[b]HOW TO OBTAIN HOLINESS[i]By Asbury Lowrey
"O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." -- Psalm xliii. 8
I ask Thy heavenly guidance
In all things here below:
Do Thou direct my footsteps
The way that I should go.
RENUNCIATION OF SIN
The Gospel requires, as a condition precedent to the attainment of entire sanctification, the total abandonment of sin. It allows no compromise, no connivance, no tampering or dalliance with sin. Until the seeker has made up his mind to renounce all sin, public and private, including imprudence and the appearance of evil, I see no prospect or possibility of his sanctification.
And this renunciation must be voluntary and cordial. God will not coerce the will, or force the affections, or chain the imagination. He will not, absolutely, and without human concurrence, tear idols from our hands and hearts, or compel us to separate from bad associates, or quit places of sport and dissipation. He will not arbitrarily suspend the laws of habit, by peremptorily arresting the capability of the perversion of passion and appetite, without the effort or consent of the subject. God respects the manhood of man. He helps his needy creatures in every respect in which they are helpless; and yet so as to leave their responsibility unimpaired. What a man can do for himself, as naturally constituted or graciously empowered, he is allowed, and even required, to do. Indeed, God makes the destiny of his creatures hinge on voluntary choice and practical obedience. We find an application of this principle in the universal and inflexible requirement of the Bible to give up all sin, and break away from all wrong and wrongdoing, as a preparatory measure and antecedent condition of full salvation. It is true, that sanctification is by faith alone; but sin neutralizes faith. Jesus says: "How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" *1
Now let us see how these propositions agree with the written word: "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." 2* To forsake sinful ways and thoughts, according to this text, is made a term of mercy. It is not the condition of salvation in the same sense that faith is; but is an act that puts the candidate into a pardonable relation to God's mercy.
The same injunction is imposed upon believers, only it is made more stringent and comprehensive: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." *3 How sweeping is the prohibition in this case. Let us recapitulate the precepts in a somewhat different form. No companionship with unbelievers, no fellowship with unrighteousness, no communion with darkness, no concord with Belial, no part with an infidel, no agreement with idols. A sacred separation from all these shades of ev il is commanded. This withdrawal extends even to the touch: "Touch not the unclean thing." No tangible contact or approach to any kind of uncleanness, however slight, can be permitted. It is only upon this principle of total abstinence from sin that God promises to "receive" us. Until this is done, he declines to put himself into the relation of Father to the penitent, or to recognize seekers of holiness as dear children, entitled to the peculiar honors and immunities of sons and daughters. Nor is it enough to renounce flagrant and positive transgressions; we must be circumspect and prudent. All our peccadilloes and questionable gratifications of appetite and propensity must be given up.
It is worthy of note that the great prayer of the apostle, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly," etc., is immediately preceded by the emphatic precept: "Abstain from all appearance of evil." *4 Indeed, this requirement introduces the prayer, and is made a part of it by the copulative conjunction. A comma only should separate the two sentences.
The apostle could not fill his lungs with the breath of the wonderful supplication until he had commanded the candidates to separate from their souls and life every thing that simulates sin, or wears the look of evil. Initial sanctification, then, is to relax our hold upon all sin -- to abjure, break away from, and wash our hands of all evil, and all resemblance of evil.
The serious urgency of this duty is created by several facts: First, the utter incompatibility of any measure or kind of sin with holiness. Second, there is a spurious kind of sanctification, which, like Antinomianism, allows itself seemingly to palliate sin. Vice may occur, but it is at once neutralized, or somehow loses its character, by faith or the blood, in connection with a sanctified nature. An egregious error. Sin in the saved is the same as sin in the unsaved. It invalidates the profession of holiness, brings condemnation, and necessitates forgiveness. Third, there is a degree of holiness which is made to comport with the milder forms of moral obliquity. Certain appetites, vanities, and fashionable follies are allowed, fostered, and extenuated; and yet full salvation is claimed and professed. This is a delusion. It is morally impossible for God to sanctify, so long as we toy or tamper with sin. Faith can no more grasp the blessing of sanctification while under the embargo of cherished sin, than th e hand can perform its functions under paralysis. As it is the first duty of a sinner to repent in order to obtain pardon, so it is the first step of a Christian toward the higher altitudes of grace to "renounce the hidden things of dishonesty." Not to break off from open sin merely, but so to expose, introspect, and shred the inner man as to discover and eliminate every rotten thread of unseen evil and private practice. God requires absolute "truth in the inward parts." *5 Such preparation for holiness is apostolic. It was Paul who commended himself for having "renounced the hidden things of dishonesty," craftiness and deceit. *6
It was he also who said: "We have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man." *7 These abjurations of all sin, and especially those most commonly practiced, were the antecedents of his sanctification. In like manner all who would mount to the sunlit plane of entire holiness must discard and put away all unrighteousness. "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." *8
The day of thy great power I feel,
And pant for liberty;
I loathe myself, deny my will,
And give up all for thee.
