BY PRINCIPAL D. W. LAMBERT, M. A.

LEBANON MISSIONARY BIBLE COLLEGE, BERWICK-ON-TWEED This book is a witness to, and an exposition of, full salvation. Those of us who were privileged in being cradled in this great doctrine of scriptural holiness, a expounded by John Wesley and later by such saints and scholars as Samuel Chadwick and Oswald Chambers, find it difficult to realize the effect of such teaching upon those whose religious background has lacked this emphasis. We trust that many such will read and ponder over this sincere testimony from one to whom both the doctrine and experience came as such a revelation. Dr. Newton Flew in his great work, The Idea of Perfection, after examining the written testimonies of I scores of early Methodists, came to certain conclusions in relation to entire sanctification. These were: — 1. “The attainment is the gift of God, just as the entrance on the Christian life (conversion) is His work.” 2. “The entrance on this larger experience is instantaneous, i.e., it is given in a moment and can be dated.” 3. “There is a process of struggle and quest leading to the decisive moment.” 4. “There is full consciousness of the need for progress in love and growth in the spiritual life All these four points are clearly illustrated in the testimony recorded in this volume.

We rejoice in the experimental note. In true humility of spirit and yet with plainness of speech, witness is borne to an experience that not only revolutionizes an already Christian life, but one which has had continuous and abiding fruits. It is significant that the experience recorded came to our brother, not in an atmosphere of a spiritual hothouse, but while facing the grim and sordid realities of life in the trenches in the first world war.

Through the years it has proved its worth, yet has not been allowed to harden into some rigid formula. Fresh interpretations and deeper understanding of the experience have come later. That is as it should be.

Full salvation does not rest upon one or two overworked texts rigidly enforced. It is rather the full and final expression of the work of God in the soul of man, as set forth in the Scriptures and verified in the humble testimony of a multitude of believers. May the sending forth of this book lead to that number being greatly increased. May it also mean a deepening work and a fuller understanding in the lives of many of the sanctified. D. W. Lambert PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION The first edition of The Riches of Holiness was published in 1936, but the book has been out of print since the last copies in stock were destroyed in the great incendiary fire-bomb attack on the city of London on December 29, 1940. Owing to war conditions I felt that the question of a reprint would have to remain in abeyance until I had a clear indication that it was the Lord’s will for another edition to be issued. Such an indication has now been made and in quite an unexpected manner. A Christian, unknown to me personally until recently, who read the first edition of The Riches of Holiness and now desires to encourage the circulation of literature on the truth of scriptural holiness, has very kindly offered to pay the cost of a second edition of the book on condition that the proceeds of the sales are devoted to the support of the Lord’s work. It is as a result of this very generous offer that this second edition has been issued. In the first edition of The Riches of Holiness the book was described as “A Testimony and Message” and explained that I wrote as “just a private Christian,” one who works in an office in London and engages in Christian service in his spare time. I told the story of my search for the truth and experience of holiness and the steps by which the Lord had led me into spiritual blessing. The story ended about three years before the outbreak of the second world war in 1939. In this edition [ continue my testimony. Certain portions of the first edition have been revised and rearranged; nearly all of chapters 13 to 16 inclusive is fresh matter not included in the first edition. This new edition is sent forth with the prayer that e Lord may graciously use it to help some Christians to enter by faith into the enjoyment of their present full inheritance in Christ — the riches of holiness — in order that they, in turn, may become the medium of blessing to others. And so the blessing will spread and increasing praise from overflowing hearts ascend to the glory of he Lord. I desire to express my great indebtedness to Principal D.

W. Lambert for writing his valuable Foreword. Henry E. Brockett, 1949 SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND DECLENSION 1. SPIRITUAL AWAKENING For the first twenty years of my life, I resided in the town of Bedford, noted for its association with John Bunyan, and I am glad to say that I had the great blessing of being brought up in a Christian home. My parents belonged to the Christians known as “Exclusive Brethren,” and from the very first I used to attend the meetings regularly at the little meeting room.

Brought up in such a Christian atmosphere, I was taught to revere the Bible as God’s Word and I became acquainted with the truths of the gospel at a very early age. My spiritual awakening commenced, too, when I was young. I learned the difference between being “saved” and “unsaved,” and became concerned as to whether I was among the “saved.”

There were times when the thoughts of death, judgment, and eternity troubled me very much. I did not feel I was ready for these dread events. I remember once hearing a preacher preach on the three stages of the new birth, which he said were conviction, confession, and conversion. I suppose I was only about eleven or twelve years of age at the time and I was troubled because I could not say that I had passed through these three stages.. Other preachers used to I speak about repentance, and mention instances of persons who had undergone times of great soul distress because of conviction of sin, and had then experienced wonderful joy when they were converted. How I wished I could experience such a wonderful change! If only I could pass through something like that, I should know at I was saved. Sometimes I felt troubled because I thought I had not been miserable enough on account of sin. And yet, as I look back after many years, I realize that I was under conviction for sin, although I did not fully understand it at the time. Spiritually I was at “Mount Sinai.” God was an infinitely holy Being, and I felt myself to be unfit for His presence. I feared Him but could not say that I loved Him, as I did not feel assured of His love to me personally. At other times I felt relieved when the preacher explained that all that was needed for salvation was to take God at His Word and believe in Christ as Savior. Could I really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for myself and be saved, without having first to pass through a time of deep conviction and repentance? That is what perplexed me. I wanted to believe and be saved; but then I wanted to be real, and wondered whether I must wait until I had repented enough before I could truly say I was saved. One Monday morning, when I was twelve or thirteen years of age, I came down to breakfast thinking very deeply over the gospel message of the previous night. I went quietly into a room by myself. This is how my mind was working. It says in John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I thought: These are God’s own words, and He says “whosoever.” That means me, and surely, if I believe in Christ as my Savior for myself, then God’s Word says I shall have everlasting life. Dare I rest on this Word and believe what God says?

