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God's historical work of delivering the nation of And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect {in God's life of love} apart from us {in this age of fulfillment}. (Heb. 11:39) {You may} know the love of Christ which passes knowledge {when Christ manifests His Kingdom-life within your heart}; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:19) We can identify three different phases in God's work of salvation by examining the Old Testament account of how God planned to take His people out of First, we can see how the Jews averted death when they placed the blood of the lamb on the frame of their doors. Prior to actually being delivered from The same principle applies to everyone who now trusts in Christ's shed blood. When these believers in the Lord truly desire to come out from their old way of life and they possess a faith that is able to look to Him as their Savior, truly trusting in His shed blood as the only means for their justification, they can be forgiven for their sins. This is the beginning of their salvation. We should note that the Jews continued to fear the Egyptians until they were miraculously taken across the The deliverance at the John Fletcher refers to the first state of Christian experience as the "age of the Father." These believers, as they begin to learn of God's laws, will do their best to obey. If they have been properly instructed and truly realize that God requires holiness, they will find themselves living by law in fear of being disobedient to God. They will effectively find themselves in the kind of life that Paul describes in Romans seven. As the law exposes their carnality and double-mindedness, they are driven ever closer to the life of faith that will enable them to surrender fully to a Spirit directed life. Fear of their sinful tendencies will back them up against the Until this point in their salvation is reached and they are miraculously taken through the Like many of the early holiness people, Bishop Willard F. Mallabieu does not believe the people we have described as first-phase Christians have ever received justifying grace. In a moment we will show how John Wesley came to differ from this view. And we will agree that the justified state can be easily lost while living in this condition. Brother Mallabieu described the condition with these words: Some souls are under conviction for their sins for years. They are enlightened by the Spirit, and know the way of duty, and feel the burden of sin, and have desires for deliverance, and they seek to ammend their lives and succeed in this to some extent [they turn from all gross sins], and they perform many religious duties and observe many of the Divine requirements; but they do not [completely] turn to God in genuine repentance; they do not forsake their sins [they continue living for themselves in many ways]; they fondly cling to some heart-idol; they refuse to consecrate themselves to God's service; they do not renounce absolutely every other hope and refuge, and by faith take Christ as their present and all-sufficient Savior. These Christians, even if they did have a justifying faith in the beginning, are obviously on very unstable ground. They cannot survive in this state for long. Although God will be patient with them for a while, there will come a time when their resistance to known light causes Him to take away the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. If they are not broken in time they will grow more and more hardened to sin. Once they lose their tenderness to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, they will lose their hope of salvation. John Wesley has taught this same truth. In various passages found in his writings (e.g., Works, vol. vii. 199-201) he describes how the Methodists had erred at the outset by declaring that those who did not yet possess a faith that resulted in a sense of divine freedom within their hearts were not yet saved. In the following passage (Works, vol. vii. 235) he explains both the reality and the nature of the faith which most Christians possess before they are miraculously taken across the But all this conviction implies a species of faith; being "an evidence of things not seen"; nor indeed possible to be seen or known, till God reveals them unto us. Still, let it be observed (for it is a point of no small importance), that this faith is only the faith of a servant, and not the faith of a son. Because this is a point many do not clearly understand, I will endeavor to make it a little plainer. The faith of a servant implies a divine evidence of the invisible and the eternal world; yea, and an evidence of the spiritual world, so far as it can exist without living experience. Whoever has attained this, the faith of a servant, "feareth God and escheweth evil"; or, as it is expressed by St Peter, "feareth God and worketh righteousness." In consequence of which he is, in a degree, as the Apostle observes, "accepted with him." Elsewhere he is described in these words: "he that feareth God and keepeth his commandments." Even one who has gone thus far in religion [an Old Testament form of salvation], who obeys God out of fear, is not in anywise to be despised; seeing "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Nevertheless, he should be exhorted not to stop there; not to rest till he obtains the adoption of sons; till he obeys him out of love, which is the privilege of all the children of God. Exhort him to press on, by all possible means, till he passes...from the faith of a servant to the faith of a son; from the spirit of bondage unto fear to the spirit of childlike love. God drove the Jews out of Fletcher refers to this second phase of Christian experience as the "age of the Son." It is described in Romans eight. