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(Joh 17:22) And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
(2Th 2:13) But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
(2Th 2:14) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Jer 31:31) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
(Jer 31:32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
(Jer 31:33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(Jer 31:34) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
(Heb 8:10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
(Heb 10:7) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
(Heb 10:8) Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
(Heb 10:9) Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
(Heb 10:10) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
(Heb 10:11) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
(Heb 10:12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
(Heb 10:13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
(Heb 10:14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
(Heb 10:15) Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
(Heb 10:16) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
(Heb 10:17) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
(Heb 10:18) Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
(Heb 10:19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
(Heb 10:20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
(Col 3:1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
(Col 3:2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
(Col 3:3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
(Col 3:4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
(Mar 1:9) And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
(Mar 1:10) And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
(Mar 1:11) And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
(Mar 1:12) And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
(Luk 3:21) Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
(Luk 3:22) And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
(Joh 1:32) And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
(Joh 1:33) And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
(Heb 6:15) And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
(Heb 6:16) For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
(Heb 6:17) Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
(Heb 6:18) That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Mind The Little Things II Cont.
(1Pe 1:18) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
(1Pe 1:19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
(2Pe 1:3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
(2Pe 1:4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Type your paragraph here.
(1Co 6:9) Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
(1Co 6:10) Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(1Co 6:11) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
(Mar 8:22) And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
(Mar 8:23) And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
(Mar 8:24) And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
(Mar 8:25) After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
(Luk 1:35) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
(Mat 3:16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
(Mat 4:1) Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
(1Pe 5:10) But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
(Eph 3:14) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(Eph 3:15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
(Eph 3:16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
(Eph 3:17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
(Eph 3:18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(Eph 3:19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
(Eph 3:20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
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--were all partly right, but none of them were comprehending all aspects of an elephant in his entirety.
Sanctification is a doctrine that encompasses a broad field of thought. It should be observed that wherever and whenever there is a spiritual purging or a cleansing there IS a work of sanctification. Therefore, to be purged or cleansed from the guilt and the pollution and moral defilement of sinful practices is obviously a primary work of sanctification. “… Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified (cleansed), but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 6:9b – 11. The Holy Spirit applies the blood of Christ to the heart of a penitent sinner at the time of conversion, or regeneration, and the heart is thus cleansed (sanctified) from all pollution and defilement. But to have our innate tendencies toward carnal selfishness purged, and our nature fully refined and made to reflect the image of Christ requires a yet deeper work of sanctification by the Spirit. There is a difference in being primarily “born of the Spirit” and then, subsequently, “baptized” with the Spirit. Think about these words from D. S. Warner in an article titled, “Sanctified and Sanctified Wholly,” published in the November 1, 1886 issue of The Gospel Trumpet.
“… The fact is, regeneration constitutes everyone who receives it holy, or sanctified. These two words are all one in the original Greek, and in the German Testament. The first work, then, makes us holy, or sanctified. But the second makes us perfected in holiness, or entirely sanctified. …
“… The Corinthians are addressed as ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus,’ and yet declared to be in possession of carnality (1 Cor. 3:1-3), which constituted them in the babe state of the first grace. And they are admonished to ‘cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Cor. 7:1). Here those that were ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus’ are required to cleanse themselves entirely, and thereby perfect holiness, or be sanctified wholly. As nothing can be perfected until it first exists; so, to perfect holiness implies first the possession of that which is to be perfected. And the second work to the Corinthians was also a transformation from holiness begun to holiness perfected.
“… So, when men attempt to dispute sanctification as a second work, by the fact that the parties addressed in the epistles were already holy, and sanctified, just admit the fact, and then proceed to prove the second work as entire sanctification, or perfect holiness. The two works of grace are each a complete work, but both together perfect our holiness in the sight of God. Amen!”
In his early Christian life, D. S. Warner himself was a strong opponent of the doctrine of sanctification as a second work of grace. In his diary, he writes about the struggles he had and how the Lord led him to believe in and receive the experience of sanctification as a second work.
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On July 5, 1877, he wrote this: “… I strongly opposed their views, claiming that God does not do His work by piece meal, but that he made a full and complete finish of it at once. I attributed their second experience to the fact that, after conversion, we are weak infants and not able to carry into action the pure nature that God had given us until we grew to that degree of strength that we could successfully cope with outer temptation, and that holy nature given to us in regeneration would have reached a degree of development in strength that it would no more be under subjection to sin in the world around us. Thus, while I did not doubt the truthfulness of their testimony, I thought I comprehended the whole matter and saw the slight mistake, as I supposed, in the basis of their experience.”