Could I make the venture in faith? Yes, I could, I will, I do believe that Christ died for me, and that, because God says it, I have everlasting life. I was striving to get right with God according to the measure of light I then possessed. I believe there was within me the seed of faith, although it was only like a grain of mustard seed. It was the weak, trembling faith of a boy anxious about his soul, and striving to find some resting place on God’s own Word. After making this venture of faith, I tried to confess the Lord Jesus Christ both in the home and at school I talked to my schoolmates about Christ and salvation and warned them about judgment to come.

Once I got quite a crowd of boys around me in the school ground at playtime and talked to them about Christ. One of the masters saw the crowd of boys and came up to inquire what it was all about. I stepped up to him and replied, “I am telling the boys about Christ Jesus.” He said, “Go off and play with the other boys.” Another teacher was more sympathetic. He took me quietly aside by myself. “Well, Brockett,” he said, “what is it you have been telling the boys?” I replied, “I have been telling them, sir, about the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. 2. SPIRITUAL, DECLENSION In spite of this, however, I did not possess the full assurance faith. My inward experience was very “up and down”; I was at times torn between hopes and fears as to my salvation. Then trouble arose in the little meeting I attended owing to divisions on doctrinal matters, and eventually four different and conflicting sections of the Brethren met separately in the same town. These divisions were a stumbling block to me as a boy, and gradually I drifted away from the Brethren meetings altogether. Then when I left school and entered into an office I became absorbed in other things. I had to study for examinations, I took a keen interest in politics, and played an active part in a local debating society. This debating society was known as “The Bedford Parliament,” and I think I was the youngest member, about seventeen years old. I was made “Chancellor of the Exchequer” in a “Liberal Government,” and I used to wonder whether I might grow up to be a real cabinet minister! This youthful dream has not, however, materialized! The proceedings of the “Parliament” were reported in the local press, and I was very flattered when notes of my speeches actually appeared in print. Once a dinner was held at which a real member of Parliament was actually present, together with a town councilor and other important local persons. After-dinner speeches were made, and I proposed the toast of “The Bedford Parliament.” I got loud applause when I sat down and I was referred to in the local press as “a promising young speaker.” I had “swelled head” for some time after that. During all this time, however, I was really in a backslidden state of soul. All these activities stifled my spiritual life, and I lost my interest in the Bible and the things of God. Once an old schoolmate met me and said, “Well, Brockett, are you a Christian now?” I felt somewhat ashamed and did not know what to say, so far had I backslidden in my inner life. But I declined still further until at last I was lost in the fog of unbelief. One day I came across a book written by a clergyman in which he stated that the stories of the creation and the fall of man in the Bible were not literally true, and he mentioned evolution. This book aroused my curiosity and started me on a new quest. I thought to myself, If even Christian ministers have doubts about the Bible, I must look into this matter and find out the truth. The first drops of the poison of unbelief had been injected into my heart. I read Darwin’s Origin of Species and Descent of Man, Huxley’s and Haeckel’s works, Herbert Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy, Colenso on the Pentateuch, Tom Paine’s Age of Reason, and other writings on Biblical criticism and evolution. I was about eighteen or nineteen at the time and, of course, my faith in the Bible was undermined and I ceased to read it as before. I argued about the Bible and tried to show that it contained contradictions. When I was in this state of soul, a Christian once warned me and said to me “Young man, if you go on as you are, it will lead to the destruction of your soul.” I paid no heed, however, to this warning. I was not going to accept even the Bible merely because I had been brought up to believe it was all the Word of God. I was going to think for myself. I now was acquainted with modern thought and had superior knowledge, so I imagined. Little did I realize that my unbelieving, critical attitude to the Bible was the result of the corrupt workings of my natural mind, carnality, the “mind of the flesh,” which is enmity against God. This so-called “modern thought” puffed me up and my heart was hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. This was the sad, dark state of soul I had fallen into; and yet six years before I had, as a young boy, boldly witnessed for Christ. The filling of my mind with evolutionary literature and Biblical criticism had brought me into spiritual darkness. But it is with a heart full of adoring gratitude to the God of infinite grace that I can testify that I was not left by Him to remain in this state of darkness. After a time, I lost even pleasure in evolutionary and skeptical books, and began to feel utterly dissatisfied. “What is my destiny? Why am I in the world at all?

What is the meaning of the universe?” These were the questions I asked myself and had lost the answer. Once I went for a quiet country walk, thinking over the problem of the universe and myself. I felt I was like a poor, wandering sheep lost in the darkness, and from my heart there was wrung the prayer, “O God give me light.” God had mercy on my soul and in wonderful grace He answered that prayer. (I relate in the next chapter how the light came and how I was restored to settled faith in Christ.)

