{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26691/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26691","id":"gutenberg_26691","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26691","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sanctification"],"text":"Produced by Charlene Taylor, Carla Foust, Joel Erickson\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note\n\nMinor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. A few\nobvious typographical errors have been corrected, and they are listed\nat the end.\n\n\n\n\n     SANCTIFICATION\n\n\n     Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with\n     his own blood, suffered without the gate. Heb. 13:12.\n\n     By J. W. BYERS\n     Printed in 1902 by GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n     CONTENTS\n\n\n     What Is Sanctification?                       5\n\n     The Apostolic Experience                     11\n\n     Consecration and Dedication                  19\n\n     The Holy Spirit of Promise                   25\n\n     Our Inheritance                              32\n\n     Sanctified by Faith                          39\n\n     The Subtraction Process                      45\n\n     Christian Perfection                         51\n\n     Holiness                                     58\n\n     The Vine and The Branches                    64\n\n     Some Helpful Thoughts on Consecration        69\n\n     Questions and Answers                        76\n\n     Personal Experience                          90\n\n\n\n\nWhat is Sanctification?\n\n\nScripturally, the word =sanctification= has three meanings: First,\nseparation; second, dedication; third, spirit-filling. Webster's\ndefinition of it is as follows: \"1. Sanctification is the act of God's\ngrace by which the affections of man are purified, or alienated from sin\nand the world, and exalted to a supreme love of God; also, the state of\nbeing thus purified or sanctified. 2. The act of consecrating, or\nsetting apart for a sacred purpose.\" \"=Sanctifier.= One who sanctifies or\nmakes holy; specifically, the Holy Ghost.\" \"=Sanctify.= 1. To set apart to\na holy or religious use. 2. To make holy or free from sin; to cleanse\nfrom moral corruption or pollution; to make holy by detaching the\naffections from the world and its defilements and exalting them to a\nsupreme love of God.\" Scripturally and practically, the terms\nsanctification, holiness, purity, and perfection are synonymous.\n=Holiness=, Separation: setting apart; sacredness. =Purity.= Cleanness;\nchastity. =Perfection.= Completeness; wholeness. All this is comprehended\nin one word, =sanctification=.\n\nIt is evident that this term signifies much more in the New Testament\nsense than it does in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament it meant\nbut a dedication, a setting apart to a holy use, as in the example of\nthe sanctification of the tabernacle and its contents--the altar and\nlaver, and all the vessels belonging thereto--and Aaron and his sons and\ntheir garments. Lev. 8:10-30. In this dispensation of grace it means\ninfinitely more; for in that dispensation it was but an outward and\nceremonial work, but now it is an inwrought work, permeating and\npurifying the affections through and through by the cleansing blood and\nheavenly fire, and filling the dedicated temple, our body, with the Holy\nGhost, as in the example of the early church at Pentecost.\n\nThe justified believer must meet the conditions of complete separation\nand exclusive dedication of himself to God, in a sense that no guilty\nsinner can do. This is the believer's part. He must purify himself.\n\"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is\npure.\"--1 John 3:3. \"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved,\nlet us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,\nperfecting holiness in the fear of God.\"--2 Cor. 7:1. This brings the\nbeliever into the condition where God can fulfill his part. He can now\ntake exclusive possession of the dedicated temple, and sanctify it. \"And\nthe very God of peace sanctify you wholly.\"--1 Thess. 5:23. \"And they\nwere all filled with the Holy Ghost.\"--Acts 2:4. This brings the\nbeliever into a more perfect spiritual relationship with God than when\nsimply justified.\n\n\nSanctification A Bible Doctrine\n\n\"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,\nwhich is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all\nthem which are sanctified.\" Acts 20:32.\n\n\"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from\nthe power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,\nand inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in\nme.\"--Acts 26:18.\n\n\"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.... And for their\nsakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the\ntruth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall\nbelieve on me through their word.\"--John 17:17, 19, 20.\n\n\"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto\nhonour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto\nevery good work.\"--2 Tim. 2:21.\n\n\"That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in\nsanctification and honour.\"--1 Thess. 4:4.\n\n\nGod Our Sanctifier\n\n\"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your\nwhole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of\nour Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do\nit.\"--1 Thess. 5:23, 24.\n\n\"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that\nare sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and\ncalled.\"--Jude 1.\n\n\nSanctified In Christ\n\n\"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified\nin Christ Jesus.\" \"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made\nunto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and\nredemption.\"--1 Cor. 1:2, 30.\n\n\nSanctified Through the Truth\n\n\"Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.\"--John 17:17. \"That\nhe might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the\nword.\"--Eph. 5:26.\n\n\nBy The Blood of Jesus\n\n\"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own\nblood, suffered without the gate.\" \"For if the blood of bulls and of\ngoats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to\nthe purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who\nthrough the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge\nyour conscience from dead works to serve the living God?\" \"By the which\nwill we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ\nonce for all.\" \"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that\nare sanctified.\"\n\n\"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,\nwho hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood\nof the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath\ndone despite unto the Spirit of grace?\"--Heb. 13:12; 9:13, 14; 10:10,\n14, 29.\n\n\nAnd The Holy Spirit\n\n\"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,\nministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles\nmight be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.\"--Rom. 15:16.\n\"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved\nof the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation\nthrough sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.\"--2 Thess.\n2:13.\n\nThese and many other texts of scripture teach us that sanctification is\na Bible doctrine. There is but one reason why some people can not see it\nin the Bible--their eyes are blinded. All who are willing to yield\nthemselves to God and His word, will soon be taught this blessed truth.\nJesus prayed that His disciples might become sanctified. They had not\nyet come into this experience. Jesus knew that they needed it. It was\nHis desire for their highest good. They were not able to go forth and\ncope with the powers of sin. They had been under the teaching of the\nMaster and in His presence, and therefore were protected by Him from the\nenemy; but now he was soon to be taken from them, and He knew that they\nmust be \"endued with power from on high.\" Therefore He implored the\nFather for the sanctification of the eleven; and not \"for these alone,\"\nbut \"for them also which shall believe on me through their word.\" This\nreaches down through the entire gospel dispensation. It is His blessed\nwill that we all shall be sanctified. As justified believers, we each\nare as needy of this grace as were the eleven disciples. It is\nindispensable for our spiritual welfare.\n\nSome are disposed to look upon this matter as optional with them; but\nsuch is a mistake. The time comes in the experience of every true\nbeliever when the Holy Spirit brings before him the conditions of a\ndefinite and absolute consecration. A refusal to meet these conditions,\ndone ignorantly, will bring a cloud over our experience of justification\nand, eventually, if persisted in wilfully, will bring us into God's\nutter disapproval. \"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth\nit not, to him it is sin.\"--Jas. 4:17.\n\nSanctification is the normal state of the Christian. The Father, Son and\nHoly Spirit are jointly interested in us, that we attain unto this\ngrace. Our unity with the Godhead is incomplete without it, so also is\nour unity with each other; \"For both he that sanctifieth and they who\nare sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call\nthem brethren.\"--Heb. 2:11. A heart washed and made pure by the blood of\nChrist and filled with the Holy Spirit will always be in perfect\nfellowship with divinity, and also with all other hearts of like\nexperience. The unsanctified heart of the believer cannot be fully\nsatisfied, because of the consciousness of the presence of the carnal\nnature, more scripturally called \"our old man.\" Just what it is may not\nperhaps be perfectly understood by the new convert, but that something\nabnormal exists will soon be discovered, and there will be a longing in\nthe heart for an inward cleansing--a normal desire for the normal\nexperience. On the other hand, when this blessed experience is attained,\nthere comes with it the consciousness of inward purity which fully\nsatisfies the heart, and it can sing with the spirit and with the\nunderstanding, \"Hallelujah for the cleansing; it has reached my inmost\nsoul.\"\n\nFor this purpose Christ gave himself for the church--\"That he might\nsanctify and cleanse it.\" God gave him to the world that whosoever\nbelieves in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life, for our\njustification; but Christ gave himself for the church, for our\nsanctification.\n\nThe gospel commission of the apostle Paul specifies clearly the doctrine\nof sanctification, the \"inheritance among them which are sanctified.\" He\ncould not have been faithful to this commission without leading souls\nfrom \"forgiveness of sins\" into this \"inheritance.\" His ministry and\nepistles to the different churches prove his faithfulness. Upon his\nfirst acquaintance with the brethren at Ephesus he asked them the\nquestion, \"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?\" And after\nthree years of faithful ministry in that city, upon the solemn event of\nhis departure from them, among his last words he reminds the church of\nthe \"inheritance among all them which are sanctified.\" Then about four\nyears later, while a prisoner at Rome, he writes back to them his\nepistle to the Ephesians, which in every chapter sparkles with beautiful\ngems of thought upon the subject of sanctification. In his letter to the\nchurch of Rome we are forcibly reminded that this doctrine was prominent\nin his teaching, employing such terms as, \"this grace wherein we stand\"\n(Rom. 5:2), \"our old man is crucified,\" \"that the body of sin might be\ndestroyed,\" \"dead indeed unto sin,\" \"free from sin\" (Chap. 6), \"married\nto ... him who is raised from the dead\" (Chap. 7), \"present your bodies\na living sacrifice\" (Chap. 12) \"being sanctified by the Holy Ghost\"\n(Chap. 15). These terms and others signify the precious experiences of\nsanctification.\n\nIn the first and second epistles to the Corinthians we also notice the\nmention of this experience, and that there were some saints at Corinth\nthat were sanctified (1:2, 30), although some were not, and were told\nthat they were yet carnal. There were evidently only the two\nclasses--sanctified and justified, in the church there, the same as is\nusually the case everywhere today. In speaking of the congregation, he\nsays \"But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in\nthe name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God.\"--1 Cor. 6:11. In\nthe second epistle, Chap. 7:1, he exhorts them: \"Let us cleanse\nourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting\nholiness in the fear of God,\" and among the closing words of this\nletter, he says, \"Be perfect.\"\n\nThus we can see in all the epistles of this apostle, the theme of\nsanctification. His personal testimony to the Galatians reads: \"I am\ncrucified with Christ.\" His statement to the brethren at Philippi was:\n\"As many as be perfect\"; to those at Colosse: \"Ye are dead and your life\nis hid with Christ in God,\" \"Ye have put off the old man with his deeds,\nand have put on the new man\"; his teaching in the epistles to the\nThessalonians, showing them that sanctification is the will of God to\nthem, and his desire that the \"God of peace sanctify you wholly.\" His\ninstructions to Timothy show how we may become a vessel \"sanctified and\nmeet for the Master's use,\" and he refers to the fact that there were\nsome who \"call on the Lord out of a pure heart.\" His letter to Titus, in\nwhich he mentions how Jesus gave himself for us, that he might \"purify\nunto himself a peculiar people.\" These all add testimony to this\ndoctrine and the apostle's faithfulness in his ministry. Some scholars\nthink Apollos is the author of the epistle to the Hebrews; but whether\nPaul or Apollos, it abounds with truth upon sanctification.\n\nAll the other writers of the New Testament teach the same truth. James\nsays, \"Purify your hearts, ye double-minded.\" Peter gives emphasis to\nthe doctrine of holiness: \"Be ye holy,\" and that \"we, being dead to\nsins, should live unto righteousness\"; and desires that the God of all\ngrace \"make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you;\" and that at\nthe coming of Christ \"ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and\nblameless.\" Jude addresses his epistle \"to them that are sanctified,\"\nand \"preserved.\"\n\nThen when we search the writings of John we are almost overwhelmed with\nglory, as we read his beautiful teachings upon this theme, which he so\nclearly sets forth. God grant that we all may \"walk in the light as he\nis in the light,\" walking \"even as he walked,\" that his love in us may\nbe \"perfected,\" that we may prayerfully hold fast and abide in this\n\"unction from the Holy One,\" that the \"anointing\" may abide in us. Such\nan experience can be realized only by every one that \"purifieth himself\neven as he is pure.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nThe Apostolic Experience\n\n\n\"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for\ndoctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:\nthat the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good\nworks.\"--2 Tim. 3:16, 17.\n\nIn our study of this theme we find that the word of God is our only\nstandard to prove that sanctification is a Bible doctrine. The\nexperience and testimony of the Bible writers and the other apostles of\nthe early church also prove to us and teach the nature of this doctrine\nand its relative position to the experience of justification. It will be\nimportant and profitable for us to review these experiences, not only to\nestablish the doctrine in our faith, but also to examine our own hearts\nand see that our experiences are truly apostolic.\n\nThe author of this treatise was sanctified at a time when there was a\nbattle raging against the doctrine as a second work of grace. He had\nhimself taken a stand against it for some years, because it did not seem\nthat the scriptures and apostolic testimonies were sufficiently clear to\nestablish the second-work doctrine. In this he had been blinded by the\ntheories on the opposing side, notwithstanding the brilliant\ntestimonies to the contrary of those whose lives were unimpeachable. Of\ncourse it was impossible to consecrate for and receive the experience\nunder such circumstances, and consequently years of unsatisfactory\nexperience passed by, until at last the indisputable symptoms of inborn\ndepravity, and the deplorable weakness of the heart and will to cope\nwith the mighty power of the enemy, brought the struggling soul into\ndepths of despair at the feet of Jesus, crying, \"Forgive me, O Lord, for\nall my sad failures, and 'create in me a clean heart, O God.'\" It was\nnot a question at this crisis about it being a second work of grace. The\ncrying need of the soul was a clean heart. It was all too evident that\nthe heart was not clean, and it was also evident that it was the will of\nGod, even my sanctification; and dear loved ones were daily proving by\nlife and testimony that the experience was attainable.\n\nIt will be sufficient to say at present that the definite consecration\nand definite faith in the definite promises of God brought the definite\nexperience. The inward struggle was over, and the soul had entered into\nits promised land--the heavenly rest; \"for we which have believed do\nenter into rest.\"--Heb. 4:3. Experimentally, the question of the second\nwork was most thoroughly and satisfactorily answered, and it seemed as\nclear as the noonday sun in a cloudless sky. The internal evidence was\noverwhelming, and now it only remained necessary to become established\nscripturally, which, by the study of the apostolic experiences and\ntestimonies, was by the anointing received in due time. Praise God!\n\nWere it not for the perverted teaching, every truly justified child of\nGod would soon be led by the Holy Spirit into this grace, because it is\nthe inheritance of the soul, and its normal state. The apostles before\nPentecost needed it, and so does every other child of God. Let us\nbriefly consider the experience of the apostolic brethren, both before\nand upon their Pentecost.\n\n=They were born of God before Pentecost.= This is very definitely\nestablished by the following scriptures. \"Whosoever believeth that Jesus\nis the Christ is born of God\"--1 John 5:1. \"He saith unto them, But whom\nsay ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the\nChrist, the Son of the living God.\"--Matt. 16:15, 16. \"But as many as\nreceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to\nthem that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the\nwill of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\"--John 1:12, 13.\n\"Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of\nGod.\"--John 1:49. \"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and\nbehold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side;\nand be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto\nhim, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast\nseen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and\nyet have believed.\"--John 20:27-29.\n\nThis is sufficient to prove their experience, both before and after the\ndeath and resurrection of Christ. Some would contend that the disciples\ncould not have been regenerated in a true New Testament sense before\nPentecost, because the plan of salvation was not finished before\nChrist's death on the cross. If this were true, there is sufficient in\nthe foregoing text (John 20:27-29) to prove that the eleven were\nenjoying the regenerating grace; for they all had at least as much faith\nas Thomas, that Jesus is the Christ; and when Thomas was invited to\nprove to his own satisfaction that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead,\nhe at once acknowledged him \"My Lord and my God.\" This was after the\natonement for sin was made, and the disciples believed in him and beyond\ndoubt were justified and born of God in the perfect New Testament sense.\nThis not only is true of the eleven, but equally so of all who believed\nthat he arose from the dead; for he said, \"Blessed are they that have\nnot seen and yet have believed.\"\n\nThe language of the apostle to the Roman brethren (Chap. 10:9, 10) adds\nto this testimony--\"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord\nJesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from\nthe dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto\nrighteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.\"\nThe apostle John says (1 John 2:29), \"If ye know that he is righteous,\nye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.\" He also\nsays, \"Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.\"--1 John\n4:7.\n\n=Their names were written in heaven.= \"Notwithstanding in this rejoice\nnot, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because\nyour names are written in heaven.\"--Luke 10:20. The critic will say that\nthis was said of the seventy and not of the twelve. Well, it was said of\nthe seventy, but how could it be less true of the twelve whom he had\npreviously chosen and sent out to preach the kingdom of God, to cast out\ndevils, and to heal the sick? It is likely that a number of those\nseventy, if not all, were among the one hundred twenty at Pentecost. To\nsay the least concerning the spiritual standing of the twelve, they were\nequal with the seventy.\n\n=They were not of the world.= \"If ye were of the world, the world would\nlove his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you\nout of the world, therefore the world hateth you.\"--John 15:19. \"I have\ngiven them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not\nof the world, even as I am not of the world.... They are not of the\nworld, even as I am not of the world.\" John 17:14,16.\n\n=They kept the word of God.= \"I have manifested thy name unto the men\nwhich thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest\nthem me; and they have kept thy word. For I have given unto them the\nwords which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known\nsurely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst\nsend me.\"--John 17:6, 8.\n\n=They belonged to God.= \"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but\nfor them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. All mine are\nthine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.\"--John 17:9, 10.\n\nThis was the spiritual condition of the eleven before Pentecost\ntestified to by Jesus himself. It is certainly a blessed condition--born\nof God, their names written in heaven, not of the world. They belonged\nto God, and they kept His word. Would that every professing follower of\nJesus were in this blessed state. It would produce a revolution in\nChristendom. Does not this signify all that can possibly be comprehended\nin justification?\n\nThen after the blood of Jesus had been shed and the ransom for sin paid,\nhe opened their understanding (Luke 24:45) that they might understand\nthe scriptures, how he should suffer and rise again from the dead. We\nsee that they believed in him the Redeemer, and now understood the\nobject of his suffering and death; but there was still a glorious work\nof grace awaiting them, to be inwrought by the Holy Ghost, the\nsanctifier.\n\n=They were not yet sanctified=, and for this reason Jesus prayed for them\nas he did. He well knew that they could not be kept from the evil of the\nworld in a manner that would prove satisfactory to themselves and the\nFather, unless there should be accomplished in them more than had yet\nbeen done. Therefore he prayed, \"Sanctify them through thy truth, thy\nword is truth.\"--John 17:17.\n\n=They had not yet received the Holy Ghost.= \"And, behold, I send the\npromise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,\nuntil ye be endued with power from on high.\"--Luke 24:49. \"For John\ntruly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost\nnot many days hence.\"\n\n=This promise was fulfilled.= \"And when the day of Pentecost was fully\ncome, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there\ncame a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all\nthe house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven\ntongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all\nfilled with the Holy Ghost.\"--Acts 2:1-4.\n\nWe will presently consider the testimony of the apostle Peter with\nreference to this experience at Pentecost, but will first notice the\nexperience of\n\n\nCornelius And His Household\n\nThis brother was a devout man; he feared God with all his house; he\nprayed to God always and gave much alms, which were accepted of God and\nwere had in remembrance in his sight; he had a good report. God heard\nhis prayers, accepted him, and answered his prayers; and he and his\nhousehold were all anxious to hear the preaching of Peter, testifying,\n\"Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things\nthat are commanded thee of God.\"--Acts 10:33.\n\nThis was not a company of sinners. Peter did not preach repentance to\nthem. Although they were Gentiles and did not have the privileges that\nmany others had and were not acquainted with the apostles, they were\nacquainted with God. Peter expressed his surprise at this, saying, \"Of a\ntruth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every\nnation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with\nhim.