[Note: The argument that “God does not do His work by piece meal” is still used by many sincere Christians today. However, it is without Biblical foundation. In Genesis, chapter one, we find that God established His original creation by piece meal, extending His work throughout a six-day process. In Mark 8:22-25 we find that Jesus administered two touches of healing power to restore a blind man’s sight to perfect clarity. God brought about “the dispensation of the fullness of times by establishing two covenants, the first being a school master leading up to the second, by which it was replaced. And, “by two immutable things” (His promise and His oath) God has given us “strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:15-18), etc.]
D. S. Warner continues:
“But God having led father and mother Keller [his wife’s parents] and the whole family into this glorious experience, with my dear companion [his wife, Sarah], I began to search the Scriptures anew to see if I might not be mistaken myself. I carefully reviewed my conversion and recollected that I only sought and asked of God pardon of my past sins and relief from guilt; that in ten years labor in which some 700 souls came to Christ I have never known one to seek for anything else but pardon for actual transgression, and it is a fact that we do not ask of God that which we have not apprehended the need of, and God does not give until we ask for a thing.
“… Since seeing every day the change on my dear wife, I thought I was beyond a doubt of this second work but, ah, the devil is rallying his forces against me. … My old arguments would come up and I had powerful temptations to settle back upon them and forever repudiate the second work.
“P.M. – We met at 2:30 and held meeting until nearly 5:00. Again, I labored at the altar. At night, after Bro. Burlission read a scripture lesson and talked some time on holiness, then we all bowed around the altar, but I could do nothing; all was dark. I came here fully believing in the second work of God in the soul but now, as I attempt to seek it, how thick the temptations of Satan come up before me! How all my old arguments and objections gathered like rubbish obstructing the light! Sometimes I was about to conclude that this is all foolishness. I was ashamed to bow at the altar and seek--
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--sanctification of ‘soul, body, and spirit’ after I had invited sinners to and labored with them at the same altar.
“July 6, 1877 – Arose early this morning and searched the scriptures and asked God for light. I noticed whenever I felt resigned to God and was willing to make any sacrifice to know the truth, I was strongly impressed to seek sanctification. This morn I was directed to 1 Pet. 5:10 and Eph. 3:14-20. Light is becoming brighter in the Word. Thank God!
“Met at 9:30 a.m. Time devoted to prayer, reading scripture and testifying to the saving power of Jesus. The foundation of faith was now becoming strong in me. I arose and read some portions of the Word and boldly declared my faith in the second work and that I was resting in the promises of God to my entire sanctification. Met again at 2:30 p.m., having spent most of the interval in searching my heart, and truly I found that it has not been as good as I before supposed. O how much self that has been in all my past labors. God of power, kill and cast out all self. I reviewed my observations of the past ten years labor. About 700 souls I have observed seeking salvation and I cannot recall any who did not definitely seek for justification from their past sins. It appears that the condemned sinner can think of nothing else and does not possess a capacity to grasp the idea that God is able to destroy all evil in depraved humanity. ‘God forgive my past sin and help me in the future to keep from sin,’ is about as great a blessing as the mind beclouded by guilt can conceive and ask for.
“With a still more deep and perfect consecration I again sought the blessing of perfect holiness. Glory to God, I was able to claim the blessing by faith ….
“July 7, 1877 – Today we fasted all day; met in the Bethel at 9:00 a.m. and held meeting until after 4:00 p.m. without intermission. This day I was the least conscious of a physical nature and my relations with a corporal world of any day in all my past life; seemed to be entirely unconscious of passing time; the spirit only seemed to live, stir, feel, and take cognizance. O glory to the God of wonders! Is this really but the footstool of God?