SPIRITUAL RESTORATION At the age of twenty, I passed a competitive examination and secured a post in a public office in London. I left home in March, 1913, and resided in the Central Y.M.C.A. building, Tottenham Court Road, until the Great War broke out in August, 1914. Mr. J. J. Virgo, the well-known Y.M.C.A. leader, was then in charge of the Central Y.M.C.A., and I was attracted by his robust, manly type of Christianity. Here I came into contact with some bright, young Christian fellows who, I felt, had a faith and joy which I did not possess. One, in particular, showed a special interest in me. He was a fine, young Christian man; who worked in a warehouse in the city.

One evening he took me up into his bedroom. The walls were covered with texts. He had a long talk with me about my soul and prayed with me and once again I prayed to God to give me light. The young man was a great inspiration to me, and a link was established between us which continued unbroken until his death. He was John W. Dawson, who eventually became a missionary and served the Lord under the auspices of the Ceylon and India General Mission for twenty eight years in India, where he died in 1945. One Sunday evening I heard the late beloved Dr. F. B. Meyer at Regent’s Park chapel. One passage in his sermon struck home like an arrow to my heart. “It is not the Bible that is wrong; it is you that are wrong,” he said. That sentence gripped me. It seemed as if I were spoken directly at myself. About this time, I began to read John’s Gospel. One passage went home with great power to my heart. It was our Lord’s words in chapter 8, verse 12: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, shall have the light of life.” “That is just what I need,” I exclaimed “the light of life, and it is to be found only in Christ.” Soon after this, when quite alone in my bedroom one morning just before breakfast, I glanced at two little booklets about Christ. One was by a Christian, and the other by a rationalist. My mind was utterly confused by the conflicting statements in the booklets. I tossed them both on one side and prayed, “O God, show me Christ.” That prayer was answered very quickly. Almost immediately it seemed as if a beam of heavenly light pierced through the darkness and revealed to me the person of Christ. Previous to this I had read portions of the Gospel of St. John, but now the great facts concerning Christ came before my heart and mind in new power. His preincarnate glory as the Eternal Son of God, His coming into the world as man and yet God, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension to glory — these great facts were presented to me vividly and in a flash. Of course, I knew about these things concerning Christ before, but they were now presented to my mind with peculiar unction and power. I was convinced of the reality and deity of Christ, and have never had any doubt about the matter since that moment. This conviction was much more than a mere mental assent to a creed about Christ, and it was not arrived at by a long process of reasoning. I am convinced that the explanation of my spiritual experience is contained in the words of the Lord to Peter after he had confessed Christ as the Son of God: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” ( Matthew 16:17). At the close of that day, as I felt that I wanted to I be quite alone with God, I went for a walk by myself I in Regent’s Park. As I walked I faced the question of the cross of Calvary. That same blessed Spirit who in the early morning had shone upon the person of Christ now shone upon the Cross. “Christ was truly the Son of God,” I said. “Then what was the meaning of Calvary?” and as I pondered over this, the Spirit of God revealed to me the awful reality of sin. My heart bowed before God, and I acknowledged I was a sinner, and that I too needed that death of Christ on the cross on my behalf. He suffered and died there for me, for my sins — He was my own Savior. I had come back to the same spiritual place, namely, the foot of the Cross, which I came to about eight years before when, as a boy, I ventured in faith on John 3:16. During these eight years, however, I had wandered in the fog of unbelief, and had now learned something of my own sinfulness. Now the truth of the cross of Christ came with fresh power to my soul, and the light that shone into my heart has never since left me. I returned to the Y.M.C.A. that evening and went straight up to my bedroom. I knelt down by my bedside and prayed, “Father, I thank Thee for Christ and the Cross. I accept Him as my Savior and Lord. I am Thy child through faith in Him.” A real work of God was done in my heart that day. In that one day the Spirit of God revealed to me Christ and the Cross, and the love of the Father, and gave me an assurance of the forgiveness of sins, and witnessed to my heart that I was now a true child of God. I have never had any doubts on these points since that day. How profoundly different was this new experience from the state of my soul when I was at “Mount Sinai” mentioned (earlier)! Doubts disappeared before assurance and fears gave way to steadfast faith. After passing through is spiritual experience, I could truly say that I was a new creature in Christ Jesus. I discarded all the skeptical literature which had brought my inner life into such darkness and barrenness. I returned to the Bible with fresh delight to learn more concerning the glories of the person of Christ. As a result of assured faith in Christ, light and joy now came into my soul, and I could enjoy fellowship with others of a like faith in Christ. I was baptized at Bloomsbury Baptist Church by Rev. Thomas Phillips, and took a class of boys in the Sunday school. Sometimes on Sunday evenings a party of Christians from Bloomsbury conducted services in lodging houses, and it was a great joy to me to accompany them and give short gospel messages. I also joined in open-air work with some of my Christian friends at the Y.M.C.A. It was at this stage that the Lord brought me into contact with two of my closest Christian friends. The first one I met at a restaurant one lunch hour. He was reading his Bible.

This seemed unusual and attracted my attention, and before long we were engaged in happy conversation. Many were the meetings and happy Christian talks we had together in the lunch hour after that first meeting. I refer to this friend in a later chapter as “Bible Reader.” He introduced me to another Christian friend whom I will refer to as “Bible Teacher.” My fellowship with these two Christian friends has continued unchanged for years. What an enrichment it is to our lives when God gives us the blessing of enduring Christian friendship!

MY FIRST SOUL FOR CHRIST During my stay at the Y.M.C.A. the late Mr. Hogben, founder of the “One by One” band, conducted classes there in individual soul winning. I was greatly blessed by these classes and felt a keen desire to be a soul winner. How I longed to know that I had led at least one soul to the Lord!

I prayed earnestly, “Lord, help me to win one soul for Thee.” Very soon my prayer was answered. One evening, whilst standing on the staircase leading from the main entrance hall at the Y.M.C.A., I entered into conversation with a bright young fellow. Gradually I turned the conversation on to spiritual matters. I asked him, “Are you a Christian?

Are you saved?” He replied somewhat hesitantly, “Well, I don’t know altogether. I am waiting for something to happen.” What a fine opportunity for me! I thought. “Will you come up into my bedroom?” I asked. “Oh, yes,” he answered, and so I took him up into my bedroom and we had a long talk together from the Scriptures about sin and salvation. At length I asked him the pointed question, “Will you accept the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior now?” To my great joy he said he would. We then both knelt down by my bedside and prayed, and there and then he took Christ as his Savior. My heart was full of joy. I had asked the Lord to help me to win at least one soul to Him, and here was a definite answer to my prayer. How glad I was to go to the next “One by One” class and tell how the Lord had given me the joy of winning a soul to himself! I have the joy of knowing, too, that the Lord did further bless my testimony whilst I resided at the Y.M.C.A. in Tottenham Court Road. About five or six years after leaving the Y.M.C.A. I received a letter from a young man who had been resident there with me. He wrote, saying: “For years I have desired to hear news of you and now rejoice and thank God that you are safe and pressing on after God. I do not know if you are aware that you were instrumental in leading me to a knowledge of salvation when I resided at the Y.MC.A. Since, God has wonderfully led, guided, and blessed me and I praise the Lord with all my heart. I am now seeking the Lord’s will for my life and living at a home where young men train for the mission field.” It is a tonic to the soul to receive a letter like that. I feel that one of the greatest joys in Christian service is to know that one has, in some measure, helped a soul Christward and heavenward. Having tasted something of the joy of soul winning, I felt I now possessed a new aim and joy in life, namely, to seek to win and influence others for Christ. I had made the great discovery of Christ for myself and had a keen desire to bring others to the knowledge of my Savior and Lord. What a wonderful change had been wrought in my inner life! Truly the Holy Spirit had done a deep work in my heart. I was now living in the enjoyment of a true new birth experience; the darkness of doubt had passed, and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ now shone in my heart. Thus I continued rejoicing in Christ until the Great War broke out in August, 1914. What mercy it was that, before that terrible upheaval, I had found Christ and enjoyed the assurance of my salvation!

THE FIRST WORLD WAR (EARLY EXPERIENCES) Soon after my arrival in London in March, 1913, I joined the Civil Service Rifles. Several of my friends at the Y.M.C.A. in Tottenham Court Road belonged to the regiment. Little did I think then that, in a few months’ time, there would be a great world war and that should be involved in it from the very beginning. My first summer training camp was spent with the battalion at Abergavenny in July and beginning of August, 1913. At the beginning of August, 1914, I went with the regiment to Perham Down Camp, Salisbury Plain, for the annual camp training. I thought I was just going for he usual fortnight’s holiday camp. That “holiday camp” lasted for four and a half years! We did not stay at Perham Down very long, only a few hours in fact. Within twenty-four hours of having left London we were back again, and were soon mobilized. The autumn of 1914 was spent in training around the neighborhood of Watford; and during the winter we came right into Watford, where we were given a splendid welcome by the inhabitants. At last, on March 17, 1915, at the age of twenty-two, I embarked from Southampton With the First Battalion Civil Service Rifles, and we arrived at Havre the next morning. My great war adventure had now begun in earnest. 1. IN THE TRENCHES. GIVENCHY, FESTUBERT, AND LOOS My first experiences of the trenches and baptism of shell fire were at Givenchy in April, 1915, and I soon made the acquaintance of “No Man’s Land,” as the territory was called between the British and the German trenches. The very first night I was in the trenches, I had to accompany an officer stealthily creeping through “No Man’s Land” in the dark, visiting some of the advanced “listening posts” near the enemy territory. One night a party of us had to creep around some shattered houses and get across a field under rifle fire. One of my comrades said to me afterwards, “My word, Brockett, I said my prayers last night going across that field.”

