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The Heart-Cry of Jesus
BY BYRON J. REES,
Author of "Christlikeness," "Hulda, the Pentecostal Prophetess," and
"Hallelujahs from Portsmouth, Nos. 2 and 3."
DEDICATION.
TO MY MASTER, EVEN CHRIST.
INTRODUCTION.
THE NEED OF THE DAY.
The saying, "Necessity is the mother of Invention," finds nowhere a
more vivid illustration of its truth than in the publishing enterprises
of the modern Holiness movement. The onward movement of the Holy Ghost
along Pentecostal lines, convicting of depravity, creating a
clean-reading public, and endueing with power both pulpit and pew, has
resulted in a constant and growing demand for full-salvation
literature. Tens of thousands of pulpits do an active business on both
the wholesale and retail plan, with science and philosophy as stock in
trade. Famishing congregations are proffered the bugs of biology, the
rocks of geology, and the stars of astronomy until their souls revolt,
and they demand bread and meat.
THE NEED BEING SUPPLIED.
The great soul-cry is being met and answered by the publication and
distribution of soul-feeding, spirit-inspiring, health-giving Holiness
books and papers. God is raising up writers and editors from whose pens
pour melted truths, to the edification and blessing of thousands.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK.
In this little book we have a production in which the author has made
little attempt at the elucidation of doctrine or the waging of
controversy, but in great simplicity and directness he has presented
the truth with a view to helpfulness, desiring to introduce really
hungry souls into the Canaan life, and provide a well-loaded table of
rich provisions for those who are already "in the Land."
READERS WILL BE REFRESHED.
We believe that there is a warmth, fervor and glow about the pages of
this volume which will be most refreshing to many, many readers. May
the Holy Spirit put His seal upon it and give it an extensive
circulation.
SETH C. REES.
PROVIDENCE, R. I., NOVEMBER 15, 1898.
PREFACE.
WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?
No one who accustoms himself to the observation of spiritual tides,
winds and currents can be ignorant of the fact that the devout men and
women of the present are earnestly inquiring, "What is sanctification?
What does holiness mean?" They are demanding of the pulpit and of the
church editor something more than the time-worn and moth-eaten excuses
for not teaching a deeper work of grace. The "seven thousand" who have
not "bowed the knee" to the modern Baals are insisting that, if God's
Word teaches entire sanctification for the disciple of Christ
obtainable by faith now, they must possess themselves of this heavenly
grace.
THE AUTHOR'S DESIRE.
It is with the purpose and hope that some seeking heart may be helped
that these pages are penned. The author has purposely avoided all
controversial matter. We would not assume the role of the doctrinaire
even were we capable of it. "Not controversy, not theology, but to save
souls," as Lyman Beecher said when dying.
THE NEED OF SPEED.
This book has been written in the midst of laborious and unceasing
revival work. For this reason there has been no time to polish
sentences nor improve style. The object has been to get the truth to
the people in plain language, and to do it with despatch, for the time
is short, and men are being saved or damned with electric speed.
THE BUZZARD AND VULTURE.
The buzzard and the vulture will find food if they look for it, but
with them we are not concerned. We are, however, terribly in earnest to
help hungry souls to a place of blessing and power.
May God take these leaves and make them "leaves of healing," if not for
"nations," at least for individuals.
BYRON J. REES.
NOVEMBER 14, 1898.
CONTENTS.
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
PREFACE
CHRIST'S PRAYER
CHAPTER I. A Word in the Prayer
CHAPTER II. Some Errors
CHAPTER III. Those for Whom Christ Prayed
CHAPTER IV. Christ's Prayer Answered
CHAPTER V. Christian Unity
CHAPTER VI. Fearlessness
CHAPTER VII. Responsiveness to Christ
CHAPTER VIII. Soul-Rest
CHAPTER IX. Prayerfulness
CHAPTER X. Success
CHAPTER XI. Growth in Christliness of Life
EXPERIENCE
CHRIST'S PRAYER:
"SANCTIFY THEM THROUGH THE TRUTH; THY WORD IS TRUTH."
