The second crisis in Christian experience

Introduction

We are more than pleased to recommend, as well as introduce, the public to this book.

Brother Ruth, the author, excells in the presentation of scriptural holiness. He does this in a scriptural way by letting the Bible speak for itself.

In these times when there are so many so-called holiness teachers who have a good deal to say about holiness in a very indefinite manner, we are glad to have this contribution to holiness literature that speaks emphatically, explicitly and definitely on the subject of Christian holiness. We would that ten thousand preachers might read this book and learn to be definite. We have noticed a tendency of late among the holiness evangelists to be misty and indefinite in their teachings. We wish they might all be required to read this book and sharpen up, both in their teachings and experience.

Brother Ruth is so scriptural and clear in his teachings and so cogent in his logic that it would be impossible for any candid man to affirm that he has not proved the doctrine. We bid God-speed to this volume and may it accomplish much for the Master's service.

g. a. Mclaughlin.

Index

Page

The Two-fold Aspect of the Gospel 7

Consecration 10

The Second Work of Grace 12

The Two-fold Nature of Sin 17

Not Sanctified when Converted 20

Yet Carnal 26

The Law of the Spirit of Life 29

Justification must be Maintained 34

If We Walk in the Light 37

Bible Reasons for Sanctification .40

Sanctification an Absolute Necessity .... 43

A Holy Heart Necessary for Holy Living ... 47

"Quickened"— "Crucified" 50

When was St. Paul Sanctified 53

Paul Testified to Sanctification 57

Why Young People should be Sanctified ... 62

Sanctified for the Sanctification of Others ... 65

Holiness a Specialty 70

The Perfection of the Sanctified 72

Sanctified People Shot . 76

Death-bed Sanctification 79

Danger Signals for the Sanctified 83

The Antiseptic Quality in Holiness 88

The Beauty of Holiness 91

Holiness means Antagonism to Sin 94

Holiness all Inclusive 97

After Sanctification, What? . . 100

Perfect yet Pressing .105

Without Spot and Blameless 109

That Rest Ill

Christlikeness 115

Temptation 121

The Tunnel 127

Enlargement through Distress 132

Conditions of Spiritual Sight 135

The Scriptural Conflict 140

>Evil Thoughts and Thoughts of Evil . . . .143

•The Secret Place of the Most High 145

The Way of victory 151

Ten Brief Reasons Why a Preacher should preach

Holiness as a Second Work of Grace. . . .154

THE TWO-FOLD ASPECT OF THE GOSPEL.

Seeing sin is two-fold — both innate, inborn, as a corruption of the nature, and outward, as an act — the provision of the Gospel in like manner is two-fold ; there are

Two objects of divine love: —

"God so loved the world," John 3:16. "Christ also loved the church." Eph. 5:25.

Two purposes of the atonement: —

"To save sinners." I. Tim. 1:15; Rom. 5:8. Sanctify believers. Heb. 13:12; Eph. 5:26.

Two expressions of His will: —

Concerning sinners, — "Not willing that any should

perish." II. Pet. 3:9.

Concerning the Church, — "This is the will of God,

even your sanctification." I. Thess. 4:3.

Two prayers of Christ: —

For sinners, "Father, forgive them." Luke 23:34. For believers, "Sanctify them through Thy truth." John 17:9, 17.

Two Calls: —

Sinners to repentance. Matt. 9:13.

Believers "Unto holiness." I. Thess. 4:7.

Two Requirements: —

"If we confess our sins." I. John 1:9. "If we walk in the light." I. John 1:7.

Two Promises: — "To forgive us our sins." I. John 1:9. 'To cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I. John 1:9; Jer. 33:8.

Two Offices of the Spirit: — "Born of the Spirit." John 3:5.

Baptized with the Spirit. Matt. 3:11.

Two Witnesses of the Spirit: — "That we are the children of God." Rom. 8:16. Sanctification, "whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us." Heb. 12:14, 15.

Two Experiences: — "You hath He quickened." Eph. 2:1. A making

alive of our moral nature.

