Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 34

In a previous excerpt, Knapp stated that there are four features of "impressions" from God. These are Scriptural; Right (consistent with good morals); Providential (in harmony with God's will); and Reasonable. His discussion continues:

CHAPTER VII
IMPRESSIONS FROM ABOVE -- CONDITIONS OF BEING LED BY THEM

In order to be at one's best for detecting impressions from below, and being led by those from above, the following conditions must be met:

Conversion. The unregenerated heart is a camera prepared for impressions from below, and it receives them as greedily as the parched earth drinks in a shower. It has no affinity for those from above, but resolutely repels them. All of its telegraph wires are manipulated by the enemy, and it is with great difficulty that its King can reach it with a message. Of such it is truly said: "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and be converted, and I should heal them." Conversion opens the spiritual eyes and ears, and enables to discern the spirits whether they be of God.

Purity. Inbred sin in the heart of the believer is a great hindrance to being divinely led. It is like dust in the eye which pains and blinds it; like wax in the ear which deadens the hearing.

"After you are sanctified," says Dr. Watson, "the devil comes up to you and hunts all around and says: 'Where is my instrument gone? I could run my fingers over the carnal mind and play a tune in this man's soul.' He finds no wire in your soul to pull on now. He used to pull on your judgment and reason and carnal nature, but that is all gone and he finds nothing but Christ.

"When the devil finds out he has no territory in you. he gets mad, flings off his coat, and begins to blaspheme. He will say: 'You have professed holiness, and you know you haven't it.' You never know how plainly the devil can talk to you until you are sanctified. Before he could run into the back door of your heart and pull the wires; but after you are sanctified the devil has got to fight you on the outside. He will come to your face and tell you you are not sanctified, and you know it! He will threaten you with falling; he will talk to you intellectually, and pronounce words in your mind.

"Before we are sanctified the method of the devil is to work in Christian people through their carnal mind without letting them know it is the devil. He will come to Christian men, to Christian women, Christian ministers, good people who are endeavoring to serve God, and are on the way to heaven; he will work his plans and purposes upon them by using their carnal mind, and so work that they think it is their wisdom. The devil will come to an unsanctified Christian who is converted, and will put a certain idea into his mind or heart, and he will say: 'Now, isn't that wise, isn't that prudent,
isn't that cautious?' Thus he will work on their prudential motives, on their reason, and on their carnal fears. He will work on their man-fearing spirit; he will work on their worldly policy and their worldly wisdom, making a playground upon their carnal mind.

"Now, mark you, he has no possession of God's children, but he will annoy them and disturb them and hinder them. They are doing ten thousand things in which they do not dream they are doing the devil's work. The devil goes to Christian people and gets them to have a church theatrical. He wouldn't dare have them start a regular theater with all the accessories, but he goes and works on their worldly policy and their worldly mind, so that when they have got these things up, church members do not know they are doing the devil's work. They say: "We are doing this to raise money for our church. It is laudable.' They think they are right. They simply are doing the devil's work by the devil's suggestions, only the devil is hiding himself, and laughing at them all the while."

If, then, we would be at our best to detect the impressions which are continually coming to us, we, having our hearts "purified by faith," must be cleansed from inbred sin.

George Muller says: "Only maintain an upright heart. But if you live in sin, if you willfully and habitually do things which you know to be contrary to the will of God, then you can not expect to be heard by Him. 'If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me."'

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.

Sunspots 579

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Listverse reports on 10 interesting dollhouses. Some of them have been used for children's play, some haven't.

Christianity: Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength doesn't think we are capable of understanding God fully (or even close to that.) This is in response to an atheist that thinks that, if there is a God, we should be capable of understanding Him.

Relevant on how to escape sexual temptation.

Christianity Today on how suffering produces sanctification.

Ken Schenck tells us that telling the truth is almost always the loving thing to do.

Health: The New York Times reports that, although there are some disturbing trends in health in the US, such as increased suicide rates, and increasing disparity in the life-spans of rich vs. poor, the health of children seems to be improving.

Philosophy: (Or something) Listverse gives us 10 possible explanations for the feeling of déjà vu. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with any of them, but they're interesting.

Politics: The New York Times on how rare gun deaths are in other countries.

Wired explains the FBI's terrorist watch lists.

Science: Wired wonders if mockingbirds can be trained to sing "songs" that are less annoying.


Image source (public domain)  

Justification versus Sanctification: from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

The graphic above is an attempt to portray what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, in his The Cost of Discipleship, about the difference between justification and sanctification. Bonhoeffer was a pastor, theologian, and became a martyr, during World War II. See here for more of my thoughts on Bonhoeffer.

Thanks for reading, and looking. The graphic is a link to the chart, on my Flickr photostream, where it should be larger than it can be presented here.

John Wesley's Biblical support for teaching holiness

John Wesley should be known for several things, such as his concern for the poor. During his last days, he supported William Wilberforce's eventually successful fight to make the slave trade illegal. One thing that he is known for is his belief in holiness, his proposal that Christians should be entirely sanctified. His idea of holiness, sanctification, or Christian perfection, didn't mean that Christians, including himself, would never make mistakes. It did mean that it was possible for a Christian, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to refrain from deliberately disobeying God, and to love God appropriately.

A recent post lists Biblical references to what the poster calls Wesley's thirty texts in support of this doctrine. I have used that list, and fleshed it out, from the public domain World English Bible. Here is the list, fleshed out by quotations from that Bible:

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
6:10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Quoting Deuteronomy 6:5)

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35 A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36 If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
17:7  Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. 20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.

Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Galatians  2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

Ephesians 3:14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 3:19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
5:27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 2:12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,
7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.
10:14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,

James 1:4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 3:3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. 3:10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Thanks for reading!

John Bunyan on the necessity of sanctification

{75} CHR. Then said Christian, What means this?

INTER. The Interpreter answered, This parlour is the heart of a man that was never sanctified by the sweet grace of the gospel; the dust is his original sin and inward corruptions, that have defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep at first, is the Law; but she that brought water, and did sprinkle it, is the Gospel. Now, whereas thou sawest, that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so fly about that the room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou wast almost choked therewith; this is to shew thee, that the law, instead of cleansing the heart (by its working) from sin, doth revive, put strength into, and increase it in the soul, even as it doth discover and forbid it, for it doth not give power to subdue. [Rom. 7:6; 1 Cor. 15:56; Rom. 5:20]

{76} Again, as thou sawest the damsel sprinkle the room with water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure; this is to show thee, that when the gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then, I say, even as thou sawest the damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean through the faith of it, and consequently fit for the King of glory to inhabit. [John 15:3; Eph. 5:26; Acts 15:9; Rom. 16:25,26; John 15:13]

This is an extract from Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (1678, public domain. One version gives paragraph numbers.) Bunyan included the scriptural references in the book. Pilgrim's Progress, though little read now, was important enough to have been considered, for a century or two, the most important writing in English, except for the Bible.

Thanks for reading.