The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1912-06-21

lESEsA the teachings OF
OK He his word. II robs
the Christian Of "A
great deal OF present comfort. too, for
every true believer on Jesus Christ
is a saint, and becomes such the mo-
ment he so believes. saint" is the
substantive Of the verb Ito sanctify,"
a word of two meanings.
What sanetlfy Means.
To "sanctify" means. first, 10 set
apart a thing or person for holy
use. II | 1.-THE my income. and set
aside one dollar out OF every ten for
Gods service, that dollar is sanctinod
in the instant OF its being set aside,
and If II were "A person IL might be
called a saint.
Again "sanctify" means TO make
thing intrinsically clean. The dollar
set aside is much soiled, and after
setting II aside send II 10 bank.
note company, which puts 1t through
a process OF cleansing by means OF
which II comes back 10 me almost as
fresh and crisp as when it was first
put into circulation. II is now sane.
tilted in n second sense. This two.
fold transaction represents saintship.
For example. the moment n man
takes Jesus Christ by faith 10 be his
Savior he is set apart by God and for
God, and becomes a saint. But in
that same moment he enters upon
process, or rather process enters
upon or within him. II is "a process
of cleansing. The operator Ia the
Holy Spirit, who takes up his abode
in him. and the means he uses is the
Word OF God. "Now are ye clean"
said Jesus, through the word ! have
spoken unto you"
SanctifcatiOn in the first case pretty
nearly agrees with justification. which
is instantaneous, but in the second
case IL is continuous and progressive
as the Christian yields himself TO the
Holy Spirit, and admits the Word OF
God into his heart and life
We now reach the consideration OF
what think is the deepest truth re-
vealed I'm the Bible, for the apostle is
addressing not only the saints which
are at Ephesus, but also the faithful
in Christ Jesus" In other words,
there are saints and there are faith
full saints, the latter being those who
are ia the experience OF the process
just referred TO.
Notice the proposition in" What
a small word It is, and yet when II
IS used as here, 10 indicate the rela-
tion between Christ and the believer
on Christ, Il becomes one OF the most
important words I'm the Bible. How
can one be said TO be in Jesus Christ?
The answer Is, just as "A member OF
my body can be said 10 be In me.
Christ is represented as the head OF
the body, the church, and believers on
him are members Of that body. The
relationship thus is not merely gov
ernmental, but vital.
Faithful In Christ Jesus"
This suggests what it means 10 be
faithful in Christ Jesus" My eye, or
ear, or tongue, or hand, or foot, Is
faithful in me as II surrenders itself
TO my will, and obeys my behests This
is what Paul teaches when In Romans
he exhorts Christians TO present their
bodies unto God as living sacrifice. F.
Ny members should be faithful IN me
because / live and express myself
through them. and for this same rea-
son Christians need 10 be faithful in .
Christ. else how shall he be known
and maintained In the earth?
Here is a lesson for our home life, .
our social Efe and our business llfo
as well. Everyone who knows
Christ should be able 20 say with the .
apostle, For me to live IS s,for Christ .
20 live"
The chapter now goes on 10 speak
has In Christ az member of his
body. All the blessings OF the head
belong 70 the members. In Christ
tl1y are chosen. redeemed, inherited
and sealed.
The teaching Is not only that they
have an Inheritance In God through
Jesus Christ, but that God has an In.
hcritance In them. And this inhcri-
tance he has made sure 10 himself
and 20 them by giving them his Holy .
Spirit 20 dwell within them as the
seal Of his ownership until tho re-
demption OF the purchased possession
-. e.. the resurrection and glorihca-
tion Of their bodies.
lie who trusts IN Christ need not
fear for his ultimate salvation, and
need not doubt the promise Of glory
But the question arises Have you yet
-Usted in Christ? The Christ OF thf
ible. I mean, not some ideal Chris
uch as many are talking about H
.lese days