Friday, April 25, 2008

Be Holy- How Do I Do That (Part 3)

3. Here is where we come upon the third problem with holiness. That is, we do not take some sin seriously.

< We tend to weigh our sin by the standard of man and not the standard of God.
< We need to understand that any one sin keeps us from God..Christ had to die for that one sine... the price paid to redeem us is the same... the blood of Christ

How can we gain understanding?
1 Peter 1:19-25 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
"ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
THE GRASS WITHERS,
AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER."

And this is the word which was preached to you.
< Truth will purify you.. Go to truth— obey the truth
< James 4:8 Draw near to God

Various types of water filters... some.. pass the water through one filter.. Then there are others that pass through 3 filters.. Some that use ultraviolet light to kill harmful bacteria.. The more we use truth of God’s word to "filter us the purer He will make us.

< Demonstrate love for brothers and sisters in Christ (fervently)
< Respond with the heart...

Matt 15:7-9 7 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

Our lives will be changed
Christ is our imperishable seed... We love because of Christ... when we attempt to be something outside of Christ we are like the grass.. We will fade away
The Word of God is
Living
Enduring forever
The filter our lives need.

Pray that we would
1. Our attitude toward sin would be God-centered.
2. "We understand "living by faith"
3. We take all sin seriously (even what we call the small ones)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Be Holy - How do I do That? (part 2)

2. The second problem Jerry Bridges lists is "We misunderstand "living by faith" to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part.

1 Peter 1:15-16
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
We are not being called to be "god"

Lev 11:44; 19:2; 20:7** Lev 11:44 'For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.
Lev 19:2-3 2 "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ' You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
Lev 20:7 'You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. NASU

Note-the idea of being defiled verses being set apart for God and service to him..... Come home dirty and your wife says.. No KISS till you get cleaned up.
We read these verses and say it is impossible so why try... Then we add to that Gal 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Here we conclude that since I can’t do it... God must do it.. So I just relax and do nothing...

1 Peter 1:17-19
17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
< V14.. Be obedient children
< Be holy yourselves... in your behavior
< Conduct yourself in fear
< Understand the value you are to God.. (What did you cost him) Handle yourself as a valuable asset to God...

2 Cor 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Heb 12:28-29 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

1 Peter 3:14-17 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Be Holy- How Do I Do That (part 1)

1 Peter 1:12-25
You ever have a parent or teacher come along a tell you just to do something..(Share a spelling story) They won’t or can’t tell you how... they simply say "JUST GET IT DONE!"
Gets you frustrated!! I think we can have similar frustration when we read 1 Peter 1:16.. Because it is written "You shall be Holy, for I am Holy." (A quote from Lev. 11:44)

R.C. Sproul says, " God is inescapable. There is no place we can hide from Him. Not only does He penetrate every aspect of our lives, but He penetrates it in his majestic holiness. Therefore we must seek to understand what the holy is. We dare not avoid it. There can be no worship, no spiritual growth, no true obedience without it. It defines our goal as Christians. God has declared, "Be holy, because I am holy" (Lev 11:44) 1

The question we want to discuss today is "How do we become Holy?"

1. Our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered.
2. "We misunderstand "living by faith"
3. We do not take some sin seriously

Jerry Bridges in his book "The Pursuit of Holiness"2 List three problems in our pursuit.

1. Our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered.

We must see our sin as being Against God... not simple as something we must strive to have victory over.

David: In Psalm 51: 4a states regarding his sin with Bathsheba, "Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight." The prodical son also stated in Luke 15:21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' When Joseph was approached by his master’s wife and she wanted him to lie with her he said. "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Gen 39:9")

Our sin is against God, not just a "bad thing."

Our sins cost!!

1 Peter 1:18-19
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
Since our sin is against God our focus should be ones of obedience to God not victory over sin.
1 Peter 1:13-14 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
Steps for Obedience
Prepare your minds for Action
Keep sober (Be alert) This idea is a present active verb-a on going action...
fix your hope completely on Grace to hope (in a religious sense, to wait for salvation with joy and full of confidence): (from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
Be obedient, don’t go back to doing what you did in the past

You are smarter now... You lived the way you did in the past because you didn’t know any better

Are you understanding that Your sin is sin against God?

You can find help by going to HIM and receiving the power He provides.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Afraid

What are you afraid of today?

Often we don't think about the things we are afraid of unless we are actually facing them. We don't' think about being afraid of the dark until night falls. Nor do we think about earthquakes, tornadoes or such until they are headed our way.

Such is true about death. Often we don't think about it until someone close to us dies. If we are young (and that number keeps getting higher for me) it still doesn't bother us. After all, only older people die right. In Hebrews 9:27 it tells us that "it was appointed unto men to die once and after this comes the judgement." Here we see no matter what we think, we will have to face death. It does not come without the next step of judgement.

Do you fear death? There is no need to be afraid. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
55 " O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. NASU

You too can have the victory of the judgement after death. You need to admit you are a sinner, admit you can not pay for your sins to earn forgiveness, ask Jesus to forgive you and ask him to be your Savior.

Now you should have no fear when death comes your way.