Holiness to the Lord

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f

Contents

Chapter Page

I. Holiness — What is it ? 9

II. The Holiness of God 17

Chapter I. Holiness What Is It ?

IT is essential, at the outset, to define what is meant by Holiness ; for it is presumable that a term so frequently employed in the Word of God would have a clear, fixed, unmistakable import, and that its signification would be such as his creatures can understand — at least in so far as concerns their present and endless well-being. Hence, in all the principal languages of the world, this word has the following significations : " Pure, clean, free from the defilement of sin, sacred, consecrated." Mr. Webster, our great American lexicographer, defines the word as denoting "whole, complete, entire, sound ; unimpaired in a moral sense ; pure in heart, temper, disposition ; hallowed consecrated, set apart to God."

There are, then, we readily perceive, two great elements included in this state, or expeio Holiness to the Lord.

rience. The one is negative, the other is positive ; the one what it excludes, the other what it embraces. There is also in the Scriptures a use of the word which, as applied to the Jews, and subsequently to all Christians, had reference merely to their external conditions. Hence, all the Jews are called "holy," because of their separation from the Gentiles ; and all Christians are called " holy," or " saints," because they belong to the Christian community, and without respect to their moral condition. It is, however, in its moral sense that in this treatise we especially regard it. And in this aspect we see —

First, it excludes all sin ; not merely the willful violation of the law of God, but also all moral impurity and defilement — all that is unhallowed or profane.

Secondly, it includes moral wholeness, completeness, soundness, purity, sacredness, consecration. It relates also to both the inward and outward states, embracing the moral condition of the heart and the character of the life. All systems of philosophy and ethics have labored to reform and purify the outward character and life ; to make the stream sweet, the fruit good ;

to cleanse the outside of the cup or platter ; or to whiten the sepulcher. But the Christian system looks first of all to the utter eradication of all the roots of bitterness from the heart, to the purification of the fountain, to making the tree good, to bursting the cerements of the spiritual grave, and giving a resurrection from the moral death which has reigned within. This system teaches us that there can be no outward holiness in the life, in the conduct, and in the habit, unless the inward principle be implanted in, and dominating over, all the powers of the soul.

Thirdly, holiness has infinite degrees. From its first implantation in the soul by the Divine Spirit, in regeneration, when it exists in the midst of a mass of impurity and defilement, struggling for the mastery, spreading its influence until the mass of man's being, all his powers, are brought into harmony with it and exist in a state of moral wholeness in the sight of God, and thence all the way up through the ranks of unfallen beings to the infinite, absolute holiness of God. There are different degrees also of holiness in the saints on earth and the saints in heaven. " All gold is not refined to

T2 Holiness to the Lord.

the same degree and height of purity ; but true gold, though in the lowest degree of fineness, will endure the furnace and the touchstone, and by that trial is discerned from counterfeit metal."*

A beautiful illustration of the manner in which holiness may exist in a soul where impurity and defilement still remain is found in the recent discovery by medical men of what is called the cure of ulcers by " supplantation." The skillful physician will take a small piece of pure, healthy flesh from the person afflicted with the ulcer, or from another one, and placing it right in the midst of the diseased part it will soon begin to exert its healing and transforming influence until new flesh is formed and the festering ulcer disappears. So the great Physician of souls implants the elements of holiness in the diseased human soul — in its moral ulcers — which renew, transform, and restore to moral soundness all its parts and powers.

Fourthly, more than this, there is no degree of holiness which the soul can attain, either in this world or in eternity, which does not admit of a continued and everlasting increase. No

* Cruden. /;/ loco.

more dangerous or damaging opinion can be entertained by any person than that he has attained, or can attain, a state of grace beyond which there is no further advancement. Such an idea would wither and repress all the energies of the soul ; would speedily exhaust any holy oil that might be in the lamp, leaving nothing but the wick and the lamp of a fruitless and profitless profession. It is to meet and satisfy the longings and aspirations of the human soul that God has set forth before it an eternity of progression in holiness and bliss. And besides this, there is no evidence more sweet or convincing which the Christian can have of his actual growth in holiness than that of an intense, earnest, quenchless desire for its increase in his soul. It is an unvarying law, in the divine economy, that the higher the soul rises in holiness the more earnest are its outreachings after greater heights, and the more fixed and determined are its upward strugglings. While, on the other hand, if our desires for holiness are weak, irregular, and feeble, that fact evinces either a very low state of grace, or else that there is in the heart no element of holiness at all. In closing this chapter

