You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people. (1 Peter 2:9)
“You are a holy nation,”
a nation separated from this world unto God. New birth means that, oh, that that
was made clear to all right there at the beginning how utter this thing is. The
Lord Jesus left people in no doubt about this; a cleavage utter and absolute. He
would take risks with people, you would probably say: "Oh, why put them off, why
run the risk of offending them, why discourage them saying 'except, except,
except' all the time?" Ah, He was taking all the risks necessary about this
because the reality, the awful reality of this: you CANNOT, you cannot inherit
the kingdom of heaven while you cling to this kingdom inimical to God, in any
way.... How much the New Testament has to say about this, a walk in holiness that
is separate unto God in heart, in spirit, in life, from this world. And if we
knew it, a very large degree of our education, our spiritual education and our
discipline in the Christian life under the hand of the HOLY Spirit, has to do
with those things in us which are mixed up....
The Lord calls for distinctiveness of life and testimony, real distinctiveness
of life and testimony. Is our life, dear friends, is your life and my life in
this world in our connections and associations and so on, quite distinct, no
mistaking to what realm we belong, to Whom we belong? No mistaking it? Or are we
mixed in, compromising, keeping on good terms with this world and its people
under the devil’s hand? If so, we stand to lose terribly.... Is there something quite distinctive about our lives that says that
man, that woman, that young man, that young woman is utter for God, there’s no
doubt about it, you see it all the time, they are utter for
God; they are not playing at things, there’s no compromise with them. Now this
sounds hard, but it’s necessary. Do you see what’s involved? Dear friends, the
secret of power is holiness! It is. The secret of power is holiness. If our
lives are powerless it may be due to this lack somewhere, somehow, of this
utterness for God, this separation unto God, of some kind of compromise somehow,
somewhere, with the prince of this world who’s robbing us of our spiritual power
and vitality on his own ground. The secret of power is holiness; whatever you
forget, remember that!