Adventures in the Far West | Page 7

up His abode in you
and abide with you forever. Swing wide open your heart's door to the
Spirit. Believe that God does what He promised to do; believe He
sanctifies you wholly. Since you are His, you are to trust Him to carry
on this work in His own way. It is yours to yield and to believe. And
we are "sanctified by faith" (Acts 26:18). Our hearts are purified by
faith (Acts 15:8, 9). Let your faith wrap its arms around God's promise,
and the work is done. Oh, marvelous grace of God!

CHAPTER THREE
THE JORDAN MEMORIAL STONE

One thing has always troubled me, and that is the witness of entire
sanctification. How may one know all the time that He is sanctified?
What is the witness to sanctification? Is it a feeling? an assurance? a
peace? or what is it? Is it equally strong at all times, or does it come
and go? If you can give me any information on this line, I shall greatly
appreciate it.
* * * * *
One of the things that Joshua commanded the Israelites to do at the
crossing of the Jordan has always been intensely interesting and
suggestive. It was not a miracle, and there was nothing marvelous
about it; it was just a thing that any man could do. When the crossing
was being made, Joshua selected twelve men, one from each tribe, to
do a special service. After all the people had passed over and the twelve
priests were standing still in the River's bed, with the ark of God,
Joshua commanded the twelve men to go to the middle of the Jordan
and each take up a stone, place it on his shoulder, and carry it across to
the camp in Canaan. Here the stones were to constitute a memorial:
"And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel
forever" (Joshua 4:7). Joshua also set up twelve stones where the
priests' feet had stood in the River; but it is these stones on the bank in
Canaan that are of most interest to us.
We shall call these stones the "stones of testimony." They testified to a
great fact, a great miracle, a great crossing, to the beginning of a new
era in the lives of those hundreds of thousands of Israelites. Whenever
an Israelite saw those stones, he was reminded of this fact.
Now, dear, seeking soul, as you cross the Jordan of entire consecration,
the line between the place where you are not wholly consecrated and
where you are wholly consecrated, the line between the time when you
hope to be sanctified and the time when you shall know you are, as you
cross this, carry out your stone of testimony. You have never passed
this way before, and you need not pass it again; so get your stone of
testimony now.
First note that this memorial was stone. It was not wood, that would rot,

burn up, or float away to the Dead Sea. It was not gold or some
precious metal that would be needed for other uses. It was not a piece
of parchment or paper upon which was written an account of the
crossing. It was common, solid, enduring stone. So, too, the testimony
of your sanctification is solid and enduring--as solid and enduring as
the Word of God, the directions of which you have followed.
Notice also that this memorial was rather large, too large to carry
around all the time, but was dropped and left as a reminder. There is of
course an inner witness that is yours forever; but the crossing of the
Jordan, that is, the obtaining of entire sanctification, is an event that
will forever stand out as a time when you really received the experience
of entire sanctification. There should be those witnessing spiritual
realizations that differentiate it from all the other of your spiritual
experiences. In short, it should mark your entrance into Canaan, the
land of rest, of milk and honey.
What are these realizations? First, that you have been brought to a
knowledge of God's will to sanctify you wholly. Next, you have
definitely and solemnly dedicated yourself to God to be His and His
alone forever. Then you have asked God to sanctify you according to
His Word. You have believed that the work is done. All these steps are
in direct harmony with what God said for you to do, and they, being
carried out with the help of the Spirit, constitute the charter or receipt
or evidence of your entire sanctification. You have met all conditions,
and the grace is yours. You are sanctified wholly, filled with the Spirit,
and you drop your memorial stone on the Canaan side of the Jordan.
As