But I am afraid I did not see any evidence of a change of heart when he was out of danger. A little later on, I was behind the series of sandbagged barricades at Festubert. It was decidedly unpleasant to have to crouch behind these barricades as the shells came bursting over us and around us, as we had no protection for our backs. We had a bad time one afternoon just about tea time, and there were a good few calls for “stretcher bearers, please as somebody got hit. It was here that I first came into contact with some of the stark, grim realities of war. Once I went along a captured trench after the battle of Festubert. What a sight it was! Overcoats, equipment, rifles, all strewn in the utmost confusion! But far worse than all this was the enormous number of corpses and mangled bodies lying about on the ground. One of the companies in the regiment had to climb over a pile of corpses in order to get forward to occupy an advanced position. It has been estimated that the number of dead buried by the regiment in that area during three days amounted to 350. In September, 1915, the battalion was very busily engaged in preparation for the battle of Loos and we were out nearly every night on working or carrying parties, digging and bridging trenches, etc. The winter was spent in rain and water-logged trenches, when sometimes my clothes got sodden and caked with mud. How utterly wearisome at times it all was! First, a turn in the firing line, then back in support or reserve, and then back at rest at the rear of the lines, and then up again in the ring line once more, and so on. Once, I remember, we felt as helpless as animals caught in a trap. We were in the front line subject to intermittent shelling all day. One shell had fallen on a dugout killing some and wounding others severely, but there was no means of removing the dead or wounded until nighttime. Once we were enfiladed by shellfire, and we had to run up and down the muddy wet trenches as best we could, trying to dodge the shells falling around us. 2. AT VIMY RIDGE I was in the trenches on Vimy Ridge in 1916, a year before they were captured by the Canadians. The Germans were then in possession of the Ridge. One lovely afternoon, the battalion was in brigade reserve behind the lines in the neighborhood of Vimy Ridge. Just when tea was over, a sudden order came through, “Parade in full marching order at once.” When we got on the march we saw that, two or three miles away, the Germans were putting up a terrific bombardment of the front line trenches on Vimy Ridge. The air seemed to be just one solid mass of bursting shells. We had to make our way up to the trenches on Vimy Ridge along a very shallow and narrow communication trench through a barrage of tear gas. Then we had to pass through the barrage of the Zouave Valley. Shell after shell came screaming, bursting over our heads into the valley. By this time it was night, nearly midnight, and if anything ever made me think of hell it was the experience of that bombardment. The first company of the battalion to arrive at the Ridge, dog-tired as they were, were ordered to counterattack the Germans practically at once. They bravely went “over the top,” but were met with such murderous and intense fire from enemy artillery, machine guns, and rifles, that the vast majority of the company were killed or wounded. My company was the second to arrive at the Ridge, and we had at once to build up as best we could some of the trenches that had been battered by the bombardment. What a mercy it was that I did not belong to the company just in front of my own! If I had been in the first company instead of the second, humanly speaking, I might have been among the very many killed or wounded on Vimy Ridge. 3. SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE WAR What about my spiritual life during the time I was in France? Praise the Lord, in the midst of that terrible “furnace,” with all its strain and pressure, the Lord led me to experience the greatest spiritual blessing of my Christian life. I passed through this experience in October, 1916, after I had been nineteen months in France. I wish, however, to make it quite clear that what I passed through then, and the great blessing I received from God, were not in any sense a recovery from backsliding I always carried a little khaki pocket Bible with me, and it was my source of constant strength. A few years be fore, when everything was smooth and quiet at home in peacetime, I could do without the Bible. But when I was facing some of the terrible realities of war and death, my Bible became the most precious possession in the world to me. Whenever the battalion was out of the trenches, I used to try to find quiet spots where I could be alone with the Lord in prayer and study the Word I used to have parcels of gospel booklets and New Testaments sent out to me, which I distributed amongst the troops. I also got in contact with a few other Christians in the brigade, and we had some helpful little meetings together for prayer and Bible reading. Christmas Day, 1915, was spent in some damp cellars underneath a shell-wrecked brewery. My comrades in the platoon listened respectfully while I read aloud a portion of scripture and led in prayer, and we concluded by singing a few carols. In the Somme area in September, 1916, the Civil Service Rifles suffered their most severe losses since they had landed in France. A few days before the battalion went into action on the Somme, a finger of my right hand became poisoned. It was so bad that I had to be sent away, and eventually I arrived at Staples, where I had to remain until I was well enough to return to the battalion. Imagine my circumstances just then. My regiment had suffered very heavy losses, and I was simply waiting to rejoin it, not knowing what further ordeals awaited me. And yet it was just then, when the pressure and the darkness seemed to be so great, that the Lord led me into the blessing of entire sanctification. (I now relate the steps by which I was led into this blessed experience.)

THE CALL TO HOLINESS When I arrived at the base, I was first of all attached to a convalescent camp. Near this camp there was a Salvation Army hut. I went there several times and found that meetings were held in the hut, conducted by an earnest Christian in khaki about ten or twelve years my senior, who was stationed at the base. I found out that he was associated with a movement called the “Inter national Holiness Mission,” headquarters at Battersea, S.W. He had experienced a wonderful conversion and was very keen for souk. One evening he said: “Next Thursday we shall hold a holiness meeting.” I had never heard of a holiness meeting. What is a holiness meeting? I thought to myself. I must go along and see what it is all about. When I went, I was not sure at first that what he talked about was quite sound. He testified to having received a second work of grace, and referred to the “baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire,” a clean heart, the destruction of the old man, etc. This teaching seemed strange to me — I had not heard anything quite like this before. I knew nothing about the teaching of Keswick, Swanwick, or Southport. I was acquainted with the teaching of only one particular school of thought on holiness. My ideas on this subject at that time were briefly as follows. There was a difference between “standing” and “state.” My “standing” in Christ before God was perfect — God saw me in Christ, and Christ himself was my holiness before God, but actually in my “state” I had two opposing natures. In my heart there was the old nature, the “old man,” the “flesh,” and also the new nature, the “new man,” etc. The old nature in my heart was utterly irremediable, and was so corrupt it could not possibly be improved. The new nature in my heart was of God and, therefore, holy and perfect. These two opposing natures would always exist side by side until the Lord came or death; but, by the help of the Holy Spirit within me, I had to keep under the old nature. Whilst I believed in growing in grace, I had no place in my thoughts, at that time, for any second definite work of God in cleansing the heart or in filling with the Spirit. I regarded whatever cleansing took place as having been accomplished at conversion. My theory was that the old nature was so utterly corrupt that it could not be purified; and the new nature, being of God, did not need any purifying. I could not understand, therefore, how there could be any subsequent work of grace after conversion which effected an inner purification of the heart. I had never asked or trusted God to do such a work in me, or in any special sense to fill me with the Holy Spirit. When I heard, therefore, this teaching about a second work of grace cleansing the heart from sin and filling with the Holy Spirit, I felt inclined to reject it because it seemed to be contrary to the theory of the two natures, and the fact that I already had the Holy Spirit. I remembered that in my boyhood days I had heard Christians say, “There is no perfection in ‘the flesh,’” and they had spoken against the danger of “self-occupation.” I was very suspicious, therefore, that this teaching about a clean heart, etc., was simply “perfection in the flesh,” and I thought to myself, I must beware of this error.

