Hope Church LV Sermons
Open My Eyes: A Call to Holiness
I want to put up on the screen in just a moment what I believe to be some of the most intimidating and awe-inspiring words written anywhere in the Bible. It's a little phrase found in 1 Peter chapter 1. It's a quotation actually from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. And what I want to do is I want to put these words up on a screen and I want to do something a little bit unique, all right? And now I'm going to go ahead and warn you up front it's going to feel extremely awkward. We're going to take 90 seconds after we read these words and I want you for 90 seconds to just think about these words. Now 90 seconds doesn't sound like a very long time. When you're sitting here and we're completely silent it's going to feel like the longest 90 seconds of your life, all right? And I want to read these words out loud and then I want you to just look at them and think about them. I want to leave them up on the screen for the entire 90 seconds. Let's read them. You shall be holy for I am holy. Now I want you to take 90 seconds and I want you to just meditate on those words. [ Pause ] [ Pause ] [ Pause ] You shall be holy for I am holy. I don't want you to answer out loud but what comes to your mind when you hear that? You shall be holy for I am holy. For some of us when we think about that phrase what comes to mind is the sense of frustration because the standard that that verse seems to set is so high and unattainable that when we even think about that verse or that phrase what it produces in us is a sense of frustration. We're frustrated that we don't see that manifested in our personal daily lives. We're frustrated that no matter how hard we try we never seem to measure up to those words. For some when we hear that phrase or we meditate or think on that phrase what comes to mind is a sense of fear. Some hear that and are afraid because if holiness is really what God expects then I have no hope of ever pleasing Him. Produces a level of discomfort and uncertainty. Be holy for I am holy. For some it is resistance. When we think about that phrase for some as we meditate on it there's an attitude of resistance or of pushing against it because the reality is the wickedness of our own heart there's some things that we just don't want to let go of. And so as much as we don't want it to be true about us, as much as we don't want it to be the case when we hear that phrase and we look at our lives there's a kind of a get that one away from me response because that phrase starts messing around in some things in my life that I just soon be left alone. I'd rather it say just be the best Christian you can be. Be holy. And yet regardless of our response to it it's nonetheless right here in the Bible is God's truth for our lives. I've told you before I was mentored by a lot of people but one of them in particular had a huge impact in my life's name was Clyde Cranford. Clyde God brought Clyde into my life at a point when I was at a real period of brokenness and God was doing some stuff in me and I guess I was just at the most pivotal point of teachability I could possibly be and it was at that divine moment that God brought Clyde into my life and Clyde has since gone home to be the Lord. He died as a young man at 45 years of age. Incredible man I've got I've told you before but they found him in his living room with his Bible open in his lap. He was spending time with the Lord in this life and then took his next breath in the presence of the Lord and just a man who walked with God and Clyde told me a story about this verse. It's actually in his book because we love him if you've read it but Clyde said that one night he was as he often did meditating on scripture before he went to sleep at night and God pressed on his heart this verse be holy for I am holy and like many of us for much of his life the way Clyde had heard that verse his response to it was one of fear or anxiety or uncertainty or resistance or frustration and yet on this particular night when he heard the spirit of God speak this verse into his heart he heard it like he'd never heard it before because up until that point the way he'd always understood it was be holy because I said be holy but that night what Clyde heard was be holy because I am holy and if you love me you will want to be like me you see holiness is not merely a command or a demand of God to be achieved holiness is the invitation of God to be enjoyed I want to say that again because I want you to grab that holiness is not simply a demand of God that you and I are to live up to holiness is the invitation of God for you and I to enjoy and what I want to do this weekend as we take our last weekend to kind of fix our heart before next weekend when we have our awaken Sunday morning don't forget Sunday morning Sunday night Monday night three different services the two on Sunday morning will be the same then we'll have one on Sunday night one on Monday night three different preachers you are going to be blessed but we've taken this month to really prepare our hearts for that two-day worship experience next weekend that I hope you've marked on your calendar made it a priority to be here but as we focus our hearts this last weekend in preparation of that I want to talk to us today about a call to holiness awakening always manifests itself when God pours out his spirit in revival there is always holiness in the people of God but before we dive into the text I want to give you two encouraging truths about holiness and I'll be honest with you these two encouraging truths they were worth coming for whether you stay for the rest of the sermon or not alright here's the first one holiness is possible in the life of a Jesus follower I want to say that again holiness is possible for you as a follower of Jesus Christ if you believe that say man listen it is not some standard that is unattainable I don't want you to leave here today guilt ridden thinking that God set the bar so high you and I cannot measure up the text here says be holy be holy and in the Greek it's literally an imperative meaning it's a command it means that God is not simply suggesting that we should try to be holy what God is declaring here is the expected way of life for his children and I love what F.B. Meyer said he said God would not call us to heights we could not scale or to tasks we could not perform God would not say to us be holy knowing they could never meet that standard no holiness is possible don't think that holiness is something that is only for a select few inside of the family of God it's only for those saints that have been declared by the ages past no holiness is possible for every one of us if you are here today and you are a follower of Jesus Christ holiness is not only possible for you holiness is the expected way of life from your father here's the second encouraging truth God is prepared to fully supply all that is necessary to affect in us that which he calls us to let me say it again God is prepared to fully satisfied all that is necessary to affect in us that which he calls us to here's what that means God didn't say be holy and then leave it up to us everything God calls us to God is prepared to fully supply in us everything we need to measure up to everything he's called us to let me show it to you in the Bible first the salonians chapter five look at these verses up on the screen he says now may the God of peace now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely now the word sanctify actually this is verses 23 and 24 but the word sanctify there is the verb form of the noun that is translated holy in the phrase you shall be holy for I am holy so this is the verb form so it could literally be translated the God of all peace himself make you holy now may the God of all peace himself make you holy and then he says entirely it means in the totality of who you are in every aspect of your being may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus then look at the next phrase faithful is he who calls you now say the next word with me and hey that's a good and in the Bible faithful as he who calls you and said out loud he will also bring it to pass faithful as he who calls you and he's going to do what he called you to do he's going to see it through holiness is what God has called us to and holiness is what God is going to accomplish in our lives how do we know that there are days man I look at my life there are days I get discouraged I look at my actions I look at my attitudes I look at my reactions I look at my thought life and there are days that I get discouraged but then I'm reminded faithful faithful as he who calls me and he will also bring it to pass he is going to finish what he started that's why Paul said I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus amen holiness it's what he's called us to it's possible and not only is it possible it's going to happen because he's going to do what he started in you and me now with that let's get it look at the text first Peter chapter one I want to read you the three verses surrounding the one we put on the screen at the beginning where's 14 begins with as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance but like the holy one who called you be holy yourselves in all your behavior because it is written set with me you shall be holy for I am holy now I want to ask and answer three questions will be finished this morning the first question so that you don't get nervous with the length of it is the longest of the three questions all right I know you're here at this service anyway because the games come on at 12 30 so you're here early we'll get you home for the games all right what is holiness what is holiness first there is a holiness as it applies to God himself there's an important phrase in what I've just read for you it says for I am holy God is describing himself and he says I am holy listen to what a W tozier says about the holiness of God he says holy is the way God is to be holy he does not conform to a standard he is the standard he is absolutely holy with an infinite and comprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is he is the absolute quintessescence of moral excellence infinitely perfect and righteousness purity rectitude and incomprehensible holiness there is a holiness that is who God himself is and one of the most defining scenes and all of the Bible is in Isaiah chapter six when Isaiah is allowed to see a vision of God seated on the throne and if you've never read it I encourage you today before you go to bed read Isaiah chapter six where the Bible describes Isaiah looking into heaven and he sees God seated on the throne and he describes these winged creatures called seraphim that are hovering around the throne of God and day and night continuously they have one cry as they are sitting there and surrounding the throne of God hovering it just over and over and over again they're crying out holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory holy holy holy holy say those three words with me holy holy holy have you ever wondered why they repeat that phrase three times do you remember when you were in school and your English teacher taught you about the positive comparative and superlative degrees that's exactly what I thought I didn't remember it either a guy named Walter Price is a pastor down in Southern California and Walter Price shared this with me a few years ago and it stuck with me I never forgot it in the English language we have the positive comparative and superlative degrees for example we would say things like McDonald's is good Chili's is better Texas day Brazil is best