Excerpted and edited from John CharlesRyle, Holiness:Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots
a. Holiness isthe habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His minddescribed in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hatingwhat He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world bythe standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God, he is the mostholy man.
b. A holy manwill endeavour to shun every known sin and to keep every known commandment. Hewill have a decided bent of mind towards God, a hearty desire to do His will, agreater fear of displeasing Him than of displeasing the world, and a love toall His ways. He will feel what Paul felt when he said, “I delight in the lawof God after the inward man” (Rom 7:22), and what David felt when he said, “Iesteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, andI hate every false way” (Ps 119:128).
c. A holy manwill strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life offaith in Him and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he willalso labour to have the mind that was in Him and to be conformed to His image(Rom 8:29). It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, even as Christforgave us; to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself; to walk inlove, even as Christ loved us; to be lowly-minded and humble, even as Christmade Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself. He will remember that Christwas a faithful witness for the truth; that He came not to do His own will; thatit was His meat and drink to do His Father’s will; that He would continuallydeny Himself in order to minister to others; that He was meek and patient underundeserved insults; that He thought more of godly poor men than of kings; thatHe was full of love and compassion to sinners; that He was bold anduncompromising in denouncing sin; that He sought not the praise of men, when Hemight have had it; that He went about doing good; that He was separate fromworldly people; that He continued instant in prayer; that He would not let evenHis nearest relations stand in His way when God’s work was to be done. Thesethings a holy man will try to remember. By them he will endeavour to shape hiscourse in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John: “He that saith heabideth in [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 Jn2:6), and the saying of Peter, that “Christ… suffered for us, leaving us anexample, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Pet 2:21). Happy is he who haslearned to make Christ his “all,” both for salvation and example! Much timewould be saved, and much sin prevented, if men would oftener ask themselves thequestion: “What would Christ have said and done if He were in my place?”
d. A holy manwill follow after meekness, longsuffering, gentleness, patience, kind tempers,government of his tongue. He will bear much, forbear much, overlook much and beslow to talk of standing on his rights. We see a bright example of this in thebehaviour of David when Shimei cursed him (2 Sam 16:10), and of Moses whenAaron and Miriam spoke against him (Num 12:3).
e. A holy manwill follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labour to mortify thedesires of his body, to crucify his flesh with his affections and lusts, tocurb his passions, to restrain his carnal inclinations, lest at any time theybreak loose. Oh, what a word is that of the Lord Jesus to the Apostles: “Takeheed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged withsurfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life” (Lk 21:34), and that ofthe Apostle Paul: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lestthat by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be acastaway” (1 Cor 9:27).
f. A holy manwill follow after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavour to observethe golden rule of doing as he would have men do to him and speaking as hewould have men speak to him. He will be full of affection towards his brethren,towards their bodies, their property, their characters, their feelings, theirsouls. “He that loveth another,” says Paul, “hath fulfilled the law” (Rom13:8). He will abhor all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonestyand unfair dealing, even in the least things. The shekel and cubit of the sanctuarywere larger than those in common use. He will strive to adorn his religion byall his outward demeanour and to make it lovely and beautiful in the eyes ofall around him. Alas, what condemning words are the thirteenth chapter of 1Corinthians, and the sermon on the mount, when laid alongside the conduct ofmany professing Christians!
g. A holy manwill follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others. He will notstand all the day idle. He will not be content with doing no harm; he will tryto do good. He will strive to be useful in his day and generation and to lessenthe spiritual wants and misery around him as far as he can. Such was Dorcas:“full of good works and almsdeeds which she did”—not merely purposed and talkedabout, but did (Acts 9:36). Such a one was Paul:“I will very gladly spend and be spent for you,” he says, “though the moreabundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor 12:15).
h. A holy manwill follow after purity of heart. He will dread all filthiness and uncleannessof spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knowshis own heart is like tinder and will diligently keep clear of the sparks oftemptation. Who shall dare to talk of strength when David can fall? There ismany a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it the man who onlytouched a bone or a dead body or a grave or a diseased person became at onceunclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. FewChristians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.
i. A holy manwill follow after the fear of God. I do not mean the fear of a slave, who onlyworks because he is afraid of punishment and would be idle if he did not dreaddiscovery. I mean rather the fear of a child, who wishes to live and move as ifhe was always before his father’s face, because he loves him. What a nobleexample Nehemiah gives us of this! When he became governor at Jerusalem, hemight have been chargeable to the Jews and required of them money for hissupport. The former governors had done so. There was none to blame him if hedid. But he says, “So did not I, because of the fear of God” (Neh 5:15).
j. A holy manwill follow after humility. He will desire, in lowliness of mind, to esteem allothers better than himself. He will see more evil in his own heart than in anyother in the world. He will understand something of Abraham’s feeling, when hesays, “I am dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27), and Jacob’s, when he says, “I am lessthan the least of all thy mercies” (Gen 32:10), and Job’s, when he says, “I amvile” (40:4), and Paul’s, when he says, “I am chief [of sinners]” (1 Tim 1:15).Holy Bradford, that faithful martyr of Christ, would sometimes finish his letterswith these words: “A most miserable sinner, John Bradford.” Good old Mr.Grimshaw’s last words, when he lay on his deathbed, were these: “Here goes anunprofitable servant.”
k. A holy manwill follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life. He willtry, not merely to fill his place as well as others who take no thought fortheir souls, but even better, because he has higher motives and more help thanthey. Those words of Paul should never be forgotten: “Whatsoever ye do, do itheartily, as to the Lord” (Col 3:23): “Not slothful in business; fervent inspirit; serving the Lord” (Rom 12:11). Holy persons should aim at doingeverything well and should be ashamed of allowing themselves to do anything illif they can help it. Like Daniel, they should seek to give no “occasion”against themselves, except concerning the law of their God (Dan 6:5). Theyshould strive to be good husbands and good wives, good parents and goodchildren, good masters and good servants, good neighbours, good friends, goodsubjects, good in private and good in public, good in the place of business andgood by their firesides. Holiness is worth little indeed if it does not bearthis kind of fruit. The Lord Jesus puts a searching question to His people whenHe says, “What do ye more than others?” (Mt 5:47).
l. Last, but notleast, a holy man will follow after spiritual-mindedness. He will endeavour toset his affections entirely on things above and to hold things on earth with avery loose hand. He will not neglect the business of the life that now is; butthe first place in his mind and thoughts will be given to the life to come. Hewill aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven and to pass through thisworld like a stranger and pilgrim travelling to his home. To commune with Godin prayer, in the Bible, and in the assembly of His people—these things will bethe holy man’s chiefest enjoyments. He will value every thing and place andcompany, just in proportion as it draws him nearer to God. He will enter intosomething of David’s feeling, when he says, “My soul followeth hard after thee”(Ps 63:8); “Thou art my portion” (Ps 119:57).
—J.J. Lim |
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