CHAPTER IX
Holiness
=Holiness an attribute of G.o.d.= "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the G.o.ds? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"--Ex. 15:11. "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."--Isa.
6:3. "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."--Rev.
4:8.
=G.o.d must be worshiped in holiness.= "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."--1 Chron. 16:29. "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness."--Psa. 30:4.
=G.o.d"s throne and dwelling-place.= "G.o.d reigneth over the heathen: G.o.d sitteth upon the throne of his holiness."--Psa. 47:8. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."--Isa. 57:15. "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation."--Zech. 2:13.
"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory."--Isa. 63:15.
=Holiness becomes G.o.d"s house.= "Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever."--Psa. 93:5. "The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness."--t.i.tus 2:3.
=The church of G.o.d is called a mountain of holiness.= "The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness."--Jer. 31:23.
"Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain."--Zech. 8:3. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and the dust shall be the serpent"s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain saith the Lord."--Isa. 65:25.
=G.o.d speaks in holiness.= "G.o.d hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice."--Psa. 60:6. "Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness."--Jer. 23:9.
=The way of holiness.= "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pa.s.s over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."--Isa. 35:8-10.
=The courts of holiness.= "But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness."--Isa. 62:9.
=The people of G.o.d are holy.= "The people of thy holiness have possessed but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary."--Isa. 63:18. "And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken."--Isa. 62:12. "And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy G.o.d, as he hath spoken."--Deut.
26:18, 19. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."--1 Pet.
2:9.
=We are called unto holiness.= "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."--Heb. 12:14. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy."--1 Pet. 1:15, 16.
"For G.o.d hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."--1 Thess. 4:7. "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life."--Luke 1:74, 75.
"For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."--Heb. 12:10.
=A perfect holiness attainable.= "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of G.o.d."--2 Cor. 7:1.
=Fruit unto holiness.= "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to G.o.d, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."--Rom. 6:22.
The foregoing scriptures are but a few out of the many plain texts from the word of G.o.d teaching us the glorious doctrine of holiness. Some professing Christians look upon this doctrine as unscriptural and impracticable, but in the light of the gospel of Christ there is no other doctrine taught than holiness. The very fact that G.o.d, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the word of G.o.d, and heaven, and all the celestial hosts are holy, at once suggests to every reasonable mind the utter necessity of holiness in the heart and life of man. The apostle says (Eph. 2:10) that "we are his workmanship, created in Jesus Christ unto good works."
Were we to look upon depraved humanity in the image of Adam, we would see nothing but sin and unholiness; but G.o.d has brought into existence a new order of creation in Christ Jesus. The first Adam is a sad and irreparable failure, and in him we see nothing good. All who are living according to the flesh are dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, and of course are unholy; but the second Adam, which is Christ has brought redemption and life, in whom there is purity and holiness. The old man is corrupt according to the deceitful l.u.s.ts, which =must be put off=. The new man is created in righteousness and true holiness, which =must be put on=. The reason some do not comprehend the doctrine of holiness is, they are yet living in the old creation, hence their nature and mind are corrupt. It is utterly impossible for such to be holy in this condition. The command, "Be ye holy," does not apply to them. They are not G.o.d"s people. The first step for such to take is to repent, which if they obey they will be brought into the kingdom of G.o.d"s holiness; into the new creation, the workmanship of G.o.d in Christ Jesus. Bless the Lord, O my soul, for this new creation of purity and holiness. All the living creatures of heaven bow before him that sitteth upon the throne, saying, Holy, holy, holy! and every sanctified heart on earth can join the blessed anthem of praise and adoration with the consciousness that the all-cleansing blood of Christ has reached its inmost depth and purified it for the habitation of the heavenly guest, the Holy Spirit. The pure heart is G.o.d"s dwelling-place on earth. Jesus says (John 14:23) "If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
Thus we see that G.o.d not only dwells in the high and holy heaven, but also upon earth in the hearts of his obedient people. Who could consistently believe that G.o.d would dwell in a corrupt heart? "He shall be in you," is the promise of Jesus. "At that day [the day when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart], ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." Oh, the depths of the riches of this wonderful redemption, that G.o.d would forgive the guilty sinner, then purify his heart and make it his earthly abode. This is his will toward every son and daughter of Adam"s race. He will create us in the image of Christ, so that we may truly serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. This can be called none other than the way of holiness. It is G.o.d"s own way, and is truly a highway too high for anything unclean to pa.s.s over. It is on a perfect level with heaven itself, and yet it is a highway here upon earth for all the ransomed of the Lord to travel upon. It is so plain and simple that no one need be led astray. The wayfaring men though fools, shall not err therein. A wayfaring man means one who is on the way, one who lives on the way. A seafaring man is one who lives on the sea. This way is so safe that though a man may be simple in the estimation of the world, and may be called a fool, yet if he keeps obedient to G.o.d he shall not be led astray. "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon." This indicates a very safe way, where we need not fear any evil. Everything of the flesh or the old man is ruled out, and none but the redeemed shall walk there. We see therefore from the description of the prophet that this is a highway, a clean way, a simple way, a safe way, a way of songs and everlasting joy, which necessarily const.i.tutes a way of holiness.
