Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org
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Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org

Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org

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involves freedom from a sense of condemnation, and the "fear" of meeting God at death and in the judgment. Whatever else may he said of this baptism, it is certainly an effectual remedy for "doubt and fear." 2. It implies unmixed and uninterrupted love, peace, and joy, or, as some express it, "perpetual sunshine in the soul." And one does not have the feeling of irritation, impatience, anger, revenge, etc., which was realized under provocation before this blessing came. Nor is there that sense of emptiness, want, "hunger and thirst," the "aching void," etc. experienced before. The writer never fully realized what our Lord meant by saying we "shall be filled" after "hungering and thirsting after righteousness," and that "whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst," until he was himself, as he humbly trusts, "filled with the Holy Ghost," and drank deeply of this water. 3. Freedom from anxiety about "frames and feelings," and from fear of falling from this state. This is very different from what we supposed and feared before seeking it. We have learned a most valuable lesson about the Lord's faithfulness in "keeping us from falling," and the confidence and assurance with which we can live without any special "feeling." Our experience is very much like what Dr. Keen, a most saintly man, says of himself, though not so pronounced as to the "gales of the Spirit," "waves of comfort," etc., of which he speaks. He says: "Another spiritual lesson taught me at this time by a special illumination of the Holy Ghost, and which has been to me the secret that has given to my faith and experience a steadiness as well as a progressiveness through these years, was the discrimination between the fact of fullness and the feeling of fullness; that one may be filled with the Holy Ghost when he may not feel filled ... Should the friend who is near me have asked me, as I seated myself to write this "paper," "Do you feel filled with the Spirit just now?" I should have candidly answered: "No, I do not feel filled. I am not at all conscious of any sort of spiritual emotion." But had he said to me, "Are you now filled with the Spirit?" in the absence of any feeling, I should, with a smile, unhesitatingly have replied: "Oh yes, I am filled with the Spirit"; for I was conscious that then I was wholly given to Jesus and was trusting him as my Baptizer with the Holy Ghost. But should my friend ask me now, as I am writing these lines, "Do you now feel filled?" I should respond at once, "Yes, bless the Lord!" for as I have been writing, and am now seeking to unfold the mind of the Spirit in this testimony, blessed gales of the Spirit have been breaking the dead calm of my soul, with which I began my writing, into sweet, precious waves of holy comfort and inward gladness ... Ever since I learned clearly this blessed lesson -- "Only trusting, I am filled" -- my rest of soul has been a fixed factor. Satan never any more says to me: "Ah, where is your blessing? You don't feel like you did." His stratagem is to lead earnest souls to make feeling the basis of faith." We have given this long quotation from Dr. Keen to show what we mean by not trusting to feeling, and to relieve the minds of some perplexed and tempted ones. In all this absence of feeling there is, however, no sense of unrest, emptiness, and dissatisfaction with one's spiritual state. We might give other items or facts indicating the superiority and blessedness of this experience, but again refer the reader to the testimony given in other chapters. Of course we may expect to have temptations, trials, and conflicts all the way through life, but, "through Christ that strengtheneth us," we can, with comparative ease, successfully resist, patiently endure, and completely triumph over these things. We may realize with the prophet that God "keeps in perfect peace" him "whose heart is stayed on" the Lord, and with the apostle we may "glory in tribulations," and sing, "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."

(3) Another reason is the greater usefulness that follows this baptism. The testimonies to this result, found in the "experience" chapters of this book, are very decided. We refer especially to those of Finney, Moody, Earle, Peck, James Brainerd Taylor, Pierson, and others. A moderate estimate is that one's usefulness in the ministry is doubled if not quadrupled. And the sweeter spirit, more consistent life, more effectual prayers, and more earnest and effective words of private Christians, in the home, in the social circle, and in all places for Christian work, are far more potent for good. Having Christ in us as "the power and wisdom of God," we become sources of greater power for good to others -- "rivers" of saving and refreshing influence quietly flowing out from our "Spirit-filled" souls to those with whom we are brought into contact. In a word, a happy experience and a consistent life take the reproach of weakness and ineffectiveness of bad tempers and inconsistent and fruitless lives from our holy religion, and commend it more effectively to the world as something most valuable and desirable. (4) We need hardly add that, as the result of such a fruitful and useful life, we may expect larger and more glorious reward in heaven. A fuller consecration, a richer experience, greater faithfulness, and more abundant usefulness here will secure greater reward there. At least these four things, then, will come to us from this full baptism with the Holy Ghost -- less danger of backsliding, greater happiness, and enlarged usefulness here, with more abundant reward hereafter. May these reasons prove influential with all our readers! 5. When should we seek and expect this baptism? All the reasons for seeking it at all, given in the last section, indicate that it should be sought as soon as it may be obtained; for certainly the purity, happiness, and strength which tend to prevent our backsliding, promote our usefulness, and increase our reward ought to be sought as soon as they are available. And, as has been frequently said before, we believe these are available at or very soon after conversion. Hence we would insist that in cases where this baptism does not come at regeneration, the young converts' minds should at once be directed to this promised baptism, and they urged and encouraged to immediately seek it. As we have seen, that appears to have been the apostolic method. (Acts ii. 37, 38; viii. 6, 12, 17; xix. 5, 6.) Dr. Steele says: "The reason for the seeming blending of the baptism of the Holy Ghost with regeneration, in exceptional instances in the Acts of the Apostles, is to be attributed to the fact that the regenerate were urged to the immediate attainment of this great blessing, so that they did attain it with the interval of only a brief period." John Fletcher is said to have found this blessing "a very few days after his conversion." And when John Wesley's preachers constantly held out this blessing as attainable soon after regeneration, and many believers exemplified the truth in their experience, there were instances of its attainment within a few days after conversion. In his Journal, August 4, 1762, Mr. Wesley says: "The next morning I spoke severally with those who believed they were sanctified. There were fifty-one in all -- twenty-one men, and twenty-one widows or married women, and nine young

