SOME BROADER IMPLICATIONS OF HOLINESS

There are broader implications to holiness than those which have been discussed in these messages in relation to personal experience and life. In this message consideration will be given to holiness at work in the social order as the ultimate purpose of God for this world, the bringing into existence of a redeemed or holy world.

In general these messages have been gathered around the statement of the Apostle Peter, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Peter 1:15, 16). The scriptural basis for this message is also taken from this Apostle's writings: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (II Peter 3:13).

Let us first consider

God's Ultimate Purpose

We have thought of the holiness of God as revealed in His opposition to sin and in His purpose to destroy sin, holiness as manifested in the consistency of His moral government in its demands for righteousness, and holiness as revealed in His great work of redemption through Jesus Christ. God has only one attitude toward sin; as the holy God He seeks its destruction. In the individual man He destroys sin through the power of His grace purifying the heart from all sin and bringing about a state of inner holiness; in the realm of society He will destroy sin by bringing into existence a redeemed or holy race of people; and in the universe He will destroy sin by bringing about, according to His promise, new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. God's ultimate purpose is a redeemed or holy world.

The accomplishment of this ultimate purpose, that is, the final and full expulsion of sin from the universe, must be the work of God just as definitely as the work of redemption in the individual is His work. At the time of the fall of man, God might have chosen to bring about a sudden change in the moral universe through a rapid transition from a state of sinfulness to one of righteousness He might have purged the earth of the effects of evil by some cataclysmic act of His own power in judgment upon sin, and destroyed the sinful human race and brought into existence a new order of manhood, a race of beings incapable of sinning. But He did not choose to do this. Rather He chose the long, hard way of redemption, a way in which He would save sinning man and transform his character into godlikeness, a way which He knew would bring suffering to His own heart and in which He must exercise infinite patience, a way of redemption in which His love would find its supreme manifestation to man in sacrifice, but a way in which His grace and power would be victorious in overcoming all evil.

There will be a new race of men but it will be a redeemed race, a race of men saved by the grace of God out of the race of sinful men, a race transformed in character, devoted to God in life, pure in heart and holy in all of their human relationships, a race filled with and ruled by God Himself through His Holy Spirit. This is the race which Peter calls, "A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" whose chief purpose it is to "show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; which in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God" (I Peter 2:9, 10).

God will also have a new earth, an earth redeemed and renovated of all sin and its effects, an earth which will be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters now cover the deep, an earth so renewed by the power of God as to show forth the praises of His glory and power in His moral universe just as the redeemed individual magnifies His glory in the realm of human life.

In moving along this long and hard way toward God's ultimate goal of redemption there have been periods in human history of

Special Divine Interventions

Such acts of God which have marked definite stages in His plan ofttimes are called ages or dispensations. A mere mention of some of these will show the movements of God in human history toward a final accomplishment of His purpose.

An act of this nature occurred in the Garden of Eden after sin had entered and its punishment had been inflicted upon Adam and Eve, for then God seems to have instructed them in a form of sacrifice as a sin offering and worship, giving them also a promise of the ultimate triumph of righteousness when the head of the tempter would be bruised. Another such intervention took place in the judgment brought upon the wicked race in the Deluge. Although we know but little of this event, there must have been some redeeming factors in it, factors which contributed toward the furthering of God's ultimate purpose of redemption as well as for His wrath against sin.

The covenant which God made with Abraham, His acceptance of Israel as His chosen people through which He would make known His law and message to the world, through which also the Redeemer would come, indicates another special intervention of God in His working toward His ultimate redemptive purpose.

The incarnation of God in His Son Jesus Christ is another special event in this divine plan. In this event there is another exhibition of the patience of God, for God did not create a mature physical body for His Son to occupy during His earthly sojourn; rather Jesus came as a babe, born in lowly surroundings and reared in humble circumstances, requiring years of patient development to grow to maturity, and a long period of preparation for but a few years of public ministry. The life and ministry of the Son of God was given to but a few people and was spent in a rather obscure place in this world. His teachings were not quickly accepted or followed by the masses of His day. Even the supreme act of His life, namely, His atoning death by which redemption was provided for the world, was not spectacular nor commanding; He died a shameful death on an isolated cross. His resurrection did not receive world-wide announcement; it was a more or less hidden event known to but a few humble folks. Yet from this great act of divine intervention, the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus, has come the greatest spiritual force the world has known and the moral transformation the Christ of these events has brought and will bring to the world of men is beyond our comprehension.

Pentecost is another of these special intervention -- special acts of God for furthering His great redemptive purpose in the universe. At Pentecost the infinite patience of God is again manifested, for He did not fill with His Holy Spirit that large multitude of "devout men, out of every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) who had come to Jerusalem to attend this annual Jewish feast; the Holy Spirit came upon the faithful followers of Jesus, only one hundred and twenty in number, most of whom were Galileans despised by the upper classes of the Jews. These humble folks were "filled with the Holy Ghost" and their hearts were purified by faith. A very small and insignificant beginning for the Church of Christ, was it not? But from that humble beginning, and through these special divine intervention in which the Holy Spirit came in His dispensational fullness, mighty victories have come and will continue to come as God works toward the completion of His ultimate purpose of redemption.

There will be other special, divine interventions in the future as God works toward the completion of His redemptive purposes. There will be the return of Jesus Christ to this earth with the fulfillment of such events as are prophesied to accompany His return. There will be the millennial age with such transitional processes as God will work during this period, as well as future divine judgments in which God will purge the earth of sin and its effects, fully accomplish His final purpose, and bring into existence the "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

The primary purpose of this message is to consider

God's Work In This Age as He carries forward His plan of ultimate redemption.

He is now seeking the co-operation of His holy people, individuals redeemed by His grace and filled with His Spirit, and the body of believers, His Church, to work with Him in furthering His plan toward its ultimate fulfillment. Beyond question the way in which God's people respond to His call and work with Him now will hasten or retard the final completion of His purpose. Let us note briefly His method of

Working Through Individuals

In these messages it has been stated that the positive aspect of the holiness of God is the active employment of His infinite love and power in redemption. This activity in redemption is not limited to the sacrifice which Jesus made as the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, but God through His Holy Spirit continues to be active in the work of saving people from sin and making them holy, and He is now definitely furthering His redemptive purpose in the world. The positive aspect of holiness in man is not limited to the transformation of character wrought by God, but it also "implies the most intense mental and bodily activity of which we are capable. For it is the employment of all our powers and opportunities to work out God's purposes; and this implies the use of our intelligence to learn how best to do His work, and the bodily effort which His work requires" (Dr. J. Agar Beet).

Since holiness in man finds its deepest expression in the full devotion of the life to God, in sacrificial love and service to men, and in furthering the purposes of God in the earth, the holy man becomes an active partner with God in carrying forward God's purposes of redemption.

The fact is, as someone has said, that as long as a person is a sinner he remains part of the problem of the universe; God is kept from his heart and his will is at some points in rebellion against God. But when a sinner becomes a Christian he is no longer a part of the problem; he then becomes a part of its solution.

The holy man is Christlike in character and therefore holiness in man is manifested in the same manner, though not to the same degree, as holiness in Christ. The essence of Christ's holy character seems to be stated by the writer to the Hebrews, He "loved righteousness and hated iniquity" (Heb. 1:9). How did Christ love righteousness? He loved it not only in the sense of regarding it with great affection, but also with a devotion that prompted Him to further righteousness at all costs even to death. How did He hate iniquity? He hated it not only by abhorring it, but also He was intensely active in His opposition to it, seeking to banish it from the earth. So it is with a holy man who is a part of the solution of the problem of the universe, he loves righteousness and will further it at all costs; he hates iniquity and will actively work for its destruction. The holy man will use all of his redeemed powers in working with God to further His work of redemption. Thus the holy man lives sacrificially and savingly within his sphere of life, and to the utmost of his ability, he is a savior. Not in any sense will his living savingly approximate the matchless Saviourhood of our Lord, yet in the full alignment of his holy life with the redemptive purposes of God for this world the holy man lives savingly.