This is the way upon which the people of G.o.d are truly returning to Zion. This Zion is the scriptural name of the church of G.o.d. The people of G.o.d have been led into captivity of ecclesiastical bondage (Babylon), and the pure light of the gospel of holiness has been darkened by the creeds and doctrines of men, but G.o.d is revealing to his own that sanctification is a Bible doctrine; they seek for, and obtain it, and thereby every sectarian yoke is broken, his people find themselves upon this highway of holiness and at home in Zion, the church, free from the bondage of sectism. This is the work of G.o.d himself, and will not cease until every one of his people are brought home to Zion, upon the way of holiness. This is the highway that is left for the remnant of his people. Isa. 11:16. This remnant shall be gathered out of all the creeds of men into the one fold, into the true unity of Christ. "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one."
The prophet foresaw this blessed return of the people of G.o.d and tells us "they shall call them, The holy people." There are some who call themselves holiness people, but the prophet says we shall be called, "The holy people." Holiness factions and sects have actually sprung into existence, which declare that sectism and division is necessary. This cla.s.s of holiness is not that described in the foregoing scriptures.
Bible holiness will in every individual instance destroy everything out of men"s hearts that separates or divides. Divisions are the outgrowth of carnality and not of the Spirit of G.o.d. Every profession of holiness, therefore, which sanctions division and sectism cannot possibly be the holiness of the Bible. This may seem to some a strong a.s.sertion, but it will stand the test of the word of G.o.d.
No scriptural unity will ever be effected among the people of G.o.d outside the experience of sanctification. Men have repeatedly laid other foundations, but all to no avail. It is a source of great satisfaction to know that wherever the Holy Spirit has the right of way in the hearts of men, there is found true apostolic unity, both in spirit and in doctrine. This is a well authenticated fact which is demonstrated in thousands of hearts today. The holy people are one people, and all are willing to be measured by all of the word of G.o.d, which proves to the "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of G.o.d may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The apostle teaches us, in Heb. 12:10, that G.o.d imparts unto us his holiness: we are partakers of it. It is not an experience which we by our efforts can attain to, but upon the clearly defined conditions of his word we come into possession of his holiness. It is all wrought within us by himself. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."
Bible holiness is truly an imported article directly from G.o.d out of heaven. Some imported goods in this country are much more expensive and of better quality than those of home manufacture. Many of our people prefer to pay the extra expense in order to obtain the better quality, and usually are abundantly satisfied with their purchase. This may serve to ill.u.s.trate this blessed holiness of the Bible. Men"s professions are sometimes like an inferior homemade piece of goods. It soon wears threadbare and betrays its quality, but the genuine imported article of Bible holiness proves satisfactory in every respect, and the more it is worn the better it becomes. It has cost us everything, but it proves to be worth more than everything to us. The reason why some people have failed to get it is, they are unwilling to pay the price. They are deceived by the false doctrine that they do not need to consecrate their all, and hence have accepted a holiness manufactured by man, a homemade article which will never stand the test. A definite, absolute consecration to the loss of all things will never fail to procure the genuine article of true Bible holiness, which will stand the wear of every trial of life and the test of the judgment.
