Sermon delivered by the Rev. J. H. Weber, in the Methodist church, at the city of Adrian.
In 1 Thess. v. 23, 24, you will read these words, "And the very God of peace sanctify youwholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto thecoming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
Now, I am sure there is not a person in this congregation this morning but that will admitthat Adam and Eve, who were created in the image of God, were perfect. And as Adam and Evewere perfect, God used to come down in the garden and walk with them, talk with them, communewith them; and there they enjoyed His favors and His smiles. But the time came when the serpentcame in the garden. God had said, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of thetree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatestthereof, thou shalt surely die." So this serpent, me old, devil, injected within the first parents thedesire for the Tree of Life; for he said, "You know that when you eat thereof, that you will becomeas God, wise." So the tempter tempted Eve until she ate, and she gave to her husband; and afterthey had sinned, transgressed God's law, God came down for His usual walk in the garden, tocommune with them, and He looked around and He found no Adam there. And then He called out,."Adam," and He found him away yonder in the bushes. And the Lord said, "What are you doinghere, Adam?" Well, yes-he began to make excuses. Don't you know that just as soon as a man sinshe becomes a sneak? It is wonderful how sneakish sin makes us. Holiness makes men as bold as alion.. So they were driven out of the garden, and man became a sinner. Oh, I am so glad that theseed of woman has bruised the serpent's head, and that if we will we can be perfect with God.
Now, turn in your Bibles and we will read some of the words of me Lord. Turn to Gen.v.22, 24, "And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years; and all thedays of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years." So you see he was sixty-five years oldwhen he was sanctified, when he was made perfect. In the twenty-fourth verse we read, "AndEnoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Then again in Gen. vi. 9, we read,"These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noahwalked with God." There are two men who were perfect and walked with God. Again, let us turnover to Gen. xvii. 1, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared toAbram and said unto him, 'I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect.'" There isanother man who walked with God seventy-six years. Glory be to his name! Oh, I am so glad thatwe have these examples of walking with God.
And then, again, if you will turn to Lev. xix. 2 you will read, "Ye shall be holy, for I, theLord thy God, am holy." Again, let us turn to Dent. xviii. 13: here is a verse that has done me moregood on the subject of sanctification than any other verse in the Bible. Let me read it to you. "Thoushalt be perfect with the Lord thy God." How glad I am that my Father said that I will not beperfect with man; for, had God said unto me, "Mr. Weber, you must be perfect with man," I wouldhave said, "Lord, your own Son could not be perfect with men; for they said, 'He hath a devil,' theycalled Him the prince of devils, they called Him all sorts of names." But when I read in thisprecious Word of God that "thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God," oh, it fills my soul withglory.
Now, sister and brother, you will never reach that stage in this world that you will beperfect with man; but all God wants in perfection is your love, your obedience, and your choicestheart's desire. And as long as I walk perfect with God, no matter what men may say about me, nomatter what fault they may find with me, God looks upon me as being perfect. Let us again turnover to Josh. in. 5, "And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lordwill do wonders among you." Glory to His name! Sanctify yourselves, set yourselves apart, be aPeculiar people! Be a holy people, and I will do wonders among you.
I have not got time now to stop and tell you about the judges, about the kings, and about thegreat men and women that lived and walked with God, but I want you now to turn over to Job i. 1, 'There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright andone that feared God and eschewed evil." Do you know he had a holy terror for a wife, but hewould not curse God and die, as she said to him. He would have been a fool if he had. All hisproperty taken from him, his children died, his wife forsook him, his friends pointed the finger ofscorn at him, the devil had power to take and afflict his body with boils. Oh, what awretched-looking creature he is! See him! But the last verse in this chapter of Job says to us," Inall this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." There is another man that walked with God.
Now I want you to turn to the Fifty-first Psalm, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according tothy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression;wash me throughly." A lady one time thought I did not know what I was saying, maybe I do notsometimes; but she wrote me a little note and said, "Mr. Weber, you said, 'Wash me throughly,' andthe Bible says, 'Wash me thoroughly.'" Poor, ignorant woman, she did not know any better, so I didnot blame her. You will find out that all English versions of the Bible read, "Wash me thoroughly";all American version read, "Wash me thoroughly." That is just the difference. I gave my Bible to apreacher, and I said, "Please read this." And he said, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquities." Isaid, "You better go to school and find out how to read; " be said, "Why?" I said, "Look here, thatdon't say thoroughly,' but it says throughly.'
Now, I tell you I like that word "throughly" best. Why? I have a jar, and I have it sealed; Ihand it to the servant girl and I say to her, "I want you to wash that thoroughly." All right; she takesand washes it all on the outside and it is nice and clean. I get it and I say, "Have you washed itthoroughly?" And she says, "Yes, sir." And I just take and unscrew the lid and I smell inside.Phew! "Why," she says, "it is thoroughly washed." But I say, "Now wash it throughly." And that isjust the way with David. He wanted God to go right through him. You see, if God goes through youthat takes the inside, the outside, the top side, and every side. Glory to God! So I like that word"throughly." It is God going right through me. Say, if God goes through some of you folks he willfind quite a lot of dirt and filth on the inside. That is so; is it not? "Wash me throughly from myiniquity; cleanse me from my sin. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thysight; that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." Seventhverse, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."
