HOW TO OBTAIN THE BLESSING OF SANCTIFICATION

Nothing seems simpler to the man who has received the blessing than the way of holiness, while to the person not yet in the experience nothing is darker. One of the reasons that it is called “the secret of the Lord” is that it is a hidden experience to begin with, and it takes the Lord to reveal the blessing. It is the Lord’s secret. After he has revealed it to us we tell it to others, show the way we trod, and wonder that they do not at once enter in. We forget that once we were as profoundly mystified, and the whole matter wrapped in darkness. Letters have been written to me, anxious questionings have been propounded: “How may I enter in?” The reply I would make to all is:

First, you must believe that there is such a blessing. More depends upon this than one would at first imagine. The fact of doubt shuts me not only out of the blessing, but will prevent all effort to obtain it. Christ says: “According to your faith, so shall it be unto you.” If I do not believe that Christ can justify, it will not be done; and if I do not believe that he can sanctify, I will never realize that blessed experience.

Second, you must realize your need of this blessing. Here let me say that if the regenerated man who reads these lines has never felt convicted, at some time or times, of the necessity of having a perfectly pure and holy heart, then his case is anomalous. These convictions which are wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, if not acted upon, will disappear, and the Christian settles back upon a comparatively low plane again. To obtain the blessing of a holy heart the conviction must be aroused again. This will be effected by a humble, prayerful waiting upon God. He that adopts Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24 as his petition will be amazed at what follows. Just as conviction preceded pardon and conversion, so a second and far deeper conviction precedes purity, or the blessing of sanctification. Certainly he who is satisfied with present attainment, content with a life of fallings and risings, alternate defeats and victories, states of coldness and gloom, and, above all, the presence of sinful tendencies in the heart, such a one will never come into the great blessing.

Third, you must desire the blessing. God must see that you long for it supremely. This time you are not to enter upon service, but upon marriage. Christ is going to establish the most tender and delightful and permanent relationship. He, on this occasion, is going to make the heart holy, and then forever abide in it. In the regenerated life he was a wayfarer that turned in for a night, but in sanctification he is going to dwell in you, consciously, forever. (John xiv. 23. ) He is going to give himself to you in his fullness. Such a gift demands that your heart cry out with burning desires and quenchless longings.

Fourth, you must seek for the blessing. There must be no idle, indolent waiting. The tarrying at Jerusalem was any thing but an idle one. The hours and days were filled with the most ardent seeking and importunate supplication. You must seek for it. Conscience must bear witness that you are seeking; people must see it; nature in the lonely grove and watchful stars must know it; above all, God must see that you are seeking the greatest blessing he has for us on earth. It must be a seeking that will not be diverted by anything. The frowns and smiles of men, the ridicule and opposition certain to come must not be regarded–no, not for one moment. You must desire it like the man of the parable, who parted with all he had for the treasure in the field, and like another, who gave up all his gems for the pearl of great price.

Fifth, you must not be discouraged. A thousand things will arise to create despondency and despair. You will see other people pass in before you. Satan will be busy with you here, but keep your eyes on Christ, and not the people. You may be troubled with fluctuations of feeling. Experience of deadness and heaviness may possibly creep over you. Pay no attention to them. You are not sanctified by your feelings.

Satan will endeavor, in various ways, to darken your mind and sadden your heart. The dark birds of gloom, doubt, and despair will swoop down upon your altar; but, like Abraham, stand and keep them off, and wait till God sends the fire. The fire will come, and likewise the burning lamp. That is, the work will be done, and the witness given; the baptism and the illumination is to see and recognize. The fire and the lamp will both be sent. Only determine that nothing shall discourage you, and all will be well.

Sixth, consecrate yourself entirely to God. This is called the first step. Put everything on the altar. Make an Appomattox surrender of yourself. Become God’s man by solemn covenant. Turn over everything to Christ that you are and have, and ever expect to be and have. Give him your whole self. He will not accept a lesser gift. Christ intends giving himself in his fullness to you, and he demands the same thing at your hands. Put every faculty on the altar; place your money there, and your reputation and ambition. Place your tongue there, and your time and your influence. If you have wronged any one, promise God to right that wrong, and do it. If you are at enmity, first be reconciled with thy brother, then come with thy gift unto the altar. Is every thing upon the altar? If so, who is the altar? Paul tells you in Hebrews that it is Christ. What does the altar do? Glory be to God, it sanctifies the gift! See Matthew xxiii. 19. When the gift was laid upon the Jewish altar, it became as holy as the altar. Thus it is we become holy, if we are on our altar, Christ; if, in a word, we are perfectly consecrated. The word of God says that “every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord.” Will you believe that? Will you take God at his word?

