|
• 
Andrew Murray
|
|
 A Ministry dedicated to preserving the truth and accuracy of the infallible Word of God. |
|
|
|
| General William Booth: Purity of Heart | |
|
Back to Great Works Index >> Purity of Heart
PREFACE
They do not, of course, profess to treat this great subject with anything like
completeness, nor do I make any claim for them to literary elegance or power;
and yet, if they are used at all, they must go as they are, for I have no opportunity
to properly revise them. TABLE OF CONTENTS PURIFYING FAITH
Ephesians 3:17-19 -- That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
My Dear Comrades,
They cannot, or do not, or will not exercise the Faith that purifies, and so turn
away and go back to the unsatisfactory state of sinning and repenting in which
they have lived so long. Now, I feel quite sure that this is often caused by
ignorance or mistaken notions; and I would, therefore, very much like to explain a
little further what that wonderful Faith is by which the soul enters into the
enjoyment of a Full Salvation.
I may have again to pass over some of the ground we have already traveled
together. But that cannot be helped. I had better repeat myself a thousand times
and be understood, than leave you in doubt as to my meaning.
1. I remark that Purifying Faith is the Faith that has some definite knowledge of
the nature of the Blessing desired, and the means by which it is attained. That
knowledge may be very imperfect, but it is enough to apprehend the nature of the
Purity sought for. This Faith sees that Purity is not merely a passing wave of
feeling or a deliverance from temptation. It perceives that it is not a condition of
uninterrupted happiness, but a state of Holiness in which the servant of God
ceases to grieve the Holy Spirit, obeys the call of duty, and loves Him with all the
power he possesses.
Purifying Faith fixes its eye on the Blessing, and says "I want a Pure Heart, I need
it; it is the Will of God that I should have it. Christ bought it for me when He died
on the Cross. O God, let it be mine."
Has your Faith got as far as that, my Comrades? Do you see what Purity means?
If so that is a gratifying attainment. Hold it fast until God bestows the great
treasure upon you.
2. Purifying Faith sets the soul longing after the possession of this Treasure.
Looking at a thing which you consider valuable and possible, will certainly
awaken the desire for its possession. If I am informed of some site of land, or
some piece of property, which I could see would be of great service to The Army,
the more I think about it, the longer I look at it, the more strongly shall I desire its
possession.
It is so with Holiness, my Comrades. If you believe it to be the precious thing it
really is, you will consider it, keep it before your mind, turn it round and round,
and the more you do so the more you will desire it. Does your Faith compel your
attention? Does it make you think? "O Lord, increase our Faith." If you will only
keep on looking at it you will come to long after it with earnest desire.
3. Purifying Faith is the Faith that leads the soul to choose the Blessing. It says,
"I'll have it if it is for me," and sings:
Purifying Faith goes further than merely admiring and talking, and longing and
praying: it elects to make the experience its own. It says, "Now, Lord, this great
deliverance shall be mine. I choose it. If it is to be attained, I'll have it!"
We all know how the sinners around us pain our hearts by the way they trifle with
Salvation. They say, "Oh, yes, it is good, and it's very kind of Jesus Christ to
make it possible for us to be saved. We must have Salvation. We must not be lost.
But we won't seek it now." Even so, I am afraid many Soldiers trifle with
holiness. They say, "I ought to be holy; I wish I were holy. O Lord, make me holy
-- but not now." But Purifying Faith chooses the Blessing desired. It says, "I'll
begin to seek now with all my heart -- and I'll seek until I find."
4. Purifying Faith compels the surrender of everything that stands in the way of
the possession of Holiness. It is willing to pay the price. Oh, how cheerfully
people give up pleasant things in order to gain those which they believe to be still
more desirable. So here, when men really do see and believe in the worth of
Purity, they will be ready to abandon everything which seems likely to hinder
them obtaining it.
Oh, my Comrades, have you got thus far? Does your Faith duly value the treasure
we are talking about? If not, it cannot be said to be Purifying Faith. If it does, it
will cry out.
"Is there a thing beneath the sun,
5. Purifying Faith leads the soul to the consecration of all it possesses to the
service of its Saviour.
Now, my dear Comrades, has your Faith got as far as this? I am afraid many come
close up to this point, and then grow afraid. They shrink from the full
consecration, and give up the holy strife. They will say "If I place myself in the
hands of God, for Him to do just as He likes with me, who can tell where He may
send me, or what He may want me to do?"
For instance, I fancy some of my Soldiers hang back from the fear that God
should say to them: You will have to put on the Uniform; or you will have to
speak to your relatives about their souls; or you will have to plead with strangers;
or you will have to be Officers, or do something else from which their
unsanctified hearts turn back; and so they go no further in the search for Purity.
But Purifying Faith sees Jesus Christ to be the altogether lovely, His service to be
infinitely desirable, and the privilege of joining with Him in the work of saving
and blessing men so honorable and desirable that the soul controlled by it leaps
forward to lay itself at the Master's feet, willing to be used in any way He thinks
best, and so gladly offers a consecration which knows no hesitation, has no
reservation, the limits of which being only bounded by its ability.
6. But Purifying Faith goes further than this: it realizes that Holiness has been
bought by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and is promised in the unchanging word
of God. Do you see that this Treasure of treasures is yours, my Comrades, and
that God, having provided and promised it, is now waiting and willing to give it
you?
Faith hears God say, "From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you." Faith replies, "True, Lord, and I am waiting and longing for it to be
done. It shall be mine."
Faith hears Him say, "I will take away the heart of stone -- the hardness from your
heart -- and give you a heart of flesh -- a tender heart," and answers. "Lord, I am
sure you will. I trust you to do it now. The hour of my sanctification is at hand,
The Cleansing Spirit is coming to dwell within me. He will make and keep me
clean."
7. But Purifying Faith goes further still. it believes that it actually receives the
Purity which it seeks. It says not only "God is willing and waiting to save," but
"Jesus does sanctify me now."
My Comrades, I want to ask you the question, When shall this Purity come into
your hearts? Do you say tomorrow? I answer, "Perhaps it may be tomorrow. I do
not know whether it may." Do you say, "When I am dying"? I answer, "Perhaps it
may be when you are dying, but I do not know whether it will be possible then."
Do you say NOW? I answer "YES, IT CAN BE NOW," for "Now is the accepted
time, and Now is the day of Salvation."
Yours affectionately, |
|
|