CHAPTER X
The Vine and the Branches
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."--John 15:1-8.
This beautiful a.n.a.logy teaches us an important lesson. The standard of sanctification is clearly exemplified in the relation between the vine and the branches. Christ is the vine, and every individual Christian is an individual branch; every branch is an individual member of the vine, and every Christian is an individual member of Christ.
What a clear view of the church, and how plainly we can see that there is but one. Every regenerate soul is by one Spirit baptized into this one body. This vine is cared for and kept by G.o.d himself, who is the husbandman. Every branch must be a living, fruit-bearing one. It is placed into the vine by the hand which will care for it, and give it every necessary treatment to cause it to bring forth much fruit. If it bears fruit it will be kept in the vine; if it does not bear fruit it will be taken away. The same life which flows through the vine also flows into the branches. It is the branches that bear the fruit. It is the part of the vine to sustain the branches, and the part of the branches to bear fruit. The fruit is the production of the vine-life in the branches. The word of G.o.d teaches us that Christ is pure and holy, and in Rom. 11:16 we are taught that if the root be holy, so are the branches. The manner of the induction of the branches into the vine is ill.u.s.trated by the process of grafting. We are not grown into Christ, but grafted into him. The natural branches of a vine grow out of the vine, and accordingly bear the vine-fruit, but by grace we are grafted into Christ, the vine, and bear the vine-fruit.
A certain writer who advocates the repression theory of sanctification says: "But if I want a tree wholly made good I take it when young and, cutting the stem off on the ground, I graft just where it emerges from the soil; I watch over every bud which the old nature could possibly put forth until the flow of sap from the old roots into the new stem is so complete that the old life has, as it were, been entirely conquered and covered of the new. Now I have a tree entirely renewed--emblem of a Christian who has learned in entire consecration to surrender everything for Christ, and in a whole-hearted faith wholly to abide in him. If in this case the old tree were a reasonable being that could co-operate with the gardener, what would the gardener"s language be to it? Would it not be this: "Yield now thyself entirely to this new nature with which I have invested thee; repress every tendency of the old nature to give buds or sprouts; let all thy sap and all thy life-powers rise up into this graft from yonder beautiful tree which I have put on thee, so shalt thou bring forth sweet and much fruit." And the language of the tree to the gardener would be: "When thou graftest me, oh, spare not a single branch, let everything of the old self, even the smallest bud, be destroyed, that I may no longer live in my own, but in that other life that was cut off and brought and put upon me that I might be wholly new and good." And once again, could you afterwards ask the renewed tree, as it was bearing abundant fruit, what it could say of itself, its answer would be this: "In me (that is, my roots) there dwelleth no good thing; I am ever inclined to evil; the sap I collect from the soil is in its nature corrupt, and ready to show itself in bearing evil fruit. But just where the sap rises into the sunshine to ripen into fruit, the wise gardener hath clothed me with a new life through which my sap is purified and all my powers are renewed to the bringing forth of good fruit.""
This author has entirely reversed the scriptural order of grafting in his application of the graft and root, and has ill.u.s.trated the relation of Christ and the believer by the natural grafting process which can in no sense scripturally apply to this holy relation. Christ is the vine or root, and not the graft. The natural process of grafting is to graft the good graft into a poor root. The graft will grow into a tree and bear the same kind of fruit as the tree from which it was taken, and thus the gardener increases the production of good fruit. But the divine process of grafting is just the reverse. In Rom. 11:24 the apostle says we are grafted into the olive tree (Christ) "contrary to nature." The husbandman takes the penitent sinner out of the kingdom of darkness and translates him into the kingdom of his dear Son. In this regeneration process the sinner (the graft) that was sinful and bore fruit is by G.o.d"s own process grafted into Christ, the holy vine, and from thence to bear holy fruit. This is certainly a great mystery, like all the works of G.o.d"s grace, and is indeed contrary to nature, but in perfect conformity with the plan of redemption.
Now, in this condition, there is a certain requirement of the graft necessary that it may bear the vine-fruit; it must =abide= in the vine.