CHAPTER I.
A WORD IN THE PRAYER.
CHRIST'S WORDS.
All who really love Christ love His words. They may not always fully
understand their meaning, but they never reject any of them. The very
fact that any word has been on the lips of Christ and received His
sanction, gives it a sound of music to all who are truly disciples of
the Nazarene.
MOTHER'S WORDS.
The words that your mother used frequently--are there any words quite
the same to you? She may be resting under the solemn pines of a silent
cemetery, but, to this hour, if anyone uses one of her favorite words,
instantly the heart leaps in answer, and the mind flies back to her,
and the fancy paints her as you knew her in the garden or at the
fireside or by the window. It lies in the power of a single word to
make the eyes fill and the throat ache because of its association with
the voice of a queenly mother.
A MAN'S TESTIMONY.
Thus it is with Christ and HIS words. It matters not where we meet the
word, if it is Christ's we are touched and made tender. An aged man
stands in a prayer-meeting in a bare and cheerless hall, and says in
broken and faltering voice, "The dear Lord has blessedly SANCTIFIED my
heart," and like a flash the room lightens, and the whole place seems
changed and made cheery. The heart cries, "That is my Master's word,"
and the entire being is attentive and interested.
JESUS' LIFE DEAR.
Yes, to the really regenerated soul everything connected with Jesus is
dear. The place of His birth, the land of His ministry, the garden of
His agony, the mount of His crucifixion, the Olivet of His ascension,
all these are illumined with a peculiar and special light. The mind
dwells lovingly on His parables, ponders deeply His sayings, lingers
tenderly over His words.
WE WELCOME THE WORD.
We will NOT therefore shrink from the Word of our Lord: "Sanctify." It
may have been stained by the slime of some unworthy life, or soiled by
the lips of men who prated about sanctification, but knew nothing of
its nature; yet, for all that, since the word is Christ's we hail its
enunciation with gladness.
CHRIST'S BURDEN.
The high-priestly prayer of Christ was distinctively for the disciples.
Indeed, He SAYS: "I pray not for the world." That is to say, the
disciples need a peculiar and special work of grace, one which must
follow, not precede, conversion, and therefore not to be received by
the world. In this prayer the loving Master revealed to His immediate
disciples, and to those of all ages and climes, the burning desire of
His heart concerning His followers. The petition ascends from His
immaculate heart like incense from a golden censer, and it has for its
tone and soul, "Sanctify them through thy truth." His soul longed for
this work to be completed quickly. During the last days of His ministry
He talked frequently of the coming Comforter. He admonished them to
"tarry" until an enduement came to them. He knew that unless they were
energized with a power, to which they were as yet strangers, their work
would be worse than futile.
HE PRAYED FOR SANCTIFICATION.
It is for the SANCTIFICATION of the disciples that Christ prayed. He
did not ask that they might fill positions of honor and trust; He knew
that there is no nobility but that of goodness. It was more important
that the early preachers should be holy men than that they should be
respected and honored. He did not pray for riches for them; He knew too
well the worthlessness of money in itself. He did not desire for them
thrones, nor culture, nor refinement, nor name.
"'Tis only noble to be good.
True hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood."
So Jesus prayed that these men who had for three years been His daily
and constant companions should receive an experience which should make
them INTENSELY GOOD; not "goody-goody," which is very different, but
heartily and wholly spiritual and godly.
THE MEN WE LOVE.
The men whose names are brightening as the ages fly, were not men who
were always free from prejudices and blunders. They were not men, as a
rule, from university quadrangles nor college cloisters. They were not
the wise, nor the erudite, nor the cultivated, nor the rich. They were
the good men. Brilliant men tire us; wits soon bore us with their
gilt-edged nothings, but men with clean, holy hearts, fixed
convictions, bold antipathies to sin, sympathetic natures and tender
consciences never weary us, and they bear the intimate and familiar
acquaintance which so often causes the downfall of the so-called
"great" in one's estimation.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH.
