The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-11-05

| you to salvation through sanctilication-
of the spirit and belief Of the Truth;
whereunto he called you by our Cos
pei. to the obtaining Of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ I'll Thessalonians
ii, Is. Id. Note from these words that
the call of the Church is the special
feature of this present Gospel Age and
! its message. Note also that our call
| is not to SectarianiSrn, but to heart
relationship with the Lord through Il
belief of the Truth and proportion
ate getting rid of error. And this en-
lightenment through the Truth pro-
crosses in proportion TO our sanctitica-
ton of spirit-of thought, of word, OF
deed.
Note again the same Apostles expla
nation of the matter. He says that he
addresses them that are sanctifed in
/ Christ Jesus (who were) called to be
saints. and he explains that while they
had been sinners, children of wrath.
! even as Others" they had been cleans
ed by faith through acceptance of the
! finished work of Christ on our behalf.
"Ye are washed. We are sanctifed. ye
are justified in the name of the Lord
| Corinthians vi. III. The same st. Paul,
addressing the Ephesian brethren. says.
81 commend you to God. and to the
| Word of his grace. which is able to
build you up. and to give you an in
heritance among all them that are
sanctified" (Acts Xxx. 32,. Note here
that it is only the sanctified of the
present age that are to get the inherit
ance that is now offered-the heavenly
! inheritance with our Lord Jesus. a
share with him in his heavenly King
dom. Note also how the Apostle here
again lays emphasis upon the Scrip
! lures as containing the power which
setting apart to the Lords service. but
which will strengthen us in thought
and word and deed to do his good
pleasure, to maintain our sanctifed
relationship with him through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Elected Through Sanctification.
st. Peter q Peter i, 2, explains to us
| that Gods election of the members Of
the Church from amongst the world
during the present age is along the line
Of sanctitication. He elects that all
those who shall accept his favor to the
extent of sanctification in the trying
, conditions of the present time shall be
joint-heirs with our Lord and Redeem
er in his Millennial Kingdom. The
Apostles words are. ELECT according
to the foreknowledge of God the Fa-
Their. through Sanctification of the Spir-
, it. unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ" q Peter i.
q. Here we have the matter Succinct-
I ly stated-faith in the blood of Jesus
is essential as the first step in the way
to God. NO man cometh unto the Fa
ther but by me-" said our Lord. Then
our way must be through sanctitication
of the Spirit. of the will. the setting
apart Of our hearts from earthly am
billions and pleasures to heavenly ones
-deadnesS TO the world and a liveness
toward God. This work of grace must
progress day by day.
Our sanctifcation is not merely for
the beginning Of our Christian expert
ence. but to be the very essence Of our
lives thereafter. The trials and test
ings of life from the world, the flesh
and the devil will serve to demonstrate
the thoroughness of our sanctification.
God, however. is not seeking to prove
whether or not we are perfect in the
flesh. for he knows and informs us that
we are imperfect He does. however.
desire to prove that our conservation.
our sanctiticat ton. our setting apart Of
ourselves to be faithful to the Lord ut
any and every cost is not merely a
passing whim or fancy, but by con-
tinual Instructions of his Word by the
inspirations of his Promises. BY the
testings of his disciplines he would
fix indelibly. unalterably. this decision
of ours to be entirely his in thought.
in word, in deed-even unto death.
"Copies of His Son."
st. Paul, consistently with his state
ments already quoted. wrote to the
Christians at Rome respecting Gods
foreknowedge and predestination of
the Elect Church. saying. Whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed TO the image of his
Son. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren" (Romans viii,
29,. Our Heavenly Father decreed
that no one might be member of this
elect Church except Sanctified ones.
And these must be tested before final
approval. Their Lord, their Redeemer.
having been a saint fully consecrated
to the Fathers will. these called. cho-
sen and faithful followers will likewise
be saints and, in this respect. the Apos-
tie declares. they will be copies of
their Redeemer. and he will be an
Elder Brother amongst them. when
they shall share his glory in his King
dom.
Notice the harmony of all this with
our text, Both he that sanctifieth (our
Lord .Jesusl and they that are sancti-
fed this elect church, are all Of one
(of one spirit of loyalty to the Father
and his righteousness-and baptized by
the one spirit into the one Body. of
which Christ is the Head. For this
cause he Che glorifed Redeemer) is
not ashamed to call these sanctified
ones. finally tested. his brethren on
the highest plane Of nature-his own.
the Divine nature in glory. honor and