Even Your Sanctification: Refuse to be Sidetracked

REFUSE TO BE SIDETRACKED

"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering, into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Hebrews 4:1).

  Satan is enraged when Christians earnestly seek the experience of entire sanctification. He now vigorously beats a drum in hell to rally every demon possible, especially those adept with skills to sidetrack the earnest seeker. "Every evil force in the world," said Alva Turner, "is opposed to holiness, and every force in the world opposed to holiness is an evil force."

It is a huge mistake to assume that a promising good start is all that is necessary.

How often do those who have gone "forward" to a public altar, put themselves on "record" as a candidate for heart purity, offered apologies or asked for the prayers of the saints, conclude that they are thereby out of spiritual danger. How natural, with the warm flush of emotion, tears and relief to assume one's spiritual crisis is past. A good start is encouraging but read again these words:

"Lest... any of you should seem to come short of it."

Let us consider those who appeared to have started in obedience to the Lord but for one reason or another failed to go all the way through with the Lord.

SOME WHO CAME SHORT

Cain was rejected at the place of the altar (Gen. 4).

Lot's wife, having been escorted from the doomed city by angels and warned of them not to look back, nevertheless disobeyed and Divine judgment instantly fell (Gen. 19).

Israel with the fruits of Canaan in their hands as samples of the promised land rebelled; and at Kadesh God said, "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. Neither shall any of them that provoked me see it" (Numbers 14:29). (Note that Numbers 14 is the context of the scripture that heads this chapter).

King Saul rationalized the command of God, spared Amelek and their chief, Agag, and was rejected by the Lord to the sorrow of Samuel (1 Sam. 15).

A rich young ruler earnestly inquires of Jesus the reason for his spiritual lack. When Jesus tells him what he must do, the young man found the price too high and sorrowfully went away (Matt. 19).

Judas Iscariot, seated close to Jesus, experienced holy impressions, unlike any he had known before; yet left the hallowed place, became the willing tool of Satan and went to hell! (John 13).

When professors of religion who were once enlightened, who tasted of the heavenly gift , were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and who tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come deliberately fall away, spiritual wreckage is their certain fate. It becomes impossible for them to be renewed unto repentance. Such as these end on the scrap heap. What a serious warning (Heb. 6:4-6).

Here are a few Bible tragedies of persons whom Satan sidetracked and caused to fail God. The following will help to avoid such tragedies.