“… Thanks be to God, Bro. Dunbar came this evening; met at 7:45, but the Lord would not let either Bro. Dunbar nor Bro. Olwiler preach, so Bro. Burlison read and talked for God, using Hebrews 4. Mighty power filled the house, the altar was filled from one side of the house to the other; several of whom were seeking sanctification. Glory to God, this night He began to give me some of the evidences (besides my hitherto naked faith) that I had gotten out of the wilderness into Canaan. Jesus, my blessed Savior, just cut me off one bunch of the sweet grapes of this ‘land.’ O glory to God, once more I was a little child. I felt the blood of Jesus flowing through my entire ‘soul, body, and spirit.’ Heaven on earth! …
“July 8, 1877 – At 5:00 this morning a goodly number met in the Bethel for prayers. The Spirit was with us, and this is the confidence we have, that God heareth us and that we have the things we ask of the Father. Returned to Bro. Bell’s, ate a piece for--
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--breakfast, as we all felt that bodily wants were simple and few while the soul was so dearly fed with the bread of heaven. Met at 9:30 and, after many clear testimonies were given in for Jesus, Bro. Dunbar preached the Word of life with great power and sweetness: text, ‘For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.’ He read the first epistle to the Thessalonians, where this glorious second work is brought out so clear and forceable. My soul was never so wonderfully fed by the Gospel in any sermon I ever heard. O how sweet and glorious the Word of life came to my renovated heart! Glory to God forever!
“Mother, Sarah, and myself went to Bro Furman’s for dinner. Returned to the 2:00 o’clock meeting. Among many, many clear witnesses, I testified today to the blood that cleanses from all sin and also uncleanness of nature. The long altar was again crowded, and several found sanctification in the blood, some backsliders restored. God is wonderfully at work. All glory to His name.
“… At 6:00 p.m. we met again in the Bethel, after spending a long time in the closet with God. … I read the Word of the Lord concerning the duty of washing the saints’ feet. Then we proceeded to obey the Lord. God wonderfully blessed me in talking, but my soul leaped for joy as I saw the dear sanctified ones come promptly to the bench and joyfully obey Him whom they love. And they all realized how good it was to walk in simple obedience to Jesus. God wonderfully blessed them, as they all testified the next day. Many of them had never seen the holy ordinance of feet washing observed before. I now thank God that he led me to appoint this meeting, though I had feared that it was a mistake on my part. The Church of God [Winebrennerian] brethren had said that, if these holiness people would obey these lowly commands, then they would have confidence in them. Thank God, true holiness needs but to be tested to be proved genuine. …
“July 9, 1877 – Met a 9:30 a.m. … Sister Starr [of the Church of God (Winebrennerian)] from Blooming Grove met with us and bowed with tears at the altar and sought sanctification. Glory to God! I do pray the Almighty to strike her from all impurity within and all superfluity and vanity without and raise her up to bear witness to entire salvation in the Churches of God. O that God would indeed make her a star, reflecting the bright light of the Sun of righteousness! …
“July 10, 1877 – This morning had to miss prayer meeting in order to take Mother Keller and our dear Levilla [his young daughter] to the train, as they go to Upper Sandusky this morning. We will go by buggy at the close of meeting. Sister Bell and Sarah went to the country today to get berries. I wrote and prayed most of the forenoon at Bro. Bell’s. Then, feeling very empty and destitute of the stirrings of the Spirit, I sought God earnestly in secret and then started out to work for Him. Visited and prayed with two families, but still felt destitute of the Comforter. Met at 2:30 at the house of God. Several observed that I was being much tried. But I was eager to defeat the enemy of my soul by testifying to the sanctifying power of the blood of Jesus. I did so, declaring that the blood of Jesus had washed me from all sin. While talking, the Lord showed me that I had entered upon the path of perfect trust in Jesus and that, as faith was eternal and--
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--unchangeable, I had forever abandoned the ‘up and down’ road of feelings. I also (in an absent-minded manner) made this remark, i.e., ‘that I had been cheated out of the morning prayer meeting.’ But quick as thought, I see that I was wrong, for it was either complaining of or speaking lightly of God’s providence. This remark furnished a subject for meditation through the afternoon. I see how entirely loyal to God’s providence I now was. I felt that the above remark … was not only wrong, but could not be true, as I had given myself, all I have to God, surrendered all my ways, time, talent, means, influence, name, reputation, and everything with which I was connected: wife, child, friends, my destiny, all into the hands of God. I gloried in the blessed truth that no being in the whole universe could cheat me out of anything or do me the least harm. Glory to God forever! How happy I am in accepting all the will and providence of God. From the time of my testimony, I realized the glorious river of life flowing through my entire being. What a sweet sense of perfect purity filled my mind and heart! Holiness was written everywhere! My very body seemed sacred and pure, a temple for the holy God. Glory to the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus!”
