Holy spirit alphabet vol. 5

HOLY SPIRIT ALPHABET VOL. 5
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
CONTENTS
SALT
SALVATION
SANCTIFICATION
SCHEDULE
SEALING
SEVENFOLD SPIRIT
SHEKINAH GLORY
S.
SALT
The Holy Spirit As Salt
by Percy Gutteridge
You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden
under foot of men.
Matthew 5:13
These words about salt are the very words of the Lord Jesus. It is our great joy to be
able to read the actual words that Jesus said when He was on the earth. And we
must remember, when we read them, who is speaking. Of course, it is the Lord

Jesus; but it is the Creator talking. It’s the Logos. It’s the Word of God. “All things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John
1:3). There can be no scientific inaccuracy in what the Lord Jesus said, for He is the
Author and the Creator of all science, of all matter, of all scientific laws, of
everything on the earth. So if the Lord Jesus tells us something about matter, we can
believe it, for not only did He create it, He also sustains it. “By Him all things consist
[hold together]” (Colossians 1:3). It’s almost amusing, if it was not so solemn, to
realize that if it were not for the existence of the Christ, atheists would be “non-
ists”—nothing! gone! having no being! All things hold together by Him. That means
you, and matter, and all things are held together by Him. So this is the One, this
glorious One, Who is telling us something about salt, and something about us in
association with salt.
The Teacher
Jesus is the Founder of our Christianity, the supreme Teacher. No one teaches like
Him. The Lord warned you to call no man Teacher on earth; for one is your teacher,
even Christ (Matthew 23:8-10).3 So do not believe what I say unless you take it to
the Lord, and He confirms it by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He is the
supreme Teacher. The Bible alone cannot lead you into truth. If the Bible apart from
the Holy Spirit could lead you into truth, everyone who believes the Bible would be
in agreement. But far from it; they are poles apart. What one believes the Bible says,
another believes is just the opposite. There wouldn’t be so many jarring sects if the
Bible could lead you into truth. There’s only one person who can lead you into truth,
and that is the Holy Spirit. The Bible is not the truth; the Bible is a book about the
Truth. It’s about the Lord Jesus, Who is the Truth. And the Lord Jesus will willingly
give you His own blessed Holy Spirit to dwell in you, even the Spirit of Truth. As the
Master has said, “He will lead you into all truth.” Do you know, friends, it’s an
amazing thing that if I say a thing like that, some people immediately suspect me of
false doctrine and almost of blasphemy, to think that the Bible can’t lead you into
the truth. Their attitude is, “Ah, if you rely upon the Bible, you’re sure to go right.
It’s no good relying on the Holy Spirit; you’re sure to go wrong.” That puts you on
the spot, doesn’t it? Can’t you trust the Holy Spirit? If you can’t trust the Holy
Spirit, you can’t trust the Bible. Which version of the Bible are you guaranteeing?
There are no “versions” of the Holy Spirit; He’s One, one glorious Person, the same
in me as in you. He is the One who is the Anointing. He is the one about whom John
says, “Ye have an anointing.” And that Anointing teaches you. “You need not that
any man teach you, for the anointing teaches you” (1 John 2:27). You see, that’s
exactly what Jesus said: “When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you
into all truth” (John 16:13). The only way you or I can understand the Bible is by

the Holy Spirit who gave it forth opening it to us and showing us what it means. We
cannot rely upon teachers.
We must listen to the true Teacher. The danger today is that the Church of God is
being pulled all upside down and backwards and forwards and round about by
different teachers who all come and say they are teaching the truth. The Holy Spirit
alone is the true Teacher. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is the Master. He alone is the
supreme Teacher, and He’ll teach you by His indwelling Spirit, and the Spirit will
bear witness to the truth. That is, He will teach you if you know Him, if you listen to
Him, if you are willing to walk in the truth.
The Cross
If you walk in the truth, it always brings you under the cross. Some folks come to me
and say, “What is my cross?” And I humorously say, “Well, I’m sorry, I don’t know
your husband.” But really, he’s not your cross. Your wife isn’t your cross, though
she may make you cross. But that’s not the cross. The cross is just simply you
walking in the light. Nothing more, nothing less—walking in the light. As you walk
in the light, He will bring you under the cross. And as you walk in truth, you will
come under the cross. You will come under condemnation from others, you’ll be
criticized by others, you’ll be condemned by others. As Jesus put it here, “Blessed
are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you and say all of manner of evil
against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice!” (Matthew 5:11-12). That’s coming under
the cross. You don’t make your own cross, and no human being is your cross.
Walking in the light is cross enough for you. That will bring you into tribulation, for
it’s impossible to get into the Kingdom except you go through tribulation: “We must
through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). That is why the
eternal city, the glorious New Jerusalem, has twelve gates, each one of pearl. You
can’t get into the New Jerusalem unless you go through one of those pearly gates.
Well, what is a pearl? A pearl is a jewel, made by God, by means of deepest agony. A
little piece of grit gets into the soft center of the pearl oyster and causes a dreadful
pain; and because it’s right in the very center of its being, it can’t turn the piece of
grit out. So the process begins; the oyster starts covering the irritant with layer after
layer of natre, that wonderful mother-of-pearl, a soft, translucent, beautiful, satin-
like substance. As the oyster covers the particle with layer after layer, what was an
awful agony becomes one of our most beautiful gems. That’s how God makes
Christians. Pearls. And that is the significance of going through a pearly gate. It’s
tribulation. “Through much tribulation we enter the Kingdom.”

But the wonderful thing is that the Lord increases our joy according to the cross.
And the Lord always carries the heaviest end. Have you noticed that the happiest,
most joyful people are those who have been through the deepest sorrow? It all
depends on your attitude to the cross. If you are a sanctified Christian—one with a
pure heart—you will accept the cross. If you are an unsanctified Christian, with the
carnal mind in your heart, you will kick against the cross. So the happy Christian is
the sanctified one, the one with a pure heart; and that one accepts the cross—though
with tears. But the unsanctified one rejects the cross and is miserable. Walking in
the way of the cross makes you joyful. Rejecting the cross makes you miserable.
When a rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, “Good Master, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life?” the Lord Jesus never said what we would have said: “Young
man, have you never learned that you can’t do a thing to inherit eternal life? Your
‘deadly doing’ must go down.” We’d have done that, wouldn’t we? But Jesus did
nothing of the sort. He said, “You know the law. You know the commandment: Thou
shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery.” The young man
responded, “All these have I kept from my youth up.” And the Lord didn’t say he
hadn’t. He looked on him and loved him. Then the Lord said, “Only one thing you
lack, and that is to sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, take up
your cross and follow Me.” But the man refused it. He was a good young man, an
example to many. He only lacked one thing, the thing that most Christians lack—
taking up their cross and following Jesus.
Notice that the Lord Jesus said exactly the same thing to the rich young ruler that
He said to Matthew and to Peter and to John. In other words, the Lord Jesus might
have made the young man an apostle. You say, “That would have made thirteen.”
Oh, no, it wouldn’t; it would have made twelve, for Judas was discounted anyway. If
that young man had given up all that he had, wouldn’t he have made a great
treasurer? The best treasurers in the church are those who have no interest in
money except to give the Lord’s money away. It makes a prosperous church and a
good treasurer. I, as a pastor, have had treasurers like that. What a blessing it is! I
have also had treasurers just the opposite—to give a dime of the Lord’s money away
was like trying to get blood out of a stone. Now here was the Lord giving this rich
young ruler an opportunity to give all his money away, and if he had, he’d have
never had the burden of money anymore. That would have been a major victory.
The light the Lord Jesus gave him was simply to get rid of all his cash, which was his

hindrance. And he wouldn’t do it. Have you noticed how he went away? The Lord
said, “Come, take up your cross and follow Me,” and when he wouldn’t do so, “he
went away sorrowful.” Now supposing he had done it. He would have followed the
Lord with joy, wouldn’t he? You see now, the way of the cross is the way of joy.
When Peter denied the Lord, refusing to take up his cross and follow Him, he wept
bitterly. If Peter had acknowledged the Lord publicly, and shared His shame, he
would have had the joy of the Lord. Please remember, the way of the cross is the
way of joy. And the way of the cross is simply not looking for it, not making it, but
walking in the light; and you will be able to have the joy of the Lord.
The Savor of Salt
One of the wonderful things that our great Master, this marvelous Teacher, this only
Teacher, the only one who teaches truth, said, is, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” He
also said, “If the salt loses its taste—its savor—it is cast out, and trodden under the
foot of men.” The very men who persuade you not to follow Jesus are the very ones
who will trample you if you don’t. They are the very ones who try to deceive you
and tempt you to go back into drink, the very ones who try to make you giggle when
they tell you some dirty story, and you refuse because you hate it. If you did what
they pressure you to do—drink with them, listen and smile at their unclean jokes—
they are the very ones, if you gave in, who would eventually kick you out. That’s
what the Lord Jesus said, and it’s absolutely true. You’ll be scoffed and scorned.
I’ve endured it as being the only Christian in my earlier days in quite a large firm; I
knew their jibes and their sneers. But they all would have felt let down if I had
backtracked and joined with them. And when I left the firm to go into full-time
ministry, every one of them gave me a warm, hearty shake of the hand and wished
me good luck. The one with the filthiest mind in the firm, the one with the most
blasphemous tongue, said, “Well, good-bye, Percy, we all know this is what you
ought to be doing.” Wasn’t that a compliment? Well, praise God, I learned, brothers
and sisters, you keep the flag up, and all comes out well in the end. People will
admire you for it.
In the city of London where I was for a good number of years, and not a hundred
yards from where our firm was, there was a great, big asphalt square, where I, and a
few others who were likeminded, used to hold open-air meetings in our lunchtime,
right on the firm’s doorstep. That’s sailing your colors, isn’t it? That’s flying them
high! The Lord told me to do it. I think the worst experience I had was this: We used
to have a very dear little Pentecostal brother, the son of an epileptic, who used to go

