The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Defined
The "Baptism of the Holy
Spirit" is taken by the numerous Pentecostal
denominations to refer to a supernatural endowment of power. By
Holiness denominations it is taken to be a supernatural endowment of
heart-purity. Both will valiantly defend their definition to
their last breathe.
But upon sober consideration all will admit that it takes heart-purity to exercise His power responsibly; and it takes His power to effectively communicate the pure living faith to others. He is both. And He is both at one and the same time. His spiritual power is pure and right ( despite the numerous obvious and systemic flaws demonstrated by impure vessels ), and His purity is freighted with the gentle power of His own love.
The heritage articles on this website take the older definition which implies the “blameless purity” found within His Rest -and which is proper to the topic of this website. Please do not be confused!! Click above for an important 5 page illustrated discussion that has links to in-depth articles that fill out both contemporary definitions.
I have done my best to edit out sources of this potential confusion, but it has taken a great deal of time to become skilled in clarifying the obsolete language for you .
Earnest Seeker
But upon sober consideration all will admit that it takes heart-purity to exercise His power responsibly; and it takes His power to effectively communicate the pure living faith to others. He is both. And He is both at one and the same time. His spiritual power is pure and right ( despite the numerous obvious and systemic flaws demonstrated by impure vessels ), and His purity is freighted with the gentle power of His own love.
The heritage articles on this website take the older definition which implies the “blameless purity” found within His Rest -and which is proper to the topic of this website. Please do not be confused!! Click above for an important 5 page illustrated discussion that has links to in-depth articles that fill out both contemporary definitions.
I have done my best to edit out sources of this potential confusion, but it has taken a great deal of time to become skilled in clarifying the obsolete language for you .
Earnest Seeker
From My Heart
to Yours
Guidance on how to use this web page -for those stalwart
brave-hearts who purpose to enter His Rest. by Earnest
Seeker
Two Views
Should we simply study how
to gain entry into this greater dimension of light? No!! If
we do that, we put ourselves in danger of trifling with the deadly
carnality within -and reducing the whole work of Jesus into a mighty
effort to get rid of nothing; but when we view carnality as a vicious
principle of the fundamental evil nature of the soul that is at
enmity against God within, and begin to realize the greatness of its
infernal power, then we can see why Jesus had to give His Life for ours.
This page contains several famous works on this most essential topic.
This page contains several famous works on this most essential topic.
"When a person is converted
his sins are
forgiven and
he is cleansed both from guilt and also
from that depravity which has been acquired through his own personal
sins. By this
transaction
he is restored to that freedom from guilt and that purity of heart
with which he was born. Thus the words of Jesus are literally
fulfilled, and this newly converted soul “becomes as a little
child.” It is like a child not only in innocence and purity, but
also in that there still
remains within that principle of evil which
even the new-born child possesses." from page 20 of "The Carnal
Mind" by the incisive H. A. Baldwin
The weakness of this website
is that it takes one
partiicular gospel theme (all but invisible to the wider
church)
and studies it out of the context of the whole gospel. The
essential understanding of the fallen nature (original sin) can suffer
because of this since it takes a breadth and depth of scriptural
understanding in order to grasp the glory and grace of God's redeeming
perspective on our foundational lostness. But on this page Rev.
C. E.
Brown comes to our rescue! If you can wade through the odd
passage where
he gets technical, you will see that he adds important grace, nuance
and perspective to this subject. If you wish to follow this up,
go to "The Door"
page and scroll down to "The
Robust Gospel". On that page you
will also find C. E. Brown's "The Meaning of Salvation". It
is a
masterpiece.
This website and in particular this web page is a practical "how to". However, just as understanding the gospel is much wider than mere instructions on how to get saved, there is much more you need to know to get a proper grasp of our topic.
On this sub-page is a good number of articles that are about His Rest, rather than on exactly How to enter it. Before you go on, you may need to spend some time getting your mind clear about the serious topic that this website covers. Why is it serious? Because it is your gateway to a radiant victory beyind your present imagination. Doctrinal Overviews
This website and in particular this web page is a practical "how to". However, just as understanding the gospel is much wider than mere instructions on how to get saved, there is much more you need to know to get a proper grasp of our topic.
On this sub-page is a good number of articles that are about His Rest, rather than on exactly How to enter it. Before you go on, you may need to spend some time getting your mind clear about the serious topic that this website covers. Why is it serious? Because it is your gateway to a radiant victory beyind your present imagination. Doctrinal Overviews
These selected articles below contain exact instructions written by sanctified souls who were also seasoned spiritual midwives to many thousands of those entering His Rest. This is the BEEF of the website for Evangelicals, Catholics, Pentecostals, and Charismatics alike, regardless of being "Spirit-filled" or not. Here all mere earthly denominational and spiritual boasting is rendered mute since this "strong meat" will truly test what all are made of. (Heb. 5:14 AV)
You must read more than one author to get the full picture since the various authours complement one another. Some selections carefully compare the directions offered with a large number of revered saintly authours.
And for confirmation and more detailed treatment.......
The Inheritance Restored
This very special selection has everything you want: clear doctrinal explanations, as well as personal descriptions of how various souls applied these truths to successfully enter His Rest.
"The state of entire sanctification is variously set forth in the Holy Scriptures. A greater variety of words is used by inspiration to describe this precious experience than any other. There are a greater number of scriptures by way of commandment, of promise, of precept, and of provision relating to this distinct state of grace, than to any or all other states of grace either on earth or in heaven. But there are a few chosen words used with great frequency, which more directly and perfectly describe it. These are: holiness, sanctification, purity, cleansing, perfection, perfect love, fullness of God, rest, etc. A knowledge of the meaning of these words, and their relation to each other in this experience, is quite important to earnest souls." electronic version 49 pages by M. L. Haney (1897)
Print Ready Version of the above shorter edited version with old-fashioned expressions clarified is only 29 pages full version disc sampler includes all the omitted portions -175 unedited pages in electronic format
So Great Salvation
"It is above all things the promised land -the Promise of the Father -the Gift of God -an experience which He bestows. Our duty, then, is to possess. No fewer than sixty-three times does the word “possess” or “possession” occur in the book of Deuteronomy alone. “I have begun to give,” saith the Lord: “begin ye to possess.” It is by faith -- “the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Nothing is more humbling to our pride and self-righteousness, nothing more glorifying to God than this.
