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045 - The Scripture Way of Salvation · Sermons on Several Occasions, First Series

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  Speaker 1: Section number forty four of Sermons on Several Occasions First Series.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Renee Lacroix. Sermons on
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  Speaker 1: Several Occasions, First series by John Wesley. The scripture Way
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  Speaker 1: of Salvation, Ye are saved through faith Ephesians two eight.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing can be more intricate, complex, and hard to be
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  Speaker 1: understood than religion as it has been often described. And
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  Speaker 1: this is not only true concerning the religion of the Heathens,
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  Speaker 1: even many of the wisest of them, but concerning the
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  Speaker 1: religion of those also who were in some sense Christian yea,
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  Speaker 1: and men of great name in the Christian world, men
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  Speaker 1: who seem to be pillars thereof. Yet how easy to
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  Speaker 1: be understood, how plain and simple a thing is the
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  Speaker 1: genuine religion of Jesus Christ, provided only that we take
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  Speaker 1: it in its native form, just as it is described
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  Speaker 1: in the Oracles of God. It is exactly suited by
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  Speaker 1: the wise creator and governor of the world to the
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  Speaker 1: weak understanding and narrow capacity of man in his present state.
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  Speaker 1: How observable is this both with regard to the end
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  Speaker 1: it proposes and the means to attain that end. The
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  Speaker 1: end is in one word, salvation. The means to attain
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  Speaker 1: it faith. It is easily discerned that these two little words,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, faith and salvation include the substance of all
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  Speaker 1: the Bible, the meral, as it were, of the whole scripture.
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  Speaker 1: So much the more should we take all possible care
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  Speaker 1: to avoid all mistake concerning them. To form a true
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  Speaker 1: and accurate judgment concerning both the one and the other.
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  Speaker 1: Let us then seriously inquire what is salvation? What is
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  Speaker 1: that faith? Whereby we are saved? And how are we
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  Speaker 1: saved by it? And first let us inquire what is salvation?
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  Speaker 1: The salvation which is here spoken of is not what
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  Speaker 1: is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven
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  Speaker 1: eternal happiness. It is not the soul's going to paradise
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  Speaker 1: termed by our Lord Abraham's bosom. It is not a
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  Speaker 1: blessing which lies on the other side death, or as
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  Speaker 1: we usually speak, in the other world. The very words
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  Speaker 1: of the text itself puts this beyond all questions. Ye
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  Speaker 1: are saved. It is not something at a distance. It
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  Speaker 1: is a present thing, a blessing which, through the free
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  Speaker 1: mercy of God you are now in possession of. Nay,
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  Speaker 1: the words may be rendered, and that with equal propriety
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  Speaker 1: ye have been saved, so that the salvation which is
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  Speaker 1: here spoken of might be extended to the entire work
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  Speaker 1: of God, from the first dawning of grace in the
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  Speaker 1: soul till it is consummated in glory. If we take
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  Speaker 1: this in its utmost extent, it will include all that
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  Speaker 1: is wrought in the soul by what is frequently termed
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  Speaker 1: natural conscience, but more properly preventing grace, all the drawings
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  Speaker 1: of the Father, the desires after God, which, if we
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  Speaker 1: yield to him, increase more and more. All that light,
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  Speaker 1: wherewith the Son of God enlighteneth everyone that cometh into
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  Speaker 1: the world, showing every man to do justly, to love mercy,
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  Speaker 1: and to walk humbly with his God. All the convictions
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  Speaker 1: which his Spirit from time to time works in every
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  Speaker 1: child of man. Although it is true the generality of
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  Speaker 1: men stifle them as soon as possible, and after a
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  Speaker 1: while forget or least deny that they ever had them
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  Speaker 1: at all. But we are at present concerned only with
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  Speaker 1: that salvation which the apostle is directly speaking of. And
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  Speaker 1: this consists of two general parts, justification and sanctification. Justification
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  Speaker 1: is another word for pardon. It is the forgiveness of
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  Speaker 1: all our sins, and what is necessarily implied therein our
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  Speaker 1: acceptance with God. The price whereby this hath been procured
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  Speaker 1: for us, commonly termed the meritorious cause of our justification
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  Speaker 1: is the blood and righteousness of Christ, or, to express
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  Speaker 1: it a little more clearly, all that Christ hath done
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  Speaker 1: and suffered for us till he poured out his soul
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  Speaker 1: for the transgressors. The immediate effects of justification are the
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  Speaker 1: peace of God, a peace that passeth all understanding, and
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  Speaker 1: rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, with joy
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  Speaker 1: unspeakable and full of glory. And at the same time
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  Speaker 1: that we are justified, yea, in that very moment, sanctification begins.