"I hate my sins, -- no longer mine,
For I renounce them too;
My weakness with thy strength I loin;
Thy strength shall all subdue."
PERFECT CONVICTION OF ITS ATTAINABILITY
Before we can obtain full redemption, it is necessary that we be fully persuaded that such a blessing lies within our reach. It is contrary to nature for any man to make vigorous effort to obtain something which he does not believe is obtainable. No man attempts to walk on the water or fly to the moon. By intuition he knows such feats are impossible. No man will delve into the bowels of the earth for treasure until quite assured the treasure is there. It is a law of our nature to act only on the prospect of success. So no Christian can earnestly strive and supplicate for a clean heart, unless previously persuaded that such purity comes within the range of possibility.
To bring yourself under the conviction, therefore, that holiness is for you, is a prime necessity. How is this to be done? First, consider the power by which it is to be accomplished, the unlimited power of God which reaches you through the unlimited merit of Christ. We admit that to create a clean heart in a sinner is a greater work than to create a world or light up a sun. But we must remember God has imposed upon Himself the task of cleansing us from all sin. And we read, "All things are possible with God." Whatever does not involve sin, nor imply a contradiction, God can do. And, certainly, to save a man from all moral wrong is not committing sin; nor does it contradict any known truth, much less clash with any attribute of God.
Second, consider the fact that the atonement provides for personal holiness. Inspire your drooping spirits by the recollection that this was the chief purpose of Christ's mission: " Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate." *9 He was set forth from the beginning by types and prophecies as the Lamb of God, who should take away "the sin of the world." *10 Repeat to yourself often those texts which reveal the primary design of Christ's sacrifice; such as: "He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." *11 "If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a 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 conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" 12 "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." *13
If it was the original intention of the sacrificial work of Christ to heal us by his stripes, to purge our conscience from dead works, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify us unto himself, then we must concede the attainability of this grace, or take the ground that Christ is a failure. Surely, no one will assert that; and, therefore, we are shut up to the belief that, by the atonement, salvation from all sin is put within our grasp.
Again, stimulate your faith by the truth that God has promised full redemption in the most positive and explicit manner: "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. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." *14 "This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days," "saith the Lord, I will put my law into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." *15 "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." *16 "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." *17 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." *18 "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." *19
No one can doubt, after deliberately reading this class of promises, that God has committed himself by covenant engagement to save men on certain conditions from all sin. To command and promise holiness, and yet withhold the blessing when the conditions are met, would be to tantalize the seeker.
The only thing necessary now is to bring yourself under the conviction that it is attainable immediately. To perfect this belief, appeal again to the word of God and read, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world" *20 Read again, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." *21 But it is one thing to read those texts and assent to them as parts of the word of God, and quite another thing to cordially embrace them. Truth must be shot into us until, like a ball, it takes effect.
A persuasion that does not carry conviction to the judgment and inspire perfect confidence is no belief at all. True faith is expulsive of doubt and misgiving. It credits every thing God says. When a man explicitly accepts a declaration of Holy Writ, it takes possession of him and burns into his mind a conviction of its truth.
When such a prepossession rules the mind and heart of a seeker, he is at least on the borderline of full redemption.
SPIRITUAL HUNGER NECESSARY
Our Lord says, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." *22 Here feeding is conditioned on appetite. Those only who hunger and thirst shall be filled. The constant implication is, that those who do not hunger and thirst shall not be filled.
This proposition of the Saviour is equally true in nature and grace. A man who does not relish food cannot receive it. He will grow lean and die in the midst of plenty. The same may be affirmed of the Christian. No appetite means no fatness, and soon no life. He may read and sing about holiness, and hear it preached, and even ask its bestowment in the words of his prayer, and yet if there be no soul hunger for it, not a single step can be taken toward its realization. If the human stomach be charged with food which it loathes, it will be found impossible for the organ to assimilate it. It may be good and nourishing matter, but the absence of a corresponding appetite will prevent the system from taking in and appropriating its nutritious quality.
It is so with the mind. It may be crammed even to satiety with the most exalted truth, and the soul may be practiced in all devout recitals of worship, and still if there be no craving for spirituality, signified by the outward forms, the richest truth and sublimest service will be nothing more to the worshiper than "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." Unless he "hunger and thirst after righteousness" he will come and go unfilled. Through the protracted meeting, or Lental service of forty days, be expanded to forty years, still the man that has no keen relish for sanctifying truth and experimental grace, will come to the end of each round of ceremonies and each decade of formal godliness as empty, lean, and starved as when he began. God offers salvation to us, but does not thrust it upon us. He feeds the appetite of spiritual hunger even to fullness and satisfaction; but the man who does not want His grace, and meets the offer of it with revulsion and morbid distaste, He leaves to his self-imposed emptiness and poverty.
