#A Call to Holiness

Well, we've been in the series suit and I've got to say

personally, I found it a real blessing and speaking to many of

you, I know it's been a blessing as well as we've gone through.

Aw toes as book together and we arrive at the Final Chapter

which is really exciting. Just in time for Easter and the

the chapter is entitled sacrament of living which is an

interesting title. It feels a bit ye oldie, doesn't

it in terms of his language? And so I've renamed it for the

purpose of today to a call to Holiness which essentially is

the same thing and we'll unpack that and look at why that's the

case. But we can look at the call to

Holiness and to do that, I'd like us to turn together to the

verse that we're going to be looking at today, which is found

in 1 Corinthians, 10 verses verse 31 and it will be on the

screen if you're a home watching this on any device.

And in the room it will be On the screen behind me as well.

But let's read this together. This is Paul Rita writing to the

church in Corinth and he says this whether you eat or drink or

whatever you do, Do it all for the glory of God.

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

And with that I'm going to pray. Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for your word, your word brings life, and

it brings freedom and your word Lord will accomplish that which

it set forth to do. And I pray this morning Lord

that you would remove any distractions.

Any burdens that we are carrying and Lord.

You would you help us by your spirit?

Not just to listen to your truth.

But make a commitment to act upon your truth today.

Lord, Lord God, this word. Is going to be a breakthrough

for so many people and I know law, the enemy is going to try

and derail many. Just come against that Spirit of

Slumber in Jesus name. Your God.

Would you just help us Lord? I pray in your name.

All right. So how is Holiness?

And this verse linked Well, let's first understand what

Holiness is, because if I'm honest, I don't think we ever

truly understand the word Holiness, or we partly

understand it. She Holiness simply means being

set apart for God. Another way to look at it.

He's been dedicated to God. And the fruit of which the fruit

of being dedicated to God being set apart for him.

The fruit of that is moral Purity or to put it another way.

Walking like Jesus. but the thing about holiness, Is that it

cannot be manufactured. What I mean by that, you can't

shortcut Holiness and go straight to the morale out,

working or fruit of it. And yet that is often how we see

and judge Holiness, for example, well, they must be really holy.

Did you see what they did? Wow, they he must be really holy

did you hear what he said? Well, I've met some really holy

people. They have done some amazing good

works. Now, that isn't the fullness of

Holiness, because Holiness isn't a Works based message.

How many does isn't about performance?

Holiness is a fruit-based, relationship rooted invitation

to a new way of living. I'm going to say that again.

Holiness is a fruit-based, relationship rooted invitation

to a new way of living. Why?

Because the root of Holiness is a life, all of our lives, every

part of our Lives rooted in and devoted to Christ, that's

holiness. And out of that place, you see

we become more like Jesus and the works come James says, you

know, works are important because they're in evidence of

our faith. It's not that our faith is based

on works. It's that a fruit of our saving

faith. In Christ is the works, but you

see we think Holiness is just the works.

Hey, I know people more quote unquote holy than me.

Oh yeah, they do amazing works, but they don't know.

Jesus is not Holiness, you know, with John Wesley who's heard of

John Wesley. Founder of the Methodist

movement, a great revivalists. Before he encountered Jesus, he

was part of thinking went to Oxford or Cambridge.

He was part of what was called the Holiness Club.

And it was a worked Bass Club and they would have a diary, no

word of a lie, and they would map out the holy work, they

would do. They would make sure they prayed

certain amount of times a day. They made sure they would fast

once a week. They made sure then visit the

prison's. They'd make sure they would do

this. That and the other and they

therefore thought that if they were to do that they would

obtain Holiness wrong. It's the other way around.

Once you commit to living a life undivided and committed, holy to

Christ, then the fruit comes. And I think one of the problems

with the way we walk, we walk our Christian Life is that we

think Holiness is about works and so we make ourselves do good

works and yet deep down we live an undivided life.

What people say whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.

How do you do all things for the glory of God?

I mean, that was my next question.

I would say the twin verse to this is Jesus.

His own words in Matthew, 22:37, and Jesus said, You shall love

the Lord. God.

With all your heart, with all your soul and with all your

mind, that is what it means to be to live a holy life.

That's what it means to be set apart for God.

That's what it means to be dedicated to God.

It means that we love the Lord God with all our heart, with all

our mind and with a while. So don't you think that pretty

much covers everything? And you know Paul hearing the

letter to the Corinthians is like listen guys, you want to

get down to the basics of it, I'm talking about what you eat

or drink that very mundane thing that you share with your dogs

and other animals that very basic thing.

