h. Lastly, we must be holy, because without holiness on earth we will never be prepared to enjoy heaven. Heaven is a holy place. The Lord of heaven is a holy Being. The angels are holy creatures. Holiness is written on everything in heaven. The book of Revelation says expressly, “There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatever works abomination, or makes a lie” (Rev. 21:27). How will we ever be at home and happy in heaven if we die unholy? Death works no change. The grave makes no alteration. Each will rise again with the same character in which he breathed his last. Where will our place be if we are strangers to holiness now? Suppose for a moment that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you feel there? To which of all the saints would you join yourself, and by whose side would you sit down? Their pleasures are not your pleasures, their tastes not your tastes, their character not your character. How could you possibly be happy if you had not been holy on earth? Now perhaps you love the company of the light and the careless, the worldly-minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in heaven. Now perhaps you think the saints of God too strict and particular and serious. You rather avoid them. You have no delight in their society. There will be no other company in heaven. Now perhaps you think praying and Scripture reading and hymn singing dull and melancholy and stupid work, a thing to be tolerated now and then, but not enjoyed. You reckon the Sabbath a burden and a weariness; you could not possibly spend more than a small part of it in worshiping God. But remember, heaven is a never-ending Sabbath. The inhabitants thereof rest not day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,” and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this? Do you think that such a one would delight to meet David and Paul and John, after a life spent in doing the very things they spoke against? Would he take sweet counsel with them and find that he and they had much in common? Do you think, above all, that he would rejoice to meet Jesus, the crucified One, face to face, after cleaving to the sins for which He died, after loving His enemies and despising His friends? Would he stand before Him with confidence and join in the cry, “This is our God … we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isa. 25:9)? Do you not think rather that the tongue of an unholy man would cleave to the roof of his mouth with shame, and his only desire would be to be cast out? He would feel a stranger in a land he did not know, a black sheep amid Christ’s holy flock. The voice of cherubim and seraphim, the song of angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven would be a language he could not understand. The very air would seem an air he could not breathe. I do not know what others may think, but to me it does seem clear that heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man. It cannot be otherwise. People may say in a vague way they “hope to go to heaven,” but they do not consider what they say. There must be a certain “fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light.” Our hearts must be somewhat in tune. To reach the holiday of glory, we must pass through the training school of grace. We must be heavenly-minded and have heavenly tastes in the life that now is, or else we will never find ourselves in heaven in the life to come.
Copyrights Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 2007, QuickVerse. All rights reserved.
Holiness excerpt
More powerful than God's will?
As I was praying one day in the not too distant past, with my mind not focused on any particular thing, the Lord posed this question too me. "Quigley...did you know that there is a force on the Earth that is greater than my will?" I responded with, "How can that be Lord? You are the most powerful being in all of creation. There is nothing more powerful than your will!" He said most assuredly, "Oh yes there is!.....It's your will!" I was floored at that statement from the Most High. However after pondering that nugget for a time, I began to realize that our free will does in fact override God's will for us. Case in point....a person who hears the gospel message and refuses to accept salvation. God's will is for all to be saved, however He never imposes His will on any of us. God loves us so much that He will never force us to do anything. We must choose and God allows us to move forward with that choice. If we choose to live a sinful life...we will suffer the consequences. If we choose God's way of holiness and purity we will reap His blessings. The choice is yours and mine!
LOEM
If you are having trouble getting things done and keeping your priorities straight.....check this out.....The Lord gave me this acronym to guide me each day so that I could accomplish a little something from all the areas of life where I am called to minister. Sort of like eating a balenced diet that includes all the food groups.
The acronym is simply this
L= Lord....spending time in intimate communication with Him
O= others...this includes doing things with/for family members, friends, neighbors, etc
E= exercise.....this will enable you to remain healthy and give you energy to accomplish life's goals
M= ministry.....give time every day to whatever you have been called to in this life...your very purpose for being here on this Earth
Why not give it a shot and may the force (the Holy Spirit) be with you!
By the way...if you say the acronym LOEM all together it sounds like ....Elohim....one of the Hebrew names for God in the Old Testament
The acronym is simply this
L= Lord....spending time in intimate communication with Him
O= others...this includes doing things with/for family members, friends, neighbors, etc
E= exercise.....this will enable you to remain healthy and give you energy to accomplish life's goals
M= ministry.....give time every day to whatever you have been called to in this life...your very purpose for being here on this Earth
Why not give it a shot and may the force (the Holy Spirit) be with you!