MY NEED OF A PERSONAL PENTECOST There is a striking analogy between my spiritual experience up to is time and the spiritual condition of the Samaritans in Acts 8, before the Spirit of God had “fallen upon them.” There were four distinctive marks I connected with the Samaritans which were also characteristic of myself.

The Samaritans (1) were born of the Spirit, because they had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and there was great joy; (2) had turned away from the sorceries which had “bewitched” them; (3) had been baptized; (4) but in spite of all this, the Holy Spirit had not yet “fallen upon them.”

I, too, (1) had definitely received Christ as Savior and been fully assured of my salvation for three years, through the witness of the Spirit that I was a child of God, and had tasted something of the joy of soul winning; (2) had definitely turned away from skeptical literature which had “bewitched” my mind; (3) had been baptized by immersion; (4) but I could not honestly say that in the full Pentecostal sense of the word, the Spirit had “fallen upon me” and filled me.

I had received Christ by faith but not the Holy Spirit by faith. I had a definite transaction of faith with he Father and received Christ, but I had not sought nor received by faith, as a distinct gift of God, the filling of the Spirit. I took it for granted that, as I was a child of God, the Holy Spirit was already within me; that was sufficient, and all I needed was simply to grow in grace. But the Lord graciously dealt with me and showed me that I still needed the full blessing of Pentecost. One evening the brother leading the meetings spoke from the Epistle to the Thessalonians about sanctification. Two passages of scripture gripped my mind. One was: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification,” and the other: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I kept asking myself, “What did it mean by ‘sanctify wholly’?” Surely it meant, I thought, that this was God’s work, and that He could make the heart wholly pure, freed from sin; and yet I could not reconcile this thought with the “two natures in the heart” theory. In this state of perplexity, I made the matter the subject of earnest prayer. Near to the convalescent camp in which I was staying there was a small clump of trees. One night I crept away alone to this spot and, kneeling down, I pleaded the promise of James 1:5. I prayed somewhat on these lines — “Father, wilt Thou show me what it means to be ‘sanctified wholly’? I ask Thee to give me light, and keep me from being led astray by error. But if there is anything I lack, wilt Thou show it me?” (In the next chapter I relate how the Lord answered my prayer for guidance on the matter of entire sanctification.)

THE CRISIS FOR ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION Three years before, I had earnestly prayed to the Father to show me Christ. He answered my prayer and gave me the light of Christ. Now in just the same childlike simplicity and confidence, I prayed for light on the matter of entire sanctification. This prayer, too, was wonderfully answered. When I had asked God to show me Christ, the divine light came in one day in two stages: first, the Spirit shone on the person of Christ, and then on the Cross. Now God dealt with me in a similar way in giving me light on sanctification — there were two distinct stages in one day. 1. THE SPIRIT’S UNVEILING OF SIN The crisis took place on October 23, 1916. On that afternoon I was resting quietly in my hut meditating upon the subject of sanctification, when the Spirit of God dealt with me. It seemed as if the Holy Spirit, who had previously shone His light upon the person of Christ and the Cross, now turned His light into the depths of my heart, and showed me my indwelling depravity, especially unbelief, pride, and self-will. I saw and felt the inward corruption of sin. The Spirit of God revealed to me the terrible nature of my heart sin, which appeared to me vividly as an evil something deep down in the depths of my heart which had deceived and hardened me, and led me astray from God in the past. It was an inward corruption from which I longed to be cleansed, a disease of the heart which needed healing, a traitor inside which I hated and wanted destroyed. Now my whole being longed for a clean heart — no longer did I despise the thought of a pure heart — that blessing seemed to me to be the one thing that I needed. My self-complacency in the “two natures” theory was suddenly swept right away under the enlightening and pungent revelation by the Spirit of God of my need of heart cleansing and deliverance from inward sin. In that state of soul, it would have been of no avail whatever to tell me that, as I was already a child of God, God looked at me “in Christ,” that my “standing” before God was perfect, and I therefore needed nothing further in order to make my spiritual condition complete. I was fully acquainted with that doctrine, but it was utterly powerless to meet the need of my soul. The Spirit of God had made me feel the burden of indwelling sin; and, child God though I was and fully assured of my salvation, felt I needed something definite, deep, drastic, and, above all, divine, to be done in my heart. That cry in Romans 7 was wrung from the depths of my soul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” That is what I needed, actual inward, experimental deliverance from indwelling sin. I felt so burdened with a consciousness of my need that my body was actually bowed down under the weight of it. If anyone passing by had noticed me, he might have thought that I was in pain, but it was nothing physical — it was something spiritual. I felt that I had come to a full stop in my spiritual life, and that I could not go on any further unless I received from God this gift of cleansing and deliverance. 2. THE PROMISE OF THE FAITH Then the Spirit of God shone His light upon the promise of the Father — the promise of the baptism of Holy Ghost and fire. Oh, that the Holy Ghost, as the divine refining fire of God, might come upon me, purify my heart to the depths, consume the dross of sin, and then fill me with himself. That is what I felt I needed all that the Father meant by that blessed promise. I know that some may regard me as unscriptural in my use of terms in this connection. They win say that the promise of he baptism of the Spirit is fulfilled at regeneration because of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, and that the baptism of fire in Matthew 3:11 is a separate baptism of judgment upon unbelievers and not the refining fire of the Holy Spirit upon believers. Such will say that it was not the baptism of the Spirit which I needed, but the filling of the Spirit. On the other hand, some will urge that the baptism of the Spirit is a definite second work of grace not necessarily fulfilled at regeneration, and yet others teach that the true evidence of such baptism is the initial sign of speaking in tongues and the possession of a particular gift of the Spirit. I am fully aware of these differences of views among Christians regarding the baptism of the Spirit. When I was passing through this deep spiritual crisis, however, I was not aware of all these differences of doctrine. I am thankful I was not; otherwise I probably would have been so confused that I should have found great difficulty in exercising full sanctifying faith.