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  Speaker 1: In that instant we are born again, born from above,
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  Speaker 1: born of the Spirit. There is a real as well
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  Speaker 1: as a relative change. We are inwardly renewed by the
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  Speaker 1: power of God. We feel the love of God shed
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  Speaker 1: abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost, which is
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  Speaker 1: given unto us producing love to all mankind, and more
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  Speaker 1: especially to the children of God, expelling the love of
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  Speaker 1: the world, the love of pleasure, of ease, of honor,
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  Speaker 1: of money, together with pride, anger, self, will, and every
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  Speaker 1: other evil temper, in a word, changing the earthly, sensual,
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  Speaker 1: devilish mind into the mind which was in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: How naturally do those who experience such a change imagine
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  Speaker 1: that all sin is gone, that it is utterly rooted
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  Speaker 1: out of their heart and has no more any place therein?
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  Speaker 1: How easily do they draw that inference, I feel no sin,
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  Speaker 1: therefore I have none. It does not stir, therefore it
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  Speaker 1: does not exist, It has no motion, therefore it has
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  Speaker 1: no being. But it is seldom long before they are undeceived,
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  Speaker 1: finding sin was only suspended, not destroyed. Temptations return, and
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  Speaker 1: sin revives, showing it was but stunned before, not dead.
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  Speaker 1: They now feel two principles in themselves, plainly contrary to
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  Speaker 1: each other, the flesh lusting against the spirit, nature opposing
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  Speaker 1: the grace of God. They cannot deny that, although they
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  Speaker 1: still feel power to believe in Christ and to love God,
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  Speaker 1: and although His spirit still witnesses with their spirits, that
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  Speaker 1: they are children of God. Yet they feel in themselves
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  Speaker 1: sometimes pride or self will, sometimes anger, or unbelief. They
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  Speaker 1: find one or more of these, frequently stirring in their heart,
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  Speaker 1: though not conquering, perhaps thrusting sore at them, that they
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  Speaker 1: may fall. But the Lord is their help. How exactly
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  Speaker 1: did Macarius fourteen hundred years ago describe the present experience
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  Speaker 1: of the children of God. The unskillful or unexperienced when
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  Speaker 1: grace operates presently imagine they have no more sin, whereas
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  Speaker 1: they that have discretion cannot deny that even we who
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  Speaker 1: have the grace of God may be blested again. For
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  Speaker 1: we have often had instances of some among the brethren
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  Speaker 1: who have experienced such grace as to affirm that they
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  Speaker 1: had no sin in them. And yet after all, when
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  Speaker 1: they thought themselves entirely freed from it, the corruption that
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  Speaker 1: lurked within was stirred up anew, and they were well
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  Speaker 1: nigh burned up. From the time of our being born again,
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  Speaker 1: the gradual work of sanctification takes place. We are enabled
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  Speaker 1: by the spirit to mortify the deeds of the body
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  Speaker 1: of our evil nature. And as we are more and
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  Speaker 1: more dead to sin, we are more and more alive
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  Speaker 1: to God. We so on from grace to grace, while
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  Speaker 1: we are careful to abstain from all appearance of evil,
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  Speaker 1: and are zealous of good works, as we have opportunity
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  Speaker 1: doing good to all men. While we walk in all
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  Speaker 1: His ordinances blameless, therein worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.
