Holiness....

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God is holy. He has commanded us to be holy as He is holy. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Holiness is that important. But what exactly is holiness? Holiness is God Himself.

(6/20/2010). God Himself is Holiness. All that is of God is holy. All that is not of God is not holy. Thus we see that Divine calling, and obedience to God, are part of true holiness.

There are holiness of dress and speech. But these are not holy unless God has ordained them. They are nothing more than religious practices, although the believers may be people of integrity and sincere in their actions.

We must be careful at this point, however. In early Pentecost there were strict opinions about dress, makeup, hairdos, usually aimed at women as we see. Then there was a reaction to these outward holiness guidelines. The pendulum swung too far the other way. Now Christian people could go to X-rated movies, swear, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and do as they please. "To the pure all things are pure," they cry.

However, not all things are pure to the Lord Jesus. They simply do not know the Lord and how important holiness is to God. I guess they forgot Paul said, "Come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing.

The truth is, a Christian should look like a Christian; talk like a Christian; dress like a Christian; act like a Christian. Common sense tells us this; but sometimes common sense is in short supply, isn't it?

If a believer does not know how to act like a Christian or look like a Christian, all he or she needs to do is to ask Jesus, or an unsaved person. Either one will set the record straight.

The filthiest aspect of the human personality is self-will. The Pharisees murdered the Lord because of their self-will, reflected in their love to be preeminent.

There is no foolishness, silliness, giddiness, joking, mischief, abandonment to revelry, spite, insincerity, lying, or duplicity in God. These are unclean spirits. They are not holy.

When we are brought before God our speech must be sound, sincere, void of craft or guile of any sort. This is why little children can stand in His Presence.

There is an ultimate sincerity and lack of foolishness in Gethsemane and Calvary. This is why the thought of them is such a comfort to us when we are suffering and at the end of our strength.

There is a romantic spirit that comes from God and is holy. God created such things as music, poetry, sunsets, and sunrises. This spirit leads us to the new Jerusalem.

There is a romantic spirit that comes from Satan and is unclean. This spirit results in treachery, despair, and sexual perversions. It leads to torment and finally to Hell.

A matter is holy if it includes the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. A matter is not holy if it does not include the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How are righteousness and holiness related? Righteousness has to do with our behavior toward people. Holiness has to do with the relationship of our thinking, speaking, and acting toward God.

Ordinarily, truly holy people will behave righteously and are people of integrity. However, God may choose someone to be holy; but while he is coming to maturity he may from time to time behave unrighteously. We see this in the case of Jacob lying to his father.

One way of looking at holiness is that there is an absence of unclean spirits. God is totally spiritually clean and wants us to purge ourselves from all spiritual filthiness of the flesh and spirit. The Holy Spirit will accomplish such purging if we will cooperate with Him.

When we are totally in God's moral image, totally free from unclean spirits, and totally at rest in the very center of His Person and will, then we will be totally holy. May God grant this for each one of us.

I think the essence of holiness is obedience to God. It is true that God may regard us as holy if we are seeking to please and obey Him, and not be behaving as yet in total obedience to Him. But in the final analysis, the person who truly is holy is the individual who is committing all of his or her ways to the Lord.

Our God is a Consuming Fire. All that does not proceed from Him cannot possibly survive His Presence. The time soon will be here when God shakes the heavens. Then all that has not been wrought in Christ, especially religious people and their works, shall be removed.

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken, that is, created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:26,27)

When the above passage mentions "created things" it is referring to the works of human thinking and ambition. None of them will survive the Divine shaking. Only that which God brought forth in Christ is holy and unshakable and shall remain in God's Presence.

As I grow older I increasingly am aware of how much Christian work and activity is coming from the good intentions of Christian organizations and people. How often do denominations cry, "Let us go forth and save the world." They are assuming that this is what God wants, because of the Great Commission.

But they do not seem to realize that the New Testament describes a covenant of the Spirit of God, and must be interpreted and obeyed only as we wait until we hear from the Lord Jesus.

Thus our well-intentioned Christian work may not be holy and may be subject to shaking and removal. God may not be authorizing it.

For years I have been making it a practice to listen carefully to what Jesus is saying. His word to me has been consistent. "It is time for God's people to listen to His Spirit as He points out to them those areas of their personality that are not holy. They are to diligently confess, denounce, and renounce these unclean areas. The Holy Spirit will help all along the way."

God is not speaking to me about going forth and trying to save the world. Is He to you? Rather He is telling me to advise His people to listen to Him and to obey Him. God has new and surprising things to show us that will survive the shaking and will enable us to stand in Christ throughout the age of moral horrors that America is entering, and to help others to stand.

Is Christ saying this to you, or is He urging you to go out and save the world?

The behavior of the leaders of our government and their supporters in the mainstream media, is difficult for some of us to understand. It appears obvious to me that our nation is being destroyed from within. So many people seem to be devoid of common sense.

I realize this is God's punishment because of our tolerance of abortion-on-demand and other abominations. We have been given minds void of judgment. So our country increasingly is being weakened. If I am not mistaken, other nations of the world are seeing this destruction and are rejoicing that the once mighty America is falling to its knees, like so many great empires of the past.

Numerous sincere Christians are humbling themselves and praying that God will restore America. May God hear them and grant their prayer, provided we do not return to the present abominable practices.

There came a time in the history of Israel when God declared that He would not spare the nation from destruction. On one occasion God told Jeremiah that the people who surrendered to the Babylonians would be spared.

My point is, we need to hear from God before we tell Him what we want Him to do. Do you agree with that, or are you willing to pray against what God has determined? If we keep praying, and keep listening, then we will be able to pray in line with God's Spirit.

"Be holy, because I am holy," says the Lord." If we would see the Lord and live in His Presence we must be holy. What does this mean? It means each day we are to bring more of our thinking, speaking, and acting into conformity to Christ's will for us. It increasingly must be true that our personality and behavior are reflecting the current Word of God to us.

"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (II Corinthians 6:17,18; 7:1)

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. (I Peter 1:15)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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