The Benefits of Holiness

This is Ronald Hopkins, and thank you for joining the Life Center Church.

You all came ready this morning.

Before you all are seated.

Why don't you look at somebody and say, man, you look good today?

Yeah.

I'm good.

I'll just use it.

This is time to put that on.

I know, but you won't be able to see this anymore.

All right.

Well, praise the Lord.

Good to see you all this morning.

Um, you all remember at the end of 2020 last year.

And then at the beginning of 2026, I mentioned to you all and told you all that as I got before the Lord, he gave me some specific things for you for 2026 because he wanted your life to look a certain way.

And this is one of these messages that you don't hear, and this will be a series.

Uh you won't hear this a lot, but it's necessary in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Necessary.

If you're a first-time visitor, we want to welcome you to our services today.

Um, we're honored that you came to spend some time with us.

We believe that your life will never be the same.

On the screen, there's a QR code.

Just take a moment, scan that.

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We just really want to follow up just to thank you for coming and being with us on Sunday.

I'm gonna talk about this next month the benefits of holiness.

Don't miss it, don't misday.

There are benefits.

And one of the most important subjects that's neglected in the body of Christ is telling the body of Christ what would happen when we leave this earth.

Many of God's people don't understand.

That's why there's the fear of dying.

Right now, this is just the appetizer.

We will live forever in eternity with God forever.

But how you live with God is based on what you do for him while you're in the earth.

Remember, Jesus says, I must be about my father's business, and Jesus was reminded of the rewards that God would give him when he finished his assignment, but also how he lived his life.

So it is important how you live.

Because not only are the angels watching you, so are the fallen angels.

So you and I will get rewarded based on not salvation because Jesus paid the price for us.

He did all our hard work.

You will get rewarded from God based off of how you live your life while you are in this earth.

So it is important to watch what you say.

It is important to mind your mind and your own business.

So we're gonna talk about these benefits of holiness, and as we go throughout this series, we're gonna talk about the dangers of sin and the ramifications of sin and what it does, and how it gets you trapped, and how we've opened up the door to demonic influences in our lives, and they're manipulating our lives and our emotions and our money and our family, all because we chose not to live a holy life.

Now, let's get into this first Peter chapter one.

Verse number 15 it says, but now you must.

So this is really not a suggestion.

This is really a commandment that many of God's people are living in total disobedience.

He says, Now, well, what do you mean now?

If you go back and you read it, it talks about after you accepted Jesus as your Lord, Master, and Savior.

Am I talking to the right crowd today?

So after you have accepted Jesus, no matter if you did it 20 years ago, if you did it last month, if you did it last year, no matter when you did it, he says, now you must.

It didn't say in some things.

You must be holy in everything.

What you watch on TV, the folks you hang around, what you listen to, where you go.

He says you must be holy in everything.

There was nothing that was left out.

So everything that you are participating in, there's a commandment to be holy, to live a certain lifestyle, just as God, who chose you, is holy.

So it tells us if we're gonna be like God, then you've got to be holy.

Because that is the nature and the character of God.

For the scriptures say, you must be holy because I am holy.

Now, many people have a desire for more power.

Many people have a desire to have a much more effective prayer life.

The only way you're gonna be more powerful in the things of God.

The only way that you will walk in greater levels of authority, greater power when you pray.

There's only one way to get there.

You gotta be holy.

You have to be holy.

God is not going to give you more of him when you haven't died of yourself.

So let's talk about holiness and what is it?

Number one is to be set apart for God.

To be set apart for God, not for your spouse, not for your job, not for your children, to be set apart for God.

It means to be devoted to God.

It's not an occasional devotion.

It's not something that you do and then you stop doing.

No, it's a lifestyle of I surrender, sir, to whatever you want me to do.

I'm surrendering to wherever you want me to go.

I'm surrendering everything that I have for your use and for your purpose and for your mission.

It's total surrender.

It's not just a lifestyle, but it's a consecrated life where you are saying, my life belongs to the Father.

My mind, my will, my emotions, the resources that you gave me, the house that I'm able to live in, the apartment that I'm standing in, the car that you've allowed me to drive.

None of this belongs to me.

All of it is yours.

It's when you've made a decision that there's no other word that's important but his word.

