Lessons for seekers of Holiness : containing numerous quotations from Wesley, Fletcher, and other standard authors, and designed to aid such as are groaning after purity of heart in entering upon the experience

Contents

CHAPTXS. PAGMB.

Contents - ' - - r • : ,. - iii

Intboduction - - - - v

Introduction

Another book on the subject of entire sanctification? Yes ; and doubtless there will be many others. It will be many days before the last word shall have been written on this important subject.

The theme of the book is the "Central Idea of Christianity." Deliverance from sin and sinfulness is the very heart of the gospel message. It was the burden of prophetic message under the old dispensation ; it was the keynote in the message of the heavenly visitors who announced the coming of the Lord ; it was the "chief cornerstone" of apostolic building as they laid the foundations of the Christian Church ; and it is still the theme which, above all others, when presented in the Spirit, is attended with the inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost, and is effective in the salvation of men.

A subject of such vast scope and importance, sustaining such a vital relation to the gospel of Christ and the welfare of his Church, cannot be exhausted. Hence there is room for another book.

This book covers ground peculiarly its own. Most books written on this subject deal more or less with controversial questions. A glance over the outline as given in the table of contents will show that the experimental and practical phases of the subject are here emphasized rather than the doctrinal or controversial. Surely there is need of this. Volumes have been written to prove that entire sanctification is a second work of grace. So of other doctrinal phases of the subject. But the great demand is that men shall be clearly shown their need of the experience by exhibiting the manifestations of carnality — the char-

Vl INTRODUCTION

acteristics of an unsanctified heart — and then that they be shown how they may attain and retain the experience of cleansing.

These are the lines followed by the author. In the course of his experience as pastor and evangelist he has met many souls who have been troubled by erroneous conceptions of the experience ; others who have been deluded into believing that they had the experience when they had it not; others again who were in confusion as to the steps to be taken in order to obtain the experience. He has undertaken, so to speak, to blaze a track through the wilderness of false theories, erroneous teachings and wrong conceptions, a track which honest seekers after purity of heart may follow, and, in following, find their way to the Canaan of perfect love, which, having reached, they may hold against all their foes. Opinions will, of course, differ as to how well he has succeeded.

The writer of this introduction has been acquainted with the author almost from the time of his conversion. He knows him as a man of pronounced individuality. This individuality naturally is apparent in the volume before us. The book, however, is not a mere transcript of personal experience ; it deals with fundamental principles, and the honest seeker after a clean heart who ponders its teachings and follows them will, it is believed, attain to the experience he seeks.

Some of the author's statements may, at first glance, appear unduly strong, some of the tests applied unduly severe. But do not set these aside hastily. Remember that the Church is flooded with superficial teachings on these very subjects, and that thorough, and even heroic, measures are necessary to rouse men from the moral lethargy into which the depravity of their own hearts and these superficial teachings have lulled them. Superficial or spurious holiness is perhaps the greatest hindrance to the promotion of "true holiness" in our time. Is there not need that some one on this subject lay "judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet"? We believe

INTRODUCTION Vii

our brother has sought only to do this. He who seeks counsel of this book will be led into no shallow or superficial experience.

JOHN S. M'GEARY.

Titusville, Pa.

Prefatory Note

The author wishes hereby to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Rev. John S. M'Geary, of Titusville, Pa., for kindly writing the Introduction to this little volume, and also for helpful advices given with regard to its preparation ; to the Rev. Wilson T. Hogue, of Evanston, Illinois, for valuable aid rendered in preparing the matter for the press ; and to all who, by their sermons, prayers, testimonies and counsels, in an earlier day helped to lead him to the fountain of cleansing and to ground him in "the principles of the doctrine of Christ" as to the privileges and possibilities of grace. And now with the prayer that these '"Lessons" may prove helpful to all who read them, and especially to honest inquirers after the way of full salvation, they are sent forth on their mission in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

H. A. B.

Rochester, Pa., February 11, 1907.