\" Acts 10:34, 35. Here Peter testifies both to the righteousness and\nto the acceptance with God of this household.\n\nFrom Peter's statement in Acts 11:14, in his testimony to the church\nconcerning this event, a doubt might arise as to this company being\nsaved in the full New Testament justification. He refers to the words of\nthe angel in his message to Cornelius, instructing him to send for\nPeter, \"Who shall teach thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall\nbe saved.\" But this statement in itself cannot be interpreted to mean\nthat this company were not already justified. We have a parallel\nstatement of Peter in his testimony to the church upon another occasion,\nwhen he again refers to the grace of God to the Gentile world, saying\n(Acts 15:10, 11), \"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon\nthe neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to\nbear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we\nshall be saved, even as they.\" The term \"saved\" in both these instances\nsignifies more than justification; for truly Peter and the disciples to\nwhom he was speaking in this last instance were justified.\n\nThe household of Cornelius were ready with open hearts to receive all\nthat God had for them, and while Peter spoke the word of God to them\n\"the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.\" This experience\nwas identical in character with that of the Jewish saints at Pentecost.\n\n\nPeter's Testimony\n\nIn rehearsing this wonderful event to the brethren and apostles at\nJerusalem he testified to the unquestionable leading of the Spirit to\nthis company of believers. He said (Acts 11:15, 17), \"And as I began to\nspeak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Forasmuch\nthen as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on\nthe Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?\" Upon\nanother occasion at Jerusalem Peter again spoke of the same event,\nsaying, \"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving\nthem the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference\nbetween us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.\"--Acts 15:8, 9.\nBut Peter testified to the fact that the Gentiles are placed upon a\nlevel with the Jews, not only in the reception of the Holy Spirit, but\nin the experience of cleansing. He testified to these two phases of\nsanctification, equally wrought in the hearts of the Jews and Gentiles,\nmaking \"no difference between us and them\"; and in this same testimony\nhe plainly states that \"purifying their hearts\" was an experience\nco-incident with the reception of the Holy Ghost--\"giving them the Holy\nGhost,\" \"purifying their hearts,\" \"even as he did unto us.\" Opposers of\nthis truth have argued that Peter's statement, \"purifying their hearts,\"\nin the Greek text reads, \"having purified their hearts,\" the word\n\"having\" signifying that their hearts were purified previous to the\nevent of their reception of the Holy Ghost; but this objection has no\nfoundation in scripture, history, or experience. If there could be a\nshadow of meaning in this form of this word in the Greek text, to\nsignify that the \"purifying their hearts\" occurred prior to the\noutpouring of the Holy Ghost, it simply has reference to the order of\nthese two phases of sanctification, which were effected within them upon\nthis occasion.\n\nIt is evident that in the divine order of sanctification purifying the\nheart by faith is preparatory to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He\nmust have a pure heart in which to make his abode. However, there is no\nlapse of time perceptible between the =negative= and =positive= phase of\nsanctification. How easily this is understood by those who have truly\nreceived the Pentecostal experience. How the \"anointing\" teaches us and\nwitnesses in our hearts to the testimony of Peter; but to those who have\nnot yet had their Pentecost, and especially such as are blinded by\ntheory and the doctrines of men, there is likely to be discussion and\nargument of words. The apostles and brethren at Jerusalem had no\nargument to make when Peter rehearsed his experience. They simply\n\"glorified God.\"\n\n\nPaul's Testimony\n\n\"Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some\nsort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me\nof God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,\nministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles\nmight be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.\"--Romans 15:15,\n16.\n\nThis testimony agrees with Peter in his account of the outpouring of the\nHoly Ghost upon the Gentile believers. It is not plainly stated that\nPaul has reference to this event in his testimony quoted, yet we can see\nclearly that he does have reference to the experience of sanctification,\nand that it is identical with that of all believers, being a specific\nwork of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\nExperiences of the Brethren at Samaria\n\n\"Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto\nthem. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the\nkingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both\nmen and women.\"--Acts 8:5, 12. About three years prior to this time\nthere was a greater One than Philip at Samaria preaching the words of\nlife, and many more than the woman at the well believed, and they said\nto the woman, \"Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have\nheard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the\nSaviour of the world.\"--John 4:42. This was an effectual introduction of\nthe gospel, and when Philip went to that city he found much good soil\nfor the precious word in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no room for\ndoubt as to the acceptable condition of these converts. They believed\nin the name of Jesus and were baptized. Some had doubtless remained firm\nbelievers since Jesus' visit to that city; others believed through the\npreaching of Philip. Certainly they were justified by faith in the name\nof Jesus, but like the disciples before Pentecost they were not yet\nsanctified, and when the apostles at Jerusalem heard of this work of\ngrace at Samaria they sent down Peter and John, \"who when they were come\ndown, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as\nyet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name\nof the Lord Jesus) then laid they their hands on them, and they received\nthe Holy Ghost.\"--Acts 8:15-17.\n\nHow clearly the inspired record here proves the second work of grace,\nand how beautifully this event harmonizes with the others relative to\nthe outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And then, how glorious to have an\nexperience like it in our own hearts. Praise God for this glorious,\nvivid, and living reality which by its divine power pales every theory\ninto utter obscurity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nConsecration and Dedication\n\n\n\"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye\npresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which\nis your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be\nye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is\nthat good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.\"--Romans 12:1, 2.\n\nIn this chapter we will notice the scriptures upon the theme of\nconsecration and dedication--the important step necessary on the part of\nthe justified believer, before he can enter into this blessed grace of\nentire sanctification.\n\nWe find that in the old dispensation everything that was to be employed\nin the service of God necessarily had to be consecrated. In the\ntabernacle and temple service every vessel and article of furniture,\neven the smallest spoon, the tongs, and snuffers, together with the\nbuilding itself, and all the priests and their garments, were\nconsecrated wholly unto God, to be used for no other purpose than\ndivine service. This setting apart for holy service was the Old\nTestament sanctification. The setting apart of these things, together\nwith the ceremonial application of what God had ordained to be used in\nthis dedication, was acceptable in his sight.\n\nThis consecration in the old dispensation is but a shadow of the new. It\nwas God's own way of sanctification--making things holy unto himself.\nThe mere declaration on the part of Moses, in the consecration of these\nthings, that they were now holy, would not have been sufficient without\nthe careful observance of the application of the blood of animals and\nthe holy anointing oil, which were typical of the blood of Jesus and the\nHoly Spirit. Some of the articles of the tabernacles and temple were\nsanctified simply by a setting apart and sprinkling with oil (Lev.\n8:10), while others required the application of oil and blood. Lev.\n8:11, 15. In the consecration of Aaron and his sons the anointing oil\nand the blood were applied. Without this they would not have been\nsanctified. Lev. 8:30. The apostle speaks of this in his letter to the\nHebrews--\"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a\nheifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the\nflesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal\nSpirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from\ndead works to serve the living God?\"--Heb. 9:13.\n\nThe importance of an exclusive dedication to the service of God should\nimpress our minds with deep solemnity. Anything held back from such a\ndedication would most certainly have been rejected in the old\ndispensation, and truly it is the same in the new. Many professing to\nfollow Jesus into a thorough consecration, are at heart disposed to keep\nback some treasured idol. Many have doubtless made a profession of\nsanctification, and yet have never made a definite consecration. Such\nare deceived, and never know the joys of this glorious experience. The\ncleansing blood and the Holy Spirit will never be applied to the heart\nthat is not absolutely consecrated.\n\nIt is both scriptural and logical that we present our bodies a living\nsacrifice, not only for service but for actual sacrifice in a definite\nand absolute consecration. We have no bad things to present to the Lord\nin this consecration; for we are not sinners. We would not be proper\ncandidates for sanctification if we were clinging to anything sinful.\nEverything sinful must be forsaken and denounced by the guilty sinner\nwhen he comes to God for pardon. Otherwise he would never be forgiven of\nhis sins. The world, the flesh, and the devil are forsaken in true\nrepentance. \"Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live\nsoberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.\" Therefore all\nsinful things are laid aside forever in repentance. This is the Bible\nsignification of repentance: To give up all sinful things. But the Bible\nsignification of consecration is to present to Jesus all the sacred\ntreasures of our hearts--give up all our good things.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNo sinner can make a definite Bible consecration; for he has no good\nthings to bring to God. He is guilty and condemned in the sight of God.\nIt is the justified believer who has learned by experience that his\ninward spiritual condition is not yet satisfactory. It may have been for\na time; but he sooner or later becomes aware that there is a deeper work\nof grace needed. He doubts not that he is justified, but knows that\nsomething more must be wrought within. Through the ministry of the word\nof God and the blessed guidance of the Holy Spirit, he is soon taught\nthat a definite consecration must be made as one of the Bible conditions\nfor sanctification. Now comes the searching and far-reaching question:\nAre you willing to make this consecration? This means everything to the\nsoul. All the sacred God-given treasures around which the heart's\naffections have so closely entwined, and which have become a part of the\nvery life itself, are now required to be yielded up to Jesus as a\nvoluntary offering. There is no danger that anything will be forgotten;\nfor the heart-searching eye of God will reveal every hidden treasure,\nand make known the depths of meaning to the soul, which will be\nastounded to know as never before how much it means to lay all of itself\nand sacred treasures at the feet of Jesus. There comes an inward\nstruggle, perhaps. The heart's affections tighten around the sacred\nobjects of its love, until they seem dearer than ever before; but while\nthis is being done there comes a sadness stealing over the soul; for\nwhereas these objects seem so sacred and precious, there is a\nconsciousness within that Jesus is slighted. The affections are divided\nbetween Jesus and these treasures. He asks the question, \"Lovest thou me\nmore than these?\" You can answer, \"Yes, Lord; thou knowest that I love\nthee.\" But must I give up these treasures, these sacred things of my\nheart for thee? Can not I have both them and thee? This is where death\nmust set in. Thank God, it is the death-route, the only road to this\nglorious Canaan of soul-rest.\n\nIt soon becomes a significant fact thoroughly understood that Jesus\nrequires the undivided heart and every affection. You cannot refuse him.\nHe has done too much for you. He suffered without the gate that he might\nsanctify you with his own blood. He gave himself for the church that he\nmight sanctify and cleanse it; and now how can you withhold anything\nfrom him? He has a just right to all your affections. He gave his all\nfor you, and now it is right that you should give your all for him. He\nsacrificed his life for you; now you are brought to the sacrifice of\nyour life for him--a living sacrifice. You see that this claim is right\nand just. It is a reasonable requirement on his part; a \"reasonable\nservice\" on your part.\n\nBut, dear reader, the question must be answered. Are you going to yield?\nYou may answer, Yes; but the Lord requires you to do so at once. Usually\nwhen the soul is brought face to face with this consecration and begins\nto become willing to yield up its treasures, it lets go the easiest ones\nfirst, and as one by one they are counted over to the Lord there comes a\nfinal struggle; the dearest one of all is now before you. The emotions\nof the heart begin to deepen as the affections cling to this treasure.\nEverything has now centered upon this one object. It is to be sacrificed\nfor Jesus or he must be sacrificed for it. Which will it be? It must be\nJesus only. Much reasoning may arise upon this important matter, but all\nis vain. There must be the yielding. You must say from the depths of\nyour soul, \"Thy will be done.\" You have often said this before, but it\nnever meant nearly what it does now. You truly feel the agonies of\ndeath. Were you to be laid on your death-bed or in your coffin, there\nwould be no greater separation from everything of this earth than this.\nNo loved one can now go with you. No treasure can be kept as your own.\nThe lone, dark vale must be crossed. No sympathy of friend can follow\nyou. Everything must be left behind. Dear reader, this is a critical\nmoment. The destiny of your soul is hanging upon a single thread. You\nare swinging out over the deep precipice--clinging, clinging, clinging.\nJesus demands that you let go and drop completely into his will. You\ndesire to do this, but your soul shrinks. It seems so dark below. Many a\none has here taken counsel with his own soul and decided to swing back\nupon the side of self, thereby losing incalculable wealth, and missing\nthis glorious soul-rest which \"remaineth therefore ... for the people of\nGod.\" O dear soul, do not fail to labor to enter in! Let the death\nstruggle continue until it has completed its work--until you have truly\nceased from your own works. The floodgates of heaven are ready to open\nand fill you with such glory that it will cause this old world to fade\nout of sight; but not until you can cheerfully and willingly let go and\nsay to Jesus, \"Thy will be done.\" Your Pentecost is just in reach. Will\nyou have it, or will you not?\n\nIn the dedication of the tabernacle we have a beautiful type of the\ndedication of ourselves to this \"reasonable service\" of God. The\nerection of the tabernacle, the placing of all the furniture, and the\narrangement of the entire structure had to be made in every respect\n\"according to the pattern\" shown to Moses on the mount. In the\ncompletion of all the work, we read in Ex. 40 that it was now all done\n\"as the Lord commanded Moses.\" He might have thought it did not matter\nmuch about some of these things, and that the Lord would not require\nevery small thing to be done according to the pattern; but no matter\nwhat he might have thought, he knew that obedience to every requirement\nof the Lord was his only safety; so he made everything according to the\npattern. In verse 33 the record says, \"So Moses finished the work.\"\n\nDear soul, can this be said of you? Have you finished the work? Have you\nceased from your own works? You must reach this point in your\nconsecration, so you can realize just as definitely as Moses did, that\nyou have truly finished the work. When this was the condition in the\ndedication of the tabernacle, \"a cloud covered the tent of the\ncongregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses\nwas not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the\ncloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.\"\nV. 34. When Moses had finished the work and the dedication was complete,\nthe glory of the Lord came into the tabernacle. So it is with the\nconsecrated heart; the glory of the Lord will fill it.\n\nIn the dedication of the temple we also have a type of this Pentecostal\nexperience. \"Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were\nassembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which\ncould not be told nor numbered for multitude.\"--2 Chron. 5:6. See the\nsacrifice unto the Lord. Nothing was too great; everything was fully\nyielded up to him without reserve. \"And it came to pass, when the\npriests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were\npresent were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: also the\nLevites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of\nJeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white\nlinen having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of\nthe altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with\ntrumpets:) it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as\none, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord;\nand when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and\ninstruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for\nhis mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud,\neven the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to\nminister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled\nthe house of God.\"--2 Chron. 5:11-14. Thus we see that when the\nsacrifice was complete and everything was in perfect order, the glory of\nGod filled the temple.\n\nThis was but a type of the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem. In the type,\nthe glory of the Lord filled the consecrated temple. In the antitype,\nthe consecrated hearts (the temples of the Holy Ghost) were filled with\nthe glory of the Lord. Now this is just what Jesus will do with every\nconsecrated heart today. \"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and\nwith fire.\"--Matt. 3:11. But the consecration must be complete. It is\nreasonable that Jesus should require us to yield up everything to him.\nOur hearts cannot be purified until every affection is yielded. He\nrequires this for our own highest good. He wants the supreme right of\nway so that he can work his own will in our entire being. He wants the\nabsolute control, so that he can get between us and everything. Praise\nhis name! this is for our benefit, which we will plainly see when once\nwe have paid the full price. When his will is completely wrought in us,\nthen he will with himself freely give us all things for our greatest\ngood and his highest glory. Even an hundredfold shall be our delightful\nportion. But the loss of all things must precede this wonderful\nincrease. An absolute death must precede this abundant life. Then and\nthen only can the Holy Ghost come into and possess the temple. Oh, that\nevery professed believer in Jesus might see the importance of this\nconsecration! The suffering of death is serious indeed; but the\nunspeakable glory that follows causes the enraptured soul to be\nastonished at the marvelous gain for so small a loss. The perfect love\nof Jesus now flows from his heart into the one which has yielded its all\nto him. The undivided affections now feel the blessedness of perfect\nunity with him--married indeed to him who is raised from the dead.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nThe Holy Spirit of Promise\n\n\nThe Holy Spirit was promised through the prophets. \"Until the spirit be\npoured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and\nthe fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in\nthe wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the\nwork of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness\nquietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a\npeaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting\nplaces.\"--Isa. 32:15-18.\n\n\"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within\nyou; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give\nthem a heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine\nordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be\ntheir God.\"--Ezek. 11:19, 20. \"For I will pour water upon him that is\nthirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy\nseed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as\namong the grass, as willows by the water courses.\"--Isa. 44:3, 4.\n\n\"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from\nall your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new\nheart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and\nI will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you\nan heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to\nwalk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye\nshall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my\npeople, and I will be your God.\"--Ezek. 36:25-28.\n\n\"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit\nupon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your\nold men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions: and\nalso upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour\nout my spirit.\"--Joel 2:28, 29.\n\n=Promised through Christ.= \"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father\nupon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with\npower from on high.\"--Luke 24:49. \"But whosoever drinketh of the water\nthat I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall\ngive him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting\nlife.\"--John 4:14. \"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,\nout of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he\nof the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the\nHoly Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet\nglorified.)\"--John 7:38, 39.\n\n\"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he\nshall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;\neven the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it\nseeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth\nwith you, and shall be in you. At that day ye shall know that I am in my\nFather, and ye in me, and I in you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy\nGhost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all\nthings, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said\nunto you.\"--John 14:15-17, 20, 26. \"But when the Comforter is come, whom\nI will send you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which\nproceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.\"--John 15:26.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go\naway: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if\nI depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove\nthe world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because\nthey believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and\nye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is\njudged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them\nnow. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you\ninto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he\nshall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He\nshall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto\nyou. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he\nshall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.\"--John 16:7-15. \"John\ntruly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost\nnot many days hence.\"--Acts 1:5.\n\n\nA Fulfillment of This Promise\n\n\"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one\naccord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a\nrushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were\nsitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,\nand it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy\nGhost.\"--Acts 2:1-4.\n\n\nA Testimony of Its Fulfillment\n\n\"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall\ncome to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit\nupon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and\nyour young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:\nand on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days\nof my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.... This Jesus hath God raised up,\nwhereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God\nexalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy\nGhost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.\"--Acts\n2:16-18, 32, 33.\n\n\nTo Whom Is This Promised?\n\n\"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in\nthe name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive\nthe gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your\nchildren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God\nshall call.\"--Acts 2:38, 39.\n\n\"And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy\nGhost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.\"--Acts 5:32. \"That the\nblessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;\nthat we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.\"--Gal.\n3:14.\n\n\"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,\nministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles\nmight be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.\"--Rom. 15:16.\n\"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved\nof the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation\nthrough sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.\"--2 Thess.\n2:13.\n\nIn a previous chapter we have noticed that the Holy Ghost experience of\nthe apostles and all those of the early church was the same; and we see\ndefinitely by the texts just quoted that it is the design of God that\nall believers receive it. Also we have seen that this Holy Ghost\nexperience is a subsequent one to regeneration, and identical with\nsanctification. Every young convert who has truly been regenerated, will\nin due time find that something more needs to be done in his heart\nbefore he can fully realize an experience that will correspond with the\nfulfillment of the many exceeding great and precious promises of the\nHoly Ghost.\n\nThe Scriptures clearly teach us that regeneration is a work of the Holy\nSpirit. \"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.\"--1 Cor.\n12:13. This does not have reference to the Pentecostal baptism, but to\nthe work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, inducting us into the body\nof Christ, the church. This is very different from the baptism with the\nHoly Ghost. In regeneration the Holy Ghost baptizes the believer into\nChrist; in sanctification Christ baptizes the believer with the Holy\nGhost. \"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.\"--Matt.\n3:11.\n\nThis latter is the sanctification and Pentecostal experience. Both are\nspiritual experiences. When reading these wonderful promises by the\nprophets, we can clearly distinguish the two works of grace foretold.\n\nThe birth of the Spirit (John 3:3-8), or that experience which inducts\nus into Christ, must necessarily precede the experience of\nsanctification. The Holy Ghost will never come into the temple to abide\nuntil he has first gained possession of the same. The heart must first\nbe both justified and fully consecrated before the divine Guest can make\nit his exclusive and permanent abode. This glorious grace of\nsanctification does not detract from the marvelous work of\njustification. Both have their import and place in God's wonderful\nredemption plan, and stand out distinctly in many of the scriptures; and\nyet we occasionally hear of some who say of this beautiful doctrine that\nit is not taught in the word of God. Why such remarks are made is simply\nbecause of a misconception of the glorious redemption plan--in some\ninstances it is owing to the perverted doctrines of men, while in others\nit may be because of a perverted individual experience of justification.\nTo the willing and obedient heart, God will impart knowledge and\nunderstanding of his sweet and glorious soul-rest.\n\nOh, let us praise and magnify the Lord for his wonderful grace that he\nhas so abundantly supplied through repentance toward God and faith\ntoward our Lord Jesus Christ, that he is so willing and ready to remove\nfrom our hearts the guilt of all our sins and transgressions, and\nremember them against us no more forever, and then bestow upon us this\nblessed inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in\nChrist Jesus! Would that every justified believer might be kept from all\nthe perverted doctrines of men, so that the heart could receive the\nknowledge of the pure word of God and become instructed in the doctrine\nof the Holy Ghost life. The promise of the Father which the resurrected\nChrist said he would send upon his justified disciples was no more a\npromise for them than for every justified believer throughout the gospel\ndispensation. Why then should any of us come short of entering into this\nblessed covenant of an entire consecration and receiving the fulfillment\nof the promise? Thank God it is for us and our children and to all that\nare afar off.\n\nUntil the believer reaches this grace, he is not in his normal spiritual\ncondition, and cannot live the Christ-life in a manner that is perfectly\nsatisfactory to his own heart. The great need is a clean heart and the\nindwelling Holy Spirit, without which there is not the power within at\nall times to withstand every evil attack of the enemy with perfect\nvictory. Jesus knew this need in his disciples. Their usefulness in the\nworld could not be satisfactory until they received the fulfillment of\nthe promise. They had been useful in his hands and under his personal\nguidance in the ministry of the gospel of the kingdom. They had already\nby his help been able to bear fruit, but it was the will of the Father\nthat they should bear more fruit, through the power of the Spirit-filled\nlife; hence they were not to depart from Jerusalem until they were\nendued with power from on high. \"Ye shall receive power after that the\nHoly Ghost is come upon you.\" How many of the dear people of God today\nhave never had their Pentecost! Some are out in the world preaching the\ngospel with no deeper spiritual experience than that of the disciples\nbefore they tarried at Jerusalem. Many have mistaken some natural\nability for the power of the Holy Ghost. Others have accepted the\ndoctrine of sanctification theoretically--made a formal consecration\nand claimed the experience, but have never received the Holy Ghost.\nDearly beloved brethren and sisters, let us entreat you to tarry and do\nnot depart from your positive death bed consecration, until you are\nendued with power from on high. It is the will of the Father that you\nreceive the Holy Spirit to possess your being--the consecrated\ntemple--and make your life from this moment a reproduction of the life\nof Jesus. He is not here now as he was during his earthly ministry, but\nthe Father has designed that the Holy Spirit should dwell in the hearts\nof consecrated men and women who shall go forth into the world and be\nwitnesses unto Jesus--representatives that will live the Christ-life in\nthis world, so that men may plainly see his character and fruits in us.\nWhen Jesus ascended to the throne, he by no means intended that his\npeople should be left comfortless, or deprived of his presence; but\nrather, he said, \"It is expedient for you that I go away.\"\n\nThe \"Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,\" is the divine executive of\nJesus. He was the power and life in Jesus when here in his redemption\nwork, and when he ascended to his throne in heaven the Holy Ghost\ndescended to earth to carry on this glorious redemption work to the end\nof the world. But he must have human instrumentality through which to\nwork. Where he can find a truly consecrated temple, there he makes his\nabode, and taking full control of the entire being, performs the perfect\nwill of God through this instrumentality. This is why the apostles were\nso much more useful after Pentecost than before. They were now fully\npossessed by the Holy Ghost, and in, through faith in, the name of Jesus\nwere enabled to shake the world. Jesus has left his name here on earth.\nThrough it the Holy Spirit now effects this great redemption. He cannot\ndo this by himself. He cannot \"reprove the world of sin, of\nrighteousness, and of judgment,\" only as he can find consecrated hearts\non earth in which to abide. The Spirit-filled lives of the people are\nthe only factors that can be used in the hand of God to produce\napostolic results in these perilous days in which we live. This final\nreformation was unquestionably begun by the power of the Holy Spirit,\nand will never be completed by any other power. It is a spiritual work,\nand only as the glorious doctrine of sanctification is taught and the\nexperience obtained and retained, will the church reach the apostolic\nplane.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nOur Inheritance\n\n\n\"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,\nwhich is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among all\nthem which are sanctified.\"--Acts 20:32. \"And inheritance among them\nwhich are sanctified by faith that is in me.\"--Acts 26:18. \"For this is\nthe will of God, even your sanctification.\"--1 Thess. 4:3.\n\n\"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and\npatience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham,\nbecause he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying,\nSurely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.\nAnd so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men\nverily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an\nend of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the\nheirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an\noath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God\nto lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to\nlay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of\nthe soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within\nthe veil.\"--Heb. 6:12-19.\n\n\"But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not\nwithout blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the\npeople: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of\nall was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet\nstanding: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were\noffered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the\nservice perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in\nmeats and drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on\nthem until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high\npriest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,\nnot made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by\nthe blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once\ninto the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if\nthe blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling\nthe unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more\nshall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered\nhimself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to\nserve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new\ntestament, that by means of death, for the redemption of transgressions\nthat were under the first testament, they which are called might receive\nthe promise of eternal inheritance.\"--Heb. 9:7-15.\n\n\"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and\noffering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: ... Above\nwhen he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering\nfor sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein which are\noffered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He\ntaketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which\nwill we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ\nonce for all ... For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them\nthat are sanctified.\"--Heb. 10:5, 8-10, 14.\n\n\"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and\ngave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the\nwashing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a\nglorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but\nthat it should be holy and without blemish.\"--Eph. 5:25-27.\n\n\"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated\naccording to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel\nof his own will: ... in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the\nword of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye\nbelieved ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the\nearnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased\npossession, unto the praise of his glory.\"\n\n\"Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and\npurify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.\"--Tit.\n2:14. \"To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his\nholy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he\nwould grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our\nenemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness\nbefore him, all the days of our life.\"--Luke 1:72-75.\n\n\"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And\nto seeds as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ ...\nFor if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise but God\ngave it to Abraham by promise.\" \"That the blessing of Abraham might come\non the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise\nof the Spirit through faith.\" \"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye\nAbraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.\"--Gal. 3:16, 18, 14,\n29.\n\nThe Abrahamic covenant embraced a twofold nature: the promised seed, and\nthe promised land. Isaac was the literal fulfillment of the promised\nseed; Canaan, the literal fulfillment of the promised land. These were\nbut the foreshadowing of their great and glorious antitype, Christ and\nthe gospel, which are the spiritual fulfillment of the promises made to\nAbraham.\n\n\"And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed,\" which\nblessing begins in the regenerate heart, is perfected in the inheritance\nof entire sanctification, and consummated in that inheritance \"reserved\nin heaven for us.\" That part which is yet reserved in heaven for us will\nbe realized in due time, when this mortal shall put on immortality and\nthe redemption of Christ shall be completed for spirit, soul, and body.\nWe can all rejoice in this \"blessed hope\" which shall be fully realized\nwhen Jesus the resurrected Redeemer shall come again and fashion our\ndying bodies like unto his glorious body. But the object of this chapter\nis to point out the scriptures which teach us the blessed truth of the\npresent-tense gospel inheritance, which in the redemption plan is to be\nrealized by the people of God in this gospel dispensation, on this side\nof the second coming of Christ.\n\nThe blessed grace of entire sanctification is scripturally the bequest\nof God to his people. It is not simply the will of God in the sense that\nhe desires us to have this experience, but it is truly a blood-bought\ninheritance, provided and willed by our Father through Jesus Christ to\nevery child of God. This blessed experience of regeneration, or the\ndivine birth, inducts us into the family of God, making us a scriptural\nheir to all the good things of Father's possessions. Father has\nperfected every necessary provision for every one of his children to\ncome into immediate possession of this inheritance. A will or testament\nmust specify the nature of the inheritance, mention distinctly the names\nof the heirs, must have the signature of the testator affixed in the\npresence of witnesses, should appoint an executor, and in every respect\nit must be perfect or it will not stand legally. Scripturally, this is\nequally as true. The New Testament is the will, which distinctly\nspecifies the nature of the inheritance of the people of God \"among them\nwhich are sanctified.\" The sanctified have entered into their\npossessions of this Holy Ghost Canaan, and now every regenerated child\nof God who knows his name is written in Father's family record--the Book\nof life--soon finds by reading the will that this inheritance is for\nhim. He knows it as he reads and believes, and more and more the Holy\nSpirit leads him to meet all the spiritual conditions requisite to the\ncoming into possession of this inheritance. He sees also in the will,\nthe signature of the testator. He sees that the Father has authorized\nJesus Christ to make this will of force. Legally, a will is not of force\nuntil after the death of the testator. Scripturally, this is equally a\nfact. The child of God sees that it requires the death of the testator\nto make it possible that he could be sanctified. He reads in the will\nthat Jesus, the testator, suffered without the gate that he might\nsanctify his people with his own blood and that this is the will of God,\neven your sanctification.\n\nWe see in the will that Father has given every necessary instruction to\nenable us to meet every condition of entrance into this blessed\npossession. His word teaches us that as Abraham with faith and patience\nobtained the promise, so we should profit by his example. God has shown\nus through his covenant with Abraham that what he promises he is ready\nand able to fulfill. He has shown his people, who are the heirs of this\ninheritance, the immutability of his counsel by his word and by his\noath, that it is impossible for him to break his word and that we should\ncome to him with perfect confidence that he will do just what he has\npromised.\n\nThere is a remarkable certainty in the fulfillment of this wonderful\nwill. It is as far above any earthly will or testament as the heavens\nare higher than the earth. In an earthly will made by man, the very\nincident that makes the will of force also makes it liable to become\nannulled; for after the death of the testator there frequently is found\na defect in the will, also there are instances where the heirs,\ndissatisfied with their portion of the inheritance, proceed by legal\nprocess to annul the entire will and have a new one made according to\ntheir own desires. But no such objections can possibly be brought\nagainst this divine will.\n\nThere are three reasons why it is absolutely beyond the power of man or\nprincipality to overthrow this will.\n\n1. It is positively without fault. God had made a will, the old\ntestament, which was defective. The apostle says, \"For if that first\ncovenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for\nthe second.\"--Heb. 8:7. In the preceding verse he says, \"But now hath he\nobtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator\nof a better covenant [testament or will], which was established upon\nbetter promises.\" The blood of those animals in the old covenant was\nacceptable under that dispensation, but it could not produce the desired\neffect in sanctification. It could only sanctify to the purifying of the\nflesh; could not reach the spiritual and moral nature of man; for there\nwas no spiritual nor moral nature in the sacrifice. It was only a\nsacrifice of animal life; therefore it could only purify the flesh, or\nanimal life, of man (Heb. 9:13) in a ceremonial sense. Therefore, the\nfirst will or testament was necessarily defective, and God himself has\nannulled it. Heb. 8:13. But Father's last will is vastly different. It\nis complete, perfect, and utterly without fault.\n\n2. It is so divinely and infinitely perfect in its power to sanctify and\nreach every inmost need of the heart that none of the heirs can possibly\nbecome dissatisfied with their individual portion; for this portion is\nthe entire inheritance for each individual heir. It is not divided into\ncertain bounded portions for different heirs, but each is entitled to\nthe entire inheritance, and can come into the full enjoyment of the\nwhole possession without diminishing, in the least degree, the privilege\nof every heir to enjoy the same. This makes it unspeakably satisfactory.\nBut what yet adds to it in its power to satisfy, is that, the sacrifice\nwhich was required to bring this will and testament into force was the\nprecious blood of Christ. The great purpose of God in this judicial\nsacrifice was that the sins of the world might be forgiven, that we\nmight thus become the sons of God and heirs of this inheritance. But, my\ndear brother and sister, our Saviour had also another purpose in view in\nthis stupendous sacrifice. He gave himself for the church, that he might\nsanctify and cleanse it. Eph. 5:25, 26 and Heb. 13:12.\n\nAh, dear reader, do you not see your inheritance in this? His blood can\nsanctify wholly our spiritual, moral and physical nature. The blood of\nthe old will had no spiritual nor moral power in it at all; therefore,\nno wonder it could sanctify only to the purifying of the flesh. But, oh,\nthe matchless, marvelous grace of God to prepare a sacrifice (a\nbody--Heb. 10:5) pure and spotless spiritually, morally, and physically,\nwhich blood can cleanse our corresponding nature spiritually, morally,\nand physically, and reaching every spot of our entire being, make us\nclean from the least and last remains of sin. In comparing these\nsacrifices no wonder the apostle asks, \"How much more shall the blood of\nChrist, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to\nGod, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?\"\nTruly, when we have obtained this inheritance we can sing with the\ninspired poet\n\n     \"I have found it, Lord, in thee,\n        An everlasting store,\n      Of comfort, joy, and bliss to me,\n        How can I wish for more?\"\n\nPraise God for the cleansing which reaches our inmost soul and saves to\nthe uttermost! It, therefore, readers, is impossible for the heir to\nbecome dissatisfied with the inheritance.\n\n3. To make the inheritance doubly certain, we have already seen that God\nhas confirmed it by two immutable things; his word, and his oath; but to\nadd still more to this matter and make it absolutely certain and\nimpossible for any principality or power to overthrow this will, God has\nappointed Jesus Christ to be executor of his own will. From a human\nstandpoint this would be impossible; for the will could not be of force\nat all while the testator was alive, and his death would render him\nincapable of any part in it as an executor. But with God these things\nare possible; for when the testator died that he might bring this will\ninto force, he could not be holden by the power of death; but arose\nagain from the dead, that he might lead captivity captive and give gifts\nunto men. Thus he has become the executor of his own will, and now\nstands ready to bestow upon every heir the full possession of his\ninheritance.\n\nDear reader, this is the glorious land of promise of which the land of\nCanaan was but a type. The children of Israel were the heirs of that\nland because they were the children of Abraham. We are heirs to this\nHoly Ghost Canaan because we are the children of God through Christ.\nThis Holy Spirit life can only be obtained through this God-appointed\nplan. It is the \"inheritance among them which are sanctified.\" God gave\nit to Abraham by promise, and as his faith grasped hold on the promises\nhe saw beyond the literal seed into the blessings of the gospel of\nChrist and this glorious Holy Spirit life. Christ has fulfilled these\npromises which Abraham saw and believed; and now the apostle can truly\nsay in looking over this wonderful plan, that \"they which be of faith\nare blessed with faithful Abraham. That the blessing of Abraham might\ncome on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the\npromise of the Spirit through faith.\"--Gal. 3:9, 14.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nSanctified by Faith\n\n\n\"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to\nGod must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that\ndiligently seek him.\"--Heb. 11:6.\n\n\"That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them\nwhich are sanctified by faith that is in me.\"--Acts 26:18.\n\n\"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our\nLord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace\nwherein we stand.\"--Rom. 5:1, 2.\n\nFaith in the blood of Christ. \"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might\nsanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the\ngate.\"--Heb. 13:12. \"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,\nwe have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his\nSon cleanseth us from all sin.\"--1 John 1:7.\n\nDead to sin by faith. \"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with\nhim, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should\nnot serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin ... Likewise reckon\nye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord.\"--Rom. 6:6, 7, 11.\n\nFree from sin by faith. \"Being then made free from sin, ye became the\nservants of righteousness ... For as ye have yielded your members\nservants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield\nyour members servants to righteousness unto holiness ... But now being\nmade free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto\nholiness, and the end everlasting life.\"--Rom. 6:18-22. \"Jesus answered\nthem, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the\nservant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but\nthe Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall\nbe free indeed.