Here a question may arise. The reader may say, "I find myself destitute of this indispensable hunger, and consequently, according to the argument, holiness is not attainable to me in my present condition." The fact is admitted, but this does not release you from responsibility. For you can command hunger and thirst. Appetite itself is created by healthy conditions, whether physical or spiritual. Expose a man to malaria, or surround him with an unwholesome atmosphere, or deprive him of proper exercise, and he will become dainty and lose his appetite.
So with a Christian. Let his reading, conversation, habits of life, and associations be irreligious, and he will find in himself a disrelish of spiritual things. On the other hand, let a man betake himself to serious thought about his spiritual state. Let him read the Scriptures, and give himself to prayer; let him read those books and papers which tend to the knowledge and love of God; let him attend such meetings, and associate with such persons, as will be helpful to his religious life. Let any man pursue this course, and immediately he will find deep hunger and thirst for God generated in his soul.
He will soon exclaim, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth Out for the living God." *23 "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" *24
The want of soul-hunger for the deep things of God explains and accounts for the slow progress of this divine experience in the Churches, and especially in the Methodist Churches, where the doctrine is fully accepted. We have no appetite for the bread which a correct theology has placed upon our table. This lack of appetite is chiefly traceable to two causes:
First. The debilitating atmospheres of worldliness in which the Church has immersed herself She has made herself sick, and become surfeited with unwholesome diet. Her appetite is perverted.
Second. The great lack of explicit preaching and testimony on the subject.
Perhaps the most alarming feature of the modern pulpit is the absence of the Gospel in Gospel preaching.
A thousand sermons are preached every Sabbath, which scarcely relate to the substance of Christianity; whole hours and days are consumed in elaborate discussions on themes remotely connected with religion, but not having in them scarcely a modicum of spiritual food. It is a travesty on Gospel preaching -- an utter neglect or a burlesque and sacrilege of Divine things.
But while such ministrations tend directly to quench the ardors of devotion, and multiply dead Churches, yet they do not excuse any man who is not athirst for righteousness. Each individual is responsible for his own lack of Divine aspirations. It is not in the power of any man, or class of adverse circumstances, to still the throbbings of the heart for holiness. A seeker may burn with furnace heat in the midst of icebergs. he may sit under a barren pulpit and mingle with the coldest worshipers, and yet, rejecting the chaff and wax, feed on the finest wheat and honey from the rock. While others are cold and indifferent, and even repulsive toward holiness, he may be in a frame of mind to say:
"Restless, resigned, for this I wait,
For this my vehement soul stands still."
APPETITE FOR HOLINESS CULTIVATED
The subject of hunger for spiritual food and blessing is so important and indispensable, that we continue the discussion under another head.
Some persons excuse their neglect of holiness on the ground that they feel no interest in the subject. They have no distinct belief in the doctrine, and no appetite for the enjoyment of the experience. For this reason they seem to imagine that no obligation rests upon them to be concerned about the matter.
Their conduct implies that a conviction for purity is exceptional and arbitrarily produced. They are ready to admit that where such conviction exists it is well enough to seek entire sanctification; but where it is wanting, the question may be dismissed with impurity. Now, such a position is founded in error, for the appetite for holiness may be cultivated just as really as a desire for food can be created. In this respect we are largely what we make ourselves to be. Our Lord says: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." This benediction implies that to hunger and thirst is a rewardable act, and, if rewardable, it must be voluntary. If voluntary, it may be concluded that, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it is completely with our power to revive and nourish aspirations for holiness.
On the other hand, we may, in defiance of the work of the Holy Spirit, repress and extinguish all desire for that state. And, in most cases, I believe a lack of interest in full salvation is traceable to a non-use or misuse of our volitions in regard to the precious theme. If this be so, the absence of a relish for holiness is sin, for it is a self-induced evil. The subject has neglected to cultivate his tastes in the right direction, and perhaps has impaired them by injurious diet.
I do not think it possible for a man to love holiness who loves novels, or craves the staple matter of our secular newspapers. Nor is it possible for a man to find zest in sanctified and sanctifying literature who frequents the theater and other common resorts of worldly men. The same may be said of those who participate in popular amusements or mingle in the hilarities of fashionable society. Such frivolities and vices create revulsions to holiness. And wherever Christians make worldly customs and tainted literature their element, soul-hunger for purity is sure to die out. A candle cannot burn in the foul air that settles in old wells and cisterns. No more can a flame of holy love exist in an atmosphere of non-Christian habits though not grossly wicked.
But one may say, "If I abstain from all such damaging practices, will I find myself groaning after full redemption?" Not certainly; for negative obedience is only a half compliance with the law of God. Positive work is needed to meet the commandment.
Do something or die, is a universal condition of responsible beings. Now, what is that something which, if done, will create an appetite for holiness?
First. Think on the subject. The apostle exhorts thus: "Wherefore, holy brethren, . . . consider the apostle and high-priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." *25 Consider in this connection His office as a Saviour personal to yourself.
