seek the blessing. I place first among them the fact which Paul stated
thus, 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification'. I put this
first because the highest motive stimulating the soul of the child of
God should be _the knowledge of his Father's will_. One would think
that to know God's will should be enough to provoke the determination
to do it. To hear the Father's voice should stir the heart in
responsive desire and effort.
We had a little daughter who, before she went to Heaven, was the joy of
our hearts and the light of our home. The child had a passion for
cleanliness, and as the evening hour came on, she gave the maid no
peace until she was washed and dressed in clean clothes. Then, running
to her mother, she would ask, 'Mamma, am I clean, clean enough for
father?' Soon after my return from business, the child would climb on
my knee, put a little hand on each side of my face, to compel me to
look at her, and then ask, 'Am I clean, papa, am I clean?' Nothing
would delight that child more than for me to say, 'Yes, my darling, you
are clean, even clean enough for father'.
Let us ask ourselves, 'What does the will of God count for with us? We
know what He wants, and the claims of gratitude and sincere regard for
His glory should influence our attitude, and lead us to say, 'Lo! I
come to do Thy will, O my God!'
_He wills that I should holy be:
That Holiness I long to feel;
That full, Divine conformity
To all my Saviour's righteous will._
2. A second motive to Holiness may be found in _the urgent need of the
people around us_. We all know something of God's plan for saving the
world. It is, broadly speaking, on the line of using one man to save
another. Co-operation on this line is rightly expected from all
professing Christians.
Personally, I hold that professors of religion who are not moved by a
concern for the souls of others, and a willingness to use all possible
efforts to seek their Salvation, can hardly claim to be properly saved
themselves. The need of saved men and women to act on these lines of
consecrated effort is, indeed, very great, and the knowledge of this
fact should urge us to the fullest consecration. But we need to see
more clearly that unless we exhibit in our own characters and lives the
true fruits of Holiness, we shall either fail in our own consecration,
or our influence will be greatly reduced.
What do you think will be the effect of a man's words
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