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  SECOND WORK OF GRACE
  by D.S. Warner
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Warner's exploration of the doctrine of Christian perfection and holiness as the
second work of grace, providing scriptural analysis of Greek terms to define
perfection as complete moral restoration of the soul from the effects of Adam's
fall.

  Chapters: 32

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    0. Second Work of Grace
    1. 1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
    2. 2. CHRISTIAN PERFECTION AND HOLINESS THE SAME
    3. 3. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, IN THE ECONOMY OF GRACE
    4. 4. THE TWO-FOLD SALVATION CONTINUED
    5. 5. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A DISTINCT GRACE
    6. 6. THE SECOND GRACE INFERRED
    7. 7. THE SECOND WORK OF GRACE TAUGHT BY
    8. 8. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
    9. 9. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
   10. 10. THE FULLNESS A GRACE UPON GRACE
   11. 11. ROMANS 5:1-2, PROOF POSITIVE
   12. 12. ABSOLUTE PROOF-2 CORINTHIANS 1:15
   13. 13. THE DIVINE IMAGE RESTORED
   14. 14. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
   15. 15. LOVE, AN OLD AND NEW COMMANDMENT
   16. 16. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS
   17. 17. TWO MEASURES OF SALVATION IN CHRIST
   18. 18. THE SCARLET THREAD IN THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
   19. 19. THE SCARLET THREAD OF HEBREWS CONTINUED
   20. 20. SAINT JOHN'S TESTIMONY TO THE SECOND WORK
   21. 21. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION ALWAYS ADDRESSED TO BELIEVERS
   22. 22. PURIFICATION A DISTINCT, INSTANTANEOUS WORK OF GRACE
   23. 23. SOME OF THE PARABLES
   24. 24. THE SECOND SHAKING
   25. 25. THE ONCE MORE SHAKING AND PURIFICATION OF THE CHURCH
   26. 26. SEPARATION OF THE WHEAT AND CHAFF
   27. 27. TWO DEGREES OF DIVINE LIGHT IN THE SOUL
   28. 28. TWO DEGREES OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
   29. 29. TWO IMPARTATIONS OF LIFE IN THE GOSPEL
   30. 30. WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES
   31. 31. THE WILD OLIVE ROOT

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  CHAPTER 0: SECOND WORK OF GRACE
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  CHAPTER 1: 1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
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“After that the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared” unto me, in
removing the veil of ignorance and deep prejudice from my heart; enabling me to
see and appropriate Christ as my sanctification, all the longing of my heart
seemed to center in a desire that all God’ dear children should enter this
“valley of blessing so sweet.” I wondered that we should have tarried so long in
the “first tabernacle,” when, but a thin veil, and that rent by the death of
Christ, separated between us and the “holiest of all:” where the glory of God
forever dwells, even that glory which Christ has given to the church “that they
may be one” (John 17:22). I soon perceived that it was for want of someone to
“give the trumpet a certain sound,” or set forth perfect holiness as the
privilege of all Christians, attainable now, by a definite act of faith. In
order to experience either justification or entire sanctification these
blessings must be presented to the eye of faith as a definite object of pursuit.
Hence under the pall of formalism, where the change of heart is but vaguely and
indefinitely taught, it is rarely experienced. Hence, also, the great mass of
the church who have actually came out of spiritual Egypt are yet with the
murmuring host in the wilderness; battling with their inbred evil nature
because, under the generalizing preaching of the present day, no further
application of the blood of Christ is pointed out to meet the deeply left want
of perfect heart purity. And the great day of reckoning will disclose the solemn
fact that thousands have turned back to the double bondage of Egypt and are now
eternally lost who, with definite teaching in the way of holiness, would have
been washed in the Redeemer’s blood, had their “fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life.” The church is God’s appointed means of saving the world. But
perfect holiness is her normal condition. And holiness is only attained by a
definite grasp of faith and it cannot be thus appropriated until presented to
the mind in a definite form. Having, therefore, a clear conviction that upon the
preaching and testimony of entire sanctification as a distinct experience
subsequent to justification, more than upon all else besides, depends the
salvation of immortal souls, the safety of converts, the purity and consequent
power, peace and prosperity of the church, and the glory of God: and perceiving
that this “second grace” is the ultimate end of Christ’s death and the great
burthen of the apostolic ministry, I was constrained to dedicate for ever unto
the Lord all the energies of my being for the promotion of this great salvation.
The ordinary indefinite way of preaching holiness never leads to its blessed
fruition nor provokes opposition. But, I soon discovered that the old adversary
“the accuser of the brethren” regards this definite work as entirely ignoring
the compromise into which he has so generally seduced the church. Therefore his
wrath is greatly stirred against all who hold up this pure light so fatal to his
kingdom of darkness. “But, having obtained help of God, I continued unto this
day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things, than those
which Moses and the prophets did say,” “that the blood of Christ God’s Son
cleanseth us from all sin.” To assist in removing the false and extravagant
notions respecting the holiness work with which Satan has so generally
prepossessed the minds of the people; I was induced to write these pages,
knowing that this most blessed theme can never be exhausted; besides each writer
having a circle of friends who are most apt to procure and read his productions
it is quite probable that this work may find its way into the hands of some who
would not be reached by any of the excellent works on the subject. A mingled
feeling of gratitude to God and love for all his dear children; a clear
conviction of duty, and yet a deep sense of self insufficiency, has humbled the
writer before the Lord in prayer for the “wisdom that cometh from above,” even
the “Spirit of truth;” to aid in this vindication the perfect “salvation that is
in Christ Jesus.” I have not written, particularly, for those who already dwell
in the Canaan of perfect love. They have an experience that fully satisfies
them; an experience that is better than all theory and excludes every shadow of
doubt. For a soul in which the Holy Ghost bears definite witness to either
pardon or perfect purity needs no super-added testimony; in fact, cannot receive
additional evidence, for Infinity cannot be supplemented. The concurring
testimony of all the angels in heaven could add nothing to the certainty of that
which God, but the Holy Spirit had clearly spoken to our spiritual
consciousness. Neither do I presume to convince such who are not anxious to know
the full extent of purifying grace; but are satisfied to continue in their
“filthiness of the flesh and spirit. The proud and self-righteous Jews did not
receive the “speech” of Jesus, because, as he says, “ye cannot hear my
words”(John 8:43). No more can we expect to show sensual, worldly and
self-willed professors the pure and sublime way of holiness; for, as Job hath
said, ”it is a path which the vulture’s eye hath not seen.” I may not be able,
therefore, to prove the “high” and “more excellent way” to those whose
sympathies with indwelling sin incline them not to walk therein. But for all
those, I have written, “The humble, they shall hear thereof and be glad.” “The
willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land.” Yea, “blessed are they who
hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Such are
anxious to love God with a pure heart fervently. They have made no compromise
with inbred Canaanites: but wish the extermination of every evil from the heart.
Hence they are willing to receive the most humiliating and sin killing truth.
They not only suffer the loss of “right eye” and “right hand,” but for Christ’s
sake, freely bring the “old man” to the cross that the whole body of sin might
be destroyed. Dear reader, if with this class you have come to Jordan ’s brink,
fear not to “launch away”—yes, away from self, the world and unbelief; step
forth upon the promises of God: how can they fail? Cannot Omnipotence sustain
his word? O tarry not my brother, seize upon the present moment and launch away
into the ocean of redeeming love: remember, it is perfectly safe to be swallowed
up and lost in God. There are others for whom I cherish a hope of benefiting by
these leaves. A numerous class of undoubted piety and commendable zeal but who
are laboring under deep, though honest, prejudices against the second work of
grace. For all such I have indeed special sympathy. Having myself stood in your
rank, dear brethren, it is but natural that I should long to see you enter the
hallowed rest of faith. It is true, beloved, that we may have seen and heard
many things of this way which, viewed from our stand point, had the effect of
hiding from our eyes the “beauty of holiness:” but true holiness does not always
exist under its assumed garb. We have, however, greatly erred in presuming to
measure the ocean of God ’s love and abounding grace with the plummet of man’s
weakness and ignorance. It is a beautify thought that “Christ has gone to heaven
to represent His disciples before the Father and holy angels, while the church
is left here to represent Christ to the world.” This, we believe to be the duty
and exalted privilege of the church. Nevertheless, to secure the utmost safety
of our souls, Jesus says to each individual “follow thou me;” if you wish a
model of perfect humanity, “learn of me;” study my character, “I am meek and
lowly of heart.” O my brother, my sister, self interest requires that you now
drop every body else out of this account and, for the present, lay aside all
theory and stand up thyself alone by the side of our Elder Brother and his holy
word; and tell me, does your experience measure up thereto? Are you “free from
sin,” “righteous even as he is righteous?” You claim the Christian’s hope
founded upon the knowledge of pardon and adoption. That is glorious, but he that
already “hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure.” Have you
done this? No. You do not profess this? Then come to the fountain at once. A
want is discovered in your heart: “In Christ all fullness dwells,” and “He is
able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him.” Do you say
that you have not light enough upon this work to seek it? For this you need not
delay for Christ, who is our “sanctification” is also the “light.” Therefore in
seeking the former, you obtain the latter also. Neither can you otherwise
receive it. As you need not take a lantern to see the sun rise, so the
experience of entire sanctification brings its own glorious light into the soul.
Therefore, beloved, throw away the faint deceptive light of thy own wisdom;
steadfastly fix your eyes upon the point from whence emanates the “true light,”
even “the light of the world.” Now walk right out through the darkness of thy
remaining sin and unbelief, and soon thou shat see “the Son of Righteousness
arise with healing in his wings.” The glorious morn of a new day now breaks in
upon thy tranquil soul. And if you continue

To walk in heaven’s own light, Above the world and sin, With heart made pure and
garments white, And Christ enthroned within:

then “thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for
the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and they God thy glory.” This
work, having commenced two years ago, was mostly written in spare hours during
evangelistic labors. My heart is filled with humble gratitude to God for the
inestimable blessing these labors have proved to me. Having but a short time
before experienced the grace of a pure heart: in the prayerful investigation of
the holy Bible, under the clear light of the “anointing that abideth and
teacheth of all things;” my soul has been continually surprised and feasted with
new beauties, and blessed unfoldings of divine truth. When the fully sanctified
looks into the luminous heavens of divine revelation through the all searching
telescope of the Holy Ghost, many texts that before seemed dim and of doubtful
application to purifying grace are raised to their true magnitude of absolute
authority. And where, to the unanointed eyes all was vague and dark, now one
beautiful blazing constellation of Bible truth after another appears in view
until the adoring soul sees no end to the divine evidences of the higher
perfecting grace, save the end of revelation itself: and even there the Spirit
takes up the eternal theme and writes it all over the soul on the tablet of the
heart and every fiber of our being: on all the “merchandise” of the saints: yea
upon all the universe of God’s creation and every surrounding object, even “upon
the bells of the horses shall there be HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” Amen. In the
name of Jesus Christ, I now send forth these pages into the world with fervent
prayer to the “God of all grace” that His Spirit, which so much assisted in
their preparation, will make them effectual in helping many precious souls into
that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” We have thought it best
to write out most of the Scriptures used to avoid the trouble of referring to
the Book. Endeavoring to adhere closely to the Word, and the object before us,
some repetitions have been unavoidable. May even these be blessed to the hungry
soul, who often needs line upon line, and especially promise upon promise. I do
not collect this multitude of proof texts because I think them necessary to
establish the point. One clear, unequivocal passage of Scripture is sufficient
to establish any doctrine; and such are the most of them that are herein cited.
But, so deep and strong are the prejudices of some that they will never yield
their all to God until they are overwhelmed with the fact that this deeper rest
of the soul in God is the cardinal and all pervading truth of the Bible.
Besides, I think the work will aid holiness teachers and all who are in the
light of full salvation by presenting, in a classified form, most of the
Scripture on the subject. All literary defects, I hope, will be passed in the
spirit of Christian charity. I have written in the fear of the Lord: yea, in the
very presence of God with holy reverence for His word, and, I trust, a due
regard to the account I must give to God for the use I have made of it.
Nevertheless I may have written error, which the kind reader will please
attribute to an imperfect judgment, the common lot of all men in the present
life. With a sweet, and peaceful assurance that, in my limited ability, I have
done the will of my Heavenly Father: I leave all the results with Him, who
discerns the intentions of every heart, and can make even the weak and imperfect
things of his children to praise Him.

The things of Christ the Spirit takes, And to our heart reveals, Our bodies He
His temple makes, And our redemption seals. Almighty Spirit! Visit thus, Our
hearts, and guide our ways, Pour down thy quickening grace on us, And tune our
lips to praise.


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  CHAPTER 2: 2. CHRISTIAN PERFECTION AND HOLINESS THE SAME
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These terms, it is generally believed and taught, represent the same moral
state. Let us endeavor to find their Scriptural meaning. Perfection is from
“katartizo” and “teleios” in the Greek. The first of these terms is defined by
our standard lexicons of the New Testament as follows: “To make perfect,” “to
put fully in order,” “to make complete,” “to furnish fully,” “to refit and
repair.” This word is applied to Christian perfection in the following
Scriptures: Luke 6:40; 2 Corinthians 13:9-11; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians
3:10; Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 5:10. “Teleios” is defined by “perfect, finished,
complete, entire, without spot or blemish.” “Teleios” is used to represent the
advanced Christian state in the following instances: Matthew 5:48 and 19:21; 1
Corinthians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 3:3; Philippians 3:15; Colossians
1:28, 3:14 , 4:12; Hebrews 6:1; 1 John 2:5, 4:17-18. From the foregoing
definitions and Scriptures it is clearly seen that perfection, as applied to
redeemed souls, denotes the complete moral restoration of man from the effects
of the fall. Not physical or mental restoration, for that will not be until the
resurrection; but, as David says, “He restoreth my soul.” Restore means to bring
back to its original condition. And as the fall of man effaced the image of God
from the soul and sent a current of depravity down through the entire race, the
perfect restoration of the soul must necessarily reinstate its former purity and
divine likeness. Christian perfection is, therefore, in kind and not degree. In
other words, it is the perfection of our moral nature and not the development or
full growth of our powers. This position is well established in Hebrews
10:14-15. "For by one offering he (Christ) hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified: whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness unto us.” The state of
perfection we are here told is entered by the work of sanctification. And we
read that Christ sanctifies the people with his own blood (Hebrews 13:12). And
the “blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Hence perfection
is the state of being free from sin. Observe that when Paul tells us that Christ
has forever perfected them that are sanctified, he immediately adds “whereof”
(of which perfection) “the Holy Ghost is also a witness unto us. Surely no one
ever yet received the testimony of God’s Spirit that he was perfect in degree;
or had reached the summit of Christian growth beyond which he could never become
more wise, strong or fruitful. But thousands have received the Spirit’s witness
to perfect heart purity. It is generally believed that our moral and mental
powers are susceptible of endless development. But the Bible teaches a
perfection in this life that can never be improved upon: “He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified.” Perfection, then, as attainable in this life,
is confined to man’s purity and what is necessarily therein included. Consistent
with the Bible and universal experience, it cannot be otherwise defined. While
our physical and mental defects remain until the resurrection, our moral nature
alone is susceptible of perfection now, and that only in quality, leaving all
the powers of the soul free to enlarge in magnitude. Being “made free from sin”
and “renewed in the image of God,” as first created, the soul cannot become more
pure and is therefore “perfected forever.” (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians
4:23—24, 5:26-27; Colossians 3:10) Many stagger at the term perfection. They are
forced to admit that it is promised and enjoined in the Bible: recognized in
ancient saints: and, in the plenitude of Gospel grace, provided for all
believers. Yet, as if to come short of the divine will and profess less than the
Bible standard were a mark of true piety and meekness, they shrink from the
thought of being made perfect in this life, is from blasphemy. There is no
reason for this. Our kind, heavenly Father has placed nothing in his word to
thus terrify his children: nothing, indeed but what we should blush to come
short of. All this reproach so generally attached to a profession of perfection,
grows out of the extravagant notions of what it is. But there certainly can be
nothing wrong in receiving and professing this grace in its Bible sense. How,
then, does the “more sure word” define it? In Luke 6:40 we have this answer.
“Every one that is perfect shall be as the Master.” Christ commands us to be
“perfect even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). But
to be like God and Christ in every respect would make us equally gods and is
therefore impossible: hence we turn to the word again and ask in what particular
points of divine resemblance does our perfection consist? “Thus saith the Lord,”
in answer. It is in purity. “He that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself as
He is pure.” In holiness. “Having these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God.” “That we might be partakers of His holiness” (2 Corinthians
7:1; Hebrews 12:10). It is perfection in love. “Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, for as He is so are we in this
world.” (1 John 4:17) Peter represents our perfection as “partaking of the
divine nature.” As “God is love”—is perfectly pure and holy—the latter includes
the other three elements. I would add that Christian perfection is a work
divinely wrought in the heart. In enjoining this higher grace upon such as had
not yet attained it in the Ephesian church, Paul tells them to “put off the old
man . . . and put on the new man which, after God, is created in righteousness
and true holiness” (Ephesians 2:24). The “old man” evidently means the old
fallen nature, or inherited depravity, the new man, the pure “divine nature,”
which, we are told, is “created after God.” Now, creative power belongs to God
alone, hence this new nature is the work of the Lord. The Hebrew Christians,
after they had “come to Mount Zion the city of the living God, the Church of the
First Born,” received orders to “go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1).
Sanctification was designated as the point of its attainment (Hebrews 10:14).
And, at the close of the epistle, the Apostle offers this prayer for these
brethren: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord
Jesus: that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant make you perfect.” This is conclusive. Perfection, as well as
regeneration, is the work of God. Thus we have briefly shown that perfection is
a doctrine of the Bible and the privilege of every child of God. That it is
perfection in kind and not degree: that it consists in the soul’s likeness to
God in purity, holiness, and unmixed or perfect love; and that it is God’s
prerogative to make us perfect. I now proceed to examine the terms,

HOLINESS AND SANCTIFICATION.

We take up these words conjointly because they are both derived from “hagios” in
the Greek and consequently mean the same thing. Both words are uniformly
rendered “heiligung” in the German version. The word “agios,” in its several
forms, occurs about two hundred and eighty-five times in the New Testament. It
is rendered “sanctify” twenty-six times; “sanctification” five times; “saints”
sixty-six times; “hallowed” twice; “holy,” “holiness” and “holily” one hundred
and eighty-six times. Robinson’s Lexicon of the New Testament defines it thus:
“Hagious.”—1st, pure, clean; 2nd, consecrated, sacred, holy; set apart from a
common to a sacred use: belonging to God. “Hagiasmos.”—sanctification, purity of
heart and life; holiness. “Hagiotes.”—purity, holiness. Smith and Barnum’s
Dictionary of the Bible defines sanctification, “properly a making holy, or a
state of being holy; to make clean or holy; to set apart as sacred, to regard as
holy.” Joseph Angus, D.D., in Bible Hand Book, page 172, gives the following:

The idea of holiness, for which, in its Christian sense the heathen have no
word, was suggested to the Jews by means of a special institution. All animals
common to Palestine were divided into clean and unclean. From the clean one was
chosen, without spot or blemish; a peculiar tribe selected from the other tribes
was appointed to present it; the offering being first washed with clean water,
and the priest himself undergoing a similar ablution. Neither the priest nor any
of the people nor the victim however, was deemed sufficiently holy to come into
the divine presence, but the offering was made without the holy place. The idea
of the infinite purity of God, was thus suggested to the minds of observers, and
holiness in things created came to mean, under the law, purification for sacred
uses, and under the Gospel, freedom from sin and the possession, by spiritual
intelligences, of the divine nature.

Holiness in the Gospel is understood by this biblical scholar to mean freedom
from sin and the possession of the divine nature. George Campbell of Scotland ,
translator of the four Gospels says:

In regard to the word “hagios,” its primitive significance appears to have been
clean, first in the literal sense as denoting free from all filth, dirt, or
nastiness; second, as expressing what, according to the religious rituals was
accounted clean . . . Again as things are made clean to prepare them for being
used (and the more important the use, the more carefully they are cleansed), the
term has been adopted to denote, thirdly, prepared, fitted, destined for a
particular purpose. Fourthly, and more specially consecrated or devoted to a
religious use. Fifthly, to honor, to reverence, to hallow. Sixthly, and lastly,
as outward and corporeal cleanness has, in all ages, and languages, been
considered as an apt metaphor, for moral purity, it denotes guiltless,
irreproachable; which is, at present, among Christians, the most common
acceptation of the word.

This learned Presbyterian agrees with the preceding writers in making “hagios”
primarily denote purity. Speaking of holiness in another place he says, “The
exhortations to holiness in the New Testament are evidently to be understood of
MORAL PURITY, and of that only.” James McKnight, also of Scotland , a pious,
learned translator of the New Testament epistles, defines as follows:

Holy primarily signifies that which is clean, or free from defilement.
(Deuteronomy 23:14) “Therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unclean
thing.” Holy and holiness often denote moral purity.

To sanctify, to make holy, to hallow; in the writing of the Hebrews, signifies,
to cleanse a thing from those defilements which render it unfit for sacred use.
John Winebrenner defines sanctification, “a perfect conformity of heart and life
to the will of God.” Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines sanctification:
“1st, the act of sanctifying or making holy; or the state of being sanctified or
made holy; the act of God’s grace by which men are purified, or alienated from
sin and the world, and exalted to supreme love to God; also the state of being
thus purified or sanctified. 2nd, the act of consecrating or setting apart for a
sacred purpose; consecration.” Holiness is therein defined about the same. The
same author’s High School Dictionary defines holiness by, “PURITY; FREEDOM FROM
SIN; SANCTITY; PIETY.” Authorities might be multiplied, but I deem it
unnecessary. “To the law and testimony” of the Lord, we must appeal after all;
and what is not thereby sustained must fail; no matter who is in its favor. I
have selected the above human authorities as among the most competent, and of
different religious beliefs. They all point to perfect purity; “supreme love to
God,” and godlikeness, as the primary meaning of “hagios,” or sanctification;
and this is the Scriptural meaning generally. In the Old Testament it is
sometimes used in the sense of consecration but when applied to men, more
commonly denotes moral purity. That its New Testament meaning is freedom from
sin; as Joseph Angus and George Campbell have both declared, is very evident. In
2 Corinthians 7:1 we read: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.” This is clear; perfect holiness is the result of
cleansing, hence is purity.

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification
and honor. (1 Thessalonians 4:4.)

This denotes the state of purity in which all should keep themselves.

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. (1 Thessalonians
4:7.)

The Apostle here makes holiness the opposite to uncleanness, which, of course,
is cleanness or purity.

The very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit, and
soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23.)

The work of entire sanctification is here represented as imparting a blameless
state and the means of its constant preservation. Now, a blameless state, in the
sight of a holy God, must necessarily imply absolute purity, or freedom from
sin.

If a man, therefore, purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified, etc. (2 Timothy 2:21.)

Here again the sanctified state is secured by the purging or cleansing of the
vessel, or member of God's “great house,” the church.

For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the
blood of Christ purge your conscience. (Hebrews 9:13.)

If the legal cleansing, as here stated, is typical of sanctification; then that
which it is said to typify, i.e., our cleansing in the blood of Christ, is real
sanctification. Or, in other words, Gospel sanctification is purification from
all sin, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own
blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12.). These Scriptures are very
conclusive, and well sustain the remark of George Campbell, that, “The
exhortations to holiness in the New Testament are evidently to be understood of
purity and of that only.” As an adjective, “holy” qualifies or points out the
moral purity of heaven, angels and our Savior. Ninety-four times in the New
Testament it qualifies the Spirit of God, i.e., “Holy Spirit” (in the common
version more generally Holy Ghost), and, when applied to the righteous, it
necessarily ascribes to them the same moral quality.

But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation: because, it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15.)

The same world “holy” describes both the character of God, and the required
purity of his children. And since our need of holiness is based upon the
holiness of God, proclaimed in the same breath of inspiration, it were an utter
confusion of language not to ascribe the same meaning to the work in both cases.
From the authorities quoted, and the testimony of inspiration, it must be clear,
I think, to every candid mind that the perfect holiness, or entire
sanctification required of us, is “purity of heart and life,” “freedom from
sin,” “perfect in love,” and holy in nature; or what is equivalent to all these,
“partakers of the divine nature.” I have been the more particular in fixing this
point, because some have imagined that sanctification, when enjoined upon
believers, only means consecration. This view is anti-scriptural, and contrary
to all human authority and experience. I do not deny that “haggios,” includes
the idea of consecration. 1st, because, in connection with faith it is our part
of the work, and an indispensable condition to the performance of the work, on
the part of God. 2nd, because sanctification is not purity in the abstract, but
purification for divine use. Hence, we are told, that Christ “gave Himself for
us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14.). Purification, it is here seen,
includes consecrations because we are thereby separated from sin and the world
unto God. Because sanctification from sin is for the purpose of being set apart
to the “Holy One,” it is not at all unnatural that the word should sometimes be
used in this secondary, or objective meaning. This, however, does not interfere
with the truth established by the foregoing Scriptures, that “hagios”—holy or
sanctified—“in the Gospel denotes freedom from sin and the possession by
intelligent beings of the divine nature.” This is the idea that the unbiased
reading of God’s Word almost universally fixes in the mind. How extremely absurd
the position recently taken by some teachers that entire sanctification, as
enjoined upon believers, simply denotes consecration when the Bible clearly
points it out as a work which God must do in us; as something which Christ does
for the “people with his own blood,” as consisting in “cleansing from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” Some brethren with whom I am well
acquainted, have always thus taught, until they came in contact with those who
profess a personal realization of the blessed truth: when the enemy of their
souls quickly turned them to advocate the above absurdity. Growing into
sanctification is a still more fatal delusion of Satan. Every newborn soul,
sooner or later, discovers a great want in his heart; is embarrassed with a
man-fearing spirit, and pained with the consciousness of evil tendencies within.
They groan after purity and wonder why their Heavenly Father seems to stint
their soul so much. These are now at “Kadesh-barnea”—the fartherest point which
the Israelites reached in their direct route from Egypt to the land of Canaan .
Here they get to see some of the fruit of the land of perfect victory. Here,
too, discouraging reports meet them; not of the land itself, for all admit that
to be holy is a good thing. They see great giants—insurmountable difficulties in
the way. From the day of their conversion, grace had led them to hunger and pray
for, and expect a better experience; a deeper work; a complete salvation from
sin. But, having no Joshua to lead them into the desired rest of soul; and
because, as ancient Israel said, “our brethren (the spies) discouraged us,” they
finally conclude that they must give up seeking a better experience and become
pure by growth. Is it not astonishing that so many allow the devil to deceive
them with such a self-evident delusion? To grow pure is a contradiction of
terms. Growth is a process of addition—purification a subtraction—or a removal
of all uncleanness. Growth, in no instance, changes the nature of anything; it
only increases its size or degree; while cleansing is a process of diminishing.
The first is natural and progressive, the second done at a stroke. I hope, dear
reader, you can see that the implanting of a new life and new nature is one
thing (done at regeneration); the removal of every obstruction and antagonism to
that new nature another (accomplished by the blood of Christ in entire
sanctification); and the growth of that plant still another thing. The whole is
analogous to the implanting of seed; the removal of all noxious seeds, roots and
plants from the soil; and the growth of the plant. The fist and second are
instantaneous works, produced by an extrinsic agent; the last a gradual and
natural process commenced in the first state; but greatly accelerated by the
work of purging away the old nature, or inbred sin. The growth of the Christian
graces will enable the believer to better control remaining depravity but will
never eject it from the heart. A clear discrimination between purity and
maturity is necessary for an intelligent approach to God for the blessing of
entire sanctification. Most persons in the merely justified state are much
confused on these two points. They identify them, or think them always
coetaneous; hence they imagine that Christian perfection, or entire
sanctification, precludes further growth. That is equivalent to saying that the
removal of all weeds from a field is identical with the maturity or immediately
terminates the growth of the grain. This is strange reasoning, yet thousands
rashly oppose the blessed work of holiness through such absurd notions. The
perfection, or entire sanctification of the “New Testament is to be understood
of moral purity, and that only.” Including, of course, all its concomitant
blessings, it is instantaneously wrought in the soul of believers by the Holy
Spirit.

O, love, thou bottomless abyss, My sin is swallowed up in thee, Covered is my
unrighteousness, Nor bitter root remains in me; Perfect now in the life of God—
Saved! Yes saved in the cleansing blood.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 3: 3. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, IN THE ECONOMY OF GRACE
========================================================================

Before we proceed to the Scripture proofs of the above proposition, it is
necessary to state just what we include in Regeneration. We often hear it said
that God does not do His work imperfectly. This is all true. Regeneration is a
complete work by itself; so also is entire sanctification. It is distinct from
the former, and like it, must be entered into by experience before it can be
known. Neither can be comprehended from a standpoint without, no more than a
blind man can understand color, or a deaf man sounds. Holiness writers and
teachers, as far as my knowledge extends, uniformly hold up a sinless life as
the true test and Bible standard of regeneration. They all teach that
regeneration includes the pardon of all past sins; the removal of guilt and
condemnation; adoption into the family of God; the witness of the Spirit to
pardon and sonship; spiritual life and a new, moral nature including all the
Christian graces. And because this new principle of action is loyal to God and
enthroned in the heart, “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin”(1 John
3:9). I know of no one who attributes more to regeneration that the above. Let
every professor measure himself by this divine rule and then remember that
entire sanctification is a distinct experience beyond this. If all would do
this, many who oppose this “more excellent way” would remain silent and humbly
confess that they know nothing about the thing they so bitterly denounce; not
even having the pre-requisite grace. He who denies that there is a definite
moral change to be experienced after conversion simply publishes the fact that
he never attained it himself; and stultifies himself as much in the minds of all
who have as he who denies the experience of pardon does in the estimation of all
who have that experience. In either case, the person proves himself unqualified
to testify, having no personal knowledge of the point in question. As proof of
the two distinct works of grace, I will commence with the first disciples of our
Lord. Recently, one of the many whose disturbed minds rush them into public
print to oppose the special holiness work took the position that the disciples
were not converted until Pentecost. Another in the same paper, the Church
Advocate, pronounced them both converted and sanctified. Thus, each, in the
estimation of the other, was driven to untenable ground in order to obviate the
second work. Both are alike contrary to the Word of God. The disciples of Christ
were either regenerated, or were all yet in their sins. Which was it? Did
Christ, in his personal ministry, possess and exercise justifying power?

“Jesus said to the sick of the palsy, ‘Son, be of good cheer: thy sins are
forgiven thee.’” These words spake Christ, we are told, “that they might know
that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:2-6).

Take another instance—Luke 7:39-50. No physical infirmity is ascribed to this
woman, but “she was a sinner.” Her strange conduct Christ attributed to her much
love for Him, for having pardoned her sins “which were many.” “And he said to
the woman, “Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.’” Now, if Christ pardoned,
saved and spake peace to his poor sinner, why not to all that come unto Him. His
invitation was to “all ye that labor and are heavy laden;” with the promise, “I
will give you rest.” He fulfilled that which was written of him, namely, “By his
knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many” (Isaiah 53:11). If the
disciples were not converted, then Christ ordained and sent sinners to preach
the Gospel and command other sinners to repent (Mark 3:14 and Matthew 10:16).
Strange that these sinners should be as sheep and others as wolves. Christ said
to them (Matthew 10:20), “When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what
ye shall speak, for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father,
which speaketh in you.” Possessing the divine Spirit and God being their Father
is indubitable evidence that they were born of God. Again, says Jesus, “Rejoice
not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice that your names
are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say
unto you; that ye which have followed me in the regeneration; etc.” (Matthew
19:28). An attempt to wrest these Scriptures into harmony with the theory that
the disciples were not regenerated would only be a contradiction of Christ. Read
John 17. Christ says that they had “received the Word” of God through Him and
“believed” that God had sent Him. John testifies that “as many as (thus)
received Him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that
believed on His name which were born . . .of God” (John 1:12-13). Christ further
testifies that “they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John
17:16). “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost” (John 17:12). None of them
were lost because Christ kept them all in their sins if so be that they were
still unregenerate. Christ’s remark to Peter, “When thou are converted . . .”
has been cited as proof that the conversion of the disciples was yet in the
future. Let us read the Word: Luke 22:31-34: “Simon, Simon; behold Satan hath
desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.” Now, if Peter had not
been translated from the kingdom of this world, there would be no occasion for
this satanic wish; for then Satan actually had him. Again, would Satan desire to
sift his own? “But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” You see
Peter had faith—was a believer. Neither did his faith fail; but his courage
only. “And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Peter understood
this as a prediction that the tempter would so assault him as to turn him from
Christ; and, more conscious of his attachment to Jesus than his own weakness, he
thought it could not be. He said unto him, “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee:
both into prison, and to death.” But Christ, knowing the crisis that was so
near, said, “I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that
thou shalt deny that thou knowest me.” Thus, by reading the word in its
connection, all is made plain. Peter’s conversion, here referred to, being based
by Christ upon his fall, must relate to his restoration; which, doubtless took
place shortly afterward: for, we are told, he “went out and wept bitterly”
(verse 62). Such always find pardon of the Lord. Hence, when Jesus appeared to
the disciples, after His resurrection, though Peter was deeply humbled by the
Lord’s thrice repeated question “lovest thou me” by which he was reminded of his
thrice denying Him. Yet, with the assurance of a true child of God, he could
appeal three times over to Jesus, whom he recognized as “knowing all things,”
saying, “Thou knowest that I love Thee” (John 21:15-17). The word convert means
to turn; and, though it is used to represent the sinner’s turn from nature to
grace, it is properly applied to Peter’s turn of mind when he had passed through
the overwhelming temptation and began to repent and seek pardon. The Emphatic
Diaglott and the Bible Union versions both render it thus: “When thou hast
turned, strengthen thy brethren.” George Campbell renders it thus: “Do thou
therefore, when thou has recovered thyself, confirm thy brethren.” Recover means
to re-gain, hence would not apply to one who had not been converted before. The
following is Doddridge’s translation and paraphrase:

And let me now exhort thee, that when thou art returned from those wanderings
into which I know thou wilt fall, to the paths of wisdom and duty, thou wouldst
be sure to make it thine immediate care to strengthen thy brethren. The New
Testament record leaves no particle of doubt that the disciples of Christ were
“born of God,” or regenerated under his personal ministration. They even
possessed a high degree of spirituality and faith. Read Luke 24:50-53. And He
led them as far as Bethany : and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it
came to pass while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into
heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and
were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.

This does not look like a meeting of unconverted sinners. If all church members
enjoyed as high a state of grace as was manifested in this first New Testament
holiness meeting, there would be few opposers and many more passing through the
Pentecostal fire than there are. The Scriptures not only positively teach that
the one hundred and twenty were God’s children before Pentecost, but Paul
testifies that, after the resurrection of Christ, He “was seen of above five
hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Who is presumptuous enough to
exclude from the family of God those recognized by the Elder Brother? As further
proof of the above proposition, let it be remembered that Christ gave His
disciples no promise of pardon or regeneration in the future. It is, therefore
and indisputable fact that the disciples of Christ were adopted into the family
of God before the crucifixion. And the inspired Record is no less clear in
directing their minds forward to another great moral change, even their

ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION TO BE EXPERIENCED IN THE FUTURE.

Hear the Savior’s prayer:

Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth. (John 17:17)

Christ certainly knew that they were not yet fully sanctified or He would not
have prayed the Father to accomplish that work in the future. It is claimed that
this petition related to the qualification of the apostles for the work of the
ministry. Very true. But how many now-a-days venture out upon this sacred work
without this enduement; and how fruitless too, their efforts. They pray for
power and success; but God in mercy withholds it lest they dishonor Him and
endanger their own souls by taking part of the glory; a subtle and common trick
of unsanctified nature. But it was not the apostles alone that Christ prayed
for; but all “them which thou hast given me” (verse 9). Some, whose chief idea
of religion consists in “compassing Mount Sinai ” apply the Savior’s prayer to
“works of righteousness,” or obedience. “Sanctify them through the truth,” they
understand as of keeping the commandments enjoined in the Word; but this is the
work of the believer, while the sanctification under consideration is the work
of God. “Through the truth” simply means through the “exceeding great and
precious promises” by which we partake of the divine nature, and “perfect
holiness” (2 Corinthians 7:1 and 2 Peter 1:4). This is the part the “word”
performs in our sanctification. It points to the cleansing blood and its sure
promises are the stepping-stones of our faith. The sanctification of Christ in
verse 19 is also adduced to convey the above view. It is claimed that Christ,
being pure, His sanctification, and consequently ours also, denotes mere
consecration. What sayeth the Word? “And for their sakes I sanctify myself that
they also might be sanctified through the truth.” The sanctification of Jesus is
the ground and cause of ours. Read Hebrews 10:29. “Of how much sorer punishment
suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified,
and unholy thing.” “For it became Him for whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering” (Hebrews 5:8-9). These Scriptures fully describe the sanctification
of our Redeemer. It was that process by which He was made perfect as our Savior,
i.e., His suffering, shedding of blood and death: a legal sanctification—a
fulfillment of the law or conditions upon which He became invested with power
and authority to save guilty man. He made Himself an offering to offended
justice that we, through Him, might be an acceptable offering unto the Lord.
That is, He sanctified Himself that we might also be sanctified. Because He ever
was free from sin, His sanctification involved no moral purification: ours does.
The following points of resemblance are noticed: 1. In His sanctification, He
consecrated Himself to God to perform His will in the redemption of lost man. We
also must render ourselves wholly to God, to do His will alone. 2. His
sanctification involved the “humbling of Himself unto the death of the cross.
Ours demands a complete humiliation—an utter abandonment of self—a “crucifixion
of the old man,” or death to sin. 3. He was sanctified with His own blood
(Hebrews 10:29). With His precious blood we are also sanctified (Hebrews 13:12).
4. Both His death for us and our death unto sin is by the grace of God. (Hebrews
2:9) 5. His sanctification made Him perfect as a Savior; ours makes us perfect
Christians. (Hebrews 2:10; 10:14) 6. He was a “Son” before He was “made perfect”
(Hebrews 2:10, 5:8-9); we are sons of God before we are perfected in God’s
holiness (Hebrews 10:14; 12:5-10). Therefore, to return to our subject, we
remark that Christ prayed for the sanctification of the disciples by which He
meant another real moral change which they must yet pass through. And as a
foundation of their faith to appropriated the same. Jesus gave them many clear

PROMISES OF THIS ALL PERFECTING GRACE.

He promised it, as the “glorious Comforter”—the personal indwelling Spirit—“whom
the world can not receive,” and who was to “teach them all things,” “guide them
into all truth,” “testify of Jesus” and “show them all things.” (John 14:15-17,
25; 15:26; 16:13-14) He promised it as the fullness of joy. (John 15:11; 16:24;
17:13) He promised this divine life, as the coming and indwelling of Himself and
His Father. (John 14:13) He promised it to them as the “baptism of the Holy
Ghost and of fire.” And, lest some of the disciples should think that, having
been born of God it was immaterial as to whether they sought this additional
experience, He enjoins it as “a new commandment: that ye love one another as I
have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life
for his friends.” (John 13:24; 15:12-13) It having been prayed for, promised and
commanded by the Lord, let us now see whether

THE DISCIPLES RECEIVED A SECOND EXPERIENCE OF SAVING GRACE.

The hundred and twenty faithful followers of Christ obeyed His directions;
awaiting, in a very spiritual prayer meeting at Jerusalem , the baptismal power.
And when the day of Pentecost came their united faith prevailed. The Holy Ghost
came down and filled the place where they were assembled; tongues of fire
indicated his refining power, hence, the Comforter Jesus promised, and the
sanctification he prayed for was all suddenly realized. This wonderful
experience came not to the apostles alone; but “They were all filled with the
Spirit.” Entire sanctification is the normal state of man; hence the privilege
and duty of every child of God; and the special qualification for every station,
from the ministry down to the humblest position in life. It is our perfect
adjustment to self, to God and our fellows; to this world and our future home.
Notwithstanding the antecedent work of regeneration, a great moral
transformation was now manifest in all the disciples. 1. In their purification,
having passed through the refiner’s fire into this second state of grace we see
no more manifestations of carnality; such as vain ambition, strife and
self-confident boasting; no more carnal weapons nor spirit of resentment. 2.
Another marked change was their deliverance from all fear. The disciples, we are
told, were all “assembled in an upper room, for fear of the Jews;” but perfect
love “having cast out all fear,” they came forth and confronted the vast
concourse with perfect intrepidity. 3. An increase of power also marked this
wonderful change. Inbred sin is an element of weakness. Christ had promised them
an endowment of power, which was now realized by the purging away of all sin and
the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They who gave way to discouragements after the
crucifixion of Christ and resumed their fishnets were now raised above
circumstances and qualified to “fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness,
and the work of faith with power.” Behold the wonderful result that attended
their labors: Converts were numbered by the thousands. Who is so blind as not to
see the comparative destitution of the church for the want of the same power?
Paul made more converts in three successive Sabbaths than all the missionaries
in China and India together did in as many years. No wonder Satan is alarmed at
the preaching and testimony of full salvation and through prejudice and
carnality stirs many professors to oppose the good work. 4. This new experience
wonderfully illuminated the disciples’ minds and disclosed the Scriptures to
their comprehension. God now “shined into their hearts to give them the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Therefore Peter
was able at once to explain the wonders of the occasion. Before this, the
plainest lessons of their Teacher were dark enigmas; but having now received the
“anointing that abideth and teacheth all things,” they were able to expound all
the hidden wisdom of His kingdom. This accession of spiritual light and new
unfolding of divine truth is equally if not more marked than that received in
justification. 5. The Pentecostal experience induced a wonderful change in the
affections of these Christians. The love of the world was entirely destroyed out
of their hearts; and their love to God and each other was so perfected and
intensified that all they possessed was joyfully placed upon the altar of a
common cause. This fullness of “love and bond of perfectness” so united them
that they all remained together and ate their meals from house to house,
continually rejoicing and praising God. (Acts 2 and 3) Now, if this purging from
all inbred turpitude, this perfecting of love and wonderful increase of
spiritual power and wisdom, does not constitute a great moral change; then it is
difficult to conceive what would. I conclude this chapter with the following
deductions: 1. If these disciples needed this great work of sanctification and
endowment of power from on high after their regeneration, then others do, unless
it can be shown that God’s plan of salvation is not uniform. 2. If the Lord
bestowed it upon them, he will upon all others for “God is no respecter of
persons.” 3. If they could not obtain it by growth or works, then no one else
can; and the whole Christian world does not furnish an instance. 4. If, in them,
it was wrought by the Holy Spirit through prayer and faith, then it “is by the
faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe, for there is no
difference.” (Romans 3:22) 5. If, with them, it was a second definite and
instantaneous work of grace, such it must be to all; for our heavenly Father
“put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” (Acts
15:6; Romans 10:12) Neither the premises nor deductions of the above
propositions can be gainsaid.

We are waiting, blessed Lord,

IN THY COURTS, WITH ONE ACCORD.

At thine altars, bending low, Kindred souls together flow; Yearning love and
strong desire, To Thy throne of grace aspire, And with kindred faith we pray—
Holy Spirit, come today.

In the closet, all alone, Help us, Christ, to touch thy throne! As we walk and
talk and sigh, Hear, oh hear, they people’s cry; Bring us nearer to the heart—
We would dwell no more apart; Sweep the barriers all away— Holy Spirit, come
today.

Come today. Yes, come today! While we wait, and weep and pray; Holding fast in
Jesus’ name, All the promise we may claim. Come in one grand, glorious hour,
With the burning fire and power, And the wonders long foretold, Of the Pentecost
of old.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 4: 4. THE TWO-FOLD SALVATION CONTINUED
========================================================================

Some, unable to deny the two works of grace wrought in the first converts of the
Gospel, have assumed that it was because the kingdom was then in process of
erection; and that, when all its elements were once present, one grasp of faith
appropriated all the “salvation that is in Christ Jesus.” This, to some, may
appear plausible; but would the all wise King of kings place upon record, at the
beginning of his reign a precedent, which would lead astray all who subsequently
attempt to follow it? The position is repugnant to reason, and without a shadow
of Scripture warrant. Some have overlooked sanctification as a sharply defined
transition in the experience of primitive Christians; because they have failed
to identify it with the Holy Spirit baptism. As conversion, justification,
regeneration, and adoption, represent different features of the initial work of
grace, and one is generally used inclusive of the rest, so heart purity,
sanctification, “fullness of God,” fullness of joy, “assurance of faith,” “full
assurance of hope,” baptism of the Holy Ghost, “perfect love,” etc., are
concomitant blessings included in the higher Christian experience. Heart purity
is entire sanctification attained and witnessed by the consciousness of faith;
for “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same purity
intensified in experience; and become more fully a matter of knowledge; being
distinctly witnessed by the Sanctifier. It is believed that when the heart is
“purified by faith,” it is always immediately indwelt by the personal Comforter.
This is evident from the fact that He is the real sanctifying power. Therefore,
the experience cannot precede His coming to the soul. This also accords with the
experience of nearly all; but, for some reason, doubtless in order to discipline
and strengthen faith, the Lord in some instances withholds His manifestation to
our consciousness sometime after faith has appropriated the all cleansing blood.
It is to this fact that the Apostle probably alluded, when he said, “Ye have
need of patience that AFTER ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise” (Hebrews 10:36). In the merely justified state, the faithful believer
receives some Spirit manifestations, but they pass off like the morning dew,
leaving no special change; while the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,”
received in entire sanctification, “abideth forever,” and is the beginning of a
new and “more abundant life” in the soul. It is full and permanent, because
received in a “clean heart.” That the baptism of the Holy Ghost is only another
representation of the uttermost salvation expressed by entire sanctification is
clearly taught by the Bible. Christ identifies it with the baptism of fire. Of
this fire a great deal is said in the bible. Read Isaiah 4:4, “When the Lord
shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged
the blood of Jerusalem (the church) from the midst thereof by the Spirit of
judgment and the Spirit of burning.” The baptism of fire is the Spirit of
burning that purifies the church.

“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:3).

“Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow,
saith the Lord of hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered:
and I will turn my hand upon the little ones . . . And I will bring the third
part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try
them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will
say, it is my people; and they shall say, the Lord is my God” (Zechariah
13:7-9).

Now, when did Christ apply this refining fire? Not in the regeneration of His
disciples; but just before leaving them He told them to tarry at Jerusalem , for
not many days hence He would send the “promise of the Father upon them:” even
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. So then, on the day of Pentecost this
great Refiner brought one hundred and twenty disciples through the fire,
“refined them as silver is refined,” and “purged them as gold;” “That they might
offer an offering in righteousness.” Thus we see that, in the Holy Spirit
baptism, there is a purging or purification of believers; and that is just what
the Bible attributes to entire sanctification. Returning to the quotation from
Zechariah we read, “Smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered, and I
(the Shepherd) will turn my hand upon the little ones.” Now, Christ’s little
ones are “disciples,” such as “belong to Christ,” and “believe on Him” (Matthew
10:42; 18:6: Mark 9:41-44). Upon such who are already Christians, and not upon
sinners, the Shepherd turns his hand. But what does this mean?

“Thus saith the Lord, the Mighty One of Israel: ‘I will turn my hand upon thee,
and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin’” (Isaiah 1:24-25).

Here, again, the crucible is used to represent the work of Jesus purifying His
disciples, or such as have believed unto justification. Now read Mark 9:41-50.
These “little ones,” who “belong to Christ,” are informed that they are not only
exposed to offenses from others, but within themselves there yet remained an
offensive nature. Although, “with their minds they served the law of God,” Jesus
well knew they would “see another law in their members warring against the law
of their mind;” and endeavoring to “bring them into captivity to the law of
sin.” But this is not the normal state of the Christian: the Refiner’s crucible
must yet be passed through, and the “body of sin” destroyed. And, though this
“old man,” or inherited depravity, be so interwoven with our very being as to
seem like the members of the natural body, even as dear as the “right hand” and
“right eye,” yet so imminent is the danger of falling into sin and being at last
“cast into hell-fire” that Christ urges the destruction of these offensive
members however painful the death of sin might be. “For,” the Savior adds,
“every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with
salt. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye
season it. Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.” There is an
allusion here to offering under the law, which were typical, both of the
sacrifice of Christ, and that of believers (Romans 12:1). “And every oblation of
the meat offering shalt thou season with salt. Neither shalt thou suffer the
sale of the covenant of thy god to be lacking from thy meat offering; with all
thy offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13). How explicitly Jesus
declared that every one of His little ones who had believed in Him, should make
a sacrificial offering of themselves to God: and that every such “living
sacrifice” should be salted, not literally, but “with fire.” How very expressive
these two figures! Fire symbolizes the refining and purifying power of the
Spirit. Salt His office of preserving the saints; for says Christ, “Ye shall
receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” and Peter says, “We
are kept by the power of God through faith.” Thus, the Spirit is the Refiner’s
fire by which all our dross—unrighteousness—is consumed, and the salt by which
we are preserved, “Holy and without blame, before Him in love.” Therefore, says
Christ, “Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another;” that is, be
filled with the Spirit, and the result will be perfect fellowship, love and
peace. That the abiding reign of the Comforter is synonymous with entire
sanctification is further confirmed by the testimony of Paul and Peter. The
latter, referring to Cornelius, and his friends said:

And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He said, John indeed baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 11:15-16)

Referring to the same instance he said, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bear
them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no
difference between us, and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8-9)
Let us now hear Paul’s version of Gentile salvation, “That I should be the
minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that
the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:16). These Scriptures teach the following facts: 1. That
the plan of salvation is uniform. 2. The promise of the Father, or baptism of
the Holy Ghost and fire, was not to terminate with its fulfillment on the Day of
Pentecost, but that every disciple, whether “Jew or Gentile,” “after that he
believed, was to be sealed with the same Spirit of promise.” 3. That the
Gentiles did receive the Holy Spirit, according to the same promise, and in the
manner that the first disciples did; and that was after regeneration, by faith
and instantaneous. 4. That in receiving this baptismal fire they made themselves
an “offering” acceptable to God. 5. Peter identifies the Holy Ghost baptism of
the Gentiles with the purification of their hearts by faith and avers that there
was “no difference between us and them.” So there must have been a purification
of hearts on the Day of Pentecost. 6. Peter pronounces that Gentiles accepted of
God, because He had “shed forth upon them the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Paul
says they were “made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the
two apostles corroborate the Scriptures, already noticed in identifying entire
sanctification, purification of the heart, and baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Having established this identity, and the fact that the disciples received the
glorious experience after regeneration, I now prove by the following Scriptures
that the same order continued under the apostolic ministry: Acts 2:38-39;
8:5-17; 10:2-40, 41-47; 11:15-16; 19:2-6; Romans 5:1-5; Ephesians 1:13; 3:13-20;
Titus 3:4-5. These texts need but little comment. I will just call your
attention to the points of proof they contain. Perhaps few texts have been more
subjected to the controversial rack than Acts 2:38-39. Supposing that the only
distinctive reception of the Spirit is in connection with pardon, the orthodox
have been much perplexed to interpret it so as to avoid the doctrine, that
baptism must precede pardon; and while our disciple friends are compelled to
rely chiefly upon it to prove this, their favorite doctrine, it is at the same
time fatal to their dogma, that the “promise of the Father” terminated at
Pentecost and the house of Cornelius. It is a great pity that so much precious
time and labor is wasted in efforts to reconcile the Bible to the standpoint of
men; when the grace of God offers all an experience that will perfectly adjust
them to the Bible. To all who have received the “second grace,” this Scripture
comes very natural.

He said unto them, repent (repentance is unto life—terminates in pardon), and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for (because of) the
remission of sins; and (following all this) ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost; for the promise is unto you and your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

This promise was made to such, and only such, as had previously passed through
regeneration; hence, Peter is perfectly in order when he promises the Holy
Spirit after conversion.

SAMARITANS

Acts 8:5-17. “Philip preached Christ,” ”they gave heed” to the word, and “when
they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” We are also told,
“There was great joy in that city.” What was this if not the joy of pardon? The
news of this great revival soon reached Jerusalem . And when the apostles
learned “that Samaria had received the word of God,” they sent Peter and John
thither, “Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might
receive, (not pardon of sin, but) the Holy Ghost.” The Spirit had doubtless
given them knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins; but, as the
personal abiding Comforter, he had as yet, we are told, “fallen upon none of
them.” “Then laid they their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost.”
This record will only harmonize with the divine plan of two distinct degrees in
grace.

THE CASE OF CORNELIUS – ACTS 10,

It is thought, furnishes an instance, where conversion and the Holy Spirit
baptism were simultaneous. I do not cite this case particularly for proof, but
to show that it does not form an exception to the Bible order of two-fold
salvation. There are good reasons for believing that Cornelius was in a
justified state before Peter came to his house. Whatever was the moral condition
of Caiaphas the high priest, it is evident that he spake by inspiration when “he
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, (the Jews), and not for that
nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God
that were scattered abroad” (John 11:51-52). God had children outside of the
Jewish nation. “Other sheep,” said Christ, “I have, which are not of this fold”
(John 10:16). No one will doubt the true piety and justification of Zacharias
and Elizabeth; of Simon, of whom it is said that he was “just and devout.” Just
what is affirmed of Cornelius, of Anna and other saints of that age? If they
were children of God; why not Cornelius? He “was of good report among all the
nation of the Jews” (verse 22). Hence, he had all the means of grace they had.
He is declared to have been a “just man and one that feared God.” May we not
infer from this that he was a justified man? The word “feared,” (phobeo), though
sometimes used with reference to slavish fear, usually denotes filial regard for
God. Therefore, Robinson’s Standard New Testament Lexicon defines as follows:
“Morally, to fear, to reverence, to honor; also in the sense of religious awe
and piety; to worship, to adore God.” Cornelius surely was already accepted of
God; for says Peter, “In every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh
righteousness, is accepted with Him,” and this he did. But his religious status
is further described as being a “devout man.” There is no word in the English
language that ascribes a more full and intense religious character than the word
devout. Webster defines, “Devout, from devote, to dedicate. • Exercising the
feelings of reverence and worship. • Given up to religious feelings and duties.
• Absorbed in religious exercises—pious—reverent—sincere.” Devout is from
“eusebes,” the same word is rendered Godliness. 1 Timothy 2:2, 3:16. 4:8. 6:3,
5-6, 11; 2 Timothy 3:5; Titus 1:1; 2 Peter 1:3, 6-7, 3:11. Holiness. Acts 3:12.
Godly. 2 Peter 2:9; 2 Timothy 3:12; Titus 2:12. It is defined by Robinson’s
Standard New Testament Lexicon by piety, reverence, in the New Testament, only
as directed towards God; denoting the spontaneous feelings of the heart,
Godliness, righteousness, religion. To reverence and to worship God; “to be
religious—devout.” It is also highly probable that those “kinsmen and friends”
that he had called together were kindred spirits with him in the worship of God.
“He gave much alms, and prayed to God always;” he also fasted, and his prayers,
alms and fasting were not pharisaical, but they “came up before God,” and were
“accepted.” Would you not know such a man by his fruits to be a true Christian?
His fervent piety and devotion was recognized by his servants, by all the nation
of the Jews, by Peter, and by God Himself, who showed a special regard for Him
by sending an angel to confer with him and for his sake rebuked Peter saying,
“What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common or unclean.” Some one may
say, that if he were a child of God already, why is it that Peter was to “tell
him words whereby he and his house should be saved?” I answer that God “saves us
by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Salvation,
it is here seen, applies both to regeneration and the experience received by
Cornelius. See Acts 11:14-15. Cornelius knew God, whom to know is eternal life;
and, like the Samaritans, only needed some one to teach him the “unsearchable
riches” to which he was a full heir. Christ said the world cannot receive the
Holy Comforter; but Cornelius did receive it; hence, like the first disciple, he
was “not of the world;” was not an alien. Next we consider the

TWELVE DISCIPLES AT EPHESUS . – ACTS 19:1-6.

These were recognized as disciples and believers. Their pardon of sin, and faith
in Christ was not at all questioned by Paul; but “Have ye received the Holy
Ghost since ye believed?” He well knew that they received the witness of the
Spirit to their pardon when they believed; but, with a view of “perfecting these
saints,” he talks to them of a full and distinct measure of the Holy Ghost to be
received “after that ye believed.” If Paul did not believe in the reception of
the Spirit of God as a personal indwelling Comforter subsequent to conversion,
his question could have no meaning at all. It cannot be denied that this
language bears upon its very face the idea that true faith and discipleship does
exist distinct from and prior to the complete anointing of special power. Either
the one work theory is incompatible with the “faith once delivered to the
saints,” or the apostle’s question is, for the two will not harmonize with each
other; hence cannot both be consistent with the divine plan. Either Paul was out
of order in asking such a question, or religious teachers are badly out of
order—yea criminal—in the sight of God for not urging the same question now. Of
this glorious gift of the Spirit, these believers had not yet been apprised; but
they now received it by the laying on of Paul’s hands. It will do no good to say
that this was an abnormal case; that they had not been properly converted;
therefore were re-baptized by Paul. Even if we admit all this, it is evident
that Paul knew better than to baptize unpardoned sinners, and yet they received
the Holy Spirit after baptism. But I do not think they were re-baptized. 1.
Because their case did not parallel with that of the Samaritans and Apollos:
“Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8:16). “Knowing
only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). “They said unto John’s baptism” (Acts
19:3). These expressions signify the same thing, i.e., the act of baptism as an
expression of faith in Christ and the sign of a new life. This Christian rite
was introduced under John’s administration, hence is called John’s baptism in
contradistinction to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is preeminently
Christ’s baptism; see Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5 and 11:16. If the former two cases
did not require re-baptism, why these Ephesians? 2. Their supposed re-baptism is
based upon just what John had preached. (Verse 4) Paul would not repeat their
baptism on a reiteration of the same faith they had been baptized in. 3. Believe
on Him that should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard
this (i.e. when they heard John thus preach Christ), they were baptized. The
baptism here spoken of was in the faith of a Savior yet to be made manifest. 4.
When were they baptized? “When they heard.” Emphatic Diaglott: “When they had
heard; i.e., “when they had heard” John “ saying to the people that they should
believe on Him which should come; they were baptized.” The italic “this” in the
expression “When they heard this,” naturally connects their baptism with Paul’s
teaching; but that word is not in the original text at all. Remove it and the
inferences are all in favor of the above conclusion. However, as already stated,
whether baptized or not, they received the Holy Ghost in His fullness and
impartation of the gifts after conversion and water baptism. Next, on two-fold
salvation we will have the

TESTIMONY OF PAUL, ROMANS 5:1-5.

