PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Holy in Christ Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy
Murray, Andrew, 1828-1917 · 84,313 words · 137 reading sections
BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! the whole earth is full of Thy glory! Let that glory fill the heart of Thy child, as he bows before Thee. I come now to drink of the river of the water of life that flows from under the throne of God and of the Lamb. Glory be to God and to the Lamb for the gift that hath not entered…
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Holiness and Truth. '_Make them holy_ in _the Truth_: Thy word is _Truth_.'--John xvii. 17. 'God chose you unto salvation in _sanctification_ and belief of _the Truth_.'--2 Thess. ii. 12. The chief means of sanctification that God uses is His word. And yet how much there is of reading and studying, of teaching and p…
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It is now of this living Truth, which dwells in the word, as the seed-life dwells in the husk, that Jesus says, 'Make them holy in the Truth: Thy word is Truth.' He would have us mark the intimate connection, as well as the wide difference, between the word and the truth. The connection is one willed by God and meant t…
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There is another lesson. Listen to that prayer, the earthly echo of the prayer which He ever liveth to pray, 'Holy Father! make them holy in the truth.' Would you be holy, child of God? cast yourself into that mighty current of intercession ever flowing into, ever reaching, the Father's bosom. Let yourself be borne upo…
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Blessed Father! to Israel Thou didst say, I the Lord am holy and make holy. But it is only in Thy beloved Son that the full glory of Thy Holiness, as making us holy, has been revealed. Thou art our Holy Father, who makest us holy in Thy truth. We thank Thee that Thy Son hath given us the words Thou gavest Him, and tha…
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Holiness and Crucifixion. 'For their sakes I _sanctify_ myself, that they themselves also may be _sanctified_ in truth.'--John xvii. 19. 'He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will. In which will we have been _sanctified_ through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. For by one offering He hath perfected for eve…
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This lesson is in harmony with all we have seen. The first revelation of God's Holiness to Moses was accompanied with the command, Put off. God's praise, as Glorious in Holiness, Fearful in Praises, was sounded over the dead bodies of the Egyptians. When Moses on Sinai was commanded to sanctify the Mount, it was said, …
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He sanctified Himself for us, that we ourselves also might be sanctified in truth. Yes, our sanctification rests and roots in His, in Himself. And we are in Him. The secret roots of our being are planted into Jesus: deeper down than we can see or feel, there is He our Vine, bearing and quickening us. Let us by faith un…
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Holy Father! I do bless Thee for this precious blessed word, for this precious blessed work of Thy beloved Son. In His never-ceasing intercession Thou ever hearest the wonderful prayer, 'I sanctify myself for them, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.' Blessed Father! I beseech Thee to strengthen me m…
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Holiness and Faith. 'That they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among them that are _sanctified by faith in me_.'--Acts xxvi. 18. The more we study Scripture in the light of the Holy Spirit, or practise the Christian life in His power, the deeper becomes our conviction of the unique and central place…
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We know how faith acts, and what its great hindrances are, in the matter of justification. It is well that we remind ourselves that there are the same dangers in the exercise of sanctifying as of justifying faith. Faith _in God_ stands opposed to trust _in self_: specially to its willing and working. Faith is hindered …
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'Sanctified by faith in me.' Yes, 'by faith _in Me_:' it is the personal living Jesus who offers Himself, Himself in all the riches of His Power and Love, as the object, the strength, the life of our faith. He tells us that if we would be holy, always and in everything holy, we must just see to one thing: to be always …
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Beloved Lord! again have I seen, with adoring wonder, what Thou art willing to be to me. It is in Thyself, and a life of living fellowship with Thyself, that I am to become holy. It is in the simple life of personal attachment, of trust and love, of surrender and consecration, that Thou dost become my all, and make me …
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[9] The best commentators connect the expression, 'by faith in me,' not with the word 'sanctified,' but with the whole clause, 'that by faith in me they may receive.' This will, however, in no way affect the application to the word sanctified. Thus read, the text tells us that the remission of sin, and the inheritance,…
