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| HOLINESS |
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Story: The value of holiness. A bar of steel worth $5 can yield any of the following: If made into horseshoes it will be worth $10. Manufacture needles, and the value becomes $350. Use it to create delicate springs for expensive watches and it will yield $250,000. We are like the $5 bar of steel. Our commitment to holiness will determine whether we become Christians of minimal, moderate, or significant spiritual influence. Broken Things, M. R. DeHaan, 1948, p. 29 Quote: ‘It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, and if it does we won't need to tell anybody it does. The light will be its own witness. Lighthouses don't ring bells and fire cannon to call attention to their shining--they just shine." --D. L. Moody Quote: "Peace if possible, but purity at all costs." --Martin Luther Story: A silversmith doesn't need a fancy formula for calculating purity. He knows the silver is free of dross when he can see his reflection in the liquefied metal. When are we pure? When Christ looks at us and sees his reflection. (See Romans 8:29.)"How God Uses Suffering In Our Lives," Rick Warren, The Encouraging Word HOLY, WHAT IS IT Only God is Holy. Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy To be Holy, we become like God. The more we are like God, the more Holy we are. HOW ARE WE MADE HOLY? (Sanctified) 1. By God’s glory Exodus 29:43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 2. By faith Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 3. By the Holy Ghost Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 4. In the name and by the Spirit. Corinthians I 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 5. By word and prayer. Timothy I 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6. By the cross. Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. TO DEFILE, (TO MAKE DIRTY, TO POLLUTE.) To defile comes from the heart. Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: SANCTIFY, (TO MAKE HOLY) The whole spirit, soul and body Thessalonians I 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the Word and truth John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. To get rid of the filthiness. Chronicles II 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. Achan had the accursed thing. Joshua 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. 4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. 13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. PROFANE, (DISRESPECT OF HOLY THINGS.) Esau had a low opinion of spiritual things. Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. A profane person will increase to more and more ungodliness. Timothy II 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY AND PROFANE. Some people call evil good and good evil. Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. We need knowledge of what is Holy. Just as in learning to drive, we learn what is good driving and what is bad. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. SPIRITUAL EXERCISE As we grow in the natural by exercise, the body, the mind so we can grow strong in the spiritual. We learn to know right from wrong, how to resist wrong. We learn how God thinks. We find what makes God happy. Timothy I 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. HIS WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS 1. Doing our own ways Every day we choose His ways or ours. Philippians 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. 2. The outward appearence Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. YOUR BODY A TEMPLE 1. That Holy thing. (the temple) Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 2. You are the Holy temple of God Corinthians I 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 3. Your bodies Holy and acceptable Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 4. Separate from sinners Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 5. Lifting up Holy hands We are not to worship with dirty hands or body. Timothy I 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 6. Grieve not the Holy Spirit. Remember God lives inside us and is affected by what we do. Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. HOLY LIVING 1. Holy in all manner of living Everything we do, say or think. Peter I 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 2. Knowledge of the Holy. Proverbs 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 3. Without Holiness. Being holy is not an option. Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: MORE HOLY THAN THOU. Spiritual pride can defile many. STORY: Two men pray Read: Luke 18:10-14 |
| By H. Witmyer |