Can there be a holiness movement without holiness being the focus? There can and must be. Holiness is the most basic characteristic of The Holy Spirit as that is His name. Yet, He does not come to speak of Himself, but to lead us to Jesus—the Truth. In this same way, the most powerful holiness movement of all time will not have holiness as its focus, but rather “The Holy One of God,” Jesus. Anything that eclipses Jesus as our main love and devotion can be an idol, even the things of God such as holiness.

True holiness is the fruit of our love for God, not the focus of it.

         Can we find a single reference in Scripture to the scene around the throne of God where those present are not saying “holy is The Lord?” They could have been saying “loving is The Lord,” or “The Lord is full of grace, mercy…,” but they’re saying “holy.” So it seems that in His presence, this is perhaps the most profound characteristic of God that we see. Yet, this has had little emphasis in the church for decades. Why? Could it be because we have gotten so far from His throne? Have we been caught up in so much religious activity that we have not been getting closer to God or walking in true authority, which is represented by His throne?

         We can expect this to change soon. The last move of God will be the greatest of all because it will be God moving. His people will fall in love with Him because they’re going to seek Him, and He promise that if we seek Him we will find Him. When we find Him we too will be in awe of His holiness.

         So what will that look like? Rather than speculating we should go and see. The great truths of our faith have often been reduced by men trying to define them, especially before they have experienced them. For this reason, most of the definitions about holiness have been about cleaning up the outside, our behavior, rather than changing our heart, which results in change from the inside out. We can comply with a definition of proper behavior with our hearts and still be full of sin and wickedness, or legalism.

         So let us resolve to be changed by seeing His glory with unveiled faces. The veils are often our own ideals, or even preferences. When we see Him without removing the veils, we usually try to make Him in our image rather than being changed into His.

         If we are disciples, we have certainly poured over the Scriptures enough to understand sin and the works of the flesh, the carnal nature. As John explained in his epistles, if we have been born again from above, these should no longer be our basic nature. The struggle to get free of them is great and it is not meant to be easy. As we mature in the nature of Christ, which Paul referred to as the forming of Christ within us, these works of the flesh are no longer our nature. We grow in the Spirit of Christ, which is The Holy Spirit, and manifest the fruit of The Spirit.

         We read of the carnal nature in Galatians 5:19-21:

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: 

immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery,

enmities, strife,
jealousy, outbursts of anger,

disputes, dissensions, factions,
envying, drunkenness, carousing,
and things like these,

of which I forewarn you,
just as I have forewarned you,

that those who practice such things
will not inherit
the kingdom of God.”

         As we see declared here and in other places, we cannot continue to practice these things and inherit the kingdom of God. This does not mean that sincere, maturing Christians who are true disciples cannot occasionally fall to fleshly behavior. We are told that even “the righteous fall seven times” (see Proverbs 24:16). Yet as that verse continues, “but they rise yet again.” They do not stay down but rather get back up and fight on.

         The war against the carnal nature is a mighty struggle. In Romans 1-2 we are told to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The Greek word translated “transformed” in this text is the same word from which we get the English word “metamorphous,” the change a caterpillar goes through in the cocoon to become a butterfly. It is said that the greatest struggle a butterfly will ever experience is getting out of the cocoon, but it is that struggle that strengthens it so that it can flap those big wings and fly. We too will likely face our biggest struggle getting free of the carnal nature, but it is that struggle that strengthens us to spiritually soar as we are called to do.

         False teachers since the first century have twisted and distorted the teachings of grace to assert that we do not need to struggle against the old nature like this, and what we do in the body doesn’t really matter. These are wolves in sheep’s clothing. As the Apostle Paul wrote of them, “their condemnation is just” (Romans 3:8). The word of God is clear that if we practice the works of the flesh and live in the carnal nature, we will not inherit the kingdom.

