Some Questions and Answers About Entire Sanctification Part 3

89. What are the fruits of conviction for the blessing of regeneration?

A renunciation of sin; a confession of sin; an honest regret for sin a turning from the vanities of the world a resolute seeking of God; a strong anxiety to do his will, and prayer for pardon and salvation.

90. What are the fruits of conviction for the blessing of perfect love?

Deep self-abasement and humility of spirit; self-renunciation and submission to God; self loathings, and hungerings and thirstings after righteousness; and a willingness to suffer any thing, be any thing, or do any thing to please God and obtain a pure heart.

Bishop Hedding says "Though the Christian does not feel guilty for this depravity, as he would do if he had voluntarily broken the law of God, yet he is often grieved, and afflicted, and reproved at a sight of this sinfulness of his nature." -- Sermon, before N. J. Con.

91. What are the usual exercises of mind in seeking holiness?

They are directly the reverse of what many suppose. The process is a humbling, sifting, searching, crucifying one. When the believer begins to pray for holiness, instead of receiving at once a baptism of sweet heavenly fire and glory, the soul begins to see more and more of its own vileness, deformity, and inward corruption. God makes to the soul a more clear and painful discovery of remaining impurity. The soul has no more depravity now than it had before, but is becoming more thoroughly acquainted with itself. It has now a clearer view of the tendency in itself to evil, and of the fact that it is shut up to the grace of God for help. Hence it is that, when a believer begins to pray for purity, he appears to himself to grow worse and worse. This spiritual poverty and crucifixion is sometimes very distressing, but in the nature of the case, is a necessary process. At this point there is much danger of getting discouraged, and giving up; here many fail at the very threshold of success. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." -- "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

92. In seeking holiness, is it important that prayer should be definite and discriminating?

All indefiniteness is in the way of seeking purity. We seldom get special blessings by indefinite prayers.

We have ample authority for definiteness in prayer. David, who longed for inward purity, prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." The Saviour prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth." The Apostle prays, 'The very God of peace sanctify you wholly," &c. These are specific prayers for the blessing of entire sanctification. Why should you not ask for the very blessing you need and desire? Why pray at random? When you want one thing of your fellow-men, you do not ask for another, nor for every thing. The very thing asked for is what you may expect to obtain. "If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him."

Dr. George Peck says "We must fix our attention upon this one object. This must be every thing to us. For the time, the hell we would be delivered from must be the hell of inbred sin; and the heaven we would obtain, the heaven of loving God alone." -- Christian Perfection, p. 414.