A Goal For Life

Where can a greater goal for living be found? A goal so great as to command man's fullest respect? A goal so challenging as to become the dominant motive of life? A goal so worthy as to inspire man to give to it his supreme devotion and fullest service? Nothing will make a man so gladly deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Christ sincerely, as the consciousness that he is aligning himself with the greatest of all purposes in this world, that he is co-operating with Jesus Christ, his blessed Redeemer, in working out God's purpose of the ultimate redemption of the world, and that by such co-operation he is a definite part of the solution of the greatest problem of the universe. Nothing but the devotedness of life that is found in holiness will cause a person truly to lose his life for Christ's sake, nothing will so truly help him to save his life.

Always the very life and influence of a holy man is a rebuke to sin and a living protest to all that is evil. At times this influence is so disturbing to wicked people as to become the cause for their intense opposition and persecution. It was so with Jesus. His life and teachings, His influence and works were so positive and righteous as to be a constant rebuke to the hypocrisy of professed religious people and a condemnation to the sinners of His day. But the holy man cannot be satisfied with but a silent protest against sin. He must be active in his opposition to all evil; hence he will oppose actively everything that is against the goal toward which he is working, the goal of God's redemptive purpose.

On the positive side, the life of a holy man is devoted to righteousness and to the promotion of everything that works for righteousness. His heart is captivated by the love of Christ and that love becomes the motivating force of his life's activities. This love causes him to be conscious of his obligations to others and makes him realize that holiness to him is more than a personal experience. "Holiness," as Bishop McDowell said, "itself becomes rancid when it is treated exclusively as a personal experience It saves itself by becoming righteousness which is holiness in action, holiness at work, holiness healing lepers, opening blind eyes and washing disciples' feet" (in "Good Ministers of Jesus Christ"). Because he is a holy man he realizes that his obligations to others are increased, and that Jesus placed in their proper position his obligations to God and to man when He said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt. 22:37-39). The experience of heart purity or holiness has brought a devotedness to God in his life, and with this devotedness must come a love for his fellowmen. The experience of holiness makes one more keenly conscious of his social responsibility, that he is to love his neighbor as himself.

More Than An Individual

A holy man realizes that he is more than an individual, that he is by grace a member of the body of Christ and yet by nature he remains a member of the human race which God has "made of one blood" (Acts 17:26). He is, without his own choice, a social being. How may this holy man meet his obligations as a social being? By loving his neighbor as himself? He will not love his neighbor better than he loves himself, he will love him as' he loves himself. He realizes that such "love is that will which aims at the enrichment of another's existence" (Anonymous). Dr. Moffatt describes this love in these words: "Christian love may be defined as devotion to the ends of God in human personality. This involves a care for everything that furthers the Divine aim in other people as well as in oneself. It is a prohibition of cynicism or selfishness, and an incentive to remove any social condition which depresses the human soul or handicaps the development of a full personal life. It throbs with a reaction against vice, misery, cruelty and oppression. It is at issue with any social order which makes the good of one class depend upon conditions that render life and goodness an unfair struggle for other people" (Quoted by J. I. Brice in Pentecost, page 162).

In other words -- as suggested already -- the holy man who in his sinful life was part of the world's problem becomes a part of its solution as he devotes his redeemed powers in active co-operation with God to further His cause of redemption.

Let us now consider the plan of God in this age

Working Through His Church

The corporate body of Christian believers is called in the Scriptures the Church, the body of Christ. This Church is holy both in the sense that God through Christ has purchased and claimed it as His own, and also in the sense that there are numbers of Christians within the Church who are morally holy or pure in heart. This is the group which Peter called the "holy nation," God's redeemed people, devoted to Him and working with Him in furthering His redemptive purposes.

Closely related to the Church is another biblical term, "the kingdom of God," a term which designates the entire realm over which God has the rulership. This kingdom rulership as it relates to man now is an inner rulership; as Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not by observation: . . . . the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20, 21). Paul writing of the kingdom, said, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17).

The kingdom of God is not some political scheme, economic system or social order. Christ did not have in mind the establishing of a temporal kingdom in this age. The disciples just before His ascension asked Him, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus did not ignore their question, He answered it. But He answered it by stressing a greater task for them than the restoration of a temporal kingdom or the establishing of political systems, and economic and social orders. He said, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:6-8).

