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but +alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." + +But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all sin, but we must be +dead, also, even to lawful things, except as God in His mercy may grant +them to us, to have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest love must be +fastened upon Him alone, and that if any individual love, father or +mother, son or daughter, wife or husband more than Him, such a one is +not worthy of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for them, but +still more are we to love the Giver Himself. + +And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to be satisfied with +Himself, and what He in His love and mercy chooses to give us. If He +permits us to have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank Him +and use them as stewards of His for His glory. If He allows our family +circle to be invaded by death, and one dear one after another is +carried away to the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His gifts one by one or +altogether are withdrawn from us, why, praise the Lord, we still have +the Giver, and can still say with Job "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." + +It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require us to be dead to +sin, and dead to self, yea, even to lawful self, in order that we may +possess this inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let us not +hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. "Whosoever will save +his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, +the same shall save it." + +"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; +but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL. + + + +The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially to Paul. And as +the Gospel of Christ is intended for the salvation not of the Jews +only, but of all mankind who are willing to accept the conditions, we +find in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord Jesus than in any +other inspired author. Jesus gave the concise germinal principles of +all gospel truth; and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, into those wonderful epistles to the churches, which, though as +Peter well observes containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in the past, to form +a large part both of the foundation and framework of every system of +theological doctrine. How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of +redemption as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How profound +and how exalted is the spirituality of the Ephesians and Colossians! +How pure and how practical are the directions to the Corinthians! What +a counter-blast to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology in the Hebrews! +What a guidebook of unequalled excellency for ministers of all times in +the pastoral epistles! + +In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind under the two +divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, and proceeds to show that both +classes alike had failed in their efforts to attain to righteousness +and salvation. + +The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with an outward +revelation, but he had been permitted to behold the outward universe, +and to know that it had a Creator "of eternal power and divinity." He +had also had a conscience within him, and so much light as rendered him +an accountable being, with a sense of obligation to a supreme power, +and furnishing another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not like to retain +God in their knowledge. They wickedly extinguished the light which He +had given them, because they were not willing to give up their +immoralities. And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they changed the glory +of the incorruptible God into the baser image of "birds and four-footed +beasts and creeping things." They sank into the grossest idolatry and +licentiousness and all wickedness. This picture drawn in colors which +shock our sensibilities, in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed +by the authentic writings of heathen historians, and this in all +particulars, Paul says, "They are without excuse, because they did not +live up to the light which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was." + +And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, to them much +every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of +God. They had an outward revelation, and with it a knowledge of that +law of God, which is holy and just and good. + +But they had failed, if possible, more grievously than the Gentiles +themselves. They had received the law by the disposition of angels, as +Stephen told them and had not kept it. They had had far more light than +the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same sins as they. They +prided themselves on the law, and looked with contempt upon the +Gentiles, and condemned them for their immoralities, and yet were +guilty of similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly about the +words of the law. "Do not steal." "Do not commit adultery," and yet +violated these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared them to whited +sepulchres, looking well outwardly, but within full of dead men's bones +and all uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and the leaven of the +Sadduces, which is infidelity, and the leaven of the Herodians, which +is worldly mindedness. + +The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and Gentile. It was +something that had occurred long before the division into Jew and +Gentile had an existence. It had occurred, in short, when man fell. +From fallen parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, that +is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. There is a disposition in +all mankind to yield to temptation, some in one direction, some in +another, and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no to God. +This bias towards evil is sometimes called depravity or original sin. +It is called by Paul "Our old man," "the flesh," "the carnal mind," +"the body of sin," and "sin that dwelleth in me." A good and convenient +name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in the heart as distinguished from +sin in the act. It is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward sins are the +bitter fruits. + +Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles which caused +them to quench the light of the knowledge of God, which they must have +had for, at least, a generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural religion, +notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens were declaring the glory +of God and the firmament was showing His handiwork, day unto day was +uttering speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. They +forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them to their own reprobate +minds, the result being that they sank into the grossest idolatry and +the most beastly sensuality. + +The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward revelation. He +received through Moses the law of God, which showed him what God +desired him to be and do, and what he ought to be and do, but which +conferred upon him no power for being or doing what it required. It is +like a looking-glass placed before a child to show him that his face is +soiled, but having no power to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb- +line applied to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates from +the perpendicular, but which has no power to make it upright. Nay, it +even comes to pass that in consequence of inbred sin, the law +multiplies offences. It causes sin to abound. We find even in most +children a disposition that impels them to do and to have just what +they are told they must not do and have. That is to say, when the law +comes in, inbred sin rises in rebellion against it. + +The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most vividly described +by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Over the real meaning of this +chapter, there has been much discussion and wide differences of +opinion. Some writers think that this is the best experience of the +great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw consolation from this +fact, as well as argument, in favor of continuing to sin in thought and +word and deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle is +not here describing a Christian experience at all, but the struggles of +a Jew who is seeking the favor of God by keeping His law, but finds his +attempts to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred sin. I +freely admit that it is not what even a justified experience ought to +be, for God has assured us through His apostle, John, that He that is +born of God doth not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified and regenerated +believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness and prayer, may be kept from +acts of sin and from becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the +seventh of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the experience +of the converted Christian. + +For there are many who even after a clear conversion and a joyful +sense of God's favor, with the witness of the Spirit to their adoption, +yet do yield to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and so +pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is called an up-and-down +experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning and +repenting, delighting in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is in their members, +not losing their sonship, but losing their communion and their joy, +often like Peter weeping bitterly over their transgressions, but +finding that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. + +I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, might go on for +years. It ends either in complete religious declension amounting, +sometimes, to apostacy on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the +entire sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance from inbred +sin. And in these days of enlightenment, when the doctrine and +experience of holiness are so plainly taught, and so generally diffused +among the children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether a soul can +continue long in a state of justification, which means that it will +either go forward to the experience of entire sanctification, or else +it will fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, or into +legality as did the Galatians. + +Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. It is seeking +salvation after the pattern of the Old Testament, and not after that of +the New. It is a matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It +inquires "What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" +It is the child of the bondwoman and not that of the free. It is +Ishmael and not Isaac. It is Sinai and not Calvary. + +And so it happens that many Christians are simply good Jews. They may +even possess circumcised hearts, and may yet serve the Lord in the +spirit of bondage, as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does not, by any +means, signify license; it does not signify the liberty of making our +own choices, but the liberty of accepting gladly and submissively God's +choices; it does not mean the liberty of doing either right or wrong as +we may prefer, but the liberty of always preferring to do right and +never wrong, and so to spend our years on earth, doing right in all +directions, and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God. + +After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that Hagar's chief +employment in Abraham's house was to look after the said Ishmael, to +care for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her business to +care for or to restrain Isaac. He was the child of promise, the child +of faith, the son of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when +Ishmael's persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, then +the command was "Cast out the bond woman and her son." Both must go +together or stay together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain or constrain. +Perfect love casts out fear; it also casts out sin, and becomes the +motive power of the whole spiritual man. "The love of Christ +constraineth us." + +So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed to attain unto +the law of righteousness, because of inbred sin, which caused the +former to put out the light which they had, and the latter to fall +short of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, but +which was never intended by its Divine Author to save men, but to show +them how utterly incapable they were of saving themselves. + +But Paul does not leave them there. After putting both classes of the +human family into the same position of failure and condemnation, and +declaring that there is no difference, "for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God," he adds, "Being justified fully by His +grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." When man's +helplessness and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, then +God comes to his rescue. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, +that He might have mercy upon all." + +Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches the great +doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent peace of +reconciliation, the "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that sanctification, +also, is by faith and not by works. He will not be satisfied with +anything less than the death of our old man, and the death of inbred +sin is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. "Knowing this +that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be +destroyed, that, henceforth, we should not serve him." + +But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with the body of sin by +any resolution or will-power or effort of our own. Sin will not go +dead at our bidding, nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or +striving to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for us by directing us +to resort to the process of reckoning. "Likewise reckon ye, also, +yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord." Ah! now, our help is laid upon one that is +mighty. "The things that are impossible with men are possible with +God." What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, Christ can +make real and true. We have only, therefore, to reckon ourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. +But we must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as dead. And to +be alive to God means, in this connection, to be responsive to every +intimation of His will, to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to +suffer joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in short, to +be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what a blessed reckoning is the +reckoning of faith! How vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of +logic or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual deadness +to sin, and a continual holiness of heart and life. + +For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not asking us to fancy, +or imagine, or hypothecate. He is not telling us that if we believe a +thing to be true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The factors in his +direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the Old Testament +and in the New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to make +them so, and our acceptance of the provision He has made for our +cleansing, by faith, and then by the reckoning alluded to, the result +is secured. + +In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often compelled to +resort to what they term dead-reckoning. Sometimes for days together, +the sun is hidden by clouds, and no observation can be taken with the +usual instruments for determining latitude and longitude. Then the +captain ascertains by the compass what direction he is pursuing, and +by the log, the rate at which the ship is sailing, and thus by marking +out his daily advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will sight the shore +toward which the voyage is directed. What he reckons becomes real, when +he tells the passengers, "Within five minutes, we ought to see the +Irish coast," followed within the specified time by the cry from the +lookout, "Land, ho!" + +To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass and log and chart. +Sometimes, he enjoys the witness of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, +assuring him that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, but when not thus +favored, he can still move on by faith, he still has his compass and +his chart, and he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in the heavenly port. +Praise the Lord. + +To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle of the Gentiles +has written in reference to entire sanctification would require a +volume instead of a single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue the subject for +himself in the inexhaustible mine of the Pauline Epistles. + +In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration that is to +be found anywhere. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of +unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of +righteousness unto God." And, again, in the 19th verse, "For as ye +have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto +iniquity; even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness." + +Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration is not the same +thing as entire sanctification. The one is an act proceeding from man +to God, the other is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies. + +Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal human being +to a personal God. The term members may well be understood to include +all bodily organs and powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, +and all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, culture, health, +and, in short, the whole personal, individual man, with all his +belongings. The surrender must be complete, absolute, unreserved and +forever. Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all that we +have and all that we are must be His, wholly His, and His to all +eternity. + +Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who is not already a +Christian believer. Paul informs us, explicitly, that he is not calling +upon sinners "dead in trespasses and sins," to consecrate themselves, +but upon converted persons, "those who are alive from the dead." How +thankful we ought to be that he has settled that point forever. Sinners +may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +broader, deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, the sinner gives +himself away as a dead sacrifice, and his purpose is to receive pardon +and life. In consecration, the Christian yields to God his living and +regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose is that he may be +sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost +extent of his capacity for the glory of God. + +Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, or vices, or +depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. We cannot consecrate our +alcohol, or our tobacco, or our opium, or our card-playing, or +dancing, or theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. All +actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. Our consecration +is for a deeper work, that is to say, for the removal of inbred sin, +which, after all, is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire. + +The essence of consecration is in the sentence, "Yield yourselves unto +God." When you yield yourselves, you yield everything else. All the +details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the +emphasis, we may read again, "Yield yourselves unto God." Consecration +is not to God's service, not to His work, not to a life of obedience +and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to +the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of God; it is to God +Himself. "Yield yourselves unto God." Your work, your service, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty will +all follow in good time. + +Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution and the purpose to +be, to do, and to suffer all God's will. Its essence, already given in +the words of Paul, is given also in the words of the Saviour. "Not My +will but Thine be, done," which is beautifully versified by Frances +Ridley Havergal, in the couplet, + + "Take my will and make it thine, + It shall be no longer mine." + +Consecration being a definite transaction, and made once for all, does +not need to be repeated unless we have failed to keep it. To consecrate +over and over again is like a husband and wife marrying over and over +again. We are consecrated just as we are married. The vow is upon us, +and in the force of that vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is +to remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord's, and see to it that +nothing is taken from the altar. Those who have kept their consecration +complete should testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence. + +Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an English periodical, +which is here given very slightly modified, and which has been adopted +by many. Let all my readers unite with the author in entering into this +personal yielding to God. + + I am willing + To receive what Thou givest, + To lack what Thou withholdest, + To relinquish what Thou takest, + To suffer what Thou inflictest, + To be what Thou requirest, + To do what Thou commandest. + Amen. + +In this connection, we may add that when the consecration is complete, +it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter to believe. Entire +sanctification like justification, and, indeed, all other gospel +blessings and experiences, is to be received by faith. But so long as +the surrender to God is not complete, faith refuses to act. + +When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt and sincere +consecration, then it becomes as natural and as easy to believe as it +is to breathe, after everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians of a want of +faith. If they only had more faith, they imagine that all would be +well. When the disciples of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He +told them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only a mustard- +seed faith, He assured them that it would remove mountains. And we may +justly conclude that the difficulty with most seekers after entire +sanctification is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches itself to one +worldly thing or another, and refuses to be sundered from what it +loves, and while this is the case, the individual cannot believe that +God gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. But when all +the preliminaries have been attended to, and there is nothing else +needed but to trust in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment. + +Another class of seekers is very much concerned about the witness of +the Spirit to assure them that the blessing has been received. Probably +in these cases the very point that has not yet been consecrated to God +is the feeling, or the witness, which they so much desire. "It often +happens," says Dr. G. D. Watson, "that a patient, who has been cured of +some contagious disease, has to have a certificate on leaving the +hospital. In such a case the certificate does not cure him, but +certifies that he is cured. How absurd for a patient just entering the +hospital to clamor for his health certificate before receiving the +doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, it is useless for a +seeking soul to be clamoring for the witness and waiting for the +feeling before receiving Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We +are not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who imparts the +experience." + +Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, +second and third chapters, he tells us of three classes of persons: the +natural man, the spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; they +are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are +spiritually discerned. Such is a description of the unregenerate +wherever and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment is not +that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to the truth of God and deaf to +the story of salvation. Being without spiritual life they are, of +course, without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons are in +all our churches, and the number is by no means small. And often it +strangely happens that these are the very individuals who are +noticeably forward in expressing their opinions on the right way of +managing a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching or lecturing, +something to be proud of and to draw the crowd--these are the things +which in their view make the church of their choice a success; but as +for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread of the gospel at home +and abroad, as for the sanctifying of believers, as for the things of +the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living faith and a +sound conversion. May God hasten it in His time. + +"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all +things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with +the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide, +Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified +and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a +one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as +his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the +Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating +influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the +natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by +the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the +same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the +Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the +position of the latter. + +Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he +asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name +is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural, +neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and, +therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are +converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the +carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly +carnal. + +Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable +consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering +offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh, +that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our +churches. Amen. + +In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles bases the +experience of entire sanctification on the glorious promises of God. +"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse +ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God." To cleanse ourselves is shown by the +Greek tense to be an act done definitely and once for all. It means, +therefore, to put ourselves under the conditions of cleansing by a +definite act of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves in +co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively the Sanctifier +and Cleanser. It means, also, that we are to seek and find the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all sources of +temptation and all incentives to evil, so far as we may; and +continuously realize and experience the holiness which Christ has +instantaneously wrought in our souls through His Holy Spirit. +Filthiness of the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual +appetites, as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which was +probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness of the spirit is +illustrated by idolatry and pride, nor must we forget that the spirit +is often polluted also through pampering the body. + +Paul's wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, has been so admirably +treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, that I shall content myself with +referring the reader to his book on "Love Enthroned," page 123, and +pass on. A single remark, however, may properly be made. That prayer, +undoubtedly, embodies all that we mean by entire sanctification and the +filling of the Spirit and more. + +In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great apostle in which +entire sanctification is expressly petitioned for. "And the very God of +peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The very +form of the expression in the first clause indicates that it is +possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to be sanctified +partially. All Christians are cleansed from the pollution of sins +committed, that is to say, from the pollution they have acquired by +actually sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by Paul as +sanctified, although, manifestly, many of them were not holy in heart +and life. On the other hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians +may be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were already in a +healthy and prosperous condition, the only exception being a few +members who were too neglectful of their outward business and too much +disposed to be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while many good +Christians are not wholly sanctified. + +But provision was made in the gospel for the entire sanctification of +all believers, otherwise Paul would not have prayed for it. And not +only for their entire sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act +of God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their continual +preservation in blamelessness, though not in faultlessness, until the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And lest they should stagger through +unbelief he adds, "Faithful is He that calleth you. You are not to do +it. He will do it for He is able." + +And this experience extends to the whole man, the spirit which takes +hold of and communes with God, the soul with its emotions, affections, +desires and volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers all +made holy and preserved holy. Glory! + +One more citation only and I will leave the reader to his own +researches in the rich storehouse of the Pauline writings. Taking it +for granted that Paul is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. "Wherefore, he is able, also, to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth +to make intercession for them." To the uttermost refers, undoubtedly, +not only to time but to quantity. It means entirely, perfectly, +altogether, through and through. And if he is able he is also willing. +Oh, that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God now and +evermore for salvation from the uttermost to the uttermost. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER. + + + +In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings of his beloved +brother, Paul, and this probably at a period when Paul was either dead +or separated from his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a +tradition that both the apostles were put to death on the same day at +Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself to have his head +downward because unworthy to die just like his Master--the other by +beheading, because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at Rome, +too honorable a position to be subjected to the ignominious death of +the cross. Even if this should be true, yet Peter's second epistle, in +which he endorses Paul's teachings, and gives to his writings the same +authority as to the rest of the Bible, seems to have been written but a +short time previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment of +Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired writer of Scripture, +and that what he had given to the churches through his epistles, and +left as a permanent legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious and frequent +allusions to entire sanctification, as well as to the various other +subjects treated of by his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, +therefore, Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised that +in the very first sentence of his first epistle, he addresses the +Christians of the Jewish dispersion in Asia Minor--though by no means +excluding the Gentile converts--as elect according to the fore- +knowledge (not predestination) of God the Father through sanctification +of the Spirit, which must include entire as well as partial +sanctification, unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in one +grand outburst of salutation from his glowing heart, he associates +sanctification of the Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the +obedience of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst of his +earnest appeals to men's hearts, in order to give a lecture on +Systematic Theology, but both scatter seed-thoughts all over their +inspired pages, which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and +reflecting mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the +Thessalonians employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and thus putting the +apostle of the circumcision by the side of the apostle of the +uncircumcision we have sanctification by the blood of Jesus, +sanctification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even in +a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, and all this without +the slightest inconsistency or contradiction. + +And as Peter starts out by calling God's people to holiness, he +continues by reminding them that their hope is to be fixed upon "an +inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, +reserved in heaven for you." What more natural than that those who are +expecting to inherit a holy heaven, should themselves seek while here +to become a holy people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it. + +After speaking of the "trial of their faith being much more precious +than of gold which perisheth," the apostle utters forth an imperious +call to entire sanctification. "But as He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Thus he quotes from the words of +the great lawgiver in Leviticus--that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the Old Testament, as +well as the New, bears witness to the holiness of God, and makes that +fact a sufficient reason for the command and requirement that His +people should be holy, also. + +Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells in a holy heaven. +Is it not most reasonable and most fit that He should require all who +are to dwell with Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting kingdom, +we must be made holy while still clothed in flesh and sojourning upon +earth. Nothing that is not already pure and holy can pass through the +gates of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. + +Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between our Father in +heaven and His children both on earth and in heaven. A lady was +accosted in the streets of a western city by a stranger, who asked her +if she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. She replied, +with some surprise at the question, in the affirmative. "I knew you," +said the gentleman, "by your resemblance to your father who was my +particular friend twenty-five years ago, away back in the State of +Maine." And the lady was delighted that the lineaments of her father's +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she should thus be +recognized even by one who had never seen her before as her father's +child. + +Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly Father so imprinted +upon our faces and upon our walk and upon our conversation that all who +know Him shall recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever we are and +whatever we do. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +In comparison with the precious "blood of Christ" Peter characterizes +silver and gold, which men call precious metals, as "corruptible +things," and then gives the striking exhortation, "Seeing ye have +purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto +unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a +pure heart fervently," and all this on the basis of the new birth which +they had already received "of the incorruptible seed by the word of +God." + +Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned and ignorant man, yet +when thou writest under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost +as hard to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul! + +See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated in various ways +in the sentence quoted above. (1), "Ye have purified your souls." Yes, +and it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem in reference +to Cornelius and his household, and said that God "put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." The word +"purify" is derived from a Greek root which means "fire." Souls are +purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the result is a continual +"obeying the truth," and (2), the positive side of this purification +is "unfeigned love of the brethren," and this is love with a pure heart +and fervent, the same love which John calls perfect love, and the +standard of which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, "As I have loved +you that ye also love one another." + +Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? Peter had never +been to a Theological Seminary, but he had listened through three +eventful years to the blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had +been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and without +aiming at system or explanation, he has compressed more sound theology +into a single verse than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon. + +And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration he tells us how to +grow in grace. "Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," and his +last exhortation at the end of the second epistle is, "But grow in +grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." + +Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, or that we grow +into entire sanctification. We first become receivers, and get grace +before we can grow in it, and we must first receive entire +sanctification before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel +blessings, this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says in effect, in +order to grow in grace you must do two things. (1), Lay aside +everything that hinders growth, specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, +envies, evil speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that all +these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. And so in a single +thought the exhortation is to lay aside, or put off, or give up to +destruction, the depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth so +easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will be an insuperable +hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical growth, and (2) desire, and of +course, partake of the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as in the natural +world, is first to become healthy, and then to take plenty of +nourishment. Holiness is spiritual health, and implies the absence of +inbred sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that is healthy +and gets plenty of pure milk will grow and develop rapidly. The time +will soon come when he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and thus he will +finally become a large and strong man. But the child may be healthy and +still not grow because it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have +plenty of the most wholesome food and still not grow because disease +prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. Sound health and plenty +of food, with proper exercise, are the essentials of the right kind of +growth. Now the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but strong +meat for strong men. It has been remarked by another that if Christians +would be giants they must eat giants' food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to have a sound +spiritual constitution and that means simply entire sanctification. +Peter is right again. We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we +have gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs true +growth. + +Of course my reader will not understand me to say, any more than Peter +himself says, that we experience growth in grace simply by a head +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who +is the bread of life. Nor do I forget that we feed upon His broken body +and His shed blood, not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, +not by learning, but by faith. + +But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible truth, whether +presented on the pages of inspiration or in the preached word, which is +the great instrumentality employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men +to Christ, and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and edifying +the church which has thus been gathered to Him. And so both Peter in +speaking about the "sincere milk of the word," and Paul in referring to +the "strong meat," by which term he characterizes the deeper spiritual +truths of revelation, are leading us to Jesus, the true bread, the +living bread, the bread of life. + +Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description of the Christian +priesthood, and again the leading idea of holiness flashes from his +pen, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ." Again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +an holy nation, a peculiar people." Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, or a dukedom +or a kingdom? Not I at least. + +The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, and even +temporal blessing also, through the mediation of an outward priesthood. +And the family of priests were chosen and ordained of God Himself. "No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God, as was +Aaron." + +But under the Christian dispensation all God's saved people are priests +as well as kings, and the sacrifices which they offer are spiritual +sacrifices, the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like a whole +burnt offering in His service, "the fruit of the lips giving thanks to +His name," and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, a life +rich in faith and good works, such are the sacrifices with which God is +well pleased. But to be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter's words will not allow us to doubt that the priesthood of +believers is a "holy priesthood." + +Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his readers to take ill +treatment patiently when they have to suffer, not for doing wrong but +for doing well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, "Who did no +sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, +reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed +Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare our sins +in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live +unto righteousness," winding up with a terse expression of the great +doctrine of the atonement "by whose stripes ye were healed." + +Paul would have us "dead to sin" by reckoning. Peter would have us +"dead to sins" by making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead either to sin within +us or to sins without us, implies holiness of heart, that is, entire +sanctification. Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine. + +Still further, Peter speaks of the "holy women" of old, and exhorts +Christian women to be like them, particularly in adorning themselves +not with gay attire, but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his +second epistle, he alludes to "holy men of God," speaking through the +Old Testament as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we have +the best possible definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed by equally +learned and candid men. But what can be more satisfactory to the +humble, Christian mind than just to feel that when he reads his Bible, +he is perusing the words of "holy men of God who spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." Such a mind will find no difficulty about +inspiration. + +In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes the unbelief +of the scoffers, who then believed, and whose successors still believe +that the present order of the material universe will continue for an +indefinite period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that the Lord +has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning His promises, but +that the very reason why the sinful world has been spared so long is +because of God's long suffering and mercy, "not willing that any should +perish, but that all should come to repentance." And, then, having +declared that the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved +unto fire, that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the +works that are therein shall be burned up, he exclaims with most +appropriate words, "Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation and godliness," and this in order "that ye may be found of +Him in peace, without spot and blameless." + +Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification as taught by +the apostle of the circumcision. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN. + + + +John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could +forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man +was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by +calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not +extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the +highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was <i>par excellence</i> the +apostle of love. Not that his character became anything like putty. He +could still rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the elect +lady to receive or countenance any who did not uphold the true, sound +doctrines of the gospel. He was still a son of thunder against heresy +and immorality, but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely absorbed in +the love of God, and his exhortations to the churches, seemed all to +concentrate in two special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, and he never +lost the blessed experience. He retained the blessing because he +retained the Blesser. The Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and +keeper. + +The gospel of John contains many of the most profound and spiritual +truths that ever fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And the only +distinction which John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." + +He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the Deity and +preexistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, then tells of the +incarnation, how the Word became flesh, and we beheld His glory, how +although He was the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, and +though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His own received Him not, +but as many as did receive Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave +He power to become the children of God, and this through a new birth, +not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, not of man in any way +whatever, but of God. It is not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of +God by creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, by the +reception of the Divine nature by birth. And this new birth is more +fully unfolded to the Jewish Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its +necessity and its nature. "Ye must be born again." "The Son of man must +be lifted up." The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The water is +the water of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its cleansing +and refreshing and vivifying properties so well symbolized by water, +and the Holy Spirit is the effective personal agent by whom the +regeneration is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though His +operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, which bloweth where it +listeth, and is known only by its results. Then we have the hinge-text +of salvation, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal +life." Thus, in this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God's +love or God's grace as the source of our salvation, Christ crucified as +the ground of it, and the Holy Spirit as the Divine Agent of its +accomplishment. Glory be to the Triune God. + +Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus on the new birth, but +His discourse, also, with the woman of Samaria on true worship is given +by John alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, not to the +Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at all, but to a heathen or semi- +heathen woman, Jesus made the first recorded, positive declaration of +His Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, so they that +worship Him must do so, not in any specific locality, such as Jerusalem +or Mount Gerizim, and not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart was immediately +and completely captivated by so grand and glorious a revelation, and +that, at once, she left her waterpot and went her way to become a +preacher of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen. + +Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to the Jews to search +the Scriptures and the assurance that they testified of Him; and the +sixth chapter, with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after a +stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to take Him by force and +make Him a king, but He departed into a mountain Himself alone, and the +next day, the wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been so ready to +proclaim Him King, and brought out of the core of His heart those +pathetic words to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?", we come to the +seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, at which, on the occasion +of the priest pouring water from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden +pitcher into a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst let +him come unto Me and drink." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The +Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, and, perhaps, other +similar passages. "And the Lord shalt guide thee continually, and +satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be +like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not." + +But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely valuable +inspired commentary on these words of the Lord Jesus, in order that +readers in all ages might make the true spiritual application which is +intended by them. "But this spake He of the Spirit which they that +believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, +because that Jesus was not yet glorified." These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence and operation of the +Spirit in the former dispensations of God's grace, yet He was to be +poured out on all God's children under the gospel in a sense and to an +extent, which so far transcends the highest manifestation of His power +in Old Testament times that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was +not yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. And this +wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification of Jesus and as a +consequence of that glorification. So that Pentecost, with its untold +wealth of privilege, could not be realized till after the death, +resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and +twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their +hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire +sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a +privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy +Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude +that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your +children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God +shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual +believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all +Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen. + +In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin. +"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall +make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but +from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from +sin itself. + +Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does +not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your +own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in +this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad +acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own +way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do +everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions +and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and +into freedom for Jesus' sake. + +In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the +last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of +his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy +Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of +His coming He says, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My +Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with +him." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father +and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart +of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And +if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father, +Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly? + +In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the +doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk +in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim +to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in +the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies +fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +from all sin." + +This is a very striking and all-important statement. The verb is in +the present tense, and denotes a present and a continuous action. It +cleanseth persistently and continuously. You trust in Jesus this +moment, and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it cleanseth, +and thus on, without intermission or cessation. And the cleansing is +from all sin, sin committed and sin inbred, sin in act, word or +thought, sin outward and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of +knowledge and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. If this +does not mean entire sanctification, what use is there in language as +an expression of thought? Surely none. + +But the objection is strongly urged by some that the next verse assures +us that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the +truth is not in us." But why sunder this verse from its appropriate +connections? Were there not Pharisees in the time of Christ who would +not admit that they were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle John live to +see the germs of incipient gnosticism showing themselves in the church, +assuming, like modern Christian science, that all evil is in matter, +the soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing that it was +possible to have fellowship with God while living in all kinds of +sensual indulgence and licentiousness, and moreover denying the reality +of the incarnation of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and +resurrection? These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow: + + "Ah, to how many faith has been + No evidence of things unseen, + But a dim shadow, which recasts + The creed of the Phantasiasts, + For whom no man of sorrows died: + For whom the tragedy divine + Was but a symbol and a sign, + And Christ a phantom crucified." + +Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that on certain +conditions it is possible to experience through the blood of Christ, +which means simply the merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to those who deny +that they are sinners, he exclaims, and if we say that we have no sin, +and therefore do not need this cleansing, and can do without this +atonement, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How +much more rational is such an interpretation than the exposition which +makes one verse contradict the other, and represents the apostle as +first assuring us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. "But be sure to remember that this cleansing is +never really affected, and you are never really without sin." + +There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this epistle that we +must needs make selection and leave many passages to be carefully and +prayerfully pondered by the reader, with the assurance that there is +very much gold to be found for the digging; but we would call attention +in a special manner to John's description of perfect love. "There is no +fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath +torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." + +It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions that whilst all +Christians do and must love God, yet there is a stage denominated +perfect love, which many Christians have not yet reached. And this +stage of religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence of +fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean for us to understand +that we shall ever get beyond that reverential and filial fear, which +is the right and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation to our +Heavenly Father. But he specially describes the fear that will be +gotten rid of as tormenting fear, and this fear he declares that +"perfect love casteth out." Now we can readily see the reasonableness +of this statement. Fear about the future, whether as to temporal or +spiritual things, fear of evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in +short, all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred sin. As +a matter of course, therefore, when sin is cast out, fear is cast out +with it. Now perfect love is the positive side of entire +sanctification; it implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, most truly must +cast out fear. + +The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. The awakened sinner +fears him, but does not love Him. The justified believer both fears and +loves. Sometimes the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his heart, and has no +tormenting fear. Praise the Lord. + +And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the method of obtaining +the blessing of perfect love. It is by the prayer of faith, and the +prayer of faith involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +"For," says John, "if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our +heart," which probably signifies that He also will condemn us, and, +therefore, we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing as +entire sanctification while we are not wholly given up to the Lord, for +while that is our case, our heart will continue to condemn us. + +But he continues, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence +towards God." And again, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we +know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him." + +Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation more +beautifully portrayed than in these precious words. We are shown here +that (1), the seeker of entire sanctification must be wholly +consecrated to God. (2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God's will. (4), That then he may know that he has +the very thing he asks for. Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon +it. Amen. + +Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness of the Spirit to our +conscious cleansing. "If we love one another" (i.e. with a true and +pure and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) "God dwelleth +in us and His love is perfected in us." "Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit." Now to +have God's love perfected in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can +mean nothing less than entire sanctification, and we know this, as John +tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, the witness of the Spirit +to perfect love as well as to adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE. + + + +James and Jude were brothers. They were also "brethren of the Lord." +Whether this expression means actual brothers, namely, children of +Joseph and Mary, or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I leave to the +Biblical critics. Receiving without argument their respective epistles +as belonging to the inspired canon, I am to inquire what their teaching +is in reference to the one theme of this book, that is, entire +sanctification. + +James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop of Jerusalem he +presided specially over the Jewish Christian Church, and his epistle is +addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," i.e., to +the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, no doubt, to the Christian Jews, +but also secondarily and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. +James was "zealous of the law." He fully agreed with Paul and with +Peter that the yoke of circumcision and the Mosaic law was not to be +imposed upon the Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to observe the +outward law. His epistle is like Matthew's gospel, and savors strongly +of the Sermon on the Mount. As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock +of Christians, while he fully assented to Paul's teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon the people with +vehemence that they should show their faith by their works and that +they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only." As Paul +completely demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of the +law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired and a vigorous +protest against every form of Antinomianism. Thus the two writers, both +moved by the Holy Ghost, present the two aspects of gospel truth so +plainly that he may run that readeth. "We are saved by faith, not by +works," says Paul. "Aye," says James, "but we are saved in good works, +not out of them," and we must be careful to maintain good works, not in +order to be saved, but because we are saved. Good works are necessary, +not as the ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and +resultant and test of the salvation which we have received by faith. +James, therefore, is not antagonistic to, but only complementary of the +great apostle of the Gentiles. + +And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark of Christian +perfection in the very beginning of his epistle. He assures us that if +we let patience have her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + +Christian perfection, then, according to James. is perfect patience. +Christian perfection according to John, is perfect love. Christian +perfection, according to Paul, is maturity or being "thoroughly +furnished unto all good works." Christian perfection, according to +Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. Surely none but +a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes +of expression. They all imply deliverance from sin, which is always +instantaneous, and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual. + +James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under the name of lust. +"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and +enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) sin; +and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." + +We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers of the Bible, +believed in a personal devil, for he speaks of a wisdom which is +"devilish" and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity of +his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the enticement implies an +enticer, and that the wicked spiritual adversary of our race knows how +to adapt his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin is +strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, to entrap and +destroy him. Depravity exists by nature in all, but in one man it is +particularly felt in the direction of covetousness, in another, of +pride, in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. Satan's +temptations in the first of these would most likely be something which +holds out the prospect of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it +would be something to feed his intense admiration of self, to cherish +his pride; in the third, it would be the hope of political or some +other kind of power on the condition of sacrificing principle; in the +fourth, it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as in +drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus the trap is set for +every man, and the trapper is wary. God save us from his wiles. + +And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as it exists in the form +of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and shows itself in +evil speakings, so James tells us to lay apart "all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness," or "overflowing of wickedness." Ah, +beloved, most truly did Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain +of wickedness, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of us a superfluity of +naughtiness, an overflowing of wickedness, a natural depravity, an +inbred sin, and this must be "laid apart," it must be gotten rid of by +bringing and subjecting the heart where it dwells to the fiery baptism +with the Holy Ghost, and then shall we be in a position to receive, +with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. + +St. James speaks of the "law of liberty," and of the "royal law," the +latter being, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and both mean, +I apprehend, just what we have already alluded to as the law of love. +"Love," says Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law," and this is liberty, +and this is royalty, the freedom to do God's will because we love it, +and to have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled from our +hearts, and all lawful affections and passions subdued and subjected to +Him who is our King, and who reigns without a rival in our hearts. + + "I worship Thee, sweet will of God, + And all Thy ways adore; + And every day I live, I seem + To love Thee more and more." + +If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, where shall we find +them? Not on earth, at least. + +James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek more religion, but +he tersely defines pure religion. And that is what we want. It does not +depend upon age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure as +soon as it raises itself above the surface of the ground. Another stalk +may be impure and diseased when it is many feet in height. A Christian +may seek and find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he is +born again. Another Christian may spend years and years in seeking more +religion, and yet not become the possessor of purity of heart. + +This pure religion, according to our author, consists in works of +beneficence and love as to its outward manifestations, but its true +inward principle is in keeping one's self "unspotted from the world." +Oh, that all my readers with myself, may thus keep themselves unspotted +from the world, which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, and +in the end "may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless." + +But an objector here interposes with a quotation from James which is +supposed to preclude the possibility of living without sin. "In many +things we offend all." But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must continue in the +commission of sin to the end of their lives, would not only be doing +violence to that which is the very trend of our author's teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, but it would also +prove too much. For a little further on we read, in reference to that +unruly evil, the tongue, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and +therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God," +and again, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body." Surely no expositor would +maintain from such language that James was a tamer of horses and a +profane swearer. The truth is, that James, out of kindness and +courtesy, includes himself among his hearers or readers, and means to +show us how liable we are to give offence through rash and ill-advised +words, and then, on the other hand, he does not fail to mention the man +who does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace of God, to +bridle the whole body, that is, to live without sin, and whom, again, +he styles a "perfect man." + +Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine wisdom is first +pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, or babe in Christ, would +often reverse this arrangement. He is clamorous for peace, often to the +extent that he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and then +pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and He is always right. No +compromise must be made with error in doctrine, or evil in practice, +even for the sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities follow in proper +succession, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and the rest. + +Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher of holiness, "Cleanse +your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy of the Holy +Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. To cleanse the hands is +to obtain pardon and absolution for what we have done, and it is always +the first work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness of +his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, then his hands are +cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. He may still be unstable +in all his ways. His spiritual course may still be zig-zag. His life +may still be a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again and +repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, "O wretched man that +I am, who (not what) shall deliver me from this body of death?" And +then James's prescription comes home to him, "Purify your hearts, ye +double-minded." Seek and obtain the blessing of entire sanctification, +and, henceforth, with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the way +of Christ's commandments. Justification first and entire sanctification +afterwards. First cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with +this agree the words of the Psalmist, "Who shall ascend into the hill +of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" "He that hath clean +hands," that is, whose sins have been pardoned, "and a pure heart," +that is, who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the Holy +Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament and the New. + +Finally, James assures us that the "prayer of faith shall save the +sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." And not only physical but +spiritual blessing may be received in the same way for "If he have +committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." His conclusion is that +"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working," +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in the original as in +the passive voice, and then the meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. +S.A. Keen in his Faith papers, "The prayer of a righteous man being +energized" (by the Holy Ghost) "availeth much." + +I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer +begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the +prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is +the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a +special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also +given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the +special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st +Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the +power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, +which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually +believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be condemned." + +And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray +in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the +prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit +Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should +pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for +with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh +intercession for the saints according to the will of God." + +A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer +that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does +the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing, +which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance, +and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of +God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the +hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the +sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of +believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the +Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come. + +I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed, +and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must +be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order +to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary +prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of +faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer, +ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the +other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and +extraordinary results. Praise the Lord. + +Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to "hate even the +garment spotted by the flesh," that is, to keep entirely clear of all +the pollutions of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which was +regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually interpreted, +must mean the unspotted holiness of the true Christian. And as to the +question of one's ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is "able to keep us from falling," the very thing we +need and which we cannot do for ourselves, and "to present us faultless +before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." First, then, we +are to be sanctified wholly, then kept from falling by the power of +Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God's glory in heaven. And +this is the gospel according to Jude. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER. + + + +There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which I purposely +omitted in the preceding chapter, that it might have a more prominent +place in the present one. + +Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared to be "sanctified +by God the Father." It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every +person of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, is +concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. And this fact, like +many others, points to the extreme importance of the subject on which +we are treating; for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into active operation +in order to cleanse our hearts from the pollution of sin, and fit us +for heaven, then it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. If God, +therefore, regards it as an essential that we be sanctified wholly, let +us beware of the thought that it is only optional, that it is possible, +if possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, and that it +can be done without, or what is practically too nearly the same thing, +postponed until we see, or think we see, the near approach of death. +What every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance now, +let us not dare either to reject or postpone. "Behold, now is the +accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." + +Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "And now, brethren, I +commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are +sanctified." + +Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the +unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God's +infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed +of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. And when +our souls are stirred up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the "unspeakable gift" of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the +unspeakable blessings derived from and through Him, let us not forget +that behind it all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son." + +Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity belong to God +the Father. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the +Holy Spirit. Neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever +send the Father. The Father "created all things by Jesus Christ." Jesus +Christ cast out devils "by the Spirit of God." The Son reveals the +Father, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to +whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, +for "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "He +shall testify of Me." "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." "He +shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear" (from the Father +and the Son) "that shall He speak." + +Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given or could give to +His creature man is the gift of His Son. The greatest gift that God the +Son has given to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of the +Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, "I will pray the Father and He +shall give you another Comforter," and "whom the Father will send in My +name," but also, "If I depart I will send Him unto you," so we may say +in general terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father and the gift of +the Son. And it may be added that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit +to man is the gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory be +to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. + +And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified by God the Father, +He means not only that we are separated unto the gospel of life and +salvation, set apart to God and His service, but, also, that God the +Father has made ample provision in the death of His Son for all +Christian believers to be cleansed from every stain of moral +defilement, delivered from inbred sin, sanctified wholly, made perfect +in love, and filled with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to the redeemed soul, +that the source of all these unspeakable blessings is in the infinite +grace and love of God. + +Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is brought +prominently forward and insisted upon. And His own holiness is +presented as a sufficient reason why His people should be holy also. +"Be ye holy, for I am holy," which command and declaration are repeated +and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle, "But as He +which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely holy, and He +requires all His children to be holy even in the present life, it goes +without saying, as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely the standard of +God's holiness which is set before us by the Saviour as the mark at +which we also are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. "Be ye +perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Not that our +perfection or our holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be an impossibility +and absurdity, but that we are to be perfect in our sphere as He is +perfect in His, that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be perfect in love as +He is perfect love, and that we are to be delivered from all sin, not +by any effort or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace in +Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name that we are sanctified +by God the Father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON. + + + +As the source of our entire sanctification is in the unmerited love and +grace of God the Father, so the ground of it is in the blood of Christ +the Son. Justification and Sanctification are by no means identical, +but as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they are +precisely parallel. We are told that justification is by grace, and, +again, that it is by the blood of Jesus, and, still again, that it is +by faith. It is, therefore, God's grace, it is Christ's blood, it is +man's faith by which we are justified. The originating cause of our +justification is the grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith. + +And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. We are not +justified in one way and sanctified in another. We are sanctified as +well as justified by the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as +justified by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith. + +All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious sacrifice of the +Lord Jesus Christ. He "of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, +(justification) and sanctification and redemption." + +And sanctification, no more than justification, releases us from our +dependence upon the atonement. If we are either justified or sanctified +today it is not because we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. +If we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future period of +our eternity, it will not be because we deserve it but because Christ +died for us. And so forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of redemption "unto Him +that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath +made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and +dominion forever and ever. Amen." We are everlastingly linked to the +atonement of Jesus Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart. + +"Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from +their sins," which signifies, I apprehend, both the forgiveness of +sins already committed and saving them from the commission of sins in +the future. Here, then, we have justification and regeneration. "Behold +the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." This must mean +the sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth +so easily beset us, in a word, inbred sin. And to have the inbred sin +taken away means nothing more and nothing less and nothing else, than +entire sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by God the Son. + +"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Here +we have a positive statement that upon certain conditions to be +fulfilled by us, we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, and open sin and +secret sin, and all sin. There is no mistaking the length and breadth +and all comprehensiveness of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us +walk in the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true. + +And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which result He had in +view, no less than the removal of our guilt when He laid down His life +for us. "Wherefore, Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate." Glory to His Name. + +He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved from guilt and +condemnation and penalty, but that we might be saved from sin, or +sanctified wholly. And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn. + + "The cleansing stream I see, I see, + I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me. + It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST. + + + +As already intimated all the persons of the adorable Trinity are +concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying a human soul. And this is +naturally to be expected, because God is one Trinitarianism is not +Tritheism. In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. The Bible reveals +the fact, but does not reveal the how. We bow in adoring gratitude and +love before an incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing even +without understanding. + +Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians as +distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, "The renewing of the Holy +Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our +Saviour," is spoken of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection +with the "washing of regeneration," and seems intended to be +experienced just after it. Possibly the renewing here spoken of, may +signify only the change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind the entire cleansing +of the heart from sin. And in that case the renewing need not be any +more gradual or progressive than the washing, which all admit to be +instantaneous. + +Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, the occurrences which +he had witnessed at the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this +language: "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Evidently here +the chief of the apostles gives us to understand that the giving of +the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart by faith, are +co-instantaneous and identical experiences. And if this be so, the Holy +Ghost, who is a Divine person, and not a mere influence, must be the +effective agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is He who by +His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly. + +And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize +you with water, unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is +mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize +you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." For what purpose is this fiery +baptism with the Holy Ghost? Most certainly that it may consume the +inbred sin of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys the +alloy that the gold may be left pure. + +Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following language, viz: +"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." This great +apostle was the first to clearly understand the perfect equality +between Jew and Gentile in the gospel of salvation, and as he made +hundreds of Gentile converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation in entire +consecration to God, they were sanctified by the Holy Ghost. + +The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to give +thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because +God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through +sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the true +election and the true salvation, a salvation from sin, through +sanctification of the Spirit and this is to be obtained by faith. + +And the apostle of the circumcision uses language very similar in +addressing the Jewish Christians who are scattered abroad, and whom he +addresses as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of +the blood of Jesus Christ." Comparing these two citations we observe +again, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our +sanctification, and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a +continuous cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying our souls, on +condition that we believe the truth. God help all Christians to be not +faithless, but believing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH. + + + +We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the work of +sanctification in connection with belief of the truth on our part. And +with this agree the words of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. +"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." The word here is +not the eternal Logos, but God's revealed truth as given in Holy writ. +And it is a statement of the highest importance, made by Him who is the +truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification is in the truth +of God as made known to us in the gospel of His Son. Here, again, the +Apostle Peter gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that +by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust." If we are favored to +escape the corruption that is in the world, we are sanctified wholly, +and this is effected, Peter says, not by works of righteousness, not by +resolutions or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before we seek +to be holy, but by faith in the promises of God. These promises are +very numerous, and varied in character on the pages of the Bible. By +seizing upon them as written specially for us, we make them our own, +and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea and amen, that is to say, we +realize them in our own experience to be the truth, and thus when we +read "This is the will of God even your sanctification," or, "The very +God of peace sanctify you wholly," or, "I will circumcise your heart," +or "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my +statutes," immediately the truth is impressed upon our hearts as a +glorious reality, and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the Saviour's prayer +is answered and we are in His own blessed words, sanctified "by the +truth." If any reader will take a concordance and look for the word +truth, and search out the passages containing it, he will be convinced +that, however men may look at it, we have to do with the Lord God of +truth, and that His estimate of truth is so high that He will by no +means countenance any person or anything that liveth or maketh a lie. +And if we would honor Him, we must honor His truth, the truth that is +to make us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which we are +commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, and sell it not, the truth +which the Lord desires in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, +the truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which we are +sanctified, the truth of the word. + +And then we shall find in our own experience that "A God of truth and +without iniquity, just and right is He," that He will send out His +light and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill and to His +tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, even the banner of holiness +to the Lord, to be displayed because of the truth, and we must never +let it trail in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth +came by Jesus Christ. + +Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SANCTIFIED BY FAITH. + + + +The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. Adam believed +God and was obedient and happy, and the first thing that the wily +tempter attacked, and, alas, with too much success, was man's faith. +"Yea," hath God said, and "Ye shall not surely die." First, a question. +Then, a doubt of God's truth; then, a doubt of His love, and the rest +was easy. Man stood so long as he did stand by faith. He fell when he +did fall by unbelief. + +God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. Man could not +be the child of God if he did not have faith in God. Faith binds us in +the closest spiritual union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs +this bond of union and separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. +Beloved, let us have faith in God. + +"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the +Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense +all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was +known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are +also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's +gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them +gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on +His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of +God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must +be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be +saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he +that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God +abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the +power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all +mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving +faith, often requires the cooperation of the human will. And, +therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for +obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V. + +Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in +religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily +life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All +intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they +call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody +can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and +serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who +accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that +all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called +ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from self- +luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence of +this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the +phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science +is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children, +farewell to all the enjoyment of home life. + +Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When business men, +manufacturers or merchants lose faith in one another, or in their +government, investments cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard +times are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds men to God, so +it is the bond that binds men one to another. When confidence is lost, +all is lost. Even a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance of things +hoped for, because it makes them real, as it is the evidence of things +not seen, because it convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter in hand that, +namely, of entire sanctification. + +Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said to them, "And now, +brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is +able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which +are sanctified," and in the commission to Paul himself the Saviour +says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of +sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is +in me." And as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit is +used by the apostle in direct connection with belief of the truth. +There can be no doubt, therefore, that the instrumental means of entire +sanctification is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is the +confidence," says the beloved John, "that we have in Him, that if we +ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that +He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that +we desired of Him." + +Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean heart, ask for +perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, ask for the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and he knows he is asking according to the will of God. +Then, according to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also by +faith, because it is God's promise that he has the petitions he desired +of Him. That is to say, when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act +of faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that he has the +clean heart, the perfect love, the entire sanctification, the Holy +Ghost baptism, which he asked for. And this will be honoring God by +taking Him at His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other evidence, the +witness of the Spirit may be prayed for and waited for, but, in the +meantime, he can and must rely with unwavering confidence upon the +evidence or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness of the +Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness of faith. + +I said we must believe by an act of the will. And some reader may +object to this statement by asserting that faith or belief is not a +matter of volition, but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply to give its +rightful force to the evidence. It is not for want of evidence that any +earnest, consecrated seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able +and willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He asserts it in +many forms and repeats it again and again as His Divine will that His +people should be holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here and +now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is not willing to make them +holy here and now, He must desire them to continue longer in sin, which +thought would impugn His own holiness. + +No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the faith-faculty has +become weakened and paralyzed by sin, and now we must determine to +believe, by putting our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many a seeking soul has +come out into the fullness of salvation by singing the hymn: + + "I can, I will, I do believe + That Jesus saves me now." + +The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, was told to +stretch it forth. He might have said where is my evidence that it will +do any good to try? But he put his will into the obedient attitude. He +willed to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with the obedient +will the power came from Jesus, and he stretched it forth and was +restored. To every one of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus +says, "Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to be responsible +for the result." Believe and receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, +we are sanctified by faith. Glory to the Lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + + +I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the doctrine and +experience of entire sanctification are fully and clearly taught in +Holy Scripture. All the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the history, in +the gospels, in the epistles, we find that God requires His people to +be holy and to be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their +privilege to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in the +sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be made holy. + +"For their sakes," says the blessed Saviour, "I sanctify Myself that +they also might be sanctified through the truth," or as the margin, +"truly sanctified," or as the Revised Version, "that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth." The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly +did not need to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was the "holy thing" +that was to be born of the Virgin Mary. "He knew no sin," He "did no +sin," He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," +and, therefore, when He says "I sanctify Myself," He means nothing more +nor less than I consecrate Myself, or I set Myself apart, but in the +other clause where the term sanctify is used in reference to His +people, it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin entirely +sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He sets Himself apart, +therefore, to the work of redemption and salvation that He may have a +holy people on earth, as without controversy He must and will have a +holy people in heaven. + +We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous with the baptism +with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that the two experiences are in an +important sense identical, or, at least, so related to each other that +whoever has one has the other. It is Christ and none other who baptizes +with the Holy. Ghost. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and +fire," not as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are to be +two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards that of fire +in the way of affliction or persecution, though plenty of these are +promised and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under +the similitude of fire, that is, that dross and tin and reprobate +silver, or, in a word, all inbred sin may be consumed. + +Nor is it correct to say that there are "many baptisms" of the Spirit. +The Holy Ghost baptism is received by the consecrated believer once +for all, and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism confers upon him, +from Christ through the Spirit, and again comes in repentance and +confession to do his first works, and again to be filled with the +Spirit and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the Holy Ghost +seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving the same emotional +experience as at first, but may and must be received and retained by +faith, and the amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He will +arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean to say that the +experience may be lost and may be regained, but seldom with the same +phenomena of consciousness as at the first. Do not speak, then, of +having had many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the one +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say that you are desiring +or that you have had a fresh baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your +thoughts and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth. + +But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The Psalmist says, "I +shall be anointed with fresh oil," and to every sanctified child of +God, there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of girding and +filling, and fresh anointing for particular services, which are +sometimes called fresh baptisms, but which are not to be confounded +with the one true abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they come because we +already have the Blesser Himself as a personal indwelling Presence and +Power. + +Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that we are first +sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and afterwards filled or baptized +with the Holy Ghost. This opinion would necessitate three separate +experiences, where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by the blood, and (3) +the filling of the Spirit. There would thus be a separation between the +removing of inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the Holy +Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification for service. +It is regarded by these teachers, as only given for an enduement of +power, to do the work to which we are called. And the practical result +of this error, for such with due deference I must regard it, is that +some will be very anxious to obtain the baptism with the Holy Ghost to +make them strong or powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even +deny, the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen tells us of +a minister who wrote to him that he did not take much stock in +sanctification, but that he was very desirous of the Holy Ghost +baptism, in order that he might have increased power in the ministry of +the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very prevalent idea, that we +are to be baptized for service, but not for cleansing. + +I trust that no reader who has followed me through the different +chapters of this book will imagine, for a moment, that I under-value, +in the slightest degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, cleanseth us from +all sin. I think I have sufficiently stated elsewhere that the blood of +Jesus is the procuring cause of our sanctification, as well as of our +justification, and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood of the Son of God +is the ground of our sanctification, but it is the Holy Spirit who is +the effective agent in destroying the depravity of our hearts. + +It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, and that God +anointed Him for the great work of redemption. And in His case, the +word used is anointed or descended, and not in any place baptized. He +needed not the work of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As a man, He did need +the energizing for His work, and, therefore, He is said to have been +anointed. Beloved, let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy Ghost baptism are +coetaneous experiences, and must not be divorced. + +And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. I have shown that +like a golden thread the doctrine of entire sanctification runs through +the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types and the ceremonies, +the gospels and epistles, everywhere showing us that we have to do with +a Holy God, and that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women. + +To all who shall read this book, I testify that by the grace of God, +and the blood of Christ, and the sin-consuming baptism with the Holy +Ghost, this poor man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name. + +And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May He "make you +perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Amen. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +This file should be named 7thss10.txt or 7thss10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7thss11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7thss10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dougan Clark + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6657] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 10, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + + + + +Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + +[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.] + + + +THE + +THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS. + +BY + +DOUGAN CLARK, M. D. + +PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY AND CHURCH +HISTORY IN EARLHAM COLLEGE, RICHMOND, INDIANA. + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF +MY FATHER AND MOTHER, +DOUGAN AND ASENATH CLARK, +BOTH FOR MANY YEARS APPROVED +MINISTERS IN THE FRIENDS' CHURCH, +AND BOTH LONG SINCE DEPARTED +TO BE WITH CHRIST, THIS +BOOK IS LOVINGLY +Dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY + II. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE + III. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES + IV. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE + V. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY + VI. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST + VII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL +VIII. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER + IX. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN + X. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE + XI. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER + XII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON +XIII. SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST + XIV. SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH + XV. SANCTIFIED BY FAITH + XVI. CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A NECESSITY. + + + +Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology is the most +important of all sciences. It is the science that treats of God and of +man in his relation to God. It is a systematic presentation of revealed +truth. As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds revealed by +the telescope, and as the basis of Geology is the crust of the earth, +so the basis of Theology is the Divine revelation found in the Holy +Scriptures. The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is a +systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire sanctification as +derived from the written word of God. Such a presentation we hope--with +the help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly invoke--to +attempt to give in this book. May God bless the endeavor, and overrule +our human weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen. + +It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class of Christians to +whom the subject of entire sanctification is a matter of indifference. +They hope, with or without sufficient reason, that their sins are +forgiven. They propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, again +with or without sufficient reason, that they will go to heaven when +they die. The subject of holiness does not interest them. They suppose +themselves to be doing well enough without it. + +There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom the subject is even +positively distasteful. It is an offence to them. They do not want to +hear it preached. They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion and spiritual +pride. They turn away from the whole subject not only with +indifference, but with disdain. + +There are still others, and these God's children, as we may charitably +believe, who do not even regard holiness as a desirable thing. They +assert that it is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It is true that they +are never able to tell how much sin it takes to have this beneficial +effect, but a certain amount they are bent on having. + +Another class takes the opposite view. They regard holiness as very +desirable, and a very lovely thing to gaze upon and think upon, but +they also regard it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to get it at the +moment of death. Not sooner than the dying hour, do they believe any +human being can be made holy. Not till death is separating the soul +from the body can even God Himself separate sin from the soul. The +whole doctrine of entire sanctification, therefore, they regard as a +beautiful theory, but wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly +impracticable as a life. + +In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, as described by +Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are opposed to the doctrine of entire +sanctification. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and the +carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. This opposition may +take one of the forms already described, or, possibly, some other forms +which have been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the same +in all. Wherever "our old man" has his home in a Christian's heart, +there entire sanctification will be rejected. + +But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. There are +thousands of sincere, believing hearts in all Christian denominations, +in whom inbred sin still exists, but not with the consent of the will. +They are tired--very tired of the tyrant that rules them, or of the +ceaseless struggles by which, with God's added and assisting grace, +they are enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. They are +hungering for full salvation, and rejoice to hear the message of entire +sanctification through the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The +Lord bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them the desire of +their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, and may their numbers be +vastly increased, so that the banner of Christ's church may everywhere +be unfurled--the banner on which is inscribed the glorious motto of +Holiness to the Lord. + +Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire sanctification-- +whether in the form of indifference, or dislike, or undesirableness, +or impossibility--with the simple proposition, It is necessary. If this +proposition can be established, all objections, of whatever character, +must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every Christian heart +must be, How can I obtain that priceless blessing which is essential to +my eternal bliss, which is indispensable, and without which I shall +never see the Lord? + +For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 12:14, "Follow peace +with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," +and in the Revised Version, "Follow after peace with all men, and the +sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." This can mean +nothing short of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred sin. +And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue the question as to the +indispensableness of this blessed experience, in order to gain an +entrance into heaven. Everyone will admit that God Himself is a +perfectly and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His followers +in all ages, "Be ye holy for I am holy"--making His own perfect and +entire holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same quality +in His people. And, although the holiness of the highest created being +will always fall infinitely short of that of the Infinite God, as +regards quantity, it will be the same <i>in quality</i>, for Jesus +tells us, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect," +not, of course, with the unmeasurable amount of perfection which +appertains to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far as it +goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that "There shall in no wise +enter into it" (the heavenly city) "anything that defileth, neither +whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie." Heaven is a holy +place, and occupied with none but holy inhabitants. + +But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that we may reach the +blissful abode of the glory land, when is this stupendous blessing to +be obtained? It is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as an attainment, and +this form of expression has a tendency to discourage the seeker by +magnifying the difficulty of receiving this blessing. The thought +contained in the word attainment is that of something earnestly striven +for, struggled after, persistently pursued with much labor and toil and +effort, until, at last, the coveted prize is attained. A very few of +the multitudes who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of hard labor and +privation and hardship. The majority died on the way, or while mining +for the precious metal, or returned as poor as they went. + +On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply that of a gift. +And entire sanctification is precisely a gift, "merely this and nothing +more." It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit of our +own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise to be undertaken; not +the fruit of a long journey or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor +trying, nor suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord. + +And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable gift to be +obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist answer, in +purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a second probation after death. +But the Holy Scriptures tell us absolutely nothing either of a +purgatory or a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be determined in one +probation, which is allotted to us in the present life. Let no one +suppose, for a moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left this mundane +sphere. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of +salvation." + +But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, and also a large +portion of the membership of Arminian denominations, without regard to +their creeds, if asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at death. The +prevailing idea on this subject, among Christian believers, seems to be +as follows: First, through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins are pardoned, and we +are born again. After that, our sole business is to grow in grace, and +by this growth to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can reach that standard +until the moment of death. + +Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, grow in grace +until we receive it. And we can never grow into grace, but grow in it +after we get it. We can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree is limited +because of the presence of inbred sin, which is the great, if indeed, +not the only hindrance of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at +least, because if the justified Christian is brought to see the need +and the possibility of entire sanctification, and yet fails, as so many +do, to enter into the blessing, because of unbelief, he is very prone +either to backslide, in which case, of course, there will be a +cessation of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to the +bondage of legalism, and after having begun in the Spirit, he will seek +to be perfected in the flesh; in which case Paul's verdict to that +beloved church was not ye are growing in grace, but, "ye are fallen +from grace." + +It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into the blessing of +entire sanctification. That blessing is to be received by faith, as the +gift of God in Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when the +grace has once been obtained in this manner, then we can grow in it +indefinitely and for a lifetime, possibly even for an eternity. Growth +in grace is a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring us to the death of +the old man, nor to the experience of entire sanctification. + +And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death is nowhere +mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. Death can separate the soul +from the body, but to separate sin from the soul is a work which God +can only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is +our sanctifier, and even if the work is performed in the article of +death, it is still the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, where is the +hindrance to His performing it a week, a month, a year, or forty years +before death--if only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where is His +omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do it before death; then where +is His own holiness? In either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves +of an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save us from such +folly. + +Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite in the sentiment +that entire sanctification is to be sought and obtained now, and if +now, then it is to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained by faith, and from +these premises the further conclusion is logically deducible, that we +cannot make ourselves any better in order to receive it, but that we +must take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the pithy precept +of John Wesley, "Expect it by faith--expect it as you are--expect it +now." + +In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some things which +belong more accurately to the next chapter; but we are not seeking so +much for a perfectly methodical arrangement, as for a clear and +Scriptural presentation of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now +that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of +entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results +of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable +blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father's will in this +world, it is indispensable to live by. + +But before leaving entirely the subject of growth in grace, having +demonstrated, as we trust, that we can never grow into entire +sanctification, we ought, perhaps, to explain what we mean by the +statement that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace after, +and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification has two sides or +aspects. It has a positive side and a negative side. Its negative side +is the removal of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of +subtraction. And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. The latter +is a matter of addition, because it implies the impartation of a new +life to the soul which has hitherto been "dead in trespasses and sins." +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification there can be no +growth. If a heart is pure it cannot be more pure. If it is free from +sin it cannot be more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase in purity. + +But the positive side of entire sanctification is perfect love, and +this is a relative expression. It does not mean that all who possess it +must have an equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual is +just his own heart--not some one else's heart--being filled with love. +One individual may have a greater capacity of loving than another, just +as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or of working. Perfect love +in a child would not be perfect love in a man; and perfect love in a +man would not be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect love today may +not be perfect love to-morrow. As we commune with God and work with +Him, as we get more and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of the Triune God, how +is it possible that we should not love Him more and more? "There will +never be a time in earth nor in Heaven," says the late Dr. Upham, "when +there may not be an increase of holy love." On the positive side of +entire sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true growth in grace, +about which much more could be said, but we leave it for the present, +to resume our main theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come. + +We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian can do all +that God would have him do, nor enjoy all that God would have him enjoy +in this world, without the grace of entire sanctification. In the +beautiful language of metaphor the Saviour says, "I am the true Vine +and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not +fruit He taketh away, and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He +purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." And again, "Herein is +My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be My +disciples." Now the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I am +come," says He, "that ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye +might have it more abundantly" (in entire sanctification). The abundant +life and the abundant fruit, therefore, can only be found in connection +with purity of heart. + +It is doubtless <i>true</i> that every living branch, that is to say, +every justified and regenerated believer, may and should and must, if +he would retain his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is +precisely these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman "purges"--sanctifies--that they may bring forth the more +abundant fruit by which He Himself shall be glorified. And here we +might rest our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two will be +in place. + +The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius of a poet, the +intimate connection between purity and power. He puts into the mouth of +Sir Galahad, one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz: + + "My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + +Now one of the most common complaints among Christians of all +denominations, is because of their weakness and their leanness. And yet +nothing is clearer than that God has promised to make His people +strong, that He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and that +not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to say criminal in His sight. +The reason, then, of our weakness and our leanness and the meagreness +of our fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not fulfill the +conditions on which He promises to make us strong. One of these +conditions, and an indispensable one, is that we be entirely +sanctified. It is they that know their God, both in conversion and +entire sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall "be strong +and do exploits." Beloved, if you would accomplish the work that God +has given you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment in +eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, seek and find that which +is the essential condition, and ask at once to be wholly sanctified. + +And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the joy of an uttermost +salvation, the peace that passeth understanding, the fellowship with +the Father and with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing of +the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the abiding presence of +the indwelling Comforter, then pray that the very God of Peace may here +and now sanctify you wholly. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION OBTAINABLE. + + + +This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary from what has been +said in the preceding chapter. If entire sanctification has been proved +to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot +attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian +enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, +and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our +gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable +requisite both for time and for eternity may be received. + +But before discussing this proposition in detail let us have a clear +understanding of what is meant by entire sanctification, and, as a +preliminary, let us study a few simple theological definitions. + +In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty in believing that +I fully accept the Arminian doctrine of the universality of the +atonement. The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of +all mankind, and its benefits are offered to all. "He tasted death for +every man." But it does not follow that all men will be saved, and this +for the reason that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated to accept it. +But it is available only in the case of those who believe. "He that +believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be +condemned." A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation. + +Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. It is either +general or special. In one sense it is as broad as atonement. Atonement +is for sin; redemption is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. +In its more special meaning it is applicable only to those who accept +the atonement. For these it implies release from the bondage of the +will under the law of sin and death, or justification and regeneration. +It brings also release from the power and existence of depravity or +entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, the complete +glorification of the saints in body, soul and spirit at God's right +hand, and the deliverance of the creation itself from the "bondage of +corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." + +The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement are offered +to the sinner is repentance. Both the Saviour Himself and His +forerunner began their public ministry with words of like import, viz: +"Repent ye and believe the gospel." Repentance does not mean penance-- +not a voluntary sacrifice in our own will for an expiation of sin--nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although "godly sorrow" is one +of the elements of true repentance. The sorrow of the world may produce +remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but +remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life +but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of +purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for sin +--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or +financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the +Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the +determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and +involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no +more. + +The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the +benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less +than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that +He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." +"Faith is the substance of things hoped for," because it makes them +real. It is "the evidence of things not seen" because it convinces the +mind of their actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. It is not true that +all men believe God, and, therefore, not true that all men have saving +faith. + +And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often said to be the gift +of God, and in the sense of the grace of faith, or the power of +believing, this is true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It involves the putting +forth of the choosing power of the human will, that we may accept the +salvation which is offered us. God has given to us all the faith +faculty, just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the one +case, as in the other, we are responsible for the exercise of the +faculty thus given. The proper object of the seeing faculty is the +world around us, with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. The proper +object of the faith faculty is truth, and especially gospel truth, the +truth of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise +our believing power and accept this great salvation or we may close our +faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this to our eternal loss. + +For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible for obedience +to that as to all other of His commands. The fact of the command +involves the power to obey. Our will, therefore, our choosing power, +must be put on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. It +is not that we are required to believe without evidence. It is that our +depraved hearts are not willing to believe when the evidence is ample. +And, therefore, our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." The great +and crying sin of our fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has +sundered us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith which +is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited to Him. "He that +believeth not the Son is condemned already." + +Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God promises to give +us the grace of justification. This is pardon for all our past sins. +God, for Christ's sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus' sake, although we are not just in reality. +And herein it is that gospel justification differs from legal +justification. The individual who is accused of crime and who is +brought into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, not to be +guilty, is at once acquitted and released from all penalty. He is +justified solely on the ground of his innocence. But no man ever has +been or ever will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground of +his innocence. Every responsible human being has broken the law of God. +"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And none of those +who have broken the law can be justified by the law, that is to say, +not one. The law justifies those, and those only, who keep it. None of +us have kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man Christ +Jesus. The law condemns all those who break it. All the race of men +have broken it save only the man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under +condemnation. But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be +justified." + +Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? We should be so +but for Christ. But, blessed be God, "He hath found a ransom." "All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, +and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus Christ +"Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree." And so it comes to +pass that we can be freely justified by His grace, not because of our +innocency but because He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the +place which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. He procured +for us the place which was and is rightfully His, and that is at God's +right hand. He suffered what we deserved, and by that very suffering He +made us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to His Holy Name! + +By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, justice is +satisfied, and the penalty of the broken law is removed. God is +infinitely merciful, but He is also infinitely just. He loves the +sinner with a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and will not look +upon sin with the smallest degree of allowance. His mercy and His love +may compassionate the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do +right?" + +But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified and risen Lord, +both the attributes of mercy and justice are enlisted on behalf of the +sinner. The mercy of God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus' sake. "Mercy and truth have met together, +righteousness and peace have kissed each other." "God can be just and +the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." "If we confess our sins +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." And in accordance with +the way of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now plead +with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive us when we have +complied with these conditions. And so we arrive at the conclusion that +justification is an act of God's grace by which our sins are pardoned +for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act is instantaneous. God does +not pardon sins gradually, nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to +every one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious language, +"Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." As if by a single +stroke of the recording angel's pen, the whole dark record is blotted +out forever. "As far as the east is from the west so far hath He +removed our transgressions from us." Glory. + +Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies justification. +God does not justify a sinner without, at the same time, giving him a +new life. This new life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine energy of the +Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, without, at the same time, +receiving a new nature, he would inevitably fall into sin again. His +lifetime on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But our +merciful Father having for Christ's sake looked upon him as just and +righteous, when he was not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new +nature which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, indeed, of +the Divine nature, and that is a nature which is holy and just and +good. And this is the new birth. Men may be full of physical life and +of intellectual life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, therefore, is that +act of God's grace by which we are born again. + +Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and regenerated +believer into the family of God. No longer enemies, nor even strangers +and foreigners, those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now +receive the adoption of sons. They become the children of God by faith +in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and they rejoice to declare it. +A human governor or ruler may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a +reprieve, but he never takes him into his own family. He may forgive +the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon him a new nature, nor can he +consent to recognize him as a brother or a son. But God not only +remits the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers them from +wrath and from punishment, but He gives them a new nature by which they +can respond to His love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "Ye are all +the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." + +The witness of the Spirit is something not easily defined, but it is +well known by those who experience it. It is an impression or +consciousness wrought into the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, +which gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child of God. +Before this, he believes, now he knows. This witness, therefore, +expels doubt and infuses into the heart of the new-born child of God, a +calm, definite and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. "The Spirit Himself beareth +witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." "Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into +your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." + +Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, are all received +co-instantaneously. They always accompany each other, and whoever has +one of them has them all. The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not +always a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies or attends the +other experiences to which we have alluded. And we may add that all +these graces are but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, by the single +term conversion, which term, therefore, must be understood to include +and imply justification, regeneration, adoption and the witness of the +Spirit. It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, and never a +prolonged process. Just so certainly as every human being that comes +into this world has a definite, natural birthday, so every one that +comes into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. Some +people do not know when their natural birthday occurs, nevertheless, +they know that they have been born. Some Christians do not know when +their spiritual birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of a definite line +out of Satan's kingdom into God's kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where a man can +truthfully say, I am neither converted nor unconverted. One moment he +is out of the ark of safety, the next moment he is in it. + +Entire sanctification is an act of God's grace by which inbred sin is +removed and the heart made holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is +the inward cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It is the +bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter fruits. It is the +natural evil tendency of the human heart in our fallen condition. It is +the being of sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that within +us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. It exists in every human +being that comes into the world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is +called in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our old man, +sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term sin in the singular +number. In the Old Testament it is called sin and iniquity. "Behold," +says David, "I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive +me." And when the Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, "Lo, this hath touched +thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." + +Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the real existence of +this inbred sin and also as to the fact that it is not removed at +conversion. "This infection of nature doth remain," says the Anglican +Confession, "yea, even in them that have been regenerated." Most church +creeds, indeed, give no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the hour of death. And +it is regarded as serious heresy in some quarters for a man to either +preach or claim that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse from +all sin. + +But God has in every age and in every dispensation required His +children to be holy. And to be holy signifies the destruction or +removal of inbred sin, nothing more and nothing less and nothing else +than that. How this is accomplished will be discussed further on, but +here we say that the removal of innate depravity is entire +sanctification, and that God has most surely made provision in the +atonement of Jesus Christ for the removal of innate depravity. +Therefore, He has made provision for entire sanctification, and, +therefore again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin goes +back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. If not as old as the +human race, it is at least as old as the fall. Since sin entered +through the beguiling of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin +has existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and Eve. The only +exception is the man, Christ Jesus, the God man, the Divine man, the +promised seed that should bruise the serpent's head. But as He, the +Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, +and as inbred sin is one of the works of the devil, therefore its +destruction is provided for in the atonement, and, therefore, still +again, entire sanctification is obtainable. + +The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate or to devote +to sacred uses. It has this signification nearly always in the Old +Testament and in a few passages in the New. In other words, whatever is +consecrated is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent meaning, of +separation from all sin, inward as well as outward, and this is what +Paul calls being sanctified wholly. It is entire sanctification as +distinguished from partial sanctification. This latter appertains to +all Christians, and is technically so used in the New Testament. The +former is the experience of those, and those only, from whom inbred sin +has been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PATRIARCHAL TIMES. + + + +For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was +without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are +concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been +patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his +children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he +died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their +allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs +constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a +prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were +Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death, +it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of +the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and +deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law. + +As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few +faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and +sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not +to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the +subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings +of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New +Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the +word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day +and sanctified it. + +And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives +of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose +of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of +His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience +upon His already saved children, as is so clearly revealed in the New +Testament. + +"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Such is +the record in Genesis, but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the +faith chapter, we find that "by faith Enoch was translated that he +should not see death; and was not found because God had translated him, +for; before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased +God." Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian ages, +walked with God and pleased God, and was translated that he should not +see death, there surely can be no reasonable doubt that he was a holy +man, an entirely sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was "slain from the +foundation of the world." + +"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked +with God." The prophet Amos exclaims most pertinently, "Can two walk +together unless they be agreed?" It is certain, therefore, that God and +Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely pure and holy, can never +be agreed with any person or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever +may be the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied to +God's children in Old Testament times, we can scarcely avoid the +conclusion that Noah was a holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and +this notwithstanding his subsequent error in regard to drinking too +much wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose he may have +been, up to the time of this sad experience, ignorant. + +Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, in Ur of the +Chaldees, when he received the call of God to go entirely away from +his kindred and his father's house, and depart into a land of +separation, a land which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing whither he went, +but only knowing that the Lord was leading him. At his first move, he +was accompanied by his father. And he came out of his native land, it +is true, but not yet into the promised land. "He came to Haran and +dwelt there," or to give the record in full, "And Terah took Abraham, +his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his +daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them +from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there." + +Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr Stephen says, +"And from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this +land, wherein ye now dwell," but in Genesis the statement is, "And +Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their +substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in +Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the +land of Canaan they came." The last tie of nature was sundered when the +old man died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought him +into the promised land. There are two distinct stages in his experience +before he reached the place, which God designed him to occupy. And +these we may as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the first +experience under the gospel--that of regeneration--and of the second +experience as well, which is entire sanctification. + +In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious episode +occurs, and that is the story of his transient but highly important +meeting with Melchizedek, after his successful expedition against the +kings, who had despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, viz.: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, +brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High +God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High +God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, +which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him +tithes of all." No other mention is made of Melchizedek until David +writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly one thousand years after +Abraham. The Psalmist writing by inspiration, and alluding beyond all +reasonable doubt to the Messiah, says, "The Lord hath sworn and will +not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." +And then, again, the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once more brings him +to the front in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is described in +glowing language as "first being by interpretation King of +righteousness, and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king of +peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy (R. V.) having +neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son +of God, abideth a priest continually." + +Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most remarkable +personage, the following inferences seem fairly deducible therefrom: +(1) Melchizedek, being made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently +the Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and +priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and Christ are priests, and yet the +former is not of the chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, +unquestionably, greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth bread and wine. +So did his antitype at the Last Supper. The priesthood of Melchizedek +was before that of Aaron. Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to +Melchizedek in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle to +the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since Melchizedek was without +beginning or end, and greater than Abraham, and with a priesthood that +existed centuries before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, +therefore Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting to +everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, is to abolish the +Aaronic priesthood, whose institution was for a temporary purpose, and +was fulfilled when Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek. + +But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also a king. And it was +not only in his everlasting priesthood, but in his regal office also, +that he was a type of the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, +Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in His own +person the three offices of prophet, priest and king. + +Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, if he was greater +than Abraham, if he was a type of Jesus Christ in His kingly and +priestly offices, it is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. He was made like +unto the Son of God, and the Son of God is eternally holy. Praise His +name. It is, surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in those +primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth was full of wickedness +and violence, that even then God had His witnesses to experimental and +practical holiness. + +Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood of Christ, let me +remark that it was a sad day for His Church when the idea became +prevalent, that ministers of the gospel are in any official sense to be +regarded as priests. This serious error may have been derived, in part, +from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. It has become incorporated in +the creed of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, +and has been productive of the most disastrous results. Among the +deliverances of the Council of Trent, held at intervals from 1545 to +1564, and the last Council, which Romish authorities regard as of +binding authority, are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: "Whereas, therefore, in the New +Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution of +Christ, the holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a new, visible and +external priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the +sacred Scriptures show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord, +our Saviour, and that to the apostles, and their successors in the +priesthood, was the power delivered of consecrating, offering and +administering his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins." + +It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely clear of this +same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, and that, in thought, at +least, many substitute this for the true priesthood, which appertains +to all believers. Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation and +continues to do, forever, by intercession. "He ever liveth to make +intercession for us." He "offered one sacrifice for sins forever." If +He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already offered Himself as a +sacrifice, sufficient for the sins of all mankind, the benefits of +which each and every one may obtain on the simple condition of +repentance and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says George Fox, +"Friends, let nothing come between your souls and God, but Christ," and +we say Amen. + +To sum up on this particular point, we may say that the ancient +priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, and of Aaron, the Jew, +with his descendants, were nothing more than types; and a type can have +no real existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there is no +place for a human priesthood under the Christian dispensation. We are +taught in Holy Scripture that no one can come to God except through +Christ, but we are also taught that all are invited, and all may come +directly to Him. All the officers belonging to the New Testament +Church, whether ministers, deacons, presbyters, bishops, elders, or +even apostles, are described not as priests but "messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and shepherds." Their +function is to preach the word, to teach, to rule, but never to +mediate. It is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests. + +But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, all Christians +are priests. But this is through Christ and in Christ, the one great +and eternal High Priest. They are priests because they are in Christ. +And not only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings and +priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed privileges are theirs, +solely by virtue of their union and fellowship with Christ, who, in a +mystical and spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His own +priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic office. + +Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration of the Spirit, +"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people." + +And again: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up, a spiritual house, +an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God +by Jesus Christ." Precisely. If we are priests, we must perform the +functions of a priest, and one of these functions is the offering of +sacrifice. What, then, are the sacrifices which are to be offered by +the Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact that Christ hath +offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Nothing can be added to, and +nothing can be subtracted from, that infinite and all-sufficient +offering. + +The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest is the surrender +of his own body, with all its appetites, organs and capabilities, to +God. Listen to Paul. + +"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye +present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service." Your bodies, because if you are +Christians, you have already presented your hearts; your bodies, +because through the body, too often temptation enters into the soul and +leads it to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If surrendered to the +Lord, He makes them the very thing they were originally designed to +be, namely, the obedient servants of the soul, and the soul is already +His own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands and the body +obeys, both are working for God, and when the soul says Go, and the +body runs hither and thither, both are going upon God's errands. + +It will be observed that the body is to be presented a living +sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless activities are to be given +up to God. The expression, no doubt, implies that the whole man, +described by the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, soul +and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be His, and His forever, +and henceforth to be ready to be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed +will. + +The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion of your time, +nor a certain portion of your money, nor a certain portion of your +effort, nor your sins, nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden +indulgences. You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, nor +your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, nor your theatre- +going to God. He wants none of these things. All actual and known sins +must be abandoned at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent and a +deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus present his body +unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, but Christians are enjoined to +"yield themselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead;" not +as those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character and +for a different purpose. That purpose is that he may be wholly +sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of +his capacity for the glory of God. Consecration means yielding +yourselves unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything else. +All the details are included in the one surrender of yourself. + +And remember, also, that your consecration is not to God's service, not +to His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the +church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, not +to any organization, not to the cause of God; it is to God Himself. +"Yield yourselves unto God." It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. Your work, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty, +will all follow in due time. The next sacrifice to be made by the +Christian priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. "By Him, +therefore," says the author of the Hebrews, "let us offer the sacrifice +of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name." + +And the next priestly offering of the Christian is a holy life, for the +inspired author goes on in the next verse, "But to do good, and to +communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; offer the +fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of the life, and you will walk +worthily of your priesthood. Glory! + +The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined experiences about +twenty years apart. The first of these was at Bethel, when, in +loneliness and anguish of mind, he was plodding on his way toward +Mesopotamia to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground with a stone for +a pillow, not only distressed in mind from fear and anxiety, but also, +we may well suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation of a +guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had faith in God's promises, +even if he did not always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, forlorn, fearful and +contrite, God was watching over him, and when he awoke from the +wondrous vision there vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in +the place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new man. Now he +could not only believe intellectually what God had said, but he could +and did enter into covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. This was such a +change of mind and heart as constituted a real conversion. + +When, after the many mercies and many trials that fell to his portion +whilst dwelling with his uncle Laban, and after the lapse of two score +years, he was returning to his father's house, no longer poor and +lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives and children, again he was +encountered by the fear of his brother Esau who was approaching him +with four hundred men. Then it was that there "wrestled a man with him +until the breaking of the day." Note it was the man wrestling with +Jacob--and the man was the angel,--Jehovah, the pre-existent Christ-- +and the object of his wrestling was to get the Jacob nature, the old +man, the body of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by a +touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for him to resist any +longer. Now he had to cease his wrestling but he could still cling, and +he could still cry, "I will not let thee go until thou bless me." +Jacob's will was now firmly set upon the blessing; he could ho longer +resist the will of the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob--supplanter, sinner, and then He +blessed him there; Jabbok means extinguishment, and Jacob's self-life +was extinguished there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter--but Israel, the prince, the prevailer, the +overcomer, and Israel was now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell +God your name--sinner--seek with fixed determination for the blessing +of holiness, fulfill the conditions, and you also shall prevail, and +your name will be changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the Blesser Himself +in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. Praise the Lord! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN TYPE. + + + +The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and typical. "The law +having a shadow of the good things to come," says the author of the +Hebrews. But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far as +holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed forth in the +ceremonial law, we shall find that there is a corresponding substance +and reality in the gospel of Christ. + +In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions of the Mosaic +law, we shall be struck with the many forms of ceremonial uncleanness +described therein, and with the "divers washings," not only of the +"hands oft," but of the whole body, and of "cups and pots, brazen +vessels and of tables." All these point to the fact that God will have +a clean people, and a clean people is a holy people. The same thing is +vividly exhibited in the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be disused. Of land +animals, only such as both chew the end and divide the hoof, might then +be eaten. And of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales were +to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt that this restriction in +regard to food is full of meaning. God help us all as Christian +believers to distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have His people now +pure in heart, clean in soul, holy both within and without. + +The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, and this became +the perpetual rite by which his descendants were admitted to the rights +and privileges of that covenant. "Every male child shall be +circumcised." But this rite was an outward symbol of "a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in +the circumcision of Christ" (Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, +we are told that "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is +that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which +is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God." Beloved +reader, may you and I know what it is to experience the inward +circumcision, made without hands, even the putting off of the body of +the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In the consecration of +Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, not only were they to be +adorned with holy garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious stones, but the +plate for the mitre was to be made of pure gold, and engraved with the +motto "Holiness to the Lord." This was to be always upon the forehead +of the High Priest, and must signify that Aaron was to be the holy +priest of a Holy God, and that the law required a continuous holiness, +as most assuredly the gospel does also. + +Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood and the sacrifices +were typical of Christ. In the mediatorial work of redemption, he was +both the priest and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. +The holy priest, under the law typified the holy priest, who is a +priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel +dispensation all Christians are priests. "But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." And +we are priests, not for the purpose of expiation, for expiation was +completed by the Lord Jesus Christ, when He "bore our sins in His own +body on the tree," but priests to offer up "spiritual sacrifices +acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." And every such priest must +needs be continuously holy. + +The "spiritual sacrifices" which the Christian priest must offer are, +as previously stated, (1) his body, with all its members and +capacities. The heart was given to Christ at conversion. It is, +however, largely through the body that the soul is led into sin, and it +is through the body, also, that the soul must perform its work for +Christ, so long as soul and body are united in probation. Hence, the +Apostle exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, "I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service." The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. He +must "hold fast the confession of his faith without wavering." "By him, +therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." And, finally +(3), the Christian priest must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. "But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God +is well pleased." Beloved, let us ask ourselves if we are constantly +offering as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing tongue +and a godly life. Amen. + +This subject has already been alluded to under a different head, but +it will bear repetition. + +In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing of the leper, we +find an impressive type or symbol of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly +and strikingly a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, +incurable, fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; he +could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He was an outcast. None +must be permitted to approach him. They must be warned off by the +despairing cry "unclean, unclean." Nothing can be conceived more +desolate or more hopeless than the condition of the leper, unless it +be, indeed, the sinner who is an "alien from the commonwealth of +Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and +without God in the world." + +But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad "day of cleansing." +He might not come into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. And none but +Christ has any authority to tell the sinner that he is converted, or +the believer that he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies away toward +heaven with bloody wing; the leper is sprinkled seven times, to denote +the completeness or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means of +hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; he must wash his +clothes; he must pass a razor over his whole body, and bathe the whole +body likewise in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by the washing of +water through the word, as plainly described as symbolic language can +utter it. + +All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily sacrifice both +morning and evening, the paschal lamb, the Day of Atonement, the +offerings at the various feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for +individuals or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for what we are, the +peace offering, the burnt offering, these, also, all point to the Lamb +that was slain from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was shed. "Almost all +things are, by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of +blood is no remission." + +But turn now to the New Testament, and read that "It is not possible +for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Read again, "If +the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the +unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall +the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself +without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the +living God." Read again, "In Him we have redemption through His blood" +--"Having made peace through the blood of His cross"--"Ye who are far +off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"--"Being now justified by His +blood"--"That He might sanctify the people with His own blood"--and +especially "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin." + +Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, Dr. Edgar M. Levy. +"When an oblation for sin was offered up under the old dispensation, +the priest was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle it +seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection of the +offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come short of the type. Seven +times, at least, did our Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was +circumcised and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted on the +mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this must needs have been +attended with blood. He was scourged, and from Roman scouring there +was, of course, blood. The crown of thorns was driven into His precious +temples and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp nails +penetrated into His hands and feet, and again there was blood. And one +of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came +thereout blood and water." + +The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of our sanctification +as it is of our justification. Glory be to His Name forever for the +precious, cleansing blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the "Rock of Ages," and especially with the +rendering now frequently given to the conclusion of the first stanza, +viz.: + + "Let the water and the blood + From Thy wounded side which flowed, + Be of sin the double cure + Save from wrath--and make me pure." + +The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, and was used +for a great variety of purposes. In typology, however, it has special +reference to the office work of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively +the Sanctifier, and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as "the unction" or "the anointing." The holy anointing +oil was to be sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred +vessels. It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests and +kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge of their +respective offices. There can be no doubt but that this use of the +anointing oil and the sweet perfume, which none were permitted to +imitate or counterfeit, has a direct typical reference to holiness. +The sacred writer, indeed, says as much. "That they may be most holy; +whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." And as all Christians are +kings and priests unto God, it is necessary that they also be anointed +with the Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels +of the Lord." A priest must be holy. + +We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred sin, and of the +requirement of blood-shedding in the cleansing of the leper. But before +that cleansing was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the priest had already +touched his ear, his thumb and his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, +so now he touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the blood; +afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the wondrous plan of salvation +through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure +pardon; afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire sanctification +through the Spirit. + +The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, the thumb and the +toe of Aaron and his sons in their consecration to the priesthood and, +finally, poured upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch the flesh. And +so, beloved, we must be touched with blood and oil as to our spiritual +ears, that we may take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, and +goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they may run swiftly and +beautifully upon the errands of redeeming love; and, at last, upon our +heads and running down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be "ever, only, all for Him." Praise the Lord. +And this can never happen while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still +alive. + +Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who was +holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, was, +nevertheless, anointed with the Holy Ghost as a needful qualification +for His mediatorial work. + +In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the sixty-first chapter +of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord +hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and +the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the +acceptable year of the Lord"--and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about "the day of vengeance of our +God." It was now a day of grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those +who will not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance will +surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. His anointed +followers must also be holy. They must seek and find the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be +baptized, and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the privilege +and duty of all God's children. If we would belong to the royal +priesthood, we must be cleansed from the defilement of sin. + +Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is spoken of in +Scripture as tried in the fire. So of silver. "He" (Christ) "shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver." The precious metals will endure +the fire, but "dross and tin," as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire is a +sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great purifier. It makes the substance +which is subjected to it pure through and through, and not like +anything cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. "Our God is a +consuming fire." Oh, beloved, let us give up to the fire all that is +for the fire. Let all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery baptism. May +God put upon all His pardoned children not the blood-mark only, but +the fire-mark also. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION IN PROPHECY. + + + +The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The twelve +prophetic books in the Old Testament following the book of Daniel are +called the Minor Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification of believers +in the gospel dispensation and under the reign of Messiah or Christ. + +The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as his call to the +prophetic office. Whether this be so or not, it records a very +wonderful experience of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts. + +It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man before he wrote his +first chapter. In that he laments the sins of the Israelites and the +Jews, all of them God's chosen people, though now divided into the two +kingdoms and these often at variance, shows the utter futility of their +own efforts to regain the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices +and ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted as plainly as +any gospel minister in our own day would be able to do. He shows them +that the way of salvation is by repentance and faith, and by trusting +to the unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: "Wash you, make you clean; put +away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; +learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the +fatherless; plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white +as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." + +Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, the washing away +of guilt and committed sins, symbolical of the New Testament washing of +regeneration, symbolical also of John's baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins. + +But now in the sixth chapter, and "in the year that king Uzziah died," +a wondrous vision of the pre-existent Christ, "sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up" and the seraphim crying one to another "Holy, holy, +holy is the Lord of hosts," was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and heard was not to +exalt him and minister to his pride, but to fill him with despair at +his own depravity. He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed "Depart from +me for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Ah! beloved, it never fosters +spiritual pride, nor any other kind of pride to get a nearer and +clearer view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and enables us to +behold by contrast the darkness and sinfulness and pollution of our own +souls, and in such a view we shall find food for the deepest +humiliation, but nothing to nourish pride. + +Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of +a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts." If we may credit Jewish tradition, it was for the offence of +saying that he had seen the King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet +was afterwards sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision is +still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed to millions of readers +in the future, as in the past, and until the end of the age. + +But the seraph was sent to touch the "unclean lips" of Isaiah--unclean +because of innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of life and +forgiveness for two or three years before this wondrous experience--to +touch them with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his sins of +commission and omission were forgiven--that had been done before--but +that his iniquity was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly emblematic of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire under the gospel dispensation, +which is also accompanied by "the purifying of the heart by faith," or +entire sanctification. + +How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this experience. He +seems to look down the centuries for seven hundred years and to see the +glorious blessings of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth chapter: "And +an highway shall be there and a way; and it shall be called the way of +holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for +those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." And in +the fifty-first chapter: "Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for +henceforth, there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and +the unclean," and in the sixtieth chapter: "Thy sun shall no more go +down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be +thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." + +To Jeremiah the Lord said, "I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a +prophet unto the nations," which must mean not only that he was set +apart for the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed from +inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the office itself. + +In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some striking passages +on the theme before us. These were, no doubt, addressed primarily to +the outward Israel, but they may very justly be appropriated by the +Israel of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, "The New +Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New." + +In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon or +justification with cleansing from the pollution of their past sins: +"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from +all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And the pollution that +is thus acquired by the practice of sinning is removed in regeneration. +Thus the new convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. "Except ye be converted," said the blessed Saviour, "and become +as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution of committed sin; +whilst he does have within him the inherited or inbred sin of his +nature. + +Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made to the clean water +made from the ashes of a red heifer and sprinkled, under the Mosaic +law, upon those who had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing +signified, however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of the Holy Spirit, +typified by water, may here be meant. At any rate the twenty-fifth +verse points to nothing less than a full and free justification. + +But the prophet continues: "A new heart also will I give you and a new +spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out +of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here we have +described certainly the experience of regeneration, if indeed not the +still fuller experience of entire sanctification. But let us admit that +it means only the new heart which is given to the penitent sinner at +his new birth. Regeneration implies the impartation of a new life by +the Divine energy of the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the "heart of flesh," not, of course, a carnal heart, but a heart +tender and teachable, and impressible to heavenly influences, such a +heart as we always find in the new-born babe in Christ. + +But listen still further: "And I will put My Spirit within you, and +cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do +them." In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost baptism, +by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and sanctified wholly, and +also of the subsequent "walking in the Spirit," to which Paul alludes +in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who +was also seized with prophetic fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, +"That He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand +of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and +righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Surely the gospel +of Christ has something better for its recipients than a constant daily +sinning and repenting, which is too often the experience of Christian +people. The twenty-seventh verse, therefore, signifies holiness of +heart and life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. + +How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we cannot do by our own +strength, the Holy Spirit will cause us to do. This doctrine of +spiritual causation is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the +watch which supplies the power within, by which the hands are moved +without, and thus the fleeting minutes and hours are correctly +measured, so the Holy Spirit within supplies the energy by which the +sanctified believer is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of +Christ, his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the fruit of the +Spirit in all righteousness and goodness and truth. + +In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions to the subject of +holiness, though their language is often highly figurative. In Hosea +2:16, after reproving Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the +Almighty, through His prophet, employs the following language, viz: +"And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call Me +Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali," and again in the nineteenth +verse, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea I will betroth thee in +righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies; I +will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the +Lord." Now the word Ishi means my husband; while the word Baali means +my Lord, and the language, therefore, points to an experience or a +relation of marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to a legal +justification and a service for wages and reward, that of the bride +must signify entire sanctification, and the closest possible union with +the Heavenly Bridegroom. Again, the word betrothed points legitimately +to a marriage which is always justly expected to follow if both parties +are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, let us get so near to Christ +that we shall not address Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, +but as my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful wife. At your +conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed to Him, or in ordinary +language engaged to Him. At your entire sanctification, your engagement +is consummated by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not be long. Do not +needlessly defer your nuptials, but rather hasten to the embraces of +Everlasting Love. Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, "I will go." + +In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day +of Pentecost, and assured the multitude of Jews, out of every nation +under heaven, that what they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of +the same. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My +Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And +also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I +pour out My Spirit." + +Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the baptism with the +Holy Ghost and fire, designed for all of God's children without +distinction of nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue them with power +for whatever line of service God may call them to. And we may add that +this text, as well as many others, shows that in these gospel days +women as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our daily +experience that they are both called and qualified for the work of the +ministry, as well as other labors in the vineyard of the Lord. But both +men and women need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency and most +marked success in the work to which they may individually be called. +Every Christian may and should do something for the Lord, but none can +do all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his duty to do, +without the grace of entire sanctification and the fulness of the +Spirit. + +In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which point +unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust in God and perfect love +for Him. "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit +be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields +shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and +there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I +will joy in the God of my salvation." Compare this with John Wesley's +description of a holy man after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice +evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks. +Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this description? + +The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, which are, no +doubt, full of instruction to those who have eyes to see. We can only +mention one or two of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing the Jewish +people, and typifying Christ Jesus with His eternal and unchangeable +priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also +represents Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, is +present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting them in the person of +their representative, the high priest. + +And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was ground for his +accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, is clothed in filthy +garments, and these can signify nothing else than sins, aye, the sins +of His people imputed to Him as their representative and priest, and +not their actual sins only but their inbred sin also, for, "The Lord +hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," and "He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin." "His visage was so marred more than any +man, and His form more than the sons of men." "He hath no form nor +comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we +should desire Him." + +"Many were astonished at thee," says Isaiah. "Behold the man," said +Pilate, as he brought forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but +uncomplaining, and the only answer was "Crucify Him!" Thus, beloved, +was He clothed in very truth with the filthy garments not of His own +vileness but of ours. + +But Joshua was "a brand plucked from the burning," and, therefore, in +Him all His people have found pardon. And now comes the order "Take +away the filthy garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have +caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with +change of raiment." Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than +entire sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not only simply +imputatively and representatively, but actually and experimentally. +Praise the Lord. + +The prophet Malachi assures us that "He shall sit as a refiner and +purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi" (that is, the +"royal priesthood" which constitutes the true church) "and purge them +as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in +righteousness." Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST. + + + +Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, "Therefore, that holy thing +that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Or in the +Revised Version, "Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall be +called holy, the Son of God." The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews +speaks of Him as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," +and Peter says that "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth." He is called "Thy holy child Jesus." Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. He was +absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, holy in word and holy in +act, holy in His birth, holy in His death, holy in His resurrection, +holy in His ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name. + +And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church was thus a holy man, +it would, naturally, be expected that He should desire to have a holy +people; and if He desire it, that He should also make provision for it; +and if He both desire it and hath made provision for it, that we should +find allusions to it in His teachings. In this, we are not +disappointed, as we shall proceed to show. + +The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the public preaching of +the Lord Jesus, and every sentence is pregnant with meaning. From +beginning to end, it inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of +believers. Many things are enjoined which would only be possible to +those who are sanctified wholly, such as, "Bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, love your enemies, resist not evil," and +many others. + +The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of chapters, which are +filled out and developed in the writings of the apostles. This is +remarkably true of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going +largely into details, sets forth the principles which are to govern His +kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation of these +principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles and evangelists, who +continued to teach and preach after His departure, and to the Holy +Spirit who is promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again. + +But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply holiness, there +are several, also, which expressly require it. Among the beatitudes at +the beginning of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: "Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Now, heart purity +cannot exist while there is any sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin +in the heart, whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms. + +Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire sanctification, and +heart purity is not only a great energizer, so that a man is powerful +for good in proportion to the purity of his heart and life, but it is +also a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor to see God. +This, of course, does not imply an open or an outward vision, but a +spiritual apprehension of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship +and communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe truly +regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible to outward sense. + +This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless outward walk, was +by no means unknown to the Old Testament writers. In the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, David asks the question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" And He immediately answers +it by saying, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." The clean +hands imply that his works are in accordance with God's law; in other +words, that his outward life is free from condemnation. But the "pure +heart" means more than this, and suggests what the same royal Psalmist +remarks again in the Fifty-first Psalm. "Behold, thou desirest truth in +the inward parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom." It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth Psalm, as already +quoted, that the clean hands or justification comes before the pure +heart or entire sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost. + +Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the end of Matthew +fifth the direct command, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your +Father which is in heaven is perfect," or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the command becomes a +positive assertion, which is equally forcible. "Ye, therefore, shall be +perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." + +But whether command or declaration, it is at first sight simply +astounding. It is overwhelming. So much so, indeed, that our poor +human spirits shrink back in amazement, and we are ready to say, This +is wholly impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. Or if He +does, then my case is hopeless. But let us examine the words a little +more carefully. + +In the first place, we are to notice that He does not say that we are +to be equal in perfection to our Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, +be too absurd for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite in all +His attributes and, therefore, infinite in perfection, and this in all +directions. We are poor, finite, sinful human beings, and can never +even approach the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, justice +and holiness. + +But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly Father in +perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the same kind of perfection which +appertains to Him. It may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely +short of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and perfect in +all His attributes, but apart from His attributes is His essence. And +what is the perfection which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, +rather, what is His essence itself? It is love. "God is love," says the +apostle. "Thy nature and Thy name is love," says the great +hymnologist, Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured by the beloved +John that it is possible for us, also, to be made perfect in love, and +to possess the perfect love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are +perfect in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in heaven is +perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of the gospel. + +The context of the command referred to proves the same thing. Jesus had +just been telling His disciples that it is not sufficient for them to +love their friends, and do good to those that do good to them. All +these things and more are done even by worldly minded people and open +sinners. Unsaved people love those who love them. But Jesus continues, +"I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and +persecute you." Why? "That ye may be the children of your Father who is +in heaven," for that is just the way He does. He does not wait for a +man to be His friend before He loves him and shows kindness to him. "He +maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on +the just and on the unjust." And, if we are to be the children of such +a Father, we must adopt His sentiments and love in our measure as He +loves. His essence being love, all His infinite activities are +controlled and regulated and directed by love, and when there is +nothing contrary to love in our hearts, so that all our finite +activities are in like manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, +then we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly Father is +perfect. Glory to His Name. + +I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully we shall find the +doctrine of entire sanctification in many of the parables of our +Saviour. Take, for instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are +expressly told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, the +sowers are all ministers and Christian workers who are trying in any +right way, to diffuse a knowledge and acceptance of gospel truth. They +are devoting themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark the +difference as to the ground upon which the good seed falls. (1) The +wayside hearers are not concerted at all. (2) The stony ground hearers +are converted but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation and hence they fall +into backsliding. (3) The thorny ground hearers are converted, but +inbred sin remains in their hearts in form of the love of riches, +whether these riches are possessed or only desired, or too much care +and cumber, having so much regard to the secular as to neglect the +spiritual, or in the form of unsanctified desire, "the lusts of other +things," and so by sin that dwelleth in them the word is "choked," and +though they may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring "no fruit to perfection." They are justified but not +sanctified wholly. + +Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit but much fruit. +"Every branch that bringeth forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may +bring forth more fruit." To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant fruitage. +When the thorns are removed the good seed will grow and flourish. When +inbred sin is taken out of the heart the Christian believer will bring +forth fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and this will +be the "much fruit" whereby God is glorified. + +On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus "What shall I do +to inherit eternal life?" and when asked in reply what were the words +of the Mosaic law he answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with +all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind; and thy +neighbor as thyself." Jesus commended his answer and added "This do and +thou shalt live." Hence, our Saviour teaches that holiness consists of +nothing more nor less nor else than perfect love to God and man. What +constitutes this love has been already explained. + +Martha was a good Christian, but she was "careful and troubled about +many things." Mary was a good Christian and still earnestly seeking the +one thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness of heart and +life. Even good Christians may be "cumbered about much serving," and so +miss this one thing needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing of holiness +when the pentecostal baptism was poured out upon the church of the +hundred and twenty, if not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer +of the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we find these +expressions, "Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." And +again, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth." Here we discover the two senses of the +word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself apart or consecrates Himself to the +work of human redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, may +be not only set apart or consecrated, but also sanctified wholly, or +made holy in heart and life. He gave Himself for the world of sinners +lost, that they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for the +church, on the other hand, that He might "sanctify and cleanse it with +the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a +glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish." Thus, the atoning +sacrifice of Christ procured pardon and acceptance for the penitent +sinner. It procured not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him as a perfect +Saviour that He "is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness and +sanctification and redemption." + +For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt as to the method of +obtaining this great blessing of holiness, nor as to the price, which +must be paid for it. Entire sanctification is "one pearl of great +price," and he who would possess it must go and sell all that he has. +The rich young ruler had a first-class record as to morality and the +outward observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, "One thing +thou lackest," and that one thing was perfect love, for He added, "If +thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor," +and then interjecting a promise, "Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, +and come take up the cross and follow Me." The price was too great, and +the young man went away sorrowful. Alas! Myriads of souls since have +found the price too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not have us become His +followers without counting the cost, and the cost is all that we have +and all that we are. "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he +cannot be My disciple." + +First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, all known sin. It +may be the sin which "easily besets," our own bosom sin, near as a +right eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, it must be +relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the sacrifice seems like crippling +and maiming us, yet Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into +eternal life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned to +everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In the first place, +therefore, we are to "reckon ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but +alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." + +But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all sin, but we must be +dead, also, even to lawful things, except as God in His mercy may grant +them to us, to have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest love must be +fastened upon Him alone, and that if any individual love, father or +mother, son or daughter, wife or husband more than Him, such a one is +not worthy of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for them, but +still more are we to love the Giver Himself. + +And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to be satisfied with +Himself, and what He in His love and mercy chooses to give us. If He +permits us to have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank Him +and use them as stewards of His for His glory. If He allows our family +circle to be invaded by death, and one dear one after another is +carried away to the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His gifts one by one or +altogether are withdrawn from us, why, praise the Lord, we still have +the Giver, and can still say with Job "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." + +It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require us to be dead to +sin, and dead to self, yea, even to lawful self, in order that we may +possess this inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let us not +hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. "Whosoever will save +his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, +the same shall save it." + +"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; +but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PAUL. + + + +The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially to Paul. And as +the Gospel of Christ is intended for the salvation not of the Jews +only, but of all mankind who are willing to accept the conditions, we +find in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord Jesus than in any +other inspired author. Jesus gave the concise germinal principles of +all gospel truth; and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, into those wonderful epistles to the churches, which, though as +Peter well observes containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in the past, to form +a large part both of the foundation and framework of every system of +theological doctrine. How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of +redemption as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How profound +and how exalted is the spirituality of the Ephesians and Colossians! +How pure and how practical are the directions to the Corinthians! What +a counter-blast to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology in the Hebrews! +What a guidebook of unequalled excellency for ministers of all times in +the pastoral epistles! + +In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind under the two +divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, and proceeds to show that both +classes alike had failed in their efforts to attain to righteousness +and salvation. + +The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with an outward +revelation, but he had been permitted to behold the outward universe, +and to know that it had a Creator "of eternal power and divinity." He +had also had a conscience within him, and so much light as rendered him +an accountable being, with a sense of obligation to a supreme power, +and furnishing another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not like to retain +God in their knowledge. They wickedly extinguished the light which He +had given them, because they were not willing to give up their +immoralities. And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they changed the glory +of the incorruptible God into the baser image of "birds and four-footed +beasts and creeping things." They sank into the grossest idolatry and +licentiousness and all wickedness. This picture drawn in colors which +shock our sensibilities, in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed +by the authentic writings of heathen historians, and this in all +particulars, Paul says, "They are without excuse, because they did not +live up to the light which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was." + +And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, to them much +every way, but chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of +God. They had an outward revelation, and with it a knowledge of that +law of God, which is holy and just and good. + +But they had failed, if possible, more grievously than the Gentiles +themselves. They had received the law by the disposition of angels, as +Stephen told them and had not kept it. They had had far more light than +the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same sins as they. They +prided themselves on the law, and looked with contempt upon the +Gentiles, and condemned them for their immoralities, and yet were +guilty of similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly about the +words of the law. "Do not steal." "Do not commit adultery," and yet +violated these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared them to whited +sepulchres, looking well outwardly, but within full of dead men's bones +and all uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware of the +leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and the leaven of the +Sadduces, which is infidelity, and the leaven of the Herodians, which +is worldly mindedness. + +The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and Gentile. It was +something that had occurred long before the division into Jew and +Gentile had an existence. It had occurred, in short, when man fell. +From fallen parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, that +is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. There is a disposition in +all mankind to yield to temptation, some in one direction, some in +another, and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no to God. +This bias towards evil is sometimes called depravity or original sin. +It is called by Paul "Our old man," "the flesh," "the carnal mind," +"the body of sin," and "sin that dwelleth in me." A good and convenient +name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in the heart as distinguished from +sin in the act. It is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward sins are the +bitter fruits. + +Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles which caused +them to quench the light of the knowledge of God, which they must have +had for, at least, a generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural religion, +notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens were declaring the glory +of God and the firmament was showing His handiwork, day unto day was +uttering speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. They +forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them to their own reprobate +minds, the result being that they sank into the grossest idolatry and +the most beastly sensuality. + +The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward revelation. He +received through Moses the law of God, which showed him what God +desired him to be and do, and what he ought to be and do, but which +conferred upon him no power for being or doing what it required. It is +like a looking-glass placed before a child to show him that his face is +soiled, but having no power to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb- +line applied to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates from +the perpendicular, but which has no power to make it upright. Nay, it +even comes to pass that in consequence of inbred sin, the law +multiplies offences. It causes sin to abound. We find even in most +children a disposition that impels them to do and to have just what +they are told they must not do and have. That is to say, when the law +comes in, inbred sin rises in rebellion against it. + +The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most vividly described +by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Over the real meaning of this +chapter, there has been much discussion and wide differences of +opinion. Some writers think that this is the best experience of the +great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw consolation from this +fact, as well as argument, in favor of continuing to sin in thought and +word and deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle is +not here describing a Christian experience at all, but the struggles of +a Jew who is seeking the favor of God by keeping His law, but finds his +attempts to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred sin. I +freely admit that it is not what even a justified experience ought to +be, for God has assured us through His apostle, John, that He that is +born of God doth not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified and regenerated +believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness and prayer, may be kept from +acts of sin and from becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the +seventh of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the experience +of the converted Christian. + +For there are many who even after a clear conversion and a joyful +sense of God's favor, with the witness of the Spirit to their adoption, +yet do yield to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and so +pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is called an up-and-down +experience, not becoming confirmed backsliders, but sinning and +repenting, delighting in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is in their members, +not losing their sonship, but losing their communion and their joy, +often like Peter weeping bitterly over their transgressions, but +finding that while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. + +I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, might go on for +years. It ends either in complete religious declension amounting, +sometimes, to apostacy on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the +entire sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance from inbred +sin. And in these days of enlightenment, when the doctrine and +experience of holiness are so plainly taught, and so generally diffused +among the children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether a soul can +continue long in a state of justification, which means that it will +either go forward to the experience of entire sanctification, or else +it will fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, or into +legality as did the Galatians. + +Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. It is seeking +salvation after the pattern of the Old Testament, and not after that of +the New. It is a matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It +inquires "What good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" +It is the child of the bondwoman and not that of the free. It is +Ishmael and not Isaac. It is Sinai and not Calvary. + +And so it happens that many Christians are simply good Jews. They may +even possess circumcised hearts, and may yet serve the Lord in the +spirit of bondage, as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does not, by any +means, signify license; it does not signify the liberty of making our +own choices, but the liberty of accepting gladly and submissively God's +choices; it does not mean the liberty of doing either right or wrong as +we may prefer, but the liberty of always preferring to do right and +never wrong, and so to spend our years on earth, doing right in all +directions, and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God. + +After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that Hagar's chief +employment in Abraham's house was to look after the said Ishmael, to +care for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her business to +care for or to restrain Isaac. He was the child of promise, the child +of faith, the son of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when +Ishmael's persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, then +the command was "Cast out the bond woman and her son." Both must go +together or stay together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain or constrain. +Perfect love casts out fear; it also casts out sin, and becomes the +motive power of the whole spiritual man. "The love of Christ +constraineth us." + +So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed to attain unto +the law of righteousness, because of inbred sin, which caused the +former to put out the light which they had, and the latter to fall +short of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, but +which was never intended by its Divine Author to save men, but to show +them how utterly incapable they were of saving themselves. + +But Paul does not leave them there. After putting both classes of the +human family into the same position of failure and condemnation, and +declaring that there is no difference, "for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God," he adds, "Being justified fully by His +grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." When man's +helplessness and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, then +God comes to his rescue. "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, +that He might have mercy upon all." + +Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches the great +doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent peace of +reconciliation, the "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that sanctification, +also, is by faith and not by works. He will not be satisfied with +anything less than the death of our old man, and the death of inbred +sin is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. "Knowing this +that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be +destroyed, that, henceforth, we should not serve him." + +But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with the body of sin by +any resolution or will-power or effort of our own. Sin will not go +dead at our bidding, nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or +striving to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for us by directing us +to resort to the process of reckoning. "Likewise reckon ye, also, +yourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord." Ah! now, our help is laid upon one that is +mighty. "The things that are impossible with men are possible with +God." What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, Christ can +make real and true. We have only, therefore, to reckon ourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. +But we must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as dead. And to +be alive to God means, in this connection, to be responsive to every +intimation of His will, to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to +suffer joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in short, to +be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what a blessed reckoning is the +reckoning of faith! How vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of +logic or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual deadness +to sin, and a continual holiness of heart and life. + +For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not asking us to fancy, +or imagine, or hypothecate. He is not telling us that if we believe a +thing to be true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The factors in his +direction are God's promises and commands, alike in the Old Testament +and in the New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to make +them so, and our acceptance of the provision He has made for our +cleansing, by faith, and then by the reckoning alluded to, the result +is secured. + +In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often compelled to +resort to what they term dead-reckoning. Sometimes for days together, +the sun is hidden by clouds, and no observation can be taken with the +usual instruments for determining latitude and longitude. Then the +captain ascertains by the compass what direction he is pursuing, and +by the log, the rate at which the ship is sailing, and thus by marking +out his daily advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will sight the shore +toward which the voyage is directed. What he reckons becomes real, when +he tells the passengers, "Within five minutes, we ought to see the +Irish coast," followed within the specified time by the cry from the +lookout, "Land, ho!" + +To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass and log and chart. +Sometimes, he enjoys the witness of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, +assuring him that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, but when not thus +favored, he can still move on by faith, he still has his compass and +his chart, and he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in the heavenly port. +Praise the Lord. + +To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle of the Gentiles +has written in reference to entire sanctification would require a +volume instead of a single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue the subject for +himself in the inexhaustible mine of the Pauline Epistles. + +In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration that is to +be found anywhere. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of +unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of +righteousness unto God." And, again, in the 19th verse, "For as ye +have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto +iniquity; even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness." + +Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration is not the same +thing as entire sanctification. The one is an act proceeding from man +to God, the other is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies. + +Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal human being +to a personal God. The term members may well be understood to include +all bodily organs and powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, +and all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, culture, health, +and, in short, the whole personal, individual man, with all his +belongings. The surrender must be complete, absolute, unreserved and +forever. Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all that we +have and all that we are must be His, wholly His, and His to all +eternity. + +Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who is not already a +Christian believer. Paul informs us, explicitly, that he is not calling +upon sinners "dead in trespasses and sins," to consecrate themselves, +but upon converted persons, "those who are alive from the dead." How +thankful we ought to be that he has settled that point forever. Sinners +may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. Whatever surrender the +sinner may and must make in order to be saved, the believer must make a +broader, deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, the sinner gives +himself away as a dead sacrifice, and his purpose is to receive pardon +and life. In consecration, the Christian yields to God his living and +regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose is that he may be +sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit, and used to the utmost +extent of his capacity for the glory of God. + +Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, or vices, or +depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. We cannot consecrate our +alcohol, or our tobacco, or our opium, or our card-playing, or +dancing, or theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. All +actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. Our consecration +is for a deeper work, that is to say, for the removal of inbred sin, +which, after all, is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire. + +The essence of consecration is in the sentence, "Yield yourselves unto +God." When you yield yourselves, you yield everything else. All the +details are included in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the +emphasis, we may read again, "Yield yourselves unto God." Consecration +is not to God's service, not to His work, not to a life of obedience +and sacrifice, not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not to +the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of God; it is to God +Himself. "Yield yourselves unto God." Your work, your service, your +obedience, your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted duty will +all follow in good time. + +Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution and the purpose to +be, to do, and to suffer all God's will. Its essence, already given in +the words of Paul, is given also in the words of the Saviour. "Not My +will but Thine be, done," which is beautifully versified by Frances +Ridley Havergal, in the couplet, + + "Take my will and make it thine, + It shall be no longer mine." + +Consecration being a definite transaction, and made once for all, does +not need to be repeated unless we have failed to keep it. To consecrate +over and over again is like a husband and wife marrying over and over +again. We are consecrated just as we are married. The vow is upon us, +and in the force of that vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is +to remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord's, and see to it that +nothing is taken from the altar. Those who have kept their consecration +complete should testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence. + +Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an English periodical, +which is here given very slightly modified, and which has been adopted +by many. Let all my readers unite with the author in entering into this +personal yielding to God. + + I am willing + To receive what Thou givest, + To lack what Thou withholdest, + To relinquish what Thou takest, + To suffer what Thou inflictest, + To be what Thou requirest, + To do what Thou commandest. + Amen. + +In this connection, we may add that when the consecration is complete, +it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter to believe. Entire +sanctification like justification, and, indeed, all other gospel +blessings and experiences, is to be received by faith. But so long as +the surrender to God is not complete, faith refuses to act. + +When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt and sincere +consecration, then it becomes as natural and as easy to believe as it +is to breathe, after everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians of a want of +faith. If they only had more faith, they imagine that all would be +well. When the disciples of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He +told them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only a mustard- +seed faith, He assured them that it would remove mountains. And we may +justly conclude that the difficulty with most seekers after entire +sanctification is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches itself to one +worldly thing or another, and refuses to be sundered from what it +loves, and while this is the case, the individual cannot believe that +God gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. But when all +the preliminaries have been attended to, and there is nothing else +needed but to trust in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment. + +Another class of seekers is very much concerned about the witness of +the Spirit to assure them that the blessing has been received. Probably +in these cases the very point that has not yet been consecrated to God +is the feeling, or the witness, which they so much desire. "It often +happens," says Dr. G. D. Watson, "that a patient, who has been cured of +some contagious disease, has to have a certificate on leaving the +hospital. In such a case the certificate does not cure him, but +certifies that he is cured. How absurd for a patient just entering the +hospital to clamor for his health certificate before receiving the +doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, it is useless for a +seeking soul to be clamoring for the witness and waiting for the +feeling before receiving Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We +are not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who imparts the +experience." + +Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, +second and third chapters, he tells us of three classes of persons: the +natural man, the spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; they +are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are +spiritually discerned. Such is a description of the unregenerate +wherever and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment is not +that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to the truth of God and deaf to +the story of salvation. Being without spiritual life they are, of +course, without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons are in +all our churches, and the number is by no means small. And often it +strangely happens that these are the very individuals who are +noticeably forward in expressing their opinions on the right way of +managing a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching or lecturing, +something to be proud of and to draw the crowd--these are the things +which in their view make the church of their choice a success; but as +for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread of the gospel at home +and abroad, as for the sanctifying of believers, as for the things of +the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living faith and a +sound conversion. May God hasten it in His time. + +"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all +things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with +the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide, +Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified +and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a +one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as +his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the +Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating +influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the +natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by +the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the +same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the +Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the +position of the latter. + +Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he +asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name +is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural, +neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and, +therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are +converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the +carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly +carnal. + +Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable +consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering +offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh, +that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our +churches. Amen. + +In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles bases the +experience of entire sanctification on the glorious promises of God. +"Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse +ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God." To cleanse ourselves is shown by the +Greek tense to be an act done definitely and once for all. It means, +therefore, to put ourselves under the conditions of cleansing by a +definite act of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves in +co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively the Sanctifier +and Cleanser. It means, also, that we are to seek and find the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all sources of +temptation and all incentives to evil, so far as we may; and +continuously realize and experience the holiness which Christ has +instantaneously wrought in our souls through His Holy Spirit. +Filthiness of the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual +appetites, as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which was +probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness of the spirit is +illustrated by idolatry and pride, nor must we forget that the spirit +is often polluted also through pampering the body. + +Paul's wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, has been so admirably +treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, that I shall content myself with +referring the reader to his book on "Love Enthroned," page 123, and +pass on. A single remark, however, may properly be made. That prayer, +undoubtedly, embodies all that we mean by entire sanctification and the +filling of the Spirit and more. + +In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great apostle in which +entire sanctification is expressly petitioned for. "And the very God of +peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The very +form of the expression in the first clause indicates that it is +possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to be sanctified +partially. All Christians are cleansed from the pollution of sins +committed, that is to say, from the pollution they have acquired by +actually sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by Paul as +sanctified, although, manifestly, many of them were not holy in heart +and life. On the other hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians +may be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were already in a +healthy and prosperous condition, the only exception being a few +members who were too neglectful of their outward business and too much +disposed to be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while many good +Christians are not wholly sanctified. + +But provision was made in the gospel for the entire sanctification of +all believers, otherwise Paul would not have prayed for it. And not +only for their entire sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act +of God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their continual +preservation in blamelessness, though not in faultlessness, until the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And lest they should stagger through +unbelief he adds, "Faithful is He that calleth you. You are not to do +it. He will do it for He is able." + +And this experience extends to the whole man, the spirit which takes +hold of and communes with God, the soul with its emotions, affections, +desires and volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers all +made holy and preserved holy. Glory! + +One more citation only and I will leave the reader to his own +researches in the rich storehouse of the Pauline writings. Taking it +for granted that Paul is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. "Wherefore, he is able, also, to save +them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth +to make intercession for them." To the uttermost refers, undoubtedly, +not only to time but to quantity. It means entirely, perfectly, +altogether, through and through. And if he is able he is also willing. +Oh, that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God now and +evermore for salvation from the uttermost to the uttermost. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY PETER. + + + +In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings of his beloved +brother, Paul, and this probably at a period when Paul was either dead +or separated from his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a +tradition that both the apostles were put to death on the same day at +Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself to have his head +downward because unworthy to die just like his Master--the other by +beheading, because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at Rome, +too honorable a position to be subjected to the ignominious death of +the cross. Even if this should be true, yet Peter's second epistle, in +which he endorses Paul's teachings, and gives to his writings the same +authority as to the rest of the Bible, seems to have been written but a +short time previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment of +Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired writer of Scripture, +and that what he had given to the churches through his epistles, and +left as a permanent legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious and frequent +allusions to entire sanctification, as well as to the various other +subjects treated of by his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, +therefore, Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised that +in the very first sentence of his first epistle, he addresses the +Christians of the Jewish dispersion in Asia Minor--though by no means +excluding the Gentile converts--as elect according to the fore- +knowledge (not predestination) of God the Father through sanctification +of the Spirit, which must include entire as well as partial +sanctification, unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, in one +grand outburst of salutation from his glowing heart, he associates +sanctification of the Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the +obedience of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst of his +earnest appeals to men's hearts, in order to give a lecture on +Systematic Theology, but both scatter seed-thoughts all over their +inspired pages, which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and +reflecting mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the +Thessalonians employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and thus putting the +apostle of the circumcision by the side of the apostle of the +uncircumcision we have sanctification by the blood of Jesus, +sanctification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even in +a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, and all this without +the slightest inconsistency or contradiction. + +And as Peter starts out by calling God's people to holiness, he +continues by reminding them that their hope is to be fixed upon "an +inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, +reserved in heaven for you." What more natural than that those who are +expecting to inherit a holy heaven, should themselves seek while here +to become a holy people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it. + +After speaking of the "trial of their faith being much more precious +than of gold which perisheth," the apostle utters forth an imperious +call to entire sanctification. "But as He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Thus he quotes from the words of +the great lawgiver in Leviticus--that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the Old Testament, as +well as the New, bears witness to the holiness of God, and makes that +fact a sufficient reason for the command and requirement that His +people should be holy, also. + +Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells in a holy heaven. +Is it not most reasonable and most fit that He should require all who +are to dwell with Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting kingdom, +we must be made holy while still clothed in flesh and sojourning upon +earth. Nothing that is not already pure and holy can pass through the +gates of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. + +Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between our Father in +heaven and His children both on earth and in heaven. A lady was +accosted in the streets of a western city by a stranger, who asked her +if she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. She replied, +with some surprise at the question, in the affirmative. "I knew you," +said the gentleman, "by your resemblance to your father who was my +particular friend twenty-five years ago, away back in the State of +Maine." And the lady was delighted that the lineaments of her father's +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she should thus be +recognized even by one who had never seen her before as her father's +child. + +Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly Father so imprinted +upon our faces and upon our walk and upon our conversation that all who +know Him shall recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever we are and +whatever we do. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +In comparison with the precious "blood of Christ" Peter characterizes +silver and gold, which men call precious metals, as "corruptible +things," and then gives the striking exhortation, "Seeing ye have +purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto +unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a +pure heart fervently," and all this on the basis of the new birth which +they had already received "of the incorruptible seed by the word of +God." + +Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned and ignorant man, yet +when thou writest under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost +as hard to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul! + +See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated in various ways +in the sentence quoted above. (1), "Ye have purified your souls." Yes, +and it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem in reference +to Cornelius and his household, and said that God "put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." The word +"purify" is derived from a Greek root which means "fire." Souls are +purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the result is a continual +"obeying the truth," and (2), the positive side of this purification +is "unfeigned love of the brethren," and this is love with a pure heart +and fervent, the same love which John calls perfect love, and the +standard of which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, "As I have loved +you that ye also love one another." + +Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? Peter had never +been to a Theological Seminary, but he had listened through three +eventful years to the blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had +been filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and without +aiming at system or explanation, he has compressed more sound theology +into a single verse than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon. + +And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration he tells us how to +grow in grace. "Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and +hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," and his +last exhortation at the end of the second epistle is, "But grow in +grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." + +Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, or that we grow +into entire sanctification. We first become receivers, and get grace +before we can grow in it, and we must first receive entire +sanctification before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel +blessings, this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says in effect, in +order to grow in grace you must do two things. (1), Lay aside +everything that hinders growth, specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, +envies, evil speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that all +these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. And so in a single +thought the exhortation is to lay aside, or put off, or give up to +destruction, the depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth so +easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will be an insuperable +hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical growth, and (2) desire, and of +course, partake of the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as in the natural +world, is first to become healthy, and then to take plenty of +nourishment. Holiness is spiritual health, and implies the absence of +inbred sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that is healthy +and gets plenty of pure milk will grow and develop rapidly. The time +will soon come when he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and thus he will +finally become a large and strong man. But the child may be healthy and +still not grow because it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have +plenty of the most wholesome food and still not grow because disease +prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. Sound health and plenty +of food, with proper exercise, are the essentials of the right kind of +growth. Now the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but strong +meat for strong men. It has been remarked by another that if Christians +would be giants they must eat giants' food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to have a sound +spiritual constitution and that means simply entire sanctification. +Peter is right again. We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we +have gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs true +growth. + +Of course my reader will not understand me to say, any more than Peter +himself says, that we experience growth in grace simply by a head +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who +is the bread of life. Nor do I forget that we feed upon His broken body +and His shed blood, not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, +not by learning, but by faith. + +But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible truth, whether +presented on the pages of inspiration or in the preached word, which is +the great instrumentality employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men +to Christ, and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and edifying +the church which has thus been gathered to Him. And so both Peter in +speaking about the "sincere milk of the word," and Paul in referring to +the "strong meat," by which term he characterizes the deeper spiritual +truths of revelation, are leading us to Jesus, the true bread, the +living bread, the bread of life. + +Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description of the Christian +priesthood, and again the leading idea of holiness flashes from his +pen, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by +Jesus Christ." Again, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +an holy nation, a peculiar people." Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, or a dukedom +or a kingdom? Not I at least. + +The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, and even +temporal blessing also, through the mediation of an outward priesthood. +And the family of priests were chosen and ordained of God Himself. "No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called of God, as was +Aaron." + +But under the Christian dispensation all God's saved people are priests +as well as kings, and the sacrifices which they offer are spiritual +sacrifices, the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like a whole +burnt offering in His service, "the fruit of the lips giving thanks to +His name," and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, a life +rich in faith and good works, such are the sacrifices with which God is +well pleased. But to be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter's words will not allow us to doubt that the priesthood of +believers is a "holy priesthood." + +Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his readers to take ill +treatment patiently when they have to suffer, not for doing wrong but +for doing well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, "Who did no +sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, +reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed +Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare our sins +in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live +unto righteousness," winding up with a terse expression of the great +doctrine of the atonement "by whose stripes ye were healed." + +Paul would have us "dead to sin" by reckoning. Peter would have us +"dead to sins" by making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead either to sin within +us or to sins without us, implies holiness of heart, that is, entire +sanctification. Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine. + +Still further, Peter speaks of the "holy women" of old, and exhorts +Christian women to be like them, particularly in adorning themselves +not with gay attire, but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his +second epistle, he alludes to "holy men of God," speaking through the +Old Testament as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And here we have +the best possible definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed by equally +learned and candid men. But what can be more satisfactory to the +humble, Christian mind than just to feel that when he reads his Bible, +he is perusing the words of "holy men of God who spake as they were +moved by the Holy Ghost." Such a mind will find no difficulty about +inspiration. + +In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes the unbelief +of the scoffers, who then believed, and whose successors still believe +that the present order of the material universe will continue for an +indefinite period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that the Lord +has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning His promises, but +that the very reason why the sinful world has been spared so long is +because of God's long suffering and mercy, "not willing that any should +perish, but that all should come to repentance." And, then, having +declared that the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved +unto fire, that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the +works that are therein shall be burned up, he exclaims with most +appropriate words, "Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy +conversation and godliness," and this in order "that ye may be found of +Him in peace, without spot and blameless." + +Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification as taught by +the apostle of the circumcision. Amen. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JOHN. + + + +John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could +forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man +was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by +calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not +extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the +highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was <i>par excellence</i> the +apostle of love. Not that his character became anything like putty. He +could still rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the elect +lady to receive or countenance any who did not uphold the true, sound +doctrines of the gospel. He was still a son of thunder against heresy +and immorality, but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely absorbed in +the love of God, and his exhortations to the churches, seemed all to +concentrate in two special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, and he never +lost the blessed experience. He retained the blessing because he +retained the Blesser. The Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and +keeper. + +The gospel of John contains many of the most profound and spiritual +truths that ever fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And the only +distinction which John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." + +He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the Deity and +preëxistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, then tells of the +incarnation, how the Word became flesh, and we beheld His glory, how +although He was the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, and +though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His own received Him not, +but as many as did receive Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave +He power to become the children of God, and this through a new birth, +not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, not of man in any way +whatever, but of God. It is not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of +God by creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, by the +reception of the Divine nature by birth. And this new birth is more +fully unfolded to the Jewish Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its +necessity and its nature. "Ye must be born again." "The Son of man must +be lifted up." The new birth is of water and the Spirit. The water is +the water of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its cleansing +and refreshing and vivifying properties so well symbolized by water, +and the Holy Spirit is the effective personal agent by whom the +regeneration is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though His +operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, which bloweth where it +listeth, and is known only by its results. Then we have the hinge-text +of salvation, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten +Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal +life." Thus, in this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God's +love or God's grace as the source of our salvation, Christ crucified as +the ground of it, and the Holy Spirit as the Divine Agent of its +accomplishment. Glory be to the Triune God. + +Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus on the new birth, but +His discourse, also, with the woman of Samaria on true worship is given +by John alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, not to the +Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at all, but to a heathen or semi- +heathen woman, Jesus made the first recorded, positive declaration of +His Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, so they that +worship Him must do so, not in any specific locality, such as Jerusalem +or Mount Gerizim, and not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart was immediately +and completely captivated by so grand and glorious a revelation, and +that, at once, she left her waterpot and went her way to become a +preacher of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen. + +Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to the Jews to search +the Scriptures and the assurance that they testified of Him; and the +sixth chapter, with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after a +stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to take Him by force and +make Him a king, but He departed into a mountain Himself alone, and the +next day, the wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been so ready to +proclaim Him King, and brought out of the core of His heart those +pathetic words to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?", we come to the +seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, at which, on the occasion +of the priest pouring water from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden +pitcher into a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, "If any man thirst let +him come unto Me and drink." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The +Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, and, perhaps, other +similar passages. "And the Lord shalt guide thee continually, and +satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be +like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters fail +not." + +But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely valuable +inspired commentary on these words of the Lord Jesus, in order that +readers in all ages might make the true spiritual application which is +intended by them. "But this spake He of the Spirit which they that +believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, +because that Jesus was not yet glorified." These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence and operation of the +Spirit in the former dispensations of God's grace, yet He was to be +poured out on all God's children under the gospel in a sense and to an +extent, which so far transcends the highest manifestation of His power +in Old Testament times that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was +not yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. And this +wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification of Jesus and as a +consequence of that glorification. So that Pentecost, with its untold +wealth of privilege, could not be realized till after the death, +resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and +twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their +hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire +sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a +privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy +Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude +that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your +children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God +shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual +believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all +Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen. + +In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin. +"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall +make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but +from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from +sin itself. + +Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does +not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your +own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in +this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad +acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own +way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do +everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions +and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and +into freedom for Jesus' sake. + +In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the +last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of +his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy +Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of +His coming He says, "If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My +Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with +him." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father +and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart +of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And +if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father, +Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly? + +In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the +doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk +in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim +to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in +the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies +fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +from all sin." + +This is a very striking and all-important statement. The verb is in +the present tense, and denotes a present and a continuous action. It +cleanseth persistently and continuously. You trust in Jesus this +moment, and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it cleanseth, +and thus on, without intermission or cessation. And the cleansing is +from all sin, sin committed and sin inbred, sin in act, word or +thought, sin outward and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of +knowledge and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. If this +does not mean entire sanctification, what use is there in language as +an expression of thought? Surely none. + +But the objection is strongly urged by some that the next verse assures +us that "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the +truth is not in us." But why sunder this verse from its appropriate +connections? Were there not Pharisees in the time of Christ who would +not admit that they were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle John live to +see the germs of incipient gnosticism showing themselves in the church, +assuming, like modern Christian science, that all evil is in matter, +the soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing that it was +possible to have fellowship with God while living in all kinds of +sensual indulgence and licentiousness, and moreover denying the reality +of the incarnation of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and +resurrection? These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow: + + "Ah, to how many faith has been + No evidence of things unseen, + But a dim shadow, which recasts + The creed of the Phantasiasts, + For whom no man of sorrows died: + For whom the tragedy divine + Was but a symbol and a sign, + And Christ a phantom crucified." + +Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that on certain +conditions it is possible to experience through the blood of Christ, +which means simply the merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to those who deny +that they are sinners, he exclaims, and if we say that we have no sin, +and therefore do not need this cleansing, and can do without this +atonement, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How +much more rational is such an interpretation than the exposition which +makes one verse contradict the other, and represents the apostle as +first assuring us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. "But be sure to remember that this cleansing is +never really affected, and you are never really without sin." + +There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this epistle that we +must needs make selection and leave many passages to be carefully and +prayerfully pondered by the reader, with the assurance that there is +very much gold to be found for the digging; but we would call attention +in a special manner to John's description of perfect love. "There is no +fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath +torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." + +It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions that whilst all +Christians do and must love God, yet there is a stage denominated +perfect love, which many Christians have not yet reached. And this +stage of religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence of +fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean for us to understand +that we shall ever get beyond that reverential and filial fear, which +is the right and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation to our +Heavenly Father. But he specially describes the fear that will be +gotten rid of as tormenting fear, and this fear he declares that +"perfect love casteth out." Now we can readily see the reasonableness +of this statement. Fear about the future, whether as to temporal or +spiritual things, fear of evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in +short, all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred sin. As +a matter of course, therefore, when sin is cast out, fear is cast out +with it. Now perfect love is the positive side of entire +sanctification; it implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, most truly must +cast out fear. + +The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. The awakened sinner +fears him, but does not love Him. The justified believer both fears and +loves. Sometimes the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his heart, and has no +tormenting fear. Praise the Lord. + +And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the method of obtaining +the blessing of perfect love. It is by the prayer of faith, and the +prayer of faith involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +"For," says John, "if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our +heart," which probably signifies that He also will condemn us, and, +therefore, we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing as +entire sanctification while we are not wholly given up to the Lord, for +while that is our case, our heart will continue to condemn us. + +But he continues, "If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence +towards God." And again, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we +know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him." + +Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation more +beautifully portrayed than in these precious words. We are shown here +that (1), the seeker of entire sanctification must be wholly +consecrated to God. (2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God's will. (4), That then he may know that he has +the very thing he asks for. Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon +it. Amen. + +Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness of the Spirit to our +conscious cleansing. "If we love one another" (i.e. with a true and +pure and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) "God dwelleth +in us and His love is perfected in us." "Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit." Now to +have God's love perfected in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can +mean nothing less than entire sanctification, and we know this, as John +tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, the witness of the Spirit +to perfect love as well as to adoption. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT BY JAMES AND JUDE. + + + +James and Jude were brothers. They were also "brethren of the Lord." +Whether this expression means actual brothers, namely, children of +Joseph and Mary, or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I leave to the +Biblical critics. Receiving without argument their respective epistles +as belonging to the inspired canon, I am to inquire what their teaching +is in reference to the one theme of this book, that is, entire +sanctification. + +James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop of Jerusalem he +presided specially over the Jewish Christian Church, and his epistle is +addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," i.e., to +the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, no doubt, to the Christian Jews, +but also secondarily and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. +James was "zealous of the law." He fully agreed with Paul and with +Peter that the yoke of circumcision and the Mosaic law was not to be +imposed upon the Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to observe the +outward law. His epistle is like Matthew's gospel, and savors strongly +of the Sermon on the Mount. As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock +of Christians, while he fully assented to Paul's teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon the people with +vehemence that they should show their faith by their works and that +they should be "doers of the word and not hearers only." As Paul +completely demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of the +law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired and a vigorous +protest against every form of Antinomianism. Thus the two writers, both +moved by the Holy Ghost, present the two aspects of gospel truth so +plainly that he may run that readeth. "We are saved by faith, not by +works," says Paul. "Aye," says James, "but we are saved in good works, +not out of them," and we must be careful to maintain good works, not in +order to be saved, but because we are saved. Good works are necessary, +not as the ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and +resultant and test of the salvation which we have received by faith. +James, therefore, is not antagonistic to, but only complementary of the +great apostle of the Gentiles. + +And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark of Christian +perfection in the very beginning of his epistle. He assures us that if +we let patience have her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + +Christian perfection, then, according to James. is perfect patience. +Christian perfection according to John, is perfect love. Christian +perfection, according to Paul, is maturity or being "thoroughly +furnished unto all good works." Christian perfection, according to +Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. Surely none but +a caviller will find any want of harmony between these different modes +of expression. They all imply deliverance from sin, which is always +instantaneous, and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual. + +James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under the name of lust. +"Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and +enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) sin; +and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." + +We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers of the Bible, +believed in a personal devil, for he speaks of a wisdom which is +"devilish" and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity of +his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the enticement implies an +enticer, and that the wicked spiritual adversary of our race knows how +to adapt his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin is +strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, to entrap and +destroy him. Depravity exists by nature in all, but in one man it is +particularly felt in the direction of covetousness, in another, of +pride, in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. Satan's +temptations in the first of these would most likely be something which +holds out the prospect of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it +would be something to feed his intense admiration of self, to cherish +his pride; in the third, it would be the hope of political or some +other kind of power on the condition of sacrificing principle; in the +fourth, it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as in +drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus the trap is set for +every man, and the trapper is wary. God save us from his wiles. + +And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as it exists in the form +of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and shows itself in +evil speakings, so James tells us to lay apart "all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness," or "overflowing of wickedness." Ah, +beloved, most truly did Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain +of wickedness, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of us a superfluity of +naughtiness, an overflowing of wickedness, a natural depravity, an +inbred sin, and this must be "laid apart," it must be gotten rid of by +bringing and subjecting the heart where it dwells to the fiery baptism +with the Holy Ghost, and then shall we be in a position to receive, +with meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. + +St. James speaks of the "law of liberty," and of the "royal law," the +latter being, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," and both mean, +I apprehend, just what we have already alluded to as the law of love. +"Love," says Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law," and this is liberty, +and this is royalty, the freedom to do God's will because we love it, +and to have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled from our +hearts, and all lawful affections and passions subdued and subjected to +Him who is our King, and who reigns without a rival in our hearts. + + "I worship Thee, sweet will of God, + And all Thy ways adore; + And every day I live, I seem + To love Thee more and more." + +If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, where shall we find +them? Not on earth, at least. + +James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek more religion, but +he tersely defines pure religion. And that is what we want. It does not +depend upon age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure as +soon as it raises itself above the surface of the ground. Another stalk +may be impure and diseased when it is many feet in height. A Christian +may seek and find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he is +born again. Another Christian may spend years and years in seeking more +religion, and yet not become the possessor of purity of heart. + +This pure religion, according to our author, consists in works of +beneficence and love as to its outward manifestations, but its true +inward principle is in keeping one's self "unspotted from the world." +Oh, that all my readers with myself, may thus keep themselves unspotted +from the world, which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, and +in the end "may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless." + +But an objector here interposes with a quotation from James which is +supposed to preclude the possibility of living without sin. "In many +things we offend all." But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must continue in the +commission of sin to the end of their lives, would not only be doing +violence to that which is the very trend of our author's teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, but it would also +prove too much. For a little further on we read, in reference to that +unruly evil, the tongue, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and +therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God," +and again, "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body." Surely no expositor would +maintain from such language that James was a tamer of horses and a +profane swearer. The truth is, that James, out of kindness and +courtesy, includes himself among his hearers or readers, and means to +show us how liable we are to give offence through rash and ill-advised +words, and then, on the other hand, he does not fail to mention the man +who does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace of God, to +bridle the whole body, that is, to live without sin, and whom, again, +he styles a "perfect man." + +Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine wisdom is first +pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, or babe in Christ, would +often reverse this arrangement. He is clamorous for peace, often to the +extent that he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and then +pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and He is always right. No +compromise must be made with error in doctrine, or evil in practice, +even for the sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities follow in proper +succession, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and the rest. + +Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher of holiness, "Cleanse +your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy of the Holy +Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. To cleanse the hands is +to obtain pardon and absolution for what we have done, and it is always +the first work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness of +his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, then his hands are +cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. He may still be unstable +in all his ways. His spiritual course may still be zig-zag. His life +may still be a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again and +repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, "O wretched man that +I am, who (not what) shall deliver me from this body of death?" And +then James's prescription comes home to him, "Purify your hearts, ye +double-minded." Seek and obtain the blessing of entire sanctification, +and, henceforth, with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the way +of Christ's commandments. Justification first and entire sanctification +afterwards. First cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with +this agree the words of the Psalmist, "Who shall ascend into the hill +of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" "He that hath clean +hands," that is, whose sins have been pardoned, "and a pure heart," +that is, who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the Holy +Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament and the New. + +Finally, James assures us that the "prayer of faith shall save the +sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." And not only physical but +spiritual blessing may be received in the same way for "If he have +committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." His conclusion is that +"The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working," +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in the original as in +the passive voice, and then the meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. +S.A. Keen in his Faith papers, "The prayer of a righteous man being +energized" (by the Holy Ghost) "availeth much." + +I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer +begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the +prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is +the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a +special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also +given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the +special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st +Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the +power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, +which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually +believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved, +and he that believeth not shall be condemned." + +And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray +in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the +prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit +Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should +pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for +with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh +intercession for the saints according to the will of God." + +A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer +that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does +the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing, +which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance, +and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of +God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the +hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the +sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of +believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the +Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come. + +I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed, +and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must +be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order +to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary +prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of +faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer, +ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the +other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and +extraordinary results. Praise the Lord. + +Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to "hate even the +garment spotted by the flesh," that is, to keep entirely clear of all +the pollutions of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which was +regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually interpreted, +must mean the unspotted holiness of the true Christian. And as to the +question of one's ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is "able to keep us from falling," the very thing we +need and which we cannot do for ourselves, and "to present us faultless +before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." First, then, we +are to be sanctified wholly, then kept from falling by the power of +Christ through the indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God's glory in heaven. And +this is the gospel according to Jude. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE FATHER. + + + +There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which I purposely +omitted in the preceding chapter, that it might have a more prominent +place in the present one. + +Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared to be "sanctified +by God the Father." It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every +person of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, is +concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. And this fact, like +many others, points to the extreme importance of the subject on which +we are treating; for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into active operation +in order to cleanse our hearts from the pollution of sin, and fit us +for heaven, then it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. If God, +therefore, regards it as an essential that we be sanctified wholly, let +us beware of the thought that it is only optional, that it is possible, +if possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, and that it +can be done without, or what is practically too nearly the same thing, +postponed until we see, or think we see, the near approach of death. +What every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance now, +let us not dare either to reject or postpone. "Behold, now is the +accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." + +Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, "And now, brethren, I +commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are +sanctified." + +Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the +unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God's +infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed +of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. And when +our souls are stirred up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the "unspeakable gift" of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the +unspeakable blessings derived from and through Him, let us not forget +that behind it all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten +Son." + +Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity belong to God +the Father. The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the +Holy Spirit. Neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever +send the Father. The Father "created all things by Jesus Christ." Jesus +Christ cast out devils "by the Spirit of God." The Son reveals the +Father, for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to +whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, +for "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost." "He +shall testify of Me." "He shall take of Mine and show it unto you." "He +shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear" (from the Father +and the Son) "that shall He speak." + +Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given or could give to +His creature man is the gift of His Son. The greatest gift that God the +Son has given to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of the +Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, "I will pray the Father and He +shall give you another Comforter," and "whom the Father will send in My +name," but also, "If I depart I will send Him unto you," so we may say +in general terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father and the gift of +the Son. And it may be added that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit +to man is the gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory be +to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. + +And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified by God the Father, +He means not only that we are separated unto the gospel of life and +salvation, set apart to God and His service, but, also, that God the +Father has made ample provision in the death of His Son for all +Christian believers to be cleansed from every stain of moral +defilement, delivered from inbred sin, sanctified wholly, made perfect +in love, and filled with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to the redeemed soul, +that the source of all these unspeakable blessings is in the infinite +grace and love of God. + +Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is brought +prominently forward and insisted upon. And His own holiness is +presented as a sufficient reason why His people should be holy also. +"Be ye holy, for I am holy," which command and declaration are repeated +and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle, "But as He +which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." + +As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely holy, and He +requires all His children to be holy even in the present life, it goes +without saying, as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely the standard of +God's holiness which is set before us by the Saviour as the mark at +which we also are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. "Be ye +perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Not that our +perfection or our holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be an impossibility +and absurdity, but that we are to be perfect in our sphere as He is +perfect in His, that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be perfect in love as +He is perfect love, and that we are to be delivered from all sin, not +by any effort or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace in +Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name that we are sanctified +by God the Father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE SON. + + + +As the source of our entire sanctification is in the unmerited love and +grace of God the Father, so the ground of it is in the blood of Christ +the Son. Justification and Sanctification are by no means identical, +but as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they are +precisely parallel. We are told that justification is by grace, and, +again, that it is by the blood of Jesus, and, still again, that it is +by faith. It is, therefore, God's grace, it is Christ's blood, it is +man's faith by which we are justified. The originating cause of our +justification is the grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith. + +And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. We are not +justified in one way and sanctified in another. We are sanctified as +well as justified by the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as +justified by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith. + +All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious sacrifice of the +Lord Jesus Christ. He "of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, +(justification) and sanctification and redemption." + +And sanctification, no more than justification, releases us from our +dependence upon the atonement. If we are either justified or sanctified +today it is not because we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. +If we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future period of +our eternity, it will not be because we deserve it but because Christ +died for us. And so forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of redemption "unto Him +that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath +made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and +dominion forever and ever. Amen." We are everlastingly linked to the +atonement of Jesus Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart. + +"Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from +their sins," which signifies, I apprehend, both the forgiveness of +sins already committed and saving them from the commission of sins in +the future. Here, then, we have justification and regeneration. "Behold +the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." This must mean +the sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth +so easily beset us, in a word, inbred sin. And to have the inbred sin +taken away means nothing more and nothing less and nothing else, than +entire sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by God the Son. + +"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Here +we have a positive statement that upon certain conditions to be +fulfilled by us, we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, and open sin and +secret sin, and all sin. There is no mistaking the length and breadth +and all comprehensiveness of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us +walk in the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true. + +And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which result He had in +view, no less than the removal of our guilt when He laid down His life +for us. "Wherefore, Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate." Glory to His Name. + +He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved from guilt and +condemnation and penalty, but that we might be saved from sin, or +sanctified wholly. And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn. + + "The cleansing stream I see, I see, + I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me. + It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SANCTIFIED BY GOD THE HOLY GHOST. + + + +As already intimated all the persons of the adorable Trinity are +concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying a human soul. And this is +naturally to be expected, because God is one Trinitarianism is not +Tritheism. In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. The Bible reveals +the fact, but does not reveal the how. We bow in adoring gratitude and +love before an incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing even +without understanding. + +Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians as +distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, "The renewing of the Holy +Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our +Saviour," is spoken of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection +with the "washing of regeneration," and seems intended to be +experienced just after it. Possibly the renewing here spoken of, may +signify only the change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind the entire cleansing +of the heart from sin. And in that case the renewing need not be any +more gradual or progressive than the washing, which all admit to be +instantaneous. + +Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, the occurrences which +he had witnessed at the house of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this +language: "And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Evidently here +the chief of the apostles gives us to understand that the giving of +the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart by faith, are +co-instantaneous and identical experiences. And if this be so, the Holy +Ghost, who is a Divine person, and not a mere influence, must be the +effective agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is He who by +His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly. + +And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: "I indeed baptize +you with water, unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is +mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize +you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." For what purpose is this fiery +baptism with the Holy Ghost? Most certainly that it may consume the +inbred sin of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys the +alloy that the gold may be left pure. + +Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following language, viz: +"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, +ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles +might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." This great +apostle was the first to clearly understand the perfect equality +between Jew and Gentile in the gospel of salvation, and as he made +hundreds of Gentile converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation in entire +consecration to God, they were sanctified by the Holy Ghost. + +The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to give +thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because +God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through +sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." This is the true +election and the true salvation, a salvation from sin, through +sanctification of the Spirit and this is to be obtained by faith. + +And the apostle of the circumcision uses language very similar in +addressing the Jewish Christians who are scattered abroad, and whom he +addresses as "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of +the blood of Jesus Christ." Comparing these two citations we observe +again, that the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our +sanctification, and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a +continuous cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying our souls, on +condition that we believe the truth. God help all Christians to be not +faithless, but believing. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH. + + + +We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the work of +sanctification in connection with belief of the truth on our part. And +with this agree the words of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. +"Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth." The word here is +not the eternal Logos, but God's revealed truth as given in Holy writ. +And it is a statement of the highest importance, made by Him who is the +truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification is in the truth +of God as made known to us in the gospel of His Son. Here, again, the +Apostle Peter gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that +by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust." If we are favored to +escape the corruption that is in the world, we are sanctified wholly, +and this is effected, Peter says, not by works of righteousness, not by +resolutions or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before we seek +to be holy, but by faith in the promises of God. These promises are +very numerous, and varied in character on the pages of the Bible. By +seizing upon them as written specially for us, we make them our own, +and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea and amen, that is to say, we +realize them in our own experience to be the truth, and thus when we +read "This is the will of God even your sanctification," or, "The very +God of peace sanctify you wholly," or, "I will circumcise your heart," +or "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my +statutes," immediately the truth is impressed upon our hearts as a +glorious reality, and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the Saviour's prayer +is answered and we are in His own blessed words, sanctified "by the +truth." If any reader will take a concordance and look for the word +truth, and search out the passages containing it, he will be convinced +that, however men may look at it, we have to do with the Lord God of +truth, and that His estimate of truth is so high that He will by no +means countenance any person or anything that liveth or maketh a lie. +And if we would honor Him, we must honor His truth, the truth that is +to make us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which we are +commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, and sell it not, the truth +which the Lord desires in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, +the truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which we are +sanctified, the truth of the word. + +And then we shall find in our own experience that "A God of truth and +without iniquity, just and right is He," that He will send out His +light and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill and to His +tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, even the banner of holiness +to the Lord, to be displayed because of the truth, and we must never +let it trail in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth +came by Jesus Christ. + +Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SANCTIFIED BY FAITH. + + + +The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. Adam believed +God and was obedient and happy, and the first thing that the wily +tempter attacked, and, alas, with too much success, was man's faith. +"Yea," hath God said, and "Ye shall not surely die." First, a question. +Then, a doubt of God's truth; then, a doubt of His love, and the rest +was easy. Man stood so long as he did stand by faith. He fell when he +did fall by unbelief. + +God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. Man could not +be the child of God if he did not have faith in God. Faith binds us in +the closest spiritual union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs +this bond of union and separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. +Beloved, let us have faith in God. + +"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the +Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense +all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was +known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are +also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's +gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them +gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on +His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of +God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must +be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be +saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he +that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God +abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the +power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all +mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving +faith, often requires the coöperation of the human will. And, +therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for +obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V. + +Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in +religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily +life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All +intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they +call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody +can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and +serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who +accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that +all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called +ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from self- +luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence of +this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the +phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science +is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children, +farewell to all the enjoyment of home life. + +Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When business men, +manufacturers or merchants lose faith in one another, or in their +government, investments cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard +times are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds men to God, so +it is the bond that binds men one to another. When confidence is lost, +all is lost. Even a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance of things +hoped for, because it makes them real, as it is the evidence of things +not seen, because it convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter in hand that, +namely, of entire sanctification. + +Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said to them, "And now, +brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is +able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which +are sanctified," and in the commission to Paul himself the Saviour +says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of +sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is +in me." And as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit is +used by the apostle in direct connection with belief of the truth. +There can be no doubt, therefore, that the instrumental means of entire +sanctification is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "This is the +confidence," says the beloved John, "that we have in Him, that if we +ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that +He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that +we desired of Him." + +Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean heart, ask for +perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, ask for the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and he knows he is asking according to the will of God. +Then, according to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also by +faith, because it is God's promise that he has the petitions he desired +of Him. That is to say, when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act +of faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that he has the +clean heart, the perfect love, the entire sanctification, the Holy +Ghost baptism, which he asked for. And this will be honoring God by +taking Him at His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other evidence, the +witness of the Spirit may be prayed for and waited for, but, in the +meantime, he can and must rely with unwavering confidence upon the +evidence or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness of the +Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness of faith. + +I said we must believe by an act of the will. And some reader may +object to this statement by asserting that faith or belief is not a +matter of volition, but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply to give its +rightful force to the evidence. It is not for want of evidence that any +earnest, consecrated seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able +and willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He asserts it in +many forms and repeats it again and again as His Divine will that His +people should be holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here and +now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is not willing to make them +holy here and now, He must desire them to continue longer in sin, which +thought would impugn His own holiness. + +No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the faith-faculty has +become weakened and paralyzed by sin, and now we must determine to +believe, by putting our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many a seeking soul has +come out into the fullness of salvation by singing the hymn: + + "I can, I will, I do believe + That Jesus saves me now." + +The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, was told to +stretch it forth. He might have said where is my evidence that it will +do any good to try? But he put his will into the obedient attitude. He +willed to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with the obedient +will the power came from Jesus, and he stretched it forth and was +restored. To every one of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus +says, "Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to be responsible +for the result." Believe and receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, +we are sanctified by faith. Glory to the Lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + + +I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the doctrine and +experience of entire sanctification are fully and clearly taught in +Holy Scripture. All the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the history, in +the gospels, in the epistles, we find that God requires His people to +be holy and to be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their +privilege to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in the +sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be made holy. + +"For their sakes," says the blessed Saviour, "I sanctify Myself that +they also might be sanctified through the truth," or as the margin, +"truly sanctified," or as the Revised Version, "that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth." The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly +did not need to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was the "holy thing" +that was to be born of the Virgin Mary. "He knew no sin," He "did no +sin," He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," +and, therefore, when He says "I sanctify Myself," He means nothing more +nor less than I consecrate Myself, or I set Myself apart, but in the +other clause where the term sanctify is used in reference to His +people, it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin entirely +sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He sets Himself apart, +therefore, to the work of redemption and salvation that He may have a +holy people on earth, as without controversy He must and will have a +holy people in heaven. + +We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous with the baptism +with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that the two experiences are in an +important sense identical, or, at least, so related to each other that +whoever has one has the other. It is Christ and none other who baptizes +with the Holy. Ghost. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and +fire," not as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are to be +two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards that of fire +in the way of affliction or persecution, though plenty of these are +promised and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost under +the similitude of fire, that is, that dross and tin and reprobate +silver, or, in a word, all inbred sin may be consumed. + +Nor is it correct to say that there are "many baptisms" of the Spirit. +The Holy Ghost baptism is received by the consecrated believer once +for all, and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism confers upon him, +from Christ through the Spirit, and again comes in repentance and +confession to do his first works, and again to be filled with the +Spirit and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the Holy Ghost +seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving the same emotional +experience as at first, but may and must be received and retained by +faith, and the amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He will +arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean to say that the +experience may be lost and may be regained, but seldom with the same +phenomena of consciousness as at the first. Do not speak, then, of +having had many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the one +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say that you are desiring +or that you have had a fresh baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your +thoughts and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth. + +But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The Psalmist says, "I +shall be anointed with fresh oil," and to every sanctified child of +God, there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of girding and +filling, and fresh anointing for particular services, which are +sometimes called fresh baptisms, but which are not to be confounded +with the one true abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they come because we +already have the Blesser Himself as a personal indwelling Presence and +Power. + +Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that we are first +sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and afterwards filled or baptized +with the Holy Ghost. This opinion would necessitate three separate +experiences, where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by the blood, and (3) +the filling of the Spirit. There would thus be a separation between the +removing of inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the Holy +Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification for service. +It is regarded by these teachers, as only given for an enduement of +power, to do the work to which we are called. And the practical result +of this error, for such with due deference I must regard it, is that +some will be very anxious to obtain the baptism with the Holy Ghost to +make them strong or powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even +deny, the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen tells us of +a minister who wrote to him that he did not take much stock in +sanctification, but that he was very desirous of the Holy Ghost +baptism, in order that he might have increased power in the ministry of +the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very prevalent idea, that we +are to be baptized for service, but not for cleansing. + +I trust that no reader who has followed me through the different +chapters of this book will imagine, for a moment, that I under-value, +in the slightest degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, cleanseth us from +all sin. I think I have sufficiently stated elsewhere that the blood of +Jesus is the procuring cause of our sanctification, as well as of our +justification, and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood of the Son of God +is the ground of our sanctification, but it is the Holy Spirit who is +the effective agent in destroying the depravity of our hearts. + +It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, and that God +anointed Him for the great work of redemption. And in His case, the +word used is anointed or descended, and not in any place baptized. He +needed not the work of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As a man, He did need +the energizing for His work, and, therefore, He is said to have been +anointed. Beloved, let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy Ghost baptism are +coetaneous experiences, and must not be divorced. + +And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. I have shown that +like a golden thread the doctrine of entire sanctification runs through +the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types and the ceremonies, +the gospels and epistles, everywhere showing us that we have to do with +a Holy God, and that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women. + +To all who shall read this book, I testify that by the grace of God, +and the blood of Christ, and the sin-consuming baptism with the Holy +Ghost, this poor man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name. + +And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May He "make you +perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Amen. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +This file should be named 8thss10.txt or 8thss10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8thss11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8thss10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8thss10.zip b/old/8thss10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..278719a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8thss10.zip diff --git a/old/8thss10h.htm b/old/8thss10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ed31e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8thss10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4976 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + <title>The Theology of Holiness, by Dr. Dougan Clark</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3 { font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + h2 { margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em } + p.center { text-align: center } + --> + </style> + <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + +<H1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Theology of Holiness, by Dr. Dougan Clark</H1> + +<PRE> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Theology of Holiness + +Author: Dr. Dougan Clark + +Release Date: Oct, 2004 [EBook #6657] +[Yes, we are almost one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 10, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** +</PRE> + +<p>[Illustration: DOUGAN CLARK, M.D.]</p> + +<h1>The Theology of Holiness</h1> + +<p class="center" style="font-variant: small-caps">by</p> + +<h2>Dougan Clark, M. D.</h2> + +<h3>Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History in Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana</h3> + +<p class="center" style="font-variant: small-caps">To the Memory of<br /> +My Father and Mother,<br /> +Dougan and Asenath Clark,<br /> +Both for Many Years Approved<br /> +Ministers in the Friends’ Church,<br /> +And Both Long Since Departed<br /> +To Be with Christ, This<br /> +Book Is Lovingly<br /> +Dedicated.</p> + +<h1>Contents.</h1> + +<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman"> + <li><a href="#1">Entire sanctification A necessity</a></li> + <li><a href="#2">Entire Sanctification obtainable</a></li> + <li><a href="#3">Entire Sanctification in Patriarchal Times</a></li> + <li><a href="#4">Entire Sanctification in Type</a></li> + <li><a href="#5">Entire Sanctification in Prophecy</a></li> + <li><a href="#6">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Jesus Christ</a></li> + <li><a href="#7">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Paul</a></li> + <li><a href="#8">Entire Sanctification as Taught by Peter</a></li> + <li><a href="#9">Entire Sanctification as Taught by John</a></li> + <li><a href="#10">Entire Sanctification as Taught by James and Jude</a></li> + <li><a href="#11">Sanctified by God the Father</a></li> + <li><a href="#12">Sanctified by God the Son</a></li> + <li><a href="#13">Sanctified by God the Holy Ghost</a></li> + <li><a href="#14">Sanctified by the Truth</a></li> + <li><a href="#15">Sanctified by Faith</a></li> + <li><a href="#16">Conclusion</a></li> +</ol> + +<h1><a name="#1">Chapter I.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire sanctification A necessity.</h2> + +<p>Science is a systematic presentation of truth. Theology +is the most important of all sciences. It is the science +that treats of God and of man in his relation to God. +It is a systematic presentation of revealed truth. +As the basis of Astronomy is the universe of worlds +revealed by the telescope, and as the basis of Geology +is the crust of the earth, so the basis of Theology +is the Divine revelation found in the Holy Scriptures. +The Theology of Entire Sanctification, therefore, is +a systematic presentation of the doctrine of entire +sanctification as derived from the written word of +God. Such a presentation we hope—­with the +help of the Holy Spirit, which we here and now earnestly +invoke—­to attempt to give in this book. +May God bless the endeavor, and overrule our human +weakness, to the glory of His Name. Amen.</p> + +<p>It is a lamentable fact that there is a large class +of Christians to whom the subject of entire sanctification +is a matter of indifference. They hope, with or without +sufficient reason, that their sins are forgiven. They +propose to live moral and useful lives, and trust, +again with or without sufficient reason, that they +will go to heaven when they die. The subject of holiness +does not interest them. They suppose themselves to +be doing well enough without it.</p> + +<p>There are others claiming to be Christians, to whom +the subject is even positively distasteful. It is +an offence to them. They do not want to hear it preached. +They regard those who claim it as cranks. They look +upon holiness meetings as being hotbeds of delusion +and spiritual pride. They turn away from the whole +subject not only with indifference, but with disdain.</p> + +<p>There are still others, and these God’s children, +as we may charitably believe, who do not even regard +holiness as a desirable thing. They assert that it +is needful and salutary to retain some sin in the heart +as long as we live, in order to keep us humble. It +is true that they are never able to tell how much +sin it takes to have this beneficial effect, but a +certain amount they are bent on having.</p> + +<p>Another class takes the opposite view. They regard +holiness as very desirable, and a very lovely thing +to gaze upon and think upon, but they also regard +it as quite impossible of attainment. They hope to +grow towards it all the days of their lives, and to +get it at the moment of death. Not sooner than the +dying hour, do they believe any human being can be +made holy. Not till death is separating the soul from +the body can even God Himself separate sin from the +soul. The whole doctrine of entire sanctification, +therefore, they regard as a beautiful theory, but +wholly impossible as an experience, and wholly impracticable +as a life.</p> + +<p>In general terms, we may say that carnal Christians, +as described by Paul in I. Corinthians 3:1-4, are +opposed to the doctrine of entire sanctification. +“The carnal mind is enmity against God,” +and the carnal mind is irreconcilably opposed to holiness. +This opposition may take one of the forms already +described, or, possibly, some other forms which have +been overlooked, but the root of the hostility is the +same in all. Wherever “our old man” has +his home in a Christian’s heart, there entire +sanctification will be rejected.</p> + +<p>But we must not forget that there are many exceptions. +There are thousands of sincere, believing hearts in +all Christian denominations, in whom inbred sin still +exists, but not with the consent of the will. They +are tired—­very tired of the tyrant that +rules them, or of the ceaseless struggles by which, +with God’s added and assisting grace, they are +enabled to keep him under. They long for deliverance. +They are hungering for full salvation, and rejoice +to hear the message of entire sanctification through +the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. The Lord +bless all these hungering multitudes, and give them +the desire of their hearts by saving them to the uttermost, +and may their numbers be vastly increased, so that +the banner of Christ’s church may everywhere +be unfurled—­the banner on which is inscribed +the glorious motto of Holiness to the Lord.</p> + +<p>Now we meet all objections to the doctrine of entire +sanctification—­ whether in the form of +indifference, or dislike, or undesirableness, or impossibility—­with +the simple proposition, It is necessary. If this proposition +can be established, all objections, of whatever character, +must fall to the ground, and the eager cry of every +Christian heart must be, How can I obtain that priceless +blessing which is essential to my eternal bliss, which +is indispensable, and without which I shall never +see the Lord?</p> + +<p>For this is the language of the Holy Ghost in Heb. +12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness +without which no man shall see the Lord,” and +in the Revised Version, “Follow after peace with +all men, and the sanctification without which no man +shall see the Lord.” This can mean nothing short +of entire sanctification, or the removal of inbred +sin. And, surely, it is hardly necessary to argue +the question as to the indispensableness of this blessed +experience, in order to gain an entrance into heaven. +Everyone will admit that God Himself is a perfectly +and absolutely holy Being, and He has ever told His +followers in all ages, “Be ye holy for I am +holy"—­making His own perfect and entire +holiness the sufficient reason for requiring the same +quality in His people. And, although the holiness +of the highest created being will always fall infinitely +short of that of the Infinite God, as regards quantity, +it will be the same <i>in quality</i>, for Jesus +tells us, “Be ye perfect even as your Father +in heaven is perfect,” not, of course, with +the unmeasurable amount of perfection which appertains +to Him, but with the same kind of perfection so far +as it goes. And again in Rev. 21:27, we are told that +“There shall in no wise enter into it” +(the heavenly city) “anything that defileth, +neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a +lie.” Heaven is a holy place, and occupied with +none but holy inhabitants.</p> + +<p>But if holiness of heart is a necessity in order that +we may reach the blissful abode of the glory land, +when is this stupendous blessing to be obtained? It +is by no means, thoughtlessly, that I write obtained +and not attained. It is very generally spoken of as +an attainment, and this form of expression has a tendency +to discourage the seeker by magnifying the difficulty +of receiving this blessing. The thought contained +in the word attainment is that of something earnestly +striven for, struggled after, persistently pursued +with much labor and toil and effort, until, at last, +the coveted prize is attained. A very few of the multitudes +who went to California, soon after gold was discovered +there, attained fortune; but it was after years of +hard labor and privation and hardship. The majority +died on the way, or while mining for the precious +metal, or returned as poor as they went.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the idea of an obtainment is simply +that of a gift. And entire sanctification is precisely +a gift, “merely this and nothing more.” +It is not received by struggle, nor effort, nor merit +of our own; it is not a great and laborious enterprise +to be undertaken; not the fruit of a long journey +or a perilous voyage; not by doing, nor trying, nor +suffering, nor resolving, nor achieving, but by stretching +out the hand of faith and taking. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>And, therefore, we ask again when is this indispensable +gift to be obtained? The Roman Catholic and the Restorationist +answer, in purgatorial fire, or in some kind of a +second probation after death. But the Holy Scriptures +tell us absolutely nothing either of a purgatory or +a post-mortem probation. On the contrary, they clearly +teach us that our destiny for all eternity is to be +determined in one probation, which is allotted to +us in the present life. Let no one suppose, for a +moment, that he can be made fit for heaven at any time, +nor in any place, nor by any means, after he has left +this mundane sphere. “Behold, now is the accepted +time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”</p> + +<p>But all the Calvinistic churches by their creeds, +and also a large portion of the membership of Arminian +denominations, without regard to their creeds, if +asked when are we to obtain entire sanctification as +an essential meetness for heaven, would answer, at +death. The prevailing idea on this subject, among +Christian believers, seems to be as follows: First, +through repentance toward God and faith toward our +Lord Jesus Christ, we are converted. Our past sins +are pardoned, and we are born again. After that, our +sole business is to grow in grace, and by this growth +to approach nearer and nearer to the standard of entire +sanctification, but never even suppose that we can +reach that standard until the moment of death.</p> + +<p>Now, grace is the gift of God, and we cannot, possibly, +grow in grace until we receive it. And we can never +grow into grace, but grow in it after we get it. We +can grow, it is true, in the grace of justification +to a limited degree and for a limited time. The degree +is limited because of the presence of inbred sin, +which is the great, if indeed, not the only hindrance +of growth. The time is limited in most cases, at least, +because if the justified Christian is brought to see +the need and the possibility of entire sanctification, +and yet fails, as so many do, to enter into the blessing, +because of unbelief, he is very prone either to backslide, +in which case, of course, there will be a cessation +of growth, or, like the Galatians, he will submit to +the bondage of legalism, and after having begun in +the Spirit, he will seek to be perfected in the flesh; +in which case Paul’s verdict to that beloved +church was not ye are growing in grace, but, “ye +are fallen from grace.”</p> + +<p>It is plain, therefore, that we can never grow into +the blessing of entire sanctification. That blessing +is to be received by faith, as the gift of God in +Christ Jesus and through the Holy Spirit; and when +the grace has once been obtained in this manner, then +we can grow in it indefinitely and for a lifetime, +possibly even for an eternity. Growth in grace is +a most blessed thing in its right place, and when rightly +understood and experienced, but it can never bring +us to the death of the old man, nor to the experience +of entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>And as growth cannot do this, neither can death. Death +is nowhere mentioned in Scripture as a sanctifier. +Death can separate the soul from the body, but to +separate sin from the soul is a work which God can +only do. Jesus Christ is our sanctification, and the +Holy Spirit is our sanctifier, and even if the work +is performed in the article of death, it is still +the Holy Spirit and not death that performs it. And +if He can perform it in the hour and article of death, +where is the hindrance to His performing it a week, +a month, a year, or forty years before death—­if +only the conditions are fulfilled on our part. Do we +say that He cannot perform it before death; then where +is His omnipotence? Do we say that He will not do +it before death; then where is His own holiness? In +either case, we dishonor God and rob ourselves of +an inestimable and indispensable blessing. God save +us from such folly.</p> + +<p>Scripture, reason and experience, therefore, all unite +in the sentiment that entire sanctification is to +be sought and obtained now, and if now, then it is +to be obtained instantaneously, and if instantaneously +and now, it follows, also, that it is to be obtained +by faith, and from these premises the further conclusion +is logically deducible, that we cannot make ourselves +any better in order to receive it, but that we must +take it as we are. And so we arrive at and adopt the +pithy precept of John Wesley, “Expect it by +faith—­expect it as you are—­expect +it now.”</p> + +<p>In these remarks we have necessarily anticipated some +things which belong more accurately to the next chapter; +but we are not seeking so much for a perfectly methodical +arrangement, as for a clear and Scriptural presentation +of the subject. And we proceed to affirm now that +entire sanctification is not only essential as the +condition of entering heaven, but that it is also +necessary for the highest results of the Christian +life on earth. It is not only an indispensable blessing +to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father’s +will in this world, it is indispensable to live by.</p> + +<p>But before leaving entirely the subject of growth +in grace, having demonstrated, as we trust, that we +can never grow into entire sanctification, we ought, +perhaps, to explain what we mean by the statement +that we can grow indefinitely in that precious grace +after, and not before, we receive it. Entire sanctification +has two sides or aspects. It has a positive side and +a negative side. Its negative side is the removal +of inbred sin, and is, therefore, a matter of subtraction. +And herein, we may remark in passing, is a characteristic +difference between entire sanctification and regeneration. +The latter is a matter of addition, because it implies +the impartation of a new life to the soul which has +hitherto been “dead in trespasses and sins.” +Now in this negative aspect of entire sanctification +there can be no growth. If a heart is pure it cannot +be more pure. If it is free from sin it cannot be +more free from sin. An empty vessel, as some one has +said, cannot be more empty. There can be no increase +in purity.</p> + +<p>But the positive side of entire sanctification is +perfect love, and this is a relative expression. It +does not mean that all who possess it must have an +equal amount of love. Perfect love to each individual +is just his own heart—­not some one else’s +heart—­being filled with love. One individual +may have a greater capacity of loving than another, +just as he may have a greater capacity of seeing or +of working. Perfect love in a child would not be perfect +love in a man; and perfect love in a man would not +be perfect love in an angel. And perfect love may +increase in the same individual so that what is perfect +love today may not be perfect love to-morrow. As we +commune with God and work with Him, as we get more +and more acquainted with Christ and With the Holy +Spirit, and see more of the infinite attractions of +the Triune God, how is it possible that we should +not love Him more and more? “There will never +be a time in earth nor in Heaven,” says the late +Dr. Upham, “when there may not be an increase +of holy love.” On the positive side of entire +sanctification, then, there may be and will be growth +indefinitely and everlastingly. And this is the true +growth in grace, about which much more could be said, +but we leave it for the present, to resume our main +theme of the necessity of entire sanctification in +this life as well as the life to come.</p> + +<p>We make a definite statement as follows, viz: No Christian +can do all that God would have him do, nor enjoy all +that God would have him enjoy in this world, without +the grace of entire sanctification. In the beautiful +language of metaphor the Saviour says, “I am +the true Vine and My Father is the husbandman. Every +branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away, +and every branch in Me that beareth fruit He purgeth +it that it may bring forth more fruit.” And again, +“Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear +much fruit: so shall ye be My disciples.” Now +the abundant fruit requires for its production the +abundant life, and these are both found in the Lord +Jesus Christ. “I am come,” says He, “that +ye might have life (in regeneration) and that ye might +have it more abundantly” (in entire sanctification). +The abundant life and the abundant fruit, therefore, +can only be found in connection with purity of heart.</p> + +<p>It is doubtless <i>true</i> that every living +branch, that is to say, every justified and regenerated +believer, may and should and must, if he would retain +his religion, bring forth some fruit. And it is precisely +these branches that are bearing fruit, whom the Great +Husbandman “purges"—­sanctifies—­that +they may bring forth the more abundant fruit by which +He Himself shall be glorified. And here we might rest +our case with a Q. E. D., but another remark or two +will be in place.</p> + +<p>The late Lord Tennyson could perceive, with the genius +of a poet, the intimate connection between purity +and power. He puts into the mouth of Sir Galahad, +one of his heroes, these beautiful words, viz:</p> + +<p> “My strength is as the strength of ten,<br /> +  Because my heart is pure.”</p> + +<p>Now one of the most common complaints among Christians +of all denominations, is because of their weakness +and their leanness. And yet nothing is clearer than +that God has promised to make His people strong, that +He has commanded them to be strong in the Lord, and +that not to be strong is even blameworthy, not to +say criminal in His sight. The reason, then, of our +weakness and our leanness and the meagreness of our +fruitage, can be nothing else than because we do not +fulfill the conditions on which He promises to make +us strong. One of these conditions, and an indispensable +one, is that we be entirely sanctified. It is they +that know their God, both in conversion and entire +sanctification, both in pardon and purity, that shall +“be strong and do exploits.” Beloved, +if you would accomplish the work that God has given +you to do, and not have to regret its non-accomplishment +in eternity, even if you are saved so as by fire, +seek and find that which is the essential condition, +and ask at once to be wholly sanctified.</p> + +<p>And if you would have the fullness of joy, even the +joy of an uttermost salvation, the peace that passeth +understanding, the fellowship with the Father and +with His son, Jesus Christ, the sealing and anointing +of the Spirit, the white stone and the new name, the +abiding presence of the indwelling Comforter, then +pray that the very God of Peace may here and now sanctify +you wholly. Amen.</p> + +<h1><a name="#2">Chapter II.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification Obtainable.</h2> + +<p>This would seem to follow as a necessary corollary +from what has been said in the preceding chapter. +If entire sanctification has been proved to be not +a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we +cannot attain to the highest results in Christian +privilege, nor in Christian enjoyment, nor in Christian +service without this blessed experience, and if, at +the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city +unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a +moment that our gracious Heavenly Father has provided +a way by which this indispensable requisite. both +for time and for eternity may be received.</p> + +<p>But before discussing this proposition in detail let +us have a clear understanding of what is meant by +entire sanctification, and, as a preliminary, let +us study a few simple theological definitions.</p> + +<p>In the first place, my reader will have no difficulty +in believing that I fully accept the Arminian doctrine +of the universality of the atonement. The sacrifice +of Christ is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind, +and its benefits are offered to all. “He tasted +death for every man.” But it does not follow +that all men will be saved, and this for the reason +that the atonement is not unconditional but conditional. +It is offered to all, and all are invited and entreated +to accept it. But it is available only in the case +of those who believe. “He that believeth shall +be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned.” +A universal atonement, therefore, does not by any means +imply a universal salvation.