It is the experience of all who have crossed the Jordan, that the entrance into the experience of full salvation by faith and faith alone, humbles to the dust and fills us with praise and thanksgiving to God. One writes thus: "With me it was thus. I was humbled and self emptied and Jesus became my all in all. I felt myself all weakness (yea, as I never did before) and He all my strength. I all nothingness. He all fullness. I all helplessness. He omnipotence. I flew from myself and escaped to Jesus. He received me graciously, freely, without money and without price, without worthiness or faithfulness, and became all my salvation and all my desire: humbled in lowest abasement at His boundless condescension and filled with love, I felt that I was one with God." Another masterpiece by the masterful A. Paget Wilkes on the theme of “God’s so great salvation” (Heb. 2:3). What it is. How to experience it. The hindrances in our road; the way in and the way thereafter. 25 pages (Language and idiom has been carefully enhanced for modern readers by Earnest Seeker.) Print Ready Version
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Sanctification
Rev. Wilkes has some ideas and emphases that are not found in the older works. For example he says this under the topic of Humility: "But yet in other cases I have noticed that it has been far harder to come thus to the Lord in humble and broken confession than in consecration. They love to give and offer and present their all to God; but alas! the proud, unbroken spirit will never let them seek for the blessing as a poor leper, a blind beggar—or a helpless paralytic; and so they have gone empty away.
Yes! the “repentance of believers” as John Wesley called it long ago, is a sine qua non for the effective operation of a living faith.
( I identify with this unusual approach because for a season before I entered into His Rest, I specialized in radical (loud or tearful) abject repentance for my all too obvious impurities. I had been fully consecrated as far as I knew for some time, but did not know what else to do!!! -Earnest Seeker -you may read my testimonial on the "Testimonies" page.)
This more recent classic work will bless you with its grace and balanced approach to the Most Holy. (Language and idiom has been carefully enhanced for modern readers by Earnest Seeker.) 24 pages by A. Paget Wilkes 1931. indexed PDF Print Ready Version
Possibilities of Grace
"Consecrated persons or things, regenerate believers, and wholly saved men are indiscriminately and interchangeably denominated sanctified or holy. Such latitude of expression is not looseness in doctrine, but the freedom that belongs to general instruction and a style adapted to all classes. The Bible is not a body of systematic divinity, nor a code of dogmatic statements. It is a miscellany of moral teaching; a collection of fragmentary lessons, all divinely inspired, and containing every principle and precept necessary to salvation.
A great variety of terms, including sometimes the words sanctification and holiness, are used to indicate spirituality; such as crucified, born again, free from sin, justified, washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. These phrases denote holiness, but not necessarily, nor generally, entire holiness. Usually they signify initial, unfinished sanctification. We think the position is supportable on Scripture grounds that true believers, born of the Spirit, and loving God, may be, and ordinarily are, the subjects of a residuum of inherent sin.
Let us group together the evidence on which the proposition rests. First. It is a fact of which every Christian is conscious, and of which every Christian gives evidence, that regeneration is a mixed state. It is penitence mixed with obduracy (hard-heartedness or stubbornness), faith mixed with unbelief, humility mixed with pride, goodwill mixed with envy, meekness mixed with anger, the love of God mixed with the love of the world, the love of our neighbor mixed with haughtiness and the spirit of oppression; it is consecration mixed with selfishness, reservation, and a divided service; it is purity mixed with many excessive appetites and unclean practices. Nor are these evil affections traceable to external causation. They sprout from within. They are a natural product indigenous to the soul; a spontaneous growth of noxious weeds from living roots and seeds yet deeply imbedded in the heart.
If this be so, we are restricted to a single alternative. Either we must disallow the religious pretensions of all professing Christians who are not wholly sanctified, stripping from them every shred of holy attire, or we must concede that a man may acquire a true Christian character, and yet be the subject of no inconsiderable sin.
Now which horn of the dilemma shall we take? Shall we invalidate the professions of all Evangelical Churches, and excommunicate the whole body of believers with one cruel stroke of uncharity, or shall we admit that sin exists in accredited Christians?" (an exerpt from P.72 "Partial Sanctification Distinguished from Entire Sanctification") 151 page PDF by Rev. Asbury Lowery disc sampler
Entire Sanctification -The Second Blessing
Do you still have questions? The famous evangelist Rev. C.W. Ruth has laid out quality answers for serious questions you probably had not thought of under 68 headings. A 76 page PDF that includes a comparison chart between the first and the second blesssings, a list of relevant scriptures and sermon outlines.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 28 on "Darkness and Heaviness"
"These two terms are used by many believers as synonymous, but the Scriptures never use them interchangeably. While “heaviness” is compatible with holiness and fellowship with God, darkness is not. In 1 John 1:5, 6 we read, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not speak the truth.” It is sin that brings darkness. Hence acts of sin are spoken of as “the unfruitful works of darkness;” the soul redeemed by grace is said to have been called “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” And it goes on from here to demonstrate why heaviness is a blessing and darkness is not.
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"It is above all things the promised land -the Promise of the Father -the Gift of God -an experience which He bestows. Our duty, then, is to possess. No fewer than sixty-three times does the word “possess” or “possession” occur in the book of Deuteronomy alone. “I have begun to give,” saith the Lord: “begin ye to possess.” It is by faith -- “the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Nothing is more humbling to our pride and self-righteousness, nothing more glorifying to God than this.
It is the experience of all who have crossed the Jordan, that the entrance into the experience of full salvation by faith and faith alone, humbles to the dust and fills us with praise and thanksgiving to God. One writes thus: "With me it was thus. I was humbled and self emptied and Jesus became my all in all. I felt myself all weakness (yea, as I never did before) and He all my strength. I all nothingness. He all fullness. I all helplessness. He omnipotence. I flew from myself and escaped to Jesus. He received me graciously, freely, without money and without price, without worthiness or faithfulness, and became all my salvation and all my desire: humbled in lowest abasement at His boundless condescension and filled with love, I felt that I was one with God." Another masterpiece by the masterful A. Paget Wilkes on the theme of “God’s so great salvation” (Heb. 2:3). What it is. How to experience it. The hindrances in our road; the way in and the way thereafter. 25 pages (Language and idiom has been carefully enhanced for modern readers by Earnest Seeker.) Print Ready Version
plain disc sampler
Sanctification
Rev. Wilkes has some ideas and emphases that are not found in the older works. For example he says this under the topic of Humility: "But yet in other cases I have noticed that it has been far harder to come thus to the Lord in humble and broken confession than in consecration. They love to give and offer and present their all to God; but alas! the proud, unbroken spirit will never let them seek for the blessing as a poor leper, a blind beggar—or a helpless paralytic; and so they have gone empty away.
Yes! the “repentance of believers” as John Wesley called it long ago, is a sine qua non for the effective operation of a living faith.
( I identify with this unusual approach because for a season before I entered into His Rest, I specialized in radical (loud or tearful) abject repentance for my all too obvious impurities. I had been fully consecrated as far as I knew for some time, but did not know what else to do!!! -Earnest Seeker -you may read my testimonial on the "Testimonies" page.)
This more recent classic work will bless you with its grace and balanced approach to the Most Holy. (Language and idiom has been carefully enhanced for modern readers by Earnest Seeker.) 24 pages by A. Paget Wilkes 1931. indexed PDF Print Ready Version
Possibilities of Grace
"Consecrated persons or things, regenerate believers, and wholly saved men are indiscriminately and interchangeably denominated sanctified or holy. Such latitude of expression is not looseness in doctrine, but the freedom that belongs to general instruction and a style adapted to all classes. The Bible is not a body of systematic divinity, nor a code of dogmatic statements. It is a miscellany of moral teaching; a collection of fragmentary lessons, all divinely inspired, and containing every principle and precept necessary to salvation.
A great variety of terms, including sometimes the words sanctification and holiness, are used to indicate spirituality; such as crucified, born again, free from sin, justified, washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. These phrases denote holiness, but not necessarily, nor generally, entire holiness. Usually they signify initial, unfinished sanctification. We think the position is supportable on Scripture grounds that true believers, born of the Spirit, and loving God, may be, and ordinarily are, the subjects of a residuum of inherent sin.
Let us group together the evidence on which the proposition rests. First. It is a fact of which every Christian is conscious, and of which every Christian gives evidence, that regeneration is a mixed state. It is penitence mixed with obduracy (hard-heartedness or stubbornness), faith mixed with unbelief, humility mixed with pride, goodwill mixed with envy, meekness mixed with anger, the love of God mixed with the love of the world, the love of our neighbor mixed with haughtiness and the spirit of oppression; it is consecration mixed with selfishness, reservation, and a divided service; it is purity mixed with many excessive appetites and unclean practices. Nor are these evil affections traceable to external causation. They sprout from within. They are a natural product indigenous to the soul; a spontaneous growth of noxious weeds from living roots and seeds yet deeply imbedded in the heart.
If this be so, we are restricted to a single alternative. Either we must disallow the religious pretensions of all professing Christians who are not wholly sanctified, stripping from them every shred of holy attire, or we must concede that a man may acquire a true Christian character, and yet be the subject of no inconsiderable sin.
Now which horn of the dilemma shall we take? Shall we invalidate the professions of all Evangelical Churches, and excommunicate the whole body of believers with one cruel stroke of uncharity, or shall we admit that sin exists in accredited Christians?" (an exerpt from P.72 "Partial Sanctification Distinguished from Entire Sanctification") 151 page PDF by Rev. Asbury Lowery disc sampler
Entire Sanctification -The Second Blessing
Do you still have questions? The famous evangelist Rev. C.W. Ruth has laid out quality answers for serious questions you probably had not thought of under 68 headings. A 76 page PDF that includes a comparison chart between the first and the second blesssings, a list of relevant scriptures and sermon outlines.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 28 on "Darkness and Heaviness"
"These two terms are used by many believers as synonymous, but the Scriptures never use them interchangeably. While “heaviness” is compatible with holiness and fellowship with God, darkness is not. In 1 John 1:5, 6 we read, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not speak the truth.” It is sin that brings darkness. Hence acts of sin are spoken of as “the unfruitful works of darkness;” the soul redeemed by grace is said to have been called “out of darkness into His marvelous light.” And it goes on from here to demonstrate why heaviness is a blessing and darkness is not.
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The absolute cure for sin is in two
portions. This aggressive author provides lists of irresistible
hammer-blows of scriptural logic to convince the doubter that this is
the case. A highly concentrated clarion call for faith is
delivered to the solar plexus. An astounding feast for faithful
Bereans!! See Chapter 12 for explicit
directions. Much of this
has been used in "How to Enter His Rest" above. 15 pages by
Martin Wells Knapp (1853 - 1901) Print Ready Version
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The Old Man - Part 2
"There is a blessed experience of coming to Christ, finding everything, living in His service while He looks on us and loves us; there is another and higher experience in which one sells out in the deepest sense of the word, leaves everything, and follows Christ. We are called to it by the Saviour.