My testimony, however, is that, when I was longing for holiness and experimental deliverance from sin, the Holy Spirit applied that promise to my heart in power, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” In the simplicity of my heart, I felt that the fulfillment in all its fullness of the promise was not limited to the work of the Spirit in the new birth. This was one of those “exceeding great and precious promises” which I felt I needed to have fulfilled in power in my own life! It was this previous promise, together with 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, that, as I show later, my faith rested upon for entire sanctification, and which God made such a rich blessing to my soul. And so, if some may think that I am wrong in my use of terms, all I can say is, “That is the way in which the Lord brought me into the fullness of blessing, and thirty-two years afterwards both the Blesser and the blessing abide.” Thus when I earnestly prayed for light on the subject of entire sanctification and asked specially that I might be kept from error, the way the Lord answered my prayer was first of all to reveal to me my need of heart cleansing and deliverance from sin and then to impress me with that glorious promise, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” This constituted the first stage on his day of crisis. 3. SANCTIFYING FAITH The second stage involved the taking of the steps of faith, and I felt definitely led to go down to the Salvation Army hut and seek out the “Holiness” brother who had been taking the meetings there. For me to take this step meant that I had to cast utterly aside my remaining religious prejudices. I had two prejudices. First, I was somewhat prejudiced against the Salvation Army — theirs is merely an “emotional religion,” I thought, and moreover I felt they were in error in some of their doctrines. Secondly, I had been somewhat prejudiced against the teaching of “Holiness” brother. In view of my religious upbringing, and the fact that I had the assurance of salvation, and had, therefore imagined that I knew all about holiness, and needed nothing further from God, it was a humiliating step for me to have to confess that I yet needed something further to make my spiritual condition complete, and that in order to receive this from God I had to go to this Salvation Army hut, and seek out this “Holiness” brother. Yet this was God’s way of dealing with me. I am convinced that nothing but the power of God at work in my heart could have induced me to take such a step — but there was now such a hunger and thirst for holiness that I cared nothing for sects or theories. And so, after tea, I wended my way to the Salvation Army hut. I thank God for that Salvation Army hut. The camp was full of troops marching to and fro as I went, but I took very little notice of them — I was too intent on seeking holiness. I arrived at the hut, and my friend and I had a quiet talk together in a little room, and we knelt together in prayer. One great desire now dominated me I wished to be wholly for Christ. “I want nothing but Christ,” I said, and was conscious of two needs: a deep heart-cleansing, and the filling of the Spirit of God. The language of my heart then was beautifully expressed by that lovely verse: Refining fire go through my heart, Illuminate my soul Scatter Thy life through every part And sanctify the whole.

I was not conscious of any “will” struggle. I was not returning from a backslidden state. I think I can honestly say that, so far as I was aware, I was already yielded to God; but I then deliberately and unreservedly afresh yielded my all to the Father, that I might receive this gift of rich inward blessedness. Every interest for the present and future in my life was all laid on the altar. I prayed that the Holy Spirit, as the Refining Fire, might come upon me, cleanse my heart from sin, and fill me, so that I might do the divine will, and glorify Christ in my life. I had come utterly to an end of my self. It was a “crucifixion.” “I died.” In that spiritual condition, I found that I was empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe there and then that the Father did sanctify me wholly. True sanctifying faith sprang up in my heart, and I was able to believe that God did that moment baptize me with the Holy Ghost and with fire, although I had no ecstasy, only a quiet, deep feeling of unutterable peace. I had such a confidence in the Father and His promise that I could rest unreservedly in His word. My friend asked me if I thought that God had heard my prayer and had done the work. I said, quietly, “Yes, I do.” He said, “Will you thank Him for what He has done?” I did so, and thanked the Father for hearing and answering my prayer for entire sanctification. This step of faith and thanksgiving was taken calmly and deliberately without any excitement or emotion. My whole being seemed hushed and calmed before God. My spiritual experience was like sinking, as it were, into the arms of Omnipotent Love, and resting there in perfect inward peace. My whole being now entered into a deep rest. It was the rest of faith, that blessed rest spoken of in Hebrews 4:3, “For we which have believed do enter into rest.” The taking of this step of sanctifying faith constituted the second stage in my experience that day, and the same evening I attended a meeting in the hut and testified before a room full of soldiers of the step of faith I had taken.