         We are told in Hebrews12:14 to “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” 

        Sanctification is another word for holiness, and we will not see Him without it. It is that important. So we must pursue holiness, but we do this by pursuing The Lord, seeking to get close to Him.

         Then we will be in a place where everyone is crying “HOLY,” and we will too.

         We are entering a time of ultimate struggle between liberty and tyranny. This conflict is already being waged on many fronts. It is a basic military principle that you cannot defeat an enemy you do not see or understand. We must recognize the enemy of our liberty in order to defeat it, but we must also have a vision and love for liberty.

         Our nation was born through this struggle, and to some degree, this has been a continual struggle since that time. We must understand that this is our calling and embrace this struggle as an opportunity to proclaim liberty throughout the land.

         This struggle has kept us in continuous division and at times has grown to the point of erupting into violence. However, the severity of the violence and damage will depend to a great degree on the spiritual battles, prayers, and engagement of the church in America as salt and light. The strength of the American church is the biggest factor in the severity of the conflict and the ultimate conclusion of it.

         In both the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, Great Awakenings preceded the conflicts. To a large degree, these conflicts were the result of the Awakenings. The church in America was mobilized and energized in both of these. Historians, and also the British adversaries in the Revolutionary War, attributed the success of those seeking independence to “the black robed regiment.” This was a reference to the preachers of the time that wore black robes in the pulpit. Their sermons were so resolute that there was no doubt about where they stood on the great issues of their time. They were so effective in imparting a vision for liberty that they became some of the most wanted men in the colonies by the British forces.

         Likewise, it was the Second Great Awakening in the young nation that gave birth to the Abolitionist Movement, which resolved to remove the evil of slavery from the country. Just as we see throughout The Bible, whenever true revival and a turning back to God takes place, evil is driven from the land. As the Third Great Awakening blossoms in our time, an indignation will arise against the great evils of our time, and we can expect movements to develop to go after every form of evil and bondage.

         This relates to the first part of the dream I had about the coming Second American Revolutionary/Civil War—the sending out of the champions who would find and destroy the evil strongholds in our land. Some of these have already begun to go forth and others will steadily be joining in.

         We all need to hear and respond to the call of God to get in our place in the struggle. The Holy Spirit is now moving to prepare us to hear this call and respond, which is seen by the evidence that has always accompanied the moving of The Spirit. The first evidence of The Holy Spirit will be repentance. Following this will be a love for His first name, which is holy.

         True holiness is not legalism. Legalism is not God’s counter to lawlessness, and the law only strengthens the sin and is a “ministry of death” as we read in Romans 7, II Corinthians 3, and other places. True holiness is not motivated by a fear of failure, but by love for God. Imposter holiness, motivated by the law, is like a bride who is driven to be perfect for her wedding day because she is afraid the bridegroom will reject her if there is a spot on her. True holiness is like a bride that wants to be perfect for her bridegroom because she is so in love with Him.

         So the great holiness movement we should expect and follow is a love movement: loving God above all else and loving one another as we should. With this we can also expect the abhorrence of sin and iniquity to increase. Then we will see the perpetrators of sin and inequity driven back into the darkness they came from—not just by laws that are passed, but because the iniquity will become as abhorrent to the people as it is with God.

         Lust is the counter to true love. The flood of lust and perversion that has been poured out over the land will dry up in a true revival. Movies, television, and publications that promote lust will go out of business. Even the extreme devotion to sports and other forms of entertainment that have eclipsed the love for God and become idols will shrink in popularity until they have returned to their proper balance.

         All of this is coming as the victory of true liberty becomes complete. However, for a time it will look like the opposite is happening. Perversion and iniquity in all of its forms will overflow their banks for a time, as will the death and destruction they cause. This may look like an unstoppable flood for a time, but this is the last gasp of a desperate enemy that is about to be vanquished. This will be allowed to reveal those who truly love The Lord and will follow Him from those who love sin and this world more than Him.

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren (James 1:12-16).