These twenty chapters are a humble contribution to a cause that’s recently received a lot of attention: the cause of Biblical holiness. It’s a cause that everyone who loves Jesus & everyone who wants to advance His kingdom should be working for. Everybody can do something and I want to add my “two copper coins”.

You won’t find much that’s directly controversial in these chapters, as I’ve carefully avoided naming modern teachers and books. I’ve been content to give the result of my own Bible study, private meditations, prayers for light, and reading of old saints. If in anything I’m still in error, I hope I’ll be shown it before I leave the world. We all see only partially and have our treasure in jars of clay. I trust that I’m still willing to learn.

I’ve had a deep conviction for many years that modern Christians in this country aren’t applying themselves enough to practical holiness. Arguments, taking sides and worldliness have eaten the heart out of energetic godliness in too many of us. The subject has fallen sadly into the background and our personal standards have become painfully low. The immense importance of “decorating the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10) and making it lovely by our daily habits and attitudes has been grossly overlooked. Non-Christians sometimes complain, and with good reason, that “religious” people aren’t as friendly, unselfish and good-natured as those who don’t call themselves Christians. Yet sanctification, in its place and proportion, is just as important as justification. Sound evangelical teaching is useless if it’s not accompanied by a holy life. In fact, it’s worse than useless; it does real harm. Smart men of this world despise it as hollow and it brings religion into contempt. It’s my firm belief that we need a thorough revival of Biblical holiness and I’m deeply thankful that attention is being given in this direction.

It is, however, of great importance that the subject is placed on the right foundation and that the movement isn’t damaged by crude, one-sided statements. If we see such things, we shouldn’t be surprised: Satan knows the power of true holiness and the damage it will do to his kingdom. It’s his desire, therefore, to promote controversy and confusion about this part of God’s truth. Just as he confused justification in the past, so now he’s laboring to “darken counsel by words without knowledge” about sanctification. May the Lord rebuke him! However, I can’t give up hope that good will be brought out of evil, that discussion will bring out the truth and that variety of opinion will lead us to search the Scriptures, pray and work harder at discerning God’s mind on the subject.

I now feel it my duty, in publishing this book, to offer a few introductory hints to those whose attention is specially directed to the subject of sanctification because of recent events. I know I do this at the risk of seeming presumptuous and possibly offending, but something must be risked in the interests of God’s truth. I shall therefore put my hints into the form of questions, and I’ll request my readers to take them as “Cautions for the Times on the subject of holiness”.[1]

1. Is it wise to speak of faith as the one thing necessary or required, as many seem to do recently, in handling the teaching of sanctification? Is it wise to proclaim in so naked and unqualified a way that holiness of Christians is by faith only, and not at all by personal exertion? I doubt it.
2. Is it wise to make so little, as some appear to do, of the many practical urgings to holiness in daily life in the Sermon on the Mount and in the latter part of most of Paul’s letters? I doubt it.
3. Is it wise to use vague language about perfection and to impress on believers that perfection is attainable in this life, when there is no basis either in Scripture or experience? I doubt it.
4. Is it wise to state so positively and violently, as many do, that Romans 7 doesn’t describe an advanced saint, but rather a non-Christian or a weak and unestablished believer? I doubt it.
5. Is it wise to use the language often used in the present day about the doctrine of “Christ in us”? I doubt it. Is not this doctrine often exalted to a position which it does not occupy in Scripture? I am afraid that it is.
6. Is it wise to draw such a deep, wide and distinct line of separation between conversion and consecration (or the “higher life”), as many do? I doubt it.
7. Is it wise to teach believers that they shouldn’t think so much about fighting & struggling against sin, but instead should “yield themselves to God,” and be passive in the hands of Christ? I doubt it.

I confess that I lay down my pen with sorrow and anxiety. There is much in the attitude of professing Christians today that fills me with concern and fear for the future.

There is an amazing ignorance of the Bible among many, and as a result a lack of established, solid religion. This is the only way I can explain the ease with which people are “carried by the waves and blown around by every shifting wind of teaching” (Ephesians 4:14). There is an Athenian love of novelty and a morbid distaste for anything old and regular, in the beaten path of the previous generation. Thousands will crowd to hear a new voice or teaching, without considering for a moment whether it’s true. There’s a non-stop craving for teaching that’s sensational or exciting. There’s an unhealthy appetite for spastic, hysterical Christianity. The religious life of many is little better than a “spiritual” addiction to excitement and the “meek and quiet spirit” which Peter recommends is totally forgotten (1 Peter 3:4). Big crowds, many tears, hot rooms, high-flown singing and the incessant rousing of emotions are the only things that many people want. Inability to distinguish differences in doctrine is spreading far and wide. So long as the preacher is “clever” and “earnest”, hundreds seem to think it must be alright and call you dreadfully “narrow and uncharitable” if you hint he’s unsound. All this is sad, very sad. But if, in addition to this, the true-hearted advocates of increased holiness are going to fight and misunderstand each other, it will be sadder still. We shall indeed be in a bad predicament.

