Thomas Brooks, 1662
"Without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 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." Hebrews 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." Hebrews 12:14