"Our old man is crucified." Rom. 6:6. A putting to death of our carnal nature.

Two Rests: — The first rest He gives on condition that we "come."

Matt. 11:28.

The second rest we "find" after we have had His

yoke upon us and learned of Him : soul rest. The first is the rest from guilt and condemnation;

the second is rest from fret and worry and unholy

tempers: rest from inward conflict. Matt. 11:29;

Two Steps of Faith: —

"Justified by faith." Rom. 5:1.

"Sanctified by faith. " Acts 26:18.

In view of the fore-going we can understand why John Wesley spoke of "the second blessing, properly so called ;" and Mr. Charles Wesley spoke of it as "that second rest;" and Toplady taught us to sing,

"Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath, and make me pure."

While in justification a man obtains life, in Sanctification he receives the "life more abundant;" In justification he has "peace with God;" in Sanctification he obtains "the peace of God ;" In Justification he obtains the love of God; in Sanctification his love is "made perfect;" In Justification he is made "free" from guilt and condemnation, because he is saved from sin as a practice; in Sanctification he obtains the "deed" to his freedom, with all the mortgages paid off, because he is cleansed and made free from sin as a principle.

It is this complete cleansing and deliverance from original or inbred sin by the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, that we refer to as the Second Crisis in Christian experience. Seeing it is not obtained at the time of conversion, nor by a gradual development or growth in grace, but by a definite act of consecration and faith as an instantaneous experience subsequent to regeneration, it invariably marks a distinct epoch, or second crisis, in the life of him who obtains it.

CONSECRATION,

Consecration is not sanctification ; but is the human side of sanctification. As the promise of sanctification is never given to sinners, so the call to consecration is never given to sinners. The attitude of a sinner being that of rebellion, he can simply surrender, and repent of his sins. But writing to believers, the Apostle Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service/ ' (Rom. 12:1.) Hence, we see that the call to consecration is to the "brethren;" the incentive to consecration, "the mercies of God;" and the object of consecration is, that they might be ' 'transformed,' ' and " prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Here is one reason why a person is not sanctified when converted: the conditions are entirely different. A sinner must do one thing in order to be converted, while a believer must do entirely a different thing in order to be wholly sanctified. Indeed, it would be utterly impossible for a sinner to present himself il a living sacrifice" seeing he is "dead in trespasses and sins;" not until after the soul has been quickened into newness of life can he present himself "a living sacrifice." The struggle of the sinner, in his surrender of himself to God, is to give up what is evil; the struggle of the believer in making his consecration, is to give up what is good: — his time, his plans, his possessions, himself, his all, to God.

Nor is an objective consecration sufficient. By an objective consecration we mean a consecration or devotement to a certain work, as being consecrated to the work of a deaconness, or the work of a missionary, or the work of the ministry, There are multitudes of persons who are objectively consecrated — consecrated to certain lines of religious work, — who, nevertheless, are not wholly sanctified. The consecration necessary to entire sanctification is rather, what may be termed, a subjective consecration. The purpose of a subjective consecration is not, primarily, to do something for Him, but rather to let Him do something for us. In other words, a person must needs consecrate himself unconditionally to the Lord, for the express and specific purpose of letting the Lord completely purify and sanctify the soul; and not only so, but when such consecration is made, and all is upon the altar, there still remains one more step to be taken, to wit, the step of faith. Having fully met conditions, faith must take God at His word, and believe that He doeth it. We are ' 'sanctified by faith." (Acts 26:18.)

Real consecration includes all we have, and all we ever will have; all we are, and all we ever will be; all we know and all we ever will know, for time and eternity; and is the pledge of an eternal "y es " to all the will of God. It is not sufficient for a person to say, "I have given up all I know," but must include all we do not know; all He may reveal in the future. Such person can never re-consecrate. They who habitually re-consecrate, are simply playing at consecration and have never yet learned the real meaning of consecration. But where a real death-bed consecration has been made, and the last point yielded to God, so that there is a glad "yes" down deep in the soul to all the will of God, faith becomes spontaneous, and the soul will realize that the altar sanctifieth the gift. (Matt. 23:19.)