I would say, then, dear Christian friend, test your experience by this rule : Am I longing after holiness ? Am I refusing to be satisfied with any thing short of this ? In comparison with this, do I count all things else but loss ? Do I see so clearly my remaining corruptions, my unlikeness to God, that I loathe myself and sink down into utter nothingness and self-abasement before him ? Are my convictions so clear on this subject that I am constantly driven to the opened fountain of redemption and to the grace and power of the Holy Spirit ? If an affirmative answer is at hand to these inquiries, you are rapidly approximating the condition which your soul desires. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, [holiness :] for they shall be filled-' The very effort to rise lifts us higher. The longing readily finds its supply. The Holy Spirit would never have enkindled such a desire in the soul without intending to satisfy it with all his fullness ; and when that desire is realized it should be cherished — it should be guarded with the utmost jealousy and cultivated with untiring assiduity ; for God has created it in the soul. The yearning cry, " Nearer, my

God, to thee," results in a twofold answer : God comes nearer to the soul, and the soul comes nearer to God. Thus there is a mutual advance, lessening continually the distance between them, until the beatific vision of heaven is enjoyed, and the unfettered soul rises rapidly in the scale of being and of blessedness forever.

" Holy as Thou, O Lord, is none ; Thy holiness is all thy own ; A drop of that unbounded sea Is ours — a drop derived from thee.

And when thy purity we share, Thine only glory we declare ; And, humbled into nothing, own, Holy and pure is God alone."

C. Wesley.

Holiness to the Lord. iy

Chapter II. The Holiness Of God

HOLINESS in God is underived, absolute, and eternal. It is impossible for us to conceive of God in any other character than this. Could we imagine that there is in him any evil, any impurity or injustice we should revolt at the very idea of his existence and of his character, while our minds would be in a fearful state of anxiety and apprehension of his dealings toward us.

But, in multiplied instances, he declares that he is holy : " I the Lord your God am holy." Lev. xix, 2. "Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Lev. xi, 45. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." 1 Pet. i, 15, 16. He is, by his own designation, " The Holy One of Israel," and this is repeated twenty-nine times in his Word. It is this inherent, essential holiness of his nature which he makes the basis of his commands to his creatures to be holy. Further, holiness is ascribed to him by all the heavenly hosts, by the holy prophets, apostles, and saints. The six-winged seraphim, seen in Isaiah's vision as they flew through the vast expanse, cried one to another, in everlasting responses, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory." Isa. vi, 3, And the six-winged beasts — living creatures — seen by the revelator in apocalyptic vision, "rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Rev. iv, 8. Whether this threefold ascription of holiness is given to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost respectively, or is designed to express the infinite holiness of God as it is seen by the higher orders of intelligences, does not affect the argument here. In either case holiness is the attribute which calls forth the profoundest adoration and the most constant songs of praise.

When Israel had reached the Canaanward shore of the Red Sea, in their triumphal song they say, " Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ? who is like thee, glorious in holiness ? " Exod. xv, 11. In the rapt and joyous exclamations of Hannah in the house of the Lord, when she came with a full heart to offer thanks unto the Lord, who had heard her cry, she says, "There is none holy as the Lord." 1 Sam. ii, 2. The royal psalmist exclaims, " Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." Psa. xxii, 3. Again, " Worship at his footstool; for he is holy." Psa. xcix, 5. And again, " The Lord is , . . holy in all his works." Psa. cxlv, 17. Ezra the scribe, with his garment and his mantle rent, and his hair and beard plucked because of the wickedness of Israel, at the time of the evening sacrifice fell upon his knees, and spreading out his hands unto the Lord in the confession of their sins, cried out " O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous." Ezra ix, 15. St. John heard the Angel of the Waters saying, " Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be." Rev. xvi, 5. The whole multitude of the heavenly host, standing upon " the sea of glass, mingled with fire," singing "the song of Moses and of the Lamb," exclaim, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art holy." Rev. xv, 4.