Chapter I. Oue Position

Volume after volume has been written on the subject of holiness, until the ground has been pretty thoroughly canvassed. There is scarcely a phase of the subject that has not been criticized by its enemies and defended by its friends. It has been set before us as a desirable experience, until our eyes could almost see the luscious fruits of the Canaan of Perfect love ; it has been defended as a biblical experience, until the Sacred Volume fairly sparkles with the gems of promise ; it has been taugnt as a possible experience, until a man must be spiritually blind that cannot see his high privilege; it has been taught as a present experience, until persons whose hearts are still unclean can almost feel their feet pressing the vine-clad hills of Canaan; Heaven and earth, the Bible, human nature, and even hell, have been ransacked for incentives to draw or drive men's sluggish souls to action. Some of the mightiest intellects of earth have exhausted their resources in depicting the beauties, deliverances and possibilities of holiness. All this is good and necessary, but we take it for granted that the reader already accepts the doctrine, and so take up our task along another line. As some one has said, "Much has been written defining holiness, proving it to be scriptural and showing that it is desirable, but how to obtain the experience mortals desire to know."

The writer firmly believes in the Wesleyan view of holiness as the most scriptural and the most reasonable. A great many of the modern theories are a compromise with worldliness. This is an age when mist and darkness are settling over the hearts and consciences of men, and "they will not endure sound doctrine." A3 a consequence we see them professing holiness when they have not, as Fletcher says, "attained the candor of a conscientious heathen ;" while manifesting unholy dispositions and tempers, and bringing into reproach the doctrine they so clamorously uphold. It makes no difference how loudly one may profess, if his life does not correspond with his profession, the world will call him a hypocrite.

The chief occasion for this deficiency in grace is a lack of depth in seeking. Seekers skim over the surface, and call the first stirring of their emotions the experience ; and when the emotion subsides they find the same old trouble inside and are forced to one of two conclusions ; either they must call these feelings temptation, and ignore them, or else give up their profession. They are not made to thoroughly understand that holiness is not merely an emotion, but a deliverance from sin, not a feeling, but a state.

Here is where Wesley is peculiarly clear in his teachings. He seldom, if ever, magnified the emotional, but held before the minds of his readers their deliverance from sin as that which they must obtain in order to be perfected in love. He held steadily to the necessary characteristics of the experience, and discouraged the use of expressions that would lead away from this central idea ; while, on the contrary, a great many persons teach their own convictions, leadings, blessings and even notions, as a necessity for all.

John Wesley and his great defender, the saintly John Fletcher, have taught us much about how to obtain the experience of holiness, but neither of them has taken it in hand to lay before us consecutively the steps necessary to be taken. Although these things are scattered through their works, yet they are not, for the most part, in order, and are mixed in with page after page of the most wholesome of teaching on the nature and possibility of holiness. We have thought that if these gems could be brought together in such a way as to fit them to the peculiar requirements of to-day they would be of use to not a few struggling, panting seekers after the fulness of God. This then is our reason for writing these pages — to be of help to souls who have heretofore been tossed by many conflicting winds of doctrine, desiring to anchor in the haven of rest, but who are as yet unable to do so on account of their vague ideas of their own needs and privileges.

When God came to our own soul after years of struggling and fears and settled our heart in the bosom of his infinite grace, we cried, "O God, teach us the way to help others who are in the same condition." On our face before God, with our heart burning with the desire to be of some use to these hungry ones, the conception of producing these pages was born.

We have not attempted excellency of speech, since that would spoil the whole end we have in view ; we have not feigned learning or superior spiritual attainments ; but as a plain Christian we believed God had given us a message, and in the simplest manner possible we have delivered it. And throughout we have aimed to be practical. If you think our words at times are too plain, remember we had a message, and were so thoroughly taken with this thought that we could not well speak otherwise.

We have studiously omitted the marvelous and visionary and held to the unpolished truth. We have eliminated the peculiarities of our own experience, for no two are exactly alike in every particular, and held closely to those truths that are as nearly universal as possible. Where for thoroughness we have been forced to speak of individual manifestations the fact has been mentioned.

Reader, if you are praying for that purity which will fit you for the society and employments of heaven we trust our words will be of some use to you in gaining the goal of your endeavors, but put away the thought that it is too hard, and that you can never be made clean. Who can tell the value of a necessary article? much less can you tell the value of that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." It is of such infinite worth that any price you can pay will be but a drop compared to a mighty sea. Do not seek an easy way or a "shorter route," but take the way that will lead you to the blood that washes thoroughly from every stain.

If you have already attained the fulness of love, we hope you will here find encouragements for your faith, and some humble lessons that will help you to be more effective in pointing others to "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."

With fervent prayer that God will bless our humble words to your good, and with an earnest desire that in the day of final reckoning we will find some one person that our tears and labors have furthered toward God, we commend these pages to your perusal, and may the blessings of the Triune God be with your spirits evermore.