</p> + +<p>Redemption is a term of broad and varied application. +It is either general or special. In one sense it is +as broad as atonement. Atonement is for sin; redemption +is from sin and from all the sad results of sin. In +its more special meaning it is applicable only to those +who accept the atonement. For these it implies release +from the bondage of the will under the law of sin +and death, or justification and regeneration. It brings +also release from the power and existence of depravity +or entire sanctification. It promises, in the future, +the complete glorification of the saints in body, +soul and spirit at God’s right hand, and the +deliverance of the creation itself from the “bondage +of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the +children of God.”</p> + +<p>The first condition on which the benefits of the atonement +are offered to the sinner is repentance. Both the +Saviour Himself and His forerunner began their public +ministry with words of like import, viz: “Repent +ye and believe the gospel.” Repentance does not +mean penance—­ not a voluntary sacrifice +in our own will for an expiation of sin—­nor +is it merely sorrow for our past sins, although “godly +sorrow” is one of the elements of true repentance. +The sorrow of the world may produce remorse, that +continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; +but remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the +world worketh not life but death. True repentance +involves a change of mind, a change of purpose, a +change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow +for sin —­sorrow not only because the sin +has resulted in physical or mental or financial or +reputational disaster—­but because it has +grieved the Spirit of our God; and it implies not +only sorrow for our sin but the determination to forsake +it as well. It is the afterthought, and involves both +regret for what we have done and the purpose to do +so no more.</p> + +<p>The next, and specially indispensable, condition for +receiving the benefits of the atonement is faith. +This means nothing more nor less than taking God at +His word. We are assured that without faith it is +impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God +must believe “that He is, and that He is a rewarder +of them that diligently seek Him.” “Faith +is the substance of things hoped for,” because +it makes them real. It is “the evidence of things +not seen” because it convinces the mind of their +actual existence. It is true that all men believe +something, and, therefore, that all men have faith. +It is not true that all men believe God, and, therefore, +not true that all men have saving faith.</p> + +<p>And here we must make a distinction. Faith is often +said to be the gift of God, and in the sense of the +grace of faith, or the power of believing, this is +true. But the act of faith is the actual exercise of +the power of believing, which God has given us. It +involves the putting forth of the choosing power of +the human will, that we may accept the salvation which +is offered us. God has given to us all the faith faculty, +just as He has given to us the seeing faculty. In the +one case, as in the other, we are responsible for +the exercise of the faculty thus given. The proper +object of the seeing faculty is the world around us, +with all its multiplicity of existences. We may open +our eyes and see or we may close them and fail to see. +The proper object of the faith faculty is truth, and +especially gospel truth, the truth of salvation through +a crucified and risen Lord. We may exercise our believing +power and accept this great salvation or we may close +our faith-eyes, and fail to see and believe, and this +to our eternal loss.</p> + +<p>For God commands us to believe and holds us responsible +for obedience to that as to all other of His commands. +The fact of the command involves the power to obey. +Our will, therefore, our choosing power, must be put +on the believing side, and not on the side of unbelief. +It is not that we are required to believe without +evidence. It is that our depraved hearts are not willing +to believe when the evidence is ample. And, therefore, +our eternal destiny is made to hinge on our obedience +to the positive command, “Believe on the Lord +Jesus Christ.” The great and crying sin of our +fallen humanity is unbelief. It is this that has sundered +us, as a race, from our union with God, and it is faith +which is to be the bond by which we may again be reunited +to Him. “He that believeth not the Son is condemned +already.”</p> + +<p>Repentance and faith are the conditions on which God +promises to give us the grace of justification. This +is pardon for all our past sins. God, for Christ’s +sake, looks upon us as though we had not sinned. He +accounts us just, for Jesus’ sake, although we +are not just in reality. And herein it is that gospel +justification differs from legal justification. The +individual who is accused of crime and who is brought +into court and determined, by a jury of his peers, +not to be guilty, is at once acquitted and released +from all penalty. He is justified solely on the ground +of his innocence. But no man ever has been or ever +will be justified in the court of heaven on the ground +of his innocence. Every responsible human being has +broken the law of God. “All have sinned and +come short of the glory of God.” And none of +those who have broken the law can be justified by +the law, that is to say, not one. The law justifies +those, and those only, who keep it. None of us have +kept it, not one of the race of men save only the man +Christ Jesus. The law condemns all those who break +it. All the race of men have broken it save only the +man Christ Jesus. Therefore, all are under condemnation. +But condemnation is incompatible with justification. +Therefore, again, “by the deeds of the law shall +no flesh be justified.”</p> + +<p>Are we not, then, in an absolutely hopeless condition? +We should be so but for Christ. But, blessed be God, +“He hath found a ransom.” “All we +like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one +to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the +iniquity of us all.” Jesus Christ “Himself +bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” And +so it comes to pass that we can be freely justified +by His grace, not because of our innocency but because +He bore the penalty in our stead. He took the place +which was rightfully ours and that is on the cross. +He procured for us the place which was and is rightfully +His, and that is at God’s right hand. He suffered +what we deserved, and by that very suffering He made +us partakers of what He deserves. Glory forever to +His Holy Name!</p> + +<p>By the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, therefore, +justice is satisfied, and the penalty of the broken +law is removed. God is infinitely merciful, but He +is also infinitely just. He loves the sinner with +a boundless love, but He hates the sin with a boundless +hate. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, +and will not look upon sin with the smallest degree +of allowance. His mercy and His love may compassionate +the sinner, but this will be of no avail so long as +His justice is against him. “Shall not the Judge +of all the earth do right?”</p> + +<p>But in the marvelous plan of salvation by a crucified +and risen Lord, both the attributes of mercy and justice +are enlisted on behalf of the sinner. The mercy of +God pardons Him, the justice of God justifies Him, +and all for Jesus’ sake. “Mercy and truth +have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed +each other.” “God can be just and the +justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” “If +we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive +us our sins.” And in accordance with the way +of salvation which He Himself has devised, we can now +plead with Him that He would be unjust not to forgive +us when we have complied with these conditions. And +so we arrive at the conclusion that justification +is an act of God’s grace by which our sins are +pardoned for the sake of Jesus Christ. And this act +is instantaneous. God does not pardon sins gradually, +nor one at a time, nor by piecemeal, but to every +one who repents and believes, He utters the gracious +language, “Thy sins, which are many, are all +forgiven thee.” As if by a single stroke of +the recording angel’s pen, the whole dark record +is blotted out forever. “As far as the east +is from the west so far hath He removed our transgressions +from us.” Glory.</p> + +<p>Regeneration is a work of grace which always accompanies +justification. God does not justify a sinner without, +at the same time, giving him a new life. This new +life is a spiritual life imparted to the soul, which +before was dead in trespasses and sins, by the Divine +energy of the Holy Ghost. If a sinner should be pardoned, +without, at the same time, receiving a new nature, +he would inevitably fall into sin again. His lifetime +on earth would be spent in sinning and repenting. But +our merciful Father having for Christ’s sake +looked upon him as just and righteous, when he was +not so in reality, now bestows upon him a new nature +which is just and righteous. He makes him a partaker, +indeed, of the Divine nature, and that is a nature +which is holy and just and good. And this is the new +birth. Men may be full of physical life and of intellectual +life, but until they are born from above they are +totally destitute of spiritual life. Regeneration, +therefore, is that act of God’s grace by which +we are born again.</p> + +<p>Adoption is the reception of the newly justified and +regenerated believer into the family of God. No longer +enemies, nor even strangers and foreigners, those +who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, now receive +the adoption of sons. They become the children of God +by faith in Jesus Christ. This is their pedigree and +they rejoice to declare it. A human governor or ruler +may pardon a guilty criminal, and grant him a reprieve, +but he never takes him into his own family. He may +forgive the guilty one, but he cannot bestow upon +him a new nature, nor can he consent to recognize +him as a brother or a son. But God not only remits +the sins of those whom He saves, He not only delivers +them from wrath and from punishment, but He gives +them a new nature by which they can respond to His +love, and He takes them into His own household as +children and heirs, yea, as joint heirs with Jesus +Christ.” “Ye are all the children of God +by faith in Jesus Christ.”</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is something not easily +defined, but it is well known by those who experience +it. It is an impression or consciousness wrought into +the mind of the believer by the Holy Ghost, which +gives him the satisfactory assurance that he is a child +of God. Before this, he believes, now he knows. This +witness, therefore, expels doubt and infuses into +the heart of the new-born child of God, a calm, definite +and indisputable persuasion that all is now right +between himself and his Heavenly Father. “The +Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that +we are the children of God.” “Ye have +received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, +Father.” “And because ye are sons, God +hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, +crying, Abba, Father.”</p> + +<p>Now the graces that have been mentioned, namely, justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit, +are all received co-instantaneously. They always accompany +each other, and whoever has one of them has them all. +The witness of the Spirit, it is true, is not always +a constant experience. It may be intermittent, but, +nevertheless, whenever it is present, it accompanies +or attends the other experiences to which we have +alluded. And we may add that all these graces are +but different aspects of the same salvation and are +properly and conveniently designated, in common language, +by the single term conversion, which term, therefore, +must be understood to include and imply justification, +regeneration, adoption and the witness of the Spirit. +It is proper, also, in this connection to remark that +conversion is always a definite and instantaneous event, +and never a prolonged process. Just so certainly as +every human being that comes into this world has a +definite, natural birthday, so every one that comes +into the kingdom of God has a definite, spiritual birthday. +Some people do not know when their natural birthday +occurs, nevertheless, they know that they have been +born. Some Christians do not know when their spiritual +birthday occurs. Nevertheless, they know that they +have been born again. Conversion is the crossing of +a definite line out of Satan’s kingdom into +God’s kingdom. There is no half-way ground, +there is no neutral territory, there is no place where +a man can truthfully say, I am neither converted nor +unconverted. One moment he is out of the ark of safety, +the next moment he is in it.</p> + +<p>Entire sanctification is an act of God’s grace +by which inbred sin is removed and the heart made +holy. Inbred sin or inherited depravity is the inward +cause of which our outward sins are the effects. It +is the bitter root of which actual sins are the bitter +fruits. It is the natural evil tendency of the human +heart in our fallen condition. It is the being of +sin which lies back of the doing of sin. It is that +within us which says No, to God, and Yes, to Satan. +It exists in every human being that comes into the +world as a bias or proclivity to evil. It is called +in the New Testament, the flesh, the body of sin, our +old man, sin that dwelleth in me, and the simple term +sin in the singular number. In the Old Testament it +is called sin and iniquity. “Behold,” +says David, “I was shapen in iniquity and in +sin did my mother conceive me.” And when the +Seraph brought the live coal and laid it upon the +mouth of Isaiah, the prophet, his words were, “Lo, +this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken +away and thy sin purged.”</p> + +<p>Now all Christian denominations are agreed as to the +real existence of this inbred sin and also as to the +fact that it is not removed at conversion. “This +infection of nature doth remain,” says the Anglican +Confession, “yea, even in them that have been +regenerated.” Most church creeds, indeed, give +no reason to expect, and most Christian believers +do not expect to be rid of sin till near or in the +hour of death. And it is regarded as serious heresy +in some quarters for a man to either preach or claim +that the blood of Jesus Christ does really cleanse +from all sin.</p> + +<p>But God has in every age and in every dispensation +required His children to be holy. And to be holy signifies +the destruction or removal of inbred sin, nothing +more and nothing less and nothing else than that. +How this is accomplished will be discussed further +on, but here we say that the removal of innate depravity +is entire sanctification, and that God has most surely +made provision in the atonement of Jesus Christ for +the removal of innate depravity. Therefore, He has +made provision for entire sanctification, and, therefore +again, this wondrous grace is obtainable. Inbred sin +goes back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden. +If not as old as the human race, it is at least as +old as the fall. Since sin entered through the beguiling +of our mother, Eve, by the serpent, inbred sin has +existed as a unit of evil in every child of Adam and +Eve. The only exception is the man, Christ Jesus, +the God man, the Divine man, the promised seed that +should bruise the serpent’s head. But as He, +the Lord Jesus Christ, was manifested to destroy the +works of the devil, and as inbred sin is one of the +works of the devil, therefore its destruction is provided +for in the atonement, and, therefore, still again, +entire sanctification is obtainable.</p> + +<p>The simplest meaning of the word sanctify is to separate +or to devote to sacred uses. It has this signification +nearly always in the Old Testament and in a few passages +in the New. In other words, whatever is consecrated +is sanctified in this limited sense. But from the primary +meaning is easily derived its secondary and prominent +meaning, of separation from all sin, inward as well +as outward, and this is what Paul calls being sanctified +wholly. It is entire sanctification as distinguished +from partial sanctification. This latter appertains +to all Christians, and is technically so used in the +New Testament. The former is the experience of those, +and those only, from whom inbred sin has been removed.</p> + +<h1><a name="#3">Chapter III.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Patriarchal Times.</h2> + +<p>For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation +of man, he was without a written law. So far, at least, +as the descendants of Seth are concerned, the government, +during those early times, seems to have been patriarchal. +The father of a family retained his authority over +his children and his children’s children so +long as he lived, and when he died, the branch families +did not separate, but continued their allegiance to +some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the +former. A number of families under their respective +patriarchs constituted a tribe, and from the family +patriarchs was selected a prince for the whole tribe. +Among the antediluvian patriarchs were Adam, Seth, +Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham, +Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. +After Jacob’s death, it is most likely that +Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of the +tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression +and deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the +law.</p> + +<p>As God’s revelation to man has been progressive, +first just a few faint streaks of light that usher +in the dawn, then broad daylight and sunrise, and +finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are +not to expect, in these early times, the full and +distinct teaching on the subject of holiness, which +we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings of the +prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the +New Testament. The word holy does not occur in the +book of Genesis, and the word sanctify is found only +once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day and sanctified +it.</p> + +<p>And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, +several narratives of extreme interest, which give +us glimpses, at least, of the purpose of God that +His people should be holy, and we even find intimations +of His method of sanctification, by conferring it +as a second experience upon His already saved children, +as is so clearly revealed in the New Testament.</p> + +<p>“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, +for God took him.” Such is the record in Genesis, +but when we turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, the faith +chapter, we find that “by faith Enoch was translated +that he should not see death; and was not found because +God had translated him, for; before his translation, +he had this testimony that he pleased God.” +Now, if Enoch, even amid the wickedness of antediluvian +ages, walked with God and pleased God, and was translated +that he should not see death, there surely can be +no reasonable doubt that he was a holy man, an entirely +sanctified man, and hence one whose sins had been +washed away in the blood of the lamb, that was “slain +from the foundation of the world.”</p> + +<p>“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; +and Noah walked with God.” The prophet Amos +exclaims most pertinently, “Can two walk together +unless they be agreed?” It is certain, therefore, +that God and Noah were agreed, but God, who is infinitely +pure and holy, can never be agreed with any person +or anything that is unholy. Hence, whatever may be +the proper signification of the word perfect, as applied +to God’s children in Old Testament times, we +can scarcely avoid the conclusion that Noah was a +holy man, an entirely sanctified man, and this notwithstanding +his subsequent error in regard to drinking too much +wine, of whose ill effects we may, charitably, suppose +he may have been, up to the time of this sad experience, +ignorant.</p> + +<p>Abraham dwelt with his father, Terah, who was an idolater, +in Ur of the Chaldees, when he received the call of +God to go entirely away from his kindred and his father’s +house, and depart into a land of separation, a land +which the Lord would show him. He obeyed the call, +and this typifies conversion. He went out not knowing +whither he went, but only knowing that the Lord was +leading him. At his first move, he was accompanied +by his father. And he came out of his native land, +it is true, but not yet into the promised land. “He +came to Haran and dwelt there,” or to give the +record in full, “And Terah took Abraham, his +son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son’s son, +and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s +wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of the +Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came +unto Haran and dwelt there.”</p> + +<p>Continuing the account in his dying oration, the martyr +Stephen says, “And from thence when his father +was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye +now dwell,” but in Genesis the statement is, +“And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his +brother’s son, and all their substance that +they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten +in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land +of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.” +The last tie of nature was sundered when the old man +died, and then Abram took the second step, which brought +him into the promised land. There are two distinct +stages in his experience before he reached the place, +which God designed him to occupy. And these we may +as well regard as typical, if nothing more, of the +first experience under the gospel—­that +of regeneration—­and of the second experience +as well, which is entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>In the history of Abraham, a very beautiful and mysterious +episode occurs, and that is the story of his transient +but highly important meeting with Melchizedek, after +his successful expedition against the kings, who had +despoiled Sodom and carried away his nephew, Lot. The +sacred narrative is as follows, <i>viz</i>.: “And +Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and +wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. +And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the +Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and +blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered +thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him tithes +of all.” No other mention is made of Melchizedek +until David writes the 110th Psalm, and this was nearly +one thousand years after Abraham. The Psalmist writing +by inspiration, and alluding beyond all reasonable +doubt to the Messiah, says, “The Lord hath sworn +and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after +the order of Melchizedek.” And then, again, +the inspired record drops Melchizedek out of sight, +as it were, for another thousand years, and then once +more brings him to the front in the Epistle to the +Hebrews, where he is described in glowing language +as “first being by interpretation King of righteousness, +and after that, also, King of Salem, which is king +of peace; without father, without mother, without +genealogy (R. V.) having neither beginning of days +nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God, +abideth a priest continually.”</p> + +<p>Comparing, then, the different allusions to this most +remarkable personage, the following inferences seem +fairly deducible therefrom: (1) Melchizedek, being +made like unto the Son of God, is preeminently the +Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ in his +kingly and priestly offices. Both Melchizedek and +Christ are priests, and yet the former is not of the +chosen family. He is a Canaanite. He is, unquestionably, +greater than Abraham. Of his origin, his ancestry and +his descendants, we have no account. He brought forth +bread and wine. So did his antitype at the Last Supper. +The priesthood of Melchizedek was before that of Aaron. +Aaron was a Levite, and Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek +in Abraham, his ancestor. And the author of the Epistle +to the Hebrews argues most conclusively that since +Melchizedek was without beginning or end, and greater +than Abraham, and with a priesthood that existed centuries +before the Levitical priesthood was instituted, therefore +Christ, his great antitype, who is from everlasting +to everlasting, and who hath an unchangeable priesthood, +is to abolish the Aaronic priesthood, whose institution +was for a temporary purpose, and was fulfilled when +Christ came, who was a priest not after the order of +Aaron because He belonged to another tribe, but a priest +forever after the order of Melchizedek.</p> + +<p>But Melchizedek was not only a priest, he was also +a king. And it was not only in his everlasting priesthood, +but in his regal office also, that he was a type of +the Messiah. David was a prophet and a king, Ezekiel +was a prophet and a priest, Jesus, only, combined in +His own person the three offices of prophet, priest +and king.</p> + +<p>Now, if Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, +if he was greater than Abraham, if he was a type of +Jesus Christ in His kingly and priestly offices, it +is impossible not to regard him as a holy man. He +was cleansed from all sin. He was sanctified wholly. +He was made like unto the Son of God, and the Son +of God is eternally holy. Praise His name. It is, +surely, cause of devout thankfulness, that even in +those primitive and patriarchal times, when the earth +was full of wickedness and violence, that even then +God had His witnesses to experimental and practical +holiness.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this point of the eternal priesthood +of Christ, let me remark that it was a sad day for +His Church when the idea became prevalent, that ministers +of the gospel are in any official sense to be regarded +as priests. This serious error may have been derived, +in part, from Judaism and, in part, from paganism. +It has become incorporated in the creed of the Roman +Catholic Church, and the Greek Church as well, and +has been productive of the most disastrous results. +Among the deliverances of the Council of Trent, held +at intervals from 1545 to 1564, and the last Council, +which Romish authorities regard as of binding authority, +are the following sentences, quoted by the late A. +A. Hodge, in his Outlines of Theology: “Whereas, +therefore, in the New Testament, the Catholic Church +has received, from the institution of Christ, the +holy, visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs, +also, be confessed that there is, in that church, a +new, visible and external priesthood, into which the +old has been translated. And the sacred Scriptures +show, and the traditions of the Catholic Church have +always taught, that this priesthood was instituted +by the same Lord, our Saviour, and that to the apostles, +and their successors in the priesthood, was the power +delivered of consecrating, offering and administering +his body and blood, as, also, of forgiving and retaining +sins.”</p> + +<p>It is to be feared that not all Protestants are entirely +clear of this same idea of the priesthood of the ministry, +and that, in thought, at least, many substitute this +for the true priesthood, which appertains to all believers. +Now, the office of a priest is to stand between God +and man. He mediates, and this Jesus did both by propitiation +and continues to do, forever, by intercession. “He +ever liveth to make intercession for us.” He +“offered one sacrifice for sins forever.” +If He has an unchangeable priesthood, and has already +offered Himself as a sacrifice, sufficient for the +sins of all mankind, the benefits of which each and +every one may obtain on the simple condition of repentance +and faith, what possible need can there be of any human +priesthood to come between God and the sinner? Says +George Fox, “Friends, let nothing come between +your souls and God, but Christ,” and we say +Amen.</p> + +<p>To sum up on this particular point, we may say that +the ancient priesthood, both of Melchizedek, the Gentile, +and of Aaron, the Jew, with his descendants, were +nothing more than types; and a type can have no real +existence after the antitype has come. Therefore, there +is no place for a human priesthood under the Christian +dispensation. We are taught in Holy Scripture that +no one can come to God except through Christ, but +we are also taught that all are invited, and all may +come directly to Him. All the officers belonging to +the New Testament Church, whether ministers, deacons, +presbyters, bishops, elders, or even apostles, are +described not as priests but “messengers, watchmen, +heralds of salvation, teachers, rulers, overseers and +shepherds.” Their function is to preach the +word, to teach, to rule, but never to mediate. It +is clear, therefore, that ministers as such are not +priests.</p> + +<p>But we must not forget that, in a very important sense, +all Christians are priests. But this is through Christ +and in Christ, the one great and eternal High Priest. +They are priests because they are in Christ. And not +only priests, but kings as well. And not only kings +and priests, but prophets as well. All these blessed +privileges are theirs, solely by virtue of their union +and fellowship with Christ, who, in a mystical and +spiritual sense, makes them to be partakers of His +own priesthood, His own royalty, and His own prophetic +office.</p> + +<p>Thus we hear Peter exclaiming, under the inspiration +of the Spirit, “But ye are a chosen generation, +a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.”</p> + +<p>And again: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built +up, a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer +up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus +Christ.” Precisely. If we are priests, we must +perform the functions of a priest, and one of these +functions is the offering of sacrifice. What, then, +are the sacrifices which are to be offered by the +Christian Priest? Certainly, not any expiatory or meritorious +sacrifices. These are, forever, precluded by the fact +that Christ hath offered one sacrifice for sins forever. +Nothing can be added to, and nothing can be subtracted +from, that infinite and all-sufficient offering.</p> + +<p>The first sacrifice to be made by the Christian priest +is the surrender of his own body, with all its appetites, +organs and capabilities, to God. Listen to Paul.</p> + +<p>“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the +mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your +reasonable service.” Your bodies, because if +you are Christians, you have already presented your +hearts; your bodies, because through the body, too +often temptation enters into the soul and leads it +to actual sin. Your bodies, because of their wonderful +mechanism and their equally wonderful activities. If +surrendered to the Lord, He makes them the very thing +they were originally designed to be, namely, the obedient +servants of the soul, and the soul is already His +own obedient servant, so that when the soul commands +and the body obeys, both are working for God, and +when the soul says Go, and the body runs hither and +thither, both are going upon God’s errands.</p> + +<p>It will be observed that the body is to be presented +a living sacrifice, not a dead one. All its boundless +activities are to be given up to God. The expression, +no doubt, implies that the whole man, described by +the apostle, with his inspired trichotomy, as spirit, +soul and body are to be consecrated unto God, to be +His, and His forever, and henceforth to be ready to +be, to do, and to suffer all His blessed will.</p> + +<p>The command is yield yourselves, not a certain portion +of your time, nor a certain portion of your money, +nor a certain portion of your effort, nor your sins, +nor your depraved appetites, nor your forbidden indulgences. +You cannot consecrate your alcohol, nor your tobacco, +nor your opium, nor your card-playing, nor your dancing, +nor your theatre-going to God. He wants none of these +things. All actual and known sins must be abandoned +at conversion. Consecration is for a subsequent and +a deeper work. None but a Christian believer can thus +present his body unto the Lord. Sinners may repent, +but Christians are enjoined to “yield themselves +unto God, as those who are alive from the dead; “not +as those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.” +Whatever surrender the sinner may and must make in +order to be saved, the believer must make a deeper, +fuller, more complete surrender, of a different character +and for a different purpose. That purpose is that +he may be wholly sanctified, filled with the Spirit, +and used to the utmost extent of his capacity for +the glory of God. Consecration means yielding yourselves +unto God. When you yield yourself you yield everything +else. All the details are included in the one surrender +of yourself.</p> + +<p>And remember, also, that your consecration is not +to God’s service, not to His work, not to a +life of obedience and sacrifice, not to the church, +not to the Christian Endeavor, not to the Epworth League, +not to any organization, not to the cause of God; +it is to God Himself. “Yield yourselves unto +God.” It is, therefore, a personal transaction +between a personal human being and a personal God. +Your work, your obedience, your sacrifice, your right +place and your allotted duty, will all follow in due +time. The next sacrifice to be made by the Christian +priest, is that of testimony and thanksgiving. “By +Him, therefore,” says the author of the Hebrews, +“let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God +continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving +thanks to His Name.”</p> + +<p>And the next priestly offering of the Christian is +a holy life, for the inspired author goes on in the +next verse, “But to do good, and to communicate +forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” +Offer, then, beloved, the body, with the soul and spirit; +offer the fruit of the lips and offer the fruit of +the life, and you will walk worthily of your priesthood. +Glory!</p> + +<p>The patriarch Jacob had two distinct and well-defined +experiences about twenty years apart. The first of +these was at Bethel, when, in loneliness and anguish +of mind, he was plodding on his way toward Mesopotamia +to escape the vengeance of his brother Esau. This vengeance +was not causeless, and Jacob lay down upon the ground +with a stone for a pillow, not only distressed in +mind from fear and anxiety, but also, we may well +suppose, not altogether free from the condemnation +of a guilty conscience. But Jacob was a man who had +faith in God’s promises, even if he did not +always obey His commands. And when he lay down to +sleep under the open sky, in a state of mind, sad, +forlorn, fearful and contrite, God was watching over +him, and when he awoke from the wondrous vision there +vouchsafed to him, he perceived that God was in the +place, and he found that he himself, also, was a new +man. Now he could not only believe intellectually +what God had said, but he could and did enter into +covenant with Him, taking Jehovah for his God, and +vowing the tenth or his income to be given to Him. +This was such a change of mind and heart as constituted +a real conversion.</p> + +<p>When, after the many mercies and many trials that +fell to his portion whilst dwelling with his uncle +Laban, and after the lapse of two score years, he +was returning to his father’s house, no longer +poor and lonely, but with flocks and herds and wives +and children, again he was encountered by the fear +of his brother Esau who was approaching him with four +hundred men. Then it was that there “wrestled +a man with him until the breaking of the day.” +Note it was the man wrestling with Jacob—­and +the man was the angel,—­Jehovah, the pre-existent +Christ—­ and the object of his wrestling +was to get the Jacob nature, the old man, the body +of sin, out of Jacob. But Jacob resisted, until by +a touch the Divine wrestler made it impossible for +him to resist any longer. Now he had to cease his +wrestling but he could still cling, and he could still +cry, “I will not let thee go until thou bless +me.” Jacob’s will was now firmly set upon +the blessing; he could ho longer resist the will of +the Blesser, but one thing more he had to do, and +that was to tell his name. I am Jacob—­supplanter, +sinner, and then He blessed him there; Jabbok means +extinguishment, and Jacob’s self-life was extinguished +there. He told his name, and in the telling lost it. +No longer the supplanter—­but Israel, the +prince, the prevailer, the overcomer, and Israel was +now a wholly sanctified man. Beloved, tell God your +name—­sinner—­seek with fixed determination +for the blessing of holiness, fulfill the conditions, +and you also shall prevail, and your name will be +changed from sinner to saint, priest, prophet, king, +having the blessing of entire sanctification, and the +Blesser Himself in the person of the Indwelling Comforter. +Praise the Lord!</p> + +<h1><a name="#4">Chapter IV.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Type.</h2> + +<p>The Mosaic dispensation was legal, ceremonial and +typical. “The law having a shadow of the good +things to come,” says the author of the Hebrews. +But a shadow always points to a substance; and so far +as holiness is commanded, and so far as it is shadowed +forth in the ceremonial law, we shall find that there +is a corresponding substance and reality in the gospel +of Christ.</p> + +<p>In the first place, if we study carefully the provisions +of the Mosaic law, we shall be struck with the many +forms of ceremonial uncleanness described therein, +and with the “divers washings,” not only +of the “hands oft,” but of the whole body, +and of “cups and pots, brazen vessels and of +tables.” All these point to the fact that God +will have a clean people, and a clean people is a +holy people. The same thing is vividly exhibited in +the distinction between clean and unclean animals, +the one kind to be used as food, and the other to be +disused. Of land animals, only such as both chew the +end and divide the hoof, might then be eaten. And +of aquatic, only such as have both fins and scales +were to be accounted clean. There can be no doubt +that this restriction in regard to food is full of +meaning. God help us all as Christian believers to +distinguish between the clean and the unclean in a +spiritual sense, and not to forget that God will have +His people now pure in heart, clean in soul, holy +both within and without.</p> + +<p>The seal of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision, +and this became the perpetual rite by which his descendants +were admitted to the rights and privileges of that +covenant. “Every male child shall be circumcised.” +But this rite was an outward symbol of “a circumcision +not made with hands, in the putting off of the body +of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ” +(Col. 2: II. R.V.) And in Romans 2: 28-29, we are +told that “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; +neither is that circumcision which is outward in the +flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and +circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, +and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but +of God.” Beloved reader, may you and I know +what it is to experience the inward circumcision, +made without hands, even the putting off of the body +of the flesh. And this is entire sanctification. In +the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priests’ +office, not only were they to be adorned with holy +garments for glory and for beauty, not only was the +breast-plate to be set with twelve kinds of precious +stones, but the plate for the mitre was to be made +of pure gold, and engraved with the motto “Holiness +to the Lord.” This was to be always upon the +forehead of the High Priest, and must signify that +Aaron was to be the holy priest of a Holy God, and +that the law required a continuous holiness, as most +assuredly the gospel does also.</p> + +<p>Now, in the most important sense both the priesthood +and the sacrifices were typical of Christ. In the +mediatorial work of redemption, he was both the priest +and the victim. He offered Himself. And no one will +deny that He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate +from sinners. The holy priest, under the law typified +the holy priest, who is a priest forever after the +order of Melchizedek. But under the gospel dispensation +all Christians are priests. “But ye are a chosen +generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar +people.” And we are priests, not for the purpose +of expiation, for expiation was completed by the Lord +Jesus Christ, when He “bore our sins in His own +body on the tree,” but priests to offer up “spiritual +sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” +And every such priest must needs be continuously holy.</p> + +<p>The “spiritual sacrifices” which the Christian +priest must offer are, as previously stated, (1) his +body, with all its members and capacities. The heart +was given to Christ at conversion. It is, however, +largely through the body that the soul is led into +sin, and it is through the body, also, that the soul +must perform its work for Christ, so long as soul +and body are united in probation. Hence, the Apostle +exclaims in the twelfth of Romans, “I beseech +you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that +ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable +unto God, which is your reasonable service.” +The Christian must offer (2) also his continual testimony. +He must “hold fast the confession of his faith +without wavering.” “By him, therefore, +let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, +that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His +name.” And, finally (3), the Christian priest +must offer the sacrifice of a holy life. “But +to do good, and to communicate forget not, for with +such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Beloved, +let us ask ourselves if we are constantly offering +as a holy priesthood, a consecrated body, a confessing +tongue and a godly life. Amen.</p> + +<p>This subject has already been alluded to under a different +head, but it will bear repetition.</p> + +<p>In the ceremonial used under the law for the cleansing +of the leper, we find an impressive type or symbol +of holiness. Leprosy is most clearly and strikingly +a type of inbred sin. It is loathsome, unclean, incurable, +fatal and hereditary. The leper was driven from society; +he could not dwell in the camp nor in the city. He +was an outcast. None must be permitted to approach +him. They must be warned off by the despairing cry +“unclean, unclean.” Nothing can be conceived +more desolate or more hopeless than the condition +of the leper, unless it be, indeed, the sinner who +is an “alien from the commonwealth of Israel, +a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope +and without God in the world.”</p> + +<p>But to the leper, in many instances, came the glad +“day of cleansing.” He might not come +into the camp, until the priest went forth to him. +The priest and no one else could pronounce him clean. +And none but Christ has any authority to tell the +sinner that he is converted, or the believer that +he is sanctified. A clean bird must be slain over +living water, another bird dipped into this water flies +away toward heaven with bloody wing; the leper is +sprinkled seven times, to denote the completeness +or perfection of his cleansing, with blood by means +of hyssop and scarlet wool bound to a stick of cedar; +he must wash his clothes; he must pass a razor over +his whole body, and bathe the whole body likewise +in water. Certainly, all this needs no explanation. +Surely, here is atonement by blood, and cleansing by +the washing of water through the word, as plainly +described as symbolic language can utter it.</p> + +<p>All the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish law, the daily +sacrifice both morning and evening, the paschal lamb, +the Day of Atonement, the offerings at the various +feasts, and innumerable sacrifices offered for individuals +or for the whole people, the guilt offering, the sin +offering, one for what we have done, the other for +what we are, the peace offering, the burnt offering, +these, also, all point to the Lamb that was slain +from the foundation of the world. In all the sacrifices +which we have named, a life was taken and blood was +shed. “Almost all things are, by the law, purged +with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission.”</p> + +<p>But turn now to the New Testament, and read that “It +is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to +take away sins.” Read again, “If the blood +of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling +the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, +how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through +the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to +God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve +the living God.” Read again, “In Him we +have redemption through His blood” —­"Having +made peace through the blood of His cross"—­"Ye +who are far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"—­"Being +now justified by His blood"—­"That He might +sanctify the people with His own blood"—­and +especially “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, +cleanseth us from all sin.”</p> + +<p>Here, I insert a quotation from that saintly man, +Dr. Edgar M. Levy. “When an oblation for sin +was offered up under the old dispensation, the priest +was commanded to dip his finger in blood, and to sprinkle +it seven times before the Lord. This denoted the perfection +of the offering. Nor would the blessed antitype come +short of the type. Seven times, at least, did our +Lord pour forth His precious blood. He was circumcised +and there, of necessity, was blood. He was buffeted +on the mouth, and by such brutal hands, that this +must needs have been attended with blood. He was scourged, +and from Roman scouring there was, of course, blood. +The crown of thorns was driven into His precious temples +and, surely, this was not without blood. The sharp +nails penetrated into His hands and feet, and again +there was blood. And “one of the soldiers, with +a spear, pierced His side, and forthwith came thereout +blood and water.”</p> + +<p>The blood of Jesus, then, is the procuring cause of +our sanctification as it is of our justification. +Glory be to His Name forever for the precious, cleansing +blood. And every Christian can heartily join in the +immortal hymn of Toplady on the “Rock of Ages,” +and especially with the rendering now frequently given +to the conclusion of the first stanza, <i>viz</i>.:</p> + +<p> “Let the water and the blood<br /> +  From Thy wounded side which flowed,<br /> +  Be of sin the double cure<br /> +  Save from wrath—­and make me +pure.”</p> + +<p>The pure olive oil is mentioned many times in Scripture, +and was used for a great variety of purposes. In typology, +however, it has special reference to the office work +of the Holy Spirit. He is distinctively the Sanctifier, +and to be filled with the Spirit is designated by the +Apostle John as “the unction” or “the +anointing.” The holy anointing oil was to be +sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all its sacred vessels. +It was also poured upon the heads of prophets, priests +and kings, as a necessary qualification for the discharge +of their respective offices. There can be no doubt +but that this use of the anointing oil and the sweet +perfume, which none were permitted to imitate or counterfeit, +has a direct typical reference to holiness. The sacred +writer, indeed, says as much. “That they may +be most holy; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.” +And as all Christians are kings and priests unto God, +it is necessary that they also be anointed with the +Holy Spirit, as their types in the Old Testament dispensation +were anointed with the outward oil. “Be ye clean +that bear the vessels of the Lord.” A priest +must be holy.</p> + +<p>We have already spoken of leprosy as a type of inbred +sin, and of the requirement of blood-shedding in the +cleansing of the leper. But before that cleansing +was complete, the anointing oil, also, was to be applied +to the leper, who was healed of his malady. As the +priest had already touched his ear, his thumb and +his toe with the blood of the sacrifice, so now he +touched the same parts also with the oil. First, the +blood; afterwards, the oil. And thus it is in the +wondrous plan of salvation through the Lord Jesus +Christ. First, atonement for guilt and to secure pardon; +afterwards, the Holy Ghost baptism for complete cleansing. +First, justification through the blood; then entire +sanctification through the Spirit.</p> + +<p>The anointing oil was also to be applied to the ear, +the thumb and the toe of Aaron and his sons in their +consecration to the priesthood and, finally, poured +upon their mitred heads that it might reach the beard +and the skirts of the garments, but by no means touch +the flesh. And so, beloved, we must be touched with +blood and oil as to our spiritual ears, that we may +take heed how we hear and what we hear; and as to our +hands that they may do the work of God in all righteousness, +and goodness and truth; and as to our feet, that they +may run swiftly and beautifully upon the errands of +redeeming love; and, at last, upon our heads and running +down overall the person to purify and energize the +whole man, that we may be “ever, only, all for +Him.” Praise the Lord. And this can never happen +while the flesh, the carnal mind, is still alive.</p> + +<p>Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and the Son of +Man, He who was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate +from sinners, was, nevertheless, anointed with the +Holy Ghost as a needful qualification for His mediatorial +work.</p> + +<p>In the synagogue at Nazareth, He read part of the +sixty-first chapter of Isaiah. “The Spirit of +the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed +Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He had sent +Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty +to the captives, and the opening of the prison to +them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year +of the Lord"—­and here He ceased His quotation +abruptly, without saying a word about “the day +of vengeance of our God.” It was now a day of +grace, not a day of vengeance. But to those who will +not accept this grace, that terrible day of vengeance +will surely come. Jesus was anointed, and He was holy. +His anointed followers must also be holy. They must +seek and find the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fire, they must be sanctified wholly. To be baptized, +and filled and anointed with the Holy Ghost is the +privilege and duty of all God’s children. If +we would belong to the royal priesthood, we must be +cleansed from the defilement of sin.</p> + +<p>Finally, we will allude to the fire symbol. Gold is +spoken of in Scripture as tried in the fire. So of +silver. “He” (Christ) “shall sit +as a refiner and purifier of silver.” The precious +metals will endure the fire, but “dross and +tin,” as well as reprobate silver, will and +must be consumed. The baptism with the Holy Ghost and +with fire is a sin-consuming baptism. Fire is a great +purifier. It makes the substance which is subjected +to it pure through and through, and not like anything +cleansed by water, pure as to its surface only. “Our +God is a consuming fire.” Oh, beloved, let us +give up to the fire all that is for the fire. Let +all depravity, all inbred sin, all tendency to depart +from God and yield to Satan, be burned up in this fiery +baptism. May God put upon all His pardoned children +not the blood-mark only, but the fire-mark also.</p> + +<h1><a name="#5">Chapter V.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification in Prophecy.</h2> + +<p>The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and +Daniel. The twelve prophetic books in the Old Testament +following the book of Daniel are called the Minor +Prophets. In the writings of both classes we find many +allusions and predictions as to the entire sanctification +of believers in the gospel dispensation and under +the reign of Messiah or Christ.</p> + +<p>The sixth chapter of Isaiah is usually regarded as +his call to the prophetic office. Whether this be +so or not, it records a very wonderful experience +of that grand man, and a remarkable type of the baptism +with the Holy Ghost as described in the book of Acts.</p> + +<p>It is quite evident that Isaiah was a converted man +before he wrote his first chapter. In that he laments +the sins of the Israelites and the Jews, all of them +God’s chosen people, though now divided into +the two kingdoms and these often at variance, shows +the utter futility of their own efforts to regain +the favor of God, by observances and sacrifices and +ceremonies, and then tells them how to be converted +as plainly as any gospel minister in our own day would +be able to do. He shows them that the way of salvation +is by repentance and faith, and by trusting to the +unmerited mercy of God. Hear him: “Wash you, +make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from +before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; +seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; +plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, +saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they +shall be as white as snow; though they be red like +crimson, they shall be as wool.”</p> + +<p>Here are repentance and amendment of life and pardon, +the washing away of guilt and committed sins, symbolical +of the New Testament washing of regeneration, symbolical +also of John’s baptism of repentance unto the +remission of sins.</p> + +<p>But now in the sixth chapter, and “in the year +that king Uzziah died,” a wondrous vision of +the pre-existent Christ, “sitting upon a throne +high and lifted up” and the seraphim crying one +to another “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of +hosts,” was vouchsafed to the prophet. And the +first effect of the glorious things which he saw and +heard was not to exalt him and minister to his pride, +but to fill him with despair at his own depravity. +He felt just as Peter did at the first miraculous +draught of fishes on the Sea of Galilee, when he exclaimed +“Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” +Ah! beloved, it never fosters spiritual pride, nor +any other kind of pride to get a nearer and clearer +view of Christ than we ever had before. Quite the contrary. +Such a vision turns us towards our inner selves, and +enables us to behold by contrast the darkness and +sinfulness and pollution of our own souls, and in +such a view we shall find food for the deepest humiliation, +but nothing to nourish pride.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Isaiah exclaimed in agony of soul “Woe +is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean +lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean +lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of +hosts.” If we may credit Jewish tradition, it +was for the offence of saying that he had seen the +King, the Lord of hosts, that the prophet was afterwards +sawn asunder. But the record of the glorious vision +is still preserved and will, no doubt, be blessed +to millions of readers in the future, as in the past, +and until the end of the age.</p> + +<p>But the seraph was sent to touch the “unclean +lips” of Isaiah—­unclean because of +innate depravity, and unclean notwithstanding he had +probably been preaching repentance and amendment of +life and forgiveness for two or three years before +this wondrous experience—­to touch them +with holy fire. And then he was assured not that his +sins of commission and omission were forgiven—­that +had been done before—­but that his iniquity +was taken away, and his (inbred) sin purged. This was +a second and a definite experience, and strikingly +emblematic of the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fire under the gospel dispensation, which is also +accompanied by “the purifying of the heart by +faith,” or entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>How wondrous are the prophecies of Isaiah after this +experience. He seems to look down the centuries for +seven hundred years and to see the glorious blessings +of the gospel dispensation almost as clearly as if +they were already present. Hear him in the thirty-fifth +chapter: “And an highway shall be there and +a way; and it shall be called the way of holiness; +the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be +for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall +not err therein.” And in the fifty-first chapter: +“Awake, awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion! +put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy +city; for henceforth, there shall no more come into +thee the uncircumcised and the unclean,” and +in the sixtieth chapter: “Thy sun shall no more +go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for +the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the +days of thy mourning shall be ended.”</p> + +<p>To Jeremiah the Lord said, “I sanctified thee; +and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations,” +which must mean not only that he was set apart for +the office of a prophet, but also that he was cleansed +from inbred sin, as a necessary preparation for the +office itself.</p> + +<p>In the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel we have some +striking passages on the theme before us. These were, +no doubt, addressed primarily to the outward Israel, +but they may very justly be appropriated by the Israel +of God, the Church of Christ, since as Augustine says, +“The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and +the Old is revealed in the New.”</p> + +<p>In the twenty-fifth verse we have the promise of pardon +or justification with cleansing from the pollution +of their past sins: “Then will I sprinkle clean +water upon you and ye shall be clean, from all your +filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.” +Committed sin implies both guilt and pollution. And +the pollution that is thus acquired by the practice +of sinning is removed in regeneration. Thus the new +convert is brought back again to the state of the little +child. “Except ye be converted,” said the +blessed Saviour, “and become as little children, +ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The +little child has neither the guilt nor the pollution +of committed sin; whilst he does have within him the +inherited or inbred sin of his nature.</p> + +<p>Now in the promise quoted above, allusion is made +to the clean water made from the ashes of a red heifer +and sprinkled, under the Mosaic law, upon those who +had incurred ceremonial uncleanness. The thing signified, +however, is the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth +from all sin, or possibly the cleansing operation of +the Holy Spirit, typified by water, may here be meant. +At any rate the twenty-fifth verse points to nothing +less than a full and free justification.</p> + +<p>But the prophet continues: “A new heart also +will I give you and a new spirit will I put within +you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your +flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.” +Here we have described certainly the experience of +regeneration, if indeed not the still fuller experience +of entire sanctification. But let us admit that it +means only the new heart which is given to the penitent +sinner at his new birth. Regeneration implies the +impartation of a new life by the Divine energy of +the Holy Ghost. And this new life is comparable to +the “heart of flesh,” not, of course, a +carnal heart, but a heart tender and teachable, and +impressible to heavenly influences, such a heart as +we always find in the new-born babe in Christ.</p> + +<p>But listen still further: “And I will put My +Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, +and ye shall keep My judgments and do them.” +In this verse we have a pre-figuring of the Holy Ghost +baptism, by which the heart is cleansed from all sin +and sanctified wholly, and also of the subsequent +“walking in the Spirit,” to which Paul +alludes in one of his epistles. Zacharias, the father +of John the Baptist, who was also seized with prophetic +fire at the birth of his son, exclaims, “That +He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out +of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without +fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all +the days of our life.” Surely the gospel of +Christ has something better for its recipients than +a constant daily sinning and repenting, which is too +often the experience of Christian people. The twenty-seventh +verse, therefore, signifies holiness of heart and +life through the power of the indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>How blessed it is thus to be assured that what we +cannot do by our own strength, the Holy Spirit will +cause us to do. This doctrine of spiritual causation +is indeed glorious. Like the mainspring of the watch +which supplies the power within, by which the hands +are moved without, and thus the fleeting minutes and +hours are correctly measured, so the Holy Spirit within +supplies the energy by which the sanctified believer +is enabled or caused to adorn the doctrine of Christ, +his Saviour, in all things, and to bring forth the +fruit of the Spirit in all righteousness and goodness +and truth.</p> + +<p>In the minor prophets, we find numerous allusions +to the subject of holiness, though their language +is often highly figurative. In Hosea 2:16, after reproving +Israel for her unfaithfulness in the past, the Almighty, +through His prophet, employs the following language, +viz: “And it shall be at that day, saith the +Lord, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and shalt call +Me no more Baali,” and again in the nineteenth +verse, “I will betroth thee unto Me forever; +yea I will betroth thee in righteousness and in judgment +and in loving kindness and in mercies; I will even +betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt +know the Lord.” Now the word Ishi means my husband; +while the word Baali means my Lord, and the language, +therefore, points to an experience or a relation of +marriage. The bride is exalted immeasurably above the +servant. While the position of the servant points to +a legal justification and a service for wages and +reward, that of the bride must signify entire sanctification, +and the closest possible union with the Heavenly Bridegroom. +Again, the word betrothed points legitimately to a +marriage which is always justly expected to follow +if both parties are faithful to the engagement. Beloved, +let us get so near to Christ that we shall not address +Him as my Lord, in the spirit of a servant, but as +my husband, in the spirit of a loving and faithful +wife. At your conversion, you are, as it were, betrothed +to Him, or in ordinary language engaged to Him. At +your entire sanctification, your engagement is consummated +by the marriage union. Engagement must precede marriage, +it is true, but, as a rule, engagements should not +be long. Do not needlessly defer your nuptials, but +rather hasten to the embraces of Everlasting Love. +Like Rebecca, appreciate your high and holy calling, +and like her say promptly and decidedly, “I will +go.”</p> + +<p>In the book of Joel we find the prophecy which Peter +quoted on the day of Pentecost, and assured the multitude +of Jews, out of every nation under heaven, that what +they beheld on that day was the fulfillment of the +same. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that +I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your +sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men +shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. +And also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens +in those days will I pour out My Spirit.”</p> + +<p>Now, these words are clearly a foreshadowing of the +baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, designed for +all of God’s children without distinction of +nation or sex, and intended, first, to purify their +hearts by faith (see Acts 15:9) and, secondly, to endue +them with power for whatever line of service God may +call them to. And we may add that this text, as well +as many others, shows that in these gospel days women +as well as men may be, as we find in the facts of our +daily experience that they are both called and qualified +for the work of the ministry, as well as other labors +in the vineyard of the Lord. But both men and women +need the Holy Ghost baptism which consumes inbred sin, +as an indispensable qualification for the highest efficiency +and most marked success in the work to which they +may individually be called. Every Christian may and +should do something for the Lord, but none can do +all for Him which he makes it his privilege and his +duty to do, without the grace of entire sanctification +and the fulness of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>In the prayer of Habakkuk we have some sentences which +point unmistakably to the experience of perfect trust +in God and perfect love for Him. “Although the +fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be +in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and +the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be +cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd +in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will +joy in the God of my salvation.” Compare this +with John Wesley’s description of a holy man +after Paul. One who is enabled to rejoice evermore, +to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give +thanks. Does not Habakkuk answer beautifully to this +description?</p> + +<p>The prophecy of Zechariah contains a number of visions, +which are, no doubt, full of instruction to those +who have eyes to see. We can only mention one or two +of these. In the third chapter, verses one to seven, +we are introduced to Joshua, the high priest, representing +the Jewish people, and typifying Christ Jesus with +His eternal and unchangeable priesthood after the +order of Melchizedek. But the Angel Jehovah also represents +Jesus in His capacity of Judge. And Satan, the adversary, +is present as the accuser of the brethren, resisting +them in the person of their representative, the high +priest.