It is not BO, for Obrist was sanctified (John xvii. 19), and he never needed to be purified. But the great hindrance to our consecration of ourselves to God or to any special Divine purpose, is sin. Therefore for us the one great preliminary is purifi- cation. ll. OBSERVE THE SCOPE OF SANCTIFIOA TION, It is to be complete: 1. In range, It affects spirit, soul, and body-St. Paul's human trinity. (1) Spirit. Our highest thoughts, aspirations, and efforts are to be sound, pure, and devoted to God. (2) "soul. Our lower capacities of feeling and acting in our natural human life are to be equally sanctified. We cannot have a devout spirituality side by side with a carnal natural imagination. Moreover, our natural humanity, in its lower perceptions and eneraies, should be used for the service of God. (3) Body. This is not only not to be degr:ded by vicious appetite, but to be used as an instrument for God's service. It is un- christian to mutilate or weake::i the body. This should be kept sound and healthy and vigorous for our Master's use. 2. In intensity. 'l'he sanctification is to be thorough. Each part of our nature is to be "wholly" sanctified, We must not dedicate oursdves to God half-heartedly. He requires the whole surrender of our whole natwt1. DI. NoTE THE SOURCE OF B.ANC!Tl.FIOATION, It is in God. St. Paul turns from exhortation to prayer. Here and there little duties are directed by our own will and energy. But the grand work of complete purification and consecration must be God's. 1. By means of hi,s spiritual infl~nce. He sanctifies by breathing into us his Holy Spirit. Contact with God burns ont sin, and lifts the soul into an atmosphere of holiness. 2. By means of hi,s providential care. St. Paul prays that God will keep his readers "entire "-as we read in the Revised Version. He guards from too great temptation. IV. Loox AT THE END OF SANOTIFIOATION. This is to be" blameless at ihe coming of onr Lord Jesus Christ." 1. Preparation for tM second advent. We are required to be ready to meet Chri1<t. The glad expectation should encourage every effort to prepare, lest we should be like the foolish virgins. 2. Blamelessness. Christ comes as Judge. How sad, after lunging to see him, to meet, instead of a welcome from our Lord, only stem words ofrebuke!-W. F . .A.
Ver. 24.-God's faitl,fulness. Between the Divine call to Hlvation and the full accomplishment of salvation, the Christian needs faith to watch and wait, to work and walk through the darkness. The rock on which he must build this faith is God's faithfulness. L Ce.AB.AOTERIBTICB or Go»'s J'AITRFULNEBB. L God perfor111,B what M promises. God promises in his Word. He promises most solemnly, and as it were by oath, in his covenants, e.g. with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses and Israel, and the new covenant sealed by the blood of Christ. God also promises by his actions. Natural instincts, such &.b the innate thirst for light, the yearning for immortality, etc., are the Creator's µromises written on the very being of his creatures. God's faithfulness means that he will not belie these pro,"ises. 2. God is true to himsel,f. His consistency and immu- ta.'l.ility are the grounds of his faithfulness. Because he is true to himself he will be true to us: "The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever." If we are left to "the uncovene.nterl mercies" of God, these are large and sure enough to dispel all fear. 3. GfJd, ju,st~ tM ronji,denetJ of his children. Faithfulness implies trustworthiness. If we commit our souls to God as to a faithful Crea.tor, he accepts our trust, and thereby pledges his honour not to desert us. IL GBOUNDB FOB BELmVING IN Goo's F.AITBFULNEBS. l. Ow knowledge of tM nature of God. If we believe in God at a.11, we must believe in hiru as moral, good, nay, perfect. A weak and limited being may change and fail. God is too great to be faith- less. 2. The testimony of those who can best Bpeak for God. We judge of a person's rha.racter largely on the evidence of those who have the mo~t intimate acqu~inta.nce. Now we find propheb! and saints who are nearest to God m thought and life most positive in asserting hie faithfulness. Only they who dwell in the outer courts of his temple, or altogether a.way from hie presence, venture to deny it. 3. The evidence atfor<lf:d by tM life of ChriBt. Christ was the great Revealer of the character of God ; and Christ was faithful even to death. 4. The witness of hief.ory f,o tM past faithfulnesa of God; ou. v. 1-28,] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIAN8. 18i
e.g. the deliverance from Egypt, the return from the captivity, the advent of Christ, the presence of Christ in his Church to guide and strengthen and bless. 5. TM eonfir- maUon of persrmal experience. Many have proved God's faithfulness in their own lives. 'l'hey can say," This poor man oried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all hi11 troublea." III. TEMPTATIONS TO DOUBT GoD'B l'AITllll'ULNEIIII, 1. The tDtalrY time of waiting. God does not fulfil his promises as soon 88 he makes them. Long intervals try our faith. So was it with the Jewish expectation of the Messiah; so is it with the Christian expectation of the second advent. The heart is sickened with hope deferred. But this doubt is as foolish 88 that of one who, seeing the morning to be long in coming, begins to distrust the promise of sunrise. 2, .Appearcmct111 of v,nfaithfu,l,neu. Nothing tries love so painfully as the necessity of so acting as to provoke doubts of its own constancy. Yet the truest love will not shrink from this necessity when it arises. God seems to desert us, or he visits us in chastisement. It is his greater faithfulness that leads him so to act as to cloud our vision ,of his love. 3. The unexpected fulfilment oj Divine promises. God does not always fulfil his promises in the way expected by us. Then we are disappointed. But the error was in our previous delusion, not in any chacae on God's part. Moreover, the true Divine fulftlment, though at first le~s pleasing to us than our expectation of it, always proves in the long run to be far better. IV. THE RESPONIIE wmcB GoD'B l!'AITBFULNESB SHOULD CALL FORTH FROM us. 1. .Adoration. The faithfulness of God is one of the most worthy themes of worship. 2. Trust. Faithfulness merits confidence, and it encourages it. 3. Fidllity. If GOC: is faithful to wi. he has a ri11:ht to bid u be faiLhful.-W. F • .A. HOMILETICAL INDEX TO
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF
ST. PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS.