Sanctification practical: a book for the times

Contents

Preface iii

Introduction 3

I. What is Sanctification, or Christian- Perfection ? 7

Appendix

The Act of Faith by which the Blessing of Holiness is obtained and retained 115

A Pioneer Faith : whose Faith follow 130

Did Mr. Wesley profess the Blessing of Holiness ? 138

Preface

For ten years past, ministers and laymen have been importuning us to publish our plain, practical thoughts on sanctification. We have often promised to do so in some form. At first, we thought of publishing a discourse in pamphlet form ; but as we have given the subject more thought, and have become better acquainted with the wants of the Church, we have concluded to follow the advice of many, and publish our views in a more permanent form.

We therefore submit this little volume to the Christian public in general, and to the Methodist public in particular, claiming for it no particular merit ; but, believing it to

IV PREFACE.

be evangelical in doctrine, we hope it may

lead many into the rest of perfect love.

Should it do this in a single instance, we

shall be abundantly rewarded for all our

labor.

The Author.

Pent Water, 1866.

INTKODUCTION.

In presenting this little volume to the favorable attentions of the religious public, we cannot well say too much in its praise. It is eminently practical, concise, simple, and cogent, and just such a book as is needed by the sincere inquirer after truth, whose single aim is to secure the pearl of full salvation irrespective of cost. And so great is the value of this precious pearl, that the hope of attaining it without a willingness to pay aJl for it, and an absorption of desire and oneness of purpose in seeking it, is futile. Under such circumstances, no metaphysical hair-splittings, or fine-spun theological theories, however beautiful to look upon, will satisfy.

4 INTRODUCTION.

If a traveller had lost his way amid the burning sands of Arabia, and had not for three long days tasted a morsel of food or water, how intensely would he hunger and thirst ! We may imagine him to be a man of more than ordinary mental ability, whose literary tastes are exquisitely balanced. Bring him a book containing the most elaborate and beautiful specimens of composition ever produced in any age, and in exultant tones present it to him, giving it its due meed of praise : in what way would your gift be received? Would you expect the famishing man to be very appreciative in his remarks, or lavish in his thanks? Would it not rather seem as in mockery of his want, and suggest a cruel deficiency of forethought and seemliness in you ?

Yet is not such the inappropriateness of some works that the urithoughtful and

INTRODUCTION. 5

uninitiated would place in the hands of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness?* It is true that the majority of those who intensely hunger and thirst for heart-purity may be persons in the common walks of life, and of ordinary capacity : such formed the masses that followed the incarnate King of Glory, and so gladly heard his teaching. To all such, this treatise will be a valuable acquisition. It will be food for the hungry multitude of believers, and most emphatically, as its titlepage suggests, a " book for the times. " Yes : a book for the times, because the great heart of the people is now crying out for the simple, unsophisticated gospel of a full salvation, untrammelled by worldly sophisms. Never, we imagine, was there a greater call, and a more unsuppressed desire, for the simple and unadulterated teachings of the cross on the subject of entire sanctifi-

6 INTRODUCTION.

cation. The truly pious of all denominations, and of all classes, both of the ministry and laity, are seeking for *the truth. There is a literal uprising of the people. The number of those who do " hunger and thirst after righteousness " is rapidly increasing. An elaborate display of doctrines or defence of technicalities, however masterly in style, or beautiful in composition, on the subject, will not satisfy the demand ; but plain, earnestly practical, well-defined, and experimental teachings are just what is needed.

Such we present in the valuable little volume we now have the privilege of introducing to the devout attention of the Christian public, with the prayer that the blessing of the Triune Deity may accompany every page.

PHOEBE PALMER.

SANCTIFICATION PRACTICAL.

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION, OR CHRISTIAN PER- FECTION?

This is a perplexing question to many, even in the Methodist Church ; but we apprehend that the difficulty arises from a want of understanding of the subject, rather than from any darkness or mysticism involved in the question itself. Sanctification, or perfection, is taught in the Bible as a Christian attainment. If so, what is it? We propose to state what we understand to be the biblical and Wesley an view of the subject.

Sanctification, in its literal signification, means to set apart, or to dedicate to a given purpose. Sanctification, we understand to be a state of grace, which implies the ivhole heart and life devoted to God. It is not absolute perfection : no one but God can be perfect in this sense. It is not angelic perfection ; that is, it is not the perfection which characterises the angels around the throne of God. It is not Adarnic perfection ; that is, it is not that degree or state of perfection which our first parents possessed before the Fall. But it is Christian perfection; and by this we mean, " nothing more nor less than perfection in love." This is as Mr. Wesley understood and taught it ; and this is as it is taught in the "Discipline" of the Methodist-Episcopal Church.

