Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org

Peacemaker. Hence, probably, peace was the chief fruit of faith and the special peculiarity of man's
experience under that dispensation.
Did our Lord refer to this fact when he said to His sorrowing disciples, "Let not your heart be
troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me"? "Ye believe in God" as the Ruler and Lawgiver;
believe in me as the Redeemer and Peacegiver. This is believed to have been the experience of His
apostles and other disciples not long before Pentecost. To the extent that they understood and
believed the prophecies relating to His coming and work, the declaration of John that he was the
"Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and His own teaching as to His mission -to
that extent their fear may have been changed into a peace accompanied with some measure of love
and joy. After His resurrection, when he breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost,"
they probably received the witness of the Spirit and more of His fruit of love, peace, and joy.
But, as it is difficult to draw the exact line between the dispensations of the Father and the Son,
so is it with the types of piety peculiar to those dispensations. As there was a gradual unfolding
through the ages of God's purpose in redemption, culminating at Pentecost, so there most probably
was of the faith and experience corresponding thereto. The light and experience of these
dispensations may have almost imperceptibly shaded into each other as do the colors of the rainbow,
or as the gradual brightening of the early dawn into that which immediately precedes the sun's rising.
The New Testament record of the apostles' lives shows very clearly that their faith was weak and
unsteady, that their experience of peace was mixed with much of doubt and fear, that unholy
ambition, a worldly and self-seeking spirit cropped out in their lives. This was the type of piety under
the second and transitional dispensation.
3. But the light and experience peculiar to the dispensation of the Spirit is much more marked,
and is easily distinguished from that of former dispensations. The slavish fear of the first departs,
or is changed into a filial fear or loving respect and reverence for the Father. The peace of the second
is relieved of all disquiet, becoming deeper and more abiding. Love and joy, more or less glowing,
become the constant heritage of the believer. He has the abiding witness of the Spirit, and realizes
perfect deliverance from condemnation and doubt. He is enabled to "glory in tribulations," and, with
Paul, to sing "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." To adopt other words of the great apostle, he "rejoices
evermore, prays without ceasing, and in everything gives thanks." For Scripture proof that this is the
believer's privilege under the dispensation of the Spirit turn to Romans v. 1-5; viii. 1-4, 15, 16; I
Thessalonians v. 16-18; and similar passages.
Let it be remembered that the three several types of piety noted here indicate what was and is
attainable under the three dispensations, and what was and is reached by the most faithful men living
under them, such as Job, Cornelius, John, and Paul. It is doubted if the great mass of believers did
then, or do now, reach the high standard set up, especially that which is attainable under this
dispensation.
There are two important reasons for this marked change in the type of piety at Pentecost.
1. The practically completed work of Christ on earth, at least, as our Prophet and Priest, and His
entering more fully upon His work as our King. Under former dispensations; up to the