You can do that for God's glory. So if you can do that for God's

glory, or you can do everything, And you see what toes are is

doing. As he ends this book on a

pursuing, God is his, he's throwing down the challenge to

say. If you want to pursue God,

you've got to do it in an undivided manner.

There can be no secular and sacred so-called secular and

sacred divide which is what the message of this chapter is.

Let me just read some other scriptures that we very very

common to us. What I mean by other ones that

have we say very frequently, Romans 12:1, I appeal to you,

Romans 12:1

brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your

bodies, as a Living Sacrifice. What does that mean?

It's a call to holiness. Holy and acceptable to God.

There it is. You see?

Which is your spiritual worship. What about John 14?

15 to 24. I'm going to look at this and

put together different parts of this passage.

If you love me, keep my Commandments.

That's what it means to be. Holy, it means about keeping

God's Commandments, he who has my Commandments and keeps them.

It is he who loves me? Don't come to me and tell me you

love God and break his rules. But I love God.

I love Jesus so much. But I'll just do half the stuff.

He tells me, I'm Sorry by Jesus his own words, you don't love

him or Mark, you're really going for the jugular today, just feel

it, you know. I feel like at the end of this

series we're just going to get rid of all the niceties and just

say it as it is here all over that, you can still like me

afterwards. Wine, if you don't.

What else? If anyone loves me?

He will keep my words. What you mean this?

Yes, all of it, but I thought we could pick the B.

We like, apparently not. Apparently this is all this and

if you don't believe this is God's word then well that's

another conversation. But if you believe this is God's

word, then you've got to believe that you got to do all of it.

There's a, if you've got your car manual, you don't go.

Oh, I believe the bit about putting Petrol in but my engine

does not need oil. You can try it and what's going

to happen? Your engine's going to break and

we have lots of broken people because we look at the word as

he. Well, I'll pick that because I

agree with it but culture doesn't agree with that bit.

So I'm not going to agree with that and we wonder why we got

Brokenness everywhere. Mmm.

Oh man, I did not know I was doing one of these days.

Hmm. Jesus like carrion and my father

will love him and we will come to him and make our home with

him. So are you linking that Jesus

with the fact that wow, are you saying that you'll come to

those? You'll make our home with us.

If we love you and keep your commands.

That's what he's saying. I mean, I'm not making this

stuff up. So what we talked about pursuing

God is got to be all in or nothing.

I think that's the point I was trying to make But here is where

we have a massive disconnect. In the owl can of our faith.

And let's take a step back for a moment and look at it from

another angle as Christians. We have some internal tensions.

Let's be completely Frank about this.

Now I'm not talking about the city and not sinning.

That's an obvious one. I'm talking about other tensions

like Do I carry on praying for something?

Because if I carry on praying, does that mean I don't have

faith for the first time I prayed anyone else thing like

that and I do, do I hear God's voice was at me?

What about this? One if God's heals why isn't

healing? Now these are some valid

tensions that we feel right as Christians and there's many

more, besides isn't it? But this is what toes are says.

One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace, which the

Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing.

Our Lives into two areas, the sacred, and the secular.

The one area we believe our lives to be holy, we pray,

that's holy, we come to church. That's holy, we read our Bible.

That's holy, I'm being really good to someone at the moment.

I'm clearly being wholly. I'm giving my tires.

Therefore, I'm hopefully, and then we have our so-called

Unholy live swell. I'm walking the dog that's not

very holy really, let's be honest, I'm shouting at my kids,

that's not very holy, you know, I'm making my dinner, that's not

wholly. You see my point here.

And we fall into this trap of saying that stuff is really only

and God loves that and this stuff is really Unholy and we

call it the sacred and secular divide.

And the problem with this is if we live like this we will often

times till I Jekyll and Hyde who has had that you know for your

hands up. I have had that struggle before

feeling like a Jekyll and Hyde. I-i've had someone say to me,

long, long time ago, and you call yourself a Christian And it

was in that moment that by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit

over my eyes and go. You know what I think I've got

something there because I feel like I'm a Christian on a Sunday

and on Monday, I'm not Sunday's my holy day and Monday's my

terrible day. But we're not cool to live like

this, it was never intended to be the case that we would look

at our life through the lenses of sacred and secular everything

is sacred and no better person to look at the model of this and

Jesus. I'm going to quote Tozer again.

The Lord Jesus Christ himself is our perfect example and he knows

no divided life in the presence of his father he lived on earth

without strain. I don't want strain from boy

babyhood to his death on the cross.

God accepted the offering of his total life and made no

distinction between an act and another Act.

I do always the things that pleases him was Jesus is brief

summary of his own life, as he related to the father.

