How To Get Sanctified

    I want to call your attention to the 17th chapter of John and the 17th verse. "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." There are two phases to sanctification. One is, setting ourselves apart unto God. This is our part and is expressed by the word consecration. There is another part which God does, namely, the cleansing of the heart. The scripture in Romans 12:1 says, "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." There is something on the human side to be done; not by way of meriting the experience, but as a condition; for the Lord did not instruct his disciples to work for the Holy Ghost, but to wait for him. It is a fact that many are deprived of the blessings of God simply because they have never fully learned to meet the conditions faithfully. God has a wonderful part in our sanctification which we cannot do, and we have a part which God will not do for us.

A Perfect Consecration

We read in Luke 22:42 the prayer of the Lord Jesus when in the Garden of Gethsemane. You remember he went a stone's throw from the disciples and knelt down in the presence of his Father and prayed, "Father, if it be thy will, let his cup pass from me." He saw what was before him and was already feeling the power of his great suffering. His human self wished it otherwise, but his submission to the Father caused him to say, "Not my will, but thine, be done." Brothers and sisters, right here in a few words is the essence of a perfect consecration, "Not my will, but thine, be done." There may be times when our humanity would wish things otherwise, but if there is true submission in the soul to the will of God we can say in the depths of our sufferings, "Not my will, but thine, be done." If every one of us had this submission in his heart, there would be no trouble keeping in line with God. To do our part in getting sanctified is to give up our own will and take God's will. There will be no difficulty regarding the details of consecration if the inward act of submission is perfect and if the purpose to obey God abides in the heart. Now we know that there is a self left in a person after he has his sins forgiven, I mean a carnal self. We do not need to have a preacher tell us that. When one comes to submit himself from his inmost soul to the will of God he will find what that something is. Some do not know that it is in the heart nor how strong it is until they begin to submit themselves to God's will.

Necessary to be Definite

I want to call your attention now to the definite part of sanctification. One may be some time arriving at the definite point where his hearts says, "No more my will, but the will of God be done in me"; but it is fatal and disappointing for one to stop before the definite act of inward, heartfelt submission is made. Many people make a big stir and endeavor to go to meeting more diligently and to do other things as substitutes, but if the heart has not reached the point and performed the definite act of submission, God cannot give the experience. Right at this point of definite sacrifice is where the selfish self ends and faith takes hold of God. This is the time also at which you receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not an experience but he is the one who works the experience in the soul the very moment the heart submits and the faith appropriates the promise. I believe I told those of you who were at the last assembly that there are people today, who, if you should ask them, Are you sanctified? would say, "Yes, I am sanctified"; but if you should ask them, Have you received the Holy Ghost? they would begin to dodge the question, saying, "I think so, I hope so," or "I went to the altar twice." The fact of the matter is, if a man gets sanctified at all it is done by the Holy Ghost the moment he receives him into his heart; and, on the other hand, if a man receives the Holy Ghost he receives the experience of sanctification, for this work is wrought in the heart by the incoming of the Holy Spirit.

I attended a certain campmeeting last year where an old soldier presented himself at the altar of prayer. He hardly knew what he wanted but finally concluded that perhaps it was sanctification. I asked him if he was saved and he said, "I hope so," "I think so." I said to him, "Grandpa, were you in the Civil War?" "Yes, sir," he replied, very definitely. I asked him a few more questions relative to his experience in the war and he always replied very definitely and clearly. Now when I asked him previously as to whether he was saved or not, he had to guess about it; but when I asked him regarding the war he answered clearly. People can always give you a definite answer regarding a thing they know. If he had had the experience of salvation he would have known it and could have answered without dodging. We may know we have the Holy Spirit as well as we know we have a spirit of our own. If people would pray more and persevere until they had received the Holy Spirit there would not be so many dry professions. I pray God that he will get every doubter and dodger in the corner and help them to see that they must get a definite experience. Your experience must be clear. Guessing will not do at the judgment.

