Saviour from sin, I wait to prove That Jesus is thy healing name; To lose, when perfected in love, Whate'er I have,
16. The hymns concerning it in this volume are too numerous to transcribe. I shall only cite a part of three : -- Saviour from sin, I wait to prove That Jesus is thy healing name; To lose, when perfected in love, Whate'er I have, or can, or am; I stay me on thy faithful word, "The servant shall be as his Lord." Answer that gracious end in me For which thy precious life was given; Redeem from all iniquity, Restore, and make me meet for heaven. Unless thou purge my every stain, Thy suffering and my faith is vain. Didst thou not die, that I might live, No longer to myself but thee? Might body, soul, and spirit give To Him who gave himself for me? Come then, my Master and my God, Take the dear purchase of thy blood. Thy own peculiar servant claim, For thy own truth and mercy's sake; Hallow in me thy glorious name; Me for thine own this moment take; And change and throughly purify; Thine only may I live and die. (Page 80.) Chose from the world, if now I stand, Adorn'd with righteousness divine; If, brought into the promised land, I justly call the Saviour mine; The sanctifying Spirit pour, To quench my thirst and wash me clean, Now, Saviour let the gracious shower Descend, and make me pure from sin. Purge me from every sinful blot: My idols all be cast aside: Cleanse me from every evil thought, From all the filth of self and pride. The hatred of the carnal mind Out of my flesh at once remove: Give me a tender heart, resign'd, And pure, and fall of faith and love. O that I now, from sin released, Thy word might to the utmost prove, Enter into thy promised rest; The Canaan of thy perfect love! Now let me gain perfection's height! Now let me into nothing fall; Be less than nothing in my sight, And feel that Christ is all in all. (Page 258.) Lord, I believe, thy work of grace Is perfect in the soul; His heart is pure who sees thy face, His spirit is made whole. From every sickness, by thy word, From every foul disease, Saved, and to perfect health restored, To perfect holiness: He walks in glorious liberty, To sin entirely dead: The Truth, the Son hath made him free, And he is free indeed. Throughout his soul thy glories shine, His soul is all renew'd, And deck'd in righteousness divine, And clothed and fill'd with God. This is the rest, the life, the peace, Which all thy people prove; Love is the bond of perfectness, And all their soul is love. O joyful sound of gospel grace! Christ shall in me appear; I, even I, shall see his face, I shall be holy here! He visits now the house of clay, He shakes his future home; -- O would'st thou, Lord, on this glad day, Into thy temple come! Come, O my God, thyself reveal, Fill all this mighty void; Thou only canst my spirit fill: Come, O my God, my God! Fulfil, falfil my large desires, Large as infinity! Give, give me all my soul requires, All, all that is in thee ! (Page 298.) 17. On Monday, June 25, 1744, our First Conference began; six Clergymen and all our Preachers being present. The next morning we seriously considered the doctrine of sanctification, or perfection. The questions asked concerning it, and the substance of the answers given, were as follows: -- "QUESTION. What is it to be sanctified? "ANSWER. To be renewed in the image of God, `in righteousness and true holiness.' "Q. What is implied in being a perfect Christian? "A. The loving God with all our heart, and mind, and soul. (Deut. 6:5.) "Q. Does this imply, that all inward sin is taken away? "A. Undoubtedly; or how can we be Said to be `saved from all `our uncleannesses?' (Ezek. 36:29.)" Our Second Conference began August 1, 1745. The next morning we spoke of sanctification as follows : -- "Q. When does inward sanctification begin? "A. In the moment a man is justified. (Yet sin remains in him, yea, the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified throughout.) From that time a believer gradually dies to sin, and grows in grace. "Q. Is this ordinarily given till a little before death? "A. It is not, to those who expect it no sooner. "Q. But may we expect it sooner? "A. Why not? For, although we grant, (1.) That the generality of believers, whom we have hitherto known, were not so sanctified till near death; (2.) That few of those to Whom St. Paul wrote his Epistles were so at that time; nor, ~(3.) He himself at the time of writing his former Epistles; yet all this does not prove, that we may not be so to-day. "Q. In what manner should we preach sanctification? "A. Scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward: To those who are, always by way of promise; always drawing, rather than driving." Our Third Conference began Tuesday, May 13, 1746. In this we carefully read over the Minutes of the two preceding Conferences, to observe whether anything contained therein might be retrenched or altered on more mature consideration. But we did not see cause to alter in any respect what we had agreed upon before. Our Fourth Conference began on Tuesday, June the 16th, 1747. As several persons were present, who did not believe the doctrine of perfection, we agreed to examine it from the foundation. In order to this, it was asked, "How much is allowed by our brethren who differ from `is with regard to entire sanctification? "A. They grant, (1.) That every one must be entirely sanctified in the article of death. (2.) That till then a believer daily grows in grace, comes nearer and nearer to perfection. (3.) That we ought to be continually pressing after it, and to exhort all others so to do. "Q. What do we allow them? "A. We grant, (1.) That many of those who have died in the faith, yea, the greater part of those we have known, were not perfected in love till a little before their death. (2.) That the term sanctified is continually applied by St.