We hear a great deal of seekers after holiness and professors of holiness, of holiness teaching and holiness meetings. The great test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it be manifest in the increasing humility it produces. In the creature, humility is the one thing needed to allow God's holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. In Jesus, the Holy One of God who makes us holy, a divine humility was the secret of His life and His death and His exaltation; the one infallible test of our holiness will be the humility before God and men which marks us. Humility is the bloom and the beauty of holiness.

“Say not that thou hast royal blood in thy veins and art born of God,” said puritan William Gurnall, “unless thou canst prove thy pedigree by daring to be holy.”

There is no such thing as an unholy Christian (at least in any ongoing sense.) Can Christians commit any sort of sin? Yes. Can Christians repeatedly commit sin? Yes. Can Christians commit the worst of sins? Yes. But it is inconceivable that a person could be a Christian without holiness of life.

John stated the principle of persistent holiness like this: “Whoever sins has neither seen Him or known Him,” (1 Jn. 3: 6 NKJV). “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (1 Jn. 3: 9-10).

The question is asked today by many people, "why is holiness so important?" Why do we talk about holiness and sanctification and John Wesley all of the time? Many have become disillusioned by all of the talk of John Wesley and have begun to think that this is something that he dreamed up. Sadly, many have completely stopped preaching and teaching holiness as necessity, but merely as a nice option. Much like a car salesmen would say that a CD player and heated seats would be nice in the new car he's selling, but he would never demand that those options must be bought for fear of losing his sell. Many today preach and teach holiness as a nice option or a dream that you could try to obtain in this life, but you never will so why bother? However, this morning I believe that there is more to holiness than that. I would like to present to you three reasons why I believe holiness is so important.

"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Nothing under heaven can be more sure than this; "for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." And "though heaven and earth pass away, yet His word shall not pass away." As well therefore might God fall from heaven, as His word fall to the ground (Hebrews 12:14; Micah 4:4; Matthew 5:18).

No one who is not saved from sin here can be saved from hell hereafter. No one can see the kingdom of God above, unless the kingdom of God be in him below. Whoever will reign with Christ in heaven must have Christ reigning in him on earth. And yet as sure as this is, and as clearly as it is taught in every part of the holy scripture, among all the truths of God there is probably none which is less received by men.