05. The Crisis For Entire Sanctification

THE CRISIS FOR ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION Three years before, I had earnestly prayed to the Father to show me Christ. He answered my prayer and gave me the light of Christ. Now in just the same childlike simplicity and confidence, I prayed for light on the matter of entire sanctification. This prayer, too, was wonderfully answered. When I had asked God to show me Christ, the divine light came in one day in two stages: first, the Spirit shone on the person of Christ, and then on the Cross. Now God dealt with me in a similar way in giving me light on sanctification — there were two distinct stages in one day. 1. THE SPIRIT’S UNVEILING OF SIN The crisis took place on October 23, 1916. On that afternoon I was resting quietly in my hut meditating upon the subject of sanctification, when the Spirit of God dealt with me. It seemed as if the Holy Spirit, who had previously shone His light upon the person of Christ and the Cross, now turned His light into the depths of my heart, and showed me my indwelling depravity, especially unbelief, pride, and self-will. I saw and felt the inward corruption of sin. The Spirit of God revealed to me the terrible nature of my heart sin, which appeared to me vividly as an evil something deep down in the depths of my heart which had deceived and hardened me, and led me astray from God in the past. It was an inward corruption from which I longed to be cleansed, a disease of the heart which needed healing, a traitor inside which I hated and wanted destroyed. Now my whole being longed for a clean heart — no longer did I despise the thought of a pure heart — that blessing seemed to me to be the one thing that I needed. My self-complacency in the “two natures” theory was suddenly swept right away under the enlightening and pungent revelation by the Spirit of God of my need of heart cleansing and deliverance from inward sin. In that state of soul, it would have been of no avail whatever to tell me that, as I was already a child of God, God looked at me “in Christ,” that my “standing” before God was perfect, and I therefore needed nothing further in order to make my spiritual condition complete. I was fully acquainted with that doctrine, but it was utterly powerless to meet the need of my soul. The Spirit of God had made me feel the burden of indwelling sin; and, child God though I was and fully assured of my salvation, felt I needed something definite, deep, drastic, and, above all, divine, to be done in my heart. That cry in Romans 7:1-25 was wrung from the depths of my soul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” That is what I needed, actual inward, experimental deliverance from indwelling sin. I felt so burdened with a consciousness of my need that my body was actually bowed down under the weight of it. If anyone passing by had noticed me, he might have thought that I was in pain, but it was nothing physical — it was something spiritual. I felt that I had come to a full stop in my spiritual life, and that I could not go on any further unless I received from God this gift of cleansing and deliverance. 2. THE PROMISE OF THE FAITH Then the Spirit of God shone His light upon the promise of the Father — the promise of the baptism of Holy Ghost and fire. Oh, that the Holy Ghost, as the divine refining fire of God, might come upon me, purify my heart to the depths, consume the dross of sin, and then fill me with himself. That is what I felt I needed all that the Father meant by that blessed promise. I know that some may regard me as unscriptural in my use of terms in this connection. They win say that the promise of he baptism of the Spirit is fulfilled at regeneration because of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, and that the baptism of fire in Matthew 3:11 is a separate baptism of judgment upon unbelievers and not the refining fire of the Holy Spirit upon believers. Such will say that it was not the baptism of the Spirit which I needed, but the filling of the Spirit. On the other hand, some will urge that the baptism of the Spirit is a definite second work of grace not necessarily fulfilled at regeneration, and yet others teach that the true evidence of such baptism is the initial sign of speaking in tongues and the possession of a particular gift of the Spirit. I am fully aware of these differences of views among Christians regarding the baptism of the Spirit. When I was passing through this deep spiritual crisis, however, I was not aware of all these differences of doctrine. I am thankful I was not; otherwise I probably would have been so confused that I should have found great difficulty in exercising full sanctifying faith. My testimony, however, is that, when I was longing for holiness and experimental deliverance from sin, the Holy Spirit applied that promise to my heart in power, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” In the simplicity of my heart, I felt that the fulfillment in all its fullness of the promise was not limited to the work of the Spirit in the new birth. This