Can the witness of entire sanctification be retained without confession on suitable occasions?
It cannot. To retain perfect love requires continued obedience to all the will of God. Not to gratefully acknowledge his grace and work in us, is disobedience, and grieves his Holy Spirit. The united testimony of those clear in this experience has but one voice on this question.
1. Rev. William Bramwell says: "I think such a blessing can not be retained without professing it at every fit opportunity; for thus we glorify God, and with the mouth make confession unto salvation." Memoir.
2. Rev. John Fletcher lost this grace four or five times by not declaring it. Please note his testimony:
"My dear brethren and sisters: God is here I feel him in this place but I would hide my face in the dust, because I have been ashamed to declare what he hath done for me. For many years I have grieved his Spirit but I am deeply humbled, and he has again restored my soul. Last Wednesday evening he spoke to me by these words: 'Reckon yourselves therefore to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' I obeyed the voice of God; I now obey it; and I tell you all, to the praise of his love, I am free from sin. Yes, I rejoice to declare it, and to bear witness to the glory of his grace, that I am dead unto sin and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and King. I received this blessing four or five times before, but I lost it by not observing the order of God, who has told us, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." But the enemy offered his bait under various colors to keep ne from a PUBLIC DECLARATION of what my Lord had wrought.
"When I first received this grace, Satan bid me wait a while, till I saw more of the fruits. I resolved to do so but I soon began to doubt of the witness which before I had felt in my heart, and was in a little time sensible I had lost both.
"A second time, after receiving this salvation (with shame I confess it), I was kept from being a witness for my Lord, by the suggestion, 'Thou art a public character; the eyes of all are upon thee and if, as before, by any means thou lose the blessing, it will be a dishonor to heart holiness,' &c. I held my peace, and again forfeited the gift of God.
It cannot. To retain perfect love requires continued obedience to all the will of God. Not to gratefully acknowledge his grace and work in us, is disobedience, and grieves his Holy Spirit. The united testimony of those clear in this experience has but one voice on this question.
1. Rev. William Bramwell says: "I think such a blessing can not be retained without professing it at every fit opportunity; for thus we glorify God, and with the mouth make confession unto salvation." Memoir.
2. Rev. John Fletcher lost this grace four or five times by not declaring it. Please note his testimony:
"My dear brethren and sisters: God is here I feel him in this place but I would hide my face in the dust, because I have been ashamed to declare what he hath done for me. For many years I have grieved his Spirit but I am deeply humbled, and he has again restored my soul. Last Wednesday evening he spoke to me by these words: 'Reckon yourselves therefore to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' I obeyed the voice of God; I now obey it; and I tell you all, to the praise of his love, I am free from sin. Yes, I rejoice to declare it, and to bear witness to the glory of his grace, that I am dead unto sin and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and King. I received this blessing four or five times before, but I lost it by not observing the order of God, who has told us, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." But the enemy offered his bait under various colors to keep ne from a PUBLIC DECLARATION of what my Lord had wrought.
"When I first received this grace, Satan bid me wait a while, till I saw more of the fruits. I resolved to do so but I soon began to doubt of the witness which before I had felt in my heart, and was in a little time sensible I had lost both.
"A second time, after receiving this salvation (with shame I confess it), I was kept from being a witness for my Lord, by the suggestion, 'Thou art a public character; the eyes of all are upon thee and if, as before, by any means thou lose the blessing, it will be a dishonor to heart holiness,' &c. I held my peace, and again forfeited the gift of God.
"At another time I was prevailed upon to hide it by reasoning, HOW FEW EVEN OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD WILL RECEIVE THIS TESTIMONY! many of them supposing every transgression of the Adamic law is sin; and therefore if I profess myself to be free from sin, all these will give my profession the lie because I am not free in their sense; I am not free from ignorance, mistakes, and various infirmities. I will therefore enjoy what God hath wrought in me but I will not say I am perfect in love. Alas! I soon found again, 'He that hideth his Lord's talent, and improveth it not, from that unprofitable servant shall be taken away even what he hath.'
"Now, my brethren, you see my folly; I have confessed it in your presence and now I resolve before you all to confess my Master; I will confess him to all the world; and I will declare unto you, in the presence of the holy Trinity, I am now dead indeed unto sin." -- Journal of H. A. Rogers, pp. 134-137.