and collect our platform from Wesley’s Chapel in City Road, where we stored it by
permission of the authorities. But one day he couldn’t come, and I worked closest to
Wesley’s Chapel, so I had to go and collect the platform. I tell you, I felt shockingly
embarrassed, carrying this open-air platform through the crowded streets past my
firm, where my co-workers could see me. I had a very respectable job. But as I
walked by the building where I worked, the Lord said just four words to me: “He
bearing His cross.”4 That made it very easy to carry the platform, very easy indeed.
During those years of open-air preaching, I saw members of the staff stay and listen
to me when I preached. I also saw the top man of the staff walk by with a sneer. And
he was an ordained minister! Interesting, isn’t it? For nearly twenty years I worked
at that Methodist Publishing House. On one occasion, one of the great leaders of the
Methodist Church walked by and saw our group; and I saw the aristocratic look on
his face—not quite a sneer, but an aristocratic curl. It was very interesting, because
he was going, of course, to the Methodist Publishing House, for he was a great
writer, a well-known man, universally accepted in England by all the leaders of the
churches. That afternoon, while he was visiting the firm, it so happened that I
needed to see the editor, a very fine, godly man, the Reverend Dr. Leslie F. Church,
very well-known in England at the time. He was the editor of Methodist books sold
all over the world. Some of you may even own the edition of Matthew Henry’s
Commentary, “edited by Leslie F. Church.” When I arrived in Dr. Church’s office,
this well-known Methodist leader was with him. So I just excused myself; but Dr.
Church said to me, “Please, come in.” He turned to this leader and said, “Dr. So-
and-So, let me introduce you to Mr. Percy Gutteridge. He pastors a fine work for
God out in London.” Isn’t that delightful? He said that to the very man who only an
hour before I’d seen walking by as I was preaching outdoors! So the Lord does
remarkable things, doesn’t He?
It’s good, friends, to walk with Jesus. It’s good to look back on your life and see that
you never pulled your colors down.5 I didn’t put any pressure on people, and I
never “Bible thumped.” If fact, I had to warn one young man that he was not paid
to discuss the Bible with me. He and I were paid to do our jobs. I didn’t mind
answering a question or two occasionally, but I was not going to spend hours
discussing the Bible with him, because that was not what we were paid for. God
taught me that He was honored far more by me doing my job in an honorable way,
than by me taking my firm’s time to talk the gospel to other people. Yet my co-
workers knew if I said a thing, it was the truth. They knew that they couldn’t fool
around anymore, and they knew that they would get a clear, plain word on

something that was right in due season; and that’s how the gospel was shared. The
word of the Lord goes deep beneath the surface talk. If you’re always talking on
people, they are well able to shut it out and turn deaf ears. But when the word of the
Lord comes with His power at the right time, and in the right way, it always
accomplishes what He sends it to do.
A Look at Salt
When the Lord Jesus speaks of salt, what He is talking about? If you have any
knowledge of chemistry, you know that there are many salts. So which is it? Well,
the Lord is talking about common salt—sodium chloride. Our forefathers used to
call it natrum muriaticum, a phrase found in the old lists; in fact, homeopaths still
use that name.
What is sodium chloride? It’s a combination of two most active elements—that very
vigorous metal, sodium, and that very virulent gas, chlorine. Chlorine is a deadly
gas; and sodium oxidizes so rapidly that sodium, and that very virulent gas,
chlorine. Chlorine is a deadly gas; and sodium oxidizes so rapidly that it will burst
into flames. Sodium can very rapidly take the oxygen from water. Now the amazing
thing is that God has combined these two most vigorous elements to make this
splendid, wonderful, healthful substance, sodium chloride—salt. Salt is universal
and very common, and it is as necessary to man as the food he eats it with.
Through this common substance, known to all mankind, God teaches us many
spiritual truths, as we shall see.
Uses of Salt
There are three uses of salt. The first is that it adds taste, or rather shall we say, it
enhances or quickens taste. But the two major functions of salt are that it cleanses
and preserves. In the old days, our fathers knew nothing about preserving other
than by salt. Everything was salted down. In Europe, for centuries and centuries,
during the end of the summer the people would kill the beasts and salt down the
meat. They would churn the butter and salt it down. So all through the winter, they
would eat salt pork, salt beef, salt mutton, salt butter, and salt fish. No wonder they
suffered so dreadfully from skin complaints and didn’t know why. No wonder the

spring was so welcomed. No wonder they looked forward with joy to the fresh green
grass coming through again, and fresh vegetables that would change the situation
and make them healthy and well.
Yes, salt preserves. And it also cleanses. Think about God’s creation. Great salt seas
and oceans, and the breezes that sweep that wonderful, refreshing, salty wind
around the earth, have kept our cities fresh. Even with all the effluent and filth
mankind has poured into the world’s oceans, because of their salt content they have
cleansed themselves. God gave us the great salt oceans with their saltiness to keep
things clean. That great, deep, blue, wonderful sea surrounds the continents and
keeps them fresh.
Salt of the Earth
Now what did the Lord mean when He said, “Ye are the salt of the earth”? What did
He mean when in Mark 9:50, He says, “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its
saltiness, wherewith will ye season it?” “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt is good,
and you are the goodness in the earth. The Lord is saying that wherever His true
people are found, they radiate an atmosphere of goodness. The way in which you
stand true to truth where you work, or wherever you go, is the proof of the goodness
of the salt. You exemplify that goodness when you refuse to participate when impure
thought is being shared. In my office when co-workers talked filth, I’d walk out. It
got through to them in the end, and they didn’t talk filth in front of me. Eventually
all of them, at some time or other, brought up the question of Christ and truth, and I
would very simply tell them the truth. So salt is good! That’s why the Lord Jesus
says, “You’re the salt of the earth.”
How wonderfully God has distributed His people! Perhaps you have experienced the
joy of having another Christian as a co-worker at your place of employment. You
are both getting on excellently well. Then, to your great disappointment, the Lord
removes one of you, and you have to stand on your own. Why? He doesn’t have
enough of us to go around. So oftentimes He’ll separate us and move us on. As a
result, you may find that you’re the only Christian who will stand for God’s truth.
God distributes us this way because we’re the salt that keeps things clean and fresh.
The Bible says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt”

(Colossians 4:6). That’s the way the Lord would have us share truth—not in a
harsh, biting, or stinging manner. But you also need to avoid the opposite: being
super-soft, sugary, and honey-sweet. What’s needed is grace with the tang—the
saltiness—of truth in it! One of the greatest concerns that Christians should have is
not to try to act like a Christian, but to be one. The Lord Jesus never, ever reminded
Himself, “Well I mustn’t do that, because I’m the Son of God.” He always acted as
He did because He is the Son of God, and could act no other way.
All that we do in word or deed, we do on behalf of the Lord Jesus. Deeds come first,
and words afterwards. Your witness is also seen in your attitude: the fact that you
never grumble about overtime; the fact that you are not always nagging about the
poorness of the wages; the fact that you don’t mind working hard; the fact that you
are honorable. That’s living for Christ, and that’s what the Lord wants in this
world. Then you will find people will come to you. Then when someone gets so
distressed over the problems in his home, he will come to you. I found during the
War,6 that those who were put on fire watch with me during the German raids were
so glad that I would pray—so glad! You’ll will find it’s true that salt is good.
Salted with the Holy Spirit
Jesus said, “Everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted
with salt” (Mark 9:49). There is no escape. Everyone shall be salted with fire, and
every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Here is your alternative. Salt is a wonderful
type of the blessed Holy Spirit. We are only good because the Spirit of goodness is in
us. You are only good because He is good in you. You are only salt, because He, the
Salt of God, the cleansing and preserving Agent that keeps everything clean in the
world, is in you. That’s why you’re salt, no other reason. And you are either to be
salted with that blessed Holy Ghost, the Comforter, or else you are to be salted with
fire. There’s no other alternative. That’s what the Word says. That’s why every
sacrifice in the old days was salted with salt, as God reveals in Leviticus. There God
tells us that in the free-will offering, the food offering, “With all thine offerings thou
shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13). That means that when I come to the Lord, and give
myself wholly to Him, and say, “Lord, take me wholly in consecration,” He seals me
with the gift of the Holy Ghost. The coming of the Comforter is the seal of God.
Every sacrifice—especially the sacrificial offering of ourselves to God in
consecration—is salted with Salt. Hear what the Lord says:

In whom also [that is, in Jesus] we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will:
That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:11-14
Every sacrifice is to be salted with salt or with fire. So the Lord says to present our
bodies a willing sacrifice, which is holy and acceptable unto God, and which is our
reasonable service (Romans 12:1). And as we give ourselves wholly to Him, He seals
us with the Holy Spirit of promise. He gives us the Holy Ghost. He will not give the
Holy Spirit to anyone who is not consecrated to Him. If you’re not consecrated, you
can ask forever and you won’t get this sealing of the Spirit. The baptism of the Holy
Ghost is given to you on condition that you give yourself wholly to Him. Then He
will give you the greatest joy, and there will be salt in you, and you will be the salt of
the earth. Are you salt? Jesus says, “Have salt in yourselves.”
Now what does salt do to me? It makes me thirsty for God. I am thirsty for God;
aren’t you? I love my Lord; don’t you? I only want my Jesus; don’t you? There is
nothing on earth that I could be bribed with that would be more valuable to me than
my Beloved. Those of us who have salt in ourselves—we are the salt of the earth—
we cannot be frightened away, or lured away, from our Beloved. “Oh, God, my
heart is fixed,” says David (Psalm 108:1).7 Oh, God, my heart is fixed, too! I’m glad
that the Holy Ghost comes in cleansing power and in keeping power, for salt
cleanses, and it also keeps, that is, it preserves. “The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, Who also
will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
New Covenant Salt
Finally, there is a further reference to salt in the Scripture, and that is to seal the

covenant. God made a covenant of salt with David. Abijah, King of Judah, declared
to King Jeroboam I of Israel, “ Know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom
over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt” (2
Chronicles 13:5). So that’s why every sacrifice is salted with salt. There’s a covenant
in it—the salt of the covenant. God said in Leviticus 2:13, “Thou shalt not suffer the
salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking.” That is why He gives us the Holy
Spirit as a covenant, for the Spirit is the Salt of the New Covenant. When we receive
the Holy Spirit, and He indwells us, He Himself is the earnest of the coming
inheritance. He is the seal of the reality of all that there is for us in God. We are born
of God; the Holy Spirit indwells us, and He Himself is the salt of the covenant.
This covenant is an everlasting covenant. It is never God’s intention to break it, and
He never will. It’s an everlasting covenant that the Lord makes with you. Yet the
Lord Jesus Himself says, “If the salt hath lost its saltiness, wherewith shall it be
salted?” (Matthew 5:13). This speaks about those who have known the grace of God,
who have known the work of the Spirit, who have been sanctified, who have been
anointed with the Spirit, who have been cleansed by His blood, but have turned
away from it all. Hebrews 6:4-6 says,
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
This is what the Lord means when He speaks of salt losing its saltiness. Don’t argue
about it or try to reason it away. Don’t try to knock one Scripture out by another,
but fear! Fear lest you yourself be caught up in pride, straying away from your
Beloved. Make it your constant prayer that that blessed Holy Spirit may ever abide
in you, drawing you out in more and more and more love to the Lord Jesus.
Even Adam went wrong; and even Solomon, who had the gift of wisdom from God,
went wrong! It’s not wisdom that will keep you. It’s not knowledge of the Scriptures.
It’s not knowledge of great mysteries. What is it that will keep you? It is the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, making your only desire that of loving the Lord Jesus
with all your heart, and soul, and mind and strength. Wisdom did not keep Solomon

from backsliding—he ended up a backslider. He did the three things that God
prohibited in Deuteronomy 17:16-17. God said that the kings of Israel should not
“multiply wives”—yet Solomon had a thousand of them. How ridiculous and
absurd! And God said not to multiply horses, yet Solomon brought them in from the
very place God didn’t want them to come from—Egypt. God warned that the king
should not multiply silver and gold; yet Solomon “made silver and gold at Jerusalem
as plenteous as stones” (2 Chronicles 1:15). These are the very three things that God
said the kings were not to do. So wisdom didn’t keep him, did it?
Have you ever thought that Solomon could have asked God for a gift better than
wisdom? What did David have that Solomon didn’t have? Love for God! David was
a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). He loved the Lord. The greatest hurt
to David was the fact that God might take away His Spirit from him (Psalm 51:11).
And after his dreadful fall with Bathsheba, which woke David up to the fact that he
had an unclean heart, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). He realized his need; but David loved the
Lord. That’s why he never backslid. He fell, but he didn’t backslide. It was a
different thing wholly than backsliding. Falling can come to any Christian who’s not
watchful; but backsliding is turning your back on all the Lord has taught you, on all
His blessings, and on that most blessed One, the Holy Spirit; and it is defiling the
temple in which He dwells. That’s a different thing altogether. David never did that.
Nor did Peter. They fully returned to the Lord.
So the Lord wants you to understand that it’s possible, gloriously possible to love
Him with all your heart. His desire, and His enabling, is that “He will keep that
which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.” Ask the Lord that ever you may
love Him. When the New Year comes round, and Christmastime comes round, and
your birthday, you could ask the Lord for a present. It’s as simple as that—as
childlike as that. Say, “Lord, I’m only your little child, and I’d love for You to give
me a Christmas present.” What are you going to ask for? “Well, you know, Lord,
I’m tired of this old Ford, I want a Cadillac.” Fancy asking for a silly thing like that!
They’re most expensive to run anyway, I understand. Why not ask the Lord for a
love gift of more love to Him? “More Love to Thee, O Christ” was the heart-cry of
Elizabeth Prentiss, as it should be for every earnest believer:
More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!

Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee!
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!
[From the hymn More Love to Thee, O Christ!]
Oh, brothers and sisters, with that as your never-ceasing desire before God, you’ll
be salt, indeed!
Salted Hearts
Our last consideration is that God gives a great example concerning salt. Jesus said,
“Have salt in yourselves.” Now by nature we have something in us that isn’t salt at
all. Jesus said, “That which comes out of a man, this defiles a man” (Matthew
15:11). “For from within, out of the heart”—now hear what Jesus says about a
natural human heart—“for out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these things come from
within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). Jesus says that about the heart.
Jeremiah once said that God knows the heart—“The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try
the reins” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). So the only One who knows the heart is the Lord. But
wait a moment! In Acts 15:8-9, we find a wonderful truth about the heart in the New
Covenant, in the account of God giving the Holy Ghost to Cornelius and his
household: “God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the
Holy Ghost even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith.” That’s what the Lord longs to do—to purify,
cleanse, and keep the heart by the coming of the Salt of the New Covenant, the Holy

Spirit!
A wonderful miracle of Elisha illustrates what I’m saying. There came a time when
the anointing of Elijah passed on to Elisha. God, in His goodness and wisdom,
decided that Elijah had finished his ministry, and God had Elisha take his place.
The very first miracle that Elisha did was to take up the mantle of Elijah and strike
the Jordan, whereupon the river went hither and thither, and Elisha went over dry
shod. This showed Elisha that he had inherited the power of Elijah. The very next
miracle Elisha did was one that depicted the cleansing and purifying that God wants
to do under the New Covenant. Elisha is a type of a prophet under the New
Covenant. Elijah is a type of a prophet under the Old. We read that Elisha came to
Jericho, and the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, I pray you, the situation of
the city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the ground is barren”
(2 Kings 2:19). The Hebrew means that the water had something in it that made the
ewes cast their young. There was a curse in the water, that made fruitfulness into
barrenness. Who put the curse on it? Joshua had in the beginning: “Cursed be the
man who rises up and builds Jericho” (Joshua 6:26). The curse was still on the city,
causing fruitfulness to turn into barrenness.
How many Christians are just like old Jericho? They are unfruitful in their lives.
The situation of their “city” is pleasant (that is to say, they have a relationship with
Jesus), but the “water” is bad—out of their hearts comes that which defiles them,
making them unfruitful in their spiritual lives. So what was Elisha’s miracle? He
said,
“Bring me a new cruse and put salt therein.” And they brought it to him.
And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said,
“Thus saith the Lord, ‘I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence
any more death or barren land.’ ”
So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he
spake.
2 Kings 2:20-22
Where, exactly, did Elisha cast the cruse of salt? Into the spring of the waters, the
very source. Where does evil come from? Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts.

Where does the Lord long to cast His salt in? Into your heart! That’s what He did
with Cornelius and the early Apostles—He gave them pure hearts. God is willing to
give you a pure heart by casting the cruse of Salt, the blessed Holy Ghost, right into
the source of your heart-trouble. Then you’ll be God’s salt indeed! You’ll be good
just as salt is good. But if you still have an unclean heart, there’s something wrong.
You couldn’t say that your salt is “good,” nor would the Lord Jesus. A pure heart is
part of the Gospel. It’s what Jesus came to do. He’s honored by children with pure
hearts. He’ll give you a pure heart! And then, dear brothers and sisters, your life
will be neither barren nor unfruitful. The cure will be accomplished when He casts
the salt into your heart, purifying it.
The Salt Sea or Galilee?
The Lord wants to understand a truth about the River Jordan. What makes that
lovely, sparkling sea, the Sea of Galilee? The River Jordan! The River Jordan flows
into it, making it so beautiful. It was full of fish in Jesus’ day and it’s full of fish
today. Around it are green and smiling fields, and overlooking it in the distance are
beautiful hills. There you can see the sails of fishing vessels. The Sea of Galilee is
only slightly salty. But further down the Jordan Valley is the Dead Sea, the saltiest
sea in the world. There are four thousand billion tons of salt in it, with four
thousand more tons added every year. It’s so salty that you can sit up in it and have
a tea tray and drink your coffee or tea off your tray while it floats on the water!
Yet because the Dead Sea is so salty, no beneficent herb grows around it; the
extreme saltiness is actually a curse. The Dead Sea is surrounded by barrenness, as
Jericho was before Elisha lifted the curse. What makes the Dead Sea dead? It is fed
by the River Jordan, the same as the Sea of Galilee. What’s the difference? It’s that
the Jordan flows into Galilee, and flows out again. But at the Dead Sea, the Jordan
flows into it, but nothing flows out! Dear Pentecostal brother, I don’t doubt that
years ago you received a baptism of the Holy Ghost, but it’s been flowing in and in,
and nothing has been flowing out. No wonder there’s barrenness around! You’re
keeping all your treasure to yourself. The Dead Sea is the example of those who
never give out—who have no testimony—who are not doing things for others—who
want it all done for them! Therefore, their very riches are an encumbrance, and
their very riches of knowledge are a curse. There is no fruitfulness! But the river
that flows into the Dead Sea is the same lovely river that flows into the Sea of
Galilee, causing the sparkling, fresh, beautiful, lovely, healthful, beneficent flow,
because all that comes in goes out.

So have salt in yourselves, and be the salt of God, but remember that what the Lord
gives you, He gives you to give out. “You anoint my head with oil, and my cup runs
over” (Psalm 23:5). That’s what people should get: the overflowing cup. It has
wisely been said, “No one’s cup runs over until God anoints him with the Holy
Ghost.” Then people drink of our overflow. It’s only when He makes us overflow
that others are blessed. Have salt in yourselves, and ask God that that salt may flow
out to be cleansing and healing in this wicked old world. Amen.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we come again and say, “Thank You!” It’s such a privilege and a
pleasure to hear that precious word, “You are the salt of the earth.” We are keeping
the world clean. It would be a fouler, most awful, evil world, if it weren’t that You
had scattered your dear children everywhere. Even anti-Christian countries,
unknown to them, are better places because of Your dear children who are the salt
in those nations. Oh, wonderful Jesus! Now, Lord, I bring my brothers and sisters to
You—those who have not come to You for a pure heart. It’s causing barrenness. It’s
causing frustration. They “bring no fruit to perfection.”8 Now, Lord, cleanse them.
Lord, we come and give ourselves to You as an offering. Would You put the salt
there? “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.” “Let not the salt of the
covenant of our God be lacking” in the offering we make to You. Here we are, Lord;
take us, cleanse us, keep us, use us. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
(Many thanks to Jane Anderson Minarik
for the original transcription.)
SALVATION
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK A MUST IN OUR SALVATION
L.R. Shelton, Jr.
In our past messages we showed you from God’s Word that the Holy Spirit must work in our
hearts the salvation that God gives to poor sinners because each one of us is totally depraved,

dead in trespasses and sins, lying buried in the grave of sin, held captive by Satan at his will and
therefore of necessity must be resurrected by a power greater than our own and greater than
Satan. We have shown you also that the work of the Holy Spirit as described in John 16:8-11 is
to reprove, convict, and convince us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, so we will know
our need of the Lord Jesus Christ who has been set forth as our Justifier and Deliverer from sin
and its power, dominion and presence. We have shown you also that the Holy Spirit must
convict us of the awfulness of the sin of unbelief because it robs God of His glorious attributes
and robs Christ of His glory and authority as the eternal Son of God, Lord over the living and the
dead. In today’s message I would like to set before our hearts the place the Scriptures give to
the work of the Holy Spirit in all the phases of the salvation that God gives in Christ. I pray that
He who has been given to open our eyes, the Spirit of truth Himself, will this day open all of our
hearts to view this truth of the necessity of His work. The Scriptures plainly declare in 1
Corinthians 2:11,14,13 these words: “For what man knoweth the things of a
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man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but by
the Spirit of God. [for] the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned the Holy
Spirit teacheth [those spiritual things to us]; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Again, the
Scriptures declare in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the
Holy Spirit.” Here we have the greatest proof of the necessity of His Work. We will not, and
cannot, call Jesus “Lord” in a true saving way apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. No man will
crown Jesus Christ as the Lord of his life until his will is broken, until he is brought to see and
know his utterly lost condition without Christ. The Holy Spirit alone makes us willing in the day
of His power. He gives us that which God requires: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psa. 51:17). In the matter of the New
Birth it is imperative that the Holy Spirit work, for the Scriptures plainly declare in John 3:3:
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When Nicodemus on this
occasion asked our Lord how this could be accomplished, he was told it was by the Word of God
and the Holy Spirit. In describing this same thing, we read in 1 Peter 1:23 these words: “Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever.” Yes, the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God, the Word of Truth, and plants it in
the heart of the sinner whom He will save; and that seed, that Word, watered and nurtured by
the Holy Spirit, springs up into eternal life. The New Birth is not a decision you make; it is not a
feeling you get, nor is it something that you can produce by any work that you might perform.
No! It is the operation of the Spirit of the living God in your heart and affections that produces
this New Birth by using the Word of God, the Word of Truth. Our Lord in John 3:8 declared unto
Nicodemus that the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of man is like the wind: “The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit [of God].” The work in the
heart of man is performed by the Holy Spirit in His own way and in His own time, for He is

sovereign. Let us give you an illustration of this. In Luke 1 we find the story of the visit of the
angel Gabriel to Mary, the virgin woman who was engaged to Joseph of Nazareth. When Gabriel
announced to the virgin Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, her question was:
“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (vs. 34). Gabriel’s answer was: “The Holy Spirit
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (vs. 35). Mary knew one
thing if she knew anything, and it was that without the male sperm she was as helpless to
produce a child as she could be. She knew that she could pray, beg, do all manner of penance,
deny herself all things; but without the male sperm uniting with her female seed, the thing was
impossible. She knew that though she lived to be a hundred years old she could not of herself
produce a child. Then she was told that the Holy Spirit would do it. He would come upon her; He
would overshadow her; He would place the male sperm in her womb. He would guard over it,
and that Holy Thing which would be born of her would be called the Son of God. As it was in the
birth of our Lord in the womb of the virgin Mary, so it is in the New Birth or the birth of our Lord
in our hearts—Christ’s being formed in us, a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:8-14; Gal. 4:19). It
must be done by the Holy Spirit. We can beg, pray, do all manner of works, live morally clean
lives, go to church, be baptized, take communion, preach, teach, give our money and our bodies
to the Lord’s work, deny ourselves everything under the sun, but we cannot produce the New
Birth; we cannot plant the seed, water the seed, give the seed life, nor form Christ in us without
the Life-Giver Himself doing the work. This is the necessary work of the Holy Spirit. What do the
Scriptures say? “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor.
4:6). Praise the Lord, when He commands, it is done! Yes, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to
brood over the sinner as He brooded over the earth when it was without form and void and
darkness was upon the face of the deep when He commanded the light to shine out of darkness.
So in the salvation of a sinner, the Holy Spirit commands the light to shine into our souls
convincing us of the darkness, sin, misery and deadness we are in; then grants us
3
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, giving us faith to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ
Who is offered in the Gospel as the Substitute for sinners, God’s Sin-Offering. Yes, He grants
faith to see in Christ the precious Love-Gift of the Father to His people. Only then can the sinner
see by faith that the Lord Jesus meets his every need, and that in His shed-blood there is the
forgiveness of sin and the putting away of the wrath of God for him. In His light we see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Again, the Scriptures declare that only by the Holy Spirit can
the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts. In Romans 5:5 we read: “the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” You see, there is no love of God
in us, no love for God that we can produce of ourselves in our hearts and affections. Why?
because by nature we hate Him. Scripture declares (Rom. 1:30) that we are by nature HATERS
OF GOD. Therefore, if there is any love in our hearts for God we can rest assured that it was put
there by God the Holy Spirit Himself. O that you and I would know and understand this great

truth more and more! that because we are totally depraved sinners, void of everything that
would bring us to God, salvation has to be of the Lord or no soul would ever be saved apart from
His work in him. Has the Holy Spirit ever shown you this? Listen again, my friend, to the Word of
God! It is plainly declared in both John 6:63 and Ephesians 2:1 that the Holy Spirit alone
quickens our dead spirit and makes us alive in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:6 declares that the Holy
Spirit alone gives life, spiritual life, and therefore eternal life in Christ. Ephesians 2:18 tells us
that by the Holy Spirit only we have access unto the Father on the basis of the shed-blood of our
Lord Jesus. Romans 8:26 tells us that it is the Holy Spirit Himself who helps our infirmities. “for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Also we read in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that by the
Holy Spirit alone we are baptized into the body of Christ—His church—and made one with Him.
Therefore, we see from all these Scriptures that there is no way to be born again—to see the
kingdom of God, to get into the kingdom of God to be partakers of God’s divine nature, to be
united to Christ and have access to the Father—but by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. I for one
am going to ascribe all the work of salvation to my glorious triune God: to the Father for
choosing me, to the Son for dying in my place and to the Holy Spirit for applying it to my heart
and life. O may we bow in adoration before our triune God and give praise unto Him for Himself
as manifested unto us in His three Persons! Let us adore His wisdom, give thanks unto Him for
His grace, love Him for His condescension to make Himself known unto us in the Person of His
Son. Let us praise His holy name for His Holy Spirit who was sent to convince us of sin and bring
us to Christ. Let us praise Him for seeking us out as lost sinners and saving us by His grace, if
indeed He has done this work in our hearts. Let me speak this last word today unto you who
know the Lord Jesus. How much we should praise the Lord for the gift of His Holy Spirit to us in
the salvation He has given us! We owe all that we have to His work in us. He is the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). He is the One Who bears witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16). He is the Spirit of Christ, for He is given by
Christ and speaks of Him (1 Pet. 1:11). He is the Spirit of life, for He is the Communicator of the
life of God, the Sustainer of the life of God in us (Rom. 8:2). He is the Spirit of Truth, in
opposition to everything that is false and untrue (John 14:17). He is the Spirit of grace as the
Bestower of all the graces of the spiritual life (Zech. 12:10). He is the Spirit of power as opposed
to all that is weak and inefficient (Acts 1:8). He is the Spirit of holiness, therefore He alone can
sanctify and make us like Christ in holiness (Rom. 1:4). The list seems to be endless of the things
the Holy Spirit does for us and in us. We are sanctified by Him, moved by Him, kept by Him, filled
by Him; we have joy in Him, bear His fruit, sing in Him, pray in Him, rejoice in Him, and our body
is His temple. Therefore, we should not grieve nor quench the Spirit, but be controlled by Him
moment by moment; for He is the Father’s and the Son’s Love-Gift to us. We should yield to
Him, be filled with Him, be controlled by Him and praise our living God daily for His presence
within us.¶ Taken From: The Work of the Holy Spirit in our Salvation