amen good better best we might say it was cold but then it got colder and now it's coldest right that is positive comparative and superlative degrees in the Hebrew language they do not express it the way we do we express it by changing the form of the word in the Hebrew language they do it by repetition to say he is holy would be to say he alone is holy to say he is holy holy is to say he is holy earth but to say he is holy holy holy is to declare him a holy as meaning there is no one holy like our God Clyde Cranford says about him holiness does not define God God defines holiness it belongs to him alone holy secondly there is a holiness as it applies to us as human beings he says for I am holy but then he begins by saying you shall be holy he says because of who I am here's who you are now when we talk about holiness in reference to us there are two statements I want to make about holiness here's the first one holy is who we are and that is called positional holiness holy is who we are hey I'm gonna tell you something maybe you didn't know when you came here this morning look at me you are holy you say I don't feel very holy it's not based on your feeling listen it's not even based on your performance it's based on your position you and I are holy as a matter of fact one of the most regularly used terms in the New Testament for us as believers is the word saint over sixty times in the New Testament almost all of Paul's letters begin with an introduction where he says I'm writing to you who are saints did you know the word saint is the exact same Greek word that is translated in first Peter chapter one as holy same word I'm writing to you who are holy let me show you a verse first Corinthians chapter three verses sixteen and seventeen do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you if any man destroys the temple of God God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy now I want you to read the last phrase out loud let's go one two three and that is what you are listen one of the greatest things that could ever happen to you in your spiritual life is you begin to understand and believe what the Bible says about you to be true the Bible here says you and I have been declared by God to be holy how's that possible let me show you Ephesians chapter one listen what it says in verse three blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us and him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him he tells us right here the way you and I are declared holy is by being in Christ it's through Christ Jesus here's what happened on the cross Jesus took all of my sin on himself and on the cross Jesus died in the place of my sin but that's not all that happened on the cross not only did Jesus get all of my sin because of the cross when I put my faith and trust in Christ all of his holiness gets imputed to my account meaning that now before God I am seen as holy as Jesus Christ himself here's what that means after I've been in heaven for 10,000 years I will not be one ounce more holy than I am right now positionally because my holiness is not based on my performance my holiness is based on my position in Jesus Christ because of Jesus you're holy you and I are holy holiness is who we are but here's the second thing holy is what we are becoming that's practical holiness holy is who we are positionally in Christ because of Jesus by grace I've been declared by God to be holy but practically holiness is what I am becoming that's why in first Peter he says but like the holy one who called you be holy the word be there in verse 15 is a word that means to become or to begin to be and the way that it's written here you could translate it but like the holy one who called you become holy yourselves and all your behavior you see what is true about us positionally God is working out in us practically as we pursue him on a daily basis holiness is who we are but holiness is what we are becoming I am holy in Christ and practically God is working that holiness out in my life listen to what Clyde Cranford said look at it on the screen hence we do not have a holiness like God's we have God's holiness both positionally and practically positionally we wear on our hearts and identifying mark the mark of God's image of God's likeness this mark is holiness in an outward behavioral sense if we are not merely moral but truly holy it is because the very life of the holy one is being manifested through us thus both positionally and practically holiness is our likeness to God holy is what God is by his grace holy is what I am in him and also by his grace holy is what I am becoming through him now Peter then adds what I call a power phrase here in our text look at verse 15 but like the holy one who called you be holy yourselves and then he adds this phrase in all your behavior yeah I mean just the word holy made me uncomfortable then he has to go and say in all your behavior whew the word all means all it literally means every single aspect behavior is translated in other places in the New Testament way of life or way of living like the holy one who called you be holy yourselves in every single aspect in your way of life this means that holiness is not just my persona at church and small group right this means that I am to be holy at home would your spouse say of you he or she is holy would your children say of you my mom or dad they are holy would your co-worker say of you and he or she their whole I love the way he said it like the holy one who call you know our problem we've been measuring with the wrong standard he didn't say like the Christian that makes you feel comfortable with living the way you're living compare yourself well I may not be perfect but you know I I'm better and I'm not gonna name them all right but you know who they are well I may not be holy but I'm I got it better