Following and Resurrection Holiness

Maybe you can hear me now. There we go. I'm plugged in.

This movie came out in 1998 called The Holy Man, starred one of, I was going to say favorite.

He's not really. I do kind of like him.

An actor called Eddie Murphy, and as a modern day holy man who helped people.

And the only problem with this movie is that Eddie Murphy is usually a really fun, charismatic, excitable person.

But this movie robbed him of all of that and just made him boring.

Now what do you picture when you think of a holy person?

Is it the Eddie Murphy type who is somehow separated from real life?

Maybe you imagine Gandhi as the holy man. He's wearing robes.

He's withdrawn from life.

Maybe it's boring.

And maybe for us it's unattainable.

You know, that holy man living is not for us.

Maybe you've met a person who's got a holier-than-thou attitude.

You know, the person who looks down their nose on everybody else.

They seem to hold the moral high ground.

You know, we tend to pull back from people like this because they seem to like the sound of their own voice

and they don't see their own problems.

From an Eastern perspective, it might actually be the Confucian nobleman.

One, a person who has gone on a journey of enlightenment.

Who acts in proper conduct in public and to their family.

They're respectful to parents and they're superior.

And they're a person of great learning.

Now these are all different views of holy people.

And they can seem very distant from regular folk.

And being holy can seem very far away.

The Bible says that God calls us to be like Him.

To be holy.

To be like Jesus.

But pursuing holiness can seem like just something that is not for us.

I'm sure you know the feeling that you have when you get stuck in a cycle of sin.

You do the wrong thing.

You feel guilty.

You get convicted.

And so you try harder.

And you sin again.

And you feel guilty.

And you try harder.

And eventually you just give up because it's all too hard.

And so even the thought of pursuing some kind of view of holiness can feel very distant and far away.

And something for other people.

That's something for people who've chosen to put on robes.

To choose to live a life of that.

They're going to pursue that.

And that is for other people.

We are in the very middle of our vision series.

A series where we want to see what God is doing in us and through us.

And see what God is going to be doing in and through us over the next five years.

And we've been seeing who God is making us to be as disciples.

To be people who are following Jesus.

In the first week we saw that God has given us the resource of his word and prayer so we can be in relationship.

He's given us the Holy Spirit.

And last week we saw the value of church.

Brothers and sisters in arms following Jesus together.

And I must say it's been wonderful singing with you brothers and sisters today already.

Today we begin to see what followers of Jesus look like.

The characteristics of disciples.

Today we're going to see that a Christian is holy.

And we're going to seek to understand what it means to be holy.

Why we should be holy and how.

Now holiness is not just about the clothes we wear.

Whether it's robes.

Or whether we spout wisdom.

But holiness is a gift that we have now.

That we can pursue.

And the challenge for us today will be to see how God wants each of us to be pursuing holiness.

So as we jump into God's word and to see what he has to say for us today let me pray for us.

Dear Heavenly Father we thank you so much for who you are and for who you are making us to be.

Lord thinking about holiness can feel very far away.

Help us as we consider your plans for us today.

Amen.

Amen.

So please have your Bibles open.

We're going to jump around a couple of different parts of the Bible.

Have your phones out.

They're nice and fast as well.

And we're going to be spending a little bit of time in Colossians 3 later.

But we're going to be jumping around.

Now if you don't have a Bible and would like one.

We would love you to have one.

There are Bibles on the sides.

Brown Bibles.

Take those.

Write your name in that.

Bring that back next week so you can highlight and underline things.

In Isaiah chapter 6 verse 3 it describes who our God is.

Isaiah 6:3

It says holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

That description of holy is used three times.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

When a description is used three times it is an over the top description.

It's to express that something is phenomenally over the top.

And so God is holy, holy, holy.

God is holy and we are not.

And this is the central divide between us and him.

The word holy has a concept of being separate.

And so God is separate from us.

He is always good and perfect and just.

Yet we are not.

We are not good and we are not perfect and we are not just.

God is only good and because we are not, we can't even stand in his presence.

Because he is so good and we are so sinful.

And so in the Old Testament, when the high priest would enter into the temple and enter into a place called the Holy of Holies.

Which the high priest could only do once a year.

It was the place where God himself dwelt.

And so when the high priest entered into this place, he had to carry in an offering for his sin.

He had to carry in blood for himself and for the nation.

Otherwise he would be struck down because he was in the presence of a holy God.

God is so good and just that sinful man cannot even stand before him.

And so when Jesus comes, he is the holy God in flesh.

He comes so God would work out his plan to deal with this separation problem.

So that we would be like he is.

