Without Holiness
Without holiness, no one will see the Lord, and the consequences of living without holiness are eternal separation from God and confinement to the prison of hell.
Thomas Brooks emphasizes the critical necessity of holiness for anyone seeking to encounter God, asserting that without it, no one--regardless of status--can attain a true relationship with the Lord in this life or the next. He warns of the dire consequences for the unholy, who face eternal separation from God and the torment of hell, highlighting that the loss of holiness equates to the loss of one's soul, Christ, and heaven itself. Brooks passionately urges his listeners to pursue holiness, cautioning that failure to do so may indicate a hardened heart and spiritual blindness.
Text
"Without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb. 12:14
To 'see' implies both vision and fruition. Without holiness, no
man--be he high or low, noble or ignoble, rich or poor, etc.,
shall ever come to a blessed acquaintance with God here, or
to a glorious fruition and enjoyment of God hereafter.
Oh, how great a misery,
how great a punishment,
how great an affliction,
how great a trouble and torment,
how great a tribulation,
how great a hell
--will it be for all unholy people to be forever and ever
banished the court of heaven, and to be shut out from
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His
power--and to be everlastingly confined to the prison
of hell, and to the society and company of that damned
crew who will be still a-cursing and a-blaspheming God,
and adding to one another's torments!
Ah, friends! without holiness all is lost . . .
your soul is lost,
Christ is lost,
God is lost,
heaven is lost,
glory is lost!
What are all other losses, compared to these losses?
Well, sirs, if none of these arguments can prevail
with you to labor after holiness, I must conclude . . .
that divine justice has hardened you,
that Satan has blinded you,
that your lusts have besotted you,
that this world has bewitched you,
and that it would have been ten thousand thousand
times better for you, to have never been born, than
to live without holiness, and
to die without holiness, and
to be everlastingly damned for lack of holiness.
"Without holiness no one will see the Lord." Heb. 12:14
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Holiness
- The Consequences of Unholiness
- The Loss of Everything
- Soul lost
- Christ lost
- God lost
- Heaven lost
- Glory lost
Key Quotes
“Oh, how great a misery, how great a punishment, how great an affliction, how great a trouble and torment, how great a tribulation, how great a hell--will it be for all unholy people to be forever and ever banished the court of heaven, and to be shut out from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power--and to be everlastingly confined to the prison of hell, and to the society and company of that damned crew who will be still a-cursing and a-blaspheming God, and adding to one another's torments!” — Thomas Brooks
“Ah, friends! without holiness all is lost . . . your soul is lost, Christ is lost, God is lost, heaven is lost, glory is lost!” — Thomas Brooks
“Well, sirs, if none of these arguments can prevail with you to labor after holiness, I must conclude . . . that divine justice has hardened you, that Satan has blinded you, that your lusts have besotted you, that this world has bewitched you, and that it would have been ten thousand thousand times better for you, to have never been born, than to live without holiness, and to die without holiness, and to be everlastingly damned for lack of holiness.” — Thomas Brooks
Application Points
- Labor after holiness to avoid the consequences of living without it.
- Recognize the importance of holiness in one's life and strive to attain it.
- Understand that without holiness, all is lost: soul, Christ, God, heaven, and glory.