SANCTIFICATION
by Pastor Jack Hyles
John 17:17, "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth."
Sanctification means to be set apart for special use. In a spiritual sense, the
word "sanctification" means "being set apart for special use for God."
Sanctification does not mean sinless perfection or the eradication of the flesh;
it simply means to be set apart for the Lord's work. The church pulpit is
sanctified;; it is set apart for the teaching and preaching of the Word of God.
That does not mean it is a perfect pulpit; it simply means it is given to special
use. The chairs in the church choir are sanctified. They may be imperfect
chairs, as most church choir chairs are, but they are set apart or sanctified to
be used only by those who sing the praises of our Lord. There are three ways
which the believer is sanctified.
1. He HAS BEEN sanctified. When one receives Christ as Saviour, he is sanctified
in the sense that he is set apart for Heaven. It is all settled. HE is God's child.
God prepares a place in Heaven for him and he is sanctified or set apart
eternally for heaven.
2. He IS BEING sanctified. This means that from day to day the Holy Spirit is
conforming him more in the image of the Lord Jesus. As the artist slowly paints
on the canvas what is already in his mind, even so the Holy Spirit gradually, day
by day, is setting us apart more and more for the service of Christ. This is not
done all at one time but rather from grace to grace. John 1:16, "And of His
fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." It is done from faith to
faith." Romans 1:17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." It is done from glory
to glory. II Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The Word of God teaches us that He has
predestined us to be conformed in the image of His Son. Romans 8:29, "For
whom He did foreknow, HE also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren." This means
that someday every believer will be like Jesus. That sanctifying process is a
gradual one, from grace to grace, from glory to glory and from faith to faith as
we yield ourselves daily to the Holy Spirit and He conforms us more and more
to the image of our Saviour.
3. He SHALL BE sanctified. The day will come when every believer will be like
Jesus and then we will be sanctified to awake in His likeness. Psalm 17:15, "As
for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with Thy likeness."
Now the question comes, "WHEN will we be completely sanctified and be like

Jesus?" In a recent poll most believers expressed that they think that complete
sanctification would be at death when the believe gets to Heaven. However,
the Scripture does not teach that. Notice I Thessalonians 5:23, "And the very
God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and
body BE PRESERVED BLAMELESS UNTO THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST." Now read I Thessalonians 3:13, "To the end He may stablish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, AT THE COMING OF OUR
LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH ALL HIS SAINTS." Now read I John 3:2, "Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM: for we shall see
Him as He is." Now when will we be like Him? These verses are very plain that
we will be like Him WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, or WHEN HE COMES AGAIN. This
means that the believer in Heaven now is NOT like Jesus. To be sure, that
believer is free from sin and he is in a body, but he is not in his final glorified
body which is like the body of Jesus. Hence, he is not completely sanctified or
set apart and will not be until he is like Jesus, and that will be at the appearing
of our Lord. Perhaps this is why the saints in Heaven cry, "How long, O Lord,
how long?" Revelation 6:10, "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge out blood on them
that dwell on the earth?"
Many Christians erroneously believe that at death the Christian becomes like
Jesus and that he is immediately sanctified and set apart. True, the saints in
Heaven do not sin; nevertheless, they are not mature yet. They have not
reached their adulthood yet, which means that they continue to grow. Though
they do not sin, they enter Heaven at the spiritual maturity with which they
left earth. There will be room for more growth in Heaven until the rapture
when Jesus comes and we shall then be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!
A Christian who never praises the Lord on earth will not suddenly upon his
entrance into Heaven start shouting praises to God. The Christian who was not
interested in his Bible on earth will not enjoy Heaven as much s the Christian
who loved the Word of God and spent time with it and in it. The Christian who
spent three hours a day watching television and five minutes a day in his Bible
will not enjoy Heaven as much at first as the Christian who walked with God.
The Christian who spends three hours on Sunday watching the football game
and 15 minutes preparing his Sunday school lesson, the one who spends an hour
after the service at a hamburger stand and 10 minutes in prayer before he goes
to bed, the one who gets up before dawn to go fishing but never gets up before
dawn to pray, the one who can spend four hours a week on the golf course and
only one hour a week in prayer, one who can sit up until two o'clock to
fellowship but never pray past midnight, the one who can sit in the rain at the
ball game but won't drive through the rain to church, and the one who has beer
in his ice box, rock music on his stereo, grudges in his heart and God's money in
his pocket will certainly not enter into the presence of Christ with the same joy
and delight as will the Spirit-filled Christian who walks with God, loves the
Book and obeys the commands of Christ.

The Christian in heaven now is still a minor. He will not become an adult until
he receives his glorified body. Romans 8:23, "And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION, TO WIT, THE REDEMPTION OF OUT
BODY." The word "adoption" here means "majority" or "adulthood." It is
contrasted with "minority" or "childhood." Now it is plain that this adoption
(majority or adulthood) comes when our bodies are redeemed. Our bodies will
be redeemed at the coming of Christ FOR HIS OWN. This means that until Christ
comes for His own, even the saints in Heaven are not yet adults. Therefore,
they still have access to spiritual growth.
The Jewish male child wore a particular type coat which signified that he was a
honor. This coat was worn until he became an adult. On the day of his
adulthood (majority) he received another coat that signified his adulthood.
On the day that he became an adult, he was taken by his father to the Beam.
This was a public place in a conspicuous part of town. He would stand with his
son before the citizens of the town and would make several declarations. First
he would say, "Thou art my son." He would then say, "Son, inherit my name.
Son, inherit my wealth." Then he would remove the coat of childhood
(minority) from his son and place on him the coat of adulthood (majority). Now
he is an adult and all may see that the day of his adoption has come.
One day I too shall come to Beam (judgment seat). II Corinthians 5:10, "For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive
the things done inn his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or bad." my Saviour shall appear with me. He shall say to the entire
universe, "Thou art My son. Son, inherit my name. Son, inherit My wealth." and
He shall give me a coat of adulthood; that is, my glorified body. This present
coat of childhood shall be removed and then I shall be like Jesus and shall know
complete sanctification. Hallelujah! No wonder this body groans and travails
for its adoption (redemption). No wonder the saints in Heaven shout, "How
long, O Lord, how long?"
This then leads to the conclusion that even saints in Heaven are still minors and
will not become adults until Jesus comes. The old is gone, but the new is not
yet grown. We await the rapture to be totally like Him and totally sanctified.
This behooves the believer to grow in grace so that he will enter Heaven more
able to enjoy it and more in the likeness of his Saviour.
The prophet Amos admonished the people the prepare to meet God. Amos 4:12,
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto
thee, PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD, O ISRAEL." Now this is interesting. These
were saved people; these were God's people. Amos wasn't telling unsaved
people to prepare to meet God by being born again. He was telling saved
people to prepare to meet God.
Years ago I preached in Jamaica. I shared the platform with Dr. John R. Rice.
He flew to Jamaica on Saturday; I joined him Monday. As I was clearing customs
in Jamaica, the customs official welcomed me and asked me what I planned to

do while I was there. I told him that I was there to preach. He asked, "Where?"
To save my life I could not remember the name of the church. With a suspicious
look he asked, "In what town?"
I told him I did not know in which town I was to speak, but that I was to be met
at the airport by Dr. John Rice and a local pastor or missionary. He became
even more suspicious. Then he asked, "What is the name of the pastor?"
Oh, brother! I could not even think of his name! The official became very
disturbed. He said, "Sir, don't tell me you are coming to Jamaica to preach
without even knowing the name of the pastor or the church or the town."
I said, "Neighbor, that's exactly the story." Suddenly I saw Dr. John Rice.
Pointing to Dr. Rice, I told the customs official, "That man knows me. He will
verify who I am and will tell you where I am to preach."
The official called Dr. Rice and asked him to identify me. Dr. Rice looked up
with a sheepish grin and said, "Sir, I never saw that man before in my life!"
If someone had asked me on the airplane where I was going, I would have said
to Jamaica. The airplane was going to Jamaica, and I was aboard the airplane,
but I was not prepared for Jamaica! There are millions of Christians who are
going to Heaven and know it, but they are not prepared to meet God.
suppose two people go to a football game. One knows the game and its rules;
the other does not. They pay the same price for the ticket and sit side by side
at the game. Who enjoys the game more? The one who knows the rules, of
course, will enjoy it greatly. The one who knows little or nothing about the
game will scarcely enjoy it.
Suppose two Christians go to Heaven side by side. One knows the Bible; the
other doesn't. Which one will enjoy Heaven more? The one who knows the
Bible, of course. The one who has not learned to Rule Book will be in Heaven
but will not enjoy it as much as the one who has prepared to meet his God.
I am writing this chapter aboard an airplane flying from Pittsburgh to Chicago.
In a few minutes we will land in Chicago. Suppose all of a sudden I removed my
pocket knife, opened it and began to cut the seat in front of me. Now where
am I going? To Chicago, of course. Suppose that the pilot or co-pilot came back
and said, "Sir, I understand that you are causing some trouble." Let's suppose I
took the knife and cut off the tie of the co-pilot or pilot. Now where am I
going? I am going to Chicago, of course. Suppose the steward comes back and
says, "Sir, you are going to have to behave yourself," and then I kick him in the
shin. Now where am I going? I am going to Chicago, of course, but I am not
prepared for Chicago and I will not enjoy Chicago as much as I would have
enjoyed it had I behaved myself on the journey. The person who has received
Christ as Saviour is going to Heaven, but his enjoyment of Heaven will be
determined by his behavior on the journey. He will arrive in Heaven, but he is
not prepared to meet his God.
Years ago I was preaching one night in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The next night I
was to preach in Phoenix, Arizona. I took only one suit. It was a dark flannel