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  Speaker 1: While we take up our cross and deny ourselves every
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  Speaker 1: pleasure that does not lead us to God. It is
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  Speaker 1: thus that we wait for our entire sanctification, for a
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  Speaker 1: full salvation from our sins, from pride, self, will, anger, unbelief, or,
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  Speaker 1: as the Apostle expresses it, go on to perfection. But
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  Speaker 1: what is perfection? The word has various senses. Here it
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  Speaker 1: means perfect love. It is love excluding sin, love feeling
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  Speaker 1: the heart, taking up the whole capacity of the soul.
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  Speaker 1: It is love rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, in everything,
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  Speaker 1: giving thanks. But what is faith through which we are saved?
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  Speaker 1: This is the second point to be considered. Faith in
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  Speaker 1: general is defined by the Apostle a pragmatan elecchaus u blepomenum,
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  Speaker 1: an evidence, a divine evidence, and conviction. The word means
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  Speaker 1: both of things not seen, not visible, not perceivable, either
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  Speaker 1: by sight or by any other of the external senses.
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  Speaker 1: It implies both a supernatural evidence of God and of
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  Speaker 1: the things of God, a kind of spiritual light exhibited
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  Speaker 1: to the soul in a supernatural sight or perception thereof. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: the scripture speaks of God's giving sometimes light, sometimes a
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  Speaker 1: power of discerning it. So, Saint Paul, God who commanded
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  Speaker 1: light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
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  Speaker 1: hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: the glory of God. In the faith of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And elsewhere the same apostle speaks of the eyes of
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  Speaker 1: our understanding being opened by this twofold operation of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Having the eyes of our soul both opened
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  Speaker 1: and enlightened, we see the things which the natural eye
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  Speaker 1: hath not seen, neither the year heard. We have a
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  Speaker 1: prospect of the invisible things of God. We see the
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  Speaker 1: spiritual world, which is all around about us, and yet
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  Speaker 1: no more discerned by our natural faculties than if it
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  Speaker 1: had no being. And we see the eternal world piercing
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  Speaker 1: through the veil which hangs between time and eternity. Clouds
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  Speaker 1: and darkness. Then rest upon it no more, but we
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  Speaker 1: already see the glory which shall be revealed. Taking the
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  Speaker 1: word in a more particular sense, faith is a divine
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  Speaker 1: evidence in conviction, not only that God was in Christ,
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  Speaker 1: reconciling the world unto himself, but also that Christ loved
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  Speaker 1: me and gave himself for me. It is by this faith,
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  Speaker 1: whether we term it the essence or rather a property thereof,
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  Speaker 1: that we receive Christ, that we receive him in all
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  Speaker 1: his offices as our prophet, priest and king. It is
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  Speaker 1: by this that He is made of God unto us
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  Speaker 1: wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. But is this
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  Speaker 1: the faith of assurance or faith of adherents? The Scripture
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  Speaker 1: mentions no such distinction. The Apostle says, there is one
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  Speaker 1: faith and one hope of our calling, one Christian saving faith,
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  Speaker 1: as there is one Lord in whom we believe, and
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  Speaker 1: one God and Father of us all. And it is
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  Speaker 1: certain this faith necessarily implies an assurance, which is here
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  Speaker 1: only another word for evidence, it being hard to tell
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  Speaker 1: the difference between them, that Christ loved me and gave
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  Speaker 1: himself for me. For he that believeth with the true
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  Speaker 1: living faith, hath the witness in himself, the spirit witnesseth
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  Speaker 1: with his spirit that he is a child of God.