THE INFLOW OF THE SPIRIT In 1 Chronicles 4:10 we read that Jabez prayed that beautiful prayer, “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!” It is stated, “And God granted him that which he requested.” I can testify that the same God who answered the prayer of Jabez also answered mine. For a day or two after passing through the spiritual crisis of October 23, 1916, I held on in faith without experiencing any special emotion. It was not long, however, before God gave me the conscious witness that my prayer for entire sanctification had been heard and answered. One morning, soon after rising, I opened my Bible, and my eyes alighted upon a verse which spoke to me as a glowing message direct from God to my heart. The verse was as follows: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” ( Romans 15:13). In Old Testament times, the Lord indicated His acceptance of the animal sacrifices by sending fire from heaven upon the altar. The holy inward joy which accompanied the powerful application by the Spirit of God to my heart of Romans 15:13, was to me the spiritual equivalent of the falling of the fire of God upon the ancient sacrifices. From the moment that Romans 15:13 was given to me by God as the seal of my sanctification, the Spirit of God did a new work in my heart. For three years prior to his event, I had been fully assured of my salvation, and the Spirit of God witnessed to my heart that I was a child of God. I have no doubt I that, during those three years, I had the Spirit of Christ; but now something further and more definite took place in my inner spiritual experience. It was not, however, in any sense a recovery from backsliding, as so far as I was aware I was walking in all the known light that I possessed up to that time. The Spirit of God now seemed to take full possession, filled my heart, and lifted me up in my inner life to a new level of joy and blessing. That divinely inspired prayer of Paul in Romans 15:13, for fullness of joy and peace, was made a wonderful reality in my experience by the infilling and overflowing of the Holy Spirit. The blessings of heart-cleansing and the filling of the Spirit, which I had appropriated in naked faith on God’s Word, were now made a conscious blessed experience. The result was fullness of joy, which I experienced in the following sevenfold “joy in the Holy Ghost.” It is this experience of joy which constitutes some of the riches of holiness. 1. THE JOY OF THE SPIRIT’S INFILLING “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” ( Matthew 3:11). The indwelling of the Spirit of God became a new and joyous reality. I always love to apply Malachi 4:2 as expressing the effect of the baptism of the Spirit on my inner spiritual life. Although I know that verse has a future dispensational meaning, yet it beautifully expresses the manner in which the Spirit of God came upon me and took full possession The verse says, “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” The thoughts of fire, light, warmth, and healing are suggested by that beautiful verse. The blessed Comforter became all that to me. Fire has ever been my favorite symbol of the Holy Spirit. I love the phrase “the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire.” It suggests the immersion of the whole being of the believer in the purifying, glowing love of God. The Spirit of God became very real to me as the fire of God within, “kindling, flaming, burning, glowing.” I now began to appreciate more clearly than I had ever done before the meaning of Pentecost. This experience of the infilling of the Spirit was my personal Pentecost, and all the scriptures relating to the glory of the divine indwelling in the heart now became a vivid, conscious, blessed reality to me and filled me with joy in a way they had not done before. 2. THE JOY OF DELIVERANCE FROM SIN “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” ( John 8:36). One of the first things that the Holy Spirit did when He took full possession was to glorify Christ. He shone in a new way upon the Cross and Romans 6. He showed me that the blessing of heart holiness had all been provided for me on the Cross. Of course I knew the truth of Romans 6 theoretically, quite well. I had studied Romans 6 when I had been baptized by immersion three years previously. But as soon as the Spirit came in His fullness He applied Romans 6 and Romans 8:2 in such a way that I was filled with all joy and peace in believing. The painful sense of bondage and corruption within gave way to a blessed experience of freedom and purity. The Spirit who had previously caused me to groan and say, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” now enabled me to say with joy, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” I now knew in power the blessed freedom from in spoken of in Romans 6 because I saw in the light of the Spirit that my old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth I should not serve sin. I saw that all that I had asked God to do in me by the baptism of the Spirit on October 23, 1916, had all been provided for me on the Cross. The blessed Son had now made me “free indeed.” Oh, the blessed joy of this deliverance from sin! 3. THE JOY OF DWELLING IN DIVINE LOVE “We will come unto him, and make our abode with him” ( John 14:23).

Another blessed result of the baptism of the Spirit was an inner realization of the love of God which I had not experienced before. How glorious to taste in experience 1 John 4:16! “God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” The love of God, His very inmost nature, seemed to me like a boundless ocean with the rays of the glorious sun shining upon it, and in this ocean of love and light my whole being was immersed and it filled my heart. I was dwelling in His love and i love was dwelling in me. I was inwardly satisfied, perfectly satisfied, resting in the boundless love of God. Praise God, there was no painful sense of an aching void that the world cannot fill. The love of God had been poured forth in my heart by the Holy Ghost. 4. THE JOY OF CHRIST WITHIN “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” ( John 14:18).

Words fail to describe the blessedness of the love of Christ and His indwelling. It “passeth knowledge.” I now knew in a completely new way “Christ in you [me], the hope of glory.” At times when all was hushed and quiet, it seemed as if a still small voice within whispered so gently to my heart, “I am here; I have come to abide forever.” I was melted with holy joy. The glorious prayer for divine fullness in Ephesians 3:14-21, which previously had seemed much too “far away” and “ideal” for me, now began to be realized in my inner life, as the blessed Holy Spirit more and more glorified Christ dwelling in my heart by faith That wonderful promise of the L