Look at the questions propounded to every minister, before he is received into full connection in an Annual Conference. " Have you faith in Christ? " " Are you going on to perfection ? " What state of perfection is here meant? The next question will show : " Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life ? " (See " Methodist Discipline," pp. 81, 83). Not, Do you expect to be made perfect in knowledge ? Not, Do you expect to be made perfect in wisdom ? Not, Do you expect to be made perfect in practice ? For we cannot expect to be free from infirmities and errors in this life. The very best of men are liable to err in judgment ; and errors in judgment may lead to errors in practice. The question is, " Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life ? " That is, do you expect to arrive at that state of perfection in this

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATTON ? 9

life, when " your love shall be perfected in Christ Jesus" when love shall possess and rule your heart, and when love shall be the ruling, governing principle of your life and actions ? The candidate answers, "I do." Thus we see every member of an Annual Conference has said that he " expected to be made perfect in love in this life." Those that have attained to it are sanctified, holy men of God. God ! multiply the number.

As we wish to be clearly understood, and to lead the reader, by God's help, to this high state of grace, let us illustrate. Now, dear reader, we will say you are converted ; you can point to the ' ' sacred hour, the hallowed spot, when first you felt your sins forgiven." Oh what a blessed change came over you ! your burden of guilt then rolled off; God's anger was turned away, and you enjoyed the comforting influences of the Holy Ghost : then you could sing, " with the spirit, and with the understanding also," —

" Oh how happy are they

Who their Saviour obey, And have laid up their treasures above !

Tongue can never express

The sweet comfort and peace

Of a soul in its earliest love."

How warm arid glowing was your love to God and man ! How strong was your hatred to sin ! How strong was your determination never to sin again ! How you imagined your troubles were at an end ! But, alas ! how sadly have you been disappointed ! It was not long after your conversion, ere you found some of the remains of carnality in your heart. You had faith ; but, oh, how you were troubled with unbelief ! You had humility ; but it was mixed with pride ! You had devotion to God ; but, alas ! how much selfishness ! You had love to God ; but it was mingled with an undue love of the world ! Your purpose was to be a Christian at all hazards ; but you found " a law in your members, warring against the law of your mind." When you would do good, how much of " evil was present with you " ! In short, deep as your sincerity was, pure as your purposes were, there were " seeds of sin," " roots of bitterness," still remaining in the heart : these were ever and anon springing up, marring your peace and enjoyment, hindering your progress and usefulness in the divine life ; and how often have you felt to cry, Who, who shall deliver me from these things !

Now, when you are sanctified, you will be " cleansed from all unrighteousness." " Sanctification,"

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION ? 11

said the sainted Dempster, " implies the propensities to sin eradicated." Hence, when you are sanctified, all these "seeds of sin," these ""roots of bitterness," are removed : so that you have faith without unbelief ; humility without pride ; devotion to God, without any mixture of selfishness ; love to God, with no undue love of the world. All anger, malice, envy, in short every thing that is opposed to God and holiness, is eradicated from the heart, and the heart is filled with love to God and man. Then, and not till then, do you "love God with all the heart, might, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself."

When the heart is thus cleansed from sin, and filled with love, its fruit will appear. We shall then manifest our love to God by living daily, hourly, and momentarily in a manner accepted of God through Jesus Christ. We shall then exhibit our love to man by " doing unto others as we would have others do unto us."

We may further illustrate this subject in this way. The Saviour said, " Blessed are the pure'm heart." David prayed, " Create in me a clean heart, God ! and renew a right spirit within me ! " When is the heart clean and pure ? When we have broken off" from our outward sins merely ? Is it clean when there are any " roots of bitterness " remaining therein ? That lady goes into her garden, and finds that a noxious weed has sprung up, and has spread all over her flower-bed, upon which she has bestowed much labor, and the flower-roots are so choked, that they are dying : she goes to work and cuts off all the branches of this weed just below the surface, so that the bed looks perfectly clean. But is it clean ? Let us see. After the lapse of four weeks, the lady returns, and she is surprised to find the bed again covered with this same noxious weed. She says, 1 ' How is this ? I cut all the branches of this weed off, and the bed seemed to be clean ; but here it is again, covering the whole bed, and choking my flowers. What shall I do to ged rid of this weed ? " Why, you would tell her to take all the roots, and every fibre of a root, out of the earth You would say, while any of these remain, they will be springing up ; and the weed will appear on the surface, and the growth of the flowers will be hindered. So it is not enough that we are converted, that the propensities to sin are restrained merely, as they are in regeneration; but they must be eradicated, as they are in sanctification, when, by the blood of Christ, we are " cleansed from all unrighteousness. " It is when we are " cleansed from all our jilthiness y