So that we would be holy.

In Leviticus it says, be holy like I am holy.

And Jesus calls us to do the same thing in Matthew 5.

Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

And so God calls us to be like him.

He calls us to be perfect.

He calls us to be holy.

But the wonderful truth is, he has already made us holy.

In Colossians 3, 12 it says,

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved.

God has chosen us and he has already made us holy.

He is making us holy, but he has already made us holy.

He has made us holy.

He has made us holy.

He has made us holy.

He has made us holy.

He has set us apart as his church.

And we are special to God.

This is a concept that always blows my mind.

That we, for some reason, are special to God.

He dearly loves us.

And he has made us holy.

And he does this in two ways.

The first is the work of justification.

Because of the death of Jesus in our place, we can stand before God.

When he looks at us now, he sees that we have been made clean by Jesus' blood.

Made pure and holy now.

So that's the first work.

God sees us pure because of the work of Jesus.

And that's called justification.

The second work I'd like to call holification.

But that's not a word.

So we'll go with the official word, which is sanctification.

It is the process of being made holy.

And so in 1 Thessalonians 4, it says that it is God's will that you would be sanctified.

It is this process of day by day making us like his son.

Shaping us in the image of Jesus.

So justification is God declaring that a sinner is righteous.

You are righteous because of the work of Jesus.

Sanctification is God's process of transforming a believer to be who they already are.

In mind, in will, in behavior, in affections, in loves.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit.

God's plan is to make us holy.

And he does that through justifying us and through the process of sanctifying us.

He is making us who we already are.

Now, if you don't know this, Jesus, this is really wonderful news.

Because this is not something that we do.

This is something that is done for us.

And that's something we get to do with God.

He justifies us.

And he is sanctifying us.

And we get to be part of that.

And so if you don't know this, Jesus, this is really wonderful news.

So Christians are holy but are also being made holy.

Holiness is being one mind with God.

Loving what he loves.

Hating what he hates.

Working to put off sin and to put on love of God and obedience of his commands.

It is giving sacrificially instead of hoarding for ourselves.

It is of humility.

Lowliness of mind.

Thinking others are better than ourselves.

I became a Christian about 20 years ago.

And when I first became a Christian, there was so much excitement.

I still remember the moment when I went and told my dad that I had become a Christian.

And I wanted with all of my energy, with all of my zeal, to live for God.

I wanted to obey him.

I wanted to act like Jesus.

I used to wear one of those what would Jesus do bracelets.

Does anybody remember those?

Yeah.

All of the people nodding are of similar vintage to me.

That's wonderful.

I would wear one of those.

WWJD.

What would Jesus do?

To remind me, what would Jesus do in this situation?

It was a Christian.

But over time, the call to pursue holiness feels like it turned from joy to drudgery.

Following God's command started to feel like a burden instead of a blessing.

Sometimes it started to feel like I've got a stark choice before me.

Do I obey God's command to pursue holiness?

Or do I choose my own happiness in this moment?

Do I do the thing that I think will make me happy?

Or do I do what God says, and I know that it will bring me happiness?

But do you know what?

I want to choose the thing that will give me the short-term happiness.

Sin feels like such a part of me, and I don't necessarily want to get rid of it.

I just want to make my life easier to deal with.

There's a quote from Charles Spurgeon.

He said that many are troubled because the gospel interferes with their sin.

And so as a Christian, I went through this journey of feeling burdened by obeying God.

God makes us holy.

He calls us to pursue holiness throughout our life, to be holy like he is.

But the challenge of our heart, of my heart, to pursue God and a life like Jesus' can feel burdened.

It can feel impossible.

Maybe we see those stereotypes of a holy person and think, I don't want to be like that person.

They're so separated from life.

Or even I can't be like that person.

I don't have the time to devote to that kind of pursuit of holiness.

The hole in our holiness is that we just don't care about it.

In the Christian world, I don't see too many people doing passionate calls to be holy.

We talk about sin, stop sinning, do these good things instead.

But holiness is not just about doing good things.

It's not being a better person.

It's about becoming God's version, God's person.

And so we can see this picture of God calling us to be holy.

But why?

Why should we pursue holiness?

This is the, I'm going to put it out there that pursuing holiness is God's plan for us for human flourishing.

Holiness is God's plan for us.

Now, I'm a pretty bad handyman when it comes to doing things around the house.

And if I need to go and get a screwdriver and I'm already in the kitchen,

can you guess what tool I'm going to use instead?

Instead, it's going to be a knife because it's pretty similar, right?

And I'll just get a knife from the drawer and make do.

But when I go to the effort of getting the tool that was designed for the task,

it just sings.

