Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
There is no (idea) so pernicious as this—that persons not purified, not sanctified, not made holy in their life, should afterwards be taken into that state of blessedness which consists in the enjoyment of God. Neither can such persons enjoy God, nor would God be a reward to them. Holiness indeed is perfected in heaven: but the beginning of it is invariably confined to this world.*
How shall we ever be at home and happy in heaven, if we die unholy? Death works no change. The grave makes no alteration. Each will rise again with the same character in which he breathed his last. Where will our place be if we are strangers to holiness now?
Suppose for a moment that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you feel there? To which of all the saints would you join yourself? Their pleasures are not your pleasures, their tastes not your tastes, their character not your character. How could you possibly be happy, if you ahd not been holy on earth?
Now perhaps you love the company of the light and the careless, the worldly-minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker. There will be none such in heaven.
Think you that such an one would delight to meet David, and Paul, and John, after a life spent in doing the very things they spoke against?
People may say, in a vague way, "they hope to to to heaven;" but they do not consider what they say... Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are all holy; its occupations are all holy. It is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for heaven while we are on earth.**
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* John Owen, Owen on the Holy Spirit, p. 575 (as quoted in Intoxicated with Babylon by Steve Gallagher).
** J.C. Ryle, Holiness, p. 56, 35. (as quoted in Intoxicated with Babylon by Steve Gallagher).