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION ? 13

and from all our idols" that we are "clean;" it is when we are "cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit/' that we "perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord." This is Christian Perfection ! This is Perfect Love !

Yet, as we have above remarked, this state of perfection does not imply freedom from error : the purposes, the aspirations, the desires, and the affections of the heart, are all pure ; the will of the creature is lost and swallowed up in the will of the Creator ; but, as we are not perfect in knowledge and wisdom, we may err in judgment, and this may lead to errors in practice. But mark, if a sanctified Christian errs in practice, it will be owing to an error in his judgment, not to an error of the heart : nothing but love dwells in his heart.

Neither does this perfection in love imply that there is to be no farther advance or growth. The sanctified Christian through life, and through all eternity, will be constantly advancing in the knowledge and the love of God. I know that some say they cannot understand how any thing can be perfect, and still advance or grow in its perfection. Go into the forest, and behold that beautiful tree, whose roots shoot deep into the earth, and whose top is reared in heaven. That tree is perfect in all

14 SANCTIFICATION FRACTICAL.

its parts ; yet, as long as it lives, it will grow. It is a perfect tree to-day ; but, twelve months from now, its roots will shoot deeper, its branches will ascend higher, and its trunk will be larger than now. Thus it is all the time perfect, yet continually advancing in its perfections : so the sanctified Christian is perfect in love ; he has arisen to the ' ' stature^ of a perfect man in Christ Jesus ; " still, as the tree is constantly growing, so he is continually " growing up into Christ the living head."

Neither does this great blessing imply that its possessor no longer feels the need of the application of the merits of Christ's death, and of his constant intercession : the fact is, no other class of believers so deeply feel the need of these, as do those who have experienced and who enjoy the blessing of perfect love. You, my reader, who are regenerated only, will bear witness, that it is when you live the nearest to God, when you enjoy the most religion, that you the more clearly see your own sinfulness, and your utter helplessness out of Christ ; and hence it is, when you are living the nearer to God, that you the more clearly see your constant dependence on Christ. Well, they that enjoy full redemption, or perfect love, more than all others feel to cry.—

" Every moment, Lord, I need The merits of thy death."

And they, tbank God, are enabled to say, —

" Every moment, Lord, I have The merits of thy death."

Ob, what a sinking out of self into God ! Ob, bow clear and bow sweet the witness enjoyed by the perfect believer that he is wholly the Lord's ! that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth him from all sin;" that "be dwelleth in God, and that God dwelleth in him." Dear reader, that you may soon lay hold of this blessing, and enjoy this witness, is the fervent prayer of the writer.

II. How Is The Blessing Of Perfect Love To Be Attained?

" Oh, yes ! " a thousand voices exclaim, " that is the question in which I am interested. I have always believed the doctrine, and I believe that perfect love is attainable ; but how shall I attain it is the perplexing question with me." Well, dear reader, the object we have in writing is to answer this all-important question, that you may no longer be in doubt respecting it. You say you believe it is attainable. That is the first thing essential ; but, with this belief, there are three things more necessary, in order to one attaining to this fulness in Christ Jesus. They are Conviction, Perfect Consecration, and Faith.

First, Conviction. — This is just as essential to sanctification as it is to justification. There is, however, some difference in conviction, as applied to an unpardoned sinner, and as it is applied to a justified believer who longs to be wholly swallowed up in Christ. The unpardoned sinner is chiefly weighed down under a sense of guilt. He, to be sure, realizes that he has a hardened heart of unbelief; but he sees his transgressions towering to the very heavens, as it were ; his load of guilt seems as mountains rolled upon him ; he feels himself sinking down to hell, and he cries, " God be merciful to me a sinner ! " " Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!" But he that sustains a justified relation to God knows that his sins are pardoned ; that his load of guilt is gone. He can realize what Charles Wesley meant when he penned these lines, —

BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVB. 17

" My God is reconciled ; His pardonicg voice I hear/'

Still he has a clear view of the deep, settled depravity of his nature ; he realizes how much of sin yet remains in the heart ; he is compelled to continually apply to himself this language, —

" Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love."