Again the apostle says: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." *26 Here the emphasis of the whole climax is placed upon the word think. Thought is like fire -- it burns itself in. Fixed attention on any good idea is like the process of crystallization, where matter sinks, hardens, and takes on forms of beauty. To think seriously and prayerfully on the question of holiness is to transmute the principle into the texture of our inner man. In most cases a man's aspirations are the product of his meditations. I do not think that more than one out of ten of our ministers or members would remain listless on the subject of holiness, if they would but give themselves up to conscientious inquiry touching their duty for ten minutes each day. The prevalent lukewarmness would soon disappear and be succeeded by ardent desire.
Second. Appetite for holiness is cultivated by reading. There is now a rich standard literature on the theme, contributed by different Churches. Added to the books published, there is a liberal supply of periodical matter of good quality. Now, we are persuaded that no one can read a fair proportion of these works with candor, and not be profoundly impressed with the great truth, and convicted for the experience. Like a man whom we met in Scotland, whose prejudices gradually melted away under a series of simple expositions of the privilege, until, under an apparently involuntary impulse, he rose and said, "I believe the doctrine, and want the experience."
Third. Appetite for holiness is cultivated by attending meetings appointed expressly to advocate the cause, and spread the experience of entire sanctification. It is inconsistent and captions to declaim against meetings held especially for this purpose. For missions, education, and all other objects of great importance we hold special conventions, where only the one interest is allowed to be introduced. Why, then, decry a meeting for the most important object of all? What interest can compare with that of advancing a perfect Divine life in the Churches? More have been sanctified by this concentration of thought and effort than by all other instrumentalities. The songs and testimonies and, above all, the hallowing influence of these meetings have traveled round the world and penetrated heathen homes.
A well-conducted service of this sort cannot fail to give birth to cravings for purity that will extend far beyond the number who, by open confession, attain the gift of full salvation. It will elevate the tone of Divine worship, sharpen the relish for spiritual things, and give a new and sweeter zest to all the means of grace.
Fourth. There should be direct and specific prayer that concern and longing for holiness should be awakened in the heart. However cold and indifferent, let earnest supplication be made. By the force of will and under the conviction of duty continue the pleading. Pursue the course we have indicate, dear reader, and you will soon say:
"My anxious soul cries out, oppressed,
Impatient to be freed;
Nor can I, Lord, nor will I rest
Till I am saved indeed."
FULL SURRENDER
Another step toward entire sanctification is the act of self-surrender, by which we transfer ourselves and all that belongs to us into the hands of Jesus. This act of self. surrender is commonly spoken of as "placing all upon the altar," from which has originated the teaching that "the altar sanctifieth the gift." In this formula there is both a modicum of truth and a liability at least of as much error. If the term altar is used simply to represent the sacrificial offering of Jesus, and the phrase "placing all upon the altar," means nothing more than giving ourselves to Jesus by an act of the will and affections, it is not only harmless, but finds some support in the Scriptures.
In Exodus we read: "Whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy." *27 In Matthew it is written: "The altar that sanctifieth the gift." *28 But these references belong to the Old Testament institutions. Christ is our altar, and contact with him alone now sanctifieth. The glorious doctrine of the New Testament is brought out in these words: "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." *29 "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate." *30 It is most emphatically true, "that whatsoever toucheth this altar shall be holy."
We read: "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." *31 Again we read: "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." *32
These passages teach that we have passed out of our own hands. We are rightfully the property of God. We belong to Him by a twofold claim: First, as the product of His creative power. We are His workmanship in Christ Jesus, both as to original creation by power, and re-creation by grace. Second, we are His by purchase. It is said, we "are bought with a price;" that is, a consideration has been given for us. We have been ransomed, not to ourselves, but to God.
Original sin put us under a threefold bondage -- a triple curse. First, it made us aliens to God, and strangers to the commonwealth of Israel. Second, it made us the slaves of sin and Satan. Third, it made our hearts the seat of corruption and death. Now the purchase-price of Christ's blood has been accepted as a sufficient consideration to justify our complete release. But before and after we are actually set at liberty we belong absolutely to the purchaser. It is verily true that he whom the Son makes free is free indeed; it is not, however, the freedom of isolated independence and sovereignty, but the freedom of servants to God. By redemption we simply change masters. We throw off the yoke which is heavy and galling, and bow to that which is "easy and light." It is instructive to note that the original word "doulos," translated servant when applied to Christians, is the only word indicating and rendered slave when used to denote a bondman. It is only to avoid harshness and the unpleasant association of Ideas that the word is not uniformly rendered slave. It is important, however, to note that the word love or slave, is not used in the New Testament as a term of reproach or dishonor, much less to indicate a servile and degrading relation. It signifies an office and fellowship most exalting. It Is one of the appellations of apostleship, and as a title of Christians it is a synonym of child, disciple, and saint. The term is retained only for the purpose of asserting God's right of property in us, and to show the reasonableness of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to him. It is on the ground of our property relation to God, and His right to our services, that we found the obligation to consecrate all to Him. A more elaborate discussion of this subject will be found elsewhere. Our purpose now is to lead the seeker by a plain path at once into the promised land.