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Holiness and Resurrection. 'The Son of God, who was born of the seed of David _according to the flesh_, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, _according to the Spirit_ of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.'--Rom. i. 4. These words speak of a twofold birth of Christ. According to the flesh, He was …
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It is in this that any attempt to be holy as Christ is holy, with and in His Holiness, must have its starting-point. Many seek to take single portions of the life or image of Christ for imitation, and yet fail greatly in others. They have not seen that the self-denial, to which Jesus calls, really means the denial of s…
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Let us learn one more lesson from our text. _It is out of the grave of the flesh and the will of self that the Spirit of holiness breaks out in resurrection power._ We must accept death to the flesh, death to self with its willing and working, as the birthplace of our experience of the power of the Spirit of holiness. …
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Most Holy Lord God! we do bless Thee that Thou didst raise Thy Son from the dead and give Him glory, that our faith and hope might be in Thee. Thou didst make His resurrection the power of eternal life in us, and now, even as He was raised, so we may walk in newness of life. As the Spirit of holiness dwelt and wrought …
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Holiness and Liberty. 'Being made _free from sin_, ye became servants of righteousness: now present your members as servants of righteousness _unto sanctification_. Now being made _free from sin_, and become servants unto God, ye have your fruit _unto sanctification_, and the end eternal life.'--Rom. vi. 18, 19, 22. …
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In olden times, when Turks or Moors often made slaves of Christians, large sums were frequently paid for the ransom of those who were in bondage. But it happened more than once, away in the interior of the slave country, that the ransomed ones never got the tidings; the masters were only too glad to keep it from them. …
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What numberless complaints of insufficient strength to do God's will, of unsuccessful effort and disappointed hopes, of continual failure, re-echo in a thousand different forms the complaint of the captive, 'O wretched man that I am!' Thank God! there is deliverance. 'With freedom did Christ set us free! Stand fast the…
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Most glorious God! I pray Thee to open my eyes to this wonderful liberty with which Christ has made me free. May I enter fully into Thy word, that sin shall have no dominion over me because I am not under the law but under grace. May I know my liberty which I have in Christ Jesus, and stand fast in it. Father! Thy ser…
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Holiness and Happiness. 'The kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Ghost.'--Rom. xiv. 17. 'The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.'--Acts xiii. 52. 'Then Nehemiah said, This day is _holy_ unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry, for the _joy_ of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled the people, say…
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The answer will be found in the right apprehension of the life of faith. Faith lifts above, and gives possession of, what is the very opposite of what we feel or experience. In the Christian life there is always a paradox: what appear irreconcilable opposites are found side by side at the same moment. Paul expresses it…
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And _happiness is essential to true holiness_. If you would be a holy Christian, you must be a happy Christian. Jesus was anointed by God with 'the oil of gladness,' that He might give us 'the oil of joy.' In all our efforts after holiness, the wheels will move heavily if there be not the oil of joy; this alone removes…
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Most Blessed God! I beseech Thee to reveal to me and to all Thy children the secret of rejoicing in Thee, the Holy One of Israel. Thou seest how much of the service of Thine own dear children is still in the spirit of bondage, and how many have never yet believed that the Highway of Holiness is one on which they may w…
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In Christ our Sanctification. 'Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.'--1 Cor. i. 30, 31. These words lead us on now to the very centre of God's revelation…
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But because it is of faith, therefore it is of the Holy Spirit. _Of God_ are ye _in Christ_. It is not as if God placed and planted us in Christ, and left it to us now to maintain the union. No, God is the Eternal One, the God of the everlasting life, who works every moment in a power that does not for one moment cease…
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O my brother! come and consent more fully to God's way of holiness. Let Christ be your sanctification. Not a distant Christ to whom you look, but a Christ very near, all around you, in whom you are. Not a Christ after the flesh, a Christ of the past, but a present Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost. Not a Christ who…
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Most Blessed Father! I bow in speechless adoration before the holy mystery of Thy Divine Love.... Oh, forgive me, that I have known and believed it so little as it is worthy of being known and believed. Accept my praise for what I have seen and tasted of its Divine blessedness. Accept, Lord God! of the praise of a gl…