</p> + +<p>And surely it would seem, at first, as if there was +ground for his accusations, for Joshua, the high priest, +is clothed in filthy garments, and these can signify +nothing else than sins, aye, the sins of His people +imputed to Him as their representative and priest, +and not their actual sins only but their inbred sin +also, for, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity +of us all,” and “He hath made Him to be +sin for us who knew no sin.” “His visage +was so marred more than any man, and His form more +than the sons of men.” “He hath no form +nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there is +no beauty that we should desire Him.”</p> + +<p>“Many were astonished at thee,” says Isaiah. +“Behold the man,” said Pilate, as he brought +forth Jesus scourged, tortured, bleeding, but uncomplaining, +and the only answer was “Crucify Him!” +Thus, beloved, was He clothed in very truth with the +filthy garments not of His own vileness but of ours.</p> + +<p>But Joshua was “a brand plucked from the burning,” +and, therefore, in Him all His people have found pardon. +And now comes the order “Take away the filthy +garments from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I +have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and +I will clothe thee with change of raiment.” +Surely, beloved, we here have nothing less than entire +sanctification, not in ourselves but in Him, and not +only simply imputatively and representatively, but +actually and experimentally. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>The prophet Malachi assures us that “He shall +sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall +purify the sons of Levi” (that is, the “royal +priesthood” which constitutes the true church) +“and purge them as gold and silver, that they +may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” +Surely no one will deny that there is holiness in +prophecy.</p> + +<h1><a name="#6">Chapter VI.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Jesus Christ.</h2> + +<p>Gabriel said to Mary in the annunciation, “Therefore, +that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be +called the Son of God.” Or in the Revised Version, +“Wherefore, also, that which is to be born shall +be called holy, the Son of God.” The author +of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of Him as “holy, +harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” +and Peter says that “He did no sin, neither was +guile found in His mouth.” He is called “Thy +holy child Jesus.” Jesus Christ, therefore, +was wholly free both from sin committed and sin indwelling. +He was absolutely holy in heart and holy in life, +holy in word and holy in act, holy in His birth, holy +in His death, holy in His resurrection, holy in His +ascension, holy in His eternity. Glory be to His Holy +Name.</p> + +<p>And if the Divine Founder of the Christian Church +was thus a holy man, it would, naturally, be expected +that He should desire to have a holy people; and if +He desire it, that He should also make provision for +it; and if He both desire it and hath made provision +for it, that we should find allusions to it in His +teachings. In this, we are not disappointed, as we +shall proceed to show.</p> + +<p>The Sermon on the Mount contains an epitome of the +public preaching of the Lord Jesus, and every sentence +is pregnant with meaning. From beginning to end, it +inculcates holiness as the privilege and duty of believers. +Many things are enjoined which would only be possible +to those who are sanctified wholly, such as, “Bless +them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, +love your enemies, resist not evil,” and many +others.</p> + +<p>The teachings of our Lord are like the headings of +chapters, which are filled out and developed in the +writings of the apostles. This is remarkably true +of the Sermon on the Mount, which, without going largely +into details, sets forth the principles which are to +govern His kingdom on earth. The application and interpretation +of these principles, He leaves to the inspired apostles +and evangelists, who continued to teach and preach +after His departure, and to the Holy Spirit who is +promised to the believing church as its guide, teacher +and comforter until Christ Himself shall come again.</p> + +<p>But besides many precepts and injunctions which imply +holiness, there are several, also, which expressly +require it. Among the beatitudes at the beginning +of the Sermon, we find this striking statement: “Blessed +are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” +Now, heart purity cannot exist while there is any +sin in the heart. Wherever there is sin in the heart, +whether actual or indwelling, there is also defilement; +and purity and defilement are incompatible terms.</p> + +<p>Heart purity, therefore, is identical with entire +sanctification, and heart purity is not only a great +energizer, so that a man is powerful for good in proportion +to the purity of his heart and life, but it is also +a great illuminator, so that it enables its possessor +to see God. This, of course, does not imply an open +or an outward vision, but a spiritual apprehension +of God, whereby we are brought into fellowship and +communion with Him, and in a spiritual sense, we maybe +truly regarded as seeing Him who is forever invisible +to outward sense.</p> + +<p>This inward purity, as distinguished from a blameless +outward walk, was by no means unknown to the Old Testament +writers. In the Twenty-fourth Psalm, David asks the +question “Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?” +And He immediately answers it by saying, “He +that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” The +clean hands imply that his works are in accordance +with God’s law; in other words, that his outward +life is free from condemnation. But the “pure +heart” means more than this, and suggests what +the same royal Psalmist remarks again in the Fifty-first +Psalm. “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward +parts, in the hidden part, Thou shalt make me to know +wisdom.” It is also noticeable in the Twenty-fourth +Psalm, as already quoted, that the clean hands or +justification comes before the pure heart or entire +sanctification. So accurate is the blessed spiritual +logic of the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Returning to the Sermon on the Mount, we find at the +end of Matthew fifth the direct command, “Be +ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which +is in heaven is perfect,” or if we take the Revised +Version, which is more accurate in translation, the +command becomes a positive assertion, which is equally +forcible. “Ye, therefore, shall be perfect as +your Heavenly Father is perfect.”</p> + +<p>But whether command or declaration, it is at first +sight simply astounding. It is overwhelming. So much +so, indeed, that our poor human spirits shrink back +in amazement, and we are ready to say, This is wholly +impossible. Surely, Jesus cannot mean what He says. +Or if He does, then my case is hopeless. But let us +examine the words a little more carefully.</p> + +<p>In the first place, we are to notice that He does +not say that we are to be equal in perfection to our +Father in Heaven. That would, indeed, be too absurd +for the wildest fancy to conceive. God is infinite +in all His attributes and, therefore, infinite in +perfection, and this in all directions. We are poor, +finite, sinful human beings, and can never even approach +the boundless perfection of Him who is wholly without +limit, either as to power, space or duration, or righteousness, +justice and holiness.</p> + +<p>But the command is not, Be ye equal to your Heavenly +Father in perfection, but, Be ye perfect with the +same kind of perfection which appertains to Him. It +may be similar in kind whilst falling infinitely short +of His perfection in degree. Now, God is infinite and +perfect in all His attributes, but apart from His +attributes is His essence. And what is the perfection +which is predicated of the essence of God? Or, rather, +what is His essence itself? It is love. “God +is love,” says the apostle. “Thy nature +and Thy name is love,” says the great hymnologist, +Charles Wesley. The essential perfection of the Godhead, +therefore, is a perfection of love. And we are assured +by the beloved John that it is possible for us, also, +to be made perfect in love, and to possess the perfect +love which casteth out fear. Hence, if we are perfect +in love we are perfect even as our Father who is in +heaven is perfect. Behold the blessed simplicity of +the gospel.</p> + +<p>The context of the command referred to proves the +same thing. Jesus had just been telling His disciples +that it is not sufficient for them to love their friends, +and do good to those that do good to them. All these +things and more are done even by worldly minded people +and open sinners. Unsaved people love those who love +them. But Jesus continues, “I say unto you, +love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully +use you and persecute you.” Why? “That +ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven,” +for that is just the way He does. He does not wait +for a man to be His friend before He loves him and +shows kindness to him. “He maketh His sun to +rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain +on the just and on the unjust.” And, if we are +to be the children of such a Father, we must adopt +His sentiments and love in our measure as He loves. +His essence being love, all His infinite activities +are controlled and regulated and directed by love, +and when there is nothing contrary to love in our +hearts, so that all our finite activities are in like +manner impelled and swayed and directed by love, then +we are perfect in love, and perfect even as our Heavenly +Father is perfect. Glory to His Name.</p> + +<p>I believe that if we search carefully and prayerfully +we shall find the doctrine of entire sanctification +in many of the parables of our Saviour. Take, for +instance, the parable of the sower. Here we are expressly +told that the seed is the word of God, and, of course, +the sowers are all ministers and Christian workers +who are trying in any right way, to diffuse a knowledge +and acceptance of gospel truth. They are devoting +themselves to the salvation of human souls. Now, mark +the difference as to the ground upon which the good +seed falls. (1) The wayside hearers are not concerted +at all. (2) The stony ground hearers are converted +but not established. Their shallowness is such as to +prevent them from withstanding trial and temptation +and hence they fall into backsliding. (3) The thorny +ground hearers are converted, but inbred sin remains +in their hearts in form of the love of riches, whether +these riches are possessed or only desired, or too +much care and cumber, having so much regard to the +secular as to neglect the spiritual, or in the form +of unsanctified desire, “the lusts of other +things,” and so by sin that dwelleth in them +the word is “choked,” and though they +may bring forth a little meagre fruit of inferior quality, +yet they bring “no fruit to perfection.” +They are justified but not sanctified wholly.</p> + +<p>Now, our Heavenly Father desires not a little fruit +but much fruit. “Every branch that bringeth +forth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth +more fruit.” To purge is to purify or, in a spiritual +sense, to sanctify, and this is the condition of abundant +fruitage. When the thorns are removed the good seed +will grow and flourish. When inbred sin is taken out +of the heart the Christian believer will bring forth +fruit to perfection, even the perfection of love, and +this will be the “much fruit” whereby +God is glorified.</p> + +<p>On one occasion we are told that a lawyer asked Jesus +“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” +and when asked in reply what were the words of the +Mosaic law he answered, “Thou shalt love the +Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul +and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” +Jesus commended his answer and added “This do +and thou shalt live.” Hence, our Saviour teaches +that holiness consists of nothing more nor less nor +else than perfect love to God and man. What constitutes +this love has been already explained.</p> + +<p>Martha was a good Christian, but she was “careful +and troubled about many things.” Mary was a +good Christian and still earnestly seeking the one +thing needful, which is full salvation, or holiness +of heart and life. Even good Christians may be “cumbered +about much serving,” and so miss this one thing +needful. We cannot doubt that both the sisters, who +vividly typify the two experiences, obtained the blessing +of holiness when the pentecostal baptism was poured +out upon the church of the hundred and twenty, if +not before. In the marvelous intercessory prayer of +the Lord Jesus, given in the seventeenth of John, we +find these expressions, “Sanctify them through +Thy truth. Thy word is truth.” And again, “For +their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also may be +sanctified through the truth.” Here we discover +the two senses of the word sanctify. Jesus sets Himself +apart or consecrates Himself to the work of human +redemption in order that His followers, in all ages, +may be not only set apart or consecrated, but also +sanctified wholly, or made holy in heart and life. +He gave Himself for the world of sinners lost, that +they might be forgiven and saved. He gave Himself for +the church, on the other hand, that He might “sanctify +and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, +that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, +not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but +that it should be holy and without blemish.” +Thus, the atoning sacrifice of Christ procured pardon +and acceptance for the penitent sinner. It procured +not less, certainly, entire sanctification for the +consecrated believer. And it is only by accepting Him +as a perfect Saviour that He “is made of God +unto us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification +and redemption.”</p> + +<p>For the blessed Saviour does not leave us in doubt +as to the method of obtaining this great blessing +of holiness, nor as to the price, which must be paid +for it. Entire sanctification is “one pearl of +great price,” and he who would possess it must +go and sell all that he has. The rich young ruler +had a first-class record as to morality and the outward +observance of the law of God, yet Jesus said to him, +“One thing thou lackest,” and that one +thing was perfect love, for He added, “If thou +wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give +to the poor,” and then interjecting a promise, +“Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come +take up the cross and follow Me.” The price was +too great, and the young man went away sorrowful. +Alas! Myriads of souls since have found the price +too great, and by refusing to pay it, have deprived +themselves of unspeakable blessing. Christ would not +have us become His followers without counting the +cost, and the cost is all that we have and all that +we are. “Whosoever forsaketh not all that he +hath, he cannot be My disciple.”</p> + +<p>First, we are to forsake, with full purpose of heart, +all known sin. It may be the sin which “easily +besets,” our own bosom sin, near as a right +eye or a right hand, but if it causes us to stumble, +it must be relentlessly sacrificed. And even if the +sacrifice seems like crippling and maiming us, yet +Jesus assures us that it is better to enter into eternal +life with one eye or one hand, than to be consigned +to everlasting death with two eyes or two hands. In +the first place, therefore, we are to “reckon +ourselves dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God +through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”</p> + +<p>But we are to become dead, indeed, not only to all +sin, but we must be dead, also, even to lawful things, +except as God in His mercy may grant them to us, to +have and enjoy in moderation and to His glory. Jesus +teaches us that our highest affection, our deepest +love must be fastened upon Him alone, and that if +any individual love, father or mother, son or daughter, +wife or husband more than Him, such a one is not worthy +of Him. We are to love His gifts and thank Him for +them, but still more are we to love the Giver Himself.</p> + +<p>And when we love Him supremely, we shall learn to +be satisfied with Himself, and what He in His love +and mercy chooses to give us. If He permits us to +have an abundance of earthly goods, we shall thank +Him and use them as stewards of His for His glory. +If He allows our family circle to be invaded by death, +and one dear one after another is carried away to +the tomb, or if He permits our wealth to be taken from +us and consign us to poverty and desolation, if His +gifts one by one or altogether are withdrawn from +us, why, praise the Lord, we still have the Giver, +and can still say with Job “The Lord gave and +the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the +Lord.”</p> + +<p>It thus appears that the teachings of our Lord require +us to be dead to sin, and dead to self, yea, even +to lawful self, in order that we may possess this +inestimable blessing of entire sanctification. Let +us not hesitate, then, beloved, to lay down our lives. +“Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, +but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the +same shall save it.”</p> + +<p>“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground +and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth +forth much fruit.”</p> + +<h1><a name="#7">Chapter VII.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Paul.</h2> + +<p>The apostleship of the Gentiles was committed specially +to Paul. And as the Gospel of Christ is intended for +the salvation not of the Jews only, but of all mankind +who are willing to accept the conditions, we find +in the writings of this apostle, perhaps, a more complete +exposition and expansion of the teachings of the Lord +Jesus than in any other inspired author. Jesus gave +the concise germinal principles of all gospel truth; +and Paul deduces from these principles their logical +consequences and develops them, under the inspiration +of the Holy Spirit, into those wonderful epistles +to the churches, which, though as Peter well observes +containing some things hard to be understood, are +no doubt destined, nevertheless, in the future as in +the past, to form a large part both of the foundation +and framework of every system of theological doctrine. +How wondrous, for instance, is the scheme of redemption +as unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Romans! How +profound and how exalted is the spirituality of the +Ephesians and Colossians! How pure and how practical +are the directions to the Corinthians! What a counter-blast +to all legality in the church do we have in Galatians! +What a marvelous unfolding of Old Testament typology +in the Hebrews! What a guidebook of unequalled excellency +for ministers of all times in the pastoral epistles!</p> + +<p>In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul regards mankind +under the two divisions of the Gentile and the Jew, +and proceeds to show that both classes alike had failed +in their efforts to attain to righteousness and salvation.</p> + +<p>The Gentile, it is true, had not been favored with +an outward revelation, but he had been permitted to +behold the outward universe, and to know that it had +a Creator “of eternal power and divinity.” +He had also had a conscience within him, and so much +light as rendered him an accountable being, with a +sense of obligation to a supreme power, and furnishing +another proof of the existence of a personal God. But +the Apostle tells us that they, the Gentiles, did not +like to retain God in their knowledge. They wickedly +extinguished the light which He had given them, because +they were not willing to give up their immoralities. +And as their hearts became more corrupt, their intellects +also were darkened, and in their senselessness they +changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the +baser image of “birds and four-footed beasts +and creeping things.” They sank into the grossest +idolatry and licentiousness and all wickedness. This +picture drawn in colors which shock our sensibilities, +in the first chapter of Romans, is confirmed by the +authentic writings of heathen historians, and this +in all particulars, Paul says, “They are without +excuse, because they did not live up to the light +which they had received, obscure and imperfect as +it was.”</p> + +<p>And how was it with the Jews? The advantage was, indeed, +to them much every way, but chiefly because to them +were committed the oracles of God. They had an outward +revelation, and with it a knowledge of that law of +God, which is holy and just and good.</p> + +<p>But they had failed, if possible, more grievously +than the Gentiles themselves. They had received the +law by the disposition of angels, as Stephen told +them and had not kept it. They had had far more light +than the Gentiles, but they had fallen into the same +sins as they. They prided themselves on the law, and +looked with contempt upon the Gentiles, and condemned +them for their immoralities, and yet were guilty of +similar immoralities themselves. They talked loudly +about the words of the law. “Do not steal.” +“Do not commit adultery,” and yet violated +these very commands themselves. Jesus in His scathing +denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, compared +them to whited sepulchres, looking well outwardly, +but within full of dead men’s bones and all +uncleanness: and He warned His disciples to beware +of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, +and the leaven of the Sadduces, which is infidelity, +and the leaven of the Herodians, which is worldly +mindedness.</p> + +<p>The cause of failure was the same, both with Jew and +Gentile. It was something that had occurred long before +the division into Jew and Gentile had an existence. +It had occurred, in short, when man fell. From fallen +parents our entire race had inherited a fallen nature, +that is to say, a natural proclivity towards sin. +There is a disposition in all mankind to yield to +temptation, some in one direction, some in another, +and thus to say yes to Satan, while they also say no +to God. This bias towards evil is sometimes called +depravity or original sin. It is called by Paul “Our +old man,” “the flesh,” “the +carnal mind,” “the body of sin,” +and “sin that dwelleth in me.” A good and +convenient name for it is inbred sin. It is sin in +the heart as distinguished from sin in the act. It +is the inward cause of which our outward sins are +the effects. It is the evil root of which our outward +sins are the bitter fruits.</p> + +<p>Now, it was the inbred sin in the hearts of the Gentiles +which caused them to quench the light of the knowledge +of God, which they must have had for, at least, a +generation or two after Noah came out of the ark, +and which made them blind to the light even of natural +religion, notwithstanding before their eyes the heavens +were declaring the glory of God and the firmament +was showing His handiwork, day unto day was uttering +speech, and night unto night was showing knowledge. +They forsook the knowledge of God, and He left them +to their own reprobate minds, the result being that +they sank into the grossest idolatry and the most +beastly sensuality.</p> + +<p>The Jew had the unspeakable advantage of an outward +revelation. He received through Moses the law of God, +which showed him what God desired him to be and do, +and what he ought to be and do, but which conferred +upon him no power for being or doing what it required. +It is like a looking-glass placed before a child to +show him that his face is soiled, but having no power +to cleanse that face. It was like a plumb-line applied +to a leaning wall, which shows how far it deviates +from the perpendicular, but which has no power to +make it upright. Nay, it even comes to pass that in +consequence of inbred sin, the law multiplies offences. +It causes sin to abound. We find even in most children +a disposition that impels them to do and to have just +what they are told they must not do and have. That +is to say, when the law comes in, inbred sin rises +in rebellion against it.</p> + +<p>The workings of the sin that dwelleth in us is most +vividly described by Paul in the seventh chapter of +Romans. Over the real meaning of this chapter, there +has been much discussion and wide differences of opinion. +Some writers think that this is the best experience +of the great apostle of the Gentiles, and they draw +consolation from this fact, as well as argument, in +favor of continuing to sin in thought and word and +deed as long as they live. Others think that the apostle +is not here describing a Christian experience at all, +but the struggles of a Jew who is seeking the favor +of God by keeping His law, but finds his attempts +to keep it all in vain, the hindrance being inbred +sin. I freely admit that it is not what even a justified +experience ought to be, for God has assured us through +His apostle, John, that He that is born of God doth +not commit sin, and, therefore, notwithstanding the +presence of inbred sin in the heart of the justified +and regenerated believer, yet such a one, by watchfulness +and prayer, may be kept from acts of sin and from +becoming a backslider. But in point of fact, the seventh +of Romans does describe what, in many cases, is the +experience of the converted Christian.</p> + +<p>For there are many who even after a clear conversion +and a joyful sense of God’s favor, with the +witness of the Spirit to their adoption, yet do yield +to temptation under the pressure of inbred sin, and +so pass weeks, or months or weary years in what is +called an up-and-down experience, not becoming confirmed +backsliders, but sinning and repenting, delighting +in the law of God after the inward man, but often +yielding to the demands of the law of sin, which is +in their members, not losing their sonship, but losing +their communion and their joy, often like Peter weeping +bitterly over their transgressions, but finding that +while the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.</p> + +<p>I said that such a process, unsatisfactory as it is, +might go on for years. It ends either in complete +religious declension amounting, sometimes, to apostacy +on the one hand, or infinitely better, in the entire +sanctification of the heart and complete deliverance +from inbred sin. And in these days of enlightenment, +when the doctrine and experience of holiness are so +plainly taught, and so generally diffused among the +children of God, it is, at least, doubtful whether +a soul can continue long in a state of justification, +which means that it will either go forward to the +experience of entire sanctification, or else it will +fall into back-sliding as did some of the Corinthians, +or into legality as did the Galatians.</p> + +<p>Now, legality is nothing more nor less than Judaism. +It is seeking salvation after the pattern of the Old +Testament, and not after that of the New. It is a +matter of works, and not a matter of faith. It inquires +“What good thing shall I do that I may inherit +eternal life?” It is the child of the bondwoman +and not that of the free. It is Ishmael and not Isaac. +It is Sinai and not Calvary.</p> + +<p>And so it happens that many Christians are simply +good Jews. They may even possess circumcised hearts, +and may yet serve the Lord in the spirit of bondage, +as did good Jews of old. They fail to realize that +they have been called unto liberty, which liberty does +not, by any means, signify license; it does not signify +the liberty of making our own choices, but the liberty +of accepting gladly and submissively God’s choices; +it does not mean the liberty of doing either right +or wrong as we may prefer, but the liberty of always +preferring to do right and never wrong, and so to +spend our years on earth, doing right in all directions, +and doing wrong in none. This, beloved, is the glorious +liberty of the children of God.</p> + +<p>After the birth of Ishmael, we may well suppose that +Hagar’s chief employment in Abraham’s +house was to look after the said Ishmael, to care +for him and to restrain him. Mark, it was never her +business to care for or to restrain Isaac. He was +the child of promise, the child of faith, the son +of the lawful wife and the free woman, and when Ishmael’s +persecuting spirit broke forth at the weaning of Isaac, +then the command was “Cast out the bond woman +and her son.” Both must go together or stay +together. Ah! beloved, when inbred sin is cast out, +there is no more need of the law either to restrain +or constrain. Perfect love casts out fear; it also +casts out sin, and becomes the motive power of the +whole spiritual man. “The love of Christ constraineth +us.”</p> + +<p>So Paul shows us that both Gentiles and Jews had failed +to attain unto the law of righteousness, because of +inbred sin, which caused the former to put out the +light which they had, and the latter to fall short +of keeping the law, which was their only hope of salvation, +but which was never intended by its Divine Author +to save men, but to show them how utterly incapable +they were of saving themselves.</p> + +<p>But Paul does not leave them there. After putting +both classes of the human family into the same position +of failure and condemnation, and declaring that there +is no difference, “for all have sinned and come +short of the glory of God,” he adds, “Being +justified fully by His grace, through the redemption +that is in Christ Jesus.” When man’s helplessness +and inability have been sufficiently demonstrated, +then God comes to his rescue. “For God hath +concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have +mercy upon all.”</p> + +<p>Thus in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle teaches +the great doctrine of justification by faith and the +consequent peace of reconciliation, the “peace +with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But +he goes farther than justification, and shows us that +sanctification, also, is by faith and not by works. +He will not be satisfied with anything less than the +death of our old man, and the death of inbred sin +is precisely the experience of entire sanctification. +“Knowing this that our old man is crucified +with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, +that, henceforth, we should not serve him.”</p> + +<p>But we are wholly unable to destroy or do away with +the body of sin by any resolution or will-power or +effort of our own. Sin will not go dead at our bidding, +nor can we become dead to sin by wishing or striving +to be so. Again, we are brought face to face with our +helplessness, but the apostle solves the problem for +us by directing us to resort to the process of reckoning. +“Likewise reckon ye, also, yourselves to be +dead, indeed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through +Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Ah! now, our help is +laid upon one that is mighty. “The things that +are impossible with men are possible with God.” +What we reckon, with the sublime reckoning of faith, +Christ can make real and true. We have only, therefore, +to reckon ourselves to be dead, indeed, unto sin, +and leave to Him to make the reckoning good. But we +must not fail to reckon ourselves alive as well as +dead. And to be alive to God means, in this connection, +to be responsive to every intimation of His will, +to love Him perfectly, to be, to do and to suffer +joyfully all that He may determine concerning us, in +short, to be sanctified wholly. Oh, beloved, what +a blessed reckoning is the reckoning of faith! How +vastly does it transcend all the reckonings of logic +or mathematics. For, by it, we experience a continual +deadness to sin, and a continual holiness of heart +and life.</p> + +<p>For it must be clearly understood that Paul is not +asking us to fancy, or imagine, or hypothecate. He +is not telling us that if we believe a thing to be +true, the believing will make it true. He is not persuading +us to reckon without factors and with no result. The +factors in his direction are God’s promises +and commands, alike in the Old Testament and in the +New, urging His people to be holy, and promising to +make them so, and our acceptance of the provision +He has made for our cleansing, by faith, and then +by the reckoning alluded to, the result is secured.</p> + +<p>In foggy or cloudy weather, mariners at sea are often +compelled to resort to what they term dead-reckoning. +Sometimes for days together, the sun is hidden by +clouds, and no observation can be taken with the usual +instruments for determining latitude and longitude. +Then the captain ascertains by the compass what direction +he is pursuing, and by the log, the rate at which +the ship is sailing, and thus by marking out his daily +advance on a chart, he is enabled, with astonishing +accuracy, to determine when and at what point he will +sight the shore toward which the voyage is directed. +What he reckons becomes real, when he tells the passengers, +“Within five minutes, we ought to see the Irish +coast,” followed within the specified time by +the cry from the lookout, “Land, ho!”</p> + +<p>To the Christian believer, the Bible is both compass +and log and chart. Sometimes, he enjoys the witness +of the Spirit clear as the sunshine, assuring him +that he is going in the right direction, and informing +him as to his whereabouts in Christian experience, +but when not thus favored, he can still move on by +faith, he still has his compass and his chart, and +he can still employ the dead-reckoning, and go forward +with a holy trust that in due time he shall land in +the heavenly port. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>To comment in detail upon all that the great apostle +of the Gentiles has written in reference to entire +sanctification would require a volume instead of a +single chapter. I must, therefore, content myself +with a few selections, and leave the reader to pursue +the subject for himself in the inexhaustible mine +of the Pauline Epistles.</p> + +<p>In Romans 6:13, we have the best description of consecration +that is to be found anywhere. “Neither yield +ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness +unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that +are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments +of righteousness unto God.” And, again, in the +19th verse, “For as ye have yielded your members +servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity; +even so, now, yield your members servants to righteousness, +unto holiness.”</p> + +<p>Here, the apostle clearly teaches us that consecration +is not the same thing as entire sanctification. The +one is an act proceeding from man to God, the other +is an act proceeding from God to man. It is man who +consecrates; it is God who sanctifies.</p> + +<p>Perfect consecration is an entire surrender of a personal +human being to a personal God. The term members may +well be understood to include all bodily organs and +powers, all mental faculties and sensibilities, and +all appurtenances, such as time, money, influence, +culture, health, and, in short, the whole personal, +individual man, with all his belongings. The surrender +must be complete, absolute, unreserved and forever. +Body, soul, spirit, time, talents, possessions, all +that we have and all that we are must be His, wholly +His, and His to all eternity.</p> + +<p>Such a consecration cannot be made by any one who +is not already a Christian believer. Paul informs +us, explicitly, that he is not calling upon sinners +“dead in trespasses and sins,” to consecrate +themselves, but upon converted persons, “those +who are alive from the dead.” How thankful we +ought to be that he has settled that point forever. +Sinners may repent, but only Christians can consecrate. +Whatever surrender the sinner may and must make in +order to be saved, the believer must make a broader, +deeper, fuller, more complete surrender of a different +character and for a different purpose. In repentance, +the sinner gives himself away as a dead sacrifice, +and his purpose is to receive pardon and life. In +consecration, the Christian yields to God his living +and regenerated faculties and powers, and his purpose +is that he may be sanctified wholly, filled with the +Spirit, and used to the utmost extent of his capacity +for the glory of God.</p> + +<p>Consecration does not mean the giving up of our sins, +or vices, or depraved appetites, or forbidden indulgences. +We cannot consecrate our alcohol, or our tobacco, +or our opium, or our card-playing, or dancing, or +theater-going to God. He wants none of these things. +All actual and known sins must be abandoned at conversion. +Our consecration is for a deeper work, that is to +say, for the removal of inbred sin, which, after all, +is not accomplished by our consecration, though that +is an essential preliminary, but by the baptism with +the Holy Ghost and fire.</p> + +<p>The essence of consecration is in the sentence, “Yield +yourselves unto God.” When you yield yourselves, +you yield everything else. All the details are included +in the one surrender of yourself. Changing the emphasis, +we may read again, “Yield yourselves unto God.” +Consecration is not to God’s service, not to +His work, not to a life of obedience and sacrifice, +not to the church, not to the Christian Endeavor, not +to the missionary cause, nor even to the cause of +God; it is to God Himself. “Yield yourselves +unto God.” Your work, your service, your obedience, +your sacrifice, your right place and your allotted +duty will all follow in good time.</p> + +<p>Consecration is the willingness, and the resolution +and the purpose to be, to do, and to suffer all God’s +will. Its essence, already given in the words of Paul, +is given also in the words of the Saviour. “Not +My will but Thine be, done,” which is beautifully +versified by Frances Ridley Havergal, in the couplet,</p> + +<p> “Take my will and make it thine,<br /> +  It shall be no longer mine.”</p> + +<p>Consecration being a definite transaction, and made +once for all, does not need to be repeated unless +we have failed to keep it. To consecrate over and +over again is like a husband and wife marrying over +and over again. We are consecrated just as we are +married. The vow is upon us, and in the force of that +vow, we walk all our days. All we have to do is to +remember day by day that we are wholly the Lord’s, +and see to it that nothing is taken from the altar. +Those who have kept their consecration complete should +testify to its maintenance upon all suitable occasions, +and never deny it by word, deed or silence.</p> + +<p>Many years ago, I saw a form of consecration in an +English periodical, which is here given very slightly +modified, and which has been adopted by many. Let +all my readers unite with the author in entering into +this personal yielding to God.</p> + +<p>  I am willing<br /> +  To receive what Thou givest,<br /> +  To lack what Thou withholdest,<br /> +  To relinquish what Thou takest,<br /> +  To suffer what Thou inflictest,<br /> +  To be what Thou requirest,<br /> +  To do what Thou commandest.<br /> +               Amen.</p> + +<p>In this connection, we may add that when the consecration +is complete, it becomes, comparatively, an easy matter +to believe. Entire sanctification like justification, +and, indeed, all other gospel blessings and experiences, +is to be received by faith. But so long as the surrender +to God is not complete, faith refuses to act.</p> + +<p>When all obstructions are removed by an act of heartfelt +and sincere consecration, then it becomes as natural +and as easy to believe as it is to breathe, after +everything that hinders breathing is removed from +the air passages. We hear much complaint among Christians +of a want of faith. If they only had more faith, they +imagine that all would be well. When the disciples +of old asked Jesus to increase their faith, He told +them, in effect, to use what they had. If it were only +a mustard-seed faith, He assured them that it would +remove mountains. And we may justly conclude that +the difficulty with most seekers after entire sanctification +is not in a want of faith so much as in an incomplete +surrender. The carnal mind dies very hard. It attaches +itself to one worldly thing or another, and refuses +to be sundered from what it loves, and while this +is the case, the individual cannot believe that God +gives him the unspeakable blessing of heart purity. +But when all the preliminaries have been attended +to, and there is nothing else needed but to trust +in Jesus, then faith can appropriate His promises, +and in so doing realize their fulfillment.</p> + +<p>Another class of seekers is very much concerned about +the witness of the Spirit to assure them that the +blessing has been received. Probably in these cases +the very point that has not yet been consecrated to +God is the feeling, or the witness, which they so +much desire. “It often happens,” says +Dr. G. D. Watson, “that a patient, who has been +cured of some contagious disease, has to have a certificate +on leaving the hospital. In such a case the certificate +does not cure him, but certifies that he is cured. +How absurd for a patient just entering the hospital +to clamor for his health certificate before receiving +the doctor and taking the remedies. In like manner, +it is useless for a seeking soul to be clamoring for +the witness and waiting for the feeling before receiving +Jesus and fully trusting Him for the cure. We are +not to trust in the experience, but the Saviour who +imparts the experience.”</p> + +<p>Let us now return to Paul. In his first epistle to +the Corinthians, second and third chapters, he tells +us of three classes of persons: the natural man, the +spiritual man, and the babe in Christ. The natural +man, he tells us, receiveth not the things of the Spirit +of God; they are foolishness unto him; neither can +he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. +Such is a description of the unregenerate wherever +and whenever they are found. Their standard of judgment +is not that of the Holy Spirit. They are blind to +the truth of God and deaf to the story of salvation. +Being without spiritual life they are, of course, +without spiritual judgment. And yet, just such persons +are in all our churches, and the number is by no means +small. And often it strangely happens that these are +the very individuals who are noticeably forward in +expressing their opinions on the right way of managing +a church. Fine and costly edifices, artistic music, +entertainments and theatricals, eloquent preaching +or lecturing, something to be proud of and to draw +the crowd—­these are the things which in +their view make the church of their choice a success; +but as for the conversion of sinners, as for the spread +of the gospel at home and abroad, as for the sanctifying +of believers, as for the things of the Spirit of God, +they are foolishness unto them. What they need is a +deep and pungent conviction, a true repentance, a living +faith and a sound conversion. May God hasten it in +His time.</p> + +<p>“He that is spiritual,” says our apostle, +“judgeth or discerneth all things, yet he himself +is judged or discerned of no man.” The spiritual +man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit +and filled with the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit +abides as an ever-present Guide, Comforter and Friend. +In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified and +saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm +that such a one is always remarkable for depth or +soundness of judgment, for, as his religion is in +his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be +perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, +or rather the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does +have a wonderfully illuminating influence upon the +understanding. And the spiritual man, however many +things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition +of the natural man, because he has been there, while +he is not understood by the natural man because the +latter has not been where he is. And the same is true +of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal +Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood +by one who has the Spirit, while he is himself incapable +of judging or discerning the position of the latter.</p> + +<p>Paul assures the Corinthians that they are “yet +carnal,” and still he asserts that they are +“babes in Christ.” Such persons, and their +name is legion in all denominations of Christians, +are not wholly natural, neither are they wholly spiritual. +They are babes in Christ, and, therefore, they may +thank God that they are in Christ. They are converted, +they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified; +but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly +delivered from the carnal mind. Their state is a mixed +one, partly spiritual, partly carnal.</p> + +<p>Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete +and irrevocable consecration to God, and let them +ask for the baptism with the Holy Ghost and receive +Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering offices, +that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. +Oh, that spiritual men and women may increase and +abound in all our churches. Amen.</p> + +<p>In 2 Corinthians, 7:1, the apostle of the Gentiles +bases the experience of entire sanctification on the +glorious promises of God. “Having, therefore, +these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves +from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting +holiness in the fear of God.” To cleanse ourselves +is shown by the Greek tense to be an act done definitely +and once for all. It means, therefore, to put ourselves +under the conditions of cleansing by a definite act +of consecration to God. It means to place ourselves +in co-operation with the Holy Spirit, who is distinctively +the Sanctifier and Cleanser. It means, also, that +we are to seek and find the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and with fire, in order that our hearts may be +purified by faith, and then to continually avoid all +sources of temptation and all incentives to evil, +so far as we may; and continuously realize and experience +the holiness which Christ has instantaneously wrought +in our souls through His Holy Spirit. Filthiness of +the flesh signifies undue indulgence of sensual appetites, +as in gluttony, drunkenness and licentiousness, which +was probably very prevalent at Corinth. Filthiness +of the spirit is illustrated by idolatry and pride, +nor must we forget that the spirit is often polluted +also through pampering the body.</p> + +<p>Paul’s wonderful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, +has been so admirably treated of by Dr. Daniel Steele, +that I shall content myself with referring the reader +to his book on “Love Enthroned,” page 123, +and pass on. A single remark, however, may properly +be made. That prayer, undoubtedly, embodies all that +we mean by entire sanctification and the filling of +the Spirit and more.</p> + +<p>In 1 Thess. 5:23, we have another prayer of the great +apostle in which entire sanctification is expressly +petitioned for. “And the very God of peace sanctify +you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul +and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of +our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth +you, who also will do it.” The very form of +the expression in the first clause indicates that it +is possible to be sanctified wholly and possible to +be sanctified partially. All Christians are cleansed +from the pollution of sins committed, that is to say, +from the pollution they have acquired by actually +sinning. And thus the Corinthians are addressed by +Paul as sanctified, although, manifestly, many of +them were not holy in heart and life. On the other +hand, the apostle prays that the Thessalonians may +be sanctified wholly, although as a church they were +already in a healthy and prosperous condition, the +only exception being a few members who were too neglectful +of their outward business and too much disposed to +be busy-bodies. So we may conclude, without hesitation, +that all Christians are partially sanctified, while +many good Christians are not wholly sanctified.</p> + +<p>But provision was made in the gospel for the entire +sanctification of all believers, otherwise Paul would +not have prayed for it. And not only for their entire +sanctification as a definite, instantaneous act of +God, as shown by the Greek tense, but, also, for their +continual preservation in blamelessness, though not +in faultlessness, until the coming of our Lord Jesus +Christ. And lest they should stagger through unbelief +he adds, “Faithful is He that calleth you. You +are not to do it. He will do it for He is able.”</p> + +<p>And this experience extends to the whole man, the +spirit which takes hold of and communes with God, +the soul with its emotions, affections, desires and +volitions; the body with its appetites and its powers +all made holy and preserved holy. Glory!</p> + +<p>One more citation only and I will leave the reader +to his own researches in the rich storehouse of the +Pauline writings. Taking it for granted that Paul +is the author of the Hebrews, let us read chapter +7:25 of that profound epistle. “Wherefore, he +is able, also, to save them to the uttermost that +come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make +intercession for them.” To the uttermost refers, +undoubtedly, not only to time but to quantity. It +means entirely, perfectly, altogether, through and +through. And if he is able he is also willing. Oh, +that all my readers, with the writer, may praise God +now and evermore for salvation from the uttermost +to the uttermost. Amen.</p> + +<h1><a name="#8">Chapter VIII.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by Peter.</h2> + +<p>In the first place, Peter sanctioned all the writings +of his beloved brother, Paul, and this probably at +a period when Paul was either dead or separated from +his ministerial work by imprisonment. There is a tradition +that both the apostles were put to death on the same +day at Rome, the one by crucifixion, choosing himself +to have his head downward because unworthy to die +just like his Master—­the other by beheading, +because he was a Roman citizen, which was deemed, at +Rome, too honorable a position to be subjected to +the ignominious death of the cross. Even if this should +be true, yet Peter’s second epistle, in which +he endorses Paul’s teachings, and gives to his +writings the same authority as to the rest of the +Bible, seems to have been written but a short time +previous to his own martyrdom. The mature judgment +of Peter, therefore, was that Paul was an inspired +writer of Scripture, and that what he had given to +the churches through his epistles, and left as a permanent +legacy for the church universal, is to be received +as gospel truth. And this will apply to his copious +and frequent allusions to entire sanctification, as +well as to the various other subjects treated of by +his inspired pen. On the subject of holiness, therefore, +Peter and Paul are as one; and we need not be surprised +that in the very first sentence of his first epistle, +he addresses the Christians of the Jewish dispersion +in Asia Minor—­though by no means excluding +the Gentile converts—­as elect according +to the fore-knowledge (not predestination) of God +the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, which +must include entire as well as partial sanctification, +unto (not unconditional happiness or misery,) but unto +obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. +Thus, in one grand outburst of salutation from his +glowing heart, he associates sanctification of the +Spirit, the blood of sprinkling, and the obedience +of faith. Neither Peter nor Paul stops in the midst +of his earnest appeals to men’s hearts, in order +to give a lecture on Systematic Theology, but both +scatter seed-thoughts all over their inspired pages, +which are abundant in fruitage to the candid and reflecting +mind. And right here we remark that Paul to the Thessalonians +employs the same expression, sanctification of the +spirit, in connection with belief of the truth, and +thus putting the apostle of the circumcision by the +side of the apostle of the uncircumcision we have +sanctification by the blood of Jesus, sanctification +by faith, sanctification by the Holy Ghost, and even +in a subordinate sense, sanctification by obedience, +and all this without the slightest inconsistency or +contradiction.</p> + +<p>And as Peter starts out by calling God’s people +to holiness, he continues by reminding them that their +hope is to be fixed upon “an inheritance incorruptible +and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in +heaven for you.” What more natural than that +those who are expecting to inherit a holy heaven, +should themselves seek while here to become a holy +people? Surely we should desire a meetness for our +inheritance as well as a title to it.</p> + +<p>After speaking of the “trial of their faith +being much more precious than of gold which perisheth,” +the apostle utters forth an imperious call to entire +sanctification. “But as He which hath called +you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; +because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.” +Thus he quotes from the words of the great lawgiver +in Leviticus—­that Moses, whom all Jews have +delighted to honor, and shows at a glance that the +Old Testament, as well as the New, bears witness to +the holiness of God, and makes that fact a sufficient +reason for the command and requirement that His people +should be holy, also.</p> + +<p>Our Heavenly Father, then, is a holy God and dwells +in a holy heaven. Is it not most reasonable and most +fit that He should require all who are to dwell with +Him forever in that holy place, to be holy also? And +in order to find an abundant entrance into that everlasting +kingdom, we must be made holy while still clothed +in flesh and sojourning upon earth. Nothing that is +not already pure and holy can pass through the gates +of pearl into the eternal city, the New Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Holiness is what constitutes the family likeness between +our Father in heaven and His children both on earth +and in heaven. A lady was accosted in the streets +of a western city by a stranger, who asked her if +she was not the daughter of such a one, naming him. +She replied, with some surprise at the question, in +the affirmative. “I knew you,” said the +gentleman, “by your resemblance to your father +who was my particular friend twenty-five years ago, +away back in the State of Maine.” And the lady +was delighted that the lineaments of her father’s +countenance were so impressed upon her own that she +should thus be recognized even by one who had never +seen her before as her father’s child.</p> + +<p>Ah! beloved, have we the likeness of our Heavenly +Father so imprinted upon our faces and upon our walk +and upon our conversation that all who know Him shall +recognize His features in us? Oh, for more of the family +likeness which shall stamp us as sons of God wherever +we are and whatever we do. “Be ye holy, for +I am holy.”</p> + +<p>In comparison with the precious “blood of Christ” +Peter characterizes silver and gold, which men call +precious metals, as “corruptible things,” +and then gives the striking exhortation, “Seeing +ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through +the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see +that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently,” +and all this on the basis of the new birth which they +had already received “of the incorruptible seed +by the word of God.”</p> + +<p>Why, Peter, although a fisherman and an unlearned +and ignorant man, yet when thou writest under the +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, it is almost as hard +to keep up with thee as with thy beloved brother, Paul!</p> + +<p>See how holiness is, as it were, piled up and repeated +in various ways in the sentence quoted above. (1), +“Ye have purified your souls.” Yes, and +it was Peter who spoke before the council at Jerusalem +in reference to Cornelius and his household, and said +that God “put no difference between us and them, +purifying their hearts by faith.” The word “purify” +is derived from a Greek root which means “fire.” +Souls are purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit, +and the result is a continual “obeying the truth,” +and (2), the positive side of this purification is +“unfeigned love of the brethren,” and this +is love with a pure heart and fervent, the same love +which John calls perfect love, and the standard of +which is in the words of the Lord Jesus, “As +I have loved you that ye also love one another.”</p> + +<p>Was ever more holiness crowded into a single verse? +Peter had never been to a Theological Seminary, but +he had listened through three eventful years to the +blessed teachings of the Lord Jesus, and he had been +filled with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, +and without aiming at system or explanation, he has +compressed more sound theology into a single verse +than we find in many a voluminous treatise and many +a lengthy commentary and many an eloquent sermon.</p> + +<p>And then in the rapturous eloquence of inspiration +he tells us how to grow in grace. “Wherefore, +laying aside all malice and all guile, and hypocrisies, +and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes +desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow +thereby,” and his last exhortation at the end +of the second epistle is, “But grow in grace +and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus +Christ.”</p> + +<p>Peter, by no means, teaches us that we grow into grace, +or that we grow into entire sanctification. We first +become receivers, and get grace before we can grow +in it, and we must first receive entire sanctification +before we can grow in it. Like all other gospel blessings, +this is the gift of God, and is forever, therefore, +unobtainable by any process of growth. But Peter says +in effect, in order to grow in grace you must do two +things. (1), Lay aside everything that hinders growth, +specifying malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, evil +speakings. Now it is plain as the sun at noon-day that +all these things are the fruits of the carnal mind. +And so in a single thought the exhortation is to lay +aside, or put off, or give up to destruction, the +depravity of our nature, the inbred sin which doth +so easily beset, and which so long as it exists, will +be an insuperable hindrance to all rapid and symmetrical +growth, and (2) desire, and of course, partake of +the sincere milk of the word. Ah, here is wisdom, +the secret of successful growth, in the spiritual as +in the natural world, is first to become healthy, +and then to take plenty of nourishment. Holiness is +spiritual health, and implies the absence of inbred +sin which is always spiritual disease. The child that +is healthy and gets plenty of pure milk will grow +and develop rapidly. The time will soon come when +he can eat and digest meat and still strengthen and +expand his physical organism on this richer diet, and +thus he will finally become a large and strong man. +But the child may be healthy and still not grow because +it is starving for want of food. Or, it may have plenty +of the most wholesome food and still not grow because +disease prevents it from assimilating the nourishment. +Sound health and plenty of food, with proper exercise, +are the essentials of the right kind of growth. Now +the Holy Bible contains not only milk for babes, but +strong meat for strong men. It has been remarked by +another that if Christians would be giants they must +eat giants’ food. And the essential requisite +for appropriating either the milk or the meat is to +have a sound spiritual constitution and that means +simply entire sanctification. Peter is right again. +We grow by the sincere milk of the word after we have +gotten rid of that which always and everywhere obstructs +true growth.</p> + +<p>Of course my reader will not understand me to say, +any more than Peter himself says, that we experience +growth in grace simply by a head knowledge of the +Holy Scriptures. I do not forget that it is not the +written word but the Eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ +Himself, who is the bread of life. Nor do I forget +that we feed upon His broken body and His shed blood, +not by intellect, not by reason, not by culture, not +by learning, but by faith.</p> + +<p>But after all it is the Bible, or rather it is Bible +truth, whether presented on the pages of inspiration +or in the preached word, which is the great instrumentality +employed by the Holy Spirit, in bringing men to Christ, +and in feeding and nourishing and strengthening and +edifying the church which has thus been gathered to +Him. And so both Peter in speaking about the “sincere +milk of the word,” and Paul in referring to +the “strong meat,” by which term he characterizes +the deeper spiritual truths of revelation, are leading +us to Jesus, the true bread, the living bread, the +bread of life.</p> + +<p>Our apostle passes next to a most glowing description +of the Christian priesthood, and again the leading +idea of holiness flashes from his pen, “Ye also, +as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an +holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable +to God by Jesus Christ.” Again, “Ye are +a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, +a peculiar people.” Here is our title of nobility, +beloved, and who of us would exchange it for an earldom, +or a dukedom or a kingdom? Not I at least.</p> + +<p>The Jews of old received spiritual blessing very largely, +and even temporal blessing also, through the mediation +of an outward priesthood. And the family of priests +were chosen and ordained of God Himself. “No +man taketh this honor unto himself but he that is called +of God, as was Aaron.”</p> + +<p>But under the Christian dispensation all God’s +saved people are priests as well as kings, and the +sacrifices which they offer are spiritual sacrifices, +the body as a living sacrifice to be consumed like +a whole burnt offering in His service, “the +fruit of the lips giving thanks to His name,” +and the doing good and communicating, that is to say, +a life rich in faith and good works, such are the +sacrifices with which God is well pleased. But to +be a Christian priest in the sense here described +must involve and does involve the idea of entire sanctification. +Peter’s words will not allow us to doubt that +the priesthood of believers is a “holy priesthood.”</p> + +<p>Afterwards, the chief of the apostles exhorts his +readers to take ill treatment patiently when they +have to suffer, not for doing wrong but for doing +well, and reminds us of the example of Christ, “Who +did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; +who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He +suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself +to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bare +our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being +dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,” +winding up with a terse expression of the great doctrine +of the atonement “by whose stripes ye were healed.”</p> + +<p>Paul would have us “dead to sin” by reckoning. +Peter would have us “dead to sins” by +making no response to the suggestions of Satan or the +temptations which he may present to us. To be dead +either to sin within us or to sins without us, implies +holiness of heart, that is, entire sanctification. +Praise the Lord for the perfect agreement of His two +great apostles in regard to this glorious doctrine.</p> + +<p>Still further, Peter speaks of the “holy women” +of old, and exhorts Christian women to be like them, +particularly in adorning themselves not with gay attire, +but with inward and spiritual graces. And in his second +epistle, he alludes to “holy men of God,” +speaking through the Old Testament as they were moved +by the Holy Ghost. And here we have the best possible +definition of inspiration, in regard to which volumes +have been written, and very different views expressed +by equally learned and candid men. But what can be +more satisfactory to the humble, Christian mind than +just to feel that when he reads his Bible, he is perusing +the words of “holy men of God who spake as they +were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Such a mind will +find no difficulty about inspiration.</p> + +<p>In the last chapter of his second epistle, Peter rebukes +the unbelief of the scoffers, who then believed, and +whose successors still believe that the present order +of the material universe will continue for an indefinite +period, if not, indeed, forever. He assures us that +the Lord has not forgotten, that He is not slack concerning +His promises, but that the very reason why the sinful +world has been spared so long is because of God’s +long suffering and mercy, “not willing that any +should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” +And, then, having declared that the heavens and the +earth which are now, are reserved unto fire, that +the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, +that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the +earth also and the works that are therein shall be +burned up, he exclaims with most appropriate words, +“Seeing then, that all these things shall be +dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in +all holy conversation and godliness,” and this +in order “that ye may be found of Him in peace, +without spot and blameless.”</p> + +<p>Praise the Lord for the doctrine of entire sanctification +as taught by the apostle of the circumcision. Amen.</p> + +<h1><a name="#9">Chapter IX.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by John.