In that statement Jesus stressed this fact: by the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon these disciples and abiding in the Church, through their witnessing to Him as individuals and as the Church, people everywhere, "unto the uttermost part of the earth," would be saved and sanctified and brought into the kingdom of God. For the kingdom of God is that unseen rulership of God over men whose lives are fully dedicated to Him. As the number of these devoted people increase, the rulership or kingdom of God expands. As world orders change this kingdom of God continues as the rule of the lives of God's people in whatever political, economic or social system they may live.

The kingdom of God must not be confused with that which is solely man's accomplishment. Christian people, working either as individuals or as the Church, cannot "bring in" the kingdom, for as Dr. R. Newton Flew says, "The kingdom of God implies a community ruled, but it is never to be identified with human beings who enter that rule The kingdom of God is not a human achievement, but a pure gift of God" (The Idea of Perfection, pages 11, 18). The kingdom or rule of God will be advanced in the earth as God's people individually -- and as the Church collectively co-operate with Him, the King; but the complete fulfillment of the kingdom awaits the attainment of God's ultimate goal or redemption. The Church as God's medium for advancing His kingdom now is active in its opposition against all evils which hinder the work of God.

Let us then consider

The Church And World Evils

The Church of Christ is in the world, but it is not of the world; it is in constant contact with the evils of the world, but it is also in active conflict with these evils. The holy Church like the holy God cannot be indifferent to the evils of the world, for the Church, like God, is opposed to all evil and seeks its destruction. Progress in overcoming evil can be made only by the power of God working through His Church. The very existence of the holy Church in the world is a rebuke and protest to all evil. Its holy nature abhors all sin and brings it into active opposition with evils of all kinds.

Had the Church been wholly indifferent to world evils down through the centuries we would not have the world we have today. Woman would be still the slave and chattel of man, ignorance and illiteracy would prevail generally, healing agencies and humanitarian efforts would be little known, nations would be still endorsing and trafficking in human slavery, and many other evils would still exist had not the Church by the help of God worked for their removal. There is much left to be done. The Church cannot remain indifferent to such evils as the terrible waste and insanity of war, the cruelty of industrial oppression, the liquor traffic, political corruption, gambling and such like, or to racial, class and national prejudices and other injustices of the present social and world order.

That these evils have always existed is no reason that they should be accepted by the Church as a permanent part of human society. The Church cannot accept them as such. It cannot be indifferent to them; it must work for their destruction. John Wesley once said, "The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social, no holiness but social holiness." It was in this same connection that he declared: "I look upon all the world as my parish" (Preface to his 1739 Hymn Book). He recognized that the Gospel of Christ was needed throughout the world and that its message would not only bring individuals to salvation through accepting the Christ of the Gospel, but also that it would effect reforms in human society. It is the Church's full task primarily to bring salvation to individuals, but secondarily to effect also such reformation as will help to further God's cause in this world. The Church must bring the message of salvation to individuals, it must by the help of God save the drunkard. It must also by God's help destroy the evil system that made him a drunkard. It must save the slaves of sin in every phase of human life, but it must also seek to remove the evils that enslaved them. If current evils continue to exist they must exist over the active protest of the Church; they must exist only after the Church, by the help of God, has done its best to destroy them. The Church, the corporate body of God's holy people, is not of this world; but since it is in the world it is the active foe of all evil.

The effectiveness of the Church's opposition to these evils will depend largely upon

The Separateness Of The Church

God's plan for His holy people, the Church, is not that they should be removed from the evil world, but that they should live separated lives, lives fully devoted to Him in the midst of the world with all of its evils. In this respect they follow the example of Jesus who, though He came into close contact with the godless world and touched people of all stages of moral living, was Himself "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 1:26). This fact is further emphasized by Jesus in His prayer for His disciples: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15).

