The 6 Marks of the Church: Holiness

I believe Jesus not only prayed in John 17, but that He is even at this moment at the right hand of the Father praying that these characteristics will mark us — but at the same time the devil acts against those prayers.

Just as surely as I preach on the love of God, the selfishness of the flesh rises up — egged on by the devil.

When I preach on the joy of the Lord, the devils of hell infiltrate our thoughts and try to depress the Life out of us.

When I preach on unity, the devil sows discord.

Living out these marks in our individual lives and as a church is war.

The Holy Spirit WILL lead us to victory — will we follow?

This morning we look at what Jesus prays to His Father in our text:

John 17:14–16 (LSB) “[Father] I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

The Word Given

As He said in vs.14, Jesus has given us His Father’s Word.

And what a supernatural and powerful Word it is!

The 2015 Amp of Hebrews 4:12 & 13: tells us that the

… word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.

The Word pierces and penetrates — it is painful!

The Word does spiritual surgery — cutting away the darkness of sin and death.

And there are many people who don’t like that — who don’t want that.

They would rather live and walk in darkness

It’s like Jesus said in…

John 3:19–21 (LSB) “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

And yet the very Word that so many hate...

If listened to and heeded as a child, will spare MUCH heartache and destruction later in life.

Which implies that we as parents need to make sure our children hear God’s Word — and read it for themselves.

People hate the Word, even though, after we have lived contrary to it, if we will turn to it, The Word will grant us deliverance from bondage

Is will be a balm for our wounds.

Even though it is powerful and wondrous, people reject God’s Word and us.

Please note, that 2,000 years ago, Jesus said that the eternal, inerrant, infallible Word of God — a Word birthed in love for a fallen humanity — that Word will cause pure hatred to well up within those outside of relationship with God.

But, for those who love Jesus, we as says…

Psalm 119:159 (TPT) Lord, see how much I truly love your instructions. So in your tender kindness, breathe life into me again.

Psalm 119:47–48 (TPT) My passion and delight is in your word, for I love what you say to me! 48 I long for more revelation of your truth, for I love the light of your word as I meditate on your decrees.

Psalm 119:127–128 (TPT) Truly, your message of truth means more to me than a vault filled with the purest gold. 128 Every word you speak, every truth revealed, is always right and beautiful to me, for I hate what is phony or false.

Do WE hold God’s Word in as high esteem as the writer of Psalm 119?

I pray we do.

And if we do, be sure those outside of relationship with Jesus will be very unhappy.

By association, we will be hated as much as God’s Word.

Why do so many hate God’s Word so much?

Because it exposes the darkness inside of them.

Because as 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (LSB) for the weapons of our warfare [the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God] [is] not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds, 5 as we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

The Word of God is the weapon the flesh hates because it exposes thoughts and opinions raised against God for what they are — rebellion against God’s loving and perfect will for our lives.

The flesh hates the Word because it crushes opinions that are lifted up against God’s way.

I like something I saw yesterday on Instagram: The Word is the anvil…

But, people like their opinions.

They have a high opinion of their opinions.

And, the reality is that many, including too many Christians do not know what the Word of God says.

So, they elevate their own faulty, weak opinions above the clear declaration of God’s Word.

But, the Word of God will smash our pathetic human opinions and for many, that is intolerable and they will hate us for speaking, obeying and living God’s Word.

Separate from the World

And we need to be ok with that.

James 4:4 (LSB) … do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

So, Jesus says: My disciples embrace the Word and are not of the world, even as I [Jesus] am not of the world.

I am calling you to be separate.

Such separation is a call to holiness.

As Oswald Chambers says: There is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals, not first the love of God, but the intense, blazing holiness of God, with his love as the center of that holiness.

R. C. Sproul Holiness is not just an attribute, it is God’s very essence.

Adrian Rogers: Holiness is not the way to Christ; Christ is the way to holiness.

Joel Beeke

[Yes] Holiness is the preparation for the presence of God.

Anonymous

So, how do we live holy lives?

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 (NLT) Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. 18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”

This mark of separation, of holiness, for which Jesus prayed His followers would posses AND I believe He desires His Bride, the Church to possess

Ephesians 5:25–27 (LSB) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless.

Holiness is a call for us to come out from among the world and be separate.

We will still live IN the world, but we will not be OF the world.

And as we live IN the world, Jesus prays that we will be protected from the evil one.

We separate from the world, we walk in holiness that we might advance the Kingdom of God.

James Smith who wrote Handfuls on Purpose said:

The world is a ruined mass, lying in the lap of the evil one;

It is being coddled by the illusions and guided by the false principles of the god of this world;

But the followers of Jesus Christ have been lifted up out of the whole thing,

as the Psalmist said in:

Psalm 40:2–3 (NASB95) He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.

[By being separate from the world] We have been established in the Kingdom of our God, and of His Christ,

which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

[As Jesus said] "You are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

We separate from the World so that we might be distinct and different from the world.

We are Distinguished from the World.

As soon as we become separated in spirit from the world, we come under a new set of laws in the Kingdom of grace.

We are dealt with as children of God, not as the mere offspring of His creative power.

Christ loves His own with a love which is peculiar to His own.

While He has the love of pity for the world, He has the love of pleasure for His own.

Jesus has set us in the world,

not as a branch in the vine, but as a light in the darkness;

not as a member in the body, but as a physician in the hospital.

not as a "man or woman of the world," but as a "man or woman of God";

not as its slave, but as its victor.

And the world, the people of the world, can see the difference — in fact, many are HUNGRY for that difference.

They may initially display hatred, but they are really drawn to those who are IN CHRIST.

To those who are separate from the world.

The Salvation of the World

Jesus has separated us from the world so that we can be the Salvation of the World.

As the Father was in the Son, so the Son desires to be in us, that the world may know the love of God.

Christ fulfilled, in a perfect manner, all required of Him,

but what miserable counterfeits many of us are.

The Son gave Himself as freely to us as the Father gave Himself to the Son, that His great love might triumph in us and through us.

As God so loved the world that He gave His Son, so does the Son so love the world that He gives His Spirit-filled followers, and for the self-same purpose.

"Christ lives in me," says Paul (Gal. 2:20).

This world needs to know the holiness of God;

They will see His holiness as His followers prize and zealously pursue holiness.

Hebrews 12:14 (NLT) Work at [Pursue, follow after, press forward] living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

Does the world see God’s holiness in us?

Do they see us prioritizing the pursuit of holiness ?

If not, let’s give the Lord our whole heart and zealously pursue holiness.

We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising the concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine.