Holiness Unto the Lord is Our Watchword and Song
I recently read the report given to the Southern Baptist Convention on June 15, 2004, by the president and chief executive officer of their Executive Committee, Morris H. Chapman. Allow me to quote from Dr. Chapman's address: "If our struggle for the authority of God's Word does not lead us to a spirit of humility and holiness, we're already going in the wrong direction, destined to lose our way in the wilderness.
"We are a people who not only believe the Book, we are compelled to live by the Book [italics his]. Biblical concepts such as surrender, sacrifice, righteousness, and holiness must consume our hearts and minds . . . "
Nowhere on earth more than among God's people who are saved by the blood of the Lamb should we find in plentiful supply the endearing qualities of honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. We can know the Bible and believe in its authority, but what good is it if we do not "walk in the Spirit?"
Dr. Chapman closed his report with this prayer challenge: "God empower us to build His kingdom upon the earth. God empower us to build our families on the Solid Rock. God empower us to die to self for Jesus' sake [italics his]. God, empower us to be so changed in our daily walk with Christ that the world around us cannot help but know that we know Him."
My first reaction is to say, praise the Lord and amen! Dr. Chapman's desire for the Southern Baptist Convention is the same passion I have for Nazarenes. My second reaction is to say: "He sounds like a holiness preacher." Dear friends, Dr. Chapman's challenge is the same message every Nazarene needs to proclaim day after day. The Bible does require us to die to self before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. We also strongly believe in the biblical concepts of surrender, sacrifice, righteousness, and holiness. We would also proclaim that we can know the Bible, "but what good is it if we do not 'walk in the Spirit?" These are truths on which we agree. My third reaction to this address is to realize
God will get the holiness message communicated to this generation through every voice possible.
The Holy Spirit wants to use "the Nazarene voice" to proclaim this biblical truth, but He also is using the Southern Baptist voice, the Pentecostal voice, the Roman Catholic voice, and hundreds of other "voices." God's holiness message will be proclaimed to this generation. I declare what you already know: The message of holiness of heart was not given exclusively to the Church of the Nazarene. It's a biblical truth.
The Church of the Nazarene was raised up to proclaim holiness to the ends of the earth, but God uses many more voices than ours.
The time is short, and the Holy Spirit is busy preparing His bride! Today is our day to clearly sound the trumpet.
God's call to live a life of self-surrender and to experience heart cleansing and Holy Spirit-filling is in every book of the Bible. Holiness is the message of joy, freedom, peace, grace, purity, and power that our generation so desperately needs. We lift our voices with the voices of others in the family of God to joyously proclaim, "Holiness unto the Lord is our watchword and song."*
James H. Diehl is a general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
*Lelia N. Morris, "Holiness unto the Lord"
Holiness Today, March/April 2005
Please note: This article was originally published in 2005. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.
