A Clear Call to Entire Sanctification

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Theology

–October of 1998

A Clear Call to Entire Sanctification

This year’s student body has been characterized by intense spiritual desire. Chapels and prayer meetings from the very beginning have been marked by God’s presence and much spiritual seeking. Rising out of this hunger after God is this oft-heard testimony, “I want to be sanctified wholly, but I’m not sure I understand it.” This beautiful honesty is welcomed and encouraged. It is also met with the willingness on the part of an upperclassman, faculty member, the school pastor or even me to serve as a mentor and counselor until that person has satisfied the deep longing of his heart.

However, the quest to be sanctified wholly and the subsequent acknowledgement of failure to understand what God does for a person in this work of grace is not limited to a freshmen class at a Bible college. The truth is that many sensitive, intelligent, and dedicated people often-express serious problems in understanding what it means to be entirely sanctified. They have traveled to revivals and camp meetings to hear sermons by holiness preachers, only to find them confusing and at times even conflicting. They have asked questions, but found their questions to be ignored or discouraged. In some cases, their confusion and perplexity have been met by the response, “Throw your questions to the wind and claim it now!” Admittedly, we don’t approach God with just our mind, but our heart will never rejoice in what our head rejects.

Holiness theologian and author, H. Ray Dunning, says that these frustrated seekers will tend to end up in one of three different categories if they do not find clear direction. The first is the category of those who have quietly accepted a second-class Christian walk and have given up obtaining this experience in their own hearts. Secondly, there will be those who were pushed into claiming an experience of grace for which God had not yet had time to prepare them; and, hence, they end up professing that which does not work and which they do not have. The third group is composed of those who notice a gap between what is promised and preached, and what is observed and experienced. The temptation for these is just to toss the whole thing out, as if there were nothing to it.

The confusion is real, but the blame can’t always be placed on the preacher or teacher. There are those who complain of not understanding this doctrine, but they have done nothing to enlighten their minds or feed their faith. They are corrupted by a spiritual laziness that wants quick, easy results without hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

On the other hand, the holiness pulpit must accept some responsibility for the deficiency of our teaching on entire sanctification. One of the traps that we who are preachers have fallen into is a presentation of entire sanctification that goes through the grid of our own personal experience rather than a Biblical, theological approach. Experience-oriented preaching that is highly personal can create unnecessary issues in the heart of an earnest seeker that have to be cleared up before progress can be made.

Another problem lies in the use of terms we use to describe this work of grace. One might well hear entire sanctification defined in any one of the following ways: “A death to self,” “a complete consecration,” “the perfection of love,” “a cleansing of the heart from the nature of sin,” “the baptism of the Holy Ghost,” “the rest of faith,” of just simply, “Christlikeness.” All of the above describe some facet of entire sanctification, but when used interchangeably can create confusion. We must seek concise and clear statements that are biblically accurate, theologically sound, and communicate with a great degree of precision what we want to say.

It might well be that our most serious problem in presenting this doctrine is that we have taken it out of its natural setting alongside the other great doctrines of the church. The doctrine of entire sanctification is indeed a wonderful and glorious truth. It is desperately needed by our world today. But so are the doctrine of grace and the doctrine of the new birth, and the doctrine of progressive sanctification. The goal of redemption is the renewal of fallen man into the image of God. The road of redemption that we must travel for this to happen begins with the new birth, continues naturally to the point of entire sanctification, and moves right along to the glorification of the body in eternity. In our attempt to stress the doctrine of entire sanctification, we have inadvertently demeaned other doctrines or made them appear secondary. This has created an unhealthy focus on the experience of entire sanctification, rather than the whole overarching life of holiness.

God, indeed, has called His people to holiness. We need not expect any other call. But those of us who take up that call must make sure that we give it with a clear, certain sound.

Clear Beliefs

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Culture, Education, Theology

–September of 1998

Clear Beliefs

One political analyst characterized former President George Bush as “a good man who just couldn’t decide what he believed.” This inability to articulate strongly a set of beliefs enabled the media to paint him as a “wimp” and ultimately took him down to political defeat. It is too bad that the church didn’t learn a valuable lesson from this former president. No one wants to listen to the windy babble of a man who isn’t sure what he believes, while on the other hand people are strongly attracted to the man who can state his opinions and beliefs in clear logical terms. Unfortunately the church is often plagued by leaders who pride themselves on their ability “to almost say something.” Too many leaders seek to cultivate an ambassadorial style of communication that never ruffles anyone’s feathers. Traditionally, the holiness preacher was a man who stood for and stood against some things. You didn’t see him “bellying up” to the bar of consensus and compromise to drink his fill. Convictions were not set aside for the sake of convenience. There were places he refused to go and things he refused to do. He was known and admired for his stand on the issues. Nowadays, however, it has become almost in vogue to consent to a host of general rules and biblical principles with our mouth, only to ignore them with our lives. This duplicity is not only accepted but defended as a way to operate and keep peace.