First comes justification by faith through Christ: “By Whom, also, we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God;” and even “glory in tribulations:” and “our hope maketh not
ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
which (in this grace following justification), is given unto us.” Thus, the
infilling of the Holy Spirit is not connected with justification but with the
“also” grace.

PAUL’S TESTIMONY CONTINUED. EPHESIANS.

“In whom, also, after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise.” (Ephesians 1:13)

The gift of the Spirit here referred to is that which Christ designated as “the
promise of the Father,” and the “Comforter,” which, He said, “The world could
not receive;” but the church, with whom He already dwelt, and, in the perfected
state, “shall be in them;” hence it was not received in conversion, but, “after
that they believed.” That the Ephesians were truly converted and adopted into
the family of God at the time of Paul’s writing to them is clearly recognized by
him. See Ephesians 2:1, 5, 10, 19. But, thinking that some of them had not
reached the glorious temple state, the hallowed indwelling of God, he offered
the following prayer for them, which embraces the experience that was received
on the day of Pentecost: Ephesians 3: in verses 2, 4, 8, 9, 11, he speaks of
“the great mystery of Christ,” “the unsearchable riches of Christ, which God had
“purposed in Christ Jesus,” and which he was specially appointed to preach and
make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. Now all this imports the
glorious hidden life of the fully saved; hence the prayer, “That God would grant
you, according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with the might, by
His Spirit, in the inner man.” This petition embraces the richer and higher
grace, the sinless and all harmonizing “glory” that Christ gives to the church
(John 17:22, Hebrews 2:11); and the “power” He promised (Luke 24:49). “That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Compare John 14:24. “That ye, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all (perfected)
saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love
of Christ which passeth all knowledge.” This prayer comprehends all the
communicable fullness of divine love perfected in the soul by the purification
of the heart and the gift of the Holy Spirit. See 1 Timothy 1:5 and Romans 5:5.
“That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” This wonderful petition
is parallel with the promise of Christ to the first church (John 14:23), and
that of Paul to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 6:16 and 7:1). With perfect
uniformity between the labors of Christ and the apostles: both made
disciples—led them through “the regeneration”—and then directed their minds
forward to a purification and fullness of the Spirit of power, and love to be
subsequently received. Neither intimated that this blessed state should be
attained by works, or gradual development; “But,” says Christ, “I will pray the
Father and He will give you another Comforter, and Paul prayed that “the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ would grant them to be strengthened with might by the
Spirit,” et cetera. And, lest they should think his prayer fanatical or
transcending divine grace, he concludes by giving “glory to Him that is able to
do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think;” and then confirms it
with his own experience: “according to the power that worketh in us.” This
proves not only a “second grace,” but also that it was divinely wrought. I
conclude with

PAUL’S TESTIMONY TO TITUS,

in which he fully sets forth God’s way of salvation, which is, “not by works of
righteousness which we have done; but according to His mercy He saved us by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which is shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:5-6). Paul here lays down
the moving cause of our salvation—God’s mercy. 1. The procuring cause—“Through
Jesus Christ our Lord.” 2. The process of salvation—“Regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The full reception of the Holy Spirit is declared
to be distinct from, and posterior to regeneration, because, A. There could be
no propriety in mentioning the renewing and abundant out-pouring of the Spirit
apart from and subsequently to regeneration if all were included in that one
work. B. Because the language seems to have special reference to the out-pouring
of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, which was upon regenerated believers. C.
The apostle presents this Pentecost baptism preceded by regeneration as the
uniform manner in which “God saves us.” D. The Spirit baptism here referred to
as following the new birth has no allusion to the ordinary refreshings of the
Spirit common to a devout life; because it is represented as perfecting our
salvation began in regeneration. E. It is also called a “renewing” because it
renews us in the true knowledge and pure image of God as first created; hence
Paul exhorts his brethren at Rome to render their “bodies a living sacrifice” to
God, and be “transformed by the renewing of their minds,” that they might prove
the perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2). To the Ephesians he says, “And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, that ye put on the new man, which, after
God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:23-24) See also
the following parallel texts all describing a work after justification: 2
Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10; Hebrews 12:10; 1 John 4:17; 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Thus, we have shown, by clear Scripture proofs, that the disciples of Christ
were first justified, then received the full measure of the Spirit; that the
baptism of the Spirit and entire sanctification are inclusive of each other;
and, that the order established in the first subjects of the kingdom of Christ,
was carried out by the apostles and is God’s uniform plan.

O, precious, cleansing power divine, Thou sanctifying Holy Ghost! Descend, and
fully now refine, As on the day of Pentecost.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: 5. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION A DISTINCT GRACE
========================================================================

All Christian teachers agree that Israel ’s bondage in Egypt represents the
vassalage of sin. Their deliverance under Moses, (who was a figure of Christ),
their passage through the Red Sea , and song of praise foreshadow the joy of
pardon; and that the sojourn in the wilderness typifies the life of the
justified Christian. Thus far all agree because they have come over the road;
but there is not such harmony as to the spiritual counterpart of the land of
Canaan . All can see that it relates to a state beyond mere justification and,
ignorant of the perfected Christ-life in the soul, the wilderness saint sees no
Beulah Land between him and heaven; hence is forced to make it the antitype of
Canaan . There is, however, no Scripture for this application, and but little
analogy. Heaven is a holy place and Canaan represents holiness. Otherwise Canaan
would not be a true type of heaven at all. We will not find heaven filled with
idolatrous worshipers; we will have no battles to fight nor foes to exterminate
there. Canaan represents a state of conflicts and victories; a state of
probation. See Deuteronomy 4:25-26, 8:19-20, and 30:17-20. As time dispels the
haze that partially obscures prophetic truth, so experience lifts the veil from
the heart and enlightens the eyes of our understanding in the wonders of grace
“that we may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the
glory of His inheritance in the saints.” It is a remarkable fact that every
believer who passes through the all-cleansing blood of Jesus at once adopts the
language of Canaan and recognizes the “land where milk and honey flows.” They
cease to sing of the “foe that dwells within,” and the “howling wilderness,”
etc., and they sing a new song of the land of cloudless day.

A land of rest from inbred sin, Where Jesus lives and reigns within.

If the Bible does not point to entire sanctification as our spiritual Canaan ,
then all our songs and human testimony will amount to nothing. Do you think,
dear reader, that this will be difficult to prove by the Bible? Indeed; we have
on this point the most precious and extensive veins of divine truth. Jesus
denominated the gift of the Holy Ghost the “Promise of the Father” (Luke 24:29;
Acts 1:4-5). Hence, this great blessing must have been, in a very special
manner, promised by the Father. When and to whom was this promise made? This
question leads us into a blessed region of divine light. I humbly and gratefully
acknowledge my indebtedness to the Holy Spirit for conducting me into this
“large place,” of glorious Bible truth. We have a direct answer to the above
inquiry in Galatians 3:13-18: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law
being made a curse for us . . . that the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; thought it be but a
man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man dissannulleth or addeth thereto.
Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made . . . For if the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
So we see that the gift of the Holy Ghost was originally promised by God himself
to Abraham: therefore is called by Christ the promise of the Father.” Paul also
informs us that this “promise of the Spirit” was included in the covenant that
God made with Abraham. This covenant you will find in Genesis 12:1-7 and 17:1-8.
The blessings therein vouchsafed may be summed up in the following three
promises:

In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. I will multiply thy
seed until they become as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon
the seashore. And I will give unto the and unto thy seed all the land of Canaan
, for an everlasting possession. Now, as Paul by inspiration points to the
“everlasting covenant” as containing the “promise of the Father,” we must so
interpret one of these three promises; but, fortunately, they are all
interpreted by the Apostle himself:

Thy seed, (in the singular) which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) But what of the
innumerable seed promised to Abraham? His literal descendents were, indeed,
numerous, but does this promise refer to them particularly? Paul says not. See
Romans 9:7-8. Who then? “Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, to
the end, that promise might be sure to all the seed; not that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all” (Romans 4:16). “Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham.” “And if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s
seed and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). Every convert of the
cross from the dawn of the Gospel to the close of time constitutes this great
family. Thank the Lord, dear Christian reader, that we are included in the
promised seed! Now, to father Abraham and all this spiritual seed, God has in
the most solemn manner covenanted and sworn by himself to “give the land of
Canaan for an everlasting possession.” How shall we understand this? Have you,
dear reader, taken up your abode in Canaan —your new birthright? We have seen so
far that the covenant had a spiritual import; does this point form an exception
and refer to literal Canaan ? If so, there was no “promise of the Spirit” in
this covenant. But Paul says there is, and does not so interpret either of the
preceding promises; hence the one under consideration must be so applied, unless
we conclude that Paul was mistaken. But would a literal application comport with
the facts in the case? Did God really give Abraham a perpetual abode in the land
of Canaan ? Nay “He gave him none inheritance in it; no, not so much as to set
his foot on” (Acts 7:5). When he pitched his tent there, he did not recognize it
as the promised inheritance, but “he sojourned in the land of promise as in a
strange country.” He understood the promise in a spiritual sense; “For he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews
11:9-10). It is scarcely necessary to add that a literal application would not
be true of the seed. There is nothing in the Bible nor in the history of the
church that would support the idea that God ever intended that, from all the
nations of the earth, men and women should migrate to the land of Canaan , on
becoming Christians. As proof that the promise does not mean the literal Canaan,
nor yet heaven, observe that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwelt in that land, died
and went to heaven: nevertheless they “received not the promise; God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made
perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40). This is plain. The promised inheritance refers to
some special blessing that is peculiar to the present Holy Ghost dispensation.
Therefore, until manifest in these last days for which it was designed, the
exact meaning of the promise was a secret, locked up in the divine mind. It was
the “glory that was to follow the suffering of Christ which the prophets so
“diligently searched” into, and even the “angels desired to look into” (1 Peter
1:10). This Canaan state, which the prophets died without seeing, is also spoken
of in Hebrews 9:8; “The Holy Ghost, thus signifying that the way into the way
into the holiest of all, was not yet made manifest, while as the first
tabernacle was yet standing.” But the “veil is done away in Christ,” and Paul
announces to this Hebrew brethren that we “have boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19-20). The
spiritual city—Abraham’s ideal of the promised Canaan; for which he looked—Paul
says we have finally “come unto,” even the “Church of the First Born”—of course,
in its normal state of perfect holiness. “The darkness is past, and the true
light now shineth.” The long expected, but incomprehensible reign of the Spirit
of God has appeared. As announced to the Ephesians, God “has made known unto us
the mystery of His will;” doubtless, that which he committed to Abraham wherein
He promised to give His seed the land of Canaan: for the Apostle adds that it
consists in the perfect unification of things in heaven and on earth, even in
“Christ, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1:10-11). What
beautiful harmony we see in the blessed Bible. The unmanifest way into “the
holiest,” the great “salvation” or glory that was to follow the suffering of
Christ, even the promised Canaan inheritance that was so long veiled in mystery
is at last made know to us as the moral state of perfect holiness, or perfect
oneness with Heaven. The Word of God places this truth beyond doubt or cavil.
Paul positively affirms that, in the covenant God made with Abraham, there was a
certain “blessing that came on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,” and, in order
to define the same, he immediately adds, “that we might receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith;” which he identifies with the inheritance God gave to
Abraham by promise. Now, there was no inheritance promised in that covenant but
Canaan . Therefore, it follows that the land of Canaan promised to all the seed
of Abraham (all believers in Christ) is the “promise of the Father,” or the
baptism of the Holy Ghost. Therefore all that are “filled with the Spirit,”
“that dwell in love,” and “in God,” and “God in them,” have taken up their
God-given abode on the temple side of Jordan. Hallelujah! Amen!! Now, this land
must be entered from the wilderness, and not directly from Egypt . As God opened
the water twice in bringing Israel from Egypt to Canaan —a wilderness life
intervening between the two miraculous passages, where there was a great deal of
internal strife and murmuring, but where they also had sweet manna. So, divine
power delivers from the bondage of sin and guilt. Then follows the mixed state
of nature and grace; where “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit
against the flesh.” But, “He giveth more grace.” As soon as we are willing to
die to sin, we leave the wilderness and inherit the land of full and everlasting
rest in God.

SANCTIFICATION THE INHERITANCE

Having seen that the oracles of God clearly teach that the land of Canaan is
typical of the full possession of the Sprit, which is identical with the
sanctified state, we now observe that for this reason the Apostle speaks of
sanctification as an inheritance to be entered after justification, but in this
life:

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them which are
sanctified. (Acts 20:32)

The sanctified are here represented as possessing an inheritance peculiar to
them. The persons addressed being “brethren,” have access to the same. It was
not a development of the grace already possessed by them, but something that God
was to “give” them through the “word of His grace.” It was, therefore, a Gospel
privilege—a Bible state of grace. We are told that Christ commissioned Paul a
special herald of His Gospel to the Gentiles. “To open their eyes, and to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may
receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18). Here, again, the sanctified are said to have
entered an inheritance. And, through the light and power of the Gospel committed
to Paul, the people were to receive: FIRST—“The forgiveness of sin.” SECOND—“An
inheritance among them that are sanctified.” To say that these are identical in
essence would be a direct contradiction of the Word, for the coordinate
conjunction “and” connects dissimilar elements. To say that they are one in
point of time is contrary to the whole tenor of the Scripture, as well as
universal experience. In witnessing the conversion of several hundred souls, I
do not recollect of hearing one profess entire sanctification in connection with
pardon. Indeed, I have never known preachers and old disciples to venture the
assertion, until they came in contact with, and in opposition to those who
witness to it as a distinct attainment. Now I ask, does not our Heavenly Father
give us the witness of the Spirit to all that He does for us? Philemon 6. Again,
does not a Bible experience usually find utterance in Bible language? Why then
do converts say, “The Lord has pardoned all my sins?” “I have found peace with
God,” etc., but never say, “The God of Peace has sanctified me wholly,” “Washed
me whiter than snow,” “Perfected me in love,” etc? This can only be accounted
for by the fact that they have received the former experience; but not that
represented by the latter terms. If entire sanctification is coincident with
pardon, do not all who profess the latter and not the former, dishonor God by
confessing but a part of what he has done for them? And yet I know of no
minister who insists upon believers acknowledging the sanctifying grace of God,
except such as have themselves “received the Holy Ghost since they believed.”
Some, observing that in the Bible order this inheritance of sanctification is
entered after pardon, conclude that it refers to heaven; but it should be
observed that it sustains the same relation to Paul’s preaching that pardon
does. If, therefore, the one is the direct effect of the Gospel, the other is
also; each of course, to be induced by their respective Scripture promises and
in their proper order. Therefore, under this commission the great Missionary
says: “I showed first unto them of Damascus , and at Jerusalem , and throughout
all the coasts of Judea , and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn
to God, and do works meet for repentance.” I leave out the italic “then,” it not
being in the original, nor other versions. The meaning evidently is that in all
these places he preached repentance first. The translators, knowing nothing of
the successive degrees in Gospel salvation, thought it necessary to insert
“then” to complete the Apostle’s meaning. Jesus did not say “an inheritance
among them who had gone to heaven,” nor yet “among them that were sanctified at
death,” as some would teach; but “among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in Me.” So this inheritance is entered by faith. “Now faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.” It is, therefore, a Gospel privilege something
in the Father’s will for His children—yes, “this is the will of God, even your
sanctification!” This Canaan of perfect love, being only accessible by faith in
the preached Gospel, must be entered in this life. After acknowledging that the
Ephesians had been “quickened,” “saved by grace,” and were “fellow citizens with
the saints,” the Apostle speaks to them of an “abounding wisdom” of God and the
deep mystery of His will, “according to His good pleasure, which He hath
purposed in Himself.” “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He
might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,
and which are on earth, even in Him in whom also we have obtained an
inheritance” (Ephesians 1:8-11). The Apostle, thinking it probable that some of
these brethren had not yet entered this promised land, and ever solicitous for
the “perfecting of the saints,” adds, “Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks
for you making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him; the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of this inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:15-18). It
appears to me that I should emphasize every thought in this wonderful prayer
that was offered for these members of the household of God. Is not here a second
work taught? Paul had heard of their “faith and love,” and then prays that God
would give them a knowledge of this glorious inheritance of wisdom, light and
power, which implies an experience of the same. Parallel with this is the
Apostle’s prayer for the Colossians. Having learned of Epaphras their “love in
the Spirit,” he says: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not
cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge
of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:8-9). The
object of this second and wonderful grace, we are informed, is “That ye might
walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good word,
and increasing in the knowledge of God.” When the heart is made “pure even as He
(Christ) is pure,” we can “walk even as He walked.” When God “walks in us,” it
will be “all pleasing” in His sight, not up and down, crooked and straight, now
pleasing, then displeasing. The purged vine will also produce all good and more
abundant fruit and “increase” more rapidly than before. Paul continues the
description of the higher life thus: “Strengthened with all might, according to
His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering, with joyfulness, giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light (Ephesians 1:11-12). Halleluiah! What a land
of wonders and full of the excellent glory! Those who have crossed the Jordan of
death to sin are in the “inheritance of the saints in light.” What does this
mean? Why “the Lord thy God is thy everlasting light;” for “he that dwelleth in
love, dwelleth in God, and God in him,” and “God is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all.” And in those who have advanced from the wilderness or mixed
state to the “new commandment” of “perfect love,” we are told, “the darkness is
past and the true light now shineth.” Again, “if we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus, His
Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” The inheritance of the saints consists,
therefore, in dwelling in the pure light of God and freedom from all sin. Let us
follow the Apostle a little farther. He tells us that the great burthen of his
ministry was not for sinners, but “for you to fulfill the word of God,” or
preach the fullness of the Gospel of salvation; “even the mystery, which hath
been hid from ages, and from generations, but now is made manifest to His
saints—to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery—among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom we
preach, warning every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:25-29). Here the mysterious inheritance is said
to consist in having “Christ in you—the hope of glory”—and being made “perfect
in Christ Jesus.” What a magnificent picture of this delectable land the blessed
Spirit has drawn in these two chapters! It appears to me that all the wisdom and
energy of the Holy Ghost has been employed in efforts to find language adequate
to describe the greatness an absolute importance of this higher Christian grace,
and sublime enough to portray its exceeding beauty. Behold, it is “all
patience,” “longsuffering with joyfulness,” “all wisdom and prudence,” and the
very “Spirit of wisdom,” it is the “inheritance of the saints in light,” yea,
“the riches of the glory of the inheritance,” and it is “all might, according to
His glorious power.” “The working of His might power,” even the “exceeding
greatness of His power.” We may conclude that glorious description with
Ephesians 1:4, “That we be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Can you
not see, dear reader, that an experience combining all these is of paramount
importance? Is it not the chief good of the kingdom of grace? The above
perfectly agrees with the promises of Christ to His disciples and the sublime
experience they received on the Day of Pentecost and exemplified in after life.
Through this “glorious power,” the world was brought down before God in
penitence. No wonder, therefore, that God would make known to al the saints “the
riches of the glory of this mystery.” No wonder that Paul “also labored,
striving according to His working” to “present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus,” and it is no wonder that Satan rages whenever this glorious inheritance
is presented to the people in its Gospel light, because it is the very power
that is to demolish his vile kingdom. Thus far, I have shown that the Canaan
inheritance presented to all the seed of Abraham—all Christians—is positively
declared to be the gift of the Holy Ghost; and sanctification, and these are
inclusive of each other. Now for the edification of the reader, let us look at
this

INHERITANCE AS SET FORTH IN THE PROPHETS.

The prophetic eye of Israel ’s sweet Psalmist saw this delectable land and
exclaimed: “O, ye seed of Abraham, His servants, ye children of Jacob, His
chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He hath
remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand
generations. Which covenant, He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac; and
confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and unto Israel for an everlasting
covenant; saying unto thee, will I give the Land of Canaan, the lot of your
inheritance” (Psalm 105:6-11.). The only reasonable interpretation of this
language is that the seed addressed are spiritual seed or believers; and Canaan
the spiritual “inheritance of the saints in light.” Who would suppose that one
spot of earth were so much better than all else as to be the subject of such a
sacred and oft repeated promise solemnized even by the oath of the Almighty. A
covenant vouchsafing a portion of land could not be everlasting for the “ earth
shall be burned up.” This covenant, we are told, God “confirmed unto Jacob for a
law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant saying, “unto thee will I give
the land of Canaan .” The covenant concerning the land of Canaan , a law for
Jacob—the church! How is this? Simply thus: entire sanctification is identical
with perfect love; and “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
“Yea, all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). You see, dear reader, that precious
country where “flows milk and honey” is love, “sweet love, out of a pure heart.”
“He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” O! Blissful
“inheritance of the saints in light,” for God is light! In Isaiah 32:1-2 Christ
is announced as a “King that shall reign in righteousness,” as “a hiding place,”
“rivers of water,” “shadow of a great rock.” Then follows the desolation of the
dark age “when upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briars.” This
shall continue “until the Spirit be poured on us from on high,” and, as a
result, we are told “the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful fields
be counted for a forest” (Isaiah 32:13-15). This is very plain truth for our
day. The bareness of the church terminates with the outpouring of the Spirit
when she merges from a wilderness state into that of a fruitful field. But, when
the original life and power is thus restored she shall be hated and persecuted
by the old serpent, the “accuser of the brethren.” She will excite much
suspicion and be renounced as a “forest”—a jungle of fanaticism. “But wisdom is
justified of her children.” Let all who thus renounce this work consider the
result, for “Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and righteousness
remain in the fruitful field” (Isaiah 32:16). When the light comes and the
command to “pass over” this Jordan, and the “promised land possess—the land of
perfect holiness”—all who refuse will find “judgment in the wilderness.”
Darkness is the inevitable result of rejecting the light of full salvation.
Refusing the “more grace,” “that which they have shall be taken away from them.”
With many, indeed, it is only “that which they seem to have”—the mere “name to
live”—that vanishes before the searching light of the pure Gospel of God. He who
will take the pains to notice will find, as a rule, that complaints of the
church’s deadness and failure of revival efforts constitute the reports that
come from places where holiness had been definitely preached and rejected.
Though men brand this as confusion and an evil work, the Prophet has declared
“the work of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.” And, praise God,
all who have ceased form the wilderness,

Roam through weary years Of inbred sin, and doubts and fears.

Now “dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in sure dwelling, and in quiet resting
places” (Isaiah 32:16-19). This chapter clearly teaches the transition of the
church from a wilderness to a glorious and fruitful state and identifies that
change with the “promise of the Father,” or outpouring of the Spirit. In
connection with the preceding, read Ezekiel 36:25-29. Though addressed by the
prophet to the Jewish nation, which was a type of the church; this is clearly
the language of Gospel salvation. It denotes deliverance from the Babel of
sectism and carnality, of which the return from Babylon was typical. In this
divine transformation we have the following features: I will purify you from all
“filthiness: and save “you from all uncleanness.” 2. “I will put my Spirit
within you.” Here is a clear allusion to the covenanted promise of the Father to
all the seed of Abraham, which Paul said “came on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ” (Galatians 3:14). If we were to apply this to the Jewish nation when
returning from literal Babylon , it was not fulfilled. It is only in the “last
days,” saith the Lord, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” 3. “I will
gather you out of all countries.” That is, I will unite them all in perfect love
and “fellowship with the Father and with His Son,” and “one with another.” “For
he that sanctifieth, and they which are sanctified are all of one” (Hebrews
2:11). Perfect purity solves the problem of Christian union thoroughly. Though
it does not at once remove all error from the head, it purges the heart from all
carnality—the real source of all “envy, strife and division”—and thus “gathers
out of all the disintegrated parties of Christendom a united force for God. They
do not necessarily sever their former church relations but, what is far more
important, they are completely emancipated from the inglorious coop of party
spirit and party interest and united in the common cause of human salvation. 4.
“I will bring you into your own land that I gave to your father.” Now Paul says
that this land was given to all believers. He does not even interpret the
covenant as including a promise to give the natural offspring of Abraham the
literal Canaan . Neither did God feel Himself bound by His oath to give Abraham
an inheritance therein. The promise then, being spiritual, must be so understood
in this Scripture, which beautifully harmonizes with the Bible throughout in
identifying the “promised land: with perfect purity, “fullness: and “unity of
the Spirit.” The above interpretation is positively confirmed by the prophet in
Amos 9:11-15, “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is
fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I
will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth
this. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the
reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall
drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the
captivity of my people of Israel , and they shall build the waste cities, and
inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon
their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have
given them, saith the LORD thy God.” This prediction, all can see, is of the
same import the two preceding are. If you turn to Acts 15:14-17, you will find
that the Apostle James quotes from the above prophecy and applies it to the
salvation of the Gentiles; hence we have inspired authority for applying these
prophesies to full Gospel salvation. Therefore, entering the land that God gave
to the seed of Abraham simply means induction into the glorious state of entire
sanctification. But we must not close without giving the prophet Zechariah a
chance to add his testimony in confirmation of the above fact. As he beholds
from the mount of inspiration

The land of rest from inbred sin, Where Jesus lives and reigns within.

His soul is filled with the music of praise and as if anticipating the joyful
hallelujahs that incessantly go up from the church in this borderland of heaven,
he cries out saying, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and
I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be
joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the
midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me unto
thee. And the Lords shall inherit Judah , His portion in the holy land”
(Zechariah 2:10-12). As here foretold, the Lord has come many nations have been
joined to Him; but not fathered into literal Canaan . Therefore, the “holy land”
where Christ dwells in the midst of His people and inherits Judah—the church—a
moral state as the name itself implies; for it is only when “the temple is holy”
that “ye are the temple of God,” or that ye are indwelt of the Lord and have
part in the holy land. In chapter 13:1-2, we are told that “in that day there
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem , for sin and uncleanness.” This two-fold remedy justifies us from all
the sins we have committed and, when light has revealed the impurity of our
inherited nature, faith again touches the atonement and the soul is made “whiter
than show.” Immediately following the above text, the prophet adds:

And it shall come to pass in that day (the day of the open fountain—Gospel day),
saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the
land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets
and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

When we come to this fountain of cleansing every idol, every Canaanite must be
put to death and the land of our inheritance cleansed from every unclean spirit.
This holy seer concludes his sublime prophecy in the following beautiful and
highly figurative language. “In that day,” after announcing the coming of Christ
(Zechariah 2:10), every salient reference to the work of redemption is referred
to “that day,” meaning of course the present reign of the Sprit of grace; see
Zechariah 13:18, also 12:2-11, where it is anon used with reference to the
destruction of Jerusalem: “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the
horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like
the bowls before the altar; yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be
holiness unto the Lord of hosts . . . and in that day there shall be no more the
Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 14:20-12). This is a
lively picture of the all absorbing nature of perfect holiness in which the soul
is so transported and swallowed up that it “shall be in him a well of water,
springing up into everlasting” praises to God and the “beauty of holiness.” Such
will necessarily appear hobbyists. The whole “body being full of light; the eye
will be single;” they shall see Jesus only. Yea, they determine to know nothing
save Jesus, the uttermost Savior. Everything dwindles into insignificance before
the crowning glory of holiness. Being “pure in heart,” they “see God” in all His
works and desire everything in the universe to bear the insignia of “holiness
unto the Lord.” Instead of a precept of the divine law; a mere point in the way,
the fully renewed soul finds that perfect “love” sums up ”all the law,” and
holiness is the “highway” itself. Hence it properly enters into and governs
every minutia of life. Holiness a hobby! Why no person this side of hell has
anything to do but drink in the holiness of God, fulfill its obligations in our
several relations, and show forth its divine power and beauty. Yes, holiness
shall be written upon the “bells of the horses, upon every pot in Jerusalem
”—the church—and “her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness unto the Lord”
(Isaiah 23:18). It is the one only trademark in all God’s “holy mountain.” It
shines in the kitchen and pervades all business, for we should cook, eat and
drink and do all things to the glory of God and the promotion of holiness. Now
it is expressly said that “in that day, ” i.e., in the present Holy Spirit
dispensation, and wherever this glorious reign of holiness is established. In
that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts.
Holiness is here identified with the extermination of all Canaanites: hence the
taking of the land of Canaan is typical of entering the state of perfect purity
after leaving Egypt —the sinner’s bondage—and passing through the wilderness, or
justified state. How, I ask, can we account for the idea of the Canaanites being
in “the house of God, which is the church of the living God,” in this Gospel
day, unless we interpret them as representing the manifestations of the flesh,
or inbred depravity; which Paul says, “wars against the Spirit;” which “sin in
the flesh,” Christ having “condemned,” is now under sentence to be “crucified”
and entirely “destroyed;” just as God gave orders that not a Canaanite should be
spared alive and every trace of their idolatrous worship should be blotted out
of the land. What a striking figure of the work of our Joshua, who leads us into
the Canaan of perfect love; “destroys the works of the devil;” “makes and end of
sin in us and perfects forever them which are sanctified.” The passage of the
Red Sea, as far as I am aware, is believed by all to represent justification,
yet the Scriptures are for more explicit in applying the passage of Jordan to
the entrance of perfect holiness. In reading the exodus from Egypt the newborn
soul looks into the mirror of his own experience. So all who have entered the
rest of faith, the glorious Sabbath of the soul, find in the passage of Jordan
and triumphs of Canaan , an exact counterpart to their experience. But many yet
“disbelieve the Lord in this thing,” and disobey His orders to drive out and
destroy these inborn foes; hence, they infest the house of the Lord—pride,
anger, malice, covetousness, self-will, impatience, unbelief, etc. These destroy
the peace, canker all the fruit, and paralyze the power of the church; as the
Lord hath said, “Those which ye have left remaining of them have become pricks
in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and snares, traps and vexing scourges”
(Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13). Hear again what the spirit saith:

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant
David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the
world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all
that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his
holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would
grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might
serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days
of our life. (Luke 1:67-75)

Here we are told that, “in remembrance of His holy covenant,” God was “about to
perform the mercy “promised to our fathers,” “the oath which He sware to
Abraham.” Now, the great blessing vouchsafed in that covenant to the seed of
Abraham (Christians, Galatians 3:7-20) was the land of Canaan, which the Holy
Spirit thus interprets: 1. “That He would grant unto us, that we, being
delivered out of the hand of all our enemies”—i.e., Canaanites or inbred sin,
for nothing but sin prevents from serving God. Therefore, says Paul, “Being made
free from sin, and become servants to God, we have our fruit unto holiness.” 2.
“Might serve God without fear,” that is, in “perfect love,” which “casts out
fear.” 3. “In holiness and righteousness.” This is parallel with the passage in
Zechariah, which identifies the reign of holiness with the extinction of all
Canaanites. This interprets the promised Canaan as consisting in the possession
of the Holy state. 4. “Before Him,” not before men who judge unrighteously, but
before “God, who knoweth the hearts,” the holy can walk and be perfect. 5. “All
the days of our life,”—praise God! In this “holy land” the purified are
constantly “kept by the power of God,” “holy and without blame before Him in
love.” That you may see, dear reader, that the moral state just described, is
the antitype of Canaan , I place side by side the covenant and its explanation
by the Holy Ghost.

O, ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen. He is the
Lord our God. He hath remembered his covenant forever . . . which covenant He
made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob
for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. To perform the mercy
promised to our father, and to remember His holy covenant: the oath which he
sware to our father, Abraham. Saying, unto thee will I give the land of Canaan ,
the lot of your inheritance. (Psalm 105:6-11) That He would grant unto us, that
we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. (Luke
1:72-75)

Speaking of the same everlasting covenant, the Holy Spirit inserts deliverance
and holiness just where the original has the land of Canaan; therefore, as
already demonstrated, the real land of promise is holiness of heart and all its
concomitant blessings. This accounts for the fact that the prophets so often
associated the idea of purification with bringing into the land, and also the
New Testament frequently identifies sanctification with inheritance; and, as
holiness is the everlasting inheritance of the saints, we can have it now. O,
blessed truth!

We now the promised land possess, The land of perfect holiness— Where streams of
milk and honey flow, And rich supplies in plenty grow.

It is true, the final location of our “inheritance is reserved in heaven for
us,” but the eternal state of our inheritance is perfect holiness, which must be
entered now by faith, and through the blood of Christ. Heaven is both a state
and place, and as no one can enter and enjoy that holy place who is not
perfectly conformed thereto, there must, of necessity, be a complete
assimilation of our present inheritance, or heaven state to our future
inheritance, or heaven abode. Therefore, “Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water,
by the Word; that He might present it to Himself a glorious church not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blame” (Ephesians 5:26-27). He brings her into the inheritance of the fully
sanctified preparatory to her pure angelic home. That the reader may take in at
a glance this harmonious array of Bible truth, I close this chapter with a
catechetical epitome of the same. Question. What did God promise in the covenant
He made with Abraham? Answer. • In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed. • I will multiply thy seed until they become as numerous as the
stars of heaven, and as the sands upon the sea shore. • I will give unto thee
and thy seed all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. Q. Who is the
seed spoken of in the first promise? A. He saith not, and to seeds as of many,
but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) Q. Who are the
numerous seed of the second promise? A. All who are of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of all that believe (Romans 4:11-12). Know ye therefore that they
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:7 and
29). Every child of God from the beginning of the Gospel of Christ to the close
of time constitutes this great family. Q. What did God promise to give every one
of His spiritual seed, or all Christians? A. All the land of Canaan . Q. How did
Christ interpret this promise of the Father? A. He applied it to the baptism of
the Holy Ghost; power from on high. (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4-5) Q. When began
the fulfillment of the promise? A. On the Day of Pentecost. Q. Have we positive
proof that the promised Canaan is identical with the gift of the Spirit? A. Yes.
In the third of Galatians, Paul says: That the blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit by faith. The blessing promised to Abraham for all believers is declared
to be the promise of the Spirit; and, in verse 18, it is identified with the
inheritance that God promised. Now, the inheritance promised was the land of
Canaan , which, therefore, represents the full possession of the Spirit of God.
Q. Who have entered this inheritance? A. Them that are sanctified. (Acts 20:32,
26:18) Q. Is the baptism of the Spirit and entire sanctification one and the
same thing? A. Yes. By sanctification we are purified unto the Lord, and the
Holy Spirit is the Refiner’s fire that takes away all our dross, or impurity. Q.
How do we enter this holy land? A. By faith. That they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith. Therefore, it
is by faith that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed (Romans 4:16). Purifying their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9). Q. How
is the inheritance conveyed to us? A. It is bestowed on us by our Father in
heaven, in His last will and testament. THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD, even your
sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:10). Q. Who are embraced
in the will as entitled to enter this inheritance? A. Such only who have already
become the seed of Abraham or the children of God. To the end the promise might
be sure to all the seed. And if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and
heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29) Q. Who did Christ say could not
receive the promise of the Father? A. The world—the unconverted. And I will pray
the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you
forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive; because it
seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you (John 14:16-17). Q. In New Testament order, what do we
receive when we first believe on Christ? A. The pardon of all our sins and
adoption into the family of God. Q. What after we believe? A. After that ye
believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise; which is the earnest
of our inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13-14) Q. What two events in the history of
Israel typify the works of regeneration and entire sanctification? A. First. The
exit out of Egypt and passage of the Red Sea represent the soul’s emancipation
from the bondage of sin and the converts’ song of joy and victory. Second. The
passage of Jordan represents our death to inbred sin and spiritual resurrection
in the perfect image of Jesus. The falling of the walls of Jericho , to my mind,
is a striking figure of the demolition of the partition walls of selfishness and
sectarianism that so commonly obtain precedence in the impure heart. Both the
Red Sea and Jordan were parted by the miraculous power of God; as regeneration
and entire sanctification are each distinctively the work of the Lord. Q. What,
in the history of Israel , correspond with the states of justification and
perfect holiness? A. The former grace is strikingly pre-figured by the
wilderness life. There, they exulted in the past victory at the Red Sea , as the
justified often animates his heart by singing:

Happy day, When Jesus washed my sins away.

But, like the merely justified, theirs was a mixed state; they were provided
with manna from heaven and “drank of that spiritual rock, which was Christ,” and
yet they were troubled with distrust; they murmured at the providences of God:
they inclined to worship the work of their own hands and in heart turned back to
Egypt . What a prototype of the pleasure that men take in blowing the trumpet of
self praise in telling and often magnifying what great things were accomplished
under their labors; and also of the large numbers who annually go back into
servitude to sin. But the Canaan life very fitly represents the entirely
sanctified state, or that of “perfect love,” where the soul is subject to
desperate assaults from the combined forces of darkness; and yet dwells in
everlasting day and has constant victory over all sin. In this holy land
“perfect love” reigns without a discordant element, the “mountains drop sweet
wine,” and the tranquil soul drinks in the deep and everlasting river of God’s
peace. Another point of analogy is this: In Egypt they lived upon the natural
products of the land; in the wilderness they were supernaturally fed; but when
they reached Canaan the manna ceased and their wants were abundantly supplied in
the rich products of the soil. What does this mean, if not the fact that the
sinner’s life, though dark and unhappy, is the spontaneous outgrowth of the
heart? It requires no effort to sin. He has no other proclivity. Indeed, he
scarcely takes cognizance of his sin. The profane man will swear and not notice
it. Sin dwelling in the heart will sin itself and, if unrestrained by the law of
grace, the soul rushes on to destruction like a downgrade train with high steam
and no brakes. But let the sinner come to Christ and obtain pardon; before
entering upon the new life he imagines what a hero he will be for Christ; but he
finds himself badly disappointed. Notwithstanding his warm love for Jesus and
his fervent desire to serve Him, he finds in his nature a strong counter
current. I have heard many say that they could formerly serve the devil with
perfect ease; but find it up-hill work to serve the Lord, and yet they gave
every evidence of justification. It is true a new and loyal nature has been
planted in the heart, but the old inbred nature remains; hence, his religious
career is urged on against the tide of nature by a combination of powerful
motives. His is the religion of effort and not the spontaneous out-flow of his
nature. But is this the best God can do for fallen humanity? If Satan can
incline the heart of man to move with perfect ease in the drudgery of his will,
cannot the Almighty give us an equal appetency for His sublime service? If the
devil can make a man “free from righteousness” cannot God from unrighteousness?
Yea, verily, when the Jordan of death to sin is passed, devotion and obedience
to the Lord becomes the natural out-flow of the soul; with David we can say,
“All my springs are in Thee.” God is the spring of all our actions. “He unites
our heart” to do His will; that is, He blends all our desires into perfect
harmony with His holy law. Not a single point in our affections or wishes
diverge from His. This is the perfect soundness of the soul; its normal attitude
towards its Maker. All motives so essential to the support of the soul in the
former sate are no more needed. We no more serve God because a duty, for the
sake of the cause, for fear of hell or the desire of heaven. If all these things
were struck out of existence, the attitude of the soul in perfect love to God
would remain unchanged, and its devotions flow on all the same. Because the soul
is so enrapt with the Deity, so swallowed up in His will that it would keep
right on delighting in and adoring the God of boundless love, its only center of
attraction. In this holy state the soul brings forth its rich fruitage of praise
and glory to Jesus just as naturally and freely as the fertile valleys of Canaan
produce the enormous cluster of vintage. Therefore, “he who has entered into his
rest has ceased from his own works;” and God “works in him to will and to do of
His good pleasure.” God is the source of every desire in the heart where He
alone dwells; hence, to follow every inclination of the soul is but to fulfill
all the will of God. Hallelujah! What unbounded freedom! This is religion made
absolutely natural. Not second nature, but first nature; the full restoration of
the moral image of the Creator. In conclusion, let it be remembered that Canaan
was entered subsequently to the wilderness; therefore, every text that we have
adduced to prove that this land typifies perfect holiness proves that his
glorious state is a distinct attainment after justification. If the miraculous
passage of the Red Sea represents a moral change—i.e., regeneration—is it not
reasonable to believe that the parting of the waters of Jordan pre-figures a
second moral change? Since none but the “seed of Abraham,” “they that
believe”—or “they that are Christ’s” (Galatians 3:7, 29)—are “heirs” of this
“inheritance,” then it follows as the absolute and fixed order of God, that we
must first enter the conditions of the will; must first be adopted into the
family and thereby become an “heir of the promise,” before we can present our
claim before God and obtain our “inheritance among them that are sanctified by
faith.” So reads the last will and testament of God. Who shall presume to change
it?

O, ye that roam through weary years, Of inbred sin and doubts and fears— A bleak
and toilsome wilderness, Come to the land of rest and peace.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: 6. THE SECOND GRACE INFERRED
========================================================================

My next proof of a second work of grace is based upon the fact that men and
women in the merely justified state do not and generally feel that they cannot
live up to the Bible standard. Thirteen years of experience, observation and
conversation among faithful believers in this initial grace clearly evince to me
that there is an underlying sentiment quite common that the Bible is not
altogether practical; that it is a pure and perfect standard which all should
aim at but no one can expect to measure up to in this life, or at least is very
difficult. This semi-infidelity often crops out in expressions as follows: “I am
striving to do the will of God;” “I am trying to live as near right as I can;”
“I want to obey God just as far as it is possible.” These and similar
expressions, very common, all betray a half suppressed conviction that the
requirements of the bible are somewhat beyond our capacity in our present
situation. They would revere the Bible as all right; hence ascribe their
shortcomings to the peculiar circumstances with which they are surrounded. The
fretful mother thinks if she were not harassed by so many children and household
cares she could live in perfect patience. The toiling poor fancy that plenty of
this world’s goods would fill their hearts with constant peace, gratitude and
devotion to God while the rich suppose their circumstances less compatible with
a holy life than the former class. The businessman hopes to enjoy the fruition
of unbroken “fellowship with the father and with the Son,” after retiring from
active life. Some ascribe the vexations that interrupt their religious enjoyment
to physical infirmities. Others blame their neighbors and not a few their
preacher or church that they cannot get on better in religion and enjoy
constantly the river of peace and fullness of God vouchsafed in the Bible. Now,
whether we attribute this discrepancy to the impracticability of the Bible or
the incongeniality of our condition in life, we impeach the goodness and wisdom
of God. We either cast upon Him the blasphemous reflection that He did not know
the circumstances to which we are necessitated in this world or lacked the
ability to give us a religion adapted thereto. But the “more grace” solves the
difficulty. It shows us that the trouble is not in the Bible nor external
surroundings, but a want of internal conformity to God and His holy law. Christ
says. “My commandments are not grievous.” “My yoke is easy and my burden is
light.” By His yoke and burden He evidently meant all the obligations imposed by
the laws of His kingdom; hence, there must be a state of grace in which it is
perfectly easy to fulfill all the will of God. Have you, dear reader, reached
this point? Can you pull sweetly in all the ethics of heaven laid down by the
Son of God? Suppose we try His sermons, Matthew chapters 5 and 6 and Luke
chapter 6. Do you feel blessed (happy) when you are persecuted? And can you
“rejoice and be exceeding glad,” when “men revile you and say all manner of evil
against you?” Do these joyful feelings naturally spring up in your heart under
such circumstances? Should this treatment come from an unexpected source, from
your own brethren and excited by jealousy, would there be no response in your
heart but emotion of love and joy? No feelings of resentment nor tendency to
anger? Christ says, “Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on they
right cheek, turn to him the other also.” “And if any man shall sue thee at the
law, and take away thy coat, let him have they cloak also.” Again, “I say unto
you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Is this an easy yoke for
you? Do you possess a nature that is in perfect harmony with these precepts: a
heart that delights in them with no opposite inclination? If not, then
regeneration has not inducted you into “this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God,” and even “glory in tribulation.” Now there is
nothing unreasonable in these precepts; in fact they, and the sermons of which
they are a part, contain the sublimest moral philosophy of Jesus; the
fundamental principles of his kingdom. If ourselves and all we possess be given
over to God, which is our reasonable service, what concern is it of ours if
aught be taken away? Shall we “want any good thing?” And if we are “made perfect
in love,” or “renewed in the image of God,” who is love, it will be just as easy
to love our enemies, and those that hate and despitefully use us, as our friends
because there is nothing but love in the heart to flow out toward all men under
all circumstances. And as “love endureth all things,” “beareth all things,” and
“worketh no ill to his neighbor,” where only love dwells there is nothing that
inclines to resent or requite evil. Therefore the words of Christ hold good even
in the above precepts. They are indeed “easy” and “light,” in fact spontaneous.
But this glorious truth is about as incredible to the merely justified as
perfect innocence is to the sinner. I have found but few in the first degree of
grace that can believe Christ’s pure doctrine of non-resistance. We cannot
wonder at this since Christ said to His unsanctified disciples, “I have many
things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). It is very
difficult to receive truth that is directly opposite to our nature. Again, I
ask, have you a faith that “takes no thought for the morrow,” “what ye shall
eat, wherewith ye shall be clothed?” Are not all frettings and murmurings, every
dirge of complaint and all tormenting fears inconsistent with a life of perfect
trust in God? Here again, old and young, in the justified state, manifest their
need of elevation to the higher plane or “more excellent way,” of charity that
believeth all things.” Let us now form a yoke of another class of Scriptures and
see how “easy” it sits.

“Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory
of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

“And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
(Colossians 3:17)

“Be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” (1 Peter 1:15)

I pray you, dear reader, to solemnly consider these Scriptures, for by them we
must be judged. They make no unreasonable demands. The fist simply asks you
wholly and exclusively to answer the original end of man’s creation, i.e., the
glory of God. But it is impossible to do this until by the Redeemer’s blood we
are restored to man’s original purity. In the redemption of our dead and lost
souls, God has laid us under a thousand fold greater obligation to serve Him
than Adam was. Having been bought with an infinite price, we are no more our
own: therefore we have no right to do or say aught except as an agent for Christ
to whom we belong; hence in His name and exclusively for His glory. Compare with
this the foolish jesting, vain conversation, and sometimes even corrupt
communication among professors. Look at even preachers spending God’s money to
gratify the unnatural and unholy appetite for tobacco, and thereby defile the
temple of the Holy Ghost. Behold, in the church, the great sin of pride. Why is
it that converted sisters do not “dress as women professing godliness?” Why even
Christian mothers waste the Lord’s means, consume precious time, starve mind and
soul, and even impair the body to conform themselves and children to this
corrupt world. They desire to glorify God but, by their foolish adornments, they
provoke Him to His face; violate, not only the Word of God, but the dictates of
good sense, and the true principles of civilization. Is this all to the glory of
God? There is the converted worldling. He feels the obligations of a consecrated
life and although he is taught that in regeneration he became dead to the world,
yet he finds in his heart something that strongly gravitates from God to this
world. He is pained at this inbred foe and knows that he needs more perfect
deliverance; but for the want of definite teaching, he does not know how to
obtain it. Therefore, he either gives up the struggle or is forced to fight the
devil and the world without; and at the same time carry on a civil war at home,
an oppressive yoke indeed. The timid soul is ever dreading the yoke of Christ
and trembling beneath His burden. He cannot understand why the way is so hard
for him when Christ represents it as “easy.” If very faithful he may in a small
measure obtain by growth the “glorious liberty of the sons of God,” which it is
the office of the Sanctifier to confer in and instant through faith. The former
develops power to repress indwelling evil; the latter consumes it and
“strengthens with all might.” But without being made “first pure” growth is so
obstructed that the faint-hearted believer seldom triumphs over the man-fearing
spirit. For the want of a Joshua to lead them over into the land of “perfect
love” wherein is “no fear,” many of these become weary of the yoke and turn back
to Egypt . Others are goaded on through a sense of duty and fear of hell; always
quailing before the cross as if about to be immolated. We might mention the
sensitive man. He knows his pardon and sincerely endeavors to fulfill all
righteousness; but finds himself still beset with, and often overcome by, an
unrighteous tempter. He reads this promise: “great peace have they that love thy
law, and nothing shall offend them.” He knows that he loves God’s law, yet many
things offend him. He wonders at this disparity not knowing that he is not yet
in the promised land. He reads again that “God will keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is staid on Him;” but he is unable to comply with the condition: he
finds something within that makes him “prone to wander from the God he loves.”
To love his enemies, “lay aside all anger and malice,” and “overcome evil with
good,” he finds anything but an easy yoke and light burden. Once more, we read
in the pure law of Christ, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus;” “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians
5:20) Do these bows set easily and gracefully upon your neck? What will we do
with this Scripture? Shall we assume the responsibility of saying that God’s
Word does not mean what it says; or will we recognize the obligation to thank
God “always,” “for all things,” and “in all things?” Yea, thank Him not only
for, but in persecution; for, and in the midst of temptations, afflictions,
losses and trails. Thank God “always” for prosperity and adversity; for rain in
a wet time as well as in drought; when our plans succeed and when they fail. I
know very well that by raising up this standard of Jesus we subject ourselves to
the sneers of a sensual worldly and godless church. “For if they have done these
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry.” If Christ and the
apostles were called mad and beside themselves, what may we expect if we follow
them but the charge of fanaticism and insanity. For, and in these things, give
thanks. Hallelujah! To those who “live in God,” and by “the faith of the Son of
God,” this is sound philosophy and a blessed yoke. But it may be objected that
much which affects us in life is sin and if we thank God for that, do we not
make Him the author of it? The law of Christ was given for such who are “made
free from sin: themselves; and there is no inconsistency in thanking God for
what we may suffer through the sins of others because it is over-ruled to our
good. This, however, does not make sin right in itself. It does not in the least
excuse the perpetrator nor mitigate the penalty. But who can thank God for that
which to all appearance is a dire calamity! 1. Because his faith is not yet
“finished;” he has not reached the “full assurance of faith,” that “believeth
all things;” hence he cannot trust God independent of, and in defiance of,
circumstances. 2. Because he yet possesses a nature that is opposite to his new
inborn nature and not subject to the law of God; more apt to murmur at than
thank God for His providences that seem adverse. But the entirely sanctified can
joyfully walk in these precepts. Their obligations are not only “easy” and
“light” but the natural out-flow of a soul that is dead to self and filled with
the life of God. 1. Because the Author of his faith having finished it, he looks
“not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen,” “judges
nothing from appearance,” and when all is dark and only evil to human
perception, he continues to rejoice and thank God in the sweet assurance that He
who has power over all things, is infinite in love, has “numbered the very hairs
of our head” and kindly guards all our steps, will cause “all things to work
together for good to Him.” 2. Because the “old man,” or Adamic nature, having
been destroyed, his whole being sweetly blends with the nature and will of God;
hence, he delights in and thanks God for all His providence. With Archbishop
Fenelon he “refers everything to God,” and with Madame Guion constantly
recognizes that “whatever now is, is the will of God to me.” That is, although
it emanates from sin itself; which is contrary to God’s positive will, yet so
far as it affects me, it is His permissive will. 3. Being in a sense dead to
every thing but God, that which Satan, the world and wicked professors throw at
him, he only feels as a blessing from God into which His wonderful grace
converts it before reaching him; hence he thanks the Lord for all that He
bestows and for turning to our favor all that comes from wicked agents. 4. He
thanks God always because always conscious of a freedom from sin through the
blood of Christ; for everything because it is either directly form the Lord or
made a blessing by Him. Hallelujah! Now, as old and young in the merely
regenerated state find it impossible or extremely difficult to measure up to
this divine rule, we are forced to conclude that the Bible is not quite
practical and Christ misrepresented it, or there is a higher state of grace that
perfectly adjusts us to the yoke of Christ and makes all Christian duty easy.
The latter fact is clearly established by the Word of Truth and the testimony of
all who have “perfected holiness in the fear of God.” Glory to the God of all
Grace! When raised into this purer atmosphere, this holy mount of “full
assurance,” we no longer view the sermons on the mount and the sublime precepts
of the Epistles as a standard to be admired but never realized; but as lines
along which the soul moves with the utmost ease and ecstatic delight. To deny
the higher plane of Christian experience is, therefore, to contradict Christ’s
representation of His service and to impeach the wisdom and goodness of God. To
acknowledge and embrace it is to vindicate the highest and purest precepts of
the Lord and magnify His super-abounding grace that fulfills them all in us to
the praise of His glory,

Oftimes have poets sung of rest, Sweet rest and peace in heaven. Must souls
forever toil below? Is there no promise given? Can it be possible that Christ
Can only do a part, Forgive the past, but still leave sin And weights within the
heart?

No; Jesus said ‘twas finished, When He was crucified, The work was all
completed, For which He lived and died. He came to save the sinner From guilt
and all his sin, And gives a Canaan rest, if we, Believers, enter in.

The yoke of Christ is all delight— Not heavy tasks for us— Imposed by Christ to
weigh us down, He did not mean it thus, But we must give ourselves all up, To
let Him live our lives; And crush out self within our hearts, Till it no more
survives. We’ll find His yoke is liberty, When all the heart is pure, When we,
the second grace shall see, And know the double cure.

O, glorious fountain! Precious blood! It makes me white as snow. His yoke is
sweet; His burthen love; A heaven here below.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 7: 7. THE SECOND WORK OF GRACE TAUGHT BY
========================================================================

We have already referred to the words of Christ in Mark 9:49, where He assured
His disciples that, in order for their separation from the offensive nature,
“every one” of them must be “salted with fire,” as a “sacrifice” to God. This
offering of themselves was made on the Day of Pentecost, and how wonderfully
they were all “transformed by the renewing of their minds.” Following the
example of the great Teacher, Paul writes as follows to the church at Rome :
“Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6:13). Here we learn
that this presentation to the Lord is enjoined upon such as “are alive from the
dead.” Like the Ephesians, they had been quickened. The idea of a definite
offering of self to God is more clearly marked in the Emphatic Diaglott, J.
McNight and Conybear and Howson. The first two render it, “Present yourselves to
God.” The latter, “Give yourselves to God, as having been raised from the dead.”
The reasoning is that God, having raised us to spiritual life, we should now
make a solemn offering of ourselves to Him. Now read Romans 6:19. I will give it
according to the Emphatic Diaglott:

I speak humanly, because of the weakness of your flesh: for as you presented
your members enslaved to impurity, so now present your members bound to
righteousness for sanctification.