By the way...if you say the acronym LOEM all together it sounds like ....Elohim....one of the Hebrew names for God in the Old Testament
WAR
War……Webster defines this word like this…..a state of open and declared conflict between states or nations….a state of hostility, conflict or antagonism…a struggle between opposing forces to accomplish a particular end. When war is declared between countries, they no longer take up a defensive posture only….. but will begin to strategize in the offensive as well. Believer or Disbeliever…we are all at war…..Like it or not. This is the truth!
When a nation is at war with another, they will defend the homeland at all cost…at the same time going after their enemy in an offensive manner. We as the Church must do the same. Protect the homeland (our spirits) by pressing in closer to God every day….. Reading…. Studying…. and becoming downright gluttonous with the Holy Scripture, guarding our hearts to keep them pure before God. At the same time we need to become aggressive against the enemy and his strategies…. with intercession for our leaders and lawmakers and others who shape our lives and the course of our nations. We must stand against this sexual revolution which is winning over the younger generations and permeating our media today! We must be a people of integrity who keep commitments. We must be constant seekers of the lost and bring them to Jesus.
There has come over the whole Earth…a spirit of complacency that has pretty much, lulled us to sleep.
The enemy……satan…has duped us into a false sense of peace in many cases. There can never be peace between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. They are in constant opposition with one other. Light and dark cannot exist together. Good and evil cannot exist together. There have been many great wars fought throughout the history of Earth and most likely there will be many more before the Day of the Lord comes, but the greatest war of all is the one that is going on in your own soul right now and the turf that will be won or lost is your eternal destiny! Raise your sword and charge into the land!
When a nation is at war with another, they will defend the homeland at all cost…at the same time going after their enemy in an offensive manner. We as the Church must do the same. Protect the homeland (our spirits) by pressing in closer to God every day….. Reading…. Studying…. and becoming downright gluttonous with the Holy Scripture, guarding our hearts to keep them pure before God. At the same time we need to become aggressive against the enemy and his strategies…. with intercession for our leaders and lawmakers and others who shape our lives and the course of our nations. We must stand against this sexual revolution which is winning over the younger generations and permeating our media today! We must be a people of integrity who keep commitments. We must be constant seekers of the lost and bring them to Jesus.
There has come over the whole Earth…a spirit of complacency that has pretty much, lulled us to sleep.
The enemy……satan…has duped us into a false sense of peace in many cases. There can never be peace between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. They are in constant opposition with one other. Light and dark cannot exist together. Good and evil cannot exist together. There have been many great wars fought throughout the history of Earth and most likely there will be many more before the Day of the Lord comes, but the greatest war of all is the one that is going on in your own soul right now and the turf that will be won or lost is your eternal destiny! Raise your sword and charge into the land!
Prudence- the Gold Plated Virtue
I recently attended a study that spanned a couple of months. A very gifted teacher and friend led us through what seemed to be a very dry journey in the Land of CS Lewis. The book, "Mere Christianity" was the centerpiece for the study. Now most of us who have grappled our way through the pages of Lewis' books,(let's be honest here), have found it hard at points, to keep our eyes on the road. However in this case, the combination of the teacher's ability to bring the book to life and the Lord speaking to me throughout its pages, I found it to be a goldmine of truths. In particular one hit me square in the heart. The virtue called......Prudence.
Prudence is taking the time to think before we act. Simply put....Look before you leap! If we could only take that extra few minutes to measure the consequences of our actions. Some examples would be.....
*thinking about how I will make the payments a month from now on a credit card purchase I am about to make today. If I can't make the payment, am I ready to handle the interest that will be heaped on like mashed potatoes on a plate at Thanksgiving dinner?
*If I click on that website or watch that movie, is it going to lead me down a path of destruction. Do I really want to risk losing all the eternal blessings from God to gain momentary satisfaction and put me on the road to nowhere?
If I call that person who has offended me and just blast them out, how will my God view those actions? Did Jesus not say forgive your brother and keep forgiving him 490 + + + + times.
In my eyes PRUDENCE is a gold plated virtue. Grab hold of it and don't let go!
Prudence is taking the time to think before we act. Simply put....Look before you leap! If we could only take that extra few minutes to measure the consequences of our actions. Some examples would be.....
*thinking about how I will make the payments a month from now on a credit card purchase I am about to make today. If I can't make the payment, am I ready to handle the interest that will be heaped on like mashed potatoes on a plate at Thanksgiving dinner?
*If I click on that website or watch that movie, is it going to lead me down a path of destruction. Do I really want to risk losing all the eternal blessings from God to gain momentary satisfaction and put me on the road to nowhere?
If I call that person who has offended me and just blast them out, how will my God view those actions? Did Jesus not say forgive your brother and keep forgiving him 490 + + + + times.
In my eyes PRUDENCE is a gold plated virtue. Grab hold of it and don't let go!
