The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-18
HOLINESS TO THE LORD"
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duty was performed. After the oil of
conservation came the prayer of "swect
Incense which Moses burned upon the
golden altar. Notice where this was
offered, before the vail From the out
side the PRAYER of the believer must as
cend, the specific prayer that God will
perform His work, will purify the heart,
and send His spirit within it. The sacri-
flee was offered upon the altar, the hang
ings set up, the outer court enclosed, and
| even the ihandng Of the court gate
was set up $50 Moses finished the
work. Dear reader, even at this point
was that Tabernacle really and truly
holy? Was it actually changed one iota
so far as it's Inherent properties and
characteristics were concerned? or course
not The "pure candlestick' was no
purer, the fine gold no finer, the most
holy place was only place set apart for
the Lord. But as yet the Lord was not
the actual presence. God is omnipotent.
Oh, yes; but between that general pres
ence which pcrvades the universe and
the personal indwelling of the spirit lies
an infinite difference.
Now let the believer carefully review
the steps taken by himself up to this point.
We promise that he is and has been be-
lever in God since the day when he was
brought out OF Egypt, born again with II
strong hand and a mighty arm.
l. Having received Gods law, he de-
sires to have God dwell and abide with
him.
.. For that purpose he wills to prepare
tabernacle for his dwelling place. Not
n stationary temple, which must remain
in one place, but movable house that
will accompany him everywhere.
& KNOWING thnt this tnbprnucip DuSt
be holy, he carefully inspects every piece
of material to the best of his ability, and
lays them in order before the Lord, writ
ing on each the words ''Holiness to the
Lord.
t. He anoints each and all with the oil
of II solemn, irrevocable conservation,
sanctifying or setting them apart to the
Lord.
D. He offers the sweet incense of ear
nest prayer to God, IL prayer asking speci
fically for pure heart, TO be freed from
all actual and inbred sin, and to be filled
with the shekinah of the Holy Ghost.
6. He believes that he received that for
which he prays; or he exercises absolute
faith in the sacrifice already on the great
altar, believing fully that the blood of
Jesus Christ and the contents of the
laver, the water, of the word, cleanseth
him from all sin Gods all, not mans.
Z. Having done all this-no great
| amount of time is necessitated-he rever-
entity withdraws all shadow or semblance
of self, and, closingsthe hanging of the
outer door, stands waiting upon God. So
| he finishes the work. Then and not till
| then the cloud comes down. and the glory
of the Lord fills the tabernacle Wher-
ever he goes, that tabernacle is in his
| SOUL and the presence of God aEides with
| him.
Now, many seekers after holiness
stop with step number five. Everything
| is set before the Lord, and set apart to
| the Lord, and the conservation is made as
earnestly and rs completely as the united
energies of the soul can make it; and the
man becomes wholly the Lords. He has
| given himself to God; he means it and is
confident of the fact; but he is not holy.
! He is on the way but not yet arrived at
the terminus True, he feels happier than
he did; he cannot claim any such wonder
full power in his soul as he hears Others
| tell about; but he comforts himself with
the reflection that he is delivered from
| many of the grosser and more besettng
| sins that discounted him previously. But
ever and anon he has IL shadow between
| him an the sun. Some sneaking TRACE
| of inward wrath, or malice, or evil think.
| ing betrays itself. He struggles hard to
| keep it down, but in spite of everything
| the miserable old Amalekite will persist
| in waking up once in awhile, and gaining
n temporary advantage. He begins to
| dread that he will doubt his experience.
| He calls upon God to show him the trorl-
! BILE. He reviews and maintains his facts
the facts of his entire conservation to
God, Of his real hearts desire to serve
! God alone and to do His holy will, and
| his readiness to do anything for God as
soon as laid upon him. All TO no pur-
| pose. He cries out in agony, 80 Lord
Jesus, Thou knowest that | am wholly
the Lords. ] gave myself to thee all over
and all through, and | did mean it,; but
what is the matter? l am betrayed by
some hidden traces of inward sin. What
shall do? Thou knOwest that | cannot
eradicate these things. Thou must do it
for me; but come what will, | insist that
| am wholly thine So the prayer runs
again and again. Jesus said IL tree shall
he known by its fruits. Let u.s. therefore,
look for this mans trouble in his fruits
How does he testify, or offer the fruit of
the lips? First, we find him anxious to
avoid opposition, speaking of the matter
i'll general terms. He says, | believe in q
holiness that leads man to be wholly
the Lords, to give up every personal de-
sire as it arises and | live in Il state of
holy zeal continually You can't object
to that, can you? And then / believe in
the keeping power of Christ believe
that He is abundantly able to keep me, if
| only trust Him all the time. / believe
in giving Zip all doubtful things to God
and setting wide margin between good
and evil. believe in the power of the
blood of Jesus to cleanse from all sin
You can't object to that, can you? / be-
lieYe that the present moment Is all W.