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Holiness and the Body. 'The temple of God is _holy_, which temple ye are. _The body_ is for the Lord, and the Lord for _the body_. Know ye not that your _body_ is the temple of _the Holy Ghost_ which is in you; therefore glorify God in your _body_.'--1 Cor. iii. 16, vi. 13, 19. 'She that is unmarried is careful for t…
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What Scripture teaches as to the intimacy of the connection between the body and spirit, physiology confirms. What appear at first merely physical transgressions leave a stain and have a degrading influence on the soul, and through it drag down the spirit. And on the other side, spiritual sins, sins of thought and imag…
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Blessed Lord! who art my sanctification, I come to Thee now with a very special request. O Thou who didst in Thine own body bear our sins on the tree, and of whom it is written, 'We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,' be pleased to reveal to me how my body may to the ful…
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Holiness and Cleansing. 'Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us _cleanse_ ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting _holiness_ in the fear of God.'--2 Cor. vii. 1. That holiness is more than cleansing, and must be preceded by it, is taught us in more than one passage of the New Testament…
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'_Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves._' The cleansing is sometimes spoken of as the work of God (Acts xv. 9; 1 John i. 9); sometimes as that of Christ (John xv. 3; Eph. v. 26; Tit. ii. 14). Here we are commanded to cleanse ourselves. God does His work in us by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit does His work by stirring u…
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Beloved brother! see here again God's way of holiness. Arise and step on to it in the faith of the promise, fully persuaded that what He hath promised He is mighty to perform. Bring out of the inner part of the house all uncleanness; bring it into the light of God; confess it and cast it at His feet, who takes it away,…
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Holy Lord Jesus! Thou didst give Thyself for us, that, having cleansed us for Thyself as Thine own, Thou mightest sanctify us and present us to Thyself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Blessed be Thy Name for the wonderful love. Blessed be Thy Name for the wonderful cleansing. Through th…
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Holy and Blameless. 'Ye are witnesses, and God also, how _holily_ and justly and _unblameably_ we behaved ourselves among you that believe.--The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, to the end He may stablish your hearts _unblameable in holiness_ before our God and Fathe…
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That this blamelessness has very special reference to our intercourse with our fellow-men we see from the way in which it is linked with love. So in Eph. i. 4, 'That we should be holy and without blemish before Him _in love_.' But specially in that remarkable passage: 'The Lord make you to _increase and abound in love_…
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It is in Christ we are holy; of God we are in Christ, who is made of God unto us sanctification: it is in this faith that Paul prays that the Lord, our Lord Jesus, may make us increase and abound in love. The Father is the fountain, He is the channel; the Holy Spirit is the living stream. And He is our Life, through th…
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Most Gracious God and Father! again do I thank Thee for that wondrous salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, which has made us holy in Christ. And I thank Thee that the Spirit can so make us partakers of the life of Christ, that we too may be unblameable in holiness. And that it is the Lord Himself who makes …
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Holiness and the Will of God. 'This is _the will of God_, even your _sanctification_.'--1 Thess. iv. 3. 'Lo, I am come to do _Thy will_. By _which will_ we have been _sanctified_, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.'--Heb. x. 9, 10. In the will of God we have the union of His Wisdom and Po…
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The mistake they make is a very serious one. Instead of living by faith they judge by feeling, in which the old nature speaks and rules. It tells them that God's will is often a burden too hard to be borne, and that they never can have the strength to do it. Faith speaks differently. It reminds us that God is Love, and…
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Brother! are you in earnest to be holy? wholly possessed of God? Here is the path. I plead with you not to be afraid or to hold back. You have taken God to be your God; have you really taken His will to be your will? Oh, think of the privilege, the blessedness, of having one will with God! and fear not to surrender you…
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Blessed Father! I come to say that I see that Thy will is my sanctification, and there alone I would seek it. Graciously grant that, by Thy Holy Spirit which dwelleth in me, the glory of that will, and the blessedness of abiding in it, may be fully revealed to me. Teach me to know it as the Will of Love, purposing alw…
