01.04. The Fountain of Milk and Sweetness of Honey, Rivers of Living water, rivers of calmness

THE FOUNTAIN OF MILK AND SWEETNESS OF HONEY This Canaan Land experience of the sanctified is a land flowing with milk and honey. We drink from its fountains; we eat of its honey comb; we are satisfied by its abundance. Egypt is in the past; we have our inheritance in Canaan. Would we go back? No, never.

“I’ve reached the land of corn and wine, And all its riches freely mine; Here shines undimmed one blissful day. For all my night has passed away”

Hallelujah! The battles rage; the storms have blown; Satan has tempted, but our blessed Christ brought us through. He led around the pitfalls of false doctrine. We escaped the snares of modernism, shallow holiness, easy “believism” and compromise. We staggered sometimes trying to find the way, but the good Holy Spirit led us faithfully, by the door of justification, through Calvary to the death of self a crucifixion of the old man, then to a glorious resurrection. Praise His Name! Risen with Christ who made us sit together in heavenly places. We drink from him daily, and possess a treasure that fadeth not away.

“I can see far down the mountain, Where I wondered weary years, Often hindered in my journey, By the ghosts of doubts and fears;

Broken vows and disappointments Thickly sprinkled all the way. But the spirit led unerring, To the land I hold today.”

We must maintain the experience, and increase in our life of holiness. Apostle Peter writes that we must desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. Is not the land flowing with milk? Then we may drink from the Fountain of the Milk of the Word, that promotes growth in the graces of God. The student of the word never finds inference that the believer grows into the experience of sanctification, nor has the writer ever heard testimony of one who professes to have grown into this grace. It is a definite act of God’s grace subsequent to regeneration. It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Ghost and comprehends in one instantaneous experience, the cleansing of the heart from sin and the incoming, indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. Yet there is a maturing, a growth in grace. The justified are hindered in their growth and development by the carnal mind, which does not subject itself to the laws of God. If one fails to grow, death is imminent. We could not be in sympathy with one who professes the life of the indwelling Christ, and testifies to a high state of grace, that becomes cold and critical, failing to grow in fervent love for God and man. The tragedy of the holiness movement, is that many that go on into a profession of holiness, anchor to a historical experience instead of drinking from the word, growing in love, living in Him, and He in them. It was well stated by Henry Drummond: “A few years of enthusiasm and blessing, then carelessness, no study, no spiritual fruit, too often a sad collapse.” Also Satan would substitute an emotional stir, for the work of the Spirit of God. Dear seeker, do not stop short of true heart purity. If you do, you not only will be disappointed, but you will influence others to questioning the experience of holiness, and also fail a sin sick world who is looking for reality. This truth is told by John Hyde: “Self must not only be dead, but buried out of sight, for the stench of an unburied self-life will frighten souls away from Jesus.” Desire the sincere Milk of the Word. Thirst for it! Nothing is more nutritious to the soul. We live by faith, but faith is false if it is not based on the word. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. How insecure is the foundation of faith that is not founded on doctrine. The reason that the Son of Man shall find little faith in this day, is that most professors will not endure sound doctrine. The result is that the Charismatic movement, the occult, is rapidly making inroads into the fundamental churches. They have too long neglected sound doctrine. When the winds of false doctrine blow, these are carried over the precipice of delusion into eternal hell. Let us see the worth of truth, and thirst after Him, who is Truth. Praise His Name! We receive spiritual life as a gift at conversion; we receive the gift of heart purity at the time of our entire sanctification. Afterwards we should grow into maturity Perfect love and holiness are synonymous and whether in time or eternity, there will always be a place for increase in holy love. Therefor spiritual growth is continuous, perpetual and eternal. Christian perfection, received when you are sanctified wholly, is perfection in nature; maturity is perfection in degree by growth. We may be maturing fully and progressing in growth, but there is a constant mellowing in godliness. We may liken the experience to the growth of fruit. From the flower emerges the small fruit. The small apple is as much apple in nature as it ever will be. It is unlike any other fruit, yet it must grow. When it comes to full growth, it is a perfect apple; large, true to its specie, and fully developed. It will take the sun light, the showers, the cool nights to make it edible. One day the farmer looks upon the fruit and decides it is time to be harvested. In all stages the apple was a perfect specimen of an apple, but it took some maturing before it was marketable. So it is in Christian perfection. There is always room for development, growth and maturity. When the soul is delivered from the body of sin, it can begin to grow. The Fountain of Milk of the Word flows full. Drink, grow, mature, in Christian love, which is the bond of perfection. “Wherefore laying aside all malice and guile, and hypocrisies and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby,” writes Apostle Peter. He is writing to the Christian converts in a justified state as “newborn babes,” and calls upon them to remove all carnal hindrances, and to seek for an appetite that produces a healthy spiritual growth. We have here the pattern for Christian growth and development, First get rid of inbred sin. The scripture is plain that these are manifestations of the carnal nature — malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, evil speaking. Peter is exhorting: “Remove the obstructions to growth, be sanctified wholly, let the body of sin be destroyed, let the Holy Spirit remove all that is not subject to God and feed yourself on the word, then you will grow.” In the second Epistle he writes “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” From this we learn the faith that brings growth is dependent upon our knowledge of Christ …Growth is contingent upon our knowledge of Jesus. No small wonder that Paul, the Apostle, coming near to the time of his departure, expressed his strong desire: “That I may know him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.” Dear heart, how strong is your desire to know him? Your knowledge of him will produce growth. Let us drink from the fountain of the flowing Milk of the Word. Take deeply from him. He is the Word, The Word that was made flesh. Drink again from him! Sit at his feet and learn of him. The Spirit teaches us of him by our diligent study of the word, by prayer, communion, meditation and worship. The Holy Ghost searches the deep things of God, and brings to our attention the teachings of Christ. Praise the Lord.

