^ Amiel's Journal (trans, by Mrs. Humphry Ward), 284.
^ W. R. NicoU, Ian Madaren : Life of the Rev. J. Watson, 383.
I THESSALONIANS v. 23 47
see it — glorification, as some would almost seem to think he does. We must not put the standard too high ; we must not put it where it is altogether out of reach. He is not praying for the dead. His prayer is for us to-day. "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it," he says.
(2) Nor is this sanctification sinless perfection. Sinless per- fection is the scarecrow that the devil employs to frighten God's children off the finest of the wheat. The fact is that sanctifica- tion is God's truth, and sinless perfection is the devil's counter- feit. But wherever there is a counterfeit there is always a truth ; and very often the grossness of the counterfeit is the measure of the importance of the truth. Satan is only a copyist. There is no condition here upon earth in which we do not need atoning blood ; there is no condition here in which we do not need the forgiveness of our trespasses ; there is no condition here in which we do not need the perpetual intercession of our Great High Priest. Within these limits comes the prayer for entire sancti- fication.
(3) Sanctification is not merely the repression of evil ; that is virtue. The pagan, the Roman philosopher, can teach that, more or less. But sanctity, as an old divine once said, is " the life of God in man." The moralist knows nothing of it ; he has neither the thing itself nor the word.
(4) Sanctification is not the same as good works. Sanctification is God's work in us, whereby He imparts to our members a holy disposition, inwardly filling us with delight in His law and with repugnance to sin. But good works are acts of man which spring from this holy disposition. Hence sanctification is the source of good works; it is the lamp that shines with their light, the capital of which they are the interest. " Sanctification " imparts something to man ; " good works " take something out of him. " Sanctification " forces the root into the ground ; to do " good works " forces the fruit out of the fruitful tree.
^ The Pietist says : " Sanctification is man's work ; it cannot be insisted upon with sufficient emphasis. It is our best effort to be godly." And the Mystic maintains : " We cannot do good works, and may not insist upon them ; for man is unable ; God alone works them in him independently of him." Of course, both are equally wrong and unscriptural. The former, in reducing
48 A PRAYER FOR SANCTITY
sanctification to good works takes it out of God's hand and lays it upon man, who never can perform it ; and the latter, in making good works take the place of sanctification, releases man from the task laid on him and claims that God will perform it. Both errors must be opposed.^
^ John Brash was amid the arduous work of his first circuit when, as he says, " I began to seek the blessing of perfect love. One Sunday, having to preach in the country in the afternoon and evening, I spent the forenoon in prayer. While pleading with God for the blessing, my agony became so great that I resolved not to rise from my knees until I had obtained it. It was easy for me to yield up to God everything that I felt He required from me but one — and that was my reputation. In order to live a life of consecration to Him, it would be necessary for me to adopt a simple and unadorned style of preaching, to discard all subjects that would be pleasing and interesting merely, and to aim solely and always at usefulness. The consequence of adopting such a style would be, as it then seemed to me, obscurity and hard work in discouraging spheres, and amongst small congregations. The struggle was severe, but all attempts at compromise, and all sophistical reasoning about seeking popularity as a stepping-stone to usefulness failed to satisfy my conscience, and I at last made a full surrender of all my powers to God, that they might be em- ployed for His glory alone. In the instant that I made the offering I felt that it was accepted, and that God had taken full possession of my heart. The experience was so distinct from anything I had previously felt that it was impossible to doubt the nature of the blessing I had received. Throughout the day there was an abiding consciousness of a presence which I knew to be that of Christ Himself. My feeling was one of reverent, subdued joy, arising from the knowledge that I was united to Him, and filled with His Spirit. Since that memorable Sunday the discussions I have read and heard on the subject of instan- taneous and conscious sanctification from sin have had little interest for me. I know that the blessing may be received instantaneously ; though in some cases the transition from partial to entire sanctification may be imperceptible to the subject of it."^
2. To "sanctify" is to set something apart for a holy purpose, so that it may be regarded as holy, and as being profaned if used for a lower purpose. If we were to distinguish between " sancti-