This rendering makes the offering already past apply to the presentation of
themselves before God for pardon, for then they were “enslaved to impurity and
iniquity.” “So now present your members, bound to righteousness.” Having entered
the kingdom of Christ they were bound by the obligations of His righteous laws.
The object of this solemn consecration is “for sanctification,” or as in the
common version, “unto holiness.” Whatever latitude may be allowed this
scripture, one thing is clear, i.e., the Apostle enjoined upon his Roman
brethren the duty of making a sacrificial offering of themselves to God whereby
they were to become sanctified, or holy. The preposition rendered “unto” and
“for” is eis, and its full force is into: hence this Christian consecration,
joined with faith as taught in Romans 5:2, inducts into this higher grace, or
rather, they are the conditions upon which the “very God of peace sanctifies
wholly.” The time specified for this experience is not the dying hour, but
“Now.” Yes, now present your members . . . “for sanctification:” just such
invitations are now sounded out by those who preach the “fullness of the
blessings of the Gospel.” This text clearly proves that sanctification is
distinct from, and subsequent to, the first offering of a soul dead in sin for
pardon.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and
perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Not sinners, but brethren, are here entreated. Consider the solemn importance
Paul attaches to this duty: he beseeches them “by the mercies of God,” as if to
say the whole scheme of divine mercy largely depends upon the possession of this
grace by the church. What stronger motive could he have urged? “That ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice . . . unto God.” No one but he who has passed
through this deep heart-searching and flesh-crucifying process can form any idea
of the wonderful depth and absolute perfection to which this consecration must
extend before the end of self is reached. When this point is attained, faith
mounts up to God, touches the atonement and grasps the promise of
sanctification. In that moment the body of sin dies and the soul sinks into a
deep quiescence—a holy reign of peace never before experienced. Here all
inclination to “conform to this world” ends and the tranquil soul finds itself
“transformed” into the perfect image of god and “renewed” in all the mind of
Christ. It is thus clearly rendered by Conybear and Howson: “That, by an
unerring test you may discern the will of God, even which is that good, and
acceptable and perfect.” To disbelieve a thing before applying the final test of
its truthfulness betrays sincerity. O, how many choose to suffer the distraction
of uncertainty as to what the “perfect will of God,” our sanctification, is
rather than test the Lord and realize within their own hearts “what is the
greatness of His (saving) power to us-ward who believe.” How perfectly the
Apostle describes the full salvation of believers. First comes our part,
consecration: then follows the transformation of our moral nature, the perfect
renewal of the spirit, or temper of our minds; which can only be wrought by the
direct power of God: whereby we prove, that is, we experience the perfect will
of God accomplished in our salvation from all sins. The sinner presents himself
a dead sacrifice to God, and proves His pardoning mercy and quickening power.
The believer presents himself a living sacrifice and proves the perfect holiness
that the Father has willed to His children. Many claim that they made a perfect
consecration when seeking pardon, hence have no occasion for the second. To
which I remark, your consecration seemed perfect because it measured up to your
highest standard or sense of duty. But it was imperfect because it did not and
could not measure up to God’s standard of holiness. Here it may be asked, will
God receive a consecration that is imperfect? Yes, on this principle: “It is
accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”
Now, that no subject of the “kingdom of darkness,” even under the grace of
penitence can take in the divine standard of holiness is too obvious to need
argument. Therefore, it follows as an inevitable conclusion that in order to
consecrate ourselves up to the full extent of God’s pure law a second
consecration must be made after being illuminated by the Spirit of adoption. But
here arises another question: Can finite man, in this life, apprehend God’s
standard of holiness that he may yield himself up to its full claims? Why not,
if “God shines into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus?” The Holy Spirit shines into our
hearts revealing the glory, i.e., the holiness of God, (which is the standard of
our holiness) while we look into the face, the Gospel of Christ: “for therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith” (2 Corinthians 4:6 and
Romans 1:17). “If we walk in the light as God is in the light,” will not our
conception of holiness correspond with His? Since this second consecration is
one of the chief stumbling stones in many minds, I wish to enlarge a little here
and simplify as much as possible. Consecration is the adjusting of ourselves to
God’s will, hence it can only extend up to the line of our consciousness of the
divine will, or our sense of moral obligation. Beginning with the sinner, dead
to righteousness, let us trace the work of grace in reference to consecration
through its stages to perfection. If the unawakened sinner, who has not the
remotest conception of the magnitude of his sin in the sight of God, were at
once to consecrate himself to the Lord, he would feel some remorse for a number
of the most flagrant sins of his past life and see the necessity of correcting
his habits in a few particulars. This, he thinks, would be an entire yielding up
to God—a perfect consecration—and so it would be, measured by his limited range
of moral obligation. But no sooner is he drawing nigh to God for pardon than
light breaks into his mind revealing much more sin in his past life and
extending his sense of duty much farther into the divine law. Hence, a perfect
consecration must include more than under the former standard. Still, pardon is
delayed and, as he seeks on, one additional degree of light succeeds another,
each increasing his spiritual vision more fully to discern the magnitude of past
sin and the extent of present obligation. The goodness and mercy of God passes
before his awakened mind, which greatly magnifies his sin and aggravates his
guilt. Conscience strikes terrible blows and inflicts a thousand stings. It sees
nothing but the justly provoked wrath of God. The soul now reaches that degree
of illumination whereby he sees that his past life has been all wrong; and if
God would condescend to pardon him, he would be under obligation to give his
whole life to Him in the future. He shrinks from the cross, dreads duty and
some, it is believed, turn back form this very threshold of the kingdom. Most,
however, prefer to take their lot in the service of God rather than remain under
their oppressive load of guilt or suffer the penalty of sin, apprehended by an
awakened conscience. In their distress they yield; the Lord accepts and pardons
because their consecration measures up to the highest standard that an
unregenerate soul can conceive of. Now, the ability to consecrate is induced by
the grace of God and can never extend beyond the conception of the divine will.
In other words, we can know absolutely nothing of the unexplored regions of our
will and moral nature; nor of the vast extent of moral obligation that lies
beyond the present range of our vision. The newborn soul sooner or later feels
the need of a more perfect consecration and perfect heart purity. This want is
often manifest in earnest prayers that the Lord would “remove every thing from
the heart that is opposite to Himself.” It is just as natural for a convert to
pray for sanctification in some other form as it is for a penitent to pray for
pardon. And, unless led to the cleansing stream, the earnest Christian continues
through life to offer the same petition. Now these prayers certainly arise from
a true want in the heart and an assurance that they are in the bounds of divine
promise, or they would soon be abandoned or never offered at all. Why, then, may
I ask, have they not, excepting in rare instances, been realized? The answer is
this: It can only be received by faith, and “faith comes by hearing,” and they
never heard it preached as a definite attainment. The one-work theory of the
head could not stop the out-cry of the heart for purity nor extinguish the many
promises that inspired a latent faith in its attainment; but it could render
them vague and indefinite and thus prevent a direct act of faith from
appropriating them in a present, definite experience of perfect holiness, or
freedom from sin. Now, the universal longing for purity in the heart of the
“quickened” proves that absolute conformity to God has not yet been reached and,
therefore, the work of consecration must be carried beyond the point of
justification. We have seen the life-long result of not having a definite goal
to aim at in our subsequent pursuits; now let us follow the “more excellent
way.” You remember that the offering of ourselves a sacrifice, dead in sin, was
accomplished by having in the mind a definite object of pursuit; it was by
drawing nigh to God for pardon that consecration was deepened to the point of
acceptance. So, let us put up a “mark for the prize,” of the Christian’s “high
calling.” He is “called unto holiness.” Tell him so. Point directly to the rent
veil and the blood of Christ, and at once invite him to God’s altar that he may
“present his members for sanctification.” And, as in the former consecration,
light will increase. Then, it brought guild; now, it unfolds the impurity of our
nature and intensifies the purity of God’s law. Clearer and clearer flashes the
light into the soul, exposing the deep corruption of fallen humanity and
demanding a consecration measuring up to the present standard of holiness. Now
the soul is passing the ordeal described in Hebrews 4:13. As this dissecting and
thorough searching of our entire moral being is carried on, many “creatures” of
our depraved nature are “manifest,” which, having been born in us, it is like
death to part with them. O, how the flesh shrinks to lay down forever the last
vestige of self will and reputation. To sign a quitclaim of all we have to God.
To have the last particle of pride put to death. How every manifestation of
inbred depravity pleads for some life to be spared. “We are willing to be bound
down and lose all liberty, only let us live.” But their cry must not be heard
for a moment. We must take sides with God against self and show no mercy to
those Canaanites. We must suffer this proving and “discerning of the thought and
intents of heart,” this searching out of idols to proceed until the whole realm
of our moral being, the deepest point in our will, is brought under the mirror
of divine truth; and within the compass of our consciousness just as it lies
“naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” The same
illumination also elevates our standard of holiness into harmony with the divine
standard. And, being now “in the light as He is in the light,” we are prepared
to decide on absolute loyalty to God, or in other words, make a final and
perfect consecration to Him. Now comes the decisive moment. “Every creature is
manifest.” But shall they die? “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no
pleasure in him.” “But, if we walk in the light as He is in the light . . . the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” In speaking of a full
apprehension of the purity and holiness of God’s law, etc., it must not be
thought that we mean a knowledge and comprehension of all the precepts and
doctrines of the Bible. Not at all. We simply mean a knowledge of how pure and
holy God will us to be in heart and, consequently, in life. This knowledge is
imparted to the humble soul by the Holy Spirit in a comparatively short time,
while the former furnishes plenty of room for a life time of study with the best
teachers and even the aid of the Holy Spirit. I may as well in this connection,
notice a question which so many apologists for sin use: “Can a man be in a
sanctified state and not obey God in all things?” I reply that a non-performance
of any Bible precept through ignorance is no evidence of an impure heart;
neither is it incompatible with a holy life. But no man can live in known,
willful disobedience to God and retain either justification or sanctification.
The inference these brethren desire to draw is this: “Some people profess entire
sanctification as a second work of grace who are disobedient to Christ,
therefore, there is no such a state of grace.” How, if this deduction has any
truth the following is equally true: “Some people profess justification who
disobey the Lord, there is therefore no such a state of grace as justification.”
My advice to all who are shielding the flesh behind this poor subterfuge is
this: If we should devote all our energies to discriminate between those who are
willfully disobedient and hypercritical in their profession, and those who are
true and obedient at heart, we could not classify them with any degree of
certainty; and if we could, it would not effect our case or any doctrine in the
Bible. Therefore, we had better “judge nothing before the time.” God will, in
due time, separate the chaff from the wheat and the true character of all men
will be manifest before all. I conclude by showing a few points of difference
between the two consecrations. 1. The first was a dead offering. The second a
“living sacrifice.” 2. The first was offered in darkness. The second under the
perfect illumination of the Holy Spirit. 3. The first measured up to the highest
conception of duty attainable in the unregenerate mind. The second was according
to God’s standard of holiness. 4. The object of the sinner’s consecration is to
obtain pardon. That of the believer is “for sanctification.” 5. In the
penitent’s consecration the conscience is smitten with guilt because of the evil
of his doings. In the believer’s consecration there is no condemnation, but the
heart is pained at the discovery of inbred depravity. 6. The fist is an
unconditional surrender without a knowledge of the extent of the King’s laws.
The second is a perfect consecration in the full knowledge of the purity of His
laws and a fervent desire to be conformed thereto. 7. The sinner’s surrender is
usually the result of having been arrested by the law and is with reluctance and
fear that God will give him something to do. The believer’s consecration is
cheerfully made, with the express purpose that he may be able to do something
for God. Here again I appeal to the blessed Bible and receive clear evidence of
the second work of grace. The language in Romans 6 and 12 is derived from the
legal offerings; the idea of growth or any prolonged process does not enter into
the figure of our sanctification. It is just come and lay your all upon God’s
altar and the instant you “touch the altar, you are made holy.” This sacrifice
the Apostle urges his brethren to make “now,” and points to sanctification as
the result in Romans 6:19 and a “transformation,” and “renewal,” in Romans
12:1-2. How then can we avoid designating it as a second moral change, or second
work and degree of grace? I beseech you, therefore, brother, by the mercies of
God, answer now, before Him, who is yet our Savior. Have you, since adopted into
the brotherhood of saints, made this definite, whole offering of yourself to the
Lord: and thus proved by your own perfection the “perfect will of God?” If not,
you have not yet complied with the greatest desire of our loving Savior unless
you can prove that He has changed the plan of salvation since Paul wrote to his
brethren at Rome .

I am Thine, blessed Jesus, washed in Thy blood; Salted with fire—a sweet
sacrifice to God. On Thy altar I feast with angels above, While life is consumed
in flames of pure love.


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  CHAPTER 8: 8. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
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To my mind, there is nothing more clearly taught in the divine Word that the
following facts: 1. “Regeneration plants in us a new and divine nature.” 2.
Entire sanctification destroys and removes the old nature; and 3. From these two
facts, it necessarily follows that during the interval between the
accomplishment of those two changes, man is a subject of two opposite moral
elements. He has in him both a good and bad nature. He is not a subject of two
kingdoms; for the indwelling evil is merely a subjugated foe. He is, however, a
subject of two laws; both emanating from God and each having its respective
jurisdiction. In these facts lies the main philosophy of the two distinct
degrees of salvation. As soon as the first two facts, above stated were
presented to my mind, I knew from experience and the whole tenor of the Bible
that they were true. The twilight of vagueism then gave way to the effulgent
beauty of definite degrees in the divine plan. Reason at once dropped the
one-work theory and cheerfully bowed to the two-fold salvation of the Bible;
being perfectly awed and delighted with its superior grandeur. It must be
apparent to all that if regeneration purifies absolutely then perfect purity is
essential to the regenerated state; and as nothing can exit in the absence of
that which is essential to its existence, regeneration does not exist where
perfect purity is not found; hence, every person must be perfectly pure or
entirely graceless. This position, I am quite sure, none are willing to assume
then it follows that the premises are false. The Bible does teach the
simultaneous existence of sonship and carnality; hence, the grace that inducts
into the divine family does not complete our purification. The Bible also
teaches a state of perfect freedom from indwelling evil; hence, an advance or
second state of grace. The dual state is well photographed in the seventh
chapter of Romans. Many are undecided as to the meaning of this chapter. Some
claim that it is descriptive of Paul’s best attainment in life; and thus seek to
extenuate sin in themselves. Others go to the opposite extreme and apply it to
the awakened sinner. The first position is drawn from Paul’s personification of
himself in the present tense. But we find in verses 7 to 13 that he began to
personate himself in the past tense; and when, in verse 14, he changes to the
form of the present, he doubtless still alludes to the past. Long after the
Apostle professed to be “crucified,” “free from sin,” and “perfect,” he thus
addresses Timothy: “This is a faithful saying . . . that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). This, like the
above instance, is not to be understood as representing Paul’s present
condition, but as expressive of his intense humility. It is the language of a
grateful sinner now saved by divine grace. “But I am carnal sold under sin, for
that I do I allow not,” etc (Romans 7:14-15). “I am,” that is, my in-born
nature, is corrupt and, while it lived, had to be kept under the “law of sin.”
We are not to suppose an utter inability to do good and serve God from the above
language but that implanted grace is much hindered by indwelling carnality and
that this inner foe, sometimes, through our weakness causes us to do that which
our new-born loyal nature “allows not,” and actually “hates.” This is the common
experience of unsanctified babes in Christ. Relying upon the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, I am led to a very clear and decided conclusion that the dual state
of a young believer in Christ is here portrayed. Bear in mind that absolute
freedom from sin is the subject of this epistle. In the fifth chapter the
Apostle sets forth the superabundance of saving grace over all sin and the two
successive salvations. In the sixth chapter he argues the inconsistency of
continuing in sin since grace provides for our death to, and consequent freedom
from sin; he, therefore, admonishes them to “reckon themselves dead indeed to
sin,” that is, now appropriate by faith the perfect “salvation that is in Christ
Jesus.” Continuing the same theme, in the seventh chapter the Apostle
illustrates the extent of the law by the marriage obligation. As the latter
terminates in the death of the companion, so total emancipation from the law is
only effected by death to sin. Sin and the law are married; the existence of the
one is the occasion of the other. “The law was added because of sin,” “Was made
for evil doers;” hence retains its hold upon the believer until all evil is
blotted out of the soul by the blood of Christ. “Now the end of the commandment
(law) is charity out of a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1:5). A pure heart is one where
only charity (love) dwells; hence, all subject to love, which is the law “of the
Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.” But “charity out of a pure heart,” implies such
a thing as charity out of a heart not yet pure; hence, not entirely free from
the “law of sin and death;” so called, because it is inseparable from sin and
only works death. Now, these two moral natures with their respective laws, Paul
holds up as a mirror in the seventh of Romans that his brethren might see the
dual, or conflicting state, of their hearts; and then carries their minds
forward to deliverance “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” (verse 25) and confirms
the blessed truth by his own experience. “For,” says he, “the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans
8:2). With him the dual state was ended being wholly brought under the one law
of love. I submit the following reasons for believing that a converted person is
here described: 1. While the sinner is wholly under the “carnal mind which is
not subject to the law of God,” the Apostle here delineates one, the “law of
whose mind” is, not only loyal to but “delights in,” and actually “serves the
law of God” (Romans 7:22, 25). 2. Two opposite natures are here attributed to
the some person. This is the experience of every merely justified believer. 3.
The chapter personates one who was a subject of two laws. The one came with
transmitted sin, the other must therefore have been written in the mind by
implanted grace, hence, he was a child of grace. 4. The sin or evil described in
this chapter is confined to the “flesh” (verse 18). It is used interchangeably
with the “carnal mind” (Romans 8:4-8). “Fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18). These
and other scriptures show clearly that the “flesh” in this connection does not
mean our physical nature in contradistinction to our spiritual; but our corrupt,
fallen nature as opposite to our new nature in-wrought by divine grace. This is
a parallel case with the Galatians who were all the “children of God,” and
possessed the divine Spirit, yet the flesh (this same fallen nature) “lusted
against the Spirit” (Galatians 5:17). 5. The wretchedness depicted in Romans 7
is not that of an awakened penitent. There is no expression of guilt, no out-cry
for pardon which is the repenting sinner’s constant plea. Even in the
shortcomings confessed, justification is contended for on the ground that it is
“not I but sin that dwelleth in me.” Now, this in not the way the convicted
sinner talks to God; his bitter experience and humble confession is: “I have
sinned and done this evil in thy sight;” yea, “I have sinned against heaven.
When the soul becomes a subject of Christ’s kingdom, this inherited “body of
death” is ignored and even loathed. The affections and desires fully consent to
the divine law and though the heart is pained and filled with shame at the
stirrings of in-dwelling evil, guilt is not necessarily implied because the new
born soul is not in sympathy with this sin-ward nature, nor yet responsible for
its presence until light reveals the duty and privilege of its extirpation. 6.
The sin deplored in this chapter does not relate to transgressions of the divine
law, which, like dark specters, throng the memory of the awakened sinner. But it
is sin in the singular; an indivisible “body;” and real moral and spiritual
entity, which exists back of all its works. It does not consist in sinful acts
but is the root and source of all sinful acts. It is the sin that sins. It
dwells in men, carries on an extensive business in the world, has many sings up
in the unsanctified church; employs numerous servants, and pays them wages.
(Romans 7:17; John 8:34; Romans 6:16, 23) This sin is not comprised in the
bundle that press the heart of the penitent. We can’t repent of nor receive
pardon for that, that we are not responsible for. It is only after the thick
cloud of our sin is removed by divine acquittal that the eye of our
consciousness can discern this deep-seated foe of the soul. Hence it is clear
that the picture in Romans chapter seven is that of a justified Christian whose
eyes are fully opened to his need of perfect heart purity. Weary of the conflict
within he accepts the pains of crucifixion. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?” If, therefore, any think this picture
too dark for a real justified believer, please remember that Paul is describing
the duality and not any of the blessing of this primary grace; the fact and
virulence of indwelling sin and not the blessedness of implanted grace. Since
the simple object for which he longed to come unto them, and for which he wrote,
was to convict them of the “Spiritual gift: they needed, i.e., “the
righteousness of God,” it was necessary that he lead their minds from the joy of
pardon to the wretchedness occasioned by the offensive “body of death.” In fact,
the picture supposes the subject under a vivid and painful consciousness of this
foul enemy; yea, in the very throes of his expiration. I appeal to any man that
has ever passed through the pains of this death struggle, “The swelling of
Jordan ,” that lies between the 7th and 8th of Romans if this picture is
overdrawn. Having led their minds on to this crisis, he proclaims help near. “I
thank God through Christ Jesus.” Therefore by faith “reckon yourselves dead
indeed unto sin” (Romans 6:11). For “our old man must be crucified,” the “body
of sin destroyed,” not pardoned but destroyed. This Paul also admonished the
Ephesian Christians to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 1:22). After
declaring his absolute freedom from this body of sin and its accompanying law,
the Apostle continues the same subject in the eighth chapter, calling the two
opposites the “body,” or “carnal mind,” and the Spirit. “And if Christ be in you
(if according to the promise made to the church, Christ and the Father have come
and taken their abode in you), the body is dead because of sin” (verse 10). That
is, it is “dead in reference to sin; the members of your body no more perform
the works of sin than the body of a dead man does the functions of natural
life.” Here is an utter end of the civil war in the believer’s heart; for if one
of two contending parties is slain, the fight must cease. Here begins an
entirely new state of existence altogether unknown in the dual state of mere
justification. Again, “If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you; He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you” (verse 11). This language is
quite commonly applied to the resurrection; but it undoubtedly refers to the
work that God does in us after receiving His Spirit of adoption. How could this
quickening, or making alive, refer to the resurrection since it is done by the
Spirit of God dwelling in us? Does the divine Spirit dwell in our dead bodies in
the grave in order to resurrect us there from? Let us hear James McKnight’s
translation a paraphrase.

For if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead, abide in you, by his
influence, He who raised up Christ from the dead, will make even your dead
bodies . . . (verse 10) your animal passions, together with the members of your
mortal bodies alive, that is subservient to the spiritual life, through His
Spirit who dwelleth in you.

This learned and pious Presbyterian divine was no professional advocate of the
second grace; yet in faithfully following the Word, he, as well as the common
version, emphatically teaches the second work. First, the reception of the
Spirit of adoption. Second, our death to sin and quickening of all our powers
for God’s service. For to be “dead to the world” is to be “alive unto God” and
“made perfect to do His will” (Hebrews 13:21). Let us follow the Apostle one
step farther: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Verse 13) This is
a clear key to the whole subject; here terminates the dual state and all
internal strife. The Emphatic Diaglott renders it thus: “For if you live
according to the flesh, you are about to die; but if, by the Spirit, you put to
death the deeds of the body you shall live.” Other versions have “put to death,”
instead of “mortify.” Observe that in this chapter the Apostle applied to this
brethren at Rome the mixed state he characterized in the preceding; hence, we
know where it belongs, namely, to justified Christians, for such he addressed.
They had spiritual life for they were in danger of dying, i.e., backsliding. Yet
there was that sin which must be “put to death,” as a condition to healthy
spiritual life. The idea is here conveyed that fallen nature and implanted grace
are antagonistic to each other and will not be likely to dwell together very
long. And, unless we, by the power of God’s Spirit, (in a measure already
received in regeneration) and by faith in Christ our deliverer put to death this
body of sin we are in imminent danger of falling by its subtlety. “Therefore,”
says the Apostle, “I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual
gift to the end ye may be established” (Romans 1:11). How was he to impart that
gift? The verses following show that it was by preaching to them the “Gospel
which is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe,” for “therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to (“eis” into) faith” (verses
16-17). So, the spiritual gift that was to establish them is the real
“righteousness of God,” transmitted to them in a second degree of faith. See 1
Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 12:10.

“And I am sure that when I come unto you, I will come in the fullness of the
blessing of the Gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:29).

“Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel and the
preaching of Jesus” (Romans 16:26).

The establishing gift that Paul longed to come and impart to these brethren is
the crowning “Blessing of the Gospel” and is in-wrought by the power of God
through the “preaching of Jesus Christ” our perfect Savior. And having been
preceded by justification, it is a second grace. It is the “also” grace after
justification “wherein we stand” (Romans 5:1-2). “Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). To be filled with all joy excludes
inward trouble; all peace is an end of all internal war, the total death of
inbred sin. The Apostle then confesses that he is “persuaded of you brethren,
that ye also are full of goodness, etc., i.e., I do not look upon you as
unconverted or back-slidden.

“Nevertheless, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting
you in mind, because of the grace that is given me of God, that I should be the
minister of Jesus Christ, to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that
the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost” (verses 15-16).

Here Paul declared it his special calling to labor for the sanctification of the
Gentiles, and not being able to come at once, to lead this church into this
great “blessing of the Gospel,” he “boldly” lifts up the standard in his Epistle
assuring them that they need not always suffer the bitter conflict between good
and evil in their hearts; but that Christ was able to deliver them from the
“body of death,” and “stablish their hearts unblameable in holiness before God,”
make them “free from sin,” clothe them in His own righteousness, and “fill them
with all joy and peace in believing.” Yes, all this glory on the simple
conditions of presenting yourself a “living sacrifice to God,” and then
“believing.” What an important work of grace and glorious rest of soul is here
offered to the Christians at Rome . Not of works, but a “spiritual gift.” Not
included in, nor developed from justifying grace, but an “also,” or supplemental
grace. Not a transitory blessing, but that paramount “blessing of the Gospel,”
which “establisheth us in Christ Jesus,” and “wherein we stand” forever. Not
through self-culture but by the power of God through the Holy Ghost. It was not
to be obtained by gradual growth but by faith, therefore instantaneous. Dear
reader, you may have the same gift of God’s righteousness on the same
conditions.

THE CORINTHIANS

What ever may be said of the defects of this church, it cannot be disputed that
Paul recognized them as Christians. “And many of the Corinthians hearing,
believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8). They are addressed as the “ church of
God ,” as “brethren,” “are in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30), “ye believed”
(1 Corinthians 3:5), “ye are God’s husbandry . . . ye are God’s building (1
Corinthians 3:9), “ye are Christ’s” (1 Corinthians 3:23). They are declared to
be “babes in Christ” and yet they had carnality. “And I, brethren, could not
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in
Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not
able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal and walk as
men” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). We are apt to exaggerate both the virtues and
defects of past ages and to the casual reader the above characterization looks
very dark, but after all, it is no more than a childish preference for preachers
such as we see agitated among the old and young babes of the churches of today;
and which indicates now, as well as then, that brethren have not yet gone on to
perfection; or become sanctified from inbred carnality. To say the Corinthians
had never been converted were a contradiction to the word. To say they had
back-slidden, it were necessary to change the Apostle’s words thus: “were the
church of God,” “were in Christ,” “were God’s husbandry,” “were Christ’s,” “were
babes,” etc.; to suit the above theory Paul should have said: “ye have become
carnal.” But his language is, “For hitherto ye were not able to bear it, ye are
yet carnal”—ye have allowed inbred carnality to remain in you until the present
time. To deny that they were in Christ at the time of Paul’s writing is simply
to contradict the Apostle. To say they were not carnal at the same time is
equally impeaching the inspired Record. Whatever was the condition of the
Corinthians, it cannot be disputed that the Apostle recognized two opposite
natures in the same persons, the coetaneous existence of sonship and carnality.
I challenge the skill of man to construe these Scriptures so as to avoid their
testimony the dual state. “I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” I appeal to any
candid reader if this language does not clearly indicate that, in the apostolic
time, they expected newly converted believers to be indwelt by a carnal nature
which regeneration had not removed: babes in Christ, yet carnal. I also appeal
to the fact that they were expected e’er long to be delivered from this inbred
foe, its presence is spoken of as peculiar only to babes, or quite young
converts who had not had time to discover the deeper want and appropriate the
all cleansing blood of Christ. Jesus said, “Except a man become converted and
become as a little child, he shall in no case enter into the kingdom.”
Conversion, then, inducts us into the condition of a small child; that is,
perfectly innocent—freely justified. But, do we not all teach that, if an infant
dies, Christ, through His atonement, removes the Adamic taint that we see
manifest almost from the dawn of its existence? And, if we are like children,
when converted, do we not as well as they need to be purified before we are fit
for heaven? And, being able to comply with conditions, is it not reasonable that
God make this part of our salvation conditional as well as pardon? But the
conditions of salvation are confined to this probationary state; hence it must
be in this life. Again, since the same moral qualifications are essential to
glorify God in heaven or earth, would not the Lord purify us as soon as possible
after becoming children? Therefore, it is that Paul reproves the Corinthians for
having continued so long in the babe state—“yet carnal.” “And this also we wish
even your perfection” (1 Corinthians 13:9). Oh, how solicitous for the
perfecting of these carnal babes!

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect; be of good comfort; be of one mind;
live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (1 Corinthians
13:11).

But what is the higher grace so tenderly urged upon these members of God’s
household? “Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and Spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God” (1 Corinthians 7:1). So it was not perfect maturity, but
perfect purity or holiness they needed. These “dearly beloved brethren” being
already “in Christ,” this language emphatically teaches a second work. Paul also
stops the mouths of such as would say that the above injunction was occasioned
by a partially backslidden state. “For though I made you sorry with a letter, I
do not repent,” for “ye sorrowed to repentance.” “For behold this self same
thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you’
yea, what clearing of yourselves; yea, what indignation; yea, what fear; yea,
what vehement desire; yea, what zeal; yea, what revenge! In all things ye have
approved yourselves clear in this matter” (1 Corinthians 7:8-11). They had
purged out corruption; repented of all irregularities, and now stood clear
before God; which is the only standpoint form which perfect holiness can be
entered. Oh, no! Paul was not urging perfection upon backsliders, for such
unfruitful branches God takes away and only purges them that are in Christ and
bearing fruit. “Therefore as ye abound in everything in faith and utterance, and
knowledge and in all diligence, and in your love to us,” etc (1 Corinthians
8:7). Such need not do their first works over but “have access by faith into
this grace” of perfect purity. The command in 1 Corinthians 7:1 contains within
itself indisputable evidence of two degrees of salvation; for nothing can be
perfected until it exists; to talk of perfecting the holiness of a sinner would
be ridiculous. They were, then, Christians “clear” in justification, already
“abounding in faith,” etc., and “yet carnal,” hence needed to come to the
“fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.” Here they could be “cleansed from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” This makes a clean sweep of the Adamic
nature, of all transmitted, or inborn, tendency to evil. For, as they were
already “babes in Christ,” nothing unrighteous remained but the sin which David
confessed is “conceived” in us at the dawn of our existence and from which he
prayed to be washed “whiter than snow.” Here we cease to be “like little
children”—innocent, yet carnal. Duality ends and we are all of a piece—absolute
oneness of heart, soul and nature. The hostile camps of the heart are dispersed
forever and the olive branch of peace extends its sweet and eternal reign of
perfect love in all the realms of the soul. Truly this second grace “is heaven’s
border land.” Oh, that all the Lord’s children would “Come to this valley of
blessing so sweet!” Are you not weary of wandering about in this “great and
terrible wilderness?” O, “be not slothful, but followers of them who through
faith and patience inherit the promise” (Hebrews 6:12).

Now, Let your Joshua bring you in. Cast out your foe; the inbred sin; The dual
state remove.

The purchase of His death divide, And give you with the sanctified The Eden
reign of love.

THE GALATIANS

When Paul wrote to these brethren, he represented them as also suffering these
two contraries in the heart. Some suppose the Galatians had all apostatized from
Christ. Let us see how that was. They are recognized by the Apostle as the
“churches of Galatia .” Upon them he invokes “grace and peace from God, and the
Lord Jesus Christ.” True, Paul says, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
Him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another Gospel, which is not
an other; but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of
Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7). Certain Judaizing teachers had endeavored with some
degree of success to alienate them from Paul by whom they had been called unto
the grace of Christ. “Oh, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish?
Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians
3:1, 3). This does not prove that they had backslidden, but that they were
foolish enough to seek perfection through the “flesh,” or “works of the law” and
not by faith only. The same folly attaches to thousands of the present time. The
above show that they had received the Spirit as the beginning of their spiritual
life but were subsequently to be made perfect. This exhibits a second degree of
grace. But did not Paul say, “I travail in birth for you, until Christ be formed
in you again?” No, he did not say that; but he did say: “My little children of
whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).
He labored for their conversion, and now he travails in solicitude for their
perfection. He travailed thus for the Romans. (Romans 1:11-17); the Corinthians
(2 Corinthians 1:15, 13:9 and 11); the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 3:10 and
13). Yea for all (Colossians 1:28-29). Doubtless, his anxiety for their
perfection was intensified by their weakness and susceptibility to go astray.
The fifth chapter is inadvertently thought to represent the Galatians as having
fallen.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be
not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that
if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to
every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye
are fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:1-4)

“If ye be;” there is no evidence here that any had, but should you receive and
depend upon circumcision as the ground of your acceptance with God—you remove
your faith from Christ, and consequently, He will profit you nothing. The
condition upon which they were to have fallen from grace was that they “were
justified by the law,” which, the Apostle declares and impossibility (Galatians
2:16, 3:11). He evidently meant if any of you attempt to be justified by the
law. Could he have commanded them to “stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage” if they
had already fallen and become entangled? Would Paul have said, “I have
confidence in you,” etc (verse 10), if they had returned to sin? All through
this epistle, Paul calls them his brethren and he declares them “all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). This is conclusive.
Now read Galatians 5:17-24. “For the flesh lusteth (wars) against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the others;
so that ye can not do the things that ye should (verse 17). In this verse we
have positive proof that they were the Lord’s, for they had His Spirit; but with
it they also had the flesh, or carnal nature, which was directly opposite to the
Spirit of God in them. In verses 19 through 21 we are told what the products of
the flesh are if allowed to bring forth. From this catalogue of fruits we can
learn—if we will—what the Apostle means by the flesh: “hatred, variance, wrath,
strife,” etc., do not adhere in matter, but are clearly the manifestations of
moral corruption—shoots from the Adamic root. Now, this germ of all sin, which
remains as a conquered foe in the heart after the Holy Spirit is received in
adoption, Paul calls the flesh—not “kreas,” literal flesh (see Romans 14:21 and
1 Corinthians 8:13) but “sarka,” which is an evil temper of mind (see Colossians
2:18) “fleshly mind;” “carnal” (Romans 8:6-7). “But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23). That is, he that is
free from sin and filled with the Spirit is wholly under the law of love. “And
they that are Christ’s, (have rendered themselves a living sacrifice wholly to
God), have crucified the flesh, (“sarka,” the root of all sin), with the
affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). Here, as in the preceding cases, we are
brought again to the end of the dual state. The crucifixion of the flesh, with
the affections and lusts, can only mean the utter destruction of the whole root
and offspring of moral evil in us. Crucify does not mean to repress nor to grow
out, but, as a familiar term in that day, it had no other meaning but a violent
death by the sentence of the law. In this use it is the painful execution of the
sentence of Christ, who had “condemned sin in the flesh,” (“sarka,” its very
seed). Could language more emphatically teach two degrees of salvation? First,
the new nature—the “Spirit”—received in regeneration. Second, the destruction of
the old nature—the flesh or “body of sin”—in entire sanctification. In order to
encourage these brethren to seek this absolute rest to the soul, he adds his
testimony saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). The mixed state and subsequent
deliverance is also taught in

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES.

This Epistle is addressed to the Jewish Christians in general. James calls them
his brethren, not in the Jewish, but Christian faith. “My brethren have no the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with respect to persons”
(James 2:1). Now read James 3:10-14. “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing
and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send
forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren,
bear olive berries? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a
wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying
and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.” Christ
says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh” (Luke 6:45). This being true, the brethren addressed by James must
have had both a good and an evil treasure in their heart. Of course, this is not
the normal condition of God’s children; for “these things ought not so to be.”
“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries, either a vine figs?” This is
only a transition state; none should settle down here, but “go on to
perfection.” But whence come those antipodes; this “prone to wander; prone to
leave the God I love?” Read James 3:15-17. “This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual (natural in the margin), devilish.” That is, do
not think your proclivity, or inward bent for sinning belongs to the nature
received in regeneration, but it is the out cropping of depravity—the “earthly”
spirit, or fallen “nature,” which remains in antagonism to the new born “wisdom
that is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,” etc., and
which Paul says, “delights in the law of God.” God be praised that there is
something better for us. Read on James 4:5-11. “Do you think that the Scriptures
saith in vain: the Spirit that dwelleth in us, lusteth to envy?” A host of our
most able Bible students confirm the rendering of Dean Alford. “The Spirit that
dwelleth in us, desires to have us,” i.e., “the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus,” desires to set us entirely “free from the law of sin and death.”
Like the Son, He “delights to do the will of God” which is “even our
sanctification.” He strongly desires to possess us wholly to the exclusion of
every opposite element. Yea, He would “leaven the whole lump” of our moral being
into the “righteousness of God.” To accomplish this perfect transformation of
our nature, “he giveth more grace.” This shows that they were already subjects
of divine grace, hence, called “brethren” and that the manifestation of an “evil
treasure” with the good in their hearts was for the want of an additional gift
of grace. “Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble.” Alas! How many in the churches are too proud and self-willed to
receive this “second” or “more grace,” the crowning “blessing of the Gospel.”

Submit yourselves, therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and
weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil
one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his
brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law. (James 4:7-11)

Notice, they are called both “brethren” and “sinners,” this seeming paradox is
explained by the phrase “double minded.” They had received the grace of pardon
and adoption and were therefore of the household of faith; but had not yet
attained the grace of purity. Hence, they were commanded not to repent, but to
“cleanse your hand, and purify your hearts,” that ye may “lift up holy hands,”
and that the treasure of your hearts, form the abundance of which they mouth
speaketh, may all be good: for, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a
perfect man” (James 3:2). To attain this blessed state of unmingled
righteousness, there must be a deep humiliation before God, an afflicting and
utter destruction of the flesh; a “submitting of self,” and all our interests
for time and eternity to the Lord and a wonderful “drawing nigh to God” by
faith, and “He shall lift you up,” i.e., raise you from the dual or mixed state
to the “high” and “more excellent way” ”called the way of holiness.” Who can
deny that James teaches two successive degrees of grace. First, Induction into
the brotherhood of the saints. Second, Purification from inbred sin. I conclude
this chapter with the

TESTIMONY OF PETER.

Writing to the Elect, he commands them to “be holy in all manner of
conversation, because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Peter
1:15-16). Doubtless, many to whom he wrote were entirely sanctified, but the
above command is addressed more particularly to young converts.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guilt and hypocrisies, and envies,
and all evil speaking, as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word,
that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1
Peter 2:1-3)

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which are against the soul. (verse 11)

These Scriptures cannot, by any fair means, be reconciled with the Zinzendorf
theory of perfect purity in regeneration. If this grace saves from all
in-dwelling sin, the above exhortation to newborn babes to lay aside all malice,
etc., would be much out of place. Neither could it be said of such that the
“flesh (carnal nature) lusteth against the Spirit.” Christ said that out of the
treasure of the heart the mouth speaketh, and good and evil proceeds; hence, to
“lay aside all malice and guile and evil speakings” must be a work of the heart,
a purification of the corrupt fountain from whence these evils proceed. And this
is an experience urged upon “new born babes.” Compare Hebrews 12:1. “Malice,
guile,” etc., is unrighteousness—sin—hence must be cleansed by the blood of
Christ. This removed, the war in verse 11 ends. Peter does not say that they
should grow out of this turpitude, but “lay it aside” and “desire the sincere
milk of the word that ye may grow;” that is, be purified as a condition of
growth. The persons thus commanded having just been born into the family of God
could not have degenerated; hence, the Bible clearly teaches that regeneration,
which plants in a new nature, should be followed by the cleansing away of our
old carnal nature, or inbred sin; “And the Bible is but the infallible
counterpart of that other scripture written upon the tablet of experience.”
Every converted soul is absolutely compelled to admit that there is something
yet within that is opposite to love and that must be kept down lest it bring
forth sin. He who denies this betrays reckless presumption, or ignorance both of
self and the Bible. We often meet brethren who declare that they were fully
saved and cleansed when pardoned but when asked if they have not an evil nature
that must be held in subjection, the almost invariably reply yes and add that it
is so with everybody and cannot be otherwise in this life. Now, on the first
point we receive their testimony, because it is based upon their experience; but
on the second we prefer the testimony of the Bible and those who have the higher
experience of absolute purity. Opinion has no weight in the scales opposite to
positive knowledge. The merely justified testify to internal war and we believe
it because it accords with Scripture. The entirely sanctified testify to “all
joy and peace;” and we believe it because it is equally consonant with the
Bible. “The mixed moral condition of merely justified believers implies no
combination or composition of grace and in-dwelling sin. The spiritual and
carnal have no fellowship.”[1] The true child of God laments the presence of
this sin-ward tendency in him; his new born loyal nature instinctively cries out
to God for deliverance from this “body of death.” But, dear reader, if you are
in the least in sympathy with this foe; if you consent to its in-dwelling rather
than sacrifice the right hand or eye, yea your whole body and your life to have
it destroyed and cast out, you offend the most holy God and fall under
condemnation. O, I tremble for the dear people; God flashes the light of full
salvation into their hearts that they may walk therein and glorify Him. “But
some, when they had heard did provoke;” “to whom swear He that they shall not
enter into His rest.” May I, kind reader, cherish the hope that you will “walk
in the light, as He is in the light,” and enjoy the rich experience that “the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Need I adduce
additional Scripture to prove that grace ends the dual state in this life: do we
not read that we are “renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
us:” “changed from glory to glory, into the same image (of the Lord) as by the
Spirit of the Lord?” (Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18) Are there any such
explosive elements in God that must be held in restraint? Nay: “God is love,”
and “herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment; for as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:16-17). This
consciousness of absolute freedom from in-dwelling evil is just as distinct from
that of the first, or dual state of grace, as the brilliant noonday sun differs
from the faint light of a taper. These two very marked states of grace so
clearly taught in the Bible and attested by all who have experienced to same are
the results of two successive works of grace.

The bee that rocks on summer flower, In golden, balmy day; The cloud that floats
in sunset hour, And glows with crimson ray; The waves that roll with gentle
swell, At evening on the sea; Speak of a rest and peace that dwell, In hearts
from care set free. But who can tell the sacred hush Of souls that dwell in
love? No noise, nor strife; foul tramp, nor rush Were rests the Holy Dove. His
home is in that blest retreat, Where evil cannot tread, Secure as solemn mercy
seat, With cherub wings o’erspread. O, who can sing that purest peace, When dark
camps leave the heart; When inward wars their tumults cease, And sin and self
depart: Then Christ comes in to dwell with thee, And passions wild are still;
And like great waves of Galilee Bow to His mighty will.

G. R. Cramer


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  CHAPTER 9: 9. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
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I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that
beareth not fruit, He taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth
it that I may bring forth more fruit . . . He that abideth in me, the same
bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing . . . Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit . . . These things have I spoken unto
you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my
commandment: That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:1-13)

This Scripture cannot, by any fair treatment, be harmonized with the first
grace—all grace theory. No man is in Christ, the true vine, until he had
experienced that wonderful work of God by which he was severed from the first
family—the Adamic root—and grafted into the second Adam, the Christ vine. And
all branches thus transformed who prove unfruitful, the Father takes away; they
lose their connection with, and cease to draw life from Christ. But these grafts
that prove a success, that abide in Jesus, and bear fruit, “the Father purges,
that they may bear more fruit.” Could language more emphatically teach a second
work of grace than this? Can the sophistry of man, or “the gates of hell,”
overthrow these sayings of the Son of God? Fruit bearing branches, the Father
purges, hence a divine work, a second change. Purge is from “kathairei;” that
all may see just what that word means, I will set before you every place where
it occurs in the Greek Testament, translated as follows: Purge. John 15:2;
Hebrews 1:3, 10:2; 2 Peter 1:9; Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17; Mark 7:19; Hebrews 9:14
and 22. “Katharos,” the adjective clean. Matthew 23:26, 27:59; Luke 9:41; John
13:10-11;15:3; Acts 18:6; Revelation 19:8, 14. Pure. Matthew 5:8; Acts 20:26;
Romans 14:20; 1 Timothy 1:5, 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3, 2:22; Titus 1:15; Hebrews
10:22-23; James 1:27; 1 Peter 1:22; Revelation 15:6, 21:19, 21; 22:1.
“Katharizo,” make clean. Matthew 8:2, 28:25; Mark 1:40; Luke 5:12, 9:29.
Cleanse. Matthew 8:3, 10:8, 9:5, 23:26; Mark 1:42; Luke 4:27, 17:14; Acts 10:15,
11:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:26; James 4:8; 1 John 1:7, 9; Mark 1:44;
Luke 5:14. Be Clean. Matthew 8:3; Mark 1:41; Luke 5:13. Purification—Purifying.
John 2:6, 3:25; Luke 2:22; Hebrews 9:18. Thus the reader can see that the word
here rendered “purgeth” is everywhere used to represent moral cleansing. In
fact, the word cleanse is derived from no other word in the New Testament. The
same word is translated purge in Hebrews 10:2, “The worshippers once purged
should have no more conscience of sins.” And cleanse in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Let
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness.” Also see 1 John 1:7,9. I have taken these pains in order to show that
the Father’s purging of the branches is the same that the Apostles enjoined upon
the churches to seek through the blood of Christ. How absurd the cry that those
who profess a second work were back-slidden or never had been converted. They
are not the kind the Father purges; all such have to repent, be grafted into the
living vine and bear fruit before ready for this work. Only fruitful branches
receive this grace. This is true in fact as well as in the Word. The most
spiritual, conscientious and useful Christians are always the first to enter
this more pure and excellent way. Yea, doubtless the very reason that
comparatively few believe and enter therein is because the number who actually
bear fruit are few. If we measure with the standard of God’s Word—and from it
there is no appeal—we are forced to the conclusion that but few of the great
mass of church members are actual branches in Christ; for, Jesus says, “He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5).
Dear reader, before you conclude that you need not this perfecting grace, please
measure yourself by this test: Are ye bringing forth “much fruit?” Does your
pious life lead many souls to Jesus? Are you indeed “gathering with Christ?” If
not, it is no surprise that you do not receive the blessed doctrine of entire
sanctification; you are not the kind the “Father purgeth,” but such as He
“taketh away.” See well to this. Perhaps you can point to some good works; to
patient endurance for Christ’s sake; to zealous labor in His vineyard. Yes, all
this, and more, and yet you may need the grace of repentance before prepared to
seek perfection. Can you honestly claim superiority to the church at Ephesus of
which Christ speaks thus:

I know thy works and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear
them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are Apostles and
are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for
my name’s sake hast labored and hast not fainted. (Revelation 2:2-3)

I know of few, if any, churches in the merely justified state that compare
favorably with this one. They were not drones, but workers. A large portion of
the religious zeal in the world is through sectarian motives; but Christ, who
knoweth all hearts, acknowledges that those labors were through love to Him,
“for my name’s sake.” They were also constant and persevering: “hast labored,
and hast not fainted.” Christ also attributes great patience to this church as
well as correct discernment of spirits. Yet with all these excellent qualities
that would secure a high standing among the churches of the present day, they
were not in a condition to receive the Father’s purging. For, says Jesus:

Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee: because thou hast left thy first
love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy
fist works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Here is the lamentable condition of the present church. Notwithstanding all her
boasted “works,” she has “left her first love.” In heart at least she is turned
back to Egypt . Needing repentance—the “first work”—she is not prepared for the
“second grace.” Here we can see how extremely difficult it is to stand until we
get beyond mere justification—“have access by faith into this grace wherein we
stand.” If a man were to attempt to abide in the state of deep penitence for sin
he would doubtless fail because this is no standing ground. The same in a
modified degree is true of justification; they are both transition states. We
never cease to be penitent or forego the joy of justification by advancing to
higher ground; but God designs that repentance should lead to pardon and
justification to entire sanctification. And having thus “done all to stand, we
can stand therefore” being “perfect and complete in all the will of God.” To
stop short of this point were like a man attempting to hold a position on a
steep hillside where only a sufficient foothold can be gained to pass rapidly to
the summit. Is it not a fact patent to all observes that young converts almost
invariably possess more love to Jesus, to brethren and enemies, than older
saints do who have not received the Father’s purging? The young convert will
rush to and embrace his most bitter enemy while it is almost impossible to get
older members of the church who have had some petty grievance near enough
together to touch fingers; and yet, when we teach them the glorious gift of
perfect love they tell us they are growing in grace. They thus conclude they can
get on better in prayer and speaking than when first converted; while the
contrast between their present coldness and newborn fervor shows that they have
lost their first love and relapsed into a decent morality and formal servility.
But, what is the nature of this divine purification? When a scion is engrafted
it always contains the sap and nature of its native tree; with this is mingled
the sap and life of the new root; which, I am told by persons who have witnessed
the fact, sometimes produces a mixture of both kinds of fruit. Now, before that
graft could be purely and exclusively of the tree on which it stands, it must
undergo a purgation from all the elements of its original root. So also we bring
with us the Adamic nature, which must subsequently be cleansed out of our moral
system in order that we may bear the unmixed “fruit of the Spirit of Christ
Jesus.” It is not an outward pruning, or self culture, but an inward cleansing;
the removal of the Adamic taint which God alone can do. “For I will cleanse
their blood that I have not cleansed; for the Lord dwelleth in Zion ” (Joel
3:21). Thus God “makes the tree good, that the fruit may all be good.” I close
this chapter by calling your attention to the indisputable evidence of two
distinct works of grace. It cannot be denied that the ingrafting is a work of
God; and without impeaching the testimony of Jesus, a subsequent work of
purification must be conceded. What must we think of that Christian who says he
cannot believe in this second and all cleansing grace. Surely there is no lack
of testimony, neither is the testimony involved in obscurity, so as to require
great erudition to apprehend it. All that any one needs to believe in a second
work is a heart to credit the words of Jesus and the ability to count two. For,
if God does one work of ingrafting, and subsequently another work of ingrafting,
and subsequently another of purging, surely the latter is a second work.

I have decided to honor the vine; Purge me, dear Father, the power is thine.
Nothing am I. Everything He. Christ is the all and all in me. I am determined
henceforth to bear, The unmixed fruit of the Spirit so fair. A branch am I; the
life is He. Christ is the all and all in me.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: 10. THE FULLNESS A GRACE UPON GRACE
========================================================================

Jesus points out the object of the lesson on the vine and braches as follows:

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full. (John 15:11)

In the sixteenth chapter the dear Savior again speaks of the coming of the Holy
Spirit as the personal comforter that was yet to be received by the Disciples;
and, to stimulate their minds to seek after this great blessing, He says unto
them:

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you; hitherto
have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be
full. (John 16:23-24)

Here was a new grace—a fullness of joy—yet to be received from the Father by
asking for it; though they were already Christians; for, immediately following
this promise Jesus said, “For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have
loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” But the “new commandment”
of perfect love, this second experience, Christ insists upon as necessary to
abide in His love and retain His joy; for this divine fullness “no man taketh
away from you.” It is a salvation that carries us “above the world and sin” and
extracts honey from every circumstance in life. A peace that flows as constant
as a river: a joy that all the cunning and power of men and devils cannot
interrupt. On this eternal Rock the soul “rejoices evermore” and even “glories
in tribulation.” Now this unmingled and eternal joy of the soul the Lord
presents to His regenerated disciples as the full fruition of His kingdom of
grace; not by works or growth, but a direct gift from God in answer to prayer.
We find this same blessing connected with sanctification in that most memorable
prayer of Jesus.

And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (John 17:13)

But some may think that when the kingdom was once finished and all its elements
present this distinction ceased and we are inducted at once into all the
“fullness of the blessing of the Gospel.” This we have already seen in chapter
four is anti-scriptural as we also show from the present class of texts.

Now, the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)

Here Paul invokes the same blessing upon the believers at Rome to be received in
the same way that Christ directed, i.e., “in believing” and “through the power
of the Holy Ghost.” After the Ephesians had been “quickened” and made fellow
citizens with the saints, Paul prayed the Father to grant them this “fullness of
God.” He did not think with some at present that this great blessing could only
be attained by superior minds, or those of many years experience in the way of
the Lord; nor that it could only come to us at death; but, in the very strongest
terms, proclaims it the privilege of the young converts at Ephesus, who had
quite recently merged from the low and dissolute habits of heathen idolaters
(Ephesians 3:14-20). The Apostle John writes to his “brethren,” the “sons of
God,” of their privilege to be cleansed in the blood of Christ from “all sin”
and “ all unrighteousness: and enjoy the cloudless glory of “perfected love” (1
John 1:7,9, and 15-17). And, says he, “These things write we unto you that your
joy may be full” (1 John 1:4). This proves that the two works of grace wrought
in the first disciples continued the order to the end of the Apostolic ministry
and, of course, has never been changed. It is believed that John wrote his
Gospel about A.D. 97, but three years before his death. In his introduction he
testifies to the fulfillment of this promise Christ gave to His church before
leaving. “And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John
1:16). I can see no way to interpret this language so as to avoid the conclusion
that the fullness is a second enduement of grace. It makes no difference whether
we take “for” in the sense of because of, or in order to; the first rendering
teaches a crowning grace, a fullness of joy, consequent upon a previous grace,
the second a degree of grace preceding the fullness; both amount to the same
thing, and emphatically declare two distinct measures of grace; the first a
transition state, the second the fullness of God “wherein we stand.” Doddridge,
Wesley, and others, translate the above, “grace upon grace;” the Emphatic
Diaglott, “favor upon favor.” In this version favor takes the place of grace,
generally. These renderings make the proof of two successive degrees of grace
still more emphatic. A fullness of grace bestowed upon a previously received
measure of grace. This divine fullness Christ and Paul identify with
sanctification (John 17:14-17 and Romans 15:13-16), and John with perfect purity
(1 John 1); and these being the same and wrought by the power of God in the
Christian’s heart, are necessarily “grace upon grace” and proof positive of two
successive works of grace.

The Blood, the Word and the Spirit proclaim, Both pardon and cleansing in Jesus’
name. Oh, glory to God, for grace upon grace; An ocean of love, and river of
peace! The Blood, the Word and the Spirit agree: A fullness of joy they offer
me.

The promise made sure with an oath divine, Inspires my trust. I’m sure it is
mine. Believing the Word; I’m cleansed in the blood, The Spirit now fills the
temple of God . I’ve paradise found in the bliss of faith, A heaven of joy in
the second grace.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: 11. ROMANS 5:1-2, PROOF POSITIVE
========================================================================

The Apostle here places side-by-side, justification and another state of grace
beyond. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Here is a clear and full statement of a complete work, i.e.,
justification by faith through Christ and its effect, “peace with God.” As
regeneration, adoption, and justification are all one in point of time, they are
all embraced in this act of faith; but these newborn joys are transitional.
Behold, a second door appears, which leads to the true standing grace. This is
the “open door” into which the righteous enter.” Read verse 2. “By whom?” By the
same Lord Jesus Christ. “Also,” in addition to justification “we have access by
faith;” the same as into justification; “into;” not the experience already
mentioned, but distinctively, “into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God.” In this “enduement of power from on high,” the soul
“puts on the whole armor of God” and is “made perfect, stablished, strengthened,
settled” (1 Peter 5:10). The “old man,” which is always inclined to murmur at
misfortune and resent injuries, being entirely destroyed, we even “glory in
tribulation.” This is nothing less than entire sanctification, wherein
non-resistance and returning good for evil is the natural impulse of the soul.
It also corresponds with Paul’s description of the “more excellent way” of
charity, or “love made perfect,” which “endureth all this,” and “never faileth.”
It is in this grace that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost, which (in His fullness, and as the personal Comforter) is given unto
us.” This agrees with the sanctification of the one hundred twenty disciples on
the Day of Pentecost. If this Scripture does not aver two successive degrees of
grace, I cannot see how language could convey that idea. If we deny this truth,
this second verse becomes entirely without meaning; a useless tautology. What a
contradiction, yea, what an insult to the God of the Bible for men who claim to
believe and revere that holy Book; and yet say they cannot believe in a second
grace. Such pretensions are no better, yea, less consistent than the
hypocritical plea of the infidel who says he cannot believe the Bible at all.
Such obstinate unbelief in the face of the abundant and unequivocal testimony of
God’s Word and human witnesses simply shows that the soul is under the dominion
of old “sarka,” which of course never chooses its own destruction. If we draw a
facsimile of Romans 5:1-2 in live and angles, we have the following Dear reader,
I appeal to you before the Lord Jesus our final Judge, if this is not a true
picture of the inspired word. I challenge any man to diagram these two verses by
the rules of grammar so as to make but one ingress. Can any sane mind believe
that after a plain statement of justification by faith and through Jesus the
Apostle would proceed to say, “We also have access by faith through Christ into
this grace,” etc., and yet mean the same thing? To identify “this grace with
that of the first verse you must either take the position that it, i.e.,
justification, is attained by two distinct grasps of faith and two inductions
through Christ, or else charge Paul with a repetition too awkward and ridiculous
for the first composition of a school boy. The first horn of this dilemma will
do the opposer no good for it also teaches two degrees of grace; only it
confines them within justification. The second is not even supposable. The
inspired writer connects “this grace” and that of the preceding verse with
“also,” hence it is impossible to construe them as meaning the same. “This
grace,” dear reader, is immovably fixed beyond and in addition to justification.
In vain all your attempts to deny it—you only thereby publish your sad want of
it. “Forever, oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” “Justify by faith . . .
also access by faith into this grace.” A man might just as well assay to invent
enginery to demolish the throne of the Almighty as to produce arguments to
overthrow this most precious truth of God. I should not fear to rest this whole
subject upon this single text. It not only declares an attainment of grace
supplementary to justification, but excludes the idea of it being a mere
development: for the Apostle avers that we are inducted therein through Jesus
Christ and by an act of faith just as we enter the door of justification. Hence,
it is a direct gift from God and received instantaneously. This is the gift that
Paul desired to bring to the church, “to the end they might be established”
(Romans 1:11). To be established is simply to reach a point where we are enabled
to stand. Behold the harmony of truth! “This grace” is placed after
justification and it was to the church that the Apostle wished to come and teach
it. I have never yet heard an explanation of this second verse except by such as
possess the real experience it teaches. I have asked ministers who had only
entered the preceding verse to explain it: but not one has undertaken it; some
resorted to witticism, other to abuse, while a few were honest enough to confess
that they could not. Notwithstanding, they could not otherwise interpret this
and other texts; they still declared their unbelief in the higher or perfect
grace. O, the malignant infatuation of the spirit of error!

Since thou wouldst have us free from sin, And pure as those above, This second
door we’d enter in THE BLISS OF PERFECT LOVE.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 12: 12. ABSOLUTE PROOF-2 CORINTHIANS 1:15
========================================================================

“And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that you might
have a second benefit”—margin, “second grace.”

Some may attempt to identify this second benefit with the return visit spoken of
in the following verse. But we have no right to change its connection. Had the
Apostle meant the benefit of his second visit, he would have said so; then it
would have read thus: “And to come again out of Macedonia unto you that ye might
have a second benefit.” But our business is not to dissect and reconstruct the
Word of God; for thereby anything could be established. But believing with David
that “the Word of the Lord is right,” we take it for granted that Paul meant
just what he said when he announced the object of his early visit to the
Corinthians. His solicitude for their advancement to the sure standing ground of
the “second grace” was so intense that he resolved to go to them “before he went
elsewhere. McKnight, Emphatic Diaglott, and Conybear and Howson all render
“first” instead of “before.” Paul has left no chance to identify the “second
benefit” with the second visit because the object in each visit is plainly
pointed out. “I was minded to come unto you first, that ye might have a second
grace,” “and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought
on my way toward Judea .” But let us examine the Word here-translated “benefit”
and “grace.” Which rendering is correct? The following facts will answer. 1. The
original is “karin.” 2. With the exception of James 1:11 (“the grace of the
fashion of it perisheth”) the word grace is never derived from any other word in
the New Testament. 3. “Karin” is translated grace 131 times in the New
Testament. 4. “Karin” is never rendered benefit but this single instance, and
then they corrected their version by inserting grace in the margin. I appeal to
any man who has access to the Greek text for the correctness of these
statements. Here, then, is proof positive of two works of grace. An inspired
Apostle using the very form of expression that the teachers of distinctive
holiness find it convenient to adopt at present—“a second grace.” It appears
that the translators did not understand this perfect grace: hence, in this
instance, they departed from the usual way of rendering the word. I will give
the readers the benefit of J. McKnight’s translation and paraphrase on this and
the following verses. “And in this persuasion that ye believe me a faithful
Apostle, I sincerely purposed to come to you first that ye might have a second
gift of the Spirit as soon as possible, by the imposition of my hands. And after
wintering with you,--(1 Corinthians 16:6), from you to pass through into
Macedonia , and from Macedonia to come again to you, and by you to be sent
forward into Judea .” The words in Italic are Scripture, the rest is paraphrase.
Now this pious and learned Presbyterian translator had no special predilections
for sanctification as a second work of grace; hence, nothing but a faithful
exposition of the pure word could have led him to this interpretation. But why
not the Corinthians receive a second gift of the Spirit as well as the one
hundred and twenty, the Samaritans, the twelve Ephesians, et al? Is not the
“promise sure to all the seed?” Is it not the will of God that all His children
should be sanctified—“sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise after that ye
believed?” And now dear reader what will you do? Will you have grace and
humility enough to abandon your obstinate unbelief in reference to the second
grace and receive heaven’s best gift to your needy soul? Or will you step
entirely off of the Bible platform? If not the former, for consistency you ought
to do the latter; and I do not know that God is more dishonored by one that
rejects the Bible entire, than by one who willfully and hypocritically rejects
its most important truth. Christ would rather have us either cold or hot than
lukewarm. I think that soul must be suffering badly with lukewarmness who can
ignore a large portion of God’s holy book with a simple parrot like retort, “God
never does his work by halves,” or “by piece meal,” etc. Man is usually
compelled by the limitation of his power to do his work by a succession of
efforts; but this is no reason why the Infinite may not for other reasons do the
same: that He sometimes does His work in successive degrees no one will deny.
This was his order in the creation of the world. The Almighty could have by one
fiat and in a single instant brought forth the work of six days, but He chose to
do otherwise. Christ could have created the organs of sight perfectly by a
single word, but He saw fit to restore the blind man by two applications of the
clay; the first producing but imperfect vision. Now what becomes of the
assertion that God never does His work in parts? Is it not Satan’s lie through
which you reject God’s truth? But, if in material things, where all is plastic
to the divine touch, the All-wise Being wrought His work in successive degrees,
how much more reasonable in our salvation where human agency, human will and
capacities, are coupled with, and modify the divine work. It is a fundamental
truth of the Bible that salvation is “of faith, that it might be by grace,” but
it is contrary to the nature of faith to apprehend that for which we have no
pressing sense of want. And another element of appropriating faith is a
concentration of all the desire of the heart upon the single object. Hence, it
is not in the province of faith to claim purification from inbred sin when that
want is not felt and when all the powers of the soul center in a vehement
longing for pardon. These facts, and others that might be mentioned, place
entire sanctification beyond the reach of faith, unless received after
justification. O, the depth of the wisdom and goodness of God! To restore the
soul from all the effects and inbeing of sin, the Lord gives us a second touch.
Being unable by one grasp of our weak and almost dormant faith, to take all “the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus,” for us, Father kindly gives us another
chance, a second “access by faith into this grace,” even “His fullness.” Being
willing to excite the displeasure of all who hate the “second grace” rather than
depart from His plan of salvation by faith. Hallelujah!