Seventh, you must believe that Christ makes you holy right now. Faith is the second step to sanctification. Will you take that step and receive full salvation? If you can and will believe that the blood of Jesus Christ sanctifies you now, the work of sanctification will be done, and the glory of God will come upon you. “Said I not unto thee that, if thou believest, thou shouldst see the glory of God?” Plant yourself on God’s own word; he says that the altar sanctifies you, that the blood cleanses and makes you holy. You do not say this; the preacher did not originate the speech; it is the word of the Lord! Then believe that word; receive it in your heart; say, “I am sanctified by the blood, because Christ says so;” and hold on with unmoved confidence until the witness comes. The witness will come and will not tarry where the soul is consecrated and the heart exercises a present appropriating faith; It will rush to and settle upon your faith like the dove-like Spirit swept down upon the Saviour. It is bound to come because of the divine faithfulness and in fulfillment of the divine promise. But have I a right to say that Christ sanctifies me before the witness is given? Can I dare to say, will I be able to say that the blood makes me holy before the experience is set up in my soul? To this I reply that if you are conscious of a perfect consecration (and your own spirit will always witness to that fact), then you can say that the blood cleanses, and believe it, because God gives the perfectly consecrated man the right to say it. “Every devoted thing is most holy.” “The altar sanctifies the gift.” The instant I believe it and say it, that instant the work is done. The Bible says: “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I must so believe that I will be willing to confess and proclaim, and then salvation in its fullness comes. This is the order: heart and mouth. Many have failed here. Many have had the belief, but, refused to speak. Felt powerfully moved to do so, but from a sudden timorousness, a sudden false humility, a swift temptation from Satan, they shrunk back into silence and missed the salvation that was ready to be poured, in all its richness, fullness, and blessedness, into the soul. I can recall two cases of recent date when the consecration had been made and the faith was born in the heart, and the Spirit of God with mighty pressure urged them to arise and claim and own the blessing. They could with difficulty keep silence, so great was the inward movement and impulse of the Holy Ghost upon them to speak. In both cases they shrunk back, and in both cases have I witnessed since a rapidly weakening faith and an unmistakable lapse in the spiritual life. It is no presumption to believe what God asserts, and to proclaim what God declares. But it is presumption and sin besides to refuse to believe God’s word, and be afraid to repeat what he affirms. He that is conscious that he is not a perfectly consecrated man should not dare to say that he is made holy; but he who knows in the depths of his soul, and thrilling along every fiber of his being, that he is on the altar–bound, handed over, and devoted to the Lord–cannot only say, “The blood sanctifies me now,” but should say so without a moment’s delay. A lady in Alabama very recently, in obedience to the instruction of a minister, placed everything on the altar. When she had done so the preacher, standing over her, said: “My sister, do you know who the altar is?” She replied: “Yes, it is the Lord Jesus Christ!” The minister rejoined: ‘The word of God says that the altar sanctifies the gift. Will you believe this? Do you believe that Christ makes you holy right now?” She answered, after the pause of a moment, “I do!” and instantly the refining fire of God did its work, and her soul was sanctified. I read once this story of the first Napoleon: His horse had become affrighted and was dashing down the lines beyond the control of the rider, when suddenly a common soldier darted from the ranks, and, flinging himself on the horse’s neck, caught the reins, checked the animal, and placed the bridle in the emperors hand. With a smile of appreciation, Napoleon said: “Thank you, captain!” As instantly did the soldier reply: “Of what regiment, sire?” And the emperors reply, as he swept on, was: “The Old Guard.” What a wonderful appropriating faith the man had! Do you know what many people who read these lines would have replied when the emperor said: “Thank you, captain!” They would have said: “You make a great mistake, sire! I am no captain; I am nothing but a poor soldier–a wretched, obscure private marching in the rear ranks, and will doubtless die in the rear ranks.” This is the way many do in the spiritual life, and is the explanation of their never coming into the higher life.

God says to them: “The blood cleanses you; Christ makes you holy.” “O no!” they reply, “not me; I cannot be holy; the blood cannot purify me; I can never be but what I am–a poor, halting, repining, imperfect follower of the Lord.” And they never do; because they will not believe the word of the Lord. In the rear ranks they stay, when they could be a power in the cohorts of heaven if they would take God at his word. Would that the faith of this soldier in the word of a man might shame or inspire us into at least an equal faith in the word of God! “Thank you, captain!” “Of what regiment, sire?” is the lightening-like response of the soldier. And immediately, the story runs, he walked to the Old Guard and took his position as an officer; and in reply to the indignant protest of the colonel, as to what he did there, said: “I am a captain.” “Who said so?” was the colonel’s inquiry. And the triumphant rejoinder of the promoted soldier, as he pointed to the emperor, was: “He said so!” My brother, if you are on the altar, God says you are a holy man. As he says so, believe it, and immediately take your position in the “inheritance of them that are sanctified.”