Give yourself, then, to God through Christ. Do this, not only by a mental act and secret purpose, but by actually putting all your powers and resources at his disposal. Nay, more; wait not to be acted upon like a machine, but exercise your will power, and enter visibly upon His service with all your heart and all your means. Give yourself practically away. Do it as far as possible in detail, but do not bother yourself with the conceit that your consecration is incomplete because you are not able to list and invoice every item which may be unknown or forgotten. God is not a hard master. A willing mind to be all the Lord's sweeps in every thing. Such a purpose, formed and fixed in conscious sincerity, will, no doubt, be accepted of God as the sanctification of yourself to Him. When we give all to God we make a summary transfer of ourselves to Him. It is necessarily done in bulk and not in particularity, nevertheless it takes in all our latent resources and undiscovered possibilities.
It is like making a deed. We first describe the realty, by which all the acres, rods, and inches are mentioned. But as the measurement may not be exact, and questions may arise, the words "more or less" are added. And then to avoid all disputes respecting improvements and things attached to the ground, this sweeping clause is appended: "with all the appurtenances thereto belonging."
In like manner, sign, seal, and deliver yourself over to God. And do it so really that ever after it would strike you as an act of trespass and breach of faith to use any member of your body, or faculty of your mind, or affection of your soul, or portion of your possessions, against God, apart from God, or for any selfish motives that would offend God, and take you or yours in any way out of His hands.
And this dedication must not be compulsory. It must be a freewill offering, for it is not so much a sacrifice as a service; Jesus said: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me." *33
In the same spirit we must devote ourselves to God. His service is not only perfect freedom, but a real luxury. It must be our meat to do His will. When David was preparing to build the temple, he did not imperiously command the people to give for that purpose, but inquired after their will in the ease, saying, "Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" *34
In the same connection it is five times repeated that the officers and people "offered willingly," the emphasis being placed oh the word willingly.
David and the congregation then rejoiced, not so much for the sum given, as on account of the spirit of willingness that marked the giving. They did it "with a will" and with affection. It is written, "Because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord, David the king rejoiced with great joy." Reader, go thou and do likewise, and, so doing, thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven.
EXERCISE THE FAITH OF TRUST
"By grace are ye saved, through faith." Eph. ii, 5.
It is the touch of faith alone that brings the healing virtue out of Christ by which the believer is made every whit whole.
Of course true faith is inclusive of all preparatory conditions of believing, such as renunciation of sin, spiritual hunger, consecration, searching the Scriptures, consciousness and confession of remaining sin, and prayer; but they all converge and crystallize in one unmixed self-renouncing all-abounding act of trust. Trust is the last link in the chain of causes, and the only one possessing conditionality. Preceding religious acts are conducive to faith, but faith alone bringeth salvation. Like the link that couples a train of cars to the locomotive, all the preceding links are necessary to make the train a unit, and secure the advantage of the moving force, but it is the last link only that joins the train to the power of transportation. Until this connection is made there can be no motion.
The track may be perfect, the cars laden and all put together, the officers on board, the time for starting arrived, but the train cannot budge an inch until the kingbolt drops through the last coupling and makes the coaches fast to the locomotive. In that moment weakness is joined to power, and immobility to motion.
It is so with faith. It is the concentration of all means, the point of contact with Christ. This is the rod that smites the rock, and turns the sluices of living water into the soul. It is the wire that conducts the Divine lightning from the battery of heaven into the soul.
Faith is to full salvation what the touch is to a jar charged with electricity -- the medium of communication. By the slightest contact it draws virtue out of Christ. See it demonstrated by the woman in the Gospel. She did not get near enough to touch the full garment of the Saviour, much less His person; she only put a finger on the hem of His garment, and yet there was sufficient efficacy in the approach to attract the healing virtue which made her instantaneously whole. That it was her faith and not physical contact which effected the cure, is proved by the words of Christ, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole." *35
Take this case as an illustration of saving faith: First. It was not faith in the general truths of religion, but faith in the personal Christ, and faith in Him as a supernatural healer. Second. It was not faith for blessings in general, but faith for healing in particular. It was specific, having direct and exclusive reference to her plague. Third. It was faith in the power of faith: "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." Faith, as a grain of mustard seed, will accomplish the work. To touch His person, hear Him speak, meet Him face to face, to be longer in His presence, or receive a smile of recognition from Him, will not be necessary. If I can only come near enough to Him to touch the fringe of his clothes with the tips of my fingers the work will be done. Fourth. It was faith in a complete work. She did not say, I shall be relieved and put in a way of recovery, but, "I shall be whole;" that is, "perfect health will come into my body." Fifth, It was faith in an instantaneous cure. She expected it, and accordingly she realized a perfect cure. This is proved by the concurrent testimony of the three evangelists. Matthew says: "And the woman was made whole from that hour." Mark says: "And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up." Luke says: "And immediately her issue of blood was stanched." Sixth. It was faith carrying with it a convincing evidence of a perfect cure. For it is significantly written: "And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague." Seventh. It brought not only physical health, but happiness and permanent blessing. The Saviour said to her: "Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." This made her a witness and worshiper of Jesus. She came trembling, and kneeling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people, for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately.
