1.A 27. LETTER XXVII

LETTER XXVII.

Superior advantages of sanctification Creates a keener relish for spiritual things The judgment is enlightened Can more heartily enter upon God’s work His faith is stronger Speaks with more effect If a minister, he preaches with more power He shines the brighter His example more hallowed All these things present strong motives to seek for sanctification Confirmed by poetry. My DEAR M : To what has already been said in favour of the entire sanctification of the soul, I wish to add a few words on the superior ad vantages such possess in getting and doing good. As a sound, healthy man can eat his food with u keener relish, and do his work with greater vigour than a sickly man. so a person who is restored to perfect spiritual health has a much more keen relish for spiritual food, and can labour in the vineyard of the Lord with an energy and perseverance to which the person who is still lingering under the disease of in bred sin is a stranger. All his faculties are in vigorous exercise all duly balanced, his understanding is enlightened, so that he can judge accurately respecting truth and duty can discriminate not only between right and wrong as they are marked out in the great code of morals, but also between proprieties and improprieties; and then his will is so bent that it follows with voluntary alacrity the dictates of his well-in formed understanding, and all the affections of his heart, being purified from everything unholy, are placed on " things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God."

Now this man is certainly fitted, both from the maturity of his judgment, the dictates of an enlightened conscience, the subordination of his will to the will of God, and the conformity of his desires to the standard of purity, to enter into the work of God in prayer and praise, and in the discharge of every duty, whether it be to God or man, with greater energy, delight, and perseverance, than the man can who still labours under the darkening, weakening, and debasing influence of sin, whether outward or inward, whether it relates to the desires of the heart or the actions of the life. On this account, there fore, if there was no other, the sanctified soul is qualified both to receive and impart good far better than he otherwise could be. But there are other reasons for this. The Holy Scriptures teach that according to our faith it shall be done unto us. Now faith to the soul is what the eye is to the body. And as the eye cannot see things accurately when any dust is lodged in it, or a disease infects it, so this eye of the soul cannot apprehend God as he is, cannot perceive clearly Divine truth, much less can it rely implicitly upon the promises of God, so long as it is obscured by sin, or weakened by its influence upon the soul. It is, therefore, only when these evil diseases are removed that the soul is prepared to exercise that strong faith in God, which cries out, " It shall be done."

Until the soul is entirely sanctified to God, there is less or more of unbelief mixed up with all we say or do. But when sin is removed from the heart, and it is filled with Divine love, this unbelief is also banished, and the soul looks up, being "strong in faith, giving glory to God." And this faith, be it remembered, is not con fined to the simple act of believing by which the soul is justified or sanctified, but it includes the holding fast upon the promises of God under all possible circumstances, through the whole pro gress of our pilgrimage; so that whatever we do, whether we sing, pray, converse, preach, or give of our substance, we do it all in faith, fully believing that God will accept and bless the labour of our hearts and hands.

Now a man that acts under the influence of this vigorous, this lively, this energetic faith, can certainly do much more in the cause of God than he who lingers along under the deadening effects of unbelief, not seeming to care whether he be successful in his efforts or not; and this sanctified soul cries out in the strong and vehement language of the poet :

" In the strength of God I rise, I run to meet my foe; FAITH the word of God applies, And lays the giant low; FAITH in Jesus conqng name Slings the sin-destroying stone, Points the word’s unerring aim, And brings the monster down."

Whenever the soul, armed with this mighty faith, that " Laughs at impossibilities, And crie* it shall be done." offers a prayer to God, he offers it in faith, believing that, inasmuch as he prays according to God’s will, submitting himself and everything else to that will alone, his prayer will be answered, for he fully believes his " Every promise true."

Whenever he speaks in the name of his God, he believes He will bless his word either to the conviction, the conversion, the sanctification, the strengthening, or the comforting of those to whom he speaks, and therefore he does not " spend his strength for naught." Is he a minister? If he be thus consecrated to God, enjoying the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, his word will "distil as the dew upon the tender herb, and as the rain upon the grass." His words will drop fatness upon the souls of God’s people, and they will feel that this man speaks in the Holy Ghost, " with much assurance," "in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power," because they have in their own hearts a lively sense of the truths which he utters, and the Spirit of God bears witness to their spirits that he is sent of God to preach unto them "Jesus and the resurrection." And though all the sinners that hear him may not be converted, vet, when he addresses himself to them, a conviction of the truth will fasten upon their consciences, and they will go away, not so much admiring the preacher, as condemning themselves; while the people of God will praise Him for sending them an ambassador who has been made unto them a " savour of life unto life."