suit. I also wore a heavy winter overcoat and a winter hat. That was fine for
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then the next day I flew to Phoenix, Arizona. It was
104 degrees. I got off the airplane wearing a flannel suit, heavy winter
overcoat and a winter hat. People at the airport looked at me and began to
laugh! I realized what I had done. I had arrived in Phoenix, but I was not
prepared for Phoenix. Multitudes of God's people will arrive in Heaven, but
they will not be prepared.
Many years ago I was asked to come to Tennessee Temple College and preach
the dedication message for the Weigel Music Center built in honor of Dr.
Charles Weigel, a blessed old evangelist who lived on campus to Tennessee
Temple and who was one of the sweetest and happiest Christians I ever met.
Dr. Weigle was approaching the century mark in years. I preached the
dedication message and then the great crowd of several thousand went out to
the street in front of the Weigle Music Center for the cutting of the ribbon and
the dedication prayer. Many dignitaries were there, and it was a time of
refreshment and blessing. After the crowd had left, I wanted to talk to Dr.
Weigle. I went to his apartment, which was in the back of the new Weigle Music
Center. Just before I knocked on his door I heard some noise. I heard clapping
of hands and a squeaking of bed springs. I heard a old voice shout, "Hallelujah!
Glory to God! Praise the Lord!" I waited for awhile realizing that the old man
was up on the bed jumping up and down and singing and shouting praises. I
then knocked on the door. When the door opened, there stood Dr. Weigle with
bare feet, shirt unbuttoned, hair ruffled and a look of Heaven on his face. I
said, "Dr. Weigle, what's going on in here?"
He sweetly replied, "I'm just practicing for Heaven, Dr. Hyles." That is exactly
what all of us are supposed to do. We are supposed to be practicing constantly
for Heaven!
How can this practicing be done? We should do those things on earth which we
will continue to do in Heaven. We should chose friends on earth whom we will
know in Heaven. We should realize that we are strangers here. We can praise
God; that is something which will be continued in Heaven. We should live in the
Word of God because that will also be continued in Heaven. How sad that most
of us spend most of our lives doing those things which will not equip us for
Heaven!
Not long ago, I was in the Philadelphia area. Suddenly I got happy late at night.
I got up on the bed and began to praise the Lord. It must have been two o'clock
in the morning and I was still praising Him. There was a knock on the door. I
shouted, "Who is it?" A voice came from the outside and said, "It's the man from
the next room. What's going on in there?" I replied, "I'm praising the Lord." He
said, "Can't we praise the Lord in the morning and sleep tonight?"
I was just doing a little practicing for Heaven! This preparation for Heaven can
be done only as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, realizing that we have
been sanctified at salvation; at the coning of Jesus we shall be totally
sanctified, but until then, we are yet minors needing to grow in grace. We need

to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit day by day so that w can grown from glory
to glory, from faith to faith and from grace to grace!
HOLY SPIRIT’S FAVORITE WORD BY PERRY STONE
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —JOHN 3:16
IF GOD HAD a favorite word, I believe it would be love, for “God is love” (1 John
4:16), and He loved the world so much He sent His Son for their redemption (John
3:16). If Christ could reveal to you His favorite word, it would be believe, because all
new covenant blessings are received through the act of believing and the kingdom is
entered through faith (Rom 10:9–10). What would be the one word that would be
central to the Holy Spirit
—or His favorite word? I believe it is the word holy, as He is not just a spirit or
God’s Spirit but the Holy Spirit! The term Holy Ghost is used ninety times in the
King James Version of the Bible. The single word holy or holiness is connected with
a word found throughout both Testaments that is seldom mentioned or taught today
in the body of Christ, and that word is sanctification. Perhaps your impression is
that sanctification is an old and outdated word or a subject of traditional theology.
To some sanctification is linked to some man-made legalism. However, you need to
learn not just the word’s meaning, but what this word has to do with your walk with
God and your growth in the Holy Spirit. I grew up in a denomination considered a
classical full gospel denomination rooted in the older Holiness movement. In reality,
the original Holiness people were not Pentecostals or Baptists but the early
Methodists, whose founders, the Wesley brothers, wrote and spoke on the subject of
holiness and sanctification. As the Lutherans were the followers of Luther and
emphasized justification by faith, then the Methodists were loyal to Wesley and the
teaching of a sanctified life. Wesley’s teaching created the Holiness movement,
which did spread from the Methodists to the early Pentecostals and other smaller
Protestant groups. Wesley’s emphasis was receiving regeneration through faith with
the assurance of salvation by the witness of the Holy Spirit. Entire sanctification was
taught as a second definite work of grace, and through the power of the Holy Spirit
a person could live a holy life.
I can recall growing up and hearing ministers teach that there were three definite
works of God’s grace in the New Testament: the primary work was of salvation,
which was accompanied by justification; the second work of grace was called

sanctification, or being set apart in holiness; and the third was the baptism of power
or infilling of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, salvation is the main message of the church
for the world, emphasized by all Bible-believing churches. However, in the majority
of congregations the Holy Spirit’s manifestations are not witnessed, and as far as
sanctification is concerned, many contemporary believers know nothing of this work
of grace. One reason is that for years the older Holiness churches were often viewed
by the younger generation as being “too legalistic” and opinionated, with an
emphasis on outward adornment for women, as the outward appearance was often
equated to a person’s level of sanctification. At times a person could look holy
outwardly and be impure inwardly, yet still be perceived holy and sanctified because
the congregation judged sanctification from the outward appearance of the hair
style, lack of jewelry and makeup, and the fact the women only wore dresses. The
weakness was that outward appearances could cover inward weaknesses, and at
times the church members ignored or justified bad attitudes and negative comments
toward others in the name of just telling it like it is. God, however, looks at things
differently, as we read, “For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD
looks at the heart” (1 Sam 16:7). The word sanctify is found seventy times;
sanctified, sixty
two times; and sanctifieth, four times in the King James Version of the Bible. In
Hebrew the basic word for “sanctify” is qudash, which means, “to make something
or to announce it as clean, consecrated and hallowed before God.” In the New
Testament the Greek word for “sanctify” is hagiazo, which is, “to purify and
consecrate and separate as holy.” The purpose of sanctification was to separate the
profane from the things dedicated to God. Sanctification rendered the person or
object usable in the tabernacle or temple, the ministry and work of God. In the Old
Testament the process of sanctification involved washings and rituals, whereas in the
new covenant it is an internal purification accomplished by the cleansing of the
body, soul, and spirit through the knowledge of the truth (John 8:32) and the
impartation of the Holy Spirit.
The Priestly Cleansing One cannot read the rules and regulations for the tabernacle
and the priesthood without realizing that God demanded a separation between the
holy and unholy, the clean and the unclean, the righteous and the unrighteous, and
the sacred and profane. To ensure the sanctity of His dwelling in the tent, the high
priest and the thousands of Levitical priests were required to conduct series of
washings that separated them from the unclean things. These ritual washings
occurred at the brass laver, which was the first piece of furniture every priest
encountered when entering through the only passage into the tabernacle, a set of
curtains on the east side of the tent. The priests would wash
their hands and feet, wear specifically designed clothes, sprinkle sacrificial blood on

the altar, and maintain a continual awareness of God’s laws and instructions. In
Numbers 19 a special red heifer was burnt and its ashes sprinkled in clean water,
called a “water of separation” (vv. 20–21, KJV). The unclean priest was required to
be sprinkled with this water to remove his uncleanness. There were specially
marked levels of sanctity, as only the Israelites were permitted in the outer court,
the Levites and high priest only in the inner court, and the high priest alone was
permitted in the holy of holies. In the New Testament sanctification is imputed by
four different substances or methods. In Hebrews 13:12 we are sanctified by the
blood of Christ. In Ephesians 5:26 Paul informs us we are sanctified by the Word of
God. The act of sanctification is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit
according to Hebrews 10:29. At other times it is necessary to sanctify yourself by
separating yourself from the unclean things as admonished in 2 Corinthians 6:17.
One may inquire, “How can there be this many forms of sanctification?” The
answer is there are levels of sanctification connected with your levels of spiritual
growth and maturity. The first manifestation of sanctification is at the moment of
conversion when a person becomes a believer by receiving the redemptive covenant
through the blood of Christ. This sanctification is when God receives you as a fallen,
sinful being, and upon your confession of faith God “sets you apart” as a son or
daughter through the new covenant. This is an
instant work. Following our conversion, there is a progressive manifestation as we
are sanctified by the Word of God. The reason I call this progressive is that a person
can only be set apart from the works of the flesh or hidden sins when he or she has
knowledge from the Word that certain actions are sinful and need to be dealt with.
Even though a new believer experiences a love for God, that person often fights
certain attitudes and addictions in the flesh, and the Word of God must separate the
soul from the Spirit (Heb. 4:12), or the carnal from the spiritual. Sanctification by
the Holy Spirit is both instantaneous and progressive. Among the early believers in
the full gospel movement, if they struggled with anger, profanity, or a particular
habit, they would ask God in intense prayer to sanctify them by freeing them from
unclean habits or sinful desires, including a violent temper, cleaning up their
language, and their lifestyle. This sanctification wrought through divine power and
imparted by the Holy Spirit was at times instantaneous as the person was fully
aware when the transformation occurred as carnal desires were removed and
replaced by spiritual desires. It was also progressive in that the person must
continue to walk in his or her freedom. This is why Christ emphasized that we must
“abide” in Him (John 15:4, 6–7, 10). The word abide means to “continue to remain
in a certain place.” To remain free we must remain in Christ. Sanctifying yourself is
when you consistently live by the
Word of God and choose to lay aside every “weight and the sin” that so easily

