Chapter 9

Seek for Sanctification

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

            I was released near the end of 1978. After I returned home from the labor farm, I was extremely thirsty for the Lord's Word. But I felt I was like Joshua in the third chapter of Zechariah, dressed in filthy clothes and Satan stood beside me to oppose me. I always felt accused or disturbed by Satan. Was it an empty talk "to be holy"? Why had I not obtained holiness since I had hungered for it for such a long time? I decided that I should not give up nor should I stop praying for it. I must strike the arrow of victory to the end. Then I was determined to fast in the morning and to pray for this goal. I prayed to the Lord to completely remove the idols in my heart so that I could become a person who loved the Lord wholeheartedly in reality as well as in name. I prayed that the Lord would take off my filthy clothes and remove my adversary. I imitated the poor widow who did not give up but kept on asking the Lord. I imitated the woman being subjected to bleeding who touched the Lord by faith. I grasped the promise by faith and did not give up but prayed persistently and earnestly. Before I knew it, the power of sin left me. Hallelujah! As the Lord commanded, my filthy clothes were taken off. At the same time the Holy Spirit led me to "eat the scroll"--the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved me to write down the main theme of what I learned from the two chapters of the Bible that I read every day as I had been doing on the mountain. During the day, I was afraid that there would be some unexpected visitors. Therefore, I worked at midnight. In the cold winter I bundled myself up with a thick scarf and a blanket. The Lord supported me with His grace, so that I could see the wonderful things in the law. I rejoiced just as if I had been face to face with the Lord. The more I "ate the scroll", the more my soul awakened, and the more my spiritual eyes were opened. Though I did not see the external environment getting better, I could foresee the future in the Lord's Word. So long as we repent of our sins and tremble at His Word, the Red Sea before us will be divided and the Jordan will flow back. God will do wonders as we march with joy to take possession of the land, and to proclaim His salvation all over the world, according to Isaiah chapter sixty-six verses eighteen and nineteen.

I pray to the Lord that every Christian will have faith to be a child of God, be victorious and holy to honor God. Through my own failures and wandering for a long time, I deeply feel that there are three necessities to seeking for sanctification.

1. Be Thirsty:

Very often we are not thirsty for holiness nor do we want to seek for it. It is only until we have had a lot of failures, weakness, dishonoring God and making others stumble, and lots of disciplines and flogging, then we are willing to seek to ascend and improve. It is only to overcome and be holy that one can honor God and benefit people and overflow with joy. A Christian who fails is more painful and pitiful than men of this world.

2. Depend on Grace by Faith:

It is not by self-struggling but by faith and asking for grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit can one be justified. One should never give up but pray persistently and earnestly until the Lord shows his mercy.

3. Eat a lot of the Word of God:

The truth makes us sanctified. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" said by the Lord from His own mouth (John 8:31-32).

I was shown mercy by the Lord so that I could be restored to "eat the scroll" so as to know God more and more gradually. Besides, I am able to see in the Spirit the revival and commission lying ahead which is not through the understanding of my brain but through what I believe and what is assured of by faith.

"The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." (Matthew 11:12)