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  Speaker 1: Because he is a son, God has sent forth the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of his son into his heart, crying abba Father,
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  Speaker 1: giving him an assurance that he is sol and a
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  Speaker 1: childlike confidence in him. But let it be observed that
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  Speaker 1: in the very nature of the thing, the assurance goes
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  Speaker 1: before the confidence. For a man cannot have a childlike
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  Speaker 1: confidence in God till he knows he is a child
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  Speaker 1: of God. Therefore, confidence, trust, reliance, adherents, or whatever else
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  Speaker 1: it be called, is not the first, as some have supposed,
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  Speaker 1: but the second branch or act of faith. It is
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  Speaker 1: by this faith we are saved, justified, and sanctified, taking
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  Speaker 1: that word in its highest sense. But how are we
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  Speaker 1: justified and sanctified by faith? This is our third head
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  Speaker 1: of inquiry, And this being the main point in question,
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  Speaker 1: and a point of no ordinary importance, it will not
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  Speaker 1: be improper to give it a more distinct and particular consideration.
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  Speaker 1: And first, how are we justified by faith? In what
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  Speaker 1: sense is this to be understood? I answered? Faith is
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  Speaker 1: the condition and the only condition of justification. It is
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  Speaker 1: the condition None is justified, but he that believes. Without faith,
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  Speaker 1: No man is justified, and it is the only condition.
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  Speaker 1: This alone is sufficient for justification. Everyone that believes is justified,
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  Speaker 1: whatever else he has or has not. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: no man is justified till he believes. Every man, when
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  Speaker 1: he believes, is justified. But does not God command us
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  Speaker 1: to repent also yea, and to bring forth fruits meet
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  Speaker 1: for repentance, to cease, for instance, from doing evil and
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  Speaker 1: learn to do well? And is not both the one
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  Speaker 1: and the other of the utmost necessity, insomuch that if
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  Speaker 1: we willingly neglect either, we cannot reasonably expect to be
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  Speaker 1: justified at all. But if this be so, how can
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  Speaker 1: it be said that faith is the only condition of justification.
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  Speaker 1: God does undoubtedly command us both to repent and to
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  Speaker 1: bring forth fruits meet for repentance, which if we willingly neglect,
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  Speaker 1: we cannot reasonably expect to be justified at all. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: both repentance and fruits meet for repentance are in some
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  Speaker 1: sense necessary to justification. But they are not necessary in
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  Speaker 1: the same sense with faith, nor in the same degree.
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  Speaker 1: Not in the same degree. For those fruits are only
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  Speaker 1: necessary conditionally if there be time and opportunity for them.
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  Speaker 1: Otherwise a man may be justified without them, as was
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  Speaker 1: the thief upon the cross, if we may call him so.
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  Speaker 1: For a late writer has discovered that he was no thief,
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  Speaker 1: but a very honest and respectable person. But he cannot
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  Speaker 1: be justified without faith. This is impossible. Likewise, let a
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  Speaker 1: man have ever so much repentance, or ever so many
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  Speaker 1: of the fruits meet for repentance. Yet all this does
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  Speaker 1: not at all avail. He is not justified till he believes.
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  Speaker 1: But the moment he believes, with or without those fruits, yea,
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  Speaker 1: with more or less repentance, he is justified. Not in
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  Speaker 1: the same sense, for repentance and its fruits are only
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  Speaker 1: remotely necessary necessary in order to faith. Whereas faith is
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  Speaker 1: immediately necessary to justification. It remains that faith is the
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  Speaker 1: only condition which is immediately and approximately necessary to justification.
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  Speaker 1: But do you believe we are sanctified by faith? We
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  Speaker 1: know you believe that we are justified by faith, But
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  Speaker 1: do not you believe and accordingly teach that we are
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  Speaker 1: sanctified by our works? So it has been roundly and
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  Speaker 1: vehemently affirmed that these five and twenty years. But I
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  Speaker 1: have constantly declared just the contrary, and that in all
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  Speaker 1: manner of ways. I have continually testified, in private and
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  Speaker 1: in public, that we are sanctified as well as justified
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  Speaker 1: by faith. And indeed that one of those great truths
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  Speaker 1: does exceedingly illustrate the other. Exactly as we are justified
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  Speaker 1: by faith, so we are sanctified by faith. Faith is
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  Speaker 1: the condition and the only condition of sanctification, exactly as
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  Speaker 1: it is of justification. It is the condition. None is
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  Speaker 1: sanctified but he that believes. Without faith, no man is sanctified,
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  Speaker 1: And it is the only condition. This alone is sufficient
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  Speaker 1: for sanctification. Everyone that believes is sanctified, whatever else he
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  Speaker 1: has or has not. In other words, no man is
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  Speaker 1: sanctified till he believes. Every man, when he believes, is sanctified.