It's just like the screwdriver just drives that screw home so effortlessly

compared to stabbing at it with a knife and trying to get it.

But the reality is I end up blunting the knife.

And the screw was ruined.

We blunt ourselves pursuing the wrong things and living the wrong way.

Pursuing holiness is how God has made us to be, to be like him.

It is being who we are and who we are made to be.

We were damaged in the Garden of Eden, restored in the resurrection of Jesus.

And God has made us like Jesus and caused us to pursue being like him.

And it can feel like a burden.

In Leviticus chapter 9, God's people have come out of Egypt.

Leviticus 9 · chapter mention

God has saved them.

And all of God's people are gathered to praise God.

It says in chapter 9, verse 23,

Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting.

When they came out, they blessed the people.

And the glory of the Lord appeared to all of the people.

Fire came out from the presence of the Lord

and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar.

And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down.

God's people have been saved.

And God has appeared in their midst.

He has accepted their sin offering.

Their sin has been taken away.

And they respond to God with joy.

Absolute joy.

Similarly, as Kel read for us in John,

when Jesus' disciples are locked up because Jesus has been killed,

they are fearful of the Jews coming to kill them as well.

Jesus appears to them, resurrected.

They see him and they respond with joy.

We seem to have to choose between the impossible, undesirable, boring pursuit of being holy

and happiness through depravity and chasing our own sin.

This is a lie.

If we believe the lie that says pursuing holiness means there is no happiness,

it's going to be an uphill battle.

The life of a Christian is going to be hard

because being made like Jesus is going to feel hard for us.

And there's going to be no amount of self-control

that can keep us from seeking happiness.

What's going to happen is we're going to fail.

We'll beat ourselves up.

We'll try harder.

We'll do things that we've been encouraging.

We'll try to read the Bible four or more times a week.

Do that anyway.

But when we fail, it's going to feel worse.

We'll have good accountability.

We'll walk closely with other Christians.

And we'll fail.

And we'll fall.

And we can become despondent, depressed.

Because often we are just using the lever of self-control.

Self-control is not the way we pursue holiness long-term.

It might work in the short-term.

If I'm trying to particularly change a sinful behavior,

holiness might work in the short-term.

But pursuing holiness and using the lever of self-control,

choosing to not do things, choosing not to be happy.

Maybe I'm going to separate myself from life.

I'm going to go and be that monastic monk.

And I'm going to live in a cave.

Then I can be like Jesus.

And then I can get rid of my sin.

That is not a path to pursuing holiness long-term.

It doesn't work.

Satan tries to rig the game by convincing us

that pursuing holiness, pursuing being like Christ,

Christ makes dull and boring Christians.

Pursuing holiness in life is not about saying no to things.

It's about saying yes to something that is better.

Pursuing holiness for us is a reorientation of our loves.

If you've ever tried to change what you eat

or read about dieting, it's the same kind of concept.

It's really hard to say no to all of the delicious foods

that you love and are unhealthy.

And for me, this is really hard because I've got a sweet tooth

and a savory tooth.

And is butter another type of tooth?

Is that another thing?

Carbs?

Like I've got all of the teeth.

All of the types of food teeth.

I've got them all.

I love them all.

But it doesn't work to just say no to the things

that you want to pursue.

From what I've read, a diet is much more likely to work

if you say no to some things but also say yes,

have a clear yes.

I'm going to eat these things instead.

Pursuing holiness is similar.

It's not just about saying no to sin

and saying no to the things, the parts of us

that are sinful and that we think will make us happy.

It's not just about saying no to those things.

We must say yes to the true happiness that God has for us.

So our mouths might be tempted to spread gossip,

to feel important and valued.

We have to say no to that.

But we also have to say yes to reminding ourselves

that we are valued by someone greater.

We are valued by God himself.

We need to say no to lies that protect ourselves for a moment

and say yes to loving people with truthful words.

Does retail therapy bring a measure of happiness?

Say no to a temporary happiness that leaves us feeling flat

and yes to pursuing a God

who has given us every blessing in Jesus.

Lust and chasing someone for a couple of extra seconds

as they walk past as a little taste of happiness.

Say no to that little taste

and yes to pursuing a God who has made our bodies

and he has made beauty

and honor him with our whole body.

Pursuing holiness doesn't mean ignoring joy and happiness

but following the God who made joy and happiness

because we've been created to treasure Jesus

with our hearts

and to see the blessings that God has given us.

Lust is the love of beauty

and desire for sexual intimacy in the wrong place.

Impatience is the love of order and timeliness

over people.

