"And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."—1 Thess. 5:23.
Our subject now before us is Sanctification. The subject is one of
great importance. Not only is there much ignorance and error and
misconception about the subject, but there is, strange to say, most
bitter controversy over the subject. So bitter is the controversy
over the subject that some years ago there were two rival "holiness
conventions" held at the same time in Chicago at different hours of
the day, in the same church, and the animosity between these two
companies of "holiness brethren" was so intense that on one occasion
they came near to having blows at the altar of the church. The
subject of Sanctification has given rise to such bitterness and such
extravagances in some quarters that many even dread the use of the word
"Sanctification." But the word is not only a Bible word, but a deeply
significant word, a word full of precious meaning; and it would not be
the part of wisdom on our part to give up this good Bible word simply
because the word is so often abused. On one occasion a man said to me
in the Bible Institute of Chicago, "Are you not afraid of holiness?" Of
course what the man meant was, was I not afraid of certain phases of
"holiness doctrine" so-called. I replied that I was not nearly as much
afraid of holiness as I was of unholiness. The teaching of the Bible on
the subject is very plain and very precious. What we have to say this
morning will come under three headings. First, What Sanctification Is:
2. How to be Sanctified; 3. When Sanctification Takes Place.