No more delay to seek this grace, For heaven is a holy place; You cannot stand
before your God, Unless you’re washed in Jesus’ blood. Too high! ‘Tis only
Satan’s plea; Look at the blood—it flows for thee.

You’ve no excuse; you too may know That Jesus washes white as snow. Come then;
lay every weight aside, And plunge beneath the crimson tide. Now prove Him, and
He will shew The wonders of His love to you.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 13: 13. THE DIVINE IMAGE RESTORED
========================================================================

Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now,
the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)

The central truth in this text is the declaration that we are changed into the
image of the Lord. Man was created in the likeness of God; hence, to accomplish
the object of his being, he must bear that image now; for the will and purpose
of the Creator respecting man has not been changed. This divine moral rectitude
was lost in the fall but, all glory to the Lamb, it is regained in Christ. Even
before He, who is our life and righteousness was manifest, David, in the Spirit,
proclaimed that great sum of salvation when he said, “He restoreth my soul.” To
restore is to bring back to its original condition; therefore, the salvation of
Christ reproduces the moral state of Adam before the fall.

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
Him that created him. (Colossians 3:10)

Here it is expressly stated that we are renewed in the image of our Creator.
“Renewed in knowledge,” we understand not of intellectual perfection, but soul
knowledge; “the wisdom that cometh from above.” It is God “shining into our
hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ Jesus.” It is spiritual intuition; the correct knowledge of God and our
relations to Him imparted by the “anointing that abideth and teacheth of all
things.” For, as John says, “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding that we may know Him that is true; and we are in Him that is
true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1
John 5:20). This clearly defines the knowledge received in the renewed image of
God. These texts are sufficient to establish the glorious truth that we may
through Christ Jesus regain and enjoy in this life the pure and unsullied divine
image, which crowned with glory the creation of God “when the morning stars sang
together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Hallelujah! Let heaven again
resound with shouts of praise, for “the Lord brings back His own.” How, then, is
this wonderful transformation from sin into the “likeness of God produced,” or
“what must I do to be saved?” Do nothing; “cease form your own works,” and
simply “look.” For “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image.” The Bible is a two-fold mirror: the
Law and the Gospel. The former is referred to in James 1:23; the latter in 2
Corinthians 3:18. By looking into the law we see ourselves: all the defects of
our heart and life will be faithfully reflected. Looking into the Gospel side,
we see, not ourselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ who is the “end of the law: to
us, and who is “our sanctification and redemption.” Many keep looking all their
lives into the mirror of works and vainly attempt by tears, resolutions, good
deeds and ordinances to save their souls. Some preachers give such prominence to
the law that they send their hearers to the city of Legality instead of to
Christ, the only city of Refuge . Oh, if every burdened, laboring soul would but
look into the Gospel, then would all their trouble, sin and bondage vanish: for
looking into this glass reproduces Christ in us; yea, changes us into the glory
of His image. But it is not the look of a sinner that secures this excellent
glory. No, we pass not directly from guilt and condemnation into the perfect
likeness of God but, the Apostle declares, and experience confirms the blessed
fact, that we are changed into “the same image from glory to glory,” i.e., from
one degree of glory to another. When in the wilderness we have such very
diminutive conceptions of the glory of present salvation that this language is
usually applied to the glory of future rewards. But we should observe that the
Apostle does not say, “we will be changed from glory to glory,: but “are
changed,” even now. Remember also that both these changes are induced by a
believing look into the Gospel glass and by the effectual power of the “Spirit
of the Lord.” Does the Word and Spirit of God produce natural death or take us
out of this world? No, dear reader, these means of salvation do not change our
location, but our moral state; and when you experience the second glory you will
not be in heaven but better still, in the full image of God. “Perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” “Righteous, even as He is
righteous.” “Pure, even as He is pure;” and “partakers of His holiness,” without
which heaven itself would be no heaven for you. The term glory signifies
brightness, beauty and grandeur. Its applications in the Bible are various. It
sometimes signifies the grandeur, sublimity and holiness that we are to ascribe
to the Deity. “Give glory to the most High.” Heaven, of course, is all glory.
The word often denotes the pure light, the power, righteousness, and moral
beauty with which God invests and adorns His saints. On this point I find myself
overwhelmed with a great multitude of texts. It will do your soul good, dear
reader, to take a concordance and see how often the word glory relates to the
present fruition of the soul through grace.

The Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them
that walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)

Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him: that glory may dwell in our
land. (Psalm 85:9)

For this saith the Lord, behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and
the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. (Isaiah 66:12)

In whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8)

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of
glory and of God resteth upon you. (1 Peter 4:14)

Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. . . .Thou hast put off my
sackcloth and girded me with gladness, to the end, that my glory may sing praise
to thee, and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks unto thee
forever. (Psalm 16:9 and 30:12)

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, A fountain ever springing; All things
are mine since I am His. How can I keep from singing?

These texts are sufficient to show that glory denotes the divine Spirit and holy
joy of the Christian. Indeed it represents every feature of true religion in the
soul. Now, the text at the head of this chapter affirms that “we are changed
from glory to glory”—from one degree of salvation to another. This can only mean
from the glory of justification to the “more excellent” glory of perfect love.
There is no glory in a sinner; nothing but darkness and guilt. From this
wretchedness he must be raised by grace into the relation of a son. This brings
glory into the soul for it is indeed a glorious thing to be freely justified
before God: but the change into this glory is followed by a second into the
perfect “glory of the Lord,” or the “same image.” This is in perfect harmony
with Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. They had already been “brought nigh by the
blood of Christ,” “quickened” and “raised up together and made to sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Chapter 2). And now the Apostle prays “that
the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened; that they might know what
is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18) This second glory, you perceive, in verse 11
and 12, is identified with the inheritance of the saints, i.e., sanctification
(Acts 20:32 and 26:18). These “fellow citizens with the saints” were to attain
this divine glory just as Paul taught the Corinthians, i.e., by a second change
into the image of God.

That ye put off . . . the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians
4:22-24)

The “old man” can only mean the old, corrupt nature conceived by the fall and
entailed upon the entire race of man. The “new man”—new nature—is of divine
creation and is “after God,” i.e., after the divine likeness in “righteousness
and true holiness.” The destruction of all unrighteousness, and the “renewing of
the Holy Ghost,” is a change from the glory already attained to that of the full
“image of the Lord.” I now proceed to show some texts where the word “glory” has
special reference to the higher Christian experience. The Redeemer shall come to
Zion , and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As
for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon
thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy
mouth . . . Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee. (Isaiah 59:20-21; 60:1) Here is a true picture of Gospel
salvation. First, souls are redeemed and “turned from transgression.” Then we
are prepared to enter into holy covenant with the Lord in which our hearts are
filled with the Holy Spirit, and our lips with everlasting praises; because the
light of God fills the whole body and “His glory shall be seen upon thee.” Now
mark the effect of this glory upon the church.

The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together,
they come to thee. (Isaiah 2:4)

They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house
of my glory. (Isaiah 2:7)

Blessed fruits of a holy church; thousands are attracted to her and as fast as
they enter the divine fold and “present themselves a living sacrifice: upon
God’s altar, He glorifies the house or church in their sanctification.

And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron for glory and for beauty. (Exodus
28:2)

These holy garments for glory represent salvation. Let thy priests, oh Lord, be
clothed with salvation. (2 Chronicles 6:41)

For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their
beds; let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in
their hand . . . this honor have all His saints. (Psalm 149:4-6, 9)

The tabernacle was a type of the church—“the true tabernacle made without
hands.”

And there I will meet with the children of Israel , and the tabernacle shall be
sanctified by my glory. (Exodus 29:43)

The King’s daughter is all glorious within. (Psalm 45:13)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them that are called according to His purpose, (who have attained the full
purpose, or “perfect will of God” even our sanctification), for whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the first born among many brethren, (the chief or head of all the
redeemed). Moreover whom He did predestinate them He also called; and whom He
called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
(Romans 8:28-30)

Here the glorification of the saints is identical with conformity to the image
of the Son and is subsequent to justification. This scripture is therefore in
perfect harmony with 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 2 Peter 1:3-4. Hence, we read that
Christ also “loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that He might present it to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: but
that it should be holy and without a blemish” (Ephesians 5:25, 27). The church
is made glorious by being washed and made holy, preparatory to being presented
before God in heaven.

Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; and yet no the wisdom of
this world . . . but we speak the wisdom of God ordained before the world unto
our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:6-7)

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which
salvation the prophets inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the
grace which should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow . . . which things the
angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:9-12)

In these two texts we have the glory that comes upon the church through the
suffering of Christ identified with the mystery proclaimed in the Gospel, even
our “salvation.” Not in its first degree, but salvation to the “uttermost,”
because it was only appreciated by those who were in the experience, by “them
that were perfect.” Paul was anxious to visit the Thessalonians that their
“hearts might be established unblameable in holiness before God.” He tells them
that God has not called them unto uncleanness, but unto holiness, and referring
doubtless to the same call, he charged every one “that ye would walk worthy of
God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12).
“Hath called” you “unto glory,” even now; not heaven, for that call will not be
until the close of life; but “unto holiness.” Holiness is, therefore, the second
glory, and this call follows immediately the call into the kingdom. This is
parallel with the words of Jesus, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness.” Here are two distinct things to be sought; first the kingdom,
which we enter in the new birth, and then the “righteousness of God, which Paul
says is revealed in the Gospel “from faith to faith,” and is a gift bestowed
upon the church to the end they might “be established” (Romans 1:17). Once more,
for the identity of the second glory and sanctification, read 2 Thessalonians
1:13-14:

But we are bound to give thanks always to God, for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning, chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; whereunto (unto which
sanctification) He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of (that whereunto
He called you, i.e.) the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here sanctification and the glory of the Lord are used interchangeably, meaning
the same thing: for that whereunto God chose them, is the same as that which He
called them by the Gospel to obtain through “belief of the truth.” Peter “had
been with Christ, and learned of Him;” hence they “speak the same things.”
“Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” “And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in
them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me”
(John 17:17, 22-23). “Lo, now speakest thou plainly.” That the disciple may be
as the Master, the Lord gives us His glory, even the “same image,” which glory
He connected with His prayer for their sanctification, and further defines as “I
in them and thou in me.” Surely this is the “more excellent” glory, to be a holy
temple, indwelt by the blessed Trinity. Hence, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians,
that God would grant them “according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in
your heart by faith . . . that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
O, the riches of His glory in the soul! Returning to the Savior’s prayer, we
find that the object of Christ giving His glory to the church is “that they may
be one, even as we are one,” “that they may be made perfect in one,” or
“perfected in one.” (Greek) And this unifying glory must be received and
exhibited by the church, in this life; for thereby Jesus says the world was to
know that God had sent Him and loved them even as the Father loved Him. Now this
glory that makes the children of God one Paul says is sanctification.

For it became Him . . . in bringing many sons unto glory to make the Captain of
their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. (Hebrews 2:10-11)

They only who “walk in the light as God is in the light have (this perfect)
fellowship one with anther,” because “the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
cleanseth them from all sin;” and “the love of God is perfected in them.”
Reader, go to a special holiness meeting and thy eyes, if not too thickly
veiled, shall behold this divine “bond of perfectness.” This list of texts might
be still extended. I have multiplied the number for the purpose of edifying the
reader. But enough. “We are changed into the same image (of the Lord) from
glory, (justification) to glory, (entire sanctification) as by the Spirit of the
Lord.” Glory be to the God of all grace who now fills heaven and earth with
wonder, admiration, and loud hallelujahs at the appearance of a “new man”
redeemed and washed from all iniquity and re-created after the image of God, in
all the “beauty of holiness.”

According as His divine power hath given unto us (Christians) all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, (god-likeness) through the knowledge of Him
that hath (even in this life) called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Everything essential to the life and perfect god-likeness of the soul is
provided by the divine power and apprehended by us through the knowledge of God,
and through the precious promises. Peter informs his brethren that “ye might be
partakers of the divine nature” by “escaping the ‘corruption’ that is in the
world”—the corrupted human nature into which the whole world has fallen through
the sin of Adam; and this divine likeness is the “glory” to which we are now
called, and which is followed by the “virtue” of a holy life. I am aware that
worldly wisdom will attempt to explain away these Scriptures; neither is there
any portion of truth that cannot be “wrested” by those who are “ignorant,”
experimentally, and “unlearned” by the Holy Spirit; but no candid mind will
dispute the following facts deducted from the foregoing Scriptures: 1. That the
grace of God in this life restores the soul of man into the divine likeness.
(Colossians 3:10) 2. That this perfect holiness or godlikeness is the glory that
Christ gives to the church by which it is made “perfect in one.” (2 Corinthians
3:18; John 17; Hebrews 2) 3. That it is entire “sanctification,” or “true
holiness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Ephesians 4:24, 5:27) 4. That it is wrought
by the power of God through the Word and Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:24; 2 Peter
1:3; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:13) 5. That it is identical with the
gift of the Holy Ghost; (1 Peter 4:14) and the “righteousness of God.” (2 Peter
1:3; Matthew 6:38; Romans 1:17) 6. That it is promised to, and enjoined upon the
Christian; (Ephesians 4; 2 Peter 1) and is a change, not from a sinner, but from
a justified relation, even “from glory to glory;” and is, therefore, a second
attainment in grace.

On dimness of vision the day star appears, Reviving the church “in the midst of
the years.” Her glory shines out like a city on high, And Nations “like doves to
her windows fly.”

Salvation, “as brightness,” its radiance imparts, Full glory on glory enraptures
all hearts, The soul is renewed in the image of God, And love is made perfect
through Calvary ’s blood.

O, tell it, ye heralds, the story unfold; O hear it, ye people, the glory
behold. Let heaven and earth of full redemption sing, And crown with all glory
our Emanuel King.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 14: 14. JUSTIFICATION INDUCTS INTO A DUAL STATE
========================================================================

In Chapter Two we have shown that perfect salvation is taught in the Bible and
what it is. In this chapter we shall show that it is the “second grace,” a
religious experience subsequent to regeneration. Christ commanded His disciples
saying, “Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”
(Matthew 5:48). This is equivalent to Paul’s command to the Ephesians, to “put
on the new man which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
That is, put on the perfect likeness of god. “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” The
above command was addressed to God’s children. Mark the language, “your Father
which is in heaven,” it therefore enjoins an attainment beyond sonship. “The
disciple is not above his Master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his
Master” (Luke 6:40). According to this, some disciples may be perfect, and
others not: hence, there are two phases of Christian experience. The margin
reads thus: “The disciple is not above his Master; but every one shall be
perfected as his Master.” A disciple is a Christian (Acts 11:26), is one who
“denies himself, takes up his cross and follows Jesus” (Luke 14:26-27, 33). Then
we have the order clearly defined. First, a disciple or Christian; second, “Be
perfected;” and this exalted state is not the privilege of a few only, but
“every one shall be perfected.” Of course, this is the work of God; it was to
make them like Jesus in moral nature, which involves a change of nature that the
hand of the Lord only can do: hence, the perfecting of the saints is a divine
work. At Corinth , Paul’s preaching seems not to have been appreciated by the
church. They regarded him as “weak,” foolish,” and even beside himself.
“Howbeit,” says the Apostle, “we speak wisdom among them that are perfect” (1
Corinthians 2:6). Every man preaches from the stand-point of his own experience
and will be appreciated by those in the same state of grace; to them it will be
wisdom; but foolishness to all who occupy a lower plane of Christian experience.
The language of Canaan is only understood by those who have reached the land;
and wherever Paul had the privilege of preaching to these—the “perfect”—his
words were fraught with “wisdom;” while to the unsanctified Corinthians, his
preaching was “foolishness.” Here, again, we see two forms of saving grace. Paul
was such a thorough holiness preacher that he could not well feed these “carnal
babes in Christ” who had continued so long in the first stage of salvation,
that, like many at present, they had become spiritual dyspeptics; unable to
assimilate good, strong Gospel meat. To all such I would say with Paul, “This
also we wish, even your perfection” (2 Corinthians 13:9). The same feature of
the Apostolic church is seen at Philippi . In his Epistle to this church, the
Apostle speaks of two kinds of perfection; one of which he disclaims and the
other he professes.

That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of
His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, If by any means, I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended; but his one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and if in anything ye be
otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
(Philippians 3:10-16)

It seems to me that no candid reader with ordinary acumen can fail to
distinguish between the two perfections here brought to view, and discover the
meaning of each. You see that the perfection Paul denies having attained is the
“prize” at the end of the race; his eyes were fixed on a glorious “resurrection
from the dead:” for this he “counted all things but loss;” and pressed forward
with all the energies of his soul. There is no more reason for saying that Paul
was not free from sin because he was not perfect in the sense of having
“finished his course” and obtained his crown than for attributing sin to Christ;
for, says He, “Behold, I cast out devils, and do cures today and tomorrow, and
the third day I shall be perfected” (Luke 13:32). The Scriptures speak of
different kinds of perfection as absolute, resurrected, legal, Adamic and what
we may term Christian perfection: hence, it is that perfection is both affirmed
and denied in the Scriptures with respect to the same individuals. Thus God
recognized Job as being “perfect and upright” (Job 1:1) while Job himself says,
“If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse” (Job 9:20). David says,
“I have seen an end of all (legal) perfection, (for) thy law is exceeding
broad;” and yet, he calls on all men to “mark the perfect man, and behold the
upright; for the end of that man is peace” (Psalm 119:96; 37:37). It is thus
that Paul seems to contradict himself in the Epistle to the Philippians. The
explanation is easy. “Legal perfection is disclaimed, while evangelical
perfection is claimed. In other words, perfect love-service can be rendered;
while perfect law-service is beyond the power of man in this life” (D. Steel).
While Paul was not perfect as a victor, he was perfect as a racer. “Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.” While the flaming sentinel
prevents our return in all particulars to the “Paradise lost,” and the flesh
detains us from entering the Paradise of heaven; the God of all grace has
commissioned His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost to “come down and open the
gates of a new Paradise of love made perfect, love casting out all fear, love
fully shed abroad in our hearts” (Steel). Or rather, we may say that God has
graciously extended a branch of the heavenly glory to this earth, a “border
land” of heaven itself, where the soul dwells in sinless rest and the eternal
sunshine of God’s approving smile.

The term perfection is the best word in the English language for expressing that
state of spiritual wholeness into which the soul has entered, when the last
inward foe is conquered, [rather destroyed] and the last distracting force is
harmonized with the might love of Christ, and every crevice of the nature is
filled with love, and every energy is employed in the delightful service of the
adorable Savoir, and the soul is as “dead indeed unto sin” as the occupants of
the Stone Chapel graveyard are to the tide of business which rolls along the
streets of Boston. However fractional the man may be in all other respects he is
in one sense an integer; love pervades the totality of his being. Early in
divine revelation do we find Jehovah pointing to this state saying to Abraham,
“Walk before me and be thou perfect,” and to Moses, “Thou shalt be perfect with
the Lord.” In many other places the same Hebrew word is used in describing
character; but three times it is unfortunately translated by sincerely or in
sincerity, twenty times by upright and uprightly, once by undefiled, as “blessed
are the undefiled, (perfect) in the way;” and once by sound; “Let my heart be
sound (perfect) in thy statutes.” Forty-five times the Israelites are commanded
to bring sacrifices without blemish; and every time the word should have been
translated perfect. God thus teaching by impressive symbols that the heart of
the offerer must be perfect before God. Leviticus is the book of all the Old
Testament wherein is typically taught the need of inward cleansing, whose end is
holiness, whose tabernacle is holy, whose vessels are holy, whose offerings are
most holy, whose priests are holy, and their garments are holy, and whose people
are holy, because their God is holy. Opening the New Testament we find the Greek
word “teleios,” perfect, descriptive of fitness for the kingdom of God dropping
from the lips of Christ and from the pen of Saint Paul seventeen times while the
cognate noun, perfection, is twice used, and the verb, to perfect, fourteen
times. This examination shows that the Spirit of inspiration had a deep design
persistently followed from the book of Genesis to the Epistle of John. That is
to set forth the holiness of the service demanded of us and the perfectibility
of the Christian under the dispensation of the Spirit. For this perfection is
not on a level with man’s natural powers but is the work of the sanctifier
through the mediation and blood of Jesus Christ, who “by one offering hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified.” By one offering He has procured the
sanctifier, who, so long as the world shall stand, is able by His office of
cleansing to perfect believers and present them complete in Christ Jesus.
(Daniel Steel, in his new and excellent work, entitled Mile Stone Papers.)

These lines contain so much light on the subject and so well expressed that I
have thought it well to quote this at length. Returning to Philippians 3, we
find two classes of Christians recognized in that church, possessing two
different “attainments” in grace; not different talents, nor diversity of
Spiritual gifts, but two distinct “attainments” in the way of salvation. “Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect,” etc. Language could not more clearly assert
the perfection of the Apostle and part of the church, while the other part had
not “attained” thereto. Now it must be claimed that God did more for the former
class in regeneration than the latter or that an additional work had been
wrought in them; for a difference now exists; some are perfect, others not. Some
may say that all had but one work wrought in them, but some had grown to
perfection: but of perfection by growth, the Christian world has never had a
single instance. We have seen that growth does not change the nature, but
perfection is a change into the nature of Christ; hence, attributed to the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the cleansing blood of Jesus. Saint
Paul depended upon God alone to “reveal” unto these non-perfected Christians,
the light of his promises that through these they might “cleanse themselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and Spirit; perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
We have met some people who look upon the perfecting of members of their church
as a great disaster to the body. The Devil, wishing a vigilant committee to keep
men out of “this grace” that proves so fatal to his kingdom, has secured their
services by making them believe that this experience would divide and destroy
the church. Many of them are doubtless sincere and are to be pitied. But, it
seems after all, that these two distinct states of grace did not interrupt the
peace and prosperity of the church at Philippi ; they still walked in “love as
brethren” and whereunto they had attained “by the same rule.”

And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints. (Ephesians 4:12)

Among the duties of the ministry, that of perfecting the saints stands foremost,
being pre-eminent in importance. How eager the apostles were to visit all the
churches to “perfect that which was lacking in their faith” that God might
“stablish their hearts unblameable in holiness;” that they might “know what is
the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in
the saints.” Paul declares that especially for this work was he “made a
minister;” hence, he says, “I rejoice in my suffering for you and fill up that
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake,
which is the church.” He repeats that this special ministry was given to him for
you, and “to fulfill the work of God; (or to teach you the fullness in the Word
of God), even the mystery which hath been hid from ages, and from generations,
but now is made manifest to His saints; to whom, (the saints), God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Whom, (as a perfect Savior) we preach, (to His body, the church) warning every
man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus; (for every one “shall be perfected as his Master”) whereunto,
(in this special calling of “perfecting the saints”) I also labor, striving,
according to His working, which worketh in me mightily. (Colossians 1:23-29)

This shows that the burden of the apostolic ministry was to lead the church into
the grace of perfection, which they did, not only by preaching Christ our
“sanctification” but also laboring mightily to help them into the experience.
The Gospel does not contemplate the perfection of sinners, but “saints”—holy
ones—such as have been regenerated, separated in general from a life of sin to
the service of God; for unless holy in a degree they could not “perfect
holiness.” Love must first exist before it can be “made perfect.” The perfection
of a saint is necessarily distinct from that moral change by which we become
saints; hence, the perfect renovation of the soul is a second work. We will now
hear Peter on Perfection:

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish,
strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)

There are, to my mind, two misapprehensions of this text, which I wish to
correct. First, some have inferred from it that our perfection must be
indefinitely postponed until we shall have suffered a while; possibly until near
the expiration of life. This interpretation conflicts with the whole tenor of
the Bible. With God salvation is always “now.” “Behold now is the accepted
time.” “Go on to perfection.” “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them
who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:1, 12). Paul in
setting the Canaan of perfect rest before the Hebrew brethren in chapters 3 and
4, admonishes them “as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear His voice
harden not your hearts..” (Hebrews 3:7, 14). Do not refuse the call, but “let us
therefore labor, (in the Greek, hasten) to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11).
“Now the God of peace . . . through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make
you perfect” (Hebrews 13:20-21). “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). Such is the uniform voice of God to His
church in the wilderness. There is no interregnum fixed between “first love” and
love enthroned or “made perfect” except that which depends upon our privilege to
hear and slowness to believe the call. Just as soon as we “are Christ’s we are
Abraham’s seed, and heir according to the promise,” and “have boldness and
access with confidence” into our “inheritance among them that are sanctified by
faith.” But why did Peter say, we have to “suffer a while” before made perfect?
The words “a while” are from “oligon” and literally means a little; the idea of
time is not essentially in the word, it simply expresses diminution. It is
rendered little fifteen times in the New Testament, small five times, and few
fourteen times. When connected with time, that idea is properly indicated by
another word: as “oligon kairon,” little season—“short time” (Revelation 12:13).
Or by a prefix as “prosoligon” “little time” (James 4:14). Once, besides the
instance in Peter, it is rendered “a while,” Mark 6:31, where it would be more
properly rendered a little. James McKnight renders it “after ye have suffered a
little;” also the direct translation from the Greek in the Emphatic Diaglott.
The idea intended by the Holy Spirit is that after we suffer a little—suffer the
“crucifixion of our old man,” the “destruction of the body of sin”—God will
perfect us. The utter destruction of self is the only road to the perfect Christ
life in the soul. With Paul we must “suffer the loss of all things;” for he only
that will “loose his own life shall find it” gloriously saved in God. The second
idea drawn from this text of which I wish to speak is made intelligent to your
minds by transposing the text as follows: “But the God of grace, who hath called
us after that ye have suffered a while, unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
make you perfect, (now) stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Though this
interpretation is sustained by good scholarship, I am compelled to dissent from
it. The main object doubtless has been to remove the apparent delay in the work
of perfection and thus harmonize the text with present perfection as uniformly
taught in the Word. But we have seen that no elapse of time is expressed by the
true text at all. My second objection is the incongruity of a present call to
the enjoyment of a future possession. If we apply the “eternal glory” to our
future heaven, which we cannot enter until the close of this life, then it is
not true that “God hath (now) called un unto” (eis—literally into) it. The Lord
does not call us into heaven until we leave this world. In the light of the
numerous Scriptures presented in the preceding chapter, the “eternal glory” into
which we are called is identical with the perfection that He immediately
promises. Some may stagger at this view because it is called “eternal glory.”
But what of that? Is not perfect holiness the eternal glory of the saint? Does
not Christ Jesus “by one offering perfect forever them that are sanctified?”
Here is eternal perfection attainable now, which corresponds with the “eternal
glory” into which God hath even now called us. But again where is this eternal
glory of which Peter speaks? In heaven? No, it is “in Christ Jesus,” the
preposition rendered “by” is “en,” its literal force and primary meaning is
“in,” by which it is rendered over two thousand times in the New Testament.
James McKnight, Philip Doddridge, and the German version all render it “has
called us to (or unto) His eternal glory in Christ Jesus;” this produces perfect
harmony in the text, the call unto, being in the present tense, the glory being
in Christ Jesus, is also available now.

Arise, shine, for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
thee. (Isaiah 60:1)

The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and
that the world may know that thou hast sent me. (John 17:22-23)

The above is literally translated “that they may be perfected into one” in both
the Bible Union and Emphatic Diaglott versions. Here is perfect harmony between
the words of Peter and the prayer of Jesus. The former identifies the call to
“glory in Christ Jesus” with perfection, and the Lord Himself gives us His
glory, which constitutes our perfection. Observe again that this glory unto
which we are called is, saith the Lord, “I in them, and thou in me.” This
identifies it with the promise: “And my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23) and also with that which was
spoken by the mouth of the prophet.

Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no
more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto
thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy
glory. (Isaiah 60:18-19)

Our glory, being the eternal God, is necessarily an “eternal glory.” And this is
not said particularly of the church in heaven, but when “thy people shall be all
righteous,” and when “they shall inherit the land” ( Canaan or holiness). The
Savior gave this unifying glory to the church that the “world might believe,”
and the Prophet attributes the same results to it.

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one, a strong nation; I the
Lord will hasten it in His time. (Isaiah 60:18-22)

Read also in the first of this chapter, the same grand effects flowing out of
the glory of the Lord upon the church, “Then thou shalt see and flow
together”—“be one”—and, in harmony with the prayer of the blessed Redeemer,
“that the world might believe,” the Prophet says, “The abundance of the sea
shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.”
Hence, we see that it is in this world that God becomes the “everlasting light”
and “eternal glory” of His church, which being “seen upon her” attracts the
nations “like doves to her windows,” still open to the penitential throng who
enter and “shew forth the praises of the Lord.” In this connection I must again
call your attention to 2 Peter 1:3-4, where we have “godliness,” “glory,” and
“the divine nature,” joined together as one and the same thing; not reserved in
heaven for us, but “given unto us” even now through “exceeding great and
precious promises;” hence by faith. This glory is not entered through death, but
“through the knowledge of Him that hath called us” and the operation of “His
divine power” by which we “escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust;” that is, we are wholly sanctified—cleansed from the moral infection of
this fallen world. Now we have no more reason to locate the glory of 1 Peter
5:10 in the future state than that of 2 Peter 1:3. And we do less violence to
the latter by excluding virtue from the church on earth than glory; for, mark
you, the call is not to “virtue” now, and “glory” hereafter, but “He hath called
us to glory and virtue.” The glory precedes the virtue, and this is the correct
order; for it is only when “the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon” the
church that her virtue “goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp
that burneth.” I will cite but one more parallel passage, “But we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit, and belief of the truth “whereunto (unto which sanctification) he called
you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2
Thessalonians 2:13-14). Here it is impossible to misapprehend the identity of
sanctification and the glory of the Lord. He called you unto sanctification to
the obtaining of glory. This proves that we obtain the glory of the Lord in the
experience of sanctification. Now, two things that are equal to the same thing
are equal to each other: in the above text, sanctification is equal to glory, in
John 17:22-23 and 1 Peter 5:10, perfection is equal to glory, and in Hebrews
10:14 we learn that sanctification and perfection are equal to each other—are
the same. Thus we find the divine testimony on the second grace harmonizes with
mathematical precision. Having seen that, Peter and Paul three times declared
that God “hath called us” (even now) unto the “glory of the Lord Jesus Christ”
and each time supplement the call with promises of “sanctification,”
“perfection” or the “divine nature,” and that it is placed before virtue, and
identified with the indwelling of God (Isaiah 60:19) and the Comforter, the
Spirit of God (1 Peter 4:14) and is promised by Christ Himself as the grace of
perfection, the cementing power and world-saving salt of the church. I think we
should begin to have “the eyes of our understanding enlightened; that we may
know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints.” For even now God desires to “make known the riches
of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had (by regeneration) afore
prepared unto glory, (not departed saints, but) even us, whom He hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles” (Romans 9:23-24). In the light
of those Scriptures, I think we are prepared to appreciate the united call and
promise of God in 1 Peter 5:10, where the Holy Ghost has set forth in one
blessed experience “eternal glory,” “perfection,” stablishing, strengthening and
settling grace. These latter terms beautifully harmonize with Paul’s description
of higher Christian grace. He calls it a spiritual gift to the end ye may be
stablished, and the “heart stablished unblameable in holiness.” Also
“strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience
(no more impatience) and longsuffering with joyfulness,” and “that ye be rooted
and grounded in love.” This most glorious renovation and illumination of the
soul, Peter announces to his Christian brethren of “like precious faith” as an
altitude of religious experience, which some of them at least had not yet
reached; and, as if anticipating the prevailing skepticism, touching the
perfectibility of the saints in this life and the fact that it is a distinct
work of grace subsequent to pardon, the Holy Spirit declares that the infinite
God Himself, even “the God of all grace,” would most assuredly “make these
believers “perfect” and “settle” them down as immovable “pillars in the temple
of their God, to go no more out.” Therefore, dear reader, if you deny that God
will do a work in the Christian by which he is made perfect, you directly
contradict the Holy Spirit. I conclude this chapter by citing some texts in
Hebrews. This Epistle is, I think, the most sublime treatise on perfection ever
written. It is usually attributed to Paul, and addressed to his “brethren,” to
such as had made a “profession of Christ Jesus,” and had been inducted into the
first “principals of Christ” (Hebrews 3:1, 6:1). Hence, they were converted
Christians and of the “household of faith. They had entered the course, but were
not yet prepared to run. A certain “sin” with its accompanying “weights” still
adhered to their souls (Hebrews 12:1). Alas, how many are at this time making
sad failure in their race for the prize because of the same encumbrances. How
can men “run with patience: when yet possessed with the “old man” whose very
nature is murmuring, fretting and impatient. This inherent sin the Emphatic
Diaglott translates, “close girding sin;” Conybear and Howson, “the sin that
clingeth closely round us.” Truly this sin adheres to the soul with dreadful
tenacity; being bred and born in us, we bring it through the washing of
regeneration and suffer its dire contrariety all through the Christian life
unless laid off by the power of God in a second application of the cleansing
blood. It seems almost enough to cast a gloom over heaven and earth to see the
multitudes—doubtless a majority of the annual converts—fall a prey to the
adversary, through this foe, all for the want of having perfection presented to
them as a definite experience accessible now by faith. “Go on to perfection” is
the command of the Captain of our salvation as soon as we enter His ranks
(Hebrews 6:1). Much confusion exists in the great army as to how this imperative
order should be carried out. Some mistake it for a voice from the “terrible”
summit of Sinai. Accordingly they start in the direction of “ Jerusalem which is
in bondage” vainly hoping to work it out. Others who “are dull of hearing”
mistake “go” for “grow,” these are waiting for the Creator to change His
established laws so that development in degree will purify the nature. Another
extensive class dishonors the Omnipotent God our Savior, by an indefinite
postponement until the “king of terrors” shall contribute his aid in its
accomplishment. All these parties are without a single witness to the
correctness of their theory. But “God has not left Himself without witness.”
Therefore their way is not His way. Has the Holy Spirit left any occasion for
all these divergences? Has He commanded us to go to perfection without marking
the place or directing the way? Surely not. The goal is clearly pointed out in
chapter 10:14, “For by one offering, He (Christ) hath forever perfected them
that are sanctified.” The state of Christian perfection is induced by the work
of sanctification. But how are we sanctified? Answer: “Wherefore Jesus also, the
He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate”
(Hebrews 13:12). But again, what is it to be sanctified by the blood of Christ?
Answer: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us (God’s children) from
all sin” (1 John 1:7). Therefore, sanctification, which renews the soul in the
perfect “image of Him that created it,” is not a development, but a divine work
of cleansing; and, having been preceded by the gracious work of justification it
is, therefore, a second work, and in the fear of God, dear reader, you cannot
deny it. I will conclude this chapter with one more quotation from this rich and
wonderful mine of truth. The holy Apostle closed his Epistle with the following
earnest prayer.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make
you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well
pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

O, that every believer would from the heart respond to this “amen” and at once
“present his members for sanctification.” One of the majestic features of God’s
Holy Book is its beautiful and exact harmony. We have just seen that perfection
is by sanctification, and that through the blood of Christ; and here the Apostle
cuts the matter short and attributes perfection at once to the “blood.” This
language is so full and perspicuous that comment can scarcely evolve anything
that does not lay upon its very face. The following questions will call up the
several points of truth it contains in connection with other texts. 1. Question.
Who are to go on to perfection? Answer. Disciples, saints, or members of “the
church of the first-born which are written in heaven,” who had “come to Jesus
the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling.” 2. Question.
By what operation are they made perfect? Answer. By sanctification. Hebrews
10:14 3. Question. Who is to do this work? Answer. “The God of peace” “Through
Jesus Christ.” Hebrews 13:12-21 4. Question. When may Christians be made
perfect? Answer. “Now.” Hebrews 13:20 5. Question. What is the procuring cause
of the grace of perfection? Answer. Christ’s “own blood,” even the “blood of the
everlasting covenant.” Hebrews 13:12-20 6. Question. What are its practical
fruits in believers? Answer. They are “perfect in every good work to do His
will.” 7. Question. Does the God of peace perfect Christians by correcting their
external life only, or by an internal work? Answer. By “working in them that
which is well pleasing in His sight,” even by “working” or “creating” in them
that “new man” or holy nature, which only inclines “to will and to do of His
good pleasure.” (Hebrews 13:21; Ephesians 4:24; Philippians 2:13) He “makes the
tree good,” “Creates unto good works that we should walk in them,” and “purges
out the old leaven that the whole lump may be new.” Perfection, then, is an
internal work. 8. Question. How can we know that we have attained this state?
Answer. “He hath given us of His Spirit that we may freely know the things that
are given us of God.” He bears witness to more than one thing; first, to the
fact that we are the ‘children of God,” then, we read “that Christ, by one
offering hath perfected forever them that are sanctified; whereof (of which
perfection) the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us.” (Hebrews 10:14) It assures
the heart of pardon and also perfection. The same truth is declared in 1
Thessalonians 4:7-8, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto
holiness.” “He therefore that despiseth, (the call) despiseth not man, (who
preaches it) but God, (who is its author, and) who hath also given unto us His
Holy Spirit.” Some, it appears, disbelieved, or disregarded the converts call
unto holiness; and the Apostle, having received the seal and testimony of the
“Eternal Spirit: to the absolute verity and divinity of this crowning work of
salvation, is able to assure them in the most positive manner that, in rejecting
it, they not only ignore His witnesses, but also despise the Father of mercies
Himself; and by their hard hearted unbelief make Him a liar. Let all who “oppose
themselves” in this “holy calling” heed this solemn warning “lest happily ye be
found even to fight against God.” Do you say that our supposed testimony of the
Spirit to moral perfection is but the product of our own fancies? I answer; can
we distinguish between the communications of our fellow man and the operations
of our own mind and not between the voice of God and our own thoughts? Is man
more wise than his Maker? Shall not He who created the human mind know how to
hold intelligent converse with it? When divinely assured of your pardon and
acceptance with God, was there any lack of perspicuity in “the words that the
Spirit speaketh?” Could all the logic and sophistry of earth and hell for a
moment baffle your consciousness of the fact that God had spoken peace to your
soul? And if the first direct overture of God, even to a darkened sinner, is
recognized with such absolute certainty, is not the familiar voice of God,
speaking in the consciousness of His own child still more cognizable? Do you
presume to know more of others than they do themselves that you dispute their
intuitive knowledge by the light of the Holy Ghost? Again, have you such amazing
knowledge of the divine Spirit that you can set metes and bounds to His
operations and confidently say that He is unable to assure the soul of a
believer that he is entirely sanctified from inbred sin and made a holy temple
of God ? I appeal to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, our adorable Savior, He
who will soon be our Judge, if the Scriptures do not emphatically teach that the
Spirit witnesses to our perfection as well as adoption. Therefore, the
credibility of those who attest the perfecting grace of God is as well grounded
as those who confess His pardoning mercy. Yea, it is with special reference to
this higher grace that we are called and qualified to be the Lord’s witnesses on
earth.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye
shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Now he that despises this call and the testimony of those who have received the
glorious fullness “after that they believed,” despiseth not man, but God.”

Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a
work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. (Acts
13:40-41)

But if you persist in setting aside the testimony of all God’s anointed, who
have advanced beyond your own experience, will you, dear reader, stand with me
before the oracles of God and hear their infallible verdict. In all candor, I
ask you if the Scriptures do not uniformly place a period between regeneration
and perfection, and declare the latter to be a work wrought in us by the power
of God and through the sanctifying and cleansing blood of Christ? It therefore
inevitably follows that the “perfecting of the saints” is a second work; to
dispute this fact is but to controvert the voice of inspiration; and he that is
at war with the Bible cannot be at peace with the God of the Bible. The Bible so
abounds in declarations of the distinct purifying grace that no less than three
times is the idea crowded into the single passage at the close of Hebrews.
First, God is to do it; hence, it is a work. Second, it is through the blood,
and the blood cleanseth, which is a moral change—a work of grace. Third, it is
expressly declared to be an internal work of God. But, with all this many,
“whose eyes are blinded by the god of this world,” declare they cannot see one
proof text in the whole Volume of inspiration.

At that time, Jesus answered and said: I thank thee, O, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes. Even so Father; for so it seemed good in thy
sight. (Matthew 11:25)

“But,” beloved reader, “we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we this speak,” of such who “have left their first
love.”

Blessed Jesus! I would be Perfectly conformed to thee; Washed in thine own
precious blood, Wholly sanctified to God.

Thou alone hast power, I know, Full salvation to bestow, And I trust thy
gracious will, This petition to fulfill.

J. Q. Adams


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  CHAPTER 15: 15. LOVE, AN OLD AND NEW COMMANDMENT
========================================================================

If, as we have proved, the Bible teaches a distinct blessing of purity after
conversion, Then we should also expect to find a corresponding uplift in all the
concomitant graces. The removal of all anger, malice, selfishness, pride and
hatred from the heart naturally gives place for an increased measure and unmixed
manifestation of love corresponding to the two degrees of holiness. They are
denominated “first love” and “perfect love.” The expression “first love”
(Revelation 2:5) implies a succession of love states. Were there no sharply
defined transition from one degree and condition of love to another, but only a
gradual development of the same love received at conversion, there would be no
occasion for the above language and Christ would doubtless have said, “Ye have
left your love.” From “first love” we therefore infer a second love or a state
of divine love in the heart distinct from and in advance of that received when
first inducted into the kingdom. These two states of grace are enjoyed by two
distinct commandments:

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye
had from the beginning . . . Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which
thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true
light now shineth. (1 John 2:7-8)

In the following chapter John proceeds to explain the old commandment:

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and
he cannot sin, . . . In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the
beginning. (1 John 3:9-11)

The old commandment, we see, is love in the positive degree, and, as possessed
by every one that is born of God. Now let us follow John to the new commandment:

And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, as He (Christ) gave us commandment. (1 John 3:23)

For an explication of the new commandment, John refers us to Christ. Let us hear
Him:

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved
you. (John 13:34)

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John
15:12-13)

How beautifully the Word of God explains itself. John’s old and new commandments
enjoin love in two different degrees; the first is unqualified and is the
distinguishing mark of all who are born of God. The second is love in the
superlative degree. It consists in loving, as Christ loved; which, all will
allow, is perfect love. He says, “Greater love hath no man than this,” and this
same absolute reign of love that filled the entire being of the adorable
Redeemer and offered up his precious life for a lost world, He proposes to
establish in the heart of every one of His disciples. This new commandment does
not impose any particular outward observance, but “which thing is true in Him
and in you, it is an inner state—i.e., the unmixed love of Jesus. It is true in
you, namely, in all in whom “the darkness (all moral corruption) is past,” or
all sin is destroyed, and in whom “the true light now shineth.” In the first
chapter of this Epistle, the beloved Apostle says that he writes to them “that
their joy might be full,” and that they might have “fellowship with Him,” i.e.,
that sweet union of love which flows from perfect “fellowship with the Father,
and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” He further declares unto them that “God is
light (this is the true light of the new commandment) and in Him is no darkness
at all,” and adds: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us
from all sin.” This shows that the new commandment of perfect love involves
perfect heart purity, both being identified with the “true light” of God. The
Apostle continues his explanation of the new commandment as follows:

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us . .
. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, (raised from the old to the new commandment)
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in
this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:12,
16-18)

Here is clearly taught a transition from a first to a second state of love. What
a halo of glory all these Scriptures throw around the new commandment. In this
luminous zone the soul dwells in the bosom of God in freedom from sin, fullness
of joy, and perfect “fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ,” and
“one with another.” Sin is the source of all strife, discord and division; but
in obedience to the new commandment, we “walk in the light as God is in the
light” having perfect fellowship and union because the “blood of Christ
cleanseth us from all sin.”

Party names and discord ceasing, Lo, before His feet they fall. In the universal
blessing, FULL SALVATION SWEEPS THEM ALL. Hallelujah! JESUS CHRIST IS ALL IN
ALL.

This identifies the new command with sanctification for “He that sanctifieth,
and they which are sanctified are all of one.” (Hebrews 2:11) And with the
Savior’s crowning gift to the church (John 17:22). All hail the sinless “glory”
which makes us “one even as Christ and the Father are one.” “God is light,” ever
the “true light” which shines in them in whom the new commandment is fulfilled;
and “He that dwelleth in love (the new commandment) dwelleth in God and God in
him:” that is, he dwells in eternal light and infinite love. O, the cloudless
glory of full salvation! Praise the Lord, oh my soul! The Lord God is thy sun
and thy shield. The heaven of love is thy everlasting abode! For love, the soul
was formed; this is its native element; here only can it live; and here in the
bosom of infinite love that God prepared its dwelling place. Everlasting “thanks
unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light,” even that “inheritance among them that are sanctified by
faith.” O, the “riches of the glory of His inheritance.” To the church dwelling
on this holy delectable mount of God says, “Thou shalt call thy walls salvation,
and thy gates praise; the sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for
brightness, shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee
an everlasting light . . . and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy
peoples also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever”
(Isaiah 60:18-22). While in the imperfect, or mixed state of love, such
Scriptures are generally applied to the future heaven; but no sooner hath God
“shined into our hearts, to give us the (true) light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus: than we find ourselves in the blissful
sunlight of the above inheritance, even “among the sanctified.” The soul that is
made free from sin and swallowed up in the boundless ocean and beatific glory of
divine love, is so perfectly satisfied and enraptured with the divine Being
Himself, that all created good sinks into comparative nothingness. Natural
sunshine or darkness, health or sickness, prosperity or adversity, wealth or
indigence, whether befriended or persecuted, are all the same to him. Dwelling
in the bosom of the Father of all-good, the very source of every blessing, he
can but realize at all times; I am “perfect entire, wanting nothing.” Being
filled with perfect faith and absolute loyalty to God, he sees God’s sweet will
and his own highest good in every thing that affects him; hence, he loves God
alike and is equally happy in the most opposite conditions of life. So deeply
was the Savior’s new commandment engraven upon the heart of the beloved Apostle
John, that Saint Jerome says in his extreme old age when he used to be carried
to the public assembly of believers, his constant saying was, “Little children,
love one another.” His disciples asked him why he constantly said the same
words. “Because,” said he, “it is the commandment of the Lord, and the
observance of it alone is sufficient.” Here we have the conclusion of the whole
matter. He who had learned the glory of this heaven born passion on the very
bosom of the Son of God’s love and in the fires of Pentecost, sums up all the
essential elements of the kingdom of heaven in the Lord’s new commandment of
absolute love. Who is richer than he

Whose bosom is filled with love?

Who is not poor without it? O, my brother, leave all your murmurings in the
wilderness and come and dwell in this blessed zone of “perfected love” where our
happiness does not depend upon a thousand varying circumstances, but center in
God alone.

I’ve found a joy in sorrow sweet, A sacred balm for every pain. All that I wish,
in God complete, And every loss, a greater gain.

These two states of divine love are clearly brought to view in the epistle to
the Corinthians. The disciples at that place had believed in Christ and received
the ordinance of baptism over four years previous, and still remained “in
Christ.” But, not having “perfected holiness,” they were yet in the first, or
infantile state of grace, that is, they were “yet carnal,” even “babes in
Christ.” Here are both nature and grace, love and its opposites. Paul,
therefore, wishing to lead them on to the new commandment, shows them the “more
excellent way” of which the prophet had said, “It shall be called the way of
holiness,” but the Apostle here describes it as love in a “more excellent”
degree: love that “believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things;” love that “seeketh not her own” and “thinketh no evil”—saves from all
evil thought, having the “mind of Christ.” Moreover, this more excellent love
“never faileth” and is the “greatest of” all the graces (1 Corinthians 12:31 and
chapter 13). I have followed other versions in rendering “agape” love instead of
charity; it is our only Greek word for love. The higher type of love here shown
by Saint Paul to the church corresponds with the “greater,” or “perfected” love
of the new commandment. But, it may be inquired—how account for the first, or
imperfect form of love; is it from God? And if so, does He bestow imperfect
gifts? We answer, it is from God; nevertheless, there is no imperfection in that
which He gives us. This may look like a contradiction; but, dear reader, if you
will come directly to the Word of God all trouble will vanish from your mind. We
have seen that Saint John associates “perfect love,” the new commandment, with
the “true light” and tells us that walking in this light, the “blood of Jesus
cleanseth us form all sin;” hence, perfect love is identical with perfect
purity. Therefore, it is easy to understand that our “first love” though pure or
perfect in kind does not constitute us perfect because we are still possessed
with a contrary nature, which God has not given us; but is conceived in us
through the fall. The love and all the graces that God gives us in regeneration
never needs changing; but the corruption of our nature needs to be removed, that
the entire capacity, thus vacated, may be filled with the same pure love and may
be permitted to bring forth its fruit unencumbered by the weeds of inbred
depravity. This whole truth is clearly expressed in 1 Timothy 1:5, “Now, the end
of the commandment is charity (love) out of a pure heart.” In this experience we
reach the terminus of the law of works and “prove the perfect will of God” in
the “new commandment.” Now, love out of a pure heart implies such a thing as
love out of a heart not yet pure; such is love “not yet made perfect: because of
the impurity of the heart where it dwells. Its manifestations will, therefore,
be comparatively feeble and more or less mixed with selfishness, hatred and
pride, as we have shown in the chapter on the dual state. The blessedness of
perfected love may be inferred from the fact that love is the only and all
pervading law of the soul. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Now, a law is a
standard or rule of action. Love, the prevailing passion that prompts to action;
it underlies the will and if left free gives course to all our desires and
pursuits; and, in full possession of divine love, the motive of action and rule
of action are both the same thing, i.e., love. That is, this mighty element—love
divine—enters into and becomes identified with the very life of the soul, the
mainspring of all our volitions; our will of course, acting conjointly so that
we do not cease to be responsible creatures; for at all times we possess the
power of divergence from its shining pathway. With this exception, love sways a
supreme sceptre. For, since “love worketh no ill,” it needs the restraints of no
law; but is, itself, the highest law in God’s universe. Now, every desire of the
pure in heart is the holy impulse of love and all its promptings the will of God
revealed in him; so that, in this blessed fullness, all duty is changed into
delightful privilege: the holy soul acting perfectly natural following all the
desire of the heart, yet walking blameless in all the law of the Lord. Is not
this the “glorious liberty of the sons of God?” Truly love is a sweet and
“perfect law of liberty;” its language is not, “thou shalt, but “thou mayest,”
for gems of divine glory and flowers of bliss strew all the pathway in which it
leads the happy soul.

As thou didst give no law for me, But that of perfect liberty, Which neither
tires nor doth corrode, Which is a pillow, not a load, Teach both my eyes and
hands to move Within those bonds set by thy love. Grant I may pure and lowly be,
And live my life, O Christ, to thee.

Fuller.

Instead of ruling with rigor, the law of love is but the sweet, constraining
hand of God, which gently conducts us in all the paths of His good pleasure.

And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.
(Ezekiel 36:27)

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel , after those
days, saith the Lord, I will put my law (love) into their minds, and write them
in their hearts. (Hebrews 8:10)

The heart is the fountain of desire and to be free to follow that which is in
the heart is the enjoyment of liberty. And as the Lord writes His law in the
pure heart and mind, the Holy soul walks in the utmost freedom in fulfilling the
same. This golden “sceptre of righteousness” “orders all our steps in the higher
divine walk, touches into action every desire of the heart, and opens the
infinite store of heaven’s rich blessings for their gratification. To the
perfected in love, God is not afraid to say, “ask what ye will and it shall be
given you.” “The desire of the righteous shall be granted” (Proverbs 10:24)
because “the desire of the righteous is only good” (Proverbs 11:23). All this
will not fully apply to those in their “first love” because there is “another
law in their members” besides the law of love, and many of their desires arise
from this law and cannot therefore be indulged; these often “ask but receive
not, because they would consume it on their lusts” and rob God of His glory
through the deceitfulness of inbred sin: hence, the purified have special
promises of answer to prayer.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and
I will heart them: I will say, it is my people; and they shall say, the Lord is
my God. (Zechariah 13:9)

Yea, to them that dwell in perfect love who do “not hurt nor destroy in all
God’s holy mountain, saith the Lord.” “It shall come to pass, that before they
call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah
65:24-25). I have said that love is the supreme law in the moral universe. But,
it may be asked, is it no subject to God? I answer, nay, but it is identical
with God. “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God and God in
him.” O, the beauty and excellency of the divine government! Instead of leaving
us with only His precious written will wherein our enfeebled judgments might
possibly have missed the way; the Father of mercies enters into our soul with
the living, all pervading, and sweetly constraining law of love, which “abideth
and teacheth us of all things” and “guideth all our paths” and though His edicts
are sweetly blended with our own conscious volitions, for “he that is joined to
the Lord is one Spirit,” yet they are love whispers of Him who reigns in the
holy temple of the heart.

I am walking close to Jesus’ side, So close that I can hear The softest whisper
of His love, In fellowship so dear; And feel His great Almighty hand Protect me
in this hostile land. O, wondrous bliss, oh joy sublime, I’ve Jesus with me all
the time.

But we must not allow the blessedness of this divine life to transport our mind
from the special object of this work. Hence, dear reader, we call your attention
to the following facts. 1. Both Christ and Saint John enjoined this new
commandment upon converted believers. Now, it must be apparent to all, that if
it were essential to the grace that inducts into the divine family, the
disciples could not have “followed Christ in the regeneration,” nor John’s
“little children” became the “sons of God” without it. Hence, as already shown,
it is a state of divine grace distinct from—and posterior to justification. 2.
Both Christ and the Apostle enjoined this new commandment to the end “that your
joys may be full.” (John 15:11-13; 1 John 1:4) Hence, it is identical with that
fullness which we have shown to be a second endowment from God. Behold, the
coincidence of the two Christ calls the “fullness of joy,” “My joy fulfilled in
them,” and John describes the new commandment as that “thing which is true in
Him and in you.” 3. This “new commandment” represents a love state which “is in
Him, (Christ) and in us,” but not being inwrought when born of God, (for then
our love is represented by the “old commandment” {1 John 3:9-11}), it
necessarily is an after attainment. 4. The “new commandment,” or Christ like
love, John describes as love made perfect; this implies a previous state in
which our love is not perfect; but as neither will apply to the sinner, of whom
Christ testifies that the “love of God is not in you,” therefore, they must
represent two distinct state of the Christian: and as salvation is all of grace,
these two states must have been induced by two successive works of grace. 5.
There is a growth in love but that is not referred to in these Scriptures; here
we read of love, not grown, “but made perfect.” The implanting of divine love is
God’s work in regeneration and the Bible is no less positive in teaching that
“the God of peace does, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us
perfect.” Which perfection is limited in the Bible to “perfect love,” “perfect
holiness,” (2 Corinthians 7:1), and perfect purity. (1 John 3:3) Therefore, dear
reader, if you accept the Bible as true, you must accept the truth of two
distinct and divinely wrought works of grace in the soul.