Not what somebody else thinks about you.

It's what did he die?

What did he go to hell?

And why did he give his blood?

He gave it for you.

It's this person that will make a decision to live this kind of life, they'll walk in more power.

They will declare things and God will back them up.

They'll pray, and every time that they pray, they know that God has already heard them, and Holy Spirit and the angels are already moving to bring to pass what they are in agreement based off of what God said.

That is the person that God is looking for.

Now, point number one today, or benefit number one, holiness gives you access to the presence of God.

Thank you, Jesus.

And when you get into his presence, there's more power.

You want power, you gotta get into his presence.

You want your life changed, you have to get into his presence.

Now let's go to Psalm number 24.

We're talking about today the benefits of holiness.

Psalm number 24 stands in number three.

It says, Who shall ascend into the heel of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

Watch this.

He that hath clean hands, and your heart must be pure.

Who have not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Go to Hebrews chapter twelve.

See, holiness invites the presence of God on the scene in your life.

It creates the person who makes a decision to live holy, their temple is holy, their mind is holy, their mouth is holy, their mind is holy, it invites God to show up on your behalf.

See, when you live like this, you become more aware that he's tangibly with you.

It's a lifestyle.

It's a consecrated lifestyle.

It's you being set apart for the master's use.

It's you dedicating your entire being to finish why he put you in this earth.

Your prayer life will go to a whole nother level when you understand holiness.

See, many of God's people are praying and God is not responding because you're not holy.

How can you stand before a holy God and you're dirty?

That's why the answers are not coming to you because your lifestyle.

I'm nothing without him.

He is everything to me.

When you get to that place, you won't worry about anything or anybody.

It's a lifestyle that God is desiring for his children to start living out.

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

The New Living Translation says it this way.

Work at living at peace with everyone.

There are people in your life that you are at war with.

And then he says, and work at living.

You got to work at this.

There are things you have to tell your body, no, you are not getting ready to get involved with that.

You are not getting ready.

I know you are used to eating that.

But no, not today.

He says, you have to work at living holy.

These things are not automatic.

If it was automatic, everybody would be doing it.

Watch this.

For those who are not holy, I want you to read that out loud.

That's what the Bible said.

You're not even experiencing God.

Because you're not willing to live a certain way that He's commanded us.

I'm going to show you at the end of this how easy this is.

Because there's grace for everything.

But if you don't understand what grace is, because the body of Christ has confused the message of grace, they've used grace as a license to sin.

It's not grace, it's the power of God.

So the power of God or the grace of God will help you live holy.

Not you sinning and God gonna forgive you.

What if you sinned and you got killed?

Would you go to heaven or would you go to hell?

That's the gamble people are doing right now.

Because you think you have time.

Listen, time is running out.

You don't have time to play around with sin.

And what we have a tendency to do is to put sin in categories.

There is no big sin, there is no little sin, there is no black sin, there is no white sin, no sin is sin, and sin is dangerous, and sin's job is to take you out, and to get you to a place where you don't experience God while you're here in this earth.

The Bible says if you're not willing to live holy, there's no way you can experience the presence of God.

It is very alarming.

We're playing with this like it's a toy.

You want more power?

You're gonna live a certain way.

You want more boldness, you have to live a certain way.

If you want to be effective in prayer, you have to live a certain way.

We've been, I know I have been, I've been listening to old school Katherine Kuhlman.

And one of the things that that I listened to almost about two months ago, she just kept saying, you must pay the price.

You must pay the price.

If you want more power, more understanding, if you want to be free, you must pay the price.

And that's been stirring on the inside of me.

So every time the Lord wakes me up at 3 30 in the morning, this is what I hear.

You must pay the price.

So I crucify my flesh, and I tell my flesh, you're not winning.

She'll tell you.

I'm paying the price.

I'm dying to me because I want more of him.

What I found out, this is one of the major issues while you still have your own issues.

You're not willing to die to yourself.

So you're keeping your own issues.

You gotta, you you want help?

You gotta pay the price.

You want to be free?

There's a price you must pay for freedom.

You struggling with that?

The reason why you struggle is because you're not willing to die.

When God is with you, his favor surrounds you, and he begins to work for you.

Listen to this.