</h2> + +<p>John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of +Thunder. He could forbid a man to cast out devils +in the name of Jesus, because the man was not of his +own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah +by calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans +who would not extend the rites of hospitality to his +Master. He was eager to have the highest possible +place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at +whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was <i>par +excellence</i> the apostle of love. Not that his +character became anything like putty. He could still +rebuke evil and denounce Diotrephes, and forbid the +elect lady to receive or countenance any who did not +uphold the true, sound doctrines of the gospel. He +was still a son of thunder against heresy and immorality, +but he was preeminently, after his baptism with the +Holy Ghost, a son of consolation. His soul seems absolutely +absorbed in the love of God, and his exhortations +to the churches, seemed all to concentrate in two +special points, love God and love one another. His +heart was made perfect in love on the day of Pentecost, +and he never lost the blessed experience. He retained +the blessing because he retained the Blesser. The +Holy Comforter was his abiding guest and keeper.</p> + +<p>The gospel of John contains many of the most profound +and spiritual truths that ever fell from the lips +of the Lord Jesus. And the only distinction which +John accords to himself, and that always with the +greatest modesty and humility, is “the disciple +whom Jesus loved.”</p> + +<p>He begins his gospel with a sublime assertion of the +Deity and preëxistence of Christ as the Eternal Word, +then tells of the incarnation, how the Word became +flesh, and we beheld His glory, how although He was +the Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not, +and though He came unto His own (the Jews) yet His +own received Him not, but as many as did receive Him, +whether Jews or Gentiles, to them gave He power to +become the children of God, and this through a new +birth, not of human blood, or title, or pedigree, +not of man in any way whatever, but of God. It is +not sufficient, therefore, to be a child of God by +creation, which, indeed, all men are, but by adoption, +by the reception of the Divine nature by birth. And +this new birth is more fully unfolded to the Jewish +Sanhedrist, Nicodemus, both as to its necessity and +its nature. “Ye must be born again.” “The +Son of man must be lifted up.” The new birth +is of water and the Spirit. The water is the water +of life, the gospel offered freely to all, with its +cleansing and refreshing and vivifying properties +so well symbolized by water, and the Holy Spirit is +the effective personal agent by whom the regeneration +is wrought in the heart of the penitent sinner, though +His operations may be as inexplicable as the wind, +which bloweth where it listeth, and is known only +by its results. Then we have the hinge-text of salvation, +“God so loved the world that He gave His only +begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should +not perish but have eternal life.” Thus, in +this marvelous discourse with Nicodemus, we have God’s +love or God’s grace as the source of our salvation, +Christ crucified as the ground of it, and the Holy +Spirit as the Divine Agent of its accomplishment. +Glory be to the Triune God.</p> + +<p>Not only the discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus +on the new birth, but His discourse, also, with the +woman of Samaria on true worship is given by John +alone. It is remarkable that not to a Jewish Rabbi, +not to the Scribes and Pharisees, not to a Jew at +all, but to a heathen or semi-heathen woman, Jesus +made the first recorded, positive declaration of His +Messiahship, and showed her that as God is a Spirit, +so they that worship Him must do so, not in any specific +locality, such as Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim, and +not by any prescribed form or any outward ritual, +but in spirit and in truth. No wonder that her heart +was immediately and completely captivated by so grand +and glorious a revelation, and that, at once, she +left her waterpot and went her way to become a preacher +of righteousness to her fellow-townsmen.</p> + +<p>Passing over the fifth chapter, with the appeal to +the Jews to search the Scriptures and the assurance +that they testified of Him; and the sixth chapter, +with its story of complete self-abnegation, when after +a stupendous miracle, the people were disposed to +take Him by force and make Him a king, but He departed +into a mountain Himself alone, and the next day, the +wonderful discourse upon the bread of life, which sifted +away from Him a large proportion of those who had been +so ready to proclaim Him King, and brought out of +the core of His heart those pathetic words to the +twelve, “Will ye also go away?”, we come +to the seventh chapter and the feast of Tabernacles, +at which, on the occasion of the priest pouring water +from the pool of Siloam, out of a golden pitcher into +a trumpet-shaped receptacle above the altar, amid the +rejoicings of the people, Jesus stood and cried, “If +any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” +“He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath +said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.” +The Scripture referred to is, probably, Isaiah 58:11, +and, perhaps, other similar passages. “And the +Lord shalt guide thee continually, and satisfy thy +soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt +be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, +whose waters fail not.”</p> + +<p>But the beloved disciple himself gives us an extremely +valuable inspired commentary on these words of the +Lord Jesus, in order that readers in all ages might +make the true spiritual application which is intended +by them. “But this spake He of the Spirit which +they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy +Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not +yet glorified.” These remarkable words seem +to clearly imply that notwithstanding the presence +and operation of the Spirit in the former dispensations +of God’s grace, yet He was to be poured out +on all God’s children under the gospel in a sense +and to an extent, which so far transcends the highest +manifestation of His power in Old Testament times +that in comparison it is said the Holy Ghost was not +yet given, or, literally, the Holy Ghost was not yet. +And this wondrous outpouring was to be after the glorification +of Jesus and as a consequence of that glorification. +So that Pentecost, with its untold wealth of privilege, +could not be realized till after the death, resurrection +and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>And we are clearly informed that what the church of +the hundred and twenty received on the day of Pentecost, +namely, the purifying of their hearts by faith and +the enduement of power, that is to say, entire sanctification, +with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a privilege +confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of +the Holy Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured +the wondering multitude that the promise of the same +blessed experience “is to you and to your children +and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord +our God shall call.” And thus it is for the +church and for every individual believer, until Christ +Himself shall come again. God help all Christians +everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. +Amen.</p> + +<p>In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed +the slavery of sin. “Every one that committeth +sin is the bond-servant of sin,” and coupled +with this the glorious announcement that, “If +the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall +be free indeed.” Yes, Jesus came to free us not +simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the +penalty of sin, but from that which brings guilt and +condemnation and penalty, even from sin itself.</p> + +<p>Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean +license, it does not mean do as you please, it does +not mean the liberty of making your own choices, but +it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and +in this manner after all you will do as you please, +it means the glad acceptance of God’s choices. +And so, after all, you do have your own way because +it is God’s way, it means liberty and choice +to do everything right and nothing wrong, or to do +right in all directions and wrong in none. May God +bring all His children out of slavery and into freedom +for Jesus’ sake.</p> + +<p>In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with +His disciples at the last supper, as given by John +in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of his gospel, +He told them of the blessed Comforter, “which +is the Holy Ghost,” whom the Father would send +in His name, and as to the method of His coming He +says, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words; +and My Father will love him, and We will come unto +him and make Our abode with him.” Here, I think, +beyond a doubt, that the “We” refers to +the Father and the Son, and the manner of Their coming +and indwelling in the heart of the believer is through +Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And if this +be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which +Father, Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified +wholly?</p> + +<p>In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops +beautifully the doctrine of perfect love. He declares +that God’s children must not walk in darkness +or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, +claim to have fellowship with Him. “But if we +walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have +fellowship one with another,” (which implies +fellowship with God)” and the blood of Jesus +Christ, His Son, cleanseth from all sin.”</p> + +<p>This is a very striking and all-important statement. +The verb is in the present tense, and denotes a present +and a continuous action. It cleanseth persistently +and continuously. You trust in Jesus this moment, +and the blood cleanseth now, another moment and it +cleanseth, and thus on, without intermission or cessation. +And the cleansing is from all sin, sin committed and +sin inbred, sin in act, word or thought, sin outward +and sin inward, sin open and sin secret, sin of knowledge +and sin of ignorance, literally and truly all sin. +If this does not mean entire sanctification, what +use is there in language as an expression of thought? +Surely none.</p> + +<p>But the objection is strongly urged by some that the +next verse assures us that “If we say that we +have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is +not in us.” But why sunder this verse from its +appropriate connections? Were there not Pharisees +in the time of Christ who would not admit that they +were sinners, and would not accept the baptism of +repentance from John the Baptist? And did not the Apostle +John live to see the germs of incipient gnosticism +showing themselves in the church, assuming, like modern +Christian science, that all evil is in matter, the +soul is immaculate, and some Gnostics even believing +that it was possible to have fellowship with God while +living in all kinds of sensual indulgence and licentiousness, +and moreover denying the reality of the incarnation +of Christ, as also of the crucifixion and resurrection? +These were the Docetists or Phantasiasts, so well +described by Longfellow:</p> + +<p> “Ah, to how many faith has been<br /> +  No evidence of things unseen,<br /> +  But a dim shadow, which recasts<br /> +  The creed of the Phantasiasts,<br /> +  For whom no man of sorrows died:<br /> +  For whom the tragedy divine<br /> +  Was but a symbol and a sign,<br /> +  And Christ a phantom crucified.”</p> + +<p>Now John in the passage referred to, tells us that +on certain conditions it is possible to experience +through the blood of Christ, which means simply the +merits of His atoning and vicarious sacrifice, a +complete cleansing from all sin, and then turning to +those who deny that they are sinners, he exclaims, +and if we say that we have no sin, and therefore do +not need this cleansing, and can do without this atonement, +then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. +How much more rational is such an interpretation than +the exposition which makes one verse contradict the +other, and represents the apostle as first assuring +us that we may be cleansed from all sin, and then +declaring in effect. “But be sure to remember +that this cleansing is never really affected, and +you are never really without sin.”</p> + +<p>There are so many rich and blessed teachings in this +epistle that we must needs make selection and leave +many passages to be carefully and prayerfully pondered +by the reader, with the assurance that there is very +much gold to be found for the digging; but we would +call attention in a special manner to John’s +description of perfect love. “There is no fear +in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because +fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect +in love.”</p> + +<p>It is clearly to be inferred from these expressions +that whilst all Christians do and must love God, yet +there is a stage denominated perfect love, which many +Christians have not yet reached. And this stage of +religious experience is marked distinctly by the absence +of fear. Most certainly our apostle does not mean +for us to understand that we shall ever get beyond +that reverential and filial fear, which is the right +and proper accompaniment of our childlike relation +to our Heavenly Father. But he specially describes +the fear that will be gotten rid of as tormenting +fear, and this fear he declares that “perfect +love casteth out.” Now we can readily see the +reasonableness of this statement. Fear about the future, +whether as to temporal or spiritual things, fear of +evil tidings, fear of man, fear of death, in short, +all tormenting fear is caused by the presence of inbred +sin. As a matter of course, therefore, when sin is +cast out, fear is cast out with it. Now perfect love +is the positive side of entire sanctification; it +implies the absence of inbred sin and the unmixed +love of God occupying the soul. Such love, therefore, +most truly must cast out fear.</p> + +<p>The impenitent sinner neither fears nor loves God. +The awakened sinner fears him, but does not love Him. +The justified believer both fears and loves. Sometimes +the fear is in the ascendant and sometimes the love. +The entirely sanctified believer loves with all his +heart, and has no tormenting fear. Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>And the beloved apostle instructs us also as to the +method of obtaining the blessing of perfect love. +It is by the prayer of faith, and the prayer of faith +involves the idea of a preceding entire consecration. +“For,” says John, “if our heart condemn +us, God is greater than our heart,” which probably +signifies that He also will condemn us, and, therefore, +we cannot utter a believing prayer for such a blessing +as entire sanctification while we are not wholly given +up to the Lord, for while that is our case, our heart +will continue to condemn us.</p> + +<p>But he continues, “If our heart condemn us not, +then have we confidence towards God.” And again, +“This is the confidence that we have in Him, +that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth +us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we +ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired +of Him.”</p> + +<p>Nowhere is the philosophy of the plan of full salvation +more beautifully portrayed than in these precious +words. We are shown here that (1), the seeker of entire +sanctification must be wholly consecrated to God. +(2), That he must pray in faith. (3), That he must +pray according to God’s will. (4), That then +he may know that he has the very thing he asks for. +Here is wisdom. Let every seeker act upon it. Amen.</p> + +<p>Nor does John leave us in doubt as to the witness +of the Spirit to our conscious cleansing. “If +we love one another” (i.e. with a true and pure +and unselfish and self-sacrificing Christian love) +“God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected +in us.” “Hereby know we that we dwell +in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His +Spirit.” Now to have God’s love perfected +in us, and to have Him to dwell in us, can mean nothing +less than entire sanctification, and we know this, +as John tells us, by His Spirit. We have, therefore, +the witness of the Spirit to perfect love as well +as to adoption.</p> + +<h1><a name="#10">Chapter X.</a></h1> + +<h2>Entire Sanctification as Taught by James and Jude.</h2> + +<p>James and Jude were brothers. They were also “brethren +of the Lord.” Whether this expression means +actual brothers, namely, children of Joseph and Mary, +or whether it means only cousins, also whether these +two men were apostles or not, are questions which I +leave to the Biblical critics. Receiving without argument +their respective epistles as belonging to the inspired +canon, I am to inquire what their teaching is in reference +to the one theme of this book, that is, entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>James, as a writer, is intensely practical. As Bishop +of Jerusalem he presided specially over the Jewish +Christian Church, and his epistle is addressed “to +the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” +<i>i.e</i>., to the Jews of the Dispersion, primarily, +no doubt, to the Christian Jews, but also secondarily +and by way of warning to the unconverted Jews. James +was “zealous of the law.” He fully agreed +with Paul and with Peter that the yoke of circumcision +and the Mosaic law was not to be imposed upon the +Gentile Churches, but he, no doubt, strongly insisted +that Jewish converts should be still very careful to +observe the outward law. His epistle is like Matthew’s +gospel, and savors strongly of the Sermon on the Mount. +As a bishop and overseer of a Jewish flock of Christians, +while he fully assented to Paul’s teaching on +justification by faith, he, nevertheless, urged upon +the people with vehemence that they should show their +faith by their works and that they should be “doers +of the word and not hearers only.” As Paul completely +demolishes the doctrine of salvation by the works of +the law, so James in his epistle offers us an inspired +and a vigorous protest against every form of Antinomianism. +Thus the two writers, both moved by the Holy Ghost, +present the two aspects of gospel truth so plainly +that he may run that readeth. “We are saved by +faith, not by works,” says Paul. “Aye,” +says James, “but we are saved in good works, +not out of them,” and we must be careful to maintain +good works, not in order to be saved, but because +we are saved. Good works are necessary, not as the +ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit +and resultant and test of the salvation which we have +received by faith. James, therefore, is not antagonistic +to, but only complementary of the great apostle of +the Gentiles.</p> + +<p>And mark how he strikes or aims right at the mark +of Christian perfection in the very beginning of his +epistle. He assures us that if we let patience have +her perfect work, we shall be perfect and entire, +wanting nothing.</p> + +<p>Christian perfection, then, according to James. is +perfect patience. Christian perfection according to +John, is perfect love. Christian perfection, according +to Paul, is maturity or being “thoroughly furnished +unto all good works.” Christian perfection, according +to Peter, is in being established, strengthened, settled. +Surely none but a caviller will find any want of harmony +between these different modes of expression. They +all imply deliverance from sin, which is always instantaneous, +and some of them imply a mature Christian character, +which is always gradual.</p> + +<p>James gives a vivid description of inbred sin under +the name of lust. “Every man is tempted when +he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then +when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth (actual) +sin; and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”</p> + +<p>We cannot doubt that James, like the other writers +of the Bible, believed in a personal devil, for he +speaks of a wisdom which is “devilish” +and if a man is enticed to sin by the natural depravity +of his heart, we must not overlook the fact that the +enticement implies an enticer, and that the wicked +spiritual adversary of our race knows how to adapt +his baits to the peculiar form in which inbred sin +is strongest in each individual, and thus, if possible, +to entrap and destroy him. Depravity exists by nature +in all, but in one man it is particularly felt in +the direction of covetousness, in another, of pride, +in another, of ambition, in another, of sensuality. +Satan’s temptations in the first of these would +most likely be something which holds out the prospect +of getting gain by sinning; in the second, it would +be something to feed his intense admiration of self, +to cherish his pride; in the third, it would be the +hope of political or some other kind of power on the +condition of sacrificing principle; in the fourth, +it would be the gratification of bodily appetites as +in drunkenness, gluttony, or licentiousness. Thus +the trap is set for every man, and the trapper is +wary. God save us from his wiles.</p> + +<p>And as Peter tells us to lay aside inbred sin, as +it exists in the form of malice, and guile, and hypocrisies, +and envies, and shows itself in evil speakings, so +James tells us to lay apart “all filthiness and +superfluity of naughtiness,” or “overflowing +of wickedness.” Ah, beloved, most truly did +Jesus say that the heart of man is a fountain of wickedness, +out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts and all +actual sins; yes, there is by nature in each one of +us a superfluity of naughtiness, an overflowing of +wickedness, a natural depravity, an inbred sin, and +this must be “laid apart,” it must be gotten +rid of by bringing and subjecting the heart where +it dwells to the fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost, +and then shall we be in a position to receive, with +meekness, the engrafted word, which is able to save +our souls.</p> + +<p>St. James speaks of the “law of liberty,” +and of the “royal law,” the latter being, +“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” +and both mean, I apprehend, just what we have already +alluded to as the law of love. “Love,” +says Paul, “is the fulfilling of the law,” +and this is liberty, and this is royalty, the freedom +to do God’s will because we love it, and to +have all the antagonisms to that blessed will expelled +from our hearts, and all lawful affections and passions +subdued and subjected to Him who is our King, and +who reigns without a rival in our hearts.</p> + +<p> “I worship Thee, sweet will of God,<br /> +    And all Thy ways adore;<br /> +  And every day I live, I seem<br /> +    To love Thee more and more.”</p> + +<p>If this is not the true liberty and the true royalty, +where shall we find them? Not on earth, at least.</p> + +<p>James does not spend words in exhorting us to seek +more religion, but he tersely defines pure religion. +And that is what we want. It does not depend upon +age, nor size, nor growth. A stalk of corn may be pure +as soon as it raises itself above the surface of the +ground. Another stalk may be impure and diseased when +it is many feet in height. A Christian may seek and +find pure religion and undefiled, very soon after he +is born again. Another Christian may spend years and +years in seeking more religion, and yet not become +the possessor of purity of heart.</p> + +<p>This pure religion, according to our author, consists +in works of beneficence and love as to its outward +manifestations, but its true inward principle is in +keeping one’s self “unspotted from the +world.” Oh, that all my readers with myself, +may thus keep themselves unspotted from the world, +which involves the idea of being sanctified wholly, +and in the end “may be found of Him in peace +without spot and blameless.”</p> + +<p>But an objector here interposes with a quotation from +James which is supposed to preclude the possibility +of living without sin. “In many things we offend +all.” But this expression is not to be thus +interpreted. To make it mean that all Christians must +continue in the commission of sin to the end of their +lives, would not only be doing violence to that which +is the very trend of our author’s teaching, +namely, a spotless morality and a pure and holy life, +but it would also prove too much. For a little further +on we read, in reference to that unruly evil, the +tongue, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; +and therewith curse we men which are made after the +similitude of God,” and again, “Behold, +we put bits in the horses’ mouths that they may +obey us, and we turn about their whole body.” +Surely no expositor would maintain from such language +that James was a tamer of horses and a profane swearer. +The truth is, that James, out of kindness and courtesy, +includes himself among his hearers or readers, and +means to show us how liable we are to give offence +through rash and ill-advised words, and then, on the +other hand, he does not fail to mention the man who +does not offend in word, and who is able, by the grace +of God, to bridle the whole body, that is, to live +without sin, and whom, again, he styles a “perfect +man.”</p> + +<p>Our author further informs us that heavenly, divine +wisdom is first pure, then peaceable. The carnal Christian, +or babe in Christ, would often reverse this arrangement. +He is clamorous for peace, often to the extent that +he would have a wisdom that is first peaceable and +then pure, but the Holy Ghost puts purity first, and +He is always right. No compromise must be made with +error in doctrine, or evil in practice, even for the +sake of peace. But when we become possessors of a wisdom +which is first pure, then, also, the other qualities +follow in proper succession, peaceable, gentle, easy +to be entreated and the rest.</p> + +<p>Listen, again, to the stern moralist and preacher +of holiness, “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, +and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Here, +again, we can but thankfully admire the perfect accuracy +of the Holy Ghost, as regards the method of full salvation. +To cleanse the hands is to obtain pardon and absolution +for what we have done, and it is always the first +work of the unsaved man to repent and seek the forgiveness +of his sins. When this forgiveness has been obtained, +then his hands are cleansed, but he may still be double-minded. +He may still be unstable in all his ways. His spiritual +course may still be zig-zag. His life may still be +a series of sinning and repenting, and sinning again +and repenting again, till he cries out in his misery, +“O wretched man that I am, who (not what) shall +deliver me from this body of death?” And then +James’s prescription comes home to him, “Purify +your hearts, ye double-minded.” Seek and obtain +the blessing of entire sanctification, and, henceforth, +with one mind and one purpose, run joyfully in the +way of Christ’s commandments. Justification +first and entire sanctification afterwards. First +cleanse your hands, then purify your hearts. And with + this agree the words of the Psalmist, “Who +shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall +stand in His holy place?” “He that hath +clean hands,” that is, whose sins have been +pardoned, “and a pure heart,” that is, +who has been sanctified wholly. The teachings of the +Holy Ghost are marvelously harmonious in the Old Testament +and the New.</p> + +<p>Finally, James assures us that the “prayer of +faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise +him up.” And not only physical but spiritual +blessing may be received in the same way for “If +he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” +His conclusion is that “The supplication of +a righteous man availeth much in its working,” +R.V., but I prefer to regard the Greek participle in +the original as in the passive voice, and then the +meaning would be, as suggested by Dr. S.A. Keen in +his Faith papers, “The prayer of a righteous +man being energized” (by the Holy Ghost) “availeth +much.”</p> + +<p>I should understand the “prayer of faith,” +therefore, to be a prayer begotten in the heart of +the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the prayer +is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when +this is the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this +use of the word, is a special gift, and may be given +to some and withheld from others, also given at one +time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite +and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith +is one of the special gifts of which we have an account +in the 12th of 1st Corinthians, and differs, therefore, +from the grace of faith or the power of believing +the gospel unto salvation when it is presented, which +is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, +by actually believing, all are held responsible. “He +that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth +not shall be condemned.”</p> + +<p>And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts +his readers to pray in the Holy Ghost, the very same +kind of praying which James calls the prayer of faith, +and about which Paul also declares that “the +Spirit Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we +know not what we should pray for as we ought; but +the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for with groanings +which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the +hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because +He maketh intercession for the saints according to +the will of God.”</p> + +<p>A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes +to, is a prayer that is energized by the Holy Ghost. +It is not the Holy Ghost who does the groaning, but +He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to +groan, by kindling those intense desires after some +specific blessing, which often are, indeed, too deep +for clear expression by utterance, and with the groanings, +also, the faith is given, which takes hold of God’s +Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, +move the hand that moves the world, and whether it +be for the healing of the sick, or the conversion +of sinners, or the entire sanctification of believers, +or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which +the Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure +to come.</p> + +<p>I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy +Spirit is needed, and that it is obtainable in all +true prayer, but ordinary prayer must be founded upon +the promises of God and an exercise of will power to +believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, +in order to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act +of believing. Extraordinary prayer must be inspired +directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of faith +must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary +prayer, ordinary faith and ordinary results in the +one case, while in the other, we have extraordinary +prayer, extraordinary faith and extraordinary results. +Praise the Lord.</p> + +<p>Jude tells us that as Christian believers we are to +“hate even the garment spotted by the flesh,” +that is, to keep entirely clear of all the pollutions +of sin, symbolized by the garment of the leper which +was regarded as unclean, and which passage, when spiritually +interpreted, must mean the unspotted holiness of the +true Christian. And as to the question of one’s +ability to live without sin, he commits us to the +care of Him who is “able to keep us from falling,” +the very thing we need and which we cannot do for +ourselves, and “to present us faultless before +the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” +First, then, we are to be sanctified wholly, then +kept from falling by the power of Christ through the +indwelling Spirit. Finally, presented without spot, +blameless and faultless in the presence of God’s +glory in heaven. And this is the gospel according +to Jude.</p> + +<h1><a name="#11">Chapter XI.</a></h1> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Father.</h2> + +<p>There is one expression in the epistle of Jude, which +I purposely omitted in the preceding chapter, that +it might have a more prominent place in the present +one.</p> + +<p>Nowhere else in the Bible are we expressly declared +to be “sanctified by God the Father.” +It is cause of rejoicing, however, that every person +of the Godhead, every member of the adorable Trinity, +is concerned in the sanctification of a human soul. +And this fact, like many others, points to the extreme +importance of the subject on which we are treating; +for if the working of God the Father, God the Son and +God the Holy Spirit is required, and is brought into +active operation in order to cleanse our hearts from +the pollution of sin, and fit us for heaven, then +it must be in the estimation of the triune God, a +matter of prime necessity that we should be thus cleansed. +If God, therefore, regards it as an essential that +we be sanctified wholly, let us beware of the thought +that it is only optional, that it is possible, if +possible at all, only for the few and not for the many, +and that it can be done without, or what is practically +too nearly the same thing, postponed until we see, +or think we see, the near approach of death. What +every person of the Godhead is urging upon our acceptance +now, let us not dare either to reject or postpone. +“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now +is the day of salvation.”</p> + +<p>Paul said to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, “And +now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word +of His grace, which is able to build you up and to +give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”</p> + +<p>Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt +we owe to the unbounded grace of God. Grace means +unmerited favor. Grace is God’s infinite love +in active working for the salvation of man. And, the +source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, +and indeed of every gospel blessing provided for us, +is the grace of God. And when our souls are stirred +up to ecstatic gratitude and love, by the thought +of the “unspeakable gift” of the Lord Jesus +Christ, and of the unspeakable blessings derived from +and through Him, let us not forget that behind it +all and over it all, is the broad and incomprehensible +declaration, “God so loved the world, that He +gave His only begotten Son.”</p> + +<p>Absolute sovereignty, authority, supremacy and paternity +belong to God the Father. The Father sends the Son. +The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. Neither +the Son nor the Spirit, nor both together, ever send +the Father. The Father “created all things by +Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ cast out devils +“by the Spirit of God.” The Son reveals +the Father, for “no man knoweth the Father save +the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal +Him.” And the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, for +“no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the +Holy Ghost.” “He shall testify of Me.” +“He shall take of Mine and show it unto you."” +He shall not speak of Himself; but what He shall hear” +(from the Father and the Son) “that shall He +speak.”</p> + +<p>Thus the greatest gift that God the Father has given +or could give to His creature man is the gift of His +Son. The greatest gift that God the Son has given +to man after He gave Himself for us is the gift of +the Holy Ghost, for it is not only said, “I +will pray the Father and He shall give you another +Comforter,” and “whom the Father will send +in My name,” but also, “If I depart I +will send Him unto you,” so we may say in general +terms, that the Holy Ghost as a personal sanctifier, +energizer and Comforter, is the promise of the Father +and the gift of the Son. And it may be added that +the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit to man is the +gift of entire sanctification or perfect love. Glory +be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy +Ghost. Amen.</p> + +<p>And thus when Jude tells us that we are sanctified +by God the Father, He means not only that we are separated +unto the gospel of life and salvation, set apart to +God and His service, but, also, that God the Father +has made ample provision in the death of His Son for +all Christian believers to be cleansed from every +stain of moral defilement, delivered from inbred sin, +sanctified wholly, made perfect in love, and filled +with the Spirit. We repeat, therefore, that it will +be a matter of eternal thankfulness and gratitude to +the redeemed soul, that the source of all these unspeakable +blessings is in the infinite grace and love of God.</p> + +<p>Everywhere throughout the Old Testament, the holiness +of God is brought prominently forward and insisted +upon. And His own holiness is presented as a sufficient +reason why His people should be holy also. “Be +ye holy, for I am holy,” which command and declaration +are repeated and endorsed by the Apostle Peter in +his first epistle, “But as He which hath called +you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, +because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.”</p> + +<p>As God the Father, therefore, is Himself infinitely +holy, and He requires all His children to be holy +even in the present life, it goes without saying, +as already shown, that He makes provision in His gospel +for them to be made and kept holy. And it is precisely +the standard of God’s holiness which is set +before us by the Saviour as the mark at which we also +are to aim, and aim not vainly nor unsuccessfully. +“Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven +is perfect.” Not that our perfection or our +holiness can be equal to His in degree. That would +make the finite equal to the infinite, and would be +an impossibility and absurdity, but that we are to +be perfect in our sphere as He is perfect in His, +that we are to be holy with the same kind of holiness +that appertains to Him, in a word, that we are to be +perfect in love as He is perfect love, and that we +are to be delivered from all sin, not by any effort +or any merit of our own but by His unmerited grace +in Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and praise His name +that we are sanctified by God the Father.</p> + +<h1><a name="#12">Chapter XII.</a></h1> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Son.</h2> + +<p>As the source of our entire sanctification is in the +unmerited love and grace of God the Father, so the +ground of it is in the blood of Christ the Son. Justification +and Sanctification are by no means identical, but +as regards the origin, the ground, and the means, they +are precisely parallel. We are told that justification +is by grace, and, again, that it is by the blood of +Jesus, and, still again, that it is by faith. It is, +therefore, God’s grace, it is Christ’s +blood, it is man’s faith by which we are justified. +The originating cause of our justification is the +grace of God. The procuring cause is the blood of +Jesus Christ. The instrumental cause is our own faith.</p> + +<p>And all this is equally true of our entire sanctification. +We are not justified in one way and sanctified in +another. We are sanctified as well as justified by +the grace of God. We are sanctified as well as justified +by the blood of Christ. We are sanctified as well as +justified by our own faith.</p> + +<p>All gospel blessings are founded upon the vicarious +sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He “of God +is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, (justification) +and sanctification and redemption.”</p> + +<p>And sanctification, no more than justification, releases +us from our dependence upon the atonement. If we are +either justified or sanctified today it is not because +we deserve it, but because Christ died for us. If +we shall be either justified or sanctified at any future +period of our eternity, it will not be because we +deserve it but because Christ died for us. And so +forever and forever we shall need the merit of His +death, and we shall rejoice to join in the song of +redemption “unto Him that loved us, and washed +us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us +kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be +glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” +We are everlastingly linked to the atonement of Jesus +Christ, and this both for the pardon of past sins, +and the entire cleansing of the heart.</p> + +<p>“Thou shalt call His name Jesus because He shall +save His people from their sins,” which signifies, +I apprehend, both the forgiveness of sins already +committed and saving them from the commission of sins +in the future. Here, then, we have justification and +regeneration. “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh +away the sin of the world.” This must mean the +sin of our nature, the sin that dwelleth in us, the +sin that doth so easily beset us, in a word, inbred +sin. And to have the inbred sin taken away means nothing +more and nothing less and nothing else, than entire +sanctification. Yes, beloved, we are sanctified by +God the Son.</p> + +<p>“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth +us from all sin.” Here we have a positive statement +that upon certain conditions to be fulfilled by us, +we shall experience a cleansing from outward sin, and +inward sin, and sin of ignorance, and conscious sin, +and open sin and secret sin, and all sin. There is +no mistaking the length and breadth and all comprehensiveness +of this glorious promise. Beloved, let us walk in +the light as He is in the light, and so know, for ourselves, +that this wondrous declaration is divinely true.</p> + +<p>And this is a result of His atoning sacrifice, which +result He had in view, no less than the removal of +our guilt when He laid down His life for us. “Wherefore, +Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with +His own blood, suffered without the gate.” Glory +to His Name.</p> + +<p>He died, therefore, not alone that we might be saved +from guilt and condemnation and penalty, but that +we might be saved from sin, or sanctified wholly. +And I would that every one of my Christian readers +might unite in the hymn.</p> + +<p> “The cleansing stream I see, I see,<br /> +  I plunge and oh, it cleanseth me.<br /> +  It cleanseth me. Yes, cleanseth me.”</p> + +<h1><a name="#13">Chapter XIII.</a></h1> + +<h2>Sanctified by God the Holy Ghost.</h2> + +<p>As already intimated all the persons of the adorable +Trinity are concerned in the work of entirely sanctifying +a human soul. And this is naturally to be expected, +because God is one Trinitarianism is not Tritheism. +In essence one, in personality three, such is the revelation +of Holy Scripture in regard to the eternal Godhead. +The Bible reveals the fact, but does not reveal the +how. We bow in adoring gratitude and love before an +incomprehensible mystery, and rejoice in believing +even without understanding.</p> + +<p>Now the Holy Spirit is regarded by nearly all Christians +as distinctively and specially the Sanctifier, “The +renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly +through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,” is spoken +of in the epistle to Titus in direct connection with +the “washing of regeneration,” and seems +intended to be experienced just after it. Possibly +the renewing here spoken of, may signify only the +change of heart wrought by the Holy Ghost at the new +birth, but possibly, also, the apostle had in mind +the entire cleansing of the heart from sin. And in +that case the renewing need not be any more gradual +or progressive than the washing, which all admit to +be instantaneous.</p> + +<p>Peter, in describing, to the Church at Jerusalem, +the occurrences which he had witnessed at the house +of Cornelius in Cesarea, used this language: “And +God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving +them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put +no difference between us and them, purifying their +hearts by faith.” Evidently here the chief of +the apostles gives us to understand that the giving +of the Holy Ghost, and the purifying of the heart +by faith, are co-instantaneous and identical experiences. +And if this be so, the Holy Ghost, who is a Divine +person, and not a mere influence, must be the effective +agent in purifying the heart, that is to say, it is +He who by His Divine energy sanctifies us wholly.</p> + +<p>And with this agree the words of John the Baptist: +“I indeed baptize you with water, unto repentance, +but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose +shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you +with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” For what +purpose is this fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost? +Most certainly that it may consume the inbred sin +of our nature, as fire consumes the chaff, or destroys +the alloy that the gold may be left pure.</p> + +<p>Paul in his epistle to the Romans uses the following +language, viz: “That I should be the minister +of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel +of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might +be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” +This great apostle was the first to clearly understand +the perfect equality between Jew and Gentile in the +gospel of salvation, and as he made hundreds of Gentile +converts in His extensive missionary journeys, and +offered them up with their own consent and co-operation +in entire consecration to God, they were sanctified +by the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>The same apostle says to the Thessalonians, “We +are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, +beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning +chosen you to salvation through sanctification of +the Spirit and belief of the truth.” This is +the true election and the true salvation, a salvation +from sin, through sanctification of the Spirit and +this is to be obtained by faith.</p> + +<p>And the apostle of the circumcision uses language +very similar in addressing the Jewish Christians who +are scattered abroad, and whom he addresses as “Elect +according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, +through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience +and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” +Comparing these two citations we observe again, that +the blood of Jesus Christ is the ground of our sanctification, +and by a continuous sprinkling we may have a continuous +cleansing, and also that the Holy Spirit is the effective +agent in applying that precious blood, and in sanctifying +our souls, on condition that we believe the truth. +God help all Christians to be not faithless, but believing.</p> + +<h1><a name="#14">Chapter XIV.</a></h1> + +<h2>Sanctified by the Truth.</h2> + +<p>We have just seen that the Spirit operates in the +work of sanctification in connection with belief of +the truth on our part. And with this agree the words +of our Lord in His intercessory prayer. “Sanctify +them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth.” The +word here is not the eternal Logos, but God’s +revealed truth as given in Holy writ. And it is a +statement of the highest importance, made by Him who +is the truth, that the medium or means of our sanctification +is in the truth of God as made known to us in the +gospel of His Son. Here, again, the Apostle Peter +gives expression to the same sentiment when he says: +“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and +precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers +of the Divine nature having escaped the corruption +that is in the world through lust.” If we are +favored to escape the corruption that is in the world, +we are sanctified wholly, and this is effected, Peter +says, not by works of righteousness, not by resolutions +or penances, not by striving to do holiness, before +we seek to be holy, but by faith in the promises of +God. These promises are very numerous, and varied +in character on the pages of the Bible. By seizing +upon them as written specially for us, we make them +our own, and they become in and by Jesus Christ yea +and amen, that is to say, we realize them in our own +experience to be the truth, and thus when we read +“This is the will of God even your sanctification,” +or, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly,” +or, “I will circumcise your heart,” or +“I will put my Spirit within you and cause you +to walk in my statutes,” immediately the truth +is impressed upon our hearts as a glorious reality, +and we are enabled to reckon ourselves dead, indeed, +unto sin, and alive unto God, and to realize that the +Saviour’s prayer is answered and we are in His +own blessed words, sanctified “by the truth.” +If any reader will take a concordance and look for +the word truth, and search out the passages containing +it, he will be convinced that, however men may look +at it, we have to do with the Lord God of truth, and +that His estimate of truth is so high that He will +by no means countenance any person or anything that +liveth or maketh a lie. And if we would honor Him, +we must honor His truth, the truth that is to make +us free from the bondage of inbred sin, the truth which +we are commanded to buy, whatever may be the price, +and sell it not, the truth which the Lord desires +in the inward parts as well as upon the lips, the +truth of God, the truth of holiness, the truth by which +we are sanctified, the truth of the word.</p> + +<p>And then we shall find in our own experience that +“A God of truth and without iniquity, just and +right is He,” that He will send out His light +and His truth that they may bring us to His holy hill +and to His tabernacle, that He has given us a banner, +even the banner of holiness to the Lord, to be displayed +because of the truth, and we must never let it trail +in the dust, that His truth shall be our shield and +buckler, and that while the law was given by Moses, +grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>Glory be to His precious name forever, who is the +truth.</p> + +<h1><a name="#15">Chapter XV.</a></h1> + +<h2>Sanctified by Faith.</h2> + +<p>The faith-faculty was given to man at His first creation. +Adam believed God and was obedient and happy, and +the first thing that the wily tempter attacked, and, +alas, with too much success, was man’s faith. +“Yea,” hath God said, and “Ye shall +not surely die.” First, a question. Then, a +doubt of God’s truth; then, a doubt of His love, +and the rest was easy. Man stood so long as he did +stand by faith. He fell when he did fall by unbelief.</p> + +<p>God could not be God if He did not have faith in Himself. +Man could not be the child of God if he did not have +faith in God. Faith binds us in the closest spiritual +union with our Father in heaven. Unbelief severs this +bond of union and separates us from our Creator and +Redeemer. Beloved, let us have faith in God.</p> + +<p>“Ye are all the children of God by faith in +Jesus Christ.” This is the Christian’s +pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate +sense all men are the children of God since He created +them all. And this was known even to a Greek poet, +as quoted by Paul at Athens, “For we are also +His offspring.” But we must not fail to remember +that in John’s gospel we have this statement, +viz: “As many as received Him, to them gave +He power to become the sons of God, even to them that +believe on His name.” So that it is through +faith that we become the children of God, not only +by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, “Ye +must be born again.” “Believe on the Lord +Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” “He +that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and +he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, +but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Now, the +faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the power +of believing God’s truth, when it is presented, +is given to all mankind. But the exercise of that +power which is actual and saving faith, often requires +the coöperation of the human will. And, therefore, +God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible +for obedience to that command. “He that believeth +and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth +shall be condemned.” R.V.</p> + +<p>Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is +true not only in religion, but in science as well, +and not in science only, but in daily life and daily +business as well. Many of the well-established truths +of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. +All intelligent people believe that there is a hidden +force which they call the attraction of gravitation. +Nobody can tell what it is, nobody can prove its existence. +It is received and adopted by faith, and serves as +an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those +who accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated +to believe that all space is pervaded by an exceedingly +tenuous fluid which is called ether, and that it is +in this medium that the waves of light from self-luminous +bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence +of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by +faith, and explains the phenomena of light better +than any other hypothesis propounded. Science is saved +by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence +comes between the husband and wife, or between parents +and children, farewell to all the enjoyment of home +life.</p> + +<p>Finance, commerce, trade are all saved by faith. When +business men, manufacturers or merchants lose faith +in one another, or in their government, investments +cease, machinery stops, panics occur, and hard times +are complained of. As faith is the bond that binds +men to God, so it is the bond that binds men one to +another. When confidence is lost, all is lost. Even +a solvent bank may be broken, from a sudden run upon +it, caused by want of faith. Now, as faith is the substance +of things hoped for, because it makes them real, as +it is the evidence of things not seen, because it +convinces the mind of the actual existence of the +invisible, let us apply this thought to the matter +in hand that, namely, of entire sanctification.</p> + +<p>Paul in his valedictory to the Ephesian elders said +to them, “And now, brethren, I commend you to +God and to the word of His grace, which is able to +build you up and give you an inheritance among all +them which are sanctified,” and in the commission +to Paul himself the Saviour says, “To open their +eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and +from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive +forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which +are sanctified by faith that is in me.” And +as mentioned elsewhere, sanctification of the Spirit +is used by the apostle in direct connection with belief +of the truth. There can be no doubt, therefore, that +the instrumental means of entire sanctification is +faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “This is the +confidence,” says the beloved John, “that +we have in Him, that if we ask anything according +to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that He +hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the +petitions that we desired of Him.”</p> + +<p>Let the consecrated believer, then, ask for a clean +heart, ask for perfect love, ask for entire sanctification, +ask for the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and he knows +he is asking according to the will of God. Then, according +to John, he knows that he is heard, and knows also +by faith, because it is God’s promise that he +has the petitions he desired of Him. That is to say, +when he thus prays, he is to put forth the act of +faith, by an actual volition and will to believe that +he has the clean heart, the perfect love, the entire +sanctification, the Holy Ghost baptism, which he asked +for. And this will be honoring God by taking Him at +His word. It will be the first evidence that he is +sanctified wholly, the evidence of faith, and the other +evidence, the witness of the Spirit may be prayed +for and waited for, but, in the meantime, he can and +must rely with unwavering confidence upon the evidence +or witness of faith alone. God never sends the witness +of the Spirit till we honor Him by accepting the witness +of faith.</p> + +<p>I said we must believe by an act of the will. And +some reader may object to this statement by asserting +that faith or belief is not a matter of volition, +but a matter of evidence. But I am not asking any +one to believe without evidence. I am asking him simply +to give its rightful force to the evidence. It is +not for want of evidence that any earnest, consecrated +seeker is failing to believe that Christ is able and +willing to sanctify him wholly, and to do it now. He +asserts it in many forms and repeats it again and +again as His Divine will that His people should be +holy, and if He is not able to make them holy here +and now, His omnipotence is impugned, and if He is +not willing to make them holy here and now, He must +desire them to continue longer in sin, which thought +would impugn His own holiness.</p> + +<p>No, it is not for want of evidence, but because the +faith-faculty has become weakened and paralyzed by +sin, and now we must determine to believe, by putting +our will on to the side of faith, and allowing it, +no longer, to remain on the side of unbelief. Many +a seeking soul has come out into the fullness of salvation +by singing the hymn:</p> + +<p> “I can, I will, I do believe<br /> +  That Jesus saves me now.”</p> + +<p>The man who came to Jesus with his right hand withered, +was told to stretch it forth. He might have said where +is my evidence that it will do any good to try? But +he put his will into the obedient attitude. He willed +to stretch it forth, and made the effort, and with +the obedient will the power came from Jesus, and he +stretched it forth and was restored. To every one +of weak and paralyzed faith, I say, nay, Jesus says, +“Stretch forth thy hand of faith, I am here to +be responsible for the result.” Believe and +receive and confess and rejoice. Beloved, we are sanctified +by faith. Glory to the Lamb.</p> + +<h1><a name="#16">Chapter XVI.</a></h1> + +<h2>Conclusion.</h2> + +<p>I trust it has been sufficiently demonstrated that +the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification +are fully and clearly taught in Holy Scripture. All +the way from the patriarchs to the apostles in the +law, in the types, in the Psalms, in the prophets, +in the history, in the gospels, in the epistles, we +find that God requires His people to be holy and to +be holy now, that He makes it, therefore, their privilege +to be holy, and that He has made ample provision, in +the sacrificial offering of Christ, for them to be +made holy.</p> + +<p>“For their sakes,” says the blessed Saviour, +“I sanctify Myself that they also might be sanctified +through the truth,” or as the margin, “truly +sanctified,” or as the Revised Version, “that +they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” +The Lord Jesus Christ most assuredly did not need +to be made holy, but all His redeemed children being +subjects of inbred sin do need it. As for Him, He was +the “holy thing” that was to be born of +the Virgin Mary. “He knew no sin,” He “did +no sin,” He was “holy, harmless, undefiled +and separate from sinners,” and, therefore, +when He says “I sanctify Myself,” He means +nothing more nor less than I consecrate Myself, or +I set Myself apart, but in the other clause where +the term sanctify is used in reference to His people, +it must mean that they may be cleansed from all sin +entirely sanctified, made holy or pure in heart. He +sets Himself apart, therefore, to the work of redemption +and salvation that He may have a holy people on earth, +as without controversy He must and will have a holy +people in heaven.</p> + +<p>We have shown that entire sanctification is coetaneous +with the baptism with the Holy Ghost, in fact, that +the two experiences are in an important sense identical, +or, at least, so related to each other that whoever +has one has the other. It is Christ and none other +who baptizes with the Holy. Ghost. “He shall +baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire,” not +as some imagine, I think erroneously, that there are +to be two baptisms, first that of the Holy Ghost, +and afterwards that of fire in the way of affliction +or persecution, though plenty of these are promised +and experienced by those who would live godly in Christ +Jesus, but simply that He shall baptize you with the +Holy Ghost under the similitude of fire, that is, +that dross and tin and reprobate silver, or, in a +word, all inbred sin may be consumed.</p> + +<p>Nor is it correct to say that there are “many +baptisms” of the Spirit. The Holy Ghost baptism +is received by the consecrated believer once for all, +and is never repeated unless by unfaithfulness or backsliding +he falls from the precious grace which this baptism +confers upon him, from Christ through the Spirit, +and again comes in repentance and confession to do +his first works, and again to be filled with the Spirit +and cleansed from all sin. And even in that case the +Holy Ghost seldom or never repeats Himself, by giving +the same emotional experience as at first, but may +and must be received and retained by faith, and the +amount of feeling and the kind of feeling which He +will arouse must be left to Himself entirely, I mean +to say that the experience may be lost and may be +regained, but seldom with the same phenomena of consciousness +as at the first. Do not speak, then, of having had +many baptisms of the Spirit, but seek and find the +one baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do not say +that you are desiring or that you have had a fresh +baptism with the Holy Ghost, but let your thoughts +and prayers be directed to the one baptism which cleanseth +and endueth and anointeth.</p> + +<p>But I would not be misunderstood on this point. The +Psalmist says, “I shall be anointed with fresh +oil,” and to every sanctified child of God, +there may and do come seasons of refreshing, also of +girding and filling, and fresh anointing for particular +services, which are sometimes called fresh baptisms, +but which are not to be confounded with the one true +abiding Pentecostal experience. These blessings are +not to be undervalued or lightly esteemed, but they +come because we already have the Blesser Himself as +a personal indwelling Presence and Power.</p> + +<p>Many teachers of holiness inculcate the doctrine that +we are first sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and +afterwards filled or baptized with the Holy Ghost. +This opinion would necessitate three separate experiences, +where, I think, the Scripture only speaks of two. We +should have (1) pardon, (2) entire sanctification by +the blood, and (3) the filling of the Spirit. There +would thus be a separation between the removing of +inbred sin from the heart, and the baptism with the +Holy Ghost. This baptism would, then, be only a qualification +for service. It is regarded by these teachers, as +only given for an enduement of power, to do the work +to which we are called. And the practical result of +this error, for such with due deference I must regard +it, is that some will be very anxious to obtain the +baptism with the Holy Ghost to make them strong or +powerful in their work, but will ignore, or even deny, +the doctrine of entire sanctification. Dr. S. A. Keen +tells us of a minister who wrote to him that he did +not take much stock in sanctification, but that he +was very desirous of the Holy Ghost baptism, in order +that he might have increased power in the ministry +of the word. And, indeed, this seems to be a very +prevalent idea, that we are to be baptized for service, +but not for cleansing.</p> + +<p>I trust that no reader who has followed me through +the different chapters of this book will imagine, +for a moment, that I under-value, in the slightest +degree, the precious blood of Christ, nor do I forget +that it is that blood which, as we walk in the light, +cleanseth us from all sin. I think I have sufficiently +stated elsewhere that the blood of Jesus is the procuring +cause of our sanctification, as well as of our justification, +and that we are forever dependent upon the atonement +for the one blessing as well as the other. The blood +of the Son of God is the ground of our sanctification, +but it is the Holy Spirit who is the effective agent +in destroying the depravity of our hearts.</p> + +<p>It is true that our Saviour received the Holy Ghost, +and that God anointed Him for the great work of redemption. +And in His case, the word used is anointed or descended, +and not in any place baptized. He needed not the work +of entire sanctification, and, therefore, He is not +said to have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. As +a man, He did need the energizing for His work, and, +therefore, He is said to have been anointed. Beloved, +let us not separate what God has joined together. +The entire sanctification of the heart and the Holy +Ghost baptism are coetaneous experiences, and must +not be divorced.</p> + +<p>And now, beloved reader, I have accomplished my task. +I have shown that like a golden thread the doctrine +of entire sanctification runs through the Bible, from +Genesis to Revelation. It is found in patriarchal +times, it is in the law and the prophets, the types +and the ceremonies, the gospels and epistles, everywhere +showing us that we have to do with a Holy God, and +that we as His children are required to be holy men +and women.</p> + +<p>To all who shall read this book, I testify that by +the grace of God, and the blood of Christ, and the +sin-consuming baptism with the Holy Ghost, this poor +man, the chief of sinners, is saved to the uttermost. +Glory to His name.</p> + +<p>And to you, my readers, I bid farewell, and say, May +He “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, +settle you.” Amen.</p> +<PRE> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE THEOLOGY OF HOLINESS *** + +This file should be named 8thss10h.htm or 8thss10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8thss11h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8thss10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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