The separateness of the Church is its strength. The Church cannot save the world by becoming like the world. Its very separateness provides its saving qualities. The figures used by Jesus stress this separateness. He said, "Ye are the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). The value of salt is in its distinctiveness. It preserves, it stops decay, it adds flavor to all it touches because it is separate from that with which it is used. Another statement of Jesus is: "Ye are the light of the world" (Matt 5:14). The value of light is in its distinctiveness, its separateness. It penetrates and dispels darkness, it enlightens and reveals, because it is distinct from darkness. So it is with the holy Church; it can be a saving factor in the world, preserve the good, stop moral decay, add flavor to life, enlighten and give guidance, only as it is separate or distinct from the world. "The narrowness of the Pentecostal Church," says Dr. J. I. Brice, "was its power. Such narrowness has always been power. Singleness of aim is the secret of success in the task of any specialty. Concentration is the law of power and efficiency. For the sake of the redemption of the world, the Church must narrow its allegiance; and as it does so, it will find its strength" (Pentecost, page 142).

Let us now give consideration to

The Church's World Task

The present task of the Church as it co-operates with God in His purpose of ultimate redemption is the evangelization of the world by going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15, for the purpose of making disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19, R. V.). By the work of evangelism the Church furthers the mission of Christ to the world, a mission stated by the Apostle John: "God sent. . . . his Son into the world . . . . that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17). The scope of the Church of Christ is world wide, it is a spiritual brotherhood of holy people from all nations, and as such the Church is given to the task of advancing the kingdom of God throughout the world. The great plan of God for this age in furthering His ultimate redemptive purpose is through the evangelizing ministry of the Church. The work of evangelism is the Church's primary task. All other phases of the program are secondary -the Church must evangelize or die. Holy men working through the Church cannot do less than to devote all of their redeemed powers and life to the bringing of people to Christ at home and abroad.

This primary emphasis upon evangelism does not lessen the Church's social obligations, or its responsibility to reform society. Rather the proper emphasis upon evangelism promotes such reform. Students of history have traced the reform movements which have accompanied or followed the great evangelistic periods of the Christian Church. It is a proved fact that these reforms within society have been greatest when the emphasis upon the work of evangelism and personal salvation has been most pronounced by the Church. A survey of the results and influence of the Wesleyan revival will reveal that greater reforms were effected in the social order by that revival than have been brought about by the Church in recent years in its strong emphasis upon the social gospel, an emphasis which to a large degree has discounted personal salvation. A holy Church must further the cause of God; it must bring about needed reforms and it must work for the overthrow of existing evils. But this must be done by having great spiritual revivals and by placing a strong emphasis upon evangelism. This is God's proved method for both saving individuals and reforming society. If holy men and women are to be effective as a part of the solution of the great problem of evil they must work with God in His method of working in this age.

Briefly let us now turn our attention to

The Ultimate Triumph

Holy people are confident of the ultimate triumph of God's purpose. Their confidence is not in themselves as they work in God's plan. Their confidence is not in the plan, their confidence is in God. This confidence inspires the most enthusiastic service and best efforts they can give to God and to the furthering of His redemptive purposes. Down through the ages men have believed in the ultimate triumph of God's purpose. Back in the days of old, Job declared his faith in God's power and purpose in these words: "I know that thou canst do all things and that no purpose of thine can be restrained" (Job 42:2, R.V.). Writing in a later day the author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote of God making the world, or forming the ages or time-periods in Christ, and of Christ upholding all things, or causing all things to continue, by the word of His power (Heb. 2:2, 3). Paul in writing of the relation of Christ to the world says that He created all things, He is before all things, and by Him all things consist or hold together (Col. 1:17). Paul declared his faith in the ultimate triumph in these words: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet" (I Cor. 15:22-25).

The whole plan of God for the ages -- the provision of the ultimate redemption of the world "the new heavens and the new earth" -- is in Christ. He will hold all things together, working actively and definitely toward the final completion of God's purpose. The God who now makes "all things work together for good to them that love him" (Rom. 8:28), will make all things work together toward the ultimate consummation of His eternal purpose; He will turn even the wrath of man to praise Him (Psalm 76:10). Holy men in the holy Church, as a part of the solution of the great problem of the universe, have faith in God and faith in the final victory of His purpose, and will work earnestly with God in the furthering of that plan.