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (v. 1-2) We know the Spirit was with the first disciples while Jesus walked with them in this world. They lived in a forgiven state. For example, we can read how people were being forgiven for their sins before Jesus even came upon the scene: "John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1:4) Once forgiven, they could remain justified in the sight of God by continuing to "bear fruits worthy of repentance." (Luke 3:8) They effectively lived in fear as they sought to obey God. It was not until His resurrection day that Christ was able to breathe His Spirit into His first disciples and enable them to experience a deep sense of peace with God. (John 20:21-22) The Spirit is "with" believers before they receive Him as an indwelling presence. (John 14:17) He is only given as an indwelling gift to those who are willing to yield to God's ways and bear fruits worthy of repentance. "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." (Acts There are many Christians who have mistaken this gift of the Holy Spirit as God's work of entire sanctification. They do not seem to realize that their reception of the gift of the Spirit, which they refer to as their "second blessing," was God's miraculous work of figuratively taking them across the But this miraculous deliverance still leaves God's children in a desert wilderness where they will continue to pass through real dry spells in their Christian walk. Yes, God does take them to glorious wells of refreshment, but there are still times when they begin to wonder if He has left them to die in the desert. While they are now able to devote themselves to serving the Lord with a real sense of freedom, they can sense that Christ's living water is not continually welling up from within their inner being into a manifestation of His eternal life of perfect love. (John 4:14) Even though these Christians are fully committed to serving the Lord, self is still down at the bottom their works. The Spirit gives them power to suppress the "old man," but he will periodically show himself when they find themselves confronted with certain trials. If these believers were truly sanctified fully, a state that permits Christ to manifest His Kingdom-life of perfect love from within their heart, this old man would be dead. We know that the flesh-life is unable to live in His presence. The purpose of the desert testing period is to strip away the independent and self-sufficient nature that everyone inherits from Adam. God will not permit the fleshly human works of man, even when they are devoted to working for the Lord, to live in His presence. There needs to be a complete surrender of all pride before Christ will manifest His Kingdom-life of perfect love within the eternal soul. We must come to the place where we are willing to stop trying to live by human strength before we can live by the kind of pure faith that will permit Christ to manifest His Kingdom-life and works through us. His resurrection power can only be manifested through our body when we have truly become weak in self. (2 Cor. 12:9) It involves a complete resting from our own works. (Heb. 4:10) Because this is a hard lesson to learn, it often takes time to get through the wilderness stripping process. We cannot walk by the kind of dependent faith that we will need while we are still living in our own strength. It is this root of pride, which naturally leads us to believe that we do the work of God, that must die before we can find the Kingdom-life of our Lord. {We can determine when we are still working for the Lord in our own strength by the way we desire to be recognized for what we have done.} The full sanctification described by the holiness people in years past is different than the sanctification that we find being taught today. While we both speak of two works of grace, modern holiness people generally refer to the first two phases of God's work of salvation. In contrast, as Wesley explained, many in the past only recognize the second and third phase in God's work of salvation. In other words, in days past they did not accept anyone as being justified until they had actually received the gift of the Spirit. If the believer had not fully overcome sin, where they sensed a real sense of freedom from the Egyptians, they were told they had not yet experienced their "passover." They were told to press forward in their faith until they were enabled to live above sin. They said there could be no remission of sins until this deeper work had occurred. As previously noted, Wesley believed this was an error. Today we error in another way. We erroneously assume that everyone who has looked to the blood of Jesus has also received the spirit of adoption and the gift of the Spirit, even though they do not experience the reality of the work. This naturally leads us to mistakenly believe that these believers have received the fullness of the Spirit {entire sanctification} when God finally takes them through a miraculous The following contrast between receiving the indwelling Spirit and being filled with Christ's Spirit will provide a deeper understanding of God's work of entire sanctification. We should note that everyone who receives the gift of the Holy Spirit has been set apart or sanctified to God. It is sanctification begun, and it is real. But you will find that it has not yet become complete in every corner of the heart. The indwelling Holy Spirit {after this first experiential blessing is received} will turn you away from