Such a man ascends the pulpit in the fear and love of God, being deeply impressed with an awful sense of the tremendous responsibility he acts under while he endeavours to unfold the otherwise hidden truths of Divine revelation, and with his heart heaving under the pressure he feels, he earnestly lifts it in prayer to God that he will assist him with the energies of the Holy Spirit that his word may be accompanied with the Divine unction, and that it may b<: carried in the demonstration of the Spirit to the con sciences of all that hear him. This prayrr is offered in faith. He believes that God, for Christ’s sake, will hear him. He is not disap pointed. His own soul is blessed his In-art is enlarged his understanding is fruitful the word of God is lik - " lire shut up in his bon- and he pours forth a -(ream <>f Divine truth with which the heritage of the Lord is watered, and every plant thrives nnd grows, bearing fruit even unto perfection. This is the man of God : his soul is sanctified, and he has been sanctified, that is, set apart for a minister of the sanctuary, and he speaks with an earnestness, a sincerity, and with a power in the Holy Ghost, which cannot well be mistaken for mere empty declamation. It is not empty declamation. No well-informed man attributes this to him. All such feel in their inmost souls that he speaks what he knows, and utters the genuine sentiments of his heart, of a heart that " Swells unutterably full Of glory, and of God."

Under the influence of this holy feeling, he adopts the following language of the sweet but powerful poet of our Israel :

" My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord, Into thy blessed hands I give; And let me live to preach thy word; And let me to thy glory live; My every sacred moment spend, In publishing the sinner’s Friend.

" Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart With boundless charity divine! So shall I all my strength exert, And love them with a zeal like thine; And lead them to thy open side, The sheep for whom the Shepherd died." The same may be said, in some measure at least, of every holy Christian. In his pious walk and conversation in the private circles in which he moves, in the constant exercise of that faith which unites him to God through Christ, he carries a hallowing influence with him, draws constantly around him the souls that are seeking after an interest in Christ, or are yearning after full redemption in his blood, and points them in fnith to the " Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." This faith becomes an active principle, impelling its possessor on in acts of charity to the souls and bodies of men enables him to face dangers, to overcome obstacles, to encounter and conquer opposition, and to triumph in the Lord at all times.

Again, Christians are compared to stars, and even to the sun in the firmament, and these stars cannot emit their rays clearly while surrounded with clouds, nor can the sun exhibit its brilliancy except the atmosphere be free from mists or clouds. Just so the Christian, while surrounded by the clouds of darkness, or while the rays of his character are intercepted by the mists arising from the pool of inbred sin which yet remains in him, cannot until entirely sanctified to God, exhibit that clear light which shines forth in the tempers, the words, and the actions of a holy Christian. In order, therefore, that he may perfectly answer the end of his calling, namely, to be a " light in the world," and let his " light so shine before men that they may see his good works and glorify his Father who is in heaven," he must be " cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," be "holy in all manner of conversation," walking continually as " seeing Him who is invisible." Hence, the soul that pants after God, that longs to be useful to his fellow- men, and feels unceasingly his dependence on God for faith, light, and love, adopts with the utmost earnestness the following language of the poet :

" God of all-sufficient grace, My God in Christ thou art! Bid me walk before thy face, Till I am PURE in heart. Till, transform d by FAITH divine, I gain that perfect love unknown, Bright in all thine image shine By putting on thy Son." When this deep and earnest prayer is answered, so that they shine " bright in all His image," then are they qualified, and not till then, to exhibit such an example to those with whom they have intercourse, as shall lead them to the fountain which washes away the foulest stains of sin. Then it may be said of them in truth, that they " Beyond the reach of mortals, spread Their light where er they go; And heavenly influences shed On all the world below."

Yes, and " their lustre shall still increase, unto the perfect day."

Now, what a motive does this three-fold view of the subject present, to induce the sincere Christian never to rest until he is entirely sanctified to God! I know full well that it is th> honest desire of every converted soul, from the moment of his conversion though he may not have attained to all the heights and depths of perfect love to get and do all the good he can. He desires, above all things, that others his near relations, his neighbours, and indeed all the world should participate with him in the unspeakable blessing of pardoning love. Yet he often finds that " when he would do good, evil is present with him, so that the good he would, he doeth it not." His faith is comparatively weak, his love is not of that ardent kind which characterizes the holy soul, and his zeal in the cause of God often flags for want of a strong principle of internal energy to urge him forward in the path of duty. But let him get his soul " baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire," with that "holy fire" which shall consume all his sins, and fill him with strong faith and love, and let him feel that inextinguishable zeal for God’s glory which leads him forth to make sacrifices for Jesus Christ, and he will find himself in a new element, moving, or rather being moved, under the promptings of a holy impulse, and animated with higher hopes and brighter anticipations of ultimate success in his work.

There can therefore be no doubt that a sanctified soul is prepared both to get and do more good in the world than he otherwise could either get or do. His nature is freed from the weaken ing disease of sin his faith is stronger his love is warmer his light shines the brighter, and consequently his whole man is prepared to enter into the work of God with a more enlightened understanding, and with a much more vigorous action than he could possibly do while destitute of this unspeakable blessing.

I cannot conclude this letter more appropriately than in the words of the poet I have so often quoted, and which I delight to refer to, because they exceed any other poetry ever printed on the subject of perfect love. He says respecting this holy soul :

" In a land of com and wine, His lot shall be below; Comforts there and blessings join, And milk and honey flow! Jacob’s well is in his soul;

Gracious dews his heavens distil : Fill his soul, already full, And shall forever fill." May you, my dear M., find this to be your "lot," that your soul may be forever full "of glory and of God!"