"Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord" Hebrews 12:14.
1. The NATURE of true practical holiness.
First then, let me try to show what true practical holiness is — what sort of people are those whom God calls holy?
A man may go great lengths in religion — and yet never reach true holiness.
It is not knowledge — Balaam had that.It is not great profession — Judas Iscariot had that.It is not doing many things — Herod had that. It is not zeal for certain matters in religion — Jehu had that.It is not morality and outward respectability of conduct — the rich young ruler had that.It is not taking pleasure in hearing preachers — the Jews in Ezekiel's time had that.It is not keeping company with godly people — Joab and Gehazi and Demas had that.Yet none of these were holy people! These things alone, are not holiness. A man may have any one of them — and yet never see the Lord.What then is true practical holiness? It is a hard question to answer. I do not mean that there is any lack of Scriptural matter on the subject. But I fear lest I should give a defective view of holiness, and not say all that ought to be said — or lest I should say things about it that ought not to be said, and so do harm. Let me, however, try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds. Only let it never be forgotten, when I have said all, that my account is but a poor imperfect outline at the best.
1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of . . .
agreeing in God's judgment,
hating what He hates,
loving what He loves, and
measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.
He who most entirely agrees with God — he is the most holy man.
2. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment. He will have . . .
a decided bent of mind towards God,
a hearty desire to do His will,
a greater fear of displeasing Him than of displeasing the world,
and a love to all His ways.
He will feel what Paul felt when he said, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans 7:22), and what David felt when he said, "I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128).
3. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength — but he will also labor to have the mind that was in Him, and to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). It will be his aim . . .
to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us;
to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself;
to walk in love, even as Christ loved us;
to be lowly-minded and humble, even as Christ made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself.
He will remember . . .
that Christ was a faithful witness for the truth;
that He came not to do His own will;
that it was His food and drink to do His Father's will;
that He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others;
that He was meek and patient under undeserved insults;
that He thought more of godly poor men, than of kings;
that He was full of love and compassion to sinners;
that He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin;
that He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it;
that He went about doing good;
that He was separate from worldly people;
that He continued instant in prayer;
that He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God's work was to be done.
All these things, a holy man will try to remember. By them, he will endeavor to shape his course in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John: "He who says he abides in Christ, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6); and the saying of Peter, that "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Happy is he who has learned to make Christ his "all," both for salvation and example! Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented — if men would oftener ask themselves the question: "What would Jesus have said and done — if He were in my place?"
4. A holy man will follow after meekness, patience, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, and government of his tongue. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and be slow to talk of standing on his rights. We see a bright example of this in the behavior of David when Shimei cursed him, and of Moses when Aaron and Miriam spoke against him (2 Sam. 16:10; Num. 12:3).
5. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labor . . .
to mortify the desires of his body,
to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts,
to curb his passions,
to restrain his carnal inclinations — lest at any time they break loose.
Oh, what a word is that of the Lord Jesus to the apostles: "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life — and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap!" (Luke 21:34); and that of the apostle Paul: "I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize!" (1 Corinthians 9:27).
6. A holy man will follow after love and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the 'golden rule' of doing as he would have men do to him — and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren, towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, their souls. "He who loves another," says Paul, "has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty and unfair dealing — even in the least things. He will strive to adorn his religion by all his outward demeanor, and to make it lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all around him.
Alas, what condemning words are the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and the sermon on the mount — when laid alongside the conduct of many professing Christians!
7. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others. He will not stand idle all the day. He will not be content with doing no harm — he will try to do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation, and to lessen the spiritual needs and misery around him as far as he can. Such was Dorcas: "full of good works and alms-deeds, which she did" — not merely purposed and talked about — but did. Such a one was Paul: "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you," he says, "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved" (Acts 9:36; 2 Corinthians 12:15).
8. A holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all immorality, and impurity of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder — and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare to talk of their own strength — when David can fall?
There is many a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it the man who only touched a bone or a dead body or a grave or a diseased person — became at once unclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. Few Christians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.
9. A holy man will follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave — who only works because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child — who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father's face, because he loves him.
What a noble example Nehemiah gives us of this! When he became governor at Jerusalem, he could have been supported the Jews and required money from them for his sustenance. The former governors had done so. There was none to blame him, if he did. But he says, "The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God — I did not act that way!" (Neh. 5:15).
10. A holy man will follow after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart — than in any other in the world.