In reply to all gainsayers and fault-finders who rise against your profession and life, saying there is no such thing as a holy heart and life, and that they doubt your experience and deny your claim, simply point to the Saviour and reply calmly, but triumphantly: “He said!”

But why is it that we see cases of individuals who affirm that they possess this faith, and yet do not obtain the witness of the blessing? In many instances the failure arises because of a defective consecration. All is not given up to God. There has not been a total surrender of life and property and family and reputation and will. There is mental reservation somewhere. The tongue is not on the altar, someone is hated in the heart, some wrong has not been righted, some confession has not been made, some duty remains undischarged.

Of course, if the heart be wrong in all these matters, the heavenly fire will not fall. The dove will not alight on a carcass. The Holy Spirit will not descend upon and make as his home and resting-place a disobedient and impure heart. A perfect consecration is the mother of a beautiful child– viz., a perfect faith. At the end of the rod of consecration faith buds, blooms, and bears fruit. While I will not say that consecration can evolve faith, inasmuch as faith is a distinct exercise of the soul, yet I firmly believe they never are and never can be long separated. Indeed, so near are they at times as to seem almost one act of the soul. In other instances we see people who say they are walking by faith, and yet never receive the witness, and sadder still, gradually get farther and farther from the blessing. The explanation in this case is that what they regard as faith is nothing but a spirit of listlessness and apathy. Instead of believing, they have really ceased to believe. The ceasing to seek for and to expect possession of the pearl of great price, shows the decay of faith. Theirs is not the rest of faith, but the slumber of indolence, and a virtual giving up of the struggle. They are easily recognized. The face grows cloudy, the fervor of prayer departs, the attitude of pressing forward is gone; they have evidently paused in the race. A real faith pants with the desire for holiness. While it rests on the word of God, it does not rest from its striving to enter in through the strait gate. It continues to knock. Like Esther, it stands before the throne; and, though mute of lip at times, yet is it full of wistful pleadings of heart, and never so beautiful in the eyes of the King of heaven. It rests on the word of God; but its eyes are fixed upon the skies, awaiting the second coming of the Lord Jesus to the soul; this time the coming without sin unto salvation.

There are other cases where all are puzzled to account for the failure. The parties say that the consecration is perfect, that they are steadily seeking the blessing by faith, that they claim it now by faith, and yet they have not the gospel treasure, the holy secret of the Lord. This much we must say: that God is faithful. If we receive not that which God has promised, the explanation is to be found in some failure on our part to comply with divine requirements and conditions. The general cause is known to all under the words defective faith and consecration; the particular reason for failure is known to the man only and to his God. But at the judgment-day all will know the unbelief, or the secret sin, that kept a child of God from coming into the possession of a holy heart, and living a holy life.

—Pastor Ward Clinton

WHERE SANCTIFICATION IS SPECIFICALLY TAUGHT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Matthew i. 21: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” The reader will notice that Christ is here promised to save his people from their sins, not sinners. Let the person who insists that the regenerated are made holy in conversion read this verse and be convinced to the contrary. All through the Scriptures there is attributed to Christ at his coming a peculiar work in behalf of and in his people. He will thoroughly purge his floor and cleanse his wheat; he will sit as a refiner, will purify the sons of Levi, and will save his people from their sins.

It refers to a work subsequent to regeneration, and that work is sanctification. Sanctification purifies the sons of Levi and saves Christians from all sin. John vii. 38: “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given.)” This passage cannot be read without perceiving that it holds up for the believer a second blessing.

The Holy Ghost had been given as a Pardoner and Comforter long before. David had prayed: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” Paul says that holy men wrote the word as they were “moved by the Holy Ghost.” Evidently, then, the promise in the passage above is for the gift of the Holy Ghost in a new form or office–viz., as the sanctifier.

This, then, is the second blessing: “They that believe [that are already believers] shall receive the Holy Ghost.” After this living waters shall rise up and flow uninterruptedly from the heart and life. John xiv. 23: “Jesus answered, if a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Here is unquestionably something of a wonderful nature done some time after conversion. The promise is to a regenerated man, for the heart cannot love Christ unless it has been born again.

Now read: “If a man loves me, keeps my words”–all this is in the present. Now comes the assurance of something in the future: “We” — that is, the Father and the Son –” will come unto him and take up our abode with him.” This constant abiding of the Father and the Son in the soul is one of the wonderful and gracious features of sanctification. This is also the fulfillment of what was shadowed in the most holy place, in the perpetual shekinah, the glorious indwelling of God. John xv. 2: “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Here the Christian is represented as a branch on the vine, Christ, and as bearing fruit. After this, and while bearing fruit, it is suddenly cleansed.

The Greek word kathairei, translated “purgeth” in the verse above, has for its main meaning, according to the lexicon, “cleanseth and purifieth.” Take it any way, this verse is a death-blow to those who insist that we are made holy in regeneration, and need only time for development. It plainly teaches that there is a cleansing after conversion, and that this purification, done by Christ himself, comes not to a backslider, but to a branch on the vine–to a Christian bearing fruit. John xvii. 16, 17: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth.” Christ is speaking of the disciples. He declares that they are not of the world–are spiritual and unworldly, even as he is. In other verses he says that they had received his word, that they were his, that he was glorified in them, and that they had kept his word.

All this settles the fact of their regenerate and spiritual state; and yet he immediately adds, in prayer to his Father: “Sanctify them.” Notice that something else is to be done to them, and they (the disciples) are not to do it. Here is not an exhortation to grow in grace, but the prayer is to God to “sanctify them.” In plain language, here is a second work of God. Acts i. 4, 5: “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 .” This is Christ speaking. He is telling his disciples about a blessing that is soon to come upon them. He calls it the promise of the Father. He affirms that he had spoken to them about it before –“which, saith he, ye have heard of me.” It was so great and gracious a blessing, so distinctive and important as a divine work, that he had repeatedly before spoken of it, and in a measure prepared them for its reception.

It was not pardon; for he long before had said their names were in the Book of Life, and that they were branches in the true vine. It was not the enjoyment of his peace, that he had before breathed upon them.

It was not the receiving of the Holy Ghost for the first time; for several weeks before this he had breathed upon them, and said: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” The blessing he told them to wait in Jerusalem for was “the promise of the Father,” uttered a long time before, and through many lips. It was the baptism of the Holy Ghost, prophesied by Joel; the circumcision of the heart, predicted by Moses; the cleansing from all filthiness and idols, promised by Ezekiel; the holiness, mentioned by Isaiah; the healing, alluded to by Malachi; the serving God without fear, declared by Zechariah; the enduement of power from on high, mentioned by the Saviour; and the sanctification, spoken of by Paul and the Lord himself. “Wait for it,” said the Saviour. “Depart not from Jerusalem until you obtain it.”

So here was a blessing that had not come with regeneration. What a death-blow are the words of Christ to that teaching which affirms that we are made holy in conversion, and that nothing more is needed but development, or growth in grace! The promise here is not growth in grace. The disciples are not told to wait until developed into holiness and spiritual power. It was not for man’s work they are exhorted to linger, but for an additional work of God done subsequent to regeneration. The reader, by perusing the second chapter of Acts, will see how and when that work was accomplished. And he will notice what changed men the disciples became from that time. Courage, fearlessness, devotion, love, compassion, and holiness are now the marked features of their lives. They did not grow into this state, but were suddenly translated into it by the baptism of the Holy Ghost–by sanctification, which, is the promise of the Father.

Does any one think that this gracious second blessing was simply for a band of Galilean peasants, tradesmen, and fishermen? Perhaps some of the observers on the day of Pentecost thought so. Perhaps, with sad hearts, they said so. Perhaps the reader, with equal blindness and ignorance of his high privilege in Christ, may have said so many times. Because of this very possibility of doubt and fear the Lord inspired Peter to stand upon his feet and say, with a joyous, exultant voice to the crowds that looked on: “The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts ii. 38: “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.”

How wonderfully clear the second blessing, or sanctification, appears in this verse! The remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is one of the names of sanctification, are both mentioned, and that, too, in different parts of the verse. If they meant the same thing, the Holy Ghost would not have used both expressions. If they meant the same, the verse becomes a silly repetition, and would read: “Ye shall receive the remission of sins and remission of sins.” In confirmation of the fact that the expression referred to two different acts of grace we notice that the remission of sins had been received, and now to that the promise is given in the future tense: “Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

The instances of the believers in Samaria, and of Cornelius, who evidently received the blessing of sanctification, inasmuch as the Bible says that he was before that a devout man, I have to pass over because the scripture necessary to be quoted would be more than the limits of this chapter would allow. Let the reader turn to Acts xiii. 5-17 and Acts x., and be satisfied for himself. Acts xix. I, 2, 6: “Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

We fail to see how the second blessing, or sanctification, could be presented in a plainer and more forcible manner than is done here. Of the men mentioned above it is said they were disciples, and that they had believed. This settles the fact of their regeneration. A man cannot believe and be a disciple without being regenerated. To these disciples Paul comes, and informs them of another and higher blessing. They replied that they had not heard of it. Under his preaching and instruction they seek for and obtain the blessing. The sixth verse shows us that it was not conversion, but the identical blessing received by the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Acts xxvi. 18: “That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” This verse is so convincing in itself that it needs no extended remark to call attention to the two classifications of Christians presented so unmistakably. The comma after the word “sins,” the force of the italicized word “and,” the separation of the two blessings by punctuation, and their recognition by actual phraseology, are sufficient to convince anyone but the man who is determined not to believe.