Now you know as well as I do that snow is not pure white. For instance, you ladies say tothe children, when the pumps are frozen imp, "Go out and gather mamma a big kettle of snow." Thechildren go out and fill the kettle clear up. You then put it on the stove and melt the snow, and youfind out that the snow that looked so white was not pure white, for you find some of the heaviersettlings at the bottom, and the lighter settling on the top. The consequence was you said that thatsnow was not pure white. But now, how will I get snow pure white? Why, I will just take thatsnow yonder and melt it, then I will take and skim off the top, and put it through a strainer of veryfine cloth, and then take and freeze that water, and from that at do I have? Snow whiter than snow.Some of you fellows need freezing over, it seems to me. And I tell you, if you will get frozen over,my brother and sister, you will get whiter than snow.
Now, justification as we read here in Isa. i. 18, Come now, let us reason together; thoughyour sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." That Is justification. David here, in theFifty-first Psalm and me seventh verse, says, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash meand I shall be whiter than snow." Then in the tenth verse he says, "Create in me a clean heart, OGod; and renew a right spirit within me." All he wanted a heart from sin set free, he wanted a heartpure; he wanted a heart holy, he wanted a heart sanctified of God. And just as soon as he got thatkind of a heart, what does He say? "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall beconverted unto thee." Glory be to God for that!
I asked a preacher down at Coldwater when David was called a man after God's ownheart. He said, "After he was sanctified." I said, "You do not know what you are talking about."Well, he said, "I do, Mr. Weber." Well, I said, "You don't, for I want to say to you that nine-tenthsof the preachers toll you that David, after he was sanctified, was called a man after God's ownheart, and it is not so." There was an infidel who said to me one day, "David was a pretty man forGod to call him 'a man after his own heart.' Why, if he had committed that sin in these days wewould have put him in the penitentiary; and that is the man you hold up." Do you know, brother,when David was called a man after God's own heart? If you don't, I will tell you. Turn over here inyour .Bibles, to Acts xiii. 22, and you will read, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man aftermine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Again, if you will look in 1 Sam. xiii. 14, you willfind that it was when David was a little boy, out yonder tending his father's sheep, before he hadbeen anointed king, that he was called a man after God's own heart. So that stops the mouths ofinfidels.
Now, I have not time to linger and talk to you about Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, andsome of the minor prophets, but I want you to turn now to Matt. v. 8, "Blessed (that means happy),blessed are the pure in heart, for they shalt see God." Again, in the forty-eighth verse, " Be yetherefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Do you suppose my Fatherwould say to me, "Be ye perfect," If I could not be? I want to say to you, I would not worship thatkind of God. I believe in the God who said to me, "Be ye therefore perfect even as I am perfect,"that it is possible for me to be perfect with God. He did not say, with man.
Let us turn over to John xvii. 17. The Lord Jesus is here making a prayer, and in his prayerhe says, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." Do you suppose that the Son of Godwould have prayed for His disciples to be sanctified, if they could not be? Do you suppose that theSon of God, who was just about to go on Calvary's rugged cross, would pray that prayer, "Sanctifythem through thy truth," if it were not possible? No, o, no
Again, turn to Acts xxvi. 18. He is speaking to Paul here, and He sends him out on amission, and He says to him, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and fromthe power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins." That is justification. Andif I were to say to you, I am going to give you my knife, you would not look for something else,would you? So he says here, "And that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance amongthem which are sanctified by faith." Let us turn over to Rom. vi. ii, "Likewise reckon ye alsoyourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, hesays, "reckon." Count it so, believe it so, and it will be so. "Let not sin therefore reign in yourmortal body." And fourteenth verse, "For sin shall not have dominion over you." But glory be toGod, Brother Damon, that we shall have dominion over sin. Oh, how glad I am that God says, "Sinshall not have dominion over you." Bless the Lord.
Again, let us turn to 2 Cor. vii. 1, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let uscleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit; perfecting holiness in the fear of God."Again let us turn to 2 Cor. xiii. ii, "Finally, brethren, farewell." You see, they were in the Lordhow; he calls them brethren; and them that benediction he offers and says, "Be perfect." Again letus turn to Heb. xii. 14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall seethe Lord." i John iv. 18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear."
