Beyond Holiness (Part 1 of 6)

1. This Might Shock You 

I am about to say something that you probably have never heard; something apparently contradictory to common theology; but something you might remember ever that this preacher said once upon a time.  Put on your seat belt for the ride.

It is popularly proclaimed, and truly so according to the Holy Bible, that, without holiness, “no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).  What if I showed you that holiness is not all, mighty as holiness is said to be?  Maybe that’s my first shocker.  Besides, even if you were to be so holy and saw the Lord, would that have been all?  Would it have been also important how you saw the Lord, whether like Saint Paul – triumphantly through Heaven’s highways, heralded by a column of trumpeting angels, and a million thankful souls cheering on either side of the glorious procession as you are ushered before the throne of the mighty God?  Or like an ex-thief saved by the skin of the teeth at the fifty-ninth minute of the eleventh hour, narrowly sneaking into Paradise from the executioner’s cross, singing to yourself in some lonesome voice, “Must I go an empty handed?  Must I meet my Saviour so?”  But that’s not even where I’m headed now.  Holiness is great, but holiness is not sufficient for everyone.

From The Preacher’s diary,
November 23, 2023.
(continued in Part 2 of 6)