Chapter II. The Call To Holiness

"For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."— 1 Thes. 4: 7.

"The human heart asks love ; but now I know

That my heart hath from thee All real, and full, and marvelous affection, So near, so human I Yet divine perfection Thrills gloriously the mighty glow !

Thy love is enough for me !

"There were strange soul depths, restless, vast and broad,

Unf athomed as the sea ; An infinite craving for some infinite stilling ; But now thy perfect love is perfect filling ! Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, my God,

Thou, thou art enough for me."

Yes, there are "strange soul depths, restless, vast and broad." There is an "infinite craving for some infinite stilling" that never will be satiated until the famished soul quaffs living, healing waters from the fountain of eternal life, whose streams, sufficient for all the soul's needs, flow right into this world from the "fountain opened to the house of David."

There are possibilities in man that are awful to contemplate. We are so accustomed to seeing him, conversing with him, enjoying or revolting his company, that we forget the infinite possibilities that are locked up in him. Yea,- we are liable to forget the infinite worth of our own souls. Men's lives are too material. Matter and its motions are about all the average person knows. Some, bolder, delve into material mysteries, and bring to light marvelous things ; and these people are called famous. Still others philosophize concerning mind and its powers ; but, notwithstanding all their wisdom, they are little appreciated outside of the halls of learning. There are very few, however, who trouble themselves to search into the mysteries of their spiritual existence. Thoughts of the Godhead are too deep for them to entertain ; redemption, the new birth, the mysteries of godliness, "the hope of our calling," the way of holiness, are all out of the realm of their investigations. True, they desire to get to heaven when they die, but want to do so with as little trouble as possible. Meanwhile their immortal spirits are clamoring after God; their hungry souls demand refreshment, and their longing hearts pant within them for a draught from some cooling fountain; but all these inward demands are either unheeded or slaked from the shallow springs of earthly good.

Poor man, muck-raking in the mud and among the stubble of earth, when an immortal crown, more glorious than ever graced the head of Solomon, is suspended over him, which he can have for the asking! Spending hia precious days and years in earthly pursuits, gaining pleasure, fame and wealth, when the pleasures of palaces, the fame of generals or conquerors, or the wealth of earth's mightiest magnates are not worthy to be compared with the glory that may (even here) be revealed in him!

Man, arouse thee. All nature is vocal with the call. It whispers in every passing breeze ; it thunders from the rumbling skies ; it echoes from the earth, and comes in beckoning form from sun, and moon and stars : The Bible repeats the call like the voice of God trumpeting on Sinai's cloud-capped mountain, or as heard speaking to Jesus when they that heard it said it thundered. The Spirit knocks at your heart's door and offers "a feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." You are wasting immortal energies ; you are trifling with costly gems; you are bartering away the pearl of great price. He calls you ; will you come to the feast? "All things are now ready."

But you say that you are already saved from sin; that you have left the world behind you ; that you have counted its gold as clay, and its gains as loss. Thank God for all you have, but greater things are in store for you. You may be made "perfect in love." God has called you to holiness.

"Ye who know your sins forgiven,

And are happy in the Lord, Have you read the gracious promise

Which is left upon record?

I will sprinkle you with water,

I will cleanse you from all sin; Sanctify and make you holy ;

I will come and dwell within.

"Though you have much peace and comfort,

Greater things you yet may find ; Freedom from unholy tempers,

Freedom from the carnal mind.

To procure your full salvation,

Jesus suffered, groan'd and died ; On the cross the healing fountain

Gushed from his wounded side."

As these words are written the writer's soul almost bursts within him. It gets a glimpse of infinite things, urges him forward, and moves him with the holy Rramwell to cry, "Oh, how I long for all the church to know this great salvation !"

Oh, these burnings of love divine! Oh, this unquenchable flame, these strong desires after God and for the purification of the saints ! May God dip this pen in blood, point it with fire, and wing it with love and let it bring from his great heart burning words that will urge the reader on to holiness!

"Rouse up. brother ! rouse up, sister ! Seek, O seek, thi3 holy state;

None but holy ones can enter,

Through the pure celestial gate.

Can you bear the thought of losing

All the joys that are above?

No, my brother ; no, my sister,

God will perfect you in love."