In fairness to the pulpit, it must also be said that this is a serious problem in the home as well. Parents seem to lack the courage and commitment to communicate forcefully, yet lovingly, to their own children a belief system that will not be compromised under any circumstance.

I’m not suggesting that holiness people need simply to adopt “tough” agendas so as to appear spiritual. That direction is as deceitful as it is deadly. I am saying, however, that if we truly have a belief system grounded in the Word of God it will affect the way we live and lead. Biblical principles form convictions in our lives, and those convictions will become the moral fiber of what we are. What we are and what we believe will ultimately guide and gauge all of our actions. If it doesn’t, then something is critically wrong with our Christian experience. I believe we will have to take stands on issues where the Bible draws a line. The Bible gives us moral laws, standards for ethical behavior, as well as numerous directing principles to guide our daily lives. We cannot give intellectual assent to them and move on with our lives. True holiness demands that we allow the Word of God to impact the totality of our living.

When a culture or civilization goes as far astray as ours, it becomes easy to overlook some things as “not very significant” under the circumstances. However, those insignificant issues can be, and at times are, a first line of defense and, once lost, give way to an onslaught of all other sorts of evil. Attorney David Gibbs observed that… “any church body or denomination always makes changes in lifestyle issues prior to making changes in its theological tenets.” In other words, if we change the way we live, we will necessarily change what we believe. This is a treacherous path to trod. Instead of allowing the ancient faith to stand in judgment on us, we turn and judge the ancient faith. I believe we need to take a firm stand on the desecration of the Lord’s Day, on sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and abortion, on social sins like using drugs, drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling. We need to warn against immodesty and worldly attire. We need to sound the alarm against the immoral values that are being piped into our homes through the arts and entertainment world. We need to speak up and courageously proclaim that Christians don’t lie, cheat, steal and defraud their neighbor. This is not a time to soft-soap our words. It is not a quiet day in Zion we need, but rather it is an earthquake followed by a thunderstorm from men who will boldly and courageously proclaim “thus saith the Lord.”

I mean to imply that everybody is capitulating. Some time ago Presbyterian leader Dr. D. James Kennedy, thundered to his large congregation, “Some of you are going to leave here and violate the Lord’s Day by eating out in a restaurant.” Jim Cymbala of Brooklyn Tabernacle fame, advises live-in couples to separate and stay that way until they get married if they really want to follow the Lord and be genuine Christians. If these men will be courageous, shouldn’t we as holiness people be clearly voicing and insisting upon a high standard of moral and biblical behavior for our people?

My heart was refreshed when I heard the story of a young man who is enrolling in our college this fall. He was the manager of a large merchandising store in the Southeast. His position commanded a large five digit salary. However, after his conversion he refused to work on Sunday and accepted the consequences of being fired from the position. I also recently learned of an elderly lady in a distant state who lived most of her declining years in near poverty conditions. After her death they found a stack of checks from the state which were to help subsidize her income and make her living more comfortable. However, those checks had not been cashed because that money came from the state lottery, and she felt that the state lottery was wrong. Here is a woman who would rather live in poverty than spend one dime of money that came from the lottery.

How can we, in good conscience, call men and women to revival when we refuse to insist upon reform in both the pulpit and the pew? I believe the biblical portrait for revival always includes and demands both repentance and reform prior to any outpouring of God’s Spirit.

What a man believes is important. You will ultimately live out what you truly believe. As men and women of God within the holiness tradition, we need to start living out what we say we believe.

Thoughts on Thinking

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living

–Summer of 1998

Thoughts on Thinking

“I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately… and that usually gets me into trouble.” This offhanded comment by a young man drew hearty laughter from our student body in a recent public assembly. But as the laughter abated, I began to reflect on his statement. Why should thinking be a dangerous exercise? Is there something inherently treacherous about using one’s mind?

Someone has said, “It is difficult to think; it is more difficult to think about thinking; but it is most difficult to write or talk about thinking!” Although the task may be challenging, let us consider what the Bible has to say about thinking.

First of all, God’s Word clearly indicates that man is capable of thinking; he does have a mind. This may seem like a silly point to make, yet a predominant view in many secular colleges and universities is that what appears to be reflective thinking in man is actually a sequence of voluntary nerve impulses that are following prescribed circuits traced out over time by the natural process of evolution. There is no “mind” that transcends the electrical currents dashing to and fro throughout the “gray matter” called a brain, many contemporary philosophers insist. Thus, in an evolutionary world-view, man is stripped both of his mind, and, of course, the responsibility that goes along with it, such as making moral choices. It is mildly ironic, if not humorous, for one to be in the position of arguing with tightly-knit logic that he or she does not, in fact, have a mind and is not actually thinking! But when the Bible presses the seal of “God’s image” upon mankind, inherent in that lofty bequest is the gift of a mind that is capable of real, meaningful thought.

