SANCTIFICATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 120, 22 May 1900, Page 2

SANCTIFICATION.

The Rev. T. G. Chapman, of Mount Albert, occupied the pulpit of St. John's Wesleyan Church on Sunday morning. He based his sermon on Ist Thessalonians, 5, 23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God jour whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." It was an intensely spiritual sermon to believers, and must have been an inspiration to all who were present. During the course of his remarks Mr. Chapman said: "St. Paul in oiir text dwells upon the tripartite nature of man's body, soul and spirit. The Apostles showed that man possessed attributive powers. The body dealt, with the material world, the soul came into contact with the living- world, while the spirit led us to the higher heights —the spiritual world. Sanetification was a cardinal doctrine of Methodism. In the days of Wesley the development of spiritual life was needed, and Methodism attempted to fill the gap with signal success. The old-time class meeting had much to do with this. He was sorry to say that saintliness was never among Methodists to-day. What the world wanted was men with a hatred for sin and a passion for Godliness. What it wanted was sanctified men. Entire sanetification was infinitely hig-her than conversion. Conversion meant a turning away from sin. Sanetification -means a dedication of all we have and are to Christ's service. Many think that conversion is all that is required, but this is a mistake. We require not only to be purged from sin, but to be filled with all holiness. The Spaniards, when they held both sides of the Mediterranean, and looked out upon the ocean beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, inscribed upon their coins ne plus ultra (no more beyond). When Columbus made his j discoveries the ne was blotted out, and the inscription read "more beyond." In the Christian life there is more beyond. It is not God's will that we should remain in a vacillating state. We are in this position simply because we do not claim the blessings of God. If we dedicate ourselves to God He will sanctify. There is nothing needed so much in the world to-day as the second blessing. Sanetification is instantaneous, not gradual. Do not confuse the issues. We are speaking not of Christian perfection, but of sanetification. The moment body, soul and spirit are consecrated to God we are sanctified. "I cannot cleanse my heart but by believing Thee." All Christians have the Holy Spirit, but all are not filled. Before the valve is opened and the air admitted into the organ, the organist" is powerless. As the stops; are pulled out one by one the volume i of sound increases, and when all the stops are out and the organ is filled, as with a mighty rushing wind, when it is filled with the spirit, then we hear its mighty power. Have we pulled out all our stops? Have we let the breath of the spirit into every part of our being? This is what happened on the clay of Pentecost. Let us pray: "Pill me with Thy Spirit. We should leave the world better than we found it. We can only do this by the power of the Holy Ghost. When we are filled, then we are sanctified, and it is for us no drudgery to do work for our Master; we are never unwilling. Shall We live on the lowlands when the highlands are attainable? Shall we remain beggars when we might be rich in God's grace?"