\"--John 8:34-36.\n\n\"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is\nno sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath\nnot seen him, neither known him.... He that committeth sin is of the\ndevil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the\nSon of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.\nWhosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in\nhim: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children\nof God are manifest, and the children of the devil.\"--1 John 3:5-10.\n\nA pure heart by faith. \"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them\nwitness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no\ndifference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.\"--Acts\n15:8, 9.\n\nWe receive the Holy Spirit by faith. \"That the blessing of Abraham might\ncome on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ: that we might receive the\npromise of the Spirit through faith.\"--Gal. 3:14. \"That I should be the\nminister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God,\nthat the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being\nsanctified by the Holy Ghost.\"--Rom. 15:16. \"If ye then, being evil\n[earthly], know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more\nshall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask\nhim?\"--Luke 11:13.\n\nSanctification is a redemption blessing offered to us upon specified\nconditions. The natural and general blessings of God toward men, such as\nthe sunshine, rain, and all other temporal or earthly blessings, may be\nreceived alike by both saint and sinner, who come into conformity with\nthe natural laws by which these natural blessings are governed. Every\nredemption or spiritual blessing is also governed by divinely fixed\nlaws, which if complied with will invariably bring to us all that is\ncontained in the promise. God is able to bestow upon us these blessings\nunconditionally if this should be his sovereign will in some individual\ninstances; but according to his redemption plan there is no assurance\ngiven to anyone for any of these specified blessings without a strict\nconformity to divine law. The word of God plainly sets forth the laws\nupon which these different redemption blessings are based. Repentance\nand faith are the laws of justification. It is a divinely established\nfact that God cannot lie. He has forever settled his word in heaven and\nalso upon earth; therefore, it is impossible that any sinner should\ncomply with the laws of repentance and faith and not be justified.\nConsecration and faith are the laws of sanctification, which if complied\nwith, must necessarily bring us into this glorious soul-rest.\n\nWe have considered the law of consecration as a condition of\nsanctification in a previous chapter; and from the quoted texts in this\nchapter we will now briefly consider the law of faith. These laws are\ndefinitely fixed, and must as definitely be complied with. A definite\nconsecration and a definite faith will produce a definite experience.\nOne great lack in the church today is a lack of definiteness. The\ndoctrine of sanctification must be more definitely taught by God's\nanointed ministry, who have themselves definitely met the conditions,\nboth to obtain and retain this definite experience. When it is\ndefinitely taught it will consequently be definitely sought and\nobtained.\n\nIn the apostle's commission we distinctly see that we are sanctified by\nfaith. Acts 26:18. We also see that Jesus suffered on the cross that he\nmight sanctify us with his own blood. This points us to the fact that we\nmust have faith in his blood. This grace is purchased for us, and now it\nis for us to receive it. We also see that he has made provision in this\nsame purchase that we may be kept sanctified. This is upon the simple\ncondition of walking in the light as he is in the light. The result of\nwhich is: his blood cleanseth us from all sin. These precious truths\nwill do us no good if we do not believe them. No heart can ever receive\nthe benefits of this inestimable purchase without faith. Faith is the\nhand that reaches out and takes it. Jesus can do no more than he has\ndone to bring it to us. He holds it out to us, all perfect and complete,\nand as we meet the conditions of consecration and faith it becomes ours.\n\nThe apostle teaches us in Rom. 6:11 to reckon ourselves \"dead indeed\nunto sin.\" This can be done only by faith. The reckoning of faith is a\nvery simple process; it is just believing God. Abraham believed God,\nsimply reckoned that what God said was true, and then God counted\nsomething to Abraham. He counted it to him for righteousness.\n\nThis is the divine law of faith. When we believe it is so because God\nsays it, then God makes it so because we believe it. This law applies to\nall the graces of the gospel alike. It is a sad fact that some\nprofessing Christians do not believe we can be sanctified in this life.\nNow, it is utterly impossible for such people to get it. They do not\nbelieve. The blood of Christ cannot sanctify them in this condition. It\nis not for them at all. It is only for them that believe, and of course\nno one can believe for it in the scriptural sense without having met the\ncondition of scriptural consecration. Then the scriptural reckoning will\nbring the scriptural and satisfactory result.\n\nLet us illustrate with a simple mathematical reckoning. In a case of\naddition we take two numbers and reckon them together before we get the\nsum. It can never be obtained any other way. The two numbers are\nentirely distinct and separate from each other until they are reckoned\ntogether. It is the reckoning that produces the sum. This is exactly\ntrue in the process of faith. The justified believer comes to God for\nhis inheritance of sanctification. He makes the absolute and definite\nconsecration. He sees that the blood of Jesus has been shed that he may\nbe sanctified. This is Jesus' part. The consecration is the believer's\npart. There are the two separate parts which, if they are not reckoned\ntogether, will never produce the result. We might say that we have now\nmade the consecration, and can do no more. This would be a mistake, we\ncan do more: we have not yet done the reckoning. We can take the two\nparts, the blood of Jesus and our consecration, and by faith add them\ntogether, and according to the immutable law of God, which is the law of\nfaith, the sum of the reckoning is, our sanctification. This is the\nscriptural method of obtaining this experience; and as we from\nhenceforth reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin upon the condition of\nan absolute, unbroken consecration, we may rest assured that the blood\nof Jesus keeps us cleansed from all sin. The fact that some one may say\nhe does not believe we can be kept free from sin, by no means affects\nthis divine law. It is as true as heaven, despite all the unbelief of\nmen. Oh, the power of the sin-cleansing blood! Can we not say with deep,\nheartfelt reality,\n\n     \"Hallelujah for the cleansing;\n      It has reached my inmost soul\"?\n\nTruly it is the sweet soul-rest, the heavenly Canaan of the soul, which\nis the inheritance of the people of God.\n\nThe apostle Peter, in his testimony of the inwrought grace of God at\nPentecost, speaks of this law of faith, which effected in him and his\nbrethren at Jerusalem, as well as the household of Cornelius upon the\nevent of their induction into this glorious grace, the experience of\nheart purity, \"and put no difference between us and them, purifying\ntheir hearts by faith.\" This is one phase of sanctification, and\naccording to the testimony of Peter, was a part of the pentecostal\nexperience. The other phase of it is, in the previous verse of this\ntestimony, \"giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.\" This is\nexplained by the apostle Paul. \"That we might receive the promise of the\nSpirit through faith.\"--Gal. 3:14. Now if we turn to Rom. 15:16, again\nwe see that we are \"sanctified by the Holy Ghost.\" Certainly it could\nnot be made more plain than these scriptures set it forth. We receive\nthe pure heart and the Holy Spirit by faith, which experience is\nscripturally termed sanctification; therefore, we can understand the\nlanguage of Jesus in that part of the commission of the apostle already\nquoted: \"and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that\nis in me.\"\n\nDear brother and sister, let us magnify God and the name of Jesus for\nour inheritance, and if there should be one reader who has not yet\nentered into this promised land, let us go over at once and possess it.\n\nWe see a beautiful example of faith in the experience of the children of\nAbraham crossing the Jordan to enter into their literal inheritance. The\npriests that bore the ark, which went before the people, were to be the\nfirst to go down into the stream, which, God had said, should be\ndivided, and the people should go over into their inheritance. As they\ncame down to the river, their feet were dipped into the stream before\nthe waters parted. God had promised it. They believed it and obeyed\naccordingly, and God fulfilled his promise; the waters were parted, and\nthey all passed over. How different this was from those who, forty\nyears previous to this event had been brought by the hand of God to\nKadesh Barnea, who had all the promises of God in their favor, that he\nwould cause them to go in and possess the land. But because of unbelief\nthey were sent back into the wilderness, to wander and die. This literal\nCanaan was their promised land, their land of rest, their very own; God\nhad promised Abraham that it should be possessed by his seed. But these\nforfeited it because of unbelief. This was the type of this spiritual\ninheritance of sanctification, our land of rest, our very own, which we,\nthe spiritual seed of Abraham through faith in Christ, are to go into\nand possess.\n\nThe apostle gives us some wholesome admonition upon the importance of\nseeking to enter in. \"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you\nan evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.\"--Heb. 3:4.\nAn evil heart of unbelief will most certainly cause us to lose our\ninheritance. We are made partakers of it only by faith. As certainly as\nthe unbelief of literal children of Abraham caused them to be rejected\nand disinherited, so will unbelief cause the same sad result in losing\nthe spiritual inheritance. They provoked God with their unbelief, and he\nwho had sworn to Abraham that his seed should possess Canaan, now sware\nthat these unbelieving ones should not enter in. They could not enter in\nbecause of unbelief. God's word was not broken, however; for he brought\ninto this land those of the children who, their unbelieving fathers\nsaid, would become a prey to the inhabitants of the land. And, what\nstill keeps God's word from being broken is, that he has opened to us\nthis glorious spiritual land, and tells us to go over and possess it.\nDear brother, are you at Kadesh Barnea today, and afraid of the giants?\nGod has given the land to us. The message of reproof comes to you with\nthis solemn and important question, \"How long are ye slack to go to\npossess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?\"\n\nThis gospel of sanctification is preached to us today as the gospel of\nliteral Canaan was preached to those descendants of Abraham in that day.\nIt did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard\nit. The apostle says, \"We which have believed do enter into rest,\" but\nmore must enter in. God's promise to Abraham must yet be more completely\nfulfilled. The question is simply left with us, Will we enter in or will\nwe not? If we will not, then the inheritance will be given to others,\nand we will lose the blessed soul-rest that is provided in this\nredemption for the people of God. In his exhortation to us, the apostle\nsays \"Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall\nafter the same example of unbelief.\"\n\n     \"Oh, this blessed holy rest,\n      On my Jesus' loving breast.\n      Oh, the sweetness and completeness\n      Of perfected holiness.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nThe Subtraction Process\n\n\nThe baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, the entering into the heavenly\ninheritance of Canaan, and the possession of the land, and all the\nblessings that follow are unmistakably a process of addition to the\nalready blessed experience of the justified soul. This addition is\nscripturally termed \"sanctification.\" No mortal language can ever\nexpress how much of an addition it is; but there must necessarily\nprecede this marvelous grace, a definite and absolute subtraction, a\nloss of all things for the excellency of Christ, a complete\nself-abnegation, which has been mentioned in a previous chapter upon\nconsecration. Until this absolute loss of all things has been truly\nexperienced, there cannot be obtained the gain of this additional\nexperience. We cannot lay hold of the promised inheritance until we\ncompletely let go of everything else that has been called our own.\n\nThere is, within our spiritual, moral, and physical nature, a depravity,\n\"our old man,\" which must be extracted before we can possess the purity\nof heart so plainly taught in the word of God. This depravity is so\ndeeply embedded in, and interwoven into, our affections and nature,\nthat, like a closely fitting garment, it seems a part of us; and were\nit not for the plain teachings of the word of God, and the power of the\nall-cleansing blood of Christ which can reach the inmost center of our\nnature, purging out all unnatural tendencies and unholy tempers, the\njustified believer might conclude that this inborn depravity must be\npermitted to exist and remain with us all through life. But thank God!\nthere is a remedy in this great redemption plan. The heart can be\npurified and become a holy temple for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.\nThis depends upon the plainly specified conditions taught in the word of\nGod. He will prepare the temple for his abode if we but furnish him an\nabsolute consecration of the temple. This is our part in this\npreparatory stage of the work of sanctification. In order that he may\npurify our nature, we must yield up to him everything that is to be\npurified. This process involves the loss of all things; for when the\nheart is thus yielded, everything that it clings to is also yielded, and\nthen, and only then, can the blood of Christ be applied for a perfect\ncleansing. This is where the subtraction work is effected, where every\nvestige of depravity is removed from the heart; because it has for this\npurpose yielded to Jesus. The following scripture sets forth this\nexperience.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of\nsin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.\"--Rom.\n6:6. It cannot be improved upon nor cultivated. It is sinful in nature,\nand must be dealt with according to the redemption law of crucifixion.\nIt is condemned and must die. It is utterly worthless to God, and\nharmful to man; therefore, it must die. It clings to life with\nremarkable tenacity, and it is not within the power of man alone to put\nit to death. It has so entwined itself into our affections that they and\neach of their objects must be absolutely yielded up to death, even the\nmost sacred treasures of the heart; so that the true work of purity may\nbe perfectly wrought within us. To simply yield up our old man for his\ndestruction would be but a pleasant sacrifice; for every justified\nbeliever who has obtained the knowledge of this enemy within becomes\nanxious for his destruction. It is not the yielding up of our old man,\ntherefore, that seems such a loss to us; but when we see that our whole\nbeing, spirit, soul, and body, with every affection and its object, must\nbe yielded up and truly laid upon the altar, we realize the subtraction\nprocess of sanctification--the loss of all things. Our old man cannot be\ncrucified until everything is thus first yielded up. As long as any one\nobject of our affection is withheld, the consecration is incomplete and\nthe affections can not be purified from this depravity; hence the\nnecessity of an absolute yielding up of everything, to obtain the\nexcellency of this heavenly grace. In this condition we can assuredly\nexperience the meaning of the words: \"Knowing this, that our old man is\ncrucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.\" Thank God!\nthis is a present-tense experience for everyone who is willing to be\nconformed to the perfect will of God. In this condition, Jesus can have\nthe perfect right of way within, and work in us that which is\nwell-pleasing in his sight.\n\nSome one might wonder if we are never permitted in this truly\nconsecrated condition, to set our affections upon anything in this\nworld, or, if we can possess anything as our own, if all must be yielded\nup and laid upon the altar. If our affections and every object of the\nsame are yielded to Jesus, then we certainly cannot have them placed\nupon anything else. This is one of the grand provisions of his grace.\nJesus now gets between us and every object of our affections. He not\nonly has our affections, but he has the objects of our affections. In\nthe consciousness of this loss to us we also become conscious of the\nloss of our old, depraved nature, and the gain of a glorious, heavenly\npurity which we before did not possess. But above all things, we become\nconscious of the fact that Jesus has become enthroned within our hearts,\nand now has full control of our entire being. In him we possess all\nthings. He gives us back, with himself, everything that is good for us:\nfather, mother, brother, sister, and every God-given blessing that we\nhad yielded up to him. But they do not seem to us now like they did\nbefore. There is something between us and them. What is it? It is Jesus!\nThis makes every blessing so much more precious to us now. A sacredness\nexists between us and our loved ones which we never realized before.\nThey now get our love only as they get it through Jesus, for he is\nbetween us and them. Praise God for this precious experience! We gave\neverything, our all, for him. He purified our hearts and now gives\neverything, his all, to us. Without the subtraction of our all, first,\nwe cannot obtain the addition, his all. Thus, after all, we lose nothing\nbut the depravity of our nature, which loss, of course, involves the\nloss of all things for the time being, but means the gain of all things\nin the fullness of Christ.\n\nThe apostle Paul expresses this crucifixion in his testimony in Gal.\n2:20 \"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but\nChrist liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live\nby the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.\"\nThere was something of the apostle that was crucified. It was the same\nas he speaks of in Rom. 6:6, \"our old man.\" That depraved, carnal self,\nthe proud, haughty Pharisee, the great Saul of Tarsus who considered\nhimself of such importance among men. This was the =I= that was\ncrucified; but there was an =I= who still lived. This was the humble,\nsanctified Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, who now considered himself\nless than the least of all saints, and not worthy to be called an\napostle. What a contrast between the two =I='s. The one, the big =I=;\nthe other, the little =I=. They are exactly of opposite natures. The one\nwas Paul's \"old man,\" the other his humble individual self. Jesus and\nthe big I cannot rule together in the same heart.\n\nHow many there are today who have not reached the death experience. They\nhave had their sins forgiven and realize that they are the children of\nGod; but they cannot say that they are crucified with Christ, in the\nsense of the actual death of their old man. How many there are who are\nconscious of this inward foe, and yet are taught that it can never\nbecome dislodged from their nature and crucified. Praise God! he has\nprovided a remedy in the blood of Christ. By faith in this blood the\nconsecrated believer can receive the cleansing. The depraved nature is\ncrucified, and Christ now takes supreme control of the holy temple.\n\nThe language of the apostle in Gal. 6:14 also expresses the same\nexperience: \"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I\nunto the world.\" The blood of the cross has destroyed that inward nature\nwhich was the point of contact with the world. As long as this exists\nwithin, the world has a strong claim upon us, which, so long as it\nexists within us, will assert its nature, and, if permitted, will\ncommunicate with the world, and cause defeat in our Christian life, so\nthat we cannot conscientiously say we are dead to the world: for there\nis something within us yet that is actually alive in this respect. This\nis the point of inward contact with the world, which, when brought into\ncrucifixion, changes our inward condition and enables us to truly say\nwith the apostle, that the world is crucified unto us and we unto the\nworld, by the blood of the cross of Christ, and the life we now live in\nthis mortal body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, we live by the\nfaith of the Son of God, who has all power to keep us in the divine law\nof the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which makes and keeps us free\nfrom the law of sin and death.\n\nIn Matt. 15:13 we have this same doctrine of cleansing expressed in the\nwords of Jesus: \"Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted,\nshall be rooted up.\" While it is true that Jesus was speaking of the\ndoctrines of the Pharisees in this instance, we can see beyond the\nsimple doctrines and traditions of men, which are but the outgrowth of\nthis root of depravity which our heavenly Father never planted in the\nnature of man. The depraved heart is the fertile soil which\nspontaneously grows all these evil things which Jesus mentions in this\nparable. The root is there, and so long as it remains, there cannot be a\nsatisfactory Christian life. But the heavenly decree has been uttered by\nthe Redeemer himself, that this plant shall be rooted up, which rooting\nup can be testified to by thousands of blood-washed saints today. Many\nplain scriptures teach us that this experience of heart purity was a\nrecognized fact in the apostolic days. Jesus taught that it was\nattainable and told of its blessings when in Matt. 5:8 he speaks of the\npure in heart. John writes: \"And every man that hath this hope in him\npurifieth himself, even as he is pure.\" Paul says that \"the end of the\ncommandment is charity out of a pure heart\" (1 Tim. 1:5), and in the\nsame letter he writes: \"Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure\nconscience.\"--Chap. 3:9. Also in Chap. 4:12, he writes: \"Let no man\ndespise thy youth: but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in\nconversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.\" In Chap.\n5:22, he says, \"Keep thyself pure.\" In 2 Tim. 2:22 we are taught that\nmany of the saints had this experience of cleansing: \"Flee also youthful\nlusts; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that\ncall on the Lord out of a pure heart.\"\n\nThe prophet Malachi saw the glorious fullness of this gospel salvation\nas he beheld and spake by the Spirit: \"And he shall sit as a refiner and\npurifier of silver and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them\nas gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in\nrighteousness.\"--Mal. 3:3.\n\nAll these plain texts set forth the doctrines of cleansing beyond\nquestion. Then when Peter takes the witness-stand (Acts 15:9) and\ntestifies that he and all the one hundred twenty at Pentecost, and\nafterward the household of Cornelius, received the cleansing at the time\nof the outpouring upon them of the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that\nGod certainly is no respecter of persons, and has the same measure of\ngrace for his people in this evening time of the gospel day. Praise his\nholy name! Let us magnify and exalt the power of the all-cleansing\nblood, for it can reach beyond the inmost depths of our fallen nature\nand wash us whiter than snow. \"For if the blood of bulls and of goats,\nand the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the\npurifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who\nthrough the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge\nyour conscience from dead works to serve the living God?\"--\n\n     \"Oh, now I see the cleansing wave,\n         That fountain deep and wide;\n      Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save,\n         Points to his wounded side.\n\n     \"The cleansing stream, I see, I see,\n         I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me\n      Oh, praise the Lord, it cleanseth me!\n         It cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth me.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nChristian Perfection\n\n\nDefinition of =perfection=: Unblemished, blameless, pure.\n\nWe are commanded to be perfect. \"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your\nFather which is in heaven is perfect.\"--Matt. 5:48. \"For we are glad,\nwhen we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your\nperfection. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort,\nbe of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be\nwith you.\"--2 Cor. 13:9, 11. \"Therefore leaving the principles of the\ndoctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.