D. S. Warner’s spirit was so enraptured by the sweetness and fullness of the Spirit’s anointing that came into his soul at that point of his life that he wanted to testify of it to everyone, especially his Church of God comrades. But in so doing he met with stiff opposition and persecution. We find these interesting comments in his personal diary, dated August 18, 1877:
“P.M., long talk with Brother Mitchell and Sister Shriner on sanctification. Brother M. talks reasonably; Sister S. is hostile to the blessed truth, but of course it is through ignorance. She thought I should leave the Church of God at once and not destroy it by my doctrine of holiness, having actual fears of holiness. Oh, I hope and pray to God to lead my dear brethren on to this heart-perfection. Would to God they understood this blessed full salvation! Nothing but wrong notions of perfect holiness or an evil spirit can oppose entire sanctification, as it does not in the least disturb or conflict with any doctrine of the church. It allows all that the Bible or any man attributes to regeneration. Instead of depreciating, it has greatly magnified justification.”
D. S. Warner’s embracing of this Bible doctrine, however, eventually led to his being condemned as a “heretic” by his fellow elders and expelled from their man-ruled organization which they called the Church of God, but not from the body of Christ, the real church of God. On September 29, 1877, he was summoned to appear before a committee of Elders of the so-called Church of God and answer to charges of heresy brought against him. In writing of that experience in his diary, he said, “… I came out with another perfect evidence that ‘the very God of peace had sanctified me wholly.’ I was entirely free from the least hard feelings against any of my brethren. Glory to God, I felt good toward them all. Looked upon their efforts to condemn me and the holiness cause as springing entirely from ignorance, sin within, and a blind zeal to protect the church. I went to my room a happy soul.”
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On October 1, 1877, the committee reported “charges sustained” against Elder D. S. Warner. But he knew from the beginning to Whom he was connected and to Whom he had committed his allegiance. As he later expressed in the verses of one of his songs:
“Who is my life but Christ alone? I seek no joy beside;
His love and peace flow in my soul An everlasting tide.
“Who is my hope but Christ in me, The hope of glory bright?
No one but Jesus set me free, He only is my light.
“What is the church but Christ alone? No other fold I need;
I live in Him the living vine, His Word my only creed.
“Who purchased me when lost in sin, But Christ, whose love I own?
O Lamb of God, my all is thine, I am no more my own.”
In the month of December, that same year, he felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to write his consecration out on paper and sign it before God. In his diary of December 13, 1877, he wrote as follows:
“The day was mild and fair; took a walk in the woods with God to commune. Thought much of the words of God, ‘I will make a covenant with you’ (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8; 10: 7-20). Here I read that this everlasting covenant related to the new dispensation and the apostle in Heb. 10 actually connects it with sanctification. I felt like entering more personally and formally into this covenant with the Almighty. …
“A covenant is an agreement of two parties in which both voluntarily bind themselves to fill certain conditions and receive certain benefits.
“God is the party of the first part of the contract and has bound Himself. (Heb. 8; Jer. 31.)
1.‘I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts.’
2.‘And I will be their God.’ (Jer. 31:33.)
3.They ‘shall know me from the least to the greatest.’
4.‘I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.’
5.‘Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.’
“O thou most high God, thou hast left this covenant in thy holy book, saying, ‘If any man will take hold of my covenant.’
“Now therefore, in holy fear and reverence, I present myself as the party of the second part and subscribe my name to the holy article of agreement, and following thy example, will here and now write down the conditions on my part.
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“1st. ‘They shall be my people.’ (Jer. 31:33.) Amen, Lord, I am forever thine.
The vow is past beyond repeal,
Now will I set the solemn seal.
