Part 142 HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
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[7.] Seventhly, If you are a holy person, if you are one who has that genuine holiness, without which there is no happiness, then know for your comfort—that you are an undoubted heir of everlasting glory. [Romans 8:16-18; James 2:5; 2 Tim. 4:7-8] Romans 8:29-30, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son," (that is, in holiness,) "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." Holiness is a most sure pledge of glory: 2 Thes. 2:13, "God has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit;" Mat. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" 1 John 3:2-3, "When he shall appear, we shall be like him" (that is, in glory) "for we shall see him as he is. And every man who has this hope in him, purifies himself, even as he is pure."
He who has a genuine hope, a lively hope, of being like to Christ in glory, and of reigning with Christ in heaven—will set seriously upon the work of self-purifying. There is no hope, compared to that hope which runs out into holiness, and which leads the soul on to the highest degrees of purification, and which enables a man to set up Christ's purity as the most perfect pattern and exact copy for his imitation. Titus 3:4-7, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
Holiness is an infallible forerunner of glory; it is the first fruits of that eternal happiness and blessedness, which God has laid up for his children in the highest heavens. And oh, what cause of joy and gladness should this be to every holy heart! What though you should never more have a good day on earth; what though all the springs of comfort should be dried up on your right hand and on your left hand; what though God should never more smile on you in this world; what though the remaining part of your life should be filled up with crosses, losses, troubles, and trials; what though God should let Satan loose to tempt you, and wicked men grow strong to oppress you, and friends turn enemies to grieve you; yes, what if you should go to your grave with tears in your eyes, and with sorrow in your heart; yet as long as you are sure that you are an heir of glory, and that all the happiness of heaven is yours, and that your crown is safe, and that you shall be forever filled and satisfied with those everlasting pleasures and delights which are at God's right hand, Psalm 16:11; you have cause to joy and rejoice in the midst of all your sorrows and sufferings, yes, to glory and triumph in the hopes and expectations of a kingdom which shakes not, of a crown which withers not, of riches which corrupt not, and of an inheritance that fades not away. [Heb. 12:28; 1 Pet. 1:3- 4. See my "String of Pearls" on that very text.]
O sirs! it is not all the silks of Persia, nor all the spices of Egypt, nor all the gold of Ophir, nor all the treasures of both Indies, nor all the crowns and scepters in the world, no, nor even the worth of ten thousand worlds—which can be compared with that glory which is treasured up for all God's holy ones. They have an inheritance reserved in heaven for them, which cannot be moth-eaten, nor spoiled by hostile invasion, nor wrung from them by force, nor won from them by law, nor mortgaged for debt, nor impaired by public calamity, nor plundered by thieves and robbers, nor changed by kings or parliaments, no, nor robbed by death itself; and therefore, what infinite cause of joy and rejoicing have all such who are interested in such an inheritance, and in such a perfect happiness and complete blessedness which is reserved in heaven for all God's holy ones?
Oh, what a singular comfort must this be to a Christian, in the midst of all his miseries and distresses, when he is able to look upon God, and say, "This God is my God forever and ever, and he shall be my guide to glory," Psalm 73:24; and when he is able to look up to heaven and say, "This is my inheritance!" Yes, when he is able to look upon all the glory and happiness of the eternal world, and to say, "All this glory and happiness is mine, for I have that holiness that is the pledge of it, and the first fruits of it in my own soul. It was an observable saying of Macarius; "Those who are anointed with the spiritual oil of gladness," says he, "have received a sign of that incorruptible kingdom, namely, God's Spirit, for a pledge, they are the secretaries of the heavenly king, and relying confidently upon the Almighty, they enter into his palace, where the angels and the spirits of holy men are, although they be yet in this world; for although they are not yet come to the entire inheritance, which is prepared for them in that world—yet they are most sure of it by that pledge which they have newly received, as sure as if they were already crowned, and had the key of the kingdom in their own possession!"
It was a very sweet and comfortable speech which the emperor told to son in his childhood, when he took him by the chin and said, "You my son, shall one day sit upon a throne!" Just so, it is very sweet and comfortable for the saints to consider, that however low and contemptible they may be in the eyes of the world, that yet there is a day a-coming when they shall sit upon a throne, and be crowned with glory, and reign with Christ to all eternity. But,
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