But many turn away sorrowful. They have great possessions -reputation, influence, earthly hopes and prospects, and other things that they are unwilling to sacrifice. Moses chose affliction -preferred the reproach of Christ -but they do not.
They fail to realize that the reproaches of Christ are greater riches than the treasures of Egypt or the entire world. Such a life may look like a carcass, but it is a carcass full of honey. We may appear like deluded or demented people to the Michals laughing at us from the window; but the ark of God is with us; we know we have the truth; our own mouth is filled with holy laughter, our heart with praises; and so we can stand with perfect resignation the amusement of an unbelieving world." This second part is finished with the baleful old man, and goes on to discuss in practical terms, how we may enter His Rest. The common roadblocks to this are carefully removed and every requirement for entering His glorious rest is very clearly spelled out. Two chapters deal with how to actually enter His Rest, while three excellent chapters deal with problems commonly encountered in this. 31 pages by Rev. B. Carradine (1848-1931) (Language and idiom has been carefully enhanced for modern readers by Earnest Seeker.) (Plain disc sampler version is on the "Two Views" page above with both Parts 1 and 2) Print Ready Version
The Sanctified Life
Rev. Carradine masterfully gathers together all the
various theories of full sanctification and clarifies their positions
in the light of day. He then goes on to describe the true theory
of sanctification, and how this culminating grace may be obtained.
(Chapter 3) "Happy is the man who will not allow himself to
be diverted and distracted, but having emptied and cleansed his heart,
will stand waiting with ardent prayer and expectation for Christ to
descend." This beauteous and masterful treatment has ushered many
into His Rest. 11 pages by Rev. B.
Carradine (1848-1931) ( Enhanced) Print Ready
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unenhanced full version
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New Testament Holiness
With magnificently quiet reason this author carefully explains every step and the reasons for it in detail. If you are the kind of person who is analytical and wants to know the reason for everything, this is the one written just for you. Contains in depth insights into the interplay between light and dark that must be navigated to find and then successfully live upon the narrow way of the pure in heart. Exceptional. by Rev. Thomas Cook (enhanced) Print Ready Version
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Address to Seekers of Full Salvation
A top quality point-by-point map for seekers by the famed 1890’s Theological College President and author Daniel Steele. Here he shares with us all his secrets that he used to help souls enter His Rest.
"In confidence that there will be, after
the crucifixion, a glorious resurrection to spiritual life and
blessedness, the believer yields his hand to the nail, and his head to
the thorn crown. That flinty center of the personality, the will, which
has up to this hour stood forth in resistance to the complete will of
God, suddenly flows down, a molten stream under the furnace blast of
Divine love, melted into oneness with the “sweet will of God.” After
such a death there
is always a resurrection unto life. An interval of hours, or
even of days, may take place before the angel shall descend and roll
away the stone from the sepulcher of the crucified soul, and the
pulsations of a new and blissful life be felt through every fiber and
atom of the being. It is not the old life that rises, but a new life is
breathed forth by the Holy Ghost. The believer can then truly say that
he is “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ.”
8 pages by Daniel Steele (10/5/1824 - 1924)
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A precious complete small book by
the author of "Amazing Grace" that teaches on Holiness, Purity,
Divine Union, Humility, Christlikeness, Consecration, Love, and
Perfection as ingredients of the "Beauty of Holiness". It is just
loaded with examples that will touch your soul. The author also
successfully gives rare
descriptions of the effulgence of His Rest at length.
"Holiness is a participation of
the divine nature, a seed of divinity. “His seed remaineth in him.” It
partakes of the divine nature in the sense the iron partakes of the
fire; the rough, rude iron put into the fire becomes radiant, brilliant
and the fire may say to it: “I have imparted that to thee.” So God may
say to the soul, “I impart to thee the glow and beauty and heat of my
nature” — the soul is bathed in God." 23 heavy duty pages
by George Whitefield Ridout (Enhanced) Print Ready Version
How to Obtain a Clean Heart
Reckon yourself dead to sin! It is as easy as this; and as hard as this! A very concise summary. See Chapter 10 for entry directions. By its very nature, our hearts have sneaky defences against being made pure. This author makes them gloriously plain. 22 Pages by George Asbury Mclaughlin (1899) (Enhanced) Print Ready Version
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A Living Sacrifice
Do you have the courage to read this? 16 clear, concise and very extraordinary pages on consecration by G. A. McLaughlin (Enhanced) Print Ready Version
Christian Purity
This blessed author carefully lays out how
to obtain His Rest (Chapter 7) along with evidence to determine
when you have it, hindrances that are often faced, and reasons to seek
His Rest. He makes use of many excellent illustrations from his long
experience. The points are made with a remarkable precision and
clarity almost like the much later A. Paget Wilkes. 14
selected pages by Randolph Sinks Foster (2/22/1820 - 5/1/1903)
The full work can be found on the "Wisdom
for Ministers" page. (Enhanced) Print Ready
Version
How to Go on Unto Perfection
This renowned classic by the early and very saintly John Fletcher warmly invites seekers of His Holy perfection to listen to some wise directions to help them on their blessed way: "Get tolerably clear ideas of this perfection. This is absolutely necessary. If you will hit a mark, you must know where it is. Some people aim at Christian perfection; but mistaking it for angelical perfection, they shoot above the mark, miss it, and then peevishly give up their hopes. Others place the mark much too low; hence it is that you hear them profess to have attained Christian perfection, when they have not so much as attained the mental serenity of a philosopher, or the candor of a good-natured, conscientious heathen." Beware- language, ideas, and idiom from Wesley's time. 26 pages by John Fletcher (9/12/1729 - 8/14/1785) (Enhanced)
How to Go on Unto Perfection