weighs you down. In Hebrews 12:1 the word for “sin” is the common Greek word
meaning, “to miss the mark.” The Greek word for “weight” refers to something that
causes you to bend and bow under a load, slowing down your pace in the race. It is
any hindrance that causes distraction to your walk with God. Sins are named in the
Bible, but a weight could be a habit, carnal thoughts, or even people who continually
pull you away from prayer time and church. When we sanctify ourselves, we are
setting boundaries that protect us from outward forces attempting to make inward
assaults. The principle of the boundaries is found in Exodus 19:22–23:
“Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the
LORD break out against them.” But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot
come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the
mountain and consecrate it.’”
In this setting God was separating Moses from the common people in the camp, as
Moses was righteous and the people were very carnal. A boundary was set at the
base of Mount Sinai, and the commandment was for the people not to cross a certain
line. The New Testament sets spiritual and moral
bounds for believers, forbidding them from committing fornication, eating meat
sacrificed to idols, and worshipping idols—to name a few (Acts 15:29). The purpose
of sanctification is to give a person the strength and ability to set and follow the
boundary lines for your body, soul, and spirit of what you allow and what you
forbid. Certain negative actions, known or hidden sins, can actually defile the mind
and spirit of the one allowing sin to rule in his or her mortal body.
What Is Spiritual Defilement? The Hebrew word for “defile” means to “do
something physically, morally, or spiritually that makes you unholy or unclean,” in
both a ceremonial or moral sense. The Almighty took very seriously the desecration
of those things that were marked or set aside as holy. For example, there was a
divine order established for transporting the ark of the covenant, requiring four
priests. When this order was broken, Uzzah, who was not a priest, grabbed the ark
to steady it during its transportation on a oxcart and was struck dead for breaking
divine order (2 Sam. 6:3–7). When Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire on the
altar, both were slain, as only the coals and fire from the brass altar were permitted
to be used in the censers (Lev. 10:1). When King Uzziah infringed into the office of
the priests, offering his own incense on the golden altar, he did a right thing (offer
incense) in an unlawful manner (he was a king and not a priest)
and was smitten with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:18– 22). God always separated the clean
from the unclean: Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: “Do not drink wine or
intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of

meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that
you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.” —
LEVITICUS 10:8–10
The spiritual defilement of the body involves the sins of adultery, fornication, and
various dangerous and addictive habits. The soul defilements include unclean
thoughts, and the defilement of the Spirit includes bitterness, jealousy,
unforgiveness, and negative feelings and emotions. In the New Testament there are
five types of defilements: 1. The conscience
However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of
the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being
weak, is defiled.
—1 CORINTHIANS 8:7
The conscience is the inner voice of perception that speaks to us through our mind
and is used by the Holy Spirit to reveal when something is right or wrong. It is also
that gnawing sensation within, that feeling in the pit of your stomach you cannot
ignore that serves as an internal alarm when wrong or evil is present. If your
conscience says, “Don’t do this,” and you do it anyway, you defile the conscience as
you override the spiritual conviction from within. 2. The mind
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing
is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. —TITUS 1:15
Here the mind refers to the intellect, which reasons facts and processes information.
A pure mind means a pure conscience, but a defiled mind creates a defiled
conscience. The mind can either be all carnal, all spiritual, or a mix of both.
However, fleshly lust and sins will bring defilement to the mind. Eventually dwelling
on wrong thoughts can build a mental stronghold, which becomes difficult to
penetrate (2 Cor. 10:3–
6). 3. Bitterness in your spirit
Looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. —
HEBREWS 12:15
Bitterness begins as a root. The Greek word for “root” is rhiza and refers to a root
of a tree that goes down deep into the earth. Once a root is deep, the tree is firmly
established in its place. The Greek word for “bitterness” is pikria, and it paints the
imagery of a person whose bitterness is so deep that it shows on his or her facial
expressions.1 The root of bitterness produces the fruit of bitterness, and bitter

people are always unhappy people. Something tasting bitter is sharp, acidic, and
unpleasant. Bitter people spit distasteful and acidic words from their mouths, which
exposes their inner hostility. They are often sarcastic and critical and quite
unpleasant to be around. Bitterness will totally defile a believer from within,
producing sour fruit from without. 4. Defilement with women
These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are
the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. —REVELATION 14:4
When a single person commits fornication and a married person commits adultery,
they become spiritually defiled in body, mind, and spirit. Remaining faithful to your
marital engagement and covenant protects a man and woman from defilement of
their flesh and spirit. There is a special blessing in remaining undefiled in this area,
as seen in Revelation 14, when 144,000 Jewish men are sealed with God’s protective
seal during the tribulation. 5. Garments are defiled
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they
shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed
in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life. —
REVELATION 3:4–5
The word garments here is not natural clothes but is the
righteousness God imparts to believers who have been justified and delivered from
their sins, which is described as “white raiment” (Rev. 3:5, KJV; see also Rev. 19:8).
Outward and inward sin will place spots on your garments of righteousness and
defile your fellowship with God. Any form of these defilements brings spiritual
uncleanness and pollution. When a believer has been defiled, there is a sense of
grieving and vexation in his or her spirit as the Holy Spirit uses these emotions as a
fuel to spark a return back to righteousness.
The Secret Was in David’s Prayer in Psalm 51:6–12 Growing up there was a split
opinion as to whether sanctification was instantaneous or progressive. One
denomination taught sanctification as an instantaneous work and a second work of
grace, while another taught it as a progressive work, a work from God made
available as a person continued learning to walk in and act upon spiritual
knowledge. David was a man after God’s own heart, a true worshipper, and yet in
midlife he fell into a terrible series of sins—adultery and premeditated murder. In
Psalm 51:6–12 he writes a very moving, heartfelt psalm that holds the keys to a life
of cleansing. This passage reveals initial freedom, progressive freedom, and
continual freedom. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden
part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may
rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a
clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away
from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the
joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. —PSALM 51:6–12
It is one thing to receive a deliverance from sin, bondage, addiction, spiritual
weaknesses, and other hindrances, but it’s quite another thing to maintain that
freedom. If you bought a new car with a lifetime warranty, the car would still
require an oil change, new tires, bad lights replaced in the signals and headlights,
and occasional maintenance. Thus, we as believers must maintain all spiritual
blessings. David had sinned and was seeking for God’s cleansing and forgiveness
when he petitioned God to “purge me,” “hide my sins,” and to “blot out my
iniquities.” David, knowing that sin separated him from God’s presence, sought
earnestly for
spiritual forgiveness and restoration when he prayed for God not to take away His
presence from him and to restore the joy of his salvation. When believers walk in
freedom from sins, there is a consistent presence of God with them, and the joy of
the Lord becomes their strength (Neh. 8:10), enabling them to daily remain free and
rise above the pressure of temptation. To continually remain free David prayed,
“Restore a right spirit within me.” When seeking the grace of sanctification as an
inner force that separates you from unclean thoughts, words, or habits, the first
principle is to ask in prayer, which is what Christ did in John 17:15–17: “I do not
pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them
from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Notice that sanctification has a preserving
power, as Christ pointed out when He prayed to “keep them” from the evil one. The
Greek word for “keep” is tereo and means, “to keep an eye upon and guard from a
loss or injury.” God assists in preserving you through sanctification. By Christ
sanctifying Himself (v. 19), He provided the grace to bring the power of
sanctification to His followers. The “truth” is the foundation of sanctification (v. 17).
Paul wrote: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of
water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be
holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own
bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. —EPHESIANS 5:25–28
Years ago I heard the old-timers talk about “entire sanctification.” The noted verse

for this was 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV): And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the word wholly; in this verse the
Greek word means, “completely, or to complete to the end.” When Christ healed
certain individuals, the Gospel writer said they were made “whole.” There are
numerous Greek words translated as “whole” in the healing narratives of Christ.
The woman with an issue of blood touched Christ and was made whole (Matt. 9:20–
22). This word is sozo and has a wide variety of meanings, including being saved,
delivered, healed, protected, and made well. Sozo is the common word translated as
“saved” in the New Testament. Thus when someone is “saved by faith and grace in
Christ,” we are saying they have been forgiven,
delivered, and are in the process of being made whole or complete. When the man
with a withered hand was healed and made whole, the Greek word for “whole” in
this case is to be made well or made sound (Matt. 12:13). In Matthew 14:36, where
those who touched Christ’s garment were made “perfectly whole” (KJV), the Greek
word is diasozo. The Greek prefix dia in the front of sozo means, to “pass through,
across or over,” or in this case the process of passing though a healing. The will of
God is for sanctification for your body, your soul (mind), and your spirit. Truth is
found in the person of Christ and in the written Word of God. The word truth in
Greek is aletheia and conveys the thought of “unclosedness, or disclosure, meaning a
state of not being hidden or being evident.” People often say that “facts are truth,”
and basically this is correct—except in the spirit realm. For example, it is a fact that
the devil is a fallen angel and exists; however, Jesus said, “There is no truth in him”
(John 8:44). Christ is a fact—He is real and alive at this moment—and He is also
truth. At times it requires truth to conquer the fact, as Christ our truth has the
power to change the evidence against us and transform every negative situation. In
Christ’s ministry the truth (Christ) met the facts (the evil, sickness, and death—all
facts) and conquered the facts! It is fact that all men are born into sin, but when
Christ, who is truth, steps in, the truth defeats the fact and the sin nature is
defeated. It may be a fact that you are diagnosed with an
incurable disease, confirmed by X-rays and doctors’ reports. You are told not to
deny the facts. It is not faith to deny the facts; that would be presumption. It is,
however, possible to have the truth (Christ) enter into the situation and meet the
facts head-on and alter the facts, for Christ who is truth can overpower the facts,
making you whole—thus truth conquers the fact. The Word of God does not just
contain truth—it is truth, and God Himself confirms His Word with visible
evidence, called in the New Testament “signs and wonders, with . . . miracles” (Heb.
2:4). Asking God for the grace of sanctification is the first step. Then there must be a
willful choosing and willingness to separate yourself from places, people, or habits

