Holiness
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Rev. Dean C. Berg
In the late 1950’s, the Healing Revival that had
been sweeping this country for eleven years was beginning
to wane. The late Donald Gee said that things had been
moving so rapidly, they were running to keep up with everything
that was happening. (Have you ever felt that way?)
He said that it wasn’t until the movement began
to slow down that they were able to make observations
concerning what they had just been part of. He went on
to pen these words concerning the revival. "This
Pentecostal movement is something which God has started
at high speed, but the faster we go the greater the need
of holiness. The more power we have, the more we need
to have every obstacle cleared out of the way. That which
cannot be noticed in an old dead church can wreck a revival
in a Pentecostal church. May God give us holiness with
our Pentecost, for we surely need it. No revival can continue
with the blessing of God upon it that does not have a
high standard of holiness."
Charles Finney
in his book, "God's Call", said “How
much will you take for your birthright? How much will
you accept for your share in Christ? For how much will
you sell your soul? At one time He was sold for 30 pieces
of silver and ever since, the heavens have been raining
tears of blood on our guilty world. If you were asked
by the devil to set a sum for which you would sell your
soul, what would be the price named?”
This is a great question
for every believer to ask themselves.
Finney goes on to share about a
Methodist preacher named Lorenzo Dow. Rev. Dow met a man
as he was riding along a road to fulfill an appointment.
Dow said to the man, “Friend, have you ever
prayed?” “No,” was the
answer. “How much money will you take to never
pray?” “One dollar” he said. And
so Dow paid the man a dollar and rode on. The man put
the money in his pocket and went his way thinking. The
more he thought, the worse he felt. “There,”
he said, “I have sold my soul for one dollar!
It must be I have met with the devil! Nobody else would
tempt me so. With all my soul I must repent, or be damned
forever!”
How often do we see good Christian people bargaining to
sell the Pentecostal revival, the power of Christ for
less than 30 pieces of silver – for even a dollar?
Holiness was preached by every writer of the New Testament
except Jude, and even he refers to it. However, in our
culture, the standard of holiness has drastically taken
a back seat. My wife and I know a woman who had been a
Christian for a number of years and attended a good church.
She came up to us after one of our services and said,
“I never knew I was accountable for anything.”
Too often, this is the case in the lives of many good
Christian people. I heard a friend of mine say, “Today
it’s almost like the name Holy Spirit has just become
a name, instead of the word HOLY actually meaning something.”
Although references to holiness abound in scripture, the
subject has become an illusive message from the past and
is very much misunderstood in many Christian circles today.
Holiness is seen as a standard of human behavior or some
complicated spiritual exercise. It is seen as wearing
your hair a certain way, or as the absence of drinking,
smoking, chewing or running with those who are doin'!
But just because we wear our hair a certain way or wear
certain styles of clothing, it does not mean that we are
holy. Likewise, just because a person does not drink,
smoke or chew does not reveal that they are holy either.
Holiness is much more than a rubber stamped form of human
behavior. It is largely part of a believer’s personal
relationship with God and how God speaks to them when
it comes to living out their Christian life before Him.
In short, it simply means this; to be separated unto God
to do what God wants you to do, the way God wants you
to it, when God wants you to do it. Have you separated
your life to do this? If not, Why not?
Romans 12:1 tells
us this is acceptable unto God.
Hebrews 12:14 tells us no man will see
the Lord without this.
Smith Wigglesworth
said, "You must every day make higher ground. You
must deny yourself to make progress with God. You must
refuse everything that is not pure and holy. God wants
you pure in heart. He wants you to have an intense desire
after holiness." He went on to say, "I find
nothing in the Bible but holiness, and nothing in the
world but worldliness. Therefore, if I live in the world,
I will become worldly; on the other hand, if I live in
the Bible, I will become holy."
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