“Oh! to be like thee, Blessed Redeemer This is my constant longing and prayer, Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth pleasures, Jesus thy perfect likeness to wear.” The writer of the Church of Ephesus asserts the Lord’s order and provision for spiritual development. He expresses the callings of God evangelists, apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, (not the sinners), for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Oh! how important is the ministry of the Word. The sanctified does not find the message of the preacher dull and uninteresting, but hungers for the word. When truth comes close and searching, from his heart comes a hearty, “Amen!” This is the divine order. We dare not try to by-pass, as some who have fallen from grace and have made shipwreck of their faith. The work of the ministry of the word is a sacred calling, but also is the calling to the hearing of the Word. Once the justified believer thirsts for truth, God is faithful to open up the Word that he might be satisfied. If the believer drinks from the Word, he will see the blackness of sin, he will realize the nature within, the leprosy of the soul, the disease that is incurable without the blood of Jesus. He finds that we are born with the constitutional disease of inbred sin, and that original sin continues to exist after regeneration, though suppressed, until crucified and destroyed by the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. While this corruption remains, spiritual growth is retarded. It must be eradicated, if we go on to perfection. Thank God, for the provision of grace. There is a Balm in Gilead; there is a physician there. The fountain has been opened for sin and uncleanness. On Calvary the sin offering was destroyed without the camp: “Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify his people with his own blood suffered without the gate.” “Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” “We are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.” “For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Oh! precious blood! Hallelujah! In the blood of Jesus is healing for all spiritual maladies, and for all inbred sin. Drink of him, precious soul, the health of soul will be recovered. Why will ye die, when the healing waters flow? Wilt thou be made whole? Jesus is standing near. Sanctification is to the soul what health is to the body.

Holiness is wholeness. Let the leper, the lame, the halt and whosoever will come and drink of the water of life freely. “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER The giving out of an inward power is consistent with all the laws of creation. Our sun emits its warming rays through near ninety-three million miles of space to give warmth and light to all nature because there is a fervent immeasurable heat within. The flower gives its perfume because there is something in its body that produces the elements that constitutes fragrance. Accordingly as our God is love, there must be self-expression. He gave his Son to redeem us because an expression of infinite love must be given from an infinite heart of love. Since this is true in natural and divine law: We must give of what we are. If we are sinful, our life will show it; if we are holy, our outward life will give evidence to it. Never will a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, or a good tree bring forth corrupt fruit. The law of the universe is that we bring forth after our kind. We will produce something, good or evil. Our blessed Lord said, “He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.” What could be plainer than that the believer should receive the Holy Ghost? It is his will and his provision and our duty. We should receive the spirit. If we fail to receive him, we fail ourselves; we fail others, and we fail God. Oh, unsanctified heart, you should receive him. If we receive the infilling, cleansing Holy Spirit, it will be a natural law as well as a divine law, that out of our being shall flow rivers of life giving waters. It was aforementioned that the drinking in of Christ would precede the flowing out of him, but always we will be giving out as we are drinking in, Oh! What responsibility, oh, glorious privilege that from us this Godless world may know him. Our outward life will be holy if our inward heart is pure. God’s standard of conduct for every age, and every people is moral perfection in action. Abraham, justified by faith, was commanded, “Walk before me and be thou perfect.” The law given by Moses demanded a holy conduct. The prophets announced God’s standard of righteous living is perfect obedience. Christ’s sermon on the mount calls for outward piety consistent with a pure heart. The Apostles preached a gospel of full deliverance from the body of sin, and that the delivered from “henceforth…should not serve sin.” So, the scriptural divine standard that must regulate our lives is a sinless walk with God in all holy conversation. Jesus’ life flows through us and from within us. Neither the sanctified nor the justified can violate one of the commandments without forfeiting his salvation. Regardless of the state of grace that we enjoy, we are under obligation to God to live up to the laws of God, and in either state our outward conduct and deeds will be very similar. It is a fallacy coming from the father of lies, that one might think, because he has not gone on into the grace of sanctification, that he can endorse one bit of disobedience. There can be no flimsy excuse for actions of sin. God commands all his children to be holy. No Christian can violate this command. There is no such a person as a sinning Christian. For he that sinneth is not born of God. He must confess and repent and be born again. Sin is the violation of God’s command. He will make no compromise with it. We dare not, in any amount of honesty, make any allowance for it. The Christian will never tolerate it in action or nature. The Psalmist acknowledging his sin cried, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” While it is true that the justified sinneth not, yet there is an important difference in attitudes in keeping the law of God. The truly sanctified loves to obey the commandments. They are not grievous to him. From an inner life of perfect love abounds a willing obedience that surpasses that of the justified. This overflowing love causes obedience to abound. It will go the second mile to please God. It abounds and grows not only in obedience and faith, but also in discipline and temperance. Holiness of heart will exhibit itself not in man’s vanity, but humbly in God’s holiness. The indwelling Christ is too excellent, too glorious, to be kept concealed. He shall flow out of us in rivers of water. The conflict of soul, (would do good, but finds evil is present also) is settled when the believer is filled with the Divine Spirit. The wretched groanings of an inward battle are silenced. The fighting to suppress the law of sin that caused defeat so many times, is now over. Instead of a fighting to maintain our obedience there now is a resting, a relaxing of our whole being to do the perfect will of God. It is no little wonder that the life of the sanctified is at peace, the strife is over. A lively, zealous anticipation to accomplish the will of God is evident in all phases of life. So we see that as Christians, in the justified state, our obedience fulfills the law, but in the state of sanctification our obedience fulfills all righteousness and godliness. Blessed be the fountain of blood!