This renowned classic by the early and very saintly John Fletcher warmly invites seekers of His Holy perfection to listen to some wise directions to help them on their blessed way: "Get tolerably clear ideas of this perfection. This is absolutely necessary. If you will hit a mark, you must know where it is. Some people aim at Christian perfection; but mistaking it for angelical perfection, they shoot above the mark, miss it, and then peevishly give up their hopes. Others place the mark much too low; hence it is that you hear them profess to have attained Christian perfection, when they have not so much as attained the mental serenity of a philosopher, or the candor of a good-natured, conscientious heathen." Beware- language, ideas, and idiom from Wesley's time. 26 pages by John Fletcher (9/12/1729 - 8/14/1785) (Enhanced)
Heart Talks on Holiness
"The glorious experience here described
and enforced is the true secret of a life of happiness and usefulness
on earth as it is the highest preparation for the life and service of
Heaven. This experience is for you." Exact instructions are
found in the latter half of Chapter 3. Contains unusual word
by word dialogues with seekers that
turned their long quests into instant success. 51 pages by the
globally famed S. L. Brengle (6/1/1860 - 5/19/1936)
of the early Salvation Army (This is the famed sequel to Brengle's
"Helps to Holiness" (on the "Wisdom for Ministers" page) which is
more concerned with helping those already in His
Rest.) (Enhanced) Print Ready
Version
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The Master's
Indwellingdisc sampler
A masterpiece from the Master:
"Jesus got this divine life by depending absolutely upon the
Father all His life long, depending upon Him even down into
death. Jesus got that life in the full glory of the Spirit to be
poured out, by giving Himself up in obedience and surrender to God
alone, and leaving God even in the grave to work out His mighty power;
and that very Christ will live out His life in you and me. Oh,
the mystery! Oh, the glory! And oh, the Divine certainty. Jesus
Christ means to live out that life in you and me." (from Chapter
6 "Christ our Life") 56 pages by Andrew Murray (1828 -1917)
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Hannah Whitall Smith was a most
extraordinary Quaker housewife who gives us perhaps the best
description in existence of the inward difficulties a soul may
face with consecration, faith, and the will, on the way to
entering His Rest.
"This is not a theological book. I frankly confess I have not been trained in theological schools, and do not understand their methods nor their terms. But the Lord has taught me experientially and practically certain lessons out of his Word, which have greatly helped me in my Christian life, and have made it a very happy one. And I want to tell my secret, in the best way I can, in order that some others may be helped into a happy life also."
She is very modest about her stellar contribution to us! 39 pages by Hannah Whitall Smith (2/7/1832 - 5/1/1911) Print Ready Version
"This is not a theological book. I frankly confess I have not been trained in theological schools, and do not understand their methods nor their terms. But the Lord has taught me experientially and practically certain lessons out of his Word, which have greatly helped me in my Christian life, and have made it a very happy one. And I want to tell my secret, in the best way I can, in order that some others may be helped into a happy life also."
She is very modest about her stellar contribution to us! 39 pages by Hannah Whitall Smith (2/7/1832 - 5/1/1911) Print Ready Version
The Hidden Manna
"Some of the chapters of this book were
originally written for a little monthly which was devoted to the
advocacy of Christian holiness, and which had quite a limited
circulation and a very short life. By securing a file of this extinct
publication, the author has been enabled to collect what he had written
for it, and by revising some of the articles, and writing others that
were needed in as
fully discussing the subject as he wished, he has been supplied with
means to send forth, for the Master's use, a regular, though
compendious and unpretending, treatise on the subject of entire
sanctification.
This would not have been done, however, had he continued able for his itinerant work in spreading holiness in the churches, but disabled for active service at present, the next best thing he could do on this line was to prepare and publish this book.
He has made an effort to present his thoughts upon this greatest of all themes, in an easy, flowing style of writing, so that common readers, and seekers of the grace of perfect love, will read the book with ease and pleasure. "All technical language and critical exegesis have been studiously avoided; and while he has attempted to logically defend positions which he deemed important to support, he has shunned all scholasticism that might please the few but tire the many." Baker succeeds. His is a winning easy-going style that makes you feel like he is at your elbow gently guiding by reason and life, more than by Scripture.
25 pages by Sheridan Baker (1824 - 1890) assembled with great care when Sheridan was weakened with age after a long and extremely fruitful career: it is his fairest flower. I just love the clarity of this most worthy work. It is one of my very favorites and I am sure it will be one of yours also. (Enhanced) Print Ready Version
This would not have been done, however, had he continued able for his itinerant work in spreading holiness in the churches, but disabled for active service at present, the next best thing he could do on this line was to prepare and publish this book.
He has made an effort to present his thoughts upon this greatest of all themes, in an easy, flowing style of writing, so that common readers, and seekers of the grace of perfect love, will read the book with ease and pleasure. "All technical language and critical exegesis have been studiously avoided; and while he has attempted to logically defend positions which he deemed important to support, he has shunned all scholasticism that might please the few but tire the many." Baker succeeds. His is a winning easy-going style that makes you feel like he is at your elbow gently guiding by reason and life, more than by Scripture.
25 pages by Sheridan Baker (1824 - 1890) assembled with great care when Sheridan was weakened with age after a long and extremely fruitful career: it is his fairest flower. I just love the clarity of this most worthy work. It is one of my very favorites and I am sure it will be one of yours also. (Enhanced) Print Ready Version
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E-Z Read Book |
Study Edition Book |
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This extract from J. A. Wood's famous
classic "Perfect Love" is formatted in a question and answer style.