Here we have the nature and consequence of true faith. The nature is, unquestioning trust in Christ for a definite object to be obtained instantaneously. The consequence is, immediate health and happiness, a trembling and yet confiding prostration before Jesus, a permanent blessing and a witnessing life.
CONDITIONS OF FAITH
Faith is the sole condition of salvation, but there are prior conditions of faith itself. Let us examine these two propositions:
From beginning to end we are saved by grace, through faith -- faith being the pivot on which every religious change turns. 1. We are justified by faith. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." *36 "A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." *37 "The just shall live by faith." (*38) 2. We are sanctified by faith. "Purifying their hearts by faith." *39 "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." *40 "Which are sanctified by faith that is in me." *41 "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." *42 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." (*43) 3. We receive the witness of our spiritual state by faith. By faith Abel "obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." By faith Enoch, before he was translated, "had this testimony, that he pleased God." (*44) 4. We nourish and maintain our divine life by faith. "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." *45 "Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." (*46) 5. We are adopted into the family of God by faith. "That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." *47
So every stage of personal redemption hinges on faith. The Spirit, which alone directly quickens and sanctifies, cannot come in actual contact with the heart to do his finished work, except through faith Beyond enlightenment and conviction for sin, grace cannot become operative until we believe. Therefore the absolute conditionality of salvation resides in faith alone. And yet there are certain antecedent works which are as indispensable to faith as faith is indispensable to salvation. They are not faith, but the conditions of faith. They do not bring life to the soul directly, but put life into faith, and faith kindles the vital flame. Without these accompanying acts faith would be dead, just as a heart that does not beat is dead. Some of these preliminary works are prayer for spiritual hunger, renunciation of sin, submission to God, and a consecration of all to Him forever.
Such deeds of obedience become the feeders of faith after its germ has been implanted by the Holy Spirit and the word. They create a climate and diffuse an atmosphere in which faith can thrive and bear its fruit. First there must be prayer for spiritual hunger. This is the beginning point of practical religious life, "to call on the name of the Lord." Jesus spake a parable "to this end, that men " -- not Christians only, but men -- "ought always to pray, and not to faint." *48 Paul repeats the same lesson, saying: "I will therefore that men pray everywhere." *49 It is the privilege and prime duty of every man to make his appeal to a throne of grace. And the hardest heart will be subdued, and the darkest mind illuminated, if this be done with unfainting perseverance. But without prayer we cannot get into the region of faith. Faith is not a frigid act of the intellect, but an emotion, and that emotion is excited and made strong by supplication.
I sought religion two days with no feeling, or but little, before I found myself in real earnest to be converted. And until my soul was poured out fervently to God, I had no capacity to believe. The same was true when, nine years later, I sought deliverance from the felt remains of indwelling sin. I stopped every thing, retired alone, and made it my sole and decisive business to pray for a clean heart. No previous effort to believe was successful until I met the prior condition, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find." *50 But the moment I cried unto the Lord with all my heart I felt myself spurred on to believe. Then the work was done and the witness came.
If any man, cold and listless, shall stop and betake himself to continual and earnest prayer definitely for a clean heart, he will find two results coming into his experience with surprising quickness; First, a burning thirst for righteousness. Second, a confidence that will develop into a conviction and evidence that the work is done. The process may be a mystery, but the effect will be an undeniable realization that he dies to sin and wakes to holiness and God, with a loathing of all impurity, and a keen and sweet relish for all immaculate things.
Renunciation of sin is a condition of faith. Sin is a mildew, and faith can no more live in connection with cherished sins than grapes can grow and ripen under a blight. Sin as naturally quenches faith as water extinguishes fire. It acts upon the power to believe like paralysis upon the body, enervating the body itself. A man who makes up his mind to allow himself to tamper with sin, even occasionally, finds himself incapable of trusting in Christ for purity. To come out from sinful associations, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, to "touch not the unclean thing," *51 to "depart from iniquity," is a condition of faith.
Submission to God is a prior requisite of faith. How can self-will, which takes things into its own bands, usurps the place of God, and runs atilt against His commands, at the same time trust in God for pardon and purity? As well trust a forsaken ship to keep you from sinking. The willing and obedient "shall eat the good of the land." A preparation to believe requires us to say, continually and absolutely, "Thy will be done." Not that we are bound to drop our own will into disuse, but to subdue the faculty and put it into accord with the will of God.