1. From these and kindred portions of the word of the Lord, it appears that the holiness of

God is infinitely removed from every thing that is evil or wrong He is declared to be " of purer eyes than to behold evil, and he cannot look on iniquity." Hab. i, 13. "In him there can be no malice, or envy, or hatred, or revenge, or pride, or cruelty, or tyranny, or injustice, or falsehood, or unfaithfulness ; and if there be any thing besides which implies sin, and vice, and moral imperfection, holiness signifies that the Divine nature is at an infinite distance from it." * "As His will is the standard and criterion of holiness, so his nature is essentially characterized by holiness. It is holiness. As well could he cease to be as cease to be holy. Other holy beings there are, but their holiness is derived and dependent. Pure and glorious as are the angels of light, yet so transcendently glorious is their Creator that it is said, ' He putteth no trust in his servants, and chargeth his angels with instability.' No confidence is to be placed even in the stability of their holiness, except as sustained by himself. Although in spotless sanctity they present their adorations before his throne, yet is their nature, in common with all created nature, mutable. Of this who can entertain a doubt that reflects on

* Archbishop Tillotson.

the awful apostasy of myriads of their family, now consigned to the blackness of darkness forever? Nor does the security of those who retain their holiness and their bliss result from any immutability in themselves, but from the purpose and the power of Him where they are and whom they serve ; in whose presence they are represented as vailing with their wings their faces, as if dazzled with the splendor of his holiness; and vailing with their wings their feet, as if conscious of their unworthiness to approach the throne of his glory." * It is in view of this spotless holiness of his nature that St. James says, " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." Chap, i, 13. And the beloved disciple says, " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 John i, 5. And "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John iii, 3.

2. There are two great branches of this attribute of holiness in God, namely, justice and truth. These are beautifully blended in the utterance of Moses. " He is the Rock, his work is per-

* Rev. F. Bonder.

feet; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. xxxii, 4. Not to speak here of the various forms in which God's justice is exhibited to the universe, I would speak of it in that general sense in which the word corresponds with righteousness, or benevolence, or virtue. " The holiness and justice of God are, in reality, one and the same thing ; the distinction consists in this only, that holiness denotes the internal inclination of the divine will — the disposition of God — and justice the expression of the same by action."* "The object of the holiness of God is general, universal good ; of his justice and benevolence, the welfare of his creatures"^ He always does right, and is always opposed to that which is wrong. He cannot be warped, biased, or turned aside in his decisions or dealings. " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " Gen. xviii, 25. He is strictly impartial in all his ways. "There is no respect of persons with God." He deals with all his creatures, from the highest to the humblest, on the strict principles of unvarying righteousness. "The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of

lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." Deut. x, 17. He " accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor : for they all are the work of his hands." Job xxxiv, 19.

We know that in this state of probation a complete and perfect manifestation of the justice of God cannot be made. There are many things which seem to us, from our narrow stand-point, unequal and unjust. The wicked are often prospered in this world, pampered with luxuries, permitted to come down to old age, and to enjoy all the blessings of this life; while, on the other hand, the virtuous and the good are often poor, afflicted, and despised. Often the innocent are punished, while the guilty go free. Not infrequently has a Jeffries been on the bench of justice — so called — while a Baxter has been a prisoner at the bar. These things, at times, have startled and staggered the best of men in every period of the world's history. But the word of God pre-announces a day of judgment, in which all the apparent inconsistencies and inequalities of the Divine administration will be clearly seen to have been so regarded by us because of the limitedness of our vision, when virtue will receive its full, appropriate, and everlasting reward, and vice w r ill suffer its deserved and everlasting punishment. Then the justice of God will be vindicated. His dealings w T ith his creatures will then exhibit that they were prompted by his infinite goodness, guided by his infinite wisdom, and controlled by his sovereign power. And, no doubt, while the countless cycles of eternity are revolving in endless rounds, as the dispensations and dealings with his intelligent creatures are being developed with ever-increasing clearness, the songs of the redeemed and the glorified will ring out with greater clearness and sweetness. " Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." Rev. xv, 3.

