The Best Way to Be Holy
The best way to be holy is to mourn over our own unholiness and look upon sin as an offence against a holy God.
Thomas Brooks emphasizes that the path to holiness begins with a deep, heartfelt mourning over one's own unholiness and sinfulness. He urges believers to reflect on the nature of their sins as offenses against a holy God, leading to genuine repentance and sorrow. Brooks highlights that true holiness is achieved through self-indictment and a sincere desire to seek God's mercy and grace. He warns that those who do not mourn for their sins in this life will face eternal regret in the next. Ultimately, he reassures that those who mourn will find comfort in God's forgiveness.
Text
"Turn to the Lord with weeping and with mourning."
Joel 2:12
The best way to be holy is to accuse, indict, arraign,
and condemn yourself for your unholiness. Greatly
lament and mourn over your own unholiness, over
your own wickedness. The first step to holiness, is
melting and mourning over a man's own unholiness.
Go to your closet, and fall down before the most
high and holy God, and mourn bitterly over . . .
the unholiness of your nature,
the unholiness of your heart,
the unholiness of your affections,
the unholiness of your intentions,
the unholiness of your resolutions,
the unholiness of your expressions,
the unholiness of your life.
Oh, who can look upon sin . . .
as an offence against a holy God,
as the breach of a holy law,
as the wounding and crucifying of a holy Savior,
as the grieving and saddening of a holy Sanctifier,
as an eternal loss and undoing of his own soul--
and not mourn over it?
Oh, who can cast a serious eye . . .
upon the nature of sin,
upon the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
upon the aggravations of sin--
and not have . . .
his heart humbled,
his soul grieved, and
his spirit melted for sin?
Oh, who can look upon sin as it strikes at . . .
the honor of God,
the name of God,
the being of God,
the glory of God,
the design of God--
and not have . . .
his mouth full of penitential confessions,
his eyes full of penitential tears, and
his heart full of penitential sorrow?
The Christian mourns that he has sinned against . . .
a God so great,
a God so gracious,
a God so bountiful,
a God so merciful.
Oh, how should a sinner fall a-weeping when he
looks upon the greatness of his wickedness and
his lack of holiness! As ever you would be holy,
mourn over your own unholiness.
Those who weep not for sin here--shall weep
out their eyes in hell hereafter. It is better to
weep bitterly for your sins on earth, than to
weep eternally for your folly in hell.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they
will be comforted." Matthew 5:4
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Mourning Over Sin
- The Nature of Sin
- The Consequences of Sin
- We will weep eternally for our folly in hell if we do not repent
- It is better to weep bitterly for our sins on earth
Key Quotes
“The best way to be holy is to accuse, indict, arraign, and condemn yourself for your unholiness.” — Thomas Brooks
“Who can look upon sin as an offence against a holy God, as the breach of a holy law, as the wounding and crucifying of a holy Savior, as the grieving and saddening of a holy Sanctifier, as an eternal loss and undoing of his own soul--and not mourn over it?” — Thomas Brooks
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” — Thomas Brooks
Application Points
- We must mourn over our own unholiness in order to be holy.
- Looking upon sin as an offence against a holy God leads to repentance and comfort.
- It is better to weep bitterly for our sins on earth than to weep eternally for our folly in hell.