No Heaven Without Holiness

(Article for publication week of 10-15- AD 2015)

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14).

For over two months now we have been writing on the Death of a Christian, the Intermediate State, The Resurrection of the Body, and the Heaven that awaits the believer who dies in the Lord. We have primarily been addressing Christians, and labouring for their comfort. But now I have a word for you, my unconverted readers. I have a solemn warning for you that unless you are saved by grace, you will not enter into heaven. I have been comforting the saints that when they die, they will die in the Lord and be blessed. But I give now a solemn warning that not everyone who dies goes to heaven. It is written in the word (Revelation 14:13), "blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." But it is equally true that "cursed are the dead which die out of Christ." There is a happy Intermediate State for those who die in the Lord, for to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). But there will be an Intermediate State for you who are unsaved as well. You will lift up your eyes in Hell when your soul is absent from the body (Luke 16:23)! There will be a resurrection for you my unsaved Reader. It will be the resurrection of the unjust (Acts 24:15). You will be raised to God's everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2) and be given a body capable of suffering everlasting and conscious punishment in the lake which burns forever with fire and brimstone forever and ever. My text this week plainly declares that you will not see God in heaven and immortal glory unless you are in pursuit of holiness. No holiness-- no heaven! Now you better heed this awful warning; nothing, nor no one that is defiled shall enter into heaven. Unless God makes you a holy person, it will be said of you as it was of Judas Iscariot- "it had been better for that man had he never been born!"

I pray the Lord may use this article to shake some of you to your senses and set you to seeking Christ. How many times I have stood in the funeral home when someone has died with no evidence they were saved. Invariably someone will say, "he (or she) is better off!" What I want to say is, "or you sure of that?" But, I am hated enough as it is and I dread to lose any of the few friends I still may have I suppose, so I just keep silent. Neighbour if your loved one died without holiness, they are not better off! They are infinitely worse off! I can do nothing regarding those already in hell, but I can warn you my dear reader; unless you are following holiness you will miss heaven and be cast into hell where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not!

My text is a warning to you who are universalist in your mindset. Not everyone who dies goes to heaven. How many ways can I say it? How many times can I repeat it? Only those who enter into the Narrow Way that leads to life by the gate of conversion shall live in heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). Only those who are saved by grace and given a new nature shall enter into heaven. Our Blessed Lord has warned, "not everyone that saith unto me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21)".

Perhaps there is one of my readers who is alarmed by this week's message and you are now crying out, "what is holiness? How may I be holy? What is it to follow holiness?" Let us a hear a voice from the past regarding this eternally important issue. "To 'follow' holiness is to live like persons who are devoted to God- to His glory, to His claims upon us, to His Cause in the world. It is to make it evident that we belong to Him. It is to mortify the flesh, with its affections and lusts. It is to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit (II Corinthians 7:1). It is a life task from which there is no discharge while we remain in the body." ( A.W. Pink). Dear Reader, do these words of this faithful preacher from the past describe you? If not, you will not enter into God's heaven. You will be cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth forever! There is somebody reading this week that needs to come see me so I can tell you how to be saved and start following holiness. May the Lord open your heart today and draw you to the Saviour.

The Lord's Prayer

(Article for publication week of 10-8- AD 2015)

"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

Our text is found in the Real Lord's Prayer. The prayer the Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 should actually be called "the Disciple's Prayer", or "The Model Prayer." What we call "The Lord's Prayer" is not a prescribed prayer, per se, but rather an outline of prayer to help us in our prayer life. It is a prayer for us to pray, not a prayer that our Lord Himself needed to pray, or ever did pray. We know this because of one expression- "forgive us our debts" ( or sins, i.e. Luke 11:4). Our Lord Jesus Christ never had to ask for forgiveness of sin, for He was without sin, and could not sin (Hebrews 7:26). The 17th chapter of John is truly "The Lord's Prayer," for here we have the Eternal Son praying to the Eternal Father. Our text is proof of what we call the Doctrine of the Trinity, for here we see the Second Person of the Trinity praying to the First Person of the Trinity. Our Great God is One in Three, and Three in One (I John 5:7) and we see that plainly in this text. John 17 is a death blow to both Arianism and Modalism.

The seventeenth chapter of John is our Lord's High Priestly prayer for His people. Our Great High Priest continues to intercede for all those for whom He died (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). After he died for our sins, He was laid in the grave, but He arose the third Day, and after He had shown Himself alive after many infallible proofs, He ascended back to the right hand of His Father where he continues to plead our cause in the high court of heaven. The Levitical priesthood has been abrogated and there will never be any more need for it. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Person in the universe who is a priest. Any man (or woman) who claims to be a priest is an imposter and should be rejected. There is only one Mediator between God and man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy 2:5). It will thrill your soul (if you are born again) to go and read the 17th chapter of John, and see what wonderful things our Great High Priest prayed for His people.

Now, our text here in John 17:24 tells us one of the glorious things that Christ prayed for His people-- that we may be with Him! Oh! I can hardly contain myself as I write these words! We shall be with Christ when this life is over! That my friends is what heaven and the glory world is all about. As one of the Puritans put it, hell would be heaven if Christ were there! We shall be with Christ to behold His glory. We see that glory now by faith, but the day is coming when faith shall be changed to sight and all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ shall see Him in all His glory. That glory is the same glory as that of the Father, for Christ is indeed one with His Father (John 17:5; 1:14), and is of the same essence as the Father. To see Christ will be to see God, for Christ is both God and Man (John 14:9). (See also II Corinthians 4:6). All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ(Colossians 2:9). So when we are glorified we shall see God as our Lord promised in Matthew 5:8. Dear Reader, do you long to see the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are a child of God I know you do.

Rest assured that God the Father always hears the prayers of His Eternal Son (John 11;42). You can be sure that this is one prayer that will be answered. Not one that God the Father gave to His Son in eternal election shall fail to be with Christ. Christ will not lose any for whom He died. All those whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world shall surely be with Christ, eternally beholding His glory.