Another element of the holiness of God is truth — including faithfulness in the fulfillment of his covenants and promises. In that wonderful revelation of the Divine glory w T hich was granted to Moses while he was hid in the cleft of the rock, and the Lord passed by before him, it was proclaimed, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, Ion ^suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." Exod. xxxiv, 6. " He is a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. xxxii, 4. The very " paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." Psa. xxv, 10. " Thou art plenteous in mercy and in truth." Psa.lxxxvi, 15. " His truth endureth to all generations." Psa. c, 5. "The Lord is a God who keepeth truth forever." Psa. cxlvi, 6. All His "works are truth." Dan. iv, 37. "God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the son of man, that he should repent : hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good." Num. xxiii, 19. "It is impossible that God should lie." Heb. vi, 18. "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments." Deut. vii, 9. These scriptures might be multiplied, but they are sufficient to indicate to us the character of that wonderful Being whom we are called upon to love, to trust, and to adore. The independence and immutability of his nature clearly show us that his truth must endure forever. His veracity cannot be questioned ; his promises cannot fail ; his word will stand fast forever. Never have his people found his covenant or his promise to fail. And what he has been in the past, he will be in the future and forever. His word is truth — essential, eternal truth. The everlasting mountains may depart, the perpetual granite hills be removed ; but his kindness shall not depart from his people, neither shall the covenant of his peace be removed. Isa. liv, 10. O what a foundation is here for the confidence and trust of the people of God ! It is firm as the unyielding Rock of Ages, and enduring as eternity. And, after God has taken so much pains to assure us of his truth and faithfulness, how great is the sin of unbelief !

But while this great truth is so comforting and assuring to the people of God, how terrible it is to wicked and ungodly men ! All his threatenings, as well as all his promises, are true, immutably true. Xot one word of them shall ever fail. And he has declared that nothingshall ever enter the Holy City where he dwells which "defileth, or maketh a lie." Rev. xxi, 27. And, further, that "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone." Rev. xxi, 8. From these threatenings there can be no escape. Xo "rocks" can hide the finally impenitent, no "mountains" fall on them so that they can be hid from "the presence of God and from the wrath of the Lamb, when the great day of his wrath is come." The very arguments which some men employ to produce unbelief in the Divine threatenings would, in like manner, produce unbelief and distrust of his promises. If one word of the Lord can fall to the ground, so can another, and the result would be blank atheism and endless chaos and confusion.

The most beautiful illustration of this attribute of the Divine character is found in the person and character of his only begotten Son. He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." Heb. vii, 26. Even the man with the unclean spirit was compelled to cry out, " I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." Mark i, 24. St. Peter calls him, " The Holy One and the Just." Acts hi, 14. St. John calls him, "Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John ii, 1. And although he took upon himself "the form of a servant," and "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," yet " sin " was " excepted " — he was the only sinless human being who ever trod this earth since Adam fell.

But He was perfect. Even his worst enemies were constrained to say, "We find no fault in him." The Roman Governor who gave consent to his death, went through the mock ceremony of washing his hands, declaring, " I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Matt, xxvii, 24. All contemporaneous history, and all that followed up to the time of Origen, shows that nothing had ever appeared against him. "Neither the Mishna nor the Talmud, which contain the whole substance of Jewish testimony on this subject ; neither Celsus, Porphyry, nor Julian, who have given us the whole heathen testimony, have ever fixed upon Christ the minutest charge of either sin or folly." * In all the vast procession of the ages, testimony to his purity, his spotlessness, his gentleness and love, has been accumulating, until the vast pile stands out luminous with glory and commanding the attention and regard of the nations. Such has been the impression which he has made upon the heart of humanity, that millions have been willing even to die for him. And in all the ages of the past there have never been so many hearts inspired with his love, or so many tongues em-

*Dwight*s Theology, vol. ii, p. 158.

ployed in his praise. Hundreds have attempted a delineation of his wonderful character and life — some friends, and some foes. But while no artist has ever yet risen to his own conception of his form and features, his mingled majesty and grace, so no tongue or pen has ever been able to tell or trace " His matchless worth." All this could not have been had there been the spot or stain of sin upon him, or even the breath of suspicion against the purity of his character. Thus he has stood forth before the world — " the brightness" — the outbeaming splendor of his Father's glory, and "the express image of his person," illustrating to mankind the infinite holiness of God, as well as his faithfulness and truth. " He was full of grace and truth!' So full that neither the romance of Renan nor the rationalism of Strauss have been able to dim the luster of his character, or to blur his spotless purity

In all these methods God has made known his holiness to men — by his own declaration ; by the ascriptions rendered to him by all the angelic hosts of heaven, and saints, and prophets, and apostles, and martyrs ; by his justice, and truth, and faithfulness ; and, last of all, yet brightest of all, by his only begotten Son, whose character and life have illustrated the great principles and perfections of the Divine nature. God, then, is the only being in the universe who is absolutely holy. Holiness, whenever and wherever it exists in the creature, must be derived from him, and its continued existence must depend upon him ; and to whatever degree of holiness any angelic or human being may attain, it will still, in its fullest development, be infinitely below the holiness of God.