“Lord, thou hast been true to thy covenant, though I have been most unfaithful and am now altogether unworthy to take hold of thy most gracious covenant. But knowing that Thou hast bound thyself in Thy own free offer to ‘be merciful to their unrighteousness,’ I take courage to approach Thee and would most earnestly beseech Thee to fulfill Thy wonderful offer to be my God, and I do most joyfully yield myself entirely to be Thine. Therefore, this soul which Thou hast made in thine own image is placed wholly in Thy hands; do with it as seemeth good. This mind shall think only for Thy glory and the promotion of Thy cause. This will is Thy will, oh God. The spirit within this body is now Thine; do with it as Thou wilt in life and death. This body is Thy temple forever. These hands only to work for Thee, these eyes to see the adorable works and Thy holy law. This tongue and these lips to speak only holiness unto the Lord. These ears to hear Thy voice alone. These feet to walk only in Thy ways. And all my being is now and forever Thine.
“This solemn covenant I make in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in fear and reverence in the year of our Lord 1877 and in the month of December 13.
“In signing my name to this solemn covenant, I am aware that I bind myself to live, act, speak, think, move, sit, stand up, lie down, eat, drink, hear, see, feel, and whatever I do all the days and nights of my life, to do all continually and exclusively to the glory of God. I must henceforth wear nothing but what honors God. I must have nothing in my possession or under my control but such things as I can consistently write upon, ‘holiness unto the Lord.’ The place where I live must be wholly dedicated to God. Every item of goods or property that is under my control is hereby conveyed fully over into the hands of God to be used by Him as He will and to be taken from my stewardship whenever the great Owner wishes to do so, and it is not my business at all. She whom I call my wife belongs forevermore to God; use her as thou wilt and where thou wilt, and leave her with me or take her from me, just as seemeth good to Thee and to Thy glory. Amen. Levilla Modest, whom we love as a dear child, bestowed upon us by Thy infinite goodness, is hereby returned to Thee. If thou wilt leave us to care for her and teach her of the true Father and Owner, we will do the best we can, by Thy aid, to make her profitable unto Thee. But, if Thou deemest us unfit to properly raise her, or wouldst have her in Thy more immediate presence, behold she is Thine, take her. Amen and amen.
“And now great and merciful Father, Thou to whom I belong with all that pertaineth to me and, Thou who art mine with all that pertains to Thy fullness and richness, all this offering which I have made would be but foolishness and waste of time were it not for what I have in Thee obtained to confirm the solemn contract; for were it not that Thou art my God, my promises would be but idle words. I could fulfill nothing which my mouth--
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--has uttered and my pen has written. But since Thou the Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and eternal God art mine, I have a thousandfold assurance that all shall be fulfilled through Thy fullness. My ignorance is fully supplied by Thy own infinite wisdom. My utter weakness and inability to preserve myself from sin is abundantly supplied by Thy omnipotence to Thy everlasting praise.
“Glory to Thy holy name! Though I have solemnly pledged all things to Thee, yet as Thou art my all in all, I have nothing to fear. Now, of Father, my God and Savior, I humbly pray Thee to so keep me that all my powers of soul, body, and spirit, my time, talents, will, influence, words, and works shall continually, exclusively and eternally glorify Thy holy name through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. Amen and amen.
“In covenant with the God of all grace and mercy, Who has become my salvation, my all, and whose I am forever, to the praise of His glory, Amen.
“Entered into by the direction of the Holy Spirit and signed this thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Seven,
Daniel Sidney Warner.
“I realized much strength by obeying the impressions of the Spirit in writing out the foregoing covenant. God seemed present as though I was making an agreement with a person whom I could see by my side.”
On January 1, 1878, he wrote:
“Praise God for the mercies of the past year. O I am so thankful that the old year witnessed the final death of the old man in me. And, for the first time, I enter upon the new year all ‘renewed’ in the ‘image of God.’ Glory to His name in the highest. I am redeemed and washed in the blood of the Lamb. O Canaan, sweet Canaan, surely here flow milk and honey! God is my everlasting all, my satisfying portion. O wonders of redeeming love! Can it be that through the precious blood of Christ I have ‘entered into the holiest’ and am forever shut in with God and dead to the world? O God, I feel that I stand in Thy holy presence. I tremble with awe and reverence. O my God and Redeemer, keep me all on Thy altar and in spotless purity lest I offend Thy holiness and die. O my God, I shall forever dwell with Thee, and through the riches of Thy boundless grace, my whole being – every thought, word, feeling, appetite, desire, wish, purpose, emotion and action; yea, my whole life shall be a continual offering to God in the flames of His love. Amen. Almighty, all-wise and ever-present God, fulfill this Thy pleasure in me. I am in Thy hands. Amen. Amen.”