Someone may ask, "How shall I know when I am saved?" Just in a simple hearted way do what God tells a sinner to do. "Whosoever covereth his sins shall not prosper." If you are covering any of your sins, then do not try to profess until you have uncovered them. If you find a power preventing you from uncovering them, you need to get serious about your case. "Whosoever confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy." Do you believe what God says? Well, have you confessed your sins? "Yes, I confessed them in tears and sorrow." Have you forsaken them? A great many fail right here and begin to dodge. You must quit them, so that if any one asks you if you have forsaken your sins you an say, yes. When you have confessed and forsaken your sins God has promised to have mercy upon you. Take him at his Word, and peace will come to your soul. This is the simple way to get saved.

Sanctification, as far as the doctrine is concerned, is just as simple as this. You will become conscious after you have been converted that there is a self within you that oppose the holiness of God. Paul calls it, "the sin that dwelleth in me." Set about it at once to submit yourself to the whole will of God, and when you can say as Jesus said, "Not my will, but thine, be done," you are consecrated. Then exercise faith in the promise of God and the Holy Ghost will come into your heart. The human will must be active to meet God's will, and faith must claim the promise. Let me tell you another thing, this definite act of getting sanctified is not enough. I think sometimes we put too much stress on the definite act of the will in getting sanctified and not enough on the abiding purpose to keep the will always in that position.

Some Difficulties

There are some difficulties that confront people both before and after they receive the experience. One will ask, "What if such and such a thing comes up; what about my feelings?" As long as you keep your will perfect in the sight of God your faith will work easily and the Holy Ghost will abide in your soul. We still have our feelings after we get sanctified and they are not always pleasant. Jesus suffered when he was tempted and so it is with us. When we are tempted and tried we do not feel it about two feet away from us, but the battle goes on right down in our hearts. It is not a struggle against self and carnality. When we have met Bible conditions we may be sure that our salvation does not depend upon how we feel about it, but upon what God says about it. It is our happy privilege to feel the way we believe instead of believing the way we feel.

But one may say, "If I consecrate and get sanctified I am quite sure that sometime later on I will see things deeper than ever before and my present consecration will prove faulty." Of course, this is the way it will be if you consecrate simply to items and particulars instead of to the will of God. Perhaps you have attended a meeting where a minister preached on sanctification. You say, "Oh, I never saw that so deep before." Then what? The enemy says, "You had better go down and consecrate all over again." You will be foolish if you do, for you will have to get the same thing. If our sanctification depends upon the amount of light we have and upon the depth of our comprehension then we can never be settled in the experience. There is something definite and perfect about consecration and there is also something progressive. We make a perfect surrender to the will of God when we first get sanctified, and then, as the light increases and our comprehension of God's will deepens, we simply walk in the advanced light. It is the attitude of the heart toward God and not the amount of light we have that determines our standing. If we must get down and seek the experience of sanctification every meeting we get into, simply because God sheds more light upon our hearts than we had before, then we will become discouraged, not knowing when we dare claim the promise of God; hence our title to the experience will be shifting continually, leaving our hearts without rest and peace. Today I see consecration deeper and broader than I ever saw it before in my life, but my consecration and inward submission of heart is no more perfect than it was the hour I first obtained the experience.

Some are always looking back and condemning their past life in their present light. I used to think and say and do many things in my zeal that I could not feel clear in doing at the present time, but I did the best I knew then. We learn as we go along, and it is a dangerous thing to become so stereotyped that we cannot improve our lives for fear of spoiling our sanctification. Any profession that binds a person up so tightly that he does not dare to see and acknowledge his mistakes is not the Bible kind. There is plenty of room for growth and cultivation after we have received the experience, and we must leave room for the growth. If we attempt to obtain a definite experience all that is comprehended in a life of development after we get sanctified, we make a sad mistake.

