LAWTON CHURCH OF GOD, LAWTON, OKLAHOMA

 Home  About Us   Holiness Library   History of the Holiness Movement   Early English Bibles   Bible Studies   View Sermons   Links

24 SANCTIFICATION—OR CALL IT WHAT YOU PLEASE

There are those who tell us “there is nothing in a name,” and that they “are not sticklers for terms,” etc., all of which is misleading and a subterfuge of Satan. If there is nothing in a name what occasion is there to have any name for anything or anybody? If there is “nothing in a name,” why does not someone name a new-born child Jezebel or Judas Iscariot? Even a so-called infidel or atheist would not consent to have a child thus named. After all, there is something in a name.

We know that in the Old Testament, names were used which were significant and indicate character; and if in our day the names given do not indicate the character of the child who must wear the name, it is very often indicative of the character of those who gave the name. For example, religious people most frequently give to their children some Bible name, or the name of some one who has been prominent in the religious world. For instance, it is safe to suppose that the parents of a child, who had as a part of its given name, the name Wesley, were inclined toward Methodism, if not themselves Methodists. It would indicate that they were admirers of Wesley, and therefore must be Arminian in faith, etc.

It is only in the advocacy of the experience and doctrine of entire sanctification that men wax so liberal as to say, “Call it what you please;” or “I don’t care what you call it.” This, so-called, broad and liberal method of speaking of the experience of sanctification would not be permissible or tolerated in other matters. Very few parents would be ready to say to the community at large, concerning their own children, “Call them what you please,” or “I don’t care what you call them.” No, they would insist that the name they themselves had given the children should be recognized. And so it should be.

Then what right have we to speak of an experience which God Himself has named, by some other name than that given by Himself? The fact that the name may not be a popular one, or does not meet with our fancy, would surely not justify us in trying to change the name, or in saying, “Call it what you please.” While we may not insist on the use of just one term, we would insist that it is most consistent and proper to use the terms found in the Bible, and so call the experience God has given by the names He has given to the experience. To speak of the experience of sanctification as a “deeper work of Grace,” or a “higher life,” or “a great blessing,” etc., may be beautifully indefinite, would not occasion offense to anyone, save the Spirit, but it is always evasive, and an evidence that there is yet an unwillingness to go without the camp and bear His reproach. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed.”

We have heard it said, by those who declare there is nothing in a name, that “a rose would be just as beautiful and fragrant if called by some other name.” While that may be true, we would nevertheless insist that it would be very misleading and an evidence of ignorance or willful deception—to call a rose a dandelion or a pumpkin vine, or “Call it what you please.” Unless you call it a rose, no one would be likely to know what was meant. While it might not affect the rose to call it by some other name, it would certainly affect anyone who might be desiring or seeking for a rose. So it is certain only they who use the definite terms of the Scripture succeed in leading persons into the experience indicated by those terms. Hence it is that when men preach sanctification in a vague, indefinite manner, no one knows what they are talking about—no one is offended—and no one seeks and obtains the experience.

Zachariah’s mouth was never opened until he called his child by the name God himself had given. But when he wrote, “His name is John,” “his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God.” Give the child the name that God has given “sanctification,” “holiness,” “perfect love,” etc., and people will know what you are talking about.

Amen! There is perhaps no word in the English language the devil hates more tremendously and that God loves and blesses more abundantly than the uncompromising use of the word “Sanctification.” When people do not love this term, it is invariably because they lack the experience. As soon as the experience is obtained the word ceases to be objectionable and becomes most delightful and attractive.