Romans i. 11: “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established.” Paul is writing to Roman Christians. That they were regenerated men appears from his statement that “their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world.” And yet he writes to them that he desires to impart unto them another gift. Let the reader mark the force of the different words of this verse. It is a gift he wants them to have, not growth in grace. And the verse says “a spiritual gift.” So there was something else to be added to regenerated people; not a development, but another gift. The Greek word charisma, translated “gift,” has also “grace” for its meaning, and a third meaning is a “work or gift of the Holy Ghost.” A truer translation will drop the word “some.” So that the sentence reads: “I long to impart unto you a spiritual gift or grace.” The concluding expression is striking and significant: “To the end ye may be established.” The purpose of the grace or gift was to establish them. Now the question is: What gift or grace establishes the believer?

Not a passing emotion. Not one of the blessings we obtain daily at a throne of grace. Nor could Paul have referred to growth in grace as the establishing blessing, for he said he wanted to come and impart the blessing to them, and how could he impart growth in grace? For growth in grace time is needed, and not Paul. I press the question: What grace or gift establishes the believer? and I reply from the word of God, as found in the first and second chapters of Acts, and in 1 Thessalonians iii. 13, where we hear Paul praying that “God may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness.” Reader, remember the word translated “holiness” here has for its twin meaning “sanctification.” So it reads: “May God stablish your hearts unblamable in sanctification. “Now turn back to Romans i. 11, and you are prepared to read it intelligently. Thank God that there is a gift or grace that establishes the believer, and that spiritual gift (not growth) is sanctification! It was this blessing that Paul wanted the Roman Christians to possess. And it is this blessing that the writer would be willing to lay down his life in order to impart or bring to the people of God. Romans v. 1, 2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” Who is it that can read this passage and not see two works of grace distinctly and clearly mentioned? In the first verse appears the peace of the pardoned and regenerated man, a peace that comes by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now read the second verse: “By whom also.” There is something else, you see. “We have access by faith (not growth), into this grace wherein we stand.” So there is another grace; and it comes by faith. This was the gift or grace that Paul wrote about to the Romans; and in a little while you will find him writing to the Corinthians about it, and to the Thessalonians and to the Hebrews. You notice that he says that by it he is able to ”stand.” There again is the idea of being established. O how the Scripture harmonizes in all its doctrinal statements and presentations of Christian experience! Let the reader testify as he will to what is the falling experience. Thank God there is a “standing” grace, an establishing grace, and that gift or grace is sanctification. Romans xv. 29: “And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” Here Paul, under a slight change of phraseology, is speaking again of the grace and blessings he wrote of in the first and fifth chapters. In the opening chapter he said he longed to come to them, in order to impart the gift that establishes; and here he says, in concluding the Epistle: “I am sure, when I come, I will bring the blessing.” The gospel of Christ brings a blessing, but it has also ” the fullness of blessing.” There is a great difference between the two. There is such a thing as a vessel’s containing a liquid, and a vessel’s being filled with the liquid.

At the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were sanctified, the Bible says “they were filled with the Holy Ghost.” When a man today obtains the same blessing he realizes the same “fullness” in his experience. The old half-empty, yearning, unsatisfied feeling is taken away or disappears in a blessing that permanently fills him with the Holy Ghost. The experience that Paul calls “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ” has come. I Corinthians i. 30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

