BLJ: Today we consider the meaning of being crucified to self and faith for holiness. This is a serious walk and not for he faint hearted. Too many today are searching for a new "gospel," a soft "gospel," one that allows you to be a friend with the world and still saved. Thar approach is a false gospel and it will take you on the broad path of destruction.
CASHING IN ALL CLAIMS
Dr. A. M. Hills explains the deeper meaning of the crucified self, thus:
When we have thus given ourselves to God we are our own no longer. When the Israelite brought an offering, he surrendered all claims to it. So with the Christian consecrating for the blessing. He surrenders all claim to himself. Intellect, will, affections, desires, possessions, influence -- all are God's and are never again to be taken off the altar. [23]
BLJ: You must surrender all claims to yourself, your future, your money, your life, your purpose and place yourself in the hands of God.
UNFALTERING FAITH
In seeking heart holiness, faith must be involved all the way through. By faith we grasp the promise of a holy heart; by faith we seek; by faith we pay the price; by faith we receive. "...he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).
However, we must understand that real faith cannot possibly operate in bringing the final victory, unless first we are willing to take carnal self all the way to its execution. The late dear Bro. H. B. Huffman expressed it this way:
You told them to take it by faith, and it is faith. You can't get anywhere without faith. You can't get started without faith. You can put your head against that steel post and beat it 'till you are blind, and you can't get anywhere without faith. But I want to tell you, when you pay the full price, your faith, like a thermostat on the wall, will drop into position and you'll know you've got the Holy Ghost. Praise the Lord.
If, however, the Holy Spirit didn't purify your heart of its carnality -- then He did not sanctify you. Many seekers of holiness have been fooled into thinking they were sanctified holy just because God blessed them and they got happy, only to discover later that the Old Man was still on board.
BLJ: Once you have made an entire consecration, died to self, you are to exercise faith to be sanctified wholly. Holiness is a life of faith. However, you are not to act in presumption.
SELF MUST BE SACRIFICED FOR SPIRITUAL SUCCESS
Jesus made it clear that a corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die or it will abide alone (John 12:24). It is said when they opened King Tut's tomb they found a stone crock filled with wheat that had lain there entombed for thirty-three centuries, until the germ of life and fled. Can one imagine how much wheat there would be in the world if all of that wheat had been planted, and then all which it produced had been replanted, and the process carried on for thirty-three hundred years? There is no doubt but what there would be enough wheat in the world to cover every inch of ground several feet deep with wheat, if every harvest could have been totally replanted. Inconceivable! Incomprehensible! Yet this illustrates the deadness of a sham Christianity which is as far from the real thing as one's salvation today would be, if Christ had listened to Satan and had never gone to the cross. We all then, would be as far removed from eternal life as was the wheat in King Tut's tomb, from this present life. The wheat which was not planted became sterile, and the same thing happens to Christians when the germ of spiritual life has departed from them.
BLJ: The Christian that has died to self and been sanctified wholly will produce spiritual fruit.
CASHING IN ALL CLAIMS
Dr. A. M. Hills explains the deeper meaning of the crucified self, thus:
When we have thus given ourselves to God we are our own no longer. When the Israelite brought an offering, he surrendered all claims to it. So with the Christian consecrating for the blessing. He surrenders all claim to himself. Intellect, will, affections, desires, possessions, influence -- all are God's and are never again to be taken off the altar. [23]
BLJ: You must surrender all claims to yourself, your future, your money, your life, your purpose and place yourself in the hands of God.
UNFALTERING FAITH
In seeking heart holiness, faith must be involved all the way through. By faith we grasp the promise of a holy heart; by faith we seek; by faith we pay the price; by faith we receive. "...he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).
However, we must understand that real faith cannot possibly operate in bringing the final victory, unless first we are willing to take carnal self all the way to its execution. The late dear Bro. H. B. Huffman expressed it this way:
You told them to take it by faith, and it is faith. You can't get anywhere without faith. You can't get started without faith. You can put your head against that steel post and beat it 'till you are blind, and you can't get anywhere without faith. But I want to tell you, when you pay the full price, your faith, like a thermostat on the wall, will drop into position and you'll know you've got the Holy Ghost. Praise the Lord.
If, however, the Holy Spirit didn't purify your heart of its carnality -- then He did not sanctify you. Many seekers of holiness have been fooled into thinking they were sanctified holy just because God blessed them and they got happy, only to discover later that the Old Man was still on board.
BLJ: Once you have made an entire consecration, died to self, you are to exercise faith to be sanctified wholly. Holiness is a life of faith. However, you are not to act in presumption.
SELF MUST BE SACRIFICED FOR SPIRITUAL SUCCESS
Jesus made it clear that a corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die or it will abide alone (John 12:24). It is said when they opened King Tut's tomb they found a stone crock filled with wheat that had lain there entombed for thirty-three centuries, until the germ of life and fled. Can one imagine how much wheat there would be in the world if all of that wheat had been planted, and then all which it produced had been replanted, and the process carried on for thirty-three hundred years? There is no doubt but what there would be enough wheat in the world to cover every inch of ground several feet deep with wheat, if every harvest could have been totally replanted. Inconceivable! Incomprehensible! Yet this illustrates the deadness of a sham Christianity which is as far from the real thing as one's salvation today would be, if Christ had listened to Satan and had never gone to the cross. We all then, would be as far removed from eternal life as was the wheat in King Tut's tomb, from this present life. The wheat which was not planted became sterile, and the same thing happens to Christians when the germ of spiritual life has departed from them.
BLJ: The Christian that has died to self and been sanctified wholly will produce spiritual fruit.
The grains of wheat which failed to fall into the ground and die, as God had intended, became sterile. Sterility in a grain of wheat could be compared with apostasy in a human heart. Many poor, benighted humans have become spiritually sterile to the point where they can no more recover to spiritual life than the wheat from King Tut's tomb could grow if it were planted now.
God's humble souls who do not wish this apostate tragedy to happen to them, have made an all-out commitment to Christ such as the unknown author of this beautiful little verse apparently made.
"Reign over me, Lord Jesus! Oh, make my heart Thy throne! It shall be Thine forever!
It shall be Thine alone!"
Dear reader, please understand that merely mentally consenting to the crucifixion of carnal self does not guarantee that one will necessarily break through and become sanctified wholly, but it does open the door to the pure-heart experience and makes entrance possible.
BLJ: Mental affirmation will not bring you any benefit but a little false peace of mind. When the storms of life come, you will know if you don't have the real experience of holiness. Why wait? Pay the price and enter into the sweet land of Canaan.
No comments:
Post a Comment