Sanctification - free ebook by Edward Hoare

Sanctification

BY THE REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A. Vicar of Trinity , Tunbridge Wells ; and Hon. Canon of Canterbury . Third Edition, Enlarged. LONDON: HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY. 1878. LONDON: Printed by John Strangeways , Castle St. Leicester Sq....

11 minute read

Read Chapter

PREFACE.

The following pages contain the substance of some Sermons preached in the course of my parochial ministry, on the subject of Sanctification, and are published at the request of several members of my congregation. They contain nothing new, and, being parochial sermons, they are not in the form of a systematic treatise. But I hope they exhibit the doctrine of Sanctification as revealed in Scripture, as embodied in the teaching of the Church of England, and as preached by those who are generally t

48 minute read

Read Chapter

SEPARATION UNTO GOD.

‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.’—1 Pet . i. 2. It is one of the encouraging features of the present day that many of the Lord’s people are aiming at a higher standard of Christian holiness than they have ever yet known, and are looking to the great grace of their most blessed Saviour to raise them by His Spirit above the various hind

12 minute read

Read Chapter

SANCTIFICATION THROUGH BLOOD.

‘For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?’— Heb . ix. 13, 14. It is impossible to think too much of the most precious blood of our most blessed Lord and Saviour. It throws its sacred power over every department of our Christian life.

12 minute read

Read Chapter

THE CLEANSING BLOOD.

‘But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’—1 John , i. 7. It should be the earnest desire of our hearts, in commemorating the great facts of the crucifixion of our blessed Saviour, to know the fellowship of His sufferings, and realise all that He endured. On this account it is well to dwell on His wounds, His sorrows, His tears, His prayers, and His bitter cry: but it is well to look

12 minute read

Read Chapter

THE SANCTIFIED.

‘Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s.’—1 Cor . i. 2. I hope it has been made clear that the original meaning of the word ‘to sanctify,’ was ‘to set apart as a holy thing unto God,’ and that the Levitical meaning of sanctification through blood was the cleansing from all legal impurity. It is obvious that both these divine acts

9 minute read

Read Chapter

PROGRESS.

‘But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.’—2 Cor . iii. 18. The subject of personal holiness is one of overwhelming interest to all those who really desire to walk with God; it is also one which requires our most careful study, for in it lies the chief difficulty of the daily Christian life of the greater number of true believers. They know the truth, and love it; they prize

13 minute read

Read Chapter

INFECTION OF NATURE.

‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.’— Rom . vii. 25. [64] There are few passages in the whole word of God that have excited a deeper interest amongst truly Christian people than the latter part of the seventh of Romans. It is so closely connected with the practical experience of Christian life, and at the same time it is so much opposed to the beautiful theories of some Christian people, that it has

13 minute read

Read Chapter

GRACE.

‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.’— Rom . vii. 25. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Jesus Christ, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’— Rom . viii. 1. I hope that your study of this passage during the week has confirmed the conclusions at which we arrived last Sunday,—that St. Paul was speaking of himself, not of another; and that he was describing his ex

11 minute read

Read Chapter

HOLINESS THROUGH FAITH.

‘And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.’— Acts , xv. 9. I fear that I may have almost wearied some of you by dwelling so long as I have on the subject of sanctification, or Christian holiness; but it is one of such overwhelming practical importance, and so intimately connected with the glory of God, that I am persuaded we ought none to grudge any time spent on the study of it. I must ask your attention, therefore, to a phrase which has lately become familiar

12 minute read

Read Chapter

CONSECRATION.

‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’— Rom . xii. 1. A great deal has been lately said on the subject of consecration; and we may all rejoice in having our attention directed to it, as we all require a much higher standard than we have ever yet known of self-abandoning dedication to the Lord. We all need to know more fully and more experimentally the real meaning of

12 minute read

Read Chapter

PRAYER.

‘I am Thine, save me; for I have sought Thy precepts.’— Psalm cxix. 94. We studied last Sunday the subject of consecration as taught us in the words of the Apostle Paul, in which he exhorted us to ‘present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.’ I trust the result has been that many amongst us have so realised the multitude of God’s mercies that, under the deep sense of profound thanksgiving, we have knelt down before Him, afresh to yield ourselves to His service. If so,

14 minute read

Read Chapter

THE HOLY NAME SANCTIFIED.

‘And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’— Luke , xi. 2. We are all in the habit of using this prayer every day,—for I hope that there is not one amongst us who presumes to think that he has reached a spiritual life beyond it. We use it with the utmost thankfulness,—for it expresses the deep and unceasing wants of the human heart; and, as far as I myself am concerned, I do not think that it occurs too often in our liturgy. This clause may

10 minute read

Read Chapter

Note A.—Romans, vii.

