you holy ? Listen, I pray you, to the question I put to you this day. Do
land he knew not, a black sheep amidst 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.
Reader, I know not what you 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 meekness 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. Reader, you must be heavenly minded, and have heavenly tastes, in the life that now is, or else you will never find yourself in heaven in the life to come.
And now let me wind up all with a few words, by way of application.
1. For one thing, let me ask every one who may read these pages, Are you holy ? Listen, I pray you, to the question I put to you this day. Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking ?
I do not ask whether you keep to your church regularly, - whether you have been baptized, and receive the Lord's Supper, - whether you have the name of Christian; - I ask something more than all this, Are you holy, or are you not ?
1 do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others, - whether you like to read the lives of holy people, and to talk of holy things, and to have on your table holy books, - whether you mean to be holy, and hope you will be holy some day, - I ask something further, Are you yourself holy this very day, or are you not 1
And why do I ask so straitly, and press the question so strongly ? I do it because the text says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is written, it is not my fancy - it is the Bible, not my private
opinion, - it is the word of God, not of man, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
Oh! Reader, what words are these! What thoughts come across my mind, as I write them down! I look at the world, and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians, and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity but the name. I turn to the Bible, and I hear the Spirit saying, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
Surely it is a text that ought to make you consider your ways, and search your hearts. Surely it should raise within you solemn thoughts, and send you to prayer.
You may try and put me off, by saying, "you feel much, and think much, about these things, far more than many suppose." I answer, This is not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is, not what you think, and what you feel, but what you Do.
You may say, " it was never meant that all Christians should be holy, and that holiness, such as I have described, is only for great saints, and people of uncommon gifts." I answer, I cannot see that in Scripture. I read that " every man who has hope in Christ, purifieth himself." (1 John iii. 3.) - " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
You may say, " it is impossible to be so holy, and to do our duty in this life at the same time: the thing cannot be done." I answer, You are mistaken. It can be done. With God on your side nothing is impossible. It has been done by many. David, and Obadiah, and Daniel, and the servants of Nero's household, are all examples that go to prove it.
You may say, " if you were so holy, you would be unlike other people." I answer, I know it well. It is just what I want you to be. Christ's true servants always were unlike the world around them, a