The minister who says that sanctification simply means consecration, is either exceedingly ignorant on this subject, or else is wilfully mis-stating the case; he cannot consult any dictionary or lexicon of authority, but what he will find that the word sanctification has the two-fold meaning: consecration, or "setting apart," which is the human side; and purification, making free from sin, and making holy, which is the divine side. "Give yourself to God in all things, if you would have God give himself to you." — Upham.

The language of real consecration is. "I am willing

To receive what Thou givest, To lack what Thou withholdest, To relinquish what Thou takest, To suffer what Thou inflictest, To be what Thou requirest, To do what Thou commandest.

Amen."

THE SECOND WORK OF GRACE,

There was a time when we were rather partial to the term "Second Blessing;" and we still have no objections to that term, seeing it is, as Mr. Wesley expressed it, "the second blessing, properly so-called.' ' And yet, in later years, we have come to feel a preference for the term, 'THE SECOND WORK OF GRACE;" for while the experience of entire sanctification is an unspeakable blessing, it is more than a blessing; it is a definite work of grace divinely inwrought, by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and made holy: hence, the term, "A Second Work of Grace' ' seems more significant, and expressive of the fact, and leaves less room for quibbling on the part of those who do not agree with this Wesleyan teaching.

When speaking of the "Second Blessing/' it is quite common to hear men say, they had not only received the "Second Blessing" but hundreds of blessings. To such we invariably reply, that if they have received "hundreds of blessings," it would seem in bad taste for them to object to someone else receiving the "Second Blessing." It then becomes necessary to ask where they begin to enumerate their blessings. The truth is, a sinner might say he had received "hundreds of blessings;" and so he has, such as life, health, food, raiment, Christian parentage, the open Bible, etc., etc.; but none of these changed his heart condition, nor his relationship toward God. In the sense that the experience of Justification is the first blessing that does effect an inward change, and bring him into a new attitude and relationship toward God, in exactly the same sense it may be said Sanctification is the second blessing.

But as before suggested, Sanctification is more than a blessing ; it is an inward work of grace that again changes

14 THE SECOND CRISOS

our moral condition and our relationship toward God As the Standard Dictionary says, it is "the gracious work of the Holy Spirit whereby the believer is freed from sin and exalted to holiness of heart and life." It is not an experience that comes into the heart of a sinner, but into the heart of "the believer," and, therefore, is necessarily subsequent to regeneration and received as a second work of grace.

To speak of a "second work of grace," of course, necessarily implies that a person has previously received a first work of grace; this is commonly known as the experience of Justification. But no one would be heard to say they had received a hundred works of grace.

The use of this term — the second work of grace — would not only suggest that sanctification is an experience received subsequent to Justification, but would at once indicate that men could not attain the same by growth, seeing it is a "work of grace" — a divine act — wrought in the heart of a believer. No one can grow into an act. Just as no one can grow into the experience of Justification, or regeneration, because it is a something God must do for us, and in us, so it is with the experience of Sanctification, seeing it is a "second work of grace" divinely inwrought.

^ As in Justification the sinner is pardoned of all his sins, and delivered from all guilt and condemnation and made alive unto God, being born of the Spirit, so in Sanctification the believer is cleansed from inbred sin and made free from unholy tempers and unholy appetites by the baptism with the Spirit. In the very nature of things the birth of the Spirit must precede the baptism

IN CHRISTAIN EXPERIENCE IS

with the Spirit; and there is no method of interpretation that can make a birth and baptism identical, and signify the same thing.

While we admit that this particular phrase, 'The Second Work of Grace/' is not used in the Scripture, we would, nevertheless, insist that we have the equivalent, and that which could mean nothing else, in frequent use all through the Scriptures. As well object to the term, "the new birth" seeing that exact phrase cannot be found in the Scripture; but no one would think of objecting to the using of this term, seeing we have the equivalent — "being born again," etc.

