quer, and, above all, we have dishonoured that precious blood which Thy Son did shed. We have dishonoured it by limiting its power and cavilling about its cleansing efficacy. We will do it no

longer. We will trust it. We will honour it by being cleansed. We will-Oh, blessed Lord, come and take possession of every soul in this buildingdo it now, and do it for ever. Amen and Amen.

The War Cry, No. 106.-DEC. 29, 1881.

CONSECRATION.

By W. BRAMWELL BOOTH.

CONSECRATION is not Sanctification, for one is a condition of the other. Without a full surrendering to the will of God, and a full consecrating to the service of God, there cannot be full Salvation. And yet there may be a real giving up, a real forsaking of all, a real offering of ourselves to the Lord, and no more. So that some are fully consecrated who are not fully sanctified. Faith is the missing link.

When a man is seeking that God may wholly possess him, may wholly cleanse him, may purify and perfect him, and, seeking with his whole heart panting only for God, he will get clearer views of God's requirements than ever he had before. It is not a small thing, even to God, that He, the Lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, should take up His abode in a man, and, on His account alone, are some things essential to be observed. He must be satisfied of one thing at least that there is really no truce with his enemy;

that there is really no, even neutral, ground left; that there is really and literally no reserve from Him of any sort. He will have all. He cannot let you cheat Himself, for His own sake as well as for yours. He must have all!

There is necessary, before you can be perfected in love,

1st, A complete consecration to God's ownership; 2nd, A complete consecration to God's service.

I observe that many seem to say to God when seeking a clean heart, "Oh! Lord, I give myself to Thee-my body, soul, and spirit. Drawn by Thy love, I lay my family and friends at Thy feet. I put my time, my gifts, my money at Thy disposal, lend them to me as Thy steward, or take them, some or all of them, from me as Thou wilt, they are Thine. My good name, my very joys, my past and present, and future, I offer Thee all, only Master, Thou wilt not take from me one thing,— that Thou knowest it is not hurtful, and it is only a little matter, I cannot part with that, Thou shalt in reality have my all, only!”

To such, God lends the hearing of supremest pity, but He cannot cleanse what is not given. A heart not wholly His own, how shall He sanctify? Impossible. By a service of willing gift, you may consecrate to His sole use your whole being, as Israel did that travelling Tabernacle in the wilderness, and be yourself a Temple for God to dwell in. But all must be given, for it must be all His

own.

I have noticed, also, that the Holy Spirit of God does not stop here when leading souls to Canaan.

He requires also a genuine giving up to the service of God. To sacrifice to Him is good, to obey is better. Consecration unto Holiness means both. And many give God all they possess, all they have; they yield to Him with cheerful heart their most precious of all, filled with glad surprise that He should ask it of them, are glad to go bleeding and torn, to prove their love and faith. They keep nothing back. And when the Holy Ghost shows them that He asks a little more-the consecration of a lifetime to the service of God and souls-it may be to some service peculiarly and particularly painful, there is faltering and drawing back. Oh! Lord, anything but that. To go there. To be this. To endure that. I give Thee all, and I will do all, but I can't- oh, Lord!"

And the that spoils all the rest. Ours is a jealous God. To Him consequences pleasant or painful do not count when He is seeking His own. He must have you to possess. He must have you wholly to use. I believe thousands blunder here. They seek Holiness for happiness sake, and never find. This necessary consecration to God's service from which they draw back in selfish haste, bars their way to both. For God cannot use what is not His, and He will not take from you in pretence what you do not offer Him in reality.

Know then, beloved, that Jesus is not a sham example, is not a mockery. To possess Him in saving, cleansing, healing power, in wisdom and righteousness, and full redemption, you must needs practically be no longer your own, but HIS, and further, must no longer seek or serve your own, but

serve and seek THE THINGS THAT ARE JESUS CHRIST'S.

And we who have made with set purpose this twofold consecration, and have entered the land of rest, to prove that not one word of all our Lord's great promises has failed us there, but that all is come to pass, we have still to consecrate, not exactly after the fashion of which I have already spoken; bless God, that is over with us; is a wonderful unpulldownable reality of a fact in our lives. But there is a third consecration for us. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, HOLY, acceptable unto God. We are to go on ever, continually presenting to Him all we receive from Him, all we do for him, a holy offering, acceptable to Him. What honour, what joy. Here is our sacrifice always burning with holy fire of love, all we desire and do consecrated to Him, Sanctified to His glory, and accepted by Him.

Brother, sister, keep it up. The secret of continual getting is continual giving. Give God back again all you get. Glorify Him only by all you do. Never let Him need to ask you for aught. Be His own acceptable one. And your continual offering will be to Him a continual sweet-smelling savour, a joy to the conquering King Himself.