Lo! The promise of the Father, Pours upon the waiting race, And the willing
people gather, Where He shows His smiling face. Hallelujah! Shout the triumphs
of His grace. Love, the only bond of union, Love, the balm for every wound,
Love, the secret of communion, Spreads its healing all around. Hallelujah! Let
the love of God abound.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 16: 16. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS
========================================================================

That the Thessalonians had been soundly converted to God before the Apostle
addressed his first epistle to them cannot be doubted for he calls them
“brethren beloved” and declares that they “knew their election of God.” “For,”
says he, “our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in
the Holy Ghost and in much assurance . . . And ye became followers of us and of
the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,” i.e., they espoused
Christ right under the fire of persecution; and so deep and strong was their
zeal for their new Master that they endured these much afflictions with joy of
the Holy Ghost. Paul further describes their religious status thus: “Remembering
without ceasing, your work of faith and labor of love, and patience of hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” he adds that they
“were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.” What could more
plainly set forth a thorough Gospel conversion and unblameable Christian
character? Read the entire first chapter. Let us now inquire whether they still
maintained their fidelity to Christ. Paul, their beloved teacher and father in
the Gospel, was now imprisoned at Athens ; and he sends Timothy, his only
attendant, to “establish and comfort them concerning their faith: that no man
should be moved by these afflictions” (1 Thessalonians 3:23). “But now when
Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and
charity (love), and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly
to see us, as we also to see you; therefore, brethren, we were comforted over
you in all our affliction and distress by your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:6-7).
Here we see that their faith, love and zeal had not in the least abated. But did
this satisfy the apostle? By no means. While their steadfastness in Christ was a
source of great comfort to the suffering prisoner of the Lord, his heart was
still burdened for their advancement to the sure standing ground of establishing
grace. Here him:

Night and day praying exceedingly, that we might see your face, and might
perfect that which is lacking in your faith. (1 Thessalonians 3:10)

Christ, the “author of their faith” had not yet finished it. Not having entered
upon the “more excellent way” of “love that believeth all things” and “endureth
all things;” they had not done “all to stand” and were therefore in much danger
of falling. He prayed fervently that “God Himself and our Father, and our Lord
Jesus Christ,” direct his way unto them: and increase their love. “To the end He
may stablish their hearts unblameable in holiness, before God, even our Father”
(1 Thessalonians 3:11-13). Their outward life he pronounced blameless, but he
well knew that those good fruits were brought forth by the grace of God in
opposition to the inbred foe that still lurked within. Therefore they needed the
blessing of a pure heart by which God would make them “perfect, stablish,
strengthen, and settle” them. The burden of the Apostle’s preaching while he was
yet with them, centered in his fervent desire to lead them into this higher
life, and appealing to those former exhortations and earnest commands, he again
assures them that “this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye
should abstain from fornication; that every one of you should know how to
possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thessalonians 4:2-4). Had
they been entirely sanctified when they “received the word of God” and the “joy”
of pardon, there would be no need of the Apostle urging it upon them now; no
occasion for affirming it to be the will of God, for they would have know it by
experience. Until indwelling sin is removed by the blood of Christ there is much
danger of the child of God being thereby overthrown, in which case those
particular vices that characterized the past life are apt to resume their
control. Therefore sanctification is urged upon these converts lest they fall
into the shameful practices common to the low grade of heathen society, from
which they had been raised by the “Gospel of God.” Other sins, as pride,
worldliness, etc., exhibit the sad want of sanctification in the churches of the
present age. Paul continues to urge this important work of grace upon them by
declaring that “God hat not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness” (1
Thessalonians 4:7). This implies that God in the Gospel has provided for and
calls us unto perfect holiness, and so long as we have not appropriated the
means of our absolute purity, we have not complied with the “perfect will of
God.” Finally, as if to arouse all their energies into immediate effort to reach
the glorious summit of full salvation, the Apostle lays before them the manner
of his fervent “night and day” prayers:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians
5:23-24)

What! These good, zealous Christians, whose faith had acquired such a
wide-spread notoriety, who had “received the Word of God with joy of the Holy
Ghost,” and who had stood firm and true to the Lord in their persecution? Do
they yet need the grace of entire sanctification? Why insist that God must do
another work for them? Why not let them alone to grow in grace and thus “go on
to perfection?” Such is the wisdom that men now teach, but not the ‘wisdom that
cometh from above,” and “which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” It appears to me that
he who would attempt to wrest from these Scriptures the invulnerable evidence of
sanctification as a divine work after justification, can unscrupulously evade
any other declaration of Holy Writ that he chooses not to accept. Surely, such
cannot say, with David, “My heart standeth in awe of thy Word.” But the Word of
God rejected remains still the same and by it we must stand or fall and all
doctrine must be tried. Ever since the “kingdom of the Holy Ghost” was fully set
up on the day of Pentecost, holy men and women of all nations and of every
denomination have testified to two definite instantaneous works of grace wrought
in their hearts by faith, i.e., regeneration and sanctification; both of which
they claim are distinctly taught in the work of God. In direct opposition to
their testimony, another class disclaim the second experience and aver that the
Bible teaches but one. Now, the latter class, not having obtained the second
moral change, are entirely ruled out of the witnesses on that point being
unqualified to testify. Hence, the testimony of the former class stands
unrebutted. It is a truth that if we were to summons the whole human family;
yea, all the created intelligences of the universe, we could not overthrow the
testimony of one of the least of the higher life witnesses. Since testimony
rests upon actual knowledge or personal experience, and nothing else for a man
to depose against the verity of either the experience of pardon, or entire
sanctification, would presume that he knew that nothing exists outside of his
knowledge; in other words, that he knows all that he does know, and all de does
not know. The fact is he that disputes either of the above, simply announces
that he has not had the experience himself; beyond this, his testimony is
invalid. But we have said that the Word of the Lord is the final umpire to which
all questions in religion must be referred. Let us, therefore, use this Epistle
of Saint Paul as a balance to weigh these two positions. What do we see? An
inspired Apostle addressing one of the best, if not the very best churches
described in the New Testament, calling them and commanding them unto holiness
of heart and praying, even “night and day,” that the “very God of peace might
sanctify them wholly.” With this Epistle open before us, I positively asset
that: 1. It cannot be denied that the Thessalonians to whom Paul wrote were
genuinely converted to God. 2. It cannot be denied that they possessed more than
ordinary faithfulness in the Lord. 3. It cannot be denied that up to the time of
Paul’s writing this epistle they were “all the children of light” and had not
declined in their fidelity to Christ. 4. It cannot be denied that, with all
their past experience of new life, light, and joy, their hearts were not yet
“perfect” or “established unblameable in holiness.” 5. It cannot be denied that
they were now under the call of the Gospel and subjects of the Apostle’s most
fervent and constant prayers to God for their immediate sanctification. 6. It
must also be acknowledged that their entire sanctification was not to be
effected by their own works or developed from their present good state of grace,
but that the same God who called them thereto by His Word was to do the work in
them, and having been preceded by justification; I say, in the fear of God, yea,
in the very presence of the God of the Bible, 7. You cannot, you dare not, deny
that the children of God are raised into this pure and holy mount of perfect
assurance by a second work of divine grace. What perfect harmony in the order of
salvation as set froth by Christ, its author, and the faithful executor of His
will. Both led penitential souls into the kingdom of God , and subsequently
prayed for their full sanctification into the full “righteousness of God.” From
our last text we see that the grace of total sanctification extends to the
entire man. Every faculty and power of spirit, soul, and body is to be separated
from the inbeing of all moral corruption; even the most deeply rooted power of
evil; yea, “every plant that our Father has not planted (in us) shall be rooted
up” and all our native powers brought into sweet harmony with and holy service
to God. How extremely gross and darkened that mind that thinks the Divine Being
takes no notice of the use we make of our bodies; the corruption or perversion
of appetite, the violation of physical laws, especially in point of temperance
and cleanliness, which is practical godliness. He, who through filthiness of
person or apparel renders himself offensive unto man, cannot well be pleasing to
God. He may possibly have obtained a clean heart, but has yet to learn how to
glorify God in its manifestations and a light thus smothered beneath a bushel
must ere long expire. How utterly repugnant to the pure and heaven born religion
of Jesus, is the shameful, filthy appetite for tobacco; is it possible that a
man can even in the “first faith” indulge this unholy habit without protest of
conscience? If so, it can only be accounted for by the stupefaction of the
filthy poison itself. The use of tobacco as a habit is a sin, 1. Because it is
the gratification of an unnatural appetite. 2. Because it is inimical to the
health of the body and mind, the appetite for the noxious weed is itself a
disease. 3. Because it debases the social and moral powers, is greatly
derogatory to good manners and refinement. 4. It is a sin because it involves a
useless and unrighteous waste of the Lord’s means. 5. It is a sin because a
sickening offense to nearly all who do not live and move in the stench of the
vile habit. 6. Once more, it is a sin because a shameful imposition, a
detestable outrage upon the kind and patient hands that are compelled to remove
the stains of your sin, and the filth that falls from your unholy lips. Do not,
my enslaved brother, think me unkind for classifying this idol in the catalogue
of sin: on the contrary, I do you a great favor. To your plague I attach the
promise that leads under the blood. This is your only hope of deliverance. “The
blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” “The very God of
peace,” who “calls you not unto uncleanness but unto holiness,” is able to
“sanctify you wholly,” “through and through,” “the whole you,” according to the
German and literal Greek. And “faithful is He that calleth you who also will do
it.” He will make you pure and holy, and then preserve you blameless in soul,
Spirit, and body” all the days of your life. The appetites for tobacco, liquor,
etc., are sprouts from the bitter root of inbred sin and when the noxious old
stump is extracted by the power of God, all its manifold shoots also disappear,
see an enumeration of some of the products of the flesh, which antagonize the
“fruits of the Spirit,” as the weeds do the rising crop (Galatians 5:19-21; 1
Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 5:3-4; Colossians 3:5). He who allows none of these
“works of the flesh,” a manifestation in life, is a Christian freely justified;
but he in whom their root and source, all consciousness of their indwelling
tendencies is eradicated and destroyed, is a Christian wholly sanctified. This
full redemption of “soul, spirit and body,” as an instantaneous experience,
including the removal of all traces of the tobacco, and other abnormal
appetites, is confirmed by a “cloud of witnesses.” Why should this seem an
incredible thing? Has not God “chosen us in Him before the foundation of this
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love?” (Ephesians
1:4) To say that God cannot make us “pure even as He is pure” and “preserve us
blameless” in this life is virtually robbing Him of the attribute of infinity.
To say He can but will not is a reflection upon His holiness; for thus to allow
sin implies sympathy with sin. Again, I ask, is not our perfect deliverance from
all sin provided for in the atonement of Christ?

For to this end, Christ both died, and rose again, that He might be Lord both of
the dead and living. (Romans 14:7-9)

Ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Would the All-wise God lay down the inestimable price of His dear Son to
purchase you wholly for Himself, and still leave in you the Devil’s brand mark,
the smallest particle of sin, or unholy nature? Certainly not. The full
influence of the death of Jesus is our complete death to sin. “All the fullness
of the Godhead bodily,” was concentrated in the person of Jesus Christ to effect
this glorious emancipation; and as if no other sin-polluted man needed
atonement, each one of the entire fallen race can say with Paul, “The Son of God
love me.” Here is a whole infinity of redeeming love lavished upon a single
soul, and must he yet suffer the distraction of inward foes to the end of his
life? Can Satan infuse more bane into man than Omnipotence can extract? The
voice of a crucified Redeemer speaks in language most unequivocal, that He “came
to destroy the works of the Devil,” and “redeem us from all iniquity.” When thus
washed and sanctified through and through by the blood of the cross, our entire
being is at once caught up in the flames of divine love and carried forward
constantly in all the will of God by the double impulse of the “Comforter” and a
united holy nature. Remember once for all, dear reader, that full salvation is
not a question of human ability, but of divine efficiency. It is the “very God
of peace,” who proposes to “sanctify you wholly” throughout “soul, spirit, and
body,” and “all things are possible with God.” It therefore only remains for you
to acquiesce in the “holy calling” and “eternal purpose” of Him that “worketh
all in all” by an entire abandonment of self and all forever into His hands.
Now, beloved reader, the “unreachable riches of Christ” is before you, and the
claims of heaven upon you; do you accept them. Either you must yield all to God
and live out your life “henceforth unto Him who died for you,” or go forward
into the future convinced that you are wronging God and keeping back from Christ
that which His death demands, and His love constrains. Which will you do?

Lord, my will I here present Thee, Now no longer mine; Let no evil thing prevent
me, Blending it with Thine.

Lord, my life I lay before Thee, Hear the sacred vow! All Thine own, I now
restore Thee, Thine forever now.

Blessed Spirit! Thou hast brought me, Thus my all to give; For the blood of
Christ has bought me, And to Him I’d live.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 17: 17. TWO MEASURES OF SALVATION IN CHRIST
========================================================================

Therefore, I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:10)

The “eternal glory” may possibly refer to the future glory of the saints. But it
is much more consonant with parallel texts to apply it to the “Spirit of glory
and of God,” which, Peter says rests upon the happy, persecuted saints; and
which he identifies with perfection or establishing grace; and which glory
Christ gave to His church to adorn her as “the City that men call the perfection
of beauty, the joy of the whole earth,” “that the world might believe” and be
attracted by her sweet fellowship of love. Yea, Christ Jesus Himself is “a light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the (eternal) glory of His people Israel ” (Luke
2:32). “The salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory,” beautifully
correspond with the negative and positive of entire sanctification, i.e., the
cleansing away of all moral impurity and the infilling of the “Spirit of glory
and of God.” One thing is certain, the inspirited Apostle teaches a salvation to
be “obtained” by persons who are already the elect children of God. Can it be
possible that the many Scriptures which teach that men do not grasp all the
“salvation that is in Christ Jesus” when they become “elect,” or justified
believers, mean something else or nothing at all? Blessed be the name of the
Lord! At last my longing soul has realized that “His promises are all yea and
amen, to them that believe.” I gratefully “set to my seal that God is true.”
“There is more to follow.”

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy Like the wideness of the sea.

Paul well knew the intense longing in newborn souls for perfect holiness in
heart and power to stand against all evil; and, also knowing that “in Christ
Jesus” all fullness is provided for them, he was solicitous that his “God should
supply all their need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” and “the
exceeding greatness of His power to us ward who believe.” Of course the man
whose diminutive theory limits the transforming power of God and the
“unreachable riches of Christ to a singe grasp of faith put forth by a penitent
sinner will read this language of Saint Paul over a hundred times and see
nothing for him this side of heaven:

For the love of God is broader Than the measure of man’s mind, And the heart of
the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind.

Many seem to forget that salvation is deliverance from sin, a moral change, and
not a change of location. He that is “free from sin” is saved, even were it
possible for him to pass through the bottomless pit: while he that is unclean
would be unclean—unsaved—still, even if he were transported to the third heaven.
Instead of saving him, the purity of that holy place would but intensify his
consciousness of sin and therefore augment his misery. But Paul was not speaking
of a salvation in heaven but “in Christ Jesus;” and the Bible offers us Christ
now in all His fullness. He is even now “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption;” and John says, “Of His fullness have all we
received.” So my dear “elect” brother, the full “salvation that is in Christ
Jesus” is available now. For the Thessalonians, whom Paul represents as “knowing
their election of God,” he prayed that the “very God of peace sanctify them
wholly.” Here is the salvation that is “in” Christ Jesus for the “elect” to
obtain. But returning to the text under consideration, we find an inspired
comment immediately following.

It is a faithful saying: for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with
Him. (2 Timothy 2:11)

This very clearly interprets the preceding verse. The reserve salvation is
entire sanctification, or complete death to sin. If we be dead with Him, that
is, “Our old man (Adamic nature) is crucified with Him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth, we should not serve sin, for he that is
dead is free from sin.” Here is a plain way to walk in, even God’s way, and it
has two accessions; First, into the fold of the elect by adoption; Second, into
perfect freedom from sin by a crucifixion of inbred depravity. The Apostle
continues to expound this distinct and higher form of salvation in verses 20 and
21.

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of
wood and of earth: and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore,
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet
for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

The great house according to numerous Scriptures represents the church. The
vessels are inmates or members of the house, or church of God . The vessels are
to purge themselves, of course, by coming to the “fountain opened in the house
of David for sin and uncleanness.” Thus being “purged entirely,” (“thare”, as in
the literal Greek, and some other versions) they are pronounced “vessels of
honor and sanctified.” Here again we have solid rock—the sure foundation of
divine truth—upon which to base the glorious fact of two distinct works of
grace; of sanctification after induction into the spiritual house, or God’s
church. We give you James McKnight’s version of verse 21. “If then a man will
cleanse himself well from these things, he will be a vessel appointed to honor,
sanctified, and very profitable for the Master’s use, prepared for every good
work.” This is precisely the experience received on the day of Pentecost, which
brought the world on their knees before God by thousands. Members of the
household of faith; fruit-bearing branches in the vine Christ Jesus, can only
receive this entire purging of the Father. “Sanctified, and very profitable,”
not always in the estimation of the world, nor a godless church, but “for the
Master’s use.” What an estimate God places upon a pure vessel in his house; “I
will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge
of Ophir” (Isaiah 13:12). He that is purged and sanctified is “prepared for
every good work;” hence, Paul prayed the “God of peace” to “make” the Hebrew
Christians “perfect” through the blood of the everlasting covenant to do His
will.” When a soul comes out of the dim twilight of mere justification into the
full-orbed glory of God’s “high mountain” of holiness, he “ceases from his own
works,” and “enters into rest.” He reaches the point of self abnegation and
beholds God as “working all in all.”

Because I now can nothing do, Jesus do all the work alone.

And though he abandons all strained and meritorious endeavors and flings himself
out like a helpless chip upon the ocean of God’s providence, becomes “careful
for nothing” and limber in the hands of his Maker, he only then becomes “meet
for the Master’s use;” he is then “prepared unto every good work,” because all
friction between his nature and will, and the divine is removed, and God can
just “work in him to will and do of His own good pleasure;” pure love fills his
entire being, and sweetly carries him forward in all the paths of goodness and
usefulness. With Paul he can say, “I labored more abundantly than they all; yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). God can
then entrust him with all the capital in the storehouse of His grace. He gives
him the key to His safe and permits him to enlarge his stock and extend his
business without limitation so that he “can do all things through Christ Jesus”
simply because “whatsoever he doeth, he does all to the glory of God.” Not only
because there is no more perfidious foe coiled up in his nature that prones the
heart to rob God of His glory, and “consume it upon the lusts of the flesh.”
Therefore, God can accomplish more through a small vessel that is wholly
cleansed than one of very large capacity that is not “meet for the Master’s use”
through impurity. Moody said that “a man can do more for God in five days with
the special baptism of the Holy Ghost than in five years without it.” This is
true, not only because it is positive “power from on high,” but also a “fire”
that consumes the blight of inbred sin. Will you, dear reader, be a vessel unto
honor in God’s “great house?” If so, you must “humble yourself: unto the death
of the cross “and God will raise you up.” The discordant element in your nature
that chafes continually under the yoke of Christ and the providences of God must
be removed, however painful the separation. Then only can you with perfect
freedom “follow righteousness, faith, charity and peace, with them that call on
God out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). You may know assuredly that you are a
vessel in the house of the Lord and you may be a praying Christian, but have you
an experience and testimony in your heart that associates you with the special
class who, through the fullness of “salvation that is in Christ Jesus,” are able
to “call on God out of a pure heart?” If not, you are still indwelt with that
which inclines to dishonor God: hence, a “vessel unto dishonor,” you should
“purge yourself from these.”

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet; Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s
feet; Plunge in today and be made complete. Glory to His name.

In conclusion, I appeal to every candid reader if this chapter does not
conclusively teach two distinct attainments in the divine plan of salvation.
First, “election” through the grace of adoption. Second, full “salvation in
Christ Jesus,” or complete death to sin and resurrection to “live with Him.” Or
as set forth again; first, received into God’s “great house” as “vessels of
mercy;” second, they are purged and “sanctified” “that He might make known the
riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared (by
inducting grace) unto glory.” This is the full “salvation that is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10, 20-22; Romans 9:23). If there were no
other text in the Bible that teaches purification after we are born into the
church, this chapter is sufficient to establish the fact beyond the possibility
of a doubt. Dear brother or sister, when we see the meetness for the Master’s
use, the preparedness for every good work secured by this blessing of complete
salvation, we no longer wonder why the “enemy of all righteousness” forestalled
many of our minds with such deep prejudice against the second work of divine
grace. But surely the word of the Lord is true. Sanctification is purification,
an experience in “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the
pillar and ground of the truth.” Thank heaven, the veil is torn from my heart,
the “Spirit with the blood agrees,” and whispers to my inmost heart, “it is even
so.” Deep down in the consciousness of my soul, I know that “the blood of Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth” this unworthy vessel from all sin.

Breathe, oh! breathe Thy Holy Spirit Into every troubled breast; Let us all Thy
grace inherit; Let us find that second rest.

Now remove the bent of sinning; Take our inbred sin away, End the work of Thy
beginning; Bring us to eternal day.

Carry on Thy new creation, Pure and holy may we be; Let us see our full
salvation, Yet reserved dear Lord in Thee;

Change from glory unto glory, Golden vessels filled with grace. We would sink to
naught before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 18: 18. THE SCARLET THREAD IN THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
========================================================================

The Epistle to the Hebrews is a masterpiece on the divine life. Holiness, like a
scarlet vein, pervades if from beginning to end—uniting it into one harmonious
whole. In the first and second chapters the Apostle argues the ability of “Him
that sanctifieth” from His supreme divinity and sympathetic humanity. In the
third chapter Moses and Christ are compared, showing the typical relation of the
two, and the superiority of the latter; then, describing the Hebrew Christians
as standing in the antitype wilderness with Jesus, their great leader in their
midst, the Apostle, as a subordinate, sounds out the Gospel trumpet commanding
the people to go forward and possess the goodly land; “As the Holy Ghost saith,
today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts (i.e., do not disobey
the order) as in the provocation in the wilderness.” “For some, when they had
heard did provoke: howbeit, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses, but with
whom was He grieved forty years?” “And to whom sware He that they should not
enter into His rest, but to them that believed not?” (Hebrews 3:7-18) Continuing
the figure of the wilderness and Canaan in the fourth chapter, the Apostle
solemnly warns his brethren, saying:

Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest,
any of you should seem to come short of it; for unto us was the Gospel preached
as will as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them that heard it.
(Hebrews 4:1-2)

We cannot take the space to notice this chapter in detail; but observe that we
are herein informed of a rest that is promised to us. It does not refer to
literal Canaan because the promise here referred to came by David about four
hundred years after Israel had already dwelt in that land and was a repetition
of the promise to Abraham. It was limited to a particular day; doubtless what is
usually called in prophecy “that day,” “the last days,” etc., meaning the Holy
Spirit dispensation; for this is pre-eminently the day in which “we hear His
voice “ as the Spirit now strives with all flesh, “convincing all men of sin, of
righteousness and of judgment,” and calling the church unto holiness. This rest
does not refer particularly to the future state but it is the rest of faith.
“For we which have believed, do enter into rest” (Hebrews 4:3). The deep and
tranquil repose of the soul when submerged in the ocean of divine love
frequently finds utterance in the above language before knowing that it is
biblical. As the Jewish Sabbath was typical of rest in the land of Canaan,
(Hebrews 4:4-5) so the Christian Sabbath is typical of the spiritual Canaan or
glorious rest of the soul. “There remaineth therefore (because of the holy
Sabbath of the soul) the keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:
9). I have followed the marginal reading because it is the precise rendering of
the Greek. The word rest elsewhere is from “katapausin,” but in this verse it is
“sabbatismos”—Sabbath. “For he that has entered into his rest, he also hath
ceased from his own works as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:10). From this
language it might be inferred that the rest is to be entered at the close of
life; but there is not the least incongruity here to those who, with Paul, “have
believed” and thereby entered into the rest of perfect love. Mark, it is
particularly said, that they have ceased from their own works; that is; they are
dead to, and entirely free from the law of works. God only working in them and
love itself fulfills all its holy law. This interpretation harmonizes with verse
3 where it is located in the present tense and entered by faith and is confirmed
by the exhortation that immediately follows. “Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews
4:11). The word, “spoudazo,” here rendered “labor,” occurs thirty times in the
New Testament. It is never rendered “labor” save in the above instance. It is
translated diligent, diligence, and diligently, thirteen times. In Mark 6:25 and
Luke 1:39, it is rendered “haste;” and in Luke 7:4, “instantly.” From these
facts it may be seen that the rest offered to those Christians was to be entered
instantly and without delay. The reason assigned corroborates this view; “Let us
labor (make haste) to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief.” The idea of endeavoring to enter heaven soon in order to
avoid falling is foreign to the Bible. Christ prayed that His disciples should
not be taken out of the world; but that the Father should sanctify and keep them
from the evil thereof. In all the epistles, the grace of holiness or perfection
is urged as a refuge for the soul; as that which “settles, stablishes,” and that
“wherein we stand.” The Apostle proceeds to show how this rest must be entered:

For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

The rest set before these disciples, as the counterpart of Canaan , is not
entered by natural death, but by the powerful operation of truth, which is the
sword of the Spirit. The experience of inward crucifixion, the destruction of
self, “our old man,” which brings perfect rest to the soul, could scarcely be
better described. It is in this ordeal that we learn the mighty efficiency, the
all searching and executing power of the divine word through the Omnipotent
Spirit. Truly it is sharper and penetrates deeper into a man than any two-edged
sword. “It enters into the soul and Spirit, into all our sensations, passions,
appetites.” Nay, it discerns all our thoughts, and sits in judgment upon our
most secrete intentions, motives, and sentiments; neither is there any
creature—not an idol of the heart, not one Canaanite—“that is not manifest in
His sight” and put to death by His sentence. I wish to notice one more feature
of this rest, it is invariably called “His rest.” Amazing truth. O Bliss
sublime! God invites poor tempest tossed souls to settle down into the sweet and
absolute tranquility of His own rest. How preeminently divine is this higher
life; if it be denominated purity, it is “even as He is pure”—if
righteousness—it is “even as He is righteous;” if perfection, it is “even as our
Father which is in heaven is perfect.” If it be called “perfect love,” it is
“that ye love one another, as I have loved you;” if holiness, it is “partaking
of His holiness.” If it be termed “walking in the light,” it is “as God is in
the light;” or if it be joy, Christ says it is “my joy fulfilled in themselves;”
if faith, it is “the faith of the Son of God,” and as a life it is “God living
in us.” If this blessed state be represented by sanctification, it is “Christ
Jesus who of God is made unto us sanctification.” And if it be called a rest, it
is God’s own rest. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, oh my soul! I stand all
bewildered at the prodigies of divine wisdom, love and grace.

Oh! Wondrous love! Oh! Grace sublime! Teach us to enter in, Where all who truly
seek, may find A rest from every sin.

The Apostle, having shown his Hebrew brethren the “promise that is left us of
entering into His rest” that it is entered in this life by faith in the preached
Gospel, concludes the chapter with the following invitation: “Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace (i.e., the mercy seat in the holiest of
all) that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need;” that
is, the grace that meets our every need and “endureth all things.” This
identifies the rest with an additional and higher degree of grace to be received
from the Lord, hence a second grace. In chapter 5, verse 9, Christ is presented
as a perfect Savior, hence, the “author of eternal salvation,” able to save
absolutely and keep constantly. Before following this treatise on uttermost
salvation further, let us clearly ascertain the character to whom it is
addressed. They are frequently called brethren and even “holy brethren” (Hebrews
3:1). Every child of God possesses the elements of holiness. God spake to them
as unto children and scourged them as His own sons (Hebrews 12:5-6). They had
come unto the “church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven . . . and to
Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling”
(Hebrews 12:23-24). This is a very clear delineation of their religious status:
they were not simply Paul’s Jewish brethren, as has been claimed, but they had
actually come to “Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant,” with the blood of
Christ they had had their “hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,” and their
names duly entered in the divine family record above. Having received the grace
of pardon—the first principles of the doctrine of Christ—they are at once placed
under marching orders to “go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1). In verse 11, he
urges their full salvation again in these words:

But we earnestly desire each one of you to show the same diligence, for the full
completion of the hope. (Emphatic Diaglott)

Diligence in order to full assurance of our hope. (McKnight)

These versions all make “full assurance” or “completion of hope” an object of
diligent pursuit. In the verses following, the Apostle endeavors to lay a
foundation for their faith to grasp this sublime state. He bases it upon the
covenant that God made with Abraham and admonishes them not to be “slothful, but
followers of them who, through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews
6:12). That is, do not rest in the wilderness, or mixed state of mere
justification, glorious as it is; but follow the example of those who have
pressed forward into the promised inheritance of sanctification. And, to impress
their minds with the absolute certainty of its attainability, he reminds them
how God, being “willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the
immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (Hebrews 6:17). How
graciously God has anticipated the weakness of fallen humanity: He compensates
the deadness of our faith by making the infallible certitude of His promise more
conspicuous by the confirmation of His oath. The Apostle proceeds to identify
this promised inheritance with the “hope that we have, as an anchor to the soul,
both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” Now,
that within the veil is the “holiest of all,” meaning the state of perfect
holiness. It being said that Christ entered within the veil, and also that He
“entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us;”
therefore, some think that “that within the veil” can only be enjoyed after we
go to heaven. At first sight this appears plausible; but it is not so explained
by the word. Perfection, and not heaven, is the attainment insisted upon in this
epistle, as the great blessing of Christ’s priestly offering.

If, therefore, perfection were by Levitical priesthood . . . what further need
was there that another priest should arise after the order of Malchisedec.
(Hebrews 7:11)

For the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did: by
the which we draw nigh unto God. (Hebrews 7:19)

Paul said our “hope entereth into that within the veil” and here he says it
makes us “perfect;” hence, that within the veil is the state of Christian
perfection. Reasoning still upon the virtues of Christ’s “unchangeable
priesthood,” he says, doubtless in allusion to the same absolute grace hitherto
called “His rest,” “that within the veil” and “perfection.” “Wherefore He is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He
ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). This is the great
truth the writer is laboring to impress upon the minds of the Hebrews and bring
within the compass of their faith. “Able to save them to the uttermost.” What is
this but full salvation; salvation to the very uttermost extent that the leprosy
of sin and depravity have spread in the soul; salvation from all the moral
effects of the fall and restoration to all the holy image of God. In chapters 9
and 10, the writer illustrates the degrees into this moral perfection by the
successive entrances into the tabernacle.

The first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread, which
is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is
called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer, and the ark of the
covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had
manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant: and over it
the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat, of which we cannot now speak
particularly. Now, when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second
went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which eh offered
for himself, and for the errors of the people. (Hebrews 9:2-7)

Now this tabernacle service, we are informed, “was a figure for the time then
present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make
him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience” (Hebrews 9:9).
A figure of what? The answer has already been given in chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Christ is set forth as our “high priest” and the offering of Himself for our
perfect salvation is compared with the offerings of the Levitical high priest,
which could not make the comers thereto perfect. Does this not plainly teach
that the blood that was sprinkled upon the mercy seat in the holiest by the high
priest is typical of the blood of Christ, which makes us perfectly holy? But if
you will open your testament at the passage last quoted, you will find the
figure of the tabernacle applied.

Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God,
purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews
9:11-14)

Let it be remembered, then, that the offerings of the high priest, who alone was
permitted to enter the “holiest of all,” were for legal sanctification—or a
ceremonial purification—and typified the high priestly offerings of Christ,
which actually purges from the consciousness of sin and dead works. Therefore,
to enter the holiest by the blood of Christ is to be cleansed from all sin, or
entirely sanctified. Now, if the sanctum sanctorum were exclusively in heaven,
then we must enter there before we can have the final application of Christ’s
blood to cleanse us from all sin; but if some sin can be removed after death,
why not all? If probation is not limited to this life, where will we fix its
bounds? But let us read a verse farther:

And for this cause He is the mediator of the New Testament that, by means of
death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first
Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)

First, we are told that the high priests were typical of Christ and that the
blood they sprinkled upon the mercy seat pre-figured the blood of Christ that
purges and makes perfect the comers thereunto; and then the same offering of the
Lamb is declared to be for our “redemption” that we “might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance.” So the holiest of all is the same thing as the
inheritance and both signify the purging of the worshippers, so that they “have
no more consciousness of sin;” which implies a consciousness of “being made free
from sin.” Immediately connected with the fact that the tabernacle was a figure
of Christ’s salvation, Paul says,

The Holy Ghost, thus signifies that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. (Hebrews 9:8)

The first tabernacle evidently signifies the literal, which was a figure of the
church—“the greater and more perfect tabernacle”—that succeeded it. The way into
the holiest signifies that which it typified, for that which is here affirmed
would not be true of the literal. Now, if we apply this most sacred part of the
tabernacle to heaven, then it follows that, while the legal dispensation yet
remained, heaven was inaccessible, and the Old Testament saints are all lost. It
makes it no better to say they entered an intermediate state, for if there be
such a state—and the Bible seems to teach it—then it is the receptacle of all
who die now, as well as in the past dispensations; and the way into the holiest,
if it were heaven, is not yet manifest. But the above text affirms that the
inner tabernacle represented the exclusive privilege—the particular heritage—of
the saints of the present dispensation. What is this, if not the full possession
of the divine Spirit, the true tabernacle of God with man, that was to be in the
last days and which Christ announced to the church as near at hand before He
ascended? Twice the Apostle uses interchangeably the figures of Canaan and the
holiest to set forth the full benefit of Christ’s high priestly offering
(Hebrews 6:12-19 and 9:9-15). The successive passages of the Red Sea and Jordan
correspond with the entrance of the first and second veils. Both declare in
language infallible and by inspired application, the two divine works and
distinct degrees of grace. Here is truth like a majestic tower; invincible as
the throne of God; truth piled upon truth. “The holiest of all,” “perfection,”
divine rest for human souls, sanctification and purging from the consciousness
of sin all through the blood of Christ, all converging unto one glorious
experience; accessible by faint to all Christians “today if ye will hear his
voice.” This truth may be further confirmed by the following coinciding
testimony: Paul tells us that the inheritance announced in the will of God was
veiled in mystery until the present dispensation (Ephesians 1:9-11). Again, he
says, “the riches of the glory of this mystery . . . is Christ in you”
(Colossians 1:26-27). This mystery, we have also seen, is called the “way into
the holiest.” Now Peter testifies that the great mystery which the prophets and
even angels could not comprehend, but which is “now reported unto you by them
that have preached the Gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is the
great salvation of the Lord”—the glory that was to follow the suffering of
Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). Does not this identify the inheritance of the saints
in light, the glory that Christ gave to the church, the holy of holies, “the
indwelling of the fullness of Christ and salvation to the uttermost?” The same
thing being affirmed of each is collateral proof that they all mean one and the
same thing.

Saved to the uttermost; cheerfully sing Loud hallelujahs to Jesus, my King;
Ransomed and pardoned, redeemed by His blood, Cleansed from unrighteousness,
glory to God.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 19: 19. THE SCARLET THREAD OF HEBREWS CONTINUED
========================================================================

We have seen that the two-fold service of the tabernacle is declared to be a
type of Christ’s salvation. Hence we give what may serve as an outline of the
tabernacle, that you may see the divine way of salvation. You perceive that it
presents the same two successive doors formed by the words of Paul in Romans
5:1-2. Elder Beck of Pennsylvania, among the most able of all who employed their
pens in the Church Advocate, during the holiness agitation of 1877-78, wrote two
articles on the tabernacle as illustrative of salvation, in which were many good
things. He did not, as some, apply the sanctum sanctorum to heaven, but to the
extent of present salvation through the atonement. Although he wrote against the
second grace, the truth he here admits most unequivocally establishes it; for
the only access to the holiest is through the first and second veils. He
insisted much upon the fact that we have—now have—boldness to enter into the
holiest; but seemed to forget that this is only true of those who have already
entered the holy. As an argument against the second work, he said that nothing
now obstructed the way to perfect holiness; that every believer can pass
directly on into the holiest. In these premises we agree; but what was his
deduction there from? We might sum it up in these words: “Because every believer
has liberty to enter into the holiest, therefore, every believer is already in
the holiest, and there is consequently no second grace.” The fallacy of this
logic must be apparent to all. We might as well say because “whosoever will may
come;” therefore all sinners have come into the kingdom of grace. The object of
Hebrews being to lead Christians into perfection, it dwells more particularly
upon the high priest because his obligations extended into the most holy place,
the figure of our perfection through the blood of Christ. Let us now follow the
scarlet thread of cleansing into the tenth chapter:

Then, said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God! He taketh away the first that
He may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. (Hebrews 9:10)

The great inheritance in the Father’s will and testament is our sanctification.

For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof
the Holy Ghost is also a witness unto us. (Hebrews 9:14-15)

These Christians were admonished to go on to perfection and here is where they
find it, in entire sanctification, and received through the one offering of
Christ, our High Priest, and witnessed to by the Spirit.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way. Which He hath consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having an high priest over the house of
God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
(Hebrews 9:19-22)

The “greater and more perfect tabernacle over which Christ, as High Priest,
presides, we are plainly told, is the “house of God,” “which is the church of
the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15). The persons invited into the holiest are
“beloved brethren,” having already their “hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience.” That is, they had already received adoption and justification, the
first work; and, being now in the holy—“holy brethren”—(Hebrews 3:1), they are
invited to pass the second veil into the holiest, i.e., “perfect holiness in the
fear of God.” The holiest can only be entered by the blood of Jesus. Now, the
blood of Christ does not change our location, but our moral state; does not
transport us to heaven, but cleanseth us from all sin. And having previously
wrought our pardon, this is necessarily a second work. The beautiful veil that
hung before the abode of the great I AM, Paul says, was Christ’s flesh. We
should suppose that this veil would represent sin, because sin separates us and
God. Well, “Christ was made sin for us;” “He bore our sin in his own body on the
cross.” Hence, when His body was pierced and mangled for our sin, the
obstruction was removed; and as a positive assurance that the sacrifice of Jesus
was accepted in heaven as a complete satisfaction for all our sin, God Himself
rent the veil of His temple from the top to the bottom announcing to all men a
free and welcome return into the holiest presence of God from which sin had so
long excluded the race. Hallelujah to the lamb!

That gate ajar stands free for all Who seek through it salvation; The rich, the
poor, the great, the small, Of every tribe and nation.

This veil also represents the great mystery, the concealed secret of the Lord
that is spoken of in the Bible. Here, again, its close relation to the body of
Christ is seen; for, when the Son of God was offered up as the anti-type of all
legal sacrifices, angels and men beheld for the first time the real end, or
design, of all those offerings. The great “mystery of His will” is now “done
away in Christ.” And since the beautiful veil of “His flesh” has been rent on
the cross, what do we see but the glory of God and His perfect holiness offered
freely to us? It is true that the veil is yet on the hearts of many; for “that
within the veil” God has forever hidden from the “wise and the prudent.” No
human ken, no wisdom of earth can ever penetrate this sacred place, or
comprehend the mysteries of divine grace. It is only when men “turn to the Lord,
that the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16). But we all, with open face
(with the veil parted), beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 3:18) We are not only permitted to look into the abiding place of
the divine glory, but looking steadfastly, by faith, through the Gospel mirror,
we are changed by the Spirit of the Lord into the same glory, even into the
perfect image of God, changed from glory to glory, or from the holy into the
holy of holies. In the latter part of this chapter the Apostle presents faith as
the essential condition and vital element of this hidden life. In the eleventh
he defines and exemplifies faith, that they also might possess an assurance that
“entereth into that within the veil.” In chapter twelve he still urges them on
to perfect freedom from sin, bringing all the preceding lesson of faith to bear
on this one experience. They were also taught that God was working in them the
death of nature. They felt His keen incisive knife, and the pains of inward
crucifixion led them to think that God had ceased to own them. But the Apostle
assured them that the mental distress they suffered instead of indicating that
they were rejected was a sure token that they were the real sons of God. “For
whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He recieveth;”
and “if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye
bastards and not sons.” Strange indeed that the bitter waters of Marah should so
soon succeed the joy of pardon and the song of triumph (Exodus 15). But this is
the route that God leads his people, yea, “every son that he recieveth.” But
what is this chastening for? Answer: “For our profit, that we might be partakers
of His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). Reader, what does this teach, if not a second
work of grace? First, the grace of sonship; then follows the Father’s severe
discipline for the destruction of the flesh: the refiner’s fire that purges away
the dross of inbred sin, resulting in a new and glorious experience—the actual
reception of God’s perfect holiness. This fulfills in us the command of Jesus:
“Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” What but
sheer unbelief can gainsay the second grace in the face of such unequivocal
testimony? Not only our happiness and usefulness in this life, but our future
bliss requires this divine holiness: hence follows the exhortation, “Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”
(Hebrews 9:14). Once more, before closing, the great Apostle takes his brethren
to the tabernacle to show them their privileges in the Gospel. He has thereby
taught them the two states in the church, Christ as our High Priest, and that
His blood now admits into the holiest of all. But he has reserved for the last
the most touching point.

The bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary, by the
high priests for sins, are burned without the camp. (Hebrews 13:11)

What does this foreshadow? Ah! Here we see our blessed Savior—the innocent Lamb
of God, rejected and condemned of men, and led out of Jerusalem to suffer and
die for our sins, that we might go in to that within the veil. “Wherefore Jesus,
also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the
gate.” Here, again, he urges them to enter the rent veil of His flesh—the
purchase of His blood—saying, “Let us go forth, therefore, without the camp,
bearing His reproach.” As Christ was thrust out and cut off from this sinful
world; so, if we would go forth unto Him—be entirely sanctified—wholly
assimilated to His character, we can expect nothing from this world but the
reproach that fell upon Him. In connection with the above Hebrews 13:10-12, Paul
says, “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the
tabernacle.” This altar evidently is Christ, of whom we are now partakers.

Seven day thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it, and it
shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
(Exodus 29:37)

The altar that sanctifieth the gift. (Matthew 23:19)

Before this altar could sanctify, it had to be sanctified. This is true of
Christ: “For their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth” (John 17:19). He was sanctified with His own blood. (Hebrews
10:29) “Made perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10). In character, or nature,
He never was imperfect, but He was made a perfect Savior by suffering and
shedding His own blood for us. He made Himself an acceptable offering to God
that we through Him, or upon Him as our altar might be accepted also. Christ is
the brazen altar at the entrance of the holy where we offer ourselves a dead
sacrifice, and where His blood “sprinkles our hearts from an evil conscience,”
or justifies; and He is also the golden altar at the entrance of the second
veil, where we offer ourselves a “living sacrifice,” and enter through His blood
into the sacred of His tabernacle to “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Let us examine the distinguishing features of the oblations of the common
priests and those that were offered within the second veil. Read Leviticus 3 and
5, where the first order is described: • When a ruler hath sinned. • If any of
the common people sin through ignorance. • If a soul sin and hear the voice of
swearing . . . if he do not utter it, etc. • If a soul swear, . . . then he
shall be guilty. • If a soul commit a trespass and sin through ignorance in the
holy things of the Lord. • And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things
which are forbid to be done by the commandments of the Lord. These trespasses
really include all manner of sin as transgression of the law; and for each and
all of them an offering was to be brought by the guilty party and offered by the
common priest; who sprinkled the blood of the victim upon and before the brazen
altar and in each instance it is written, “It shall be forgiven him.” What a
striking figure of the pardon offered by the Gospel to all manner of sinners
that approach the door of the church, pleading the blood of Christ. Now read in
Leviticus 16 the peculiar features of the high priestly service within the
holiest:

And he shall take the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his fingers
upon the mercy seat eastward: and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the
blood with his fingers seven times . . . and he shall make an atonement for the
holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel .” (Leviticus
16:14-16)

And he (the high priest) shall sprinkle of the blood upon it (the golden altar)
with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness
of the children of Israel . (Leviticus 16:19)

And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all . . .
for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that
ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a sabbath of
rest unto you. (Leviticus 16:29-31)

Here again, the blood is sprinkled, but his time before and within the second
veil, representing a second application of the blood of Christ to our hearts.
The occasion and object of this application is altogether different from that of
the first. Then it was because of guilt, and to obtain pardon; now it is because
of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and to effect their cleansing—that
they might be clean before the Lord. O, the wonderful harmony of divine truth!
Paul says that the Hebrew brethren had already made that appropriation of the
blood whereby they had been saved from an evil conscience, or justified, from
which standpoint they had “boldness to enter into the holiest of all by (a
second application of) the blood of Christ.” The offerings within the first veil
continued daily because they foreshadowed a state of salvation incomplete—still
in progress. While the awful place of God’s visible presence was entered but
once in a whole year. Once, because it prefigured that appropriation of the
blood of Christ that makes an end of sin—“perfects forever them that are
sanctified.” The number seven represents perfection, fullness, and completion.
The sanctum sanctorum was entered on the seventh month, and the law expressly
required the high priest to sprinkle the blood seven times upon the golden
altar, and seven times upon the mercy seat. This may be looked upon as a mere
trifle, but the more I study the precious Bible, the more I see that every
particle of the law had a deep spiritual import; and what does the above speak
but full salvation? The day specified for the high priestly offerings was among
the most solemn of the Jewish economy. It was called “the great day of
atonement.” What an emblem of the propitious day of the soul’s deliverance from
all sin. “In that day ye shall do not work.” “It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto
you.” Glory to God! Behold, in the law, the beautiful dawning of the glorious
Sabbath of the soul, the rest of God offered to us in the fourth of Hebrews. The
correspondence between the entering of the high priest into the most holy, and
the entering of the soul into entire sanctification is indeed wonderful. Since
the rending of the beautiful veil in Christ, all men may become “kings and
priests unto God,” and serve even in His most sacred tabernacle; but in order to
do this we must wear “holy garments,” and upon our breast the “SIGNET, HOLINESS
UNTO THE LORD.” As Aaron was anointed with holy oil for his office, so the
“crown of the anointing oil of our God is upon us,” even “the anointing which we
have received from Him, which abideth and teacheth us of all things” (Leviticus
21:12 and 1 John 2:27). As the priests were required to offer the “salt of the
covenant of their God with all their meat offerings” (Leviticus 2:13) so every
believer, as he offers himself a “living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God,”
must be “salted with fire” (Mark 9:49). The Holy Spirit is truly the salt of the
covenant, because He writes the covenant upon our heart, seals and preserves it.
In the Holy of Holies there was but one object, the most sacred of all. The Ark
of the Covenant and its contents have a profound reference to the Gospel
dispensation. An ark denotes safety and within this second veil the purified are
surrounded by “walls of salvation,” and “kept by the power of God through
faith.” It is called the “ark of the testimony” (Exodus 40:3) for here the
saints “overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” This
sacred chest is called a “throne of grace,” a “mercy seat.” Thus God’s throne of
mercy and grace, covered, hid, contained and rose above the law. A seat implies
a place of rest, mercy and grace denotes the divine favor; and here the soul
finds a sweet and perfect rest in the full fellowship and favor of God. This
also suggests that previous states, as penitence and justification are but
transitory—no place to rest. It is only in the inner and sacred place of God’s
pavilion and glory that the soul finds its fixed repose, feeling “perfect,
entire, wanting nothing.” O, the rapturous joy of “sitting between the
cherubim,” where, it is written that “God dwelleth;” having entered into “His
rest.” The attitude of the cherubim, with their eyes directed to the ark, was
significant of the desire of angels to look into the mysteries of the Gospel
that were hid in the deep spirituality of the law. Within this ark was deposited
the tables of the ten commandments, called the tables of the covenant, because
it is in this most holy state that God confirms His covenant with the heirs of
glory. Read Hebrews 10:14-16. After stating that the Holy Spirit witnessed to
our sanctification the Apostle adds, “For after that He had said before, this is
the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will
put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” The
distinct witness of the Spirit to our perfection, the establishment of the
covenant, and writing of the divine law in our hearts, are all associated with
the hidden life with Christ in God. Hence, it is after we enter the second veil
that the covenant is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise in our hearts.
Aaron’s rod that budded fitly represents the wonderful power of God manifest in
the life and fruitfulness of the wholly sanctified. They are “like trees planted
by the side of living waters, that bring forth their fruit in their season.” The
ark was also the depository of the golden pot of manna brought from the
wilderness (Hebrews 9:4). May the blessed Spirit that has given light on this
manna now aid my effort to impart it to you, dear reader. The manna that fell
about the camp in the wilderness and the water that flowed from the rock
represent the grace of justification; this heaven-sent food seemed to be, at
first, greatly relished; they said it was “sweet as honey;” but ere long it
failed to satisfy them, and they hankered after the flesh posts of Egypt . This
suggests that it was only a temporary food. As milk becomes insufficient for the
child, as it grows older, so the joy of pardon—the sweets of the first love—is a
charm that must soon be succeeded by the more solid corn of full salvation
truth, the richer and ever satisfying experience of the Comforter. If this is
not attained the experience of a deep want and dissatisfaction in the heart soon
begets a longing desire for

The sweet comfort and peace Of a soul in its earliest love.

Again, the manna had to be gathered daily except on Sabbath. Now, justification
need not be daily interrupted by sin and renewed by repentance; nevertheless it
is a fact that most who have not advanced to that within the second veil find
much of the above experience. Some way or another it is quite commonly
acknowledged that the manna—justifying grace—does not keep will in the
wilderness; hence, the most common petition that ascends from the camp east of
Jordan is, “Oh, Lord, forgive all the sins we have committed this day in thy
sight.” This fact is no reflection on the Author of salvation because His work
is not yet finished. He would not have His host tarry here, but only pass
through “this great and terrible wilderness” into the land of Canaan where, laid
up within the holiest, we find the same manna. And behold it is preserved
blameless from year to year. Is not his wonderful? Can we not all read the
lesson it teaches? It seems to me too plain to need pointing out. Glory to God
for the precious truth! Entire sanctification not only retains and intensifies
the joy of justification, but constantly and forever preserves it in all its
sweet and holy innocence. So perfectly united are the golden links of divine
truth, that when the true light of one text flashes into the mind, it soon
unfolds the meaning of others. And now we have found the key to Revelation 2:17.

He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; to him
that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he
that recieveth it.

This was not Moses speaking in the wilderness, but Christ speaking through the
Spirit to His church. Who then will deny that manna is a type of Gospel
salvation, since the Son of God so interprets it. But here is special manna
promised to the church—“hidden manna”—what is this but justification made
glorious in perfected holiness as typified by the manna hid away in the most
holy place, within the mysterious veil? Paul invited his brethren of the “church
of the first born” to enter therein. And now, again, we hear the Spirit saying
to the churches that, upon certain conditions, they may enter and partake of the
contents of the golden pot. Only the church, therefore, has this holy calling.
The conditions are: 1, Enter the church by regeneration; 2, Overcome the world
by faith (1 John 5:4); 3, Enter the holiest, and eat the manna therein found.
The white stone teaches the same lesson. White denotes perfect purity. It is
given to the church because it is only experienced within the church. The new
name denotes an entirely new experience known only by the recipient because it
is experienced with the soul. The golden pot that contained the manna within the
ark may represent Christians who have been purified and tried in the fire as
gold, such a heart is best suited to contain the rich treasure of God’s grace.
Once more, by reference to Exodus 16:32-33, you will see that this omer of manna
was laid up at the time it was first sent to the camp of Israel . Learn here
that no one can enter the closer relation to God without they approach in their
first love, or freely justified state as when first experienced. But few have
retained this, hence, comparatively few enter the second veil and many of them
have their justification renewed just before receiving the second grace. In
conclusion, dear reader, behold the camp of the Lord’s host. Behold the
tabernacle; it is God’s tent in the midst of the tents of Israel . What is this
but a portrait of the great prediction “behold the tabernacle of God is with
men.” It beautifully represents the church of God on earth, with the personal
indwelling of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it is realized by the church
today wherever the great Shechinah dwells in her midst and the glory of the Lord
is seen upon her. Oh, that God would everywhere “shine out of Zion the
perfection of beauty.” Dear brother, we have only noticed the most salient
points in the golden thread of testimony to the higher life that so much
pervades this Epistle. We have seen that the two successive veils represent the
two distinct degrees of grace in the church. The offering of the blood before
the first is emblematic of our deliverance “from and evil conscience,” and that
before and within the second veil, the “purging” or purification of our nature
and admission into the holiest state by the blood of Christ. We have also seen
that everything connected with these two apartments find a perfect counterpart
in the experience of justification and subsequent sanctification. Finally,
beloved reader, if you have appropriated the blood of Christ in the first
experience, and now stand within the holy, I say unto you in the name of the
Lord, you have perfect liberty—yea “Boldness to enter into the holiest of all by
(a second application of) the blood of Christ.”

O, Holy of Holies! O grace sublime; Looking to Jesus, I saw it was mine; His
blood bade me enter, cleansed me from sin. Since God rent the veil, oh brother,
come in. My soul now reclines ‘neath the Cherubim, Where naught but the glory of
God is seen; Here where He dwells, I have entered His rest, Robed in His glory,
eternally blessed.


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  CHAPTER 20: 20. SAINT JOHN'S TESTIMONY TO THE SECOND WORK
========================================================================

To properly appreciate and understand the word of life, it is important that we
have before our minds the characters addressed, and the particular object of the
Epistle under consideration. The Apostle John addresses his first Epistle to his
“little children”—“Sons of God” (1 John 2:1; 3:2). He writes to these young
members of the household of faith for the purpose of advancing them to that
perfect “fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ” which he
himself had attained, that “they also might have fellowship with him,” and, as a
result, “that their joy might be full” and that “they sin not” (1 John 1:3-4;
2:1). We haven therefore, in the very outline of John’s Epistle, conclusive
evidence of two distinct degrees in the order of our salvation: 1. Free born
sons of God; 2. Purification from all sin, fullness of joy, and perfect
fellowship with the Father, His Son, and the fully sanctified. The beloved
Apostle proceeds at once to convict his brethren of the need of this higher
grace. Knowing the mixture of darkness in the experience of all who are not
cleansed from inbred sin, he holds up before them the more perfect standard,
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). As if to say the
dark seasons you complain of are sure indications that you are indwelt by
something that is opposite to God, for “in Him is no darkness at all.” He
admonishes them against the presumption of claiming this perfect fellowship on
the ground of their regeneration because the clouds that often obtruded their
moral sky were incompatible therewith.

If we say that we have (perfect) fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light,
then have we fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)

Perfect fellowship with God, and holy saints, is correlative with the blessing
of perfect purity and perfect light. Darkness is moral impurity; hence to walk
in the light as God is in the light is simply to be pure “even as He is pure.”
Into this glorious experience, John wrote to induct these, already sons of God;
hence, it is an attainment in grace distinct from and subsequent to spiritual
adoption. If we follow the sure Word of God, we are everywhere led to two-fold
salvation. Between son-ship and absolute purity, the Lord has interposed the
condition, “If we (Christians) walk in the light as He is in the light.” Neither
a past nor a future salvation meets the wants of the soul now. Therefore, “the
blood of Christ cleanseth us,” i.e., not only has cleansed—and will, in the
future—but cleanseth us from all sin, in the present tense. Oh, how blessed to
have the consciousness of being fully saved just now! It is present progressive;
not that the work is in process of completion, but to indicate a finished fact
that is a perpetual living reality. The blood of Christ not only made an end of
our purification when we merged into the light of God, but while we continue to
“walk in the light as He is in the light,” its potent voice constantly speaks
our purity. It is written that the “worshippers once purged have no more
consciousness of sin.” Then they have a consciousness of being free from sin.
What is this but an ever-abiding realization of the wonderful virtue of the
blood of Christ?

A heart that always feels Thy blood so freely spilt for me.

Entire sanctification is both a work and a state; for there is power in Jesus’
blood to cleanse and keep us clean. The Apostle John thought it probable that
some of his little children were inconsiderate enough to think, as some do now,
that because they were “sons of God” they had no sin to wash away; hence, he
corrects this delusion: “if we (justified believers) say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But the more
reflective and sensitive of conscience, who possess a real aspiration for
holiness of heart, will not only see and be pained at this inbred foe, but also
frankly confess it and their many shortcomings thereby occasioned. All such are
near the cleansing stream, for “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Praise God! John’s two-fold definition of sin is fully met in the Savior’s
double remedy for sin. The precious blood cleanseth from all sin and all
unrighteousness. This is very comprehensive, the most precious truth in the
“glad tidings of the grace of God.” It cuts off every indwelling foe to our
spiritual development and happiness, every antagonism to the grace of God in our
hearts. It extracts every “root of bitterness,” the tendency to pride, anger and
impatience. It pronounces the death sentence upon all unbelief, selfishness and
vain ambition. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
Though like black clouds they fill your moral sky with thick darkness, the blood
of the Lamb shall sweep them all out of existence. Though your appetite for
liquor be as the burning of hell, the blood of Christ can quench it all. Though
every fibre of your being be impregnated with, and clamor for, tobacco or opium,
the precious blood of the Redeemer can remove every vestige of the appetite and
restore the dire effects of the poison in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”
Praise the “God of all grace!” the blood cleanseth from all unrighteousness.
That is, it removes and destroys all moral unrighteousness, every abnormal
appetite—inordinate desire—and unholy temper. Yes, it forever sweeps away from
the soul everything but what is righteous, God-like, and lovely. All this is
implied in the promise and thousands have attested its truthfulness. This
wonderful salvation is not a development of the former grace; for the blood does
not grow sin out of the heart, but cleanses it out: the former would be gradual,
but this is instantaneous. Now, the most pious and humble in their “first love,”
all confess that they do not measure up to these promises; that an unrighteous
nature yet dwells within and struggle against the “law of their mind;” hence, it
follows from human experience, as well as from plain Bible teaching, that the
salvation from all sin and the fullness of joy that John here insists upon lies
beyond the grace of adoption and is appropriated by a distinct grasp of faith.

But whoso keepeth his word; in him verily is the love of God perfected . . . He
that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked. (1
John 2:5-6)

Only those who have their love made perfect actually keep God’s Word. Only they
have the capacity as we have shown in chapter six. Yes, says Moses, “When you
come into the land which the Lord our God giveth you, then shall ye keep all His
commandments and do them.” Here the saints dwell so fully in Christ—live by His
life and walk by His strength that they “walk even as He walked.” Here is the
New Testament standard of piety. In verse 10 the Apostle lifts up the standard
again, “He that loveth his brother (according to the new commandment of perfect
love) abideth in the light, and there is none occasion for stumbling in him.” He
abideth constantly in the light, he sees no clouds, and the Sun of his
righteousness never goes down. “There is none occasion of stumbling in him.” A
great deal is said in these words; just indeed what is said of Christ. “The
prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.” In those who have their
love made perfect here positively remains nothing that occasions stumbling,
nothing that responds to temptations without, no particle of unholy sediment, or
bad nature that can be roiled up when shaken by the powers of darkness without.
No more lurking foe within that prones the heart to leave the God we love. “All
darkness (which occasions stumbling) is past, and the true light now shineth,”
“which thing is true in Him (Christ) and in you,” perfected saints.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall
see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2)

We must be like God if we would see and enjoy Him. This blessing is only
pronounced on the “pure in heart.”

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure.
(1 John 3:3)

Here the divine order of salvation is clearly marked: 1st, possess the
Christian’s hope; 2nd, through the stimuli of this hope in him the believer
purifies himself as God is pure. Dear brother, does this stagger you? Can the
Lord be more than pure—“free from sin,” etc.? And does not the Bible
emphatically require the same of you? What objection can you have to this since
God, Himself, has opened the fountain for all sin and all unrighteousness, and
proposes to do the work in you—“sanctify you wholly” and preserve you “holy and
unblameable before Him in love?” One thing is very certain: you cannot dwell
with God unless you are perfectly pure or holy. This being true, it follows that
you must either go to heaven to obtain perfect purity, or you must be purified
in order to go to heaven. That the latter is the Gospel plan all intelligent
Bible readers well know.

Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous even as He is righteous. (1 John 3:7)

Here, again, the Apostle sets up the true standard of Gospel grace. We infer
from his admonition that Satan had already sent out his servants to tell the
children of God that they could not be “perfect as their Father which is in
heaven is perfect,” “pure as He is pure” and “righteous even as He is
righteous,” and that Christ, in these things had set up an impracticable
standard and imposed an intolerable yoke. Notwithstanding, John thus clearly
exposes this lie, the father of it still authorizes circulation. The Apostle
speaks not of the dead who had ceased from righteous works, but the living—“he
that worketh righteousness is” (not will be, but already is) “righteous even as
He is righteous.” Here is present, full and free salvation offered to the
church—the real sons of God—through the cleansing blood of Christ. I have joined
but a few links of John’s golden chain of testimony to the second work of divine
grace. Here, as all through the Bible, we see that crimson stream that flows
from the cross, and with the voice of redeeming love speaks the complete
purification of the Christian’s heart.

Blessed Jesus, thou art mine, All I have is wholly thine; Thou dost dwell within
my heart, Thou dost reign in every part; Blessed Jesus, keep me white, Keep me
walking in the light.

Precious Jesus, day by day, Keep me in the holy way; Keep my mind in perfect
peace, Every day my faith increase. Blessed Jesus, keep me white, Keep me
walking in the light.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 21: 21. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION ALWAYS ADDRESSED TO BELIEVERS
========================================================================

If entire sanctification were simultaneous with pardon, it would be used
interchangeably with it and regeneration. It would be enjoined upon sinners and
connected with repentance like conversion. We never read of sinners commended to
repent and be sanctified. This grace is always enjoined upon such as had already
been justified, hence it is distinct from, and subsequent to justification. The
only place, to my knowledge, where the second grace is spoken of in connection
with repentance is Acts 2:28, and there baptism is interposed between the two
and the uniform order of the Bible is that pardon must precede baptism; then, or
course, the promise of the Father is attainable. That a “wayfaring man, though a
fool,” and even “he that runneth may read” the distinction between “first love”
and “second grace.” I will place them side-by-side. It will be seen in most
cases that the two experiences are affirmed of the same individuals at different
times. The reader should read the left hand column of a single paragraph, and
then the opposite column.

CALL TO SINNERS

CALL TO BELIEVERS

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:7

Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O
Jerusalem, the holy city . . . Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down,
O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck. Isaiah 52:1-2

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17

To all that be in Rome , beloved of God, called to be saints (holy ones): Grace
to you and peace from God our Father. Romans 1:7

And he (Paul) went into the synagogue (at Ephesus ), and spake boldly for the
space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the
kingdom of God . . . And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed
their deeds. Acts 19:8, 18

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:16-18

SINNERS COMMANDED

BELIEVERS COMMANDED

Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3:2

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17

And they went out, and preached that men should repent. Mark 6:12

Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye
shall not enter into the kingdom. Matthew 18:3

Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. John 3:7

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved
you. John 13:34

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem , but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he,
ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Acts 1:4-5

Then Peter said unto them (sinners), Repent, and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts
3:19

Peter’ s command to the church:

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31

He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? Acts 19:2

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent. Acts 17:30

For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the
will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.
1 Thessalonians 4:2-3

PROMISES MADE TO AND RECEIVED BY SINNERS

PROMISES MADE TO AND REALIZED BY CHRISTIANS

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations. Luke 24:47

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as
his master. Luke 6:40 (Margin)

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria , and preached Christ unto them. .
. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God , and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women . . .
And there was great joy in that city Acts 8:5, 8, 12

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received
the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come
down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost . . . Then laid
they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Acts 8:14-17

Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:6

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the
end ye may be established. Romans 1:11

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. Romans
5:2

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Romans 3:24

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Romans 8:15

Now present your members bound to righteousness, for sanctification. Romans 6:19
(Emphatic Diaglott)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. Romans 16:19

And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of
goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Romans
15:14

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13

When I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel
of Christ. Romans 15:29

And many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Acts 18:8

ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:9

Ye are Christ’s. 1 Corinthians 3:23

In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 2
Corinthians 7:11

Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge,
and in all diligence. 2 Corinthians 8:7

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1

And this also we wish, even your perfection. 2 Corinthians 13:9

Finally brethren, farewell. Be perfect. 2 Corinthians 13:11

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:14

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17

Rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20

Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration. Matthew 19:28

The Spirit of your Father speaketh in you. Matthew 10:20

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit
of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:15-17

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1

For by grace are ye saved through faith. Ephesians 2:8

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with
the saints, and of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . That
he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit . . . [and]. . filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man . . . And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled. Colossians 1:21

We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the
saints. Colossians 1:4

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you,
and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding . . . with all might, according to his
glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Colossians
1:9-11

But ye are come unto mount Sion , and unto the city of the living God . . .To
the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven . . . And to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling. Hebrews 12:22-24

Go on unto perfection. Hebrews 6:1

Now the God of peace . . .through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make
you perfect. Hebrews 13:20-21

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Hebrews
10:14

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Hebrews 3:1

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.
Hebrews 12:1

Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it
to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of
your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring
greatly to see us, as we also to see you: Therefore, brethren, we were comforted
over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:6-7

Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect
that which is lacking in your faith?

Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto
you . . . To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his
saints. 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13

These two classes of Scripture addressed to different characters and teaching
two separate and distinct experiences in the economy of grace might be greatly
extended. Whoever will take the pains to examine the matter will find that, in
the New Testament, the several terms that express the higher life occur more
than as often again as those do that teach the first state of grace. And yet, to
many, this more excellent way is hid by the veil of their own wisdom and
prudence (Matthew 11:25). I once heard a minister undertake to prove that
regeneration and sanctification were identical; his main argument was based on
the fact that both were attributed to the same instrumentalities and suspended
upon the same condition. His premises were correct, but the conclusion an
egregious mistake. He should have noticed that entire sanctification is always
enjoined and invoked upon such as already had the former experience. It is true
that the blood of Christ is the procuring cause of both pardon and
sanctification (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:12). The Word of God the instrumental
cause (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:23; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 7:1). The
Holy Spirit the direct, efficient cause in both cases (John 3:8; Romans 15:16).
And faith the condition (Romans 5:1-2; Acts 15:8-9). What do we infer from this?
Namely, that regeneration and entire sanctification are both moral changes. What
then becomes of the assertion that sanctification, when enjoined upon believers,
denotes a growth when it is always ascribed to those means that produce
transformation and not development. How erroneous the teaching that makes
perfection a development when the Word says that God “makes us perfect through
the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Again, what nonsense to talk about
gradual sanctification when the Bible always conditions it upon faith, the same
as it does justification. It must, therefore, be instantaneous because
appropriating faith is that simple act of the soul by which it takes the things
that God holds out to us in the promises. The operation of the Spirit by which
we discover our need and the divine provisions, is usually gradual, but there
must be an instant of time when the hand of faith grasps the needed blessing,
when the object of faith becomes the fruition of the soul. Hence, I repeat, what
is received by faith is purely a gift from God, and must be received
instantaneously, or not at all. If we were to sum up the confused teaching of
many in the wilderness, we would only learn that sanctification is an
inexplicable something, which everybody receives in conversion, subsequently
attains by growth, and which no one, after all, can experience until death comes
to accomplish that which the Son of God failed to do. This is no exaggeration of
the theology taught in the terrible regions of Sinai. Surely there is a dense
fog in the wilderness: “A day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of clouds
and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains (Joel 2:2). Let
us thank the Lord that it is not the dusk of eventide, but the dawning of a
brighter day. The “Sun of righteousness” is fast driving from the mountains—the
churches—the morning fogs of the past night of error, and filling the world with
the glorious light of the Gospel, and the rapturous songs of full salvation.
Ever since the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, those who have known most of
God, and possessed in the largest degree the mind and Spirit of Jesus, have,
with few exceptions, acknowledged an attainment in grace beyond justification.
This Bible experience written by the Spirit upon the heart, often attains a
strong under-current in the mind and affections, sweetens the whole life, endues
with power from on high, and brings forth abundant fruit without being
definitely professed. This is owning to the fact that sanctification, not having
been taught as a definite provision in the will of God; they seek it in an
indefinite manner being moved only by the common experience of a great want in
the heart. Not having had definite teaching, their faith is only general and
their profession will likewise be indefinite. Nevertheless these possess, with
some modification, the elements of “perfect holiness” and they largely adapt the
language peculiar to this higher Christian experience. It is true that without
the presentation of holiness to the mind as a definite object of pursuit, few
possess concentration of faith enough to apprehend it. In this class we find
Elder J. Winebrenner. In his work on regeneration, page 224, he speaks as
follows: “It is not enough, you perceive, to be born again, but such are
required likewise to grow in grace, to add to their faith and to ‘perfect
holiness in the fear of God,’ and thus be made conformable to the image of
little children. And where there is no such advancement and conformity, there
can be no admission into heaven. Many newborn souls, I fear, lose sight of this
requirement. The covetousness, pride and bigotry which exists among professors,
is decisive proof of this fact.” Had the above come from some professed advocate
of distinct holiness, it would be looked upon as quite radical. “It is not
enough to be born again,” says Elder Winebrenner, but salvation proceeds still
farther. He gives three things that are to follow. • Add to your faith. • Grow
in grace. • Perfect holiness. With the fist two points all Christians agree. The
third is just what is now contended for by all engaged in the great holiness
reform, and is opposed by all who antagonize this special work. According to
Elder Winebrenner’s theology, to be born again is not to be made perfectly holy.
In describing the grace yet needed, he quotes 2 Corinthians 7:1 and here the
Apostle identifies “perfecting holiness” with “cleansing from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit.” Hence, Paul and Brother Winebrenner both concur in
teaching a work of purification after regeneration. Though Paul here commands
believers to cleanse themselves, this can only be done by coming to the
“fountain opened for sin;” for nothing but the blood of Christ can wash away sin
and cleanse from all unrighteousness. That a moral change was in the mind of
Elder Winebrenner is evident from the fact that he speaks of “conformity to the
image of little children” as the result of perfecting holiness. This implies a
change of nature. “Where there is no such advancement and conformity, there can
be no admission into heaven.” Pretty strong, but so says the Word: “Nothing
unclean shall enter therein.” Observe that Elder Winebrenner does not ascribe
the covetousness, pride and bigotry that exist among professors to a want of
regeneration, but to the fact that newborn souls lose sight of the requirement
to “perfect holiness in the fear of God.” But now can we expect believers to
seek this perfect heart purity when they are taught that regeneration exhausts
the cleansing power of the blood of Christ? In his New Testament Dictionary,
Elder Winebrenner defines sanctification as a “perfect conformity of heart and
life to the will of God” and for example cites 1 Thessalonians 4:3. Here again,
Christians are admonished to undergo a cleansing which will perfectly conform
their hearts and lives to the will of God. Thus this holy and fruitful saint of
God acknowledged a degree of grace beyond regeneration. In the light of the
Bible, it is just as consistent to teach that a sinner can grow into a Christian
as that a justified soul can grow into heart purity—grow sin out of his heart:
in other words, there is just as much Scripture for regeneration by gradual
development as for sanctification by any gradual process; for the latter is just
as much the immediate effect of the Holy Spirit as the former, and just as much
the direct gift of God, through faith, and the cleansing blood. The media and
conditions of justification and entire sanctification being the same,
corroborates the Scriptures cited in chapter second in teaching that the latter,
as well as the former, is a moral transformation. And since the two columns we
have here presented, as will as many other Scriptures, show that the first is an
experience for sinners, and the second an experience for Christians, it follows
that there are two successive moral changes, two divine works of grace.


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  CHAPTER 22: 22. PURIFICATION A DISTINCT, INSTANTANEOUS WORK OF GRACE
========================================================================

Most writers upon the subject of holiness have quoted largely from human
authorities; these harmonious witnesses have doubtless contributed much to
establish and advance this most important cause. But, in the preparation of this
work I have felt specially called to present to the reader a book of Bible
proofs. Nevertheless, finding truth of such vital importance in the Greek verbs
of the New Testament, which the tenses of our language are inadequate to convey
to the English reader; and regarding a work of this kind as quite deficient
without these very important proofs, I devote this chapter to an investigation
of this subject. The authorities I quote will, I think, be quite satisfactory to
all who possess any knowledge of their standing in piety and scholarship. In an
article in the Church Advocate, about two years ago, from the pen of Elder B. F.
Beck of Pennsylvania , the writer observed that the Scriptures usually cited in
proof of a second work of grace are in the aorist tense. So they are, but the
brother presumed to tell his readers that that tense related only to past time.
Thus, he, and I presume many of his readers, rejoiced in the discovery of a plan
by which all prayers, promises and commands, setting forth a higher Christian
experience were construed into past blessings, hence enjoined no present duty or
attainment. To say the least of this theory, it would require an entire revision
of the New Testament. So that when Paul says to his brethren, “Present (aorist)
your bodies a living sacrifice,” it should be changed to, “You did present your
bodies,” etc. “Purge (aorist) out the old leaven,” to “You have purged out,”
etc. “Cleanse (aorist) yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and Spirit,”
to “You have cleansed,” etc., throughout the Testament. I think it much
preferable to be changed ourselves “from glory to glory” by a second application
of the blood than to change the Word so much to avoid it. It is but an easy,
momentary work for God to adjust us to the Bible, but a dreadful task to adjust
the Bible to ourselves. But we have charity as well as good reason to believe
that the brother above referred to did not willfully teach error, for his
position seems to be taught in Bullion’s Greek grammar. He defines it thus: “The
Aorist represents an action simply as past; as “I wrote.” As to whether this is
correct of not will be made plain as we proceed. In fact the author seems to
teach otherwise on the same page. “It (the aorist) differs from the imperfect
inasmuch as the aorist denotes what is always customary; the imperfect what was
customary during the specified period of time.” This agrees with Dr. Steele:
“Except in the indicative, it (the aorist) is always timeless,” it may be used
in reference to acts past, present, or future, instead of the past only. Had
Elder Beck, and I presume his authority, Bullion, confined their remarks to the
indicative mood, I presume they were correct; for, says Goodwin, “The aorist
indicative expresses the simple momentary occurrence of an action in past time,
an “I wrote.” According to this author, it is only in the one mood that the
aorist is confined to past time. Harknes’s Greek grammar, a later work, which
has quite commonly supplanted Bullion, and, I think, is about the most popular
Greek grammar now in use, gives the active voice of the aorist as follows
(Aorist, First Book, page 75):

INDICATIVE

SUBJUNCTIVE

OPTATIVE

IMPERATIVE

INFINITIVE

PARTICIPLE

e Bouleusa

I advised

Bouleuso

I may advise

Bouleusima

I might advise

Bouleuson

Advise

Bouleusai

To advise

Bouleusas

Having advised

Surely no one will affirm that “I may advise,” “I might advise,” and the
imperative command, “advise,” denote action in the past. James McKnight quotes
Blackwell as saying, “That the first and second aorist in the potential and
subjunctive moods, which are futures too, are often, in sacred and common
writers, equivalent to the future of the indicative. He also acquiesces in the
statement. We have, then, the testimony of standard authors generally, that the
aorist is used with reference to present and future action, as well as past.
This, the Scriptures themselves abundantly show. That our readers may comprehend
more fully the force of the Scriptures, we shall herein present, and the
arguments adduced there from, we give you the tenses of the Greek verb as
defined by the standards of the language. The present tense denotes what is now
going on, and indicates a continuous, repeated or habitual action, as ‘I am
writing;’ the imperfect denotes the same continuity or repetition in the past,
as, ‘I was writing;’ the perfect denotes an action as finished in the present,
as ‘I have written; my writing is just now finished.’ The pluperfect denotes an
act, which took place before another past act. The future denotes an act in
future time; future perfect—an action as finished at, or before a certain future
time. But as we have already intimated, it is the aorist that particularly
throws light upon the distinctive works of grace in the soul; hence I take the
greater pains to establish its real meaning in your minds. Says Bullion, “When
actions of both kinds are mingled in a narrative, the continued action is often
expressed by the imperfect and the momentary by the aorist, as “He ran forth
(the aorist) and continued barking at the (the imperfect). The barbarians
received (aorist) the peltastea and fought (imperfect) with them. But when the
heavy-armed soldiers were near, they turned (aorist), and the peltastea
immediately pursued them,” imperfect. Again, “The aorist does not, like the
imperfect, express continuance, it is used to express momentary action.” “We
have,” says Dr. Steele, “in the English no tense like it. Except in the
indicative it is timeless, and in all the moods indicates what Krenger styles,
‘singleness of act.’ This idea our translators could not express without a
circumlocution in words having no representatives in the Greek. ‘The poverty of
our language,’ says Alford, ‘in the finer distinctions of the tenses, often
obliges us to render inaccurately and fall short of the wonderful language with
which we have to deal.’ His annotations abound in attempts to bring out the full
significance of the tenses. For instance, in 2 Corinthians 12:7, to buffet me,’
(present tense) is best thus expressed in the present. The aorist would denote
but one such act of insult. This has been noted by both Chrysostom and
Theophylact.” Buttman, in his recent New Testament grammar says, “The
established distinction between the aorist, as a purely narrative tense,
expressing something momentary, and the imperfect, as a descriptive tense,
expressing something contemporaneous or continuous, holds in all its force in
the New Testament.” Says Winer, “Nowhere in the New Testament does the aorist
express what is wont to be,” i.e., it never expresses a state of being, but a
“momentary act.” The later two authors are regarded by scholars as among the
most competent New Testament grammarians. To the above we add yet Goodwin, “The
aorist expresses the simple momentary occurrence of an action.” Here we have the
united testimony of Dr. Steele, Dean Alford, Krenger, Bullion, Chrysostom,
Theophylact, Buttman, Winer and Goodwin, that the aorist tense is always
expressive of a singe and momentary act, it never denotes a continuous or
repeated action, its distinguishing features may well be described as suddenly
and once for all. Says Steele, “The fact which impresses us in our investigation
is the absence of the aorist and the presence of the present tense whenever the
conditions of final salvation are stated. Our inference is that the conditions
of ultimate salvation are continuous, extending through probation, and not
completed in any one act.” But the Scriptures themselves will best satisfy the
reader’s mind as to the peculiar force of the aorist. In the following texts,
Dr. Steele and Dean Alford are responsible for the designation of the tense, and
not myself. The latter, in his valuable translation, has often used such words
as “continually,” “persistently,” “repeatedly,” to indicated the aorist tense. I
think it preferable in the main to use the common version, designating the
tenses as they have.

Luke 13:24. Strive (present tense—persistent action) to enter in (aorist
tense—once for all) at the strait gate.

Luke 18:13. But smote (imperfect, smote repeatedly) upon his breast, saying, God
be merciful (aorist—pardon instantly) to me a sinner.

Hebrews 11:6. For he that cometh (present, persistently) to God, must believe
(aorist, definitely grasp two facts) (1) that He is, and (2) that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

John 5:41. How can ye believe (aorist), which receive (present, continually,
habitually receive) honor one of another, and seek no the honor that cometh from
God only?

“This interrogatory implies the impossibility of a single genuine act of faith,
springing up in a heart persistently courting human applause.” (Dr. Steele)

John 11:26. And whosoever liveth and believeth (present, perseveringly) in me,
shall never die (aorist)

The use of the aorist, in speaking of death, is in accordance with its specific
force, since that is an event that is once for all.

Matthew 8:2. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped (imperfect, kept
worshipping) Him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean (aorist,
cleanse me once for all). And Jesus put forth (aorist, instantly) His hand and
touched (aorist) him, saying, I will: be thou clean (aorist, be thou instantly,
and once for all cleansed).

The leper prayed not for gradual, but instantaneous cleansing, and it was once
at a single stroke according to his faith.

Touch and cleanse me blessed Savior, Take away my inbred sin; I am longing for
this favor, Longing to be pure within.

Matthew 14:36. And besought (imperfect, kept beseeching) Him that they might
only touch (aorist, just once) the hem of His garment; and as many as touched
(aorist, but once) were made (aorist, instantaneously) perfectly whole.

Luke 17:14. And it came to pass, that as they went (present, progressive
action—were going) they were cleansed (aorist, instantaneously).

John 2:16. Take (aorist, instantly) these things hence; make not (present, be
not continually making) my Father’s house a house of merchandise.

1 Corinthians 15:34. Awake (aorist, at once) to righteousness and sin not
(present, be not sinning).

These examples abundantly establish the position of our New Testament
grammarians that “the aorist tense never indicates a continuous, habitual, or
repeated act.” Let us now note the use of this tense in enjoining the higher
Christian experience of entire purification.

Matthew 23:25-26. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make
clean (present, are constantly cleansing) the outside of the cup and of the
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee,
cleanse (aorist, ‘at a stroke,’ Alford) first that which is within the cup and
platter, that the outside of them may be clean (aorist, may become instantly
clean) also.

Observe that Christ taught an inward and instantaneous purification, which
immediately wrought outward purity; it is the cleansing of the “flesh and
spirit;” and had He commanded a gradual cleansing, He would have used the
present tense—cleanse by degree.

John 17:17, 19. Sanctify (aorist, once for all) them through thy truth . . . And
for their sakes I sanctify (present tense) myself that they also might be
sanctified through the truth.

Let it be remembered that Christ was sanctified with His own blood, Hebrews
10:29, and made “perfect through sufferings.” Hence it is evident that He was
then being sanctified, or was then suffering out the conditions of a perfect
Savior, that we might be entirely sanctified by an instantaneous application of
His blood. The word “sanctify” in verse 17, as Daniel Steele has observed, and
as all can see by reference to the Greek Testament, and the case endings given
by Harkness, is in the imperative mood. It may seem strange that Christ should
petition the Father in the imperative, which is virtually commanding Him. But,
when we take into consideration that the Redeemer of our lost race was then
enduring the inward “pains of death” and “sorrows of hell,” the awful conditions
imposed by divine justice in the eternal covenant, it was meet that, in view of
the speedy consummation of His death for our redemption, He should now claim His
hard-earned and dearly-purchased trophies, that He should demand the fulfillment
of the covenant of the part of justice: even the complete emancipation of all
believers from the power and inbeing of sin. However that may be, it is certain
that Christ in the above text puts in a claim before the Court of Heaven for the
sanctification “of all them that believe on Him through the word” and presents
the same in the imperative aorist. Says Winer: “In the New Testament the obvious
distinction between the imperative aorist and the imperative present is
uniformly maintained. The imperative aorist denotes an action that is rapidly
completed and transient or viewed as occurring but once. The imperative present
denotes action already commenced and to be continued, or an action going on, or
to be frequently repeated. Thus, all can see that in the use of the tense, the
Holy Spirit represented Christ’s sanctification, i.e., by His suffering, as then
going on, but that of the disciples to be effected in the future, by the power
of God, and a rapidly completed work never to be repeated. And such it was,
when, on the Day of Pentecost, the Sanctifier came “suddenly” and they “were all
filled with the Holy Spirit.” Dean Alford renders Acts 5:11 as follows:

But we habitually believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we
were saved (aorist, by a momentary and completed act) even as they.

Philip Doddridge also translates this verse in application to present salvation,
instead of final, as in the common version. Judging these to be correct, we have
here a beautiful representation of the distinct and instantaneous work of entire
sanctification; for the salvation here referred to is purification of the heart
by the full reception of the Holy Spirit. (See verses 8 and 9) When I wrote on
the believer’s consecration, I had not seen Dr. Steele’s exposition of the
tenses from Alford’s translation. Please compare what I have written on Romans
6:13 with the following.

Nor render repeatedly (present imperative) your members as instruments of sin,
but render (aorist, by a final act of unreserved surrender, once for all)
yourselves (not your members by a repeated and piecemeal consecration) to God,
(or for God’s cause, says Tholuck) as alive from the dead.

Alford here remarks, “The present imperative denotes habit; the exhortation
guards against a recurrence of a devotion of the members to sin; this, the
aorist imperative, on the other hand, as in chapter 12:1, denotes an act of self
devotion to God once for all, not a mere recurrence of the habit” The common
version employs the same form of expression in both the negative and positive
commands of this text, and as yielding the members unto sin naturally involves
the habit of sinning, we might reasonably suppose that “yielding yourselves unto
God” denotes continual or habitual devotion; but here the common version
misleads the mind, the two “yields” are entirely different: the fist being
present tense expresses prolonged action, and demands abstinence from the
practice of sin all through life; the second being an aorist, centers the mind
upon a single point of time and a definite act of absolute and once for all
abandonment to God, in which our entire “self” is transformed into the image of
the Creator and all our power devoted in pure love service to God. Dean Alford,
the profound scholar and English translator, is no advocate of the “second
grace” of which he has in the above rendering and note brought out such a
striking proof.

Romans 12:1. I beseech you, therefore by the mercies of God, that ye present
(aorist) your bodies—entire, as a single act, never needing to be repeated.

The body is specified because, says Tholuck, it is the organ of practical
activity, or, as Olshausen, Dewette and Alford say, “as an indication that the
sanctification of Christian life is to extend to that part of man’s nature which
is most completely under bondage to sin.” If, in Paul’s conception, believers
were to be sinning and repenting all their days, as the best that grace could do
for them, he would have used the present imperative, “Be presenting your bodies
again and again.” In Alford’s note on 1 Peter 2:5, he says, “the aorist is here
used because no habitual offering, as in rite or festival, is meant, but the one
once for all devotion of the body, as in Romans 12:1, to God as His.” Both of
these are therefore proof texts of a sharply defined transition in Christian
experience called entire consecration, the human part of entire sanctification.
That neither of these texts refer to justification is shown (1) by the fact that
the persons addressed are already Christians; (2) by the requirement that the
sacrifice be holy (Romans 12:1), that is accepted, as the lamb was examined by
the priest, and pronounced fit for the sacrifice, or acceptable to Jehovah; and
1 Peter 3, 5 require a holy or accepted priesthood, both of which requirements
symbolize a state of justification before God.” (Steele) I may add that the
divine part, the all saving result of this believer’s consecration is expressed
in the following verse: “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that
ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” As soon
as the sacrifice “toucheth the altar it is made holy,” wherein God “makes known
unto us the mystery of His will”—the glories of full salvation “which He
purposed in Himself.”

Romans 13:14. But put ye on (aorist, a single definite act) the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make not (present, quit making) provision for the flesh, to fulfill
the lusts thereof.

Acts 15:9. And put no difference between us and them: purifying (aorist) their
hearts by faith.

Alford renders “instantaneously purifying.” Here Steele observes, as we have
also in a previous chapter, that “This verse is a key to the instantaneous
sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, wrought in the hearts of believers on the
Day of Pentecost, since the words “even as He did unto us” refer to that
occasion (See Acts 14:45-47).

1 Corinthians 5:7. Purge out (aorist, a final and instantaneous purification)
therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.—All “renewed,” the old
nature entirely removed.

1 Corinthians 6:11, as translated by Alford, and commented upon by Steele: “But
ye washed yourselves (aorist, middle) by submitting to outward baptisms; ye were
sanctified (aorist, ye were justified).” Here the sanctification is a momentary
and completed act, the same as the justification. By the figure called the
inverted chiasmus, the words “were justified” are placed last. The natural
English order would be “were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and were
sanctified by the Spirit of our God. See Meyer.”

Romans 6:6-7. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified (aorist, was crucified
once for all) with him, that the body (being or totality) of sin might be
destroyed (aorist, at a stroke), that henceforth we should not serve sin
(present, habitually). For he that is dead (aorist, died once for all unto sin)
is freed from sin.

The aorist here teaches an instantaneous death stroke to inbred sin, and that
there is no need of a slow and painful process, lingering until physical death
or purgatorial fires end the torment. Men are not crucified limb by limb—after
one part is dead finding a hand, or arm, or finger alive—but the whole life is
extinguished all at once. A class of interpreters who are afraid of entire
sanctification in this life and are especially horrified at an instantaneous
purification by one stroke of omnipotence, tone down “destroy” to “render
inoperative or powerless.” The strength of this verb will be seen by studying
the following texts where it is rendered by “abolish” or “consume” or “destroy.”
2 Corinthians 3:13; Ephesians 2:15; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Corinthians 6:15, 26; 2
Thessalonians 2:8; Hebrews 2:14.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22. Now he which stablisheth (present, continually) us with
you in Christ, and hath anointed (aorist) us, is God; Who hath also sealed
(aorist) us, and given (aorist) the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

The anointing, sealing, and endowment of the Spirit are different phases of the
one instantaneous work of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:13. Be ye also enlarged (aorist).

The aorist in this place distinguishes it from an ordinary and gradual growth of
the Christian. It clearly points to a sharply defined experience, the sudden
baptism and complete infilling of the Holy Ghost, and they having been already
inducted into the church of God , this is necessarily a second gift of the
Spirit.

2 Corinthians 7:1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse (aorist) ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Had the Apostle referred to a gradual purification by self culture, etc., he
would have used the present tense, but the aorist emphatically teaches a moral
change to be wrought instantaneously, and one that never needs repetition. This
is so apparent that we feel assured on one can fail to see it.

Galatians 1:15-16. But when it pleased God, who separated (aorist) me from my
mother’s womb, and called (aorist) me by his grace, to reveal (aorist) his Son
in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.

After the Apostle’s birth and calling, or conversion, there was an instantaneous
revelation of the Son of God within, to the spiritual eye, as there had been an
objective revelation of the form of the Son of man to Paul’s physical eye on his
way to Damascus . Both Elliott and Alford insist that the sequence of tenses
here teaches that this inward revelation of Christ was after conversion.
(Steele)

Had Paul used the present tense, which expresses continued action, this
revelation of Christ might apply to the preaching and exemplification of Christ
in him, but the aorist will allow no such construction, it absolutely points to
a momentary experience. It is, indeed, just what Christ promised to the church,
“He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). Notice, also, the object of this full
revelation of Christ to the soul, i.e., “That I might preach Him among the
heathen.” This was Paul’s Pentecost, as Christ had said to the disciples, “That
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem .” “But,” He adds, “tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem until ye shall be endued with power from on high,” yea, he “commanded
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise.” For
only those vessels in the Lord’s “great house” that purge themselves entirely
are “sanctified and meet for the Master’s use.” God can bear more salvation to a
lost world in a clean vessel of one-quart capacity, than in a bushel measure in
whom “His Son” is not yet “revealed” as sanctifier, and the all pervading life.

Ephesians 4:22-24. That ye put off (aorist) concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts . . . And that ye
put on (aorist) the new man, which after God is created (aorist) in
righteousness and true holiness.

Here is affirmed the negative, positive, and divinity of a great work of grace,
an absolute moral transformation enjoined upon members of the “household of
God;” an instantaneous change in which the old man—Adamic nature—is laid off in
toto, and Christ is fully invested once for all.

Galatians 2:19. For I through the law am dead (aorist, “died” suddenly) to the
law, that I might live to God.

Here is a perfect answer in Paul’s testimony to the advocates of a lingering
death of the old man continuing up to the separation of soul and body. There was
a time when Paul died to sin by a crucifixion—a short and sharp kind of
death—and the old man lived no more.

Some people are forever on the cross, always dying, but never dead, because they
do not grasp the sin-slaying power. (Steele)

Galatians 5:24. And they that are Christ’s (have given themselves a living
sacrifice to Him) have crucified (aorist) the flesh (sarka—evil nature) with the
affections and lusts.

Here is a striking proof of the second work, for, in the 17th verse the Apostle
represents the Galatians as possessing the Spirit of adoption, and yet
encumbered by the flesh, it not having been crucified while in this first state
of grace. Therefore the experience taught in verse 24 is subsequent to
regeneration and an instantaneous transition into an entirely new moral state.

Galatians 4:19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until
Christ be formed (aorist) in you.

The great Apostle to the Gentiles once travailed in soul for the spiritual birth
of those “little children: and because they are now all “children of God by
faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:26). He “also labored, striving “to “present
every one perfect in Christ Jesus.” The aorist in the above text portrays the
King eternal “coming suddenly to his temple,” which He had afore prepared unto
glory,” and entering in once for all. Here is a new and wonderful influx of
divine life and light and glory.

Ephesians 1:13. After that ye believed (aorist), ye were sealed (aorist).

Here an interval is place between the first act of appropriating faith, which
secures pardon and that grasp of faith by which the seal of the Holy Spirit is
divinely impressed upon the soul. And by the use of the aorist tense, each is
declared to be a distinct and momentary experience, never to be repeated, each
placing the soul on a new and higher plain of life. Ephesians 3:16-19: Here,
says Dr. Steele, we have seven aorists in four verses: “grant,” “be
strengthened,” “dwell,” or take up his abode, “may be able,” “to comprehend,”
“to know,” and “be filled.” May we not infer that Paul chose this tense to
convey most strongly and vividly the ability of Christ to do a great work in a
short time, to save believers and to endow them with the fullness of the Spirit
in an instant? If gradual impartations of the Sanctifier had been in his mind,
is it not strange that he did not use one present tense to express endowment by
degrees? How strongly and positively the second, distinct experience of divine
grace is seen at every advance step in the examination of the Greek tenses.

Ephesians 4:13. Till we all attain (aorist) unto the unity of the faith, and of
the perfect knowledge of the Son of God, unto the full-grown man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Alford’s Version)

The perfection of the saints is here expressed by a definite and momentary
arrival at a point where faith merges into knowledge, where a Savior believed
becomes a Savior fully realized. See Olshausen’s full comment. This transition
from faith to full knowledge is a crisis expressed by the aorist. It is when the
Paraclete purges the film of inbred sin from the eye of the soul, and Jesus, as
a living, loving, glorified and complete Savior, is manifested to the spiritual
vision. The child, the imperfect believer, becomes a perfect man, [changed from
the first or babe state, i.e., “in Christ, yet carnal”] and reaches the fullness
of Christ; that is, the abundance which He has to bestow, a fullness excluding
all sin, but capable of eternal increase. That this point is before death is
shown by the consequences which follow in the present life, as detailed in
verses 14-16. (Steele)

Ephesians 5:25-27. Husbands, love (present tense, be constantly loving) your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave (aorist) himself for it;
That he might sanctify (aorist) and cleanse (aorist) it with the washing of
water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.

On this text, Ellicot, Bishop in the Church of England and Professor of Divinity
in King’s College, London , thus comments: “Both sanctification and purification
are dependent on the atoning death of Christ. There is thus no necessity to
modify this plain and natural meaning of the verb, to sanctify. Here it neither
implies simply consecration, on the one hand, nor expiation, absolution,
[pardon] on the other, but the communication and infusion of holiness and moral
purity.” This blessing, being bestowed upon the church and not sinners, does
not, as Ellicott has well observed, refer to pardon. It is therefore a second,
or higher attainment of grace, and, as set forth by the aorist, it is a definite
and momentary act of purification.

Colossians 1:9. That ye might be filled (aorist) with the knowledge of His will,
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Full knowledge of His will. (Alford)

Exact knowledge of His will. (Emphatic Diaglott)

That ye may fully attain to the knowledge of His will. (Conybear & Howson)

The Apostle had just “heard of their faith in Christ Jesus” and “love in the
Spirit,” when he prays that they might have this additional gift of grace, even
the fullness of spiritual light and knowledge, bequeathed in the “will” of their
heavenly Father. Compare Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:10. This complete filling of
the soul, expressed in the aorist, is a momentary work, and instantaneous
enduement.

Colossians 3:5. Mortify (aorist, kill outright) therefore, your members which
are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, etc.

Again, we refer you to Bishop Ellicott. “Let nothing live inimical to your true
life, hidden in Christ. Kill at once (aorist) the organs and media of a merely
earthly life.” Some think that this process of mortification must be carried on
through life, that they must ever keep a little sin on hand in order to be
mortifying it. But “nekrosate”—mortify—does not mean repress, but to make dead,
to destroy, and the use of the aorist denotes a sudden and final death stroke to
inbred sin and all its manifestations.

Colossians 3:8. But now ye also put off (aorist) all these: anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

“The aorist imperative,” says Steele, “is a broom that sweeps the heart clean at
one stroke of omnipotent power.”

Verse 12: Put on (aorist) therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved
bowels of mercy, kindness, etc.

By the incoming of the abiding Comforter all the excellencies of the Christian
character are to be at once assumed. This is the positive side of entire
sanctification, the negative being the mortification of sin in verse 5. (Steele)

1 Thessalonians 3:13. To the end He may stablish (aorist) your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God.

Here the tense denotes an instantaneous work in the heart by which it is, by the
power of God, stablished in perfect holiness; and the recipients already
“knowing their election of God,” the second work of grace is in this verse most
emphatically asserted.

1 Thessalonians 5:23. And the very God of peace sanctify (aorist) you wholly. (A
momentary and once for all work, most assuredly.)

2 Timothy 2:21. If a man therefore purge himself—purify himself instantaneously,
the works “sanctified” and “prepared” in the same verse are both in the perfect
tense to denote the permanent result of the definite act of purging.

Titus 3:5. Which He shed (aorist) on us abundantly.

A very true description of the “sudden” sanctification of the disciples on the
Day of Pentecost; and, since Paul lays down this Holy Spirit renewal, preceded
by regeneration, as the uniform order of salvation, it follows that there is to
be a personal, distinct, and momentary Pentecost for every regenerated believer.

Hebrews 4:11. Let us labor (aorist) therefore to enter into that rest.

Having examined the word here rendered by “labor,” we observed, in the chapter
on Hebrews, that it should have been translated “haste.” Dr. Steele has noted
the same fact. “The word “labor,” says he, “in the Greek is radically the same
as haste in Joshua 4:10. ‘And the people hasted (aorist) and passed over.’ The
fact that the word labor is in the aorist positively precludes the idea of an
effort prolonged through life, as we have very clearly shown that that tense
always points to an act of momentary duration. There is, therefore, perfect
agreement between the meanings of the word “spoudasomen”—hasten—and the aorist
tense, in which it is used, which never denotes any thing by instant action. The
exhortation, therefore, enjoins an immediate and vigorous effort to enter at
once into the rest of faith.

Hebrews 12:12. That He might sanctify (aorist, once for all, by an instantaneous
application) the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.

1 Peter 1:15. So be ye holy (aorist), i.e., become ye holy by one momentary,
all-surrendering act of faith. Verse 16, according to the received text,
translated word for word in the Emphatic Diaglott reads as follows: “Holy one,
become (aorist, instantaneously) you.”

The aorist in these verses indicates a speedy transition from indwelling
unrighteousness to perfect holiness; and the injunction being addressed to “new
born babes” necessarily involves a second moral change.

Hebrews 13:20-21. Now the God of peace . . . through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, make you perfect (aorist).

Here is Christian perfection attainable now, not maturity, but expurgation,
through a single momentary touch of the blood, by the finger of God.

1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive (aorist)
us our sins, and to cleanse (aorist) us from all unrighteousness.

Now we know that the flesh (“sarka”—corrupt human nature) is unrighteousness. We
know also, by the Word of God, and universal experience, that this vein of
inborn sin remains after pardon has taken place. Therefore these two aorists do
not denote one complex act, but two insolated and successive works of grace. The
cleansing is just as definite and instantaneous as the forgiveness. Pardon takes
place at the threshold of the kingdom, by cleansing, while “walking in the
light” and enjoying Christian fellowship. (Verse 7)

1 John 2:27. But the anointing which ye have received (aorist) of Him abideth in
you.

The purifying and illuminating baptism of the Holy Spirit, John expresses in the
aorist, as a sudden and marked crisis to each individual, as at the beginning.
Many think it impossible to live in this world, free from corroding and
perplexing cares, and restless anxieties. What saith the will?

1 Peter 5:7. Casting (aorist) all your care upon Him.

The following in Alford’s note: “casting (aorist, once for all, by an act which
includes the life) all your anxiety, (the whole of, not every anxiety as it
arises, for none will arise if this transference has been effectually made) upon
Him. Oh, the wonders of full salvation! The very moment a “finished” and all
comprehensive faith embraces the atonement of the uttermost Savior, “the days of
our mourning are ended,” “sorrow and sighing flee away,” and the holy soul
traveling on this “highway” “comes to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon
their heads.” We have now followed the “second grace” from Matthew to the
Epistles of Saint John, and we find that, in all its phases, it is a transition
expressed by the aorist tense; whether called purging, cleansing or purifying.
Whether it be crucifixion, mortification, or destruction of the body of sin.
Whether putting off the old man, or investing the new. Whether baptism
anointing, or sealing of the Holy Spirit, or entire sanctification, or whether
it is being made holy or perfect, or entering the rest of faith, it is
invariably set forth as a distinct, instantaneous, and never to be repeated
crisis, or moral change in the Christian’s heart. There seems, indeed, to be the
greatest care and the finest precision in the use of the tenses in the New
Testament. Take for instance the third chapter of Colossians, verse 5:
“mortify,” (aorist kill instantly); verse 8—“put off,” (aorist instantly
divest); verse 12—“put on,” (aorist by one distinct act of faith); verse
13—“forbearing (present) one another, and forgiving (present) one another,”
i.e., exercise these virtues constantly; verse 15—“let the peace of God rule
(present, constantly) in your hearts . . . and be ye (present, always) thankful”
verse 16—“let the word of Christ dwell (present, perpetually) in you richly”
verse 18—“wives submit (present, constantly) yourselves” verse 19—“husbands,
love (present, at all times) your wives” verse 20—“children obey (present, in
everything) your parents” verse 21—“fathers, provoke (present, at any time) not
your children.” Says Steele: “Thus a series of present imperatives extends
through this chapter, and to verse 6 in chapter 4, enjoining daily recurring
duties. But the aorist imperative is always used when the duty of putting away
sin from the heart, and putting on the fruits of the Spirit is commanded. Let
the candid reader examine this chapter, and he will see that the reason for the
use of the aorist is that entire sanctification, and fullness of the Spirit, are
viewed as a work to be finished at a stroke, while duties to our fellow men are
to be constantly repeated. No other account can be given for the alternation of
the tenses in the imperatives in this chapter.” Again, in the close of his
invaluable chapter on the Greek tenses, this writer observes that “the verb
“hagiazo,” to sanctify, is always aorist or perfect. See Acts 20:32; 26:18;
Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 10:10, 29; Jude 1. The
same may be said of the verbs “katharizo,” and “haguizo”—to purify. Our
inference is that the energy of the Holy Spirit in the work of entire
sanctification, however long the preparation, is put forth at a stroke by a
momentary act. This is corroborated by the universal testimony of those who have
experienced this grace. What honest lover of truth can conclude otherwise? Many
thanks to Dr. Steele and others for the precious truth they have brought out of
the original text. The advocates of a false doctrine are always compelled to
take refuge in the most obscure portions of Scripture; and as these are properly
interpreted by clearer light, they fail to answer their purpose. But while the
distinct experience of Christian perfection stands out in bold relief in all the
Holy Bible, each additional ray of light increases the magnitude and multiplies
the number of proofs; and when we look into the pure, original Word, every
apparent line of whey is resolved into distinct and harmonious luminaries of
this full and instantaneous work of divine grace in the soul. Hallelujah!

Jesus speaks the second time, “be clean;” His touch now removes my inbred sin.
Suddenly glory from heaven above, Ushers at once the Sabbath of love.


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  CHAPTER 23: 23. SOME OF THE PARABLES
========================================================================

By saying that some of them teach it, does not imply that others teach the
opposite. Some Scriptures teach salvation as a whole, others in detail,
describing the successive degrees of it attainment, but this implies no discord
in their testimony.

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom
of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son . . .
and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the
guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto
him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was
speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take
him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:1-3, 10-14)

All the guests had been invited by the king’s messengers, they accepted the
invitation, entered the king’s mansion, and participated in the royal feast,
i.e., the blessings of the “kingdom of heaven.” But, on viewing the guests, the
king found one that had not on the wedding garment. “How comest thou in hither?”
You see, he was actually in the king’s house—“the kingdom of heaven”—he was
found among the other guests, yet had not on the wedding garment, which
evidently means the “robe of spotless purity,” or the “righteousness of God”
with which we are to be invested after entering the kingdom; this is the uniform
order of the Bible. Not sinners, but the bride, the Lord clothes with the
“garment of salvation” and “covers with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah
61:10). God calls the world to repentance, but “ Zion ”—the church—to “awake,
put on thy strength” and “put on thy beautiful garments, O, Jerusalem the holy
city” (Isaiah 53:1).

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

We have seen that this wedding garment is the “robe of righteousness,” and here
Christ makes a distinction between the “ kingdom of God ” and “His
righteousness,” the latter is something that is to be sought in addition to, and
subsequent to entering the kingdom. Hence Paul longed to see his brethren at
Rome and impart to them the “fullness of the blessing of the Gospel” “for
therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith.” They had
sought, and entered the kingdom of God , and now he wanted them to “seek His
righteousness,” the “wedding garment.” Hear “what the Spirit saith to the
churches:” “He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” (Revelation 3:5) Two things
are here promised on condition of overcoming: (1) I will clothe him; (2) I will
not blot out his name out of the book of life.” Does not this prove that the
Bridegroom only offers the “white raiment”—“wedding garment”—to such whose names
were previously written in the book of life? If receiving the robe were
inseparable from entering the kingdom, or enrolling new subjects, the Spirit
would have said, “He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment
and I will enter his name in the book of life,” instead of “not blot out.” But
such a proposition could not be addressed to the churches; it would properly
belong to the world, to outsiders. This voice from the midst of the “seven
golden candlesticks,” John corroborates in his first Epistle (1 John 5:4). First
we are born of God and have our name written in the book. Second, overcome the
world by faith, and, as a prize, we then receive the beautiful “white
garment”—the “robe that is washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb”—“a
pure and holy nature,” “for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,”
“clean and white” (Revelation 19:8). Thus, I have briefly shown that this
parable of the Savior comports with the Scriptures elsewhere. It matters not
whether we apply the inspection in the parable to the final judgment, or the
time that “is come when judgment must begin at the house of God,”—1 Peter
4:17—the facts are the same; the man actually entered the kingdom here typified,
but when sufficient time had been given, he was still found without the
requisite qualifications for the final glory of the kingdom and was therefore
cast out. If it were true, as some teach, that we must put on the pure white
robes of perfect righteousness in the act of entering the kingdom, the should
Christ have said, “The kingdom is not like a certain king,” etc., who admitted a
man not fully conformed to the costume of his royal palace. It is one thing to
enter the “ kingdom of God ,” and another to “partake of His holiness” (Hebrews
12:7-10). Had this man, after entering, put on the garments provided for the
guests, he would not have been confounded and cast out. And I fear that many are
clinging to a hope of heaven simply because they were admitted into the kingdom
of God’s grace and consider not that “He that (already) hath this hope in him
(through regeneration) purifieth himself even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). What
awful surprise and amazement when these shall hear the Judge proclaim, “Let him
that is filthy be filthy still.”

The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His
kingdom all things that offend.” (Matthew 23:41)

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat
down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. (Matthew
13:47-48)

Here the idea of both good and evil elements entering the kingdom is most
clearly taught. Hence the need of purification from all sin and unrighteousness,
lest we be finally gathered out of the kingdom. This must surely be the fate of
all who have in them any “thing that offend”—is opposite to the holy nature of
God. The parable of

THE TEN VIRGINS, MATTHEW 25:1-11,

teaches us the same lesson. They were all virgins—members of the church—all had
lamps, and all had some oil in their lamps. It is generally understood that the
Lamps represent the profession of religion: oil is essential to the lamp, so a
measure of grace is essential to a valid profession of Christ. Hence the oil in
the lamps represents the grace of justification without which there is no true
profession. This measure of God’s grace they all alike possessed. But five had a
supply that was distinct from what their lamps contained, a measure of grace in
addition to justification; while the other five relied wholly upon that grace
which is consequent upon a profession of Christ. These, not having sought and
obtained the “fullness” the “grace upon grace,” will wake up when the Bridegroom
comes to find, with awful consternation, that their lamps had “gone out;” or as
in the margin, and other versions, “are going out.” This shows that they had
been burning, hence must have had oil in them. But now, when too late to buy:
yea, when that very moment comes for which they had procured their lamps and oil
and gone forth to watch, just then they find their lights going out, leaving
them in the gloom of despair. Dear reader, are you sure that you are in the
kingdom? Well that is not enough, for the “kingdom of heaven is likened unto ten
virgins,” five of whom were foolish enough to be shut out of heaven at last. May
you not be of that number? The light of many professors of religion will turn
into darkness at the coming of our Lord and Savior; their justification into
condemnation; because refusing the “more grace”—the filling of the vessel—“that
which they have,” or “seem to have, shall be taken away.” Not having their “love
made perfect,” they will not have “boldness to stand in the day of judgment” (1
John 4:17). The parable of the

HIDDEN TREASURE AND PEARL

beautifully concurs with all the Holy Book, in teaching two stages of grace.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; which, when a
man had found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a
merchantman seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)

Seeking the kingdom applies to the penitent approaching the door of pardoning
mercy. Finding the kingdom here symbolized by the treasure and pearl, can only
mean induction by regeneration; for, “Except a man be born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). There was joy connected with this finding,
evidently the joy of pardon. Now, what follows all this: A universal sell out,
and investing all in the kingdom. What is this but the Christian
consecration—the offering of self, with all that pertain to us, upon the altar
of God, which sanctifies the gift. For, says Jesus, “If thou wilt be perfect,
sell all that thou hast,” etc. This transfer must be just as real as if made by
an unconditional quit-claim to some man. Notice, that when we first find the
kingdom, notwithstanding the joy, there is a strong tendency to hide it; to put
the light under the bushel. Again, remember that when we crossed the Red Sea of
regeneration we were in the kingdom but had not reached our possession, which
lay beyond the wilderness and Jordan , and could only be entered by a second
miraculous passage. Hence, entering the kingdom is one thing, and taking
possession of it a subsequent realization. This parable of the Lord coincides
very strikingly with the experience of the hundred and twenty disciples, with
the Samaritans and the twelve disciples at Ephesus, who by faith received
Christ, “the life,” had the joy of pardon and sonship, and afterward took full
possession of the kingdom in the mighty baptism of “righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). What do we see here but two distinct
attainments in grace: 1st, the finding of the kingdom upon the condition of
seeking and resulting in joy. 2nd, the full possession of the kingdom, or rather
our perfect conformity to its holy law, and qualification for its enjoyment upon
receiving the great “seal” of the kingdom—the “Holy Spirit of promise.” The
divine order is, “Seek first the kingdom of God , and (second) His
righteousness,” by which the soul apprehends all the wealth and glory and
fruition of the heavenly reign.

My God, I know, I feel thee mine; And will not quit my claim, Till all I have is
lost in Thine, And all renewed I am.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 24: 24. THE SECOND SHAKING
========================================================================

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him
that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath
promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And
this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are
shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For
our God is a consuming fire.

Strange as the following views may appear to some of our readers, be assured
they are no inconsiderate conclusions. No strained effort to sustain a favorite
doctrine. The truth here evolved, though corroborative, is not particularly
needed to establish the “second grace,” “which is in Christ Jesus,” but will, we
trust, strengthen and edify those who “inherit the blessing.” On the 30th of
August 1879, the Holy Spirit in a special manner gave me the foregoing
scripture. I had never clearly comprehended its meaning and I felt impressed
that the Lord was about to lead me into a new vein of truth. I shut myself up
with God and the Bible, when “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,” took most
of the things that are contained in the following three chapters and showed them
to me. Being fully assured that my mind had been led into the pure light of
truth, we published it from the pulpit, much to the edification of the “holy
brethren.” We feel confident that the following chain of Scriptures, correlative
with our text, will conduct every meek and candid reader into the same light it
has your humble servant. We will find the foregoing words of the inspired
Apostle a key to the prophetic description of the great work of holiness. Two
distinct shakings are here spoken of; first, that of the earth. Second, that of
heaven. The first was by the voice of Him that spake on earth, the second, by
the same voice speaking from heaven. This can be none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ, who, as never man spake, preached his own blessed Gospel on earth, and
afterward spake with still greater power through the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven. Many, I presume, understand the terms “earth” and “heaven” literally,
and refer the shaking in some way to the last day. But, I trust we shall be able
to give Scriptural evidence that “earth” here means the unconverted world, and
heaven the church. Accordingly David says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let
all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 33:8). “O earth,
earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:29). “He that is of the
earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth” (John 3:31). “Hear O heavens (the
church) and give ear O earth (sinners), for the Lord hath spoken: I have
nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah
1:2). Surely, the Most High would not address this complaint to the occupants of
the real heaven. The church may be denominated heaven to indicate the source and
nature of its elements. Its Head and Founder “is the Lord from heaven.” The
church is substantially the same as the kingdom, which is some twenty times, in
the New Testament, called the “kingdom of heaven.” They “are written in heaven”
and have their “conversation in heaven.” They are “blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ,” and even “now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places is known by the church, the manifold wisdom of
God.” They are the “heavenly things” that are purified with “better sacrifices,”
etc. (Hebrews 9:23). They dwell in a “heavenly country” and are indeed a
“heavenly Jerusalem .” God Himself dwells in the midst of her and “where He is,
is heaven.” Therefore, when the church is shaken, it is, in this sense, the
shaking of heaven. Some commentators apply heaven in this text to the Jewish
nation. But the Apostle, having just three verses previous called the “Church of
the First Born” the “heavenly Jerusalem ,” the natural inference is that by the
“shaking of heaven” he meant the church. Also observe that this “once more:
shaking was the subject of Christ’s promise; He left many threats to the Jews,
but promises to the church. Besides, the idea of a blessing invariably attaches
to a promise: hence, this promise would not apply to the demolishing of the
Jewish church, but fitly represents the sanctification of the church of God .
But again, the heaven of our text cannot mean the Jewish church, nor the literal
heaven, because the same voice that was to shake it is that which the Apostle
admonished the “Church of the First Born” not to refuse or disobey. Hence, the
heaven shaking voice was positively addressed to the church and not to the Jews
as such, or to the planets above. It will readily appear why the voice of Jesus
shook the earth, or sinners only, but after His ascension both the world and the
church. He included both Gentile and Jew under sin—“of the earth;” He laid open
the hypocrisy of the former and rebuked the corruption of all. With searching
power, He testified of the world that its “works are evil.” He “condemned sin in
the flesh” and with authority demanded repentance of all the guilty world. The
world felt and trembled under His mighty words, His sin searching Gospel and
holy life. Thus, “His voice then shook the earth.” But the time had not come for
Him to flay the “close girding,” or inbred sin. Not being “made perfect through
suffering” Himself, nor put to death for sin, He did not perfect the saints, nor
smite with the sword of His Spirit the death blow to the “old man” that still
remained in the church. But when glorified He uttered His voice “once more” and
sent down from heaven the “consuming fire” of the Holy Ghost upon this
treacherous foe to the peace and prosperity of His kingdom. This
self-annihilating sentence and sacrificial salt shook terribly the church, and
made a commotion in the surrounding world. Therefore, the second call in the way
of salvation shakes heaven and earth. This Epistle brings a continued chain of
arguments to induce the Hebrew Christians into the “most holy faith,” the
Apostle has most assuredly, in the language of our text, admonished them against
“refusing” the voice, or turning away from Him who speaks the second time the
death of sin. The two distinct calls of the Gospel are attended by the same
effects in all ages. The Gospel of repentance speaks to the “earth,” it
“convicts of sin, of righteousness and judgment;” it awakens and leads the
guilty culprit beneath the fiery summit and awful thunders of Mount Sinai where
he is terribly shaken by the iron grip of the Law. But, having heard the
soothing accents of mercy from Calvary and passed on to Mount Zion, the
“heavenly,” ere long he will find “sin revive,” (it having been stunned by the
incoming new life), and with Paul, it remains for him yet to die (Romans 7:9).
Now comes a trying test, he trembles beneath the death sentence. At this point
God is compelled to “scourge every son that He recieveth” “that they might be
partakers of His holiness” (Hebrews 12:5-10). Though severe, it is a gracious
“promise, saying, yet once more I shake,” etc., for, “This word yet once more
signifieth the removing” of the body of sin. The voice that teaches the “first
faith” only, may shake the earth with conviction; but there sit unmoved, the
members of the church, steeped in tobacco, indwelt with pride, selfishness,
covetousness, and other species of idolatry. Resting in a past experience and
present profession, they smile complaisantly at, and give an occasional amen to
the truth that hits and agitates the poor sinner. But let one who has tarried in
the “upper room” holiness meeting until filled with the old prophetic fire grasp
the two-edged sword and definitely smite sin in the world and in the church, how
soon we see “shaken not only the earth, but also heaven. “Wherefore,” says the
Apostle, “let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear,” that is, let us not “turn away from Christ” in this second
crisis: for its elimination only makes room for the “more grace” whereby we may
serve God acceptably. For they, alone, who have been “made from sin” have
properly “become servants to God;” and the sanctified only are “meet for the
Master’s use.” Thus we see that the view we have taken of this scripture
comports with the Word generally. Let us now examine the same declaration
elsewhere in the holy Book.

According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt , so
my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. For thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and
the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all
nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of
hosts. (Haggai 2:5-7)

The rebuilding of the temple is the subject under consideration. This ancient
abode of the great Shekinah was such a marked figure of the church of God that
it is seldom spoken of by the holy seers, but what the Spirit of prophecy
flashes forth in interspersed references to the “spiritual house.” Says the
prophet, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith
the Lord of Hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts”
(Haggai 2:9). Is it not in the midst of His church where God speaks peace to
thousands who seek His face? Let us also thank God for the gracious intimation
that the glory of the restored latter-day church shall exceed that which
preceded the dark age captivity. It is quite evident that the words in verses
5-7 were in the mind of the Apostle when he wrote the words of our text. And we
find here additional evidence that the “once more shaking” relates to the
triumphs of the Gospel. 1. Because it is associated with the coming of Christ,
not a Judge, but the “Desire (or Savior) of all nations.” 2. It was to take
place while “His Spirit remained among you,” as the Savior said, “These things
have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full” (John 15:11). The second shaking, which results in the fullness of
saving grace, take place while the joy or Spirit of the Lord is remaining in the
believer. 3. The heavenly voice comes to the believer but “a little while” after
“ye came out of Egypt ;” i.e., soon after conversion. God never designed that we
should

Roam through weary years Of inbred sin and doubts and fears: A leak and toilsome
wilderness.