On April 3, 1878, he wrote:
“God is daily giving me more of His great fullness and conforming me more and more to His glorious image. This is because I am earnestly endeavoring to consecrate more perfectly every moment of my time to Him and because I spend more time with God alone in the closet. I have on several occasions besought God to conform me more--
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perfectly to His nature, and without any particular emotions that might indicate the answer I claimed the desire of my heart and, by faith, thanked Father that He had granted my petitions. To the glory of God I can say that, as I went on my way, I found from hour to hour that, as my faith was, so was it meted out to me. Oh, how sweet it is to go to our heavenly Father for all our heart’s and soul’s need, and in the name of Jesus ask for it, rejoicing that we know we have the desire of our heart! Surely, ‘happy are the people that are in such a case; yea, happy are the people whose God is the Lord.’”
On April 14, 1878, he writes of conducting an evening service in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where he preached on “Salvation from Church – deliverance from all that is human and the reception of all that is of divine origin,” using 1 Pet. 1:18-19 and 2 Pet. 1:3-4 as his texts. He said, “The Lord blessed me and greatly awakened my own mind, and I think opened the eyes of others, to the importance of abandoning all human and party creeds, party names, party spirit, and party interests in order to maintain a life of perfect holiness, as well as the duty of returning to the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ in its entirety.”
These are the words of a man who truly obtained an experience of “entire sanctification!” D. S. Warner was a man who sought not the favor, the honor, or the approval of man, but rather the favor, approval, and presence of God. In spite of trials, tribulations, persecutions, distresses, and hardships unspeakable, he persevered and remained faithful to the covenant he made with God, and signed before God, until almost 18 years from the date he signed it, on December 12, 1895, the angels of God ushered his spirit to eternal rest, leaving a body well-worn and spent, at the age of 53 years, in service to the God he so dearly loved. In those short, last 18 years of his life, in which he enjoyed the experience of entire sanctification and reveled in God’s love, he accomplished more for God than most men could ever dream of accomplishing in many lifetimes! When I look at the volumes of articles he published in The Gospel Trumpet, plus the hundreds of songs, poems, and many tracts and books, I can but stand in awe and marvel at what God is able to do with a life that is so totally given over to Him! This wholly sanctified man is now resting from his labors and his works are following him, still bringing forth enduring fruit for all eternity.
Today, we are still reaping the fruits of what God did with just one man who so offered himself to his Maker. The inspiring words of hundreds of beautiful songs, that now bless and encourage our souls, were a part of the fruit of his covenant of entire sanctification to God and the “anointing” that came upon his heart and mind as a result of that. Think about these sacred words of one of the songs he wrote:
“Jesus has taken my load of sin, Such love no tongue can tell; [1st work of grace]
Then should I not resign to Him My life and all my will? [2nd work of grace]
“Reason and justice, my debt of love, Demand that I should be,
Body and spirit and all I have, Devoted, Lord, to Thee. [Rom. 12:1-2]
“We must be holy as He is pure [1 John 3:3], For this the Savior died;
Talents and time and all earthly store, To God be sanctified.
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“Holy, dear brethren, we must be holy, Living before the throne;
Self and possessions, All must be truly Given to God alone.”
– Evening Light Songs #273, verses 1, 3, 4, & chorus
C. E. Orr, who shared a room with D. S. Warner on a certain occasion, said that, when D. S. Warner would awake in the mornings and begin communing with God, such a sacred and holy Presence would pervade the room’s atmosphere that he dared not utter a word, and felt as though he could almost reach out and literally touch God. So “filled” and saturated was D. S. Warner with the Holy Spirit!
If people today would put as much effort into seeking God, truth, and entire sanctification as did D. S. Warner, if they would but die out to themselves and so lose themselves in God as he did; they too could enjoy the fullness of God in Holy Spirit baptism and anointing as he did. The “anti-cleansing heresy” of 1897 – 1898 was a step backward to the ignorance and darkness God had led D. S. Warner out of in 1877, twenty years before. Each repeated endeavor by professed Church of God people to revive that same “one work” contention that cropped up in 1897 has likewise been a step backward, not forward. Rather than a revelation of “new light,” it has proven to be a backsliding into “old darkness.” The “one work” theology has never been known to be productive of anything other than contention, division, and the loss of Holy Spirit anointing and power.