I believe that a great deal of the difficulty felt respecting the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, arises from a mistaken idea that the different chapters are descriptive of consecutive periods of the Christian life. Persons are supposed to be justified in the fifth, brought to a new life in the sixth, and to be living in perfect peace in the eighth, and thus the conflict of the seventh is thought to be out of place. But surely there is no such consecutiveness to be found in the p

4 minute read

Read Chapter

Note B.—1 John, iii. 6.

Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not . These words, if detached from their context and from the remainder of the Epistle, apparently teach the absolute and perfect sinlessness of all those who abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the words, ‘sinneth not,’ describe an entire freedom from all sin, they clearly do so. But this cannot possibly be their meaning; for if it were, (1.) The remainder of the verse would teach us that if any person should ever sin in thought, word, or deed, he would be

3 minute read

Read Chapter

Note C.—On the Word ‘Perfect.’

The word τέλειος is of so frequent occurrence in Scripture that it requires our careful study. Its original sense is ‘complete,’ and the corresponding verb τελειόω is to complete, or finish. The derived senses will vary with the subjects to which it applied. (1.) In the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, it stands for sincere, upright, undivided in heart. ‘Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.’ (Gen. vi. 9.) Amaziah had a great deal of religion ab

3 minute read

Read Chapter

Note D.—Temptation. Heb. iv. 15.

It is said of our Blessed Saviour, ‘For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ And it has been argued that because He was tempted, yet without sin, therefore there is no sin in temptation. I can scarcely imagine a more dangerous fallacy. The meaning of the word, ‘to tempt,’ is to test, or to try. So ‘God tempted Abraham,’ or put him to the test. (Gen. xxii. 1.) Thus our Lord was i

3 minute read

Read Chapter

GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

1. The only standard of holiness recognised in Scripture is the perfect character and will of God. 1 Peter, i. 15, 16; Rom. xii. 2. There is no allusion in the Word of God to any lower standard of any kind whatever. We are never taught there that ‘We are not called to walk by the rule of angels, who excel, in strength,’ or that ‘our standard is not that which it will be in our glorified bodies.’ According to Scripture, our rule is exactly the same as that of angels: our standard is exactly th

2 minute read

Read Chapter

PRACTICAL RESULTS.

If there is any difference on the subject of Personal Holiness amongst those who hold the great principles of the Gospel, it is not likely to appear so much in General Principles as in their practical application to present life. It is, therefore, clearly important to ascertain what should be the extent, and what the limits, of the Believer’s expectation. If we do not expect all that He has promised, we cannot hope to rise to His standard; and if, on the other hand, we expect what He has not p

5 minute read

Read Chapter

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

1. Redemption . A Companion Volume to Sanctification . Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. 2 s. 6 d. 2. Palestine and Russia . 5th Thousand. 16mo. cloth, 1 s. 6 d. ; paper cover, 1 s. 3. Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem . 17th Thousand. 16mo. cloth, 1 s. 6 d. ; paper cover, 1 s. ‘Mr. Hoare argues on the broad, simple lines of prophecy, in a way which, to our mind, must bring irresistible conviction.’— Clergyman’s Magazine . 4. Conformity to the World . New Edition, revised. 16mo. cloth, 1 s.

3 minute read

Read Chapter

MESSRS. HATCHARD’S NEW SERIES.

In Small 8 vo. cloth , bevelled , 1 s. 6 d. ; paper cover , 1 s. The Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures . By the Very Rev. Daniel Bagot , D.D., late Dean of Dromore. 1 s. 6 d. &amp; 1 s. ‘The general scope is highly satisfactory.’— Record . The Immortality of the Soul . By the Rev. Canon Garbett . 1 s. 6 d. and 1 s. ‘One of the ablest refutations we have yet seen of the erroneous doctrines now afloat concerning the eternity of punishment.’— English Churchman . Thoughts on the Parental Char

2 minute read

Read Chapter

WORKS BY A. M. JAMES.

Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. cloth, 2 s. 6 d. 1. The Life of Fellowship . Meditations on the First Part of St. John, xv. By A. M. James , Author of ‘True Consecration,’ ‘Service of Love,’ &amp;c. &amp;c. ‘Its tone is reverential and admirable.’— Clergyman’s Shilling Magazine . ‘An excellent series of devotional meditations.’— English Churchman . ‘The tone throughout is just what that of such a work should be—quiet and thoughtful.’— Rock . Just published. New Cheap Edition, enla

3 minute read

Read Chapter

FOR THE SICK, SORROWFUL, AND AGED.

Sleep in Jesus , and Blessing in Sorrow . Edited by Mrs. Henry F. Brock , of Doncaster. With Photo Frontispiece. 16mo. cloth limp, 2 s. 6 d. ; gilt edges, 3 s. ‘A very appropriate present to those who are in any sorrow; full of human sympathy, and always directing the sufferer to the loving-kindness of the Lord.’— Christian . The Sheltering Vine . Selections by the late Countess of Northesk . With an Introduction by the Most Rev. R. C. Trench , D.D., Archbishop of Dublin. 9th Thousand. 2 vols.

1 minute read

Read Chapter