Consumerism is the love of the created thing over the creator.

Gossip and slander are the love of self

over the love of other people.

And so we have an option.

Do we say no to the things

that will give us a temporary sinful burst of happiness

or do we say yes to the God

who offers us a greater happiness?

Over the last week,

I've been thinking about my own pursuit of holiness.

One of my challenges

is my desire for control.

And I get frustrated and impatient

when people don't do what I want them to do.

Particularly my kids.

I get frustrated when they don't do what I expect them to do.

And so happiness in this concept is very sinful.

Do what I want.

But true happiness for me

is to remember that I am not in control.

That there is a God

who is in control of all things.

And for him,

I definitely take too long

to do what he wants me to do.

And yet he is quick to patience

and quick to forgive.

And I am slow to patience

and slow to forgive.

And so for me,

the path to holiness that I am pursuing

is to acknowledge that God is in control.

And it's not just saying to myself,

oh, you know,

these kids are doing the wrong thing

and I need to go harder at them.

No, no, no.

It is saying yes

to a greater love for my kids.

Knowing who God has,

what God has done for me

and who he is making me to be.

Lastly today,

how do we pursue this holiness?

God has justified us.

He has made us holy

and he is making us holy.

He is sanctifying us.

And so Paul in Colossians 3,

which was read for us,

has two lists.

Things to say no to

and things to say yes to.

Things to put off

and things to put on.

Just another reminder,

we pursue holiness

because God has already made us holy.

So have a look at Colossians 3,

Colossians 3:5

verse 5.

There's one of these lists for us.

Put to death,

therefore,

whatever belongs to your earthly nature,

sexual immorality,

impurity,

lust,

evil desires,

and greed,

which is idolatry.

Put them to death.

Don't allow them to continue.

The list continues in verse 8.

But now you must also

read yourself

of all such things as these.

Anger,

rage,

malice,

slander,

filthy language from your lips.

Kill them dead.

I've been trying to put to death

the clover in my front yard

for a couple of years now.

It requires persistence,

hard work,

and if I slack off,

it comes back very quickly

and aggressively.

Sin is much more deeply rooted

in my heart

and your hearts

than any plant.

And we're called

not to just prune it,

but to make it look acceptable

to people

so that we can survive

doing what we want to do.

But we are called

to kill our sin.

And to do this,

I really appreciate

John Piper.

He has a really helpful acrostic

to help us kill our sin dead.

So imagine for me

a sin you've been struggling with.

I've got a whole list of mine.

Have a look at that list

in Colossians 3.

Pick a sin

that you're struggling with.

If you can't think of one,

ask the person sitting next to you,

what's a sin I need to work on?

And as you picture that,

John Piper has a helpful

acronym for us.

It is ANTHEM.

Anthem.

A-N-T-H-E-M.

First of all,

avoid.

Don't put yourself

in a situation

that will encourage you to sin.

Secondly,

say no.

Say no in the first five seconds.

I know when I'm faced

with a temptation,

whether it's to sin

or to eat a donut,

if I dwell on it longer,

I am more likely to do it.

Say no in the first five seconds.

Turn.

Turn away

from the sinful,

fallen thing

and turn to what God's plan

is for you

in that moment.

Turn away

from the no

to the yes

of God's purpose

for true happiness.

H,

hold.

Just hold

on to that yes

for a moment

and then enjoy

God's promises.

Finally,

move.

Actually,

move away.

Do something else.

Put a song on.

Praise God.

Pray.

Do something to move.

And so,

for me,

my sin of frustration

which comes out

of my kids,

well,

first of all,

I can't avoid them.

That one's a bit hard.

But I can do

the right thing

to be more patient

in the moment.

So,

for me,

that means going to bed

earlier than the night before.

To be a dad

who slept well.

And then,

in those first five seconds

when there's a moment

of, you know,

the kids being kids

and I feel my frustrations

boiling up like a kettle,

I say no to that.

And not just clamp the lid on

and so the kettle

will burst later

at the dog

or at my wife

or whatever it is.

Instead of just putting

that frustration

to one side,

turn and put on patience.

Remind myself

of how patient

God has been

in my frustration.

Put on

true happiness

in that moment.

Turn.

For me,

that turn

looks like

changing my tone

of voice.

And hold

onto that.

This happened to me

the other day.

And in the moment

of frustration,

I,

this,

this word came to mind.

I turned

from the frustration.

I held

onto it.

And in that moment,

I realized,

oh God,

you are so good.

And I just had

a very brief moment

of praising God

because he had given me

patience and love

where moments before

I was frustrated

and frustration

and anger

was about to boil

out of me.

