Preach Holiness Negatively and Positively
To experience true holiness, we must first be emptied of all self and sin, and then be filled with the fullness of God.
Arthur Vess preaches on the necessity of purging the heart from sin before the Holy Ghost can dwell within. He emphasizes the importance of preaching holiness both negatively, by diagnosing the disease of sin, and positively, by focusing on the remedy of sanctification. Vess highlights the need to expose carnality, pride, and vanity before true humility and holiness can be attained. He stresses the transformation that occurs when we die to self and sin, allowing the fullness of God to fill us and the beauty of holiness to be revealed.
Text
Preach Holiness negatively and positively: The heart must be purged from sin, before theHoly Ghost can come in. Only negative preaching diagnoses the disease of sin, but offers noremedy. Only positive preaching ignores the nature, then the fact of sin. We first become modern,then modernistic. Preaching it negatively, with a positive emphasis, is better than preaching itpositively with a negative emphasis. Compromise is the seed of modernism. You must exposecarnality before people become conscious of it and plead for deliverance from it.
Pride and vanitymust go before humility can come. Before we can be filled with all the fullness of God, we must beemptied of all self and sin. Before the "Beauty of holiness can be seen in me" the foulness and filthof sin must go. We must not be conformed, but transformed. Before holiness can come in, sin mustgo out. The death route leads to life and peace. "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly." Inregeneration we die to the life of sin; in sanctification, we die to the nature of sin; in glorificationwe die to the presence and effects of sin in our bodies.
Humiliation produces holy humility. Lordmake me meek and lowly, humble and holy. Death to sin produces the life of holiness. The churchand the world, God and the devil, sin and holiness have nothing in common, and neither can tolerate or co-operate with the other. So much of our modern holiness preaching is so shallow and neutral. Neutral means neither, and neither means nothing. Few preachers are willing to name and define sin, the world,the flesh or the devil. If you do not diagnose the case, the patient will not see the need of theremedy, and take it. When we get sin out, the Holy Ghost comes in. We do not have to beg orpersuade God to save or sanctify us, but let Him do it, at His own right terms.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Importance of Preaching Holiness Negatively and Positively
- A. The heart must be purged from sin before the Holy Ghost can come in
- B. Negative preaching diagnoses the disease of sin, but positive preaching ignores its nature and fact
- II. The Dangers of Modernism
- A. Compromise is the seed of modernism
- B. We must expose carnality before people become conscious of it and plead for deliverance
- III. The Process of Sanctification
- A. We must be emptied of all self and sin before being filled with all the fullness of God
- B. Death to sin produces the life of holiness
Key Quotes
“Before we can be filled with all the fullness of God, we must be emptied of all self and sin.” — Arthur Vess
“The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” — Arthur Vess
“Death to sin produces the life of holiness.” — Arthur Vess
Application Points
- We must be willing to expose our carnality and plead for deliverance from it in order to experience true sanctification.
- Death to sin is essential for the life of holiness to be produced in us.
- We must let God sanctify us at His own right terms, rather than trying to beg or persuade Him to do so.