Enclosed are
65 wonderful answers on how to enter His Rest, such as:
"The idea that faith for entire sanctification, and faith for
pardon, differ in degree, has no foundation in either Scripture or
reason. The question of faith, for full salvation, is not how strongly
you believe, but in what you believe and do you believe, or, have you
real faith for the object desired? The important item being real
faith, for entire sanctification, rather than any particular degree of
faith for it." ( from P. 17) 32 pages by J. A.
Wood (6/24/1828 - 7/7/1905) (B*3) Print Ready Version
But you really should read the full length original of 228 questions and answers based on personal experience that deal astonishingly well with every topic of our concern. Enjoy this powerful and beloved classic complete catechism of holiness! Most of the other works above are written more recently, and cite this work as essential equipment for the earnest seeker. Perfect Love 137 pages by J. A. Wood (1,076 KB) Go take a break while this indexed PDF downloads unless you have broadband! Also available in Print Ready Version which is the same, but uses only 81 pages of paper. Obscure heritage terms have been translated. (Enhanced)
Objections to Entire Sanctification
With all the reading you have done on this page, you may still have some remaining questions and doubts. This has been the rule ever since the grace came into being, so don't be side-tracked. It is certainly a lot to believe for. Here many of the common objections are carefully and logically addressed. 31 page PDF by H. A. Baldwin
Some seekers may find that all of the above material still leaves you wandering in circles in more ways than one. Take hope!!! You are not alone. This is for you:
The Seeker's Dilemma 7 pages by Earnest Seeker
How to Enter His Rest
I have undertaken this compilation to simplify the topic and omit any of the less helpful perspectives from the past. I hope you will find it to be both foundational and faith-building. The purpose of the book is not academic, nor theological, but is to simply to guide you into His Rest more effectively. It is the best of the best -served up on a platter for you!! Some of the source materials are on this website, while others are not.
The approach I have taken assumes a normal church background which is somewhat short of substantial instruction in the meaty principles of the basic gospel. This means that we start with the elementary principles and then build upon them so that you can see and embrace faith for the greater gospel which contains His Rest. It is loaded with examples, testimonies and helpful practical hints.
"How to Enter His Rest", in contrast to most works on this topic, has a major focus on the glory of daily life in His Rest so that you may be properly motivated and positively faith-oriented to successfully pass through the painful temporary crucible of your sanctification crisis. In the longer term picture, your need is not to have a grim focus on how to eradicate the fallen nature (or its manifestations) in faith, but to embrace the Lord fully since in Him is all Godliness. We can state it either way. Both are true, but the removal of the fallen nature is only relevant to discuss as long as it remains within. The fact is that the rare radiant life found in His Rest, which is the Christ-life ruling without rival -is the true Christian life, and always has been. This radiant life will comprise your remaining years on earth, as this spiritual crisis of entering in will soon just be a memory of a blood-spattered struggle followed by a total and lasting victory. No Philistines at all will remain in your inward Promised Land!!! The lasting reality will be the radiant and tranquil inward life in His Rest, not the sharp and costly struggle to obtain it -so we should think of it that way!!
by Earnest Seeker 126 page pdf written in 2005
Print Ready Version both versions are free and without copyright restriction. This version uses almost half the paper to print, and is free of ink-devouring graphics....
In worshipful wonder the worldling
casts his lost soul
with pure saving faith into the care of the Master
Bringing PARDON to the needy soul
Now in worshipful wonder the
believer casts his redeemed life
with that same pure saving faith into the care of the Master
Bringing blameless PURITY to the
pardoned soul
So do Beulah's lowly gates open
evermore
So enters the soul into the secure hush of His own Rest
Earnest Seeker
Just as you once came apart from the dust and confusion of the world into the fellowship of the redeemed, now it is your time to come apart again:
"Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach*." Hebrews 13:13 (* "abuse" or "scornful insult")
You have had enough of toils and contradictions: of hymns of faith sung out of a troubled heart: the perennial hypocrisy of a heart that cries for His peerless promises of complete spiritual freedom and yet continues to trudge along with far less. The common elementary (introductory level) faith that seems to be enough for so many is no longer enough for you -so now you come apart to seek His face.
When you met the Lord, your heart cried out to Him in saving faith, He touched you and your sins were forever pardoned in that instant. The guilt is gone, but sometimes the allure is not, so now you find that pardon alone is not enough for you. You need your heart to be made wholly pure so that you can be fully acceptable by Him. And with that same saving faith in that same miraculous instant. Growth is one thing while the peerless miracle of the cross is another. It is by His Blood that we are saved, not by our years of piety -no matter how diligent, anointed, packed with miracles or successful they may be!
To realize this, we must leave behind our doubts and fears for they would turn us aside. A sober time of heart-stopping decision is upon us. The exceeding great promises of the gospel fill our hearts with hope and yet we face doubt and lack within. We are saved but now we need to be FULLY SAVED. We are set free from sin but now we are daily more consumed with the need to be made free from ALL that is out of harmony with Him. We know Him, but now we find that we MUST know Him in a far greater way -beyond anything we could have before asked or imagined!
There is a race to be run!!!
It is a race that is simple and starkly pure for it deals frankly with the fundamental created elements of your being. Cast aside the clinging limitations of the common churchy crowd! Others may enjoy serving their time in the status quo, but here our uncommon task is clear. We must have Him; and ALL of Him -lest we die!
A time of sharp decision has come upon us as it came upon Abraham, the father of Faith:
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 ¶ Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 ¶ Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17 ¶ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— (Genesis 15:12)
And so Abraham did not shrink back, but manfully apprehended the unbelievably bountiful earthly promise the Lord laid out before him. Our promise of full sanctification in His blood is not earthly as Abraham's promise was: instead it is a distinct heavenward blessing that first removes everything out of harmony with God and Heaven so that it can then robe you in pure white to meet and abide with the King in His boundless beauty.
You were faithful in the things of your former life of elementary Christian faith. When the vultures of temptation and doubt came down upon your life laid out unto Him, you drove them away. And now you find that your former believing life has become dim to you for the sake of the greater promise now held out before you....