And yet this very fact, instead of discouraging our efforts, or dampening our energies, has the effect of inspiring us with more earnest longings to be ever growing in likeness to Him. We can never be as holy as God is, and yet we can be like him. And while throughout eternal ages we may be getting near to him, and becoming more like him, every advancement will only show us more clearly the infinite distance there is between us and him, and call forth intense longings to be more like him. This presents before us an endless career of advancement in holiness and blessedness.

"We shall be like Him ; for we shall see him as he is." This open and undimmed vision of the holiness of God will forever transform and transfigure us more fully after his glorious image. Here is a career worthy of an immortal being, and all-sufficient to call forth his most ardent longings and aspirations.

" Angels are possessed of consummate holiness. The evidence of this truth is so multiform, and so abundant, in the Scriptures, that no particular proof or illustration seems to be necessary. Their joy and praise at the creation, their divine transport at the birth of the Redeemer, and the union of glory to God in the highest, and good-will toward men, disclosed by that wonderful event, and their noble and disinterested exultation in the repentance of ruined sinners, are all sublime manifestations of the unalloyed holiness, of the pre-eminent beatify of mind, possessed by this dignified order of beings. The name Seraphim, or Burning Ones, is also a most forcible representation of this exalted character. In this name, the mind of an angel is exhibited as enkindled with one intense and eternal flame of divine love, burning with a clear, unceasing, perpetual ardency and splendor. In accordance with this character, the four Living Ones, who are exhibited as representatives of the angelic host in the heavens, manifest their exalted love to the great Author of their blessings, by celebrating, with an unceasing voice, his infinite holiness and excellency throughout the never-ending progress of their being.

Chapter III. Holiness In Unfallen Beings

f~\ F all the intelligences in the universe — at ^-^ least of all that we know anything about — the different ranks and orders of angels in the heavenly world are the only unfallen ones. That they are holy beings cannot be doubted ; the Son of God himself declares this : " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him." Matt, xxv, 31. They are also so called in Acts x, 22, and in Rev. xiv, 10. They have probably passed through a period of probation, and their character is confirmed, and their state is unchangeably and everlastingly fixed. Very many of their number, who, like themselves, were undergoing a probationary course, for some cause not fully known to us, " kept not their first estate," and, having fallen under the wrath of their Sovereign Creator, are " reserved in chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude vi. They are fallen and have become fiends. It would seem that they, with their great leader, Satan, although predoomed and predestinated to the abysmal depths of hell, are yet permitted to range through the atmospheric heavens, and to roam over the world — to come into dire and fierce conflict with the good, the true, the pure, and the holy, and to seek whom they may devour and destroy. For their final and endless place of punishment, the great prison-house of the universe, hell, has been prepared, and there, when man's probation on earth is ended, and their doom has been formally announced at the last judgment, they will be confined forever.

But the good angels have maintained their fealty to the throne of God, and are ever employed to do the bidding of their Lord, in whose presence they find their fullness of joy, and whose eternal abode is ever kept ringing with their anthems and their songs of joy. They are, also, " all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Whenever we think of them two ideas are always present in our minds — their purity and their power. We never couple with thoughts of them any ideas of impurity deceit, profanity, corruption, or sin. As they are holy in their character, so they are holy in their conduct. They do the will of God cheerfully, constantly, perfectly, without any defect or any variance. They " serve him day and night in his temple." They sang with the morning stars, they were present in countless numbers on Mount Sinai, and were the mediators through whom the law was given ; they pre-announced the birth of the Son of God, and filled heaven and earth with their songs of joy when he became incarnate ; and when he ascended up on high they accompanied him with all their pomp, and splendor, and glory, and "shouted him welcome to the skies." In these and other instances in which they are presented before us in the Word of God they appear to us the purest, holiest, and loveliest beings in the universe, whose purity is spotless and whose bliss is unalloyed.