To exercise our will-power in choosing what God chooses is the highest act of devotion. It is submission and acquiescence, not slavery nor absorption, that God demands. To have no will of our own is to suspend our volitions and cultivate a sanctified inertness, and treats our power of choice, in which all the virtue of free moral agents is located, as useless, if not as sin. I am persuaded the stronger the will and the more independent its exercise, provided it is operated in unison with the will of God, the greater the virtue involved in it, and the more pleasing will its subordinate use be in the sight of the Creator. It is obvious God likes the similitudes of Himself. And we must conclude that the pleasure of the Creator is enhanced in His creatures in proportion as they approximate His own perfections.
He is better pleased with a tree that has vegetable life, and grows heavenward, than with a stone or particle of dust; better pleased with a beast which has animal life, and governs itself by instinct, than with an unthinking tree; better pleased with a rational man than with an unreasoning animal; but best of all, pleased with a man crowned with a moral character and free-will, who, exercising his power of choice voluntarily, responsibly, and quite independently, selects his Creator as the object of worship, loves him with all his soul, mind, heart, and strength.
Finally, the gift of all to God through Christ is a condition of faith. Any reserve or limitation is a worm at the root of faith. But the moment we are conscious that we are all the Lord's by a solemn act of dedication, confidence will suddenly spring up in the heart.
It is natural to both trust and love those to whom we belong. It is thus that "faith works by love." It becomes more a work of the affections than of the intellect. As it is written, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Faith is a loving embrace of Jesus.
Reader, meet these prior conditions of faith, and you will not only believe, but love to believe. To have faith will become as easy and natural as to breathe. You will live in a world of trust, which, mingling with and producing perfect love, will cast out all fear that hath torment. But without meeting these antecedent conditions you can no more believe than a balloon can rise when weighed down to earth with bags of sand.
PRESENT FAITH
All evangelical faith -- in essence -- is a unit, just as all light in its primary properties is a unit.
But as there are different colors in the same beam of sunshine as seen in the rainbow, so there are different aspects in faith. It may change according to the illumination of the Spirit and the power of truth, just as the moon takes on new phases in proportion to the measure of light received from the sun.
When the sun shines obliquely upon the moon, as seen by us, it is only partially illuminated, and is said to be in her first, second, or third quarter, because there is presented at first only a crescent of the shining surface. But when the great orb of day pours his rays upon the whole hemisphere of the moon at once, then that majestic queen of night is seen to walk the heavens, round, full, and glorious.
These figures may serve to illustrate the diversities of faith. There is a prospective faith which seems to mark the approaches of the soul toward Christ, but does not quite touch Him. He is accepted, and even trusted as able and willing to save to the uttermost. But the adverb of time when is left out. The great salvation is expected, but the exact period of its bestowment is not fixed. And, indeed, the right to claim this salvation now is not fully recognized.
There is a subtle deceit floating through the minds even of believers, that when and after they have done all they can to secure full salvation, they must wait God's time, and with them to wait God's time is to wait indefinitely. They are deluded into the belief that God is pleased with such patience, or relaxation of effort. This lagging, random faith has, in many instances, consumed half a century, and yet not touched Christ for the specific blessing. They have been tacking back and forth, like a vessel at sea, without getting into port. Battling all the time against wind and wave, they never give it up, but never reach the dock, nor make fast to the pier of God's immediate promise. This is usually the fate of those who talk so much about growing into holiness. They seem to expect to infringe upon sin, and crowd the devil, until they force a retreat and gain the field.
This, it will be observed, is a proximate faith -- a faith of gradual approaches. It is good in every particular, save one. It has no grip, no limitation of time within which to accomplish its purpose. It goes up ever so high, but, like an eagle sweeping through ether on discursive wing, lights nowhere. Aimless it shoots into vacancy, hits no mark, and then, like a spent ball, dies in air and falls to the ground.
Now, there is a better faith; no truer in its nature, nor more divine in its origin, but better directed and more immediate in its effect. It is a faith that converges and focalizes in a definite object. The object may be justification, sanctification, or the enduement of power, but to whichever object it points, the aim is direct and the range short. This may be styled the faith of contact, like that of the woman who touched the hem of the Saviour's garment.
Such a faith renders all the promises which pertain to individual salvation in the present tense, by interjecting the word "now." For example: "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean," now. "From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, I will cleanse you," now. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us" now "from all unrighteousness." It is a now salvation -- a present-tense sanctification -- a belief that the event is this moment transpiring -- a conviction that the blood now cleanses, and that the Comforter comes in to abide.
Mr. Wesley says, "To the confidence that God is both able and willing to sanctify us now, there needs to be added one thing more -- a Divine evidence and conviction that He doeth it. In that moment," he says "it is done. God says to the inmost soul, According to thy faith be it unto thee. Then the soul is pure from every spot of sin. It is clean from all unrighteousness."
Now this last degree of faith is vital. As the link that couples the forward car to the locomotive is indispensable to the movement of a train, so this faith of touch, this faith of immediate and effectual contact with Christ, is vital to instantaneous sanctification. We may believe that Christ is able and willing to save to the uttermost, and to save now; but we will not, and cannot, realize salvation from all sin until, committing ourselves absolutely to Christ for a perfect cure, we settle down under the conviction that He heals -- that we now "receive the things that we desire of Him." Then,
O'erwhelmed with Thy stupendous grace,
I shall not in Thy presence move;
But breathe unutterable praise,
And rapturous awe, and silent
ASK FOR IT
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened 'into you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth." Matt. vii, 7, 5.