For myself, I’m aware that I’m no longer a young minister. My mind perhaps stiffens and I can’t easily receive any new doctrine. “The old is better”. I suppose I belong to the old school of Evangelical theology and I’m content with such teaching about sanctification as I find in The Life of Faith (Sibbes & Manton) and The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith (William Romaine). But I must express a hope that my younger brothers who have taken up new views of holiness will beware of creating causeless divisions. Do they think that a higher standard of Christianity is needed in the present day? So do I. Do they think that clearer, stronger, fuller teaching about holiness is necessary? So do I. Do they think that Christ ought to be more exalted as the root and author of sanctification as well as justification? So do I. Do they think that believers should be urged more and more to live by faith? So do I. Do they think that a very close walk with God should be more pressed on believers as the secret of happiness and usefulness? So do I. In all these things we agree. But if they want to go further, then I ask them to take care where they tread and to explain very clearly and distinctly what they mean.

Finally, I must discourage the use of new-fangled terms and phrases in teaching sanctification. I plead that a movement in favor of holiness cannot be advanced by newly-coined phrases or by one-sided statements or overstraining and isolating particular verses or exalting one truth at the expense of another or allegorizing and accommodating verses and squeezing out of them meanings which the Holy Spirit never put in them or by speaking disdainfully about those who don’t entirely see things the way they do. These things don’t make for peace, instead they repel many and keep them at a distance. The cause of true sanctification isn’t helped – it’s hindered – by weapons like these. A movement for holiness which produces arguments among God’s children is somewhat suspicious. For Christ’s sake and in the name of truth and charity, let’s endeavor to follow after peace as well as holiness. “What God has joined, let no man tear apart.”

It’s my heart’s desire and prayer to God daily that personal holiness may increase greatly among professing Christians in England. But I trust that all who work to promote it will stick closely to the Scripture and carefully distinguish things that differ and will separate “the precious from the disgusting” (Jeremiah 15:19).

I spent two days preparing the teaching (basically 15 hours in a row, plus a 6 hour break for sleeping), when I like to have two weeks to prepare. I chose a passage that is unfamiliar to me, difficult to understand and containing only a sub-theme (not the overarching one) pertinent to the teens. I was so last-minute, trying to pull everything together, that I didn’t have time to practice presenting the material, so a lot of things came out jumbled and long-winded. I also missed most of dinner and showed up after most of the teens (a bad idea, when I’m the one unlocking the building because Jesse’s in Michigan). And then I spent the first part of the night (the game) upstairs, doing setup.

Jesus, please, despite my failings, use Your Words to penetrate these hearts. May the passion of a soul ardently trying to please You, though often misguided and sinful, be redeemed by Your spirit to make a lasting difference in their lives.

Despair is never the right option. Guilt and conviction need to drive me to the cross in faith, in full assurance, coming boldly to get “mercy and grace in my need”. Even confusion and a thousand question marks should not result in despair, but rather prayer: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt…” (James 1).

Jesus, teach me to trust You – to believe Your presence, as You walk with me through my trials and the unstoppable river of Your love for me, which flows higher, deeper, wider than I can fathom, even “surpassing knowledge” (Ephesians 3). Please forgive me for my laziness, my procrastination fueled by overconfidence and my wrong priorities fueled by selfish interests. Please change me and make me a tool fit for use in Your hands. Please give me and my counselors the wisdom that we need right now.

I’ve never been a very superstitious guy, so normally I would attribute that moment to good luck or random chance. I don’t usually look under rocks for demons or say it was a “God-thing” every time I pass a test in school.

But a year or two ago, that started to change. As I got a handle on Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus, how he desperately wanted them to come to grips with Jesus’ unending love for them, I realized that everything good that happens to us is an expression of God’s love for us. They really are the “crimson roses” and “whispers in the dark” that Skillet sings of:

You feel so lonely and ragged
You lay here broken and naked
My Love is just waiting
to clothe you in crimson roses

No! You’ll never be alone
When darkness comes
I’ll light the night with stars
Hear My whispers in the dark

And recently, as I read about God’s discipline and training in Holiness by Grace, I began to see all the ways God uses pain and trials, how none of it is purposeless. Of course, God isn’t the author of pain and death. Peter makes it clear in his second letter that the death, disease and decay of our natural world is a result of the human race’s fall into sin. But it is all under His control and He uses it for greater purposes than we can dream.

