25. How to Obtain Sanctification
CHAPTER XXV How to Obtain Sanctification The doctrine of sanctification, however well understood, is of little value unless it leads us to the heart experience of sanctification. The atonement was made for all men, but it avails only for those who by an act of personal faith appropriate the boundless blessings it affords. Yet an understanding of the doctrine of sanctification and a knowledge that the atoning blood of Christ will purify the heart and fill it with the divine Spirit are necessary to our obtaining the experience. A man who, like the disciples at Ephesus, has never heard "whether there be any Holy Spirit," can not be filled with the Holy Spirit. Though a man receive sanctification without first understanding technically and thoroughly every phase of the doctrine, yet he must have sufficient knowledge to know that sanctification is a Bible doctrine. He must, for example, know that there is such a thing as sanctification, that it is attainable in this life, and that it is for him. The knowledge of the doctrine of sanctification is fruitless without a fervent desire for the experience. A fervent desire for a pure heart, guided by a knowledge of God’s provision through the gospel, will beget sanctifying faith in the believer, will set him to praying, seeking, striving for the perfect salvation experience. Since a man can not intelligently desire that of which he is ignorant, enlightenment must precede desire; but, unfortunately, fervent desire does not always follow enlightenment. A man must not only know the nature and tendency of depravity, know that its eradication is possible and that he must also feel the dangers of allowing the depraved nature to remain in him, and feel the desirableness, the profitableness, the blessedness, yea, the necessity, of a sanctified experience.
Both the intellect and the sensibility, knowledge and feeling, then, have a part in the Christian experience. Jesus says, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Yet the kingdom of God is partly feeling, for Paul says it is " righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). Knowledge without fervent desire may take a man through a formal consecration and lead him to a profession of sanctification; but without fervent desire to propel the heart to action the religious sensibilities remain dormant, the faith is not a living faith, and the experience is not perfect. The necessity of feeling, desire, conviction, however, does not make knowledge unnecessary. The intellect and the sensibilities in Christian experience stand related like body and soul in man. As the body without the soul is dead, so knowledge without feeling is lifeless and cold; as the soul without the body is insensible and incapable of practical earthly life, so feelings without the guiding power of knowledge are unstable and unenduring. We receive knowledge of sanctification through the truth (John 17:17), but desire is the wings that waft our prayers to God and bring a speedy answer down. "Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). It is the "fervent prayer, " the prayer that burns with holy desire, that "availeth much" (James 5:16).
Even though God understands our faintest desire as well as he understands our spoken request, yet it pleases him-to say nothing of the good it does us-to have us ask. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye 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" (Matthew 7:7-8). It appears from the following texts that the disciples were in prayer when the Holy Spirit descended upon them on the day of Pentecost. "And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter; and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren " (Acts 1:13-14). "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4). It was while in prayer that the disciples on another occasion were filled with the Holy Spirit. " And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). Prayer was offered, too, when the people of Samaria received the Holy Spirit. " Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:14-15). Jesus says plainly that the Holy Spirit is given to them that ask. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him, " (Luke 11:13)
Knowledge, desire, and prayer, though necessary, are still not enough to cleanse the human temple in the blood of Christ and thus fit man for the Holy Spirit’s complete indwelling. There must be a fuller dedication of oneself to God than was possible before conversion. The convicted sinner who has never known Christ as his Savior can not fully comprehend the deep meaning of an entire consecration, but the justified believer who has ’acquainted himself with God’ understands more fully what it means to give spirit, soul, and body completely and unreservedly into the hands of God. Whether or not Paul had in mind entire sanctification when he wrote the words of Romans 12:1; that verse expresses the idea of complete surrender of the body to the service of God. In his letter to the Thessalonians Paul speaks of sanctifying as being done "wholly," or entirely, and of the preserving grace of God as reaching "spirit, soul, and body." "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
" When thy all is on the altar laid, Guard it from each vain desire; When thy soul the perfect price has paid, God will send the holy fire." But we are not sanctified by knowledge, by desire, by prayer, nor by dedication or consecration. Not even by all of these necessary steps are we sanctified. " Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate" (Hebrews 13:12). The apostle Paul says that he was sent to the Gentiles "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me" (Acts 26:18). To sum up what we have thus far learned, the justified believer must, in order to be sanctified, receive a knowledge that sanctification is attainable, must have an impelling desire to obtain the experience, must dedicate, or consecrate, himself "wholly to God," must pray for the Holy Spirit and, finally, must believe, must have faith that the blood cleanses and that the Holy Spirit in his fullness comes in.
Just at the "faith point," however, is where many falter. We are sensation loving creatures. We often think more of the blessing and pray more for the blessing than we do for the Blesser. Sanctification by faith, the only sanctified experience known in the Bible, is often overlooked through overattention to feelings, demonstrations, and mere externalities. Reader, if you wish to be sanctified, you must receive that experience by faith. Feelings, blessings, and glory are not the heralds of faith, but the fruits of faith. Emotions have their seat in the human mind and are played upon by all kinds of ciroumstances; they vary, rise and fall: but faith is grounded upon the immutable word of God; it continues unmoved and unchanged by varying circumstances and changing environment.
Some people trouble themselves a great deal about "the witness" of sanctification; yet, in truth, " the witness " is the one thing about which man need never trouble himself. Man’s part is to believe, the Spirit’s part is to witness; so see that you believe, and let God attend to the witnessing, for "he that believeth hath the witness in himself " (1 John 5:10). Some latter day teachers would have us believe that the gift of tongues is a necessary accompaniment, or witness, of the Holy Spirit’s infilling. Such a position is refuted by the experience of the Samaritans. In the account of their receiving the Holy Spirit nothing is said about their having spoken in tongues. Read Acts 8:517. Other scriptures also refute the above position. To put the instructions in few words: if you are a justified believer in Christ, desiring to be wholly sanctified, you must believe that sanctification is for you and is obtainable in this life; you must desire it fervently enough to prize the experience above everything else, to seek it diligently, to pray for it earnestly; you must dedicate your spirit, soul, and body forever to the service of God; finally, you must believe- unwaveringly believe, regardless of mere emotions, that the blood sanctifies, that the Holy Spirit comes in. Do these things from the heart, and you are sanctified. Doubts may assail you, temptations may come, emotions may rise and fall, but "he that believeth hath the witness in himself."
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