And, while he realizes that there are so many things in his heart which are opposed to God and holiness, he hears the commands, "Be ye holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy." — " Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord : " he is convinced that holiness is necessary. Then, again, he turns the eye of the immortal mind within, and, aided by the Divine Spirit, he gazes at his *beart with closest scrutiny. He sees the remains of unbelief, pride, selfishness, love of the world, &c, and is led to cry out, " Oh wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" ' Now he is convicted ; for the conviction essential to our attaining perfect love is something more than an assent of the mind to the truth relative to our own impurity, 2 and that God requires holiness : we must loathe our own sinfulness, and so keenly feel the need of purity as tO " GROAN AFTER IT. ' '

This reminds us of what we once heard Bishop Waugh say to a class of young men, whom he was examining before an Annual Conference. He asked, " Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life ? " Each one answered, " I do.' ? — " Are you groaning after it? " — "I am " was the prompt reply of each. The bishop paused, and gazed at them, as if to discern the very thoughts of their hearts ; and then, in a clear, full voice, and with deep emotion, said, " Brethren, do you realize what you last said, ' Groaning after it ! ' That expresses more than a conviction of its need. -°It implies that you so feel its need, that you are now, in an agony of soul, seeking it. This is conviction proper; and, if you have spoken what you feel at heart, you must soon attain it. The conviction essential to sanctification is that feeling which leads the soul to cry, —

" Break off the yoke of inbred sin, And fully set my spirit free : I cannot rest till pure within.

Till I am wholly lost in thee."

"When properly convicted, we " hunger and thirst after righteousness ; " we feel that we cannot rest an hour, a moment, " till we are wholly lost in Christ." Kind reader, do you thus feel '.?

Second — Perfect Consecration ! — This is the next thing essential to perfect love. "But I did consecrate all to God, when I first sought the Lord, in the forgiveness of sins; and what more can I do ? " we are asked. Here many stumble.

A brother in the ministry once came to us at a camp-meeting, and said, " I hear you and others say, ' We must consecrate all to God, unreservedly and unconditionally, if we would obtain the blessing of perfect love : ' now I confess I do not understand this," said he. " What is there about it that you do not understand?" we asked. " I consecrated all to God when I first embraced religion ; and that is all lean do" — " Well, let us see whether you have done all you can. Have you any pride ? " He answered, "Yes." — "Has not that pride its object?" — "Certainly," he said, after a short pause. " Have you any selfishness ? " — " Yes." " Has not that selfishness its object ? " — " Well, yes, I suppose so," said he. "You know in what you desire to please self rather than God ? " After a few moments' hesitation, he answered, " I think I do." — " Have you any undue love of the world ? " we asked. "I have." — "Has it its object?"

" You need say no more : I see the point clearly now. Thank you. Pray for me;" and, so saying, he left for his closet.

This is the point, — the objects of our pride, selfishness, undue love of the world, '&c, are all to be given up, and the will of the creature must be lost in the will of the Creator. What we mean by the perfect consecration essential to the attainment of a perfect love is just such a consecration and sacrifice as will enable us to sink entirely into the will of God.

Now, dear reader, what that will be in your case, I am unable to say; that is, I am unable to say what the little minutiae will be. It is easy to tell, in general terms, what all must do ; and that is, to give up all for Christ. Time, talents, strength, substance, soul, body, will, affections, influence, family, friends, &c, are all to be given to God, in an everlasting covenant never to be broken. To do this, we shall need to repent, and forsake all inward as well as all outward sin : the " right-eye " and the " right-hand " idols are to be torn from the heart.

In seeking entire san education, as in seeking pardon, you will become willing to do this or that, to give up this or give up that ; but you will come to some one thing above every thing else, over which the soul will have the great struggle. What that will he you may have no idea now ; but God, who always furnishes the sacrifice, knows what is necessary to bring us into the sweet rest of perfect love ; and you will not seek long, my dear friend, before you will discover what it is.

We know of no better way to illustrate this subject than to give you the experience of those who have passed through the struggle, and have entered into this sweet, holy rest.