This abiding requires a careful watchfulness lest there might be some sprout of the old inward nature, which yet exists within the newly grafted branch, which would spring up and hinder the perfect fruit-bearing of the vine-life. And in this early life, in this new relation of the branch with the vine, it is an attested fact that in quant.i.ty this fruit production is more or less hindered by the presence of the old inward nature, in the branch, which if permitted to sprout and grow would certainly prevent the growth of the vine-fruit entirely, and thereby cause the branch to be cut off. That the branch is in the vine there can be no question, for its environments are completely changed and it finds itself a stranger to all of its former a.s.sociations, customs, and habits. That the vine-life is in the branch there can equally be no question, for the branch has the inward consciousness bearing witness that it belongs to the vine, and it enjoys the sweet fellowship of the vine and all its branches. Also it bears the vine-fruit which brings upon itself the approval of the husbandman.
But this early and new relationship is only the justified life of the branch. The standard of sanctification of the author from whom we have just quoted is in no respect any higher than this, and were it not that there is a higher standard taught in this lesson and in many other scriptures, we would have to be satisfied with justification only.
"Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." This purging is another process quite contrary to nature, for the term signifies an inward cleansing. A vine-dresser can prune or trim a branch and thereby practically make it clean outwardly from all unnecessary or harmful sprouts which would hinder it from bearing fruit, but there is no known natural process by which the grafted branch could have its inward conditions changed which would affect its nature.
We can see clearly that the entire process of grafting the inferior branch into the good root, and the subsequent purging is wholly contrary to nature, for no man with an object of profit would do any such grafting, neither could anyone reasonably expect the inward conditions of such a graft to become changed.
This purging is wrought within for the purpose of an increase of holy fruit. How beautifully it pictures the experience of sanctification, and subsequent work wrought in the soul of the justified fruit-bearing child of G.o.d. It is not a pruning of any unholy sprouts, for they are to be wholly kept from sprouting in the process of the life of bearing holy fruit in this justified relation. The branch is now bearing the very fruit of the holy root, but there is something to be done in it that it may bring forth more fruit; it must be purged from its inward depraved dispositions which it possessed from its parent stock--its "old man ...
that the body of sin might be destroyed." Before the purging there was much time and energy occupied in keeping its depraved nature from sprouting. The holy nature of the root was indeed being manifested in the production of holy fruit which was a source of satisfaction, but there was that inward consciousness of an unfavorable condition which hindered the root-life from producing in the branch the quant.i.ty necessary to the perfect satisfaction of the husbandman, the vine or the branch.
But now what a glorious change: the old nature is entirely gone, and the sweet soul-rest which the purged branch now enjoys is beyond the power of mortal to express; it can now repose itself so sweetly in the holy vine in its perfectly consecrated life, without any inward hindrance to a perfect flow of the vine-life through its entire being. It can now bring forth more fruit, for every energy from the root is sent direct into the fruit-buds of the branch, and the result is glorious. This purging is just what perfects the inward harmony of the branch with the vine. It could not continue very long in the abiding condition without a consciousness of the need of the purging process. This process becomes a necessity to every branch which abides. "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit," which is equivalent to the text, "Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." It is purged that it may bring forth "more fruit,"
and now the object of purging is realized, it brings forth "much fruit."
Thank G.o.d for the purging, the subsequent work in the heart!
The apostles had not yet received this experience. They were clean through the word which Jesus had spoken unto them, to the extent of their knowledge and experience. Unquestionably they were clean from guilt and condemnation, for they were taken out from the world--were no more of it, and the world hated them. They were living in perfect obedience to all the known word of G.o.d and were clean through that word, but they had not had the pentecostal purging, "purifying their hearts by faith," as Peter himself testifies of the sanctification of himself and all who were at Pentecost, as well as the experience of Cornelius and his household.
Truly we have much reason to praise G.o.d for his wonderful grace in which he brings man, his fallen creature, into such a position that he may become a son of G.o.d, then made pure from all the depraved dispositions of his fallen nature. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master"s use, and prepared unto every good work."--2 Timothy 2:21.