Paul, in writing his second letter to the Corinthians, said, "In this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit ;" or, as the marginal rendering gives it, "a second grace" And, seeing that sanctification is never promised to sinners but in the language of the Encyclopaedic Dictionary, is "An operation of the Spirit of God on those who are already in Jesus," it must necessarily be an experience — a work divinely inwrought — subsequent to regeneration, which indicates that it is a second work of grace as compared with the first work of grace.

If the reader will but remember that sin is two-fold, and that all men in their natural estate have a two-fold difficulty, namely, sin as an act in the outward life, and sin inborn, as a corruption of the nature, there should be no difficulty in seeing why we advocate a second work of grace. Sins committed may be repented of and pardoned, but original sin, which was inherited, and is a moral uncleanness, cannot be pardoned, but must be cleansed away. Pardon is a judicial act, whereas, cleansing is a priestly function. Hence Toplady was right when he sang, "Be of sin the double cure." Double does not mean one or three, but two.

We know of no Christian denomination that teaches in their credal statements, that a person is freed from all sin and made holy at the moment of his regeneration. Mr. Wesley said, "Sin does remain in one that is justified, though it has not dominion over him. For he has not a clean heart at first," and went on to say, the "doctrine that there is no sin in believers, is quite new in the church of Christ; that it was never heard of for seventeen hundred years; never till it was discovered by Count Zinzendorf . I do not remember to have seen the least intimation of it, either in any ancient or modern writers unless, perhaps, in some of the wild, ranting Antinomians." Dr. Pendleton, who is regarded as one of the most orthodox of Baptists, and accepted as an authority both in England and America, says in his "Christian Doctrines, " which is a compendium of Baptist theology, (page 300): "Regeneration breaks the power of sin and destroys the love of sin, so that whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin in the sense of being the slave thereof; but it does not free the soul from the presence and pollution of sin. Alas, the regenerate know full well that sin is in their hearts. This accounts for the Christian warfare.' ' The Presbyterian church teaches in the Confession of Faith (Chapt. 9, Sec. 4) "When God converts a sinner, and translates him into a state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, — yet by reason of his remaining corruption he doth not perfectly nor only, will that which is good; but also will that which is evil." In Chapt. 13, sections 2 and 3, they make this additional statement: ' 'There abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war."

Such is in substance the teaching of all the denominations; hence the necessity for a second work of grace in order to remove this " remaining corruption" and make clean the heart of the regenerate. Some would teach that we cannot be entirely cleansed and made free from this "remaining corruption," until death; but even if it were received at death it would be a second work of grace. However, there is absolutely not one promise of cleansing from sin at death, in all the Bible; but there is promise of a present tense cleansing. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." I. John 1:7.

THE TWO-FOLD NATURE OF SIN.

The failure to recognize the fact that our difficulty is two-fold, accounts for much of the confusion and controversy regarding what is known as "the second blessing." Hence, some may be heard to say they "do not believe in any half-way work; that when God pardoned their sins he pardoned all of them," etc. Just as though we taught and believed but half of their sins had been forgiven, and now we would have them come and have the other half forgiven. Of course, the holiness people neither believe nor teach anything of the kind. Certain it is that when God pardons a sinner He pardons every sin he has ever committed, and the soul is made to rejoice in a perfect pardon.

There is no occasion nor necessity of under-rating or minifying the experience of justification in order to make place for the second experience. Instead of saying that justification is but a half-way experience, we would prefer to say that justification itself includes at least twelve distinct and perfect works, though they occur simultaneously, as follows: a perfect conviction; a perfect surrender; a perfect repentance; a faith that perfectly trusts God; a perfect pardon; a perfect washing of regeneration, removing all acquired pollution; a perfect quickening into newness of life; a perfect adoption; the love of God shed abroad in the heart; power to forsake and cease from all sin; the witness of the spirit; obedience to all the light God gives. All this and more enters into the experience of every person who is truly and scripturally justified; but all this has to do with sin as an act — sins committed.