Secondly, Holy Scripture clearly indicates that God expects His children to think. Jesus’ parable of the talents points out the fact that we are responsible to use wisely all that we have been given, be it great or small. Certainly, this includes, among other things, the diligent use of our God-given minds. Sadly, in recent years, the Christian community at large has not always been perceived as a thinking people. This is partly due to an unfair stereotype that depicts Christians as “behind the times” and “out of touch,” because of our sharp opposition to the man-centered ideologies that have embedded themselves within the moral fabric of our society. But on the other hand, there are sometimes valid reasons why stereotypes are formed in the first place; and, sadly, too many Christians have taken the position that “thinking is dangerous,” that the acquisition of knowledge is somehow antagonistic to the values and ideals of the Church, and, therefore, should be shunned. However, Biblical injunctions such as Paul’s charge to Timothy to “study to show thyself approved unto God” (2 Tim. 2:15) soundly contradict any notion that Christians should “check out their brains at the door.”

Finally, the Bible does make it clear that it is wrong thinking, not right thinking, that is dangerous. Eve was thinking when the hue of the forbidden fruit was reflected in her eyes. But she was thinking wrongly, and the results were tragic. It was a sequence of thoughts that led King David to place Uriah in harm’s way in an attempt to make murder look like an accident. But they were the twisted thoughts of a fallen man. Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, praiseworthy, virtuous – think on these things, the apostle admonished (Philippians 4:8).

There is only one defense against the treacherous shoals of misguided thinking; that is for the sailor on life’s sea to continually adjust his intellectual compass in accordance with the steady beam from the lighthouse of God’s inerrant Word. In the beam of the lighthouse there is moral, ethical and intellectual safety. Apart from the constant beam, thinking can indeed be dangerous.

Pentecost Settles the Issue of Occupation

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Ministry

–May of 1998

Pentecost Settles the Issue of Occupation

William Carey, the father of modern missions, was once asked in a condescending tone by someone of social standing, “Mr. Carey, am I correct in understanding that your occupation is that of a cobbler?” Carey’s polite response was, “No, sir. By occupation I’m a missionary. I only repair shoes to make a living.”

Carey was right. He understood the New Testament concept that by definition all Christians are salt and light. All are missionaries, witnesses, and ambassadors for the Kingdom’s advance. John R. W. Stott stated it with powerful precision when he said, “The Holy Spirit is a missionary spirit; and if we are not possessed with a missionary spirit, then we are not possessed with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus confirms this when He tells his disciples that once they had received the promise of the Father they would be witnesses, both at home and abroad.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit makes witnesses out of all of us, regardless of our trade or vocation. The Apostle Paul made it clear that a part of the promise of Spirit fullness is that God will “walk in us.” Paul meant that God through His Holy Spirit will carry out redemptive activity through our lives in this present world.

The early Methodists were powerful examples of people who were totally focused by the Holy Spirit on redemptive activity. It was said of Francis Asbury that “he was not a many-sided man, but a one-sided man. If he were not 100 percent religious, it was not because he did not intend to be. If all other Americans were not 100 percent religious, that was but an indication of the work he must do.” Asbury genuinely loved people; but it was always their deepest selves, their souls, he wanted. Polite company and worldly conversation were tolerable at best. He was always impatient to get to the ultimate question with everyone. Diversions were only diverting. Once Asbury turned aside to see a test of a primitive steamboat and pronounced it “a great invention.” But he was not the type to be wondering where he could lay hands on some cash to buy stock in the company. Rather, one suspects he had some vision of the expansion of Methodism and the Kingdom of God by means of the steamboat.

Thomas Oden warns us, “The church that forgets the gospel of salvation is finally not the church, but its shadow. The church that becomes focused upon maintaining itself instead of the gospel becomes a dead branch of a living vine.”

Pentecost both broadens and narrows our focus. The Holy Spirit energizes our hearts to see all men as candidates for God’s grace. He enlarges our vision to see the world as redeemable. At the same time, He narrows our commitments and seeks to channel our employment in the things that matter most.

The coming of the Holy Spirit in our lives will settle the issue of occupation once and for all. Whether doctor, lawyer, farmer, of factory worker, the man or woman filled with the Holy Spirit will find that his first and foremost work is to be a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. Only a personal Pentecost can so change the orientation of our lives that we see the things of this world as only a means to an end. The end is always the advancement of God’s Kingdom. Have you allowed Pentecost to settle the issue of occupation in your life?