We may forget an eloquent sermon pilfered from Massillon, but we will
never forget a warm handclasp and a sympathetic word from an humble
servant in God's house. Jesus never went for the crowds--he hunted the
individual. He sat up a whole night with a questioning Rabbi; talked an
afternoon with a harlot who wanted salvation; sought out and found the
man whom they cast out of the synagogue, and saved a dying robber on an
adjacent cross. We do not reach men in great audiences generally. We
reach them by interesting ourselves in them individually; by lending
our interest to their needs; by giving them a lift when they need it.
SANCTIFIED FISHERMEN.
Jesus with divine sagacity knew that if these untutored fishermen were
to light up Europe and Asia with the torch of the gospel they must have
an experience themselves which would transform them from self-seeking,
cowardly men to giants and heroes.
THE CARNAL MIND.
While the true Christian loves Christ and His words, while his higher
and more spiritual nature says "Amen" to the Lord's teaching, yet it
must not be forgotten that the "carnal mind" which remains, "even in
the heart of the regenerate," is "enmity against God." There is a dark
SOMEWHAT in the soul that fairly hates the word "sanctification."
Theologians call it "inbred sin" or "original depravity"; the Bible
terms it the "old man," "the old leaven," "the root of bitterness,"
etc. Whatever its name it abhors holiness and purity, and though the
regenerate man loves Christ and His words, he does so over the vehement
protest of a baser principle chained and manacled in the basement
dungeon of his heart.
GEORGE FOX.
The devout of all churches recognize the existence of an inner enemy
who bars the gate to rapid spiritual progress. George Fox, the pious
founder of the Friends' Society, said in relation to an experience
which came to him: "I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul,
but I found something within me which would not always keep patient and
kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought
Jesus that He would do something for me, and when I gave Him my will He
came into me and cast out all that would not be patient, and all that
would not be sweet, and that would not be kind, and then He shut the
door."
"SIN IN BELIEVERS."
John Wesley preached a sermon on "Sin in Believers" which is extant and
widely read. All churches recognize it in their creeds, and all have
provision in their dogmas for its expulsion before entrance into
heaven. The Catholics provide a convenient Purgatory; other
denominations glorify Death and ascribe to it a power which they deny
to Christ; while still others rely on growth to cleanse from all sin
and get us ready for the glory-world. The Bible, however, with that
sublime indifference to all human opinions and theories becoming in
divine authority, reveals a SALVATION FROM ALL SIN HERE AND NOW.
The word sanctify means simply "to make holy" (L., sanctificare =
sanctus, holy, + ficare, to make). The work of sanctification removes
all the roots of bitterness and destroys the remains of sin in the
heart.
UNREASONABLE ANTAGONISM.
What sound sense can there be in antagonizing a blessing which is
nothing more or less than cleanness--mental, moral and physical
cleanness. The kind of character that would wittingly fight holiness
would object to a change of linen.
A CHURCH IN JERSEY.
The eagerness with which truly devout people welcome the preaching of
full salvation is refreshing. It was the writer's privilege to hold an
eight-day meeting with a church in Central New Jersey. The church was
in excellent condition, for the pastor, a godly and earnest man, had
faithfully proclaimed justification and its appropriate fruits. Nearly
all the members were praying, conscientious and zealous Christians.
When, at the first meeting, which was the regular Sunday morning
service, the experience of sanctification was presented, over one
hundred persons arose, thus signifying their desire for the precious
grace!
OPEN THE ALTAR!
The language of the child of God is, "Does God want me sanctified? Then
open the altar for I am coming." He does not tarry; he does not higgle
and hesitate; he makes for the "straw pile" if in a New England camp;
the "saw-dust" if down South; the "altar rail" if in a spiritual
church; to his knees at any rate, for God's will he desires and must
have. Thank God he can have it!