The sermon emphasizes the importance of holiness and how it can be obtained through faith in the Son of God and a personal experience of God's love and power.
Charles E. Cowman preaches on the transformative power of holiness through faith in Jesus Christ, as testified by various spiritual leaders throughout history. John Wesley emphasizes salvation from sin and holiness through faith, while George Fox shares a personal experience of surrendering to Jesus to be made sweet, patient, and kind. Lady Huntington expresses complete satisfaction and fulfillment in God alone, experiencing a conquest of her entire being by His love. Bishop Hamline describes a profound encounter with God's sin-consuming energy that led to a deep immersion in His love, while Jonathan Edwards portrays holiness as bringing purity, brightness, and peacefulness to the soul like a garden of God.
Text
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:23, 24).
Many years since I saw that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, "We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith." This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work.
--John Wesley in 1771
"I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut the door." --George Fox
My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love. --Lady Huntington
"All at once I felt as though a hand--not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love--was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence of which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour's image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God's love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me." --Bishop Hamline
Holiness--as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it--appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun. --Jonathan Edwards
"Love's resistless current sweeping
All the regions deep within;
Thought and wish and senses keeping
Now, and every instant clean:
Full salvation! Full salvation!
From the guilt and power of sin."
Sermon Outline
- I. The Importance of Holiness
- A. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord
- B. The need for a deeper understanding of holiness
- II. The Way to Obtain Holiness
- A. By faith in the Son of God
- B. The role of faith in achieving holiness
- III. The Experience of Holiness
- A. A personal experience of God's love and power
- B. The transformation of the heart and soul
- IV. The Character of Holiness
- A. A sweet, calm, and pleasant nature
- B. Bringing purity, brightness, and peacefulness to the soul
Key Quotes
“I felt as though a hand--not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love--was laid on my brow.” — Charles E. Cowman
“All at once I felt as though a hand--not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love--was laid on my brow.” — Charles E. Cowman
“Love''s resistless current sweeping All the regions deep within; Thought and wish and senses keeping Now, and every instant clean: Full salvation! Full salvation! From the guilt and power of sin.” — Charles E. Cowman
Application Points
- We must surrender our will to God in order to experience holiness.
- Faith in the Son of God is essential for achieving holiness.
- Holiness brings a sweet, calm, and pleasant nature to the soul.