I do all things to please. My father.

As he moved among men, he was poised and restful.

That's true, isn't it? You think about Jesus, he never

rushed anywhere, but yeah, he did so much.

Why? Because he was restful that he

did all things for God. What pressure and suffering?

He endured grew out of his position as the world's sin

Bearer. They were never the result of

moral uncertainty, or spiritual maladjustment.

I find this fascinating. It's true.

When you reflect Jesus did not live as sacred and secular life,

and yet he was fully human like we are Fully human and yet fully

God. And yet he didn't live a sacred

secular divide. Whether you eat or drink or

whatever you do, do all for the glory of God, it might sound

like an impossible task. One, which is suited maybe to

monks and nuns a bit. They have it easy, don't lie.

Don't you think like, I think some time to like, Lord please.

I just want to escape. I want to live in a monastery.

It will be so much easier to just wake up prayers and go to

bed, praying. I mean, I'm sure it's not that

easy but I wouldn't have to juggle this so-called secular

and sacred divide that I somehow seem to have a tension with And

you know, in case we don't think it's the everyday.

I mean goodness sake, eating and drinking.

Now, I want to take a step back. Come with me into my time

machine. Back to Israel.

And I want to try look at this from another angle.

I feel like part of the talk today is about taking a few

different threads and trying to weave something that it makes

sense to us. But let's go back to Israel.

When they were in Egypt, they were in slavery in bondage.

And we know that by the hand of Moses, by God's power, they came

out of Egypt, correct? If they were surrounded by

idolatry and other gods won't lie.

But the time came they came out and they were heading for the

land of promise. But there was a problem Tozer

points out. The problem was the very idea of

Holiness that God is set apart, but they are called to live a

life of Holiness was lost on them.

And so to create this, God began at the bottom.

And God wanted to teach Israel, the difference between holy and

Unholy. And so, what did God do?

He localized himself in the cloud and fire?

First? That was a holy place.

And later, when the Tabernacle was built, he dwelt in the holy

of holies. And when he met Moses on the

mountain that was a holy place. There were holy days.

Holy vessels. Holy garments and conversely.

There were days that were not. There were Washington's.

There were sacrifices, there was offerings of many kinds now.

What was the point of this? it was so that Israel learned,

the God is Holy It was that that he was teaching them.

It wasn't the Holiness of the place or the things.

But the Holiness of Jehovah was a lesson, they had to learn that

he was set apart for them bats. What happened then?

Then fast forward to the great day of of Jesus.

When he arrived immediately began to say, you have heard his

said by them of old. But I now say unto you, in other

words, the Old Testament School in had finished God came to

fulfill, the law didn't come to abolish that but there was now a

new message. And when Christ died on the

cross, what do we know that happened?

The veil of the temple was torn in two.

Right from top to bottom. So, what's happening here?

The holy of holies was opened up to everyone who would enter by

face, Why is this Jesus said this in John 4:23 but the hour

John 4:23

is coming. And is now here when the true

worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth,

for the father, is seeking such people to worship him.

No more. Then we need to go to the

temple. No more.

Did we need to go to the holy place?

No more! Do we need to go to Jerusalem to

worship the father? No more.

It was there a divide between the holy and the the holy

because we are now made holy and set apart by God because of the

shed blood of Jesus, The Divide went Do you see what's happening

in the Arc of redemption here in that meta-narrative of this

biblical story of rescue? The holy Unholy divided was

there, but when Christ came, there was no more a divided

because those who believe in the shed blood of Jesus and now make

holy because we've been washed with that very blood.

That is great news. That is why the so-called

secular is sacred because we are made.

Holy be holy for, I am Holy, we walk in that holiness.

You have been made clean so that you can enter the very presence

of God. There was now no more

distinction between secular and sacred, all things are sacred

and then Paul went and built on this.

And toes are says he took up the Cry of Liberty and declared all

meat clean. And then he said every day is

holy or places are sacred and Every Act is acceptable to god.

Wow this New Covenant is amazing.

The sacredness of times and places toes are said a half

light necessary to the education of a race to point us to the

need of Jesus. Now has passed away before the

full sun of spiritual worship, that is what it means for us to

worship. The father, it means that we can

have an undivided life because we have been made Holy by

Christ's blood. But over time, do you know what

happened? The church decided to go and add

all the New stuff back in. The natural legality of men's

Fallen Hearts. When we looked at this last week

with the burdens that that Greek word for burden was all those

rules and regulations which are not of God, the church decided

to Pilot back on again. Certain places were chosen and

marked as holy certain days, were observed as more holy than

others. The sacraments were installed.

