Arizona republican., 1913-07-28
DIFFICULT DOCTRINE
 OF SANCTIFTCATION

it-choir preacher and all-Iike the ancient Tabernacle, should be held sacred to it's heavenly mission of
 visualizing God and exalting Him be- for a self-centered humanity.
 But sanctificasion has deeper meaning yet. It calls for a daily
 and hourly cleansing from sin. So
 Paul declares: Abstain from all ap- pearance of evil, and the very God
 of peace sanctify you wholly. And
 pray God your whole spirit and soul
 and body be preserved blameless unto | the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"
 Do you see the task then that
 sanctification sets before every saved
 man and woman? First, it calls us ! to be set apart for serVice-regenera 1 tion does that. Then We are to strive | for complete likeness to our Master ] growing in grace does that The two | meanings of the word l may illus 1 trate in this way. Most of us have
 attended an ordination of minister 1 to the work of the gospel. After 1 he has made his statement of belief
 and after he has been catechized to l the satisfaction of the council the l church votes to ordain him. The ! hands of the brethren are rested lightly upon his head while the pray 1 CT of conservation is offered But
 his life work he has not yet begun. ! He is simply set apart for it, consc- l crated to it. And that, my friends, l is sanctificatiOn in it's first meaning. | When we are saved We are thereby
 set apart to serve Jesus Christ in
 stead of ourselves. But that is only i the beginning. The life is to be i lived afterwards, just as the minister ] is to prosecute his task to which he l has formally dedicated himself. Some ! times minister after he is ordained 1 lays aside his work and enters some | other field, but sanctification that would be carried to it's completion i calls for a life of continuous effort 1 There is the beginning and there is the continuation Neither is com plete without the other
 i The steamship whose machinery is broken may be brought into port 1 and made fast to the dock She is safe but not sound. Repairs may 1 last d long time. Christ designs to
 make us both safe and sound Re generation gives the first, safety; sanctification gives the second, soundness''
 There is twofold secret of sane tfication which I would leave with you this morning. It is God who sanctifies. And the very God of peace anctify you" writes Paul. It is God, not we, ourselves. who has singled us out for Himself It is God. not we, ourselves. who holds us daily to the task of subduing the old man within. Sin dwells in a believer, but sin reigns in an un- believer" The power of Satan IS broken in us who are saved, but it vet remains to expeI him from the life. Through grace daily and hourly bestowed, our God is doing this thing
 As l journeyed along a familiar stream back east recently I noticed
 that there were here and there eddies that run counter to the general course
 of the current The river swept on
 with speed out in the middle but
 along the edges at different places
 discovered the eddies. Now regenera- ton has set the great Undercurrent of
 our lives flowing Godward. but who
 is not sadly conscious that there are
 crosscurrents which never yet have been caught up by the onward move ment of our saved life. To keep all the forces flowing GodWard, to keep the waters in the diVineIy appointed channel-Oh this is the task and the task which none but God is equal to.
 While in the country not long since a neighbor sent word down to the people of the ranch that he had more water than he needed. So we got in the machine with our friend and went with him to the east side of the ranch where he left the auto mobile, and stepping over to the canal, he maneuVered a little bit, and l noticed that the water changed it's course and soon began to overflow the farm. So far as 1 know he only removed the board that checked the flow of the water and left it free to go at right angles Water | follows the line of least resistance 1
 And so does the life of God in the !! believer. "Quench not the spirit" we | therefore read. Remove the obstacles | and the waters of His grace will roll | in upon the soul. SanctificatOn l proceeds along the line of least re- | slstance. Drummond was right: Men | must be brought to observe the right | attitude. To abide in Christ is to | he in right pOition.' Say not. T am | determined to be better" but rather | say. 'I am determined to be yielded | to God. who shall make me better | Say not, My temper shall not get ! away with me again. but rather say. |
 My life shall be surrendered to Christ, who shall control my temper. Say not, My tongue shall never wag again without my mastery but ra- ther say, "I have yielded to the Holy Spirit the control of my speech. Oh keep the life channel open and the God of peace shall sanctify-you as is His mission.
 The other secret with which we must deal if we would grow in the likeness of our Lord is the fact that while it is God who sanctifies he does it through the use of means; means which it is ours to furnish l Him, means without which the pass ing days leave us nothing improved means which every one among us from the youngest to the oldest may give to our Maker. Bible: ''Sancti-