In order to see the consummation of these things, let us go forward. Are you saying, "Amen, I will?" Then let us pray together, in the last stanza of the foregoing hymn, —

"May a mighty sound from heaven,

Suddenly come rushing down ; Cloven tongues, like as of fire,

May they sit on all around, O may every soul be filled

With the Holy Ghost to-day; He is coming ! he is coming !

O prepare, prepare the way."

The following words from Fletcher will aid you, reader, in seeing the import of your holy calling, and perhaps help you in your decision to take the way. "Lift up your hands which hang down ; our Aaron, our heavenly High Priest, is near to hold them up. The spiritual Amalekites will not always prevail ; our Samuel, our heavenly prophet, is ready 'to cut them and their king in pieces before the Lord. The promise is unto you.' You are surely called to attain the perfection of your dispensation, although you still seem afar off. Christ, in whom that perfection centers — Christ, from whom it flows, is very near, even at the door; 'Behold,' says he (and this he spake to Laodicean loiterers), 'I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with him,' upon the fruits of my grace in their Christian perfection; and he shall sup with me, upon the fruits of my glory, in their angelical and heavenly maturity.

"Hear this encouraging gospel : 'Ask and you shall have ;

seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.' 'If any of you [believers] lack wisdom' — indwelling wisdom (Christ the wisdom and the power of God dwelling in his heart by faith), 'let him ask of God, who giveth to all men, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask [as a believer] in faith, nothing wavering ; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed :' 'for let not that man think that he shall receive' the thing which he thus asketh. # 'But whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. For all things [commanded and promised] are possible to him that believeth.' He who has commanded us to be 'perfect in love,' 'as our heavenly Father is perfect,' and he who has promised 'speedily to avenge his elect, who cry unto him night and day :' he will speedily avenge you of your grand adversary, indwelling sin. * * * * "In the meantime be not afraid to give glory to God by 'believing in hope against hope.' Stagger not 'at the promise [of the Father and the Son] through unbelief:' but trust the power and faithfulness of your Creator and Redeemer, till your Sanctifier has fixed his abode in your heart. Wait at mercy's door, as the lame beggar did at the Beautiful gate of the temple. 'Peter fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look unto us : and he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something of them.' Do so, too: give heed to the Father in the Son, who says, 'Look unto me and be ye saved.' Expect to receive 'the one thing now needful' for you, — a fulness of the sanctifying Spirit: and though your patience may be tried, it shall not be disappointed. The faith and power, which, at Peter's word, gave the poor cripple a perfect soundness In the presence of all the wondering Jews, will give' you, at Christ's word, a perfect soundness of heart in the presence of all your adversaries."

Chapter III. Definition

Wesley defines Christian Perfection as "The loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This implies that no wrong temper, none contrary to love, remains in the soul ; and that all the thoughts, words, and actions, are governed by pure love."

When a person is justified, or converted, his past transgressions are blotted out, and he is "born again," or "regenerated;" he Is born into the family of God, thus becoming "a son of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ;" he receives the witness of the Spirit testifying to this fact, from whom also he receives "power," ability, or "grace" to walk henceforth in the commandments of God. He lives a new life. "Old things are passed away and, behold, all things are become new." He "rejoices in God his Savior," and has "this testimony, that he pleases God." He has peace and love and all "the fruits of the Spirit." He loves God supremely, and loves his "neighbor as himself."

But while all this is true, yet he sees in his heart an element, or a principle, that is contrary to this. He loves God, but realizes that his love is not perfect; he loves his neighbor, yet must struggle against inherent principles that are the opposite to this love ; he rejoices, but sees that his joy is liable to run into levity ; he is sober, but his sobriety is mixed with melancholy ; he has peace, but maintains it amid inward strife, or feels himself settling into stagnation ; he is longsuffering, but sees a tendency to be so for policy's sake, or, on the contrary, to lose his patience; he is faithful, but continually reproaches himself for the unfaithfulness of his heart, and sees a tendency to be firm because of stubbornness, or for the sake of contention ; he has faith, but must constantly struggle against the infidelity of his own heart ; in short he has all the fruits of the Spirit, but sees that every one of them is opposed by a contrary element, and that there remains in him a tendency to some inordinate leaning that has a semblance to genuine piety (and is called genuine by the world), but which is ruinous to grace.