The presence of God can't comfortably dwell in polluted vessels, and God's presence cannot rest where sin is tolerated.

So if you have allowed sin, which is missing the mark, to be present in your body, in your mouth, in your mind, in your will, in your emotions, God cannot be comfortable around you.

And heaven will always value what the world hates.

So you must be holy.

You must be holy.

Point number two.

Holiness produces peace.

There's a whole bunch of folks that you don't know if you got baby.

Drama because you refuse to live holy, Isaiah chapter thirty-two.

Holiness is the DNA of the kingdom of God.

And our responsibility is to bring the kingdom to the earth.

And we do it by how we live.

Holiness, folks, is not a denomination.

It's not you wearing gloves.

It's not you wearing white.

It's not holiness.

Holiness is not outdated.

Oh, not only that, it's the culture of heaven.

You want heaven while you're in the earth?

Holiness is the answer.

Isaiah thirty-two, verse number seventeen.

And this righteousness, or his righteousness, or the work of righteousness will bring you peace.

Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.

When you live holy, your conscience is clear.

When you live holy, your heart is at total peace and your heart is at rest.

You don't have to be concerned about somebody coming after you.

When you live holy, listen, you don't trust in your flesh.

You trust in him more than your feelings.

Holiness brings in outward and inward stability.

So when you make a decision to live a holy lifestyle, you become stable inward first.

And because you are stable inward, it produces an outward stability.

It's not I'm stable outward.

The reason why there's instability for many on the outside is because you're shaky on the inside.

So you are trying to be okay out here, but you're not okay in here.

You gotta learn how to become okay inside first.

Why?

Because it's in him, because everything that I need and everything that you need is found in him.

Your identity is found in him.

Your money is found in him.

Your peace is found in him.

Your joy is found in him.

And when you have peace on the inside, then you won't be moved by all of the noise on the outside.

You won't look for joyous occasions on the outside because you know that the joy of the Lord, man, that's that's how I get strong.

It's inward first, then outward.

So holiness will provide you a peace of mind, nothing missing, nothing lacking, and there's nothing broken about you or your life when you understand he's holy, so I'm holy.

Holiness, ooh, holiness protects what sin destroys.

Sin's job is to steal, kill, and to destroy.

But holiness, its responsibility is to protect you.

It's to provide for you.

Holiness can take you places where a degree cannot.

I tell you, yes.

Why?

Because God is with you when you're holy, and he can open up doors that no man has the key to.

Point number three.

Oh, holy, ooh, holiness strengthens your relationship with God.

It becomes easy to know what to do.

The reason why many of God's people don't know what to do, because you're not willing to be holy to God in your thoughts.

Well, giving your thoughts to other things that are not important.

Other people that are trying to control you and manipulate you.

And now you're thinking the way they want you to think instead of thinking the way that he designed you to think.

That's why he says, My ways are not your ways, but you can have my ways when you think my thoughts.

But you got to know his thoughts to think his thoughts.

And then you got to receive his thoughts.

Because his thoughts are higher than your tired little ways.

Tired little ways.

See, while you're thinking, he's thoughting already.

He already thought about it and figured it out before you came on the scene.

Holiness will get you the place where you can think and you can hear clearly what to do.

So you don't miss the mark.

Go to James chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

Good teaching, good teaching.

See, you learn how to become more sensitive to God.

When you make a decision, I'm living holy.

I'm living righteous before God.

Oh, when you make a decision to live holy before God, you become mega in your faith.

You notice when you go and you look at the scripture when it talks about faith, God never congratulates or encourages a person.

He only acknowledges your faith.

That's why you can have little faith, no faith, or megas, much faith.

So walking and living holy will cause your faith to become from little to much.

James chapter four, verse number eight.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Cleanse your hands.

You sinners.

And notice he says, you must purify your hearts.

Then he says, if you're drawing out of God, he will draw out of you.

If your hands are dirty and your heart is impure, then you're double-minded.

See, the more and more you recognize that holiness is a benefit, the more and more you can walk in more authority.

When you go through the word, you will find examples of men who were double-minded, men who compromised.

Let's take Samson.

We can say it this way.

He knew the word since he was a child.

He was set apart to fight the enemies of God.

The same way we are set apart to fight the enemies of God.