was one of those “exceeding great and precious promises” which I felt I needed to have fulfilled in power in my own life! It was this previous promise, together with 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, that, as I show later, my faith rested upon for entire sanctification, and which God made such a rich blessing to my soul. And so, if some may think that I am wrong in my use of terms, all I can say is, “That is the way in which the Lord brought me into the fullness of blessing, and thirty-two years afterwards both the Blesser and the blessing abide.” Thus when I earnestly prayed for light on the subject of entire sanctification and asked specially that I might be kept from error, the way the Lord answered my prayer was first of all to reveal to me my need of heart cleansing and deliverance from sin and then to impress me with that glorious promise, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” This constituted the first stage on his day of crisis. 3. SANCTIFYING FAITH The second stage involved the taking of the steps of faith, and I felt definitely led to go down to the Salvation Army hut and seek out the “Holiness” brother who had been taking the meetings there. For me to take this step meant that I had to cast utterly aside my remaining religious prejudices. I had two prejudices. First, I was somewhat prejudiced against the Salvation Army — theirs is merely an “emotional religion,” I thought, and moreover I felt they were in error in some of their doctrines. Secondly, I had been somewhat prejudiced against the teaching of “Holiness” brother. In view of my religious upbringing, and the fact that I had the assurance of salvation, and had, therefore imagined that I knew all about holiness, and needed nothing further from God, it was a humiliating step for me to have to confess that I yet needed something further to make my spiritual condition complete, and that in order to receive this from God I had to go to this Salvation Army hut, and seek out this “Holiness” brother. Yet this was God’s way of dealing with me. I am convinced that nothing but the power of God at work in my heart could have induced me to take such a step — but there was now such a hunger and thirst for holiness that I cared nothing for sects or theories. And so, after tea, I wended my way to the Salvation Army hut. I thank God for that Salvation Army hut. The camp was full of troops marching to and fro as I went, but I took very little notice of them — I was too intent on seeking holiness. I arrived at the hut, and my friend and I had a quiet talk together in a little room, and we knelt together in prayer. One great desire now dominated me I wished to be wholly for Christ. “I want nothing but Christ,” I said, and was conscious of two needs: a deep heart-cleansing, and the filling of the Spirit of God. The language of my heart then was beautifully expressed by that lovely verse: Refining fire go through my heart, Illuminate my soul Scatter Thy life through every part And sanctify the whole.

I was not conscious of any “will” struggle. I was not returning from a backslidden state. I think I can honestly say that, so far as I was aware, I was already yielded to God; but I then deliberately and unreservedly afresh yielded my all to the Father, that I might receive this gift of rich inward blessedness. Every interest for the present and future in my life was all laid on the altar. I prayed that the Holy Spirit, as the Refining Fire, might come upon me, cleanse my heart from sin, and fill me, so that I might do the divine will, and glorify Christ in my life. I had come utterly to an end of my self. It was a “crucifixion.” “I died.” In that spiritual condition, I found that I was empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe there and then that the Father did sanctify me wholly. True sanctifying faith sprang up in my heart, and I was able to believe that God did that moment baptize me with the Holy Ghost and with fire, although I had no ecstasy, only a quiet, deep feeling of unutterable peace. I had such a confidence in the Father and His promise that I could rest unreservedly in His word. My friend asked me if I thought that God had heard my prayer and had done the work. I said, quietly, “Yes, I do.” He said, “Will you thank Him for what He has done?” I did so, and thanked the Father for hearing and answering my prayer for entire sanctification. This step of faith and thanksgiving was taken calmly and deliberately without any excitement or emotion. My whole being seemed hushed and calmed before God. My spiritual experience was like sinking, as it were, into the arms of Omnipotent Love, and resting there in perfect inward peace. My whole being now entered into a deep rest. It was the rest of faith, that blessed rest spoken of in Hebrews 4:3, “For we which have believed do enter into rest.” The taking of this step of sanctifying faith constituted the second stage in my experience that day, and the same evening I attended a meeting in the hut and testified before a room full of soldiers of the step of faith I had taken.