The words “wisdom,” “righteousness,” “sanctification,” and “redemption,” in this verse, are all from different Greek words, and signify different works done in us and for us by Christ. Wisdom, from the Greek word sophia, refers to the convicting and illuminating work of the Saviour. Righteousness, from the word dikaiosune, has the same meaning as justification. Sanctification, from the word hagiasmos, is properly translated, although holiness and purity are additional definitions. Redemption is from the word opolutrosis, and refers evidently to the final release and deliverance from the grave. Here are four words referring to four distinct works of Christ, and they are all instantaneous works, and done at different times. These works are “conviction,” “conversion,” “sanctification,” and the “resurrection.” 2 Corinthians i. 15: “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit.” The word translated “benefit” is from the word charis in the Greek. The following are the three prominent meanings or definitions of the word: free gift, grace, and divine grace. Thus translated, the sentence reads: “That ye might have a second grace.” This is exactly what sanctification is–a second free gift or divine grace imparted to the soul. Certainly no one supposes that these Corinthians had not had another experience of peace and joy since their conversion. Doubtless they had enjoyed a thousand blessings in their souls. The second benefit, or grace, Paul wanted them to have was not a second transitory religious emotion, for this idea degrades or belittles the whole matter. Think of the apostle coming over sea and land to Corinth, just to get a few Christians happy for a few minutes! The second benefit, or grace, he spoke of was the second blessing, or the blessing of entire sanctification . Ephesians i. 13: “In whom [i. e., Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” The two blessings and lives are so manifest in this scripture that they hardly need to be pointed out. I simply call attention to the fact of how distinctly they are separated by their position in the verse, and by the verbiage in which they are described. The two italicized words are full of force. Ephesians v. 26: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” The apostle is speaking of the Church. Let the reader take up the Revised Version, and the verse quoted above will be found to read as follows: “That he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word.” Here is sanctification promised to those cleansed by regeneration. And that it is a momentary act is seen from the aorist tense in which the verb appears. 1 Thessalonians v. 23: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” The following facts appear in this verse. First, that regenerated people are only partially sanctified. Second, that they can be wholly sanctified. Third, that this entire sanctification is the work of God, and therefore not growth in grace, which is man’s work and duty. Fourth, the passage teaches not a future, but a present and instantaneous work. Titus iii. 5: “He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Here both experiences are again mentioned. If the two terms here used mean the same thing, then does the verse become a senseless repetition. Try it and see — “He saved us by regeneration and regeneration!”

Common sense tells us that washing is one thing and renewing is another. So does our religious experience. Lange has a striking passage on the different meaning and reference of the two expressions. He that has had both blessings can say: “He has saved me by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost in sanctification.” Hebrews vi. 1: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.” We content ourselves with four simple statements in regard to this passage, that teaches so powerfully the fact of the second blessing. First, the perfection referred to is not a divine or angelic state, but a condition of perfect love and purity and rest brought to and set up in the soul by the Holy Ghost. Again, it is made clear that regeneration does not do all for us in the spiritual life, for we are here exhorted to come into possession of another and higher blessing, called perfection. Again, there is no indefinite and endless growth in grace taught by this passage; but, on the contrary, the words point plainly to a distinct and definite experience to which we may come, and to which we are urged and pressed to go. If there be no such place as New York or Washington, what folly to ask me go there! And if there be no such experience or blessing subsequent to regeneration called perfection, why should I be urged to go on to it? Still again, the passage does not convey the thought of a long lapse of time being consumed necessarily before our entrance upon this blessing. Instead of that, Dr. Clarke says the verb teaches the idea of our being borne on immediately into the experience. Hebrews ix. 28: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” I know that some will insist that this verse has reference to the day of judgment, and should not be applied to sanctification. In reply, I would lessen the readers confidence–in the fact that this verse refers to the appearance of Christ on the judgment-day by directing him to the second sentence, where it says: “To them that look for him shall he appear.” Will he not appear to all on that day? And does not the Bible teach that many will not be looking for him, and yet he will suddenly appear to all? But leaving this point, which I do not stress, I direct the reader to the double meaning found in many passages of Scripture. Often we find in a verse a near and, back of that, a remote meaning, a narrow and a wider meaning, a close by and a far off thought. It is like seeing the blue, wavy outline of a distant range of mountains just appearing over a nearer line of hills. In Matthew xxiv. 27 and 28 we see, first, the destruction of Jerusalem, and, far away beyond that, the end of the world. The first point of vision is forty years off; the second outline of time is so distant that no one can measure it, and yet it is there plainly beheld. A meaning, and another deeper! In 1 John, first chapter, and the latter part of the seventh verse we read: “The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.” Two meanings are buried here. To the regenerated man it represents one thing; but O how much more it means to the sanctified! To the first it is the cleansing away of all sins, guilt, and depravity that is personal and that pertains to the individual; to the second it means all this, and the utter removal besides of inherited depravity or inbred sin. The soul made to rejoice constantly in the delightful and blessed possession of the experience of a positive indwelling purity!