People of any one particular age may not be able to see what progress is being made. They may be so close to any given situation as to be unable to have a clear perspective of the whole plan. The darkness of the day and temporary setbacks suffered by the forces of righteousness are at times disappointing; but God's holy people have a confidence underlying it all that God is patiently but surely working toward His ultimate goal of a redeemed world, and were they privileged to see the situation from God's point of view they would realize that progress is being made. The ultimate purpose of God will triumph and righteousness will prevail.

The final consummation of God's redemptive purpose awaits other great acts of divine intervention. The future ages will as definitely fit into God's whole plan as have the ages of the past. There will be the return of our Lord to this earth in power and glory with such attending events as are prophesied in the Scriptures. There will be the ushering in of a millennial age by the intervention of God and not as the result of man's accomplishment and progress. There will be future visitations of divine judgment upon the earth, all of which are in God's plan for purging the earth of sin and its effects. Eventually there will be a redeemed race, a race of holy men and women, possessing a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But this fact must not be overlooked, that Christians may today further or retard the progress of God's plan of ultimate redemption by the manner in which they give themselves to working with God in His present purposes of redemption.

Perhaps the use of analogy will be an interesting conclusion to this message. Let us draw an analogy between God's methods of working with man as an individual, bringing about his personal redemption, and God's ways of working out His ultimate redemptive purposes for this world.

That period of man's life before his salvation when by his own endeavors he sought to keep the law of righteousness, meeting with only partial success, recognizing al ways that his failures revealed to him his weaknesses and need of a Saviour, may picture the history of mankind under conscience and the law prior to the coming of Jesus.

The conversion of the sinner with Christ coming into his life in personal salvation may picture that act of divine intervention, the coming of Jesus to the earth as the Babe of Bethlehem, the incarnation of the Holy God, carrying out of His provision of redemption.

The struggles in the regenerated life of the Christian with its conflicts between the flesh and the Spirit, making some progress in spiritual life and growth but hampered by the presence of an inner antagonism to the will of God being unable of himself to attain to a full cleansing of the heart from these impurities, may picture the struggles of the Church in this age, opposing the evils of the world, making some progress in God's plan, but by this progress wholly unable to completely overthrow evil and expel it from the world.

The entire sanctification of the believer, that second crisis experience of the Christian life in which the heart is made pure and the person made holy, may picture that future divine intervention in the plan of God, the glorious event known in the Scriptures as "the blessed hope," the second coming of our Lord to this earth with such accompanying events as will further rapidly God's ultimate purpose of redemption.

The conquest in the life of holiness to the Christian with its inner harmony, victorious living and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, may picture the millennial age with its reign of peace in its transition from the temporal to the eternal state.

The final glorification of the Christian, the resurrection with its attendant benefits, may picture the divine interventions of a later age when by divine judgment all evil is removed from the earth and all things are fully restored to the purpose and will of God, when "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of our Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. 11:15). This will be the ultimate triumph of God when the purpose toward which He has been working so patiently throughout the ages is brought to full consummation and there is indeed and in truth "a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

In these messages we have thought of the Holiness of God, its awfulness, its majesty and its beauty as revealed in His work and in Christ. We have considered the holiness of man as devotedness to God, heart purity, spiritual wholeness or moral perfection, and in the full use of the redeemed life in furthering God's redemptive plan. We have contemplated the work of redemption wrought by Jesus on the cross in its provision which brought a full solution of man's sin problem, providing forgiveness for the sinner and entire sanctification for the Christian. We have rejoiced in the fact that holiness may become a state of life now through the personal experience of entire sanctification by faith. We have discussed the life of holiness as a life of dependence upon God, a life of discipline and development, and a life of victory. We have thought of man, who as a sinner was a part of the problem of the universe but by the grace of God is so redeemed as to become a part of its solution, co-operating and working with God in furthering His purposes of ultimate redemption.

God's purpose for man now is that He may have a new order of manhood, a race of holy men and women. His ultimate purpose is a holy universe, "New heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." Let us accept God's plan as our own. Let us believe together, work together, and throw the whole of our lives into a united effort for the evangelizing of the world today, seeking both the salvation of individuals and the reformation of society. Let us patiently and confidently work with God and help to bring in the day of the full redemption of all things, a universe purged from all sin and its effects, a world "wherein dwelleth righteousness."