than this guy or this lady or this person listen to it like the holy one who called you you know what he's saying right here's God's desire for us whatever would be his attitude action thought deed were whatever would be his response in that particular situation that that's what he wants me to be like God like God is holy in every detail of life you yourselves become holy here's the point God has made me holy in Christ and God desires to manifest that holiness in every detail of my life now again it's God who made me holy and God who is manifesting that holiness it's all him it's not me it's not me getting up enough willpower and strength and determination to make this a reality no it's his life in us God has made us holy in Christ and he desires to manifest that holiness the very life of Christ in every detail of our life so I don't have time to really unpack what I'm about to give you but I'm gonna give it to you so you can go home and think about it I want to give you three questions that reveal our pursuit of holiness in daily life and this is not exhaustive and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give you a question and a verse that goes with it and you just jot it down and later on I want you to think about it here are three questions to reveal am I pursuing holiness here's the first one am I being honest with God about everything in my life here's the verse 1 John 1 6 if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth am I being honest with God about everything in my life two verses after this one he says if we confess our sins the word confess you know what the word confess means in the Greek language it just means to say the same thing about it means to agree with God are you being honest number two am I allowing God's word to be the standard for my behavior some one nineteen how do you how can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word am I allowing God's word to be the standard for my behavior not opinions not culture not other people's example you see we can make ourselves feel comfortable by wedging us somewhere in between what the Bible says and what the best people we know we're doing do you hear that we make ourselves feel comfortable by wedging ourselves in between what the Bible says and then what the best people we know we're doing and long as we're in the middle there somewhere we're okay am I allowing God's word to be the standard here's the third one am I consistently examining the things that influence my life he says here in verse fourteen we don't have time to unpack it but he says as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours and ignorance the word conformed is a word that means to be shaped by something so he begins this instruction about holiness with challenging us to examine those things which shape us and the verse that I've given you as Philippians 4 8 finally brethren whatever's true whatever's honorable whatever's right whatever's lovely whatever's of good repute if there's anything excellence and anything worthy of praise dwell on these things man out of cleanup our lives right there am I constantly or consistently examining the things that in am I pursuing holiness take those three questions and lay them down on your life am I being honest with God about everything in my life am I lying God's word to be the standard for all my behavior and am I consistently examining the things that are shaping my life if those three questions are not at play in my life I'm probably not pursuing personal holiness the way God desires me to be that's the first question I told you it was the longest it's two more not nearest near as long here's the second one how might it be holy I mean when we start looking at this stuff and we start thinking about those questions and we start looking at what the Bible says and we see phrases like like God you be holy we look at that and go I give up how in the world is that supposed to be me well he gives us the key in the first phrase of verse 14 look at the first three words as obedient children notice what he didn't say as obedient soldiers or as obedient slaves no he's not talking here about a soldier with a command to simply be obeyed or a slave with an instruction to just be carried out he says no not as an obedient soldier you be holy and not as an obedient slave you be holy but he says as obedient children genuine holiness is not born out of rules but out of relationship where I grew up I grew up in the state of Alabama state of Alabama college football is a way of life three hundred and sixty five days a year all we talk about in the state of Alabama is college football and they're really talking about it right now can I get amen I gave it a week now I'm bringing it up all right it where I grew up it's it's it's cultic it's religion and in my state you are either born into a crimson and white family or you are born into an orange and blue family it's either Alabama or it is Auburn and unlike some of my less fortunate friends I had the incredible privilege of being born into a crimson and white bleeding family they call it the University of Alabama the V is very important the University of Alabama I love Alabama football I love watching it I mean I watch the games I wear the jerseys I I can't I've got I don't even want to tell you all the stuff it's embarrassing I love Alabama football I want my kids to love Alabama football if they want room and board in my house I'm kidding sort of but I love when my kids come down on game day and I didn't tell them and they got their jerseys on and they're high-fiving and man if you were my house and we watched the game a couple Monday nights ago you'd have thought a tornado that when Alabama would score we got rituals and routines we do all over the house we're running around high-fiving listen I love I love when my kids love what