A SANCTIFIED SPIRIT Part 4

The wisdom of the fathers

A SANCTIFIED SPIRIT Part 4

If our bodies are God's temples, then in these temples dwell the spirit -- the holy of holies, the heart -- the ark of the covenant which holds the law. Here conscience reigns like a heavenly queen approving the right, condemning the wrong.

Not only is the spirit the region of conscience, but it is that power that chooses, known as the will. To have a sanctified spirit means a subdued, conquered will. If all who profess Holiness were really subdued and broken in will, God could get missionaries by the tens of thousands. We would let Him make all of our appointments.

There are two different departments of the will. One is the power of choice; the other the perseverance or the determination to go through at all costs. The secret of Daniel's strength of character was his fixed purpose to go through; so when the test came, he stood (Dan. 1:8). If today we had more preaching of the Finney type, where people were taught to enter into covenant relation with God until their wills gripped God's, we should have more converts of the old-fashioned type.

(from "Deeper Things" by J.M. Hames)