At a young age, his parents told him, don't get involved with ungodly women.

Watch this, let me bring it to where you're at.

Who don't believe what you believe.

Because although they might be saved, they may not believe what you believe.

So now what happens is that you become unequally yoked together with a believer who doesn't really believe.

But deny the power thereof.

And what happened is Samson was going in and out.

He was playing with the anointing and playing in the flesh.

Because he was playing around and he was willing to compromise.

There should be no compromise for the children of God.

Listen to this.

Compromise costs you more than obedience.

What areas have you compromised in?

What areas have you been settling for?

See, when you compromise, it dulls your hearing.

And because you're not quite sure, many times you end up missing it.

You don't know what to do.

It's not crystal clear.

My Bible says in John chapter 10, my sheep know my voice.

John 10 · chapter mention

Which means he's always talking, he's always leading, he's always guiding.

Whether or not we follow the shepherd is based upon how we have been living in our own personal lives.

Now, number four, holiness makes you a vessel that God can use.

Everyone to be used by God, but nobody wants to be holy.

It's very interesting.

Use me, Lord.

Really, are you there?

Watch this.

God's power flows through vessels that are clean and set apart.

So if God's power is flowing through vessels that are clean and set apart, the opposite of that is true.

Demon's influence or demon power flows through vessels that are dirty and not set apart.

So if you've opened up the door and you stepped over into sin, then you perhaps have opened up the doors, open up your temple to demons who live inside of you.

And now they're flowing, and now they're manipulating, and now they're convincing you to do things, not according to the word, but things that are going to glorify Satan and make your flesh feel good.

Many of God's people want authorities over devils, but you are cooperating with devils.

Let me give you a scripture on that.

See, authority in the spirit is sustained by purity.

You want to walk in some authority?

That when you say, come out in the name of Jesus, they gotta obey you.

But they're not gonna obey you if you if you was hanging out with them last night.

They know you just came out the club.

They know you was drinking, they know you was smoking, they know you was fornicating.

They're like, ah yeah, yeah.

That's my boy right there.

I'll see you later.

And many believers have forfeited their assignments because they refuse to live holy.

And you miss out on your reward because God will reward not groups, individuals.

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things which are dishonorable, disobedient, sinful, he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified, set apart for a special purpose and useful for the master, prepared for every good work.

God isn't giving his power to dirty vessels.

Now, Tina, you don't have this scripture, but I I came across this uh early this morning.

Go to Psalm number 58.

There is a reward if you make a decision to live this lifestyle.

Not only will God use you while you are in the earth, but you will get reward, reward it when you leave this temple.

Psalm number 58 stands in number 11.

Then at least everyone will say there is truly a reward for those who live for God.

You make a decision to live for God, there is a paycheck for you that the world does not have enough money to pay for everybody looking to get paid.

They have this thing in in college basketball now, it's called the transfer portal.

And in the transfer portal, if I played at a certain university, if I didn't like it, or maybe I did like it, I could transfer somewhere else for more money.

So you have 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 year olds making anywhere between a million and eight million dollars for the money.

When you live for God, it's not just the money.

It's being a ruler and reigning.

Now, there are three areas that God is looking for us to be clean.

Look at your neighbor and say it's time to take a bath.

Okay, put your seatbelts on.

Number one, your mouth.

You have to learn how to set your mouth where you're not saying anything other than God's word.

I don't know if Noelle is on, but I'm gonna I'm gonna tell this.

She said to me the other day, you all know she's in college, and she says, I need to stay focused.

And she's already on the dean list, so this wasn't anything bad.

She said, I need to stay focused, and the way I need to stay focused is I need to get off my phone.

So she said, Okay, I'm making the heart decision to spend less time on my phone.

She said it out of her mouth, she minted from her heart the heart and mouth connection.

Watch this.

Then she tried to charge her phone up for three hours, and the phone didn't work.

She was frustrated.

You need to take me to the Apple store to get my phone fixed because I need a new phone.

I said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, wait, wait, hey, hey, hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Listen, let's back this up.

Let's back this up.

Remember, you said from your heart and from your mouth that you were going to stay off the phone.

So although you didn't like how God did it, and it's interesting that when we're saying things from our heart and we mean it and it lines up with the word, God will not always do it the way you want it done.