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  Speaker 1: But is there not a repentance consequent upon, as well
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  Speaker 1: as a repentance previous to justification. And is it not
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  Speaker 1: incumbent on all that are justified to be zealous of
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  Speaker 1: good works? Yea, are not these so necessary that if
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  Speaker 1: a man willingly neglect him, he cannot reasonably expect that
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  Speaker 1: he shall ever be sanctified in the full sense that
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  Speaker 1: is perfected in love. Nay, can he grow at all
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  Speaker 1: in grace in the loving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yea,
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  Speaker 1: can he retain the grace which God has already given him?
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  Speaker 1: Can he continue in the faith which he has received,
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  Speaker 1: or in the favor of God? Do not you yourself
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  Speaker 1: allow all this and continually assert it? But if this
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  Speaker 1: be so, how can it be said that faith is
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  Speaker 1: the only condition of sanctification. I do allow all this
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  Speaker 1: and continually maintain it as the truth of God. I
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  Speaker 1: allow there is a repentance consequent upon as well as
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  Speaker 1: a repentance previous two justification. It is incumbent on all
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  Speaker 1: that are justified to be zealous of good works. And
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  Speaker 1: they are so necessary that if a man willingly neglect them,
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  Speaker 1: he cannot reasonably expect that he shall ever be sanctified.
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  Speaker 1: He cannot grow in grace in the image of God,
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  Speaker 1: the mind which was in Christ Jesus. Nay, he cannot
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  Speaker 1: retain the grace he has received. He cannot continue in
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  Speaker 1: faith or in the favor of God. What is the
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  Speaker 1: inference we must draw here from? Why that both repentance
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  Speaker 1: rightly understood, and the practice of all good works works
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  Speaker 1: of piety, as well as works of mercy, now properly
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  Speaker 1: so called. Since they spring from faith, are in some
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  Speaker 1: sense necessary to sanctification. I say repentance rightly understood, for
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  Speaker 1: this must not be confounded with the former repentance. The
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  Speaker 1: repentance consequent upon justification is widely different from that which
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  Speaker 1: is anticidant to it. This implies no guilt, no sense
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  Speaker 1: of condemnation, no consciousness of the wrath of God. It
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  Speaker 1: does not suppose any doubt of the favor of God,
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  Speaker 1: or any fear that hath torment. It is properly a
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  Speaker 1: conviction wrought by the holy ghost of the sin which
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  Speaker 1: still remains in our heart, of the Phronima sarcos, the
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  Speaker 1: carnal mind, which does still remain as our church, speaks
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  Speaker 1: even in them that are regenerate, although it does no
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  Speaker 1: longer reign, it has not now dominion over them. It
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  Speaker 1: is a conviction of our proneness to evil, of an
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  Speaker 1: heart bent to backsliding, of the still continuing tendency of
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  Speaker 1: the flesh, to lust against the spirit. Sometimes, unless we
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  Speaker 1: continually watch and pray, it lusteth to pride, sometimes to anger,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes to love of the world, love of ease, love
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  Speaker 1: of honor, or love of pleasure, more than of God.