\"--Heb. 6:1.\n\nWe must be perfect in love. \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all\nthy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with\nall thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.\"--Luke 10:27. \"And above all\nthese things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.\"--Col.\n3:14. \"But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God\nperfected: hereby know we that we are in him.\"--1 John 2:5. \"If we love\none another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us....\nHerein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of\njudgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.\"--1 John 4:12, 17.\n\nPerfect in unity. \"For both he that sanctifieth and they who are\nsanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call\nthem brethren.\"--Heb. 2:11. \"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that\nthey also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for\nthese alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their\nword: that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in\nthee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that\nthou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;\nthat they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me,\nthat they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that\nthou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.\"--John\n17:19-23.\n\nPerfect in Christ. \"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching\nevery man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ\nJesus.\" \"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all\nprincipality and power.\" \"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of\nChrist, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that\nye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.\"--Col. 1:28;\n2:10; 4:12.\n\nPerfect in purity. \"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not\nyet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we\nshall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that\nhath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.\"--1 John\n3:2, 3. \"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse\nourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting\nholiness in the fear of God.\"--2 Cor. 7:1. \"And the Lord make you to\nincrease and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even\nas we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable\nin holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus\nChrist with all his saints.\"--1 Thess. 3:12, 13.\n\nThis perfection is attainable. \"Till we all come in the unity of the\nfaith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto\nthe measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.\"--Eph. 4:13. \"Let\nus therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything\nye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.\"--Phil.\n3:15. \"For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are\nsanctified.\"--Heb. 10:14. \"For the law made nothing perfect, but the\nbringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto\nGod.\"--Heb. 7:19. \"Which was a figure for the time then present, in\nwhich were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him\nthat did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.\"--Heb.\n9:9.\n\nA perfection not attainable in this life. \"Not as though I had already\nattained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may\napprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.\"\n\nChristian perfection is not maturity in wisdom, grace, or knowledge. \"Ye\ntherefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye\nalso, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own\nsteadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ.\"--2 Pet. 3:17, 18.\n\nChristian perfection is looked upon by some as an impossibility in this\nlife; but when we turn to the word of God and see the many plain texts\nupon the subject, it must become evident to every candid mind that it is\nin the plan of redemption that every child of God should attain to it.\nIt would not be according to the nature of divine grace to require of us\nanything we could not do. No reasonable earthly parent would demand an\nimpossibility of a child, and it is certain our heavenly Father would\nnot command us to be \"perfect even as he is perfect\" unless he has\nprovided abundant grace to bring us up to this blessed experience.\nAccording to our own power or ability we could never reach such an\nexalted plane, for it is not within the power of man to change his\ndepraved nature, and every self-effort to reach a state of perfection is\nbut vain. But God is able to make all grace abound and as an All-wise\nFather he has made it possible that we should be perfect.\n\nFrom the scriptures quoted we can plainly see that the perfection\nrequired of us is reasonable and just. Had he commanded us to be perfect\nin knowledge, wisdom, judgment, or in anything else in an absolute\nsense, we would be forced to the conclusion that God has either required\nan impossibility of us or it is not for us to attain in this life and\ntherefore belongs only to the resurrected state. But we can clearly see\nthe nature of his requirements and that they are all within the limits\nof his grace toward us in this life.\n\nWhen Jesus commanded us to be perfect (Matt. 5:48) we can quite easily\ncomprehend his meaning when we notice in the few preceding verses that\nwe should be perfect in love, even to the extent that we shall love our\nenemies, that we may indeed be the children of our Father which is in\nheaven. The children of this world love those that love them. It is an\neasy matter and quite natural to do this. But to love our enemies is\nvery contrary to the depraved nature; unless there has been the\ncleansing wrought within, there will be some inward consciousness of\nhatred toward those who despitefully use and persecute us. The high\nstandard of righteousness which Jesus teaches here and throughout this\nchapter is the standard of sanctification. The love of God must be\nperfected in us, which destroys every element of the old nature, of\nwhich hatred is a prominent characteristic.\n\nThe first and great commandment, both of the old and new dispensation,\n\"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,\" etc., is also a\nstandard too high to be attained perfectly without the experience of\nentire sanctification. This commandment was given during the old\ndispensation; but it was not possible then that it could be kept\nperfectly, for there was no provision then made to destroy the power of,\nand cleanse the heart from, inbred depravity. The blood of those\nsacrifices could do no more than sanctify \"to the purifying of the\nflesh.\" The inward condition of the heart could not be changed. Thus we\nsee clearly that this commandment could not be kept in the New Testament\nsense of perfect love. Now, the blood of Jesus, which he shed on the\ncross that he might sanctify and cleanse our hearts, can make us holy.\nWhen the heart has realized the power of this cleansing and the love of\nGod \"shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,\" we can in deed and in\ntruth love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and\nstrength. Praise God for his wonderful love to us! He furnishes the love\nwith which to love him. If we but give him our hearts he will furnish\nall the rest. He wants an empty, clean vessel into which to pour out his\nlove, that it may be manifested in this dark and sinful world.\n\nOh, that every child of God could see the imperative need of an absolute\nconsecration and then cheerfully and voluntarily meet the conditions of\nthe same, so that God could fill each heart with love, and cause each\none to know what it means to love God with all our heart. As long as our\naffections are divided between God and anything else, our love is not\nperfect and until the regenerate heart has made the scriptural\nconsecration, there will be a divided condition of the affections. The\nobedient regenerate heart dwells in God, and thus is taught of God the\nnecessity of the perfect consecration, which, when fully complied with,\nenables the perfect cleansing to become effected. The apostle John\nsays, \"Herein is our love made perfect,\" and \"his love is perfected in\nus.\"\n\nNo one can ever be fully satisfied in this redemption life until this\nsecond work of grace is accomplished in the heart. Justification brings\nus into the blessed kingdom of God's love. Sanctification perfects his\nlove in us. This second grace enables us to realize not only the meaning\nof perfect love, but we also comprehend the glorious fact that God has\nwrought in us perfect purity and holiness. This implies our being\nperfect in God's will, and because we have yielded our will completely\nto him. Every disposition of our will which sought its own way is now in\nperfect conformity with his and as Jesus could say in Gethsemane, \"Thy\nwill be done,\" which meant death on Calvary to him, so we have said the\nsame to God with a vivid consciousness that once for all it meant death\nto us. It has required the perfect will of Jesus to obtain this grace of\nsanctification for us, and it now requires our perfect will to receive\nit from him. Here is where we can stand perfect and complete in all the\nwill of God. Another beautiful characteristic of sanctification is\nperfect unity. One of the most striking features of the religious world\ntoday is division among those who profess to believe in and follow\nChrist. There is no greater evil existing than this. Men have made\ncreeds and sects and have persuaded the people to join them, until the\ndisgusting spectacle of division is seen everywhere, and the\nnon-professing world is amazed at the sickening sight. Hireling\npreachers are pleading for their respective denominations, and while\nmany honest children of God are dissatisfied with this sad state of\naffairs, they are taught from the pulpit that God has made these\ndivisions and it is the duty of every Christian to join and support\nthem. But such is not the will of God; he has designed that his people\nshould all be one, and in his prayer Jesus expresses the extent of this\nunity. \"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in\nthee, that they also may be one in us.\" This certainly implies a\nwonderful and perfect unity. Many sect advocates cry, \"Impossible,\nimpossible; God's people cannot be one.\" But the whole theme of Jesus'\nprayer is unity. As we carefully read this prayer we can readily\nperceive the divine method to effect this unity. It is plain and\nsimple: \"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.... Neither\npray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me\nthrough their word; that they all may be one.\" Then in Heb. 2:11 we see\nagain that this is God's plan--\"For both he that sanctifieth and they\nwho are sanctified are all of one.\"\n\nThis grace not only brings us into a perfect inward unity with Jesus\nhimself, but it just as truly brings us all into a perfect inward unity\nwith each other. Divisions, sects, and factions are productions of the\nflesh (Gal. 5:19-21) and not of the Spirit. Sanctification destroys all\nthe works of the flesh and extracts the very root itself and renders\ndivisions impossible. Every sect yoke is destroyed because of the\nanointing. Isa. 10:27. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to effect this\nunity in us with God and with each other. Every human effort to\naccomplish this must necessarily end in failure. There are many efforts\ntoday to effect a union among Christians, but union is not scriptural\nunity. Union of sects is far from the scriptural unity of believers. A\nunion consists upon a human basis and may consist of a union of sects,\nor a union of individuals, without any conditions of spirituality\nwhatever. Each individual or body retaining its distinctive and separate\ndivision. Scriptural unity is based upon the inner-wrought grace of\nsanctification, where everything non-spiritual is entirely destroyed and\nthe Holy Spirit has the right of way in every respect according to the\nperfect will of God.\n\nIt is only as we are thus perfected in this grace that the prayer of\nJesus will be fully answered and his people lose every vestige of\ndivision. No sanctified heart can remain loyal to anything that\nseparates the people of God. All sect holiness is below the Bible\nstandard, for it upholds that which sanctification destroys. This is a\nfar-reaching assertion, but in the light of God's word it is true. Many\nhave lost this experience by listening to the perverted teachings of\nfalse shepherds and remaining in sectism. God says the \"anointing\"\nbreaks and destroys the yoke, and no sect yoke will ever again fit on\nthe neck of a sanctified person, if such remains loyal to the Holy\nSpirit. Praise God! He alone can effect perfect unity in us, by his\ndivine process--sanctification. Then by the careful adherence to the\nteachings of God's word this beautiful apostolic unity can be maintained\nand demonstrated among men, and the prayer of Jesus further answered,\n\"That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.\"\n\n=The difference between present and future perfection.= In his letter to\nthe church at Philippi, the apostle speaks of a perfection in the\nfuture, which unless understood may confuse some minds upon this\nsubject. In Phil. 3:12 he writes, \"Not as though I had already attained,\neither were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend\nthat for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.\" Here it sounds as\nthough perfection is not attainable in this life, but if we notice the\nlanguage of the context we can clearly see that he is speaking of the\nresurrection of the dead. Ver. 11. It is the resurrection perfection\nthat he here has reference to, which cannot be attained in this life. We\nmust wait with the apostle until this \"mortality shall be swallowed up\nof life,\" before we reach a state of absolute perfection, and with him,\n\"press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in\nChrist Jesus.\" But in verse 15 he says, \"Let us therefore as many as be\nperfect be thus minded,\" showing that there is a present perfection\nwhich he, with others, has already attained. This is the experience\nwhich it is the will of God for us all to enjoy. For by one offering he\nhath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Dear reader, have you\nattained it, or are you yet living beneath your blood-bought privilege?\n\"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,\nthat great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting\ncovenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in\nyou that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to\nwhom be glory forever and ever. Amen.\"--Heb. 13:20, 21.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nHoliness\n\n\n=Holiness an attribute of God.= \"Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the\ngods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing\nwonders?\"--Ex. 15:11. \"And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,\nholy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.\"--Isa.\n6:3. \"And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they\nwere full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy,\nholy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.\"--Rev.\n4:8.\n\n=God must be worshiped in holiness.= \"Give unto the Lord the glory due\nunto his name: bring an offering and come before him: worship the Lord\nin the beauty of holiness.\"--1 Chron. 16:29. \"Sing unto the Lord, O ye\nsaints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his\nholiness.\"--Psa. 30:4.\n\n=God's throne and dwelling-place.= \"God reigneth over the heathen: God\nsitteth upon the throne of his holiness.\"--Psa. 47:8. \"For thus saith\nthe high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I\ndwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite\nand humble spirit.\"--Isa. 57:15. \"Be silent, O all flesh, before the\nLord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.\"--Zech. 2:13.\n\"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness\nand thy glory.\"--Isa. 63:15.\n\n=Holiness becomes God's house.= \"Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness\nbecometh thine house, O Lord, forever.\"--Psa. 93:5. \"The aged women\nlikewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness.\"--Titus 2:3.\n\n=The church of God is called a mountain of holiness.= \"The Lord bless\nthee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.\"--Jer. 31:23.\n\"Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the\nmidst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and\nthe mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.\"--Zech. 8:3. \"The\nwolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like\nthe bullock: and the dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not\nhurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain saith the Lord.\"--Isa. 65:25.\n\n=God speaks in holiness.= \"God hath spoken in his holiness; I will\nrejoice.\"--Psa. 60:6. \"Mine heart within me is broken because of the\nprophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man\nwhom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words\nof his holiness.\"--Jer. 23:9.\n\n=The way of holiness.= \"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it\nshall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it;\nbut it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not\nerr therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up\nthereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there\nand the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs\nand everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and\ngladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.\"--Isa. 35:8-10.\n\n=The courts of holiness.= \"But they that have gathered it shall eat it,\nand praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink\nit in the courts of my holiness.\"--Isa. 62:9.\n\n=The people of God are holy.= \"The people of thy holiness have possessed\nbut a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy\nsanctuary.\"--Isa. 63:18. \"And they shall call them, The holy people, The\nredeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not\nforsaken.\"--Isa. 62:12. \"And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be\nhis peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest\nkeep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which\nhe hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest\nbe an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.\"--Deut.\n26:18, 19. \"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy\nnation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him\nwho hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.\"--1 Pet.\n2:9.\n\n=We are called unto holiness.= \"Follow peace with all men, and holiness,\nwithout which no man shall see the Lord.\"--Heb. 12:14. \"But as he which\nhath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;\nbecause it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.\"--1 Pet. 1:15, 16.\n\"For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.\"--1\nThess. 4:7. \"That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of\nthe hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and\nrighteousness before him, all the days of our life.\"--Luke 1:74, 75.\n\"For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure;\nbut he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his\nholiness.\"--Heb. 12:10.\n\n=A perfect holiness attainable.= \"Having therefore these promises, dearly\nbeloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and\nspirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.\"--2 Cor. 7:1.\n\n=Fruit unto holiness.= \"But now being made free from sin, and become\nservants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end\neverlasting life.\"--Rom. 6:22.\n\nThe foregoing scriptures are but a few out of the many plain texts from\nthe word of God teaching us the glorious doctrine of holiness. Some\nprofessing Christians look upon this doctrine as unscriptural and\nimpracticable, but in the light of the gospel of Christ there is no\nother doctrine taught than holiness. The very fact that God, and Jesus\nChrist, and the Holy Spirit, the word of God, and heaven, and all the\ncelestial hosts are holy, at once suggests to every reasonable mind the\nutter necessity of holiness in the heart and life of man. The apostle\nsays (Eph. 2:10) that \"we are his workmanship, created in Jesus Christ\nunto good works.\"\n\nWere we to look upon depraved humanity in the image of Adam, we would\nsee nothing but sin and unholiness; but God has brought into existence a\nnew order of creation in Christ Jesus. The first Adam is a sad and\nirreparable failure, and in him we see nothing good. All who are living\naccording to the flesh are dead in trespasses and sins, and of course\nare unholy; but the second Adam, which is Christ has brought redemption\nand life, in whom there is purity and holiness. The old man is corrupt\naccording to the deceitful lusts, which =must be put off=. The new man is\ncreated in righteousness and true holiness, which =must be put on=. The\nreason some do not comprehend the doctrine of holiness is, they are yet\nliving in the old creation, hence their nature and mind are corrupt. It\nis utterly impossible for such to be holy in this condition. The\ncommand, \"Be ye holy,\" does not apply to them. They are not God's\npeople. The first step for such to take is to repent, which if they obey\nthey will be brought into the kingdom of God's holiness; into the new\ncreation, the workmanship of God in Christ Jesus. Bless the Lord, O my\nsoul, for this new creation of purity and holiness. All the living\ncreatures of heaven bow before him that sitteth upon the throne, saying,\nHoly, holy, holy! and every sanctified heart on earth can join the\nblessed anthem of praise and adoration with the consciousness that the\nall-cleansing blood of Christ has reached its inmost depth and purified\nit for the habitation of the heavenly guest, the Holy Spirit. The pure\nheart is God's dwelling-place on earth. Jesus says (John 14:23) \"If a\nman love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him, and we\nwill come unto him, and make our abode with him.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThus we see that God not only dwells in the high and holy heaven, but\nalso upon earth in the hearts of his obedient people. Who could\nconsistently believe that God would dwell in a corrupt heart? \"He shall\nbe in you,\" is the promise of Jesus. \"At that day [the day when the Holy\nSpirit comes into the heart], ye shall know that I am in my Father, and\nye in me, and I in you.\" Oh, the depths of the riches of this wonderful\nredemption, that God would forgive the guilty sinner, then purify his\nheart and make it his earthly abode. This is his will toward every son\nand daughter of Adam's race. He will create us in the image of Christ,\nso that we may truly serve him without fear, in holiness and\nrighteousness before him all the days of our life. This can be called\nnone other than the way of holiness. It is God's own way, and is truly a\nhighway too high for anything unclean to pass over. It is on a perfect\nlevel with heaven itself, and yet it is a highway here upon earth for\nall the ransomed of the Lord to travel upon. It is so plain and simple\nthat no one need be led astray. The wayfaring men though fools, shall\nnot err therein. A wayfaring man means one who is on the way, one who\nlives on the way. A seafaring man is one who lives on the sea. This way\nis so safe that though a man may be simple in the estimation of the\nworld, and may be called a fool, yet if he keeps obedient to God he\nshall not be led astray. \"No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast\nshall go up thereon.\" This indicates a very safe way, where we need not\nfear any evil. Everything of the flesh or the old man is ruled out, and\nnone but the redeemed shall walk there. We see therefore from the\ndescription of the prophet that this is a highway, a clean way, a simple\nway, a safe way, a way of songs and everlasting joy, which necessarily\nconstitutes a way of holiness.\n\nThis is the way upon which the people of God are truly returning to\nZion. This Zion is the scriptural name of the church of God. The people\nof God have been led into captivity of ecclesiastical bondage (Babylon),\nand the pure light of the gospel of holiness has been darkened by the\ncreeds and doctrines of men, but God is revealing to his own that\nsanctification is a Bible doctrine; they seek for, and obtain it, and\nthereby every sectarian yoke is broken, his people find themselves upon\nthis highway of holiness and at home in Zion, the church, free from the\nbondage of sectism. This is the work of God himself, and will not cease\nuntil every one of his people are brought home to Zion, upon the way of\nholiness. This is the highway that is left for the remnant of his\npeople. Isa. 11:16. This remnant shall be gathered out of all the creeds\nof men into the one fold, into the true unity of Christ. \"For both he\nthat sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.\"\n\nThe prophet foresaw this blessed return of the people of God and tells\nus \"they shall call them, The holy people.\" There are some who call\nthemselves holiness people, but the prophet says we shall be called,\n\"The holy people.