If you have not passed through the Jordan , the death convulsions of the “old
man” of sin, to the Canaan rest, it is because you have either ignorantly or
willfully “refused Him that speaketh” and “ entered not in because of unbelief.”
4. The agitation of the heavens and earth is described as the “shaking of all
nations,” hence it is not the Jewish nation only, nor the heaven of God’s
throne; we may hereafter show how the testimony and preaching of definite
holiness has indeed convulsed the nations. “I will fill this house with glory.”
Here is the glory that Christ gives: “The Spirit of glory and of God” that fills
and rests upon the church when inbred sin and all weights are shaken out. Every
thing here associated with the “once more” shaking corresponds with entire
sanctification. “Again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai saying, . . . I
will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of
kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen.” The
great shaking. The universal shaking denotes the Lord’s conquest of the kingdom
of the Gentiles. It is not attributed to the earth-shaking Gospel of repentance,
but particularly to “what the Spirit saith unto the churches”—the definite,
pungent preaching of holiness through which, the prophet says, they “come down,
everyone by the sword of his brother.” This is slaying sin in the church (Haggai
2:20-22). The Prophet Ezekiel gives us a very interesting chain of concurring
prophesy, which, in order to appreciate fully, we shall, as briefly as possible,
trace from chapter 34 to 39. We begin with God’s rebuke to the corrupt shepherds
of Israel . Who, with his spiritual eyes open, can fail to see the application
of the thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel to the ministry, in general, of this
age? They “eat up the good pasture”—fare sumptuously on fat salaries, “Ye tread
down the residue of your pastures” and “foul the waters with your feet.” They
are the real cause of spiritual famine instead of the means of refreshing the
flock. “Ye eat the fat, and clothe you with the wool.” Make a lucrative
merchandise of your Christless sermons, instead of administering the free Gospel
of salvation. “Ye kill them that are fed; but ye feed not the flock.” When any
find their way to the true Shepherd and receive food, life and holy fire in
their souls, they annoy the dead and sleeping, who proceed at once to kill them.
This is no idle fancy. It is an undeniable fact, that in most of our present-day
churches, a real convert can scarcely maintain spiritual life. The few that
cannot be killed are unusually driven or thrown out. O ye shepherds, a crisis
from the Almighty is coming upon you. As the Lord liveth the fires from heaven
shall sweep away your craft. “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves
in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of
your dispersions are accomplished” (Jeremiah 25:34). Their time of feasting
upon, and dispersing the Lord’s flock will come to an end. “I will deliver my
flock from their mouth,” and “they shall no more be a prey” (Ezekiel 34:10, 22).
“I will seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places (sectarian
coops) where they have been scattered (into several hundred parties) in the
cloudy and dark day” (Ezekiel 34:12). We talk of the dark age as in the past;
both the seer of God declares that we are yet under its lingering fogs, and
shall be until holy fire from heaven shall sweep away every partition walls,
human creeds and party names, and purge out that infamous god, the sectarian
spirit; the vile “image of jealousy” which sits in all the thresholds of
Babylon.

And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries,
and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of
Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will
feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their
fold be . . . And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,
even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
(Ezekiel 34:13-14, 23)

The perfect reign of the Messiah and His love in the soul is to succeed the dark
day of party confusion. The two are not compatible with each other. “And I will
make with them a covenant of peace” (Ezekiel 34:25). Their own land, and this
covenant union with God is simply entire sanctification. See Jeremiah 23. In
chapter 35, we have the judgment of mount Seir . Seir—rough, shaggy, we presume
is used to denote the Catholic power. It was inhabited by the Edomites, the
descendents of Esau, who were therefore brothers with Israel , the descendents
of Jacob. This represents the fact that both the Catholic and Protestant
churches profess the Christian religion, but the Edomites had a deep rooted and
perpetual enmity against Israel : they harassed and distressed them by all
possible means. See Adam Clark.

Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand
against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste,
and thou shalt be desolate, . . . Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and
hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the
time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end. (Ezekiel
35:3-5)

Does not this look like the record of the “beast that sits upon the seven
hills?” Martyrdom, it appears, is confined to such times when God’s people have
reached an “end of sin.” Hallelujah. As the Spirit of prophesy uses Mount Seir
to represent Catholicism in chapter 35, and the Caucasian Mountains to represent
sectism in chapter 38 and 39; so in chapter 36:1, He uses the “Mountains of
Israel” to represent true conscientious Christians. The Lord says, “Set thy face
against Mount Seir ,” “against God,” and “prophesy against him;” but in
reference to the mountains of Israel , the order is changed to “prophesy unto;”
showing that the former were rejected, but the later accepted of the Lord: to
these very precious promises are made (Ezekiel 36:11-17). In the latter part of
the chapter we have associated together salvation “from all uncleanness,” the
gift of the Holy Spirit, and “bringing into the land,” i.e., the land of perfect
holiness. “Thus saith the Lord God: I will yet for this be inquired of by the
house of Israel (the church) to do it for them. I will increase them like a
flock; as the holy flock.” Immediately following this, and doubtless, in
allusion to the same “great salvation,” we have the vision of dry bones. “Say
unto them: O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God
unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall
live” (Ezekiel 37:4-5). When shall this be? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God: and they that hear shall live (John 5:25). “So I prophesied as I was
commanded: And as I prophesied, there was a noise and, behold, a shaking, and
the bones came together, bone to his bone” (Ezekiel 37:7). Holiness brings order
and harmony out of Babylon confusion, and the Holy Spirit “sets the members,
every one of them, in the body as it pleased Him.” “And when I behold, lo, the
sinews (spiritual strength) and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin
covered them above: but there was no breath in them . . . So I Prophesied as He
commanded me and the breath came into them, and they lived. (“I am come,” says
Christ, “that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”) And stood up
upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then He said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel : (represent the church) behold they
say (literal bones do not talk) our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we
are cut off from out parts” (Ezekiel 37:10-11), disintegrated and powerless,
through inbred sin and sectarian strife. “Behold, O my people, I will open your
graves, and cause you to come,” etc. Some may regard this as too strong for a
figure, denoting spiritual resurrection; but, “as the body is dead without the
spirit,” so a church, without the indwelling of Christ and the Holy Spirit is
nothing but a charnel house, a confused heap of dry bones. We find Paul also
using the resurrection as a figure of the elevation of the church into the life
of God, (Romans 6:4, 13; Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 5:14) but that this is a
moral resurrection is evident from what immediately follows: “And bring you into
the land of Israel .” Such expressions, we have seen, invariably denote the
sanctification of the soul. It is nearly always connected with purification,
Holy Ghost baptism, or both; so it is here. “And shall put my Spirit in you and
ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land” (Ezekiel 37:14). Observe
that in this resurrection nothing is said of a reunion of soul and body; but,
the life is imparted by the gift of God’s Spirit: hence, it is not restoration
to natural, but spiritual and divine life. The Spirit of prophesy now drops the
resurrection and takes up another figure to set forth the holiness crisis and
the glorious effect in those that “abide the day” of the “Refiner’s” coming.

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah,
and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and
write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel
his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall
become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto
thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in
the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them
with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall
be one in mine hand. (Ezekiel 37:16-19)

Who does not know that this never was fulfilled in the alienated sects of
Jacob’s literal seed, and, while it may apply to the formation of the church in
the beginning of the reign of Christ, it was specially designed to typify the
return of the church to God and the mount of holy union, after the “falling
away,” or “cloudy and dark day.” The figure does not properly suggest that
formation of a new church state, but the gathering again of a divided and
starved out church, under the pastorate of corrupt and self-aggrandizing
shepherds.

And will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land . . . I
will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and
will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And
David (Christ, “the root and offspring of David”) my servant shall be king over
them; and they all shall have one shepherd. (Ezekiel 37:21-24)

Nothing but entire sanctification unites the saints under the direct control and
headship of Christ through the Comforter.

And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant,
wherein your fathers (in the day of the church’s purity) have dwelt; and they
shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s
children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince (even Christ, for
Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Savior) for ever. Moreover I will make
a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them . .
. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel , when my
sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. (Ezekiel 37:25-28)

Here is the solution of the whole matter. The resurrection, reception of the
Spirit, uniting into one, placing in the land, cleansing and the covenant of
peace under the glorious reign of the “Prince of Peace” is all summed up and
consummated in the sanctification of the church through the indwelling of the
Holy Trinity. But, instead of exterminating the idols and “Canaanites in the
house of the Lord of Hosts,” the “shepherds of Israel ” have catered to their
unholy lusts. They have so long truckled to the world in the church; so long
fawned and pampered sin under the cloak of religion that a terrible conflict
ensures whenever it is attacked by the sword of the Spirit. This crisis is
described in the two following chapters, namely, Ezekiel 38 and 39.

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog , the chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I am against thee, O Gog. (Ezekiel 38:2-3)

The Bible Dictionary applies God and Magog to the Caucasian mountains, a chain
that extends from the Black Sea to the Caspian. The Scythians of those regions
were a fierce and warlike people. For many years they had made their name a
terror to the whole eastern world. They were finally conquered and driven out,
B.C. 596, a few years before the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy. These events being
fresh in the mind of the ancient Seer, the prophetic Spirit employs Gog and
Magog to represent the acrid and intolerable Spirit of sectarianism and its
final overthrow. W. S. Alexander, in Kitto, represents Magog in the Persian
language by “KoKa”—the moon, from which he infers that the term had reference to
moon worshippers. This adds force to the figure, as the church is compared, in
the Bible, to the mood as well represented thereby; because all her light
emanates from the “Sun of Righteousness;” and as the church, yea “my church,”
instead of the Great Source of all good, is the sectarian’s god. Meshech and
Tubal, allies of God, are noticed in history as “the remotest and rudest nations
of the world.” David, it is probable, spake prophetically of the same
contentious unsanctified zeal: “Woe is me, that I sojourned in Mesheck . . . My
soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace, but when I
speak they are for war” (Psalm 120:5-7). In applying the army of Gog and Magog
to the false, deceived and sectarian forces, the enemies of the Lord’s true and
holy church, I am clearly sustained in Revelation 20:8-10, where they are
declared to have been deceived by the Devil, therefore, have a spurious
religion—are professors. “They compass the saints on the breadth of the earth;”
hence are diffused throughout all the nations and everywhere arrayed against the
holy; but shall be finally destroyed by fire from heaven. This vast army Ezekiel
represents as “coming from their place out of the north parts” (Ezekiel 38:6,
15; 39:2) indicative of a cold and heartless religion. The attack upon the
“land” by God shall be in the “latter years,” “the latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8,
11). This language all through the prophets points to the last, or present
dispensation. “Therefore,” says God, “I will go up to the land of unwalled
villages; to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling
without wall, and having neither bars nor gates” (Ezekiel 38:11). This is
descriptive of the present day of protection by civil government, instead of by
walls, as in ancient times. “In the latter years thou shalt come against the
land (the sanctified) that is brought back from the sword (saved from the
carnal, sectarian “strife of tongues”), and is gathered out of many people
against the mountains (human churches) of Israel , which have been always
waste;” i.e., more or less destitute of the apostolic faith and power. God sets
the testimony of his anointed against the worldly churches, God, in return makes
war upon them. But being dead to sin, and having a resurrected life, they are an
invulnerable army—“they shall dwell safely all of them” (Ezekiel 38:8).

And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land
of Israel , saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my
jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there
shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel . (Ezekiel 38:18-19)

When the sword of the Almighty is unsheathed against self-righteousness,
orthodox sinners, there is soon war in the camp, and a general commotion in the
heavens and the earth.

And all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence,
(the Lord of Hosts is in the midst of the holiness conflict. Hallelujah!) and
the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every
wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him (Gog)
throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be
against his brother. (Ezekiel 38:20-21)

The two edged sword of definite testimony is now wielded in every church which
has never been the case in any of the past holiness reforms. In smiting Gog,
every man smites his brother; hence it is evident that he dwells within the
brotherhood of the church. In his destruction, every partition wall is
demolished. Amen! Let the battle rage, though the heavens and the earth be
moved. Send down the fire, O Lord! Send fire from heaven, and burn every
Gog-schism out of the church. Yea, saith the Lord,

And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the
isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD . . . And I will turn thee back,
and leave but the sixth part of thee. (Ezekiel 39:6, 2)

Scarcely one out of six in the churches that are infested with the spirit of God
abide the Refiner’s fire. Five-sixths “turn back” and “come against them “—fight
holiness.

Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof
I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and
shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the
bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn
them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field,
neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons.
(Ezekiel 39:8-10)

The holy ones need not go to the open fields of sin and dark forests of the
world to find fuel for the sin consuming flames: they find enough right in the
church. Their business shall be to “set on fire and burn up” the carnal and
detestable weapons of sectarian warfare. The Spirit of prophecy has nearly
exhausted the catalogue of ancient implements of war to portray the bane of
party strife. Thank the Lord; we live in the dawn of a happier day, when these
vile instruments of spiritual death are being consumed by the baptismal fires.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there
of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it
shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all
his multitude: and they shall call it The Valley of Hamongog. And seven months
shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a
renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. And they shall
sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the
passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it. (Ezekiel
39:11-14)

The army of the Lord brought up from the valley of dry bones shall bury in the
grave of spiritual night all who will not pass through the fire and adore the
God of holiness. The seven months that are required to bury Gog and cleanse the
church, it is probable, is prophetic time—“a day for a year”—making 210 years;
but whether the Wesleyan reformation, or the present more general movement be
the point to reckon from, I am unable to say. The burning of the weapons and
burying of Gog, is describe as the cleansing of the land—the church. Therefore
it is the special work of sanctification and the heavens and the earth are now
shaken by the tread of God’s holy army, who are “severed out to continual
employment, passing through the land to cleanse it.”

The time is now come for the church to be gathered Into the one Spirit of God.
Baptized by one Spirit into the one body, Destroying the weapons of God; They
pass through the land in the name of the Lord, To cleanse it from sin with the
fire of God, And vile sectism bury in Hamon-Magog.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 25: 25. THE ONCE MORE SHAKING AND PURIFICATION OF THE CHURCH
========================================================================

Please read over again Hebrews 12:25-29. “This word, yet once more signifieth
the removing of those things that are shaken.” We have not yet presented a tithe
of the Scriptures that treat on the above subject, and show its relation to the
purification of the church. Let us now begin with 1 Peter 4:17-18.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of
God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear?

Here is a trying ordeal, a judgmental shaking of the church, parallel with that
described by Paul. It is the execution of Christ’s verdict of death to sin in
the flesh. “The time is come.” Scripture thus introduced almost invariably
refers to some previous prediction. In the prophecies of Isaiah we find what is
doubtless the antecedent of Peter’s words.

And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take
away all thy tin . . . afterward thou shalt be called, the city of
righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her
converts with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:25-27)

The judgment of Zion , the house of God, is her full redemption. It is the hand
of the Almighty “purely purging away the dross and all the tin” from His church,
that it might be called the “city of righteousness.” This experience is not for
the sinner, nor is it confined to the aged and dying, but the “converts” in Zion
, saith the Lord, shall be redeemed from sin by the Spirit of judgment and the
Spirit of burning.” This purging is parallel with the removing of these things
that are “shaken.”

In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious (i.e.,
“sanctified and cleansed, a glorious church.” Ephesians 5:26-27) and the fruit
of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel
(have “escaped the corruption that is in the world”—inbred sin). And it shall
come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in
Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of
Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the
spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. (Isaiah 4:2-5)

This explains the words of Peter very clearly: the judgment of the house of God
is a divine washing and purging. The church, having passed through the Spirit of
judgment and of burning, all that are left therein “shall be called holy.”
Therefore, we understand the words of Peter as having reference to the
sin-consuming flames of the Sanctifier, the baptism of the Holy Ghost which
corresponds with the shaking of the church, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews, for
he concludes by saying, “Our God is a consuming fire.” If ever there was a time
when Peter’s words were pertinent, it is now. The hand of the Almighty is upon
his church and He will smite and humble it with His judgments; shake it with His
voice from heaven, and consume it with the flames of His Spirit until every foul
spirit is driven out and all the “works of the devil” destroyed; that nothing
may remain but the pure, unalloyed elements of the divine “kingdom which cannot
be shaken.” Next let us turn to the prophet Joel. Here the heavenly fire burns
and glows in every chapter. Beginning at chapter 1, verse 8, we read, “Lament
like a virgin with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.” If this alludes at
all to the Jewish nation, it still has an indirect or typical reference to the
church; but it looks much as though it applied to the bride of Jesus, lamenting
for the return and in-dwelling of her Husband through the fullness of the
Spirit, as in her youth—the glorious morn of her union with the Fairest One.

The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD;
the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land
mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for
the barley . . . because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Gird
yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie
all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. (Joel 1:9-13)

What a striking picture of the church, now desolate and unfruitful for the want
of a real indwelling Christ through the Comforter. But there are some left that
are not oblivious to the destitution of Zion, and what she should be in the
Lord; and to them comes the word of the Lord, saying, “Sanctify ye a fast, call
a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into
the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord” (Joel 1:14). This to my
mind is a clear prediction of holiness conventions and meetings, to pray for the
return of the old Pentecostal power. These supplications are accepted of God,
and soon the heavens and the earth begin to be shaken; “Alas, for the day! For
the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction form the Almighty shall it
come” (Joel 1:15). The churches being mostly a collection of “wood, hay and
stubble,” “the day that cometh shall burn them up,” and the builders “suffer
loss,” which much enrage them against those who “reveal by fire” the
spuriousness of their work. (1 Corinthians 3) “The seed is rotten under their
clods, the garments are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn
is withered” (Joel 1:17). We believe the Holy Spirit drew in our mind a
pictorial delineation of the meaning of this verse, which we will try to convey
to the reader. Imagine three seeds deposited beneath the earth’s surface. The
first has sprouted, but in its upward growth it encounters hard clods and rocks,
which cause the tender shoot to turn back into the earth, die and rot. The
second germ springing up, also comes in contact with these impervious clods, but
being strongly attracted by the light and heat of the sun, it forces a passage
round one after another, and finally reaches the surface; but its vital energies
being greatly exhausted, it grows up a dwarfed and sickly plant, and produces a
small and blasted ear of corn. The third having these obstructions all removed,
and instead thereof the soil much enriched, comes up fresh and vigorous, grows
rapidly, and brings forth an abundant crop. The first of these represent the
poor backslider: the seed of regeneration rots beneath the hard clods of corrupt
human nature. The second, the saint who perseveres in the way of well doing, and
brings forth some fruit despite the hard and noxious clods of unsanctified
nature. The third represents the newborn life, freed from all encumbrances, and
yielding the rich and plenteous fruit of the Spirit through the blessing of
entire sanctification. All attempts to make a church abound in fruits of
holiness, without teaching it the distinct grace of purification, is like
watering and cultivating a stock of corn and at the same time leaving it crushed
beneath a heavy clod. Such is our unsanctified nature. Says Dr. Steele, “In my
previous Christian experience of twenty-eight years, there always seemed to be a
vacancy unfilled, a spot which the plow had not been thoroughly subsoiled and
thrown up to the light and warmth of the Sun of Righteousness . . . But the
heavenly Tenant of share of the Gospel had not touched. My nature my soul has
changed all this. He has unlocked every apartment of my being, and filled and
flooded them all with the light of His radiant presence. The vacuum has become a
plenum. The spot before untouched has been reached, and all its flintiness has
melted in the presence of that universal solvent,

Love divine all loves excelling.

“What that void within was—what that untouched core of my being, whether it was
selfishness, unbelief, original or inbred sin—I leave to the theologians to
discuss. I aver that it was something very uncomfortable. Praise the Lord Jesus,
it is gone never to return. The Man of Calvary, the Son of God, now treads all
the avenues of my soul, filling its emptiness, melting its hardness, and
cleansing its impurity.” For the want of this thorough sub-soiling of the soul,
“the corn is withered, how do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are
perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made
desolate” (Joel 1:118). Next follows a scene that the Holy Ghost gave me in a
vision of the night, on the 13th of March 1878, when, as yet, I knew not that it
was in the Bible.

O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the
wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of
the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the
fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (Joel 1:19-20)

This terrible conflagration I saw in the City of Tiffin, Ohio. Glory to God, I
was of the number that escaped, but not without the loss of our library. The
flames reached to the top of the trees and every leaf and spear of grass in all
the wilder was burned down. Here is the interpretation conveyed to my mind at
the time, and confirmed by the prophet. The seed, or grace of regeneration
having nearly perished ‘neath the flinty clods of indwelling sin, the mass of
the church “refuse Him that speaketh from heaven, “ and the refiner’s fires thus
rejected, consumes all the pasture and waters of the wilderness—they forfeit all
the blessings of justification. But God is glorified in the removal of every
thing that cannot abide the shaking. The march of truth goes on. Calls for
holiness meetings are repeated.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion , and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is
nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick
darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains. (Joel 2:1-2)

The Lord mustereth His host to the battle: “A great people, and a strong; there
hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the
years of many generations.” There seems to be a reference here to the primitive
power of the church, and its restoration again after the elapse of the “years of
many generations” or darkness. The expression “like the morning spread upon the
mountains” seems to point directly to the present time, when the morning fogs of
error’s night are being driven away by the sound of the trumpet on God’s holy
mountain. Following the army thus called into the field of action, the Prophet
says:

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth. (Joel 2:3)

This is the same army spoken of by Ezekiel, that go forth to “set on fire and
burn up the weapons” of sectarian strife. They pass through the land to bury Gog
and cleanse the land; they do not go single-handed, as in the wilderness, but
the whole army go out to storm the works of the Devil, even as it is this day.
Hallelujah, to the Lamb! Holy fire consumes sin all along the line of their
march, and “behind them a flame burneth.” Yea, “and nothing shall escape
them,”—they do not deal slightly with sin, but search it to the bottom of every
heart.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the
noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in
battle array. (Joel 2:5)

No wonder the churches so often fear and dread the coming of God’s holy bands;
yea “a fire burns before them,” which, quite frequently closes all meeting
houses, and every other place where the sects can defeat their access; it is
because they know that they are but a collection of ecclesiastical stubble, that
cannot abide the fire that accompanies the Lord’s army of definite witnesses.
Here we also see that the charge that, insisting upon the definite experience of
entire sanctification, destroys the churches is only true so far as they are
composed of “wood, hay, and stubble”—fire never destroys “gold and silver.”

They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war (where
God sends them they go, regardless of every wall of obstruction); and they shall
march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. (Joel 2:7)

Here is the beautiful harmony of the Spirit’s leading. “Neither shall one thrust
another.” Glory to God! There is no thrusting, biting and devouring of each
other among the holy ones, as in the wilderness. I have several times heard the
charge that these holiness bands are a “conglomeration of all sects,” etc. Well
here is a striking evidence of the divinity of the whole movement. What but the
power of God could join into such loving bonds of union and harmonious labor for
souls, elements from the various disintegrated and selfish parties of Israel .
That these have been more or less deformed by various divergent creeds and
conflicting interests has been the work of error and human tradition; but that
they could be thus fraternized in the work of the Lord exhibits the divine
power, the all-resolvent and utilizing virtues of holiness through the blood of
Christ.

And when they fall on the sword they shall not be wounded. (Joel 2:8)

Having a resurrected life, they shall live forever. “Their life is hid with
Christ in God.” Hallelujah to the Lamb! There are no risks to run in this holy
war, for the King’s soldiers all have “the powers of an endless life.”

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble. (Joel 2:10)

Here again, the “once more shaking” of the world and church is identified with
the mighty power that accompanies the sanctified army that are rallied by the
trumpet of God on “His holy mountain.”

And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great:
for he is strong that executeth his word (he who, regardless of men and Devils,
proclaims the whole truth): for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible;
and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)

This is the voice that “speaketh from heaven” that Paul exhorts his Hebrew
brethren not to refuse. Let no one refer this Scripture to the judgment day.
Read Malachi 3:1-3.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and
the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of
the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of
hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he
appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering
in righteousness.

Here is a shaking time that precedes the day of Judgment: the trying crisis when
Christ comes to refine and sanctify His church: this comes whenever the anointed
ones lift up the true light in any community. There Christ demands that every
one that believes on Him “shall be salted with fire.” But many “refuse Him that
speaketh” and abide not “the day of His coming.” Having compromised with
indwelling Canaanites, or, in other words, being in sympathy with sin, “the day
of the Lord” is to them, great and terrible, and they are thereby driven into
the army of Gog and fight against the holy land.

Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD
will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and
oil (the precious products of Canaan), and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and
I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off
from you the northern army (spoken of in Ezekiel), and will drive him into a
land barren and desolate (a burned over wilderness, chapter 1), with his face
toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink
shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great
things. (Joel 2:18-20)

Here, again, is the fate of the Gog forces that oppose the holy cause.

The LORD also shall roar out of Zion , and utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and
the heavens and the earth shall shake. (Joel 3:16)

A church that has no voice to shake sinners and professors, no voice the “turns
the world upside down,” that makes not the wicked flee, the Devil howl and
persecution rage, that church, I say, may have “gods many” but has not the “true
God” dwelling in her; for, following the above, the Prophet says:

So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion , my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass
through her any more. (Joel 3:17)

The Lord wants His church so holy that no stranger to God will pass through her,
much less dwell and carry on business in her.

And it shall come to pass in that day (when the church is thus filled with God
and holiness), that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall
flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a
fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley
of Shittim. (Joel 3:18)

Here are about the same words used by Amos in describing the glory of the church
after brought into her own land, “the inheritance of the sanctified by faith”
(Amos 9:11-15). But let us follow Joel to the end. “But Judah”—Judah was a
portion of Israel that was separated unto God from the idolatry and corruption
of the general body; and is here used as typical of the sanctified portion of
God’s Spiritual Israel. The Lords says, by the Prophet Amos, the He will “plant
them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up;” and Joel says:

But Judah shall dwell for ever, (in her land of holiness) and Jerusalem from
generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not
cleansed (in their generation): for the LORD dwelleth in Zion . (Joel 3:20-21)

Glory be to the God of infinite grace! For this perfect and radical cure for
sin. I once heard a discourse in which the preacher labored to prove that it is
impossible to have all sin removed from our moral system, for, said he, “sin is
in our blood and we cannot get rid of it as long as we live.” How often, too, we
hear brethren, and even preachers apologize for offenses by saying that their
bad blood was stirred up, or that their Irish, German, or English blood was
foiled; thus making their sin an occasion for boasting of their nationality
instead of shame and repentance. Blessed be the name of the Lord, our Great
Physician can cleanse and heal all such morbid blood; can thoroughly purge the
leprosy of sin out of the very life of the soul. Is it not astonishing that so
many think they must suffer all their life, this noxious, irritating and deadly
infection, when the blessed Bible, the high mountain trumpet, and hundreds of
papers proclaim the joyful tidings of a perfect and speedy cure through the
blood of the Redeemer? No physician was ever sustained by such innumerable
testimonials. Why, the whole earth is filled with His praises, and yet thousands
are dying from impure blood. Our blessed Lord and Savior can so renovate our
blood, that we will be neither Irish or German, “Jew or Greek,” male or female;
but all one in Christ Jesus—yea, more, He can and actually does extract from our
blood all relation to the first Adam so that Christ becomes all and in all. And
on His holy mountain, we are always kept above the malaria of this corrupt
world. Glory be to the uttermost Savior, that gives us perfect soundness of soul
and body, “perfect holiness”—wholeness “of flesh and spirit.” But, beloved, sin
is so diffused through our entire system, so identified with our very life and
being, that God must “once more shake” us by the power of His Spirit. Yea, He
must destroy our very life before He can “make an end of sin” in us. Jesus said
to His disciples, “Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of;’ and with
The baptism that I am baptized, withal shall ye be baptized” (Mark 10:39). Glory
be to God! “It is a faithful saying: for if we be dead with Him, we shall also
live with Him.” Let us now trace the heaven and earth shaking hosts of the
Almighty in the Prophet Isaiah. “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion :
for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee” (Isaiah 12:6). Here is
the power that does the shaking. A church that has the Great and Holy One in her
midst always produces a commotion in the world. Immediately following this we
have “The burden of Babylon , which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.” (Isaiah
13:1) Now what does the Lord propose to do for his captivated church? Hear His
orders: “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountains.” There is danger, you see,
of exalting holiness too highly: we cannot exaggerate its worth and importance,
nor too strongly insist upon its real experience in all Christians. The Prophet
continues, “Exalt the voice unto them”—testify boldly and constantly, “shake the
hand that they may go into the gates of the nobles” (Isaiah 13:2). I have seen
God’s little ones walk the aisles of the house with their hands raised up,
describing and emphasizing in graceful notions to the people the appeals,
warnings and invitation of the hymn that was being sung. This they did in the
Spirit, not even knowing at the time that the Bible enjoined the same. But who
are required to do these things? Thus saith the Lord, “I have commanded my
sanctified ones for mind anger, even them that rejoice in my highness” (Isaiah
13:3). The sanctified soul rejoices only in the exaltation and glory of God:
there is no principle left in the heart that seeks self-aggrandizement. They
even glory in being abased, if God is thereby honored. Glory to His name! Now
observe the effect of lifting high the banner of holiness:

The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a
tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts
mustereth the host of the battle. (Isaiah 13:4)

A commotion soon follows the definite testimony, and “lifting up of holy hands
in the sanctuary” of the Lord: an army springs into existence; God, Himself,
mustereth the host. Hallelujah! Behold the harmony of the Prophets! Joel
describes a mighty army springing up at the sound of the trumpet on God’s holy
mountain. Isaiah has the same army rallied by hoisting the banner on the high
mountain. Both the trumpet and banner evidently mean the preaching and
exaltation of holiness.

They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the
weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. (Isaiah 13:5)

It is wonderful, indeed, how the Lord sends His witnesses from one nation to
another, even unto the ends of the earth, to lift up the ensign of full
salvation. Yea, it is the Lord Himself in motion, and, “His going forth is from
the end of heaven, and His circuit unto the ends of it,” and the anointed are
but the weapons of His indignation. Here, as in all the Prophets, and as it is
said by all the “tremble at His coming,” the army of the “sanctified are a
destroying fire, a devastating tornado.

Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from
the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall
melt . . . Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce
anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of
it. (Isaiah 13:6-9)

The stubble, saith Joel, it consumes, but Isaiah lays aside all figures and
plainly tells us that this conflagration from the Almighty sweeps, with a besom
of destruction, all sinners from the land—out of the church. If, therefore, the
holiness movement lays waste some churches in its course, it is simply because
they are composed, in general, or sinners. This fact also proves that it is the
very crisis we are here tracing in the Bible. It does not destroy true
Christians nor spiritual churches; but, saith the Lord, “I will cause the
arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible” (Isaiah 13:11).

I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge
of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place. (Isaiah 13:12-13)

Hallelujah to the Lamb! When the triune God so fills a man that sinners are made
to tremble and dry bones shake, and all cry out, “away with him; it is not fit
that he should live.” God estimates him as more precious than gold. Following
the army of God’s “sanctified” and “mighty ones,” who rejoice in His highness,
and march under the exalted banner of His holiness, we are again brought to the
shaking of the heavens and the earth. Thus we see that the “once more” shaking
is uniformly associated with the great holiness reform.

And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they
shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined
unto them shall fall by the sword. (Isaiah 13:14-15)

Glory to God! The sword of the Almighty and Holy Ghost fire drives the Devil and
all his children out of the church, they give up their hypocritical profession
and go to their own class; and every one that joins affinity with them shall
fall by the two-edged sword. Sinners will no longer be able to buy a membership
in the church, and a spurious ticket to heaven with their worldly honor and
coveted money.

The pure testimony put forth in the Spirit Cuts like a two edged sword; And
hypocrites now are most sorely tormented, Because they’re condemned by the Word.

The pure testimony discovers the dross, While wicked professors make light of
the cross, And Babylon trembles for fear of her loss.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 26: 26. SEPARATION OF THE WHEAT AND CHAFF
========================================================================

The great war for the extermination of sin out of the heart, or sinners out of
the church, is destined to sweep over all the nations of the earth.

The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and
came. (Isaiah 41:5)

But thou, Israel , art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham
my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee
from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have
chosen thee, and not cast thee away. (Isaiah 41:8-9)

The seed of Abraham, and heirs of God’s promises, we are plainly told are all
that believe in Christ (Galatians 3:7, 29). There can be no doubt that such are
referred to in this Scripture, because they are chosen into the divine family
from every part of the inhabited earth. But what of Jacob—the Scriptural seed or
church?

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the
LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:14)

When sin and self are all destroyed there is barely enough left of Jacob to
constitute a small worm. But being thus reduced to “naught” God has prepared the
church to exhibit His power in shaking the heavens and the earth, and bringing
“to naught the things that are”—the great things of the world.

Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou
shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as
chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the
whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt
glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:15-16)

The characteristic of God’s church here portrayed is nearly lost sight of at
present. People think it is the business of the church to stand like a beggar at
the door of the Devil’s kingdom and politely coax his subjects over: saying much
about the duty and advantage of belonging to church, and little about their sin
and the duty of repentance; as though God were a dependent and the Devil
proprietor of the universe. Satan, having thus stolen the spikes out of the
church—her power of execution—he has distinguished himself in helping to run the
empty machinery. But He that sitteth in the heavens will arise and bring to
naught his devices.

The time is soon coming, by the Prophets foretold, When Zion in purity the world
shall behold; When Jesus’ pure testimony will gain the day— Denomination’s
selfishness vanish away.

Already the Lord has begun to make Jacob new again; a sharp instrument, re-set
with the spikes of its primitive power, the “weapons of His indignation.” A
church or ministry that is destitute of these teeth will hurt no flesh, awake no
persecution, thresh out no wheat, please the Devil and give no glory to God. But
spikes are not the only essential to a first-class thresher. Anciently, grain
was threshed with flails or trodden out by cattle and horses. Then a great
improvement was secured by the invention of what is called the “old open
machine.” But, oh, the heaps of chaff that piled up and filled the entire floor:
then came the dreadful task of cleaning up—of separating and removing the
worthless heap. Such have been the crafty open machines that have for years
imposed heaps of trash upon the Lord’s threshing floor. They have not “taken
forth the precious from the vile.” (Jeremiah 15:19)

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have
put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed
difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my
sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26)

Ye have wearied the LORD with your words . . . When ye say, Every one that doeth
evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them. (Malachi 2:17)

Is not this perfectly fulfilled at present by preachers who invite sinners into
their folds without requiring a particle of saving grace: and who even flatter
them that they are already pretty good, and need but to come and join the
church? And how many of their poor, deluded victims remain in the church for
years and never hear the Gospel lines drawn straight enough to convict them of
their unregenerate hearts. The policy of these teachers has been to “gather of
all kinds,” but the next thing in order—to separate and “cast the bad away”—has
been wholly omitted. But as the Lord liveth, He is going to clear away this
ecclesiastical rubbish.

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his
wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
(Matthew 3:12)

Who would accept as a gift a few bushels of wheat scattered through a great heap
of chaff and dirt, and think you that God will accept the church in her present
condition? No, indeed, the gold must first be separated from the dross. The
Bride must dissolve her unholy “friendship with the world” in which she is
guilty of spiritual “adultery” in the sight of God (James 4:4). She must put
away all her rival gods and adorn herself in robes of spotless white before
“prepared as a bride for her husband.” The Bible most assuredly teaches that God
will separate all chaff from the wheat before He comes to garner home His
church. To accomplish this He is converting Jacob from an open machine to a
separator.

Thou shalt thresh the mountains (the churches), and beat them small (there has
been a raging mania to enlarge the church, but it needs reduction, there is too
much of it, such as it is: holiness beats it small), and shalt make the hills as
chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the
whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt
glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:15-16)

When the “rushing mighty wind from heaven” strikes the gathered heaps of stubble
and chaff, and begins to “scatter them,” people think the church is being
ruined; but this fan is in the hand of the Lord Jesus, and it will not carry a
grain of wheat off of His floor; and why fret about that which is not meet for
the Master’s use? “What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord.” Let the wind
from heaven drive it, and the fire consume it, “and thou, (even in this
scatterment) shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of
Israel.” For, behold the effect of setting this terrible machine against the
mountains. “I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the
valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of
water” (Isaiah 44:18). The divine wrath against sin is the divine goodness to
the soul: and the more severe and searching God’s means for the purity of the
church, the more freely salvation flows to “the poor and needy” (See Isaiah
41:17). In the Prophet Micah, chapter four, and verses one and two, we have the
mountain of the house of the Lord, (the church) established, and the law “going
forth of Zion , and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem .” In the tenth verse we
have recorded the captivity, or “falling away” of the church—“Thou shalt go even
to Babylon .” And, in order to restore her purity, the Lord commands the
following severe measures in verse thirteen:

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion : for I will make thine horn iron, and I
will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will
consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the
whole earth.

Threshing and separating, purging and consuming, is the order of God in the day
of the Refiner. Many think we must so temper the Gospel as to preserve peace in
the church, notwithstanding her sin and idols. But, “Suppose ye that I am come
to give peace on earth, (peace with sin)? I tell you nay: but division,” so
answers the Lord. His “fan is in His hand,” and He would rather blow the church
to atoms and secure a little clean wheat by itself, that see it prosper in peace
and multitudes, and under mortgage to Satan, and bearing his brand mark, i.e.,
spots of sin. For this purpose, says Jesus, “I am come to send fire on earth;
and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized
with; and how am I straightened till it be accomplished?” (Luke 12:49-51) Jesus
intimates that the work of refining the church with the Holy Ghost fire could
not begin until He Himself had passed through the ordeal of suffering and death.

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain
of the LORD shall be many. (Isaiah 66:15-16)

Here is the fire, sword, and division that Christ came to send on earth. Its
shaking and purifying power was first manifest on the Day of Pentecost. This
light makes Israel see her condition and cry out: “My leanness, my leanness, woe
unto me!” “Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in fires, even the name of the Lord God
of Israel in the isles of the sea.” “When thus it shall be in the midst of the
land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as
the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done” (Isaiah 24:13-15). “And it
shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall
into the pit” (Isaiah 24:18). There is no escape from the seeping fire of
holiness, but into the pit of sin; and all that cannot “abide His coming” are
“like chaff, which the wind driveth away.”

There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains;
the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon : and they of the city shall flourish
like grass of the earth. (Psalm 72:16)

Here is the power of Jacob after separated from all chaff and dross. But,
nowhere in the Bible is the line more clearly drawn between the wheat and the
chaff, the gold and the dross, than in our keynote text to this entire subject.
What shall remain after the “once more” shaking? Nothing but the divine elements
of the “kingdom which cannot be moved,” and which Paul represents as
“righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). These only
remain in the heart that has passed through the second crisis. Hallelujah! But
what is thereby removed? Answer: All “things that are shaken” and the “are
made.” By the first class, we understand everything that flinches and shakes
before the searching light and sin-exterminating Gospel of Christ: every vein of
our nature, every motion of “flesh and spirit,” every temper of the mind and
habit in life that does not perfectly harmonize with the “righteousness of God
revealed” in the Bible, will naturally shake beneath the voice of the Holy One;
and must, therefore, be removed. The second class—all “things that are
made”—denotes every thing that is not original: every phase of our moral being
that is not implanted by the hand of God. Or, in other words, every thing
adhering to us that was produced by Satan, sin, or the perversion of our moral
being. As the Lord says, “every plant that my Father has not planted shall be
rooted up.” This includes inbred sin. We have all along assumed the existence of
this besting foe. Yet we are aware that a very few deny the fact. But, we think
David settles this matter in the fifty-first Psalm, where he declares that, as
fallen creatures, our very being is “conceived” and “shapen in the mold of sin
and iniquity.” Paul also avers that we are “by nature the children of wrath”
(Ephesians 2:3); and that we are “cut out of the olive tree (Adamic root) which
is wild by nature” (Romans 11:24). But why multiply texts? Observation must
necessarily teach everybody that children are possessed with a perverse nature
long before the knowledge of right and wrong is developed. Justified Christians
almost uniformly confess this same inward trouble. The remaining question is,
can we get rid of it in this life? To decide this, we have but to ascertain
whether it is original, or a result of the fall. That it formed no part of the
likeness of God in the soul is very certain. It is, therefore, the “works of the
devil,” and just what Christ “came to destroy.” It shakes, flashes out and roils
up when pierced by the sword of the Lord, and must, therefore, be removed from
the soul. But the words of Paul apply to the church as well as to the
individual. It is designed to assay and remove the dross of the whole body of
Christ. Before the great holiness reform had shed its benign influences upon the
Christian world, and, to some extent, raised the church out of the narrow rut of
churchism, into a deeper and broader loyalty to God and unselfish love for
humanity, the idea of getting saved from “your church” would have been regarded
as blasphemy. But, thanks to the Lord! a purer light and higher standard of
truth now compel the trumpeters of God, all along the line of holiness, to
insist on salvation from all “our churches.” But it may be asked, what is it
that we must be saved from in “our churches.” Surely there must be some way to
discriminate between that which is pernicious, and that which is of God. Now, I
know of no corner from which to run off this line but the one that Paul points
out: “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,” and “this word, yet
once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things
that are made.” God has founded one body—the church, fold, or kingdom. In it He
has place every element that is essential to its work, its prosperity, and its
perpetuity. His wisdom has adapted it to all ages of time and conditions of men.
Its faith was delivered to the saints once for all. Its principles and precepts
are the last Testament, the final and immutable Will of the eternal God. This
divine organization is invested with such absolute symmetry and perfection that
to attempt the slightest modification of its divine unity or polity, is wicked
presumption in the sight of its Divine Founder, incurs the curses, and forfeits
all the blessing of God’s holy book. Now, since the work of entire
sanctification is designed to elevate the church to her normal and perfect
condition in the sight of God, it must shake out, and purge away, very existing
element that was not originally implanted by the hand of the Lord. This test, I
think, is one in which all true Christians agree. Indeed, if we were to untie
from this moorage, we would soon be driven to sea without compass or chart; we
would virtually open the door for every tradition of Rome and invention of
error. Starting then from this cornerstone of divine truth established at
Jerusalem nearly nineteen hundred years ago, and with the Bible as our compass
and field notes, let us run off a line. 1. Between the true and false spirits in
the church—let us “try the spirits, whether they be of God.” “Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” But the party spirit, so
prevalent in the churches, is not of Christ, hence must be removed, purged out
of the heart. A zeal that springs from anything but pure, unmixed love for God
and humanity; a spirit that would even promote holiness, or the conversion of
sinners, partly to build up “our church,” is badly mixed, is soon shaken and
cannot survive the Refiner’s fire. It is only when the “eye is single, that the
whole body is full of light,”—wholly sanctified. A spirit, which, out of
deference to its own creed, willfully disobeys the divine Word, is not of God
and cannot co-exist with a pure heart. All these secondary motives, these mixed
and unclean spirits “shake” at the voice of the “mighty God” and are “removed”
in the thorough work of sanctification. 2. The next thing I am compelled, in the
fear of God, to speak of, as included in the catalogue of the Devil’s shaky
works, the foul smut and chaff of error is the evil of sectarianism. This is the
most destructive bane that God has ever suffered the Devil to sow in His
kingdom. It is the very mildew of hell that spreads its blasting curse over
nearly all the precious fruit of the Lord’s vineyard. Here the words of Paul are
an all-sweeping besom. Oft the enlightened Christian’s conscience inquires
whether it is right for the church to be divided thus into a plurality of sects
or denominations with their respective human creeds and party names. In the
light of truth we are compelled to answer, No. And for the simple reason that
these parties are not of divine origin. Christ is the source of all true union
among His disciples, and all divisions between them and the world, while the
Devil is the instigation of all divisions in the church and all union between it
and the world. I quote the following from an editorial in the Christian
Harvester.

1. God has a church on earth. It is one and indivisible. It is made up of all,
and singular who are born of the Spirit. 2. Individual [local] churches, or
congregations, are as scriptural as they are necessary. 3. There is not one word
in the Bible favorable to denominations or sects. The only sect among Christians
that is spoken of in terms—the Nicolaitan—is severely condemned. There are
indications of sectish belief, against which John is supposed to labor in the
first chapter of his Gospel, and Paul withstood in the Judaizing tendencies,
even in a brother Apostle. Denominations are directly or indirectly the result
of sin, remaining in the great body of professors. Thorough and widespread
holiness would soon destroy denominations. 4. But the evangelical denominations
of today contain the mass of true Christians with a multitude of mere
professors. Because of differences, sects cannot yet be abolished; and an effort
at abolition would result in a new one. Therefore, sects are a present
necessity, until holiness more generally prevails. 5. The possessor of perfect
love of necessity overleaps denominations in spirit, and so regards all the
sanctified as perfectly his brethren.

We are personally acquainted with the editor of the Harvester, and believe him a
holy man of God. We admire the frankness with which he acknowledges that “there
is not one word in the Bible favorable to denominations or sects,” and that
“denominations are directly or indirectly the result of sin remaining in the
great body of professors.” Such must be the honest verdict of every intelligent,
God fearing man. It is no pleasant thing, we know, to look upon and admit this
monster evil, this fell destroyer of the purity, love and power of the Lord’s
Zion . Says William Starr, “My heart has groaned as, pen in hand, I have looked
at this subject, arranged my thoughts to present them to you.” But for the love
of truth I am constrained to differ with the position that sects are a present
necessity. They originated from sin in the church; and shall we admit that the
fruit of sin is a necessity under any circumstances? “Shall we do evil that good
may come? God forbid.” Where the cause—sin in the church—is removed by full
salvation, should not its effects also disappear? But it is thought that
“because of differences sects cannot yet be abolished.” We might say, with equal
propriety, because of sects difference cannot be removed. They co-exist and
mutually support each other. These divergent views and party shibboleths may
have had their root in carnality, but they are stereotyped and perpetuated by
sectarian parties, and their man-made creeds. Therefore we have no more right to
palliate the sin of sects because of differences, than to excuse the latter
because of the former. One of the great evils of sectarian divisions is, they
prevent the return of the church to the “faith once delivered to the saints;”
and shall we let the baneful tree stand until it ceases to bear its legitimate
fruit? Again, it is thought that “sects are a necessity until holiness more
generally prevails.” “Thorough and wide-spread holiness would soon destroy
denominations.” Sects and are antagonistic to each other. This truth is clearly
implied in the above remarks. The fire of true holiness burns up all the fences
that Satan has placed between the saints. And shall we defeat this its real
mission by not lifting up the sword of the Lord against sects, and attempt to
abolish the evil until holiness prevails more extensively? That is the same as
saying that we should make no attack upon unholiness until holiness gains a
certain degree of ascendancy. Yea, it provides that we should “give place to the
Devil” in the church to destroy holiness until the church becomes more holy.
These are no trifling words. It is a solemn fact that adherence in different
denominations is the Devil’s wedge, whereby the unity of the Spirit, so
perfectly procured in the grace of perfect love, is again destroyed. Party
names, party creeds, and party spirits, almost of necessity go together; and the
natural return of this spirit, because of membership in a fragmentary church,
takes more souls off of God’s altar, than everything else together. Let sects
alone until holiness prevails! What a device of the enemy. How can we expect to
bring forth permanent fruits unto holiness, if we allow the plowshare of God’s
truth to slop over this fallow ground of sin? Sects are the Devil’s “high
places” in the land, the groves of his own planting, and gods that he has set up
to corrupt Israel , and “provoke God.” How many of the kings Jehovah complains
of, because they did not, like Josiah, “purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high
places and the groves” (2 Chronicles 34:3). Beware that we partake not of their
sins. Of Judah it is said that “And he did that which was right in the sight of
the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; Save that the high
places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the
high places. And the LORD smote the king (Judah), so that he was a leper unto
the day of his death.” Says W. H. Starr, a conscientious Presbyterian minister,
after quoting 1 Corinthians 1:10-13 in his Discourses on Sectarianism:

It would seem as if no man could read these words of the great Apostle without
vividly seeing that party divisions among the people of Christ were, in his
view, a most astounding evil. “Is Christ divided,” he says, that ye who are all
His, and who have been “baptized by one Spirit, into one body,” even “the body
of Christ,” should be sundered one from the other by party names. And he adjures
them in the most solemn manner, he beseeches them by an appeal the most sacred
that words could utter, even by the name of Christ, as it were for His sake, and
for His bleeding cause—to forsake these pernicious ways, and to be perfectly
joined together in the same mind.

Hear what this author thinks of promoting holiness over these “high places,” or
sect walls.

The divisions of the Christian Church, as they now exist, are a prominent cause
of the low state of piety among believers; the greatest single obstacle, which
not exists, to the spread and triumph of our religion in the world. The moment
you separate the church of Christ into distinct divisions, you set up the idol
of party. Success or adversity will no longer affect the mind simply as they
touch the cause of Christ, but they will be felt, also, as affecting “our side,”
or “our church.” It is not Christ and His cause to which their whole thoughts
and desires are now turned; the idol of party has now been set up, and it
claims—and receives part of their regard. The man, I think, is almost more than
human, that can wholly avoid this influence, at least, after he has been long
identified with any particular branch of the church. It is an influence which is
all the time at work. The idol has been set up to divide the heart from the
blessed Savior and His holy service; and its influence is as ceaseless as the
existence of the cause. And this party feeling is, as we have seen, very
wickedness, being a from of selfishness, the essence of all sin; so that sinful
desire is blended continually in the heart with its love to Christ, and
polluting the worship which it offers Him. This is an honest and faithful
description of this monster evil. The party feeling is very sin. Yea, says this
God-fearing man, “It casts a millstone round the neck of those who are
struggling upwards to the image of their Redeemer. It mingles poison with the
streams of salvation that flow to the soul through the church, and casts a
blight upon its budding fruit.” Sectarianism is the greatest foe to the
exhibition of love, which God has ever suffered Satan to beget. It hinders
brotherly love among Christians, and regard for the souls of men. It is vain for
brethren in Christ to talk about the duty of loving one another, and to try to
feel love for one another, while they refuse to act as love dictates [by
separating into parties]. Their actions will control their hearts, as men’s acts
always do in the end. The fences which they set up between them in fact will
become fences in feeling. And that is now even so, every Christian knows. The
divisions of Christ’s people beget and stimulate continually that opposite
spirit of rivalry and contention which is the spirit of the world. Yes, I charge
all this mischief, the existence of which you all know, upon the sectarian
divisions of the people of Christ; and let him deny it who can. It is in fact
their legitimate fruit. The division of the church into parties not only
destroys the power and holiness thereof, but is the greatest impediment to the
conversion of the world to God. Again, we will hear Brother W. H. Starr, and the
blessed Redeemer Himself. Would that the church of Christ might pause long
enough from its sectarian strive, to hear the voice of its Redeemer and Lord,
pleading with God in prayer, on that sorrowful night, ere the traitor came.
“Holy Father, keep through thine own name, those whom Thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou,
Father, art in me and I in them, that they also may be one in us; that the world
may believe that Thou hast sent me. The prayers of Christ were not offered for a
light matter, least of all that memorable petition which the pen of inspiration
has recorded for the church in all ages to wonder and weep over, the prayer of
its dying Lord. The desirableness of that visible union of His people for which
Christ prayed as the means of impressing His truth on the world, and the evils
of those divisions against which the Apostle so earnestly exhorts, need to be
better understood by the church.

May God grant you a disposition to look the evil fairly in the face. Of the
thousands of souls that are being lost to all eternity through the selfish,
wicked and carnal spirit of our churchism! God is dishonored, yea, robbed of the
purchase of His Son’s death, and infidelity stalks abroad; the result of a
divided house. It is said that “the possessor of perfect love of necessity
overleaps denominations in spirit.” Does not this prove that they are in the way
of the Spirit of Christ? And shall we compel the Lord to drag His children
together over these cursed walls, only to have them rise up again, and grieve
away the Holy Spirit? If it be true that “thorough holiness destroys
denominations,” then it follows that where they yet exist, this genuine degree
of holiness has not been attained by the people. But I have not quoted
correctly: it is “thorough and wide-spread holiness.” Ah! Here is the sticking
point—a condition put in by the enemy of souls, it implies the following:
“Though entire sanctification removes all sectarianism out of my heart, I will
still adhere to my sect until people generally abandon their schismatic parties
and creeds.” The Devil is perfectly easy over these principles. Now, if this
evil is to be done away by popular sentiment, then it is not through holiness;
but if by the latter it does not depend upon any foreign influence. The
condition of the church in one state does not rob the Word and Spirit of God, of
their virtue in another. The power of holiness to destroy denominations in one
community does not depend, in the least, upon another. Judah can burn down his
groves, and destroy his idols, whether Samaria and Ephraim do or not. Therefore,
we repeat, that in every neighborhood, city and village, where the professed
followers of Christ are divided into a plurality of sects, they have not yet
become thoroughly sanctified to God. Can it be said of professors of holiness
that they have “one heart” and “one mind,” while some have a mind to be
Presbyterian, others Baptists, others United Brethren, and other have a mind to
adhere to the several different sects of Methodism? Have they “one heart and one
way,” when they rise from the solemn altar in the holiness meeting and go each
one his own way to the synagogue of his own sect? Now I must confess that I
cannot see the necessity of this, unless it be to please the Devil, break the
unity of the Spirit and grieve away the heavenly Dove, bring to naught the
divided house of the Lord and destroy the work of holiness as fast as it can be
built up; to this end alone it is necessary. But let us come still closer home.
I would lay the responsibility of this enormous evil just where God places it,
and all other sin. We will not be judged by sects, states, nor even by
neighborhoods and towns, but “every one shall give an account of himself to
God.” A revival of holiness in a community is the result of personal
consecration and faith; and its relapse will be in proportion to the number of
individuals that remove the sacrifice from the sanctifying altar. There is no
such thing as thorough holiness, except as wrought by the Sanctifier in
individual hearts; and if, as has been said, and as I verily believe, thorough
and wide spread holiness destroys denominations—burns up sectarian
distinctions—it must do it in your heart, as an individual. And if this work is
done, the fruits must exhibit the fact; you will be “saved by the precious blood
of Christ from all vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers;”
such as “your church,” “our church,” “our preacher opened the doors of the
church,” “what branch of the church do you belong to?’ “you ought to join some
branch,” “and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound
doctrine”—that grew out of a “perversion of the right ways of the Lord,” and the
“Gospel of Christ” (Acts 13:10; Galatians 1:7). If the bitter root of sectism is
entirely destroyed out of your heart, you will ignore all sectional lines and
party fences, the dreadful curse of which Brother Starr has so honestly pointed
out. If you are a true, intelligent, Bible Christian, a holy, God fearing man,
you must cast off every human yoke, withdraw fellowship from, and renounce every
schismatic and humanly constituted party in the professed body of Christ.
Instead of belonging to “some branch,” you will simply belong to Christ, and be
a branch yourself in Him, the “true vine.” Instead of remaining identified with
any sect,—i.e., cut-off party, “directly or indirectly the result of sin”—you
will claim membership in and fellowship with the “one and indivisible church
that God has on earth, and which is made up of all, and singular who are born of
the Spirit.” On this broad and divinely established platform, and here only, can
you stand clear of the sin of sectarianism and the blood of immortal souls that
perish through its pernicious influence. Are you strictly loyal to God, while
you persist in adhering to a sect, notwithstanding He says “there should be no
schism—sects—in the body” (1 Corinthians 12:25). I am not advocating the
no-church theory that we hear of in the west, but the one holy church of the
Bible, not bound together by rigid articles of faith, but perfectly united in
love, under the primitive glory of the Sanctifier, “continuing steadfastly in
the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship,” and taking captive the world for Jesus.
But it is thought that we should not fight against sects, nor attempt to abolish
the evil at present, lest we thereby form another sect. This is virtually saying
we should “go on sinning lest a worse thing come upon us.” An attempt to rally
Israel under any of the many party names and creeds might indeed result in a new
sect. But this is not what we contend for. Nay, but let us rather burn to ashes
these high places of Israel ’s corruption and returning to Jerusalem , let us
build upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the “chief corner stone.” Let us abandon the nonsense of ecclesiastical
succession: cease to inflate our pride and vanity by parading the good and long
since departed who innocently wore our party badges; the piety of our fathers
will not atone for the worldliness of the church at present. Let us also quit
flourishing our church creeds as though their excellency were an essential
supplement to the wisdom of inspiration. Let us, we pray you in the name of
Jesus Christ, for the sake of our holy and divine religion, and a world that is
lost in sin, O let us put away these childish things and return to Jerusalem,
not to form a new sect, but as the “servants of the God of Heaven and earth, let
us build the house that was builded these many years ago, which the great King
of Israel (Jesus Christ) builded and set up” (Ezra 5:11). Many say we need more
union of hearts, but think a visible organic union unnecessary; but, remember
that it was a visible union that Jesus prayed for, such as the world could see
and be thereby convinced and saved. We quote once more from W. H. Starr:

They will say to me: Cannot we have union of feeling without external union?
(That is; with external dis-union) I answer, No! You cannot except in rare
instances and in an imperfect degree. It is vain to be beating off the leaves of
the tree while you continually nourish its roots. And sectarianism is the “root
of bitterness” whose acrid and legitimate fruit of divided hearts, and jealousy
and strife doth continually grieve away the Spirit of our God and Savior, and
leave our churches in a comparative poverty of grace and growth, that methinks
must make the very heavens groan with sorrow, as they look down upon our dying
world. Up, Up! My brother, my sister in Christ, inquire of the Lord concerning
this thing. Why slumber ye here while Satan has entered the fold of Christ, a
wolf in sheep’s clothing, and is rending the flock? O, cry to God, that He will
direct you and all the children of His grace, till the church of His holy Son
shall be purified and saved. Alas! It is now “a house divided against itself.”
O, pray that the Lord would unite and build it up in the truth; and that He
would show you your duty in the matter. The wants of the world require a holy
and united church.