So, here are the steps to take:
One: Drink the cup of faith that is in your hand -to the full. Put into practice what you already believe -and check to see if that faith is missing any pieces of "Scriptural faith". If it is -put those into practise as well. The principle here is that God will not give you more until you are using what you already have. See through common beliefs which limit your ability to advance. See "Foundational Understandings" below.
Two: Hunger for His Rest. But you cannot do that until you know that it is there for you. So read the material on the "Testimonials" page so that you can believe that it exists, and that it exists for you. Once you believe, keep reading the material on the website until the Spirit gives you hunger for this work of grace to be done for you too!!
Three: Consecrate your life to Him. Place every hope and every dream and every ambition into His hand -and leave it there in His care. He wants your life to count -even more than you do, but He is better able to judge what is important for eternity than you are. If you are whole-hearted this does not have to take more than a few minutes. But in the days that follow He will likely show you things that you missed. Place those in His Hand as well. This step gives Him permission to take charge of your life -in His way.
Four: Ask. Ask specifically for Him to reach down from above, and give you this new pure heart that you now are hungering for. Do this with your whole heart. Note: to do anything with a whole heart is problematic since people are seldom aware of or in control of what is hidden within their hearts. So ask and keep on asking -even though most of the asking may be in vain because it is not with your whole heart. One old-fashioned approach at this point was to "groan for it"....
At his point it is advisable to live your life in a prayerful fever of desire because giving up your former way of living and knowing Him is no small thing. Looking back, many call this transitional time "the sanctification crisis" experience.
Five: Wait. Wait while you keep the fever up, because although you may think that you have done the above, and now He should just get on with His part and just reach down -He may disagree. Or He may be waiting for all you have done to come to some sort of ripeness. In other words, He does things for you when He sees that all is ready. His vision is better than yours. Trust Him!!!
Six: Watch. One of the big pitfalls here is presumption. Many well-meaning folks at this point convince themselves that their hearts are now made new when it has not been. Consecration alone will put you in noticeably better harmony with your God, but you just wait until He reaches down. You have seen nothing yet until He does what you cannot do. If you find that you are doing this, go back to number three and place your unclean spiritual ambition in His Hand. This is very serious. Remember Ananiius and Sapphira? They said that they had given all when they had not. They were attempting to buy a priveleged place among the redeemed. Instead their attempt to lie to God earned them a quick passage to perdition.........
So in His time He will reach down and do the purifying work in a "moment of time". Your life and faith will be made anew. But all of the above summary will be confirmed for you in many different ways by many different authors in the following online library. All of this is thoroughly confirmed by scripture.
Has your heart been stirred in hope to obtain His Rest? Good! It is yours if only you will seek it. God loves and helps those who seek Him.
Have Fear!! Work with the Lord, Not Against Him!
" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." Numbers 20:11-12
The Gift of Conviction
This gift works to help our seeking in two
ways:
1. The Holy Spirit supernaturally provides certainty -for doing or believing something positive. This confirmation adds solidity.
2. The Holy Spirit provides proper hatred of your status quo so you can be driven to obtain a better place in the spirit -eg: getting saved or completing your sanctification. This is power to hate your own present life enough to lose it.
Quite often the Lord uses both of these ways to get you saved or later, to get you sanctified. He uses the first to wake you up to the need. He uses the second to help steel your resolve to pay the price and obtain -no matter the cost. For the sake of obtaining the glory almost within reach, all distractions become hated. (Luke 14:26)
You are more likely to get this gift if you position yourself to get it -by living at a fever-pitch of maximum faithful seeking. And if you get this conviction, do not neglect it and let that special time of conviction pass without using it. It's worth is above that of diamonds and rubies. If you willfully turn aside from strong conviction, it has been known for the Lord to not send the gift again, no matter how much you pray. The same can occur after a certain finite number of times resisting mild conviction. Entering and abiding in His Rest is a rare and precious privelige, not a right. If you abuse a privelige, you can lose it. When God is dealing with applicants to come and dwell close to Himself in His Most Holy, He does not shilly, nor does He shally.
If the gift of conviction comes at an inconvenient time, consider this: He might be testing your devotion. Also, as you have well noticed, it seems that there seldom is a convenient time for spiritual things in this O so earthly world. The world (and then your family!) always crowds in with more urgent needs that just "cannot" be denied.... This is par for the course. But this is not a test you can afford to fail -if you care about remaining in good standing with the Lord.
1. The Holy Spirit supernaturally provides certainty -for doing or believing something positive. This confirmation adds solidity.
2. The Holy Spirit provides proper hatred of your status quo so you can be driven to obtain a better place in the spirit -eg: getting saved or completing your sanctification. This is power to hate your own present life enough to lose it.
Quite often the Lord uses both of these ways to get you saved or later, to get you sanctified. He uses the first to wake you up to the need. He uses the second to help steel your resolve to pay the price and obtain -no matter the cost. For the sake of obtaining the glory almost within reach, all distractions become hated. (Luke 14:26)
You are more likely to get this gift if you position yourself to get it -by living at a fever-pitch of maximum faithful seeking. And if you get this conviction, do not neglect it and let that special time of conviction pass without using it. It's worth is above that of diamonds and rubies. If you willfully turn aside from strong conviction, it has been known for the Lord to not send the gift again, no matter how much you pray. The same can occur after a certain finite number of times resisting mild conviction. Entering and abiding in His Rest is a rare and precious privelige, not a right. If you abuse a privelige, you can lose it. When God is dealing with applicants to come and dwell close to Himself in His Most Holy, He does not shilly, nor does He shally.