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  Speaker 1: It is a conviction of the tendency of our heart
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  Speaker 1: to self will, to atheism or idolatry, and above all
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  Speaker 1: to unbelief, whereby, in a thousand ways and under a
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  Speaker 1: thousand pretenses, we are ever departing more or less from
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  Speaker 1: the Living God. With this conviction of the sin remaining
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  Speaker 1: in our hearts, there is joined a clear conviction of
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  Speaker 1: the sin remaining in our lives, still cleaving to all
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  Speaker 1: our words and actions. In the best of these, we
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  Speaker 1: now discern a mixture of evil, either in the spirit,
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  Speaker 1: the matter, or the manner of them, something that could
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  Speaker 1: not endure the righteous judgment of God were he extremed
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  Speaker 1: to mark what is done amiss. Where we least suspected it,
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  Speaker 1: we find a taint of pride or self will, of
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  Speaker 1: unbelief or idulatry, so that we are now more ashamed
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  Speaker 1: of our best duties than formerly of our worst sins.
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  Speaker 1: And hence we cannot but feel that these are so
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  Speaker 1: far from having anything meritorious in them, yea, so far
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  Speaker 1: from being able to stand in the sight of the
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  Speaker 1: divine justice, that for those also we should be guilty
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  Speaker 1: before God, were it not for the blood of the Covenant.
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  Speaker 1: Experience shows that, together with this conviction of sin remaining
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  Speaker 1: in our hearts and cleaving to all our words and actions,
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  Speaker 1: as well as the guilt which, on account thereof we
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  Speaker 1: should incur were we not continually sprinkled with the atoning blood.
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  Speaker 1: One thing more is implied in this repentance, namely a
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  Speaker 1: conviction of our helplessness, of our utter inability to think
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  Speaker 1: one good thought or to form one good desire, and
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: much more, to speak one word, to write, or to
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: perform one good action. But through His free, almighty grace,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: first preventing us and then accompanying us every moment. But
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: what good works are those the practice of which you
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: affirm to be necessary to sanctification. First all works of piety,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: such as public prayer, family prayer, and praying in our closet,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: receiving the Supper of the Lord, searching the scriptures by hearing, reading, meditating,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: and using such a measure of fasting or abstinence as
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: our bodily health allows. Secondly, all works of mercy, whether
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: they relate to the bodies or souls of men, such
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining the stranger,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: visiting those that are in prisoned or sick, or variously afflicted,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: such as the endeavoring to instruct the ignorant, to awaken
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the stupid sinner, to quicken the lukewarm, to confirm the wavering,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: to comfort the feeble minded, to succor the tempted, or
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: contribute in any manner to the saving of souls from death.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: This is the repentance, and these the fruits meet for repentance,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: which are necessary to full sanctification. This is the way
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: wherein God hath appointed his children to wait for complete salvation.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Hence may appear the extreme mischievousness of that seemingly innocent
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: opinion that there is no sin and a believer that
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: all sin is destroyed root and branch. The moment a
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: man is justified by totally preventing that repentance, it quite
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: blocks up the way to sanctification. There is no place
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: for repentance in him who believes there is no sin,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: either in his life or heart. Consequently, there is no
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: place for his being perfected in love, to which that
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: repentance is indispensably necessary. Hence, it may likewise appear that
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: there is no possible danger in thus expecting full salvation.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: For suppose we were mistaken suppose no such blessing ever
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: was or can be attained. Yet we lose nothing. Nay,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: that very expectation quickens us in using all the talents
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: which God has given us, in improving them all, so
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: that when our Lord cometh, he will receive his own
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: with increase. But to return. Though it be allowed that
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: both this repentance and its fruits are necessary to full salvation,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: yet they are not necessary, either in the same sense
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: with faith, or in the same degree. Not in the
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: same degree. For these fruits are only necessary conditionally if
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: there be time and opportunity for them. Otherwise a man
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: may be sanctified without them, but he cannot be sent
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: without faith. Likewise, let a man have ever so much
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: of this repentance, or ever so many good works, Yet
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: all this does not at all avail. He is not
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: sanctified till he believes. But the moment he believes, with
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: or without those fruits, yea, with more or less of
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: this repentance, he is sanctified. Not in the same sense.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: For this repentance and these fruits are only remotely necessary,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: necessary in order to the continuance of his faith, as
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: well as the increase of it. Whereas faith is immediately
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: and directly necessary to sanctification. It remains that faith is
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the only condition which is immediately and approximately necessary to sanctification.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: But what is that faith? Whereby we are sanctified, save
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: from sin, and perfected in love. It is a divine
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: evidence in conviction. First that God hath promised it in
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: the Holy Scripture. Till we are thoroughly satisfied of this,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: there is no moving one step further, And one would
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: imagine there needed not w one word more to satisfy
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: a reasonable man of this than the ancient promise. Then
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: will I circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: seed to love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: How clearly does this express the being perfected in love?