You know there are some folks who are continually dissatisfied and wanting to "do it all over again." Do you suppose that President Wilson knew as much about his responsibility the 4th of last March as he does at this time? He certainly knows more about his responsibility at present and feels it more keenly than he did then. Suppose he should say to his cabinet: "This is a bigger thing than I thought it was and I see that it means more than I comprehended at the time; I think I shall have to be inaugurated over again." That would be foolish, would it not? Suppose a young man has entered the navy. Perhaps he never dreamed of the things he would have to pass through. By and by, when he has been there five months, he sees how much it means. He goes to the captain and says, "I am sorry, but I see this is more than I expected; suppose we go back to New York City and there let me enlist over again." This is the way many have done regarding their Christian experience. It is just as foolish for you to go back and do the thing all over again if you really met Bible conditions at the first; you need simply to walk in advanced light.

Confidence Necessary

Another thing, brethren: It becomes easier to make a consecration if we have just a little faith along with it. A brother at a certain campmeeting was seeking sanctification. When he thought of the martyrs, and that he might also have to go through much suffering, he shrank and his soul was in trouble. He thought if he should be burned at the stake it would be more than he could stand. He went out and walked about in agony until these words flashed upon his mind, "By the grace of God I can." Then he saw the grace of God greater than all the stakes he could imagine. His faith in God's promises to help him made it look possible for him to go through, so he made his consecration with full assurance that God's grace would always be sufficient. If you endeavor to make a consecration for sanctification without taking God into consideration, you will die in discouragement. When you come to the Lord, just remember that he will help you to do everything he has commanded you to do. If you have this down in your soul you have something better than all the gold and silver in this world, and the following hymn expresses the feelings of your heart:

"O sweet will of God, thou has girded me round,
Like the deep moving currents that girdle the sea;
With omnipotent love is my poor nature bound,
And this bondage to love sets me perfectly free.
For years my soul wrestled with vague discontent,
That like a sad angel o'ershadowed my soul,
God's light in the soul with the darkness was blent.
And my heart ever longed for an unclouded day.
And now I have flung myself recklessly out,
Like a chip on the stream of the Infinite Will;
I pass the rough rocks with a smile and a shout,

And I just let my God his dear purpose fulfil.
Forever I choose the good will of my God,
Its holy deep riches to love and to know;
The serfdom of love to so sweeten the rod,
That its touch maketh rivers of honey to flow.
Roll on, checkered seasons, bring smiles or bring fears,
My soul sweetly sails on an infinite tide;
I shall soon touch the shores of eternity's years,
And near the white throne of my Savior abide.
Hallelujah! hallelujah! my soul is set free!
For the precious blood of Jesus cleanseth even me."

One says, "I would not be afraid to let God have his way with me if I only knew what he would ask of me in the future." Ah, that betrays a lack of confidence in God. God is an unfailing friend, one who is full of wisdom, and you should not fear to trust him to guide your frail bark over the sea of life. He loves you and you cannot do a better thing than to put your whole heart into his will, take your hands off and let him have his own way with you. My soul is happy in Jesus today because I am letting him have his way with me. This is a sweet life, indeed. We must have faith in God's promises, in his love and in his goodness; faith in his power to help and keep us, and that his demands are reasonable. Oh, if you only knew how good it is to be in the full will of God! Do not be afraid to trust him, he understands all about you. Do not fear that you cannot please him. He is not a hard taskmaster. You are undeserving of his love and mercy and you do not merit a single smile, but through his Son Jesus Christ he has made you welcome to all the good things of heaven. He is not only the great Creator of the universe but he is also the tender Father of your soul. Give up your all to him, trust his unfailing promise, and enter into rest.

God's Part

Just a few words in conclusion relative to God's part. "When your soul the perfect price has paid God will send the Holy fire." He will give you the Holy Ghost. In Luke 11:13 we read, "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?" If you are willing to give your hungry child a piece of bread, then remember God is more willing to give you the Holy Ghost. How willing are you to give your child a piece of bread? "Well," you say, "I am so willing that I cannot express it." God is more willing than that. When you are asking the Lord for the Holy Ghost, come with the full assurance that you will receive what you have asked for; but be sure first that you have met Bible conditions. Remember also that the Holy Ghost is a personality, not merely an abstract principle. This work that God does in the heart by his Spirit cleanses us from the last and least remains of sins, making it pure even as Christ is pure, and imparting power to the soul to please God well in all things. Have you received this experience? If not, then seek it at once, for now is the accepted time.