\" Holiness factions and sects have actually sprung into\nexistence, which declare that sectism and division is necessary. This\nclass of holiness is not that described in the foregoing scriptures.\nBible holiness will in every individual instance destroy everything out\nof men's hearts that separates or divides. Divisions are the outgrowth\nof carnality and not of the Spirit of God. Every profession of holiness,\ntherefore, which sanctions division and sectism cannot possibly be the\nholiness of the Bible. This may seem to some a strong assertion, but it\nwill stand the test of the word of God.\n\nNo scriptural unity will ever be effected among the people of God\noutside the experience of sanctification. Men have repeatedly laid other\nfoundations, but all to no avail. It is a source of great satisfaction\nto know that wherever the Holy Spirit has the right of way in the hearts\nof men, there is found true apostolic unity, both in spirit and in\ndoctrine. This is a well authenticated fact which is demonstrated in\nthousands of hearts today. The holy people are one people, and all are\nwilling to be measured by all of the word of God, which proves to the\n\"profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction\nin righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly\nfurnished unto all good works.\" The apostle teaches us, in Heb. 12:10,\nthat God imparts unto us his holiness: we are partakers of it. It is not\nan experience which we by our efforts can attain to, but upon the\nclearly defined conditions of his word we come into possession of his\nholiness. It is all wrought within us by himself. \"Not by works of\nrighteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved\nus, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.\"\nBible holiness is truly an imported article directly from God out of\nheaven. Some imported goods in this country are much more expensive and\nof better quality than those of home manufacture. Many of our people\nprefer to pay the extra expense in order to obtain the better quality,\nand usually are abundantly satisfied with their purchase. This may serve\nto illustrate this blessed holiness of the Bible. Men's professions are\nsometimes like an inferior homemade piece of goods. It soon wears\nthreadbare and betrays its quality, but the genuine imported article of\nBible holiness proves satisfactory in every respect, and the more it is\nworn the better it becomes. It has cost us everything, but it proves to\nbe worth more than everything to us. The reason why some people have\nfailed to get it is, they are unwilling to pay the price. They are\ndeceived by the false doctrine that they do not need to consecrate their\nall, and hence have accepted a holiness manufactured by man, a homemade\narticle which will never stand the test. A definite, absolute\nconsecration to the loss of all things will never fail to procure the\ngenuine article of true Bible holiness, which will stand the wear of\nevery trial of life and the test of the judgment.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nThe Vine and the Branches\n\n\n\"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me\nthat beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth\nfruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are\nclean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I\nin you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in\nthe vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are\nthe branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth\nforth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not\nin me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather\nthem, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in\nme, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall\nbe done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much\nfruit; so shall ye be my disciples.\"--John 15:1-8.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis beautiful analogy teaches us an important lesson. The standard of\nsanctification is clearly exemplified in the relation between the vine\nand the branches. Christ is the vine, and every individual Christian is\nan individual branch; every branch is an individual member of the vine,\nand every Christian is an individual member of Christ.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhat a clear view of the church, and how plainly we can see that there\nis but one. Every regenerate soul is by one Spirit baptized into this\none body. This vine is cared for and kept by God himself, who is the\nhusbandman. Every branch must be a living, fruit-bearing one. It is\nplaced into the vine by the hand which will care for it, and give it\nevery necessary treatment to cause it to bring forth much fruit. If it\nbears fruit it will be kept in the vine; if it does not bear fruit it\nwill be taken away. The same life which flows through the vine also\nflows into the branches. It is the branches that bear the fruit. It is\nthe part of the vine to sustain the branches, and the part of the\nbranches to bear fruit. The fruit is the production of the vine-life in\nthe branches. The word of God teaches us that Christ is pure and holy,\nand in Rom. 11:16 we are taught that if the root be holy, so are the\nbranches. The manner of the induction of the branches into the vine is\nillustrated by the process of grafting. We are not grown into Christ,\nbut grafted into him. The natural branches of a vine grow out of the\nvine, and accordingly bear the vine-fruit, but by grace we are grafted\ninto Christ, the vine, and bear the vine-fruit.\n\nA certain writer who advocates the repression theory of sanctification\nsays: \"But if I want a tree wholly made good I take it when young and,\ncutting the stem off on the ground, I graft just where it emerges from\nthe soil; I watch over every bud which the old nature could possibly put\nforth until the flow of sap from the old roots into the new stem is so\ncomplete that the old life has, as it were, been entirely conquered and\ncovered of the new. Now I have a tree entirely renewed--emblem of a\nChristian who has learned in entire consecration to surrender everything\nfor Christ, and in a whole-hearted faith wholly to abide in him. If in\nthis case the old tree were a reasonable being that could co-operate\nwith the gardener, what would the gardener's language be to it? Would it\nnot be this: 'Yield now thyself entirely to this new nature with which I\nhave invested thee; repress every tendency of the old nature to give\nbuds or sprouts; let all thy sap and all thy life-powers rise up into\nthis graft from yonder beautiful tree which I have put on thee, so shalt\nthou bring forth sweet and much fruit.' And the language of the tree to\nthe gardener would be: 'When thou graftest me, oh, spare not a single\nbranch, let everything of the old self, even the smallest bud, be\ndestroyed, that I may no longer live in my own, but in that other life\nthat was cut off and brought and put upon me that I might be wholly new\nand good.' And once again, could you afterwards ask the renewed tree, as\nit was bearing abundant fruit, what it could say of itself, its answer\nwould be this: 'In me (that is, my roots) there dwelleth no good thing;\nI am ever inclined to evil; the sap I collect from the soil is in its\nnature corrupt, and ready to show itself in bearing evil fruit. But just\nwhere the sap rises into the sunshine to ripen into fruit, the wise\ngardener hath clothed me with a new life through which my sap is\npurified and all my powers are renewed to the bringing forth of good\nfruit.'\"\n\nThis author has entirely reversed the scriptural order of grafting in\nhis application of the graft and root, and has illustrated the relation\nof Christ and the believer by the natural grafting process which can in\nno sense scripturally apply to this holy relation. Christ is the vine or\nroot, and not the graft. The natural process of grafting is to graft the\ngood graft into a poor root. The graft will grow into a tree and bear\nthe same kind of fruit as the tree from which it was taken, and thus the\ngardener increases the production of good fruit. But the divine process\nof grafting is just the reverse. In Rom. 11:24 the apostle says we are\ngrafted into the olive tree (Christ) \"contrary to nature.\" The\nhusbandman takes the penitent sinner out of the kingdom of darkness and\ntranslates him into the kingdom of his dear Son. In this regeneration\nprocess the sinner (the graft) that was sinful and bore fruit is by\nGod's own process grafted into Christ, the holy vine, and from thence to\nbear holy fruit. This is certainly a great mystery, like all the works\nof God's grace, and is indeed contrary to nature, but in perfect\nconformity with the plan of redemption.\n\nNow, in this condition, there is a certain requirement of the graft\nnecessary that it may bear the vine-fruit; it must =abide= in the vine.\nThis abiding requires a careful watchfulness lest there might be some\nsprout of the old inward nature, which yet exists within the newly\ngrafted branch, which would spring up and hinder the perfect\nfruit-bearing of the vine-life. And in this early life, in this new\nrelation of the branch with the vine, it is an attested fact that in\nquantity this fruit production is more or less hindered by the presence\nof the old inward nature, in the branch, which if permitted to sprout\nand grow would certainly prevent the growth of the vine-fruit entirely,\nand thereby cause the branch to be cut off. That the branch is in the\nvine there can be no question, for its environments are completely\nchanged and it finds itself a stranger to all of its former\nassociations, customs, and habits. That the vine-life is in the branch\nthere can equally be no question, for the branch has the inward\nconsciousness bearing witness that it belongs to the vine, and it enjoys\nthe sweet fellowship of the vine and all its branches. Also it bears the\nvine-fruit which brings upon itself the approval of the husbandman.\n\nBut this early and new relationship is only the justified life of the\nbranch. The standard of sanctification of the author from whom we have\njust quoted is in no respect any higher than this, and were it not that\nthere is a higher standard taught in this lesson and in many other\nscriptures, we would have to be satisfied with justification only.\n\n\"Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth\nmore fruit.\" This purging is another process quite contrary to nature,\nfor the term signifies an inward cleansing. A vine-dresser can prune or\ntrim a branch and thereby practically make it clean outwardly from all\nunnecessary or harmful sprouts which would hinder it from bearing fruit,\nbut there is no known natural process by which the grafted branch could\nhave its inward conditions changed which would affect its nature.\n\nWe can see clearly that the entire process of grafting the inferior\nbranch into the good root, and the subsequent purging is wholly contrary\nto nature, for no man with an object of profit would do any such\ngrafting, neither could anyone reasonably expect the inward conditions\nof such a graft to become changed.\n\nThis purging is wrought within for the purpose of an increase of holy\nfruit. How beautifully it pictures the experience of sanctification, and\nsubsequent work wrought in the soul of the justified fruit-bearing child\nof God. It is not a pruning of any unholy sprouts, for they are to be\nwholly kept from sprouting in the process of the life of bearing holy\nfruit in this justified relation. The branch is now bearing the very\nfruit of the holy root, but there is something to be done in it that it\nmay bring forth more fruit; it must be purged from its inward depraved\ndispositions which it possessed from its parent stock--its \"old man ...\nthat the body of sin might be destroyed.\" Before the purging there was\nmuch time and energy occupied in keeping its depraved nature from\nsprouting. The holy nature of the root was indeed being manifested in\nthe production of holy fruit which was a source of satisfaction, but\nthere was that inward consciousness of an unfavorable condition which\nhindered the root-life from producing in the branch the quantity\nnecessary to the perfect satisfaction of the husbandman, the vine or the\nbranch.\n\nBut now what a glorious change: the old nature is entirely gone, and the\nsweet soul-rest which the purged branch now enjoys is beyond the power\nof mortal to express; it can now repose itself so sweetly in the holy\nvine in its perfectly consecrated life, without any inward hindrance to\na perfect flow of the vine-life through its entire being. It can now\nbring forth more fruit, for every energy from the root is sent direct\ninto the fruit-buds of the branch, and the result is glorious. This\npurging is just what perfects the inward harmony of the branch with the\nvine. It could not continue very long in the abiding condition without a\nconsciousness of the need of the purging process. This process becomes a\nnecessity to every branch which abides. \"He that abideth in me, and I in\nhim, the same bringeth forth much fruit,\" which is equivalent to the\ntext, \"Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring\nforth more fruit.\" It is purged that it may bring forth \"more fruit,\"\nand now the object of purging is realized, it brings forth \"much fruit.\"\nThank God for the purging, the subsequent work in the heart!\n\nThe apostles had not yet received this experience. They were clean\nthrough the word which Jesus had spoken unto them, to the extent of\ntheir knowledge and experience. Unquestionably they were clean from\nguilt and condemnation, for they were taken out from the world--were no\nmore of it, and the world hated them. They were living in perfect\nobedience to all the known word of God and were clean through that word,\nbut they had not had the pentecostal purging, \"purifying their hearts by\nfaith,\" as Peter himself testifies of the sanctification of himself and\nall who were at Pentecost, as well as the experience of Cornelius and\nhis household.\n\nTruly we have much reason to praise God for his wonderful grace in which\nhe brings man, his fallen creature, into such a position that he may\nbecome a son of God, then made pure from all the depraved dispositions\nof his fallen nature. \"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he\nshall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use,\nand prepared unto every good work.\"--2 Timothy 2:21.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nSome Helpful Thoughts on Consecration\n\n\nThe experience of sanctification is obtained upon the conditions of\ndefinite consecration and faith. In every consecration the soul reaches\na point where it must either go through to the death, or else go back\nand lose the grace of God entirely. The Holy Spirit will make it plain\nwhat this death implies, and at last the dying soul goes through its\nlast struggle and yields up its last treasure. When this point is\nreached and passed, the Holy Spirit will bear witness that the demands\nof God are now fully met. When Moses had completed the work of building\nthe tabernacle and had placed everything in its proper order, as God\ncommanded him, it is said that \"Moses finished the work.\" So it can be\nsaid of us and so each of us can personally testify by the witness of\nthe Spirit bearing witness with our spirit in this absolute and definite\nconsecration, that we have \"finished the work.\" Every doubt as to the\ncompletion of this consecration is banished, and has no room to exist in\nour hearts, for we know that it is complete. We can so sweetly and\nwillingly say, \"Thy will be done,\" with a most delightful consciousness\nthat all the past, present, and future, of all that pertains to our\nlife, is yielded up to his blessed will. Nothing on earth is held half\nso sweet and precious as his will.\n\nWe can realize down deep in our souls what Jesus meant when he gave\nhimself to sanctify us and said, \"I come to do thy will.\" We can enter\ninto the fellowship of his sufferings and death, for all that we have\nand are, and all that we expect to be in the future, and all that we\nknow and ever expect to know, are now forever and eternally yielded up\nto that precious will of God. It required the will of Jesus to be\nyielded up to death to do the will of the Father that we might be\nsanctified, and it equally requires our will to be yielded up to death\nand the loss of all things, that we might be sanctified. It required his\nwill even to the death to obtain it for us, and it requires our will\neven to death to receive it from him. Yes, dear reader, a real death; so\nreal that it includes everything, and it can only be said of us as it\nwas said of the Colossian saints, \"Ye are dead, and your life is hid\nwith Christ in God.\"\n\nThis death consecration is beautifully typified in the consecration and\nsanctification of the priests of the Old Testament dispensation. In Lev.\n8 we read that Moses was commanded of the Lord to take Aaron and his\nsons and three animals with him. The blood of one of these animals was\nto be shed for the sin-offering; one for the \"burnt offering,\" and one\nfor the \"consecration\" offering. The blood of each was shed and applied\nseparately for a special purpose. Each finds its antitype in the\nprecious blood of Jesus, who offered himself without spot to God that he\nmight sanctify the church. The blood of the sin-offering provides for\nthat part of our nature which would naturally reach out and cling to\nthose things which are sinful. In every justified heart which is not yet\nwholly sanctified there exists such a principle which in itself is\ndepraved and sinful, and were it permitted to respond to the sinful\nthings without, it would bring the believers into transgression. This is\nthe \"body of sin,\" or \"our old man,\" which according to the law of the\nSpirit of life in Christ Jesus, must be destroyed and cleansed out. This\nexisting in the heart, if unrestrained, is the fruitful soil out of\nwhich grows every evil work. We can see its productions in many\ndifferent aspects in the religious world today. Every sect on earth is a\nproduction of this body of sin. Every manifestation of carnal division\nis some of its evil fruits. Everything that is in the least degree\ncontrary to the pure word of God, whether it be word or deed, is but the\noutgrowth of this evil thing, which was created and planted into the\nhearts of Adam and Eve by the devil, and has become the dominating\ncharacteristic of depraved humanity. Justification does not cleanse this\nout of the heart. It only takes away the guilt and trespasses of the\nsinner, and brings him into the favor of God, who gave his Son a\n\"trespass-offering\" for the world. But Jesus gave himself a\n\"sin-offering\" for the church, and when the heart has yielded up to the\ndeath for the destruction of this depravity it can truly be said of such\nan one that we are dead to sin, for the blood of Jesus in this\nsin-offering will most certainly effect this cleansing.\n\nBut a true Bible consecration includes something more than a yielding up\nof the heart for the cleansing out of this sin principle. In the type,\nwe see there was another animal sacrificed in this consecration service.\nIt was the one for the \"burnt offering.\" The blood of this sacrifice\ncorresponds with the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus which also provides\nfor the cleansing of that part of our nature that clings to the things\nof life which in themselves are not sinful but are God-given blessings.\nOur unsanctified affections must also become purified from every taint\nof depravity. That this may be accomplished, it becomes necessary that\nthe heart yield up to the death every cherished object, even though it\nbe a God-given blessing; it must be yielded up and laid upon the altar\nas a \"burnt offering.\" The affections cannot be purified until the\nobject of the affections is yielded. We cannot perfectly obey the first\nand great commandment, \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy\nheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy\nstrength,\" until every affection is fully taken off from every object of\nearth and placed upon God exclusively. This means that we willingly lay\nupon the altar our loved ones, no matter how sacred or precious they may\nbe--father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, children, home,\nproperty, reputation, and everything within the scope of our earthly\nexistence. All henceforth and forever yielded up to God, no more to be\nours, as really and as perfectly as though we were breathing our last\nupon our death-bed, and then in due time we were laid into our coffin,\nthe lid fastened down, and lowered into the grave, the grave filled up\nand nothing left but a mound to mark where our earthly remains lie. Or,\nto view the subject from another standpoint, this yielding up must be\nas real as though our loved ones and every cherished treasure of earth\nwere laid upon the altar, to be offered up a burnt sacrifice. In due\ntime the fire will be kindled, and our cherished objects will one by one\nbe consumed into smoke and finally all will disappear, a consumed\nsacrifice unto the Lord.\n\nA quarter of a century ago my own precious mother was brought to this\nconsecration. She was shown by the Holy Spirit that she did not have her\nchildren perfectly yielded up to the Lord. She was praying for their\nconversion. At last she became willing to lay them upon the altar and\nshe did it thoroughly. She gave them to the Lord a living sacrifice. In\na short time her four oldest were converted, and in due time the two\nothers as they grew up were also brought into the fold of Christ. She\nrejoiced and praised God for this and often expressed herself that her\nchildren were not her own, they were the Lord's, for his service or\nsacrifice, just as he should see proper. At last this consecration was\nbrought to the test. The Lord began to kindle the fire to consume the\n\"burnt offering.\" He laid his hand upon one and took her home to heaven.\nThen another, and sent him thousands of miles away to preach the gospel\nin regions beyond. Then another, and sent him far distant in another\ndirection to labor in the gospel vineyard. Then another, and sent her\nstill another direction to publish the word of God; and as these\ncherished objects thus vanished out of her sight she could say, \"They\nare the Lord's, not mine.\" In one of her letters she wrote me these\nwords: \"Well, my dear boy, I truly realized what it meant years ago to\nlay my dear children upon the altar of the Lord: but now I realize what\nit means to see them consumed into smoke.\"\n\nDear brother and sister, this is what a burnt offering means, and how\ngood our heavenly Father is to require this sacrifice of us! Oh, how\nmany sad heartaches it saves us! How many bitter tears of anguish and\nsorrow! I have stood at the open grave where a poor grief-stricken\nmother wrung her hands and cried out, \"Oh, I cannot, I cannot give up my\nprecious darling. Let me be buried with it--I cannot be parted from it!\"\nI have also stood at another grave, where the form of a consecrated\nloved one was sinking out of human sight. The mother stood gazing at\nthe object of earth as it was laid back to dust, then with her eyes\nturned toward heaven she said, \"Dear Lord, thou hast only taken thine\nown to thyself; my heart feels the parting pangs, but I say willingly,\n'Thy will be done.'\"\n\nAh, what a contrast! The one mother knew nothing of this blessed\nconsecration, the other did. The one had but little grace to sustain her\nin her bereavement, the other had the abounding grace, for she had\nalready yielded up her sacred treasures to the Lord. The one buried all\nher comfort and hope in the grave, the other simply buried a lifeless\nform of clay; though sacred and precious to her heart, yet she had\nconsecrated it to the Lord, and now in seeing it vanish out of her\nsight, she could feel that it was not her own. The one returned to her\nempty home with her heart full of sorrow, the other returned in the\ncomfort of Him who comforteth us in all our tribulations. She had paid\nthe price of =her all=, and now she enjoys the blessing of =Jesus'\nall=--the abiding of his glorious presence, which comforts her heart\nand home, and fills the emptiness with himself and his bountiful grace.\n\nOh, how beautiful and reasonable to consecrate everything that our\naffections have held sacred and dear, to him. We all know very well that\nall these treasures of earth are of no enduring substance. No matter how\nmuch they may be to us, they in due time will either vanish out of our\nsight, or else we will have to leave them. How much better, and how much\nmore satisfactory it is to yield them all up to Jesus, to whom they\nrightly belong, and who has only loaned them to us in the first place.\nHe is justly entitled to all of our affections, for what has he not\nyielded up that was due to himself, that he might purchase this glorious\ngrace for us? Now he wants the supremacy in our hearts' affections, so\nthat he can fashion us according to himself through and through, and\nimpart his own nature into our affections, that we may henceforth love\nwith his love, those sacred treasures around which our affections have\nso entwined, and claimed as ours. Before our consecration we loved him,\nbut these other objects of our love were between us and him. They\nhindered our love towards him, and equally hindered his love from\nperfectly flowing into our hearts. We loved him, and realized that he\nloved us, but it was not perfect; there were objects in our way, and\nthere were objects in his way. These objects were our sacred treasures.