The Rent Veil

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Theology

–April 0f 1998

The Rent Veil

It had been hanging there for years.  It looked as if it might hang there forever.  Beautifully embroidered in blue, purple and scarlet, this massive curtain hanging in front of the Mercy Seat, had guarded its secret well.  It was there to fulfill a double function.  On the one hand, it was there to keep men out.  Sinful humanity had to keep a respectful distance.  On the other hand, it was there to shut God in.  For behind that hanging veil there was silence as deep as death and darkness as black as night.  A darkness that not even the Judean sun blazing down at noonday could penetrate.  For centuries this veil had symbolized the separation between a holy God and sinful man, and it looked as if it would hang forever.

The gospel writer tells us, however, that at the very moment Jesus died, a pair of unseen hands tore the veil from top to bottom.  This, of course, was no mere coincidence.  When Christ died outside the walls of the city the veil inside the walls of the temple was rent in twain.  The obvious question is “why?”

The verdict of all Christendom is that in the deepest sense, that rent veil before the Mercy Seat stands for three fundamental things.  First of all, the rent veil means the disclosure of a secret.  A secret that revealed the inmost heart of the Eternal Father.  It was characteristic and symbolic of temple religion that as you passed from the outer court through the inner court toward the center, the lights were progressively dimmed until you reached the veil hanging before the Most Holy Place.  Behind the veil the ark of God sat in perpetual darkness.  It had been that way for centuries.  But when Jesus died and the veil was rent, the sunshine came streaming in!  The whole world would now know that a holy and just God was also a God of love, and this God of love was making a way into His very presence.

Someone has said that you can’t prove love by words.  Even God couldn’t prove it with just words.  Once and again God had said, “Come now, let us reason together,” but that couldn’t prove love.  Once and again God sent His prophets to be His voice to men, but not even the word of God, blazing through the lips of faithful prophets, could do it.  Furthermore, God sent His only Son, preaching, challenging, and healing; but not even that could do it.  Then when it seemed that the last word had been said, and God Himself could do no more, suddenly from top to bottom the veil was rent.  The heart of God lay bare.  The rending of the veil was symbolic at best.  But the rending of the flesh of Christ in His death on the cross gives me the very heart of the eternal God, because it isn’t words at all.  It is a deed against which I can batter all my doubts to pieces and rise in faith, trusting the atoning work of that cross and knowing that God truly loves me.

But the rent veil stands for something more.  It stands for the opening up of a road—the offer of a right-a-way.  As you study the symbolism of temple worship, it wasn’t only the progressive lowering of the lights as you neared the center that was characteristic of the temple.  It was also the progressive heightening of the barriers.  There was a carefully graded system of exclusion.  First you had the outer court where anyone might come.  Then there was the inner court, which was reserved for true born Jews.  Beyond that was the holy place, where only the ministering priest might enter, and finally came the holiest of all, where only one man on one day of the year was allowed to enter.  There was no access to the Mercy Seat for the common man.  No grasp of this great hand of the eternal God.  There was only the barrier of that relentless veil that meant death and sacrilege to touch.  But the cross of Christ changed everything forever.  When the Friend of sinners gave His life, the veil was rent; and a road of access was opened for all.  It was a road so wide that the Holy Scripture tells us, “whosoever will may come.”  It was a virtual “sinner’s highway.”

There is a story told about John Duncan, a professor who taught Hebrew at Edinburgh many years ago.  He was sitting one day at communion at a Highland church, and he was feeling so personally unworthy that when the elements came around he felt he couldn’t take them.  He allowed the bread and wine to pass.  As he was sitting there, feeling absolutely miserable, he noticed a girl in the congregation who, when the bread and wine came around, also allowed them to pass, and then she broke down into tears.  That sight seemed to bring back to the old saint the truth he had forgotten.  In the caring whisper that could be heard all across the church, he was heard to say, “Take it, Lassie, take it!  It is meant for sinners!”   Then he himself partook.

The rent veil stood for the disclosure of a secret and the opening of a road; and finally it stood for the confirming of a hope.  Can you hear the magnificent words of the apostle when he said that we should “lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever.”  Jesus has opened the way to God and given us hope beyond the grave.  In the words of Bunyan, “death’s flood hath lost its chill since Jesus crossed the river.”

The saints of yesteryear have gone through the river and come out shouting.  Many of our own dear loved ones have gone, and the trumpets have sounded for them also on the other side.  We remain standing on the banks of this present world, looking over with the eye of faith.  Jesus has taken the sting out of death and the grave.  He has removed the darkness and opened the way to eternal life.  The songwriter said it well, “See He is the mighty Conqueror, since He rent the veil in two.”