all outward sin. In other words, it provides the power to suppress the old man and his tendency to sin. The fullness of the Spirit {the second "experiential" blessing, which is entire sanctification} will save you from all the inward stirrings of the "carnal mind." The indwelling Holy Spirit will turn you away from scolding and getting "out of patience" when things go wrong. Even when the feeling is sensed within, the Spirit gives you the needed power to hold back the outbreak of this condition. The fullness of the Spirit replaces the natural impatience of the old man with God's nature of perfect love. While God Himself expressed an impatience with the rebellion of His called-out people in the Old Testament, and the Son revealed this same expression over the lack of faith in His disciples, the reaction was not a selfish response of the flesh. He was expressing a loving concern about their slow progress in spiritual matters. On the other hand, He never responded impatiently to people even when they did the most harmful things to Him. For example, "when He was reviled, {He} did not revile in return; when He suffered, {He} did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." (1 Pet. 2:23) The indwelling Holy Spirit will give you the needed power to avoid saying harsh, cutting words when pressed or in a hurry. You will have the power to repress unloving feelings and to remain kind and patient when reproved or contradicted or misunderstood. Everyone who is walking in the light as sons will keep these things suppressed. The fullness of the Spirit, because it takes away all desire to Lord it over others, will keep you from feeling a sense of resentment when your will has been crossed. Your heart will remain naturally meek and mild. Your heart will be filled with Christ's Spirit of "longsuffering" and "kindness" and "goodness" and "gentleness." The indwelling Holy Spirit will turn you away from gossiping about the faults and failings of others. The fullness of the Spirit, or perfect love, "thinks no evil." It will save you from all evil surmisings and uncharitable suspicions. The indwelling Holy Spirit will turn you away from harboring jealousy and bitterness toward one another. The fullness of the Spirit will save you from ever feeling envy stirring within your heart. The indwelling Holy Spirit will turn you away from pouting and wanting to have your own way. The fullness of the Spirit will destroy the very principle that needs to be coaxed and humored. The indwelling Holy Spirit will take you to wells of refreshment at times in order to provide a sense of deep peace and joy in the Lord. The fullness of the Spirit will enable you to "rejoice evermore," and "in everything give thanks," even in times of pressure, opposition and misunderstanding. Christ will continually reveal His own heavenly life of love, joy and peace within your heart. (Eph. 1:3) "My peace I give to you..." (John 14:27) "I will see you again {as an indwelling life from heaven} and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you." (John 16:22) The indwelling Holy Spirit will keep you from all trifling, jesting, and worldly conversation. The fullness of the Spirit will make your words "few" and well "seasoned with salt" so they will always "minister grace unto the hearers." The indwelling Holy Spirit will turn you away from the "love of the world." You will stop following the worldly tendency to use clothes, personal possessions and amusements as a means to build yourself a "happy" spiritual life and to create an identifiable "image" for others to regard. These are the things that we depend on, often innocent in themselves, that need to be stripped away during the desert testing period before Christ's Kingdom-life of promise can be revealed within the heart. He is waiting for you to depend wholly on Him. He can only reveal His divine life within those who deny themselves and take His way of the cross. "If anyone desires to come after Me {into the Kingdom-life of perfect love}, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me {through death into resurrection life}...whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt. 16:24-25 Emphasis added) The fullness of the Spirit will satisfy your soul as with the richest of foods and take away your desire to look to the temporal things of this world for spiritual sustenance. Because Christ's living water, His life of perfect love, is continually welling up from within to satisfy all your needs, you are free to spend all your time pouring out this life of divine love in a service to others. It will no longer be necessary to spend time looking for spiritual sustenance from the things of this world. And you will never run out of spiritual energy when you are sharing with Christ in His Kingdom-life from heaven. "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14) There will be a manifestation of the eternal life of perfect love. The indwelling Holy Spirit will give you the needed power to reject every "lust of the flesh." The fullness of the Spirit will save you from every undue affection or secret stirring of lust in the soul. Every natural desire becomes completely subject to the Spirit of Christ. The indwelling Holy Spirit will enable you to overcome the peer pressure that tends to draw people away from the truth and into worldliness. The fullness of the Spirit will completely save you from the fear of man and the tendency to shrink from peer pressure. George Muller has explained the results of a fully sanctified heart. He said, "There was a day when I died, utterly died...died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will - died to the world, its approval or censure - died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends - and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God." When we examine the differences between receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and being filled with Christ's Spirit, we can see how there are many "holiness people" who have misunderstood the true meaning of "entire" sanctification. Their words and reactions to certain tests continue to show how they are not as pure in love as they seem to think. Even more fundamental still, the believer who still finds himself divided between the ways of our Lord and the way of the world has a need to seek out the gift of the Holy Spirit. He will be given to everyone who fully surrenders themselves to be led by the Lord in all matters of life. Even this first great experiential blessing will require a real consecration to God. Similar to the way that Jesus' early disciples gave up everything to follow Him {they did it before the Spirit was ever breathed into them on the day of His resurrection}, every disciple must surrender all to follow the Lord. They must fully yield to His Lordship and be willing to follow Him wherever He leads. Only in this way can He miraculously take their heart through a Unless they have quenched the Spirit at some point in the past, people who have the Spirit residing within them will be found living wholly for the Lord. But this does not necessarily imply they are entirely sanctified. This deeper work cannot take place until the old self-sufficient spirit has completely died out. People who have the Spirit breathed into them set out to serve the Lord, but much of the work they do is in their own strength. The desert testing period is a place that is designed to bring about a death to this flesh-originated life. While the believer in the wilderness is able to suppress the old man and walk in the Spirit, there will come a time, if he persistently presses forward in His faith, when there is a desire to have him completely done away with. The following testimony helps us see the difference between receiving the gift of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. We should note the three distinct phases of her spiritual life. Do not be overly concerned about the labels placed on the experience. They will often vary depending on the background of the person speaking. A TESTINONY OF FULL SALVATION
BY
ANNA M. HAMMER I was born in the town of There came a time, in 1874, when, having become a member of the Reformed Episcopal Church, I attended a female prayer-meeting held every week in the vestry-room. Upon one occasion, a very rainy day, I found but one dear woman at the meeting, and she told me how mightily the Lord had blessed her soul, so that she cried out to Him to stay His hand. I was completely captivated by this account. I never before had heard such an experience. The next day I was lying upon my bed resting and thinking over the wonderful story of the day before, when the thought came, "God is no respecter of persons; what He has done for her He can and will do for me." I knelt and prayed, and asked for just what I wanted, and O, how God did pour His Holy Spirit into my soul and give such a love for souls and hunger for work! I have always spoken of that baptism as "my baptism for service." I then consecrated myself fully to the Lord, and especially temperance work. In this state I lived an outwardly consecrated, purified life, having the grace given me to prevent the outward manifestation of anger and kindred sins, so that even some of my most intimate friends, who enjoyed the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a distinct second experience, thought I enjoyed the same blessing. I sometimes agreed with them, but oftener distrusted having had any such experience. Finally a great hunger of soul came upon me. I knew there were in the corners of my heart things known only to myself and God, and I realized that nothing short of the "anointing which abideth" would satisfy my soul and fit me fully as a worker of God. In July, 1880, the first assembly of the Women's Holiness Camp-meeting was held at For hours, forgetting all my prejudices, I was prostrated in the straw. The meeting broke up, but there I remained, a few friends around awaiting the result. I am glad no one talked to me; my soul was in quiet communion with God. Finally a dear minister of God came upon the ground, and, seeing the unusual gathering, asked what it meant. Someone replied, "An honest soul seeking the blessing," and another added, She is an Episcopalian." With great heartiness, he responded, "Well, He is the God and Father of us all." Then the fatherhood of God peculiarly struck me, and I raised my head to confirm the thought, when with the action the anointing came. I was shaken as with a violent ague; over and over and over again the shock came, finally leaving me so prostrated that I was helped over to the cottage, where I lay on the lounge for hours bathed in glory. From that hour my Christian life has been victory. I have grown year by year in the depth of experience which becomes richer and deeper and sweeter as the years roll on. I have made mistakes, but they are under the blood; I have had temptations, but early I learned that they were not sin unless yielded to. But, O, the delights of a life wholly given up to God! I have no doubts as to my conversion, that I was "born again," that being "dead in trespasses and sins," I was made "alive in God." At the time of my anointing by the Holy Spirit I was living a consecrated life of faith and active service. My sanctification was a second actual experience, and from that time my life has been changed, is deeper, stronger, steadier, sweeter, richer. Again, we want to note the three different phases of her Christian experience. In the beginning, even after becoming an earnest Christian, she was drawn away by the spirit of the world. There are many people within the church who find themselves continually going through this struggle. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit that grounded her Christian walk and resulted in a Spirit-led life of service to the Lord. Many today refer to this experience as God's work of entire sanctification. But it was not until the "old man" had completely died out that she entered into the experience of continuous victorious living and was enabled to grow from "glory to glory" within the Kingdom-life of heaven. There are many holiness people who stop short of this complete victory over the "old man". While they generally keep him suppressed, he still stirs within the heart. It produces an unpleasant feeling. They can also find themselves occasionally being attracted by things in this world, which tends to draw them away from their first love. They begin to slacken in their devotion and service to the Lord. The Lord remains an intricate part of the life of these believers, but they have never entered into a state where they actually live through Him. They do not abide in Him moment by moment, always depending on Him to be the complete source of their life. They cannot honestly say, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. Even in their service to the Lord, the words of these Christians will inevitably reveal how much they are still depending on themselves. In fact, few of them have ever learned to expect a revelation of the life of Jesus Christ within them. They do not expect to see Christ until they physically die or until He comes for His church. Christ came into this world to reveal the Kingdom-life of God. After His death He entered into a glorified state that enabled Him to become a "life-giving spirit". (1 Cor. 15:45) He is now able to manifest His life through everyone who is willing to lose their self-life. "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." (1 John 4:9) This is the only way someone can be perfected in love and reveal the Kingdom-life of God in this world. (1 John 4:17) The reason why most Christians are never really perfected in love is because they have never really begun to constantly look to Christ to reveal His life through them. They have not yet realized that even their most concerted efforts will never bear the fruit of perfect love. And He cannot reveal His heavenly life through the temple of their body until they have come to the end of their sense of self-sufficiency. We might say to them, "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things {which have been designed to bring about the end of your sense of self-sufficiency} in vain—if indeed it was in vain?" (Gal. 3:3-4) We have taken a few verses from some songs that were written by the Wesley's to show how we should be looking for Christ to become our life. These songs encourage us to place all our hope in Him. We need to wait on Him to reveal His Kingdom-life of perfect love from within our eternal soul. Then we will have a nature that will naturally fulfill all the requirements of the law. This is the essence of pure faith and the only way to "put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph. 4:24) We close with these thoughts: What is our calling's glorious hope, But inward holiness? For this to Jesus I look up, I calmly wait for this. When Jesus makes my heart his home, My sin shall all depart; And lo! He saith, I quickly come, To fill and rule thy heart! Be it according to thy word! Redeem me from all sin; My heart would now receive thee, Lord, Come in, my Lord, come in! Drooping soul, shake off thy fears, Fearful soul, be strong, be bold; Tarry till the Lord appears, Never, never quit thy hold! Murmur not at his delay, Dare not set thy God a time, Calmly for his coming stay, Leave it, leave it all to him. Fainting soul, be bold, be strong, Wait the leisure of thy Lord; Though it seem to tarry long, True and faithful is his word; On his word my soul I cast (He cannot himself deny)... Draw with stronger influence My unfettered soul to thee; In me, Lord, thyself reveal, Fill me with a sweet surprise; Let me thee when waking feel, Let me in thy image rise. Let me of thy life partake; Thy own holiness impart... My heart, thou know'st, can never rest, Till thou create my peace; Till, of my From every sin I cease. Fruit of thy gracious lips, on me Bestow that peace unknown, The hidden manna, and the tree Of life, and the white stone. Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart! Come quickly from above, Write thy new name upon my heart, Thy new, best name of love. More and more let love abound; Let us never, never rest, Till we are in Jesus found, Of our paradise possest; He removes the flaming sword, Calls us back, from To his image here restored, Soon he takes us up to heaven. Heavenly Adam, Life divine, Change my nature into thine! Move and spread throughout my soul, Actuate and fill the whole! Be it I no longer now Living in the flesh, but Thou. O might I this moment cease From every work of mine, Find the perfect holiness, The righteousness divine! Let me thy salvation see; Let me do thy perfect will; Live in glorious liberty, And all thy fullness feel. O grant that nothing in my soul May dwell, but thy pure love alone; O may thy love possess me whole, My joy, my treasure, and my crown! Strange flames far from my heart remove; My every act, word, thought, be love.
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