\nDepravity had affected our affections so that we could not hold these\ntreasures as we should. But now what a satisfactory change! We yielded\nall these objects to him, and took him in their stead. Now he occupies\nthe place. He owns our treasures, and we own him. But what of our\ntreasures? We have them all back again, through him. Before our\nconsecration, they were between us and him. Now he is between us and\nthem, and with him he freely gives us all things. He can use all of\nthese things according to his own good pleasure, making any disposition\nof them which might seem good in his sight, for they are his, not ours.\nIf he should place us over them as his stewards, then we hold them in\ntrust for him and do with them just as he orders, and when, one by one,\nthey consume away on the altar of his service, or, if according to his\nsovereign will, he shall remove them out of our sight, we can say,\n\"Amen, Lord, thy will be done.\"\n\nNow, in the act of Bible consecration, the believer may not realize all\nof this, and the utmost depth of the cleansing that has been wrought in\nthe heart and affections, or the difference between the sin-offering and\nthe burnt offering, but it will not be long afterward, until the\nknowledge of this cleansing shall begin to dawn upon us and our soul\nbecomes more and more enraptured in this glorious experience of\nsanctification. But we see in the type still another animal to be\nslain--the consecration offering. The blood of this animal was applied\nto the body of Aaron and his sons. First it was put upon the tips of\ntheir right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of\ntheir right feet. Then afterwards it was sprinkled with the anointing\noil upon Aaron and his garments too, and upon his sons and their\ngarments. This ceremonial process was the completion of their\nsanctification. The blood of this consecration offering corresponds with\nthe blood of Jesus which provides for the sanctification of our body. In\nthis consecration we not only offer up our hearts and affections to\nJesus, but we also present our bodies a living sacrifice. This includes\nour all, spirit, soul and body. Our ears, hands, and feet, our entire\nphysical being, is dedicated henceforth to his service, to labor and\nsuffer hardships, to be used in sacrifice, or service, either at the\nmartyrs' stake or on the gospel altar, any way, and every way, in which\nhe may order it for his own honor and glory. These eyes shall see, this\ntongue shall speak, this mind shall think, these ears shall hear, these\nhands shall labor, these feet shall run, this strength and these\nenergies, this heart shall beat, every faculty, organ, and appetite\nshall be used only for him, who has so freely given himself for us; and\nthus this body becomes the temple, and the earthly dwelling-place of the\nHoly Ghost, his own exclusive dedicated property. While it is not\npossible that we could itemize these things in the consecration of our\nbodies, there is a yielding up of our all which sweeps the scope and\nbrings the witness of the Spirit that our consecration is complete and\nwe have \"finished the work.\" We are now upon believing grounds, and\nfaith can appropriate the power of the all-cleansing blood.\n\n     \"By faith I venture on his word,\n         My doubts are o'er, the vict'ry won,\n      He said the altar sanctifies,\n         I just believe him and 'tis done.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nQuestions and Answers\n\n\nQuestion. How may we know definitely that we are sanctified?\n\nAnswer. We may know it by knowing that we have met all the conditions.\nThis grace is obtained upon the conditions of consecration and faith.\nWhen we are sure that we have measured up to a true Bible consecration,\nwe will have no difficulty in knowing that we are sanctified. The depth\nof meaning of this consecration does not necessarily need to be fully\ncomprehended by the seeker, as we enter into this covenant, but there is\na yielding up of ourself and entire all, to the known and unknown will\nof God, to an extent that covers everything. God knows when we have\nreached and passed this point, and it will not be long before the Holy\nSpirit will definitely witness to us that the consecration is complete,\nand the covenant ratified by this glorious indwelling consciousness.\n\nThis consecration may be illustrated by the contract and union of holy\nmatrimony. When the bride and groom enter into the covenant according to\nGod's word, they have little knowledge of the obligations they are\ntaking upon themselves. They know nothing of the detailed realities of\nlife; its joys and sorrows, hardships and trials that are before them;\nbut they know that they dearly love each other, and have not the\nslightest fear in yielding themselves to each other completely and\nexclusively, so long as they both shall live. They enter into this\ncovenant with all good confidence that the object of their love will not\nrequire anything hard or impossible, and as the future realities of life\nunfold and one by one they meet the many responsibilities that the\ncovenant implies, they find that their love is equal to the\nresponsibility, and as long as they continue to love each other they\nwill never have the slightest disposition to break that marriage\ncovenant.\n\nSo the heart which makes the consecration for sanctification will not\ncomprehend the great scope of its meaning at the time of entering into\nthis covenant, but if we love Jesus as we should we will not fear what\nhe may require of us in the details of his will in the future. We are\nalready enraptured with his love. He has proved himself to be a loving\nand faithful Redeemer in dying for us, and now as we see he requires us\nto yield ourselves even to death for him, we can confidently enter into\nthe conditions of this covenant with the assurance that he will demand\nnothing of us beyond the power of the love to fulfill.\n\nYes, we will know definitely when our consecration is complete, and then\nwe will have no trouble to believe in the promises for the cleansing. As\nBible repentance is the believing ground for justification, so Bible\nconsecration is the believing ground for sanctification.\n\n\nQues. How may we keep sanctified?\n\nAns. By abiding in the conditions by which we obtained the experience.\nAs long as our consecration remains intact, and our faith remains firm\nin the promises, we are sanctified, no matter what the assertions of our\nfeelings may be. To cease believing will forfeit our experience. To\ncease obeying in any respect will produce the same effect; but \"if we\nwalk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with\nanother; and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all\nsin.\"\n\n\nQues. If Jesus was not sanctified until his death, how can we be?\n\nAns. Jesus was sanctified before his death. He testifies to it in John\n10:36. There is a sense in which he was sanctified by his death; that\nis, he became a perfect redeemer by his death. He set himself apart for\nthis specific purpose. This is the meaning of the saying of Jesus in\nJohn 17:19--\"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might\nbe sanctified through the truth.\" Another scripture, Heb. 5:9 has the\nsame meaning. \"And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal\nsalvation unto all them that obey him.\" In the use of the terms\n\"sanctify\" and \"perfect\" we could by no means infer that Jesus was not\npure and holy before his suffering on the cross. He became a perfect\nSaviour by his death and through suffering. It is absurd and casts a\nreflection upon the redemption plan, to say that Jesus was not holy\nuntil resurrection. In this sense only was he made \"perfect\" by his\ndeath. As to his people being holy and sanctified in this life, we have\nthe whole word of God in favor of such a life. Thank God, it is his will\nthat we should live \"in holiness and righteousness before him all the\ndays of our life.\" It does require a death on our part to obtain this\nglorious grace. In this respect we must die to get it. Jesus died to\npurchase it for us. We must die to receive it--not a literal death, but\na death to sin and the world. The river of Jordan truly signifies a\ndeath, but we can cross over it and remain in this mortal life. The land\nof Canaan is the land of holiness, which all of God's people can enter\ninto and possess in this life.\n\n\nQues. Does not the Bible say, \"If we say that we have no sin we deceive\nourselves and the truth is not in us\"?\n\nAns. Yes, but this does not teach us that we cannot be free from sin. If\nwe were to take this verse by itself without its context we might have a\nscripture contradictory to the word of God, but if we read the seventh\nand ninth verses with the eighth verse of 1 John 1, we see plainly by\nthese three verses connected that we can be cleansed from all sin and\nunrighteousness. This verse implies that if any one who has not been\ncleansed from sin should say he has no sin to be cleansed from, he\ndeceives himself.\n\n\nQues. Do we not grow into sanctification and therefore reach it\ngradually?\n\nAns. No; this would be contrary to the plan of redemption. We do not\ngrow =into= any of the graces. We are commanded to grow IN grace. The\ngrace of pardon and justification is imparted by the Holy Spirit. We can\ngrow in this grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour which,\nif we do, will soon bring us to the knowledge of our need of purity and\nsanctification, and we will see that this is a grace which is intended\nfor us. We gladly comply with the conditions for the same, and enter\ninto it by faith. God now performs the work in our hearts by the power\nof his Holy Spirit. We cannot do it ourselves, only in the sense that we\nmeet the required conditions. It is impossible for us to grow into\npurity. This is beyond our individual power; it requires the power of\nGod. We purify ourselves by making the separation of everything\noutwardly; God then purifies our hearts by an instantaneous work of\ngrace. This grace by no means implies a maturity in growth. It only\nbrings us into a position where we can the more rapidly grow up in\nspiritual things.\n\n\nQues. Why do we not get it all when we are justified?\n\nAns. Because the conditions for the two graces are not the same. The\npenitent sinner cannot, in his sinful condition, meet the requirements\nfor sanctification, and God does not mean that he should. All that the\nsinner can possibly do is to repent. When he has fully repented, then he\ncan believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive his pardon. This is\njustification. He is justified from all his sins through true repentance\nand faith. Those are the Scriptural conditions for justification, but\nthe conditions for sanctification are consecration and faith. Repentance\nand consecration are vastly different. The first means to give up all\nsinful things, with a godly sorrow for all sins committed, and a solemn\ndetermination that by the grace of God all sinning shall forever cease.\nThe second means to yield up to God all our good things, every sacred\ntreasure of our heart and affections, with our body and every ransomed\npower, as a living sacrifice. The first is God's requirement of every\nsinner. The second is his requirement of every justified believer. The\nfirst is all that the guilty sinner can possibly comprehend. The second\nis that which only the justified believer can comprehend. Therefore it\nis utterly impossible for us to get sanctified at the time of our\njustification. The two are distinct and separate works of grace,\nobtained upon distinct and separate conditions.\n\nSome people have vainly believed, and some vainly teach, that there is\nbut one work of grace; but such a doctrine is contrary to the word of\nGod, the conditions of the plan of redemption, and the glorious\ntestimonies of thousands of saints who have lived in the past and those\nwho are living witnesses today. It is perfectly natural and logical to\nevery honest and willing child of God who is not yet sanctified to soon\nbelieve that there is a second work of grace. Perhaps it will take a few\nmonths for some to find out their need, but it is only a question of\ntime till every one will find an inward longing for something more, to\nsatisfy the inward condition of the heart. To prove this statement let\nus listen to the testimonies of those who are simply justified and have\nhad no teaching on sanctification, whether their Christian life be one\nof years or but a few months. Everyone who stands in this justified\nrelation with God gives expression in some respects according to the\nfollowing: \"I thank God for salvation and am not sorry that I ever gave\nmy heart to God, but I do feel the need of a deeper work of grace.\"\nAnother will say, \"Pray for me that I may have a clean heart.\" Another\nwill request prayer for perfect love; another will confess to having\nbeen overcome by sin, and having made some crooked paths, and feels\nsorry and wants to get nearer to God and get a better experience.\n\nNow we cannot doubt the sincerity of these hearts, neither their\nexperience. Their experiences are those of honest, willing children of\nGod who are anxious to do the whole will of God. Such expressions would\nnot be given by professors who are void of salvation. The fact is, the\nexperiences of these hearts teach them the need of the second grace, and\nunless they should be deceived by some false doctrines, they would keep\non with such testimonies until they should obtain that perfect love, or\na clean heart, or a deeper work of grace.\n\nDo they not testify that the first work of grace is not deep enough?\nThey are glad for the first work, but they want something deeper. They\nare glad that grace has found their heart, but they want a clean\nheart--one that is free from those conscious uprisings of evil which, if\nunrestrained, would bring them into condemnation and guilt, and perhaps\nhave already overcome them and produced such an effect in their lives.\nThey are glad for the sweet love of God that has found its way into\ntheir hearts, but they long for perfect love. They are conscious of some\nobstacles which hinder that love from being perfect, and yet they do not\nunderstand just how those obstacles can be removed. Someone may tell\nthem that they have all they can get from God and to ask for more would\nbe presumption, and yet their souls cry out for that which is natural in\nthe grace of God, and how ready they are, when they hear sanctification\ntaught, to meet the conditions and enter into the rest for their\nsouls--this perfect love, this deeper work of grace, and this experience\nof a clean heart, and this baptism with the Holy Ghost.\n\nNow let us listen to their testimonies. What do we hear? Ah, we hear\nthem praising God for this they were so longing for. One will praise God\nfor a clean heart; another will say he has found the perfect love;\nanother will testify to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Others will thank\nGod for sanctification, and others will call it this sweet soul-rest,\netc., which all mean the same blessed experience of sanctification. Now\nif we ask them if they believe in a second work of grace, what will they\nanswer us? Ah, there is no question about it. They have it in their\nhearts, and they are spoiled for any argument upon the subject.\n\nSo it is with all God's people who have met the definite conditions for\nsanctification and have come into this precious grace. We know it is a\nsecond work.\n\n\nQues. How can one keep free from evil thoughts?\n\nAns. The pure heart and mind do not entertain an evil thought. As soon\nas such thoughts are presented they are banished. In 2 Cor. 10:5 we read\nhow such things are dealt with. \"Casting down imaginations, and every\nhigh thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and\nbringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.\" An\nevil thought thus captivated does not enter into the heart and therefore\ndoes not become a sin to us. The apostle James says, \"When lust hath\nconceived, it bringeth forth sin.\" The evil thought must first enter\ninto the heart and be conceived into a desire before it becomes sin.\n\nThis world is full of sin and iniquity on every hand. We may hear\nprofanity as we pass along the street, or we may see iniquity before our\neyes daily as we come in contact with the world, we may pick up a\nsecular paper and read of murder and theft, and thus these evil thoughts\nmay enter into our minds, but they do not conceive or take root in our\nhearts. They are brought into captivity and banished from us. If when\nreading or hearing of a murder or theft, someone should see an\nopportunity to commit a similar deed and resolve in his heart that he\nwould do so at his first opportunity, that person would have conceived\nthe thought in his heart, and in the sight of God he would be a murderer\nor a thief, even though he never had the opportunity to carry out the\ndesign. The heart that is purified by the cleansing blood of Christ and\nmomently kept in the efficacy of that blood, is the sacred\ndwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, who has the full and exclusive\ncontrol of the heart.\n\nAs long as our will is kept in line with the will of God the Holy Spirit\nwill abide. The word of God says, \"Greater is he that is in you than he\nthat is in the world,\" and, \"No man can enter into a strong man's house\nand spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.\" The\nstrong man--the Holy Spirit--is in his own house, and it is impossible\nfor sin to enter in unless we by our own will consent to it. The word of\nGod speaks of the Holy Spirit as the seal. This thought is practically\nillustrated by the common use of a seal in canning fruit. We may be ever\nso careful with fruit in getting it properly prepared for the can, but\nif we set it away without the seal, it will not be long until the fruit\nis spoiled. It requires the seal to keep the fruit from spoiling. There\nis something in the air which, if not excluded, will spoil the fruit.\nThe use of the seal is to exclude the air.\n\nSo it is with our heart. Justification inducts us into Christ;\nsanctification purifies our hearts and seals us in him; now when sin\nwould come in contact with our hearts and defile it, there is something\nthere, the Holy Spirit, the seal, which keeps sin from entering in. \"If\nwe walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with\nanother and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all\nsin.\"--1 John 1:7. Notice the word \"cleanseth.\" It is in the present\ntense. By our walking in the light, which signifies our perfect\nobedience continually to all the known will of God, our heart is kept in\nline with God's will and hence under the provisions of his grace--the\nsin-cleansing blood of Jesus. Thus the perpetual cleansing keeps our\nheart pure. By the inwrought work of sanctification we =obtain= this\npurity, and by our obedience to God, walking in the light, we =retain=\nit.\n\nIn this blessed grace, no evil thought can enter our heart unless by our\nconsent. We have willed it so that we forsake all sin and turn to God;\nthus his grace of justification has found its way into our heart. Then\nby a definite consecration we willed it so that the cleansing blood of\nJesus should purify our heart from inborn depravity, and his grace of\nsanctification has found its way within, and has brought the glorious\nheavenly guest, the Holy Spirit, there to abide. Now as we continue to\nwalk in this light we are kept from sin. By our will we either open or\nclose our heart toward God. The will is the entrance and door. The grace\nof God is free, and more abundant than the sunshine that lights and\nwarms this earth. All of this sunshine may be kept out of the room if we\nwill to have it so. We can darken the windows and doors, and keep every\nray of light out, or we can have abundant sunshine if we will, by simply\nremoving the obstacles. So it is with the illimitable grace of God. If\nwe open up wide the door of our heart--our will--and keep it open\ncontinually, the grace will flow in and keep out everything that is not\nlike heaven. \"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,\nhath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the\nglory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in\nearthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not\nof us.\"--2 Cor. 4:6, 7.\n\nIf we close the door of our heart toward God, it will be opening it\ntoward sin, and the result will be darkness. Depravity will at once have\nentered in, and then as every evil thought comes into the mind it will\nfind no obstruction to its way into the heart, where it will find a\nfruitful soil in which to germinate and bring forth evil work.\n\n\nQues. Does not the word of God say that \"from within, out of the heart\nof men, proceed evil thoughts,\" etc.?\n\nAns. Yes, this is true; but we must consider what kind of heart Jesus is\nspeaking about. Let us turn to Mark 7. The Pharisees and certain scribes\nfound fault because they saw some of Jesus' disciples eat bread without\nwashing their hands; not that their hands were not clean enough to eat\nwith, but because they did not serve the traditional ceremony, thinking\nthat thus the hearts of the disciples were defiled, but Jesus explained\nthat nothing can defile the heart except that which enters into it. Ver.\n19. \"And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the\nman. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,\nadulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,\ndeceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all\nthese evil things come from within, and defile the man.\"--Verses 20-23.\n\nWe see that this is a true picture of the unregenerated heart, which has\nno good thing in it. We also see that it is not an evil thought\npresented to the mind from without which defileth the man, but it is the\nevil thought that comes from within a corrupted heart. There are two\nsources of evil thoughts. 1. The devil himself directly. 2. A corrupt,\nunregenerate heart, which is a hotbed and nursery of the devil. From\neither of these outward sources evil thoughts may be presented to the\nmind of a child of God, but from neither can our hearts be defiled if\nthey are brought into captivity and banished, as will be the case with\nevery obedient soul.\n\n\nQues. Is not every mistake a sin?\n\nAns. No; there are many mistakes which are not sinful. There is no doubt\nthat every sin is a serious mistake, but God's people do not make such\nmistakes. The word of God teaches what sin is, and if we abide in Christ\nwe will not commit sin. The scriptural definition of sin will help us to\nunderstand this. \"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it\nnot, to him it is sin.\"--Jas. 4:17. \"All unrighteousness is sin.\"--1\nJohn 5:17. \"When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin.\"--Jas. 1:15.\n\"Sin is the transgression of the law.\"--1 John 3:4. \"Whosoever abideth\nin him sinneth not.\"--1 John 3:6. Any mistake that would be a violation\nof God's law would be a sin, but aside from this, a simple error in\njudgment is not a sin. Salvation does not warrant an experience beyond\nthe probability of error in our human nature, and Christian perfection\nis not infallibility.\n\n\nQues. Did not Paul say there was sin dwelling in him?\n\nAns. Yes. This expression we find in Rom. 7:17. The apostle when writing\nthis chapter was not describing his sanctified condition. It is a\ndescription of his condition when he was in the flesh, or carnal state.\n\"For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the\nlaw, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.\"--Ver. 5.\nAnd in Rom. 8:8, 9 he says, \"So then they that are in the flesh cannot\nplease God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be\nthat the Spirit of God dwell in you.\" \"For the law of the Spirit of life\nin Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.\"--Ver.\n2. Paul's condition when under the law is described in the 7th chapter\nof Romans. In chapters 6 and 8 he describes the condition of the child\nof God under grace.\n\n\nQues. But does he not say in Rom. 3:10 that \"there is none righteous,\nno, not one\"?\n\nAns. Yes. But he was not describing the condition of the child of God\nunder grace. He refers to the world under the law. No Bible Christian\ncan conscientiously apply Rom. 3:10-18 to himself.\n\n\nQues. How about Solomon, who said, \"There is not a just man upon the\nearth, that doeth good, and sinneth not\"?\n\nAns. This also was spoken of the condition of the people under the law.\n\"The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did\nby the which we draw nigh unto God.\"--Heb. 7:19.\n\nIn order to properly apply scripture it is very helpful to always\nconsider: 1. Who wrote it? 2. When was it written? 3. Of whom or to whom\nwas it written? In this manner it is easy to determine the meaning of\nsuch scriptures as here have been mentioned and many others, which would\notherwise render it impossible to harmonize the whole word of God. The\ntwo dispensations, the law and grace, are vastly different in many\nrespects. The first was but the shadow of the second. In the first there\nwas no power to take away sin, or to change the inward moral condition\nof man but in the second there is the power and provision in the\nredemption of Christ to save us to the uttermost.