We have no cause to believe that Mr. Fletcher ever lost the blessing after this decided public profession.
It was at that time that the holy Fletcher said to Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, "Will you, my sister, be one who shall spread the sacred flame? Come, my friend, I will covenant with you; we will join to magnify the Lord, and bear our TESTIMONY before men and angels. Will you? Mrs. Rogers replied with flowing tears, "In the strength of Jesus, I will." And she did, in public and in private, until her soul took its departure for heaven.
3. "Experience shows (says Dr. D. A. Whedon) that the simple neglect of this duty is the point at which loss commences and if the neglect be continued, the results are most disastrous to the soul concerned." -- Letter in N. C. Advocate.
4. When Lady Maxwell was first sanctified she put off a public profession: as a result she lost her evidence of purity, and became perplexed with doubts for a season. She was led to see that her doubts were occasioned by her not humbly declaring what God had done for her soul, and she ever after stood as a faithful witness of full salvation. Her biographer says "She was constrained to bear her steady, decided, consistent testimony that the bitter root of sin was destroyed."
5. Mrs. Phoebe Palmer says: "Now, though I well know that this blessing is the gift of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, yet I fully believe if I had not yielded to my convictions relative to confession, I could not have retained it."
6. Rev. Asa Kent, late of the Providence Conference, says: "I have reason to believe, fifty-six years ago this month, the Lord took full possession of my heart, and filled me with pure love." He further adds: "It seemed too much for such a worm to confess, and I WAITED to see if the blessing remained; in this severe I lost the witness." Then he says: "For seven years I had severe temptations and conflicts with the powers of darkness. After this seven years of wilderness life, the Lord renewed the assurance of his love in my heart, far beyond all I had ever known before." -- Letter in "Guide."
"Now, my brethren, you see my folly; I have confessed it in your presence and now I resolve before you all to confess my Master; I will confess him to all the world; and I will declare unto you, in the presence of the holy Trinity, I am now dead indeed unto sin." -- Journal of H. A. Rogers, pp. 134-137.
We have no cause to believe that Mr. Fletcher ever lost the blessing after this decided public profession.
It was at that time that the holy Fletcher said to Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, "Will you, my sister, be one who shall spread the sacred flame? Come, my friend, I will covenant with you; we will join to magnify the Lord, and bear our TESTIMONY before men and angels. Will you? Mrs. Rogers replied with flowing tears, "In the strength of Jesus, I will." And she did, in public and in private, until her soul took its departure for heaven.
3. "Experience shows (says Dr. D. A. Whedon) that the simple neglect of this duty is the point at which loss commences and if the neglect be continued, the results are most disastrous to the soul concerned." -- Letter in N. C. Advocate.
4. When Lady Maxwell was first sanctified she put off a public profession: as a result she lost her evidence of purity, and became perplexed with doubts for a season. She was led to see that her doubts were occasioned by her not humbly declaring what God had done for her soul, and she ever after stood as a faithful witness of full salvation. Her biographer says "She was constrained to bear her steady, decided, consistent testimony that the bitter root of sin was destroyed."
5. Mrs. Phoebe Palmer says: "Now, though I well know that this blessing is the gift of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, yet I fully believe if I had not yielded to my convictions relative to confession, I could not have retained it."
6. Rev. Asa Kent, late of the Providence Conference, says: "I have reason to believe, fifty-six years ago this month, the Lord took full possession of my heart, and filled me with pure love." He further adds: "It seemed too much for such a worm to confess, and I WAITED to see if the blessing remained; in this severe I lost the witness." Then he says: "For seven years I had severe temptations and conflicts with the powers of darkness. After this seven years of wilderness life, the Lord renewed the assurance of his love in my heart, far beyond all I had ever known before." -- Letter in "Guide."
7. Rev. B. W. Gorham says: "I have found that if I would remain clear in my witness of perfect love, I must be specific in my testimony in the sober use of Scripture terms I must testify explicitly of what the Lord has done for me."
When, from any cause, our testimony is withheld, we having opportunity to acknowledge the grace and power of God, the Spirit is grieved, and we suffer loss; the witness becomes faint and blurred, and our experience becomes indefinite and doubtful. Those who withhold their testimony soon reach a condition where a truthful confession of perfect love is impossible.
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