From what has been said, and the uniform teaching of the Bible, the following
facts are very evident: 1. The division of the church into sects is one of
Satan’s most effectual, if not the very greatest means of destroying human
souls. 2. Its enormous sin must be answered for by individual adherents to, and
supporters of sects. 3. The only remedy for this dreadful plague is thorough
sanctification, and this is only wrought by a personal, individual contact with
the blood of Christ through faith. 4. The union required by the Word of God is
both a spiritual and visible union. 5. The divisions of the church are caused by
elements that are foreign to it as a divinely constituted body by deposits of
the enemy, which exist in the hearts and practices of individual members,
involving their responsibility and requiring their personal purgation. These
facts make your duty plain. What you and I want, dear reader, is “thorough and
widespread holiness” in our individual souls to destroy denominationalism here.
Holiness, ever so thorough and widespread around you will not cleanse your
heart: neither can the sin of division in the hearts and lives of others attach
to you unless you drink in their spirit and also become a partisan. You need not
waste time in planning general union movements or praying the Lord to restore
the unity of His church until you go down under the blood and have every bone of
contention and cause of division purged out of your own heart; then you may do
something to influence others to do the same. You are praying and longing for
the happy time when God’s children shall all be one, but are you willing that
the “once more” shaking shall have its designed effect in your own case? Do you,
indeed, suffer the Holy Ghost fire to consume out of your own life, heart,
religion and conversation, all the shaky chaff and stubble the Devil has made to
divide the children of God? Do you, indeed, withdraw from and ignore all
churches—so called—but the one Christ purchased “with His own blood” and founded
nearly nineteen hundred years ago, and to which the “Lord added” you by
regeneration (Acts 2:47)? Do you discard every church title but that “which the
mouth of the Lord hath named” (Isaiah 61:2), even the name of the Father in
which Christ and the Apostles kept the church? (John 17:6, 11-12; Acts 20:28; 1
Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:15) Do you honor the divine head of
the church by rejecting every creed but the one that “is given by inspiration of
God;” every door that is opened and shut by men, and every spirit but the
Sanctifier and every motive but the love of God and humanity? If you, by the
grace of God, die to all these prime causes of sectism, and their concomitant
sins, then, and not until then, will the Lord have “thoroughly purged” so much
of “His threshing floor” as you will have to answer for in the day of judgment.
Where this is not accomplished, the grace of God is frustrated; holiness is not
permitted to reach the Bible standard of thoroughness, or spread its healing
virtue to every part of the soul.

Pray not for union if unwilling to part With the idols that dwell within your
own heart. If you would see the millennium begin First cleanse your own heart
from all sectism and sin.

It may look foolish to many thus to blow the trumpet of the Lord around the high
and massy walls of sectarian glory and selfishness, but the power of God with
the faith and shouts of the “holy people” will surely bring them down. Though
the heaps of sectarian chaff have reached the magnitude of mountains, God has
some wheat scattered through them, and He will have it separated for His garner.
Therefore, He says to Jacob, “Fear not . . . thou shalt thresh the mountains,
and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and
the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them.” The pure
elements of God’s church possess a wonderful inherent attraction and cohesion;
but the Devil neutralizes the divine cement by mixing in his chaffy and sloughy
trash, thereby effecting divisions; therefore, the Lord restores union by
“removing these things that are shaken, as of things that are made” by the
enemy, thus removing discord and schism. Glory to God! Little Jacob has barely
commenced threshing and separating. Soon we will see clouds of chaff driven by
the “mighty rushing wind from heaven.”

But, Oh! What storms of persecution will rage, For the cause of old Babylon too
many engage.

Says Brother I. Reed in his paper, The Highway,

The great holiness movement is shaking harder than ever. It is to be a real
moral earthquake yet. We have nothing to fear in that direction. We have allied
ourselves to the Power that does the shaking, and feel a kind of holy joy at the
falling walls, reeling Babels and ecclesiastical fortifications that can’t stand
the grand holiness shock. In anticipation we enjoy the grand smash up of things
semi-religious—this half-and-half, linsey woolsey type of Good God-Dear Mammon,
kind of fashionable moral froth, too often called “religion”—that is coming some
of these days. It is coming. We hear the tread of a mighty army.

Amen. Let the conflict come. God will have a pure church—He will shake the
chaffy works of the Devil out of His kingdom, though all hell be moved in rage;
though Gog and Magog surround the camp of the saints on the breadth of the whole
earth.

A battle is coming between the two kingdoms, The armies are gathering round; The
pure testimony and vile persecution, Will come to close battle e’re long.

Then gird on your armor, ye saints of the Lord, And He will direct by His living
Word, The pure testimony will cut like a sword.

Dear reader, I am aware that in these chapters I have written things that will
be unwelcome to many: truths that will assail and stir up many prejudices, but
in doing so, I have determined to cast from me the fear of man, and clear my
conscience in the sight of God. It is, indeed, my honest conviction that the
great holiness reform cannot go forward with the seeping power and preeminent
triumph that God designs it should until the Gospel be so preached, and
consecration become so thorough, that the blood of Christ may reach, and wash
away every vestige of denominational distinction, and “perfect into one”—yea,
one indeed and in truth—all the sanctified. I am aware that this will elicit
storms of persecution, but in the name of the Lord it must come. God will be
glorified in the escape of his holy children from all human enclosures into the
“one” and identical “fold” of Jesus Christ. Oh! Let us be honest before God in
this matter.

It will then be discovered who for Jesus will be, And who are in Babylon the
saints then will see; The time of division then will fully be known, Between the
pure kingdom and defiled Babylon .


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 27: 27. TWO DEGREES OF DIVINE LIGHT IN THE SOUL
========================================================================

Perhaps no figure is more frequently used in the Bible to represent pure divine
religion than that of light. To the heart that is filled with the heavenly
illumination, this idea is very precious. Glory to God for light—pure spiritual
light in the soul. Such is the religion of the Bible; it is opposite to darkness
in every respect. It is God Himself shining into hearts where sin had spread
darkness and death to restore unto them “the light of life.” Our blessed Savior
is declared “to be the light of the world.” “A light to lighten the Gentiles and
the glory of His people, Israel .” If, therefore, as we have seen, the Bible
teaches two phases of Christian experience, we might reasonably expect them to
be represented by this prominent figure, by two degrees of spiritual
illumination. Some may object to this, and say that light emanating from God
cannot possess degrees of brilliancy: that it must all be perfect. I answer this
by pointing to the creation of light at the beginning of the world, where we
have a perfect representation of the impartation of light in the new creation,
or redemption of man.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light,
that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called
the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5)

So the Lord speaks light into the believing sinner’s heart—“turns him form
darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God.” But after he receives
“the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins,” the pure light received
from the Lord is more or less obscured by corrupt human nature: when all goes
well there seems to be sunshine, but under provocations and trials the sediment
of inbred sin roils up as clouds in our spiritual sky. There is, therefore, in
this state a mingling of the two opposites of light and darkness. But the
Almighty speaks the second time, “dividing the light from the darkness”—removing
by the blood of the cross all moral cloudiness from the soul—that “ye who were
sometimes darkness,” may be all, and forever “light in the Lord.” Who will say
that natural light did not shine brighter after the Creator separated the
darkness form it? And why not a second and more perfect illumination of the
soul, through he incoming Sanctifier? Paul, himself, draws the analogy between
the creation of light in the world, and spiritual light in the soul.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Compare this verse with 2 Corinthians 3:18.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord.

These steps “out of darkness into His marvelous light” are clearly shown by the
two applications of the Savior’s hand in giving sight to the blind man (Mark
8:23-25). The more we study the precious Word of the Lord, the more we are
convinced that the miracles of Jesus were designed to teach and illustrate the
plan of salvation; the occasion of each one of them finds an exact counterpart
in the condition of sinners: they are deaf, blind, lame, sick. Leprous,
starving, bowed down, possessed with the Devil, and dead in sin; from all of
which they find deliverance in the “Mighty to Save.” There is no doubt in my
mind that the Lord’s manner of opening the eyes of the blind man was expressly
to teach the two-fold feature of His salvation. What else could it be for? “And
He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town;”—it is the
merciful hand of Jesus that leads the sinner out of the city of Destruction .
“And when He had spit on his eyes;”—the Lord’s way is always offensive to the
flesh, the “carnal mind.” “And put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw
aught.” In every distinct touch of saving grace we receive from the hand of the
Lord, He immediately requires us to tell our experience, or testify to what He
has done for us. “And he looked up and said, I see men as trees walking.” A
wonderful experience indeed to one, who a moment since, could not even behold
the light, and who probably never saw before in his life. Such is the new and
radical change of the new birth. In the rapturous joy of the new experience, all
consciousness of further want disappears. If the happy man had never enjoyed the
blessing of perfect vision, he would not know but what he saw as well as
anybody; but he would ere long discover the need of better vision. So the joyful
convert has no conception of the salvation yet reserved in Christ Jesus for him
until the future develops a deeper want in the heart. There were two defects in
this man’s vision; first it seemed to magnify the stature of men. What a
striking representation of the convert’s trouble—the man-fearing spirit. The
shaking element of inbred sin—a spirit of fear and trembling—makes men seem like
giants. Second, it lacked the power of clear discrimination: men were simply
seen as moving objects, and not their distinguishing features. This well
represents young converts who have not “their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.” They are very susceptible to misplacing confidence.

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he
was restored, and saw every man clearly. (Mark 8:25)

When the soul receives the Savior’s second touch, the film of inbred sin is
removed, and the eyes of our understanding are fully opened. For “He that is
spiritual (hath received the personal Comforter), discerneth all things, yet he,
himself, is discerned of no man (1 Corinthians 2:15—margin). The Savior in His
sermon on the mount seems to compare perfect vision with the complete indwelling
of God, who is light. “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye
is single the whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). The following
comment by Adam Clark, I think, is very good:

“The light of the body is the eye.” That is, the eye is to the body what the sun
is to the universe in the daytime, or a lamp or a candle to a house after night.
“If thine eye be single”—“aplous”—simple, uncompounded, i.e., so perfect in its
structure as to see objects distinctly and clearly, and not confusedly, or in
different places to what they are, as is often the case in certain disorders of
the eye; one object appearing two or more—or else in a different situation, and
of a different color to what it really is. This state of the eye is termed,
verse 23, “poneros”—evil, i.e., diseased or defective. An evil eye was a phrase
in use among the ancient Jews, to denote an envious, covetous man or
disposition. Our blessed Lord however, extends and sublimes this meaning, and
uses the sound eye as a metaphor, to point out that simplicity of intention, and
purity of affection with which men should pursue the supreme good. We cannot
draw more than one straight line between two invisible points. We aim at
happiness, it is found only in one thing, the invisible and eternal God. If the
line, or simple intention be drawn straight to Him, and the soul walk by it with
purity of affection the whole man shall be “light in the Lord,” the rays of that
excellent glory shall irradiate the mind, and through the whole spirit shall the
divine nature be diffused.” How forcibly the uttermost salvation of Christ Jesus
is taught in those words of His. The whole body filled with light—no particle of
darkness or impurity remaining: the eye single—the entire life governed by one
motive, the glory of God, and actuated by the single impulse of divine love. It
is the new commandment glory, “which thing is true in Him and in you, because
the darkness is past, ad the true light shineth;” the Lord has removed the
darkness from the light, producing perfect day in the soul. Saint John also
holds up this true light as a higher attainment for the sons of God, and
identifies it with purification from “all sin” and “all unrighteousness” (1 John
1:7-9) We will cite but one text more: 2 Peter 1:19. “We have also a more sure
word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your
hearts.” The sure word of prophecy—or inspired truth—is here represented as a
light that shines in a dark place, which light these new-born babes were to heed
until the blood of Christ removed the shades of sin, and ushered in the
brightness of His rising.

But, what is the dark place where the lamp of truth shines? Answer: Unsanctified
hearts of believers. The word here rendered dark, according to the Greek-English
concordance, does not occur but this single instance in the New Testament. It is
rendered directly from the Greek in the Emphatic Diaglott—“filthy.” James
McKnight’s Notes, “nasty place.” “ A lamp shining in a dark, obscure, and gloomy
place,”—Doddridge. Does not this correspond with the carnal babes in Christ
spoken of by Paul, who were commanded to cleanse themselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit? The whole tenor of the Bible teaches that in the first
state of grace, the living word reigns and shines in an impure heart—a roily and
cloudy nature. That this lamp-light denotes the primary grace of God in the
heart is very evident from the fact that it was to be succeeded by the “day dawn
and day star arising in their hearts:” how could this new experience in the
heart remove the former darkness if that were not where it dwelt. God had said,
“Let there be light” in these hearts; and there was light. And God separated the
darkness of inbred sin from the light He had created in the soul that the whole
being might be lit up with the Glory of His presence. Whatever may be true of
the lamplight state, it is certain (1) that the persons addressed were
Christians—“had obtained like precious faith with us (the Apostle Peter) through
the righteousness of God, and our Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). And, (2) a
new and sudden experience of perfect day was yet to dawn in their hearts. Some,
it is true, have applied this revelation of Christ to His second advent, but the
language rather describes a personal experience in the heart—a revelation of
Christ in the inner man. What is the rising of the day-star in the heart, but
the incoming of Christ, the “true light,” who calls Himself “the bright and
morning star” (Revelation 22:16) and has promised to take up His abode in the
temples of His grace? The exposition we have here given is sustained by the best
of scholars, some of whom were not associated with the special holiness cause,
as the following from Dr. Steele will show.

No passage in the Scriptures more strikingly describes the writer’s Christian
experience, first of painful doubt, and then of cloudless assurance: first a
spasmodic clinging of the intellect to the external evidences of miracle and
prophecy, and then the sunrise—Christ manifested, the day-star in the heart.
There are, in this verse, four verbs in the present tense, have, do, take,
shineth, representing the alternation of light and darkness in early Christian
experience. The lamp feebly glimmers in a gloomy, or, literally dirty place,
giving just light enough to reveal impurities, but not fire enough to consume
them. In this twilight state doubts harass the soul and there is and intense
wishing and watching for the day-dawn and rising sun. To the patient waiter
there is a last a tropical sunrise. The darkness flees, the filthy place is
cleansed. But how is this shown in the Greek text? Note the two aorist verbs,
dawn and arise; “put an end,” says Alford, “to the state indicated by the
present participles above.” What this day-star is, Grotius DeWette, and Huther
best explain, who think that some state in the readers themselves is pointed at,
which is to supervene upon a less perfect state. Says Huther: “The writer
distinguishes between two degrees of Christian life: in the first, faith rests
upon outward evidences; in the second, on inward revelations of the Spirit; in
the first, each detail is believed separately as such; in the second, each is
recognized as a necessary part of the whole. And hence, being in the former is
naturally called a walking in a dismal, dirty place, in the light of a lamp or
candle, while the being in the latter is walking in the light of day.

Alford adds:

“This latter we believe to be nearly the true account.” Let us see what is
taught here: (1) Two states of spiritual life, symbolized by lamp-light and
sun-light. (2) The aorist tense marks a sharply defined emergency from the first
to the second, by the glorious King of day arising in the heart. This, we
believe, to be a correct exegesis of the highly figurative and beautiful text.
It accords with the experience of all who have entered into the definite
experience of perfect love.

While these authors concur in teaching two phases of Christian experience, it
appears to me they have drawn too heavy shades on their picture of lamp-light
grace. A good lamp will fill most of a room with light; will enable a person to
carry on work within the compass of its rays, nearly as well as by day-light.
So, also the grace of sonship is a real light in the heart: it need not, and
should not be faint and flickering, nor spasmodic. It is a great mistake that in
this initial state the soul is supported chiefly by an intellectual clinging to
the external evidence of miracles and prophecy. Some things can be seen and
comprehended near the glowing lamp, just as perfectly as by the sunlight. So, in
the light of justification, the soul knows the divinity of the Bible, the pardon
of sins and adoption into the family of God by positive experience, by actual
inward consciousness. The chief difference consists in the very limited area of
lamplight. Our consciousness of optical power beyond the extent of light for its
use naturally begets a desire to enlarge our view of surrounding objects; but in
every direction a wall of darkness intercepts our vision. This is precisely the
convert’s experience. While he can say,” One thing I know, whereas I was blind,
now I see,” many things lay concealed in the depths of his soul, beyond the dark
wall of inbred corruption: neither can he “see afar off” in the mysteries of
redeeming grace. But when the morning appears, “when the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, is come,” He fills His temple with light; He shines to the perfect
day throughout all the kingdom of God’s grace, revealing to the eye of faith,
all things that our heavenly Father hath “prepared for them that love Him” (1
Corinthians 2:9-10). Dear brother or sister, if you know when you passed from
darkness to light, let me ask you if you also know when you was “changed from
glory to glory,” from lamplight to day-dawn. If you know of no such an event in
your past life, let this be the glorious day of its dawning in your soul. O,
stay not in the twilight of salvation, the mere vestibule of the kingdom of
light. Set your whole heart to seek the “excellent glory.” “Wait for it as they
that watch for the morning.” Wait and watch, and pray, until “unto you the Sun
of Righteousness shall arise, with healing in His wings.”

As the glorious sun disperses Gloomy shades of night away, So the fullness of
the Spirit Turns our lamplight into day.

Sun of Heaven! Shine forever, In this happy soul of mine; I will walk beneath
thy beaming; Lost in all thy love divine.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 28: 28. TWO DEGREES OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
========================================================================

Faith is the most important means of union with the Divine Being. And as our
oneness with God is in proportion to our conformity to His nature, our faith
will, in general, correspond with the degree of holiness we possess; and as
holiness exists before it is made perfect, faith naturally appears in two
corresponding forms also. Through the sanctification of our nature, we are
changed to the higher form of faith. Accordingly, we read of some who “had cast
off their first faith” (1 Timothy 5:12). Not by advancing to the higher plain of
perfect trust, but these had gone back and incurred condemnation; but, as we
have observed in reference to “first love,” the same will apply here; “first
faith” implies a second faith, a succession of degrees of faith. The second, or
perfected faith, Paul identifies with “the righteousness of God,” “for therein
(in the Gospel) is the righteousness of God revealed from (“ek” from or out of)
faith to (“eis” literally into) faith” (Romans 1:17). To attain unto the
righteousness of God involves a cleansing from “all unrighteousness,” hence
entire sanctification and elevation to a perfect trust are coetaneous events,
the former is the adaptation and the latter the means of the hidden life of
perfect union with God. This higher phase of faith, or unstaggering trust in the
Lord, is also identified with the “more excellent” degree of charity, or “love
made perfect.” It is that form of charity that “beareth all things, believeth
all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). We also find it represented by, and used
interchangeably with unblameable holiness in the heart and stablishing grace.
Saint Paul earnestly besought the Lord that he might be permitted to visit the
Thessalonians and “perfect that which was lacking in their faith;” then he
continues his prayer that the “Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you, and
the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another . . . to
the end, He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God” (1
Thessalonians 3:10, 13). This cloudless assurance is set forth as a state to be
diligently sought by all Christians: “But we earnestly desire each one of you to
show the same diligence for the FULL COMPLETION of the hope to the end” (Hebrews
6:11—Diaglott). The Bible Union, and other versions, render it, “diligence for
the full assurance of hope.” It was, therefore, regarded by the Apostles as of
urgent necessity. The Apostle clearly teaches the Hebrew Christians that faith
must be raised to, and exercised in, its higher degree in entering into the
state of perfect holiness. After assuring them that we have “boldness to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way,” he extends the
invitation to them, saying, “let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:19, 22). Paul says to the Thessalonians, “Your
faith groweth exceedingly.” James also speaks of faith made perfect by works;
this doubtless refers to the development of faith by its exercise. But besides
the growth of faith, there is a marked change from one degree and condition of
faith to another produced by the power of “Him that sanctifieth..” Wherefore,
says the Apostle:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

It is in laying off the “close girding,” or inbred sin, by the purgation of the
Holy Ghost that the soul is instantly raised to the joyful mount of full and
constant assurance. Does not the above distinguish between two conditions of
faith, distinctively wrought by the Lord Jesus? Once more we find the higher
phase of Christian experience set forth as a rest of faith, the eternal Sabbath
of the soul. For we that have believed do enter into rest (Hebrews 4:2). Thus we
have seen that perfect righteousness, perfect holiness, perfect purity, perfect
love, and perfect rest of soul are all co-existent with perfected faith. The
reason for this is very obvious: faith leads into God’; but sin separates the
soul from God, hence, it is only when all sin is removed that faith can merge
the soul into the bosom of Deity and give it sweet and abiding rest in the
Everlasting Arms. As the cohesive power of cement is weakened by mingled clay,
so faith is unable to give the soul perfect union with, and constant rest in
God, while the dross of inbred sin remains. As perfect faith naturally exists
with the above enumerated qualities, so they naturally result from a finished
faith; for such a faith will not move upon a lower plain than full Gospel
privilege. Hence, they are all concomitant features of the second work of divine
grace in the soul.

While clinging to Jesus with unyielding hold, How sweetly I dwell in His
heavenly fold, Our union is perfect, all foes we defy; We cling to each other,
my Jesus and I.

The storms may be fearful and Satan assail; True kindness and love may
everywhere fail. In union immortal, continued on high, We’ll cling to each
other, my Jesus and I.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 29: 29. TWO IMPARTATIONS OF LIFE IN THE GOSPEL
========================================================================

Sin has involved the race of mankind in spiritual death. We are plainly told
that “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed
upon all men” (Romans 5:12). “To be carnally minded is death.” “With God is the
fountain of life,” but, saith the Lord, “Your iniquities have separated between
you and your God.” But through Christ our union is again restored and spiritual
life regained. “I am,” saith He, “the way, the truth and the life.” “I am the
bread of life.” “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die” (John
11:25-26). It is in the new birth that the Lord breathes again the breath of
life into the soul.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins . . . Even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together. (Ephesians
2:1, 5-6)

These texts plainly teach that the soul is brought to life when saved from
“condemnation,” from “trespasses and sins.” But Christ is more than the author
and giver of life. He is life itself.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is
in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. (1 John 5:11-12)

We have seen that spiritual life is received in justification, but here we find
it identified with Christ Himself, yet He only enters the soul fully by the
Comforter, which is received after regeneration. This involves the apparent
contradiction, that we have life before receiving Him who is our life. But the
Lord solves the difficulty in these words: “I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Here we learn that
the Lord speaks life into the believing soul, “dead in trespass and in sins,”
and subsequently fills and floods the soul, body and spirit with more abundant
life; which latter experience, the natural inference is, relates to the incoming
Comforter, the full baptism of the “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” There is no
incongruity in speaking of a larger measure of life conferred where life already
exists. Do we not often see branches of trees that possess life in a very faint
degree, as compared with others that are fresh with vigor, and laden with fruit?
Now, if that which prevented the supply of sap could be entirely removed, would
there not soon be an increase flow of life to that branch? So life enters the
soul as we are engrafted into the true vine; but when the Father purges out the
acrimonious and obstructing canker of inbred sin, the full life of Jesus
naturally flows into, and permeates . . . every part of the branch, enabling it
to bring forth “more abundant fruit.” When the “body of death” that remains and
wars in unsanctified babes in Christ is fully destroyed and cast out, is there
not room for a more abundant influx of divine life? When, by a personal
experience, Christ is made unto us sanctification, He also becomes the complete
life of the soul. As the Scriptures distinguish between “peace with God” and
“the peace of God,” so we are first made alive unto God through Christ Jesus;
second, receive the “life of God;” “as God hath said, I will dwell in them and
walk in them” (2 Corinthians 6:16). The Apostle Paul presents the foregoing as
promises by which his “dearly beloved” brethren were to “cleanse themselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,” and thus “perfect holiness in the fear
of God.” As natural life is commensurate with physical health, so
holiness—complete wholeness, or soundness of the soul—is necessary to the
enjoyment of perfect spiritual life. This higher Christian experience of the
true God-life in the soul is the identical glory that comes upon the church
through Jesus Christ, and the holy reign of the Paraclete—the representative of
the God-head; for thus saith the Lord: “The glory which thou gavest me I have
given them that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me,
that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:22-23). Hence, for the Ephesians,
who had already been quickened from the dead, Paul prayed “that Christ may swell
in your hearts by faith,” i.e., that Christ may exclude from the heart, every
other spring of action and become Himself the only and all pervading life of the
soul. Yea, he adds, “that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” O,
who would not part with his own life for the hidden and eternal life of the
invisible God? Notwithstanding the “great things,” the Apostle to the Gentiles
was called to suffer in consequence of this divine union; he gloried alone in
its crucifixion. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me.” He accepted the death of self that he “might live unto
God” (Galatians 2:19-20). Here is the secrete of a life that tells for good, a
life that teams with rich fruitage of praises and hallelujahs to God, and sends
forth perennial streams of life and gladness to lost and perishing humanity. It
is not good resolutions, or self-culture, or mortifying discipline, or natural
genius, or acquired learning, but the more abundant and all constraining life of
Jesus, manifest in the soul that “turns many to righteousness” and lights up
this dark world with the glory of God and songs of salvation. Neither is this
divine and world-moving life conferred by an arbitrary act of God’s providence;
nay, “this honor have all the saints.” But, “Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Ah! Here is the condition from which the
flesh shrinks. At these sayings of the Son of God, many go away sorrowful and
forever abide alone, frozen up in the frigid zone of self. O, may the infinite
love of Jesus constrain my dear readers to “fall into the ground and die” that
ye may “bring forth much fruit,” for “herein is my Father glorified.” Jesus
never can enter and become the life-pulse of a soul until self gives up the
ghost and sinks into the earth as the above scripture teaches. For it has not,
as some think, an exclusive reference to Christ, because He immediately adds,
“He that loveth his life, shall loose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:24-25). There must not only be a
perfect renunciation and crucifixion of self, but also an all-appropriating
faith in Christ. Yea, “except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His
blood,”—except ye receive the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God, to the full
extent of its saving virtues—ye cannot have this wonder working life of God in
you. It is only in the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we can taste
and fully drink in the “powers of an endless life.” Dear brother, has the Day of
Pentecost fully come to your soul? If not, may you go at once to the upper room
and tarry there until you are “filled with the Spirit” and “more abundant life”
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My soul is only longing For the hidden life of God: And its crystal stream is
flowing, From the precious living Word.

Life, a river, more abundant, All proceeding from the throne; Hallelujah! It is
Jesus; And His life is all my own.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 30: 30. WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES
========================================================================

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4)

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12:11)

These texts show that we must first be born of God; and second, overcome the
world, which blessed triumph is through faith by the blood of the Lamb and by
the word of our testimony; with these must be joined a perfect consecration to
God, which includes the very life—“they loved not their lives unto the death.” I
think all will agree with the assertion that no man fully overcomes the world
while any of its fallen turbid nature remains in his moral constitution. “For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
Hence, until the flesh is fully destroyed—the old man entirely put to death—by
the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, perfect triumph is an object of
pursuit instead of a present realization. Nearly all find their peace often
ruffled, their advancement much embarrassed, and an indwelling and often
prevailing tendency to bend to the “course of this world” so long as they are
beset with inherited evil; this foe in their nature they must continually battle
down or lose their justification. Therefore, it is not true in fact, that such
have overcome the world. But in every way we may view it, this world-overcoming
power is just what the one hundred and twenty disciples received on the Day of
Pentecost, and every soul that is born of God may now experience in the same
refining fire. The object of this all-victorious grace, as pointed out by John,
indicates a moral change, an adjustment of our nature to the law of the Lord.
“And His commandments are not grievous, for, (because, Diaglott and Doddridge)
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” This implies that until the
child of God overcomes the world, the divine precepts are somewhat grievous, or
difficult’ this fact we have shown in the chapter on “the yoke made easy.” The
higher grace of full assurance is often urged as necessary to a complete
conformity to the will of God (2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 13:20-21). There is in
Revelation a chain of texts that, in my mind—and I think, I have the mind of the
Spirit on the same—paint the beauty and glory of this triumphant grace.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

Christ is evidently the tree of life: “Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood hath eternal life,” “shall life forever” (John 6:51, 54). The “flaming
sword” that God placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden “to keep the way of
the tree of life” was graciously removed when “He who is our life, was
manifest:” when the Son of God “brought life and immortality to light through
the Gospel.” This tree is in the midst of the Paradise of God, indicative of the
fact that “where sin abounded”—as the result of Adam’s transgression—“grace did
much more abound” through Christ Jesus. As Adam bore the image of God before he
forfeited paradise, so we are “renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that
created us” (Colossians 3:10). In divine likeness, or moral purity, at least, we
are, in this life, permitted to return into the very “midst of the paradise of
God” from which our first parents fell. This is the “more abundant” gift of life
promised by the Savior, not to sinners, but as the “Spirit saith, to the
churches.”

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He
that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Revelation 2:11)

Should I have missed the real meaning of this text, the ideas I here advance are
nevertheless consonant with the Word. The first death is the crucifixion of the
“old man,” or “body of sin,” the second may apply to natural death or the final
punishment of the wicked, or both taken together. It is a fact that a soul that
is entirely sanctified shall never be hurt by either of these, the first is
changed into a blissful departure to be more fully with the Lord: the second
shall never be seen. “The sting of death is sin,” but in the act of overcoming
faith, the soul sinks beneath the “blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, which
cleanseth us from all sin.” “Being then made free from sin” “Christ hath
abolished death,” for “it is a faithful saying, that if we be dead with Him, we
shall also live with Him.”

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he
that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17)

The hidden manna denotes the blessed food in store for the soul within the
holiest. It is only tasted by those that are dead indeed to sin and self, and
have attained the “life that is hid with Christ in God.” The white stone and new
name denote the new experience of perfect purity. It corresponds with the hidden
life, which no man knoweth saving he in whose breast the invisible God has taken
up His permanent abode, and set up His heavenly reign of love. Glory to the God
of all grace, for this secret millennium in the soul.

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give
power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the
vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my
Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 2:26-29)

As we pass over these texts, bear in mind that this triumph over the world is
the full assurance of faith and must be preceded by the new birth: hence, it is
the second grace. “And keepeth my works.” This probably refers to good works
enjoined by Christ in which the saved should walk, but it may denoted the
retaining of the works that Jesus had wrought in the fully saved, i.e.,
regeneration and entire sanctification. Again, it seems quite natural to apply
it to this promise: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth, the
works that I do, shall he do because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12), that is,
if I go away I will send the Comforter, which will enable you to do the works
that I have done and even greater. “And I will give him the morning star,” that
is, He give Himself, for saith He, “I am the bright and morning star”
(Revelation 22:16). The perfect triumph and full assurance of faith apprehends
Christ as the “fullness of the blessing of the Gospel,” as the more abundant
life, the complete sanctification, and only guiding star of the soul. To these
living temples of the Holy Ghost, the King Eternal gives power over the nations!
This fact is abundantly recorded in history: the kingdoms of the earth have
trembled at the presence of the Jehovah of Hosts. The church that goes forth in
her primitive purity and power is God Himself in motion. This power has shaken
whole empires and nations in the person of Saint Paul , Thomas Kempis, Madame
Guyon, Archbishop Fenelon, Whitefield, Luther, Wesley, Knox, and others. “And he
shall rule them with a rod of iron.” Holiness is not that flexible, effeminate
and hurt-nobody spirit that some think it is. It is radical anti-sin, a terror
and destruction to all the works of the Devil. Christ is both the “Lamb of God”
and the “Lion of the tribe of Judah ,” and He being the real embodiment of
holiness in the soul, suffers wrong with the silent resignation of a lamb, but
sallies forth upon the workers of iniquity with the terror of a lion. Yea, he
breaks froth as a storm of divine wrath upsetting the tables and breaking to
shivers the “vessels of dishonor” that corrupt the temple of His glory.
Therefore, he that is not a lion in the defense of truth and denunciation of
sin, as well as a lamb to suffer for Christ’s sake, is a false representative of
Christ. Hear again what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my
Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

Here the divine order in dispensing the gifts of saving grace is so clearly
defined that a “wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein.” First have
the name recorded in the church book in heaven—be born of God. Second, overcome
the world, which is through faith, the cleansing blood, and testimony, or the
“profession of our faith;” and in the second change to soul puts on the pure
“white raiment,” “the righteousness of God,” given to the saints.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall
go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of
the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from
my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:5)

Here the glorious gift of full salvation is offered “to the churches” in figures
that relate to establishing power. Paul says, “Ye are God’s building,” “Ye are
the temple of God .” Peter says, “Ye also as lively stones are built up a
spiritual house.” To be made a “pillar in the temple of God ” is simply to be
mighty through God in his church, “sanctified and meet for the Master’s use,” so
that he can safely rest on him the great concerns of his holy edifice. Paul
tells us that “James, Cephas and John seemed to be pillars” (Galatians 2:9).
Because they were filled with faith and the Holy Ghost, they were the chief
upholders of the “House of God, which is the church of the living God.” “And he
shall go no more out,” i.e., his “heart is fixed,” “stablished unblameable in
holiness.” We are made pillars by being “made perfect, stablished, strengthened,
settled” (1 Peter 5:10).

Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2
Corinthians 2:21-22)

Thus we see the full triumph of faith is a comparatively fixed state, wherein
the soul, like a mighty column, stands erect in the temple of God , and is able
to cry out in every storm of life, “None of these things move me.” “And I will
write upon him the name of my God,” seal him forever with the Holy Ghost unto
God. “And I will write upon him my new name.” This corresponds with the white
stone and new name. It doubtless denotes the new relation to and appropriation
of Christ, in the higher grace; before He was loved as our pardoning Savior in
world-overcoming faith, and then summing up the whole in the gift and indwelling
of Himself, the Lord now directs their attention forward to the future glory of
His kingdom. Once more the Spirit saith to the churches, “To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set
down with my Father in His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Following this promise we
have scenes about the throne in heaven. We have now traced the inheritance of
sanctification from the everlasting covenant recorded in Genesis to the end of
Revelation on the Isle of Patmos, and we find the oracles of God declare with
wonderful harmony that entire sanctification, perfect holiness, freedom from all
sin—including inbred unrighteousness—perfect purity, perfect love, the baptism
of fire, and the indwelling and perfect fellowship of the Three-one God, through
the omnipotent Spirit are all embraced in each other, and constitute a glorious
experience, uniformly and exclusively promised to the regenerate children of
God. From one end of the Bible to the other, it is “what the Spirit saith unto
the churches.”

And if you want more witnesses We have some just at hand, Who lately have
experienced The glory of this land.

It comes in copious showers down, Our souls can scarce contain, It fill our
ransomed powers now, And yet we drink again.

Thousands have believed these “exceeding great and precious promises” and the
result has been a realization of the same in a personal experience; for it is a
characteristic of a genuine and well-grounded faith that it results in positive
knowledge as Jesus said, “If any man shall do His will, he shall know of the
doctrine.” Acting upon a proposed truth is the proper and infallible means of
testing it. In the promises of Revelation, as will as in anything else, truth
practically believed becomes truth demonstrated, while the infidel “believes a
lie” and gropes on in the fog of mere suppositions. When Columbus believed that
there was another continent on this globe, his faith led to action, and that to
knowledge. Fulton believed that water could be navigated by steam, and his faith
developed the knowledge of that fact. Professor Morse’s faith in the possibility
of communicating intelligence by electro-magnetism led to the knowledge of that
fact. So the penitent sinner believers the promises of divine pardon, and the
immediate result is the “knowledge of salvation by the remission of sin.” So,
also, the child of God believes with his whole heart the many promises of
perfect salvation from inbred evil, and believing, he is made very whit
whole—“pure even as He is pure.” As Christ said to His disciples who had already
followed Him in the regeneration, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free” (John 8:31-32). When the Christian realizes complete deliverance, the
truth that was before believed becomes instantly truth demonstrated, or
positively known by conscious experience. Therefore the “second grace,” the
“fullness of God” in the soul, is not a matter of mere probability because
thousands have entered into the blessed repose and are actually swelling in the
land. To dispute this experience were as if some one would contend that
Christopher Columbus was a fool and fanatic for believing that there is a
western continent in this world. Would not every man that ever saw this great
country set such a man down for a lunatic? Especially would he not appear silly
to all who actually live on American soil? Just imagine such an anomaly as this,
you that boldly profess your unbelief in the higher Christian grace, and you
have before your mind a perfect counterpart to your own folly. What! Admit that
there is an American continent, even all the inhabitants of the earth who never
saw it, and yet deny the Canaan of perfect love, where thousands have lived
before America was discovered, and thousands “inherit the blessing” and are
“eating the good of the land” today? Shame on such ego-will incredulity. Why the
King of Beulah land is the “Blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and
Lord of Lords” and “of the increase of His government and peace there is no
end.” The history of this great empire of love is crowded with the most
brilliant triumphs that have ever been recorded; its location and all its
boundary lines are clearly mapped out in the infallible geography given by its
Founder. Its inhabitants, especially they that dwell in the interior of the
commonwealth, are noted as being able, singly, to chase a thousand aliens, and
two put ten thousand to flight. The precious fruits of this holy land fill all
the spiritual depots of this wide world. And yet, with all this, some strange
cases of chronic unbelief, because they have not seen it with their own eyes,
and experienced it in their own hearts, arrogantly deny the existence of this
inner and hidden universe of divine love and glory.

What think ye, who say in pride, “We take the Bible for our guide;” And yet,
with selfish boastfulness Oppose the cause of holiness.

No more delay, to seek this grace, For heaven is a holy place; You cannot stand
before your God, Unless you’re washed in Jesus’ blood.

Come then; lay every weight aside, And plunge beneath the crimson tide; Now
prove Him, and He will show The wonders of His love to you.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 31: 31. THE WILD OLIVE ROOT
========================================================================

There dwelt in a certain town two men, and to each of them there had been
conveyed by a clear will, and handed down through a long line of ancestors, a
small but very precious life lot and dwelling house. But soon after they had
conscious possession of the same, there began to spring up from their inherited
soil something which seemed to sting their tender feet, and plant thorns in
their happy hours: quite frequently it made their innocent and lovely faces look
fierce and scowly, and changed their sweet voices to frightful shrieks.
Sometimes these attacks of frenzy were so sudden and violent that they would
cast them down and cause them to scream and wallow in the dirt, and sometimes
they would become quite stiff while the fit lasted. This evil tree grew with
their growth and became more and more troublesome. It spread its branches over
their abodes, and shut out the sweet and healthful light of the sun from both
door and windows. Its wiry tendrils forced their way through every crevice of
the house and coiled like serpents upon the walls. Its fruit was poison, its
thorns dangerous and its leaves corrupting. Its spreading roots and prolific
sprouts threatened to choke out every useful plant. Accordingly these good
neighbors communed together freely of their common misfortune. They heartily
wished that the trees might be destroyed, but as they were large and very tough,
and their branches legion, they could not see how to remove them. Moreover, as
the years passed on, strange though it be, they acquired an appetite for the
fruit. True, when they first partook, it caused intense suffering, but being
always surrounded by it, it being also pleasant to look upon, they continued to
tamper with it until the treacherous habit had firmly fastened it hold upon them
(James 1:15), hence they were loath to part with the trees. But as their sottish
life passed on they were often deeply convicted and most sorely pained with the
fact that their desire for the fruit was abnormal and brutish, that if blasted
their financial interest, corrupted their morals, benumbed their intellects and
destroyed the peace and happiness of their families, that it bread discontent,
filled the system with disease, and hastened to a wretched death and gloomy
future (Proverbs 13:15; Job 9:4; Psalm 9:17). What troubled the conscience of
these men most of all, they saw their poor, innocent children following their
pernicious example and eating also of the deadly fruit (John 8:41, 44). These
things brought sorrow and deep conviction upon their souls. The real origin, the
depth and great magnitude of the root that bore this tree, lay buried out of
their sight, but for the outward manifestations of its fruits, and their eating
thereof, to the hurt of their souls and others, they were themselves to blame,
and being now awakened to see these things they were in very great trouble and
convictions by reason thereof, yea, they could scarcely think of anything else
by day an by night. The evil for which they were personally responsible entirely
eclipsed the evil they had innocently inherited. Having at last applied to the
proper help, they were happily permitted to see the trees cut down to the very
ground, their branches and fruit all destroyed. Then were they very happy, all
the trouble that had born so heavily upon their hearts was removed. The pure
sweet rays of light now shone directly into the house. Their companions seemed
dearer than ever before, and their children much sweeter. They met together
daily to congratulate each other for the new and happy change. They also talked
of their folly in living so long beneath the gloomy shades, and indulging so
much in the poison fruit of the old Adam tree (Romans 8:13). Then would their
heart leap for joy and their tears of gratitude flow for the better life they
had found. They both remarked that their present lot reminded them of their
childhood innocence, before the tree of death had sprang up and brought forth
its fruit (Matthew 18:3). The same kind hand that removed the trees with all
their fruit, planted in their lots new seeds (Matthew 13:18-22; 1 John 3:9),
which immediately germinated and decked all their walks with fair and lovely
flowers of peace, and filled their lots with delicious and healthful fruit. But
ere long a slight gloom mingled with the sunshine of those heats. An occasional
uprising of the old root was manifest among the good plants, at which they were
no little pained and surprised, for they had supposed that it was clean gone
forever. They had no more hankering for its fruits, yea, they dreaded its
slightest appearance and hastened to suppress every sprout. They break their
minds to each other, and find in each the same experience. They now begin to dig
down and examine the trouble, when behold, they find the same root that bear the
tree of their former sin, and all the evil fruit of their past life. They found,
however, that it was quite an old root, and was much stunned by the recent
change in their lots. They also observed that the roots of the new plants were
much more vigorous and had by far the ascendancy in the soil. So they cheered
their hearts and applied themselves diligently to the culture of the good
plants, hoping that the “sarka” root would soon die out altogether. But, alas,
it would not die; its noxious shoots even increased, and while they gave the
more earnest heed to keep them down in one part of the lot they grew the more in
another; and with all their watching and labor, at certain seasons these shoots
would come near to bearing their deadly fruit (James 1:15). Thus they found
trouble, and lived in much fear that the plague of their past life would again
get the mastery. Their thrift was also much hindered, they “could not do the
things that they would” because of the time required to prevent a recurrence of
the wild olive fruit” (Romans 11:17). Finally they began to inquire if there was
not some more effectual way to dispose of the besetting evil than mere
cultivation. Whereupon their neighbors about all said there was no deliverance
to be obtained, that the lot had fallen to them thus, and thus they must live in
it all their days. But as they pondered these things in their minds, a voice
said unto them, “Heed not those counsels, perfect deliverance will yet come, the
benevolent Father who had bestowed upon you such a good heritage has surely not
decreed this evil upon it.” Then they bethought themselves to search the will of
their kind and venerable Parent to see if this encumbrance was included in the
original devise. Whereupon they soon found that everything that came from His
hands was “very good” and that their lots were originally bequeathed free from
every annoyance. Then they diligently searched the records to find, if possible,
the source of the great nuisance. And, behold, thus they found it written, that
the malignant root appeared in the soil as the natural conception of a grievous
act of disobedience committed by their ancestors, to whom the heritage was first
entrusted, and from them it has been transmitted to the lot of all their
descendants (Romans 5:12, 19). Then they greatly feared and trembled. But as
they looked farther on, they found that their merciful and all-wise Father had
made a second will (2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Hebrews 8:6-13), which, because of its
wonderful and condescending offers of amnesty, and its out gushing of the
Father’s love and good will, is called THE GLAD TIDINGS of great joy to all men.
Now they plainly read in this last Will and Testament that every “root of
bitterness,” yea, “every plant that my Father has not planted shall be rooted
up.” Then were they glad when they saw that He, by whose good pleasure they held
their lot, willed that it should be pure from every encumbrance as when first
bequeathed, even as the “garden of the Lord.” Yea, so intent was the will for
the purity of every lot that it contained this solemn warning, to wit, that
every one who neglects or refuses to have the curse plague destroyed, by so
doing forfeits all the good of his lot. Now it remained for them to learn the
way by which the pestiferous thing could be gotten rid of: they digged deeper
and deeper, if possible to find the end of it, but they were only pained and
humbled by new discoveries of its magnitude and offensiveness. At last Anti
Hobby, for such was the name of one of the men, when he saw how deep down he
must go before the trouble could be taken out, became discouraged and gave it
up. Now when Mr. Legality and Mr. Incredulity, who had all along made much sport
of the endeavors of these two men, heard of this, they came at once to
congratulate Mr. Anti Hobby for what they deemed his wise conclusion. They also
assured him that the old stump and its pernicious roots could never be extracted
and that it was all waste time to attempt it. Likewise Mr. Fight Holiness came a
great ways to see him and admonish him of the great folly and dementing
influence of seeking the complete deliverance. So he left the ugly old root
stick and began to dig at its uprising sprouts. Now it came to pass that after
Mr. Anti Hobby began to take counsel with those men, he thought more of the
things of earth and less of the things that concern the soul. He had no relish
for the company of his old friend, though when he chanced to meet him he talked
much the same as before, but Mr. D. Faith could see that his heart was no longer
in the matter. He went about his lot digging a little at this grub, then at
that, hitting a lick first at one sprout, then at another; for, said he, I like
a great deal of variety and do not believe in harping on one thing all the time.
But D. Faith “had another spirit with him,” his whole mind was steadfastly set
for the removal of the old heart-root, the mother of all the evil in his lot,
and only canker of his heavenly joy; hence he put in all his time digging at the
one point, he aimed every blow at the same mark. Now it came to pass that Anti
Hobby passed that way again, and seeing that the heart of D. Faith was till all
united in the one thing and being emboldened because Mr. Fight Holiness was with
him—these two were full brothers—he began to deride Mr. D. Faith and call him
hard names, and said he was becoming crazy. Said he, “Why work at the one thing
all the time? Why not dig from place to place? What will people think of you? If
you knew the talk that was in the mouths of the neighbors, I am sure you would
leave off your foolish hobby ways. Why, you can scarcely think or talk of
anything else but the obtaining of a pure lot; away with such nonsense, I am
disgusted with it, I hate to see a man ride a hobby to death.” Then said Mr.
Fight Holiness, “I know I am accused of opposing holiness, but it is a mistake.
I dearly love holiness, yea, I have been preaching it up these many years, but
this fanaticism that teaches that God can take all the evil nature out of a man,
and do it all at once, I don’t believe in. It is contrary to reason. I think we
all have to fight our bad propensities as long as we live. I confess I do, and
every expect to oppose these wild notions.” Then answered Mr. D. Faith, as
follows, “You say, Mr. Fight Holiness, you do not believe that men can
experience perfect salvation from sin in this life, and yet you confess that you
will oppose the doctrine as long as you live; now it seems to me you are in
small business, to oppose this experience, while you at the same time deny that
it exists. Are you not then beating the air? Why trouble yourself to fight a
thing you think no one can every attain? And you, my dear friend Anti Hobby, you
would have me leave off seeking this definite experience, the destruction of
this venomous old stump. Now I perceive of a truth, that it is the source of
every noxious outgrowth in my lot and shall I spend time in cutting down the
evil product, while their source remains to curse the soil with a new and
increased crop? Is it not wiser to remove the cause at once? If we labor to kill
out the sprouts only, we forever fail, though we may keep them from bearing
fruit, but if we destroy this, their life source, they must die and disappear
also. Moreover, I have more easy victory over these outcroppings since I seek
this definite work, the death of their origin, than ever before; but I pray
thee, consider once thine own lot, it thy way is so good, tell me why such an
increase of the noxious growth since thou hast left off walking with thy best
friend, Definite Faith. Alas! All the good of thy lot perisheth.” With these
words their mouths were stopped, and they went their way. Anti Hobby was much
convicted of the error of his way, but having joined freely in ridiculing
Definite Faith, he was ashamed to follow his noble example now. Now, when they
were gone, D. Faith rejoiced in spirit and said, “One thing have I desired of
the Lord, that will I seek after” that my lot may be “free indeed” from
everything that springeth not up to thy glory. As for Mr. Anti Hobby, he
hardened his heart yet more and more against Definite Faith, and daily joined
with them that hated and persecuted him. Now it came to pass that Brother Eye
Single heard of the trials of D. Faith and came to see him. This good man lived
in one of the high mountain cities of Israel , beyond Jordan , and it was a very
bright spot on Praise Street where his house stood. But when Definite Faith saw
him coming toward his house he feared to have him enter because the had heard
that he was crazy and many other reports had gone out concerning him and
agitated the who country round about. Now when he came in, instead of going
through the established formalities and talking about the business and news of
the day, as the fashion was, he began at once to inquire how his soul prospered;
but when he saw that D. Faith was somewhat shy, he waited not for an answer, but
began to tell of the wonderful dealings of God with his own soul, at which the
heart of D. Faith began to melt and his tears flow. Then he made his confession
and said: Sir, in my heart I feared to have thee come into my house, but now I
am glad that thou art come. Yea, now I know that the Lord hath sent thee and is
with thee, for I feel that there is a light in thy heart, and wisdom and grace
in thy words that shall greatly help me. Then he opened his heart and told him
all his trouble; of the tree that appeared shortly after he became conscious of
possessing his lot, of the guilt and misery that ensued from indulging its acrid
fruit, and the bitter cup of repentance. But as he told of the happy day when
the merciful hand of the unseen Deliverer destroyed the tree, with all its
branches and fruit, his tears of joy and gratitude flowed freely, and he added,
that through the favor of Him that upholdeth the weak, he had suffered not its
cursed fruit, nor had but few occasion to drink again the penitential cup. He
also told of the sunny days that passed ere he discovered that the old root
remained still alive and that since then the joy of his new life had been
mingled with the painful consciousness of another want, the extraction of the
mother root of evil. Then said Brother Single Eye, “What hast thou done to
obtain this great blessing?” D.F.—I have done everything I knew, and that was in
my power, and I have wept much because I knew not what more I could do.
E.S.—Tell me, by what authority thou hast hoped for this perfect deliverance?
D.F.—The bountiful Father of us all, who has given me this lot, hath in His last
Will and Testament most emphatically devised and provided this most excellent
gift, which to bestow upon us He hath even sacrificed His well-beloved and only
begotten Son; and being “willing yet more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (Hebrews
6:17). Therefore I verily believe the promise with my whole heart. E.S.—Well
said, my dear brother Definite Faith. I perceive of a truth that thou hast not
thy name in vain. But I pray thee, answer me yet this question: If one will an
estate to another free of all encumbrance, and aught be found upon it, who must
make it good, the one who hath made the will or deed, or the one receiving the
inheritance? D.F.—The testator, and not the receiver. E.S.—Thou has answered
correctly, but tell me, why is this, that thou hast labored so long and hard
thyself to dispossess the “old man,” who was wont to cover thy lot with his foul
claim? D.F.—O, my brother, I did not think of that before. Now I begin to see
where I have missed the mark. E.S.—Thou hast not only suffered in vain, all this
trouble and labor to free thy hereditament, but thou has also insulted the honor
and dignity of our Lord, who hath willed thee a clear lot, and sealed the
Testament in His own blood, for in attempting to take His business into thine
own hands, thou hast set Him at naught and distrusted His word. D.F.—Surely, I
have done foolishly, but as the Lord liveth, I knew it not, but now I repent. O,
my Lord, forgive me for I did this thing ignorantly in unbelief. And now, my
brother, since thou hast shown me these things, tell me, I pray thee, what may I
do to obtain the great deliverance. E.S.—Thou canst do nothing but submit the
whole matter to Him who hath graciously willed it to thee, who also will do it.
For though the will is very old, its business is yet far from being settled up.
Therefore doth the Executor still hold His office and is ready to attend to
every claim that is presented under the will. D.F.—That is good news. Canst thou
tell me the name of this great Officer, and where we can find Him? E.S—His name
is Hagion Parakletos. He delighteth greatly in His office and the power of the
Almighty is with Him to execute all that is in the will. Yea, even the
“exceedingly great and precious promises.” Moreover, be assured that “He is not
very far from thee.” D.F.—Blessed be thou that bringest me these good tidings.
But think you He will do this thing for me now? And how shall we engage Him?
Then Brother Eye Single opened the Will and read therein these words, “Behold,
now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.” Then these, “I
will yet be inquired of by thee to do this thing for thee.” “Ask and ye shall
receive.” So they drew up a petition to the great Father that He should
immediately send the Hagion Parakletos (Holy Comforter) to execute His gracious
Will in delivering poor Definite Faith from this grievous old heart root. Now
that this petition might be received by the Father of mercies, they also added
the name of His beloved Son Emanuel, and made mention therein of His blood that
was shed for this very purpose. Then began Definite Faith to look up with
expectation, but instead of relief came greater distress and anguish than ever
before. His soul fainted within him as he saw the dreadful tenacity of the ugly
“old man” that had so long contested every inch of his lot. He trembled with
horror and cried out in his agony, saying, “O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from this body of death. O, when will Parakletos come to my help. O,
I shall die, I shall die, for the hand of the Lord is sore upon me, even the day
of the vengeance of my God.” Thus the heavens and the earth shook at the
presence of the Almighty. (Isaiah 63:1-4; Joel 3:16-21, 1:14-15; Malachi 3:1-3)
Then said Eye Single: Fear not, only believe, for Parakletos hath already come,
and this that thou art suffering is His work of deliverance, for every sacrifice
must be salted by fire, and it is a “faithful saying, if we be dead with Him, we
shall also live with Him.” Then Definite Faith fully ceased from his own works
and, with Eye Single, steadfastly looked to the Deliverer until He bowed the
heavens and came down. Then Queen Quiescence stretched forth her lovely scepter
and hushed the universe into silence, and there was a great calm after the
storm. And when Definite Faith arose, behold, it was the Sabbath day, even the
everlasting Sabbath of the Lord. Then was the old pestiferous root with all its
outcropping clean gone. Then the peace of God, the wide, deep, and never ruffled
river began its everlasting flow in the soul of Brother Definite Faith. His body
seemed almost transparent with purity and irradiated with light, while his home
seemed to be elevated millions of miles nearer the sun. As we might suppose, the
news of this wonderful change soon spread abroad and caused a great commotion in
the country, insomuch that it was all the talk. And now, that the mighty
Parakletos had made his permanent abode in the heart of Definite Faith, he was
filled with boldness and published from house to house the wonderful works of
God, so that the country was shaken for ten miles round about. Many were glad to
be taught by him the more excellent way, and commenced to walk therein; and many
more who would not sell out their stuff, were nevertheless provoked to amend
their lot when they saw the purity and fruitfulness of his. But there were also
many that jeered and mocked him as he went about his master’s work, and they of
his own synagogue were much stirred up against him by Mr. Fight Holiness, who
affirmed that he was gone crazy, so they cast him out; but he was the more
exceedingly happy, even as his Lord hath said (Luke 6:22). Now it came to pass,
as he continued to fear and obey God only, and declare all the counsel of His
word, that poor old Brother Fear-the-truth and Brother Love-my-church, who were
both very conspicuous in their church, began to fear and tremble greatly, lest
Brothers Eye Single and Definite Faith teach the people too much of the one way
of the Lord, and thus overthrow the walls of partition. Now as Definite Faith
still loved his old friend, Anti Hobby, he thought well to go unto him once
more, if possible, to prevail upon him also to inherit the blessing. But when he
came to the place, behold, he had some time before moved from that street, over
on “Thorn and Brier,” which “is nigh unto Cursing” Street (Hebrews 6:8). So he
went to hunt him up, but who, when he saw him coming became ashamed because of
the many brambles on his lot. Then he began with great hast to dig them up, and
the nearer D. Faith came, the harder he worked; yea, he flung his mattock with
such great violence that the ground fell all over him, so that he was covered
and besmeared with the earth (John 3:31). Poor man, when he saw the composure of
Brother D. Faith and the clean, white robe he wore, he was troubled, and wished
he would turn off another way, but when he still came straight toward him, he
began to study by what words he could the sooner bluff him off and so get rid of
him. Acting upon this thought he called out to him. A.H.—Well, old neighbor
hobby, I hear that you have found a religion that is all rest, now I have no
faith in any such a lazy religion. I think we must work and strive against our
sin as long as we live. D.F.—Well, my dear brother, I too think we ought to be
very active, for in this short life there is so much to be done; so many souls
to be saved. But had we not better let the great Redeemer save us from all our
sin, and keep us by His own power, so that we might be able to work the better
for Him? A.H.—I don’t believe that we can be free from the roots of sin; we must
always strive against the evil shoots. Then brother Definite Faith began to tell
of the perfect deliverance he had recently experienced, whereupon Anti Hobby
became no little exited and cried out, “All this I have experienced long ago.”
To which Brother Definite Faith calmly replied, as follows: “Why, my brother, I
am glad to hear this testimony of thee. But please now tell me, when was the old
“sarka” root taken out of thy lot? A.H.—Why, when the tree and its fruit was
destroyed, of course the root was also destroyed, for God doeth not His work by
degrees. D.F.—I fear, my brother that thy testimony doth not agree. First, thou
sayest we must contend with the corrupt inherited root and its sprouts while we
live; then thou turnest right around and declarest that when the tree and its
dearly fruit was destroyed, the original root was also taken clean out of thy
lot—what sayest thou? And hast thou also forgotten the many times we have talked
of this dreaded encumbrance, that remained after our fist happy deliverance;
surely, thou rememberest well the numerous times thou didst, even with weeping,
confess this evil bent in the soil of thy lot after its great outgrowth was
removed. Can it be possible that all thy pains and trouble, because of this evil
spring, came from imagination? How can it be, my brother that this tenacious
monstrous foe was destroyed these many years ago, and yet thou hast only now
found it out? And how sayest thou that the corrupt stump is gone when we see its
pernicious sprouts all around? Yeas, alas! Its very fruit is manifest again on
thy lot! Repent, therefore, and do thy first works. And here he left him to
ponder these things, and went on his way, being greatly blessed with the
Comforter and filled with joyful assurance. So he broke out in this happy song.

O, I can no longer doubt it; Hallelujah! I am free. Jesus saves me, soul and
body, Parakletos dwells in me.

But with these heavenly transports in his soul, he could not forget poor Brother
Anti Hobby, how well he had began the way of life, but now his hope is well-nigh
perished, especially since he hath moved over on the street where Messrs.
Formality, Legality, and Incredulity live. Moreover, he hath become somewhat
inter-related with these families and they are all quite nearly related to Mr.
I. N. Fidel, who lives a little farther down the street. It might have been
expected by some that the author should have herein written out his experience,
but since I have been furnished with that of Definite Faith, I deem it
unnecessary. Grace and peace be multiplied to the reader, through the knowledge
of God, and “His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Fare well.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; O, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of
salvation purchased of God, Born of His spirit, washed in His blood. This is my
story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/second-work-of-grace/
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