The operations of the Holy Spirit in the heart and life of a Christian are intended to extend far beyond being primarily “born of the Spirit.” “And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” 1 Cor. 12:6.
The operations of the Holy Spirit relative to believers are often difficult for thought and sometimes cannot be fully explained. They can only be understood and discerned through spiritual experience. As Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”John 3:8.
The body of Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). And yet, the same Holy Spirit that conceived His body in Mary’s womb descended from Heaven in the form of a dove and took full possession of His body following His baptism in water (see Matt. 3:16 – 4:1;Mark 1:9-12; Luke 3:21-22; 4:1; John 1:32-33). Likewise, the holy “seed” is conceived by the Spirit in the heart of a penitent sinner in the primary work of regeneration, when one becomes “born of the Spirit.” We sing the song that says, “I came to the Lord for release, When burdened with guilt and with sin; He cleansed me and gave me His peace, The Spirit to witness within.” – Evening Light Songs #67, verse 2. This is both scripturally accurate and in line with real spiritual experience. “… But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:15-16). This is the spiritual experience of “every one that is--
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born of the Spirit.” It is real and it brings a definite inward knowledge of and relationship with God.
So how, then, can it be that a believer can experience the receiving of the Holy Spirit in a distinct second work of grace? It is just as real, and as simply understood, as when Jesus Himself later received the same Holy Spirit that had conceived his body in the womb of Mary at the beginning. His conception in the womb by the Holy Spirit and His reception of the Holy Spirit as a divine anointing power from His Father were two distinct spiritual operations, although performed by the same Spirit. By Holy Spirit conception, Jesus was born the holy Son of God. By Holy Spirit reception, Jesus became “the Anointed One” – Christ, the Messiah.
Think about it! After the Spirit descended upon Him, the Spirit immediately led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil forty days. After that,“Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Luke 4:14). Then He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up and entered the synagogue on the sabbath day, “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:17-21.
The leading, the power, and the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord that came upon Jesus at this time of His life was an operation of the Holy Spirit that extended far beyond the operation that produced His embryo in the womb of the virgin, Mary. Likewise, when a born-again individual comes to the Lord in faith, in the depths of complete consecration, offering his/her body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, asking for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the very same Spirit that implanted the heavenly “seed” in the heart when he, or she, was born again comes, on this occasion, in His sanctifying fullness and takes possession of the “living sacrifice” – the “body” that is being offered to Him in sacred consecration. The hallowing presence of the Spirit that comes upon, and into, the believer at this time is just as real as it was when he, or she, was born of the Spirit. In the born-again experience, the Spirit witnessed “pardon” and “adoption” as a “son” of God. Now, the Spirit bears witness to the hallowedness of “entire sanctification” – His full possession of the “body” you offered to His service and control. He comes as a holy “anointing” oil that consumes the entire spirit, soul, and body. Since we are already sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ by regeneration, He has bequeathed us His glory through sanctification of the Spirit (John 17:22; 2 Thes. 2:13-14), that we might reign as kings and priests with him over sin, self, the flesh, and the devil, that we “might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75). This is only possible through the anointing and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. This is a sweet and heavenly spiritual experience!
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Let cloven tongues of holy fire Baptize each soul with pow’r;
Come, blessed Spirit, sanctify With Jesus’ blood this hour.
“Like a peaceful dove from the courts above
Let Thy sacred presence steal
O’er my trusting soul, taking full control,
As I here in meekness kneel.
“Oh, let thy glory, Lord, descend Upon my waiting soul;
Preserve me spotless to the end, And ev’ry whit made whole.
“I believe just now, as I humbly bow,
That the blood has been applied;
It is done, I know, for Thy Word is so –
I am wholly sanctified.”
