Sermon Tone Analysis

Holiness: The Essential and Transformative Power of God

Always An “A”

Novelist Lloyd Douglas tells about a man who went to visit his old violin teacher and asked, “What’s new?” “I’ll tell you what’s new!” said the teacher.

He grabbed his tuning fork and banged it.

The tuning fork, at 440 cycles per second, vibrated an “A note” which came out loud and clear.

“Do you hear that?

That’s an ‘A’” he proclaimed.

“Now, upstairs a soprano rehearses endlessly and she’s always off key.

Next door I have a cello player who plays his instrument very poorly.

There is an out-of-tune piano on the other side of me.

I’m surrounded by terrible noise night and day.”

Plunking the “A” again, he continued.

“Do you hear that?

That’s an ‘A’ today.

It will be an ‘A’ tomorrow.

It will never change.”

One of the current trends making the rounds in church growth theory is that we need to constantly change the church so it can relate to our changing society; hence the recent great amount of “fully inclusive” churches and “user-friendly congregations.”

Never mind that our society is obsessed with self, polluted by immorality, repulsed by commitment and smug in its new tolerance (one that tolerates everything except Biblical absolutes!).

It seems that much of the “growth” we have seen recently in religious circles has been more of an infectious “swelling,” as ministries and movements are built on human innovation rather than Biblical instruction.

I am all for any change in method that allows us to preach the Gospel more effectively.

But the Bible expressly forbids us to change its message.

Some things, like the “A” in the music scale, cannot be changed even slightly without destroying everything around them.

Over the past month, Pastor has talked about some of the great rocks of Pentecostal truth.

We have heard some great teaching and preaching about Oneness, in particular.

Today, I’m going to talk for a while about another Pentecostal distinctive: Holiness.

I want to answer with Scripture some key questions that are as relevant today as they have ever been:

“Does the Holy Ghost affect the outward appearance of the vessel God chooses to dwell in, or not?”

“Do the standards of conduct and appearance given in Scripture apply to us today, or should they be discarded in favor of a lifestyle that is less separate from - and less offensive to - our modern society?”

“Is outward holiness really a foundational issue of the Apostolic faith?”

I think we can agree that these questions and their answers matter greatly.

So let’s dig in…

Nicolas Introduced A Change to God’s Church

Nicolas was from Antioch.

He was one of the first seven church deacons chosen to look after the business matters of the early church (Acts 6:3-5).

But his dedication to the Apostolic message was short-lived…

We know from early writings on heresy that Nicolas eventually backslid and introduced the Doctrine of the Nicolaitanes to the church.

And it pulled people far from what God had established in the New Testament, giving people a “false freedom.”

In the book of Revelation, John compared the Nicolaitanes to Balaam in the Old Testament who “cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel” (Revelation 2:14-15).

Balaam was unsuccessful in cursing Israel from the outside, but he taught them to mix godliness and worldliness, and they ended up cursing themselves from within (Numbers 22-25).

That same spirit was behind Nicolas’ doctrine, which was based on declaring that Christians - since they were sinners saved by grace - could live like the world on the outside… and still remain saved on the inside.

His teaching would later be the basis of the doctrine of eternal security (once saved, always saved) and even the practice of confessional (confessing to a priest while still living in sin).

I’m telling you… traditionalism is a problem.

Especially when it’s not biblical.

So, since Nicolas’s teaching required no outward (or inward!) change to be saved, he and his followers attracted large numbers of converts.

And this was his message to the Apostolic Pentecostal believers: “Why live in the ‘legalism and bondage’ of holiness and sanctification (which was, in fact, the teaching of the Apostles) when you can be ‘free in Jesus’?

And so Nicolas violated Apostolic teaching on sanctification, which was part of their teaching on salvation.

In Apostolic belief, a holiness lifestyle included standards of dress, types of activities they participated in, and other codes of conduct (Romans 6:1-2, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, 1 Timothy 2:8-10, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15-16, etc.).

Nicolas taught that these “externals” of holiness were not important.

God, however, had a different opinion.

TWICE in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:6, 2:15), He said that He “hated” the teaching of the Nicolaitanes.

That’s New Testament.

And He still hates it!

In the Great Falling Away of the latter first century, an outward “standard of holiness” was the first thing to go.

But the tide of change didn’t stop there.

And this is so very important… After holiness was generally cast aside, it was soon followed by:

True repentance,

Water baptism by immersion in Jesus’ name,

Speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit,

and the doctrine of the Oneness of God.

As the elder Apostles began dying, leaders who had smaller vision and weaker conviction stepped in and began subtly altering the message.

In the words of the prophet, truth had “fallen in the street” (Isaiah 59:14).

It was only much later, as massive doctrinal errors took root in the church, pushing it into the Dark Ages, did it become obvious just how much was lost when the holiness lifestyle was abandoned.

...

Today, we are privileged to live during the time of the Latter Rain, when truth has been restored and God’s Spirit is being poured out upon all flesh.

But… let me sound a not of caution and say that the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes is once again rising amongst the Apostolic Pentecostal church.

“Bro.

LaRue, you’re being awfully negative.”

No, sir.

No, ma’am.

I’m speaking what the reality and the danger is today.

There are some who are compromising non-negotiable principles of Scripture for personal convenience and the acceptance of society.

There are some who are surrendering holiness because it’s seen as exclusive and unattractive.

And in doing so, it simply twists Scripture and normalizes living a loose way of living.

I refuse to join that bandwagon.

Scripture is too precious and eternity is too long.

The Nicolaitan way doesn’t deceive me.

I know the damage they did the last time around.

We know, from the scripture I’m about to read, that holiness is not to be run away from or have hesitancy about - holiness is to be pursued!

Because only when we wholeheartedly run after Jesus can we wholeheartedly run away from the world.

Holiness Principles

God’s holiness is one of the essential and absolute attributes of His nature.

And Scripture makes it very important for us:

It is an object of our awe and adoration

it sets the standard for all other holiness

It will always remain higher than the highest holiness of men and angels

It necessitates God’s opposition to and condemnation of all sin

It awakens and deepens man’s consciousness of his own sin

It sets before everyone their highest possible aspiration: to be holy as God is holy

The whole tone of Scripture is in accordance with the heavy command of this scripture text!

Man, on the other hand, appears in the Scriptures as a fallen being, by nature unholy and sinful.

Created in God’s image, man has lost one of the most essential features of that image: HOLINESS.

The Hebrew and Greek words for holiness have the literal meaning “withdrawal.”

So, scholars define holiness to mean “separate” and “apart.”

We can simply say that holiness refers to what has been separated or set apart unto God.

BUT - HEAR THIS: Being holy does not only mean withdrawing FROM something, it means withdrawing UNTO something!

We are not separate or holy merely to make other look unholy.

Rather, we WITHDRAW into man’s original state of communion with God as we live holy lives.

It is not just the negative concept of “separation” - it’s also the positive concept of “dedication!” (Separation from sin and the world, dedication to God and His will!)

And that is why in almost every place Paul refers to holiness, he does not refer only to culture, but takes us all the way back to creation (the original state).

And so Paul calls for compliance in matters of holiness on the basis of creation, because WE WERE CREATED TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN HOLINESS!

There’s a saying in the Church: “Salvation is the most elastic word in the Bible.”