1. The NATURE of true practical holiness.
First then, let me try to show what true practical holiness is — what sort of people are those whom God calls holy?
A man may go great lengths in religion — and yet never reach true holiness.
It is not knowledge — Balaam had that.It is not great profession — Judas Iscariot had that.It is not doing many things — Herod had that. It is not zeal for certain matters in religion — Jehu had that.It is not morality and outward respectability of conduct — the rich young ruler had that.It is not taking pleasure in hearing preachers — the Jews in Ezekiel's time had that.It is not keeping company with godly people — Joab and Gehazi and Demas had that.Yet none of these were holy people! These things alone, are not holiness. A man may have any one of them — and yet never see the Lord.What then is true practical holiness? It is a hard question to answer. I do not mean that there is any lack of Scriptural matter on the subject. But I fear lest I should give a defective view of holiness, and not say all that ought to be said — or lest I should say things about it that ought not to be said, and so do harm. Let me, however, try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds. Only let it never be forgotten, when I have said all, that my account is but a poor imperfect outline at the best.
1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of . . .
agreeing in God's judgment,
hating what He hates,
loving what He loves, and
measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.
He who most entirely agrees with God — he is the most holy man.
2. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment. He will have . . .
a decided bent of mind towards God,
a hearty desire to do His will,
a greater fear of displeasing Him than of displeasing the world,
and a love to all His ways.
He will feel what Paul felt when he said, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans 7:22), and what David felt when he said, "I esteem all Your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128).
3. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength — but he will also labor to have the mind that was in Him, and to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). It will be his aim . . .
to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us;
to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself;
to walk in love, even as Christ loved us;
to be lowly-minded and humble, even as Christ made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself.
He will remember . . .
that Christ was a faithful witness for the truth;
that He came not to do His own will;
that it was His food and drink to do His Father's will;
that He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others;
that He was meek and patient under undeserved insults;
that He thought more of godly poor men, than of kings;
that He was full of love and compassion to sinners;
that He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin;
that He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it;
that He went about doing good;
that He was separate from worldly people;
that He continued instant in prayer;
that He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God's work was to be done.
All these things, a holy man will try to remember. By them, he will endeavor to shape his course in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John: "He who says he abides in Christ, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6); and the saying of Peter, that "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Happy is he who has learned to make Christ his "all," both for salvation and example! Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented — if men would oftener ask themselves the question: "What would Jesus have said and done — if He were in my place?"
4. A holy man will follow after meekness, patience, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, and government of his tongue. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and be slow to talk of standing on his rights. We see a bright example of this in the behavior of David when Shimei cursed him, and of Moses when Aaron and Miriam spoke against him (2 Sam. 16:10; Num. 12:3).
5. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labor . . .
to mortify the desires of his body,
to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts,
to curb his passions,
to restrain his carnal inclinations — lest at any time they break loose.
Oh, what a word is that of the Lord Jesus to the apostles: "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life — and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap!" (Luke 21:34); and that of the apostle Paul: "I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize!" (1 Corinthians 9:27).
6. A holy man will follow after love and brotherly kindness. He will endeavor to observe the 'golden rule' of doing as he would have men do to him — and speaking as he would have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren, towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, their souls. "He who loves another," says Paul, "has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty and unfair dealing — even in the least things. He will strive to adorn his religion by all his outward demeanor, and to make it lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all around him.
Alas, what condemning words are the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and the sermon on the mount — when laid alongside the conduct of many professing Christians!
7. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others. He will not stand idle all the day. He will not be content with doing no harm — he will try to do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation, and to lessen the spiritual needs and misery around him as far as he can. Such was Dorcas: "full of good works and alms-deeds, which she did" — not merely purposed and talked about — but did. Such a one was Paul: "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you," he says, "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved" (Acts 9:36; 2 Corinthians 12:15).
8. A holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all immorality, and impurity of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder — and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare to talk of their own strength — when David can fall?
There is many a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it the man who only touched a bone or a dead body or a grave or a diseased person — became at once unclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. Few Christians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.
9. A holy man will follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave — who only works because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of a child — who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father's face, because he loves him.
What a noble example Nehemiah gives us of this! When he became governor at Jerusalem, he could have been supported the Jews and required money from them for his sustenance. The former governors had done so. There was none to blame him, if he did. But he says, "The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God — I did not act that way!" (Neh. 5:15).
10. A holy man will follow after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem all others better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart — than in any other in the world.