– B. E. Warren, Truth in Song #79, verses 1 & 4, chorus 1 and chorus 2
This precious, hallowed anointing of the Holy Spirit has been a glorious reality for thousands of saints from the day of Pentecost until now, including me. Satan opposes it with everything he has because he knows what it does for God’s people. After recovering from the influence of Victor Orr’s error, my Uncle Egbert Allen confessed to me, “I’ve never seen anybody who opposed sanctification as a second work of grace who amounted to much in the kingdom of God.” Without having become fully dead to self and receiving the illumination that comes from the Spirit taking full control of our spirit, soul, body, and mind, we are always deficient in spiritual discernment, because we are human. Even Jesus, when He was in the flesh, needed the Holy Spirit to descend upon Him, and lead Him in all aspects of His earthly ministry so that He could truly be “Christ,” the Anointed One. If it was needful for Him to receive the Spirit’s anointing, how much more do we need it that we also might be His “anointed ones” and share His glory? It is because of the lack of this that we, as His professed followers, come short of His glory and fall out with one another. The glory that God gave Him, He also wants to give us through “sanctification of the Spirit,” that we all might be one as He and the Father are one. Think deeply about it!
“Hear Jesus praying for His people:
‘Sanctify them that they may be one.’
Oh, let His prayer in us be answered,
And all His will in our hearts be done.
“Let all contentions, names and parties
Be forsaken for the truth alone;
Let all the ransomed be united,
And no division among them known.
Chorus:
“He hath broken down the middle wall of partition,
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And in Him hath made us one;
He hath saved us from the sin of strife and division,
Through the precious cleansing blood of His dear Son.”
– C. W. Naylor, Truth in Song #130, verses 2, 4, & chorus.
Stated in a nutshell, “entire sanctification” is the cleansing from the root of all sin – selfishness. It is the grace that enables the Christian to love the Lord God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as their self. A fruitful Christian life is one that is “hid with Christ in God”(Col. 3:1-4)– buried with Christ in baptism – Holy Spirit baptism. Therefore, our life must be, as D. S. Warner said, “a continual offering to God in the flames of His love.” We must have that love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit to keep us continually cleansed from selfishness. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:14-15.“Herein is our love made perfect … because as he is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17 “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), and our “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Love consumes selfishness, which is carnality. This includes a perpetual cleansing – a perpetual sanctifying grace of the Spirit. “He sanctifies and keeps us snowy white, And fills our hearts with constant peace and love.” – D. S. Warner, Evening Light Songs #54, verse 3. We enter into this grace through consecration and a definite grasp of faith, but we maintain it by perpetually yielding our will “unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh”(2 Cor. 4:11).“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Gal. 5:16. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:13-14.
We must not put limits on the Spirit. Again, “there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (1 Cor. 12:6). Therefore, get “born of the Spirit,” then “be filled with the Spirit,” “live in the Spirit,” be “led by the Spirit,” and “walk in the Spirit.” Through the Spirit stay buried with Christ in baptism, stay dead to the flesh, STAY CLEANSED! The following song (which I understand originated among modern-day Anabaptists, by the way) expresses the faith of saints throughout 20 centuries in the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.
“Come Holy Fire”
“Come Holy Fire of love to my heart, Flames of Thy holiness sweetly impart;
Burning the dross with Thy fire of love, Kindle within me Thy flame from above.
All to the altar I gladly resign, Yielded I lay in Thy presence divine.
Lord, send the fire to sanctify me, Fashion my heart in the likeness of Thee.
“Come Holy Fire of blessing I plead, Send down Thy ocean of fullness indeed.
Visit my soul with Thy Heavenly Dove, Pour out Thy boundless resources of love.
Fill me and use me to witness for Thee, Perfect salvation and heart purity.
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“Come Holy Fire within me I pray, Stamp Thy own sweetness within me to stay.
Fill with Thy holy compassionate flame, Deeply engrave with the print of Thy Name.
Lord, by Thy love, I would ever be Thine, Walking each day in Thy presence divine.
Oh, make me constantly tender and true, Keeping the love of my Jesus in view.
Chorus:
“Send down the fire, my heart to refine, Fill with Thy fullness of love so Divine.”
– Mrs. Lena Martin, Heartland Hymns #164
Having felt the hand of God resting heavily upon me in the writing of this book, I now commit its contents into His hands, with a prayer that the information He has guided me by His Spirit to share will be an enlightenment to all who read. Amen.
– Harlan Sorrell -----February 2021
Author’s Contact Information:
Harlan Sorrell
244 County Road 274
Myrtle, MO 65778
Email: hsorrell@windstream.net
Phone: 417-938-4336
(1Co 3:1) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
(1Co 3:2) I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
(1Co 3:3) For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?