\n\n\nQues. But did not Paul say of himself when under grace that he kept his\nbody under and brought it into subjection? Does not this indicate that\nhis body was yet sinful?\n\nAns. Let us turn to 1 Cor. 9:25-27. We see here that he makes no\nreference to his body being sinful, but tells how he practices\ntemperance in all things. Like one who prepares himself for a race, in\ntraining himself physically, bringing his body into subjection in\neverything, that he may be able to win the prize. In sanctification the\nsinful and depraved nature is destroyed, and everything unholy cleansed\nout; therefore there are no sinful propensities to be kept down and\nunder, but all sin is kept out. The sanctified body is not sinful but\nholy (1 Cor. 3:17) and is designed for God for the dwelling-place of his\nHoly Spirit.\n\nEvery propensity and appetite is now restored to its condition of\npurity, in which it was created before sin entered into the world, but\nyet we are human. Sanctification does not destroy our human nature, but\nsimply brings it into easy control, with every propensity in harmony\nwith the design of its Creator. But we are yet in this world and the\ncreature--our physical nature--is yet subject to vanity.\n\nSatan with all his malicious and crafty devices is lying in wait to\ndeceive and lead astray. He comes to us and appeals to our physical\nnature in many respects, and it is necessary that we keep in a watchful\nand prayerful attitude \"lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve\nthrough his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the\nsimplicity that is in Christ.\"--2 Cor. 11:3. Even through our appetites\nwould Satan gain the advantage over us, and finally bring us into\nbondage, if he were permitted to do so. In this respect the apostle Paul\nkept his body under and brought every appetite and propensity into\nsubjection to serve him, rather than he should serve them, and all his\nransomed powers were bent upon his faithful obedience to the one object\nof his existence--the ministry of the gospel.\n\n\nQues. Can a person lose the experience of sanctification?\n\nAns. Yes, it is possible to lose it.\n\nThis experience does not place us beyond temptation. It only fortifies\nus more strongly against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and\ngreatly diminishes the probability of falling.\n\n\nQues. Does not the word of God teach that \"Whosoever abideth in him\nsinneth not\"; and \"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin\"?\n\nAns. Yes; this is certainly true. There is no possibility of sinning in\nChrist. It is only when a person gets out of Christ that it is possible\nto commit sin. The term \"born of God\" includes both justified and\nsanctified. No justified person can commit sin and retain the justified\nexperience; therefore, no one who is born of God and retains this divine\nrelationship in him will sin. Everyone who commits sin must do so\noutside of this life in God. The apostle John says, \"Whosoever sinneth\nhath not seen him, neither known him,\" which signifies that in the act\nof committing sin a person gets entirely outside of Christ. In such an\nact he has not seen, nor known him. The apostle also says concerning\nthose who are born of God, that they \"cannot sin,\" because they are\n\"born of God.\" This statement agrees with the one just quoted, and\nproves that it is not possible to commit sin in Christ; but it does not\ninfer that it is not possible to get out of Christ and commit sin. The\nexpression \"cannot sin\" simply signifies that there is no disposition in\nthe heart to commit sin. We are constrained by love to him who gave his\nlife for us, to do nothing to displease him. We have the privilege and\npower to displease him if we will, but we have no will to do so. We\n\"cannot\" do it and abide loyal to him. A mother may be requested to take\na weapon and slay her child, but she at once answers, I cannot! Yea, she\ncan if she will; but the answer would in every case be repeated \"I\ncannot!\" It is not difficult to see why she cannot do such a deed. She\nhas no disposition to do so, even though she has the power to do it. Her\nlove for her child renders it impossible so long as that love continues.\n\n\nQues. Can a person be restored to this experience of sanctification if\nit should be lost?\n\nAns. Yes, by complying with the conditions; but the same act of sin\nwhich would cause us to lose our experience of sanctification would also\nforfeit our justification, and bring us into condemnation. Therefore the\nconditions necessary to get back into Christ would be first, repentance\nand faith; then by a definite consecration, or a renewal of our\nconsecration which has been broken, and a definite faith in the\nall-cleansing blood of Christ we will be restored to sanctification.\n\n\nQues. In case a person shall unfortunately sustain such a loss, how long\nwould it take to become restored?\n\nAns. Just as long as it would take to meet the conditions. No one in\nsuch a case should wait an hour, but knowing just what conditions are\nrequired, they should be complied with at once.\n\n\nQues. How can we understand the seventh chapter of Romans to harmonize\nwith the doctrine of holiness?\n\nAns. From the seventh verse of this chapter the apostle describes his\nexperience when under the law, before he had been brought into the grace\nof God. From the seventh to the fourteenth verse he speaks of his\nexperience, making use of the past tense. From the fourteenth verse\nthrough the rest of the chapter he makes use of the present tense, but\nstill continues the description of his past experience.\n\nIt is held by holiness opposers that this chapter is a description of\nthe apostle's experience under grace, and that this is the highest\npossible experience attainable in this gospel dispensation. But such an\nexperience is not consistent with grace at all. If this were all that\ngrace can do, there would be no encouragement in it for any one to\naccept. No sinner could do worse than the experience described here,\nexcept that he might deliberately choose to sin and do everything wrong.\nThis chapter describes the sinner as having a desire in his mind to do\nright but no power within him to carry out his desires, in any respect.\nHe is awakened to the requirements of the law of God, but finds he is\nheld fast by another law which holds him with such power as to render\nhim helpless, utterly helpless, to do anything good. This does not apply\nto the justified experience under grace. It applies perfectly to that\nunder the law, because the Mosaic law had no other power, nor design,\nthan to awaken the conscience; and this is just what the apostle here\ndescribes concerning himself \"For I was alive without the law once: but\nwhen the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.\"--Rom. 7:9. He died\nin trespasses and sin. This was the condition of all men under the law,\nand this is where grace found the world. \"Now we know that what things\nsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every\nmouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before\nGod.\"--Rom. 3:19.\n\n\nQues. Is every child at birth sinful by nature?\n\nAns. The race of mankind has descended from Adam through Seth, who was\nborn not in the image of God as Adam and Eve were created, but in the\nimage and after the likeness of Adam as he was after the fall. It is\nevident that our first parents lost the image of God through their\ndisobedience, and it is also evident that this image of God has never\nbeen regained through the first Adam. The word of God plainly teaches\nthat Christ, the second Adam, is the image of God, and by the power of\nhis redemption grace, he will restore this image to every son and\ndaughter of Adam's race who will meet the conditions for the same. The\nfirst Adam is depraved and a sad failure. He has no power within himself\nto change his moral condition. The second Adam (Christ) is a glorious\nsuccess. He possesses all the moral characteristics of purity and\nholiness that the first Adam did before the fall, and also has the power\nto impart this image of God to all who come to him.\n\nThe image of Adam is entailed upon the race through the fall, and\nevidently, though mysteriously, affects mankind through the natural law\nof generation. The image of God is provided for the race through\nredemption in Christ, and is imparted to each individual through the\ndivine law of regeneration and its accompanying grace. It is compatible\nwith the word of God, with reason, and with observation, that every\nchild born into this world through the natural law of generation, very\nearly in life in a greater or lesser degree manifests some of the\ncharacteristics of this image of Adam. Just how, when, and where the\nchild partakes of this nature would be a subject of conjecture and\nspeculation. The psalmist says he was conceived in sin and shapen in\niniquity (See Psa. 51:5.) and according to the condition of the\nunregenerate world this is as true today as it was in the days of David.\nThe innocent child, of course, is not accountable for this inward\ncondition of its nature, but as it grows to the age of accountability it\nbecomes an easy prey to the powers of sin because of this condition.\nWhile innocent, it is unquestionably acceptable in the sight of God and\ncomes under the provisions of the redemption of Christ unconditionally:\nfor \"sin is not imputed where there is no law.\"--Rom. 5:13. The apostle\nsays \"I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came,\nsin revived, and I died.\"--Rom. 7:9. He no doubt had reference to the\ninnocent period of his life. The principle of sin was in his nature, but\n\"without the law sin was dead\"; it had no power to bring him into\ncondemnation. As soon, however, as he became able to know what the law\nrequired of him, sin revived and made him a transgressor by causing him\nto disobey the commands of God. There is no room to question the fact\nthat sin was in his nature; for he plainly states it so, and the\nexpression, \"sin revived\" indicates that it had been in him during the\nperiod of his innocent state.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nPersonal Experience\n\n\nIn conclusion I desire to add my humble testimony of a personal\nexperience of the glorious work of entire sanctification.\n\nAt the age of seventeen years I was converted. All who were acquainted\nwith me had no reason to doubt the genuine, inwrought grace of pardon\nand the new life which at once began to bring forth fruit unto God. But\nthe one to whom this mighty change seemed the most marvelous was myself.\nMy poor soul, which for several years had been held under the terrible\nbondage and darkness of sin, was now turned from darkness unto light and\nfrom the power of Satan unto God, and there was no room either\ninternally or externally to question that I had received forgiveness of\nsins. The glory and blessedness of that sacred hour and that hallowed\nspot \"when love divine first found me\" can never be erased from my\nmemory. I will not say, as I have often heard others testify of their\nown, that my experience was more wonderful than that of anyone else, but\nI do not see how it could have been any more wonderful to me than it\nwas, and it is but useless to make an effort to tell it. All who have\ncome into this precious life, and have the Spirit bearing witness with\nour spirit that we are the children of God, understand what it means to\nbe justified by faith and have this sweet peace with God through our\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nBut this peace with God meant war with the enemy of my soul, and I soon\nlearned that the battle was a serious one. The artful schemes of the\nenemy were deeply planned for my overthrow, and while attending school\nthe spirit of the world succeeded in leading me into defeat, and I\ndecided to yield myself again unto the world, and gave up the struggle\nagainst sin. But oh, what darkness! God only knows what horrors I\nsuffered. I had been saved but a few months and had had the taste of\ntrue happiness which so spoiled me for the empty pleasures of sin that I\nwas often so wretched and miserable that life was a burden. But thank\nGod, this condition of life was only of about two month's duration.\nThrough the burning tears of my precious mother, which fairly bathed my\nface and neck one day as she suddenly came into my room and clasped her\narms around me, I was enabled again to decide for God and heaven. This\ndecision was so thoroughly burned in upon my soul by those scalding\ntears that, by the grace of God, I believe it will last from that day to\nmy latest breath. The sweet joy and peace of heaven was restored and I\nbelieve I enjoyed salvation as much as anyone could in my circumstances.\nI knew I was a child of God, but it was not long until I became fully\nconscious that there was a deeper work of grace needed within me. My\nparents both professed entire sanctification at the time of the\nconversion of the four oldest children, which included myself, but my\nlife was much occupied in securing an education, and having but limited\nopportunities I was absorbed mostly with my studies, then afterward\nbecame engaged in educational work for a number of years. It needed no\narguments to prove that my parents possessed a deeper spiritual life\nthan I did, and although the doctrine of sanctification was not so\nclearly taught and understood then as now, yet I was fully aware this\nwas what I needed. Sometimes I thought I had obtained the experience,\nbut soon it was proved by unmistakable evidence that I was not\nsanctified. I had not come to the point of a definite and absolute\nconsecration, and really did not understand how to make this\nconsecration. My great ambition in life was to make a mark in the world.\nThis was so deeply implanted within me that I caused every energy to\nbend in that direction. I dearly loved God and fully realized my utter\ndependence upon him, but my love was not perfected. Then unfortunately I\nhad a quick temper, which I found justification had not destroyed. It\nwas materially repressed and generally held under control, but it was\nthere and needed only the provocation to assert its presence; and\nsometimes, I am sorry to say, it brought me under condemnation and I had\ncause to repent and regain the sweet peace of God.\n\nBut the manner of my life, I believe, as a whole, was such that none of\nmy most intimate acquaintances had any reason to question the sincerity\nof my heart or my profession as a Christian. The one who was most\ndissatisfied with my inward condition was myself, and for more than\neight years I knew that a deeper work must be wrought before I could be\nsatisfied. Oh, how truly I could understand the prayer of David when he\nso longed for a clean heart; and had I been brought to the knowledge of\nthe complete consecration, I might have been living in this blessed\nCanaan rest of soul soon after my conversion. But God was good and full\nof tender mercy. He carried me along and forgave my defeats and so\nlovingly bore with me, even though my heart was divided between him and\nsome things of this world. I had forsaken all that I had to follow\nJesus, but unconsciously these objects would come between Jesus, the\nobject of my love, and myself, and thus hinder the perfect communion of\nthe Holy Spirit. About one year prior to my entering into this perfect\nrest, the doctrine of sanctification was quite thoroughly agitated. Some\nadvocates of the Zinzendorf doctrine produced some strong efforts to\noverthrow the doctrine of the second work of grace. I had studied the\nscriptures carefully and honestly, and while I did not have the\nexperience of the second grace myself, I was certain that the one-work\nteaching was not correct; for I knew I had received all that my heart\ncould receive in the grace of pardon, and knew also that I soon found\nthat I needed just exactly what the term sanctification implies, and\nwhat the dear ones who believed in and were advocating the second work\nof grace were testifying to by word and deed.\n\nIn the winter of 1883-4, while dear companion and myself were engaged\nwith some sanctified ones in a protracted meeting, to rescue the\nperishing, we were brought as never before face to face with the stern\nnecessity of more spiritual power and life. We were shown by the Holy\nSpirit that there is but one route to the promised land and that is by\ncrossing the Jordan. Death was inevitable if we would come into this\nabundant life. We paused and reflected, looked backward and forward, but\nthere was no alternative--death was our doom. One day while I was absent\nfrom home, and dear companion was left alone, the Lord spoke to her so\nplainly that she had one cherished idol that must necessarily be\nsacrificed. It was a God-given blessing, but must be yielded freely to\nhim. She obeyed and entered into the glory of sanctification. When I\nreturned home I soon found that the work in her was done. Something\nmarvelous had been accomplished. It was wonderful what a change. She\ntold me of the death she had to pass through and I fully realized it.\nThe divine glory which had come into her heart was unspeakable. She\ntried to show me how to die the same death. I was desirous to yield and\ncross over with her, but I found a resistance in my will which held me\nback. I came to my cherished treasures, some of which were God-given\nblessings, but unquestionably the Holy Spirit said they must be yielded\nup a burnt offering unto the Lord. My will must become swallowed up into\nthe will of God completely, even to this death. I said, \"Yes, Lord, I\nwill\"; but the yes found a hesitancy. It did not reach the depths of my\nheart. I kept saying it over and over--\"Yes, Lord\"--and tried to get it\ndeeper every time I said it; but the Lord knew it did not reach the\ninmost depths. That was a wonderful day to me, but it was not the day of\nmy death, as it was of my companion. She told in meeting that evening\nwhat the Lord had wrought. I told what I was trying to say to the\nLord--\"Thy will be done.\"\n\nTime passed by and I still hesitated. I wanted the Lord's perfect will,\nbut also wanted just a little of my will. I wanted both, but the Lord\nshowed that I could have but one; and I plainly knew which one, if I was\never to obtain the grace of sanctification. The life of my companion was\na daily testimony which only added to my trouble. I knew she had what\nshe never had before. Her life before was all that I ever expected to\nfind in a true, devoted, Christian woman, but now in some marvelous\nmanner there was vastly more heaven in her life than before, and the\nmarked absence of everything unlike heaven. I knew she was sanctified,\nand I knew I was not. She had just what I must have, and what my soul\nwas longing for these years. Oh, why could I not just now say \"Yes!\"\nwith my whole heart and die the death and gain the abundant life?\nSometimes I was under such conviction that I felt miserable. I asked God\nto forgive me for not yielding up my whole heart as I knew he would have\nme do.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWeeks and months passed and my attention became absorbed in business and\nthe cares of life, but these months were more unsatisfactory than all my\nprevious Christian life, and some of this time I certainly lived on a\nvery low plane of spirituality, and it is evident that I at last came to\nthe point where my justification would have been forfeited had I not\ngone over and possessed the land. I struggled and suffered sometimes\nunutterably. After the struggle was over and I was sanctified I could\nlook back and see where I had come up to a deep chasm so deep and dark\nthat I could not see the bottom. It was too wide for me to step across.\nOn the other side was everything my soul longed for. I could see the\nbeautiful plane and way of sanctification. My loved ones were walking on\nit and rejoicing in its glory. Above the chasm there seemed suspended a\nrope securely fastened and strong enough to hold my weight, and it\nseemed that I could easily take hold of this rope and by a desperate\neffort swing myself across the chasm. I had taken hold of the rope and\nwas for a long time hesitating about making the leap. The chasm was the\ndepth I must drop into in order to reach sanctification, but it seemed\nawful--so deep and dark, and no assurance that I would ever see life\nagain. The rope was my will. I had presumed to swing across without\ngoing into the death, but God knew that would not be his way, and there\nI stood, gazing with fear and trembling into the immensity of this dark\nchasm into which to leap meant certain death. Later I had taken hold of\nthe rope and swung myself away from where I had been standing, with the\nhope of reaching the other side. I could not reach it and now was worse\noff than before, for I was now suspended above the chasm and could\nneither go back nor go forward. There I was hanging and swinging,\nholding on for life, and yet the Holy Spirit kept saying, \"Let go.\"\n\nMy sufferings increased until I began to feel that death would be a\nrelief. At that time God sent a brother to us who preached a sermon from\nthe text, 1 Peter 4:1, 2, with emphasis upon the clause, \"For he that\nhath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.\" The Holy Spirit\napplied this to me and revealed to my soul the utter necessity of death\nto gain sanctification. The end came, I let go my death grip of the rope\nand said as I never said before, \"Yes, Lord, thy will be done!\" I knew\nthat it reached the uttermost depth of my soul. God knew it, and I am\ncertain that Satan knew it. At the close of that meeting I said, \"I am\nnow offered up.\" There was no conscious change only I knew my will was\nyielded, and I am certain that not an atom of earth existed between God\nand me. We went home late in the evening, and as I was retiring I knelt\nonce more before God and simply told him that now after these months of\nstruggle it was all ended and I was so thankful to him that I could say\nso sweetly, \"Thy will be done.\" My hold upon the rope had become so\nweary. How sweet and blessed now to rest so securely in that infinite\nwill. The great chasm was deep and dark, but I was so glad that I had\nlet go and dropped into it; for I was so conscious now that even in the\ndarkness and depths I was in his will. As I dropped, loving arms of\nJesus had caught me and I was glad to be in death with him. I felt\nwithin me that something wonderful was about to take place. I arose from\nmy knees and scarcely had time to lie down when truly I experienced a\ntaste of death. Wholly unconscious of my earthly surroundings, but\nknowing I was in the presence of Jesus, I believe a death was wrought\nwithin me, after which the baptism of pentecostal fire and the Holy\nGhost came upon me. The refining fire went through my very body and the\neffect seemed terrible. The sublime consciousness of the presence of\nheaven and the majesty of God was such as mortal tongue can never\ndescribe. Then following the distinct baptism of fire the floodgates of\nheaven's glory were opened upon me, and, oh, the heavenly deluge that\nfollowed can be realized only by those who have experienced the same.\n\nMore than sixteen years have passed since this wonderful event, and\nwhile the emotions of feeling have been varied through the labors and\ntoils of a busy life (both in business life, and twelve years in the\ngospel ministry), I can testify to the glory of God that the power and\nvictory in this blessed second grace has been all-sufficient. The word\nof God, now I found, was full of sanctification, and my new experience\nspoiled me for any arguments against the doctrine as a second work of\ngrace, and in due time I could plainly see that according to the word of\nGod and the plan of redemption it must be an experience subsequent to\njustification. The conscious presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit and\nthe knowledge of a pure heart in this precious grace is what we need\ncontinually in this battle against the powers of the enemy.\n\nBrother and sister, have you had your Pentecost? If not, tarry at\nJerusalem. \"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray\nGod your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the\ncoming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who\nalso will do it.\"--1 Thess. 5:23, 24.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nMinor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. A few\nobvious typographical errors have been corrected and are listed below.\n\nPage 3: \"The Holy Spirit of Promise\" page number changed from \"23\" to\n\"25\".\n\nPage 8: \"It is indispensible\" changed to \"It is indispensable\".\n\nPage 17: \"the words \"having\" signifying\" changed to \"the word \"having\"\nsignifying\".\n\nPage 36: \"than should no place\" changed to \"then should no place\".\n\nPage 45: \"so deeply inbedded\" changed to \"so deeply embedded\".\n\nPage 62: \"of ecclestiastical bondage\" changed to \"of ecclesiastical\nbondage\".\n\nPage 62: \"will in every individaul\" changed to \"will in every\nindividual\".\n\nPage 63: \"throughly furnished unto all\" changed to \"thoroughly furnished\nunto all\".\n\nPages 77-78: \"made \"perfect his death\" changed to \"made \"perfect\" by his\ndeath\".\n\nPage 85: \"sanctificed condition\" changed to \"sanctified condition\".\n\nPage 90: \"Chapter XIV\" changed to \"Chapter XIII\".\n\nPage 95: \"no consicous change only\" changed to \"no conscious change only\".","title":"Sanctification","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":36552}