Two meanings, both blessed, but one so much deeper than the other! And so with the verse under examination. To some, and doubtless to many, it only refers to the coming of Christ at the judgment. But, I bless God, to others, and those not a few, it has another and more spiritual meaning. It teaches–glory be to God!–the second coming of Christ to the soul. This time not as the Pardoner, but as the Sanctifier; this time not dealing with personal sin, but coming without sin unto salvation. We admit that it means the second coming at judgment to save his people, but pushing aside the veil of the first evident thought, climbing up on the range of the first teaching, lo! we see the second and deeper doctrine of the verse, and that is, Christ coming to the soul of the believer the second time, and this time with a salvation from all sin, personal and inherited. “To them that look for him,” shall this occur. If I do not believe in the doctrine of sanctification, I will not look for Christ to come in the office of Sanctifier, and so the verse will remain sealed, and the experience it presents be unknown. But to them that look for him, that seek the blessing of holiness, to them will Christ appear the second time!

Sixteen —Pastor Ward Clinton

WHERE SANCTIFICATION IS SPECIFICALLY TAUGHT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

In this chapter and the next we present for the readers consideration about twenty passages from the word of God. Instead of twenty we could easily give ten times as many. The method pursued in these chapters will be to quote the scripture, and under each passage make a few remarks.

As a proper starting thought, we call the reader’s attention to the fact that you cannot read the Bible without perceiving that there is a “higher life” constantly recognized and brought forward in its pages. It is held up as an attainment; we are expected to come unto it; we are commanded to possess it, and are presented with characters who enjoyed and lived this life. An equally striking fact beheld in Christian life is confirmatory of the Bible fact; and that is that we again and again meet with people of God who declare, and whom we evidently see are in possession of, a religious experience and life not enjoyed by the great majority of Christians. The two facts agree; like the two angels in the most holy place, they bend over and look upon the same blessed truth.

Sanctification is the precious treasure and blessing kept for the Church; the Bible and Christian experience are the cherubim that, with extended wings, cover and protect and preserve the experience. And now let us turn to the word of God. The first passage is: Numbers 16. 3-5: “And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: and he spoke unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy.” So it seems that the doubt of God’s people being holy is an old one, and the dispute in regard to it and the attack made upon those who profess the blessing are of ancient standing.

It is noticeable, also, that the argument used now was the one used then against Moses–viz., that all of the congregation was holy, every one of them; that every thing had been done in regeneration. The same slur is heard, “You take too much upon you” in saying that God has made you holy; “wherefore do ye lift yourselves above the congregation?” How familiarly all this sounds! Some of us have heard this many times.

And let any one receive and profess the blessing of holiness, and the words directed to Moses will be leveled at him. No one can read this passage or study the life of Moses without seeing that he was in an experience that his questioners and doubters did not enjoy. Either at the burning bush or on the mount with God the man Moses obtained the blessing that obtained for him the privilege of unbroken companionship with God, and a meekness that was above that of all surrounding men.

God grant us, when doubted and assailed, to do as this man! He fell on his face before God; he committed the whole matter to the Almighty, who had sanctified him; his only reply was: “The Lord will show who are his, and who is holy.” And so he will. Let no person possessing this blessing be the least uneasy. God will bear witness to his own work; he will show who has the blessing, and who has it not. Deuteronomy 30. 6: “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”

That here is a work and experience subsequent to regeneration is seen from three facts. One is that the promise here made is addressed to believers; another, that regeneration is never likened to circumcision; and third, that the result stated of loving God with all the heart is the feature ascribed all through the Bible to the higher life held up for our attainment. In confirmation study the regenerated life, and see if it impresses you as being such a life of perfect love and devotion to God as appears in this verse. This love is to arise not from growth, but from the circumcision of the heart of the believing child of God.

Psalms 25. 14: “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” What is this secret? Not the divine presence on earth; the world admits God’s omnipresence. Nor is it regeneration, for the Christian world believes in that and teaches it. There is but one experience covered by that expression–the secret of the Lord”–and that is the blessing of sanctification. The great type and symbol of it–the most holy place–was a secret place, while the experience and life is still today hidden from multiplied millions in the Church. It is so hidden that even God’s people deny it, although Paul prepares them to believe by describing it as being “hid in Christ,” and David declares that by it we are “hid from the strife of tongues,” and in one of the Psalms calls the possessors of the blessing God’s “hidden ones.”

Regeneration is no secret. But there are certain things about sanctification, in that it is peculiarly an interior life, and requires a second faith to come within the veil that entitles it to the description given in the verse. The “fear” mentioned in this connection, by which we obtain the secret, is no ordinary emotion or exercise of the mind. It is such a fear of God that casts out all fear of man and all efforts after his favor, and that leads to perfect consecration and obedience to God. Isaiah 6. 5-7: “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King. the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, … and he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” The question at once arises: What is this profound spiritual exercise before us? Evidently not the conviction and pardon of a sinner; for Isaiah was one of God’s prophets, and one so deeply pious as to be called the evangelical prophet. Nor was he recovering from a course of backsliding. This appears, first, from his being in the discharge of duty. The fervent chapters preceding spiritually locate him.

