The Highway of Holiness

by John G. Lake
January 10, 1922
Hillside, Oregon

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:4–10)

“The eyes of the blind shall be opened” (Isaiah 35:5). Once, I was acquainted with a cartoonist who illustrated this very clearly. He pictured three scenes representing the three themes of that chapter. The three themes are:

  • Salvation

  • Healing

  • Holiness

Representing the first theme, a man is kneeling, and all around him are the scenes of his life, represented by different animals. The man is kneeling, bowed in prayer for salvation, and presently the great hand of God is just extended down to pick him up and is in the act of lifting him up. That is salvation.

The second theme, healing, is represented by a man standing on crutches. Just above his head was the hand of God. He was reaching to get hold of that hand, and in his effort to do so he forgot his crutches, and they fell this way and that way, and presently the man was walking after the hand. That is faith. That is healing.

The third theme is represented by the same individual walking along a highway on which the flowers were blooming and the pleasant waters flowing and down in the distance was the light of eternal glory. And as he went he sang. That is the highway of holiness.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. (Isaiah 35:9)

That is the Christian’s state. That is the normal soul state. Christians as a rule are covered with shadows, with fears, and doubts. That is not the realm of God at all. That is the realm of darkness.

Christianity lives in the light. Christianity lives in the glory. Christianity lives in the power of God, in the eternal presence of God. And it is that consciousness of God and union with Him that gives to the soul strength and assurance and confidence and helps the soul to go on its way, regardless of conditions and circumstances, so that he is not being governed by this thing or that, but by the faith of God. Instead of conditions controlling him, he is controlling conditions. That is the power of God.