“The cleansing stream, I see, I see, I plunge and oh! it cleanseth me, Oh, Praise the Lord, it cleanseth me, It cleanseth me, yes cleanseth me.”

Let us behold the flowing rivers that flow from the heart of the sanctified. Crystal clear and ever flowing, unpolluted and beautiful is the life of the one that has been purified and cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

RIVERS OF CALMNESS The first river we would mention (not necessarily because of prominence, for it would be impossible for us to judge) is the River of Calmness. The out giving life of holiness is distinguished by a quietude of manner and normally the absence of emotionality. Experience is by no means without value. Thank God, for the quickening of our emotions. He does not destroy them, but sanctifies our emotional life. A religion that is destitute of feelings and elation is bound to end up on the rocks of formality, coldness and death. We have observed in our work for the Lord that those who know the depths of the Love of God are never loud, irreverent, or attention seekers. There is an emotional stability that is not so evidenced in the life of the unsanctified. A religion that is based on emotion will soon run into extravagance, spurious wild fire and fanaticism. Unstable is the foundation of faith that is based only on experience, and has left doctrine behind. Emotional experience alone is generally wavering without root and will not endure. It is certainly true that there is joy unsurpassed in holiness, there is peace with God, there is rest in the will of the Father and the very depths of love and trust brings an unspoiled calmness and quietness. The soul that is anchored in him, is steadfast in joy and peace, unchangeable, and satisfied to rest in the experience of calmness and quiet repose. Flow from us Blessed River. May we never be loud, over talkative, or rude in manner. A holy life is not evidenced by many words, but shows forth a meek and a quiet spirit. In pity we see some that cannot testify in a testimony meeting without giving out dry, long accounts of uninteresting babble, that neither edifies the Church nor glorifies God. Many a poor sinner has been driven away because someone felt it was his calling to impress the hearers with experiences, visions, stories and self-filled testimonies. Oh! how we need a sanctified church — a spirit filled church— that the presence of the Holy one will draw, will convict and will convince the poor sinner of his need. Quench not the spirit. Let the River of Calmness flow on. The storm may rage but the one that has the full Assurance of Faith cannot be moved. It was the blessed Apostle that said, in recounting the battles, the storms, the persecutions and disappointments of life, “None of these things move me.” We receivestanding grace that will stabilize us when the forces of darkness are all arrayed against us. In the midst of the storm we can rest. While the unsanctified are in a state of frenzy and agitation, we rest assured that the circumstances are working for us for good.

“I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, Buried deep in the heart of my soul, So secure that no power can mine it away.

While the years of eternity roll.” Glory! Our conduct in the fiery trials and in the raging storms will testify more than our words. The world looks on and what they see in our lives may determine their desire or their dislike for holiness. Flow in abundance of calmness, oh, River of Life. Out from a heart of faith and trust flow on to assure this confused age of the reality of true holiness.