It all comes down to understanding how big God is and how involved He is. Our founding fathers were wrong about God’s involvement, He didn’t just wind up the universe like a big watch and then leave it to the forces of chance and natural causes. Jesus makes it clear that God won’t even let a sparrow die apart from His involvement and He treasures us far more than birds.

Regarding God’s bigness, I was just refreshed again this morning by Isaiah 40 (which, incidentally, Trip Lee quotes extensively in the hip-hop song Who is Like Him).

Who can measure the ocean in the palm of His hand and mark off the galaxies with a yardstick? Check it out, the billions of people in all the countries of the world are a drop in the bucket to Him, they’re like dust on the bathroom scale.

Lift up your eyes at night and look: who created all these? God brings out the stars of the galaxies individually, by name and by number, through the extent of His strength and – because He’s strong in power – not one is missing.

God owns all the cattle in the world — or to use the modern equivalent, all the crude oil. He’s got all the resources He needs. And we know He loves these teens far more than we do — in the words of Hosea (11:8), my heart is turned over within me, all my compassions are kindled. So the dilemma is this: if He wants so badly to minister to teens and He’s got all the resources and power to do so, why isn’t this crazy-awesome ministry happening? What’s standing in His way?

We are.

God is waiting for us to obey His call. You see, God likes to call and send humans to partner with Him. Even when He saves Paul miraculously, He still sends a human to cure his blindness and baptize him. But when God sends, sometimes we’re like Jonah — disgusted by the people we’re sent to. Or, more likely, we’re like the Christians in Jerusalem — ignoring the Great Commission because we’re just too comfortable where we are. God had to resort to persecution to push them out of Jerusalem to spread the good news.

God is waiting for us to humble ourselves. He opposes the proud; He doesn’t bless their ministry. When we trust in ourselves and our brilliant ministry strategy, He will have nothing to do with us. It’s only when we rely on Him — walking in His Spirit — that He will reward our efforts. As our Master said, whoever lives in Me will have much fruit; apart from Me you can’t do anything (John 15:5).

And most importantly, God is waiting for us to have faith. In the absence of faith, He refuses to work. So much so that He says He cannot do miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith and says that it is people’s faith that heals them. When we believe in God’s immense power, it will drive us to plead with Him for real heart-change instead of trusting in our own efforts.

God wants to work in these teens — far more intensely than we give Him credit for. Let’s let Him work by obeying His call to get involved in their lives, humbling ourselves by walking in the Spirit and believing so ardently that it drives us to prayer. In the end, may He get all the credit, since He’s the One who’s really behind everything.

Do you agree that God wants to minister to teens? Are there other reasons He refuses to work in our ministry?

When I finally kneel before my Master, all the anxieties that consumed my mind will fade into a far distant second priority. What will matter on that day? I usually think of my work for Him — whether He will say “well done” and whether I will have faithfully made disciples.

But this morning, as I contemplated the silence and slow-motion of actually kneeling before Jesus, the words “will the Son of Man find faith on the earth” echoed in my mind and I saw from an entirely different perspective. What if He cares more about my love than my works? I fear that what He said of the Christians in the city of Ephesus rings true of me:

You don’t love me like you used to

As I’ve grown in experience and busyness, I’ve decreased in “child-like faith”. Often I’ve prayed into the air instead of pleading with someone and expecting Him to answer. Often I’ve taken burdens upon myself that I should’ve placed at His feet. Often I’ve sought understanding and effective ministry instead of seeking communion with Jesus.

Faith enables affections for our Master, because it is through the eyes of faith that we see Him. Peter makes the connection between love and faith:

You love Him, although you have not seen Him, and you believe in Him, although you do not now see him.

Faith is being sure about what we can’t see — including what our Master is like and the depth of His concern and devotion for me. Paul places a huge emphasis on this when he prays that the Ephesians would grasp how broad and long, and high and deep, is Jesus’ love.

The key to Christian living isn’t just increasing my love for Him. This kind of thinking (which I’m accustomed to) leads to self-reliance, pride and (ultimately) failure. The key is increasing faith in His love for me, His power in me and in my own weakness, which works itself out in “walking in the Spirit”: submitting to the Holy Spirit’s leading and convictions, minute-by-minute and day-by-day.

But perhaps it’s more than that. Perhaps it’s more than continual prayer for strength and leading, perhaps it’s more than continual reliance on Him. Perhaps a big part of the issue is to have Christ-centered prayer rather than life-centered prayer. What would it look like if you and I were consumed with Jesus instead of consumed with our lives?