The fact of original sin, innate, inborn, is just as clearly set forth, in the Scripture as is the fact of sins committed. David said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps. 51:5). Elsewhere it is spoken of as "the carnal mind," "the law of sin," "the flesh," "sin that dwelleth in me," body of death," "the sin of the world," "our old man," etc., etc. Theologians speak of it as "depravity," "inbred sin," "original sin," "the Adamic nature," "a tendency to evil,"

etc. Mr. Charles Wesley spoke of it as "our bent to sinning." Almost every church in Christendom makes some reference to this fact of "original sin" in its theology and hymnology, if not in the credal statements The Methodist Episcopal Church says in her Discipline, Article No. 7, "Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam v whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.' ' This "corruption of the nature of every man" cannot be pardoned, seeing it is not an act of sin, but may be purged and cleansed away.

It is from this "corruption of the nature" — the "carnal mind" — that anger, and envy, and doubt, and fear, and pride, and unholy ambition, etc., emanate. And as the Angelican Confession says, "This infection of nature doth remain, yea, even in them that have been regenerated." In the nature of the case it cannot be pardoned, for the simple reason that we did not commit it; but, thank God, there is power in Jesus' blood to wash and cleanse it away.

In view of this two-fold difficulty — sins committed and the sin nature inherited — Toplady sang :

"Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure."

Mr. Wesley said: "Sin does remain in one that is justified, though it has not dominion over him. For he has not a clean heart at first." (Wesley's Journal, dated

June 24, 1740.) In his sermon on 'The Repentance of Believers/ ' he said, " Although we may weaken our enemies day by day; yet we cannot drive them out. By all the grace which is given in justification we cannot extirpate them. Though we watch and pray ever so much, we cannot wholly cleanse our hearts or hands. Most surely we cannot till it please our Lord to speak to our hearts again, to speak the second time, 'Be clean/ and then only the leprosy is cleansed. Then only the evil root, the carnal mind is destroyed, and inbred sin subsists no more. 19 (Vol. 1, page 208.)

The promise is, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." A sinner is in darkness and surely cannot "walk in the light as He is in the light." Only a pardoned man is in the light, and to him alone comes this promise of cleansing "from all sin."

NOT SANCTIFIED WHEN CONVERTED.

It is folly to claim an experience that is unscriptural. Yet, whenever the doctrine of entire sanctification as a second work of grace is proclaimed, we constantly hear people — even preachers — say, they were sanctified when converted. We insist that such a claim is wholly unscriptural and, therefore, untrue. God never does things contrary to His word.

That some persons may be sincere in their claims, we do not deny; but if they will look into the Scriptures and walk in the light, they will soon discover their mistake, for not only is the claim unscriptural, but contrary to their own heart experience, and the facts in their own lives. We are persuaded that no Christian has lived in the experience of regeneration any considerable length of time without finding that there was yet a something within that was contrary to their new life; that when they would do good, this evil thing was yet present and gave them battle; that since they were converted they still have felt the stirrings of carnality, in the form of anger, pride, fear, self-will, envy, peevishness, doubts, etc., etc. Frequently we have helped persons to see they were not sanctified when converted by simply asking one question with reference to this fact: ''Have you not felt any of those things stirring in your heart since you were converted?" They may not manifest themselves violently, or gain the mastery as they once did, but they nevertheless exist, and frequently bother and badger and hinder in the experience of the justified. This alone proves that the soul was not sanctified when converted.

As Mr. Wesley has said, "Sin does remain in one that is justified, though it has not dominion over him. For he has not a clean heart at first.' ' (Wesley's Journal, June 24, 1740.)

Aside from the fact that not one single command, or call, or promise of sanctification in the Scripture is ever given to a sinner, but in every instance to God's own people, there are a number of reasons why the soul should not be sanctified when converted.

First, the sinner knows nothing about sanctification, and has never felt any need of sanctification. The thing that troubles every sinner is the guilt and condemnation he feels for sins committed; and what he wants and must have is mercy, and the forgiveness of the many sins he has committed. The one cry of a truly penitent soul is, "God be merciful to me, a sinner/' And though preachers insist they were sanctified when converted, and deny the teaching of a second experience, they themselves could not be persuaded to give an invitation to sinners to come forward and seek sanctification. It occurs to us, that if sanctification was for sinners, they should be told about it, and urged to seek it. If God were to sanctify a sinner he could have no appreciation of the same, as he had never felt any need of it, and consequently had not sought it.

A second reason why God does not sanctify a soul in regeneration is because a sinner cannot meet the conditions for sanctification. The conditions upon which a soul is regenerated are repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; but those are not the conditions of sanctification at all. The requirements for sanctification are an unconditional consecration — the presenting of one's self as a "living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. ,, A sinner, being dead in trespasses and in sins could not possibly present himself a "living sacrifice;" only such as have previously been quickened into newness of life, and so have been made alive unto God can present themselves a living sacrifice." Every sinner is a rebel against God; a rebel can only surrender. The call to consecration in the Scriptures is not given to sinners. The apostle said, "I beseech you, therefore, hreihren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. " There is a vast difference between the surrender of a conquered rebel and the glad, free-will consecration of a person who has the love of God in his heart.

A third reason why God does not sanctify us when He converts us is because, in some respects at least, the work wrought in justification and sanctification are antipodal — are direct opposites. In justification there is a quickening and making alive process, while in sanctification there is a crucifixion, which means, put to death. In justification the spiritual and moral sensibilities are quickened and made alive unto God; in sanctification "our old man" — our carnal sensibilities, are crucified and put to death. The one is putting on the new man; the other is putting off the old man. These two experiences deal with two different hemispheres of our nature; the one with sin as an act; the other with sin as a nature ; the one with sins committed ; the other with the sin principle inherited.

The very metaphors employed in the Scripture setting forth the experience of sanctification all indicate that it must take place subsequent to the new birth. Such terms as "circumcision," "married," "baptize" with the Holy Ghost, etc., all teach the second work of grace. In the nature of the case the child must be ■ 'born' ' before it can be "circumcised," "married," or "baptized;" this is just as true in the spiritual as in the natural realm.

There is absolutely no method of interpretation that can make the birth of the spirit and the baptism, with the Spirit identical. A birth is not a baptism; and a baptism is not a birth. They are two distinct and separate things, and mark different epochs of Christian experience. Concerning the gift of the Spirit, Jesus said, "Whom the world cannot receive " John 14:17. No man is eligible to the gift of the Spirit until after he is adopted into God's family, and so ceases to be of the world.

Occasionally we meet those who will admit that others have received sanctification as a second experience, but they themselves were more fortunate and were sanctified at the time of their conversion. This is frequently the attitude of ministers who have members in their churches who profess the second work of grace; they do not want to antagonize them, nor seem to be arrayed against the work of sanctification, but they do not believe in being a "stickler for terms ;" they believe in being "liberal" and "broad" and "believe in sanctification;" but they themselves "got it all" when they were converted. Thus they hope to carry favor with the holiness people, and yet not give offense to any who might not believe in sanctification as a second work of grace. It is well to remember in this connection that God does not have two or three ways of converting people; that He has method and system, and is governed by law in the spiritual world just as in the natural world. It is, therefore, not a question of what he could do, but what He does do. While we admit that the manner of approach, and the subsequent manifestations of the experience vary, we would insist that so far as the work divinely inwrought in the soul at the time of conversion is concerned, it is precisely the same in every case. He does not forgive all the sins of one, and just forgive half the sins of another; or partially quicken one and fully quicken another; or partially adopt one and fully adopt another, etc. Exactly what He does for one in justification He does for all; no more and no less. With Him there can be no partiality; hence if one could truly lay claim to being sanctified at the time of conversion, all converted souls would have the same experience. But, as we have shown, such a claim and such teaching is wholly unscriptural, unreasonable and contrary to universal Christian experience.