Now, then, we have seen by these Scripture promises that sanctification, perfection,holiness, entire consecration, fullness of the blessing, are one and the same. I do not care so muchwhat the people call it; some call it "second blessing," some prefer to call it "baptism of the HolyGhost and fire," and some prefer to call it "Fullness of Blessing." Get it and then just live it, andyou will be all right. Do you know I never saw a young convert opposed to holiness. It is some ofyou old backsliders that oppose holiness, do you know it? It is some of you who have been livingin sin all your life, who oppose holiness. No truly converted man will ever oppose it. Just as quickas you get to be a kicker against holiness, put it down that you are backslidden. Let us go back tothe text again, i Thess. v. 23, 24, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray Godyour whole soul and spirit and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord JesusChrist. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
When I started out I said there was not one in this congregation but what will admit thatAdam and Eve were perfect; but as David says, "In sin hath my mother conceived me; behold, Iwas shapen in iniquity." So, then, here is a little child. That little child is born in the world withsin in it. But the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ provides for the perfection of that child; if hedies before he reaches the years of accountability, that child goes right in the presence of God,perfect. But just as soon as that little boy or girl yonder learns right from wrong, learns to disobey,learns to be, learns to do evil, just so soon that little boy or girl becomes a voluntary sinner againstGod, and, as a voluntary sinner against God, that boy or girl is responsible before God. Now, then,he says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Then that little boy orgirl must get down, and say, "Father, in the name of Jesus, forgive me my sins." Now, when hebecomes pardoned, all of his actual sins are forgiven him. But still that hereditary sin is withinhim. For justification is cutting off the tree by the roots, and sanctification is going down andgetting the roots all out. So, then, I confess my sin, and God is faithful and just to forgive my sin.That is, my actual sin. Now, my hereditary sin, I must ask him, and believe him, and have faith thatif I say "Father, in the name of Jesus, cleanse my hereditary sin," that God then comes andsanctifies me, and washes me, and makes me pure, and makes me a fit temple for the Holy Ghost todwell in. Who, then, would oppose holiness? If you do, I tell you it is holiness or hell For Godsays that without holiness no man shall see God. Some churches teach that a man receives holinessjust before he dies; but I read in my Bible here about Enoch receiving it three hundred years beforehe died, and he walked and talked with God for three hundred years and lived perfect.
The Roman Catholics have a purgatory, for they say that no man can go in the presence ofGod, who is not pure and holy, so that they have yonder a refining process in purgatory, to get menholy. But, oh, I bless God that you and I can be made perfect in this life, if we will, for He says wecan. If we confess our sin, He ms faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from allunrighteousness. That is, my hereditary sins. And I pray God now, "That the very God of peacesanctify you wholly, and I pray that your whole spirit an soul and body be preserved blamelessunto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."
Now, my brother, do you want to be sanctified? Do you object to asking God to cleanseyou from your hereditary sin? If you do, you better ask Him, first, to pardon you as a sinner. Gloryto God! I have not told you what this man or that man says; I have told you what God says; and ifyou have any fault to find, you find it with God, for here is his word. Now, then, my brother andsister, do you enjoy this state of grace? One says, "I am afraid to acknowledge it, for fear they willexpect more of me." Expect more of you? God says, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, wehave fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Oh, sister, if you don't walk in the light of God, you are not even justified. You have thelight this morning; you must go on to perfection, or else go to hell! One or the other, Holiness orhell! Glory to God, I am going to take holiness.
Do you want this state of grace? Do you want to get where you can give up our businessand go to prayermeeting? Do you want to get where you won't be a kicker in a revival meeting,because they do not preach just to suit you? Do you want to get where you just love to worshipGod? Where it will be just joy to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? If you do, this morning ask theFather, in the name of Jesus, to sanctify you wholly, and He will do it. Be careful now, do not saythat you have entered into a state of grace unless you have. Every one who believes you aresanctified, stand upon your feet. Don't stand up unless you know. Don't stand up unless you know it;be honest, and if you have it, God bless you.
Now, how many of you want it? stand up! Everybody wants it in this house. Everybodywants to be sanctified in this house. Glory to God, look at this sight this morning.
Now, I want every one of you to get right down on your knees where you are. Now, mybrother and sister, you ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to cleanse your hereditary sin. Youwere saved as a sinner, but you are not saved yet from all your sin. Now say, Father, in the nameof Jesus, sanctify me wholly, make me pure, cleanse all my hereditary sin, and cleanse me andpurify me and make me holy now. He will do it. Now, you must believe Him when you ask Him;for He says He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than parents are to givegood gifts to their children. Ask Him now, don't be afraid; ask that your joy may be full. Ask Himnow. Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to praise Thee, that the people are hungering andthirsting after righteousness, and Thou hast said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst, for theyshall be filled."
O God, in the name of Jesus Christ, sanctify these boys and girls, these fathers and mothers,these loved ones, just now. I believe! I believe! You have asked Him now, in the name of Jesus, tocleanse your hereditary sin. That places you before God, perfect. Now, walk and live and be.
"Lord, I give my all to Thee, Friends and time and earthly store,
Soul and body Thine to be, Wholly Thine forevermore."
Glory be to Jesus! Angels are looking with glad faces today. Let us give our praises toGod.
