+I. Our sanctification is the will of God because He is the avenger
of all such as do things contrary to that purity which He
enjoins.+
+II. Because God has called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness.+
+III. Because God has given unto us His Holy Spirit.+--The Spirit is
called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Holiness, not only
because He is essentially and perfectly holy in Himself, but
because He is the Author of holiness in believers. These
considerations are motives to stir up and animate our wills to
obey and co-operate with the will of God.--_R. Mant._
_Why was the Spirit sent? or, We must needs be Holy._
+I. The coming of the Holy Ghost is to make us new creatures by
giving us the strength to become so.+
+II. Since sanctification is declared to be the special work of the
Holy Ghost, this clearly proves the difficulty of that work.+
+III. The work of sanctification is something more than merely
driving out the evil one.+
+IV. Love and devotion to God are necessary to holiness.+
+V. Strength--the strength of the Holy Spirit--is necessary to
defend holiness.+--_A. W. Hare._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-7.
_Distinctive Features of a True Sanctification._
It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the broad outlines
of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. It
is a fatal defect and involves the ruin of the whole scheme. The
peculiar genius of minds like these is to deal with things in the
mass; but they have not the ability or the patience to master a
numerous and complicated series of minute particulars. They are more
theoretical than practical; they are strong in the concrete, but
feeble in the abstract faculty. So it is possible to form a bold
conception of some great, leading Christian virtue, to expatiate on
its exquisite beauty, to exalt in grandiose terms its supernatural
dignity, and to enforce with magisterial importance its superlative
necessity, but all the while to be lamentably deficient in practical
attention to the thousand and one little details which, in every-day
life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is an
aspect of the Christian life, facile and seductive in theory, but
difficult and commonplace in practice. It is the essence and
perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some
magical feat of the mental powers, but by patient plodding, stern
conflicts, and hard-won moral victories. It is the sublime but little
understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man.
Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: "We have
lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our
sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and
for our God." In the above verses are portrayed the distinctive
feature of a true sanctification. Observe:--
+I. A true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal
chastity.+--1. _This involves an abstinence from gross sensual
indulgence._ "That you should abstain from fornication" (ver. 3). A
word that designates, not only the actual transgression known by that
name, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is a prolific
source of many other vices. It is like the fabled Hydra, or
many-headed snake, of which it is said that when one head was cut off
another grew in its place. Fornication is the root of extravagance,
drunkenness, disease, poverty, profanity, murder, and irreparable
infamy. It is a sin the most bewitching, the most prevalent, the most
fatal in its tendencies, and against which the most terrible
vengeance of Heaven has been declared. It brought the flood on the
world of the ungodly, fire and brimstone upon Sodom, pestilence upon
the Israelites, and destruction upon the nations of antiquity. Prior
to Christianity, it was hardly regarded as a vice. The apostolic
teaching revealed its enormity, denounced it with righteous
indignation, and supplied the spiritual weapon by which it is to be
slain.
2. _Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity._--"That every one
of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and
honour" (ver. 4). The vessel of the body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost, and whatever would defile or disgrace that sacred shrine must
be carefully avoided. The apostle seems to imply there is a kind of
art in chastity which all should practise. "That every one of you
should know"--should have skill--the power of self-control.
Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well, and
no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the
Christian virtues. To _possess_--to rule the body in purity, keep a
diligent guard upon the senses (Job xxxi. 1; Prov. xxiii. 33; Gen.
xxxix. 6, 7), avoid the company of the sensual; be temperate; be
industrious; continue instant in prayer.
3. _Involves a masterly restraint upon the passionate outgoings of
evil desire._--"Not in the lust of concupiscence; _not in the passion
of lust;_ even as the Gentiles which know not God" (ver. 5).
Ignorance is the origin of unchastity; and the apostle shows to what
extent of wickedness man may go who knows not God. An old writer
says, "Ignorance is a master, a mother-sin; pull it, thou pullest all
sin." Concupiscence is the rudimentary stage of evil desire;
unchecked, it spreads through the soul, inflames the passions, and
rises into an ungovernable tempest of lust. Evil must be restrained
in its earliest manifestation, banished from the region of thought.
The longer it is harboured, the more powerful it becomes.
"We are not worst at once--the course of evil
Begins so slowly and from such slight source,
An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay;
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy shall strive in
vain
To turn the headlong current."
+II. A true sanctification consists in the universal exercise of
strict justice.+--1. _That no violation of justice is allowable._
"That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter" (ver.
6). The prohibition extends not only to acts of unchastity, but to
all the transactions of life. The value of a commodity is governed by
its use, its relation to the immediate wants of man. In nature that
which has life and sense is more excellent than an inanimate
creature; in this view an insect is superior to a diamond. But with
regard to use, a loaf of bread is of more value than a thousand
insects. Justice requires there should be a fair proportion between a
thing and its price. To exact a price which is beyond the worth of
the commodity sold, or to give a sum which is below its due value, is
to overreach on the part of either the seller or the buyer. The
commercial world of the present day might ponder with advantage the
lessons to be learnt from the practice of an ancient Christian
simplicity. The man who begins a course of dishonesty by defrauding a
stranger will soon reach the point of cheating his dearest brother
and chuckle at his unjust success.
2. _That every violation of justice will be certainly
punished._--"Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we
also have forewarned you and testified" (ver. 6). The rogue will not
always triumph; and his ill-gotten gains may be the instruments of
his curse. An all-seeing Eye watches all his sinuous trickeries, and
an unseen Hand rests on all his covetous accumulations, and by-and-by
the blow of vengeance will be swift and terrible. The successful
robber is apt to lull himself into a false security; he has escaped
disaster so often and so long that he begins to fancy his villainy
may be continued with impunity. But their "judgment lingereth not,
and their damnation slumbereth not," for "the Lord is the avenger of
all such" (see Prov. xxii. 22, 23, xxiii. 10; 2 Pet. ii. 3). Not that
we are to act honestly from the fear of punishment; but while
striving to act rightly from love to God and a lofty sense of duty,
it is also salutary to remember that vengeance belongeth unto the
Lord, and He will recompense. Where human justice fails, the Divine
vengeance will supply the deficiency, that injustice may not escape
unpunished.
+III. That a true sanctification recognises the supreme authority of
the Divine call.+--"For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness" (ver. 7). A holy life gives no licence to sin.
Everything is in favour of holiness--the Caller is holy (1 Pet.
i. 15), the instrument holy (John xvii. 17), and the Spirit, the
immediate worker, is the fountain of all holiness. Religion is a holy
calling, because it leads to holiness; and though it finds us not
holy, yet it makes us so. They answer not their calling who commit
any manner of sin. Unmercifulness, cruelty, fornication, and
uncleanness are not of God. In every temptation to evil remember the
Divine calling.
+Lessons.+--_A true sanctification_--1. _Provides for the chastity of
the whole man._ 2. _Governs all the transactions of daily life._
3. _Responds to the highest call of God._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Ver. 6. _Reason for Conscientiousness._--A man was once asked why he
was so very particular to give good measure--over good--and he
replied: "God has given me but one journey through this world, and
when I am gone I cannot return to correct mistakes."
_Respect for Conscientiousness._--Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, once remarked
respecting one of his pupils who was in the habit of attending to all
his duties conscientiously and faithfully, "I could stand hat in hand
to that boy."