If the gift of conviction comes at an inconvenient time, consider this: He might be testing your devotion. Also, as you have well noticed, it seems that there seldom is a convenient time for spiritual things in this O so earthly world. The world (and then your family!) always crowds in with more urgent needs that just "cannot" be denied.... This is par for the course. But this is not a test you can afford to fail -if you care about remaining in good standing with the Lord.
For more about the consequences of poor stewardship, see the articles on the Consequences page.
"Revival Classics" and "Outside the Camp Publishing" by Marc Adams comprise my Order page, since we are partners in this initiative to restore the scriptural and experiential work of His Rest to the church today. Earnest Seeker
Marc's Class
God has been gracious to keep Marc within His Rest for almost twenty years now. Among his many blessed endeavors Marc guides small groups in the careful preparation of their hearts to enter the holy hush of His Rest from his home in Minneapolis. On the above page Marc has been generous to share both his important source materials and his hard-won methods, so that you can go and do likewise.....
Online Preparation School for His Fire
This is your direct Link to Marc's important online class. Get ready for structure. Get ready for the hard work required to enter His Rest. You have knee work to do. ...and you have serious homework to do!!!
The work follows your pace. Help is at your side to help clear away your confusions as you prepare to pay the price to enter a far better realm of grace. Come O come!!! The joy is free and without limit here!!!! There no longer needs to be a "glass ceiling" limiting the depth of your worship, consecration or service!!
To all online seekers of His Rest:
"The overall goal of my "Online Preparation School for His Fire" is
to help
the student develop two main spiritual pillars: strong and confident
Bible Study practices and a prayer life that effectively reaches the
Throne. With these two pillars in place, the student is cast upon the
Holy Spirit in full confidence to rightly pursue, obtain and enjoy a
complete life of Scriptural Holiness and full participation in the Rest
Of God. Simply put, rightly becoming a mature student of God, His Word
and His Person and not a student dependent upon others and their words
for the Life of God.
The Bible Study is designed to teach a methodical study approach encouraging the student to be an independent and self confident Bible Scholar. For this reason students utilize logical progressive steps to allow the development of intellectual as well as practical skills such as effective study. Induction is stressed rather than deduction; observation and evaluation are taught to be essential and primary to a proper interpretation and application.
The last of the steps is the correlation of all the truths they have discovered, thus bringing all that the student learns to bear directly on their personal philosophy, world view and especially their spiritual life and relationship to the LORD. The full dependence on the Holy Spirit as the true teacher is underscored and an aggressive prayer life, seeking God with all the heart for full revelation in personal experience, is made foundational. The many study aids available to the student will be utilized as complementary assets in the proper step; but mainly as a reference with which the student uses to compare their own work. The student will confidently learn to stand on what the Holy Spirit has taught him personally. At present we are using the Epistle to the Hebrews as our study text. In the course of the study of this Epistle the student will have effectively developed the personal study tools to then be able to move from book to book in the Scriptures.
I am looking forward to working together with you as you prepare to meet His cleansing Fire, not in part, as you have in the past, but in every part.
The Bible Study is designed to teach a methodical study approach encouraging the student to be an independent and self confident Bible Scholar. For this reason students utilize logical progressive steps to allow the development of intellectual as well as practical skills such as effective study. Induction is stressed rather than deduction; observation and evaluation are taught to be essential and primary to a proper interpretation and application.
The last of the steps is the correlation of all the truths they have discovered, thus bringing all that the student learns to bear directly on their personal philosophy, world view and especially their spiritual life and relationship to the LORD. The full dependence on the Holy Spirit as the true teacher is underscored and an aggressive prayer life, seeking God with all the heart for full revelation in personal experience, is made foundational. The many study aids available to the student will be utilized as complementary assets in the proper step; but mainly as a reference with which the student uses to compare their own work. The student will confidently learn to stand on what the Holy Spirit has taught him personally. At present we are using the Epistle to the Hebrews as our study text. In the course of the study of this Epistle the student will have effectively developed the personal study tools to then be able to move from book to book in the Scriptures.
I am looking forward to working together with you as you prepare to meet His cleansing Fire, not in part, as you have in the past, but in every part.
Come and join our I John Workshop Weekend! Workshop Weekend
Marc Adams
With this diligent preparation each earnest seeker of His Rest will be made ready to be lovingly but carefully tested and made supernaturally whole in every point by the Lord's healing Fire. It is not that the seeker has to be doctrinally perfect to be successfully scourged by His Fire to enter His Rest, but he or she certainly is required to come with a completed consecration and faith to Him through His help. You may be certain that many of the most stubborn barriers to this today are often found in inadequate preparation to be supernaturally accepted by Him as lowly stewards of His Word and His Spirit.
Be readied to pass the examination by Fire He will administer to your soul! The Lord, your Most Righteous examiner hears your every thought and sees every secret of your heart... Be ready to meet your "Waterloo". Lay down your whole life here. No half measures can possibly succeed. Beyond this line, there is great reward. But it costs your all to cross...
Earnest Seeker
We Give Honor and Thanks
For the years of faith, labor, vision
and
that have made the priceless treasure on this website available to us
all. Virtually all
of the documents on this website are brief authourized samplers of the
"Wesleyan Heritage Library CD" which contains 500 Holiness
works, (both old and new) in an easy to read and share PDF
format. The full source documents are on the CD. The resources on
this CD have made this website possible.
CD Author's Preface - by Sulu D. Kelley of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing, producer of the “Wesleyan Heritage Library CD. 1 page
Wesleyan Heritage Library CD Contents List -an orderly full sized list of the contents by title and by author. 24 pages.
Wesleyan Heritage Library CD Cover - 2 pages of very tiny print and graphics. You will need to use the PDF page magnifier. Press your shift key when opening to obtain the full page format.
You may order your own Wesleyan Heritage Library CD here:
Do you have questions? Is this library website helping you? I will answer your email. About This Website