I love as obedient children it's not exactly how I'm in it but that's good in the same way I come over here to this side of the room you guys seem to be with me in the same way the father loves when we love what he loves you see it'd be one thing for my kids to act that way because I told them to but it's something else for me as a dad when they act that way because they've just grown to love what I love as obedient children be holy yourselves in all your behavior as obedient children like the holy one who called you see we're not to be holy because he said be holy we're to be holy because he is holy and as we begin to love what he loves let me show it to you in another place in the Bible John chapter 14 verse 15 I love this verse listen what it says if you love me you'll keep my commandments now for most of my Christian life here's how I heard that verse if you love me you better do what I say that's not what that verse says that verse says if you love me you'll obey me here's what it says loving him there's a direct line between that and the holiness of my life here's what that means if I've got a holiness problem I have a love problem if there are areas of my life that I struggle to walk in holiness that's an area of my life where I love me more than I love him that's an area of my life where I love sin more than I love the God who saved me from it that's an area of my life where I love this world more than I love my father you see what it drives us back to our intimate love relationship with God holiness is not a matter of your willpower or determination holiness is a matter of your intimate walk with Jesus so goes your love relationship with Jesus so goes your practical holiness last question I'm finished why is holiness so important well as Peter writes on in this letter this is kind of a springboard for him that that filters throughout this whole letter that he wrote here in first Peter he continues to address this issue of the practical outworking of holiness in our lives first of all he says that holiness manifests itself in a love that is sincere I want to show it to you in first Peter chapter one look down at verse 22 listen what he says since you have an obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren fervently love one another from the heart notice I put this together since you have an obedience to the truth purified your souls it's that calling again that that issue of holiness he's writing about since you've begun to live out this principle of practical holiness you've purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren then he says fervently love one another from the heart you see it is our walking and practical holiness that gives us the ability to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ what gives us unity what gives us love what gives us devotion for one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus is the outworking of practical holiness in our lives see holiness is not just this standard out there to be attained it seems unattainable holiness is the core the springboard from which we love one another's brothers and sisters in Christ God is love and as we begin to walk in his holiness we begin to manifest a love for one another look down at chapter two verse twelve in chapter two verse twelve he gives us the second of these characteristics this is why I want you to see this he says keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles so that in the thing which they slander you as evil doers they may because of your good deeds as they observe them glorify God in the day of visitation I didn't read it but in verse 11 he addresses again this issue of abstaining from fleshly lusts he's writing again about holiness and here he describes it by keeping your behavior excellent he says you and I out of the outworkings of positional holiness God will begin to work practical holiness in our lives and not only will it give us a love for one another but it also gives us a life that stands out he says as you begin to live out my holiness as I begin to flesh out my holiness in and through you here's what he says the world's gonna see that and he says here's what they'll do they'll even slander you for it that sound familiar at all the world sees our pursuit of truth and holiness and righteous living and the world calls it hate we stand on what the word of God says to be true even when we do it with grace and humility and yet we get slandered for that and society they even call it evil and yet what first Peter is writing to us here what this letter is teaching us is it's as as we live out this practical personal holiness the life of God manifested in our lives our lives become a platform that even though they may point at it even though they may reject it even though they may slander it when God comes and speaks into the life of someone it is the lives that that that we're living it's his life manifested in us that becomes the very platform through which the gospel penetrates people's hearts and draws them to himself why is holiness such a big deal listen we will never be the church we're supposed to be loving one another's Christ has called us to apart from personal holiness we won't be number two we'll never live lives that stand out we'll never impact the lostness of our city or this world apart from the platform of personal holiness God manifesting his life in and through us as we live our lives be holy for I am holy I'll close with this quote by William Barkley listen what he said the best argument for Christianity is a real Christian and therefore whether we like it or not every Christian is an advertisement for Christianity by his life he either commends Christianity to others or he makes others think less of Christianity the strongest missionary force in the world is a Christian life you shall be holy for I am holy.