involves freedom from a sense of condemnation, and the "fear" of meeting God at death and in the<br />

judgment. Whatever else may he said of this baptism, it is certainly an effectual remedy for "doubt<br />

and fear." 2. It implies unmixed and uninterrupted love, peace, and joy, or, as some express it,<br />

"perpetual sunshine in the soul." And one does not have the feeling of irritation, impatience, anger,<br />

revenge, etc., which was realized under provocation before this blessing came. Nor is there that sense<br />

of emptiness, want, "hunger and thirst," the "aching void," etc. experienced before. The writer never<br />

fully realized what our Lord meant by saying we "shall be filled" after "hungering and thirsting after<br />

righteousness," and that "whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst," until he was himself,<br />

as he humbly trusts, "filled with the Holy Ghost," and drank deeply of this water. 3. Freedom from<br />

anxiety about "frames and feelings," and from fear of falling from this state. This is very different<br />

from what we supposed and feared before seeking it. We have learned a most valuable lesson about<br />

the Lord's faithfulness in "keeping us from falling," and the confidence and assurance with which<br />

we can live without any special "feeling." Our experience is very much like what Dr. Keen, a most<br />

saintly man, says of himself, though not so pronounced as to the "gales of the Spirit," "waves of<br />

comfort," etc., of which he speaks. He says:<br />

"Another spiritual lesson taught me at this time by a special illumination of the Holy Ghost, and<br />

which has been to me the secret that has given to my faith and experience a steadiness as well as a<br />

progressiveness through these years, was the discrimination between the fact of fullness and the<br />

feeling of fullness; that one may be filled with the Holy Ghost when he may not feel filled ... Should<br />

the friend who is near me have asked me, as I seated myself to write this "paper," "Do you feel filled<br />

with the Spirit just now?" I should have candidly answered: "No, I do not feel filled. I am not at all<br />

conscious of any sort of spiritual emotion." But had he said to me, "Are you now filled with the<br />

Spirit?" in the absence of any feeling, I should, with a smile, unhesitatingly have replied: "Oh yes,<br />

I am filled with the Spirit"; for I was conscious that then I was wholly given to Jesus and was trusting<br />

him as my Baptizer with the Holy Ghost. But should my friend ask me now, as I am writing these<br />

lines, "Do you now feel filled?" I should respond at once, "Yes, bless the Lord!" for as I have been<br />

writing, and am now seeking to unfold the mind of the Spirit in this testimony, blessed gales of the<br />

Spirit have been breaking the dead calm of my soul, with which I began my writing, into sweet,<br />

precious waves of holy comfort and inward gladness ... Ever since I learned clearly this blessed<br />

lesson -- "Only trusting, I am filled" -- my rest of soul has been a fixed factor. Satan never any more<br />

says to me: "Ah, where is your blessing? You don't feel like you did." His stratagem is to lead earnest<br />

souls to make feeling the basis of faith."<br />

We have given this long quotation from Dr. Keen to show what we mean by not trusting to<br />

feeling, and to relieve the minds of some perplexed and tempted ones. In all this absence of feeling<br />

there is, however, no sense of unrest, emptiness, and dissatisfaction with one's spiritual state.<br />

We might give other items or facts indicating the superiority and blessedness of this experience,<br />

but again refer the reader to the testimony given in other chapters. Of course we may expect to have<br />

temptations, trials, and conflicts all the way through life, but, "through Christ that strengtheneth us,"<br />

we can, with comparative ease, successfully resist, patiently endure, and completely triumph over<br />

these things. We may realize with the prophet that God "keeps in perfect peace" him "whose heart<br />

is stayed on" the Lord, and with the apostle we may "glory in tribulations," and sing, "Sorrowful, yet<br />

always rejoicing."

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