Enjoy that moment.

Thanks be to God

for his love

and patience for me.

And then get moving.

Change that situation.

Praise God.

I think anthem

is a very helpful

reminder

and a helpful

practice for us

to put on

holiness

in the moment.

To not put on

sin,

but to put on

holiness.

Because verse 12

reminds us of

Colossians 3

that we are already

dearly loved.

This is who we are

to be.

And it's the motivation

for putting on

these things.

So first,

from Colossians 3

chapter 12,

these are the yeses.

Clothe yourselves

with compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness,

and patience.

Bear with each other

and forgive one another

if any of you

has a grievance

against someone.

Forgive as the Lord

forgave you.

And over all these

virtues,

put on love,

which binds them

all together

in perfect unity.

That acronym

anthem is really

helpful in a moment

of temptation

to help us

to put off

and to put

on

these things

which Paul

has said,

God's plan

for us

for true

happiness.

Kevin DeYoung

is a pastor

and author

from the US

and he has

a wonderful

process of

working through

holiness

for his whole

self.

He also has

seven children,

so I want to

listen to what

this guy

has to say.

When he does

this,

he regularly

brings himself

before God

and he's

got a practice

of checking

where his

holiness is at.

He works

through his

whole body.

And so he

starts with

his mind.

Is it filled

with the knowledge

of God

or am I

filling my

mind with

other things?

His eyes,

our eyes,

do our eyes

turn away

from lust

and evil acts?

Do they turn

away from bullying

or are they

dragged towards

them?

Our mouths,

do our mouths

speak out of love

or out of

slander and

gossip?

Our souls,

are they resting

and trusting

in God

or are they

full of

anxiety?

Our shoulders,

are they

burdened with

the world

or are they

living each

day knowing

that God

is in

control?

Our hearts,

are they

joyfully

treasuring

Jesus or

are they

full of

pride and

envy?

Our sexual

organs,

are they

pure and

reserved for

marriage

between a

man and

a woman?

Our hands,

are they

quick to

help and

quick to

fold in

prayer?

And our

feet,

do our

feet quickly

move towards

people in

love or

are they

moving towards

people in

senseless

conflict?

This body,

again,

two practices,

use anthem

in the

moment to

put on

love and

patience and

forgiveness

and the

concept of

thinking about

ourselves as

a whole

person.

Work through

yourself to

bring yourself

before God,

to ask him,

God, how do I

need to be

pursuing holiness

today?

The reason we

exist as a

church is to

be treasuring our

Jesus together

for God's glory

and the joy of

all people.

We treasure

Jesus.

He's the

ultimate treasure

and he shows

us how to

have a life

that is full

of joy.

Pursuing

holiness and

treasuring Jesus

is the key to

who we want to

be as a

church, who

we want to be

becoming over

the next five

years.

In your

follow 25

booklets, if

you don't have

one of these,

if you had one

and don't know

where it is,

grab another

one there on

the table

outside.

In the

center of

this is the

key to who

we want to

be as a

church, right

here, which

says that we

want to see

65% of our

church identifying

much growth in

faith.

The vast

majority, 65%

of us, growing

much in faith

through the work

of this church.

Growing in

faith and

holiness are

inextricably

linked.

Faith is

trusting in

God's plan for

us and

pursuing holiness

holiness is

trusting that

God has a

plan for

us, that

he knows

better for

our lives

than what

I choose.

Because that's

all holiness

is.

Doing what

God has set

out for me

because it is

the best

thing.

Pursuing

holiness and

God's design

is a big

step of

faith.

When we do

that, our

faith and our

trust in God

will grow

moment by

moment, day

by day.

Pursuing

holiness is

something that

each of us

can do

because God

has already

made us

holy.

And we

should do it

because it is

the way we

can have

greatest

happiness.

It is the

way that God

has designed

us as his

people.

Let me

pray.

Amen.

Heavenly

Father, I

thank you so

much for how

much you

love us.

That not

only have

you made

us holy

through the

blood of

Jesus, but

you are

making us

holy.

You are

making us

like you

bit by

bit and

day by

day.

Lord,

pursuing

holiness can

feel hard

and distant.

Lord,

remind us

of its

goodness.

Thank you

for practical

helps to do

it.

But Lord,

this week,

as we

head out

into weeks

full of

busyness,

challenges at

work and

challenges at

home, kids,

colleagues, all

of these things,

Lord, a life

that is full of

problems before

us.

Help us to

put off sin

and to put on

love for

others and

love for you

as you have

designed us,

Lord.

We ask this in

Jesus' name and

all for your

glory.

Amen.