But when the heart is made holy all this is changed. Negatively, holiness is the absence of all moral defilement, of inherent tendencies to sin. This means exclusion of all wrong tendencies. Sin is a unit, i. e., the nature of sin is such that where one of its attributes appears every other attribute is present — even "the body of sin" itself. So if there is one carnal manifestation in the soul, all the rest are there, though they may lie dormant for the time being, and, it may be, will never show themselves. Carnality is indivisible ; it cannot be taken out in the way of one thing at a time, and those who think that they can thus get rid of their heart sins find that when they suppose they have conquered one manifestation and begin on another the conquered one will rise up and thrust at them with the same viciousness as before. Inbred sin must be removed as a whole. True, it manifests itself to the mind's eye as pride, envy, jealousy, lust, and such like, but we cannot have pride cast out and retain envy; and, if impatience remains, so does jealousy, though these manifestations may be so weak as to cause the person to think that they do not remain.

Since the "man of sin" can only be seen by those outcroppings which reveal its inherent nature, as the swaying of trees tells which way the wind blows, it follows that the only way to reach the center of this disease, or to find out the real condition of the soul, is carefully to observe the tendency of the desires springing from and expressing the nature within. If there is the least movement of the desires contrary to the love of God, or the least inclination toward gratification unlawfully or to an inordinate degree, there is back of this inclination a "body of sin" that will, unless held in check by the power of God or cast out, create in time a whirlwind of passion and unholiness which will be fatal to grace. So it behooves us to be careful. *

Negatively, then, holiness is the perfect absence of inbred sin. The blessings which so delight the soul are received as a result of purity, and may be present in the experience to a greater or less degree. A sense of purity inwrought by the Holy Ghost is the abiding evidence of holiness, from the negative side.

Positively, holiness is :

1. Abandonment to all the will of God, without even involuntary objections to that will. In such a state one can praise God in afflictions, in necessities, in temptations, in slanders, as well as in prosperity, and can turn every providence, no matter how bitter and mysterious, to spiritual profit.

2. Holiness is purity of motive, or, as the Bible says, "a single eye." The holy heart is saved from all mixture in its motives of the vile with the precious things of the Spirit, and has constantly a pure desire for God's glory. If its possessor makes a mistake, as he sometimes will, he can examine the most secret workings of his soul, and, after the most critical search, can conscientiously say, "I made a mistake, but my motives were pure." In order to make the claim that his motives are pure he will not be forced to fall back on the fact that he professes holiness and say, "I profess holiness, my heart is clean, therefore this motive must be all right." No; he can hold his motives before God, independent of his standing or professed standing in God, and see that they are pure. This means much but it is blessedly possible.

3. "Purity is power." This statement is often made, but there is much confusion as to what this power is, as to what it will do for its possessor, and as to what its pos-

* See page 155, "Conflicts of the Entirely Sanctified."

sessor will be able to accomplish. This is an important question, as a misunderstanding one way or another might cause one to give up his hope in God if his accomplishments did not come up to his ideal.

The power which springs from purity, is neither eloquence nor the force of intellectual supremacy. Some men can sway great audiences at their pleasure ; that is power, but not necessarily the power of the Holy Ghost. Cicero did that, and he was a heathen. Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster and Stephen A. Douglas possessed remarkable ability in this direction, but they used it only in secular matters. The fact that some preachers of to-day possess the same ability, of necessity proves nothing, but merely indicates their personal magnetism or intellectual superiority. Beware of following a person because he manifests such power unless his advice is biblical. We must search deeper than the intellect for real power, for power in the Bible sense.

The power of purity is manifested in four directions:

(1) In the ability to control one's own life; to gain easy victory over temptations and circumstances ; to live with a single eye and a victorious heart.

(2) Although its possessor rejoices not because devils are subject unto him, yet he can gain a comparatively easy victory over them. When the prince of this world cometh he hath nothing in the clean, devoted soul ; it is a dry place to him, and he must go elsewhere to find rest.

(3) Power with men. Its possessor may or may not realize its exercise, but, consciously or unconsciously, he is wielding an influence that is deeper than mere human supremacy, and which lays hold of the heart of the onlooker. He may be inferior in intellectual capacity, and like Paul, his "bodily presence may be weak, and his speech contemptible;" but he can have so much of the Holy Ghost that he will rise above all this and compel people to respect the God in him.

The power of purity is not in the outward form of utterance, but in the deep undercurrent that silently but effectually cuts to the heart and convinces of sin. This is because the Holy Ghost accompanies the pure in heart more than others, since these can be trusted. It is said of James Caughey that he lived next door to heaven, and the celestial powers acquainted him with things they did not let everybody know.