The gist of the gracious words which we have quoted from the lips of our Teacher is found in the coincidence of these two sentences: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth." To ask, then, is to receive. To seek is to find. Asking and receiving, seeking and finding, are coetaneous and inseparable events. It is like breathing and living, and living and breathing. Our Lord evidently repeats and modifies His promise to emphasize this thought. His object is to intensify the threefold promise of the seventh verse, and to give it a present and personal application. Nay, more; it is to show the utter impossibility of making a fruitless approach to Him. Can there be a sun without sunshine? Can we take nourishment without reinvigoration? No more can we ask without receiving, or seek without finding. There are no qualifying terms, and nothing prospective in the passage. It contains only two simple conditions, asking and seeking. Compliance with these reduces the question of salvation to an absolute certainty, and makes its reception immediately actual.
Of course, asking and seeking are generic terms, including all the steps and states of mind involved in coming to Christ, such as repentance, consecration, and faith. But all these may be compressed into one act of surrender, and one cry for mercy. It is, look and live. Can you look into light and not see? No more can you behold the Lamb of God and not have your sins taken away. As the sight of the brazen serpent brought healing to Israel's dying thousands, so a glance into the face of Jesus sends life and health to the soul. But you must ask and you must seek. Yes, you must ask in words and seek in effort. Here lies the mistake of thousands. They delude themselves into a sort of submissive inertia.
In a false sense they put themselves into the hands of God; that is, they nestle down in a totally passive state like dead matter, and complacently in quire, "Is it not enough that we lie in the hands of God 'as clay in the bands of the potter?' " No, it is not enough, if understood in your absurd sense of moral inactivity and spiritual torpor. You are more than a lump of inert matter in the reckoning and requirements of God. You have a will and power of choice and action. God cannot coerce that will; it would be to repeal your responsibility and rob you of manhood to do so. Unresisting passiveness is a virtue, but that is not the limit of penitential concern, or the maximum of Christian duty. You must actually ask. You must earnestly seek. You must do something or die. You are made a "coworker with God," and unless you co-work you will receive the grace of God in vain. *52 Salvation is the product of two concurrent forces: "God working in us to will and to do," and man working out his "own salvation with fear and trembling." *53 Some persons wheedle themselves into comfortable inaction and sluggishness, by saying," I have no will of my own; it is lost and swallowed up in God's will." Not so. Does God require us to relinquish our manhood, and discard the divine attribute of liberty? No; God is pleased that we have a will, and that we use it with all necessary independence. He only demands that we operate that will in unison and harmony with His own. The height of holiness is acquiescence on our part in the will of God as revealed in His word. But that very acquiescence implies will in us, and will, too, in responsible exercise. How can I acquiesce in the development of God's plans and purposes unless I put forth my volitions to do so? Sanctification in all cases is the concurrence of two wills. God wills "even your sanctification." *54 We must acquiesce by saying, "Thy will be done." *55 God will make haste to work His will in us, provided we thus ask Him; not otherwise. He will set up His kingdom in us, full of "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." But in order to do this and as a hinge on which the whole realization turns, we must "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." *56 In any event, reader, ask. Ask, if you feel like it; ask, if you do not feel like it. Seek, if you find yourself so disposed; if not so disposed, nevertheless seek. Have no reference to your emotions or natural inclinations. Ask, and seek, even in defiance of an aversion thereto. Do it on principle. Do it perforce of your will power. Do it under a solemn conviction of your accountability. But put your whole soul into the work. Compose your mind, gather up all your thoughts, concentrate your attention, and put your entire being upon the pursuit of this one object, Jesus and His salvation. As ships make for the harbor in storms, so break from sin and steer for safety. As streams converge and run to the sea, so pour out your soul to God, and center all the forces of your nature in Him. Be in earnest, and scorn no t to plead. As birdlings bestir themselves in their nest, stretch up their necks, open their beaks, and chatter for the food on which their life depends; so exert yourself and lift imploring eyes and hands and heart for that "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." *57 Do this, and God shall come in loving haste and fill your hungry soul with righteousness. As the mother-bird comes quickly, and cheers her helpless young with the music of her voice and the flutter of her wings, and fills their little mouths with an abundance of far-fetched bounty, so the Lord will come to you in His Spirit, descending like a dove and lighting upon you, as He did upon Jesus, and abiding there. He shall herald His approach, not by the hum of His wings, but by the sweeter peal of His promise, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." *58
Prisoner of hope, be strong, be bold;
Cast off your doubts, disdain to fear;
Dare to believe; on Christ lay hold;
Wrestle with Christ in mighty prayer;
Tell Him, -- We will not let Thee go,
Till we Thy name, Thy nature know."
cont...