And then we start complaining.

Your mouth needs to be sanctified.

Some of you have been saying some stuff that's contrary to God's word.

Put a zip on it.

Speak the word and speak the word only.

I'll give you a scripture on that.

Ephesians chapter four, verse number twenty nine from the Amplified says, let no foul.

Or polluting language, nor evil, evil believers talk, nor unwholesome or worse he said worthless.

Yeah, Mariah, what he said ever.

He didn't say sometimes.

He says, Don't let this kind of talk ever come out of your mouth.

Ever.

Ever, ever, and ever.

But only such speech as it is good and beneficial.

Listen to this.

To the spiritual progress of others.

So if the words that are coming out of your mouth, if it's not helping someone spiritually, if they're not growing spiritually, it's non-productive.

It's unholy.

It's evil.

Your mouth is polluted.

Read the rest of this.

As it is fitting to the need.

To the need.

Which means there's a word in your mouth that somebody needs to hear.

And then we're cussing them out.

We're tearing them down.

But that's not what they need to hear.

They need to hear words that are going to build them up, encourage them, love them, support them so that they can grow closer to God.

That it may be a blessing and give God's favor to those who hear it.

Number two, oh my gosh, I got a couple of minutes left.

Your thoughts.

Philippians chapter 4, verse number eight says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things of a good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, notice what he says.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Think your thought life will determine your spiritual life.

You have to guard your mind from lust.

Okay.

You have I heard that.

You have to guard your mind from revenge.

You're trying to get even with somebody because of how they did you.

My Bible says that the Lord says, Vengeance is mine.

Stop trying to repay somebody back for things that happened in their past.

You got to guard your mind because your mind will try to take you back and you weren't even there.

But it's affecting your future.

You had to guard your thoughts.

I'm going to give you the last one, your actions.

You must be holy even to be people of integrity.

You got to keep your word.

Just speak the truth and love.

Your actions have to be holy.

Your actions have to be holy.

How you live your life will determine how you live your life.

Holiness means you honor God in private and in public.

And so what happens, oh, we're honoring God in public, but we live.

And God doesn't show up.

Because he's seeing and watching what you're doing when nobody else is watching.

He's hearing the conversations that nobody else is privy to.

Remember, he is always watching.

And everything that we do, I need you to hear this, is being recorded.

Think about that.

The wrong motive.

The negative thought.

Even though you didn't say it, you thought it.

Whether your heart was right or not.

That has to become like what I've been saying is light.

Because when you have light, you have understanding.

And when you have understanding, things are revealed, and now you can see.

You have to have light, the fact that everything that you say, everything that you do, everything that you're watching is being recorded.

If that don't shake you.

Now let's close with this.

How can you live holy?

Let me give you one scripture.

Titus chapter two.

Titus chapter two.

I'm going to read it from the New King James.

Verse number 11 says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

Somebody say, Thank you, Lord.

Teaching us, so the grace of God should teach us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly.

So being able to live this way, you cannot do it by human strength or human wisdom.

The grace of God is made available to help you and to teach you how to live holy.

Therefore, you must trust in the grace.

Let me give you this last one because I think this was this goes along with this.

And we'll close here.

Psalm number one nineteen.

Psalm number one nineteen.

Stanza number ten.

It says, with my whole heart have I sought thee.

Can go after God half-heartedly.

Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments.

Here's the second way on how you can live holy.

It's the word.

It's God's word that you hide in your heart so you might not miss the mark.

That's it.

That's it right there.

What I'm finding out is many people aren't willing to put the work in where the word is concerned.

And so they struggle.

But if you put the word in where a hole is in your heart or in your life, it is the word that will make you whole, it is the word that will fill that void, it is the word that will keep you strong.

So you must stay in the word.

If you have a broken heart, what does the word say about a healed heart?

If you are broke, the solution is not you go get another job that's paying you$12 an hour.

The solution is what does the word have to say about God prospering your life?

If you have a pornography problem, it's not you taking a cold shower.

What does the word say about your body?

Because it's not your body, it's his body.

So it's the word that you hide in your heart that you will not sin against him.

Benefits for living holy.

We're just introducing this today.

Every head bow and every eyes closed in prayer.

Jesus had a conversation in John chapter.