Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-11-06
METHODIST PULPIT.
The Rev. T.J. Wheat's Sermon
on SanctificatiOn.

Thes. 5:2S. "The God OF peace himselfsanctify
you wholly; and may the whole of you, the
spirit, the soul and tho body-which is the lit
eral-be preserved blameless unto the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christi
DR.. Ryder, in his reply to Robert
G.. Ingersoll, said: 81 wish two things
to be understood. First, that my con-
trovfrsy is not with the man, but
with his address and, secondly, that
he has the same right to advocate his
views as / have to advocate mine"
| am glad that the time has come
when men can differ from eacI, other
i'll the same spirit that they agree in
other things, and when iG is recog-
niZed as a fact, that mans heart
may be better than his theory; hence,
we now often consider mans
thoughts apart from the thinker. |
am much gratified to see the deep in-
terest which is now being taken in
the subject of"cntire sanctitication."
1t is not only the popular theme here,
but in many other cities also. II is
really the great theme of the day!
am glad of this agitation; like any
thing better than stagnatIOn. | think
sadly of the alleged fact, that there
has not been Il conversion in Mexico
for over twelve months. Why is this!
Were we not "created in Christ Jesus
unto good works ?H All, does not the
cause exist in the apology made by
prOfcssed christians for the cOntinu-
ance of sin -? Meetings have been held
i'll the past some have been awaken
ed under the presentation of the ter
rIble punishment awaiting the sim
ner: they renowned their sins aud
made confession of faith i'll the Lord
Jesus Christ; but they are now told
that mo man can be saved from all
sin in this life" "a christian does
not sin habitually as he formerly did"
| submit that this brings the influence
and privileges of the heavenly birth
very low y converted man then is
just Il little less sinner than he was
before. This is a fair statement of the
teaching! Now, | ask in all candOr,
How much sin may we be saved from
i'll this life! Something must be as
certaincd on This subject: First, that
the soul may have some determinatc
object III view. Second. that it MAY
not lose its time, or employ its faith
and energy III praying for what is i'm
possible to be attained-Scripture
rule. Christ was manifest to take
away our sins, to destroy the works
of the devil, and His blood cIeanseth
from all sin. Is it not evident from
these that believers in Christ shall be
saved from all sin? How strangely
warped and blinded bv prejudice a
man HIust be who, in the lace Of such
evidence and from such a source, viii
still j.It.a a m. nj n fni N hat
be saved from sin in this life. II the
teaching of some IS to be adopted. we
will have to change the verbage of the
book, and instead of saving 'iic thai
is born of God doth not commit sin, >;
we will have it read, "IIe that is born
OF God doth not sin rs much as he
formerly did ~ \ certain PhVsiOg-
nomist came into IL place where Soc
rates was lecturing. His pupils want
ing to put his science TO the test. de
sired him TO examine the face OF their
master and say what his character
was. After fully reviewing the Phi
losopher's vi>agc, he pronounced him
''One OF the most gluttonOu~. drunk
ell, brutal, and libciOus m"n he had
ever met a the character of Soc
rates was the reverse Of all this, his
disciples began TO insult the phvsiog-
n0mist. Socrates intcrferred and said:
The principles of his science NAV
be very correct, for such | was but
have conquered il by philosophy" :"
Oh, ye christian diyines Ie real or
prctcnacd ministers of the glorious
gospel of God, will We allow the
influence of divine grace swav less
extensive than the philosophy of a
heathen who never heard of the true
God? This pleading for sin on the
part of God, : protessed hosts, j. what
has removed us from the spiritual
climate of true delight far out into
the trigid zone. All, there is an aib-
solute polarization coming on some
churches as we shall show YOU, ere
we close, from authentic statistics.
FIRST, the philology OF the word.
/ Our text tells us that God will sane
tify us wholly, i.e., the whole man.
Much has been said recently on the
meaning of the word "sanctify."
Many novel things have been said
and many that We're unwise To look
over the efforts otsOmc, and see how
the common meaning is made to fill
the pla,e of the specific meaning,
''No iaAi pi'OA vi ~ St'i ldEh pI IbI,llD-
| logical Investigation. Most words
| have two or more meanings The
word sanctify has common meaning
and specific meaning. The common
meaning of the word sanctify is "to
set apart from Il common to Il sacred
use.' The specific meaning when ap-
piled to man in connection with his
salvation is "TO make pure or holy."
The rule for Scripture Interpretation
Is, mo meaning can be admitted from
an apparently parallel passag" il that
meaning is Inconsistent with the con-
text, or with the reasoning of the au-
thor" Hence, we cannot take this
word when applied to days. or ami
mails, or things such as altars and
fields, and find its true meaning when
used i'll connection with the salvation
of man. In our text the word j. used
in the specific sense of making holy,
tor the apostle in the context was
talking of them "abstainiug from all
appearance of evil" and after telling
that God would purify them, he adds:
"talthful Is He that callcth YOU, who
also will do it." The comment in
Lange's Commentary on this text, is
as follows: "Thc spirit Of man is
sanctificd when Gods spirit dwells in
it and rules it " In the Comprehcn-
sive Commentary Baptist cdition),
the comment says: "Wholly in all
parts of your nature, spirit, soul and
body. 1t signifies the whole frame of
nature allotted to you" But what say
photographers and critics as to the
meaning of the word 'sanctify p The
Bib.e Commentary, a profound work
the comment on Exodus 9, 10, IL
says: Sanctify them.'' "The injunc-
tion involves bodily publication, and
undoubtedly, also, spiritual prepara-
ton" Lev. 8: IL, II. "The pouring
of oil wUs means of grace to the de-
vout worshiper. The oil poured up
on them.was a recognition of this fact,
and at The same time it made them
| holy" The eminent De. Wa'-vol,
1. p.-1l5 and 116-guotes the same
"Sanctify them;" and says, sit meant
TO wash them ii. e., for puritication).''
He quotes, Second Sam. 11:l4: Bath
sheba was purified;" and says, the
original is twas sancified from her
uncleanliness." He quotes, Lev. 2I:8,
IS; in answer to which, he distin-
guished between the visible sanctifi-
cation, and the invisible. "They APP
peared," says he, "to be already sane.