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: How strongly imply the being saved from all sin? For
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: as long as love takes up the whole heart, what
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: room is there for sin? Therein? It is a divine
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: evidence in conviction. Secondly, that what God hath promised he
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: is able to perform. Admitting therefore that with men it
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: is impossible to bring a clean thing out of an
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: unclean to purify the heart from all sin, and to
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: till it with all holiness. Yet this creates no difficulty
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: in the case, seeing with God all things are possible,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: and surely no one ever imagine it was possible to
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: any power less than that of the Almighty. But if
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: God speaks, it shall be done. God saith, let there
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: be light, and there is light. It is thirdly, a
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: divine evidence and conviction that He is able and willing
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: to do it now. And why not is not a
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: moment to him the same as a thousand years. He
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: cannot want more time to accomplish whatever it is his will,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: and he cannot want or stay for any more worthiness
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honor.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: We may therefore boldly say, at any point of time,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: now is the day of salvation. To day, if you
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Behold, all
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: things are now ready. Come on to the marriage. To
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: this confidence that God is both able and willing to
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: sanctify us. Now there needs to be added one thing more,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: a divine evidence and conviction that He do with it
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: in that hour. It is done. God says to the
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: inmost soul, according to thy faith, be it unto thee
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: then the soul is pure from every spot of sin,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: It is clean from all unrighteousness. The believer then experiences
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: the deep meaning of those solemn words. If we walk
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: in the light as He is in the light, we
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Christ his son clensest us from all sin. But does
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: God work this great work in the soul gradually or instantaneously?
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some I mean
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: in this sense, they do not advert to the particular
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: moment wherein sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: were it the will of God that it should be
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: done instantaneously, that the Lord should destroy sin by the
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: breath of his mouth in a moment, in the twinkling
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: of an eye. And so he generally does, a plain
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: fact of which there is evidence enough to satisfy any
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: unprejudiced person. Thou therefore look for it every moment, look
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: for it in the way above described, and all those
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: good works whereunto thou art created a new Christ Jesus
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: there and then no danger. You can be no worse
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: if you are no better for that expectation. For were
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: you to be disappointed of your hope. Still you lose nothing,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: but you shall not be disappointed of your hope. It
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: will come and will not tarry. Look for it then,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: every day, every hour, every moment, Why not this hour,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: this moment? Certainly you may look for it now if
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: you believe it is by faith, and by this token,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: you may surely know whether you seek it by faith
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: or by works. If by works you want something to
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: be done first before you are sanctified, you think I
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: must first be or do thus or thus, then you
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: are seeking it by works onto this day. If you
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: and expect it now. It is of importance to observe
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: that there is an inseparable connection between these three points,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: expected by faith, expected as you are, and expect it now.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: To deny one of them is to deny them all.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: To allow one is to allow them all. Do you
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: believe we are sanctified by faith? Be true then to
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: your principle, and look for this blessing just as you are,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: neither better nor worse as a poor sinner that has
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: still nothing to pay, nothing to plead but Christ die.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: And if you look for it as you are, then
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: expect it now stay for nothing. Why should you? Christ
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: is ready and he is all you want. He is
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: waiting for you. He is at the door. Let your
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: inmost soul cry out come, in Come in thou heavenly guest,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: Nor hence again remove, but sup with me and let
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the feast be everlasting love. End of section forty four.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Recording by Rhaneilakwau Woodstock, Ontario, Canada,