that form unhealthy or spiritually dangerous ties to you. Just as in the Old
Testament there was a law of separating the clean and unclean, the profane and the
sacred, the sanctification process is not intended to make you live the life of a monk
in isolation, shielded from temptation because you never see a woman, or to cause a
wife to look and dress like a V ictorian housewife. Jesus did not pray for us to be
taken out of the world but to be preserved from evil while living in the world (John
17:15). The third process is to be continually in a state of cleansing and renewal.
Temptation is present on this earth, and believers cannot escape the presence of the
tempter. But believers can have power over the temptation.
The Man in the White Suit Many years ago a great revival
broke out in an Assembly of God church in Louisville, Kentucky, with the McDuff
brothers from Houston, Texas, and it continued for many weeks. As word of the
revival spread, one night a man in a white suit walked into the service to hear the
“good Gospel music.” Everyone in the church knew this man, as he sat down on the
front row. That night when the altar service was given, the man stepped out and
knelt down at the altar. The pastor knelt beside him and asked, “Would you like to
get born again?” With tears in his eyes, the old gentleman replied, “I really would.
Do you think that Jesus could save me to the point that He could take away all of my
cussing?” Pastor Rodgers answered, “God is going to save you tonight, and you will
not cuss again!” The man prayed and from that moment was a changed man. He
was Colonel Sanders, the founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. He was not
just seeking a born-again experience, but to the oldtimers, he was asking for
sanctification, which he did receive.2 My father was raised in McDowell County in
the coalfields of West V irginia, where in the late 1940s at times it looked somewhat
like the wild, wild West! Men were continually drunk on weekends, unfaithful to
their wives, and used profanity during normal conversations. When Dad’s brother
Morgan was converted in the great Coalfield Revival in the late 1940s, he ceased
from cursing, which amazed my father. Later, when my father was converted to
Christ, he noticed an immediate change in his conversation and his attitude. A peace
was with
him, and the hot temper was cooled by the living waters of the Holy Spirit flowing in
him (John 7:37–39). He had experienced the grace of sanctification. My father once
told me about a man who was a friend with his father, William Stone, named Grover
Hatfield (yes, of the Hatfield/ McCoy fame). Mr. Hatfield had a very hot temper (it
was in the DNA) and tended to be one whom you did not mess with when he was
angry. He could, as they would say, “cuss like a sailor or peel the paint off the wall
with his language.” On one occasion, Dad’s brother Morgan was hunting at night
and accidentally shot Hatfield’s cat in a tree. (Remember, a war started over a pig
years earlier.) Seeing eyes in the dark, they shot, and when the animal fell, it was the

Persian cat belonging to Grover Hatfield. The boys hunting with Morgan agreed
with him not to say anything for fear of Hatfield’s violent temper. Days later
someone found the cat and took it to Grover. Instead of cussing and making threats,
he said, “Well, boys, better find a place to give it a decent burial.” Morgan returned
home and told his family, “Something has happened to Hatfield. They say he got
saved. Man, he really got saved . . . he really did. He is a changed man!” That’s what
justification and sanctification will do! The Holy Spirit loves sanctification
JOHN OWEN
THE NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION AND GOSPEL HOLI-
NESS EXPLAINED.
Regeneration carried on by Sanctification — 1 Thess. v. 23, opened —
The God of peace the only author of sanctification and holiness — •
The necessity of a diligent inquiry into the nature of holiness
proved — Holiness peculiar to the gospel and its truth ; not dis-
cernible to the eye of carnal reason ; imperfectly understood by
believers themselves ; it passes over into eternity ; has a present
glory in it ; is all that God requires of us ; is promised to us —
Consistency of commands and promises; what regard should be
paid to both.
In the regeneration and conversion of God's elect,
which we liave before described, consists the second
part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the new crea-
tion. As in the former he prepared a natural body

for the Son of God, wherein he was to obey and suf-
fer according to his will ; so by this latter he prepares
him a mystical body, or members spiritually living,
by uniting them to him who is their head and their
life, Col. iii. 4. Nor does he only begin this work,
but he continues, preserves, and carries it on to per-
fection, in their sanctification ; the nature and effects
of which we are now to consider.
Our apostle, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians,
(chap. V.) having recommended many weighty evan-
gelical duties, closes all with a fervent prayer for
them, verse 23, "And the very God of peace sanc-
tify you wholly, and let your whole spirit, soul, and
body, be preserved blameless to the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ :" or, as I had rather read the
(219)
220 NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION
words, "And God himself, even the God of peace,
sanctify you throughout, that your whole spirit, soul,

and body, may be preserved blameless." The reason
hereof is, because all the graces and duties which he
had enjoined, belonged to their sanctification ; which
though their own duty, was not absolutely in their
own power, but was a work of God upon them;
therefore, that they might actually comply with his
3ommands, he prays that God would thus sanctify
them throughout. And that this shall be accomplished,
he assures them from the faithfulness of God, verse
.24, "Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do
it." Now as this assurance did not arise from any
thing peculiar to them, but from the faithfulness of
God it is equal with respect to all who are effec-
tually called : they shall all infallibly be sanctified
throughout, and preserved blameless to the coming
of Christ.
The author of this sanctification is here asserted to
oe God. He is the eternal spring and fountain of all
holiness ; there is none in any creature but what
2omes immediately from him ; and therefore it is so
emphatically expressed, (avroj 8b o ©sos,) even God
himself; if he does it not, no other can ; it must be
wrought by God himself. He does it of himself,
from his grace ; by himself, or his own power; for

himself, or his own glory: and that under this special
consideration, as he is "the God of peace."
This title is frequently ascribed to God by our
apostle, and he is said to sanctify us as the God of
peace, because it is a fruit and effect of that peace
with himself, which he has made for us by Jesus
Christ; for without respect to this reconciliation, he
would no more sanctify us than the fallen angels for
whom no peace or atonement was made. Further:
By the sanctification of our nature and persons, God
preserves that peace with himself in exercise ; for in
the duties and fruits thereof, consist all those actings
towards him which a state of peace and friendship
requires. It is holiness that keeps up a sense of
peace with God, and prevents those spiritual breaches
AND GOSPEL HOLINESS. 221"
which the remainders of our enmity would occasion.
And he is here said to sanctify us (oi».or«;>.«5) univer-
sally ; that is, our whole nature is the subject of this
work, and not any one faculty or part of it ; and it

shall be carried on to completeness and perfection.
Both these ideas are afterwards expressed ; for the
subject of this sanctification he makes to be our whole
nature, our entire spirits, souls and bodies; and the
end of the whole is, the preservation of us blameless
in the peace of God to the coming of Christ.
Sanctification, as here described, is the immediate
work of God by his Spirit upon our whole nature,
proceeding from the peace made for us by Jesus
Christ, whereby being changed into his likeness, we
are kept entirely in peace with God, and are pre-
served unblamable, or in a state of gracious accept-
ance with him to the end.
The nature of this work, and its effect, which is
our holiness, with the necessity of them both, must be
diligently considered. The importance of the truth
itself, and the opposition made to it, render this abso-
lutely necessary; indeed, our principal duty in this
world, is to know aright what it is to be holy, and to
be truly so.
One thing must be premised, to clear our discourse
from ambiguity, and that is, that there is a two-fold

sanctification spoken of .n Scripture : the first is com-
mon to persons and things, consisting in their peculiar
dedication or separation to the service of God by his
own appointment, which made them holy. Thus the
priests and Levites, the ark and altar, the tabernacle
and temple were sanctified. But the other is what we
now treat of, wherein this separation is not the first
thing done or intended, but an effect of it. This is
real and internal, by the communication of a princi-
ple of holiness.
The sanctification of the Spirit is peculiarly con-
nected with, and limited to the doctrine, truth, and
grace of the gospel ; for holiness is the implanting,
writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls.*
• Hence it is termed, Eph. iv. 24 ; oniorrji rrji aXtjOnai, « the holiness
of truth ;" — which the gospel ingenerates, and which consists in a con-
USa NATURE OF SANCTIFICATION
Thus our Saviour praying for his disciples, says,
" Sanctify them in (or by) thy truth, thy word is

truth," John xvii. 17; and he sanctified himself for
us, to be a sacrifice, that we might be sanctified in
the truth. This alone is that " truth which makes
us free ;" that is, from sin and the law, to righteous-
ness and holiness. It belongs neither to nature nor to
the law. Nature is wholly corrupt and contrary to
it. The law, indeed, for certain ends, was "given by
Moses," but all "grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ." There never was, nor is, nor ever will be
the least particle of holiness in the world, but what
flowing from Jesus Christ, is communicated by the
Spirit, according to the truth and promise of the gos-
pel. There may be something like it, as to outward
acts and effects ; something that wears its livery, that
is only the fruit of men's own endeavours in compli-
ance with their convictions ; but holiness it is not, nor
of the same nature, though men are very apt to de-
ceive themselves with it. Indeed there is nothing in
the whole mystery of godliness, which corrupt nature
does not labour to deprave, dishonour, and debase,
from the highest crown of it, which is the person of
Christ, " God manifested in the flesh," to the lowest
eff'ects of his grace. The Lord Christ in his whole per-
son, it would have to be but a mere man ; — in his
obedience and suffering, to be only an example; — in

Holy spirit alphabet vol. 5

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