Again, his agony of contrition arose not from the commission of sins, but from a vision he had just obtained of the Lord in the temple. This is what comes to every man who is brought into the blessing of the sanctified life; the Lord is revealed to the soul “high and lifted up.” Let the reader turn to the first four verses of this chapter, and see for himself.

Still again, the sin or iniquity that was taken from Isaiah is here placed in the singular number. This shows that it was not pardon of transgressions he received, but the removal of the principle, or body, of sin; or, as it is called, inbred sin. A view of the holiness of God brings this inbred sin to light in the heart, and ushers in that profound agony seen in Isaiah and countless thousands of other devoted followers of God. The coal of fire represents the blessing of holiness.

Fire stands for holiness in God’s word, and never for regeneration. The altar of the temple was made holy by fire. Notice also that this blessing of holiness was brought, came from God, and was not developed within by a long growth in grace. And, furthermore, notice the alacrity, the gladness, and the fearlessness of sanctification, as shown in the experience of Isaiah. “Then said I, here am I; send me.” Ezekiel 36. 25: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” This has been often quoted as referring to the work of regeneration.

But the fact that it is a promise made to God’s people, and that the blessing is one of purity, and not pardon, ought to be enough to convince the most skeptical that the blessing before us in the verse is sanctification.

Another thing will show it. Let every regenerated man who reads these lines ask himself if regeneration has taken all idols out of his heart and life. What about his ambition and love of place and power? what about the fear and favor of man? What about love of money and love of praise, and the love of some creature that is so powerful as to draw you away from duty, and interferes in certain measures with the commands of God? Are these things gone? or do they remain? If they are still in the heart, then the second blessing is needed, in which all idols shall be removed. Joel 2. 28, 29: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.”

Here is undoubtedly a peculiar blessing promised in the last days to the Church. Certainly no one can think it is conversion that is here held forth. Are we to suppose that up to the time of Pentecost, when this prophecy was fulfilled, that there had been no conversions, and that Joel was inspired to say: “In the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit in converting power, and people shall then be regenerated for the first time?” What was David and Moses and Abraham and the prophets of whom the world was not worthy? In what state was God’s people through the past ages? Had he no people? Were everybody damned before Pentecost? For if not regenerated they were compelled to be lost, according to Christ’s statement to Nicodemus.

Whatever this blessing or pouring out of the Spirit was, it could not be regeneration; for that experience was not new, while the promise in this verse is for something remarkable, unusual, and new. When it finally came to pass on the day of Pentecost, the reader will remember that this long-promised blessing fell upon Christian men and women. So the promised pouring out, or baptism of the Spirit, was not conversion.

Nor was it a simple qualification of one hundred and twenty disciples to spread Christianity. What a narrow view to take of this promise to confine an unspeakable blessing to sixscore people, and make it a mere temporary endowment to meet the emergencies of a few days or years! What a belittling of prophecy to assert that God inspired the prophets nearly a thousand years before to solemnly hold up a great blessing that, after all, was only for a hundred and twenty people, and was to pass away and die with them!

Common sense, as well as Scripture, is against such an interpretation. Moreover, the language of the verse itself contradicts such a view. It plainly says the Spirit in this peculiar baptism was for “all flesh.” It furthermore adds that it was a blessing that should be enjoyed by our servants, while at Pentecost we see not a single slave or servant present. Inasmuch, then, as the work of grace prophesied here by Joel was not conversion, nor a mere qualification for work, we are irresistibly driven to the conclusion that it is one of the many promises of the Old Testament of the gift of the blessing of sanctification .

Remember that sanctification, or holiness, is represented in the Bible by fire, and bear in mind that at Pentecost with the descending Spirit came tongues of fire upon every head. One hundred and twenty symbols, or banners of holiness, were waving over as many persons. And remember that at this juncture Peter, a Christian minister, with one of these celestial plumes of holiness floating over his head, arose from the midst of one hundred and nineteen similarly becrowned Christians, and said: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” Malachi iv. 2: “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” Those that fear the name of God are his people. In regard to the wicked, the Bible says there is no fear of God before his eyes. So the fact established in this verse is that here are God’s people before us, and to them shall come a second blessing in the future. This blessing is called healing-just what sanctification is felt to be. The remaining sentence of the verse declares the activity of life and rapid growth in grace peculiar to the sanctified soul.

Chapter Thirteen          Chapter Fifteen

—Pastor Ward Clinton