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Holiness and Service. 'If a man therefore cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, _sanctified_, meet _for the Master's use_, prepared _unto every good work_.'--2 Tim. ii. 21. 'A _holy_ priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. A _holy_ nation, that ye may _show forth the excellences of Him_ …
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My brother! listen to the message. 'If a man _cleanse_ himself, he shall be a vessel unto honour, _sanctified_, _meet_ for the Master's use, _prepared_ unto every good work.' You cannot have the law of service more clearly or beautifully laid down. A vessel of honour, one whom the King will delight to honour, must be a…
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'The Father _sanctified_ the Son, _and sent_ Him into the world.' The world is the place for the sanctified one, to be its light, its salt, its life. We are 'sanctified in Christ Jesus,' and sent into the world too. Oh, let us not fear to accept our position--our double position; in the world, and in Christ! In the wor…
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Blessed Master! I thank Thee for being anew reminded of the purpose of Thy Redeeming Love. Thou gavest Thyself that Thou mightest cleanse for Thyself a people of Thine own, zealous in good works. Thou wouldest make of each of us a vessel of honour, cleansed and sanctified, meet for Thy use, and prepared for every good …
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The Way into the Holiest. 'Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into _the Holiest_ by _the blood_ of Jesus, by _the way_ which He dedicated, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh: and having a _great Priest_ over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in fulness of f…
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_The way of access._ It is often thought that what is said of _the new and living way_, dedicated for us by Jesus, means nothing different from the boldness through His blood. This is not the case. The words mean a great deal more. 'Having boldness _by the blood_ of Jesus, let us draw near _by the way_ which He dedicat…
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And so our life here will be the earnest of the glory that is to come, as it is written--note how we have the four great thoughts of our text over again--'These are they which came out of great tribulation,' that is, by the way of the rent flesh; 'and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lam…
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Most Holy God! how shall I praise Thee for the liberty to enter into the Holiest of all, and dwell there? And for the precious Blood, that brings us nigh? And for the new and living way, through the rent veil of that flesh which had separated us from Thee, in which my flesh now too has been crucified? And for the Great…
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Holiness and Chastisement. 'He chasteneth us for our profit, that we may be partakers of _His holiness_. Follow after _sanctification_, without which no man shall see the Lord.'--Heb. xii. 10, 14. There is perhaps no part of God's word which sheds such Divine light upon suffering as the Epistle to the Hebrews. It doe…
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It has sometimes appeared, even to God's children, as if affliction were not a blessing: it so rouses the evil nature, and calls forth all the opposition of the heart against God's will, that it has brought the loss of the peace and the piety that once appeared to reign. Even in such cases it is working out God's purpo…
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'We know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love: and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in Him.' Man's destiny is fellowship with God, the fellowship, the mutual indwelling of love. It is only by faith that this Love of God can be known. And faith can only grow by exercise, can only t…
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Most Holy God! once again I bless Thee for the wondrous revelation of Thy Holiness. Not only have I heard Thee speak, 'I am holy,' but Thou hast invited me to fellowship with Thyself: 'Be holy, as I am holy.' Blessed be Thy name! I have heard more even: 'I make holy,' is Thy word of promise, pledging Thine own Power to…
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The Unction from the Holy One. 'And ye have _an anointing from the Holy One_, and ye know all things. And as for you, the anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught…
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2. '_The anointing teacheth you._' The new man is created in _knowledge_, as well as in righteousness and holiness. Christ is made to us _wisdom_, as well as righteousness and sanctification. God's service and our holiness are above all to be a free and full, an intelligent and most willing, approval of His blessed wil…
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Let us study the Divine anointing. It comes from the Holy One. There is no other like it. It is God's way of making us holy--His holy priests. It is God's way of making us partakers of holiness in Christ. The anointing, received of Him day by day, abiding in us, teaching us all things, especially teaching us to abide i…
131 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.