A lady, relating her experience in our hearing, said, " I had long prayed, —

' The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be, Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee ; '

but I little knew what I was praying for, until God came, and took my child away ; and in a short time my husband sickened and died, and I was left alone in the world : then I was brought to see, that I had been loving the creatures more than the Creator. My supreme affections were placed upon my child and husband, rather than my Saviour. Oh, how my wicked heart rebelled ! Oh, how I murmured against

22 SANCTIFICATI02J PRACTICAL.

God ! How cruel I felt he was to take my loved ones from me ! Still I knew it was wrong to feel thus : and I struggled hard, and struggled long, to sink into the will of God, and feel that the death of these loved ones was all right. Often before their death, as I would be praying for a clean heart, the thought was suggested, ' You must be willing to give

O OO ' - o o

up your family ; ' but I tried to believe that that was the temptation of Satan in order to destroy my peace ; but, when they died, my eyes were opened : then I could see what the idols were. Oh, how I wept ! How I struggled, none can imagine but those who have had a similar experience : at length I was enabled to give up my loved ones, and say in reference to their death, ' Lord, thou doest all things well.' Then*my faith laid hold on Christ as my present, all-sufficient Saviour. Then, oh, what love, peace, and joy filled my soul ! "

Now this woman had been converted, and was trying to serve God ; but she allowed her husband and child to come between her and the Saviour. The consecration on her part, i.e. the one thing above every thing else, was her husband and child : these loved ones must be given up, so that she could love God with all the heart. How sadly she erred in not giving them up before their death ! this would have saved her much mental suffering.

Again : in the summer of 1863, just as we closed the burial-service at the grave of a young lady whom we saw converted the winter previous, a friend said to us, " Mrs. G. wished me to inform you that Mrs. Smith's husband is dead." We understood from that, that we were desired to call on the family. We determined to do so at once, before returning home. Arriving at the house, we found Mrs. Smith, and her daughter, and two neighboring women, all quietly seated as though nothing unusual had occurred. There was no consternation, or any excitement which usually exists in families when visited by such a stroke. All seemed as calm as a summer evening. After a few moments' conversation, we said, " Sister Smith, we understand you have met with a great affliction." — " Yes : affliction it should be considered, I suppose. My husband is dead. But the struggle is all over." " How is that? " we asked. " You recollect," said she, "I presented myself, with many others, some months ago, as a seeker of the blessing of perfect love ? " — " Yes, we know you did." — " Well, you know I had a great struggle ? " — " Yes." — ' ' What the cause of the struggle was, I suppose you never knew ? " — ' ' We never did. ' ' — ' ' It was this : I had been praying a long time for the blessing. I thought

I had given up all. I went to the Lord again, and asked bitn to sbow rne what, if any thing, was yet lacking on my part. My husband was away, clown the Mississippi, in the service of our country, and was sick. As I was struggling in prayer, the question was pressed home to me, ' Should your husband die in the South, and you see him no more on earth, could you willingly give him up, and say, The will of the Lord be done ? ' My heart arose in rebellion at once : I felt to say no. That will be so cruel ! I said, Lord, I can suffer any thing else ; but give up my husband to die away off there, I cannot! Then I would try to make myself believe that it was nothing but the temptation of Satan • but, every time I asked for the blessing, that question was asked me : over this I struggled for weeks. At length I triumphed through grace, and felt to say, * Yes, Lord, take my husband, my daughter, myself, my all, but give me peace and purity within.' Then I believed, and entered into rest. Ob, how sweet and abiding has been my peace ever since ! My husband is gone. I mourn his loss here ; but I feel that it is all right. The language of my heart is, ' The ivill of the Lord be done? Deeply afflicted as I am, I was never so happy' in God before in all my life."

This lady was struggling for purity of heart : she imagined she had laid all on the altar. That •she might not be deceived, she went to God, and asked him to show her if any thing was lacking, so far as her consecration was concerned. The Lord knew just what sacrifice was needed : she was willing to submit to the will of God, save in the event of the death of her husband in the army. This was the thing, above every thing else, which constituted her consecration and sacrifice • for with all her devotedness to God, with all her love to God, her will rose in opposition to the divine will in this thing. That will of hers must be subdued before she could feel that God was all in all to her, — that she loved God with all her heart. When she yielded at this point, and said, " Yes, Lord, take him ! " she believed and rested. Now she feels that, in health or sickness, in joy or sorrow, in life or in- death, all is well.