There was first to then there was three then four until and I

quote toes are here and I do so in a spirit of Charity, the

Triumph of romanism, was they fixed it at seven?

Why do you think there was a Protestant Reformation?

Because we had lost that it was by Christ Alone, it was all done

on the cross the church. It added it all back in again.

But hold on a minute. We've come out of Egypt.

No. It's that fair pharisaical,

spirit. That is bundled in legalism and

it will already does is propels that notion of sacred and

secular and I don't think the charismatic churches help too

much. In some ways.

What? You can't say that we're a

charismatic church. I know.

But the danger we have of the holy man of God of the front is

that we make that really holy and we want to be like the man

of God at the front of the church.

And one of the things about Vineyard and many other parts of

the charismatic movement, don't get me wrong, is everyone gets

to play? It's not about a special holy

stage and holy thing and a holy man or woman.

It's about that. We are all made, Holy by Christ,

sacrificial Blood on the cross and we can all walk in the gifts

of the Spirit. And we are all anointed for such

a time as this to declare the good news of Jesus.

There is no more a secular and sacred divide.

And yet there is something in our hearts, the Fallen part of

our heart that wishes to reinstall it.

Because it's very comfortable for us.

I can prove this as soon as you walk in this building, you're

not going to swear. Are you?

But it's easy to do at your house.

Isn't that fair point? You're unlikely to look at stuff

on your mobile when you on your own in here, things you

shouldn't, because while I'm in church and yet somehow we think

God doesn't exist that you're home.

You see the sacred secular divide is something that we lean

to because it gives us an excuse to have an undivided life

because deep down we want to justify our sin and so the

secular sacred divide allows us to do that.

It's okay. This place isn't wholly.

It's okay. It's not Sunday, it's Tuesday.

I hope you get the point and I'm only explaining to you, the

things that I feel the Lord is saying to me and challenging me

on. But if Paul is saying, even when

you eat that is, Holy There's something that we're missing and

I think to add another stream of a thread to this.

We have a problem. We squash together, holy and

valuable, Let me Give an example.

We rightly think that leading someone to Christ is more

valuable than having a glass of water.

I think that's true. But that doesn't mean that

leading someone to Christ is more holy than drinking a glass

of water. That's the point here.

All can be done for the glory and honor of God.

Thank you, Lord, for this water. Bless you for the freedom that I

have. That's just as holy as praying

with someone to receive Christ. But you see because we squash

and we conflate valuable and holy we created divided in how

we look at things. I wish I could work for the

church, that's really valuable know.

What's what's really valuable and holy is walking in the corn

in the God's place on your life. But we think that the holy thing

is to do the full time. Ministry thing, that's not more

holy than going and getting on the bus and go into your work or

go in and standing outside the school gates for your kids.

That's just as holy I'm going to end as I invite the band up with

this statement from toza and I realize I've quite a lot of

Tozer, but hey, we are being used in his book.

And I feel like this is a summary of 10 weeks worth of

teaching on pursuing God and I feel like that this summary is

the challenge that we need to answer deep in our hearts as to

whether we're going to pursue God.

Because if we can't sign up to this statement and we're not

ready to pursue God yet, Those who pursue God and his

righteousness, who takes seriously.

The command to love him above all else, is that you Are those

who are consumed with the things of God?

They are eager to study, God's word, eager to pray, eager to

obey and honor, God in all things and eager to share Jesus

Christ with others. It is through these spiritual

disciplines the love. For God, grows and matures to

the glory of God. Now, I'm not saying that any of

that is easy because life is tough.

I'm not saying we wake up with a skip in our step, saying today's

gonna be an amazing day as I do. All these things.

What I'm saying is it's about a choice.

We made to say, Lord, I might not even feel like that every

day, but I want to be like that every day.

It's about Sinai recognized Lord that you have called me to offer

my whole selves as a Living, Sacrifice on the altar.

I recognize Lord that you have said, Jesus.

Your own words were pick up your cross and follow me.

That means I need to die to the Flesh.

And the and the things that I want to do this, and I

recognize, this is a hard word, but it is through this word.

And as we say, yes to Jesus that we walk in a new level of

freedom and victory in our lives.

So how do we respond to this? I want to go back to 2

2 Chronicles 7:14

Chronicles 7:14. Which is a verse that I use near

the start of this series. It says this, my people who are

called by, my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek,

and they seek my face and turn from their Wicked Ways.

Then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and

will heal their land. But it is through repentance.

We confess our sins as we get right with God and pursue his

presence. The we experience him and but

pursue him. Like us all to stand as I pray.

Like us all to stand as I pray.